Chapter Text
“Thank you everyone for coming to my concert! I hope to see you all soon!” Robin had just finished her performance for the grand opening of a new theater at the Clock Studios theme park that the Astral Express had recently restored. She had just performed on her new release If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking, and many other releases that her fans all enjoy.
As Robin makes her way out of the venue through a backdoor, hoping to finally have a good rest after this performance, she is suddenly ambushed by a crowd of reporters that were waiting near the area. The bodyguards that were assigned to her quickly made a wall to separate her from the reporters to ensure her safety. The reporters, in hopes that Robin may answer one of them, started screaming out questions.
“Miss Robin! Please tell us when your next signal is going to be released!”
“Miss Robin, please address the dating rumor that has been circulating!”
"Miss Robin! What are your thoughts on Gopher Woods plans to…"
“Miss Robin! Miss Robin! Please! We need answers!”
Oh my goodness, how did they know I was going to exit from this side of the theater? No one should know apart from the bodyguards and Sunday. Robin silently questioned as the plan to avoid the reporters by using one of the theater's backdoor to leave the venue had backfired on her spectacularly. This information must have slipped out somehow, brother is going to get furious again.
As Robin tries to maneuver through the rowdy crowd of reporters with the body guards surrounding her to the car, she notices some of the reporters at the front were trying to shove past the wall of bodyguards to get to her, realizing that the bodyguards were starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of reporters pushing towards her.
Robin tries to diffuse the situation by giving the reporters a rather vague answer, hoping that it would at least calm them down to prevent anyone from getting hurt. “Thank you all for attending the concert today! Unfortunately, I do not have the energy to answer all these questions today, but I hope that my music today has helped to make your day even brighter! I will see all of you soon!” Robin gave a small wave to the cameras and proceeded to speed walk towards the car, with the help of the body guards making a path for her.
The moment Robin entered the car, the reporters became increasingly aggressive and started to push harder against the bodyguards, screaming more questions into the night sky of Penacony. Robin nods to her chauffeur, giving him the green light. The car engine revs to life, driving away from the crowd of reporters and into the busy streets of Penacony. When the theatre was no longer within viewing range, Robin lets out a small sigh. She is finally able to have some moment of peace to herself.
“Good work Miss Robin, it was a splendid performance.” The chauffeur complimented, hoping to lift Robin’s spirit from avoiding another crowd of reporters again. “Thank you, I only do my best in hopes to help others with my voice.” Robin replies kindly. She has gone through this situation so many times but she still feels so overwhelmed after every event. She had hoped that the reporters would eventually leave her alone after she had avoided them so many times but their persistence and stubbornness matches her brother’s when it comes to her safety and freedom.
He had insisted on the increased security to ensure her safety ever since the incident that resulted in a faint bullet scar at the side of her neck. Robin constantly tries to persuade her brother to decrease the number of bodyguards that follow her. “I cannot afford you getting hurt again Robin. Who knows when someone with ill intent would come to harm you again.” Sunday would always use this sentence to justify his over-protectiveness, which ultimately ends the discussion as she couldn’t fault the reason behind his logic.
Brother is far too protective, nothing has happened to me since then. Robin sighs. She had hoped her brother would allow her to have some sort of freedom eventually, but her life has been constantly surrounded by guards apart from her apartment.
It feels like I am trapped in a bird cage with my brother constantly watching over me. It's suffocating.
As she becomes absorbed in her own self wallowing, she doesn't notice that she had already reached her apartment or her chauffeur had been trying to get her attention for the past few minutes. “....Miss Robin? We have arrived at your apartment. Is everything alright?” Robin, realizing that her chauffeur was looking at her with a concerned expression, brings her back to reality. “Ah yes, I am alright, thank you for driving me back. Have a good rest.” She gives a slight nod towards the chauffeur and exits the car. As she watches the car drive off, a cool breeze brushes past her, sending a shiver down her spine.
It's quite a cooling night today. Maybe I should make a hot drink to warm myself up. As she makes her way up to her apartment, she thinks about her itinerary for her next performance, hoping that it would spark hope and joy for her audience and listeners once again. As she reaches the front of her door and inserts the key in, she could hear small movements inside of her apartment. This instantly sends Robin into a near panic attack.
Is someone in the apartment? How did they even enter when the door is locked! Even if they did enter through the windows, this is the 8th floor! As Robin was internally trying to sort her thoughts, the movement gradually comes to a stop, as if nothing had ever happened. Robin paused for a moment before organizing her thoughts, she couldn't let herself panic in situations like this.
