Nemesis

Ch. 1: What Happened?

What happened?

The very first question that Robin asked himself when he felt his consciousness float back to his body. It was then that he noticed that something hurt. Badly. Or everything hurt. Either or, he felt pain.

He felt numb, his whole body hurt, but it felt deafeningly numb. All at once. It didn't make any sense to him, but at this moment, neither did he care. All that mattered, was that he had no idea what happened to him, no idea where the hell he was,...no idea how that hell he could be numb and in pain at the same time. Robin did not know the answers, and Robin did not like not knowing all the answers.

Robin had to know what was going on. Now. The hero tried to open his eyes, successfully opening one eye, but the other one, not so successfully. He couldn't get it opened all the way and felt pain pulsing from it. He realized that his right eye had been swollen shut. But from what he could tell, his left eye was unharmed. He managed to get one and a half eyes open before wincing and closing them, blinking from a blinding light that appeared to be coming from over head.

Burning eyes adjusting to a new light, the boy attempted to move. To his fear, he couldn't move his arms. They were held down by something, and not only that, but when he moved them under the restraints, they hurt terribly. Bringing more pain to his already estimated injured body. Robin panicked slightly, heroic senses kicking in before he could fully panic and they told him to calm down. Then he found out his feet were also contained.

Shit.

Ignoring the soaring pain that was now beginning to rise up his limbs, he struggled. And as much as he tried to move, he could not get out of the stubborn binds. Especially in this condition. From what he could guess, he was tied by the wrists and ankles to the source he was lying on. Which happened to be a flat, hard surface. He felt his blood flowing evenly throughout his body, so he assumed he was lying in the horizontal position. His hands were at his sides, and his belt was gone. Great.

He also had something on him, it appeared to be...he didn't know, bandages, restraints? He wasn't so sure, but they were all over him and...maybe that was why his shirt was missing. And his gloves...and his shoes...luckily his pants were still there.

Frustrated that he could not move and could barely see, Robin began to feel nervousness and anger rise within him. Oozing through his veins to every part of his body. And as much as he'd hate to admit it, fear was there too, somewhere in the mix. Because if he couldn't move, he couldn't fight, and if he couldn't fight, he'd be just as vulnerable as any other regular human being. And that did not make him feel safe. Not safe or comforted at all. Because not only was he non-admittedly partially afraid, but he was also so goddamn vulnerable. Robin hated that word with an unjustified passion. Hatred.

Never vulnerable, never afraid. That was practically the fucking motto for being a super hero. And he was horribly contradicting that right now.

As soon as his weak eyes finally semi-adjusted to the bright light, he started to look around and began to notice his surroundings. He realized the only light in the room was the large bright on shining down on him. It appeared to be a infirmary clinic of some sort. He couldn't really see beyond this dimly lit room. That his limited squinted vision would allow him to see. He saw a grayish, whitish room with cabinets and drawers. That means he was probably on the medical examination table. Wonderful.

Now that question was; where the hell was he and how the fuck did he get here! And damn,...what happened last night?

Not knowing this annoyed the hell out of him. So he struggled some more, emitting slight sounds of strain as the realization of not being able to get free dawned on the young teen. So he waited, still wriggling, but waiting. All of a sudden, he sensed something. Something other than his pain and his heroic senses. Something other than him...someone else in the room.

"You're awake."

A grim voice came from the far side of the room. The shadows particularly. But nonetheless, Robin immediately recognized the voice. It was a big slap in the face to him, or more like a 'duh'. The man stepped out of the shadows concealing him, still clinging to him as he reached the only source of light. He didn't come right up to Robin on the table but he did step closer. Allowing Robin to see his large profile. Slade was easily huge compared to Robin. From height and from sheer bulk. Which made Slade even more scary.

"Slade."

But when Robin had heard Slade's voice suddenly emerge from the darkness, he jumped. He wouldn't openly admit that, but he did, along with letting out a small noise of surprise. That would mostly be called an undignified squeak. Which Robin was surprised at himself for making. And mad at himself for letting it out in front of Slade. Robin tensed. Here he was. His arch-nemisis had caught and trapped him. And he was pretty helpless right now.

"Come now, Robin, shouldn't I be expected by now?" Slade quipped, crossing his arms and leaning on what appeared to be the doorway. Robin narrowed his eyes and stopped his previous struggling. If he couldn't get out of the bonds alone, he sure as hell couldn't do it with Slade watching him. Slade then moved and walked closer to Robin, sitting on the chair in front of the table he was on. Only about three feet away. Which made Robin feel uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. Robin tensed some more and clenched his fists readily. Trying to convey the message to his captor, that he was not afraid. He was not afraid. He wasn't. ...Was he?

Alright, new story! Okay, it may not look like slash or anything now, but trust me, it will. Soon enough. I'm sure you're all wondering what the hell is going on, the plot gets thicker, don't worry. Leave reviews, I'll update soon.

D.O.P