Steve stood there staring at the door that Robin had just gone through seconds ago. He hated it when she closed herself off from people, running away and staying silent rather than opening up, but it was the way she was and there was no changing that. He was brought out of his trance when he heard a bunch of footsteps scurrying around and went back to the living room. Loki was standing in the corner by the couch. He was smirking, as if he was happy he got Robin to go mental. That pissed Steve off and made him stepped toward him in irritation.

I'm going to kill him….

"Steve!" He turned around to see Thor, Logan, Tony, Bruce, and the assassins making their way toward him. They all stopped in their tracks when they saw the shattered vase.

Tony shook his head, "Kids…*tsk tsk* who broke the vase?"

The red head ignored Tony but her eyes widened, "Rodgers, what the hell happened?"

"And where's the bird? She is the one who broke the vase isn't she?"

He just stared apprehensively at them, "I…I don't know."

Thor strode toward Loki and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, "You gave some explaining to do!" he bellowed.

Loki rolled his eyes, "Well you don't have to shout."


Robin walked around the city on her own, not really knowing where she was heading. She just let her feet take her wherever they pleased. She wasn't really thinking and that's how she wanted it to be. She just wanted to clear her head of everything, especially Loki. What she kept a secret for so long, he figured out within minutes, she just hoped no one else heard anything; she didn't think she could handle explaining everything to them. Thinking back, she was glad Steve held her back, who knows what would have happened if he hadn't…

Oh shit... she thought. Steve had pulled her back, meaning that he was nearby when it happened. A pit grew in her stomach as she realized that he could have heard everything, oh shit shit shit! Steve knowing was the exact opposite of what she needed. She grunted in frustration and kicked a nearby rock into a trash can.

"You alright?"

Robin turned to see a man a few feet away from her, looking at her as if she had a second head. She turned slightly red.

"Oh…um yes I'm fine."

"Are you sure, you seem a little off." He inched closer to her, "And a frown on a pretty girl's face is never a good thing."

Her cheek deepened in color, "Y-yes I'm sure. My life's just been a bit…chaotic lately. But I'm sure you have better things to do than care about that."

"On the contrary, I would love to listen, perhaps over coffee?" He gave her a seductive smile, "I'm Johnny by the way, Johnny Storm."

"Robin." She smiled shyly before coming back to her senses, "Thanks for the offer Johnny but I just need to have my space right now."

He shrugged, "Fair enough, I hope to see you around Robin."

"You too."

She nodded and he winked at her before they both parted ways. Something about him seemed very familiar but she just couldn't seem to place what exactly it was. She continued walking, trying to clear her head. The evening was chilly and she shivered in her light jacket, cursing herself for not putting on something warmer. In her defense she just ran out of the tower without really thinking. After walking around for a bit longer her feet started to ache, but the street around her was still surrounded by people. She walked ahead a bit more and hopped over some hedges to sit by the river.

The leaved crunched under her feet as she walked over to the edge of the cliff to over look the river; the area was secluded enough to let her be on her own but not enough so that a sociopath would attack her. The breeze was playing with her hair, making it dance. She sat down on the soft grass and let her feet dangle over the edge. The sun was just starting to set and the scenery looked beautiful. Streaks of sunlight bounced off her sliver locket, shinning on the dark orange water sparkled beautifully and tranquilly. In the distance she saw some swans swimming on the water and a few people on paddle boats laughing and enjoying the day. She enjoyed the serenity and smiled as she slowly felt stress leave her body. At the same time all the trepidation she had built up started to spill over too. The anxiety added with the chill of the day made her tremble, she closed her green eyes and tried her best to keep still but she just couldn't.

The next thing she knew she stopped trembling as something soft and warm was placed on her shoulders. Someone sat down next to her and in the river she could she her reflection as well as that of Steve Rodgers'.

"Thank you." She muttered, wrapping herself even more so in the jacket he had given her.

"Don't mention it."

"How did you know where to find me?" she asked, her eyes were still focused on the river.

"I had a hunch."

She remained silent and kept staring off into the distance, her head resting on his shoulder. She may have been pissed off at him but currently that was the farthest thing from her mind, she just needed a shoulder to lean on, literally.

"You ok?"

Robin shook her head slowly, "How much did you hear?"

"At the tower?" he asked, getting a nod from her in response, "Nothing really, I heard the vase shatter and that's when I can to see what happened." Robin let out a breath of relief but other than that she remained silent. She pulled jacket on tighter and clenched her teeth, trying to bask in the silence.

"Robin…I'm sorry about the other day."

"That's the farthest thing from my mind right now Rodgers."

He waited awhile in silence before continuing, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I wouldn't know where to start."

"Wherever you want, I'm all ears."

Robin took in a deep breath and closed her eyes before beginning.

"I just can't hold it in much longer. For as long as I can remember I've been on my own and I've had to hide things and force them down. I've been asked if I was ok so many times today that I lost count. Every time I was asked I just automatically said I was fine. I felt like I just had to say it, that it wasn't really an option not to, like I have to put on a mask but for once I just want to saw that 'NO! I am NOT ok!'"

"Why do you force it down?"

"Because letting it come out is just too much to deal with." She paused for a moment,

"Everywhere I go I try to forget but I just can't escape, my past keeps finding me and biting me in the ass."

"Maybe you need to face it to be able to move on."

Robin pondered over that for a moment, "Maybe, but right now I really don't want to face it."

"You'd rather run?"

"It's been working so far."

"You don't have to be on your own anymore you know."

She shrugged and the two stopped talking for awhile, just enjoying each other's company and the tranquility of the world at the moment. Robin was just happy that someone had cared enough to reach out to her, she really needed a friend. Another gush of wind blew, throwing Robin's hair over her face and chilling her and Steve to the bone. At that moment Steve stood up and extended a hand to Robin.

"We should probably head back. If we wait any longer they will probably send out a search party." She looked a bit nervous, "Don't worry Thor really put Loki in his place, and I promise no one will hassle you, Logan threatened to slice them."

Robin chuckled a bit and took his hand, Steve noticed that it was the first time he had seen her smile in a long time. It lit up her face entirely and he was happy that she was finally smiling again; he missed that side of her. He kept his arm around her shoulders as he led her over to his motorcycle. She paused when she saw it, a little apprehensive since she had never really rode a motorcycle before but nonetheless nodded and kept moving toward it. He handed her a helmet, probably the only one, and she sat behind him. While she waited for him to start the bike something in a nearby shop caught her eye.

"You ready?" Robin automatically came out of her trance and nodded, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Hold on tight."

He sped off, leaving the city behind them. Robin tightened her grip and rested her head against the back of his shoulder, feeling safe pleased with her current place.


A/N; First to tell me the irony/ connection with Johnny Storm gets TWO cookies :D

Please review and cast in your votes! The benefit will be here soon :D

~~Epoine