Ethereal sat on the roof of the warehouse, with her wisp flying around impatiently. She couldn't hardly remember her first night here in Gotham. It seemed like a lifetime ago. She tried not to think about it too much. She was trying her best to put it all behind her, like a bad dream. She still hadn't really told anyone about it. Canary (and presumably the League) only knew bits and pieces.
She ran her hand through her wild hair, billowing behind her with the night, sea breeze. She could vaguely hear the sounds of the waves crashing up against the shoreline of the dock. It seemed like at night, on patrol, or on assignment was the only time she could actually be herself. She felt like she had changed so much about herself, it felt nice to sit up high above Gotham and just watch the people, like she had in the beginning. She thought the team and Mount Justice would start to feel like home at some point, but it still felt just as alien as ever. If she didn't belong with her own kind anymore, and she didn't belong here, where did she belong? Where was an alien without a planet supposed to go? She probably should have voiced more of that to M'gann, but M'gann just brushed off most of what E asked about. She was home here, these were her people. As E sat there, perched above the warehouse, she figured she really only had one person. Even after all this time, there was really only one person who had accepted her from the beginning.
"Hey!" Robin bounced beside her and the wisp flew to him excitedly, "Hey there lil guy, miss me?"
"You know he's not an animal, right?" E got up, and walked to him, summoning the wisp back to her where it promptly disappeared.
"Jeez, well someone's in a mood tonight," He said raising an eyebrow, "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," She said defensively, "I just don't know why you wanted to meet here."
He shrugged, "This was where it all began."
"This was where I killed a man," She tried to keep her face expressionless. It was easier, in her real form. At least she didn't have to parade around in her human suit with him. He already knew how she looked and wouldn't give her side-eye glances like the rest of the team.
"Yeah, did I ever thank you for that?" He asked, "Or tell you how badass that was?"
"You are so dark, you know that?" She smiled, turning back to him. She walked over to the edge of the roof before climbing inside a window onto the overhang above the warehouse floor. It was crazy, everything still looked the same. She could hear him rappel down through the window beside her. "You were over there."
She pointed to a few crates on the other side of the catwalk, "You were just staring at me."
"I remember," He said quietly, "I thought you were a ghost."
"A ghost?" She looked to him incredulously, "Of who?"
He paused before pinching his lips together, not wanting to divulge, "My mom."
"I never knew you had a mom who died," E wanted to reach out, to comfort him, but she didn't know how.
"It was a long time ago," He waved it off, "I don't talk about it. Want to go get food?"
She nodded and soon they were back on another rooftop, with a bag of fast food from a local burger joint. He sat with one leg over the side of the building, as if daring death, and one leg out in front of him. She sipped her soda quietly, feeling awkward. She didn't usually feel awkward around him. He mostly felt like home with her.
"You know, I still don't know how you got here," He said, cutting through the silence. He dipped his hand into the bag of food and retrieved a handful of French fries. "You told me once it was exile."
E pursed her lips, deliberately not answering by sipping on her soda. "I don't talk about it."
"I'll tell you if you tell me." He smiled, egging her on. "C'mon, we hardly know anything about each other."
"That's not true," She watched a drunken man on the street below stumble down the sidewalk. "You know everything about me."
"Yeah right."
"You know, I still don't know your real name other than 'Robin'. I actually thought that was your name when we met," She laughed, Robin smiled and shook his head.
"That's the Bat's thing. Believe me, I'm not very interesting without the mask," He took another bite of fries.
"I highly doubt that, you have always interested me," E laid her upper body back onto the roof so she was staring at the stars while her legs still hung over the edge of the building.
"Why?" He asked quizzically.
"You remind me of…well me actually." She said quietly, trying to find the words to explain herself, "You don't just think white and black, you actually fight to keep this city safe, and you aren't afraid of what happens in the process."
"That's not true," He muttered, looking of in the distance. "I get scared a lot."
"You don't seem like it," She said, raising her hands under her head supporting her neck, "You have this confidence."
"Yeah that's another Batman thing."
"I don't believe that," She turned her head to look at him, "You are the reason I'm even here, I'm even on the team."
He nodded silently while looking back at E.
"One day I'm going to get out of here," He muttered, "I am just going to be my own person, y'know? Turn it all around."
E said nothing, only watched him.
"Did you know that I only became Robin after Bats caught me trying to steal the tires off the Batmobile?" He laughed to himself and looked back out over the horizon, "He saw something in me that I didn't. Something worth having around."
"If it makes you feel better I pulled a guy's heart from his chest and you decided I was worth keeping around," She smiled, looking over to him.
"Yeah, because that was awesome," He smiled. "Why did you do that anyway?"
"I'm not totally sure," She paused, looking back to the stars, "I didn't want him to hurt you again."
He moved from where he was sitting to lie down next to her. She almost blushed when he moved his arm under her neck to support her. He pointed up at the sky.
"That's the Big Dipper," He said, motioning to a grouping of a few stars, "Is it the same sky…where you are from?"
E shook her head, "No, it is a lot different. Much different."
Robin didn't ask again as she shifted her weight, "You know, my mom died of an overdose."
She said nothing. Honestly, she wasn't quite sure what a 'overdose' was. It didn't sound good. It didn't sound like something enjoyable for a son to watch though, "My father was executed in front of me."
He turned his head, looking down at her, "You're just saying that to make me feel better."
"No, he was not a very…good person," She shook her head, trying to explain it in a way he could understand, "My whole family really, are not good people."
He was silent for a few minutes before talking again, "Can I ask why?"
"You can ask," She said, turning her head to look at him. His blue eyes were almost piercing, as if he could see into her very being.
"So," He paused, "You did something bad…to get sent here."
She nodded slowly, not liking where this was going.
"Worse than pulling that guy's heart out?" He asked, curiously, raising an eyebrow.
"Worse than that," She answered, really not wanting to get into it. "So, Batman is your new family?"
"Pretty much," He said, turning his head back to the sky and sighing. "I was a street kid and he took me in. Taught me how to control my anger," he paused, "for the most part."
"Do you feel," E paused, "At home? With him? With the team?"
"That's not a loaded question at all," He looked back at her, smile creeping to his lips. "He's not my mom. But I'm comfortable. I like the team. I like Bats."
She nodded, "I like them too."
"But it's not home."
"But it's not home," she repeated, looking into his eyes.
They laid side by side like that for a while. At some point the both of them fell asleep, on the top of the roof. When E woke up, she was lying face down on the gravel. She squinted as she awoke and tried to move to get up. Robin was lying next to her, mouth hanging open with one arm thrown over her lower back.
Wake up, the sun is rising," She said leaning on her elbows as she squinted at the morning sunrise. Robin groaned and tried to roll over before she nudged him.
"What?" He asked, eyes still closed.
"The sun is rising." She said again, climbing to her knees.
"What?" He asked again, squinting at the sun. Before she could repeat herself again, he jumped to his feet above her.
"SHIT!" He yelled loudly, "Shit Shit Shit."
She watched as he stumbled over himself and checked his phone.
"Shit, okay I have to go," He looked over at her, "I'll see you later, but shit sorry, I have a plane to catch."
E waved him off and smiled. She stretched looking into the morning sunrise. She couldn't remember the last time she woke up feeling so warm. She watched as his silhouette bounced across the building tops on his way home. She smiled a half smile, watching as he got smaller in the distance.
If she had known that was the last time she would ever see him, she would have said goodbye.