A/N: Thanks for the reviews Batman Dude, Blas, The Doctor and mystery guest!

Disclaimer: In the fourth section there is a direct quote from episode 1x19 in the tv show - "The Purr-Fect Crime". So the credit for that goes to Stanley Ralph Ross and Lee Orgel, authors of the script.

Chapter 9:

He was lying on his stomach, his limbs splayed out like a starfish and his right cheek resting on the gritty ground. The left half of his face felt wet – was it water or blood? Did he really want to find out? A tiny drop of liquid hit his left cheek, slid into his mouth and sliced through one of the cotton balls on his tongue. He had his answer – water. Relieved, Robin opened his eyes just in time for another drop to splash off his nose. The tiny wave sent a thin mist into his left eye and his vision went from slightly blurry to completely clear. Water was helpful in more ways than one, he remembered, so he allowed his jaw to remain slack. With each little 'plop', a dot of the life-sustaining liquid was sent dribbling down his cheek and into the dusty cavern that was his mouth.

One thought was consuming his mind: don't move. Robin's entire body was aching so his muscles obeyed the thought and remained motionless. There were voices coming from behind him and the teenager realized that he had only made it a few feet inside the entrance of the most recent cave.

Lay here for a while and then crawl out. She won't know.

The Boy Wonder really wanted to obey the voice in his head but Batman would never lie. So, neither would Robin. With an inaudible sigh of exhaustion, the young crime-fighter pushed himself onto his hands and knees and began crawling. His neck was too tired to hold his head up so the teen stared at the dusty, rock-littered ground. Focused on keeping his eyes open, he paid little attention to the rest of his surroundings as he plodded forward. The top of his head suddenly connected with something solid, sending a river of dirt cascading down his face. Wearily glancing up, Robin was dismayed to see that the ceiling was getting lower every few feet. Soon he was scooting forward on his stomach, like a baby that hasn't learned to crawl. Pull with the arms, push with the feet, repeat. It was going to take forever to get to wherever he was supposed to go and Robin sighed again.

It was almost completely dark again – the light from the cave behind him was nearly gone – and Robin began to think about going back. Then there was a light in front of him, only a few yards away. He continued to pull himself forward and was inches away from the light when he abruptly stopped moving. His back was flush against the rocks above him, his stomach was flat against the rocks below him and his shoulders were pulsing against the rocks on either side. How had he not noticed that he was about to get stuck?!

"Crap," he wheezed, which started another round of coughing. But his chest was immobile and there was no room for his lungs to expand. Pain exploded throughout his torso as the coughs wracked the inside of his body. Images and memories began flashing through his mind: flying with his parents, performing in front of thousands of people, putting on a Robin-suit for the first time, slapping his Bat-cuffs on Joker and handing him over to the commissioner, Alfred's smiling face, Batman smirking at him with pride in his eyes and the three of them standing together in the Batcave, laughing about something that Robin couldn't even remember now.

I'm sorry…again.


He heard voices, one of which was very familiar, and Batman immediately stopped running. There was a large hole in the mountain, about thirty yards away from him, and the Caped Crusader went into stealth mode. Upon arriving at the entrance, he hugged the rocky wall and carefully peered around the corner. Catwoman was standing by a small hole, tapping her foot impatiently, with the large henchman by her side. They were facing away from Batman but the other henchman was sitting on the ground, staring outside and absently swirling a finger in the dirt.

A Bat-a-rang was quietly being drawn from a utility belt when the goon on the ground suddenly tilted his head. Batman froze; had the man heard him? But the henchman lifted his right hand as if to measure something then dropped his eyes to the ground and began drawing in earnest. A soundless sigh of relief fled from the lips of the Caped Crusader as he pulled out the weapon and adjusted his grip. If he timed it right, Batman knew he could quietly take down the artist and knock out the larger man before the muscular goon realized what was happening.

It was now clear why Catwoman wanted Robin. The opening to that hole in the far wall was too small for any adult and the Boy Wonder was the only teenager who would willingly go into a cave in order to save the lives of three hostages.

Pride filled the older hero's chest but was immediately replaced by sorrow. Robin's reaction to the knowledge of his impending death wasn't fear or anger. It was regret, and he had asked an old man to apologize to Batman for him. Even worse, the apology was for being captured, something that could happen to any crime-fighter! The Caped Crusader felt guilt building inside him, filling his soul with anguish. Robin's last thought was that Batman would be disappointed in him. And that was going to be the first thing Batman fixed when they were back in the Batcave.


