Raven
Starfire's high-pitched squeal sends Raven's stomach plummeting to the floor.
Of course! she thinks. Of course she would come back now! Of all times; right now!
Just when Robin was about to-
No.
She cuts herself off, not even letting herself think it.
He was not going to kiss her- she wasn't going to let him kiss her- there was going to be no kissing!
Oh, but that look he had-
Stop it!
She resists the urge to shake her head, knowing what's coming.
This is the part where he jumps away like he's been burned. This is the part where he runs to Starfire, forgetting Raven ever existed. And why shouldn't he? It's not like Raven can really be with him, no matter how much she wants to be. He deserves to be with someone who can give him her whole heart. He deserves to be happy. And Raven will sit by in the shadows, watching in silent suffering.
Except he isn't flinching away. He isn't running.
He just stands there, looking at Raven, his smile reassuring her. He nods, then backs a step away, turning to look at Starfire.
"Hey, did you kids make it all right? Flash's voice says through the comm.
"Yeah," Robin says. "We're great. Thanks, Flash."
"Sorry again about the proximity requirements."
"No, problem, Flash. You have a good night," Robin says.
"Yeah, you kids too."
And with that, the connection ends.
Starfire floats over, smiling timidly. "Friends, it is glorious to see you."
Robin nods.
This is the part where he walks up and throws his arms around her. This is the part where he tells her how much he missed her, and whispers sweet nothings into her ear.
Except he isn't moving. His whole body seems suddenly as stiff as Raven feels.
Why isn't he moving? Why isn't he throwing his arms around Starfire?
And why doesn't he even seem happy to see her?
Raven eyes the rest of the room. The other titans huddle together, almost frozen; their jaws may as well be on the floor as they stare at Robin and Starfire.
Then Raven notices a young blond man, also watching with interest, though much more stoically than her friends.
Robin finally speaks. "Been a long time."
His voice is stoic- too stoic.
He's masking, Raven knows.
Starfire grabs her left forearm with her right hand, eyes everywhere except Robin's face.
Raven's missing something.
Something big.
"Yes," Starfire says. "A very long time."
She looks back to the blond man, and then it hits Raven.
She's not alone. She's not-
"Friends Robin and Raven," Starfire says. "Meet my husband. Gavyn."
The words hit Raven like a train.
She watches as the man steps forward a few steps, awkwardly waving.
Oh, poor, Robin.
Her heart goes out to him before she can stop it.
Oh, the pain he must be feeling...
She looks at him, watching him size up Starfire's husband. He walks towards him and offers his hand in friendship.
Gavyn shakes it, and they both nod.
Robin turns to his friends and offers them a painted on smile.
"Hey," he says. "Good to be home."
Beast Boy and Cyborg rush to him, each speaking a thousand miles an hour; Cyborg babbling about some crime in the city, and how he 'pwnd' the villains responsible; Beast Boy yelling about a new game he got, and a movie that comes out later in the week; each of them claiming to have missed him more than the other.
Gavyn walks over to Starfire, gently taking her hand in his.
And just like that, all the tension that had been there is gone, and things appear normal again. Almost like old times.
Almost.
But Raven knows the pain Robin hides, and she wants more than anything to help him. Though, like always, she doesn't know how.
She catches Speedy smirking at Robin's pain. She resists the urge rip his foot out from under him again.
"I don't know about you guys," Robin says, then waits for Cyborg and Beast Boy to quiet down. "But I've gotta get some rest while I can. It feels like I haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks."
"Oh, right," Cyborg says.
"Yeah, dude," Beast Boy says. "You've earned it."
Robin turns to Starfire and Gavyn. "It was good meeting you. Please, feel free to stay in the tower. We have plenty of room."
With that, he picks up his bag from the floor, then turns and walks towards the elevator.
Less than half a second of indecision, and Raven grabs her bag, floating quickly to catch up with him.
"Hey, Raven!" Beast Boy calls behind her.
