Chapter 2
The first time he had soiled himself was the time when he realised that Bruce wasn't coming for him.
He had been holding it in for hours; at first squirming ever so slightly and then a little more violently. Then after two hours he managed to manoeuvre his arm so that he could grasp his crotch in an effort to stop the inevitable.
The water running into his cage didn't help. It came every four hours and the soft trickle lasted for thirty seconds. Robin had been greedily lapping it off the floor since he had first woken up and now he was paying the price.
He tried to convince himself that he wasn't going to do it. He had more pride than that. What would Bruce think of him if he pissed his pants? He would be embarrassed to call him his sidekick.
It had been three hours when he realised that he was close to breaking. Every now and then his self control would slip and a little bit of urine would leak out until he growled, clenched his fists and shut off the natural instinct with iron hard will.
In another half an hour Robin was close to sobbing. It wasn't just a need now, his entire body was urging him to let go and soil himself. It was screaming at him to let go of his ridiculous pride; it was a normal bodily function, everyone had to do it, even Bruce. Robin still refused to let go.
But in the end matter won out over mind and his body betrayed him. Despite his countless attempts to stop it mid-stream the urine soaked through his costume and the stench quickly became over-powering in the small box Robin was contained in. Tears ran down Robin's face as he gave in to the sweet sensation of release.
Robin jolted awake with a shout and sat up quickly, breathing heavily for a couple of seconds before the realisation set in.
The sheets were wet. And so were his boxers.
Robin sat there for a moment, completely mortified. This hadn't happened to him since he moved to the Tower and it was not a welcome surprise. His cheeks burned a fierce red as he got out of bed, glancing at the clock.
It was only four in the morning so Robin thought he was safe for getting his dirty sheets down to the laundry. Imagine if the rest of the Titans found out. He could just hear the stifled laughter and the muttered jokes when they thought he wasn't in the room now. Of course they wouldn't say anything to his face, but his authority wasn't so complete that they would refrain from gossiping about it behind his back.
Robin stripped out of his boxers quickly and bundled them with his sheets on the bed. He wrinkled his nose at the scent of urine that still lingered on him even without the cloth on his body. He put on another pair of boxers and opened the door quietly to see if he could hear anyone around. The coast seemed to be clear so he gathered the sheets and boxers and walked briskly down the hall, careful to stop at each corner to check that there was no one around. Despite the three years that had passed since this had last happened, he still knew what to do in this situation so that no one heard him.
When he reached the laundry room he gave another sigh of relief when he heard no one else in there, although he wasn't sure who would voluntarily do their laundry at four in the morning. Robin quickly stuffed the material into one of the washing machines and started it, cursing softly when the machine started whirling noisily.
When he was sure that no one was coming downstairs to ask why he had started the very loud washing machine at this stupid hour Robin jogged his way back to his room, keen to have a shower and wash away the last remnants of his nightmare.
However, when he got back to his room he saw that the door was open and the lights were now turned on. Feeling his heartbeat start to race Robin crept silently towards his bedroom and peered around the corner. His mouth fell wide open when he saw Red-X leaning back casually in his desk chair, his legs on the desk and the picture of Robin's parents in his hand.
"That photo is private." Robin hissed, closing the door behind him and making a conscious effort to stay a reasonable distance away from the thief lest he smell the stench of piss that was still lingering around him.
Red-X looked up casually and put the picture carefully back onto the table, "hey Kid, haven't seen you in a while," Red-X looked Robin up and down appreciatively and whistled, "but your lack of clothing more than makes up for that."
Robin grabbed a shirt from his open wardrobe and began to shove it on when Red-X was suddenly beside him, pushing the shirt off his shoulders, "don't. I prefer it when you have as little on as possible."
Robin tensed and shifted away from Red-X's touch, "this isn't actually a good time, I really need a shower, I've been working out in the gym and I stink."
"You were working out in the gym in your boxers?" Red-X asked, his tone disbelieving.
