A Fallen Angel

Chapter Five

Robin wouldn't regret it. No matter what, she refused to see her decision as wrong. She had spared a life. That was no mistake.
Still....
He had refused to look at her at all since they'd been dropped on earth, and she was running out of patience. If what he did was a mistake, couldn't he at least TRY to talk to her? He was making no effort to even apologize to her. Did he not regret what he did to her? She wished he'd at least say something...
"...Everett..?" She called for the umpteenth time. Still no answer, his back turned to her. He'd probably move further from her if he could, but he was magical led bound to her, and couldn't part from her further than 10 feet away. With his back facing her like that, she couldn't help but eye his wings. It must've been so painful...
Even though the jacket he wore hid his back, through the holes that his wings branched out from, Robin could see the reddened, irritated skin beneath. It must've been difficult to deal with... He was enduring so much over her death...
She had so many questions, mixed feelings about the whole situation.
"...why...did you let me live...?"
Everett's voiceー she was hearing him speak for the first time.
She blinked, surprised. "...I'm sorry...?"
"Why didn't you just..."
Was he trembling...?
Robin didn't know what to say, her expression hardening. Everett...
His hands were in fists at his sides, his knuckles white.
Why had she done that? Taken his death away from him?
After all this...
After all his hard work...
He was finally going to leave...
He was going to...
"... What are you talking about?" Robin frowned deeply. "Why won't you talk to me?"
He didn't answer her.
Robin couldn't manage to wrap her head around this. What was he talking about...?
Wasn't he happy to have been saved?
Was all this...
"... Did you do this on purpose...?" The moment the thought crossed her, she couldn't conceal the quiver in her voice.
"You meant for that to happen...?"
Surely that couldn't be true.. Could it...?
Everett heaved a sigh. "It's not like that... I never meant for you to die, I..."
She couldn't understand.
There was a long, sticky silence, the dead air between them nearly suffocating her. Finally, she cut through it in a quiet tone. "... Why didn't you protect me, Everett?" Her voice was calm and even, but laced with a firmness that prodded him to answer, hoping to draw a respond from him.
There was a moments hesitation before he responded in a voice so soft she barely heard him. "...it's complicated..."
Complicated.
"What? You can't tell me?" She'd started to tremble as the negative feelings threatened to swallow her whole.
"It cost me my life, and suddenly it's none of my business? Is that it?"
She couldn't believe him. She lost her very life for this reason, and he couldn't even tell her what it was?
"Robinー"

"No, don't 'Robin' me! I have a right to know!"

She was trying not to angry cry but it was burning at the corners of her eyes already, and her face stung with an angered heat. She hated when she did that...
There was a long, uncomfortable pause between them, and Robin tried to use it to regain control of her emotions. Everett was studying her in silence. It was so like her, he thought...
Looking at it now, it was so strange to see her in person like this. He'd watched her grow up.. From a distance.
Seeing her here before him now...
It felt so funny...
"Why are you staring at me?"
He snapped back from his thoughts and met her eyes, moist and red from the angry tears she was struggling to restrain.
"...." He wasn't sure how to respond. At his lack of reaction, Robin groaned in frustration and held her head, crouching down. "You could say something..." She grumbled.
He half smiled numbly.
"Sorry."
She glared up at him. "For what? Sorry you're wordless? Sorry that you won't explain yourself? Sorry you didn't save me?"
When he gave her nothing but more silence, she sighed heavily. "Fine. Forget it."
Everett gazed at her quietly. After a moment, he knelt down in front of her, causing her to raise her head, eyeing him questionably. "Everett...?"
His eyes didn't leave hers. "...sorry," he murmured. "... I just want to look at you for a minute..."
She found herself blushing. Look at her? Suddenly she was feeling self conscious... His eyes were so blunt, like they saw straight into her very soul. He was studying her so intently...
"E-Everett..."
This was uncomfortable...
Finally, he backed up from her. "My bad," he whispered. "It's just odd to see you in person.."
She blinked. "In person...?"
"... You've always been down here while I was up there."
He pointed with his index finger.
Down here...
She paused.
"... Have you always been watching me..?"

"... Since you were born."

That long? She hesitated. "... And have you ever done more than watch?"
No answer.
Robin grimaced. "Of course you haven't.."
He'd say back and watched her struggle without lifting a fingerー he'd sat and watched her die.
How could he sleep at night...
She couldn't bring herself to say anything else. How on earth was she going to get this fallen angel to repent?