RobStar Week - Day 1 Parents – "Trauma"

The atmosphere filling the common room of the lone tower stood proudly in the bay was one of exhaustion and frustration. For the past week the Titans had been run ragged by the seemingly endless alarms and distress calls from the citizens of Jump City, if it was a major crisis the team would understand, but that was the thing. The calls were for a robber, a solitary thief that was somehow plaguing the city and also the sleeping patterns of the five teenagers that protected it. The thief had been given the nickname "Trauma" after his victims reported vivid, horrific nightmare-style hallucinations whilst they were being robbed.

The past week had gifted Robin with many sleepless nights, as all his free time had been spent on either answering alerts or trying to gather as much information as possible from police reports and victim sightings. The one common denominator in the cases was the fact that all the victims reported a strong smell of gas when they were attacked. Memories of similar attacks that he had faced in Gotham, unsettled him.

Robin was worried for the condition of his friends over the last week, he was used to sleepless nights when it was necessary back in Gotham but since it was a rarity in Jump City it meant that the others hadn't fully adjusted yet. Beast Boy and Cyborg were restless and at each other's throats most the time whilst Raven struggled to keep from snapping and strangling the two of them. The lack of sleep even seemed to be affecting the resident princess who had lost the majority of her glow and bags hung from her eyes. She still tried to remain cheerful but it was obvious to Robin that it was just a façade to try and keep the morale of the team up. Robin felt immeasurable guilt since he hadn't been able to spend any considerable time with his girlfriend since Trauma had shown up. But seeing her tired face light up at the sight of him, he decided he was going to fix that.

Turning on his heel he moved next to her and quickly looped his arm around her waist, he smirked at the mix of confusion and happiness on her face. "Hi beautiful, wanna come watch the stars with me?" In moments like this he did genuinely surprise himself, he was sure that Bruce's teachings would have ruined any chance of him being romantic in his life, he was lucky that with his beautiful alien princess of a girlfriend, it came naturally. The beaming smile that spread across her face was enough answer as any.

A loud shrill noise pierced the warm, dark cocoon of sleep. After a few moments, Robin's brain began to process the sound of the alarm and his body snapped up. His sudden movement caused Starfire, who had been asleep on his chest, to fall backwards and knock her head against the hard floor. HeHeheheheheHe smiled apologetically and pulled her quickly to her feet before the two of them bolted down the stairs from the roof. His mind was still reeling from sleep when he got into the common room, "Cyborg, report"

"Trauma, this time he's took on a bigger target. Jump City bank"

"Dude we need to catch him this time, I'm losing too many hours of beauty sleep" Beast Boy added, to which Raven snorted in amusement.

"What's your problem, Raven?" Beast Boy replied in annoyance

"You two, knock it off. Titans go!"

It wasn't long before the five arrived at the bank, Robin was confused why a criminal that so far had only targeted small local businesses and houses would suddenly jump to a target like a bank. Pushing aside his concern they rushed inside finding a number of guards curled up in balls on the floor.

"Cyborg, run a scan for any toxins in the guards bodies. Raven see if you can pick up if Trauma is still in the bank"

The two nodded and Cyborg quickly went to work on scanning the air around the guards, "Definitely some form of neurotoxin used, gas form just like the reports"

"Okay, Raven any sign of him?"

"He's down in the vaults, it doesn't seem like he realises anyone is here" Raven answered

"Bank uses a silent alarm, probably doesn't know he tripped it" Robin replied

"How should we apprehend Trauma?" Starfire asked

Robin handed the others small devices, "These function like gas masks so they will stop you breathing in the toxin"

A scream echoed up the stairs leading to the vaults and the teenagers moved rapidly in the direction of it. The corridors leading to the vaults were dark and there was many shards of glass scattered across the floor from various ceiling lamps that had been smashed. Starfire lit a starbolt in her hand and the Titans almost leapt out of their skin when the light shined on 4 security guards clutching to their heads as they sat against the walls. One of the guards snapped around and his eyes widened in horror as he stared at the 5 spectres in front of him, he aimed his gun at one of them and Raven quickly snatched the firearm away from him.

"Raven, Beast Boy. Take these guards outside where it's safe, make sure they don't have anything on them they could hurt anyone with" Robin said quickly

Beast Boy morphed into a large green gorilla and placed 2 of the men over his shoulders whilst raven lifted 2 more.

