Scars: chapter 4
Haunting Past
He looked unwilling, but he cooperated. And walked to the edge of the roof and sat down, and motioned for Starfire to sit down beside him.
"What happened to you Robin? Please tell me." Star said hopefully.
Robin took a breath and sighed. Talk about ruining the mood.
"Well, you were right about one thing, there is a pattern to my behaviors. This night...is the anniversary of the deaths of my parents." he paused and looked down. He couldn't turn back now, but this story brought up so many painful memories. Starfire put a hand on his shoulder and consented him to continue. He took another long breath and told the story.
"I was born in a place called Gotham City. In a dangerous, crime infested city. When I was young I was part of a trapeze and high wire act in the Haley Circus. I worked with my mother and father. I was a trained and a pretty professional acrobat. Trained from when I was a toddler."
"Our act was perfect and the best attraction at that circus. I loved doing shows, and we had a lot of fans. We performed daily. Everything was perfect. We were all very happy,... until one day during the summer the year that I turned eleven years old. I wasn't going to be in the last act that night, due to the fact that only my parents were doing a grand finale...without a safety net." Robin hesitated, but continued.
"I watched my family climb the ladders and mount the platforms to the different trapeze stations,...never knowing that it would be the last time I was to see them alive. They never made it through the first five minutes of the act. Sometime during the course of the day, someone tampered with the rigging for the trapeze equipment...the wire snapped in the middle of their performance. I can still remember that sound. That sound that ruined my happy little childhood world."
"I watched them fall 10 stories to the ground. I was...only a little kid...and I saw them...die." He furrowed his brow in sadness and looked at the floor.
"They hit the ground one by one, dead seconds after impact." Tears welled up in Robin's eyes but he blinked them away.
"I was devastated. And never the same kid again. Batman, who you already know about, found out because he was in the audience when it happened. He trained me to become what I am now. That event had changed me and my view on crime. I vowed to fight what murdered my parents,...my family. And avenge their deaths by stopping evil. So this horrible thing...never... happens to anyone else...ever again." He paused.
"So here I am. My past still haunts me every day. I just...loved them...so...much. I would do anything,...anything to see my parents again. So I go out every year on this day to patrol, to remember, because the Batman taught me never to forget." Robin finally finished. He was about ready to start breaking down after that, but he tried his best to hold it in knowing full well that it still showed on his face.
He turned to look at Starfire who now had tears in her eyes that were about to fall by the time he had finished And was looking at Robin very sadly.
"Oh, Robin I'm so sorry. I had no idea..." She started to say and just grabbed him into a hug and leaned her head on his shoulder. Robin sat quietly and wrapped his arms around the girl with tears starting to rise in his eyes, as he tried again to hold it all in.
"Your past is so horrible. I can't believe all the things you went through. And you were so young." She hugged him tightly.
"I won't tell a soul your secret Robin, I promise. I'm so sorry..." She said.
"Star, you don't have to be sorry. The past is the past, we can't change that. Nor can we do anything about it. What's done is done." he said. She continued to hug him.
"That's why you're so awkward this time of year." she concluded. Robin nodded, still staring out into the city.
She would never know every thing about how Robin's mind worked, that was much to complicated. But for now, she was just glad he told her about that.
Her head still rested on his shoulder and his right arm was around her waist.
"There's something else I still need to ask you about..." Starfire said, lifting her head off his shoulder, looking at him. Robin reluctantly looked at her with sort of a, 'what now?' look on his face, but it was softer. And he had to admit, telling one of his secrets to someone did make him feel a little better. Like some weight had been lifted off his shoulders. So he answered her.
"What?" he asked. She paused for a second, wondering how she would put her question.
"...What happened to you while you were Slade's apprentice?"