AN: Hey guys! Yes, this is me continuing this story in 2016. Yes, this is a story that has not been worked on since 2011. But when I made my account, I promised I would never abandon any of my stories, and I intend to stick to that promise. My writing style has (hopefully) improved in those 5 years, and now I have spellcheck so overall this should be a step up from here on in. I will not be updating any past chapters, if only for posterity's sake. If y'all want to know where I've been/what I've been up to in the past 5 years let me know! I can't promise consistent updates on this story, but I am planning on working on all my fanfictions/completing some of them for NaNoWriMo, so get ready! I hope you all enjoy!
Robin's POV
"Ugh…" I blink my eyes open, wary of the fluorescent lights shining down on me. They remind me of a hospital room. I hate hospitals. Wait… how did I..? When did I…? "Tim?" I notice the kid sitting at the foot of my bed. He jumps up when he realizes I'm awake.
"You're awake!" Realizing he has just stated the obvious, he sheepishly jokes, "But you knew that already."
"What happened, Tim?" I ask. My face scrunches up in discomfort as I become more aware of just how much pain I'm in. Luckily, whatever drugs the doctors are pumping into me are keeping me from feeling too much.
"Well, John," he begins, emphasizing my code name, "How much do you remember?" Slyly, he glances over to the corner of the room, where a couple of nurses hover. Better get in character.
"Mickey came up to me at lunch… she was asking me to tutor her… and then… Tony and some of the other guys were picking on that kid from the Titans." I pause, pretending to be thinking real hard about what happened. Frequent KOs curtesy of Gotham and Jump City's finest over the years have trained me to quickly re-alert myself. John does not have such training.
"I just remember thinking that it wasn't right how they were treating him… I mean he's a hero, and he's a really nice guy. They started attacking him. It wasn't right to just stand by. So I got between them."
"What happened next?" A nurse prompted. This next part I remembered all too vividly, but I kept my mouth shut. I was a bit embarrassed, to be honest, at how quickly their mob mentality had lent them the upper hand. Sure I was playing a part, but broken bones are not for show. And Tim certainly didn't need to hear what they did to me.
"I know it's hard," one of the other nurses attempted to console, "but we need to know how much you remember to see how your brain is doing. They messed you up pretty bad, kid." I make direct eye contact with the nurse, then glance back over at Tim. Getting the picture, she heads over to his side, ushering him out the door, claiming they needed to run some tests.
"Ok. I'll be right outside if you need anything, John." He glances back at me before leaving, as if to say that this silent conversation was not over. Fair. But there was a time and place, and now was not that time.
After checking my vitals, the nurses scribble some information down on my chart and leave me be for the time being, promising that the doctor will be in shortly. I am about to doze off again when I hear the door creak open. I am surprised to see a familiar green face peeking out from the other side of the door.
"Um… knock knock?" He waves at me, cautiously entering the room.
"Beastboy?"
Beastboy's POV
"Hey dude," I greet John. "How ya feelin'?" It's a stupid question, I know it as soon as I take my eyes off the ground and look up at him. He's hooked up to all these monitors and and IV tube, and he's wrapped up in enough gauze to look like a mummy. It's hard to make eye contact with him. I feel so guilty.
"I'll manage," he says, shrugging me off. "How about you? You holding up?"
"Yeah, dude, I'm okay." He eyes the sling on my arm, and before he can say anything I pump up the charm and churn out the jokes. "My superpowers make it so that I heal up real quick. I'll be okay in a few days. Worst comes to worst I'll just slither around as a snake for a while. Then I won't have an arm to worry about!" I awkwardly laugh, trailing off when John doesn't join in.
"Um… for real though, I just wanted to say thanks, buddy. For what you did back there. It… It was really cool of you to stick up for me like that."
"It was nothing," he tries to wave me off.
"Dude, you're in the hospital now because you were trying to help out my decidedly un-heroic butt. That's not nothing. At least not to me it isn't."
"Well, everyone needs a hand sometimes," John quietly stated. "Even superheroes. And nobody deserves to be treated like that." I try to smile at him, but it isn't genuine. I'm still a little messed up by what happened, if I'm being honest. I mean, you work so hard to protect everyone, try to make the world a little less messed up than it was in the morning, and people are still gonna try and tear you to pieces. I guess if they didn't I wouldn't have much to do.
It hurts in a different kind of way when it's the people you're trying to protect that are the same ones trying to hurt you. And it hurts even worse to know that this shy little guy in front of me put his life on the line to help a dork like me.
"No. Nobody deserves any of this," I agree, motioning at my arm and his entire self. "So it's a good thing we hero types all stick together." This time the smile is genuine when I add, "But as heroic as you were today, maybe leave the punches and capes to the professionals from now on. For your own safety."
