A/N: Thanks for the comments Blas and mystery guest!

Chapter 8:

Never give up.

The short phrase was repeating itself in Robin's head. He tried to remove Batman's commanding voice from his mind but it was impossible.

"I can't," he whispered, "I just can't. I'm sorry. It's so dark, I just…please stop making me feel guilty!"

The Boy Wonder wanted to go to sleep. He wanted to just float into unconsciousness and leave the pain behind. But Batman was going to be even more disappointed if he ever found Robin's body. The Caped Crusader would see the position of his young partner's skeleton and know that Robin had given up.

"I hate you," he muttered at the voice as he opened his eyes and pushed himself up to his knees. Then he froze again; he still couldn't make himself enter the darkness. But what if Batman didn't have any clues to follow? What if he never discovered where Catwoman had taken them? Robin rolled his eyes; that was an idiotic thought. Batman never failed; he always found a way to defeat the villains. But what if this was the one time he didn't succeed? The hostages would never escape because Robin was too scared to enter a dark tunnel.

"You're the Boy Wonder. Man up, idiot," he mumbled and pushed one knee into the darkness. "You're going to let Richard die? You're going to keep him from seeing his family again because you're afraid?!"

That was something Robin would never forgive himself for, even in the last few hours of his life, so he forced his body into the tunnel and began the long trip back. He was not going to let them down – Richard, Sheila and the other brave woman whose name he didn't even know. They believed in him and he was going to give them an opportunity to escape.

It was so dark and so hard to breathe. Closing his eyes wouldn't make anything worse so he squeezed them shut and struggled to slow down his breathing. Inch by inch he traveled through the blackness for what seemed like days.

"It's about time!" the familiar voice shouted and Robin's eyes popped open. He had never anticipated feeling grateful to hear Catwoman yelling at him but here he was, trying to hold himself back from hugging her.

A weary, lopsided grin lit up his grimy face as he slid his body out of the crack in the wall, took a deep breath and sat down on the dirt. Leaning back against the wall, Robin closed his eyes again but didn't allow himself to fall asleep. A deep, wracking cough suddenly flew from his chest and the Boy Wonder bent forward and grabbed his torso. The cough didn't help his aching ribs or throbbing shoulder, which was bleeding more than it had been in the tiny circle where he had almost given up.

"Nothing?" Catwoman growled angrily. Robin slowly opened his eyes and carefully shook his head, which was now thumping in rhythm to the painful pulsing in his shoulder. "What took you so long then?!" she yelled again.

Robin opened his mouth to speak but another cough shook his body and he dropped his head. It was difficult to breathe again and he was spitting dirt out of his lungs with every other breath.

"He needs rest and water," Sheila, who was now more concerned than afraid, spoke up on his behalf. "There's too much dust in his lungs; trying to breathe is sapping his energy. And the bullet wound doesn't help." She nearly snarled the last sentence and Catwoman glared at her. The nurse returned the glare, refusing to back down when her newest patient was in such obvious pain.

"Leon, grab him. Felix, get the others up and let's go," Catwoman commanded.

"No," came a raspy voice. "Release them…" Robin took a gravelly breath before continuing, "…or I don't go in any more caves." There was a short pause as the teenager picked up the nearest rock.

"Or I just slam this into my head and possibly die," he tried to growl. It didn't work but everyone heard the threat in his tone. The Boy Wonder was a bit nervous about giving the villainess an ultimatum but hoped that her greed would overrule her need for captives.

Catwoman turned her glare to the young crime-fighter, who didn't even flinch. Did she really need the hostages? Batman had no idea where they were anyway. The nurse wouldn't be harping about Robin's condition if she was left in this cave – that was a plus.

"If I let them go," the villainess snarled, "you will go in any cave I tell you to enter?"

"I promise," Robin got the words out just before he started hacking again.

Bats always kept their promises, Catwoman knew that, so she turned to the three adults.

"You are free to go five minutes after we leave. If any of you try to follow, you will be shot and the idiotic sidekick won't be able to jump in front of your bullet. Count slowly to three hundred and then you can begin your trip down the mountain. Leon, grab him. Felix, let's go."

Leon walked over to Robin and snatched him off the ground. Blood began trickling down the young crime-fighter's arm as the big goon tossed him over his broad shoulder. Another cough, some wheezy breaths and then the teenager lifted his head. Looking straight at the teary-eyed former hostages, Robin raised his right hand and, with a pain-filled grin, sent a parting salute. His body went limp and the adults were left with the image of a true hero, a Boy Wonder, rescuing them with the price of his own life.

Everything was silent for several moments as tears coursed their way down three pairs of cheeks.

