Shadow Of The Nightshade

Meeting Again.

××
Robin

'He's my father,'

I blinked, then frowned. 'You don't have to talk about it,'

'If Shadow wanted to kill him,' she started. 'He should have stayed still and given her a clean shot. . .He's an idiot, for trying to resist. . .It just makes things painful.'

I winced at the bitterness in her words. 'Lilian,'

She turned away from me. 'Can we go now?' she asked weakly.

I nodded. We'll just pretend like we didn't both know she was fighting back tears. Giving her a quick pat on the shoulder, I picked her up and pulled out my grappling hook. How else could I console her?

I'll leave that to Shadow.

××

I didn't know what to expect when I saw her, but I guess the first thing I noticed was how pale and thin she was. I put Lilian down and frowned, turning to the pink haired man in the room in anger.

'Was it really necessary to tie her up like that?' We were all in the observation room, watching Shadow in her cell. She was unconscious, her upper body practically bound to the point of immovability with rope.

'Well, I ran out of rope or I would have tied her legs too,' he laughed, then turned serious. 'Don't worry, I know her, she'll be a little sore, that's all.'

'How sure are you that she won't escape?' Lilian asked him quietly.

'Hey kiddo, that's his job,' the weird guy in pink pointed at me. 'I'm just her cousin's spirit, not much qualification there to do anything.'

'Robin,' she turned to me.

'I'll try my best,' my shoulders slumped as I stared at her. 'I'll try. . .'

××

'What do you want?' Just as I stepped into the room I was met with Shadow's steely glare. I shuffled on my feet and sighed, knowing that this wasn't going to be easy.

'I just got back, trust me, I wasn't expecting you,' I said, as gently as possible, dancing around the question.

'Are you here to torture me then?' Her voice was cool as she slowly sat up, but it stabbed into my chest harder than expected, especially when I saw the her eyes widen in pain with every movement she made. She hurt. . . badly.

I knew more than anyone how much Shadow hated showing her weaknesses. For her to be in this much agony made me angry. She should be getting treatment, not sitting in a cell and being interrogated.

I hated how her clothes were more red than white, and I couldn't help but move closer.

'Shadow. . .' I took another step forward.

She seemed much like a caged beast as she watched me, like I was hurting her with each step I took. Like the last thing she wanted was to see me.

But her face was speckled with blood and I needed to be sure that she was alright. I needed to examine every inch of her skin before I could calm down the maelstrom of emotions ravaging my heart.

Don told me she might have been shot but he never took the ropes off so he wasn't sure.

My chest hurt at the thought, but I didn't think she'd let me get anywhere near her, not when she was looking at me like I was dangerous predator.

'Don't,' I saw her wince as she spat out the words. 'Don't come any closer.'

I stopped immediately, not wanting to provoke her. 'Shadow, I'm sorry.' I am sorry for everything. I needed her to understand that.