Ghosts of the Past

Alexnandru Van Gordon

Whoa…I'm really sleepy right now and I don't have much to talk to you about right now. Victor will probably return after I'm done writing this chapter, so don't worry about the idiot. Sit back, relax and enjoy…

DISCLAIMER: I do not own them or anything…well, I do own a few things…

CHAPTER THREE: Crazy

He heard voices…voices of those who would give his life for. His friends, his team, were talking to the doctor outside the slightly dark room as he woke. He was alone, for now, and he was quite tired. The only thing he could remember was HW attacking him. He got back up to fight and warned a guy who was coming by that HW was there, to call for the others. The man thought he had suffered a blow to the head judging by the small trickle of blood leaking down the left side of his face. The blood came from the wound on the temple that he received from sitting up too fast beneath the piano.

All in all, everything made him out to look crazy.

Then again, wasn't he already bordering toward that now?

"Hey, Robin."

He closed his eyes and wanted this nightmare to end. He wanted this to end. He wanted to wake up and discover that Slade was still in prison and that he wasn't seeing people who were dead.

Despite the horror, he opened his eyes and stared at the figure sitting to his right.

"You look tired." He muttered. Wearing her mask now—an old one of Robin's—to make her old suit complete, it hid the dark circles under her eyes that Robin knew were there, but she was pale—even in the dark—and her entire figure looked fatigued.

"Told you already—when you're stuck in a phase between dead and alive, you won't eat, you don't breath, and you can't sleep. The third is always the worst."

"And why do you suffer?"

"Because hell is too good for me. I'm being punished for my insanity, and for almost killing good people during my life. But I guess you could call this purgatory…"

"How so?"

"If they lock you up in the happy house, my soul will be at ease."

This couldn't be HW—she was dead and she wasn't anywhere near as insane. Sure, she tried to foil Slade's plans and failed, but all the while she was trying to do what she thought was good for the people she had sworn to protect. She gave Robin a tinge of hope back when he was kidnapped by Slade, and she saved Starfire's life twice—once when they were attacked by Wintergreen, and the other time when she pretended she killed Starfire. Robin refused to believe this was that same girl—the one who went so far as to dress like him just to distract the JL when he wanted to escape.

"You aren't HW."

"You're just saying that because you're upset."

"She wouldn't act like you!"

"Buddy—I'm dead. I have every right to be upset. Heck! I'm going to hell when this is over, so let me have my fun while I can."

"You're not real!"

"You've got that right…" She smiled toward the door, the people on the other side hearing Robin's outburst. "After all, I'm all in your head…"

The door was opened promptly and Robin stared at it as he tried to free himself of the bed straps. "She's here!" He called out, but when he looked back to his right, HW was gone. There was no place for her to go…but she was gone.

"Dude, HW is dead…" Beast Boy replied sadly, staring exactly where he was before facing his frantic leader. "You saw her body when we found her. It's six feet under in Canada now."

"Please, friend Robin—we do not wish to see you so hurt. Please…calm down…"

How could he calm down—this wasn't like Slade with the hallucinogenic dust! He could touch her, and then not touch her—and he hadn't inhaled any dust or such in a long while. This couldn't be chemical…

It was just plain mental.

Suddenly he was very afraid of being insane. He was afraid that this illusion of a dead companion was right—he was going to be locked up.

"I think it would be in the best interest of your friend here if you reconsider." The doctor behind his group of friends said softly. Whatever they had been talking about before, this changed everyone's opinions. "Come. This is too serious to let slip…"

Cyborg and Raven left with the doctor while Beast Boy and Starfire stayed. Robin asked them numerous times what the man was talking about, but they would always avoid answering by changing the subject or averting their eyes from him like they hadn't heard.

They weren't going to…no…they wouldn't.

-C-

"We can't."

The doctor shook his head again and licked his dry lips wearily. They had been over this for at least an hour and they still weren't getting anywhere.

"Sending him to the asylum would do more damage to his mind." Raven added, trying to fight logic with logic rather than puppy-dog eyes and pleas not to send him away. "He has spent his entire life locking up half the criminals he caught in there, and to put him with the worthless lot he fights would be the ultimate punishment."

The doctor shifted his weight in his seat and sighed. "You just said so yourself—he's spent his entire life doing this. The stress has gotten to him and I think it's time to do a…check-up on his psychological self. The sooner it's done, the sooner your friend will be up and about again. He will still be able to fight, and it will be all hush-hush will the public."

"And Batman?" Cyborg pointed out. Not everyone knew they were father and son—though the great majority had already guessed it—but they did know that one was always on the tail of the other. If the Dark Knight ever found out about it…

"I think he'd agree with me that his student needs a good break. After all, it wasn't even two months ago that they went through that whole ordeal in Gotham. That girl he keeps talking about—she died then because of that, and I think the death was one-too-many on his mind."

"But still…" Raven continued to badger, running out of reasons that the doctor could counter. "Where would we send him?"

"The exact same place everyone else goes—either Arkham or Jump City Asylum. You pick."

