Chapter 9:

The next morning:

Robin had slept very little. It was difficult to sleep when he was full-on sweating, his stomach was yelling at him, and he was thinking about how to make Batman feel better. Also, the hard floor wasn't very comfortable. The Boy Wonder had a mental image of his partner lying on the floor right outside his door. Hopefully the man hadn't followed through with that.

Shaking his head, Robin sat up and stretched. Everything felt tight and his chest hurt more than it had yesterday. Something must be fractured. The teenager tried moving his nose and couldn't hold back the grunt of pain. Lifting his right hand, he probed his face. Still swollen and the right side was numb.

"Awesssome," Robin muttered.

The word sounded slurred and now the teen really hoped his partner had gone to sleep somewhere else.

Batman was still outside the door and he, too, had slept little. Robin's statement was continually running through his mind:

"I stayed all day, too, Batman, and into the night."

"Awesssome."

Robin was awake. But the single word was slurred and the boy's voice was outlined with exhaustion. He had to get his young partner out of there. Batman had no control over the situation and it was extremely frustrating.

"Breakfast ti…Batman?!"

A short, skinny guard with bleach-blonde hair had just opened the door to Cell Block N. He was carrying a large Ziploc bag and his eyes were wide with astonishment.

"What are you doing here?!" the guard exclaimed.

"Waiting for you to open this door," Batman replied as he stood up and pointed to Robin's cell door.

"I don't have the password, sir! I'm just here to deliver breakfast," the man declared, holding up the bag.

The bell screeched through the large speaker right over Batman's head. He immediately understood why Robin had stated that he had a "little" headache. Breakfast – 6:30.

The Caped Crusader stared at the bag in the man's hand. A peeled banana, a slice of bread, and a small bag of liquid?

"You call that breakfast?!" Batman almost shouted.

"Breakfast?" Robin called through the door.

Batman could hear the excitement in his young partner's voice. The boy was going to be disappointed when he saw what "breakfast" was.

The guard, uncertainty in his eyes, slowly lowered the bag.

"It's the, um, same thing we serve all the inmates in solitary."

"And exactly how many inmates are currently in solitary?" Batman demanded.

"Um…" the guard paused and flicked his eyes to Robin's door.

"Stay here," Batman commanded. "I'm going to get him some actual breakfast."

"Well, sir, you can't bring any outside food…"

The guard shut his mouth when he was grabbed by his shoulders and shoved up against the wall. The breakfast bag fell to the ground and the banana smashed on impact.

"Who is going to stop me?!" Batman roared. "YOU?!"

"Batman, come on, stop," Robin yelled.

The yell turned into a cough and the older hero immediately let go of the guard's shirt.

"What's wrong, Robin?" Batman asked, concern bouncing around the words.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just a little…"

There was a pause and Batman's concern grew.

"What, Robin, a little what?"

"Thirsty. Is there water in the bag?"

"Sure is, kid," the guard chimed in, picking up the bag he had dropped. "And a banana and bread."

"A banana! Come on, Batman, let him pass it in. Bananas have protein."

Without waiting for the Caped Crusader's permission, the guard got on his knees and opened the slit near the bottom of the door.

"It's a little squished, sorry."

Batman stopped the man's arm before the bag was pushed through.

"It's mush," the hero stated. "There's no way he can eat that and you know it."

"At least I'm trying to give him something!" the guard snapped. "All you're doing is standing here preventing me from doing it!"

"Batman, I've got five minutes, just let him give it to me!"

Robin's voice was full of desperation now. With shock in his eyes, Batman let go of the man's arm and turned away from the door. He sprinted down the hall and out the door, heading for the Batmobile and the six Bat-bars stocked in the glove box.

Fury filled his body as he ran, fueling him to go faster. The guard was giving Robin a squished banana, a square of bread and a small bag of water for breakfast. The athletic Boy Wonder was a growing boy, not some tiny dog with a tiny appetite!

While Batman was running, Robin was staring sadly at a Ziploc full of smashed banana. He was dizzy, shaky, in pain and needed the protein. But now he wouldn't get anything until lunch. And Batman was the one who had stopped the guard from giving it to him!

