60 days without my leg
i dont own TT'.. unfortunately
Robin has broken his leg in battle and is forced to spend 2 months on the couch in Titan tower. 60 days of antics, fun, boredom and romance ensue..
author's note: I made this on the assumption that raven couldn't use her magic to heal people- I haven't seen EVERY episode, but I've never seen her do it.
Also this story is supposed to be mostly from Robin's point of view and about his broken leg.. but I will be jumping to different POV's from time to time. Let's just say I was inspired to write this when I had a knee reconstruction and had my leg in a splint for weeks before and after the operation. I hope many other readers who have been injured in their lifetime can relate! Enjoy!
Ch1: Battle and broken
Robin knew his wasn't invincible. He didn't have shields like Raven, or an alien indestructible body like Starfire. Even though he was the only human one in the team, Robin was still a formidable warrior. He was trained by the best. He was trained to use his abilities to beat his enemies. And even though he had no powers, he was the leader of the Teen Titans. He was the brain. He was the one that kept the group together. Batman helped him out when Robin first moved to Jump City. Batman set Robin up with gadgets and a headquarters to live in. Without the motorcycle and the utility belt, fighting enemies would be all the more harder to defeat.
Unfortunately for the boy wonder, the ninja skills, utility belt and leadership skills couldn't stop the concrete debris from landing on Robin.
Robin was knocked unconscious.
When he awoke, it had been hours and he found that he was in the hospital. His gaze was blurry at first, but a few moments later, he could see the worried eyes of Star staring down at him.
"Robin!" Starfire squealed as she flew around the room with glee. "I am so glad to see you are alright!"
"What.. What happened?" Robin mumbled. He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his left leg caused him to stop moving and lie back down again. He looked down and saw that he'd been stripped of his clothes and was wearing a hospital gown. His legs were bare, except now there was a massive plaster cast covering his left leg from his ankle to his thigh. Robin, realising that someone had undressed him, quickly reached up to see if his mask was still on.
"They left it on," Robin heard Raven's husky stoic voice saying.
Sure enough, his ungloved fingers could feel the soft rubber of his mask. He looked up and saw Raven walking into the room, with Cyborg and Beastboy right behind her.
"In the battle against Cinderblock," Starfire began to explain, "When friend Cyborg was thrown into the building, the big concrete piece fell and landed on you."
"We thought we lost ya!" Beastboy cried as he leapt over Raven and landed on Robin to hug the masked boy.
The impact made Robin groan in pain. "I'm fine, BB!" Robin said, trying to get the green boy off him. Beast boy realised that Robin was in pain and got off him.
Robin looked over and saw all the worried looks on his friend's faces. All except Raven's. Robin knew the gothic girl well enough to know that she didn't show emotions so openly like the others. He was about to ask what happened to Cinderblock, but then the nurse came into the room. Being one of the town's saviours guaranteed Robin a single room with no other patients around to bother him.
"Alright guys, time to let Robin have his rest," the large middle-aged woman announced. "Visiting hours are over."
"But! But!" Beast boy protested, falling to his knees before the nurse. "We can't leave Robin like this! He's vulnerable! He's hurt! He's my frieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend!" Beast boy cried, grabbing the nurse's dress. Robin smacked his hand to his own forehead at the display Beast boy was putting on. Hang on.. why did everyone have to leave?
"Can't I go home?" Robin asked the nurse. The nurse tried to ignore Beast boy's pleas for the moment and shook her head at Robin.
"You've broken your leg in three places and you may have a mild concussion. The doctors want to keep you here overnight, just to make sure you're okay. If all goes well.." The nurse looked down at Beast boy and tried to get him to let go of her dress, "then you can go home first thing tomorrow morning." This got Beast boy to let her go and squeal with glee.
"Can one of us stay with him?" Cyborg asked the large nurse.
The nurse saw the pleading looks on the titan's faces and sighed. "Okay. But just one of you."
"I'll stay with Robin," Raven announced, grabbing the attentions of everyone in the room. Considering how the others were acting up at the sight of Robin in the hospital, Raven was the last one they expected to stay with Robin.
