Robin couldn't help wondering what Batman thought of his new life.
When he had gotten to Jump City, the Teen Wonder had been determined to strike out on his own , as a solo hero ; the irony of the young hero joining a team made up of four others hadn't escaped Robin. But it had turned out better than he could have ever hoped; now he had a great team who were also fantastic friends. But that didn't stop him from thinking about his old team; the quiet trio that was made up of him,Batman, and Batgirl. And Alfred, Robin thought , smiling slightly, though the smirk disappeared after a moment.
It had been a while since he'd seen Gotham. Sometimes, Robin would dream of skyhopping - something he'd done on slow patrol nights. It was jumping from building to building , as fast as possible. Sometimes he would race against Batgirl , if she was patrolling with him that night. Not the most responsible behavior, but Batman had never found them out, and neither of them had ever ended up seriously injured from it.
Sometimes he would dream of the large spaces of Wayne Manor , or the cool darkness of the Bat Cave. Or of a white face , in a near constant expression of mad glee, its hysterical laughter echoing...
Robin shook his head , sighing. He had to finish this report. Gotham could wait for his sleeping hours, as it always did. On the twentieth of April, Control Freak attempted to take over Jump City by constructing an army of Star Fleet fans ; it ultimately failed because
"Robin?"
The young hero turned at the sound of Starfire's voice, to find the Tamaranian girl hovering in the doorway to his room. Despite the interruption, he smiled at his girlfriend, glad for the momentary distraction. "Hey , Star. What's up? Is something wrong?"
Star drifted into the room, worry written all over her was worried about . "Robin, I think you should take a break. Raven said that your internal turmoil is causing her great annoyance, and to come coerce you out of working."
Robin felt heat itch around his neck. He was willing to bet everything he owned that Raven had used that exact wording to be a subtle form of payback. Witch.
"I'll be there in a minute, Starfire. I just need to write a sentence or two, then I can file the report away. No more after that , I promise."
Starfire still didn't look entirely placated , but seemed to realize this was the best she was going to get. The alien girl nodded , her green eyes resigned. "Only a few more minutes, Robin, or I shall return and drag you out of here."
She would have to catch him first, but Robin got to gist of it. He nodded, and Star drifted out of the room, a bit of annoyance in the set of her shoulders. Crap. Robin might be better at socializing then his mentor, but he still had his fair share of moments. After Tokyo, he had hoped... that he would magically be great at not being an idiot? Wishful thinking to the maximum. At least they were actually dating now. Although that could change if Robin spent more time on this stupid report than he had to.
the fans ended up arguing over whether Vlad Groupie or Clorox shot first in episode one and eventually began fighting each other physically instead of attacking my teammates and I, allowing us to neutralize them relatively
This was ridiculous. Robin was ignoring his friends to file a report on Control Freak's newest failure? Pathetic.
quickly. The confrontation ended at around 3:14 , eastern standard time. Control Freak was then handed over to the authorities, who now have him in custody awaiting trial.
Done. Filed away. Noted for future reference. Computer locked up, security measures in place, and now he could apologize to Star for being a jerk. Not that that was so unusual for him, considering past history.
The five purple bruises he had left on her golden skin when the dust from Slade's mask had invaded his senses flashed in Robin's mind. They had long since faded , but he still could see them as if they were right there. The delusion of Slade , his obsession , had twisted Robin's mind so much that he had hurt Starfire. Had yelled at her, had threatened his teammates. What was wrong with him? The sound of the door opening caught his attention; probably Starfire again.
"Robin. Enough."
That wasn't Starfire's voice. Robin turned around to see Raven in the doorway, her pale gray face annoyed. "Robin," the empath said, her raspy voice irritated."Stop. That wasn't you. You were out of your mind."
The Teen wonder clenched his fists. "I know that , Raven; but it doesn't really matter. It was still me doing those things , all because I thought Slade had come back. I didn't listen when you guys told me he wasn't real-"
"Because as far as you could tell , he was real , trying to kill you, and none of us could see him. Drowning yourself in guilt is pointless. It isn't going to help. What will help is coming out of this room and enjoying movie night with your friends - not to mention your girlfriend, who is extremely worried about you right now."
Robin groaned, rubbing his eyes through the domino mask he always wore. "You're right. It's just... hard. Still."
Raven's face softened by a fraction of a degree. The half-demoness walked over and put her hand on her friend's shoulder, a rare display of physical comfort.
"I know what you mean,Robin, believe me. Some days I think about what happened with Trigon and just want to disappear. But you know what gets me through it?"
Robin shook his head.
"How much faith you had in me, even after he took over the world. You never wavered in your belief of me. And I'm not ever going to waver in my belief of you."
Robin felt the corners of his mouth twitch up. "Thanks , Raven," the hero said , standing up from his desk. "Let's go enjoy whatever brainless flick Beast Boy wants to watch."
Raven made a face."On second thought, maybe going out there isn't such a bright idea."
Laughing,Robin towed his friend out of the room,ready at last to enjoy being a part of the team.