The 3 remaining Titans advanced down the corridor and Cyborg motioned the other 2 to stop as he monitored a blinking red dot on his arm console, "He's right around this corner, kill the light Star"

Robin nodded "I'll go first, get ready to move in", the 2 nodded in response and Robin stepped around the corner and into the room on the right wall. Within moments he heard a loud bang and the bright light filled the once pitch black room. Robin turned quickly around to see the large metal vault door locked behind him. He spun around and faced the smirking criminal.

The man wore a long black coat, a worn old sack covering the majority of his face and a large brimmed hat that sat on top. The man's apparel was worn and torn with many holes and scuffs. It was obvious to Robin that Trauma was trying desperately to mimic the fearsome Scarecrow of Gotham City and what worried Robin that most was that he had the toxin to match. "I planned to catch the whole team tonight but I guess I can settle for their leader instead", his voice was gruff and gravelly.

Robin turned back to the door to see Starfire desperately trying to rip it from its hinges but the door didn't even creak. "This vault was specifically engineered to be resistant to meta-humans so you'll find that your little friend out there is gonna have a hard time. Even if she decides to melt the door it will still take at least an hour to melt through 2ft of promethium-steel alloy. It's the only vault here that's got this high level protection, I'm surprised that you idiots would walk straight in"

"All you've done is lock yourself in here too, It'll serve as a temporary prison cell for you until I get out" Robin replied with a smirk. He watched as the criminal began to fill the room with the toxin and Robin quickly put on his breathing apparatus and charged the man. Despite Trauma wearing a lot heavier apparel he didn't seem to show any signs of being slow in combat, he managed to block a considerable amounts of Robin's hits but Robin quickly got the upper hand and pinned the man to the wall roughly. "How did you get fear toxin?" He bellowed in the man's face.

The man sniggered despite his situation "Oh, I can assure you. It isn't fear toxin…its much, much worse"

Robin growled impatiently, "What is in it?" he grilled

The man's eyes lit up maliciously and he chuckled, "Why don't you tell me?"

Robin was about to interrogate the man further but he felt a sharp pain in his leg and he looked down in horror at the syringe being injected into him. He tried to keep his grip on the man but he felt weak and soon his hold on the man slipped and he fell to his knees. "What did you…you…?"

"If I'm going to be captured I'm not going alone. I saved a highly concentrated liquid dose in case of emergency. It won't take long before you notice its effects, and this time you won't be waking up from it. Sweet dreams kid" the man cackled

Robin tried to fight the weakness that was flooding through his body but it was like he could feel each part of his body shutting down as he collapsed to the floor. He could hear gears inside the door being turned and soon the sound of the vault door being swung open loudly. As his body finally succumbed to the sleep he felt himself being carried.

Starfire watched in an anticipation as Robin pinned the man to the wall, she couldn't make out what Robin was saying but she could see how angry he looked. And then in a flash something had stabbed him, she thought it was a knife at first and she covered her mouth in shock. When she finally saw that it was a needle, her worry did not subside. Had he been poisoned? Anything could have been in that syringe. She slammed her hands angrily into the door again but it didn't make any considerable dent. "Cyborg we need to help Robin!" she shouted desperately.

Cyborg growled as he scanned through the bank security door system, "This vault is locked from the inside. We would have to break the door to get in and it's too tough to break!"

Starfire reached into her pocket and pulled out her communicator "Raven! We need your assistance, Robin has been locked inside of a vault by Trauma" Starfire's voice was wobbly as she spoke "I fear he may be hurt"

A loud bird screech was heard and she appeared next to the door, quickly she reached out her hand and aimed it at the door. Slowly gears began to turn and the door swung open. In a split second Starfire had bolted in and slammed the man painfully against the wall, her eyes glowed and she growled as she spoke "What did you do to Robin?" When all she got in response was a smirk she punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.

"I'm running a scan on Robin's vitals…Trauma gave him a concentrated dose of the toxin. Raven anything you can do to get rid of it?"

"No, the toxin only affects brain patterns so I can't heal him. I need to meditate so I can think" she answered

Beast Boy appeared a moment later and looked worryingly at Robin, "Robin?"