The nurse looked at Raven and nodded. "Very well. Do you require a fold out bed? Or are you happy to sit in the chair provided?" the nurse asked.
Raven looked over at the massive chair parked next to Robin's bed. Hospital chairs were known for being gastly and uncomfortable. "I'll take the fold-out bed please," Raven replied stoicly. The nurse nodded approvingly at Raven's reply and walked out of the room, ushering out the other three titans as she walked out of the room. Beast boy, Cyborg and Star could be heard protesting as the nurse closed the door behind them, leaving Raven and Robin alone in the room.
The room was silent again.
Raven looked at Robin. He saw her staring at the cast on his leg. "The doc said we were lucky today," Raven said quietly. "He said you were lucky that the concrete only landed on your leg, because if it landed on your chest you could have died."
Even though Raven tried to hide her emotions from the world, Robin knew her well enough to hear her voice quiver ever so slightly as she spoke. "Must've given you guys quite a scare today, huh?"
Raven nodded as she sat on the end of his bed. "Starfire cried all night. After we found you unconscious, I used my powers to teleport us to the hospital and I had to leave the others behind so they can take care of Cinderblock," Raven explained. It was rare to hear Raven talk so much, but with the others gone, Robin found that Raven tended to open up more. "Cinderblock escaped, but when the others got to the hospital, the doctors were already tending to your leg and wouldn't let us in to see you. The nurse let Starfire in first after they brought you back into the ward."
Robin nodded. "I guess that's when I woke up and the rest of you came into the room?" he asked. Raven nodded. There was a knock at the door. The nurse had arrived with the fold-out bed. Raven and Robin thanked the woman as she set up the bed and left.
"Might as well get used to the silence, Boy blunder," Raven commented as she took off her cloak and lay under the covers of her fold-out bed. "Because things are never this quiet at home."
Robin snorted at Raven's comment. She was right. Titan tower was never quiet, especially when Beast boy and Cyborg and Star were all at home at the same time. "Is that why you volunteered to stay here tonight?" Robin asked.
Raven only smirked in his direction. Robin laughed as he watched her lie down and pretend to sleep. "You didn't even want to stay to make sure I was okay?" He joked, pouting in her direction.
Raven raised an eyebrow at Robin's pout. "You're clearly okay," she groaned. "I could always ask Starfire to stay the night instead.." She threatened.
Robin almost leapt from the bed, "No no! That's okay! I" He replied, waving his arms about. "I'll take the peace and quiet while I can get it!" He said, also lying back down to try get some much-needed sleep. Robin switched off the lights, using his remote that hung from his bedside and lay down on his back. With his leg in a plaster, he couldn't move around onto his side. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Robin removed his mask. He never slept with it on at Titan tower, but today he had company. Robin was thankful that the rest of the titans never asked him to take it off. Cyborg once said that Robin will show them his face when he's ready. Robin turned his head and looked down at the fold-out bed on that lay next to his bed, only lower to the ground. The moonlight streaming in from the window was enough for him to make our Raven's unmoving figure. She had her back to him. Robin placed his mask back over his eyes, and figured he better get used to sleeping with it on if he was going to stay in hospital. He looked back over at Raven.
"Raven?" He asked quietly, unsure if she'd fallen asleep already or not.
"Hnn?" Raven grunted back as she rolled over to face Robin.
"Thanks," He smiled at her, but was unsure if she could see it in the dark of the hospital ward.
"Anytime," She replied before rolling back over to sleep.
Quiet or not, Robin found it hard to sleep with the throbbing pain in his left leg.
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Robin awoke to the sounds of someone munching food.. loudly. He slowly opened his eyes, allowing them adjust to the bright white neon lights of the ward. Beast boy was eating from Robin's breakfast tray. Beast boy noticed the movements coming from Robin's direction and smiled as he ate. "Oh, hey Robin!" Beast boy grinned with jumbled toast stuck in his teeth.
"Hey, Beastboy," Robin greeted, cringing at the sight of Beast boy's food-infested grin. "Taste testing my breakfast?" Robin asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow in Beast boy's direction.
Beast boy smiled and finished off the piece of toast. "Sorry, Robin.."
