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Most kid were scared to walk around in the dark, especially in a city with such a criminal history as Gotham, but not him. He was used to it.
He'd caught a bus into Gotham from Jump city in the middle of the night for one reason only, they were here, and he had to see them.
Earlier that day he'd shown his friends some of his personal possessions. It had dug up some painful emotions that he need to clear.
He walked into the only shop in the area that was open that late at night, a small florist on the corner of the street.
"A mixed bouquet of spring flowers, please."
"Sure thing hon, I'll be right back." The blond girl behind the counter smiled "You look kinda familiar, you from 'round here?" She inquired, making conversation as she set about her task.
"Used to be. Moved over to Jump now though."
"Jump city?" She whistled at the distance that he'd travelled. "So, what brings you back to Gotham?"
"I came back to see someone."
She nodded, smirking slightly to herself. 'Of course he'd have a girlfriend' "That'll be $10.30, please." She finished the bouquet and walked back to the counter, admiring the flowers. "Spring time flowers are so beautiful, whoever these are for. She's must be pretty special"
"Most important girl of my life." He grinned, handing over the money and bidding her farewell.
Spring time was a very emotional time for the dark haired teenager, it marked the anniversary of the day his life fell apart, and at the same time, the day his life started.
He wasn't paying attention to where he was going, he knew the way off by heart. But he couldn't help looking up towards the roofs of the buildings.
It was Gotham city, and it was the middle of the night. He would be on patrol. Was he watching?
It had been a long time since Robin had been Batman's side-kick, would his former mentor even recognize him now? He'd changed a lot in the last year, and he looked completely different without his mask on.
Right now he was wearing a dark red long-sleeved shirt and jeans, his dark hair was still quite messy but no longer gelled into spikes. Nothing like he used to look.
As a circus child he'd always worn bright colours, as Bruce Wayne's ward he wore very smart outfits, always with a tidy flat or gelled back hair style.
He arrived without any distractions, heading straight towards his destination.
"Hey Mom, Dad. I'm sorry I haven't visited for a while." He knelt down in front of his parents grave, placing the flowers delicately in front of the tombstone. "My life's been a bit…Hectic, for a while."
"Remember I said that I'd left Batman? Well, I've got my own team now. They sort of see me as their leader. I finally see why Batman's so serious all the time, it's pretty stressful." He absent-mindedly started fiddling with some rocks on the ground. "I wish you could've seen me in action. I chose my name because of you. You always called me your little robin, I hope you don't mind me using it now that…" Unshed tears appeared in the corner of his eyes but his voice stayed level. "I've mastered all the moves you taught me. The rest of my team has powers. I only have my training…If it wasn't for everything you guys taught me…"
"I think I've got a girlfriend too. It's not official…but we both know that we love each-other. I know I've had a lot of girlfriends, but this is different, she's different. Her names Starfire. You'd really like her. She's really pretty, she can hold her own in a fight, and she's the kindest person you'd ever meet."
"Then there's Raven. We've helped each other a lot. She's pretty messed up sometimes; She can't always show her emotions. Her powers are pretty dangerous, but she's a good person. She just needs some help remembering it sometimes."
"…I still can't believe it's been seven years now. You know sometimes I still expect to see you, sitting at the breakfast table when I wake up in the morning?"
"The circus is holding a special performance for you next month, I'm going to see if they'll let me take part. The last Flying Grayson." He smiled sadly. "Did you know they replaced us with The Amazing Todds? Little Jason's got some good moves now, could almost rival me. He's twelve now, performs solo sometimes. To be honest, it's hard to believe he's the same kid who once dyed his hair black just to look like me." He laughed weakly at the memory.
"You have no idea how much I miss you. You were the most important people in my life and I…" His voice started to crack as his tears streamed faster down his face. "Batman always taught me to hold in my emotions." He roughly wiped at his eyes, laughing slightly as he shook his head. "I've changed a lot. I wonder if you'd even recognise me now?"