"We're working on it, take Trauma up to the police" Cyborg replied

Beast Boy nodded and carried the unconscious criminal out of the room

"The toxin causes nightmares, so if I can go into his mind maybe I can force him out of it"

Cyborg and Starfire waited patiently as Raven focused and chanted her incantation, she began to glow and after about a minute of silence she lurched backwards with a fearful look on her face. "He forced me out, I'm not sure how but his mind just pushed me out…He's dealing with his nightmares and you can guess how that is for Robin"

Starfire sighed sadly, "It is Slade isn't it?"

"Slade and a multitude of other things…He won't let me stay, but he won't reject you Starfire. I'm going to put you into his mind and you're going to have to try and help him"

"How can stop the nightmares?" she asked nervously

"I don't know, you're going have to try and work that out yourself. Maybe if you talk to him you can convince him to wake up" she paused for a moment and her face turned grave, "if you can't do anything or he won't listen, then you need to come back. If his mind shuts down then you would be trapped and I wouldn't be able to get you out"

Starfire straightened herself, "Robin would not leave without me and I will not leave without him", Cyborg patted her on the back.

By the time the word "Zinthos" had left Raven's mouth Starfire's body went limp and now all Cyborg and Raven could do was wait.

Starfire refrained herself from panicking as the world blinked away from her and left here in seeming darkness. She calmed herself and began to look around, she seemed to be stood in a dark forest. She thought it looked like the Jump City national park but she wasn't sure why she would be here. She took to the skies and flew until she landed in a clearing, as if on cue she saw Robin and began to move closer but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who was next to Robin. Another instance of herself stood in front of Robin as he shouted at her. It was clear to her now what this was and her stomach turned at the thought. She moved closer to the 2 so she could be in earshot range of them.

"What happened?" Robin shouted, grabbing Starfire's arm tightly

"You are hurting me!" she cried

"Slade ran right by you! How could you let him get away?"

Tears leaked down her face "You would injure me?"

His face changed in an instant "No…Star, I wouldn't"

She turned and flew away from him "I do not wish to speak to you anymore"

He sprinted after her "No! Starfire! Wait!"

The real Starfire was perplexed, the only conclusion was that Robin's nightmares were twisting his memories into directions that never happened. She bolted towards Robin but inches from reaching him, the world spun again and she landed on a cold stone floor. She looked up and found the area even darker than the previous, lighting a starbolt in her hand she made her way forwards. She almost let go of the starbolt when she saw the scene in front. Robin lay against the back wall of the basement desperately flicking the light switch but a demonic creature with the form of a shadow but wearing the infamous orange and black mask, marched forwards.

"My friends say…you're not real" Robin cried weakly

"Oh, I'm very real" the twisted apparition spoke

Starfire grew tired of these lies that Robin's mind was feeding him and she blasted the apparition with a charged starbolt. The creature whirled around and screeched at her before disappearing.

"Robin!" she cried, worryingly

"Starfire? You came back?" he asked, his voice weak and sorrowful

"I never left, Richard" she replied stroking his cheek "This is all but a nightmare created by the 'Trauma'"

He smiled and tried to take her hand but then the world shook around them once more. Starfire almost screamed in desperation when she saw she had reappeared somewhere else. This time was a gravel roof in the city, she looked up and her heart almost stopped. On the roof in front of her, knelt Robin, donned in his Slade apprentice uniform, sobbing painfully as the bodies of the other Titans littered the ground around him. Starfire's heart broke for him as he clutched a dead Starfire in his arms and his sobs echoed through the night.

She ran to him and quickly pulled him to his feet, throwing her arms around him she kissed him on the lips and held him tightly "This is not real, Richard. This did not happen, you did not harm us…it was not your fault!"

"I felt it though…I killed them" he replied through sobs

"No! Our friends are fine, I came here to bring you back to them. You must awaken"

She felt the world begin to crumble again and she tightened her grip to him, this time surprisingly she found herself still clutching to him. Loud noises and talking filled the air around them, and the brightly coloured walls surrounding them confused her. A loud announcer's voice filled the area and she turned to look, the second she saw the ring in the centre of the tent her heart dropped. She turned to Robin quickly, "Richard you must awaken now. I do not want you to witness this again"

He stared blankly up at the Flying Graysons getting prepared at the top and tears ran down from under his mask. She attempted to grab hold of him and move him away but he appeared rooted to the floor. She took his hand and looked to the doomed performers swinging on the bars above. She heard the wire snap and an idea sprung to her mind, releasing his hand she launched herself up and grabbed hold of the 2 performers by the hands before carrying them down in front of Robin.

