Chapter 2
Unmasked
"Silly!" Silhouette heard. She gasped as her eyes flew open to Gar's worried face. Her vision came into focus and she saw that she was now in the living room, lying down on the couch, the Titans crowded around her. They all wore expressions of worry and panic, and Gar had tears in his eyes. "Silly! Oh my god, are you okay?" He asked, taking a hold of her hand. Out of instinct she yanked it away and moved away from him, fearful. "Silly?" he asked with hurt in his voice.
"Silhouette?" she heard a deeper voice ask. She turned to see Robin kneeling down next to her, and though she couldn't see his eyes, his mouth was set in a tight frown and his brow creased, showing the worry on his face. She sighed in relief. "You were screaming. It was a nightmare, wasn't it?" She nodded, not trusting her voice. "What was it about?" As a reflex, her eyes flickered towards Gar, and just as fast flickered back. Robin nodded in understanding and stood up. "Give her some space," he said to Gar, placing a sympathetic hand on the green boy's shoulder. He nodded sadly and turned to walk down the hall. Robin looked to the other Titans as well and jerked his head in the direction Gar went. They too headed to their own rooms.
Robin looked down at her and gave her a weak smile. "Are you going to tell me what it was about? What did you dream about, Sil?" He asked hesitantly, gauging her reaction.
Silhouette sighed and sat up, crossing her legs beneath her. "I had a dream about a game of hide and seek," she said simply, chuckling at her own stupidity. "I was hiding, and..." She took a deep breath as tears slowly started to well up and glide down her cheeks. "It was dark. So, so dark. There were no stars, and no moon. Even I didn't feel comfortable. I couldn't see or hear anything except for footsteps running after me. There was a light up ahead, and I ran for it, but it went out. It was so dark, Robin. I was so scared," she admitted, wiping the tears off of her face. Robin adjusted himself so that he was sitting beside her, close enough for comfort, but not too close. "When a light finally did come on, it was from a lighter, in... in Beast Boy's hand. He looked so mean, so evil. He said we should play a game. Hide and seek. I would hide and if he found me, he—" she paused and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Her body was unbearably hot, and because of this, she tied her hair back. "If he found me he got to kill me. I asked what happens if he can't, and he said that that was impossible. So I ran. I found a tree and climbed it. He kept calling my nickname. Soon his voice started to sound scared, but I knew it was a trick. But then it was Gar's voice. He was scared and hurt and I couldn't do anything. When I jumped down, there he was, wicked smile and all. That's when he raised the knife and—" she couldn't continue.
Robin laid a hand on her back and rubbed soothing circles on it. His eyes flickered to the hallway, where he saw the shadow of Beast Boy leaning against the wall. He frowned at the thought; he shouldn't be spying. But now wasn't the time to be berating certain children. "Sil, is there a reason you had this dream? Something from your past, maybe?"
Silhouette gave him a glare. "We don't talk about my past, remember?" she snapped, her tears stopping instantly. Of course this was about her past. It was about her power, the taboo of it, how people view her. The hatred everyone has for her. The fear in their eyes as they look at her. Above all, it was the fear of what she'd become if she succumbed to the darkness. She sighed. "Of course it's from my past," she sobbed. She put her face in her hands and cried.
Robin gave up any hope at being considerate and wrapped his arms entirely around her, pulling her into him. "There is nothing wrong with you, Sil. You can talk to me. Stop hiding everything. I'm not going to judge you; there's not a thing wrong with you," he murmured as she sobbed, hoping to get her to be calm.
"You don't know a damned thing about me!" She lashed out, shoving away from him, her tears cascading down her face and staining Gar's shirt. "Stop acting like it's okay! Stop pretending! If I told you about my past, you'd never look at me the same!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Robin could see Beast Boy's head poking out around the corner, the concern and the recognition on his face evident. Robin sighed. "I was so young when my parents died. I didn't know what to do. I was so alone, and I didn't ever think I'd be where I am now. But I gained a new family. Bruce and Alfred, they were my family." He chuckled softly. "It wasn't much, but it was family. Under Bruce, I learned so much, so much more than I ever thought I could know. I had thought I knew fear, I had thought that fear was thinking there were monsters under your bed. It's so much more than that. Fear is loneliness, fear is sadness and hopelessness. You may not be with Doom Patrol anymore, but you still have a family. We're your family. But it's a two-way street, and if we're to trust you, you have to trust us. I'm not saying that you have to spill every single horror about yourself to everyone, but you can start by telling a secret to a friend," he explained, taking her hand.