"NOT ARKHAM!" They exclaimed in unison.

"Robin's not that crazy…" Cyborg finished, thinking about the Joker and such. It was cold, dark, and lonely in a place like that. "How could you even suggest that place?"

"A hero's identity is just about sacred there and it's as hard as hell to get out of now—something that will be needed for the famous Boy Wonder."

"And what about Jump City?"

The doctor smiled. "They have excellent doctors there. He will be allowed to keep his mask on and he will helped in whatever way possible—the only concern is the security for him. If he can beat Slade—Slade already escaping once—well…you know what we mean."

But Jump City Asylum did have a good reputation. If there was any place the Titans would trust their leader to stay, it would be there. But…

"How long would he be there?" Raven asked in a quiet voice. Both of them felt guilty now—condemning their leader to something that they knew he really wouldn't appreciate. His trust for them was really going to wear thin after this…

"A month at least." The doctor said, somewhat brighter now that they were considering the 'task of healing the human mind'. "It all depends on how much Robin will cooperate with us."

"Not much…" Cyborg admitted wearily. Robin was going to fight with tooth and nail and probably wouldn't be released until he was twenty. "And will you be giving him any medications?"

"Naturally—but nothing new or unpredictable, and nothing strong like what we give the criminals. He'll be in good care, and you can visit him during the week. Just remember that you can't come and see him all the time without calling us ahead of time."

That was understandable, but there was still the worry for Robin…He was absolutely going to hate them for this…

Raven lowered her head and gave up entirely. "When do you want to take him?"

-S-

Patience was always one of his better traits and it had done him a lot of good through the years. After all, look at how long he was waiting to destroy the city. All he had to do was set everything up properly, making sure the Teen Titans and Justice League wouldn't intercede, and then he could finish it within the month—perhaps within the next two weeks if he was lucky. It all depended on the timing…

Standing at his work table in the darkness of the empty warehouse, a single desk lamp lit his work space and allowed him to work quickly on his own. He hated it when people snuck up behind him, and that was why he spun around and grabbed her by the throat when she approached.

Realizing who it was, he waited a moment to let her understand the mistake she made before pushing her back. She almost fell, but kept her feet as she rubbed him neck tenderly. A couple of bruises were bound to show there by the neck day.

"For your sake, this had better be important." He growled, turning back toward his work. Writing something down, he waited for an acceptable answer.

"I went to the hospital and did what you said." She answered hoarsely, clearing her sore voice before continuing. "It worked. Their sending him off to an asylum."

"Did you stay and find out where?" He asked suddenly, turning around sharply to face her again. She looked tempted to take a step back, but held her ground with a worried frown of being choked again.

"I did. They're sending him to the JC Asylum in two hours." She replied hastily. "But no one is supposed to know about that besides the doctors and his Titan friends. They're not even telling the Justice League about this."

Good…Very good…With them out of the way and all the possible helpers locked in the dark about it, Slade could practically get away with murder now. No one would know it was him.

"You know what to do now." He said, eye narrowing at the sixteen year old fighter. She didn't look too happy about this.

"I'm running out of energy." She explained before he could question her slow response. "I'll have to rest before I go or else the plan will fail. I can't keep up this charade forever."

He frowned, but kept his temper on hold. For now, he needed this confused child. "You will keep up this charade for as long as I need you to, or you will suffer the consequences. Is that understood?"

The woman shot him a warning glare, but nodded with a curse under her breath before turning around sharply and heading off into the darkness. He needed rest again like every time a job needed to be done and Slade still needed to strange, temporary ally.

-R-

He didn't want to think…but that was just about it. All he had left to do was think. After all, who knew hoe long he was going to be in this place.

Dress with a white shirt and pants, an infamous 'jacket' strapping his arms across his chest, Robin sat on the edge of the bed with hatred in his still—luckily—masked eyes. He was in a padded room, currently dark save for the dim light from above. He was supposed to be asleep, but how could he sleep during a night like this? His friends betrayed him. No matter how many times he proved himself…they still betrayed him.

He was left alone for a good three hours before a doctor came in to see him. It was to let him cool his jets from attacking the men who put on the jacket and tried to wrestle him into his room. The moment he found out he was being sent to the hospital, he fought as though there was hell for everyone to pay. There was no way he was giving up without a fight.

Not looking at the man who entered, Robin noticed he was elderly with small rectangular glasses and a worn look to his face. Despite looking like a stern rock, he smiled and turned out to be quite humble.

"So…" The man began, sitting down in the corner chair to face Robin, a clipboard on his lap and a pen ready in his hand. "Tell me about this Slade fellow…"

He really didn't like this… The moment he got his hands on his so-called friends…

-A-

Alex: Like the setting? Isn't it all happy-go-lucky?

Victor: Did anyone ever suspect you of being crazy?

Alex: Only when I have a fever and start to hallucinate.

Victor: That's right…God, that was good.

Alex: Ha ha ha. Very funny…

Until Again,

Alexnandru Van Gordon