"Uh… yeah." Robin said while walking over to the bathroom, "now if you can wait five minutes I'm going to go shower."
Red-X looked as though he was going to argue, but then shrugged his shoulders, sat down on the chair and put his feet back up, "take your time Kid."
"I will," Robin replied, "now take your feet off my desk."
Robin came out of the shower five minutes later with a pair of clean boxers on and immediately scowled when he saw where Red-X's feet still were. As he walked past he shoved them off the desk, ignoring Red-X's cry of protest.
"So are you feeling any cleaner then?" Red-X asked casually, still rooting through Robin's desk.
"Well that was the aim of the shower," Robin replied, still in a bad mood. He started to root through his drawers for fresh sheets.
"Do you usually make your bed at half four in the morning?" Red-X asked while taking off his outer mask and shaking his hair into its proper parting.
"I've had a long day," Robin snapped while stretching a sheet over the double bed, "you could help y'know."
"I'm sure I could," Red-X said in amusement. At Robin's growl he laughed good-naturedly and grabbed the other side of the sheet. Together they stretched the sheet over the bed and tucked it in either side.
Robin grabbed a blanket from the drawer and put his two pillows back on his bed, "so are you going to tell me what you're doing here?"
"I wanted to see you, is that a crime?" Red-X asked while flopping down onto the bed.
"It is when you're breaking and entering Titan Tower," Robin muttered dryly as he shoved Red-X over so he could lie down.
Red-X started to reply before looking at Robin and himself and letting out a chuckle.
"What?" Robin asked, his eyes already closed.
"Take a look at us," Red-X laughed, "we're so fucking domestic."
Robin opened one eye and glared at Red-X, "I would not call a homosexual love affair between a hero and a thief 'domestic'."
Red-X bit his lip and moaned, "oh you talk so dirty Kid."
Robin kicked Red-X, "shut up and take your costume off, I'm feeling underdressed."
Red-X smirked and took the top off, being careful not to knock his mask, "like what you see baby?"
"Don't call me baby," Robin murmured as he caught Red-X by the back of his neck and brought him down on top of himself.
"But you look so fucking adorable with your hair all damp and with those water droplets running down your chest," Red-X muttered, his lips millimetres away from Robin's.
"I think the words you're looking for are 'unbelievably sexy', not 'adorable'." Robin said before flipping Red-X over so that he was on top. He traced Red-X's six-pack absent-mindedly with his finger and gradually leaned down so that he was face to face with him.
"Actually, I think the words I'm looking for are 'cock-tease'." Red-X groaned and leant up to kiss him.
Robin closed his eyes and made a long satisfied noise at the back of his throat, "you're so hot," he whispered against Red-X's lips.
"I know," Red-X breathed back.
Starfire rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly, she had been woken up by the sounds of the washing machine starting and was very confused. She was almost certain that laundry was to be completed in the daytime, but maybe it was a new Earth tradition that she had been unaware of. Either way, she was now carrying a basket filled with various copies of her costume towards the laundry room.
As she walked down the corridor she heard muted voices and frowned in confusion again, it was the corridor to Robin's room. She didn't know who he could be talking to at this time of night.
Her curiosity intrigued, Starfire set down the clothes basket and floated quietly towards Robin's room. She pressed her ear against the door and heard the voices again, but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying.
Starfire slid her fingers between the crack in the door and the wall and used her strength to open it ever so slightly. She put her eye to the crack but all she could see was the desk, but when she strained her hearing she could hear soft, restrained groans from Robin.
She let out a gasp and thrust the door open in a panic, concerned for her friend's danger.
The same friend who was on top of a topless man looking at her with guilt and fear written all over his face.
The same friend who was wearing only boxers, while the man below him wore only tight leather trousers.
The same friend whose lips were swollen and who was sliding off of the man to step towards her gently.
Starfire took a step backward and said in a shaky voice, "a man should not lay with another man. It is unnatural."