She doesn't bother answering. She gets in the white elevator next to Robin, then stops floating. The door closes, and she sets her bag down next to Robin's. The elevator starts moving, and they both just stand next to each other, not speaking.
"I..." she trails off, not knowing even how to begin.
He just breathes, standing next to her.
Oh, how she wishes she could ease his suffering.
"I..." she says again, trailing off again.
"It's okay, Raven," he says. "It's okay."
But it's not okay. She knows it's not okay.
"I'm so sorry," she finally manages to say.
"At least-" he says. "-at least now, I have closure."
He takes another deep breath, and with her powers, she feels the tension in him ease. Her own tension easing as well.
The elevator doors open.
Robin picks up his bag and Raven's, then waits for her to exit the elevator first. Always the gentleman.
He comes out after her and they begin walking down the gray hallway, heading for her bedroom.
They walk side by side in silence. She wishes she had something to say, but she can't find any words. She just feels so helpless; like anything she does will just make it worse. So, she walks next to him, cursing herself, but not speaking. They reach her door, Robin holds her bag out for her.
This is it.
If she is going to say anything- it has to be now.
She takes her bag from Robin, then opens her mouth to speak-
"Thank you," he says, taking her completely by surprise.
"What?"
"Thank you," he says again.
His tone is so clear and sincere that she can't help but smile a little at him.
"For what?" she says.
He shrugs. "For coming to Gotham to help me-"
"It was nothing. Really."
"No it wasn't," he says. "Not to me."
The look from before the transporter activated returns to his face, and she has to swallow hard. the blush finding her cheeks again.
In spite of herself, the thought that she's never been kissed jumps into her mind, making her even more nervous and self-conscious.
Get it together, Raven! Just say goodnight, go inside and shut the door.
"And thank you," he says, "for being here."
"I'll always be here for you, Robin," she says before she can stop it.
Her eyes go wide, but she resists the urge to cover her mouth with her hand.
He smiles, and for a second, she swears he's going to kiss her. And worse, she knows that she really wants him to.
But then his smile fades, the weight of the world seeming to bear down on him again.
"Goodnight, Raven," he says.
"Uh, goodnight," she hears herself say.
He turns and walks away, leaving her struck somewhere between disappointed and relieved.
Oh, Lord, what am I gonna do?
(******)
Robin
He drops his bag on the bathroom floor, splashes water on his face, then heads for the bed.
Oh, what a day.
He scolds himself for the millionth time. The look on Raven's face is firmly planted behind his eyelids, and he can't shake it. While waiting for the transporter to activate, he had wanted nothing more than to kiss Raven, but then Starfire's arrival threw everything off balance for him.
At Raven's door, he found himself thinking about it again, seeing in her the same desire again- but then, the image of Starfire and her husband jumped into his mind.
How could he have almost put Raven in that kind of position?
Making her feel like his second choice; like he was just using her to get over Starfire; making her feel cheap, unwanted, unloved.
He shakes his head. Thankfully, it dawned on him before he could do anything that would have hurt her.
The last thing he wants to do is hurt Raven.
He digs his communicator out of his pocket, dropping it on the nightstand, and face-plants on the pillow, not bothering to remove his mask, his shoes, his hoody, nor even bothering to pull the covers down. He just lays there, trying to summon to the will to roll onto his back.
He finally manages it, and his eyelids feel so heavy as he stares at the ceiling. Of course Starfire would come back now. Just when he was over her. Just when he'd started to move on. Just when he and Raven had finally started to get close.
Two more seconds, he thinks.
If he had had just two more seconds before the transporter activated. None of this would be an issue. There would be no reason for Raven to doubt the sincerity of his feelings, no reason for her to think that he was just trying to get back at Starfire or make her jealous, or using Raven to dull the pain.
Just.
Two.
More.
Seconds.
He groans and closes his eyes. Oh, what is he going to do-
Glass shatters, a giant vice grips around him.
