TheChamp: Here, I updated. Glad you like it!

Alexnandru Van Gordon: Thank you for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, just this story.


Oblivion

Chapter 4: It Could Only Get Worse

Now Batman was really annoyed. First of all, Robin had not checked in for two days. He knew they had responded to a major call the night before, yet Robin had not dropped him a quick message "We won, we're fine," or something along those lines. Sometimes Robin got obsessive about a case, but he would prefer to work alone rather than have the Dark Knight breathing down his neck, so he always kept Batman informed. The last time Robin had not gotten in touch with him something – he did not know what – had happened, and it had definitely not been good. He was not taking any more chances. He knew that Robin kept his background a secret to the Titans, and he respected that, so he always contacted him privately. However, he had left him over a dozen messages, and tried calling him on his communicator, receiving an eerie silence each time. To summarize everything plainly, he was worried. He kept a connection to the Titans central computer, and had used it to find every Titan except Robin in the Tower. Robin's locator showed that for some time now – over a day – he had been inside a warehouse. He sincerely hoped that his ex-sidekick had just left his locator there, because if he had not – well, he did not want to go over those possibilities.

Now, after all of that, two of the Titans, Starfire and Beast Boy he believed, were just staring at him. The half-demon had slipped out the back door, and he dimly wondered where she was going. However, neither of the two remaining teens were answering his question, and that could only mean one thing – the answer was not going to be good. He held his breath, waiting for someone to tell him what had happened. He only hoped that his fears were not about to be confirmed.

(-Beast Boy-)

He just gaped; he could not stop. On the screen in their Tower, was The Batman, one of the most infamous vigilantes he knew of. He had always wanted to meet Batman, and now here he was, glaring down at them from the big screen, waiting for an answer to his question. What was his question again? Where is Robin? The memory sliced Beast Boy like a knife, ending his gaping. He turned away from the screen, not sure what to do. Behind him, Starfire was still just staring silently. He wondered where Raven had gone; he definitely could not handle this himself.

(-Cyborg-)

Once again, someone was calling his name. "Can't they just leave me alone?" he growled, he was about to shout back a request for solitude when the door suddenly slammed open. Raven stood in the doorway, seeming uncharacteristically… emotional… truth be told, the girl looked distraught. "What's wrong?" Cyborg asked as the tool he held in his hand snapped, an effect of Raven losing control of her power.

"The… the Batman… he's on the monitor upstairs…" she began, her voice shaking as she attempted to gain control. "He… he wants… to speak to… Robin…" she finished weakly.

Cyborg stared blankly at her. "What does he want?" he asked.

"To speak with Robin," Raven responded, a tiny bit annoyed. Cyborg was not always this slow on the uptake.

"I know, but what does he want?" he asked. Raven just stared back at him.

"Okay, I'll handle this," Cyborg responded, becoming angry. He pushed past Raven and headed up the stairs to the main level.

"Cyborg wait… Batman is Robin's…" she began, however, Cyborg was already storming into the living room, not listening. Raven paused, attempting to get her emotions under control before she seriously damaged something.

Cyborg made it to the living room, and was slightly intimidated by the sight of the Batman glaring at them from behind his mask. Starfire was sitting stock-still on the couch, the remnants of tears stuck to her face. Beast Boy was behind the couch, facing the wall.

"Hello, can I help you?" Cyborg asked, not allowing the Batman to speak first.

"I need to speak with Robin, could you call him up?" Batman asked, his voice harsh.

"Robin is currently unavailable, but I can handle any questions you have. I'm Cyborg by the way, second in command in the Teen Titans," he responded, mustering up false confidence.

Batman gritted his teeth. "I'm sure you're quite competent, but it is Robin that I need to speak with. Where is he?" he asked.

Cyborg looked back at him blankly for a moment, and then came up with a quick lie. "He's on a special mission right now, can I take a message?"

(-Batman-)

Okay, if something was not suspicious before, it certainly was now. 'Can I take a message?' no one would say that unless they were covering something up. 'Special mission?' not likely. However, he would press the android further. "What sort of special mission?" he asked sternly.

"Uh… researching… a… villain…" Cyborg muttered in response.

Batman's patience was wearing thin, and his fear was growing. He needed the truth, and he needed it now! "Did something happen to Robin?" he spat out. The three Titans stared back at him, shocked.

"How would that be any of your business?" Cyborg countered as Raven rushed into the room, her emotions under control.