"What?" Robin said in a whisper, "Starfire, you can't mean that…"
"Of course I mean it!" Starfire said, impassioned, "you cannot conceive a child that way, men who commit such acts of atrocity are sentenced to death on my home planet."
Red-X rolled off the bed gracefully and grabbed his top and mask, making sure that Starfire didn't see them so that his identity remained protected, "I think I should go before I find my wrists in handcuffs Robin."
Robin turned towards him, half tempted to plead with him to stay before he caught himself, "okay."
Red-X took Robin's hand and kissed him on the cheek, making sure to glance at Starfire as he did so.
Robin shied away from Red-X's touch slightly, but squeezed his hand hard.
"See you girls later," Red-X said without his usual cockiness, he opened a window and jumped out of it, only pressing his hand to his belt when he was out of sight of Starfire. This would be hard enough for Robin without her knowing who he was.
There was a long stretch of silence after Red-X left. Robin went to get some jeans and was halfway through pulling them on before Starfire spoke, "I think you should resign as team leader Robin."
Robin almost fell over in surprise, "are you joking Starfire? I'm not going to do that!"
"Then you surely are not thinking about the best interests of the team," Starfire said, "we will suffer if we continue to be led by, what I believe your kind is called, a 'fag'."
Robin took a step forward in anger, but faltered when Starfire stepped away in what could only be described as disgust, "Starfire, I have been a homosexual for the entire time I have been the leader of the Teen Titans, hell, I've been a homosexual all of my life! It makes no difference to my leading skills!"
Starfire shook her head, "I am sorry Robin but I have to tell the rest of the team, we cannot keep them in the dark over something so important."
"No Starfire!" Robin shouted as she flew out of the room, "I'm not ready for them to know!"
He ran out the room to follow her, but she was already gone. Robin's heart lurched into his throat and he began to feel as suffocated as he did when trapped inside a small space.
He began to slowly make his way towards the living room. He couldn't believe that this was how he was going to come out. He had always imagined it being done on a quiet day, with all of his friends there at once so he didn't have to say it more than once and with Raven on one side and Red-X on the other. Of course, that was if he ever worked up the courage to tell them. He was pretty sure as hell wouldn't have said anything once he had found out about Starfire's violently homophobic tendencies when conducting his background research.
Robin whimpered. It was a pitiful sound that sounded so small in the vast corridors. It was high and keening and his own heart broke at the sound of it.
He reached the living room door and it slid open. There was no one there yet and Robin walked towards the sofa. He felt like a wounded animal. There was no other way to explain the sheer vulnerability he felt at that moment.
He walked over to the sofa, clutching his arms around himself as he went as if he was trying to hold himself together. Just as he sat down he saw Raven come through the floor from the corner of his eye.
He looked up, "help me," he whispered, desperation seeping through his tone.
"Robin…" Raven said, her face the most worried Robin had ever seen it, "I'm sorry, it shouldn't be this way." She walked over and sat beside Robin, "Starfire is wrong, you know that right, your feelings are not 'unnatural'."
"I know," Robin croaked, not sounding entirely certain.
Raven put her arms around Robin awkwardly, there was a moment of resistance before Robin turned completely and threw his arms around her.
"I can't remember the last time I hugged someone," Robin murmured into her hair.
Robin drew away slowly and opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, after a second he closed it again and then brought his lips to Raven's.
Raven did nothing and let Robin kiss her desperately. The kiss lasted five seconds and after that Robin drew away, "why can't I feel anything?" he whispered.
"Other than the fact that you're kissing a lesbian?" Raven said, patting Robin on the shoulder, "I'd say it's because you're gay."
Robin moaned and leaned his head on her shoulders.
Just then the door to the living room opened and a sleepy Beast Boy and Cyborg walked in with Starfire floating indignantly behind them, "Dude," Beast Boy yawned, "what the hell is Starfire talking about, she keeps telling us you were 'laying with another man', whatever that means."
"Robin is a homosexual now," Starfire insisted, her hands held firmly on her hips.