The sound of soft footsteps behind him caused him to freeze, shifting his mindset from Dick Grayson to Robin as he kicked off the ground to back-flip behind the stranger in an effort to catch them off-guard.
"Robin." The voice was almost completely emotionless, giving it a slightly cold edge.
In the pale moonlight it was hard to see a clear outline, but whoever it was, they were wearing a long cape that swayed slightly in the softly blowing wind.
Instantly, Robin tensed up.
"Should have know you'd follow me... I am on your turf now, after all."
Batman was the only person in a long cape who would follow him to his parents' grave - no one else knew who they were. Robin didn't know how he felt about bumping into his old mentor. The last time he'd seen him, he'd been told that he couldn't be Batman's sidekick any more. The caped crusader had said that Robin was slowly suffocating Dick Grayson, and that going their separate ways might allow him a bit more of a normal life.
That hadn't worked.
As soon as he split from Batman, Robin somehow found himself leading his own team of superheroes: the Teen Titans. He was the only one on the team without superpowers, and the only one with any chance at a secret identity. Cyborg's robotics made his identity obvious; Starfire had golden skin and fully green eyes; Beast Boy had wanted a secret identity but with green skin it was also pointless to try... Raven was the only other one who even had a chance at blending into normal life - her skin was almost white, but being pale wasn't that far out of the ordinary.
If his friends couldn't hide their identities then why should he? It wouldn't be fair if he had a normal life while they had to deal with being full-time superheroes.
Was that why Batman had found him tonight? To tell him that he had to stop being Robin once and for all?
"...I think you're mistaking me for someone else." The cool voice seemed amused.
Looking more closely at the cloaked figure, Robin realised his mistake. He'd been so paranoid that he'd failed to notice the obvious clues. The person stood there was much too short to be his former partner, and they had a hood pulled over their head instead of a cowl.
As the clouds shifted, allowing more light into the graveyard, he noticed that the hooded cape was a deep midnight blue instead of pure black.
"Raven?"
Turning to face him, she lowered her hood. Her face showed a mixture of amusement and concern. "You thought I was Batman, didn't you?"
He felt his cheeks turn red as he abandoned his fighting stance, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"What are you doing here, Raven?"
"I… was worried. I thought that you might want to talk about it."
"You followed me here?"
"No. I figured that you'd come here. I saw the newspaper article."
He nodded quickly, looking past her towards his parents' grave.
"I haven't been here since we formed the Titans." He looked down at the floor, feeling guilty.
"I can only imagine, the pain of losing someone so close." She stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. "But I do know that it's hurting you more to bottle up your emotions."
"It's hard to talk about, Raven."
"I know. And I cannot force you to talk about something so... personal." She gave him a sympathetic smile. "But I am always here if you need me."
She walked towards his parents' grave and dropped a single rose in front of the tombstone, bowing her head in respect before turning to leave.
"They're the reason I became Robin." He slumped down onto an old, wooden bench opposite the gravestone. He rubbed his eyes and looked down, trying to hide his tears.
Raven turned back towards him with a sad smile. "Revenge is a strong excuse, and a very poor reason."
"I was nine years old, I didn't need a reason. I guess blaming him stopped me from blaming myself."
She nodded, her face twisting into a mix of shock and sympathy. She didn't realise how young he'd been. Coming to sit next to him, she placed a comforting hand onto him arm as she listened.
"What happened?" She prompted him gently. Her friend seemed to be struggling to find the words to express his pent-up feelings, so she squeezed his arm reassuringly and gave him a sympathetic glance.
"Tony Zuko. He was out to blackmail the circus, said something bad would happen if they didn't pay. When they refused, h-he decided to send them a message."
His hands balled into fists, trying to hold back his raw emotions. Tears were still falling onto his lap, but his voice was hardly breaking as he retold his past.
Being an empath, Raven could feel every separate emotion radiating from her friend, and tightened her grip on his arm slightly.
'Fear, pain, anger, grief, guilt... How did he manage to bottle this up for so long?'
