Here I am again! This is going to be cute, I hope. Please review!
Red-Handed
Robin ponders his murder and adjusts to being a ghost. Not much else to say here.
Rated PG.
Disclaimer: I own the psychopathic killer dude. In case you're confused, that's Red.
Red-Handed
Robin wandered around all through the night, since he needn't sleep. He checked on Starfire every once and a while, to make sure she was safe from Red. She slept in his room all night, hugging his pillow and sobbing in her sleep. Robin practiced moving things and phasing through walls. It was hard learning – he had no one to teach him. At first he moved around pillows in Starfire's room. He would pick one up, carry it across the room, then put it back where he had found it. Many times he lost concentration and the pillow fell through his hand. Eventually he got the hang of it, however, and he was rearranging heavier objects with ease.
By then, the sun had risen. Robin darted back to his own room, and hovered by Starfire's side. Cautiously, he brushed away her bangs from her face. They moved with the force of his hand. He shuddered both at the touch and by the power. Before his hand would have gone right through her, but now…
Starfire smiled in her sleep and rolled over, pressing her face into the pillow. She breathed deep and slumbered on.
Robin felt a smile tugging at his own lips. He grinned, feeling somewhat complete.
There was a knock on the door.
Robin jumped off the bed and phased through the door. He looked right and left and then saw Red, standing at the door with a dark smile on his face. Robin hovered behind his shoulder, waiting… watching…
The door opened. Starfire stood there, her eyes still puffy and red from crying. "Red?"
"Starfire," Red sighed, the evil smile gone, "I wanted to talk to you."
Robin blew in Red's ear, letting him know that he was watching. Red shivered but did nothing else.
"I do not feel like talking, Red," sniffled Starfire. "I just…"
"You just want to wallow in your sorrow," rimed Red cleverly. Robin resisted the urge to kick him.
"Yes," said Starfire, and moved to close the door.
"Hey! Wait!" Red cried, reaching out to stop her. "Look, I'm really sorry about Robin. But he's gone now, and you need to start over."
"You wish," Robin muttered.
"Look, crying won't bring him back. Look at you, you're as pale as a sheet. You need to get out again."
"Robin… meant more to me… than anything else in the world," said Starfire slowly, her voice shaking. She was on the verge of tears again, and Robin suddenly felt very sad indeed. "I do not want to recuperate. I wish to stay here."
Red blinked, a look of hurt on his face. "H-He was that important to you?"
She nodded. "I never even got to tell him." She kicked the door, and it shut.
Red stood there, blinking in shock.
Robin couldn't decide whether to go to Starfire or stay with Red. He chose Starfire, and phased quickly into the room. Starfire was, once again, sobbing desperately into her pillow. She didn't say anything, but Robin wanted to comfort her all the same.
He knelt by her side once again, and placed a hand on the small of her back. Her head snapped up and she looked around.
"W-Who is there?" she demanded. "Red?"
Robin slowly took his hand away, feeling very wounded. He couldn't make contact with her – she wouldn't be able to take it.
"I'm sorry, Star," he whispered. "I never meant to let you down. But I never ever left you." She looked around, panting. Her eyes were wide with fear, but this only made him smile weakly. "Not really."
Robin played around a while, thinking about nothing. His thoughts trailed long and far, from Red to the flavor of Beast Boy's tofu. Eventually he thought of his diary, where he had written so many confessions. He remembered them… almost all of them…
Robin's Diary
Entry Date: April 24th, 2005.
Entry:
... Starfire. The name that has been on my mind all day. I don't know why, but is has. Is that something to worry about? Being obsessed with my best friend? Or is she my best friend? It's rather hard to think about, not to mention confusing. I believe I'll sort it out one day. However, just thinking about her… the feeling is indescribable. Absolutely unbelievable. It makes me feel… soft, I guess would be the word. But it's painful too, as if someone has filled my stomach with lead. And whenever I actually SEE her, it's ten times worse. I'll think of the word, don't doubt that.
Entry Date: April 25th, 2005.
Entry:
… I've got the word. Honestly, it was in front of me all along. This word describes my feelings towards all my friends, but it's strong and pure with her.
Love.
Entry Date: October 9th, 2005.
