Well, here it is, as promised the second chapter to 'Of Birds and Bats'. I know, these chapters are a bit short, but then again, this isn't meant to be a full length story, its just kind of filling in the gaps here and there. Upcoming chapters in this story will feature Batgirl and Batman reacting to Robin becoming 'Nightwing' during the 4 month time-jump in chapter 5 of Fearless, a special occasion that occurs right after the epilogue in chapter 6 where Dick pops the question, and then, the final chapter will be...the wedding. BUT! Until then, here's chapter two:
"I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anything else in all my days Rae...starting a relationship with you would give me enough happiness to last me the rest of my life. But...that kind of happiness...after what I did to Starfire, the way I treated her...I...I don't deserve it. I'm sorry. I really am. To both of you."
And with one last kiss upon his lover's lips, Robin walked out the door. The two girls stood there, shell shocked. Raven could barely comprehend what happened before she went running out into the hallway after him. But he was gone. She spent the remainder of the night searching the tower, and the streets of Jump City for her lover, but he was nowhere to be found. Robin had left the Teen Titans.
Since he had no super-powers of his own, there were three things that Robin used to keep up with his enhanced allies. The first was his mastery of the martial arts. The second, his keen intellect and sharp detective skills. The third, and most obvious, were the high-tech gadgets and weapons he armed himself with. From his extending bo-staff, to his bird-a-rangs and other throwing devices, Robin had a plethora of state of the art devices at his disposal. However, there was one device that none of the other Titans knew about.
Bruce gave it to him for his 18th birthday. It was a small watch that Robin wore under his gloves, although upon further inspection of the item, one would notice there were no hour or minute hands, or even numbers for that matter on the face of it. Instead, it was a blank screen with a few buttons on it. Robin hit the first button. The words "Gotam City" appeared on the screen. Robin then pushed the second button, and under the first words, "Wayne Manor" appeared. After pausing for a moment, Robin shook his head and pushed the second button again. "Wayne Manor" disappeared and was replaced by the words "Gordon Residence". Robin pressed the third button and in a flash of green light disappeared without a trace from the halls of Titan Tower.
Robin's teleporter was based on the same technology that the Justice League used to travel back and forth from their Satellite base. Impressive as it was, Robin didn't like using it that much, it was his ace in the hole, and he needed it to be kept a secret. Tonight however, was an exception, he knew Raven would go looking for him, and he needed to get out of Jump City fast.
Moments later, Robin materialized in the middle of Batgirl's bedroom.
"AAAAH!!!"
"Babs! It's ok! It's just me."
"Jesus, Robin! Talk about giving a girl a heart attack!" Batgirl said, as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry Babs, but I didn't feel like going home, and when I set my teleporter to your house, these were the coordinates I programmed it to. Didn't want to materialize in your living room right in front of your dad or something. By the way, is he home?"
Batgirl sighed again, "No, he isn't. Ever since The Joker declared all out war on Batman my dad's been pulling all-nighters trying to keep everything in order. I hope he's alright..."
Robin put his hand on the shoulder of his friend and sister-figure. "I'm sure he's just fine, Babs. Your dad's been commissioner for years and he hasn't gone down yet."
"Yeah...you're right." Batgirl turned her attention from the floor to Robin's face. "So...why did you come here, Dick?"
"I...I don't know. I just..." Robin fought back a tear. "I just needed to get away from the tower. Look, I really don't feel like talking about it right now, alright? Babs, I'm sorry for intruding in on you like this, but...do you think I could crash here for awhile? I don't want Bruce to know I ran away from the Titans because of personal problems."
Batgirl let out a defeated sigh, but secretly smiled on the inside, at the thought of Robin spending the night with her. "Of course you can stay, Dick. But we're going to talk about this at some point in time, ok?"
"Ok."
The next couple of weeks didn't exactly play out the way Batgirl had hoped. Instead of being able to spend any sort of quality time with Robin, the boy she had known since she was a young child, and the boy she secretly liked, maybe even loved, all she was able to do was be pushed away. Day after day, Robin kept to himself and quietly moped around her house. Commissioner Gordon was still barely home, so that gave Robin a bigger area to mope around in, and it made approaching him harder for Barbara.
Finally, after fourteen days of this, Batgirl felt she had had enough.
"Alright, Robin, look, this little 'feeling-sorry-for-yourself' bit has gone on long enough, and I for one, am getting sick of it. We're going to talk about it now, whether you like it or not."
Robin sighed. "Fine."
"So what happened?"
He let out a soft, dry laugh. "What didn't happen?"
"Things didn't go over so well with Star and Raven, huh?"
"That's the thing, Babs, things went about as well as they possibly could have. I told Raven my feelings for her, and now Star knows that Raven's the one I've really been in love with all this time. They forgave each other and Star even gave me and Rae her blessings."
"So what the hell is the problem?"
