Chapter 4: Robin
He didn't go to the evidence room because he could not focus and would not go to the roof because it hurt. He dared not go to his room because it nearly broke him. So, he sat at the counter in the main ops room and stared at his laptop because it was numbing.
Beast Boy and Cyborg's yelling and arguments turned out to be great background noise as he typed swiftly into his keyboard the details of their current mission. Inputting the data from Cyborg's notes and readings into their record-keeping system, Robin resisted the urge to check emails, texts, phone logs, cameras, or anything that would give him insight into what she was doing. Or wearing. Or eating. Or anything about her. Nope. He was definitely not going to do that.
Ok, so maybe he had been a tad bit stalkerish when she had first left but he had put that behind him. He could resist. He would. He would put her behind him for good.
But it had only been a week and one day and several hours (almost 7 hours to be exact). It had been only a whole eight days since she'd left the Tower and just barely a month since they had separated. Maybe just a peak, just a glance—
Suddenly, his communicator beeped and vibrated, pulling him out of his thoughts. He pulled it out of his belt and in bold lettering this flashed across his screen: TITANS EAST ALERT… UNKNOWN ROBBER LOCATION AT –
Looking up from the device, Robin felt like someone was testing him. Whether it was someone up above or another entity, he didn't believe this timing was purely coincidence. He sighed, summoning all the strength that he could, he slipped the communicator back into his belt as to hide the alert.
"The first step is always the hardest," a monotone voice said behind him.
He turned his head, seeing Raven reaching into the cabinet for a teacup while simultaneously starting her kettle. He sighed again, knowing he could not hide anything from the empath.
"Raven," he greeted as he turned back to the computer and input the last of the data he had. "I didn't see you there."
She had her back to the counter now, arms crossed at her chest.
"You're doing the right thing, you know," she stated matter of fact. "You both need time to heal. Only time and space will do that." She put emphasis on the word 'space'.
He just glowered at the screen in response. Though she was, in fact, correct, it didn't make it any easier.
He didn't want space. He wanted her. Everything hurt. All the time. It had felt as if she had died. Pillow talks? Gone. Explaining the wonders of Earth? Never again. Watching her favorite show World of Fungus as they snuggled on the couch? No chance. Mundane tasks would spark the smallest of memories. Finding a red hair on his pillow would put him in the foulest moods. Chocolate cake was ruined for him. The scent of citrus made his stomach turn. Battle eased it but still. There was a hole in their group. When he fell, it wasn't her that caught him.
"I know," Raven said in hushed tones, now sitting next to him and seemingly reading his mind. She delicately stirred her tea with her powers, stopping momentarily to take a sip. He hadn't even heard the kettle go off.
Her free hand gently appeared on his back and remained.
He knew that anger and frustration radiated from him. He knew that Raven could feel every bit of it. He breathed out, trying to release any of what he was feeling.
"I'm sorry."
He had been doing that a lot lately. Apologizing. He thought he had done a good job not taking it out on his teammates, but still, being absent as a leader was a failed leader in his mind.
Raven gave him a weak smile. "I know that, too. We all miss her, Robin. I know it's much, much more difficult for you but once the air clears, everyone will see with more clarity and things will be different, maybe even better."
He nodded slightly, swallowing. Everything was already different.
He then started to feel a familiar prickling right where her hand was placed.
"Raven, please don't—"
But it was too late. He felt her absorbing some of the pain before he could react properly, his shoulders slumping as some relief and tiredness swept in.
"I think it's time for a break," Raven said, snapping his laptop closed with some emphasis. "Or a nap."
"But I don't want a nap," he whined just a little, his shoulders going slack. He still felt the tingles even after she had removed her hand.
"Don't make me use kid gloves, Robin," Raven stated, loud enough now so that the boys could hear. "Besides, I think all of us could use a break from all the brooding."
"Yeah. You're killing the vibez, man," Beast Boy called jokingly over his shoulder, only bringing his attention back to the screen when Cyborg's car weaved expertly in front of him. "Oh, you're so gonna pay for that!"
"No I ain't, grass stain," Cyborg countered, well ahead of Beast Boy, and reached the finish line to start another lap.
Robin made to get up and watched them for a minute before Raven stepped up beside him.
"Now, shoo. Don't make me sick interdimensional beings on you," she said to him, even doing the 'shooing' motion with her hand.
"Alright, alright," Robin said through a yawn. He packed up his computer and walked through the main doors, still hearing his two friends yelling at each other as the entry slid closed.
He could barely keep his eyes open getting on and off the elevator. He walked briskly, intending to get to his room as quickly as possible when he stopped abruptly.
STARFIRE
The door said the name plain as day, mocking him it seemed in all its nameplatey glory.
Sighing, he punched the code to get in, slipping through.
It was dark. The curtains were drawn and her circular bed remained, sans pillows, just like she liked it. He placed the computer on top of her empty vanity and flopped backward onto the bed. His body jostled but soon quieted, his breath evening out.
For the first day or so, though he would never tell, he would just sit in her room for hours, taking in every minor detail that once was. The empty closet. The dust outline of a missing clock. But even more interesting than the missing objects was the one thing she left behind. Right on top of the dresser was a face-down frame and it contained something that ripped out his stitches to make the wound new again. He was reflected in the image, grinning like he was out of his head with joy while the girl that was nestled in their hug looked at him, pointing her attention also to his reaction. She looked like she was pleased as to what she had found.
The picture frame still remained face down, right where she left it, a relic of a time when they were happy and together.
He rolled to his side, barely able to stay awake now and feeling bogged down by depression as he thought about everything that had led to this point.
He didn't get far as another vibration at his belt stirred him. Lazily, he reached into one of his compartments to make sure nothing was too amiss and that the mission from earlier was going smoothly.
Pulling out the communicator, a familiar name scrolled across the network alert system.
Robin sat up suddenly, wiping a hand down his face and now wide awake.
"You have got to be kidding me."