Silhouette knew exactly how he felt. There was a difference between being scared and truly knowing fear. She'd been close friends with fear all her life, and her chance of trusting anyone was lower than a pig learning how to fly. But maybe, just once, she could tell a secret to a friend. Looking up at Robin, she was met with masked eyes, and she hated it. If she has to tell a secret, so does he. "You have to take your mask off first," she said quickly before she could back out altogether. If he did this, there was no going back. She'd have to tell him. Maybe not about her parents, or her fear of herself, but maybe she could tell him about her powers, about the real reason she was kicked out of Doom Patrol.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up slightly. She reached over and adjusted the spikes back into place. "Why?" he asked softly, looking down to the ground. "I just told my entire past to you, and yet you want me to take off my mask, too?" He rubbed his temples lightly with his fingers, obviously trying to ward off a headache.
"Because, you told me that I have to open up, but I don't even know who I'm really opening up to," she explained. Silhouette wrung her hands slightly before pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. "I don't really know you, Robin. I guess you don't really know me, either, but like you said, it's a two-way street. But you have to go first," she told him, looking over his tense figure.
He nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly. "Okay. I suppose you're right." He looked up from the ground, and saw Beast Boy's gaping face. He looked almost hurt, but Robin couldn't help that right now. Right now he was trying to take care of a friend. He reached up slowly, his hands shaking slightly, and took hold of his mask. Gently, he peeled it away, blinking at the light that was now much brighter before looking over to Silhouette.
She gasped at the wide baby blue eyes that stared back at her. Smiling softly, she held out her hand. "Hi, I'm..." she hesitated, looking towards the windows. She let her hand drop for a moment, her smile fading. "I'm a fake. That's what I am. I'm trying to pretend to be someone else so that I don't have to face myself. I'm afraid of my own name for Christ's sake!" She sobbed, burying her face in her hands.
Robin reached over and moved them away from her face. "You don't have to be anyone that you don't want to be," he assured. "Your name is whatever you choose it to be." He looked at her curiously. Her face was sad and far away, her eyes not really focusing on him and her lips set in a frown. "I don't care who you used to be. I just wanna know who you are now." Her smile returned to her face as he held out his hand. "But my name is Richard Grayson. Most people call me Dick."
She shook it softly, giggling. "It's nice to meet you, Dick. I'm Silhouette," she said softly. Her smile faded for a moment before returning. "But I used to be known as—"
She was interrupted by the sound of an alarm as an image popped up on the large screen in front of the couch. The image was of somebody in town, causing destruction. Silhouette tried not to pay attention and turned to the window as the rest of the Titans ran in. "It's the H. I. V. E.," Cyborg said. "Rob, we'd better go take care of that," he said to his unresponsive friend as he watched the broken girl in front of him, tears slowly dripping down her face.
Robin turned to his team. "Okay. In a moment," he assured. He took Silhouette's hand in his. "You don't have to come. In fact, I think it would be better if you stayed here," he said before snatching up his mask and heading down the hall, most likely to get dressed in his Robin uniform.
Silhouette sighed and, after a moment, headed down the hall as well. She passed what must've been Robin's room, the door cracked and voices coming from inside. Curious, she stood outside for a moment.
"Dick, she needs to go. We don't know who she is or anything about her. She could be working with someone to bring us down from the inside and we can't risk that right now. She's dangerous, I can tell, and she's smart. Gar shouldn't have invited her in the first place," she heard Raven's voice say. She looked to the ground and shook her head slowly, agreeing with the girl.
"No, she's not, Raven. She's a good person, and she doesn't have anywhere to go. I'm not going to kick her out. If she gives us a real reason to be suspicious, then I'll consider it. Until then, you can deal with it," Robin said simply, completely destroying the girl's argument.
"Look, Dick, I'm not the only one who thinks she should go. Vic thinks she's really suspicious and odd, as well. Even Gar says she's changed, that she's not the same as she used to be," Raven explained, trying to look for any room for movement on Robin's part.
"People change, Raven. Just because she isn't comfortable with talking about herself yet doesn't mean that she's trying to wiggle her way in and kill us in our sleep," Robin said harshly. "Now please get out so we can go save the city."
Silhouette quickly scurried down the hall to her own room before Raven could spot her spying on their conversation. Shutting the door behind her, she collapsed against it, sliding down to the floor. She looked around at the bare room and sighed. The cream-colored walls were annoying, the white bed sheets were annoying, her empty closet was annoying, her empty desk was annoying. Maybe she should go shopping while they were out.