Robin couldn't suppress it anymore, and tears finally started to fall from his eyes. "I just...I can't do it, Babs. I'm a horrible, awful person and I don't deserve a girlfriend as good as Raven. The things I did to Star...I wouldn't even wish that upon my worst enemy. I used her, Babs. I was feeling miserable about not being with Raven, so I used Starfire to try to make those bad feelings go away, even though I didn't have any genuine feelings of love to give her in return. What makes things worse, is Star was a great girlfriend! She was kind, and caring, and understanding, and how did I make it up to her? By wishing she was really Raven when I held her in my arms. And now I get this second chance? Just like that? Star and I are through, Raven loves me back, and now Star's ok with it?? How could that be justified?! After all the horrible things I've done to Star, I just couldn't stay and be with Raven. No matter how much I want to, it just wouldn't be right to her."
Batgirl pulled Robin in for a tight, compassionate hug. 'He feels so good...' she thought to herself. 'At least he wants to stay. Maybe after he gets over this, we can...' She stopped herself before her thoughts got anymore out of hand. 'No. No, what am I thinking? Dick can't be happy here. He's in love, and by keeping him from that love, all I'm doing is hurting him even more. God...I think I love him too...but I'd rather see him happy with Raven then miserable here with me, wishing he could be with her.'
"But what about Raven, Dick? Leaving the way you did, it's not right to her."
Robin looked up at his childhood friend. "...What?"
"You said that being with Raven wouldn't be right to Starfire, but what about Raven? You just ran out on her, Dick, right after professing your love to her. Do you think that's right to her? Starfire more or less forgave you, and condoned your relationship. She'll be fine, Dick, its Raven who's been hurt now. And she doesn't deserve that. Star took responsibility for her actions, Robin. Now it's time for you to do the same, and running away from your problems definitely isn't cutting it." Batgirl stifled a tear as she said the hardest words of her life. "You have to go back to her Dick. You have to go back to Raven. She loves you, and the two of you need each other. So go. Now."
At first, Robin didn't say anything, he just stood there staring at her. Then slowly, he nodded his head, and pulled Batgirl in for another hug. "Babs...thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you."
A tear fell from Batgirl's eye, but luckily they were still embraced and her head was resting on Robin's shoulder, out of his sight. "You're welcome, Dick. Anytime you need me, you know where to find me. Just take care, alright?"
Robin nodded as he slowly pulled away from Batgirl. He took a step back and once again pressed the first button on his 'watch'. "Jump City." He pressed the second button. "Titans Tower: Robin". He pushed it again, and shuffled through the many different rooms in the tower until he found the one he wanted. "Titans Tower: Raven". Robin pressed down on the button and once again was engulfed by a green flash.
"WHO'S THERE?!"
"Relax, Rae. It's...it's just me."
"I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anything else in all my days Rae...starting a relationship with you would give me enough happiness to last me the rest of my life. But...that kind of happiness...after what I did to Starfire, the way I treated her...I...I don't deserve it. I'm sorry. I really am. To both of you."
And with one last kiss upon his lover's lips, Robin walked out the door. The two girls stood there, shell shocked. Raven could barely comprehend what happened before she went running out into the hallway after him. But he was gone. She spent the remainder of the night searching the tower, and the streets of Jump City for her lover, but he was nowhere to be found. Robin had left the Teen Titans.
Since he had no super-powers of his own, there were three things that Robin used to keep up with his enhanced allies. The first was his mastery of the martial arts. The second, his keen intellect and sharp detective skills. The third, and most obvious, were the high-tech gadgets and weapons he armed himself with. From his extending bo-staff, to his bird-a-rangs and other throwing devices, Robin had a plethora of state of the art devices at his disposal. However, there was one device that none of the other Titans knew about.
Bruce gave it to him for his 18th birthday. It was a small watch that Robin wore under his gloves, although upon further inspection of the item, one would notice there were no hour or minute hands, or even numbers for that matter on the face of it. Instead, it was a blank screen with a few buttons on it. Robin hit the first button. The words "Gotam City" appeared on the screen. Robin then pushed the second button, and under the first words, "Wayne Manor" appeared. After pausing for a moment, Robin shook his head and pushed the second button again. "Wayne Manor" disappeared and was replaced by the words "Gordon Residence". Robin pressed the third button and in a flash of green light disappeared without a trace from the halls of Titan Tower.
Robin's teleporter was based on the same technology that the Justice League used to travel back and forth from their Satellite base. Impressive as it was, Robin didn't like using it that much, it was his ace in the hole, and he needed it to be kept a secret. Tonight however, was an exception, he knew Raven would go looking for him, and he needed to get out of Jump City fast.
Moments later, Robin materialized in the middle of Batgirl's bedroom.
"AAAAH!!!"
"Babs! It's ok! It's just me."
"Jesus, Robin! Talk about giving a girl a heart attack!" Batgirl said, as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry Babs, but I didn't feel like going home, and when I set my teleporter to your house, these were the coordinates I programmed it to. Didn't want to materialize in your living room right in front of your dad or something. By the way, is he home?"