Robin gave herself two options; the first option was to call her brother for help to check the apartment for intruders. This option would lead to her brother setting up even more bodyguards around her apartment, which she definitely wants to avoid as this was one of the only areas where she had complete control of her freedom. The second option was to check the apartment herself and if anything happens, scream for help. She decides to ultimately pick the second option, doing breathing exercises to calm her nerves down.
“Alright Robin, it's now or never. You have been in much worse situations, this shouldn't phase you.” She mutters to herself like some form of encouragement. She unlocks the door and pushes it open slowly to not alert the intruder or whatever has entered her apartment. As she enters the house and closes the door behind her, she surveys the living room. The living room looked perfectly normal at first glance, the furniture were still in place and nothing seems to have been taken. I can rule out a burglary then.
She was about to think that she was just hearing things until she sees bloodstains on the hardwood floor. Robin didn’t mind the blood since she had seen her fair share of wounds before but it certainly did not put her mind at ease knowing that someone was injured and had somehow broken into her apartment. Biting down the urge to run away and call her brother for help, which is what any normal person would have done in this situation, she continues forward, following a trail of blood that leads her further into her house.
This feels like a REALLY bad idea, but I can’t allow Sunday to control my life any further. I have to resolve this issue without him knowing.
Robin silently scolds herself, knowing the risk that she could be in, but she does not want to tie down her freedom any further than it already is. Reaching the end of the trail, she comes face her bedroom door. Well this is a bit troubling, of all places the trail could lead to… She pinches her nose bridge, trying to formulate a quick plan. When nothing seems to come to mind she just decided to wing it and hope for the best.
She first tries to listen for any sort of movement behind the door, waiting for a few moments hoping that the intruder would slip up. However, she was only greeted with silence, all she could hear was her own breathing. It was like the intruder vanished into thin air, making Robin feel like she was delusional. Robin could only scratch her head in utter confusion.
Maybe I am hallucinating. Maybe I mistook the blood trail for water stains. Yea that must be it. Robin rubs her eyes and close it shut, hoping that maybe she was just tired from her performance. That this whole scenario was just made up from how hectic today was. As she opens her eyes again, she was only greeted with disappointment.
The blood trail is still there, like a reminder that this is a very real situation that she is in. Seeing that she was indeed not hallucinating she decided to take the leap off faith. Taking in a deep breathe, she gripped onto the doorknob, slowly turning it. She opens the door just enough for a tiny gap to form. The gap allows her to see her bed and her closet with no signs of the so called intruder. Deciding against her better judgment, she decided to swing open the door with full force.
Thump!
The door doesn't fully swing open and ricochets back to robin with the same force but she manages to step away from the door and stop it from closing without getting injured. That shouldn't have happened. Huh? As Robin pushes the door open again, this time with far less force, she hears groaning and shuffling behind the door. “Ugh… Aeons that hurts…” A small voice groaned in pain behind the door. Although Robin was in the same room as the intruder she couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy since that was just her nature, that and the fact said intruder is potentially bleeding out in her own bedroom.
“Hey, are you okay? I’m so sorry-” As Robin goes into her room to check on this mysterious intruder, she is met with the prettiest woman she has ever laid her eyes upon. The intruder turned out to be a young woman, leaning against the wall behind the door. The woman was clutching her left side and clutching her head with her free arm. The woman in front of Robin had silver-blonde hair accompanied by a brown hairband with 2 green ribbons at the side. Meeting her gaze, the woman eyes, although weary, shone like a sun setting over the pristine blue ocean.
Absolutely mesmerizing, I could get lost in them. Robin thought to herself, unaware that the injured woman who was leaning against the wall for support had gone rigid, realizing who was right in front of her very eyes.
“Um, I’m so sorry Miss Robin. I-I thought this house was abandoned! I’ll send myself out quickly. I’m so sorry I caused you so much trouble.” The young woman put together a quick apology and tried to excuse herself from the room. Robin, snapping out of her daze, wanted to stop her from leaving; only for the injured woman to double over in pain and falls onto her knees with a loud thud. “Ugh…” The woman grips her side making a pained expression. Robin turns around then realizes the blood stain on the wall where the woman originally leaning on had lead to a small blood pool.
There is blood pooling underneath her and the first thing I think of is how pretty she is? I need to get myself together. Robin felt extremely embarrassed and chides herself internally. She kneels down to where the woman is hunched over shaking in pain, hoping to get a closer look at the severity of her wound. Robin's first instinct was to call over a ambulance over so that the injured woman could get proper medical treatment.
“I’m going to call for an ambulance. Just hold out for a while longer, please.” Robin searches for her phone in her purse, pulling out to dial the emergency line. Ever since the advancement of technology in Penacony, no one could distinguish the dreamscape from reality and a dream. Which felt terrifying to Robin, but to the Family, or to her father, they had pushed for the dreamscape to be just like reality.