"SoLoMoN gRuNdY bOrN oN a MoNdAy," a voice that sounds like its got gravel in its throat says.
Oh, sonofa-
Robin feels a tug, then the cold night air kisses his skin as he hurdles towards the earth below. The air whistles in his ears, blows through his hair, stings his eyes. He knows that he doesn't have his grapple. He's falling without a safety net.
The image of his parents falling flashes in his mind. His stomach lurches, and his heart hammers against his ribs.
No! Not me.
He sees Grundy falling above him, so he holds out his hand and angles his body around, now falling belly first with his arms out like a skydiver, giving himself maximum drag against the wind, slowing his descent.
Grundy plummets by like a brick.
Robin angles his body slightly forwards, tucking his arms in by his sides, speeding through the air like a missile.
He slams into Grundy's back, wrapping his arms around his neck, and hangs on.
Grundy tries to rip his arms away, but too late. They careen into the sandy beach below the tower.
Ohhhh...
He can't breathe, the landing took the wind completely out of him. His ribs may be broken, but he's still alive. For now.
Landing on Grundy saved his life.
Grundy stirs, trying to get to his feet.
Robin attempts to keep him down, but Grundy throws him away like a rag doll. He slams into the sand, trying to roll to his feet, but his muscles won't respond. He groans and coughs, finally making his way up to stand on unsteady legs.
Grundy is on his feet too, and Robin finally gets a good look at the thing. Big doesn't even begin to describe it. It's arms are like the size of a man, its torso about the size of a car. He wears a black suit that's ripped and torn.
"SoLoMoN gRuNdY bOrN oN a MoNdAy," it says again.
Long story short, every time Grundy is killed, he resurrects differently; smarter, stronger, kinder, meaner; you never know which Grundy you'll meet after he dies. Sometimes it can only say it's name and the beginning of the nursery rhyme where it got its name from.
This one seems a bit smarter than the other ones Robin's met.
Swell.
Grundy starts moving to his right, and Robin follows suit, and they circle.
(******)
Raven
She lays in bed, too tired to be awake, too much on her mind to sleep. Her stomach hurts with worry. What will tomorrow bring, and how will she handle it? She's afraid Robin will forget about his feelings and ignore her; and she's afraid that he won't. She's afraid that they'll continue growing closer, and that she'll either have to break his heart, or worse: not be strong enough to reject him; putting him in terrible danger.
She puts her hand to her stomach in a vain attempt to ease the ache. Oh, what she wouldn't give for some relief.
She has to talk to him. It's the only way. Whenever she struggles, he helps her. She has to tell him honestly what she's feeling; and he'll have to understand why they can never grow any closer. Why they can never be-
Adrenaline shoots through her like lightning. She jolts upright in the bed.
Robin's in danger!
She doesn't know how she knows, but she knows. She floats out of bed, bolting from her room, heading for his room.
An alarm starts blasting, and the terrible feeling of being too late makes her swallow hard. She flies down the hall, then pounds on Robin's door as soon as she reaches it. She types his passcode into the keypad, the door opens with a whoosh. His bed is empty, glass all over the floor, and the curtains sway in the breeze, his window broken.
"Gone?" she says.
Her T-comm goes off in the pocket of her cloak. She fishes it out, praying to hear Robin's voice.
"Raven," Cyborg's voice squawks through the comm. "Alarms are going off everywhere. It looks our alarm's been infected with some kind virus. We're under attack, but I can't isolate where-"
"It's Robin," Raven cuts him off. "He's been taken."
She hears a curse through the comm.
"Get to the common room. We'll see if we can figure out where they went."
(******)
Robin
"What do you want, Grundy?"
"SoLoMoN gRuNdY bOrN oN a MoNdAy," it says again.
Wonderful.
Robin just keeps circling, keeps breathing, keeps trying to recover. He can't help but wonder what Grundy thinks its doing. On tonight of all nights-
Of course!
