I genuinely started crying at one point when I was writing this. I hope you all like it.
Also, thank you all for the incredible fan response; I was blown away by the number of emails in my account.
I'd like to thank IndiaMoore, thwipthwipity, tula453, starwarsfan15, I'm Judging You, RobinLover321, Nightwing'snight, Sairey13, dancingandsingingintherain, BATMANMELTSI, saphire122, PeaceLoveNINJA, and sharyvargam for favouriting and following.
thwipthwipity: I'll try not to :P
starwarsfan15: He's thirteen in this, same as in season 1. And there will definitely be a talk with Bruce and Dick later on. They seriously need to have a talk.
I'm Judging You: I'm glad that my writing was successful. I wanted to try evoking emotions, so I'm glad it was successful. :)
Saphire122: oh my goodness! You just predicted this chapter1 O_O how did you do that?
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. If I did, I think all the viewers would have killed me out of anger for Robin. I enjoy torturing him too much. :P
Chapter 2:
The wind was blowing cold puffs of air around the centre of Gotham, and frost was creeping its icy fingers up the windows that lined the streets. It was a night better spent indoors with a cup of warm cocoa and as many chocolate chip cookies that you could fit under your belt.
Of course, that wasn't how Commissioner James Gordon was planning on spending tonight. That scenario sounded nice to the police chief, but on another night, another time. Tonight was a night for doing something. Although it was cold, that made the inside so much better, and the excitement to go somewhere so much greater.
James and his daughter Barbara were going to that opening night of Barbara. Babs had been looking forward to the show, a dramatization of the old myth of Pyramus and Thisbe. She had always liked those old myths, and it was such a romantic story, any girl would love to see it.
And James had a soft spot for his daughter. She was his whole world, after his wife had left him and he had been forced to send his small son off to a psychiatric hospital. He loved his son with all his heart, and he really tried to connect with him, but it was so hard with the infrequent visits that were allowed and how closed off James Jr. was.
Barbara he talked to daily. Barbara he shared many interests in. Barbara he saw daily and was able to tell her how much he loved her and how he was proud to be her father.
So when she had come running to him after school one day waving a flyer around, how could he say no?
^$#*&%^*&^*&$^#U#^
Everyone talked about death in different ways, some said it was like falling asleep, some talked about it causing hallucinations as your brain was deprived of oxygen. It was funny though, in an ironic way, even with all that studies that we conducted it could never really knew what people saw. And the only people who knew couldn't tell anyone their observations.
But now I knew.
Everything seemed to fade away and the world around you went really dull. I knew I was in the alleyway, and that I was lying on the concrete, but all my senses seemed to disappear. I was blind…but I still saw everything.
Everything faded away and there was a tunnel. It was very cliché but it was true. There was a tunnel, and a bridge went through it. At the end of that bridge was a very bright light, the purest colour that you have ever seen and then ten times purer still. I knew that my eyes should be burning from the intensity but everything felt calm and still.
They always said 'don't go into the light' and I had always joked that I would never: I was a bat and I was nocturnal. But you had no idea how hard it was to fight it. I could tell now why it was always so hard to get to resuscitate someone. That light…it was so big and it was so bright and it just chased everything bad away.
My abdomen didn't hurt anymore, and I didn't feel like I would be crushed by the world and all its noise. I didn't feel like my emotions were going to choke me and rob me of my breath.
All I knew was peace.
^$#*&%^*&^*&$^#U#^
"C'mon Dad! We're already late!" Barbara tugged on James' arm and he chuckled.
Barbara, always the impatient one. She was always doing something, whether it be school or extracurricular activities or some personal project she had ambitiously claimed as her own. She was James' little firecracker, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
She ran ahead of him, laughing her head off. She was shouting something along the lines of "I'm gonna beat you! You can't catch me!" in this wonderful chant. He could help but laugh back. His chuckles died down, and silence welcomed him in return.
Being a police officer, James had extensive knowledge of when a situation felt off. When there was something not right, when something had just happened or was about to, there was this twisting feeling in his gut that made his mouth sting with nonexistent bile.
It was happening now.
He ran around the corner and almost collided with his daughter. She was standing very rigidly, her hands clenched at her sides, and her face was very white. He looked at her and noticed that she was looking at the ground about ten feet in front of her. He followed her gaze.
There was an alleyway that was incased in shadows, but there was something that could be seen very clearly. A pale, blood streaked hand was lying on the ground. The rest of the arm…and the person that it belonged to…was hidden in shadows.
"Dad?" Barbara looked up at him with wide eyes.
James clenched his teeth and blew out through his nose. He didn't want her to see this, he didn't want her to see what he dreaded was hidden. But he knew his daughter, she was the inquisitive type. She would follow him if he absolutely forbade her to come.
"I'm going to check to see if there is any danger. Stay here until I say it's safe." He laid a hand on her shoulder and kissed her forehead. He at least had to try to spare her from it.
He rounded the corner and reached into his coat pocket. He always kept the basic tools for a police man with him; he knew he could easily be targeted in revenge or a plot to hold hostages. So he kept his gun and his flashlight with him at all times. He took both out now.
