Yeah! Finally a chapter! It took a lot of mental kicking to finish typing this.

About three weeks had gone by since Bruce had had Richard moved from the cave into the mansion. Although his attacks where more subdued after his move, his fear of the crowd did not depart nor did their presence dissipate in his mind. Bruce tried his best to go see him as much as his work would allow. Lesile insisted on it and Alfred insured his nerves made it through the door.

Once through, he found himself repeating a similar pattern in their meetings. They would make small talk about the weather, the company, Alfred's cooking, the crowd, and Robin's wings.

Never did Bruce bring up Ringleader. He had other worries. Tompkins meet with him every two days to help him overcome the crowd and simply work through the tatter in this mind.

Today was different.

Bruce decided to break the normality that had settled over them to help his son. He left work early and when he was ready made his way to his room with a laptop in hand. Using his left hand he gently pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Hello, Dick, how do you feel today?"

Richard looked up from the book he was reading in the large black leather chair near his bedroom fireplace.

"Better now. They always draw back when you come."

Bruce calmly walked around the coach so he could gaze at Richard. His feet were on the seat and he had a blue blanket draped around his legs which contrasted with the bright orange T-shirt he wore.

"What's the laptop for?"

He asked curiously.

"Come sit on your bed with me."

Bruce walked over and plugged the laptop's cable into the bedside outlet. When he turned around he sat down with his back to the headboard and motioned the hesitant Richard to sit down. He obeyed attentively but his tension was obvious.

"Come here Dick."

He held up his arms so Richard knew what he wanted. With uncertainty the child swung his legs onto the bed and scooted so his back leaned against Bruce's back. Arms wrapped around him briefly and he relaxed letting the feeling of safety sink in.

Bruce sighed when he unwrapped d his arms from his son. It still felt strange for him to be so physical with Richard but at the same time he felt it made a difference. Tompkins worried that he didn't spend enough of his time with him so acting aloof, as she so often told him, couldn't happen. Bruce shook his head and slowly reached over with his left hand and grabbed the laptop. He lifted it at an angle and brought it around so he could set it on Richard's lap.

"What's the laptop for?"

"I thought we could do something different today. Have you read your letters?"

"I read them this morning out loud. It helps me ignore them."

He replied softly.

"Would you want to talk to your friends?"

"I would love that."

Bruce calmly flipped open the laptop and turned it on.

"My eyes?"

"Do you want a mask?"

He nodded so Bruce shifted to remove a pullover one he had put in his pocket. He handed it to Richard who slipped it over his head and then gazed up.

"You don't have one."

"They'll only see you. My head will cut off from the screen."

Richard nodded and pressed himself against Bruce's back so he could reach the keys on the laptop better. After typing in security codes, a black video screen was brought up. He dialed the Titans. Richard tensed to check for the crowd. His eyes were drawn back to the screen when he saw a picture begin to form.

Slowly the Titans began to appear on the screen through a fuzz of movement. He scrunched his brows together and looked up because their lips moved but he couldn't hear anything. Bruce sighed and reached around Dick again to turn up the sound.

"…hear anything!"

"I'm working on it?"

Beast Boy was yelling at Cyborg, who was messing with the sound. The two girls stood in the center of the screen. Robin opened his mouth slightly but then looked up again at whoever else he was with. He must not have gotten a response he wanted because he turned timidly back to the screen. Starfire smiled and waved cheerfully.

"Hey guys."

Robin softly answered. At the sound of his voice the boys darted over and greeted him warmly.

"Hey Rob! How've you been?"

It was quit for a while as they waited for his response. Eventually he slowly shook his head up and down and said, "better."

The group all smiled at him.

"What have you been up to?" Raven asked.

"I, well, I.." He looked up and then back at them. "Um, resting, a lot of that… eating homemade stuff."

"Ah lucky! I've been eating Mac and Cheese for like the last four days!" Robin smiled.

"I get fresh chocolate chip cookies too."

"Man, that's just not right. You're making me want a cookie."

"They're the best too."

Cyborg groaned in the back while Starfire just giggled at the two.

"So what else have you been up to besides these cookies?"

