Chapter 7: 2011

"Erm…" Robin began nervously as Alex opened her eyes, "…sorry, Alex."

There was a momentary second of ignorant bliss in which Alex's memory hadn't quite kicked into gear, then the image of a sexed-up Robin and Kim doing the dirty on the hospital chair came back to her like a sledgehammer to the brain and she drew back a little with a gasp of horror.

"What the hell were you doing?" she cried.

Robin bit his lip, his body now made up of flesh, bones and guilt.

"Alex, I'm so sorry," he gabbled quickly, "We wanted to just tell you but they wouldn't let us because they said you weren't ready for shocks…"

"So you thought the graphic version would be less of a surprise?" cried Alex, her hand clutched to her chest, fearing she was about to go the same way as the physical therapist.

"You obviously weren't meant to see that!" Robin's face was the deepest shade of red that Alex had ever seen.

"If you didn't want me to see it then why were you doing it in my hospital room?" she cried.

"B-because you weren't supposed to be back for twenty minutes!" cried Robin accusingly.

"It's not my fault the bloody physical therapist had a heart attack!" Alex cried, "and I almost followed suit, thank you so very much!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Robin protested. He looked at her as awkwardly as a person could possibly look at someone. She stared back at him, scarcely able to put what she'd seen into any kind of context. "Do… do you want me to give you a hand back into bed?" he asked uncomfortably.

Alex narrowed her eyes slightly.

"That depends."

"On?"

"Whether your hands are sticky."

Robin cringed.

"No, they're not," he assured her.

"Then fine," Alex mumbled. She reached out and let Robin take her hands to help her from the chair to the bed, slid her legs under the covers and pulled the sheets around her like a child afraid of the monsters under her bed. When she had settled she looked at Robin with complete and utter confusion. "Robin… correct me if I'm wrong… but aren't you supposed to be gay?"

Robin looked down, hiding behind his floppy fringe.

"I am gay," He said.

"And Kim -?"

"- is gay too, I know, I know." He shook his head and sighed worriedly, "Alex, I wish I could explain it to you… but I can't… we can't even explain it to each other. And we've tried, believe me. We can't explain any of it. But me and Kim… we're…"

"Shagging," Alex filled in the gap.

"No, we're not 'shagging'," Robin said a little indignantly.

"No? Then what do you call your live action porno movie?" Alex cried.

"I mean, we're…" Robin swallowed. It was still hard to explain, every time. Coming out in reverse was even harder than doing it the usual way around. "We kind of fell in love."

That Alex had not been expecting. She felt her jaw drop and her eyes widen as she stared at Robin. There seemed to be no coherent thoughts forming in her mind. She cleared her throat and tried to speak.

"You… what?"

Robin swallowed and looked her in the eye.

"We can't explain it, Alex. It just happened."

Alex hesitated. He seemed so awkward and embarrassed, not to mention anxious. Her initial horror started to fade and despite knowing that barring the invention of actual brain bleach she would be having nightmares about this for weeks she looked at him a little less harshly.

"But how?" She tried to understand, "I mean, I think I must have missed something here."

Robin nodded slowly.

"You did," he said quietly, "about eight months of two thousand and eleven."

Alex looked around.

"Where's Kim?" she asked.

Robin bit his lip.

"She's, erm," he coughed, "getting cleaned up," he blushed again.

Alex cringed.

"Me and my big mouth." She looked at Robin. "I… I'm sorry, I kow I'm going round in circles, but… I don't understand how this happened."

Robin bit his lip.

"Neither do I," he said, "even now. It just did. After you went back to Gene, me and Kim… we got close. Just friends, but really close. We'd been through all that with you… it made us bond. And then we –" he hesitated. One shock for the day was enough – he had to be careful not to let the Keats/Layton hybrid attack slip out, "- we were involved with a case. Our lives were in danger and it was just… just so intense, we ended up –" his whole expression still spoke of surprise at the memory, "- Kissing." He shook his head and looked down. "We played it off as being a gut reaction under pressure and danger, but then I couldn't stop thinking about her. She was on my mind all the time… I mean, seriously, every second of the day." He paused, a smile hovering on his lips. "And somehow, she was feeling that way about me, too."

Alex watched him, almost mesmerised by his words. This was so strange, so unexpected. But more than that, her fascination was with the look on his face. There was a look of peace and fondness that just seemed so beautiful.