With what money? She reminded herself. Then she remembered that Gar was gonna have Starfire taking her shopping, and since that didn't happen maybe she could go by herself. Hustling out of the room, she caught the Titans as they were opening the door. "Wait!" She shouted, sliding to a halt in between Gar and Robin. "I don't know how long you'll be gone, so do you mind if I go shopping? I'm kinda out of clothes," she explained, picking at Gar's old shirt. She looked up at Dick, knowing it was really his decision as leader.
He shrugged. "There should be a credit card somewhere on the kitchen counter. Get what you'd like. Clothes, things for your room. You don't have to pay it back," he said, looking down at her short form through masked eyes. She smiled brightly.
"Thanks," she murmured as they began filing out the door. As soon as it closed she headed towards the kitchen, her socks sliding on the linoleum, causing her to almost fall at least three separate times as she scoured the counter. Eventually she found the small plastic card in a glass bowl in the corner of the counter. Pocketing it, she looked down at her shirt and decided that she should at least put something more acceptable on.
She finally decided to check Gar's drawers for a more suitable shirt. Her jeans were mostly clean, so she'd be okay to wear those. In his bottom drawer she found a few suitable shirts. A black Under Armour shirt, but it was long-sleeved, and she thought it'd be annoying to feel on her arms. Next to it she found a loose-fitting purple t-shirt, but it felt scratchy when she reached inside of it.
But underneath everything he had shoved into the drawer, Silhouette found a black t-shirt that said "Screw Superman. Batman has a hot sidekick." She burst into a fit of laughter at the irony and the truth of it, thinking of Robin without his mask. She remembered the t-shirt—it used to be hers. She'd lost it a few months before Gar had left Doom Patrol. Apparently this was where it had ended up.
She took off the white t-shirt and threw it onto Gar's bed, pulling her t-shirt on and feeling the smooth cotton that she missed so much. She figured it might be kind of embarrassing for the Titans to see her in it, but it brought back so many good memories that she couldn't help it. She smiled at the thought of Robin's face before closing the drawer and heading out to the mall.
0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0
Silhouette had enjoyed the shopping part of her endeavor very much. She wasn't enjoying the putting everything away part. As she lay in the room with absolutely everything she bought strewn around her, she sighed and stared at the cream colored pock-marked ceiling. She thought about the black and neon paint that now sat on their sides next to the door. Eventually she'd get around to painting. She probably should've done that while all her stuff was in bags.
She'd move her stuff around and have Robin help her when he got back, but for now she needed to put her clothes away. She groaned and stood up, surveying the area. All of her clothes lay piled haphazardly in front of the closet. Moving at a zombie-like pace, she kicked any other clothes that fell out of the pile onto it. Her pile of hangers was lying next to her clothes.
Silhouette began picking up hangers and putting her clothes on them before placing them in the closet. She had bought at least 15-20 shirts of various colors—but mostly red, purple, and black—as well as jeans to go with every shirt and at least five pajama sets. On the floor of the closet she adjusted her ten pairs of shoes, Chuck Taylor's and combat boots making up most of that collection. On the shelf above her clothes rod she piled her socks and undergarments, not really having anywhere else to put them.
When she conquered that mess she began organizing her desk. First she took the mirror off of the wall on the other side of the room and put it above the desk so that it could double as a vanity. She then piled all of the makeup she had bought—still mostly red, purple, and black—into the top drawer under the right of the desk. Then she put the notebooks, sketchpads, pens, and pencils in the bottom drawer. She put all of her lotions, body sprays, and other toiletries she had bought on top of the desk. She had even bought her own shampoo and such so she didn't have to use anybody else's.
Finally she got to the hard part. Decorating. In reality it was pretty simple, but she was tired. She put up her blood red curtains, which made the room look like it'd seen an ax murder when the sun shined through it. Then she stripped the bed and put on her purple and black bed set. She was going to hang up the posters she'd bought, but she figured that could wait until the room was painted.
Silhouette heard the front door open and slam shut and excitedly hurried out the door, kicking her paint cans out of the way in the process. When she got to the living room, everyone was slumped over the couch, looking exhausted. The only one who wasn't was Robin, who sat on the counted in the kitchen, facing his tired team. He was munching on an apple, and smirked when he laid eyes on Silhouette.
"What?" she snapped, wondering what his haughty smirk was for. She put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. "Do you have a problem?"