Entry:
… We have a new Titan, named Red. Actually, his name is a long, formal name that I forget. So we call him Red. When we found him, he had fallen off a ten-story building. At first, we thought he was an innocent city person, but then he opened his eyes and looked at us. Hard. Those are the scariest, most expressive eyes I have EVER seen. EVER. Eyes that could sink the Titanic. This guy isn't good news. His face is hard, looking as if it was carved out of wood, and his eyes glint like black beetles. His hair goes down to his shoulders (of that I am envious), and it's bright red (of that I am not). His torso and neck are utterly covered in one giant tattoo of a spider web. At first it looked cool, but then we realized his powers, and then it wasn't. At that point, it was cliché. He's a teenage Spiderman, and he's proud of it. He can do everything the comic Spiderman can, but only ten times more show-offy.
And the worst part is: He likes Starfire.
He swoons over her when he thinks I'm not looking. I hate it. One of these days he's going to go too far, and I'll have to hurt him. He can't have her until I can work up the courage to talk to her first.
I need time to think over this strange occurrence. Do I REALLY love Starfire? If so, why am I so afraid?
Entry Date: October 10th, 2005
Entry:
… Funny, isn't it? How the bravest can be brought shaking to their knees by the sheer power of love. Immortals slowly die inside from the pain of love, and others just slowly break down. I wonder why it's like that. I really do. It's not fair. I'm not afraid of anything. Except of a select few loyalty issues but we'll get to that later.
But I'm not afraid of anything.
Except Starfire.
Is that bad, or is that bad? Honestly, who would be afraid of their very own love interest?
Me, for starters.
Where on Earth am I going with this, anyway? It's not like it's that tough a problem to solve: Just tell her.
Ha.
Well… maybe it IS that tough a problem…
Robin was struck with an idea. If he could just slip out his diary unnoticed, he could get Starfire to read it, and then she would know who killed him. She would know why Red wanted to talk to her so much. She would know that Robin loved her.
The latter was the most important to him. He could handle Red on his own.
However, he wouldn't be able to get the diary until Starfire left his room, and she seemed to have prepared herself to live in there forever. And Murderer Red was popping in constantly, and constantly being driven away by Robin.
Which brought on a new thought. Red had killed Robin, there was no denying it now. And it made Robin VERY mad indeed. He hadn't gotten to live long enough. Not even close. And he'd never gotten to do so many things he'd wanted to do. All because Red didn't have enough heart to talk things over instead of murdering his problems.
But WHY would Red want to kill him? There was no reason. Sure, Robin was rather cold towards Red, but Red wasn't the type to kill on impulse. Besides, that kill had been very well-thought-out. An untraceable poison through tea Robin was too kind not to accept. Clever.
And, sure, Robin had gotten after Red more than once for his temper. Like that very morning Robin had died, he had absolutely boiled at the sight of Red actually TRYING to strike Starfire.
But that was also not a Red-like reason to kill. Not in the least. Red simply beat up the people who angered him, but he never ever KILLED.
Except yesterday, Robin thought bitterly.
No matter how long and hard Robin pondered this, he could not think up a good reason. Maybe Red worked for an enemy, like Robin had first suspected. Seeing Robin as a threat, perhaps he had killed him because he was ordered to. Or, maybe, it was an accidental kill, one that was simply supposed to knock Robin out. No, but that wasn't right. Because Red had clearly said goodbye. And he sounded very… glad… to be rid of Robin.
But no matter what he came up with, it all led back to the same question: WHY?
Eventually Starfire had to go to the bathroom. The bathroom was all the way down the hall; that gave Robin enough time to get the diary out, make a small entry, and set it open on the bed.
The very moment the door closed, Robin tore open the desk and snatched up his diary. He flipped it open to the exact date, and swiftly pulled out his pen.
Robin's Diary
Entry Date: December 7th, 2005
Entry:
… Red has killed me. Poisoned, as a matter of fact. I am not writing from within my own body, but from within a body that does not exist. I am a ghost.
Starfire, this entry is for you. I'm still here for you. If you're reading this it means you found my diary, and for that I thank you. You MUST know that it was Red that killed me. You MUST know that it is I who is writing this. I won't leave you alone with him, no. Starfire, if you believe me, which you must, please call out to me. I need to talk to you. I'm still here.
Robin flipped to the first page and set it on the bed. He slammed the drawer shut, and put the pen back. Then he stood by the side of the bed, waiting for her to come back. Sure enough, a split second later, the door opened and Starfire came back inside.