"You done, kid?" the guard asked quietly.

"Yeah," Robin answered softly as he pushed the bag through the slit.

At least he got some water.

That was the guard's only thought as he walked away, flipping the switch to turn off the light bulb as he strode out the door.

Robin had been kneeling by his cell door for the last seven minutes. With a sigh of regret, the teenager slowly stood up and stretched again. Then he went to the back corner of his cell and, using the wall as support, slid to sit down. The Boy Wonder brought his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around his legs, and laid his forehead on his knees.

Batman hadn't said anything since Robin had asked him to let the guard pass in the breakfast. Since he was ignoring his sidekick, the teenager decided to ignore him. Closing his eyes, Robin allowed silent tears to begin sliding down his cheeks. At least he only had one more day in here.

Batman flipped open the glove box, grabbed all six Bat-bars and raced back toward the State Pen. Robin needed protein and Bat-bars were full of that. They were also chock full of everything else an active teenager needed. He just wished he had some bottles of Bat-water. If that small bag was all Robin was receiving at every meal, the kid was without a doubt already dehydrated. Especially since the room he was in was warm, probably warmer than the hall that Batman had been sitting in all night.

Finally, he made it back to solitary confinement. The guard was gone, the light bulb was off and everything was quiet. Batman flipped the switch and the light bulb came back on.

"Robin, I brought you some Bat-bars," the Caped Crusader announced as he dropped to his knees in front of cell number 4.

There was no answer.

"Robin?"

Still nothing.

"Robin, talk to me!" the older hero commanded.

"Goaway," the boy mumbled.

"Robin, I have Bat-bars. I can only slide in one at a time but I brought six of them."

"Yeah, right," the teenager growled. "You're not allowed to bring in food from outside and you wouldn't break the rules in the State Pen. My banana got smashed flat because of you. You took up so much time that I only got to drink the water!"

"Robin, I…"

"You want to know everything, right?" the Boy Wonder suddenly yelled.

Flinching at the pain that spiked through his face and the sandpaper that began rubbing against his throat, Robin decided not to shout anymore.

"Yes, Robin. Everything," Batman replied as he began shoving Bat-bars through the slit.

Robin's eyes widened as Bat-bar after Bat-bar fell into his small cell. He was at the door before he even realized he was moving, ripping the wrapping off one of the nutrient-filled bars and cramming it into his mouth.

Batman heard the noise and decided to wait to demand a full report. Obviously, the boy was rather hungry. Well, it would take some time to catch up after not having breakfast or lunch two days ago.

As he was chewing, the Boy Wonder decided against telling Batman everything. The man was breaking the rules for him and Robin wasn't going to tell him anything that would lead to more rule-breaking. Because he knew that if his older partner found out some of the things that had happened, there might be some broken bones in Cell Block M before the day was over.

"Slow down, kiddo," Batman stated when he heard a slight choking sound. "They're not going anywhere and you have much longer than five minutes."

The Caped Crusader internally growled when he said the last two words. Apparently in isolation you only had five minutes to eat. It could be considered a long time, he supposed, for the amount of food the guard had tried to give Robin.

Robin, however, refused to slow down. This was his first real meal in over two days. The mush at lunch yesterday hadn't done anything for him and the "dinner" last night was just a snack. So, he continued shoving the food down his throat while wishing that he had water to wash it down.

After Bat-bar number three, the teenager had to stop. His stomach demanded more but his throat was too sore to continue swallowing.

"Do you, uh, happen to have any, um…"

The pause was long and Batman sighed. Why was Robin being so timid when Batman was the one he was talking to? And why did his voice sound so scratchy?

"Any what, kiddo?"

"Um, sorry, uh, water?" the boy asked quietly.

"Not right here with me. Give me a few minutes to find a guard and force him to bring you something to drink."

"Okay, I'll just wait here," Robin whispered.

Batman grinned slightly; his young partner had tried to make a joke.

"Be right back," the man declared, standing up and striding down the hall.

