Author: Jinx

Fandom: Young Justice

Pairing(s): Gen.

Character(s): Dick G./Robin

Warning(s): OOC, AU, angst, dark!Robin, slight gore

Note(s): Inspired by the song Demons by Imagine Dragons. I needed something to vent all the bad feelings I've been harboring for the past couple days.

Demons

It was a simple mission.

Dangerous.

A covert mission; exactly like all the others they had gone on, only a different setting with different criminals.

Liar.

And just like all their other missions, it became un-covert… discovert? Either way, their positions were compromised. Unconsciously the whole team had ended up grouped together, circled around the perps loosely. Thanks to his batarangs all handheld weapons were destroyed or thrown out of reach leaving the brutes with a baseball bat, a small switchblade, and their own fists.

Untrustworthy.

There were eight henchmen and six of them—overall, the odds were actually in their favor.

8

Aqualad sent a small voltage to the first thug and the man fell like a sack of potatoes.

7

Artemis trapped another with a polyurethane-filled arrow.

6

Superboy wrapped a steel beam around the man, effectively trapping his arms to his sides.

5

Kid Flash was just too fast for the grunt. All it took was a slightly quicker-than-humanly-possible punch to knock the man out.

4

Miss Martian, ever the innocent one, just hung hers—safely—from one of the hooks hanging from the ceiling.

3

Aqualad and Superboy teamed up against the one with the baseball bat. Their physique gave them an advantage and he never knew what hit him.

2

While Artemis smashed her bow in to the head of one, the last one—the one with the switchblade—appeared behind her

1

Before anything could be said, a piercing scream filled the air. He remembered the rage—how dare he harm one of his friends; his family? He vaguely understood that he forgot himself as he brutally plunged the man's own switchblade into his heart and twisted.

Horror.

But what he remembered the most was their faces.

Fear.

He didn't even try to fight them off as Aqualad and Superboy grabbed his arms and forced them behind his back. Metal cuffs—his own metal cuffs—were fastened onto his wrists. He could easily escape if he wanted to… if he wanted to and they knew it.

Disgust.

Artemis was lucky. The stab wound in her thigh completely missed any vital veins. Kid Flash had tended to her wound and wrapped it in gauze when it was all clean. She'd probably have to take it easy for a week or two lest she reopened it or it became infected.

Hesitant.

Aqualad and Superboy sat on either side of him, but neither would look at him. Miss Martian silently navigated the bioship back to the cave; her eyes were glossy with unshed tears.

Shame.

Most of the League was there when he was escorted down the ramp—Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Superman, Green Lantern, Red Tornado, and most importantly: Batman. If it were possible, the shame washing over him would have drowned him.

Disappointment.

Even worse than the fact that nobody would look at him was that Batman wouldn't look away.

Betrayal.

Batman informed everybody of his past. He also informed him that he knew all along. He knew that he had forsaken his humanity at the ripe old age of eight and killed the man who had murdered his parents in cold blood. He knew that he had killed anybody who associated themselves with Tony Zucco. He told how he had even tried to kill the Dark Knight himself before being sedated.

Shock.

He also told how he had been training him to break the habit. He told about his obsessive need for revenge and his warped sense of justice. He told how he had actually been improving. He told how hard it was—the road to recovery.

Exposed.

The cuffs were taken off, but the invisible restraints were still in place. One wrong move and everything would blow up.

Regret.

He should feel regret at his actions, but he could only feel satisfaction. He'd hurt that man the way he'd hurt Artemis and himself. His story may have been told, but he wished his family could understand him better.

Depression.

A huge black cape was draped over his entire body as Batman began to lead him away. He could feel the team's eyes—so accusing—and their unspoken words—bitingly painful—on his back. There was a hand on his shoulder; was it supposed to comfort him?

Pain.

His body literally ached as they agonizingly made their way to the Zeta Tubes.

Hurt.

A lone tear skirted down his cheek as his resolve suddenly broke.

"Recognized: Robin, B-01."