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Robin
'He's my father,'
I blinked, then frowned. 'You don't have to talk about it,'
'If Shadow wanted to kill him,' she started. 'He should have stayed still and given her a clean shot. . .He's an idiot, for trying to resist. . .It just makes things painful.'
I winced at the bitterness in her words. 'Lilian,'
She turned away from me. 'Can we go now?' she asked weakly.
I nodded. We'll just pretend like we didn't both know she was fighting back tears. Giving her a quick pat on the shoulder, I picked her up and pulled out my grappling hook. How else could I console her?
I'll leave that to Shadow.
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I didn't know what to expect when I saw her, but I guess the first thing I noticed was how pale and thin she was. I put Lilian down and frowned, turning to the pink haired man in the room in anger.
'Was it really necessary to tie her up like that?' We were all in the observation room, watching Shadow in her cell. She was unconscious, her upper body practically bound to the point of immovability with rope.
'Well, I ran out of rope or I would have tied her legs too,' he laughed, then turned serious. 'Don't worry, I know her, she'll be a little sore, that's all.'
'How sure are you that she won't escape?' Lilian asked him quietly.
'Hey kiddo, that's his job,' the weird guy in pink pointed at me. 'I'm just her cousin's spirit, not much qualification there to do anything.'
'Robin,' she turned to me.
'I'll try my best,' my shoulders slumped as I stared at her. 'I'll try. . .'
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'What do you want?' Just as I stepped into the room I was met with Shadow's steely glare. I shuffled on my feet and sighed, knowing that this wasn't going to be easy.
'I just got back, trust me, I wasn't expecting you,' I said, as gently as possible, dancing around the question.
'Are you here to torture me then?' Her voice was cool as she slowly sat up, but it stabbed into my chest harder than expected, especially when I saw the her eyes widen in pain with every movement she made. She hurt. . . badly.
I knew more than anyone how much Shadow hated showing her weaknesses. For her to be in this much agony made me angry. She should be getting treatment, not sitting in a cell and being interrogated.
I hated how her clothes were more red than white, and I couldn't help but move closer.
'Shadow. . .' I took another step forward.
She seemed much like a caged beast as she watched me, like I was hurting her with each step I took. Like the last thing she wanted was to see me.
But her face was speckled with blood and I needed to be sure that she was alright. I needed to examine every inch of her skin before I could calm down the maelstrom of emotions ravaging my heart.
Don told me she might have been shot but he never took the ropes off so he wasn't sure.
My chest hurt at the thought, but I didn't think she'd let me get anywhere near her, not when she was looking at me like I was dangerous predator.
'Don't,' I saw her wince as she spat out the words. 'Don't come any closer.'
I stopped immediately, not wanting to provoke her. 'Shadow, I'm sorry.' I am sorry for everything. I needed her to understand that.
'So?' I could almost taste the incredulity in her voice and my shoulders fell. How could I get her to listen? Why were there so many walls between us now?
Why can't I read her mind?
'Please Shadow,' I took a step closer, urging her with my voice. 'Look at me.' Please.
'No,' she shifted her gaze to the floor and turned away from me, doing the exact opposite of what I wanted.
My lungs burned and I realized that I had been holding my breath since I entered the room. I had wanted to see her for so long, and now. . .
'If I knew all this would happen, I would have never made you promise not to escape,' I admitted honestly, my eyes watering slightly as I thought about all the suffering she had gone through because of me.
I wasn't going to do anything like that again, I hoped she knew that. If only she looked at me. . .
'Stop it,' Shadow snapped, her voice going a pitch higher in anger. 'I don't care, just leave me. . . I don't need your pity.'
'I wasn't,' I replied slowly, barely resisting the urge to pull out my hair in frustration as I threw my hands into the air. 'Why can't you understand?' Why can't she understand that I'm sorry for everything I did?
'No!' her voice trembled for a moment and I thought I saw her shake her head, but the movement was so slight that it might as well have never happened. 'Why can't you understand? It's been a couple days for you but it's been a month for me, I've been tortured, forced to kill, shot at. . .Now I'm held prisoner by the same people who put me through all that.'
Every accusation made me flinch, because it was true. What had I been thinking? Why did I think she would forgive me?
'Just leave me, I hate you!' she screamed at last.
I had expected it, braced for it, and yet it still felt like a part of me had died in that moment.
Everywhere went silent, just the sounds our breathing mingled with each other. She was heaving, probably exhausted, and satisfied. Yes, to finally say those words must have been relieving.
'So, you hate me?' I didn't think she was lying, but I knew her too well to say it was not the truth. For some reason, I felt nothing as I said those words. I felt soulless.
As I had expected, her reply was resolute and simple, 'yes, I do.'
'Shadow,' I stared quietly at her thin frame, she had lost weight since I last saw her but my heart felt no agony as I mulled over the thought. In fact, it was like it didn't exist.
My heart had vanished and left behind was a gaping hole. 'What did they do to you?' She hates me.
I heard the words she would say before they passed her lips, so I beat her to replying. 'I don't care what's going to happen to me.' I said, determined not to hurt her again. She had to let me help her, even if it got me kil. . .
'You know me so well,' I felt the tiredness in her voice and suddenly the pain was back. I wanted her in my arms, safely tucked away from anything that could hurt her, 'that little act of mine didn't fool you at all.'
'You aren't petty,' I told her quietly, even though her words made my previous pains resurface.
Today had been filled with realization after realization and I still hadn't taken time to digest it all. I was mentally exhausted and wiped out emotionally.
'I could never hate you,' she whispered, her voice as quiet and it was pained.
I know. I managed a smile. 'So, what's going on?'
Asking this, I nervously glanced at the door to the room. Bruce could barge in anytime now if she didn't give me answers soon.
'Okay,' she answered in an agreeable manner and I almost fell to the floor in relief. 'But honestly,' she continued, much to my displeasure. 'If you get any closer, I would kill you.'
'So, first things first, you have to let me go.' she said, an innocent smile plastered on her lips, and I froze.
If I let her go, there was a high chance that she'd just knock me out and attempt an escape. But how did she plan on getting past the Justice League when just sitting down caused her so much pain. And where was she escaping to? It was probably not somewhere safe.
But was Mount Justice safe for her anyway?
I couldn't decide whether to keep her here or set her free. I just wanted to be with her despite what the choice ending up being. . .
I took a step forward.
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So, most of this was the chapter "Robin and Shadow" from Robin's perspective! Interesting right?