Shadow Of The Nightshade

Belong

×××
Robin

Panicked, I watch Shadow fall to the ground. Her chest barely moved as I scanned her with my eyes, unable to cross in the magical barrier between us.

The moment I was about to shout for help, Don appeared in front of me and with a wave of his hand the forcefield vanished.

I couldn't help but run to Shadow, but a small hand found mine and pulled me back before I could reach her.

Don had already taken her into his arms.

'Don't be an idiot,' Lilian snapped as I looked down at her, her eyes downcast. 'Do you want to die?'

Immediately, anger flared up in my chest. 'What is wrong with you, why would you say that to her?'

I let go of her hand, shaking my head as I watched the pink haired spirit untie the ropes binding Shadow.

'You're loosing your head over nothing,' Lilian rolled her eyes, her pigtails shaking lightly as she tilted her head from to the side and watched Shadow. 'Now, I doubt she's going to leave.'

'What?' I asked slowly, barely containing my irritation.

'She's not going to leave because if she does, everyone here will die.' Lilian grinned and licked her lips. 'It's your fault anyway.'

'What are you saying?' Confusion seeped into my voice as I stared at the smirking girl.

'I'm saying that it's already too late to save your sorry ass.' She scoffed. 'Well, if she stays we'll be fine, at a cost though,' she muttered darkly, clenching her fists. 'Always at a cost.'

'Lilian,' Reaching out to the girl, I wanted to shake all the answers out of her. She wasn't making any sense!

'Don't worry!' She laughed, dodging my hands and walking out the room. 'We can't hide even if we wanted to.'

My feet moved and I was already chasing after her. 'Lilian, wait.'

I sped out the door only to find an empty hallway. 'What the hell?'

××

'Robin,' Batman called as I walked into the meeting room. Some of the team was already present.

I nodded towards him, still dazed from my conversation with Lilian and walked passed Aqualad and Artemis to stand next to Conner.

'I would like to start off by saying that Shadow is on the mountain,' my mentor said slowly, his gaze fixed on me. 'The mission is simply to keep her here at all costs.'

Blinking in shock, I reeled back. 'What?'

'Why do we have to keep her here?' Artemis scowled. 'She's not really helpful.'

'I agree with Artemis.' Kaldur added briefly, before sending me a look of suspicion.

'Twenty people have died by her hands since she left. Let her leave and you'll be responsible for all the deaths to follow.' Batman silenced them both with that sentence and I looked away from my atlantean friend as he shook his head, a contemplative look drawn across his features.

'Fine,' I almost sighed, running my hand through my hair as Conner frowned, his eyes burning with a passionate distaste. 'But don't talk about her like a monster.' I added, noticing all their expressions.

'If she isn't a monster, then what is she?' Artemis turned to me, a hand on her hip and a brow raised.

'She is a monster,' someone sighed from behind me and I facepalmed. 'But you sure are an idiot for getting on her bad side.' the voice continued.

I rolled my eyes but said nothing as I turned to face Lilian, her eyes swimming with mirth as she narrowed her gaze condescendingly at Artemis.

'And who are you?' Conner grabbed Lilian by the collar, taking her off the ground before I or Batman could stop him.

'Lilian?' I called out slowly, trying to placate her.

'What!' She snapped, shifting her glare to me.

'Don't kill him,' I begged, seeing the fury that flooded her chocolate eyes.

'Too late.'

I caught Lilian in my arms as Superboy's frame soared across the room and slammed into the wall at its opposite end.

The little girl sniggered as Conner groaned and sat up, a new dent in our wall. 'So much for super strength.'

'Artemis, Kaldur, Conner, this is Lilian,' I motioned to her, slapping a hand over the girl's mouth before she could offend anyone else.

At the back of my mind, I wondered why Wally and M'gann were absent and filed the thought for later. This is not the time to lose concentration!

'Hello,' Lilian smiled and waved like a perfect angel then locked her fingers behind my neck.

She whispered into my ear. 'Get me away from these psychos.'

Letting out a short, sarcastic laugh, I pulled the pigtail wearing child off me. 'You're the one who vanished before.'

'Okay, who is this kid?' Huffed an angry half-kryptonian as he stomped towards us.

'She. . .' I stalled, trying to find the words.

'I belong to Shadow, touch me and I kill you.' She snarled, falling into a defensive stance as she pulled out her knives.

'You belong to Shadow?!' They all seemed to ask at the same time and I couldn't help but wonder why Bruce hadn't stepped in.

Great, my eyes found where he should have been.

And unsurprisingly, he was gone, leaving me with the teammates that didn't quite see me as one of them at the moment.

'Yeah,' Lilian grinned as she answered their question in the worst way possible. 'She bought me.'

Really Lilian, really?

-

An update, hurray! Thanks for reading.