His gun his cocked and his flashlight he clicked on. The light illuminated a sad scene, one sadder than he had anticipated. A small boy lay in a pool of blood, one hand still clutched around the stab wound that felled him. He was curled into the fetal position by the side of a dumpster and the smears on the ground indicated that his last moments had not been pleasant. Tear tracks stained his cheeks and his eyes were half-lidded.
The worst part was that he knew the boy…and that he was Barbara's friend. He couldn't let her see this. It would be too cruel.
He turned around to warn her away just as she rounded the corner. He could only watch as her eyes widened, a hand flew to her mouth, and she gasped, "Dick?"
^$#*&%^*&^*&$^#U#^
I saw them at the end of the bridge. My parents. My Mami and Tati. They were hugging each other and smiling at me. I wanted to cry with joy, and I did.
I ran forward, almost tripping over my feet in my haste to get to them. The alleyway faded away but that place didn't matter anymore. All that mattered were my parents.
I had missed them so much. So so much. Everyday since their passing I had missed them and wanted just to be able to hug and talk to them. I had just wanted to see their smiling faces again.
And now I could. And now I could.
I collided with them at full force, but they didn't fly backwards. They just seemed to absorb the hit, laughing. Their arms circled around me and I felt like I was flying. I felt like I was in heaven…which I was now.
I cried. I cried so much. It didn't matter that I was though 'cause I could see them, I could touch them.
"Oh Dickie," my Mami stroked my hair, "my little robin."
^$#*&%^*&^*&$^#U#^
"No." Barbara sank to her knees and winced at the splash of blood that coated her knees. She reached forward and grabbed her friend's body, bringing it to her.
She gasped again and looked at her father. James looked back at her sadly. He didn't want to comfort her yet, it would just be useless words.
But she said something that James wasn't expecting. "You can save him Dad, please. Please try."
"Hon. He's dead. You know that. I'm sorry." He looked at her sadly. This was breaking his heart and he knew he was breaking hers.
"No! Dad, listen to me!" Barbara shrugged Dick over to him. "He's still warm. It's still possible! You can save him."
James reached out and touched Dick's cheek. His eyes were glassy and unseeing, but his cheek was warm. He had only just passed.
He had to try, just as Barbara said.
He immediately started chest compressions. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…he counted in his head and pushed down on that small chest. Inside he wondered how much good it was going to do. The boy had lost so much blood; if they couldn't get immediate help to him he would slip away soon after they brought him back.
In the distance he heard Barbara talking to a 911 operator. Good girl, he thought, good girl. Pinching Dick's nose, he breathed in twice, now three times. He resumed the chest compressions.
"C'mon Dick," he growled, "don't give up yet."
^$#*&%^*&^*&$^#U#^
I was still standing on the edge of the bridge with my parents. I wanted to move into the light, but my parents weren't moving, and I couldn't bear to separate myself from them. It was too special to let go of something so precious so soon.
My father thumped me on the back and I wheezed and laughed.
Another thump came out of nowhere, and it wasn't the nice thump that my Tati had just given to me. It was harsh and it hurt and it was tugging on every part of me.
I gasped and immediately wished I hadn't. Every part of my body seemed to gasp out in pain with me.
"Dick, look at me, hon, please?" Mami smiled sadly.
I struggled to, although all I wanted to do was double over from the pain. I managed to straighten myself and meet her eyes. She looked sad. It was a kind of sad that I had seen before, the kind where you know you're doing the right thing but it still hurts anyway.
"Sweetheart, you're so young," she rested her hand on my cheek and I leaned into the touch.
Another wave of pain went through me and I cried out.
She continued, "You have so much life left to live, and so many people who love you."
I grimaced as memories flowed back to me. "Bruce…"
"Loves you," she gave me a hard look, "he does, don't ever think otherwise. He may not show it sometimes, but he does."
"But," I grappled with the notion, and his laugh shared with Vicki Vale popped into my head.
"It would be a sad Gotham with Dick Grayson, son." Tati laid his hand on my shoulder.
"But I just go to see you again, I-"
Three waves in quick succession coursed through me, and my chest burned. It brought something else this time, though. Images of Bruce, Alfred, the Team, Wally, Roy, Babs played out all around me.
I knew what had to be done, but was it fair to my parents? I didn't want to leave them.
I looked at their faces and I saw their answer. They wanted me to be happy.
"I'll miss you," I choked out.
"We will to, my little Robin. But we'll see each other again." Mami smiled sadly and laid a hand on my head.
"And know we'll be watching over you." Tati laid his hand overtop of Mami's.
"Always." Mami looked me in the eyes.
I just smiled at them with my eyes full of tears, memorizing their faces, as everything exploded into stars. I was falling down into the alley. There was a jolt…and everything hurt again.
^$#*&%^*&^*&$^#U#^
James gave a start as Dick convulsed beneath him. He stopped his compressions for a moment and heard small gasping breaths coming out of the pale lips.
Barbara was watching him with a smile, and she reached out and took Dick's hand. Dick seemed to cling to that like a lifeline, which was a good sign. Tears were streaming down his daughter's cheeks, but they were happy tears, tears of relief for her friend.
An ambulance and three squad cars tore round the corner, and Dick and Barbara were rushed off to the hospital. That was all the better for Commissioner James Gordon, as he had a suspect to track.
So guys, what did you think? Did it make you cry? Was there something off? Let me know what you think in the box below, it feeds my muse. :)
VVV