Robin started to answer but coughed instead. Turning around, he leaned his back against the door and closed his eyes again. His heartbeat was speeding up again and he had stopped sweating even though his cell was hot. Dehydration was not fun.

Five minutes later Batman was back, practically dragging a pudgy guard behind him. The guard had three water bottles and two sandwich bags. Batman knew the bottles wouldn't fit through the skinny slit, so he had grabbed the bags. Those could be filled with water and handed back and forth.

"Robin, I have water."

The phone next to the computer on the desk began ringing. Batman dropped the guard's arm and picked it up.

"Who is this?"

"Batman, it's Lt. Copple. Lt. Muschamp and I have talked to every single guard. There are three scenarios here. First, nobody knows who did it except the one who did it and that one isn't going to tell us. Second, nobody knows who did it and the person who did it has the day off today. Third, people know but won't tell us. What do you want me to do?"

"What happens if we can't find out who created the password?" Batman demanded.

"Well, the computer will revert back to the old password at the end of Robin's scheduled time in isolation. Then we can get him out. He said two days, right?"

"Yes," Batman replied gruffly.

"Okay, so it depends on what time he got there. Let's say it was five o'clock yesterday afternoon. Five o'clock today would be the end of his first day. So at five o'clock tomorrow afternoon, the password reverts back and we open the door."

"How do we know what time he was put in there?"

"If he doesn't know then we have to guess. And he probably doesn't know because inmates who get put in solitary are usually unconscious when they arrive."

"WHAT?!" Batman exploded for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last twelve hours.

"Let's just narrow down the time right now. We were checking block M around…"

"Close to seven," Batman immediately replied.

"Okay, and he wasn't there so that means he was most likely in solitary before seven. So sometime close to seven tomorrow night, we can get him out. Unless the guard who put him there decides to tell us."

"Seven o'clock tomorrow night," the Caped Crusader growled quietly. "What is he going to do all day? And all day tomorrow? How is he going to go to the bathroom? Is there…"

"Hold on, Batman, let me explain. There is a toilet in there, just like any other cell. But that's it. Once the door is locked, he's stuck until his time is up or somebody enters the password. In this situation, we can't even get him out for a shower or some yard time. We can't really do anything for him right now."

"When you said, 'that's it', did you mean there is only one thing in his cell?"

"Yes, Batman. There is nothing in a solitary confinement cell except a toilet attached to the wall. There's no bed, no desk, no books or games or anything. It's been a long time since we've used these cells. They've never been upgraded."

"So you're telling me," Batman roared, "that he's in there with NOTHING!"

"Yes, Batman, and it ticks me off that we can't do anything about it!" Lt. Copple shouted back through the phone.

"If I EVER find the guard that did this…" Batman began.

"Me, too, Caped Crusader," Copple agreed quietly. "But I'll let you go first."

With that, the call was over. Batman ran a hand down his face as he hung up the phone. How was he going to keep Robin from going insane? They couldn't just sit there and talk for two days!

"I'm out, sir," the pudgy guard said from behind Batman.

The hero turned around and was surprised to see three empty water bottles and two wet sandwich bags.

"He drank them all?!"

"Told you…I was…thirsty," Robin gasped. He was leaning against the wall again but his eyes were open now.

"Go get more," Batman commanded, and the man scurried away.

"Robin, please tell me that you've had more than just little sandwich bags of water during these last few days."

Silence reigned and Batman clenched his hands into fists. Did anyone care about what happened to inmates in this place?!

"How bad is it, chum?" Batman asked gently as he sat down in front of the door again.

"It's fine, I'm fine," the Boy Wonder replied, still refusing to lay more stress on the shoulders of his partner.

"When was the last time you ate?" Batman asked, not as gently as before.

"Um, two minutes ago!"

"I mean before the Bat-bars."

"Oh, I didn't get the banana so last night."

"What did you have for dinner last night?"

"Food."

"Obviously," Batman ground the word out. "Specifically, what food did you have?"

There's no way out of this one.

That thought raced through Robin's mind even as he attempted to find a way to make the answer sound positive.

"Robin."

Sighing, Robin gave in.

