When the Dead, Dead, Robin, Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbing Along…

By Brian Doyle

A Bat-verse fanfic. Inspired by the "In this Fanfic: Robin Dies" idea

I don't any of these, but as no money is being made, please don't sue.

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The first thing he was relieved to notice was that his costume was intact. It was one of those things that got to him, looking untidy, or having a torn costume. Silly perhaps, considering the perils he'd faced whilst wearing it, but the costume had a history to it and deserved to be treated with a bit of respect.

Also on reflex he reached up and felt with a sigh of relief that his mask was in place. You wear something like that often enough it gets like glasses, you can't remember whether you're wearing them or not. So no matter what had happened his secret was still safe.

It was strange, for some reason he could have sworn that his costume shouldn't have been in as good as state as it was. A quick check showed that the utility belt was full, but his belt radio was strangely silent, even the batarangs were all in place. He realised he couldn't remember how he'd got here. He knew who he was, but not where he was or what he'd been doing.

He took a look around him, at the wreckage of the building. There were piles of broken timber and bricks everywhere and small fires still burned, though he felt singularly

Then he noticed the girl. She was perched on a fairly large pile of rubble, all by herself. He could see that she was very beautiful. His detective training kicked in and he made more mental notes. She had almost china-white skin, though not unhealthy looking, and pitch-black hair. She sported a black waistcoat, black jeans, and cowboy boots. She had a sort of silver cross on a chain around her neck and was carrying an umbrella, for no apparent reason other than it seemed to suit her. There was something terribly familiar about her, but he couldn't quite place it. She certainly didn't seem like a threat and wasn't any of the villains he knew. He did notice that the light that fell on her didn't quite seem to match the light around them, but couldn't say why. Certainly there was a lot of light catching her necklace thing..

An "ankh"! It was an ankh, old Egyptian symbol, relating to life and death. The word and definition popped into his head from one of the endless reams of seemingly trivial data that Bruce had made him memorise. He could hear Bruce's voice "You can never tell when you might come up against the Signalman, and need to know what all his symbols might mean." Well, it was coming in handy now, but he didn't think it was the Signalman, unless Batman has woefully misled him.

There was something he should be remembering, something important, but for the life of him he coudln't recall… He paused, there was something even about that phrase that made it even more maddening that he couldn't recall recent events.

She was the only one about, so he went over to her, maybe she could tell him what was happening. He realised she was singing softly under her breath and could just make out the words. "When the dead, dead Robin goes bob-bob-bobbing along, along…"

"Do you mind? That's rather a tasteless song to be singing."

"Is it, I just thought I was appropriate."

"Why? Sure, I'm Robin, sure but I'm not dead?"

She gave him a look, but didn't say a word.

He looked nonplussed for a moment "But I'm standing here, right where I…"

She nodded slowly, understandingly, and not without a little sympathy "Where you breathed your last? Passed away? Crossed over? Sorry Robin, there's not easy way to say it, but whichever way you want to look at it, you died here."

"But if I can see you that means.. "He didn't need to finish the sentence, he suddenly realised that he did indeed know who she was.

"I thought there was a tunnel of light and all sorts of things like that."

The girl gave him a puzzled frown "Says who?"

"Says the…. " He realised the flaw in his own argument even as he said it."… the people who come back to tell us about it."

The girl beamed like a proud teacher seeing a student solve a difficult problem. "Show's what they know doesn't it? Leave the show early you can never tell what you'll miss."

"So what happened" he gestured around him, "I take it this is how I died. Who did it? The Joker? Two Face? Oh, please don't let it have been some loser like Crazy Quilt! Is Batman okay?"

The girl rolled her eyes, "Honestly, it's always the same with you superhero types. Always wanting more info, more gory details. 'Who killed me?' 'Did everyone else get away okay?' 'Did I take long to die?' 'Did I suffer?' It was the same with the Crimson Avenger, with the Flash, with the Monopole Magnet… Oh wait, she's not from this dimension is she? Forget I said anything about her. I don't really get the obsessive interest though. It's not like it can make a whole big deal of difference anymore does it?"

He smiled, "It does become kind of an obsessive thing going doesn't it. You see enough death scenes, you start asking questions, even if one eventually turns out to be your own."

Seeing his face the girl relented, "Okay. In no particular order; There was a trap, the Joker, you died, Batman wasn't there. I don't think you need to know the rest, it wasn't pretty and it wasn't easy."

She saw the look on the boys face. "The Joker's day will come, it always does, to everyone. Maybe not today, but sometime. I don't decide when they come, I'm just here for them when they show up."

As if to make him feel better she went on "You know, I try to stay even handed in this job, it's what I'm best at, it's proverbial even. I've taken saints and sinners, good folks and evil beyond the telling, and I never say a word, never judge. But when the Joker finally comes my way, I think we're going to have a little talk, and he won't be smiling at the end of it."

Seeing his expression, the girl shook her head and smiled again. "Another time, another place. I will meet him promise you."

A thought struck Robin "Can I see my body?"

"Do you really want to?"

The boy weighed up the options and realised it didn't really matter to him anymore, he'd asked more on reflex. "I don't think so, like you say, there's not much I could do about it anyway is there? I look okay now, don't I?"

He looked down at his costume again, it looked the way he always thought it should, not just the way it actually looked. He could feel his perceptions changing around him, he was becoming aware of another plane, another way of looking at things. He knew he'd never see the people he cared about again, not in the way he was used to it now, no chance to say goodbye, to Bruce, to Alfred, Barbara or Dick, and yet it didn't upset him, he understood so much more now.

She smiled again, "You look fine, and it's a good sign you don't want to see yourself. Shows a proper coming to terms with your new situation. I have to say I always did like the boots, and the cape was a nice touch too, not enough young superheroes wear capes these days.. It's a shame, I always thought they had such a nice swashbuckling look to them.."

She pulled out a watch on a silver chain, and looked at it "Ooops, I don't think we should stick around much longer. Bruce will be along in a moment. It tends to get rather emotional at times like that and I don't think either of us wants to see Batman cry, it'd just be too weird."

"You know that Bruce is…. Oh wait, of course you, do, sorry. Not thinking straight, what with all this being dead and all. So, what comes next?"

"That's not really for me to say, but I can promise you this, whatever you're expecting, it'll be something else!" She smiled and stood up.

The boy realised how short she was, barely his height, and there was nothing in her tone to suggest who she was. She furled the umbrella and hung it from her arm.

She reached out a hand to him, "Come along little Robin. Let me show you _my_ wings."

He watched in awe as her wings unfurled. They were unlike anything he could have imagined. As she stretched out to enfold him he thought of a final question. It seemed like an important one, though he wasn't sure why.

"Will I get to see my mother?"

As they faded away, the girls voice might have been audible to those with the right kind of hearing. "Maybe, Jason, maybe."

The end