Papa's rough hand was on her back as he led her down the halls of the lab, the white lights bright in her eyes. Luckily she had gotten some headache medication for the aches that had plagued her ever since she helped Steve, but the lights still hurt a bit. Papa didn't seem to notice her distress.
That was one thing she didn't understand. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't find out what his name was. Everyone in the building was always thinking about everything. Husbands, wives, children, television characters, bad jokes, worries, dreams, nightmares, food, pets, trees, cars…everything.
It got overwhelming. And she still didn't know Papa's name.
She found, though, as time went on, she could tell whose mind she was reading. If the mind was cold and calculated it was Papa. Scared yet crazy protective, sometimes confused? Steve.
She read Steve's mind more often than she wanted to admit. Robin tried not to feel bad, all she wanted to know was if he was alive. Reading his mind every day made sure that he was, and she was forever grateful for it. Nothing would make this worse than Steve losing his life, leaving Robin herself to find the body. But, knowing Papa, he would likely use his corpse as an example to her.
She tried not to think about it.
Papa touched her shoulder and brought her to a halt in front of large, white doors. It wasn't the same as the room she had met with Steve in earlier, and she wondered what was beyond it. Papa was unreadable as ever, repeating the same song in his head, over and over again, blocking her from reading him. It was smart, and effective. It was scary how well he could adjust to her new abilities.
"Twenty? Are you ready?"
She swallowed, her hands clutching her medical gown uneasily. "For what?"
"To see Nineteen."
She let out a small gasp, trying to contain the burst of joy that lit up in her. She was going to see Steve. She was finally going to see him.
"Now, I know last time you two didn't really get to talk," Papa continued. "But, this time will be different. There will be no punishments, you can talk to him about whatever you please."
"Really?" She couldn't believe it. This had to be a trick, right? Surely he and his scientists would get something out of it. Yet she found herself not caring. She could talk to Steve. She could check how he's doing without having to read his mind.
"Yes. This is your home, and he is your brother. It'll be good for the both of you."
She was practically vibrating, with nerves or excitement she didn't know, but as soon as Papa opened the door she walked in hastily, barely registering the cameras on the walls.
Steve was there, looking a bit better than the last time they had seen each other. His face was less pale, and he held himself with strength, and Robin wondered what had happened to him. Was he more confident? More defiant? Did Papa do something to him?
The door behind her swung shut, and it was only her and Steve in the room.
"Steve!" She exclaimed, running to him, and he broke into a smile, catching her as they fell into a hug.
"Rob." He said, holding her with a tight grip. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. I haven't stopped worrying about you. I promise." She exclaimed, tears bursting in her eyes.
"I know. I know, I haven't stopped thinking about you, either. What is he doing to you? Is he hurting you? Is anything wrong?" He asked, pulling away from the hug to study her face, as if searching for bruises and cuts. There was nothing there. But, she was happy to see that he was healing up well, too.
"No, it's good. Not much in the choice of food, but it's good."
Steve smiled again, but this time it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah, the food is…interesting."
She nodded, unsure how his attitude dimmed so quickly. Was it something she said?
Unconsciously she felt fear from him, fear of punishment, and she knew what was going on. At least, she hoped.
"Papa told me that we could talk freely. We won't get punished."
"He told me the same thing too." Steve said with a sigh, sitting down on the floor. She joined him. "But why? Why does he want us to be normal around each other? He's definitely listening in. They all are."
She hadn't thought that far, but he was right. Observing everything as always.
"I don't care." She said, surprised that the words were coming out of her mouth. "Every day I make sure that you're alive, every day I wish I could see you, and I'm not letting the fear of the future take this from me. Please, Steve."
His eyes softened, and she could tell that he was thinking, probably weighing if the risk was better than the reward. He eventually nodded.
"Okay."
"Okay."
Robin readjusted herself into a more comfortable position, and Steve followed suit, watching her closely.
"Has he hurt you?" He asked again, tentatively, and she shook her head.
"No. Not really…I may have powers now, though."
Steve nodded solemnly. "I thought so."
Now she was confused. How would he know? Did he have powers and knew that she had them, too?
"How did you know that?"
"He told me." Steve said with a frown, his brow furrowing with what she could describe as anger. "And, it's just what he does."
"You…you know him?"
"Before we got taken? Not personally, no. But, I met a girl that was taken by him. She has powers, too."
Robin couldn't help but feel a bit hurt by that. He knew what was going on then, well, at least a suspicion. Why hadn't he told her earlier?
There was an obvious answer to that. Before his curly haired friend came along, they were only coworkers slinging ice cream together. Why would he share something that big with her?
She chose not to bring it up. "I think I can read minds."
His eyes widened with curiosity. "Really?"
"Yeah. It's strange. Loud sometimes, too." She explained, once again playing with her medical gown. "It's like I can hear everything anyone ever thinks. I'm getting better at controlling it, though. I can also feel some emotions, and maybe give them to people too? I'm not sure about that last one."
"That's really neat." Steve said, and it sounded genuine. "Did you, a couple of days ago..?"
She nodded, knowing exactly what he was referring to. "Yeah, I helped you. It was Michigan."
"Nice. I've never been."
"We should go, when all of this is over." She said hopefully, but she knew that she wasn't tricking him at all. "Like a road trip or something."
He shrugged, "Maybe."
The two fell into an uncomfortable silence. In the silence, Robin could soon feel the pressure of dozens of voices echoing into her skull, but she forced them to go away.
A part of her wondered why he didn't ask her more questions, or why he didn't share what was happening to him, yet it was clear that he was still anxious about talking with her. She knew that he was worried about how Papa would use this interaction to probably hurt them.
She could soon feel fear rolling off of him in waves, fear as well as hurt, hints of betrayal, and a bit of hope. She didn't know why the emotions confused her, but they did. She refused to read his mind, though. Robin would never do that to him. Well, except to make sure he was still alive, of course.
The metal door clicked open once again, and both she and Steve flinched, Papa and a few doctors strolling in. They quickly got to their feet, but all Papa did was give them a calm smile.
"I hope you both enjoyed your time together, but there are some things that still have to be done before bedtime. Nineteen has another test. Twenty, these doctors are going to take you to the Rainbow Room."
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Hadn't it been destroyed? She remembered hearing that from someone's mind.
He seemed to notice her confusion. "A new Rainbow Room."
She nodded stiffly, giving Steve one last hug before she was undoubtedly going to be pulled away.
"Stay strong,'' she whispered into his ear, and he nodded against her shoulder, "I promise it'll be okay. I'm not letting you suffer, Dingus, we've been through too much for me to give up on you."
She didn't get to hear his response, as her body was ripped away from him, and she felt the rough hands of one of the doctors drag her away. She looked behind her and saw his eyes filled with what seemed like determination, but she could still feel the fear leaking off of him. She didn't know if it was fear for himself or fear for her.
Did it really matter? He was scared, and there was nothing that she could do. At least not now.
As she was dragged through the halls, a thought crossed her mind, her own thought, one that made her smile.
She had an idea. And if this worked…it would be perfect.
Sorry for the late (and shorter) chapter, I picked up a shift at work because I'm broke so I had less time to write than I originally had thought lol. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed it! More about Steve's powers will be revealed in the next chapter (I'm looking forward to sharing it with you all!)