Second-to-last chapter! Enjoy.


When he opened the door to the penthouse, Saitou was sitting at the table with a cup of tea. He'd left the place in Saitou's care. He also had Saitou managing the paperwork part of his empire. None of his Dogs or Top Dogs knew that he was gone. Robin had decided to leave his empire working like clockwork, with all of his little followers not even realizing their king had gotten on his horse and ridden off to lands unknown.

Well, now the king was back. And there was hell to pay.

"Robin." Saitou stood. "It is good to see you." He smiled a bit and hugged the boy, who returned it. "Why have you returned? I thought-"

"League turned on me at the first sniff of trouble." Robin replied with a frown. "These are my friends. Miss Martian, Kid Flash, and Batgirl. I met them while I was working with the League." He looked to his friends. "Everyone, this is Saitou. Now make yourselves at home. I have work to do." Robin walked into his office room and shut the door.

"…so…got any food?" Kid Flash asked with a slight grin.

Batgirl sighed. "Your stomach is like a bottomless pit…"

Saitou smiled a bit. "Yes, we have food. It's about time I prepare dinner anyway."

xxxx

Robin emerged from his study about an hour after dinner. Saitou hadn't bothered setting a place for him at the table. He'd known the boy wasn't going to come to dinner, so he made a plate for him and put it in the fridge. When Robin finally came out, he went straight to the kitchen and begun rummaging around in the aforementioned fridge. He put his plate in the microwave and leaned against the counter. "I've got all my Dogs on the look-out for Artemis. It'll be hard…they've got a manhunt going on out there. But they'll spot her."

"Shouldn't we be going?" Batgirl asked. "We're sitting ducks in this apartment."

"They won't link this place to me. It's under the name of Xavier Crinkle, a rich but senile old man that has to wear adult diapers." Robin replied. The microwave pinged and he opened it up to get his dinner out. "All we have to do is wait. My Dogs will do the dirty work. I told them not to interact with Artemis if they spotted her. Just to call me. I want to teach her a lesson in manners. And then take her back to the League and teach them a little lesson in trust."

"Robin…it isn't their fault. Yes, they were quick to accuse you…but it's just with your past…" Miss Martian began.

"I wouldn't kill my own friend, M'gann!" Robin snapped. "I only killed mobsters. Those were the only people I ever killed! People that deserved it. Kaldur didn't deserve it. They knew that. Batman…he knew that I didn't ever kill innocent people. And I wouldn't ever…"

Miss Martian looked down, slightly abashed. Batgirl went over and set a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Look, we know it wasn't you. So don't go and blow up at her. We'll find Artemis We'll get her to confess. Martian Manhunter can read her mind if it comes to that. Hell…I'll even yell at Batman till he apologizes. And you know I will." She smiled a bit and kissed his cheek. "So relax. Your men will spot Artemis and we'll get this whole thing sorted out."

"You know, you're a girl of many faces. One minute you're a fiery redhead bitching me out, the next you're all sweet and telling me to keep calm." Robin replied, smirking a bit. "An angel, a devil, hot, and smart. Where have you been all my life?"

"Are you two really going to keep rubbing my single-ness in my face?" Kid Flash asked with a sigh. He flopped down on to the couch. "So all we can do is wait? That's…really boring. And lame. I feel like we should be out doing something-"

At that moment, the phone rang. Robin picked it up. "Hello. Uh-huh. Corner of King Street and Drake Avenue? Got it." He slammed the phone down. "Your wish has been granted, Wally. Let's move out." Robin looked to Saitou. "I'll be back soon. After this and my little chat with the League, the deal is off. I was a good little boy, the League wasn't. Now I get to go back to doing my thing without them being on my ass the whole time." He turned to walk out, but Batgirl pulled him aside.

"Promise me you won't kill her." Batgirl said sternly, looking at him. "I won't let you go if you're going to."

"Babs, she's a murderer. And she framed me. And she stole my knife! I have all the reason in the world to kill her." Robin replied with a frown.

Batgirl set her hands on his shoulders. "Remember what I told you about keeping calm? Remember it now. You can't tell me you were happy when you were killing people. You aren't a psychopath. You don't think death and murder are fun. Killing people is your way of dealing with things, because you don't know what else you can do." She frowned at him. "If you kill her, you'll just be digging yourself a deeper grave."

"Don't get all Freud on me, Babs." Robin grabbed her wrists and took her hands off his shoulders. "Next thing you'll be telling me you're worried I'll go to Hell."

"Well-"

"Oh my God, Babs."

"Just promise me."

"No. Now let's go." Robin started to run out after Kid Flash and Miss Martian.

Batgirl grabbed his arm. "Promise. Me."

"Fine! I promise. Now let's go!" Robin jerked his arm away from her and took off.

xxxx

Artemis was still at the corner when they arrived. She was arguing with someone very vehemently in a language that the team wasn't quite sure of. The team urged Robin to wait before they jumped out. They wanted to try and understand what was going on. Batgirl was hurriedly setting up her translator when another figure appeared.

