Okay, I have been dying to do a Robin-fic to this song for a while, and I finally got an idea for it! Haha. Hope you like it, please RR!
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me
And I walk alone
Nightwing crouched at the corner of the largest building in the dark city. It brought back so many memories. He had dropped the name of Robin years ago, becoming a solo hero by the name of Nightwing, leading a double life as a cop in Gotham and a super hero at night. His latest mission had taken him back to none other than his oldest, dearest home...Jump City. He hadn't been there since he was 19...and those last few memories stayed with him all too clearly, just as every bad mistake digs into us sharper than every good deed we accomplish.
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk alone
He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. He often thought of all that could have been if he had never left this small city. How it could have changed his entire future. As he closed his eyes tighter, he saw the faces of Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven and especially Starfire again. His best friends. He had no best friends any more. It was odd to think that he had once had so many people so dear and near to him. Now he had no one.
I walk alone, I walk alone
I walk alone, I walk alone
Leaping from the building and landing on the dark, quiet street, he opened his eyes, shaking his head. He was getting too wrapped up in the past. There was nothing he could do about it now, he had to concentrate on this mission...
But that proved to be impossible. Even as he walked down the cold, empty streets, things kept bringing back little memories and flashbacks. He was trying very hard to resist the urge to check for little things, like dents he had made on street signs, or scratches on buildings. But he didn't have to look, they all seemed to find him, stinging him with memories of his glory days, fighting alongside the Teen Titans. Now he fought alongside his shadow.
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone
He finally managed to pass all the little signs that painfully reminded him of the past. He swore to himself he would concentrate now...until he saw the old warehouse where Slade's headquarters had once been. He stopped, staring at the spot. He never thought he'd actually find himself standing there, wishing Slade would suddenly come running back out. But that didn't happen. Slade was long gone...though all memories of him rung clear in Nightwing's mind. He could still feel the heavy hands beating down on him, the cruel insults being casually tossed at him as he punched furiously...Slade was his greatest enemy, and his greatest challenge. And one of the things he missed most.
I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the borderline of the edge
And where I walk alone
He passed the pizza place. It was now merely a small section of a new shopping mall. He smiled to himself, remembering all the times he and the Titans had eaten there, laughing and joking and arguing over pizza toppings. Their last meal together had been there...the smiled faded as he remembered that night.
'We all need to think about the future. We can't be Teen Titans forever.'
'But we can still be a team, man!'
'No Cyborg. Staying together forever won't get us anywhere. We have to move on.'
How wrong he had been...things would have turned out better if he had stayed with the team!...wouldn't they?
Read between the lines
Of what's fucked up
And everything's all right
Check my vital signs to know I'm still alive
And I walk alone
Cyborg had come back to save him after their huge fight. Starfire had forgiven him for Red X. Raven had gone into his mind when he had gone insane. Beast Boy had searched for him when he had disappeared. And how had he repaid them? He destroyed them. And why? So he could be a hero? So he could have a future? What kind of a future was he living now, friendless, loveless and cold? No one was there for him when he was angry. No one would stay with him when he lost it. No one would look for him if he went missing. And who could forgive him for what he'd done to his friends?
I walk alone, I walk alone
I walk alone, I walk alone
Nightwing was marching down the streets angrily and heavily, head down, hating himself for what he'd done. He wasn't conscious of where he was going until he arrived. He stopped, staring at the spot where Titans Tower had once stood tall and proud above the city. Now it was nothing but a vacant space at the end of a dead end, leading to the ocean. There was nothing there. Nightwing looked around in shock. He walked around the small space, staring at the ground. So many memories flashed through his mind, burning him inside.
'Robin, surely you do not wish to leave us!'
'I have to Starfire. I need to work on my own.'
'But we are a team, Robin! We must stay together!'
'Not any more. I need a future, and it doesn't lie here.'
Maybe his future didn't lie there. But now his past did. All of it, running in his eyes like a film...
'Robin please...I love you! Does that mean nothing to you?'
Starfire had told him she loved him. That scenario had replayed itself in his mind every single day of his life since then She loved him. He had loved her. He still loved her. He had had a chance at love and happiness.
'No. It means nothing. I don't need love. I work alone.'
Never since that moment had he been able to come up with a reason to say no. The girl he loved had stood before him and confessed her feelings for him. And he had turned her away. He had wanted to work alone. If he had one chance he knew he would go back and accept her, tell her how he felt...wouldn't he?
'So you really want to do this? Break us all apart? You don't care that you'll never see your best friends again? Robin, I know you're not that heartless. Come to your senses already, this is serious.'
Raven had practically begged him. Why couldn't he have seen that? Now he could clearly see the hurt, the pleading in her eyes as she stood before him, about to be sent out to the horrible world, or to her terrifying home.
'I don't need friends any more Raven. You'll understand someday.'
'You're making a mistake Robin.'
'I don't need your opinion, Raven.'
Again, he had turned down comfort and friendship. He would never again know why he had made all those choices, turning away people who loved and cared about him. It was as if someone else had taken over and destroyed the Teen Titans. Why had he been so selfish? Why had he not understood?
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk alone
He had wanted to be alone. But had the others? Had he ever even considered that? No. All he cared about was what he wanted, and he hurt everyone who loved him to get that. He had ruined his own life. They had all tried to save him, and he had pushed them away.
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
What would he do if he ever saw Starfire again? Would she still love him? Would Cyborg even recognize him? Would Raven speak to him? Would Beast Boy smile at him? Would they still be his friends, his team, his Titans? Nightwing sunk to his knees in the middle of the barren, destroyed spot where their home had once been. Tears streamed down his cheeks, memories burned down slowly, fading away, as it hit him: He would never know the answers to these questions. He would never know what would happen, he would never be able to relive that time in his life. He had chosen to walk the path of life alone. And now there was no turning back. The lost words and ruined hopes surrounded him. Everything he could have had that he had thrown away. He had come to a fork in the road, and instead of choosing to walk with his friends, he had taken the road less traveled. And as the famous poem stated, Nightwing regretted not taking the other road. No. Robin regretted not taking the other road. Nightwing was just another mistake. Another mile added to the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
'Til then I walk alone