Part 2 of "His greatest fear"

Thanks to M.C. Castle for the review (p.s. Robins not afraid of clowns, just well, read on you'll see).

For the first time in the last few hours, Robin grinned.

"You're joking?" he said, noticing the irony and mentally smacking himself before continuing.

"The fact that we're in a giant, smelly tent has nothing to do with any-" but he cut off when out of nowhere a hand grabbed his belt, and jerked it off of him.

"Now who's joking!" shouted Joker. Ok seriously, the joke puns were getting old.

"Now you would appear to have a choice." He continued. "Who do you save, the girl of the rest? And of course the only way to save either is to get up there and fly little Grayson, fly!" Joker cackled as he spoke and his laughter only grew as he finished.

Robins eyes grew wide and darted around, first to Raven, Cy, and BB, then to Starfire, and then to, as the Joker had said, the only way to save anyone; the trapeze.

Above him the others were struggling to free themselves, but they weren't too worried. Honestly, a trapeze? This Joker guy was not as tough as they had been told. No, not worried at all, except Raven, the only one who knew of Robin's greatest fear.

The others confidence in their leader soon began to fade however, as they watched him standing simply standing below them, unmoving.

"Mwat ees ee mewing?" said BB through the gag.

"Mi munno." Replied Cyborg.

"Mrrents!" said Raven fearfully.

"Mwhat?" yelled the other two.

"Mis Mrrents!" she shouted then she rolled her eyes and their confused expressions.

"Mrazerath, Memtrion, Minthos!" the gags glowed black then fell off their faces.

"His Parents!" she said urgently. "His family was acrobats, and they died in a show. They fell, and he watched it from above." The boys stared at her, at a complete loss for words. Suddenly this situation seemed more dire.

"We've got to get ourselves out." Raven said.

"But what about Star?" asked Cyborg.

"If we get ourselves out, he can do it for her." She said, and they immediately began to struggle against their bonds.

"This is no use!" said BB. "Specially made. Typical."

Cyborg charged up his blowtorch finger.

"It's worked before, taking on each others problems." He said, and began to cut through Ravens bonds. She actually smiled as he freed her hands.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zin-" the capsule plummeted as she spoke. At the last second however, a door just big enough for the capsule to slide into opened up, and it rolled inside.

From above them Starfire let out a muffled scream. Robin, who had watched in horror, now scanned the ground below Star for another fail-safe. He couldn't find one. If Star fell…

There was an ominous click above him. A large digital timer had begun a countdown above her pod. Robin grimaced. He hated timers.

"Okay," he told himself, "Okay, oh, I should've told them sooner!" he thought as he began to walk toward the ladder.

"Tick, tock little birdie." Chided the Joker. Robin had almost forgotten he was there. He quickened his pace until finally he was at the bottom of the platform. His father's voice echoed in his ears.

"It's like riding a bike Dick." He had said when Dick had been off the trapeze for a few months with a broken arm. "You never forget."

Then he heard the terrified screams of circus goers as the acrobat family fell…

The timer gave a particularly loud tick, and Robin looked up. Starfire was struggling against her bindings, her eyes glowing solid green, but the look on her face was terrified nonetheless.

"Okay," he told himself again. "I can do this. It's just like a bat line."

He began to climb the ladder.

"This isn't so bad." He thought

"Tick, tock, tick, tock." Joker chided from below. "Hurry now! Such a waste, a pretty little, Ah!"

Robin looked down. The other three had gotten free and were now attacking the Joker.

"I can't stop it!" Cyborg yelled up from the console. "You've gotta do it man!"

"EELP!" came the muffled yell of Starfire. Now she was looking up at the timer.

10…

Robin had the trapeze in his hands now.

9…

8…

He couldn't do it. He looked franticly around, Joker still cackling even though BB and Raven had him captured.

7…

6…

5…

He looked at star, her terrified eyes locking with his masked ones.

4…

He was unaware he had leapt from the platform until he noticed he was getting closer to Star, and shut his eyes tight.

3…

He opened his eyes again, whizzing through the air.

2…

You never forget.

1…

Just like a bat line.

0

He grabbed the top of the pod just as it was released from its wire. Now holding on with one hand, he landed on the other platform. He released Starfire from her pod and she threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Robin!" she cried. "Thank you for my rescue!" However, her face fell slightly and she drew back.

"But why did it take you so-" he cut her off.

"I should have told you before. I don't like the circus, because my parents died in one. My family was acrobats until a villain in Gotham made it so they fell, with no net, and I watched from above. Then Batman took me in, and trained me." He finished.

"Oh, Robin." She said in her oh so sweet Starfire voice, and she hugged him again.

"So are we going home or what?!" Cyborg yelled up.

"Yeah," said Robin, "Let's go home."

SO there it is. Robins greatest fear of trapezeing again (that's not a word is it?) and Starfire helped him overcome it! YAY STAR!!!! Alright. Well, check out my other stories if you liked this one! Peace/

STL