Cyborg snorted, "very funny Starfire, but couldn't you have waited until the morning?"
"It is the truth," Starfire said gravely, "tell them Robin."
Three expectant eyes were turned onto Robin and he felt his heart beat even faster, "I… I don't know what Starfire's talking about. I'm not gay."
"I saw you with that man!" Starfire spat, "do not lie to us Robin!"
"I'm not gay!" Robin shouted, "I'm straight, honestly!"
"You were on top of him, doing unmentionable things to him!" Starfire shouted back, "you should not lie to the team!"
Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at Robin who was looking back at them fearfully, "I'm not gay," he whispered, but to Robin's horror tears began to well up in his eyes.
"Robin…" Cyborg said quietly, "we're not gonna judge man, but… are you?"
Robin shut his eyes tightly and shook his head in denial while whispering, "yes." To Robin's complete humiliation tears escaped past his eyelids and slid quickly down his cheeks, "I'm sorry."
"Hey," Cyborg said and the next thing Robin knew he was being crushed into a tight hug "do not apologise for something that is out of your control."
"Yeah dude," Beast Boy said, "I had an uncle who was gay and he was the funniest guy in the world, it doesn't matter who you're into; dudes or chicks, you're still the same person."
Robin's shoulders shook silently as he stood in Cyborg's embrace. After a few seconds he pulled away, "thanks," he said quietly.
"No problem man," Cyborg said firmly.
"But there is a problem," Starfire said angrily, "Robin is a homosexual now, as such he must relinquish his power over the team and be banished from the tower."
"Why?" Beast Boy said, completely confused.
"Because he is not fit to lead us," Starfire said, "on my planet acts of sodomy are punishable by death."
"Much of Earth doesn't have the same customs as your planet Starfire," Raven said quietly from behind Robin, "it is completely acceptable to be gay here."
"Well Earth is wrong," Starfire said stubbornly while folding her arms, "homosexuals are dangerous, they harbour strange diseases and have no purpose in life as they will not procreate."
"Many straight men do not procreate yet they are still considered to have a purpose in life," Raven said.
"Yeah, and STI's are just as dangerous to straight people," Beast Boy argued.
Starfire turned away, "It is my own personal belief that homosexuality is wrong."
"Despite that…" Robin said, his voice rough with rarely-felt emotion, "we shouldn't let this come between us as a team. I won't step down as team leader Starfire, but you can feel free to hate me as much as you want outside of our work."
Starfire narrowed her eyes and said her next statement with venom that none of the team had ever heard from her before, "do not worry Robin, I will."
Red-X turned towards the sea and adjusted the earpiece that was allowing him to hear what the Titans were saying.
He was feeling an unwelcome mixture of emotions that were rarely present in his life; guilt and fear among them. Guilt for turning up at the Tower in the first place, he had known that it was a risky move, and fear for Robin.
Red-X could feel himself becoming more attached to him by the day. The kid was one of the few people who matched him in skill and competence. But it wasn't only that; Robin had the impossible combination of a fiery temper and a cool head that made him irresistible to Red-X. Robin was a fighter through and through. He lived and breathed his work and the fact that he was letting it fall even a little by the wayside for Red-X proved that he was forming a similar attachment to him.
But to see Robin so openly emotional. So utterly crushed by his teammate. It awoke an unpleasant anger that snarled in the pit of Red-X's stomach. Dare he admit it, but he was feeling protective over Robin. What did that make him; Robin's boyfriend?
Red-X shook his head, he was just having fun with Robin and if he was feeling the very justified anger that came with his… something being sad then that was perfectly normal.
Red-X rolled his eyes at his own twisted denial. He fingered with the transporter on his belt absent-mindedly before taking a breath and pressing it.
Robin sighed in relief as his bedroom door shut behind him. He looked at the clock and groaned; it was now quarter past five in the morning. He had told the rest of the Titans, excluding Starfire as she had stormed off after the argument, to take the morning off to catch up on their missed sleep. Robin had experienced plenty of sleepless nights, but he knew that Beast Boy especially wouldn't be able to perform at full capacity with only a few hours sleep.
