ILLUMINE ｢YOUNG JUSTICE｣

SIX

If there was somewhere Clara could've gone to be alone, she would have. But nowhere was truly private. Even if there was such a place, she didn't even know what she would have done, her throat had burned and her whole body shook. She had thought she was going to puke.

Now, she sat in front of Robin. It was just the two of them this time, no false mirror or cameras. Clara sat on edge, her hands clasped tightly together, while Robin remained uncharacteristically silent, slouched with his head bent uncomfortably to the side, staring at the wall behind her. There were new bruises littered on his arms, and a cut just above his eye, causing a tear in his mask.

"Where's my friend?" He said finally, still not bothering to meet her gaze.

"All of you are too valuable to harm, if that's what you mean. She's most likely with one of the others." She answered stiffly, eyeing him.

"And why am I alone?"

Clara pursed her lips, not answering.

His eyes shifted to her first, and then his head lolled to the other side, before he lifted the rest of his body to face her. "So we can have some quality time alone?" It could have been a joke, but he said it with such hate it felt like a burn.

This wasn't fair. This wasn't supposed to happen. It was like he had opened Pandora's Box inside her, the curiosity of it all was eating her alive.

And now she was risking any sense of trust she had built with her father for an explanation from a boy who rightfully despised her, and had every right to lie to her.

He just stared at her.

"They want to know why you know so much about me." Clara said finally, quietly, forcing herself to keep his gaze. "They" being her.

"They, hm?" He started to pick at his nails. They had taken his gloves, along with anything else that could've been used to try and escape. "Who's they?" He said each word sharply, with both annoyance and boredom.

Clara stayed silent again, debating how to answer. "My father." She said finally.

With that he stopped, and looked up, an eyebrow raised. "Father? This a family business?" He drawled, looking down at his hands again. "I'm surprised your father knows so little about his own daughter's life." He sighed dramatically. "When we first met, you 'father' wasn't the best person," He let out a humorless laugh, as if he was reminiscing whatever he was talking about. "That's an understatement. B was pretty pissed when he found him."

"What are you talking about?" Clara's spine felt stiff, she had been sitting so upright for ages. She had no idea what he was talking about, she wished he would stop.

His gaze snapped to her, his mouth slightly open, eyebrow raised again. "I haven't seen that other girl in a while. They stopped sending her once they got me alone. Your father must really want us alone. Is he hoping I fall in love with you?" He scoffed.

"Do you not believe me?"

He closed his mouth, tossing her a bitter look. "This is a bit much for a family business. Talk about generational crime and such." He waved a cuffed hand in a lazy circle, with what she assumed would have been paired with an eye roll. "Is he even your real father? Or is he a man who's just saying that to get you to work for him?"

"He's my father," She said quietly. "He wouldn't need to say such a lie to get me to do this."

He didn't really seem to care. She didn't know what they did with him or the others once they were done talking, but it must be getting to him. He looked like he was going insane. His dark hair clung to his forehead with sweat and blood, and the edges of his mask had begun to peel from wear. She could tell something in his eyes had changed, he seemed almost deranged in the way he looked and talked to her.