Which meant that any form of injuries, even death becomes reality in the dreamscape. Even ejecting yourself forcefully from the bath tub wouldn't save you from dying.
Just as Robin was dialing the hotline for the hospital, the woman suddenly grabs her hand, stopping Robin from hitting the call button. Robin freezes in shock as she looks down to see the woman who was struggling to lift herself up off the ground.
“Please, I’m fine. Don’t…you don’t have to call for any help...” The woman squeaked out whilst wincing in pain and looking up at Robin with desperation in her eyes. Robin wanted to convince the girl that she just wants to help her but decided to delete the number and put her phone back into her purse.
If she doesn't want me to call the ambulance that means she doesn't want to be found. Robin may have her suspicions but seeing the injured woman doing her best to hold onto her arm with whatever strength she could muster had Robin second guessing herself.
Maybe she isn't a bad person? Hoping I don't eat my words in a few moments.
“Alright, I have put my phone away, but could you let go of my arm? Please? I won’t be able to check your wound if you keep grabbing onto it…” Robin gestured to the woman’s hand gripping onto Robin’s arm. The woman realizing that Robin is indeed telling the truth decided to trust her. She ultimately lets go of Robin's arm slowly and apologies.
I should help her onto the bed, she's already struggling to even stand up. Does she really not want me to call a professional?
Robin, not wanting to give the woman anymore trouble decides to bite down on her quarries for now. Robin helps her up from the ground and slowly leads her to her bed, where she can rest and Robin can treat her wounds easier. As she helps the woman onto the bed she is able to get a closer view of the wound. The wound, which seems to be a gunshot wound, is being pressed down by the woman’s hand, trying to stop the bleeding to no avail. The woman can only mutter out a small thank you as she rest on Robin's bed, her back leaning against the wall for support. Robin can only give the woman a small smile and she swore she caught the woman blushing and avoiding eye contact. Cute, Robin thought to herself.
How did she even get this hurt… I didn’t notice or hear any sort of commotion while I was performing. Enough of that, her wound needs to be tended to. I am not sure how long she has been in this state so I will need to pick up my pace.
“Let me go find my med kit, hang in there.” Robin lets the injured woman know as she goes into her bathroom to find the med kit. The injured woman tried to protest but could only whimper in pain as a response. As soon as Robin left her vision, the woman looked down at her wound in utter disappointment at herself and sighs.
Silverwolf is going to freak out if she finds out that SAM is not only heavily damaged but I am as well. I can’t believe I got ambushed. Who was that…ow…
The woman tries to bite down on the increasing pain from pressing down on her wound. She does her best to not faint from the blood loss as her vision blurs from white to black. She is worried that Robin might call the ambulance which would lead to a serious problem for her.
If the Aeons above can hear me, please ease my pain. Ugh, if only SAM's booster system wasn't down… I could just fly back to the ship.
It was like the Aeons decided to spare her from anymore suffering, she hears Robin shouting, "Found it!" Robin had finally dug out her med kit that she kept away in her bathroom. The woman, despite the pain can't help but be completely awe struck at Robin's sheer beauty. Seeing Robin walk towards her with grace in her steps and a warm smile, makes her chest squeeze a little.
Robin is too perfect for this world. I don't deserve to see this smile at all…
In all honesty, the woman had half expected Robin to call The Family to come arrest her. After all she is not only an intruder in Robin's own home, she is also the wanted fugitive that the family has been witch hunting for. However, she suspects Robin is not caught up to that information at all, since she doesn't seem to recognize the wanted fugitive in front of her.
And I hope she never has to find out.
“Sorry for the wait, the med kit was buried under too many of my bottles. I usually keep it there for emergencies. But don't worry, I make sure that the med kit is always stocked.” Robin places the med kit next to the woman and starts to take out bandages and what seems to be a bottle of alcohol to wash away the blood and bacteria.
Oh, that's going to be extremely painful… The woman, who was already wincing in pain cannot imagine the second wave of pain to come.
As the woman tries to internally prepare herself for what's to come, she doesn't notice Robin slowly lifting her hand away from the wound that she was pressing on.“By the way, you haven’t told me your name yet. You already know me so I don’t really need to introduce myself.” Robin asked the woman hoping that it would ease the tension in the room. If I'm going to help her I may as well get to know her.
The woman, caught of guard opened and close her mouth a couple of times, not being able to formulate a proper sentence. When Robin decides that she should ask her again after she finish patching her up, the woman shuffles in her place. Robin looks up to see the woman trying to cover her face with her hand but Robin already caught a glimpse of the woman blushing. It took her a moment to finally say,
“…Firefly. My name is Firefly. I'm um, sorry for intruding?”