The song is "27" by Fall Out Boy.
I've Got a Lot of Friends Who are Stars, but Some are Just Black Holes
He was the youngest of them all. He was 3 years behind Conner, Megan and Superboy. He was 2 years behind Wally and Artemis. He'd always be too young, but that never really bothered him. His dad had been seven years older than his mom before they died. Age was never really important.
Fame wasn't the issue either. He was on the news just as much as they were, probably a bit more seeing that he was sidekick to Batman, so there wasn't a competition for fame. It was more of a drag to be on TV than anything because you have to hear your own voice and wince at how unappealing it sounds to you.
The only real problem between him and the team was his past. Most of the team understood that the past is the past and that he didn't want to talk about it. Most of them were fine with being left in the dark and continued to shine brightly, just like the stars in the night sky. But one of them, Kid Flash to be specific, didn't like being in the dark. He wanted to know it all. He wanted to know what made the little ebony tick, so he'd probe and probe, getting closer and closer to the truth every day. He was like a black hole, bringing Dick's past closer and closer to him every day. Soon, Dick feared that the black hole would envelop him and he wouldn't be safe any longer.
When he got enveloped, there'd be nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. His mask would be as useless as trying to sew a fallen tree branch back onto the tree. Everything would be pulled from him into Wally's pale hands and the ginger would know everything that the Boy Wonder had spent years hiding in the blink of an eye. The stars would try to help, but little twinkles in the night sky are powerless against the suction of a rip in time. They'd end up getting sucked into the mess and then before the wingless bird knew it, all of his secrets would be unraveled. He'd be an open book with pretty pictures that just seems to draw in the readers.
Part of him didn't seem to mind though. He was a broken star, stranded in the galaxy by himself without a glow. Wally would be doing him a favor by pulling him away from the other stars. When the shining stars found out why he didn't he shine, no longer would they glare at or question his darkness. No longer would they talk about him behind his back. Maybe they'd lend him some shine and help him to relight the galaxy again. But if they found out, they wouldn't trust him. They'd hate him for keeping all that from them. Maybe they'd shun him to a dark part of the galaxy where he'd be forced to shine alone.
Even worse, they may force him to stay among the brightest of stars with his shine not even a ghost of a glow. He'd try and try to glow, but the second he would start, they'd grow brighter and he'd seem just as invisible as ever, hidden in the vast darkness of space by himself yet again.
If you understood that, give yourself a muffin, because even I wrote that and I have no idea what I'm talking about. It sounds professional though… or not… Eh, oh well…
-F.J.
