Hello my dahlings. This is a one shot dedicated to lovely, talented, ingenious and amazing author and person alena-chan for her birthday! I apologize if the quality of the story of the story line are not up to par. I wanted something somewhat different to give you for your birthday.
Slight premise:
This is from Robin's point of view. He is not entirely in his right mind. This is a funeral and he is having flashbacks to the circus from his youth.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Quote:
'Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!'
Chapter One:
Insanity at the Circus
He could see everyone's faces, expressions in grotesque twisted expressions, laughing, crying. Robin stood up and took a quick bow, smiling widely at everyone, both arms held out. The crowd was staring right at him and he smirked knowing that he was the star attraction. Both of his parents must be somewhere behind him, but he knew that the audience wasn't there to see them. The audience wanted him.
He backed up a bit, and hit something. Robin turned around and he saw a large marble box. He squinted at it as though squinting might clear up the warm dusty haze in his head. One of his hands reached out and his bare fingertips grazed the cold marble, and it cut painfully into the haze.
It was a coffin. The funeral. The crowd was mourners. They were here for-
Robin shook his head allowing the warm fog to reclaim his mind. It was far too dark, he needed to go somewhere else, somewhere higher with more light so that everyone could see him!
A pair of hands grasped his wrists and he looked up dimly. Long purple hair and big eyes. He wrenched his hands away and backed up. He had to get away from her. She would make him come back. He didn't want to come back.
Robin turned and ran. He passed through two big doors and was engulfed in sunshine. He took a deep breath. Much better. There were more crowds here too! Robin could hear the music start, the sign for the show to begin. His mother and father were already up in the sky, they would begin swinging momentarily.
He needed to hurry!
He looked around quickly and discovered the ladder that would lead to the top. Robin began climbing it, pausing every now and then to try to hear the music. His cue hadn't happened yet. He wasn't supposed to go flying until the music became faster.
He reached the top and let go of the rungs of the ladder with the flourish almost letting himself fall. The crowd below gasped and he grinned. The fake falls always got the crowd going. Of course he would never actually fall, he had excellent reflexes.
His parents were really good at that trick too. They could always make it look as though they had missed and then at the very last second they would grip each others fingertips. They would never actually fall though, they were even better at this than he was.
But the crowd did love him best.
He could see the crowd even now, gathering around the ladder. He frowned slightly. They should be sitting in seats, why were they walking around?
He shrugged. The music was getting louder, but the pace hadn't changed yet. He strained to hear it. Were they playing a new song? Was this a new routine?
Someone was pulling him away from the edge of the platform and he lost sight of the crowd cheering below. He turned impatiently. It was the girl again! He tried to push her away, but she wouldn't let him go.
"Robin."
He froze for a moment and then he could hear it. The song was on, his cue, full of lilts and a fast pace. It was time to go!
Robin yanked his arms away sharply and he hurried to the edge. He poised on the edge of the platform and then started to let himself fall forward. His father would be there to catch him. At the last moment. They always waited until the last moment.
"Robin!"
Robin became suddenly concerned. His father should have caught him by now. He was falling too far, a free fall. Then he suddenly felt it, the comforting pressure around his wrist, but-
"Robin..."
It was different. He was back on the platform again, out of sight from the crowd. The hand grasping his wrist was too small, too cold. His father's large hands could always encompass his own, easily.
He was sitting. The girl was in front of him, crying. Crying? Robin shook his head again. The cold hand on his wrist was slicing through the warm fog. The girl put another hand on his face and pulled him to her.
Suddenly his head was as clear as if it had been emptied of all other thoughts. He was here. His parents were dead. His team...they were gone. Bruce was gone. "Oh god," he moaned tears overwhelming his eyes.
There was no one left. His father wasn't going to catch him. He wasn't going to see Bruce again, not in this lifetime. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire...Gone. No more fighting with Cyborg, ignoring Beast Boy's dumb jokes, or laughing at Starfire's mistakes. Everyone he knew was gone.
Sobs racked his body, choking sputtering sobs that left him breathless, speechless. His tears ran down his face till the skin was slick and he was sweaty and his breathing painful. The very muscles of his body ached along with everything else in him.
Raven pulled him closer and held him close against her. She soothed him as best she knew, and he clung to her. Her black energy encompassed the both of them and they disappeared in the air, ceasing to exist for a moment.
But then reality slammed back down around them as they resurfaced in the Tower. The place was stuffed full of memories and seemed worn and faded without the other three racing through it. It was so horribly quiet.
Raven took Robin's face in between her hands, cooling his sweaty face with her palms and she leaned her forehead against his. When her tears fell they landed on his arms. "It's okay," she whispered, "I've got you."
Slightly depressing, slightly mushy, a nice soft mixture, twenty minutes on high and here we have a...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Goodbye!
Have fun!