A/N: I am taking liberties with Terra in this one, I will admit it. There's no proof that she's afraid of blood, but there's nothing proving me wrong either. I wasn't going to make her afraid of blood, but I suddenly got this image of them in the alley, and I asked, "Terra's afraid of blood?" And Robin said, "Yeah, she is." I can't say I argued too hard.

Oh, and there's a Kim Possible reference in here if you can find it. Can you find it?

Time Line: between Titan Rising and Betrayal.

Lame

"I might let you carry me."

"Ow!"

I fell back over unto my back, nursing my sore hand. I rolled back up onto my knees and glared at the string bean in front of me. She glared right back, inching away like a young, frightened animal. I wondered if she even knew she was doing that, or if it was all a subconcious mistake.

I blew out an angry breath, trying to keep my temper. "You didn't have to kick me," I bit out.

Her blue eyes turned darker in her anger. "You shouldn't have touched me," she retorted.

My hands clenched into fists. "I'm trying to help you."

"Do you feel up every girl you work with?"

"I'm not feeling you up!" I snapped. "Your knee is bleeding!"

Her already pale face paled even further, and she nervously glanced down at her skinny, skinny legs. She inhaled sharply and dropped to the ground. Her eyes rolled back in her skull, and she leaned her head back against the wall of the alley we were inhabiting. Long, blond hair fell limp against the dark, griminess of the brick.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," she chanted softly, stretching her legs away from herself.

I watched her for a long minute, weighing the scales. Would she kick me again if I tried to help? Or would her fear of blood keep me safe? Another minute of watching her panting for breath decided me. I sighed heavily.

"Give me your leg," I ordered, holding out my hands. I'd even taken off my gloves earlier so it wouldn't feel quite as alien. A quick glance at my hands told me she'd made my knuckles crack open. Great.

She warily stretched out her leg, and I grabbed it in both hands. I sat down on the ground, ignoring the dirt. Heroes didn't care about clean clothes. Looking carefully at her knee, I frowned. Where was that cut? Glancing over her entire leg - it wasn't my fault she wore shorts. She could've worn pants if she wanted to cover up - I found the culprit a couple inches above her knee. Spreading my hands out on either side of the cut, I winced in sympathy. It was a fairly deep, short cut; probably caused by shrapnel. I was going to have to clean it out when we got back to the Tower. As it was, I was going have to wrap a bandage around it to keep it from getting any dirtier.

"Hold still," I told her, reaching for my belt. I knew there was something in there I could use. With a satisfied chuckle, I pulled out the handkerchief Alfred had always hidden in my belt, whether I wanted him to or not. It had turned out to be quite useful over the years, and was stained with dried blood. It would work for tonight.

I tied it firmly around her leg and cringed when she cried out softly in pain. "Sorry," I muttered, trying to adjust it so it was comfortable. Looking over my job critically - I could've done a better job at folding the handkerchief, but the tying job was good - I leaned back and looked over at her face. Her eyes were still closed tightly and her breathing was short and shallow.

"It's okay. I'm done."

She peeked her eyes open, then smiled softly. She grabbed the wall with her hands and tried to get to her feet. I swiftly grabbed her waist and pulled her back down. She squawked in surprise and dropped onto her rear.

I glared at her. "You're going to stay off that leg for the next couple days," I told her.

Fire burned in her eyes. When blood pooled in her cheeks and her eyebrows drew together in her anger, I could see what Beast Boy liked about her. She was a little cute.

"What? But we've got a job to do-"

"And you can't do it properly if you're limping on down the road," I cut her off. "So, you're off duty until Thursday. Maybe Friday if it doesn't look better."

Her mouth fell open. "You've got to be kidding me!"

I raised an eyebrow. Note serious face, I thought sarcastically, remembering something Beast Boy said fairly often when I questioned him. "I'm not," I said instead.

"But you never take any breaks!"

I rolled my eyes and got to my feet. "That's besides the point. As team leader, I have to show a good example-"

"Of working yourself to death?"

"And as the newest member, Terra, it is your duty to listen to me." I looked down at her, wondering why she was more attractive when she was angry than when she was happy. "And that's that."