Batgirl sighed again, "No, he isn't. Ever since The Joker declared all out war on Batman my dad's been pulling all-nighters trying to keep everything in order. I hope he's alright..."
Robin put his hand on the shoulder of his friend and sister-figure. "I'm sure he's just fine, Babs. Your dad's been commissioner for years and he hasn't gone down yet."
"Yeah...you're right." Batgirl turned her attention from the floor to Robin's face. "So...why did you come here, Dick?"
"I...I don't know. I just..." Robin fought back a tear. "I just needed to get away from the tower. Look, I really don't feel like talking about it right now, alright? Babs, I'm sorry for intruding in on you like this, but...do you think I could crash here for awhile? I don't want Bruce to know I ran away from the Titans because of personal problems."
Batgirl let out a defeated sigh, but secretly smiled on the inside, at the thought of Robin spending the night with her. "Of course you can stay, Dick. But we're going to talk about this at some point in time, ok?"
"Ok."
The next couple of weeks didn't exactly play out the way Batgirl had hoped. Instead of being able to spend any sort of quality time with Robin, the boy she had known since she was a young child, and the boy she secretly liked, maybe even loved, all she was able to do was be pushed away. Day after day, Robin kept to himself and quietly moped around her house. Commissioner Gordon was still barely home, so that gave Robin a bigger area to mope around in, and it made approaching him harder for Barbara.
Finally, after fourteen days of this, Batgirl felt she had had enough.
"Alright, Robin, look, this little 'feeling-sorry-for-yourself' bit has gone on long enough, and I for one, am getting sick of it. We're going to talk about it now, whether you like it or not."
Robin sighed. "Fine."
"So what happened?"
He let out a soft, dry laugh. "What didn't happen?"
"Things didn't go over so well with Star and Raven, huh?"
"That's the thing, Babs, things went about as well as they possibly could have. I told Raven my feelings for her, and now Star knows that Raven's the one I've really been in love with all this time. They forgave each other and Star even gave me and Rae her blessings."
"So what the hell is the problem?"
Robin couldn't suppress it anymore, and tears finally started to fall from his eyes. "I just...I can't do it, Babs. I'm a horrible, awful person and I don't deserve a girlfriend as good as Raven. The things I did to Star...I wouldn't even wish that upon my worst enemy. I used her, Babs. I was feeling miserable about not being with Raven, so I used Starfire to try to make those bad feelings go away, even though I didn't have any genuine feelings of love to give her in return. What makes things worse, is Star was a great girlfriend! She was kind, and caring, and understanding, and how did I make it up to her? By wishing she was really Raven when I held her in my arms. And now I get this second chance? Just like that? Star and I are through, Raven loves me back, and now Star's ok with it?? How could that be justified?! After all the horrible things I've done to Star, I just couldn't stay and be with Raven. No matter how much I want to, it just wouldn't be right to her."
Batgirl pulled Robin in for a tight, compassionate hug. 'He feels so good...' she thought to herself. 'At least he wants to stay. Maybe after he gets over this, we can...' She stopped herself before her thoughts got anymore out of hand. 'No. No, what am I thinking? Dick can't be happy here. He's in love, and by keeping him from that love, all I'm doing is hurting him even more. God...I think I love him too...but I'd rather see him happy with Raven then miserable here with me, wishing he could be with her.'
"But what about Raven, Dick? Leaving the way you did, it's not right to her."
Robin looked up at his childhood friend. "...What?"
"You said that being with Raven wouldn't be right to Starfire, but what about Raven? You just ran out on her, Dick, right after professing your love to her. Do you think that's right to her? Starfire more or less forgave you, and condoned your relationship. She'll be fine, Dick, its Raven who's been hurt now. And she doesn't deserve that. Star took responsibility for her actions, Robin. Now it's time for you to do the same, and running away from your problems definitely isn't cutting it." Batgirl stifled a tear as she said the hardest words of her life. "You have to go back to her Dick. You have to go back to Raven. She loves you, and the two of you need each other. So go. Now."
At first, Robin didn't say anything, he just stood there staring at her. Then slowly, he nodded his head, and pulled Batgirl in for another hug. "Babs...thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you."
A tear fell from Batgirl's eye, but luckily they were still embraced and her head was resting on Robin's shoulder, out of his sight. "You're welcome, Dick. Anytime you need me, you know where to find me. Just take care, alright?"
Robin nodded as he slowly pulled away from Batgirl. He took a step back and once again pressed the first button on his 'watch'. "Jump City." He pressed the second button. "Titans Tower: Robin". He pushed it again, and shuffled through the many different rooms in the tower until he found the one he wanted. "Titans Tower: Raven". Robin pressed down on the button and once again was engulfed by a green flash.
"WHO'S THERE?!"
"Relax, Rae. It's...it's just me."