This wasn't exactly how Robin had expected to die. He had always envisioned himself going down in a blaze of glory while capturing a villain or saving an innocent person. Not lying on his stomach in a dark tunnel where nobody would ever find him. The light was so close; if he could just get to the light then he could turn around and figure out how to get back.

Pulling forward hadn't been working; the only thing he had accomplished was scraping his bare arms. Pushing back hadn't worked, either. That caused an extremely sharp pain in his chest but didn't move his body at all. He was stuck – forever. Batman would never find him; Robin himself didn't even know their location! Even if the older hero did find this mountain, the large cave and the much smaller entrance to this tunnel, the younger hero would either be dead or too weak to call out for help. Besides, he was the Boy Wonder. He was going to get out of this by himself or not at all. And right now it seemed like the latter.


The artistic goon was staring intently at the ground, his face screwed up in concentration, and Batman didn't waste the opportunity. Racing around the corner, the hero threw the Bat-a-rang in that henchman's direction while leaping onto the back of the bigger man. His aim had been good; Felix immediately fell to the ground, completely knocked out.

Leon felt the weight on his back and a powerful blow to the side of his head. He saw stars but quickly retaliated by shoving his elbow back. There was a quiet grunt and Batman was suddenly beside him.

The Caped Crusader's first punch, directed at Leon's face, missed. The big man had seen it coming but didn't anticipate the follow-up hit to the chest. There was an audible crack and Leon stumbled back, his eyes wide with surprise. He hit the wall behind him but was able to block Batman's knockout punch. This time it was Leon's flat hand slamming against Batman's ribcage and the hero suddenly understood why Robin had lost the fight. The boy only had the use of one arm against this brute and Batman was surprised that there hadn't been any blood at the museum.

"STOP!" Catwoman yelled and Leon obeyed. Batman, however, answered to no villain and the large henchman was instantly thrown to the ground and knocked out. Breathing heavily, and with a hand resting on his obviously bruised ribs, the hero directed a Bat-glare at the woman standing before him.

"I will ask you once. Where is he?" Batman growled and Catwoman slyly grinned.

" 'Is that any way to greet an old friend?' " she purred. " 'Not even a hello, how are you?' "

Batman remained silent and his glare intensified. The villainess cringed slightly and pointed toward the small, dark circle beside them.

"He's looking for treasure. He's not very good at it; you should have trained him better," she murmured. "Shall we go?"

Batman wasn't shocked that she had said it – Catwoman was always trying to convince him to get rid of his young partner. He was, however, astonished that she was willing to leave Robin alone in the small cave to waste away. The hero had always thought that the villainess merely disliked the boy but this was way beyond that – this was hatred.

Without a word, he grabbed his Bat-cuffs out of his utility belt and put a hand on her shoulder. Gently twisting her around, although he didn't feel like being the least bit gentle, Batman put her wrists together behind her back and encased them in the Bat-cuffs. He sat her down next to the tiny hole and then focused his attention on the darkness.


Robin had decided that it was okay to begin panicking. The light in front of him was beginning to fade, signaling the coming of night. There was no way he would be able to stay sane if he was trapped between two layers of rock in the dark for even one hour, let alone ten or eleven.

Allowing himself to panic wasn't the best idea; it was difficult to breathe and he was beginning to see orange dolphins jumping over a purple ocean. But the teenager couldn't think of anything to do. He had already tried going forward and backward – the only two ways that would get him out.

An idea suddenly burst into his mind. He hadn't tried twisting his torso because his shoulders were nearly immobile. Nearly. This was an idiotic plan; he was probably going to dislocate a joint or break a bone. But which one was worse – more pain in his arm or going insane and never leaving this tunnel? The choice was easy so he began forming a blueprint of movement in his head.

The Boy Wonder's arms were stretched in front of him. His left shoulder was already a ball of fire so he was going to keep the pain there by twisting right. That would either dislocate the joint or break his collarbone. It didn't really matter; each one would be able to knock him out. But Robin wasn't going to allow that to happen. If it worked, it was the only chance he would have to get free and he wasn't going to waste the opportunity.

I hate you. The thought was directed at Catwoman right before the teen began implementing his idea. Twisting toward his right shoulder caused his left to elevate. It protested the movement and squished itself down into his neck. There was a loud 'crack' and Robin discovered that the collarbone had given in first.

Shooting stars began leaping over rainbows and black dots started dancing on clouds. It was an interesting show and Robin had to bite his cheek to keep from losing consciousness. The resulting blood brought him back from the edge of his mind and he forced his left shoulder forward. It popped out of the tunnel and a sliver of light trickled down the pain-filled joint. His head soon followed and five minutes later the teen was gasping for air in the square room that was quickly darkening. But darkness out here was better than darkness in that tunnel.

