A/N:

Thank you to all who reviewed! I appreciate your feedback immensely. Here's chapter 2.
Once again, I own nothing except for Renee. Yay! (That rhymed…awesome.)

Oh, and just for future reference, it won't all be in Robin's POV. His just seems right for the moment. But trust me; we shall hear other character's thoughts.

Nightshadow: Chapter 2:
~Robin's POV~

We had spent hours sitting around Mount Justice's living room. One by one, all the others left, until it was just Renee and I. I felt a lump rise in my throat. Indecision taunted me. I mean, how was she going to react? I let the comfortable silence go on for a while, focusing on the turmoil in my thoughts.

"Renee?" I finally inquired, forcing my uncertainties to retreat to the back of my mind.

"Yeah, Rob?" She replied, smiling at me.

"It's been three years…" I began, unsure how I was going to phrase it. 'Where the hell have you been?' 'What happened?' 'Are you okay?' and many others bounced around my brain. Before I could continue, however, Renee began to talk.

"I'm sorry, Robin. Really sorry. I just…I needed to get away for a while, after the- the accident. I needed to get away from the Justice League, away from Gotham. Unfortunately, that also meant getting away from you. I didn't want to stop contact altogether, I just got a little distracted every time I tried to find you." Her voice started to crack towards the end of her apology, but I knew she wasn't going to cry. This made me relax inwardly. I wasn't all that good with tears.

"It-it's alright, Renee. I can understand you wanting to get away. I just…I want to know what took you three years to come back to the League, to be honest." I didn't know where all this honesty was coming from. I was the king of lying. Well, maybe the prince. Batman was a better liar. But despite the honesty and openness and potential awkwardness of the conversation, I found myself pulling down barriers. Even though Robin hadn't experienced what Renee had, Dick Grayson (someone she had never met), certainly did. It was strange. I wanted to know what she knew, to feel what she felt.

"You really don't, Rob." She whispered, almost inaudible. Her body language was telling me she was trying to shut me out – she had her head down and her torso was turned away from me.

No, you can't let her do that, Dick. You really do.

"I really do." She lifted her gaze-previously trained on her tiny hands-to meet mine. I locked my stare on those ever-changing eyes, willing for her to understand that I needed her to tell me. I hadn't gone a day those three years without wondering where she was or trying to find her. I needed to know.

"Fine…but don't tell the rest of the Team, okay? I don't want them to know-not yet. It wasn't my best decision." I breathed an inward sigh of relief at her response. She turned to face me, but dropped her eyes back down. I had the sudden urge to lift her chin, to wrap my arm around her, to do something to tell her it's alright. What the hell is wrong with you today, Dick? What is this, this…whatever it is? Realizing she was waiting for a response, I pushed the questioning thoughts aside. I could always analyze them later, after all.

"I won't tell a soul. I promise." I reassured her, silently hoping Batman already knew. If it was as bad as she thought it was, I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from my adoptive father.

"I went rogue."

Short chapter, I know. I'm sorry. But it needed to break here. I didn't want to split a chapter into two different POVs (*wink wink nudge nudge*). I promise that chapter three will be up today…maybe a little later (Ick. Homework.) But it WILL be up today.

So, like, review or whatever…or hey, wait until chapter three instead…or don't review at all…whatever floats your boat.

Word Counts:
This Chapter: 565
Total: 1,605

Happy Writings,
Vid.