Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own the Teen Titans! Oh, woe is I! Oh bittersweet sorrow!

Darkness' Falls

Robin.

It's been a long time since I have heard anyone say that name.

But then again, it's been a long time since the reign of the mighty Teen Titans.

I haven't seen the others in years, haven't talked to them.

And I don't want to.

Before the group separated, we all agreed that it would be for the best that we never met again. I believe, deep down, none of us would have been able to deal with what memories that an reunion would bring.

What thoughts of you.

Starfire suffered deeply; for months after all she'd do was sit by your grave, crying. She'd sing some of her Tamaran folk songs, recite Tamaran poems. It was heartbreaking; we all felt it, her pain and how it was slowly killing her.

It was for the best that she returned to her home plant, Earth provided too many hurtful memories. You, your ghost, dragged her down.

Beast Boy's grief... was different. His jokes... became darker. He became darker. Crude. He even joined a cult, strange as that may seem.

Eventually, he left us for his cult brothers, saying that we had turned against him.

Cyborg took that pretty hard; he locked himself in his room, muttering that he needed to recharge. Before I left, I checked his room.

He had shut down permanently.

I suppose it was convenient, relying on a computer system to survive. All he had to do was push a few buttons, and that was the end.

I should have known. I should have read what was in his mind, and tried to stop him, but my own emotions got in the way.

Death is not new to me; neither is sorrow.

But you were our leader. If anything, you should have been the last one standing.

Your anger, was your downfall. You allowed your emotions to cloud your judgement.

Slade saw that, and used it to his advantage.

What was it like, feeling so much rage that you didn't notice your enemy's final weapon?

What was it like, knowing that as that pole came crashing down, you had failed in the one thing in which you wanted most to succeed?

Your mentor has chosen a good resting-place: quiet, shady... a good place for thoughts.

It was Bruce who came first, after Slade called the Justice League, taunting them. It was Bruce who found him first, and it was Bruce who killed him.

Gotham's Dark Knight was a truly freighting sight, a shadow rising from the mists, blood dripping from his hands.

He dug your grave with his own hands; none of us were allowed to help, none of us were allowed to interfere.

None of us did.

The others thought me cold, on the day of your burial. They thought that because I didn't cry on the outside, I wasn't hurting on the inside.

But I was, more than any of them will know.

You helped me, when the Titans first formed. You respected my choices, didn't question me, and gave me my privacy.

I respected you, despite Beast Boy's beliefs that I was madly in love with everything you did.

There might have been some truth in his assumptions, but I knew nothing would come of them. Starfire had wound herself too deeply in your heart for anyone else to enter.

I could stand here all day, longing for the past, but I won't.

It's time to move on.

It's time that I accept the truth, and let this lie finish.

You're gone. Nothing can bring you back. To us. To me.

Goodbye, Robin. May you find the peace in death that life could not bring you.

:::

Story behind the Story: Once again, eh. Robin's the leader, the one they look up to-so what happens when you take that away?