"One…two…three..." Richard began to count, his voice shaking noticeably. The women joined in and the old man returned the salute even though Robin was already out of sight.

"Goodbye, sonny. And thank you," he said softly and dropped his head into his hands.


Empty. The large cave was completely empty and Batman deduced, from the obvious lack of evidence, that the group hadn't even been here. Turning around, he angrily marched back into the sunlight. Of course it wouldn't be the first cave; of course it wasn't going to be easy to find the felonious feline and her small faction.

Without realizing it, Batman punched his left palm with his right fist as he glanced up. There were two large caves on his left about sixty yards away, four on his right about seventy-five yards away and one high above him. That one was, by his estimation, ninety-three and a quarter yards up the mountain. Should he start high or go to the closest ones?

Holy hesitation, make a decision! Robin's distinctive voice echoed in his brain and Batman chose to go left. Eight minutes later he heard voices and two minutes after that he could make out the words.

"…two hundred ninety-three, two hundred ninety-four…"

Batman strode into the larger of the two caves and saw three people sitting on the ground, counting. They were all dirty and there were obvious tear tracks on their cheeks.

"Why are you counting?" the hero demanded, startling the adults who were staring at the rocky, dirt-covered floor of the cave.

The two women covered their faces with their hands and began sobbing. Richard lifted his head and stared sorrowfully into the angry eyes of the Caped Crusader.

"He's gone," the old man stated softly. "We were supposed to count to three hundred and then start going back down the mountain. Robin saved us by sacrificing himself. If he's not dead right now, he will be soon."

"Which way?!" Batman yelled, his eyes now full of apprehension, and Richard pointed to his left. "Condition?!" the hero demanded and this time it was Sheila who lifted her head.

"Bullet in the shoulder that shattered on impact; no exit wound; shards could be in his blood stream; two ribs cracked, one possibly broken; horrible, wracking cough from the dirt in his lungs…"

Holding up his hand, Batman growled, "What is she making him do?"

The other woman spoke up. "He had to enter these caves," she pointed to the three small openings. "She thinks there is some sort of treasure or something. He came back empty-handed every time and he was gone for almost two hours in the last cave."

"He's not going to last much longer, sir," the old man declared loudly, glaring at Batman. "Do you know what he made me promise?! He wanted me to tell you that he's sorry! The last thing he wanted to tell you was that he's SORRY! Why would your partner want you to know that instead of something like he loves you or it was great working with you?!"

There was a beat of absolute silence as Richard put a hand on his aching chest, took a deep breath and waited for some sort of reaction. The hero wasn't moving so the old man's eyes became dark with anger and he yelled, "On behalf of the Boy Wonder…HE'S SORRY THAT HE WAS CAPTURED!" Richard's energy sagged and he closed his eyes, struggling to control his erratic breathing.

Batman was completely shocked. Was he really that hard on his partner, his ward?! The boy felt that Batman would be disappointed because he had been captured?! Shaking his head, tears filled the hero's eyes and he turned away from the former captives.

Richard's blue-gray eyes, now laced with both anger and distress, opened. He stared at the back of the Caped Crusader and took another deep breath.

"He fought for us," the old man continued quietly, "he took a bullet for me, he crawled through every single dirty cave in here to prevent Catwoman from hurting us, he promised to do whatever she wanted if she released us but the last thing he wanted to say to you was sorry."

It was Richard's turn to shake his head. "And the last thing he did was grin. Not a fake, I'm-going-off-to-die grin. A real, genuine, happy-that-the-hostages-are-free grin," he whispered sadly.

The women were sobbing again and Richard's body was shaking with grief. Tears were sliding down Batman's cheeks, also, but he couldn't show weakness in front of people he was supposed to be rescuing. Quickly swiping away the evidence, he pulled his emotions back and shoved them into a box then turned to face the three adults.

"Can you make it down by yourselves?" the Caped Crusader's voice was full of anguish that he couldn't hold back. "Do you need help or can I go after him?"

"GO!" the three shouted simultaneously, their eyes wide with disbelief, and Batman took off.

"He had to ask?!" Richard mumbled incredulously. The women helped him up and they slowly began making their way to the exit.


Robin woke up when he landed hard on his left side on a dirt floor. A rocket took off in his mind and shot down his entire body, leaving pain everywhere it flew. Slowly opening his tired eyes, he looked around through blurry vision. They were in another cave, almost the same size as the last one, with two smaller caves in his line of sight.

"Get up Boy Idiot," Catwoman demanded and Robin put both palms on the ground. Holding back a pain-filled cry, he pushed himself up to sitting and shook his pounding head. The dizziness returned and his vision didn't improve. His left arm was wet and Robin knew he was losing a lot of blood.