"But Kim… she was married…?" for the first time Alex realised she hadn't even questioned why Kim was staying with Robin. She'd been so wrapped up in her own world with her recovery, the pregnancy and missing Gene that she hadn't even realised.

"She left her for me," Robin said quietly, still not quite believing that she'd made such a sacrifice, "she changed her whole life for me. Her wife…" he closed his eyes for a moment, "she says they used to be happy. But all I ever heard about Linda was how she constantly tried to change Kim. Every word that woman said was critical. Their relationship was starting to go south long before we…" he bit his lip as he felt himself blushing. "It's not like we expected any of it, Alex. At the start, it was really bloody difficult. All the physical stuff… it was so hard to come to terms with."

"You didn't seem to be having that problem today," Alex couldn't help commenting which sent Robin's blush up a notch.

"Yes, thank you for pointing that out," he said a little awkwardly. He shook his head. "I've felt so guilty," he said, "about Simon. Sometimes I still feel like I'm cheating on him. I don't know when or if I'll ever see him again, I have no idea what the future holds, but I just honestly never thought 'd fall in love again."

"I know," Alex said, a slightly distant smile on her lips, "I remember. You said as much when I was here before."

Robin looked down and smiled a little shyly.

"Kim's changed my life," he whispered, "on the surface we couldn't be more different, like chalk and cheese, but inside…" he looked back at Alex, his eyes sparkling, "we have the same outlook on life. She makes me feel like a reckless kid when we're together. She makes me feel good about myself… really good. She's given me confidence I never had before."

Alex indicated his eyebrow.

"And the piercing and the tattoos…?" she asked.

"I didn't do it to impress her f that's what you're thinking," Robin told her, "she just unlocked another side of me. The side of me that was too afraid to experiment with the way I looked. Or the way I behaved." His face turned red again. "We have these… moments…"

"I think I already know enough about your moments," Alex blanched.

"I don't know what it is," he shook his head, "it was never like that with Simon. Our relationship… it was very different to me and Kim. I'll always love him… you know that's true…" he saw Alex nod, "but I couldn't keep trying to fight the way I feel about Kim. It was unexpected… unbelievable… and unexplainable. But it happened. And I thank my lucky stars every single day that it did, no matter how difficult the journey has been to get this far."

Alex felt herself tearing up a little. Stupid pregnancy hormones. A line ran through her head, something she'd said so many years ago. Funny how suddenly it seemed so appropriate all over again.

"Sometimes you can't help which way you fall."

Robin listened to her, then very slowly he nodded.

"Those are very wise words," he said quietly.

There was a very sheepish cough from the doorway and they looked around to see Kim standing there awkwardly, not sure if she should come back in or not.

"Uh," she began quietly, "can… I… just say how very sorry we are…" her face was red and her body language spoke of her guilt and embarrassment.

"I think I'll get over it," Alex said, a slightly awkward smile on her face.

Kim crept in and knelt beside Robin. She couldn't quite bring herself to sit in the other chair. Besides, it wasn't quite in the state they'd found it.

"I suppose it's too late to pretend you were hallucinating?" she asked.

Robin looked at her with a slightly sheepish smile

"I've told her everything," he said, "well… the best that I can."

Kim looked almost sad.

"We really wanted to tell you, Ma'am," she said, "we never wanted to keep it a secret."

"I know, I understand," Alex nodded. She looked at the two of them, watched their body language together. She thought back over all their visits and how they'd behaved in each other's company. The little touches, the glances and smiles, the little signs of affection that she'd missed before. There was something in the look that passed between them as Kim glanced up at Robin and her eyes shone just from being by his side. There was something really special there between them, Alex could see that. She couldn't wrap her head around it and she couldn't understand how they'd managed to adjust to a relationship what went so strongly against both their natures but she supposed they were just meant to be.

"I'm so happy for you," she whispered, realising just how long the odds were of them ever meeting. In a way it reminded her of herself and Gene; two people that by rights should never have met and then in the strangest of situations she'd found the love of her life. Love was rarely easy and never straightforward but, she supposed, Robin and Kim were a shining example of two people who'd gone through any lengths to make it work because their love was strong enough.

That gave her the boost she needed right then. If they could go against everything to be together then she would find a way home. Gene was waiting for her on the other side of the line, she was sure of that. If worlds were passing that close together then one day she'd find a way to make it back to the other side – even if she had to swing across on a bloody vine like a time-travelling, pregnant Tarzan.