When Robin awoke, initially he was confused. Where the hell was he? But slowly, his eyes scanned around the room and he pieced together than he was in the tower's med bay. But why was he here?

He sat up gingerly as he remembered the fight on the bridge, the fall into the water. He groaned as he remembered the calm feeling as he had let the water drag him down. What the hell had he been thinking?

He glanced around the room and a weird feeling pooled in the pit of his stomach. This was the first time he had awoken in a med room and been alone. He knew he shouldn't, but a small part of him pined for Bruce.

He pulled the oxygen mask away from his face and took a few experimental breaths. Other than the burning pain that radiated through his chest as it rose, there was nothing hindering his breathing. He looked down beneath his shirt and saw bruises beginning to form down his sternum; bruises that vaguely resembled fingerprints. He swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat, his mind flicking back to the large hand-shaped bruises that had been all over his body. He shook himself – he would not think about that. He would not break down.

Robin pushed himself out of the bed and onto his shaky legs. They threaten to buckle under him, but after a few moments of adjustment, they held steady. His bare feet slapped quietly against the tiled floor as he walked towards the door. It was only then that he cottoned onto the fact that he had been changed out of his suit into loose fitting clothes. The bile threatened to rise again, but he successfully pulled himself back. It was fine, it was probably Wally who had changed him. He trusted Wally. Wally wouldn't do anything to him. He repeated this to himself like a mantra until he reached the door. He paused, not opening it. He could hear Wally's voice on the other side.

'It was touch and go for a moment, but he's ok. I'll keep him monitored for secondary drowning, but Yeh physically he's stable.'

There was a pause and Robin realised Wally was on the phone.

'I don't know. I haven't been around him long enough to assess that…The team says he's been a little jumpy lately…' Another pause. 'B, I respect you, you know that. But I do not feel comfortable doing that. If I'm concerned, I'll let you know, but I am not spying on him.'

It wasn't hard to figure out who Wally was talking too, or what his father was asking Wally to do. Robin felt a small hum of satisfaction that Wally had refused to report back to the Bat. When he was sure Wally had hung up the phone, Robin opened the door and leant against the frame.

'You called Batman?'

'No, he called me. He saw your swan dive on the news. When he couldn't get through to you, he tried me.'

'How did he know you were here?' asked Robin.

'Who do you think saved your ass from drowning?'

Robin nodded; that made sense. He should have known Wally wouldn't stay at the tower.

'Thanks,' he said. 'And thanks for refusing to report back.'

Unexpectedly, Wally frowned.

'I wanted to talk to you first before I got B all worked up.'

Robin tilted his head to the side, showing that he didn't understand what the red-head meant.

Wally walked back into the room and Robin followed, shutting the door behind them. The speedster looked awkward, he didn't know how to phrase what he needed to ask. Robin could sense the tension coming off his friend and tried to lighten the situation.

'Spit it out Wall-Man.'

'Why didn't you swim?'

The question was not what Robin had expected him to ask. Which was stupid as it was a question, he had been asking himself internally since he had woken up.

'I don't know. The water was cold, my body must have gone into shock.'

'That is Bull and you know it.' Said Wally, his voice had a hint of venom to it. He was angry. 'Aquaman taught you to swim when you were nine so don't give me that.

Robin stared at his best friend. This wasn't the conversation he had been expecting. His mouth opened, but when no words came out, he closed it again.

'I don't know what you want me to say.' He said eventually.

'Tell me you want to live.'

'What kind of a question is that?' Robin spluttered after a hesitation that was too long for Wally's liking. Wally came a little closer to him and Robin had to fight the urge to take a step back.

'I had to pull your lifeless body from that river and give you CPR.' That explained the bruises on his chest. 'Just tell me you weren't….Tell me you didn't want….'

Robin realised what the other boy was asking.

'Wally I am not suicidal!' He snapped. Wally did not look convinced. 'God, why does everyone think I am depressed!'