Chuckling, he responds, "You got it, BB." My ears perk up at the familiar nickname. Sure, lots of people use it back in Jump City, not just the Titans, but something about the way he said it sounded so familiar… I shake my head. Nah.
"Well, thanks again, dude. Feel better." With a final wave, I leave him to rest.
Raven's POV
After everything that happened in the cafeteria, the last thing we needed was a criminal to deal with. But of course, crime never has good timing. As much as it pains me to do so, I leave Beastboy in the care of the EMTs, and try to gather up what remains of our team.
Luckily Cyborg has his priorities in check today, zooming around the corner in the T Car, Starfire flying in right behind him. "So, which goon is causin' trouble today?" he asks over the communicators as we head downtown.
"Dr. Light!" Starfire shouts, pointing out the glorified flashlight. A nuisance for sure, but not someone we can't handle.
"Today is really not the day," I call out to him, blasting him with a wave of energy. He deflects with his own.
"It seems as though today is the perfect day, for me. You seem to be short a few Titans. Too terrified to face the incredible Dr. Light, are they?"
"As if," Cyborg shouts, blasting away. "Wait, a few?" He spins around in confusion, "Where's BB?"
"I'll explain later," I tell him, "For now, focus on stopping Dr. Light." Cyborg looks as though he is going to protest, but thinks better of it, turning his attention back to our foe. Our usual maneuvers against Dr. Light are significantly less effective without Beastboy or Robin around.
Dr. Light changes tactics, suddenly, crumbling infrastructure all around us, all while speaking in puns too awful to mention.
"Yo, we could really use some backup right about now," Cyborg calls over to me. "Should we try to call Robin?" He did tell me that he had access to the JLA teleporters in cases of extreme emergency… no. Slade would warrant as an emergency. Maybe even the Hive 5, with Beastboy missing.
"We'll be fine," I growl, upping the intensity of the blasts. "Starfire, hit him from behind. Cyborg, try to get in a clean shot to disable his blasters. Beastboy – wait, no…" I'm confusing myself. So much is going on in my head. I'm still thinking about Beastboy, about John. Red X, and everything that happened with him and Robin, and-
"Raven look out!" Cyborg shouts, a blast to the face waking me from my stupor. Focus. I turn back to Dr. Light as we regroup, noticing a blur of black and red appearing out of thin air, right in front of the villain.
"Peekaboo," Red X taunts, placing two exploding X's on Dr. Light's energy packs before disappearing once again. He reappears behind me. "Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite band of do-gooders. More or less. Where's Robin?"
"Now's not really the time, X." As if on cue, the explosives go off, rendering Dr. Light's power suit useless. Cyborg and Starfire take the opportunity to grab him, Starfire twisting a destroyed stop sign into a makeshift restraint.
"How about now?"
"What do you want, X?" Cyborg calls over, folding his arms impatiently.
"Just need to catch up with my favorite bird brain. I was hoping he'd be around. Where is he? Him and the green bean taking the day off?"
"Actually, where is BB?" Cyborg asks, ignoring the masked man entirely.
"He's getting checked out at the hospital, it's nothing major but-"
"He's what?!" Immediately, Cyborg got into his car. "I wanna know exactly what happened and who's responsible, but for now I need to go see him."
"I will join you, Cyborg! I do hope that Beastboy is alright!" Starfire called after him, speeding off. Leaving me here with Red X.
"Is Greenie okay?" Surprisingly, X seemed genuinely worried.
"He'll be fine," I shared, "just a minor altercation in Gotham."
"At school, you mean? Can't see him doing too well there. Gotham isn't known for being the kindest when it comes to people who are different."
"Maybe not, but it's not all bad," I protest, giving credit where it is due, "This kid John went out of his way sticking up for him today."
Red X froze for a moment. "John who?"
"You act as if you'd know him."
"Hey, it's a small, small world, kid. Never know who you might know. Also, have fun getting that tune out of your brain now." If I didn't know any better, I'd say his mask winked in that moment. Suddenly in a rush, X continued, "Next time you see bird brain tell him to get in touch with me. He'll know how. He won't like it, but he'll know. Tell him it's urgent."
Before I could ask any questions, or even begin to protest, he was gone without a trace. The sound of police sirens grew louder as I handed off Dr. Light to the cops. I would pass on Red's message as soon as I had the chance. But for now, there were more important things to take care of. Like healing Beastboy.
Robin:
Late in the evening, once all the doctors and nurses had stopped bothering him for the night, and Tim had gone home, Robin sat back in bed, drifting in and out of sleep. A shadowy figure entered through the window, looking down at Robin. Robin sensed that someone was there, and knowing who it was, kept his gaze focused down and away.
"What kind of mess did you get yourself into this time, Dickie?"