FLIGHT ✔P.M. ₂

chapter fourteen

MORPHEUS FINALLY DECIDED TO WAKE Robin up from his slumber. It had been at least a week. The son of Zeus had never felt so rested. He hated it. It felt unnatural. The god of dreams was in front of him, the cell door opened. He clearly wasn't worried about him escaping. Wrong move. Robin quickly got to his feet and went to get his sword, only to find the necklace missing. He froze. So much for his escape plan. His necklace wasn't like Percy's pen, it didn't come back when he lost it. So he never took it off.

Morpheus watched him closely, analyzing his every move. As if he was trying to figure something out.

Robin reacted quickly to the situation he realized he was in. He backed up until he hit the wall, his breathing becoming increasingly heavy every breath he took. He could feel his body start to shake. Despite his efforts to push this down, deep into his subconscious, he couldn't. This was all too soon. It felt all too familiar.

His chest tightened, not in the same way it did when Pietro talked about his girlfriend. This was in a suffocating way. He hugged himself, his body sliding down to the floor.

Morpheus shot up when the boy started sobbing. This wasn't good, that much he knew. He had little experience dealing with people, let alone their problems, but he felt a force pushing him to help the young boy. He crouched down beside him.

"Hey, hey, look at me," He said quietly. "Hey, you can get through this, alright?"

Robin didn't reply, trying to stop crying instead.

"Breath with me," Morpheus instructed, and counted softly while inhaling and exhaling. The demigod followed his lead. Soon, he was calm again, his breathing steady.

Robin wanted to thank him, but he was the the guy to kidnapped him. That was out of the question. Morpheus watched him warily, trying to figure out what was going on in his brain.

"You know, you don't have to be a bad guy," Robin told him softly, not daring to raise his voice just yet. He wanted food, sweets. Something to help him regain his energy.

Morpheus scoffed, but didn't answer. He walked back out of the cell, still making no move to close it. He sat down at the desk.

"You could still do something good. You could leave HYDRA," Robin continued. "You can help people, you have the power to do that. The power to do good." He didn't bother looked up to see the god's reaction. He kept his eyes on his intertwined hands, fidgeting with his fingers.

"Like I've said before, son of Zeus, I see the bigger picture," Morpheus said coolly.

"Maybe you think you see the bigger picture, but it's actually just the smaller picture." Robin finally looked up, making eye contact with the god who was already staring back at him.

"The bigger picture, the smaller picture, what does it matter? I can see a picture."

The demigod wasn't sure how to answer, but he kept going. "What will happen to you when HYDRA creates their own god?" He asked.

Morpheus shrugged. "It'll fail many times before they can even get close. And if they succeed, I will move on. Have you heard of AIM?"

"Or you could join SHIELD. Travel around the world, granting people the dreams they deserve." He wasn't sure if that made sense, but he said it before he could change his mind.

The god threw his head back and laughed. "It doesn't work that way, child," He said, amused. "I can't just switch sides, as you say. Morals don't change in a matter of seconds."

Robin hadn't moved. His back was pressed against the  wall. This brought up bad memories, and he hated it. The feeling of vulnerability. The fear. The helplessness. He didn't even know where the others were. He had no way of knowing if they were okay or not.

"You can still be a good guy," He said, determination lacing his voice.

Morpheus scoffed. "There is no good guy, or bad guy," He said bluntly. "It's a made up concept by mortals to explain the things they do."

Robin sighed. What else could he say? "You can still do the right thing and not destroy humanity," He corrected himself.

The god stood up in one quite motion, his movements blurring together. He shimmered like a mirage. Robin forced himself not to cower as he approached him. Despite taking the image of a normal human, he was still intimidating.

Morpheus knelt right in front of him. With his right hand, he traced the scar on the boy's face, which caused him to flinch away.

"Please don't," Robin mustered out, his voice unusually quiet.

The god retracted his hand but otherwise didn't move. He shook his head. This kid was making it hard to do what he needed to do. Alas, it was his job. He joined HYDRA, did he not? He had a duty until he decided to leave.

The lights flickered. Morpheus was sure it was Robin's doing, so he stood up. He exited the cell, still not closing it as he would be back in there soon. He picked up a device that was on his desk. It was a heavy bracelet that was to be used to suppress powers and inject whatever serum is put in there. The current leader of HYDRA, Calvin Storl, had supplied him with it when he talked about wanting to find himself a powerful prisoner.

It was mostly talk, just trying to joke and fit in, but he was taken seriously. He was sure this bracelet wouldn't even work on the demigod. Regardless, he had to put it on. The cameras were on him. Besides, this could still be fun.

With the device, Morpheus returned to the boy's side. He slapped it on. "If you want to get out of here, pretend your powers don't work," He whispered. Robin didn't react, but he had heard him.

Morpheus went back to the desk, this time closing the cell door behind him. At that very moment, the head of the organization walked in, two armed agents following with heavy weapons on their person.

Calvin Storl was an older man in his fifties. He was bald, and very pale. He had a heavy Russian accent, and sported a constant irritated look. He always seemed to glare at people with his cold, caramel brown eyes.

Morpheus was hardly phased as he walked in. "Ah, Storl, how kind of you to join us. You're just in time."