"Cyborg," she muttered. Batman knew she was attempting a whisper, but he could still hear everything she said. "We need to tell him the truth."

"What? Why?" Cyborg asked, not even attempting to conceal their conversation from the uninvited guest. Batman was becoming even more frustrated. If something happened to Robin, he had to know! Raven opened her mouth, and let it hang for a moment, attempting to put together a coherent sentence. Batman had no time for that.

"I am Robin's mentor," he said harshly. Now Batman could see the shocked expressions on all faces except Raven's. She must have known, Batman decided.

"His…" Beast Boy began, gaping again.

"Please friends, what is a "mentor"?" Starfire asked, turning to the Titans behind her.

"The person who trained Robin – like a…" Cyborg began, but was cut off by Raven.

"Like a father," she whispered, just loud enough for the Bat to hear her. Batman was taken aback when Starfire instantly burst into tears.

(-Beast Boy-)

He could not believe what he was hearing. Not only was The Batman contacting the Tower, but The Batman was also Robin's mentor! All of this would have been so cool a few days ago, but now Beast Boy could not feel any excitement at all. They were finally meeting the Dark Knight, and now they had to tell him that his… whatever Robin really was to him… was probably dead. Life officially sucked.

(-Cyborg-)

Wow. This was not what he was expecting at all. He thought maybe Batman was having some trouble in Gotham, or that the Justice League needed to them to help out, and that was why Batman had wanted to speak with Robin – their leader. He never even considered that Batman was Robin's mentor. Although now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense. The technology, the endless supply of cash, Robin's batarang look-a-likes, even his temperament all suggested having spent much time with the Batman. However, what they were just about to tell them – he had no idea what it would do to Batman. He did not want to deliver the news.

Suddenly, Cyborg spun around, glaring at Raven. "You knew?" he asked, a little more harshly than he had intended.

"I was in his mind, remember," she said apathetically.

"Oh, right," Cyborg responded, embarrassed. He looked to the other Titans, hoping one of them would step up and talk to Batman, however, he realized it was up to him. He was second-in-command after all, and with Robin gone, he was their leader.

"Dude… I hope you're sitting down…" Cyborg began.

(-Batman-)

He waited with bated breath, he was sitting, but he doubted it would help any. The Tamaranian girl was sobbing, the changeling still refused to face him, and the android looked terrified and reluctant to speak. Cyborg began to speak again. "Robin is… missing…" he said solemnly. Batman stared back at him, waiting for details. Missing he could deal with, missing he could help with. It was what Cyborg was not telling him that scared him most. "We think… we think…" Cyborg stuttered. "We think he might be dead!" he blurted out.

Batman's breath caught in his throat, his head suddenly throbbing, his heart beating quickly. No… not Robin… he had lost his parents, wasn't that enough? Now his… his son was dead too? No… there had to be some sort of mistake… besides he only said that they thought he was dead, he could work with that, there was still hope, wasn't there?

(-Raven-)

She could have smacked herself. How stupid of Cyborg to just blurt it out like that. Leave it to a man… He should have been sympathetic; he should have been nicer. She looked up at the screen, Batman's mask-covered face still revealed his horror at the news. Batman was so important to Robin – she had gathered that much when she had seen many of his memories while he was under the influence of the hallucinogenic dust. She could only imagine how Batman must be feeling.

Suddenly Beast Boy turned around and spoke straight to Batman, she could tell that he was feeling horrible about the whole situation, and wanted to provide any small amount of consolation that he could. "We were… going to search for his… for him… tonight…" Beast Boy said. "We'll contact you after… if we find… you know…"

(-Batman-)

So there still was hope. "You're going to search?" Batman asked.

"Yeah," Beast Boy responded. "When the warehouse collapsed… we think he was inside… so we're going to go look…" he added.

"I'm coming to Jump City," Batman announced. "I will help you search. Do not go anywhere until I get there." The screen suddenly went dead.

(-Cyborg-)

"So, what do we do now?" Cyborg asked, looking from one teammate to the other. Tonight's search was going to be hard enough with just the four of them, but with Batman too… He looked over at his friends. Everyone was still in shock, even the sobbing Starfire. With how bad the situation was now, he knew that after tonight, it could only get worse.


Don't worry, I didn't put "Action/Adventure" in the genre just for the first chapter, there will be more to this story than just dialogue and... feelings...

Thank you for reading!

Sarah Shima