He starts to dress up for patrol. Black wings, black gauntlets, and a little symbolic R over his breast pocket. Soon, he arrives on top of his midnight perch at Wayne Tower, overlooking the daunting, but stunning city, lights glowing like fireflies dancing in the night. Then he looks down at the Narrows, bright demeanor fading only by a fraction. Gotham is his city, even though Batman claimed it first. It's his city, and he would do anything –well, almost everything- to protect her.

So he drops.

The wind blows gently, and for a split second, he's afraid. Afraid that the darkness will consume him, that it will eat him up and spit out his bones. He's afraid that he'll die alone, and that there will be no comforting shadow to close his eyes.

Then the grappling hook becomes his hero, since he didn't have wings. His wings have been clipped a long time ago, due to death and murder.

He relaxes as his feet land softly on a building closer to the Narrows. The lights are farther now, but his eyes are accustomed to the darkness and his mask…. His mask holds technology that's secret to everyone except Bats. And he's a Bat currently patrolling the dim landscape.

He's not just a Bat, though, he's Robin; Robin the Boy Wonder, protégé of Batman, and bird of Gotham. He's not the ward of a billionaire being shoved into lockers or a playboy's son. He's Robin. Just a simple Robin, learning how to fly under a shadow.

And for now, he's fine with that. But that's for now, he doesn't know what the future holds. Sooner or later, he's going to have to leave the nest.

But that's okay, he'll still have family. Family he could hold on to when the grappling hook isn't there.

Family…

doesn't….

fade…..

Right?

He sighs, runs a hand through his hair. Then he jumps of another building and does a flip. The Robin legacy has to show off from time to time. They're Robins, the ones that Batman reserves the spotlight for.

A smile creeps on his lips as he jumps and does another quadruple flip.

He looks up again, safe city lights far from reach. His gaze turns towards the Narrows again, but this time he grins.

He's Robin, the show-off, bright, clever protégé of Batman.

And nothing will ever take that away from him.

Hello. Here's my long overdue first YJ fic. :D

This Robin could be any Robin. Dick (it's not swearing if I refer to the nickname), Jason, Tim, Damian, etc. Maybe even Steph. (If you switch he and his with she…) Hence the empty character box/thing. :)

I put this in YJ since that's the only thing I watch, besides cancelled TT…. I don't follow most of the comics, and Teen Titans takes place in Jump City.

Yeah... the title is a well-worn title. If anyone has suggestions, please PM/review it!

Sorry if there was any OOC-ness. Hope you enjoyed!