"I saw him near the tightrope… I should have said something." He punched the bench with such force that the aging wood splintered and broke under his fist. "I should have told someone!" He screamed.
"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have - "
"If I'd just said something they might still be alive now!" He burst out miserably, cutting across Raven's attempt to comfort him.
"Then you would never have become Robin. We would have never met." Her face softened with a gentle smile. "You helped saved the world from Trigon. You literally went through hell to bring me back. Maybe… maybe some events happen for a reason. No matter how terrible those events may be, they made you stronger. And you've grown into a good person."
Robin had stopped holding back his pain, he was now bent over as he broke down into inconsolable sobbing.
"It wasn't your fault." She added softly, rubbing soothing circles on his back. "It must be hard to talk about these things out loud."
He tried to say something in reply, but his voice was lost amongst his involuntary sobs.
She carefully pulled him up into a gentle hug, wrapping her arms 'round him protectively, offering him as much comfort as she was able. As soon he was safely in her arms, he returned the gesture. As his tears fell onto her blue cloak, he simply held onto her more tightly than ever. She continued to make soothing circles on his back, silently allowing him to express the pain that he'd bottled up over the last seven years.
It was impossible to say how long he stayed there, locked in her caring embrace, crying and exposing his real self for the first time after so long.
Eventually his hold lessened on the sympathetic witch and he pulled away, wiping at his eyes with the back of his sleeve.
She smiled, tilting her head to the side slightly and raising one eyebrow. "Better?"
"Yeah." He smiled sheepishly, still rubbing at his eyes. "I guess, saying this stuff out loud, just…" He trailed off not knowing what to say, but he didn't have to. She understood perfectly.
"…It helped." She finished for him. "Even though it was difficult. You can finally start to heal."
"They'd have loved you." He grinned, nodding towards his parents' grave, receiving a flicker of a smile from Raven. She stood up abruptly.
"It'll be morning soon. If we head back now, the others need not know that we ever left."
He nodded, shivering as he stood up. 'When did it get this cold?'
He placed a hand on his parents' grave and closed his eyes, saying a silent prayer before turning back to Raven to leave.
"You look Cold." She stated bluntly.
"To be honest, I didn't expect to be out long enough to catch the morning chill." He admitted, crossing his arms, trying to preserve some of his body heat as he walked out of the graveyard. "I'm fine."
Raven rolled her eyes, unclasping her cape to wrap it around the teenage 'Boy Wonder'.
"Raven, I…" His face flushed red as she re-clasped her cloak around his shoulders.
"Azarath is cold. American mornings don't bother me. You, on the other hand, look like your about to freeze." The tone of her voice left no room for argument, so he wrapped himself up in the warm fabric. She smiled teasingly, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. "Even if your macho ego doesn't want to admit it."
He glared playfully at her, his bright blue pupils contrasting with his blotchy red eyes. Even though he'd been crying, his eyes lit up his face. It was hard for Raven to believe that she'd only seen them for the first time the day before.
It took about half an hour for Raven to fly them back to the tower. When they arrived, she walked him to his room.
"Are you sure you'll be all right now?"
He nodded, watching her back as she heading down the corridor towards her own room. She was almost at the end of the corridor when she heard his voice, stage-whispering so as not to wake the others.
"Uh… Raven?" She turned to look back at him. He was holding out her cloak in front of him. Both of them blushed as she half-ran to take it off him.
He looked up from the dark blue cloth and into her midnight blue eyes. "Thank you."
She smiled back at him before walking off to her bedroom, she'd need to meditate to clear herself of her teammate's emotions, but she was happy to help. She felt proud of him for finally being able to put the past behind him. And if he couldn't, then she'd always be there to help.
They weren't just teammates, they weren't even just friends any more... they were something even closer.
And after seven long years of pain, Raven - who'd always believed that deep down she was nothing but evil - had helped Dick Grayson to finally move on.
Nothing could ever break the bond that they made that night.