He stared at her in shock, "How did you?...you can't change what happens in a memory"

"These are not true memories, they have been warped by nightmares and so the laws of reality don't apply here"

He stepped forwards, peeling off his mask and approaching Mary and John Grayson "Mom…dad?"

"Yeah Dick?" John replied with a smile

Tears streamed down the teen's face as he threw his arms around his father and clutched him for dear life. His mother stepped over curiously, "Is something the matter, Richard?"

He smiled through his tears and unlatched his arms from his father and hugged his mother tightly, "No, nothing's wrong mom…everything's fine" he paused and looked back at Starfire and held out his hand to her "I've got someone for you to meet…this is my girlfriend, Starfire"

Starfire was slightly unnerved by the situation but she could only imagine the emotions she would feel if she got to see her parents again. Smiling brightly she took Robin's hand and stepped next to him. "Greetings"

"You never told us you had a girlfriend, Dick. You been keeping her a secret?"

Robin smiled "Yeah dad, it's kind of a new thing"

"Starfire is a very pretty name for a young lady. I trust you've been looking after our little Robin haven't you?" Mary asked

Starfire saw more tears running down Robin's face as he tried to smile, "Yes, and I will continue to for the rest of our lives" she answered squeezing Robin's hand gently

"You've got yourself an excellent girl there, Dick" John stated with a smile, "now you two kids go have fun"

"You'll come visit us again soon won't you Richard?" Mary asked with a smile

Robin sniffled and smiled "Yeah, soon as I can. I love you"

"We love you too dear" Mary replied with a smile

The tent that held so much pain and bad memories tore apart and now stood a solitary door in landscape of white. Robin turned to Starfire and wrapped his arms around her, "Thank you for coming to find me, Star"

"I will always come to find you my love" she replied with a smile as she turned the handle to the door. The world spun violently and they felt the familiar feel of the bank floor once more. They both sat up and looked over to where Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy were patiently seated.

"Ayy the sleepyheads are awake" Cyborg said with a smile, "never doubted for a second you could bring him back, Star"

"Anything interesting happen in your dreams, dude?" Beast Boy asked curiously

"I got to talk to my mom and dad again" Robin replied with a smile

Raven's face fell slightly "Robin, I really don't mean this to upset you or anything but those were just-"

"Memories" he finished for her "yeah, I know, they were memories that had been twisted. But it felt real to me…I felt things I haven't felt since they died"

Raven stepped over and hugged him gently, "Then that's all that matters"

Epilogue

Unfolding the small laptop computer he kept locked away under his bed, he watched as the flashing bat symbol appeared on the screen. A small laser grid scanned his face, "Authenticated Robin. Access code B-003" as he awaited the connection.

"It's been a while, Dick" the voice of the dark knight spoke in his usual stoic tone

"Yeah, it has Bruce" Robin replied with sigh

"Do you need something?" Bruce asked

"We apprehended a criminal calling himself "Trauma" today. He was using a modified version of Scarecrow's fear toxin"

Bruce's eyes narrowed "Scarecrow is locked up in Arkham, someone must be reverse engineering his formula"

There was silence for a while as Robin sent over analyses of the formula, "I've been monitoring your team, Dick" Robin sighed inwardly, he should have expected criticism, "The Titans have performed nothing short of excellent over the last few years"

Robin smiled, "Thanks Bruce" he paused for a moment as the memories of today flooded through his mind, "I got injected with some of the toxin…it tampered with my memories. But it made one better, I was able to talk to my mom and dad one more time. I won't get that chance again…but I still have that chance with you" he removed his mask from his eyes and smiled into the camera, "I love you, Bruce"

The dark knight removed his cowl and smiled at his former partner in crime and adopted son, "I love you too, Dick"

Author's Notes:

Happy Father's day to all the dads out there! (Sorry it's a bit late)

Take this time to tell your dad you love them, they gave up a big portion of their life to give you a life so make sure to give that love back to them.

Even in today's society dads don't seem to get enough credit, they're not a babysitter or a 2nd mom. They are a father, who will make have to make sacrifices for their child and so they deserve just as much respect as the mother does.

The reason that Mary and John don't recognise the fact that they were about to die is because they are just memories that Robin has and so have no situational awareness or memories of ever dying.

This story is also dedicated to "hellyeahtitans67" who requested the story be made

Follow me on Tumblr, "unknowntitans". Feel free to message/ask me about anything.