He walked over to his bed and laid down on it wearily. As his head went to rest on his pillow he heard a soft crumpling of paper. Frowning, Robin sat up to see what he was lying on.
Robin then smiled slightly as he saw a small piece of lined paper with a red X on the front. He turned it over and saw a short note scrawled messily.
Robin,
Sorry for what's happening. It must suck.
If you need to contact me I've registered my cell number with your communicator.
Red-X
p.s.
Starfire is a bitch.
Despite everything that had happened that night Robin still felt a smile curving his lips. He put the note carefully next to the picture of his parents and laid back down on the bed.
"Lights off."
For the first time in living memory Robin slept past noon. When his eyes finally opened they travelled from his parent's photo to Red-X's note, at which he smiled, and then finally to his digital clock.
When seeing that it read 12.04 Robin immediately sat up.
"How the hell did I sleep past nine?" he muttered furiously to himself. He had told the rest of the Titans to take the morning off, but they knew that he meant for them to be in the main room by twelve.
Robin was never late and more than anything else this gave some weight to Starfire's argument that he should give up his role as leader.
Forgoing his usual morning shower Robin got changed into his costume and went straight down to the living room. When he got there Cyborg and Beast Boy were busy playing a computer game and Raven was reading a book in the corner. Starfire was nowhere to be seen.
Robin ran his hand through his hair and grimaced when he realised he hadn't gelled it like he usually did. His pot of gel floated towards him covered in Raven's trademark psychic glow.
He looked at her questioningly and she said quietly, "you left it down here yesterday."
"Thanks," Robin said, trying to capture the same confidence he usually possessed with ease.
He unscrewed the top to the gel and dipped his hand inside. He took a generous amount and started to fix his hair while using the back of a spoon as a mirror. He was just perfecting the stray strands when Starfire entered.
When she saw what he was doing she gave him a cold look that told him everything that she thought of him. Robin put the spoon down and used every ounce of self-control it took to not let himself blush.
For a moment he felt the childish urge to blurt out that it had just been bad timing. There could have been a million other manly, macho things that he could have been doing. And it wasn't as if she didn't already know that he spent a stupid amount of time on his hair. That was the only remotely camp thing he ever did and he knew plenty of straight guys that were more camp than that.
With effort Robin forced himself to stop that chain of thought. He knew that it would do him no good and it would only serve to distract him from more important things.
At that moment the alarm went off in the Tower. Robin immediately reached for his communicator and flipped it open.
"Cinderblock is wreaking havoc downtown," he read aloud quickly and then turned to the rest of the team, "Titans go!"
As Robin rode down to downtown Jump on his motorcycle he opened the link between his helmet, the T-Car and Starfire's communicator.
"Okay Titans we've fought Cinderblock before so we know what to do," Robin said as he calmly swerved in and out of the traffic on the road, "Raven, I want you to focus on keeping people away from the area and rescuing anyone who's trapped, Beast Boy I want you to slow Cinderblock down enough for Cyborg to land in a few physical blows, but Cyborg I want you to mainly just blast him from a distance. Starfire," Robin hesitated for only a moment before continuing, "I need you to launch an aerial attack to try and confuse Cinderblock, but your main job is to keep an eye out for anyone on the ground, if it looks like we're in trouble it is your job to rescue us okay?"
There were a few seconds of silence before Starfire answered, "okay."
"Good," Robin said, trying not to sound too relieved that Starfire was at least acknowledging his orders, "I'm going to do an attack from behind to try and disorientate Cinderblock."
"Got it." Cyborg said, his tone full of excitement.
Robin accelerated his motorbike, he was only a block away from Cinderblock and he could already hear the sounds of destruction. He saw a shadow pass over him and then saw Starfire flying straight to where Cinderblock was. Robin told himself not to worry, Starfire was a professional, she wasn't going to put people's lives in danger just because she had a problem with one of the people on the team.