'I don't know,' said Wally in a sarcastic tone. 'Maybe because you've pushed everyone out of your life?'

'No, I haven't' said Robin defensively.

'Haven't you? Then why did you leave the team? Why did you leave Gotham and your family?'

'I needed to get away.' Said Robin, the fight already fading from his voice. But Wally was just getting started.

'From the people who care about you?'

'I…people look at me differently. Once they know.' Robin looked away, why did everything always have to come back to that time.

'And what happens when these guys find out?' said Wally, a little more calmly. 'Are you going to run again? Are you just going to keep running?'

Robin shrugged, pulling on the threads at the bottom of his shirt.

'I don't know.'

Wally's expression softened.

'It's been a year, Dick.' He made sure the boy knew he wasn't talking to the mask. He was addressing the broken soul beneath it.

'It's not something you just get over Wally.'

'I know. But you're not facing what happened. You're hiding from it.'

Dick bristled, finally taking the step back he had been wanting to take from the start of their conversation.

'I don't want to talk about this.'

'That's your problem.' Said Wally. 'What happened was awful Dick, but it happened, and you need to deal with that fact, not run away from it!'

Dick took a deep breath and Wally thought he had finally got through to the younger, but then he opened his mouth.

'Please, just leave.'

Wally decided it was probably best. He would hang with the Titans for a few hours until he cleared Dick of secondary drowning. Then he would head back to the mountain. He nodded, to show his friend that he would do as he asked.

'I'm going to have to tell Bruce about what happened at the river.'

Dick's head shot up.

'But you just said…'

'I said I would let him know if I was concerned.' Said Wally sternly. 'You need help, Richard.'

'What I need is space and time.'

Wally rounded on his friend, anger flaring up inside him.

'Damn it, Dick, don't forget it was me who found you when you were carving up your wrists four years ago.' Wally shouted. 'I've seen what happens if I ignore my gut instincts when it comes to your mental health. I will not risk you having another breakdown.'

'Wally, please!' Dick said desperately, if Wally told Bruce about the river, Bruce would be dragging him back to Gotham.

The red-head seemed to sense the desperation in his friend. He calmed slightly.

'I'll give you until tomorrow to tell him yourself. Otherwise, I will be telling him what I think.' He turned to walk away. 'I'm doing this for your own good Dick.'

When the speedster had left the room, Robin raised his hands to his head. Gripping his hair tightly with both hands as his knees bent until he was crouched down as low as he could. It was all falling apart. If Wally talked, Bruce would think the same thing – that he hadn't saved himself because he didn't want to live. Bruce would drag him back to Gotham, he would be put back on medication and benched from being Robin. Dick took a shaky breath. He couldn't take Robin away, because without Robin the only thing that was left was Dick Grayson and he wasn't ready to face what came with that.

OOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Cyborg didn't worry about scaring the redhead as he approached him on the roof. He was good at many things but creeping up on people with his mechanical body was not one of them.

'You've been friends with Robin a while?' he said, leaning against the wall that surrounded the rooftop, copying how the red-head was stood.

Wally nodded. 'We've been friends for six years. Since I was twelve.'

'How old was Robin?'

'Ten. He'd been Robin for nearly two years at that point. I was so excited to meet him.'

'We were the same.' Said Cy, looking out over the city. 'When he appeared, we all knew who he was. We'd all been lost, he brought us together.'

He stood for a while, wondering if he should continue.

'He may have been the only one of us who was human, but he seemed so strong and indestructible.' Cyborg said, 'He's a great leader.'

'I sense a but coming?' asked Wally, glancing to his side at the robot.

'But the longer we live with him, the more we see him; the real him.' He sighed. 'He's been through a lot, hasn't he?'

Wally nodded.

'He puts on a good front, but he's breaking, isn't he?'

Again, Wally nodded. 'I don't know how to help him.' The red-head confessed at a whisper. His face screwed up slightly as he tried to not let tears fall. 'He's my best friend and I don't know how to help him.'

