Fan Fiction ❯ Putting The Peices Back Together ❯ Who Am I? ( Chapter 2 )

Robin stared at Cyborg in silent shock, as his friend's words echoed in his head, over and over again.

"Rob…you never married Star. In fact, the two of you barely lasted over a year. For the past two years…you've been married to Raven."

`For the past two years…you've been married to Raven. Married to Raven. Raven…'

Meanwhile, in the hallway outside of Robin's hospital room, Starfire had managed to catch up with her heartbroken friend.

"…Raven?"

Sniffling, Raven turned to look the Tamaran in the eye. "This…this isn't fair. Why, Star? Why did this happen? Why can't he remember me?!"

Slowly, Raven felt the tears that had cascaded from her eyes being wiped away by Stafire's thumb. She looked up, hoping to see Star's trademark smile; wishing that maybe, just maybe it would make her feel a bit better. The look on Starfire's face however, was solemn, and it only made Raven feel worse.

Silently, Raven cursed the fates and their abhorrent cruelty. Three days ago, Robin suffered a horrible accident while riding his motorcycle. He was such a skilled rider, that the thought of him getting into an accident barely scratched the surface of Raven's worry-pool. Not a firm believer in irony, Raven asked Cyborg to inspect the vehicle for sabotage. Sure enough, one of Gizmo's devices was located near the rear wheel axel and the rest of the Titans had left to find him and bring him down. But Raven stayed with her husband, she barely left his side for three days straight, until finally, on that third night, he awoke.

As Raven sat next to Robin's hospital bed for three days, many thoughts ran through her head. She imagined different scenarios taking place, each one seeming more probable than the last. Her pessimistic attitude showing, Raven's first thoughts were that Robin may never awaken from his slumber. `What if he stays in a coma forever?' But as the minutes turned to hours, and the hours to a day, worry was soon replaced by the emotion that was strongest in Raven's heart. Love. As Robin lay in bed, Raven would rest her head on his chest, and softly talk to him. She would tell him how much she loved him. She told him how much she couldn't wait for him to wake up. How she wanted him to take her in his arms as soon as he awoke. By the third night, she started to worry again, but only slightly. As she was slowly drifting off to sleep, he suddenly bolted up, and shouted out of confusion. In that initial moment of shock, Raven believed all her prayers had been answered. Then, slowly, like the way it only happens in a bad soap opera, Raven realized that the man who awoke in that hospital bed was not her husband, but the boy he used to be so many years ago. All the time they spent together, every look, every smile, every kiss, every touch, and word of love the couple ever shared, all lost. As if they never happened…to Robin, at least. They very much happened to Raven, and as she took in a deep breath, in that sterile, somber hospital hall, she vowed to never give up. She would not give in to despair. She loved Robin more than anything in the world or out of it, and she had enough trust in their love to know that if she tried hard enough…she could bring him back.

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As Cyborg wheeled Robin out of his recovery room in a wheel-chair, the rest of the Titans converged to escort them out. Raven asserted herself to Robin's side, and with a series of small, but warm smiles, she tried to do her best to comfort him. As they were leaving through the waiting room, a newspaper caught Robin's eye. The headline read:

Where is Batman? : Costumed vigilante missing for days, crime slowly rising.

`Hmm.' Robin thought, as he read the headline. `I'll have to remember to ask someone about that, or maybe I'll just call Bruce, and see if he's alright.'

The ride back to Titan's Tower was about as much as everyone expected. Robin was full of questions, but he was obviously avoiding the important ones.

"So, Speedy, it's great to see you again. When did you join the Titans?"

Roy Harper grinned. "Ah, well, I guess it was about five or six years ago. Titans East disbanded, and I went through a bunch of odd jobs before finally swallowing my pride and marching my ass back to the Titans. I figured you four could use the extra help."

Robin did the math in his head, and looked around the car. Cyborg. Starfire. Raven. Myself. Four. "What about Gar? Where's Beast Boy?"

A slow and eerie silence filled the car, as one by one, each Titan turned to face Robin. "Rich…" Cyborg said, "Beast Boy…died a couple of years ago."

Robin was taken aback by the pain of Cyborg's words so badly that he barely noticed the tears in his eyes. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Robin managed to rasp out the words "How…how did it happen?"

After a deep breath, Cyborg replied. "We…don't know. He just left one day, and never came back. His body was found a week later." The others nodded, but Robin wasn't fooled. He had been trained by one of the world's greatest detectives, he could tell a lie when he heard one. His friends were hiding something from him, and he wanted to know what. `But…' he thought, `it can wait.' He had so many other questions he needed to ask, he figured he would just save that one as well. The rest of the car ride after that was spent in an awkward and painful silence.

After entering the tower, Raven had taken wheel-chair duty away from Cyborg and was now carting Robin off to his room. She was being as compassionate and caring as she could, however Robin was still acting indifferent towards her. It wasn't that he was trying to hurt her in any way; it's just that, although he didn't look like it, he was just a kid, a 16 year old boy who didn't know how to react to his current predicament.

