Hey guys! I'm sorry that the last 2 chapters have had a lot of dialogue in them.. This one will (unfortunately) have quite a bit of talking because Robin is going to tell his fellow heroes more about his past. I hope it isn't too annoying!
Oh, by the way- I haven't been able to get the break lines to work in my stories. Hopefully you were able to tell when a scene ends in the past 2 chapters.. Sorry!
Chapter 3: Secrets Shared
Robin sat alone while he waited for his friends to come back in. For the first time in a quite a while he was terrified. What if his friends were mad at him? The secrets he had kept from them were huge. Life changing, even. But that was the exact reason he really didn't want them to know. He knew that people felt bad for Richard Grayson, his other persona. Here, he could be Robin. A fearless, crime-fighting machine. But now that his friends knew, he was afraid that things would change. They would think of him differently and feel bad for him, and Robin didn't want that.
Wally, Kaldur, Conner, Megan, and Artemis all walked into the room. Robin couldn't tell what they were thinking. They all carried a somewhat blank look on their face.
"Hey, guys," he finally said. "I'm really sorry if I freaked you out, and I hope that you aren't mad at me."
Wally, the person he had trusted the most with his secret I.D stepped forward.
"Rob, it's not your fault. Don't worry about it."
But he was worrying. They probably had so many questions they wanted to ask, and Robin wasn't sure if he could answer them all.
"Batman told me that I could talk about my past if I wanted to. And I really think it will be better if I get it off my chest."
Robin saw relief flood over his teammates faces and knew that he could trust them and they trusted him.
Kaldur, being the great leader that he was, said, "Robin, please only tell us what you feel comfortable sharing. We have no intentions to make you uncomfortable."
"Thanks, Kaldur," Robin smiled. "Well, where do I begin? Since the time I could walk I've been doing acrobatics. I was in Haley's Circus with my mom and dad, (Robin tried not to flinch when he said those words) and we had our own act called The Flying Graysons. It was tons of fun. We were always on the move, and we'd do super stunts like hanging on the trapeze without a net and stuff. Everything was great. I was happy, and I loved performing with my family. Then everything changed one day when a man named Tony Zucco came to my parents. The guy wanted money, and lots of it.
Of course, my father had no intentions to give him what he wanted. He was a creep. He reminded me of guys on TV who act all tough and go around demanding for money that obviously isn't theirs. When my mom and dad refused to give him the money, he left. Well, we thought he did anyways. Later that week we were scheduled to perform our greatest show on the trapeze bars. We wouldn't have any net to catch us, and we would do tons of different types of flips and tricks that everyone would come and see. And this time, we would be in Gotham."
Robin's face went sad as he went on.
"I remember the last time we practiced. We had so much fun practicing. We joked around and laughed. I miss that."
By now, Megan looked close to tears. Even Artemis avoided eye contact with anyone else.
"When the night finally came where we would perform in Gotham, we were ready. We had every move down and I was super excited. Right before we went out I looked at all of the people. The most important person there was Bruce Wayne. Of course, I didn't know that."
Robin smiled and then continued.
"I remember right before my family went out my dad turned to me and said, 'You'll do great my little robin.' Then my mom said, 'We're so proud of you, son.' It was the last thing I ever heard them say."
Robin had started toying with the frayed corner of the blanket he was under. Telling the story of how his parents died was hard. Of course, this was the first time he had ever had to tell anyone.
"We went out to perform. I made my way up to one of the many ledges and waited for my turn to go. My parents were first. I watched them jump on to the trapeze doing crazy flips and twirls as the crowd went wild. I was enjoying it as much as everyone else. Seeing my parents perform together made me so happy. Seeing their faces as they swung and twisted and laughed? It was priceless. But then something happened that I don't like remembering."
At this point, Robin was working hard to keep the tears in.
"We had no idea what had happened. We had no idea that Tony Zucco had snuck in the night before and tweaked the wiring of the bars. We had no idea that on the final jump before I was supposed to join in on the performance, the wires would snap. I had no idea that my parents would fall to their deaths and I would have to watch them."
A single tear rolled down Robin's face.
"It took me a minute to realize what had just occurred. My parents, the only family I knew, the people who raised me and loved me so much, were gone in a matter of seconds. And I didn't even get to say goodbye."
Robin tried hard not to cry. But when he looked up and saw his teammates listening to every word he was saying, he knew he had to continue.
"Thankfully, things didn't go worse from there. You're probably wondering how that was even possible. But Bruce Wayne, a super rich playboy was looking out for me. He actually paid for my parent's funeral. Then he did something that was completely selfless. He took me in as a foster son. I remember one night when I was having a hard time he pulled me aside and said, 'You know what Alfred told me once Richard? He said, Why do we fall? So we can pick ourselves back up.'"
The Team listened carefully as the Boy Wonder shared all the feelings- all the stories- he had pushed aside this whole time that were finally being released.
Kaldur sat in awe as he listened to Robin talk about his life in the circus. Who knew that the young boy could be so talented in acrobatics? It amazed him. And seeing how Robin dealt with his parent's deaths amazed him even more.
Megan was close to tears as she heard Robin talk about his parents. They seemed so loving and nice. She couldn't bare to think of how hard it would be to lose someone like that.
Conner was mad. He couldn't believe that Robin could go through this and not want to smash that Zucco guy into a million pieces. He was astonished that the teen could still live knowing that Tony Zucco did as well.
Artemis couldn't believe what she was hearing. Losing both your parents at the age of nine? It seemed like no child could get through that. Artemis had a hard time seeing her mother in a wheelchair. She couldn't imagine how much harder it would be seeing your parents die.
Wally knew Robin's secret I.D. But this? He had never known the details of how Robin's parents had died. And now, he was sitting here listening to his best friend relive the awful events from four years ago. Wally had a new found respect for Robin. And he knew that the others
did as well.
Robin was the strongest kid they had ever met. Being able to watch your parents die was hard. But then coming back out of your grief to become a hero who fights for justice without wanting revenge? That was even harder. The Team had learned a great deal from Robin. They learned that no matter how hard they fell, they could always pick themselves back up.
Woo! SoRrY! That was a REALLY long chapter! :O Anyhoo, that's the end of the first story. The next few stories will be actual missions and stuff, but the Team will know Robin's identity. :D Please review! It seriously builds my self-esteem. ;) (But don't be too harsh) ;)