Is this madwoman planning to move into my room or something!? Robin thought agitatedly, despite the joy that she had returned.
She froze and stared at the bed, where the diary lay open. Her eyes showed a mix of fear, surprise, sadness, and curiosity. Robin came up to her and whispered in her ear.
"Read it. Read it."
Starfire shook her head, closing her eyes. "I must not," she murmured. "It is his."
Robin smiled, placing both hands on her shoulders. Her eyes snapped open. He carefully urged her forward, if only slightly. "Read it. Read it."
She bit her lip and slowly sat back on the bed and picked up the diary. She set the book on her lap, and began reading.
Robin grinned.
Her eyes widened with every page. He read along with her, a hand on her shoulder. He had confessed so many things in that tiny book… there were so many things for her to learn about him. These were his deepest thoughts, his truest words. And they were there for her and only her to read.
She reached the largest, most truthful page of all and gasped aloud: April 24th, and April 25th.
She had been crying quietly before, but as she read her tears ran down fast and hot. Robin pressed closer to her, rubbing her shoulder, as she sobbed openly.
"Please keep reading," he whispered. "There's so much more…"
Starfire nodded, gulping back the tears that were splattering all over the thin white pages. She continued on.
More and more entries were about Red. So many negative, some simply informal. A few were nice, saying that Red had captured a thief that day. A few were sad, saying that Red had made fun of Robin.
And then there were the few non-Red entries, which were mostly happy. There were a few angry ones, a few sad ones, and then ones of Starfire herself. Passionate, heartfelt ones. Ones that made her cry harder.
And then, finally, she reached December 7th.
She frowned, confused. She knew very well Robin had died before December 7th, and that should mean his diary would have no entry for that page. She read, obviously curious.
She finished. Her tears had stopped, and her face was deathly pale. She slowly pushed the diary away, staring straight ahead as if she saw her very own death coming right at her. Would she think this was some cold-blooded prank? Would she actually call out to Robin? Would she break down again, or would she blow the diary to pieces?
She put a shaking hand to her lips, took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. She looked all around, and Robin once again put his hands on her shoulders and whispered in her ear.
"Call out to me, Starfire."
Tears welled up in her eyes. "R-Robin?"
Robin shivered, enjoying the sound. He sat in front of her, drinking up the belief coming from her.
"Louder," he said softly.
"Robin?" she repeated, a little louder this time. Her eyes darted around the room, her eyes betraying her feelings of disbelief, hope, and nervousness. "Robin?"
"I'm here," he said in a normal tone. "Speak louder."
She stared right at him. Her eyes widened when she saw that the bed was sinking slightly under his disembodied weight. "Robin? Robin, are you there?"
"I'm here," he replied, shaking with glee. "I'm here!"
"ROBIN!" she shouted. She reached out and touched him. He grabbed her hand, smiling, and squeezed it. "You have not left us! You have stayed!" she cried, crying tears afresh.
Robin grinned at her. He knew she couldn't see him, but she knew he was there. She inched closer, a look of concentration on her face.
"Are you trying to see me?" he asked quietly, bowing his head and looking up at her.
She nodded.
"Don't. You can't. I have nothing for you to see."
"But you are there," she moaned. "You have not gone. Robin, I miss you."
Robin squeezed her hand again. "Don't worry. I never left you."
Blindly, she jumped at him and hugged him with all her might. Robin wheezed and toppled right over the edge of the bed, dragging her down with him. He had nothing to hurt, so he felt no pain as she landed right on him. In fact, he laughed.
"You are still here! You are still here!" Starfire chanted, pressing her face into where his shoulder would be.
Robin began to respond, but was cut off by a brisk knock on the door. Robin phased through Starfire, hid the diary under the bed, and stood in the corner.
Starfire lay there, stunned, for a second, before she found her voice. "Who is it?"
"It's Beast Boy," came the reply. "I heard you shout. Something wrong?"
Starfire glanced right at Robin, and smiled. "No. Everything is just right."
Author's Notes: Cheesy, yes, I know. But I enjoyed writing it. I don't know WHY Starfire isn't freaked out by the fact Robin's a ghost. Personally, I'd be screaming to the point I fainted. Pathetic, but true. LOL. Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks!
