Robin's Shadow (Batman OC)

Chapter 1: Reborn

I feel the pressure around me increase, and I can start to see the light again. I feel the pain as the tightness becomes too much, but only for a brief moment as I'm pulled out of it and into the light. I cry out in shock because once again, the light is too much after being in the absolute darkness of Death's realm.

As I cry, I notice I'm a baby once again, just like last time. I look around, taking in my surroundings once the tears stop flowing. I'm in another animated world, only the style is different than the last one. There's more detail, everything looks slightly more lifelike than the last world, but there's something darker to it too. It's like it's night, or the lights in the room are too dim. There's something overall familiar about the style.

As the nurse starts to talk, I deduce I'm back in America again, since everyone is speaking English. I haven't even thought in English in years, I just spent 18 years speaking only Japanese, so it takes me a moment to adjust back to English. Thankfully, it comes back to me easily. It is my first language, after all.

I get broken out of my thoughts by the sound of a woman screaming loudly in pain, shortly followed by another baby's cry. I can't lift my head to look from where the nurse put me down in a crib, but I can hear the other baby's crying is much louder than my own as the doctor tells the woman it's a boy.

Soon enough, I'm picked up and placed into what must be my new mother's arms, and so is the other baby, who I can now see. He must be my twin, and that makes me both happy and sad. I just had the best twin brother in my last life, and now I get a new one again. I loved having my brother, he was my immediate best friend. I look forward to seeing if this new brother of mine will also be close to me.

I look up my new mother, and though she's smiling at us both, the smile does not quite reach her eyes. I chock it up to massive fatigue, she did just have two babies, so I don't dwell on it. After my last mother didn't survive childbirth, I'm just happy this one is alive right now. It's odd though.... I'm not feeling the instant connection to this woman like I had my last mother in the moments before her death.

I try to look around a bit more from where I'm cradled in her arms, and notice that there's no father in the room. Maybe he's at work, or maybe she just didn't want him in the birthing room or something. I'm sure I'll figure it out later.

"Have you thought of names for them, Catherine?" The nurse asks my new mother. I look closer at my mother's features, I don't recognize her at all, nor the name Catherine. I was kind of hoping to have a clue on my whereabouts form her name.

"Yeah, she will be Anastasia Emily Todd." Catherine says while looking at me with that same tired smile, then she turns to the boy. "He will be Jason Peter Todd."

Jason Todd? Like... as in...

Is his name just a coincident, or am I really where I think I am right now?

I look around again, trying desperately to see anything that identifies where I am. I can't see anything as of yet to identify our location as the nurses take both of us babies and place us in separate cribs in different room, away from our mother.

I don't like being in a separate crib, something tells me I need to be closer to him, to Jason. I think he feels this too, because we're both reaching out towards one another, and he eventually starts crying loudly, and I get overwhelmed and start to cry as well. Emotions in a babies body are much harder to control.

A nurse comes in to check on the noise, and sees us crying and reaching out to each other. She must know what we want, because she lifts Jason up and places him in my crib next to me. I instantly reach out and grab his hand, and both of us stop crying quickly. I feel better with him near me, like I need to protect him and can only do that with him close. Like I feel safe and connected with him.