"I'd hate to interrupt." The new person spoke in English. They pointed up to the rooftop where the team had been lying in wait. "But you're being watched."

Robin jumped down from the rooftop. He narrowed his eyes at Artemis. "Hello, traitor."

The others joined him. Artemis' eyes grew slightly bigger and she took a step back, then frowned. "What are you guys doing with him? He's a traitor! He killed Kaldur!"

No one responded. They were all looking at Miss Martian, who had her eyes closed. Her face was twisted in concentration. She reopened her eyes and said, "She did it."

"Murderer!" Robin ran at Artemis. He jumped and slammed both of his feet into her chest, knocking her off her feet. Robin flipped in mid-air to avoid landing on his head. Miss Martian blasted one of the others and Kid Flash took down the second person easily.

Robin frowned as he looked at the stunned Artemis, hand itching for the gun on his belt. Batgirl came over and grabbed his hand, as if she knew what it had been wanting. Robin said, "That wasn't satisfying at all."

"Maybe seeing her get dragged off to prison will be."

The group turned to see Batman walking out of the shadows. "I've been looking for you, Robin. The League made a mistake."

"The League made a mistake?" Batgirl frowned.

"I made a mistake." Batman replied. "I went back and looked. I found the evidence that Batgirl found. I should have checked the cameras before I took you to Gordon."

Robin crossed his arms. "Yeah yeah. Shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, should you Bats? I guess it works in my favor though. I didn't break my end of the deal. You did. So I get to go back to doing what I do…without your little meddling."

No one noticed Artemis slowly coming to. She sat up slowly. This was a disaster. Her cover was blown, the one thing she feared. All because of him. That bird brained little convict. She reached for her bow and knocked an arrow. His back was to her, and no one was paying attention. They were more concerned with Batman's sudden arrival. They thought she and her people were down for the count. Well, they were wrong. She raised her bow up, aimed, and let the arrow fly when M'gann finally noticed that she was still conscious. The Martian girl yelled, but it was too late.

The arrow hit Robin, and he yelled and fell to his knees. Within moments, he was unconscious.

xxxx

When Robin awoke, he was in a hospital room. He frowned and sat up. Pain exploded in his chest and he gritted his teeth and laid back. "What in the hell…" He looked around. It was a pretty basic room. Stark white walls. A large window. A small TV. A chair or two for visitors to sit in. There was a Get Well Soon balloon floating in the corner. Robin wasn't sure if that was something the hospital staff did to make people feel like someone cared, or if Barbara or someone else had left it. Too confused (and sore) to do much else, Robin went back to sleep.

When he awoke, someone was setting a basket of flowers down. He sat up a bit and smirked. "Really, Babs? Flowers?"

She turned and grinned. "You're awake! Oh thank God. We've been worried. Erasing your records almost killed you, you idiot! They didn't know you were allergic to penicillin! And they don't know who the hell your legal guardian is, so they don't know who to allow in here, so I'm having to sneak up here to see your drugged up ass-"

"Back up." Robin replied. "What happened?"

"Artemis shot you. Poisoned arrow. I knocked her out before she could shoot anyone else." Barbara replied, sitting on the edge of his bed. "We gave you over to the paramedics, and they had to unmask you and everything. They asked us if we knew anything about you, but we told them we didn't. I mean…they wouldn't have been able to do much by knowing your name. So they brought you here to Gotham Medical. I came running in spouting some story about how I knew you from the streets or whatever and they told me you had a rough time in surgery because they figured out the hard way you were allergic." She frowned. "If you had died, that would have been some damn good dramatic irony."

"Penicillin? It wouldn't have done anything. That wasn't on my record I don't think. So there's that." Robin chuckled slightly, then winced. "Ok, ow…so...how long have I been in here?"

"Four days. I've been sneaking in to see you since you got here. Updating everyone and all that stuff. You really got that Saitou guy worried, ya know." Barbara replied. She grabbed his hand and frowned a bit. "You had me worried. Really worried."

Robin smiled a bit. "I don't know if it's the painkillers or what, but you look really cute when you're worried."

She rolled her eyes. Then she smirked. "Yeah, well…if you want to, you can tell the hospital people your real name. Not that it'll do much good…but they can open a new file for you."

"I'll think about it." Robin replied. "So, is Artemis good and locked up?"

"Oooh yeah. But…once you get out of here…I mean, the Justice League can't grant you amnesty for those murders. And the hospital knows you are Robin…you were in your suit and everything when the paramedics got you…" Barbara said slowly.

"Busted, you mean." Robin sighed. "How long? I mean, until I'm well and they can drag me off to prison?"

"A few weeks." Barbara replied meekly.

"Then I'm just going to sit back and relax." Robin said. "Now, give papa a kiss." He grinned. Barbara rolled her eyes, but she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.