'When did it happen?' asked Cy. Wally looked at him in shock.

'It doesn't take a genius to work it out…when you know what to look for.' Cyborg sighed sadly. 'When I was 14 the daughter of a family friend was attacked. She never talked about what had happened to her, but she changed, and she started acting weirdly. Just like Robin.'

Wally nodded, thinking about how he should answer. 'Do the others know?'

'No, Beast Boys still a kid, Star's not from this planet and Raven is innocent in her own way. She knows there is something wrong with Rob, but I don't think she's pieced it together.'

Wally sighed in relief. He was glad that one of the Titans knew the truth, but he was also glad that it wasn't all of them. He didn't think Dick would be able to handle that.

'I've given him an ultimatum.' Said Wally, turning so it was his back against the wall. 'He has until tomorrow evening to get in touch with Batman and let him know how much he is struggling…or I'll tell him.'

'Is he struggling that much?' asked Cyborg. He knew Robin was having a hard time, but he hadn't realised it was bad enough to bring in the Batman. It was scary how well Robin was able to hide it. Suddenly something made sense in Cyborg's mind. 'The river, it wasn't an accident that he didn't save himself, was it?'

'I don't know. I don't think Rob does either.' Said Wally honestly. But that doubt could be dangerous, and Wally wasn't going to take the risk.

'What do you want me to do?'

Wally shrugged. 'Try and make him see reason? Maybe if he's aware that you know, he'll be more willing to go back with Bats.'

'You think he'd run?' said Cyborg, shocked.

'I honestly don't know. But if he does, don't try to stop him. You'll only get yourself hurt and make him more skittish.'

Cyborg looked sadly at the young hero. He looked so torn and worried.

'You know Robin pretty well huh?' he said.

Wally shrugged again, crossing his arms over his chest.

'Understanding Robin is easy. He's a hero and a leader through and through. It's the boy beneath the mask that is more complicated. There is usually a pretty definite divide between the two.' Wally rubbed his hand down the side of his face. 'Has anything happened recently that would trigger him?'

Cyborg shrugged but then groaned when he thought back.

'Beast Boy was watching Game of Thrones. I made him turn it off because he was too young to watch it and I didn't want Star seeing it either.' Said Cyborg, showing his big brother side. 'BB tried to act all macho and I called him a virgin. It was a term Starfire had never heard before.' He shook his head as suddenly Robin's behaviour started to make sense. 'It turned into a full-blown conversation. When Robin came into the room Star straight up asked him if he was a virgin. He just went quiet, put down his coffee and left the room.' Cy gripped his hands into fists. 'I figured he wasn't, but that it had been an awkward teenage experience that he was embarrassed about. None of us have ever really known for definite how old he actually is.'

'He's 16.' Said Wally, taking in the information Cyborg was giving him. Would that encounter have been enough?

'Anyway, that night I thought I heard him whimpering, so I went to see if he was alright. Before I could get to his door, I heard him scream and there was a thud. When he answered the door, he looked sick and he lied saying he was watching tv, even though the room was dark.'

And then it made sense. Dick had had a sleep paralysis episode. That was why he had been triggered. Being away from home was just making it worse.

'Thanks, man. You've been a big help.'

'Will you tell Batman?'

'Yes, but I promised Rob I would give him the opportunity to ask for help. I won't go back on my word to him.'

The stood in silence a little while longer, watching as the sun began to set and more rain clouds rolled in.

A/N It's recently been brought to my attention that in Violation, a lot of you assumed Dick was 13 when he was assaulted. This wasn't my intention. In my head, Dick would have been around 15. I may go back and amend some of the details in Violation to make this more clear, but for right now I hope you enjoy this chapter. This is such a dark topic and I really hope I am portraying it alright. Again, if you are triggered by any of my work please, stop reading now. I won't be offended if you do! Thanks for reading - Karin x