Robin smiled weakly at Beast boy. He knew this was normal behaviour for his green-haired friend, and Robin would have normally cracked it at Beast boy. But the pounding pain in his leg took away Robin's desire to eat.
He looked over at the rest of his team. Raven, Star and Cyborg were all sitting along the stretcher that Raven had slept in during the night. As concerned as they were for Robin, hospitals were utterly boring places to be in. "So did you guys burn down Titan Tower yet?" Robin joked at the idea of Star, Cyborg and Beast boy alone in the mansion.
"Har har," Cyborg groaned as he crossed his cybernetic arms. "When are they gonna let us bring you home already!? It's boring in here!"
Almost as if she could hear him, the nurse that the team had spoken to the night before had walked into the room, followed by a tall elderly doctor. The famous 5 turned to the medical staff that had entered the room.
"Mr.. Robin.." the doctor announced, not knowing Robin's real surname. Being a super hero and all, and still in costume, Robin wasn't prepared t give the doctor his real name. "It looks like you're ready to go home," He announced cheerfully. "You've broken your leg in three places and you have a hairline fracture on your lower left rib. You'll need to take it easy for 6 weeks."
Robin nearly fell out of bed at what he'd just been told. "Six weeks!? Are you serious!? What do you mean by 'easy'?"
The doctor tried to comfort the teenager by smiling at him."You'll need to come back in 6 weeks to get the cast removed. Until then, no walking on that leg and no strenuous upper-body movements so that your rib heals properly. After we remove the cast, you may find that your left leg has lost a muscle mass, so you'll find that it'll take you a few more weeks to get your strength back."
Robin sighed. There was nothing he could do about it. He was after all, only human.
Cyborg stood up from the stretcher that he was sitting on. "So we gotta fight crime without Robin for the next 2 months?!"
The doctor nodded. "I've seen you all on TV when you fight crime. I hardly call that 'taking it easy'". The doc said. "So, once nurse Richards brings you your new crutches, you'll be ready to go home."
Nurse Richards walked up to the bed that Robin sat on. "Let me see," She said, looking at Robin. "I'd say you're about medium height.."
Robin pulled his shoulders back and stretched his neck as far as it would go, "I'm not a medium."
The large nurse just giggled at him and walked out of the room with the doctor. Within minutes she had arrived with the medium-sized crutches for the boy wonder. "Okay, I need you to slide off the bed and stand on your good leg so I can get your crutches to match your height," the nurse instructed.
Robin groaned as he was forced to move his left leg. The throbbing pain only got worse as he lowered his leg off the edge of the bed and kept the weight off his broken leg. The nurse adjusted the crutches and allowed Robin to use them.
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-2 hours later-
When they got back to Titan Tower, the rest of the gang led Robin to the couch to rest. Pillows were placed on the end of the coffee table so that Robin could rest his leg on. Beast boy hooked up the game system for Robin and Cyborg handed Robin the TV remotes so he won't have to get up to do anything. Robin was too tired and sore to want to do anything. So he flicked channels on the TV, unable to decide on a particular station. Raven sat on the couch next to him, reading a dark-covered book.
"Here you go, Robin!" Starfire exclaimed as she flew over to him and handed him a glass of something.. purple..
Robin took the mystery drink and stared at it quizzingly. "Thanks, Star.. What is it?"
Star giggled and announced, "It is a healing juice that is tradition on my home planet!"
"Are you sure it's not lethal to humans?" Raven commented, eyeing the purple drink. Star giggled and flew off to go do whatever it is that Starfire does in her spare time.
Robin looked at Raven with an 'I'm not drinking this' look on his face. She had a similar look on her face and she took the drink from him. "Let's just leave it over here.." Raven mumbled as she placed the drink on the coffee table.
Robin resumed flicking channels on the Tv and after a minute, he stopped when something on TV caught his eye.
"..And thanks to an amateur home video from a civilan bystander, we have footage of the incident.."
"What the f.." Robin exclaimed as he saw footage of concrete falling and landing on himself.
Raven looked up from her book to see what Robin was watching. "Can they show that on TV without your permission?" She asked.
"..our news team went over to the Jump City Hospital to find out the condition of Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans. However, the spoke woman from Jump City Hospital had only this to say?"