"You're such a hypocrite." She folded her arms over her chest and looked away.

I sighed through my nose. She was as impossible as Beast Boy sometimes. I looked back up into the sky and noticed the greyness peeking through. "I think we're done for the night. I'll take your shift Wednesday."

"Didn't you just have a shift the other night?"

I glanced down at her. I was going to have to carry her, wasn't I? "Yeah. So?" I asked, wondering if she was going to kick me again.

"And you just had one tonight. And now you're going to take Wednesday's shift too?"

I nodded. "Yup."

She shook her head at me, her blond hair darker in the night. "Don't you ever sleep?"

I bent down and put one arm behind her back and one under her bent legs. "Not really." I picked her up swiftly, wincing when she yelped in my ear. "Stay still!" I snapped when she wiggled in my arms.

She froze, then flopped against me. She still wasn't very heavy. Cyborg needed to feed her more. "Well, you're not very comfy," she argued. "Let me guess; you don't eat either?"

I frowned as menacingly as I could. "I have a high metabolism," I answered, shoving away the guilt that was poking me in the shoulder. Alfred had always commented on my lack of appetite too. But I had waves and patterns - sometimes going completely without food, and sometimes gorging to the point of sickness. They used to worry that I couldn't decide if I was anorectic or bulimic. But I wasn't either. My stomach was just weird.

She folded her arms, still frowning as I stepped out of the alley. "Stupid kids," she grumbled.

I nodded. "Kids are stupid. That's why they need heroes to protect them."

She hummed, but not necessarily in agreement. "Robin?"

"Yeah?"

She was silent for a long moment. "Thank you," she whispered finally.

I glanced down at her. My R-Cycle wasn't that far away now; we were almost there. "You're welcome."

She nodded slowly, her thoughts far away.

Reaching my R-Cycle, I plopped her down on it. She sighed, then settled herself, moving down so I could drive. I checked over my bike for any damages, then looked over at her.

Carefully, I reached out a still-gloveless hand - I had left them in the alley again. That was the third pair this month! - and tucked a wave of hair behind her ear. She jumped, then stared up at me with big, blue eyes. I almost frowned at the conflict in them.

"You're gonna be okay," I said softly, choosing not to comment on her eyes. "We're gonna look after you, you know."

She nodded slightly, and I took my seat. She wrapped her bony arms around my waist, and I revved up the engine. We didn't talk for the trip back to the Tower, nor on our way to the infirmary.

At the infirmary, I set her down on the counter, and unwrapped her cut so I could treat it a bit better. I had the disinfectant in my hand and was just about to use it, when she said my name again.

I stopped and looked up at her. "Yeah?"

She frowned to herself before she glanced up into my masked eyes and smiled slightly. "Nothing," she said, shaking her head.

I frowned at her, then let it go. We all had secrets.

I had to carry her back to her room afterwards; half because of her leg, and half because she was almost asleep on my shoulder. I punched in the override code, and entered her room. I pulled back the covers and set her down. She stretched out and sighed happily, kind of like Beast Boy did when he was in cat form. With an indulgent smile, I tucked her in.

"Robin?"

I looked at her face again. She sure was fond of my name tonight, wasn't she? "Yeah?"

She smiled sleepily at me. "Thanks for caring."

I smiled with more feeling this time. "You're a part of this team, Terra. And I watch over my team."

Her smile grew mischievous. "Like a mother hen, huh?"

I made a face, which caused her to break out in giggles. "Ha, ha," I muttered, not amused by her bird analogy. "Get some sleep; you're getting punchy."

She giggled again, but stilled when I brushed her hair out of her eyes again. She watched me with very serious eyes, like she was trying to read into my motions. I wonder what exactly she found.

"Good night, Terra. I'll have someone check on you in the morning."

"Okay," she breathed.

I stepped away from the bed and turned the light by the side of the door off. I left the room and turned for my room, on the other side of the Tower.

She was just like a little kid, I thought to myself. Scared and shy, but refusing to let it overcome her. And she, too, needed someone to watch over her, someone to care. Too many people got hurt because they thought that no one loved them. I hoped she knew that we all loved her and meant the best. We would never want her to get hurt.

- - - LAME - - -