Robin went round the corner at a dangerously fast speed and jumped off as quickly as he could. He took the helmet off just as Cyborg's car cleared the corner with a little less finesse.
Raven phased through the roof and immediately got to work by protecting a cowering group of people from a collapsing roof with her mental shields.
Robin took a moment to check where Starfire was, and was satisfied when he saw her fighting with her same amount of righteous fury, before falling into his own familiar attack patterns.
The fight had only been going on for a few minutes but Robin was worried. Either Cinderblock was more powerful than usual or the Titans weren't on form because they weren't winning yet. Robin fervently hoped that it was the former. Robin grasped his bo staff in his right hand and ran towards Cinderblock, hoping to use the staff to enable him to jump onto Cinderblock's back where he could try and distract the stone giant. It was a risky move but the fight wasn't looking good.
A blast from Cyborg's sonic cannon hit Cinderblock on the shoulder and to Robin's dismay made him turn around. There was a terrifying moment where Cinderblock almost crushed Robin with his foot before Robin threw himself out of the way, making him land on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Robin coughed and looked up to the sky in the hope that Starfire would lift him out the way before Cinderblock spied him.
As Robin scrambled backwards he saw Starfire who was still firing bolts at Cinderblock, "Starfire," he called.
Starfire glanced at Robin, before turning away and firing another bolt towards Cinderblock, which knocked him closer still to Robin.
"Starfire, stop firing at him!" he shouted desperately, as he tried to get up. He had nearly pushed himself off the floor but he couldn't catch his breath enough to make it the whole way up.
Cinderblock turned around slowly towards the noise and finally saw Robin. He raised a concrete hand and swept it through the air to knock Robin out of the way and into an alleyway where he hit a dumpster.
When Robin hit the wall he heard a sickening crack in his right shoulder. He fell to the floor and cried out in pain.
Cyborg ran over, "what happened?"
"I think my shoulder's dislocated," Robin said through gritted teeth, "you're gonna have to put it back into place."
Cyborg looked at Robin's shoulder, it was subtle but the way the arm sat didn't look right. "I'm not a medic Robin," Cyborg said in a worried tone, "you should get Raven to do it."
"Raven's busy," Robin grimaced, "you had the first aid training course along with everyone else, you can do this Cyborg."
"I don't even have anyone to hold you still," Cyborg argued.
"I can do without," Robin replied, his face getting paler from the pain, "just fix my shoulder."
"No way Robin, you need someone to brace you otherwise you could damage your shoulder permanently, I'll go get Beast Boy."
"No need," a voice said coolly behind them.
Robin and Cyborg turned around to see Red-X standing a few feet away.
"Red-X!" Cyborg said in surprise, "what are you doing here?"
Red-X didn't answer him straight away, instead he knelt down next to Robin and braced him securely, "I'm here to help."
Cyborg stood still for a moment, trying to decide what he should do. Red-X was a thief who was a wanted criminal, but Robin was obviously in severe pain.
"Cyborg," Robin said weakly, his forehead damp with sweat, "please just fix it."
Cyborg took a breath and knelt on the other side of Robin to Red-X, "okay, I'm going to start easing it in," he picked up Robin's arm and began to circle it gently.
Robin moaned in pain and grasped Red-X's arm. Both Red-X and Cyborg looked at Robin's hand in surprise, but Red-X squeezed Robin's good shoulder reassuringly, "you'll be alright kid."
Cyborg looked between the two men and then let out a small unnoticeable "oh," of realisation. He looked at Robin's unmistakeable trust in Red-X and the thief's willingness for that to happen and decided that it wasn't his place to ask Robin about it.
"Okay Robin I'm going to try and put it back into place now," Cyborg said, sounding miles more confident than he felt. He took a deep breath and pushed it back into place with a loud pop that resonated through all three of them. Robin gave a loud cry and squeezed Red-X's arm hard before leaning back against the dumpster in relief when the pain finally subsided.
