Alright guys, next chapter is here, and a bit more serious from the last. BUT, I still threw in plenty of humor. And I promise the chapter after this will be chocked full of crazy-Black!
-This is a line thingy-
Robin. Black tossed and turned as that name reverberated in his head over and over.
Robin. Who was he, anyway? He saw his picture, he knew his roles, and saw the respect his friends had for him. But still, who was this person? And why did his name make Black so angry.
Robin. A stranger. Robin. A phobia. Robin. An enemy.
Black saw no point in sleeping anymore that night. Sure, the couch was comfortable, and sure, the tower was warm and dry. To date, it was the most comfortable night he ever had (to his knowledge). But the more he slept, the more he dreamt. And the more he dreamt, the more memories came back.
As Black rose and folded the sheets lent to him, he wondered why only bad memories came to him. People dying, crying, bleeding. Pain, sorrow...things you tend to try to forget first we're coming back first.
He folded the sheets neatly and piled them on the end of the couch. It was the middle of the night, still dark in the tower. His eyes were keen to the dark, but the light glow from the numbers on the appliances in the kitchen helped a bit.
Black's reasoning was, the titan's had taken him in out of the kindness of their hearts, the least he could do is keep from being a burden.
A rather sane thought, don't you think?
First though, since he was up and all alone, he decided to take care of himself. He changed into Beast Boy's borrowed clothes. He blanched at the purple stripes. Purple was not his color.
Next, he allowed himself a tour of the tower. Some rooms he explored more then others; such as the medical room. He needed to get his Valium fix somehow.
For each of the bedrooms, he took time to acknowledge whose was where. With Raven's, he poked his head in, saw the shadows and left. In Beast Boy's, he stepped in, got a whiff, and backtracked quickly. Cyborg's room was a bit more fun. Black tiptoed in, noticing the gauge on his computer. The tin man was charged up to 80% according to his screen.
Black tinkered with some of the tools sitting on the workbench, but when one dropped and made a loud clang, he bolted from the room.
Next was Starfire's. The boy peeped his head in the room, and when he saw no machines or demonic statues, and smelled no tofu armpit barf, he slid in. He liked Starfire for that; a comforting sort of normalcy in the tower. Ironically, the most normal room belonged to the alien. He acknowledged her Lacey white curtains, and the random stuffed animals around the room. But he was most interested in her, more over, how she slept. Her feet on her pillow and her hair draping over the end of the bed.
"I wonder if that's comfortable." He mused.
She stirred.
Black hushed himself. He stared at her a bit longer and then moved on.
Finally, his bedroom exploration was ended with Robin's room. He opened the door and blacked out.
Morning rolled around with Raven first to wake up. She walked in the ops room, only to be utterly surprised. She expected the house guest to be still asleep on the couch, not cooking breakfast.
"Good morning, Blackbird!"
"Raven." She corrected.
"But raven's don't sing in the dead of night."
"And neither do I." She quipped.
"Fair. Coffee?"
"I'll stick to tea."
Next, in came Cyborg. "Dude, what's that smell?"
"Bacon, eggs, ham, fat, grease...what do you want?"
"You made all of this?"
"Well, it didn't poop out of thin air!"
"Just as a heads up, Beast Boy doesn't eat meat."
"That's why I made the tofu French toast up from the fridge."
"A thousand points to hufflepuff."
Speak of the devil, Beast Boy grunted and shuffled into the room. "'Mornin'"
"Yo BB! Black made breakfast, and it is awesome!"
"Off the hizzy," Black corrected.
Out of nowhere, an ear shattering scream pierced through the air. It sounded like Starfire. The team rushed to the scene with Black in tow.
They found her standing in the doorway of Robin's room. She got support from the now-bent frame. Tears were rolling down her face as she stared at the chaos of Robin's room.
"Who would do such a thing?" She cried.
"Dude..." Beast Boy fell awestruck as the other two were speechless. Black was silent.
Robin's room had been ransacked. Bedding shredded, pillows ripped and spilling with feathers. His clothes from his neatly organized closet were flung all over the room. His bedside table was flipped and the lamp once upon it, was shattered.
The team entered to more study the damage, while Black stayed were he was.
"Robin's not going to be happy someone went through his room." Raven stated, using her powers to start cleaning up.
"Indeed he will not." Starfire began to fold the uniforms.
"But, we have to go through it to fix it." Beast Boy added.
"He'll want it neat and orderly." Cyborg finished.
Black looked on his new friends with sorrow. After making breakfast for them, they ended up having to clean up a mess he was responsible for. Yes, he was the one who caused the havoc. He bit his lip as he surveyed the room. He truly felt foreign and out of place. Even if he tried to believe otherwise, he was a burden to them. They didn't have a place to spare, Robin's place would never be open for him.
And that only made him hate the boy more.
Before leaving, however, he slipped past the teens over to the bedside table. On the floor laid a shattered picture frame. Black slipped the photo out, already knowing who was in it, and stuck it in his back pocket.
"What about his office? Was that okay?" Cyborg asked.
"You know I dislike entering that room." Star sighed. "I did not look."
"I'll check." Raven volunteered, saving Star from the unpleasant task.
Black decided to help, as unfavorable as it was. He picked up a pair of tights, matched it with a shirt and cape and put it in the closet.
"You do not need to help Black." Starfire reasoned.
"Yes I do." He silently stated.
Raven came back into the room. "Nothing out of place. Even the dust is the same."