"The first one is right in front of you. GO!" the villainess yelled. The Boy Wonder didn't want to move but he had promised. He always kept his promises and he still would even though he was about to die. So he rolled onto his hands and knees and slowly began crawling toward the closest entrance.

"Flashlight?" he called weakly and received a quick slap on the back of his head in reply. "Awesome," he mumbled sarcastically and the slap was harder this time.

"You promised you would do whatever I told you to do," Catwoman said angrily.

Still crawling toward the dark opening in the rock, Robin replied, "And I am. But I didn't promise to go quietly." A small smirk crossed his face as he stuck his head in the cave and then disappeared.

Thirty seconds later he was inside. It was bright and the light hurt his eyes. Robin blinked until they adjusted, which also cleared his vision. The cave was big and airy; the entrance was the only thing small about it. There were large boulders and the teen sat down and rested his back against one. He looked all around the room – no treasures. But there was no need to return yet; it had only been a few minutes.

Robin stared across the empty space. Then he tilted his head to the right and squinted his eyes. There was a staircase! Not a normal one, of course, but there were several rocks jutting out from the opposite wall of the mountain. He could jump from one to the other and make his way to the top. Hopefully they went up to the top. The hostages were gone; he didn't have to worry about them being hurt if he didn't return.

Grinning, the Boy Wonder pulled his legs in, planted his feet on the ground and pushed his back against the wall. Less than a minute later he was standing up. He glanced at his left shoulder; he had nothing with which to stop the blood. There was nothing he could do except press his right hand against the injury. Gasping in pain at the pressure, Robin stumbled across the room, where the first rock was almost two feet off the ground.

That one was easy; all he had to do was step up. The next one was three feet away on his right. He stretched his right leg as far as he could and the ball of his foot landed solidly on the rock. Letting go of his shoulder, Robin pushed off the wall with both hands and somehow made it over without falling. The third one was going to be tricky. It was four feet above him; he would have to jump and catch then pull himself up with his arms. A feeling of trepidation raced through his body – this was going to hurt.

"Just go!" he demanded quietly and then jumped. He easily caught the edge but a fiery volcano erupted in his wounded shoulder and his left hand dropped off.

"A one-arm pullup," the Boy Wonder grunted. "No big deal." But he was unexpectedly hit with a coughing attack and his right hand slipped off. He crashed to the ground, landing on his back and knocking the wind out of himself.

Breathe, idiot! Robin was mentally screaming at his lungs but they were too occupied with trying to free themselves from all the dirt caught inside. He started seeing black spots and attempted to gasp for air. The circles of darkness grew and began connecting until they overcame his mind and everything went black.


"Where is he?!" Catwoman grumbled loudly. "How long does it take for a little body to get in and out of caves?!"

Leon took the initiative and walked over to the entrance of the smaller cave. "You better get out here, kid, or it won't be just your shoulder that's hurting!" he shouted. There was no reply and the henchman got on his hands and knees. Peering into the darkness, he yelled the sentence one more time. Nothing but silence from the black hole.

Sighing, the big goon stood up and shrugged. "Must be a tunnel or something that he has to get through."

"What a great observation," the villainess stated sarcastically while rolling her eyes.


"…hurting!" The loud sound drew Robin back into consciousness and he opened his eyes. The noise was right; he was hurting. He was also flat on his back and staring up at the light that was probably eighty feet above him.

That had been a stupid idea, trying to make stairs out of rocks. At least he could breathe again. The Boy Wonder pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and crawled through the small exit and into the big cave.

"Empty-handed again, I see," Catwoman's furious voice greeted the teenager and he sighed.

"There's nothing here," he croaked. "Not just this cave, anywhere. Just give up and leave."

"Not a chance!" she screeched. "The lost treasure of the Great Bank Robbery is here somewhere and you," she pointed a long, golden fingernail at him, "are going to find it. Or is the baby bird going to break a promise and upset Daddy Bat?" she sneered.

Shaking his head, Robin whispered, "Water, please?" He began coughing again and this time some drops of red flew out with the dirt.

"Felix, water," Catwoman sighed irritably and the henchman obeyed.

Robin sat down to drink and grabbed his chest as the water went down. His breathing turned into gasping and the water bottle dropped from his hand.

"Done? Good," the villainess said without waiting for a reply. "Next one, Boy Blunder." She pointed to the opening right next to Robin. His eyes were squeezed shut and his body was trembling so the words didn't register in his mind.

An unexpected kick to the ribs forced his eyes open and Robin choked on air. His world began spinning faster but he could faintly see Catwoman's right index finger pointing at the wall. Turning, he crawled into the darkness and collapsed.