Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans

Chapter 13

If there was a dictionary in the world which defined something with an image instead of a few words, this scene would have been the number one definition of awkward. Batman was stood in complete silence, motionless; Robin was close to visibly shaking with anticipation; Raven was mirroring the stance of the Dark Knight but her face betrayed the anxiety she was almost successfully suppressing. Two of the three almost wished the alarm would sound just to get them out of this.

Robin gripped his lover's hand, relying on her calm presence to keep him from trembling. There was a time when he had been completely comfortable in the presence of the disguised Bruce Wayne, and even now he was sure he would be more or less calm under regular circumstances, but with the tension in the room he was feeling much like he had during his first days in the mansion.

Raven, on her part, was understandably nervous but that did not overtake her interest – how was this going to play out? This was a situation that she had never believed she'd find herself in, not even when she and Robin had become regular lovers. After all, who honestly thought that they'd one day face Gotham's Dark Knight in a moment like this?

A few moments passed, the tension rising with each passing second, leaving the two teens increasingly worried. And then, just like that, the tension was broken.

The Bat had swept from the room, gone in a matter of seconds and leaving no trace of himself behind save for two teenagers holding their breath.

Raven was stunned for about two minutes before recovering, blinking, and turning to Robin. "So … was that a good or bad reaction?"

"Eh … I'm not sure."

"Robin, you should go after him."

Yes, he should and he knew that; but he knew equally well that it would be a pointless effort. Even if he found his old mentor – and thanks to years of experience he was fairly sure that he had a better chance of doing so than anyone else – Bruce would never talk to him until he was ready. It was something he had learned very early on in his years as a hero: Batman would not talk to anyone, even his own sidekick, until he was ready. Trying to force him was nought but a waste of time.

He looked at his girlfriend and squeezed her hand. "He'll talk to me when he's ready."

/

"Titans, go!"

A massive rock was launched straight at the team leader but its trajectory was halted by Raven, who used her powers to catch it and chuck it straight back at its original owner. How Control Freak had managed to bring to life whatever-the-hell-this-thing-was from some old horror movie they did not know, but right now it was destroying the city and therefore they had to stop it – and find the actual criminal as well.

Charging past the monster, Starfire hurled part of a destroyed building at the monster (whatever it was), sending him crashing into the street where he was pinned down temporarily by Cyborg. He didn't manage to hold the slimy beast down long, though, for he was soon enough thrown off and flying backwards.

"Oh, I'm gonna get you…" his voice trailed off as he hurtled into the distance.

The monster had no time to celebrate its victory – if it was capable of doing such a thing – as it was already being trod upon by a massive green Tyrannosaurus Rex. A battle erupted while the commotion the two caused was kept to a minimum by the rest of the team; Robin swept a few people out of the way of a falling building while Starfire and Raven worked together to get the falling concrete safely onto the ground.

The fight was about the most basic of fights that the Titans ever encountered, so while they were none too pleased about being thrown into walls they were not overly concerned with the attack; it was nothing they couldn't handle. When the alarm had sounded – an hour or so after Batman had abruptly departed – they had feared simultaneously that it was Man In The Mask back for another round of chaos; hearing it was just Control Freak was something that ultimately relaxed them.

Once Cyborg came back to the fight, ready to tear apart the creature, it was all too easy for the team to subdue it and hand it over to the proper authorities. All in all this was a fairly quick and easy battle to win. Robin was even pretty sure that he knew where to find Control Freak.

As the team turned to leave, Robin just happened to glance upwards and he saw the unmistakable silhouette that he knew so well standing atop a building; just as he saw the figure it disappeared. Robin looked down with a smirk; even in broad daylight the Batman was able to melt into the background, it was a talent he shared with no other.

Leaving the scene of the crime to be cleared up by the Jump City police force, the Titans headed home to the Tower, knowing already that this fight was not yet over. They still had to catch the 'criminal mastermind' behind the monster.

/

It was evening before Robin found himself completely alone in his normal study room. The day was fruitful: creepy horror movie monster defeated, Control Freak captured and in police custody, pizza with friends. Now it was time for the Boy Wonder to get back to work on the case of Man In The Mask.

He had been working for perhaps fifteen minutes when he became acutely aware of another presence in the room. Turning around was not even necessary.

Batman stood directly in front of him, shrouded in the dim lamp light, with an expressionless face. Robin looked his old mentor in the eye, knowing that if he appeared ashamed in any way it would send off a false aura of regret; he didn't want Bruce to think that he was unhappy with the situation. He was not. This was sooner than he would have liked and entirely unintended, but that didn't take away from that fact that he had come to terms with the idea of being a father. He did not regret any of his decisions and he didn't want the Bat to think he did.

The two maintained eye contact, each as stubborn as the other. Eventually, the silence was broken.

"Congratulations on the capture of your sea monster" Batman said in monotone, giving nothing away. "Your team works well together."

"I know."

"How far along is Raven?"

"Just over five months." Silence reigned again and Robin sighed. "It wasn't … planned."

"I should hope not. Dick, what are you going to when the baby arrives?"

"I don't…"

"This isn't something you can just make up a solution for as and when it pleases you" the Bat snapped. "You need a plan, Robin, something concrete."

"I know." The Boy Wonder's tone was much more defeated this time, knowing that the Dark Knight was right. "I'll think of something. I'll have a plan before the baby comes."

A glare was sent his way, one that had promised a lecture in his younger years but nowadays meant only that there were going to be consequences if he did not fulfil his promise to come up with a plan.

Robin turned away, back to his work, and tried to ignore the Bat. He half expected the other man to walk away but it did not happen. Batman merely stalked over to the opposite side of the table and frowned at him.

"Robin, she shouldn't have been out there fighting today. This is supposed to be your team."

"Raven can handle herself. When she can't, I won't let her put herself in danger."

"Robin…"

"She's as stubborn as I am."

And yet another glaring standoff was begun; Robin had had more than enough of these in his early teenage years to have any fondness for them now. Thanks to this, it took only a few minutes before Robin interrupted the silence.

"This is my life. I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?" His tone was condescending and concerned at the same time.

"Yes." Robin's tone was more convincing than he had intended, a fact that he took pride in.

This was a talk that could go on for hours, could go round in circles, could be an endless argument; with this in mind, the teen was rather relieved when his old mentor swept soundlessly from the room.

It wasn't over, he realised that. There would be another talk coming soon, with whatever concerns or demands the Dark Knight still had to voice. But knowing that it was over, at least for now, gave him the peace of mind he needed to get back to work.

Even knowing that it was a temporary peace.

Please R&R