Robin turned up the volume, anxious to hear what the hospital staff had to say (again, without his permission).
".. due to the patient-doctor confidentiality, we cannot release the condition that Robin is in. However, what we can say is that he will live to fight crime another day."
Raven looked over at Robin. "How are the media going to react when they don't see you out there with us for 2 months?"
Robin gave Raven the hairy eyeball. "What are you talking about!? I'll be out there!"
Raven snorted at his comment. "OOhh.. beware Boy Blunder and his crutches of doom!" Raven teased, acting as unimpressed as possible.
Robin crossed his arms and huffed in defeat and returned his vision to the television.
"..We are now standing outside Titan Tower, hoping for an official statement from the titanic team.."
Raven, hearing this, closed her book and flew over to the large double glazed windows to take a look outside. "She's right, Raven said, turning back to Robin. "There's a newscrew out there. Looks like they came over on a boat." Raven watched Robin reach over for his crutches. She crossed her arms and leaned on one leg, giving Robin her usual unimpressed look. "What are you doing?"
Robin struggled, but got up off the couch and hobbled across the room towards the door. "I'm going to go out there and talk to them. The city needs to know that I'm alright."
Raven sighed. "The villains of Jump City don't need to know that you're out of commission either."
Hearing that, Robin stopped where he was and look over at his hooded friend. "You've got a point there."
Raven nodded. "So what do we do?"
Just as Robin was about to respond, Beast Boy cam running into the room. "Hey guys, there's a news crew outside!" He squealed before running back out of the room and down to the front door.
Robin tried to hobble across the room and too the door as fast as he could, but with a throbbing pain shooting up his leg every time his leg swayed back and forth, he wasn't getting very far. "Argh!" Robin groaned. He looked over at Raven. "Can you go get him?"
Raven rolled her eyes, "I'll go get him. ." she grumbled before flying off to down the stairs to stop Beast Boy.
As Raven flew down the long staircase towards the front door, she could hear that Beast Boy had already reached the front entrance and was conversing with the news crew. "Yeah, well me may not have stopped Cinderblock just yet, but we definitely have that guy on his toes!" Beast Boy gloated as Raven floated behind him.
Raven lowered herself to the floor and looked over Beast Boy's shoulder. He didn't realise yet that Raven was behind him. The news crew were standing just outside the front entrance of Titan Tower, led by a busty blonde news reporter holding a black microphone towards Beast Boy. "And speaking of 'toes', what is the condition of the Jump City's favourite Titan?"
Beast Boy's right eye began to twitch, and he put his hands on his hips. "Favourite Titan!?" He exclaimed.
Before he could say anything more, Raven used her powers to gag her green friend and move him aside so that she could talk to the news crew instead. Beast boy's muffled protests went unheard as the news crew focussed their attentions on Raven instead. "Robin is fine." Raven said, in her raspy, unimpressed voice.
The bubbly, blonde news reporter leaned forward, as if trying to look over Raven's shoulder and into the tower. "Can we talk to Robin?"
"No."
"Why not? Don't you think that the public would like to see for themselves that Robin is unharmed?"
Raven hated the press. Especially the bubbly, pushy news reporters. "He's busy," Raven groaned. A vein was almost about to pop out of her forehead. She needed to get rid of them. In her anger, Raven forgot to continue to gag Beast boy, and the black gag over Beast boy's mouth disappeared.
The news reporter didn't take the hint. "But, can we just come in for a moment and.."
Raven had had enough. "No. Just respect our privacy!" Raven growled as she used her powers on the unsuspecting news crew. They were all suddenly covered in a black shield.
"What.. What are you doing?" The news reporter exclaimed as she found herself and her crew being levitated across the span of water that surrounded Titan Tower and lowered down onto the shore on the other side.
"Er, Raven.." Beast boy said softly, as he tapped her on the shoulder. Raven turned around and glared at him. Beast boy felt like he was three inches tall. "You left their boat here.."
Raven turned back around and saw a speedboat sitting on the shore. She rolled her eyes and levitated the boat over to where the news crew were placed. "I hate news reporters," Raven grumbled as she turned and walked into the tower.