Grundy rushes him.
He leaps to the side, avoiding Grundy's large, sweeping fist. He nearly stumbles but manages to stay on his feet, his mind working overtime.
He's not here on his own. He was sent after me.
"Who sent you?" he barks.
Grundy just repeats his name then charges again.
Robin rolls towards him, then comes up with an uppercut to Grundy's jaw, knocking him back.
Grundy growls and reaches to grab Robin in his massive hands.
Robin jumps back out of reach, then rolls again, this time smashing his boot-heel into Grundy's groin.
The zombie howls, smashing his fist down.
Robin tries to roll away, but too slow, Grundy's fist colliding with his leg.
He groans out in pain, trying to crawl away.
Grundy grabs him and lifts him into the air with one hand. His other hand makes a fist, and Robin steels himself. The fist flies forward and he feels like he was hit by a car. He vaguely registers the feeling of flying, then falling. He slams into the sand shoulder first, and the impact feels like an elephant sits on his chest. He knows he has broken ribs, he's tasting blood, and his vision is going dark. He breathes in short wheezes, and his arm won't respond to commands to push up.
He grits his teeth, focusing on the feeling of his sore jaw, and works his good arm to push himself up to his feet. He staggers, hunched to the side, but refusing to fall as Grundy stomps towards him, his eyes lifeless and cold.
Broken ribs, separated shoulder, punctured or collapsed lung... The next few minutes are going to be pretty interesting...
Author's Note
First, I want to sincerely apologize for taking so long on the update. I'm so sorry.
I had trouble with this one. I'm in kind of uncharted territory with the situation as it is, and the character's heads were very difficult to get into. I felt like I'd kind of lost my feel for the story, and I couldn't seem to write anything for it that I liked.
So, Solomon Grundy. Love it? Hate it? Let me know.
Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement.
Special thank yous to PrincessTrekkie, LimitlessDarkness, and mooncutie11 for the extra encouragement.
Well, that was Part Seventeen. Can you believe it?
Thank you PrincessTrekkie for the review. I'm so glad you had fun reading it. Thank you. I'm glad you think my writing has improved since the story began. I focus on dialogue a lot, so I'm so glad to hear you liked it, and the action and pace were not easy to do, so thanks. Hehe, I wasn't sure many people would catch the references, so kudos! LOVE hearing that about the Raven/Robin scenes. Thanks so much!
Thank you SatoshiKyu for the review. I appreciate it so much. I hear ya. But remember, Raven hasn't dealt with Joker before; and that entire situation was quite foreign to Raven. And remember, last time Raven had "crush like" feelings- Malchior/Rorek fooled her big time. With everything happening, and the kind of things they were facing, I thought a tiny slip up was forgivable.
Thank you mooncutie11 / readmerubberish for the review. It's so nice to hear people who have been following even since before they had an account on the site. Thank you for the compliments and the all-caps encouragement. I appreciate it so much.
Thank you LimitlessDarkness for the review. Heheh. Thank you. Oh, good. I'm so glad you liked it. I appreciate it so much.
Thank you JuneGrayson for the review. Thanks. Me too! Such a good song. :) Love hearing that.
Thank you Red X for the review. Hey, no worries. Well, yeah, they should, but... They're Gotham's elite. They're not exactly the smartest bunch.
Thank you LadyFelton1994 for the review. Thank you so much. I hope you had a Merry Christmas as well.
Thank you Dark Rain1999 for the review. I appreciate it.
Thank you chinaluv for the review. :D
Thank you SatoshiKyu, BoredPassingTime, LadyFelton1994, Shadow96Angel, and ChaosIsBeauty23 for favoriting and following.
And finally, thank you everyone who has read the fic. Thank you all so very much. I will try to update far sooner than last time. I appreciate all your encouragement and support so much. I hope you review to let me know what you think. I love hearing from you.
That's it for now.
I hope life finds you all well. Until next time.
mojo