"Go join the others," Robin said tiredly.
"Are you sure?" Cyborg said, looking at Red-X suspiciously.
"Yes, they're not gonna be able to do it with just the three of them," Robin said, his eyes closed.
Cyborg stood up to leave but Red-X suddenly said, "wait," he took out three red pellets and gave them to Cyborg, "use these on Cinderblock, aim for his feet."
Cyborg looked at them, "didn't know you were looking into becoming a hero."
Red-X rolled his eyes, "just use them chuckles."
Cyborg began to run off before turning around and saying with a pained expression, "thanks."
"No problem," Red-X saluted him sarcastically before turning back to Robin, "how you feeling kid?"
"Better," Robin said, making no effort to get up, "how come you're here?"
"What a man can't stalk his lover without questions being asked?" Red-X joked, sitting next to Robin.
"Lover?" Robin asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Well what else would I call you, I doubt 'boyfriend' is going to be very popular," Red-X chuckled.
When there was just silence from Robin Red-X turned towards him, "what really, boyfriend?"
"No," Robin said unconvincingly, "but 'enemies-with-a-tendency-to-find-each-other-mildly-attractive-at-times' is a bit of a mouthful."
"I think you're more than just mildly attractive," Red-X said casually.
Robin looked at him, "yeah, me too."
Red-X took Robin's hand in his own, "you're alright y'know kid."
"Thanks," Robin curled his fingers tight around Red-X's, "you're not so bad yourself."
At that moment Raven came around the corner making Robin jump, but he still kept hold of Red-X's hand. "We've subdued Cinderblock," she said, "I came to check out your shoulder."
Red-X stood and dusted himself off, "in that case I think it's time for me to disappear before the alien bitch shows up."
Robin frowned, "don't call her that."
"Well she shouldn't call you a fag," Red-X shot back hotly.
Robin grimaced, "she was upset."
"And so am I," Red-X put his hand on Robin's good shoulder briefly as a way of goodbye, "see you soon kid."
"I'll call you," Robin said quietly.
"I'm looking forward to it already," Red-X said with humour lacing his tone. He stepped back, pressed the button on his belt and disappeared.
Raven knelt down and placed her hands over Robin's shoulder, "he cares a lot about you."
"Yeah," Robin said affectionately, still looking at the spot where Red-X had teleported, "the bastard."
Raven rolled her eyes, "Cyborg did a good job with your shoulder, but there's still some damage done," Raven stood up, "I'll have a better look at it back at the Tower, the rest of the Titans are already heading back and I'm going to ride with you instead."
"Thanks Raven," Robin stood up slowly, using the side of the dumpster for support.
"Why did you make Starfire the one who was defending the rest of us," Raven said, "you could have gotten seriously hurt, why would you take that risk?"
Robin sighed, "it was a test, I knew you lot wouldn't be hurt and I needed to know now rather than later to see how she would work with me."
Raven frowned, "it was a stupid idea."
Robin laughed, "no, it was a very good idea, you were just worried about me."
"Shut up Robin," Raven said while turning around to walk out the alley. Robin followed her and they walked side by side past Cinderblock who was restrained to the floor with copious amounts of the Xenothium red goo stuck to his feet. "We need to do something about Starfire," Raven said quietly.
"I know…" Robin said with a grimace, "but I don't want to say anything to her, she probably feels as if she's the one who has been wronged."
Raven turned to him, "but she hasn't been Robin, because of her your shoulder was dislocated, she is the one in the wrong."
"I know that Raven, but this is a delicate situation, I don't want to enflame it unnecessarily," Robin said, bypassing Raven to walk towards his motorbike.
"It won't be unnecessary," Raven said, "Starfire did something wrong, you need to call her on it."
"I will…" Robin said airily.
"When?" Raven asked, "will it be when this happens again, or when she causes one of us to be hurt because we just won't stop sticking up for you?"