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Raven and Beast Boy made their way back to the lounge room. Beast Boy was lecturing Raven on how super heroes should be nicer to the people. As they reached the living room, Cyborg came running into the room from the direction of the dorm rooms. "Hey Robin!" Cyborg called out as he stormed into the room. He was holding a red mobile phone.
Robin, who was sitting on the couch, turned his head to see what Cyborg was calling him for.
"I was walking past your room and I heard a phone ring," Cyborg explained quickly as he ran over to the black-haired guy. "And so I went into your room because I thought it was odd to hear a phone ringing, because you don't have a mobile phone, and I saw this red phone ringing. I thought you said it didn't work, man?" Cyborg said as he passed the phone to Robin.
Robin flipped open the red mobile phone and read the 'missed call' message. "It does work," Robin explained. "Only, it's never gone off because it's the emergency phone Batman gave me when I left Gotham City."
"Whoah, dude!" Beast boy exclaimed. "Batman is calling you?" "Well, yeah.. He was my mentor.." Robin replied. "But since I left Gotham City, I haven't really spoken to him much." Raven knew a bit about Robin's past since she'd read his mind a few months back. "But you have been wanting to go back and visit for a while now.." She said, remembering the feeling she got when Robin showed her his thoughts on his life in Gotham City. Robin nodded in reply. "I better call him ba-" he started to say, but he was cut off when the red phone rang again. "I can't believe it!" Beast boy danced around excitedly. "Batman is calling us!" Just then, Starfire entered the room and heard the end of Beast boy's sentence. Raven gave Beast boy her typical unimpressed look. "He's not calling us, Fur ball. He's calling Robin." Everyone watched as Robin answered the phone. Starfire stood next to Cyborg and Beast boy and watched as Robin spoke silently into the phone. "Is this Batman the man that Robin kicked the side in Gotham city?" Everyone suddenly 'shhh!'d Starfire. Then Cyborg leaned in and whispered to Starfire, "Robin was Batman's sidekick in Gotham City," then Cyborg went back to listening to the phone call, along with everyone else.
"Yeah.. I'm fine.. Just broke my leg.. 6 weeks.. " Robin said over the phone. "I don't know.. Maybe.. Okay.. When? Tomorrow?.. Alright, I'll call you later." Robin then hung up and placed the phone down on the couch next to him.
Beast Boy Peered over the couch in excitement. "Does he need our help!? Are we going to Gotham City!?" He asked excitedly.
Robin shook his head calmly. "He saw the news report about me hurting my leg. He wants me to go visit since I'm out of commission."
"So are you going alone?" Raven asked. "You're not exactly capable of flying the T-ship alone.."
Robin nodded in agreement. "I know. I was thinking of asking you to come with me," Robin said, to Raven's amazement.
The others almost fell over in shock. "You're taking Raven?!" Beast Boy squealed. "What about us!?"
"Yeah!" Cyborg groaned in agreement. "Maybe we wanna meet Batman in the flesh too!"
Robin would normally have gotten up and paced in front of his comrades, but with a cast covering his whole left leg, he opted to continue to sit instead. "I think Raven would enjoy the experience more," Robin explained.
"What do you mean, Robin?" Starfire asked. Robin could see the hurt look on her face for not asking her to join him. "Are we not worthy of meeting your father figure?"
Robin didn't like that he hurt the others' feelings. "Sorry guys, but we can't just leave Jump City totally defenceless," he explained. "And let's just say that Raven will appreciate Batman's natural gothic taste the most."
Raven raised an eyebrow at Robin's explanation. "So how long are we going for?" She asked.
Robin smiled at Raven's acceptance to go to Gotham City with him. "For two weeks," he replied. He then frowned, looking at what Raven was wearing. "Um.. You're going to need to get some civilian clothes.."
Raven looked down at the usual Dark blue attire that she was wearing. "I thought you said he was gothic?"
Robin rubbed the back of his head, a sign that he wasn't exactly telling the truth. "He has a secret identity, and we're going to be in his home.. So we're not exactly going to stay in uniform the whole time.."