"Well, I've been reading a lot actually. Got any good titles for me, Raven?"

"I'll send you some books. I have a few in mind I think you'll really like."

"Cool, I guess besides reading I've just really been well focusing on recovering you know. I've been seeing a doctor every day for the most part and um." He looked up once again. "Batman? Batman has been coming to see me every day when he can."

"Is that who's with you right now?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin smiled again at them. "So, that's me what about you?"

"We've been good not too much going on but enough to keep us busy. Had a run in with the Hive a couple days ago but we took them down yesterday. We had a swimming party to celebrate."

"You should have seen Beast Boy in his speedo!"

"What!? You wore a speedo!"

"Hey the lady's liked it. Right, Raven?"

"I puked."

Everyone laughed while Beat Boy deflated from his utter rejection. Robin stopped laughing first and he checked the room. He thought he saw someone close to him. He shook it off though and turned back to his friends.

"So what else have you been doing?"

"Oh the usual. Ran into some loan thugs but we took them out pretty quick."

Robin jerked to his right and looked down. His shoulders seemed to tighten.

"You okay?"

"Sorry, sorry it's nothing I'm fine."

The group watched him with concern as a firm hand was placed on his shoulder. Robin smiled softly at the person and then turned back to the group.

"The other big thing going on is we've been repairing parts of the city. A villain made a mess so we're helping out there. We think Slade might be up to something but we're not sure."

"Slade's acting up! Be careful, okay?"

The titans reassured him but his eyes were fixed on the crowd to the left. Their screen shook a little and became fuzzy as Robin tried to scoot back a little. His hands were pressed against the bed next to him.

"Robin, are you okay?"

They watched as strong hands grasped their friend's hands and brought them into his lap.

"Fine yeah. It's not real."

He choked and shook his head.

"How's silky?"

"He has been doing very well. In fact yesterday I bought him a new collar with red sparkling gems in the middle."

Robin nodded but his fear was becoming more evident on his face.

"Robin."

His face shot up.

"Concentrate on what's real, son. It's just the Titans."

He closed his eyes a little.

"We were thinking of taking silky to the park tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yeah and maybe coming to see you another day."

"You'd like that."

The Titans were surprised once again by the soft voice belonging to the person behind Robin. He had been so stiff and quiet it seemed strange that he was speaking now. Robin didn't seem to mind and shook his head yes.

"They could read with you and you could all sit around and talk."

Robin once again shook his head yes but more fervently. His eyes were locked to the left and his breathing quickened. Without a warning the Titan's screen suddenly went black as Bruce slammed the laptop shut.

"What the hell! He totally just hung up on us!" Beast Boy cried in frustration.

"BB you don't notice anything do you."

"He didn't have to hang up."

"It was the best course of action. More importantly did everyone just hear Batman say we may be able to visit Robin? He must think we can help."

"I hope so."

The group sat quietly together in the living room. Each of their heads were filled with what they would do with Robin to help him recover. They would try to keep him active. They would help him have so much fun he didn't have time to think about anything else. Someday they hoped they would get the chance.

Bruce ran a sweaty hand through his hair and dragged his feet out the door. One hour. It had taken him all of the sixty minutes to calm Dick down and by that time he just put him to sleep as well. Dr. Tompkins could give him a break for the day. He traveled through the halls into the living room where he sat down heavily and put his head in his had been doing so good talking to them. He had even smiled a genuine smile. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder but didn't look up.

"Richard's in bed then?"

"Got him to fall asleep. He acted up. Had him talking to the Titans."

He felt Leslie sit down on the arm of the chair and her hand fell on his back.

"It'll take time."

"He has hardly gotten any better."

"Not true. It's just harder to see."

Bruce put his hands down and shook his head.

"Do you think having the Titans here will do any good?"

"I think so but not right now. Give him a few more weeks. The mind is the hardest to mend. I'm thinking about putting him on medication. I haven't sorted everything out but it could help a lot."

"You're the doctor do what you see fit."

Hope you liked it. But geez hitting the enter bar really makes you realize how much dialogue there is :p (i fell like i always say that too :)