"Good." Cyborg sighed. "Then whoever did this wasn't looking to gain intel on us."
Raven eyeballed Black in scrutiny. He wiggled his fingers back in reply.
"For the most part, it looks like most of the stuff wasn't really damaged. If you look, everything irreplaceable is intact." Beast Boy noted.
"Except whatever was in this frame. It's empty now." Starfire spoke as she picked up the glass.
"Could we watch the video footage for clues?" Raven asked.
Black's eyes widened in trepidation.
"No, no camera's in the room, remember?"
Black sighed in relief. "What's with his traffic light color scheme?" He asked, breaking up the topic.
Starfire answered with a small smile. "He once told me his uniform design was to pay honor to his parents. But he didn't explain much about it."
"Come to think of it," Cyborg interrupted. "We don't really know much about Robin's past at all. Just, basic stuff."
"Hmm, some friend." Black huffed. "I told you everything I know about me. Not purposefully keeping secrets, you know."
Cyborg sighed and gripped his friend's shoulder. "We know Black, and we appreciate it."
Just then, the alarm sounded.
"Titans, go!" Cyborg shouted. The team burst into action.
Black stood frozen in place. For a moment, he looked around, and then left, his mind reeling.
The team returned four hours later, exhausted.
"I hope our friend has not been too confused without us here."
"Dude, he's always confused." Beast Boy elaborated.
"Let's just hope he didn't set anything on fire."
"I don't care what he did, I'm just starving!" With that, the door opened to the common room. Shocked, the teens stood stock still at the doorway.
Hundreds upon hundreds of paper cranes littered the floor, the table and miraculously hung from the ceiling. Black laid in the middle of the room, flat on his face.
"Dude, what are doing?" Beast Boy asked, amusement in his voice.
"Waiting for you guys to come home." He answered, not looking up.
"Well, we're home."
Black jumped to his feet, beaming. "Herro!"
"What's with all the birds?" Raven raised an eyebrow.
"They are my friends." Black stated firmly, his hands behind his back. "And I love them dearly."
Starfire gleamed. "I shall hang the rest of them up so they are not harmed!" She quickly gathered the birds into her arms and flew up.
"So," Raven spoke up as the team split up to do their own thing. "Did you sleep alright last night?"
"Sure! I got a full forty minutes!"
"Will you be alright here by yourself when we leave on missions?"
"No." He pouted. "You have to take me with you."
"I don't think so." She smirked. "It was one thing when you were living out there, but you need to stay put. You're ill Black. Seriously. In the head."
"Please Rae Rae!" He threw himself on the ground and grabbed her leg. "Please let me join you guys! Please!"
"No!" She attempted to shake him off.
"TAKE ME WITH YOU!"
"I'm warning you!" Her eyes glowed.
"Oh Raven, you forgot to shave."
Seen from outside the tower was a black haired kid sailing from the roof out into the bay. The alien had to retrieve him.
Inside, Black finally got the chance to take a shower, or in this case, a bath. Don't judge him.
Cyborg came waltzing down the hall to see Beast Boy with his ear pressed against the bathroom door.
"B, what are you doing?"
"Sshh!" He hushed him sharply. "Come here and listen!"
The robot did as he was told. A grin stretched on his face as he listen to the conversation Black was having with himself.
"I was born a poor black child...no. I don't know what I was born. Was I born? Babies, what are they good for? Miss Scarlet, I don't know nothing about birthing no babies! It'll be an orphan. Like Annie."
Then he started singing, "The sun'll come out, tomorrow. Bet your bottom..." He stopped. "Bet my bottom? I'm coming Elizabeth! For I am William Turner, my father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! What AARR ya doin?! What are you doing? No, what ARRR you doin'?! Do or do not, there is no try. The force is strong with this one!"
Then he started singing again, to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody, but definitely not with the right lyrics. "I am the captain of the Starship Enterprise...Captain Kirk: This is Spock. Please step on the transporter...Dilithium crystals! Hit by Klingon missiles! No!...I'm a doctor!...Not an actor!...Not a milkman!...What does that mean?...And I'm sorry - He's dead, Jim...Photon torpedo!" Suddenly, there was a loud splash and water started to come from under the door.
"Clean up on aisle seven."
The two boys lost it and could barely contain their laughter.
Night rolled around and everyone made their way to bed. Black laid in silence, waiting for everyone to fall asleep. The coast seemed clear so he treated lightly across the ground and made his way to the hall. At the end, highlighted by the moonlight from the window, was his objective.
Robin's room.
Carefully, he stole down passed the rooms, his heart pounding. And the hydraulic door slid open, Black realized he had never had such a moment of clarity, of sanity. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he felt very wrong, and somehow, very right at the same time. He opened the closet doors and scanned over the multiple uniforms hanging. Finally, his gaze landed on the masks sitting on the shelves. As he reached for one, he wondered if he really should. He picked up the article. It weighted heavily in his hand. With his free hand, he combed the hair back from his face, then carefully placed the mask on his own skin. It didn't feel differently, but he had to see himself. In Robin's bathroom, he closed his eyes and flicked on the light. Hesitantly, he looked up.
He knew it. The whole time, a nagging voice was telling him from the back of his head that it was true. The boy looking back at him in his reflection looked just like...
"Robin?"
Black turned around quickly to see Starfire standing in the doorway.
"Can it be?" She reached out for him. "Robin?"
Angered and afraid, he tore of the mask and ran from the room.
That's not me...