Leaning back against a wall, his body trembling from pain and fear, Robin pulled his knees into his chest and wrapped his right arm around them. It was completely black now and the teenager whimpered quietly. Tears began sliding down his cheeks so he tried to think of things that made him happy: Alfred's cookies and hot chocolate, Bruce helping him when he was frustrated with homework, Batman nodding in satisfaction when Robin accomplished a goal, choreographing and flying through a routine on the high bar, inventing new tricks on the stairs and furniture, being Robin.

But the suffocating blackness was overcoming the bright thoughts and beginning to choke him. Villains and beatings and being kidnapped and Joker and knives and evil laughter and riddles and helplessness. Shadows were floating all around him and Robin wanted to scream. That would be painful and a waste of energy, though, so he held it back. He needed to conserve his strength, not squander it, because he was going to find a way out when it was light again. There was no way he was going to spend another night in this torturous hole of darkness.

"Batman and Alfred, Batman and Alfred…" Robin squeezed his eyes shut and began whispering the two names over and over. He could make it through this; he was the Boy Wonder.


The large cave was dark and Batman was shining his Bat-flashlight on the entrance to the smaller one. If Robin could see light, maybe he could remain calm. The Boy Wonder hated being in complete darkness and he was all alone.

The Caped Crusader had yelled his partner's name several times but silence was the only answer he ever received. Batman himself was having difficulty remaining calm. Robin could be dead or extremely injured or going crazy with fear and Batman had no way of knowing what was happening. The lack of knowledge was killing him and he wanted to tear through the rocks with his bare hands. That, of course, was impossible so he settled for tightly tying up the two henchmen and pacing furiously around the area. The Bat-flashlight had been pulled out of his utility belt when the sunlight had begun fading and Batman had been sitting in front of the small hole ever since then.

"He's not coming back," Catwoman purred, her voice full of glee. "He looked like he was ready to collapse when he entered several hours ago. I guess it's just you and me, handsome," she giggled and Batman shut his eyes in frustration.

"He's strong," the hero replied darkly as he opened his eyes. "He will make it through this. And it will never be 'just you and me', especially not after what you have done here."

The villainess pouted for several seconds then began to grin. A description would convince her man that his kid was gone.

"You're probably dying to know how he's doing," she stated. Batman didn't say anything; he just glared at the dark entrance and tried to shut out her voice.

"Well, he was very brave, I have to admit that," she continued as if Batman had responded. "He jumped in front of a bullet for that old geezer. It only hit him in the shoulder but I don't think it's completely stopped bleeding. Especially since everything I've used to wrap it up is all shredded when he returns from searching a cave. I ran out of material; it hasn't been covered for a while."

Pausing, she tried to see the face of the hero but it was impossible in the darkness. Catwoman sighed; he was probably just glaring anyway.

"He also fought valiantly; you've trained him well in that aspect. I was actually shocked that he took out Tom and nearly defeated Leon. He's the big one over there," she nodded her head to the henchman who was lying on his back in a corner.

"With one arm tied behind his back," Batman growled and Catwoman was surprised. Realization entered her mind - he must have seen the hostages somewhere on the mountain or in the other cave.

The villainess giggled again. "Your little kid continued to crawl in and out of caves even when he sounded like he was hacking up a lung. It's nice to have several hostages to use as leverage."

"You should probably think about remaining quiet now," the Caped Crusader growled again, "or I might start to consider doing something that you won't like."

"Tsk, tsk," Catwoman grinned. "You are too much of a gentleman to hurt a dainty little lady like myself."

"You are not even close to being a lady," Batman's voice was low and laced with fury. "The only way you will become a lady is by giving up your life of crime, serving your time and staying on the right side of the law. But if Robin dies, I will never consider you to be a lady even if you do everything I just mentioned."

"Oh, the insults!" the villainess cried in mock despair. "How can I live with myself if Batman's little sidekick bites the dust!" There was a short pause and then she continued, "It will be quite easy, really. He was always such a pesky little fly when we were together."

"That's enough!" Batman commanded. "Robin is my partner and I would never choose you over him!"

"Are you upset, handsome?" Catwoman asked, her tone teasing and laced with sarcasm. "Let me make it up to you," she purred sweetly.

Growling in frustration, Batman grabbed the can of Bat-sleep out of his utility belt and stated, "Have a good nap." He sprayed it in her face then got up and sprayed the henchmen, also. Now he wouldn't have to concentrate on anything except getting Robin out of here in one piece.