"Uh, Raven, where are you taking me? My room is THAT way." Robin said, as he craned his neck to look in the opposite direction.

Raven smiled. "Not anymore, Rich. You moved out of your old room and turned it into your own personal little dojo. I moved out of mine too, it's a meditation room now." As they came to the last door in the hall, Raven stopped and opened it. "This is where we live now."

The room was big, and beautiful. It was large and roomy, with a queen-sized bed in the center of it. Decorating the room, was a blend of personality. Raven and Robin's personalities, yet, they seemed to match in such a way that the room could have easily been designed by a single person rather than two.

Slowly, Robin stood up from his wheel chair, and began to walk around the room to inspect it.

Raven watched him in uncomfortable silence, until finally she spoke. "Um…so Cyborg has been insisting that you sleep here…ah…with me." Blushing a bit, she continued. "But you know Cyborg, he's not always really aware of the…sensitivity of people's feelings…you know? I don't care how much it might help bring your memory back, Rich. I would never ask you to do that…especially under these…circumstances. I'll sleep on the couch in the living room until your amnesia is gone."

Robin looked at the floor. "Under these circumstances. You mean Starfire."

Raven turned away. "…yes."

Robin sighed. "Look Raven, it's pretty obvious to me what's happened here. Me and Star obviously weren't meant to be, and she's made it pretty clear that she no longer has those kinds of feelings for me. But besides all that, there's no way I'm going to let you sleep out on the sofa while I sleep here in your…our bed."

Raven shook her head. "Sorry Robin, but that doesn't work. Dr. Cross made it perfectly clear that in order for your memory to come back, you need to spend as much time possible in your bedroom. You need to be surrounded by well…yourself, and everything that makes up your life, and trust me Robin," she paused to look around their room, "you won't be finding that in the living room. You're staying here. I'll sleep on the couch."

Robin was quiet for a few minutes, until finally he said, with a soft voice, "It's a big bed. I don't mind sharing it if you don't."

Raven made no reply, but smiled warmly. Robin found himself smiling back, seeing any kind of emotion at all on Raven's face was something new to him, it was something he realized he could easily get used to…

With a sigh, he spoke again. "Look Raven…I have a lot of questions to ask you. About Star, about you, about us, about everything…"

Raven sat on the bed and looked him in the eyes. "Ask me anything Robin, I'll gladly answer as best I can. Ten years is a lot to talk about…"

"…yeah. But before we get into that, I need to make a phone call. I need to call Bruce and-"

Robin stopped talking when he saw the look on Raven's face. It was the same look she gave him in the car when he mentioned Beast Boy and their bedroom was now filled with the same awful silence. Even before Raven opened her mouth, Robin knew what words would come out.

"Rich…Bruce is dead."

Fists clenched, Robin felt more tears slowly run down his face. Wiping his eyes, he noticed a picture on the nightstand by the bed. It was a picture of Bruce in formal wear with the words "He lives on in you" written on the bottom with a pen. Robin recognized the handwriting immediately as his butler Alfred, apparently, the only family he had left.

"You know…" Robin said suddenly, "it makes a lot of sense." As he spoke, he read Alfred's words over and over. He lives on in you. "Ever since I found out what was going on, I had been wondering, why everyone was calling me `Robin'. I thought maybe I had become Nightwing, like in that possible future Starfire went to. But now I understand, the reason I didn't. I kept the name `Robin' in honor of Bruce, to help uphold his legacy."

Raven gave Robin and unbelieving smile. "Well `boy wonder', you got that half right."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Half?"

Raven nodded. "It's true you never became Nightwing, but the only reason we've been calling you `Robin' is because Dr. Cross asked us to. He didn't want to confuse you, so he asked that we all address you the same way we did ten years ago. Of course…I never stopped calling you Robin. In fact, I'm the only one who still does. It's kind of become my…pet name…for you." Raven blushed as she looked down to her feet.

"But…if I'm not Robin…and I'm not Nightwing…who am I?"

Without saying a word, Raven turned her gaze to their closet. Taking the hint, Robin slowly began to walk towards it, Raven flanking him. His hand shaking, he opened the door, and his eyes widened when he saw what was inside. If it had not been hanging directly in front of his eyes, Robin might have not believed it. The black cape, the cowl, it was all unmistakable. Robin's eyes wandered from the two pointed "ears" on the cowl, to the black symbol across the chest of the gray body suit. Although a simple design, it was bold and it was striking. It was the symbol of the bat.

As Robin stared at the costume in his closet, Raven slid up next to him, and taking his hand in hers, spoke softly. "You should have seen the look on my mother's face when I told her I was marrying Batman."

Giving her hand a small squeeze, Robin turned to look Raven in the eyes. "Raven…please…tell me how my father died."