This really irked Cyborg and Beast boy. "You're going to see who Batman is during the day!? Oh Man! That's totally unfair!" Cyborg groaned.
"Raven, you're so lucky!" Beast boy said, practically hugging her leg. "Take me with you!"
Raven snarled at the green boy who had latched onto her. "Get off before I make you. It's not that big a deal."
"Robin has decided to trust you with the secret identity of Batman," Starfire explained, sounding hurt. "It is an occasion to feel honoured."
Robin knew that Starfire had a crush on him, but he was thinking logically when he decided to take Raven with him. He needed to cheer her up, and then talk to her later when the others weren't there. "You can take Raven shopping for clothes.." He said suggestively.
This perked Starfire up, just as expected. "Yes!" She squealed. Starfire loved shopping with a passion. "Let us go find you some clothes of the civilians!" Raven couldn't help but let out a yelp as Star grabbed her by the arm and led her out the room.
The boys watched the two girls leave the room. When the sliding doors shut behind them, Cyborg and Beast boy turned to Robin. "You hurt her feelings, man," Cyborg said, stating the obvious.
Robin nodded in agreement, "I know. But like I said, Raven's just the natural choice."
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-The next day-
Raven started up the engines of the T-ship. "Ready for take-off."
"See you guys soon!" Cyborg farewelled his friends over the radio.
"Call us if you need anything!" Beast boy also called out over the radio.
"Likewise," Robin replied. "Look after yourselves." And with that, Raven initiated the engines and the T-ship was in the air, on its way to Gotham city.
Robin was uncomfortable, being cramped up in a small cockpit, with his erect leg perched up on the dashboard of his small section of the ship. He groaned as he tried to move his broken leg to get more comfortable.
"You might feel uncomfortable like that, but I feel your pain," Raven explained her lip curled up as if her clothes stunk of rotten eggs.
Robin looked over to his right, seeing Raven in the centre bubble of the T-ship. "Why? You don't look half bad."
Raven looked down at her own clothes that Starfire helped her pick out. She was wearing black denim jeans, black combat boots and a dark blue, long-sleeved top that exposed her shoulders. "I'm not used to feeling so.. exposed.." Raven said, rubbing her bare collarbones. She then looked over at him. Robin was wearing baggy jeans (because that was all that would fit over his plaster-cast) and a black T-shirt. "If we're dressed in civilian clothes, why are you still wearing your mask?"
The Titans never tried to lead lives that involved secret identities. But since Robin already had a life with Batman, and managed to keep his identity a secret, he didn't change that when he formed the teen titans. Questions about his mask came up when the Teen titans first formed, but once it was made clear that Robin wasn't going to remove his mask around the others, the topic was dropped.. until now, four years later.
Robin knew it'd come up eventually, especially now that they were on their way to Wayne Manor. Realising that now they were outside of range from the rest of the Titans, he removed his mask. He knew he'd have to show Raven his secret identity sooner or later, but after living with the titans, being 'Robin' had become his only identity. Robin looked over at Raven, showing her his eyes for the first time. Raven's eyes widened in response. They were sitting metres apart, each locked in their own compartment of the T-Ship, so she couldn't get a clear view of him. But at the same time, she took in as much of his features as she could.
"Your eyes.." Raven exclaimed. "They're so blue."
He wanted to explain to Raven why he'd chose her to open up to first. He wasn't exactly sure how to explain it to her, but he tried anyway. "I didn't only choose you because you share the same gothic tastes as Batman. I chose you to come because you've already been inside my mind, so who I am, and who Batman is, should be less of a shock to you than it would for the others." He looked over at Raven and smiled. "Plus, I know you can keep secrets better than the others."
Raven smiled back, feeling honoured that Robin would allow her to share his secrets with her.
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Author's notes: alright, end of chapter 1! What did ya'll think? The 'red phone' Robin had, was my homage to the original red phone that the Batman and Robin had 30years ago on the old-school shows.. Man, I thought that red-phone was so cool!
Alright, and for the shippers out there.. I'm not going to reveal all my secrets just yet.. BUT lemme say this. I'm a massive rob/rav fan.. BUT in the toons, I really think Robin digs girls like star.. so we shall see who he ends up with in the end, eh?