He swallowed his bite of apple. "No. But I really like your shirt," he mused. She quirked an eyebrow and frowned, looking down at her shirt. When she remembered what she was wearing, she blushed and let her hands fall back to her sides. "It's okay. You can't hide the truth," he chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah. You're an arrogant idiot," she huffed, making her way over to the refrigerator. She grabbed out an apple as well, joining Robin on the counter and looked at the Titans. Starfire was playing with her fingers, her face red out of exertion. Raven was meditating, and Cyborg was messing with his controls. Beast Boy seemed to have fallen asleep. "What'd you do to them?" she wondered, looking towards Robin.
"I didn't do anything to them. But it seems as though the H. I. V. E. wore them out. This is what they get for being lazy," he said loudly, causing Beast Boy to cease his snoring and glare at the masked boy.
"I'm sure they're not that lazy, Bird Brain," she chuckled. Gar was once again snoring—rather loudly too—and it reminded her of the times that he would stay up so long playing games that he'd fall asleep with his controller on his face. She giggled at his face, drool slowly pooling on his chin. "Well, except Gar," she decided.
"Yeah," Robin chuckled. "Except Gar. Or maybe you," he poked her in the side. She swatted his hand away and glared at him. "And I really like that shirt," he chuckled. She continued to glare at him
She shook her head lightly. "Oh, yeah. I wanted some help painting my room, if you're not entirely exhausted like everyone else," she asked, an excited grin on her face. He smiled back at her and nodded, pushing himself off the counter.
"I'll put on something less important and stain-able, you go move your furniture out of the way." He turned and headed down the hall towards his room. Silhouette shrugged and headed towards her own room.
After she had moved all of her furniture to the middle of the room, Silhouette heard a knock at her door. She told the person—who she assumed was Robin—to come in. But the person that came through her door was a pissed off Raven with her arms crossed. Silhouette raised an eyebrow and looked at the gray-skinned girl in front of her. "Yes?" she asked when Raven didn't say anything.
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You need to go. Or else we'll make you. You're nothing but trouble, and you do nothing but get in the way," Raven sneered before turning back out the door. Silhouette watched her go out of curiosity before shaking her head in disbelief and turning back to the task at hand, opening the paint. Which she couldn't seem to do.
"Need some help?" she heard from the doorway. When she looked up, there was Dick, dressed in a plain pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Without his mask. Silhouette smiled and nodded, holding out the can with a pout. Dick chuckled and opened the cans easily. Then they began painting.
In the end, Silhouette's walls turned out black with neon paint drips across the entire room, and her ceiling was decorated with neon green and black zebra stripes. Dick looked at her smiling face and chuckled. Her smile dropped and she looked at him curiously. "What's so funny?" she challenged.
"You," he said simply, pushing her desk back against the wall now that the paint was dry. "Do you want some help putting your posters up?"
"After you tell me why I'm so hilarious," she pushed, crossing her arms. He rolled his baby blue eyes and walked over to her, copying her pose.
"'After you tell me why I'm so hilarious,'" he mocked, smirking. She glared and punched him playfully in the arm. "Because you're adorable," he stated, turning around and picking up her bagful of posters, picking up one and tearing open the plastic. He unrolled it and looked at her Pierce the Veil poster. He raised a questioning eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and snatched the poster from his hands, taking it and tacking it up next to her window.
It continued this way for a while, with Dick opening and unrolling the posters and Silhouette putting them up where she'd like. Dick stopped and raised a curious eyebrow when, after her band posters, he came across Titanic poster. "Are you actually a girl on the inside, Sil?" he asked once she finished hanging up her Motionless in White poster.
"Only on Fridays and alternating Tuesdays. Why?" she inquired, turning around, where Dick was holding up her Titanic poster. Her face flushed bright red and "Oh," was all she could force out. "I forgot I bought that." She took it from her chuckling friend and looked for a good place to hang it on the wall.
Dick smirked and walked up behind her, whispering "I'm king of the world," in her ear and wrapping his arms around her waist. Silhouette adamantly shook her head.
"Nope. Uh-uh. I'm king of the world," she insisted, moving out of his arms to tack her poster next to her Black Veil Brides poster next to the window. "You can be the queen," she said enthusiastically, giving him a wide grin. He rolled his eyes at her.
"But I'll be a damn hot queen," he assured her, striking a stupid pose.
"Says who?" she giggled.
"Says you," he smirked. "It's written all over your shirt." She glanced down and blushed again.
"No. You don't deserve to be queen," she said with a smirk. "You can be the glittery fairy princess," she decided as she began to walk out of the room.
"Oh, hell no!" he shouted, running after her.
