What?

Chapter Fifteen

My footsteps echoed in the gloomy hallway. Normally, it is not this gloomy, but with this past week's events it is no surprise. Cyborg and Raven have both decided that we all would benefit from a day to ourselves. Cyborg has taken the day to fix his T-Car. Beast Boy has found video games to be a time passer at least and Raven has, well, I'm not sure exactly what she is doing. Although I would be led to believe that she is meditating in her room.

I found myself unable to find something to occupy my time. I had wanted to continue our search today, but as Raven and Cyborg asked that I not and rest, I did not. Still, I feel that I should be doing something useful. I have not found anything very enjoyable lately. I can not read. I can not bring myself to go out other than to search. I have not found watching the sunset enjoyable. I could not rest either, so I decided to walk around.

I passed the main room where Beast Boy's video games were making the 'beeps' and 'rings' of success and reached a room I rarely go in. The label across the door read: "Evidence". I sighed and kept on walking with the intention of going back to my own quarters. I went down the hallway and found a bedroom door that was not my own. I stopped and stared at the door.

'Please, stop taunting me doorway. I should not go in there when your owner is...'

I bit my lip and glanced around. No one was there. No one would yell at me would they? I slowly pushed the door open. It was dark. I attempted to form a starbolt, but found myself only able to make the tips of my fingers give off light. It was enough, but the room was still very dark and in shadows. I went over to the bedside lamp and turned it on. It was brighter than my starbolt at least and I could look around and see the other sides of the room.

The room held so many shadows. I wondered if Robin preferred it that way. Instead of the posters and the systems of the games I would see if I entered Cyborg's or Beast Boy's rooms, I found newspapers on the walls. Some were of achievements. Some were merely articles of interest. On his desk, more papers along with tools and weapons that he had been trying to fix before.

The wall opposite the bed was the darkest. I'm not good with the dark and never have been. Maybe that's why the wall scared me so much though. One object stood out among all the articles that cluttered up the rest of the wall. An old mask. Well, it was not that old.

I looked at the mask and then at the bed where I stood. This is what he saw every night when he went to bed? It was frightening. I have never fought Slade one-on-one and I don't know if I ever will. However, I could still be intimidated by his look. It was horrid to me. A face undefined, a grate for a mouth piece, his uniform like that of a high-quality fighter - a cruel and cunning warrior, and a singe eye that would stare at you. The eye was the worst. It could tease. It could taunt. It could emulate fear. It could find your weakness and use it against you.

I looked at the desk again. I had seen Robin at that desk many times, working so hard to the point that sometimes he'd fall asleep there. Something was gathering in my chest.

Anger.

One week. One whole week! I didn't even know if Slade was the cause of Robin's disappearance, yet I despised the man. His presence made Robin work down to the bone. I hated him for that. I had to resist the urge to destroy the mask with a starbolt that I knew I could conjure for that purpose because I knew that Robin would be angry with me if I did. And it hurt me to know that. The hurt replaced the anger in my heart. His work sucked him up into the shadows to the point where even too much light would agitate him.

I walked over to the desk. The chair was pushed out of place and so I put it back. I glanced over at the bedside table and bed. On the table along with the light was a small album of photos. I walked back over to the bed. It was messy and had not been made. The pillow was ruffled out in the place that Robin's head had been while he slept. It had been left that way for more than a week, its owner somewhere else unknown.