"Raven…" Robin said in a placating tone.
"Or will it be when she crosses the line and isn't just negligent, she starts to attack you?" Raven said fiercely.
"She won't." Robin said surely.
"You don't know that Robin," Raven said in an exasperated tone, "just because you're feeling some misplaced guilt over something which is out of your control doesn't mean that you can neglect your role as team leader."
"What," Robin said, feeling as if Raven had punched him.
"Yes, Robin, that's what I think," Raven said unflinchingly, "you are putting all four of us in danger because of your inability to see that Starfire is never going to be able to work in this team again."
"Are you suggesting that I kick her off the team?" Robin said, raising his voice.
"Yes Robin, that is exactly what I am suggesting!" Raven said.
"But that isn't fair, she didn't do anything!" Robin exclaimed.
"You're right, she did nothing. She just watched while Cinderblock got closer and closer to crushing you!" Raven argued, "life isn't fair Robin, you know that more than anyone."
Robin swung his leg over the motorbike while putting on his helmet and started the engine. He looked back at Raven and narrowed his eyes, "find your own way home Raven."
The motorbike sped off, leaving Raven coughing from the exhaust fumes.
When Robin arrived back at the Tower he took his time putting his motorbike away and making sure she was covered up with the protective sheet.
He ambled his way up to the main room slowly, but when he started to hear raised voices he quickened his pace.
Just as he got to the door it flew open and Beast Boy stalked out in a rage, "you are talking complete and utter bullcrap Starfire!"
Robin caught Beast Boy by the shoulder, "hey, what's up?" he asked in concern.
"She's being a complete bitch!" Beast Boy ranted, "she's saying that we should kick you off the team because of your injury."
"But why?" Robin said, confused, "it was her fault."
"We know, but she's insisting that it was due to your incompetence." Beast Boy growled as the shouting in the room continued.
Robin steeled himself, "okay, I'm going to deal with this."
Robin walked inside and saw Starfire and Cyborg screaming at each other from opposite sides of the room while Raven was shaking with barely restrained anger in between them.
"He is an incompetent, unskilled and pathetic excuse for a hero!" Starfire snarled, her eyes glowing bright green.
"He is the best team leader we could possibly have," Cyborg shouted back, "it is your fault that he got hurt!"
"He should have moved out the way," Starfire took a step closer to Cyborg.
"No, you should have flown him out of the way, that was your responsibility." Raven said quietly, but with such anger that it reverberated through the whole room.
"I wasn't about to risk myself for a homosexual," Starfire hissed.
Raven and Cyborg both gave equally angry sounds and Raven's black energy caused several objects in the room to lift into the air.
"That's enough!" Robin roared, "Cyborg, Raven, I appreciate your help but I can fight my own battles, and Starfire," Robin took a breath, "you saw that I was in danger and still chose to do nothing, if you do it again you will be suspended for a week."
Starfire narrowed her glowing eyes at him before flying out of the room angrily.
Robin let out a sigh and turned to the kitchen, "anyone want something to drink?"
Raven and Cyborg looked at him angrily, "what the hell was that Robin?" Cyborg asked.
"What?" Robin said, taking a glass and filling it with water.
"She deliberately allows for a serious injury to happen to you and all she gets is a proverbial slap on the wrist?" Raven said heatedly, "if it had been anyone else they would have been suspended for at least six months!"
"Well it wasn't anyone else was it?" Robin snapped back.
"Robin, you have got to stop feeling guilty man," Cyborg said, "you're letting it cloud your judgement."
"No I'm not," Robin said shortly and slammed the glass down on the counter, "she made a mistake and I'm letting her fix it herself."
"Robin this is not something that can be fixed and you know it," Raven argued.
"I am not kicking her off the team because of the way I am." Robin turned away and stalked out of the room.
As the door slammed behind him Raven and Cyborg looked at each other with silent worry, "is this going to get better?" Cyborg asked quietly.
Raven shrugged and turned away, "hopefully," she muttered.