"Some apple slices and a piece of bread."

"And?"

"And some water."

"And?"

Silence again and Batman almost removed his cowl and threw it down the hall, just as he had done in the Batcave.

"And that's it," Robin finally whispered guiltily.

It's not your fault so why do you sound so guilty?

"What are you not telling me, kiddo? Did you not eat lunch yesterday?"

"No, I mean, yes, I ate lunch! It tasted like mud, though. But I didn't really care because…"

Crap.

Robin knew he had just given Batman more information than the man needed to know.

"Because you didn't eat breakfast."

Again Batman's sentence was a comment, not a question.

"So, on the first day you skipped breakfast and lunch and then breakfast again on the second day. Was that one your choice, also?"

"I…"

"Robin, just answer the question! I'm tired of trying to pull things out of you! I need you to just get it all off your chest. Tell me everything!"

No way, Batman. I might tell you about the food but that's all you get.

"So, um, when do I get out of here?"

"Don't change the subject, Robin," Batman warned.

"No, it wasn't my choice," the teen snapped. "The riot was in my cell block so nobody was allowed to go to breakfast. Happy now?" he finished with a growl.

"Let's talk about the riots," Batman replied calmly.

"No," Robin retorted, his voice full of anger and laced with betrayal. "Let's talk about the fact that you promised you would come see me every day and then you didn't! Let's discuss the fact that you immediately broke a promise that you made to me when I was scared for my life! Let's…"

"Enough!" Batman commanded loudly.

"It's your turn to talk, Batman," Robin almost snarled. "Because I'm done."

The bell unexpectedly screamed again. Batman glanced at his Bat-watch: 7:30. Yard time, for everyone except Robin.

"What's that one for?" Robin wondered out loud.

Batman was surprised that Robin, who had an excellent memory, didn't know the schedule yet. Breakfast, yard time, showers then back to cells. Of course, Robin hadn't had breakfast in here yet.

"Yard time," Batman replied. "If you had gone to breakfast on your first day, you would know that."

"Just shut up," Robin mumbled, hoping that his older partner hadn't heard it.

"Oh, so you're ready to talk again," Batman stated, wisely ignoring the nearly inaudible comment.

"I've told you enough."

"We haven't talked about the riots."

"Oh. My. Gosh! Just let it go."

"Are you injured in any way?" Batman lightly demanded.

"I punched Joker, remember? Not the other way around."

"The guards wouldn't put you in solitary for one punch, Robin. There's more to your story and you're still trying to lie your way out of it."

"I'm not lying!" Robin shouted.

The pain burst through his head again, reminding him that he shouldn't shout.

"I did punch Joker. The guard got mad and I may have started yelling at the other villains. Maybe that was annoying; I'm sometimes annoying, right? I also sometimes say stupid things and maybe he didn't like something I said."

Robin sighed then closed his eyes again.

"I should have just kept my mouth shut. I'm in the State Pen with a bunch of people that hate me and I start yelling at them. Who does that?!"

Batman chuckled quietly because, to him, it was a somewhat silly question. Robin did that all the time: when he was kidnapped, when he was being used as bait by villains or criminals, when he was fighting a bad guy.

"Don't answer that," the Boy Wonder whispered.

There was a long pause and then Robin mumbled, "What do prisoners do during yard time?"

"You had yard time after lunch yesterday, right?" Batman responded.

"Yeah, but then Joker came over and I punched him so…"

Batman almost laughed out loud again. But he immediately sobered when he realized that the only yard time Robin had received, apparently, was that few minutes yesterday. His boy had been stuck inside for almost two days straight.

"How much light do you have in there, kiddo?"

"Enough," the teen replied with a shrug.

Then he thought of something and his eyes popped open.

"Why are you just sitting out there when I know you want me out of here?"

Batman sighed and replied, "We can't open the door without the password, which was created by the guard who brought you in here. And we don't know who did that. Yet."

"So, I'm never getting out?"

"That's not what I said, chum. You told me the guard said two days in solitary, right?"

There was a grunt so Batman assumed that meant yes.

"As soon as the two days are up, the password will go back to the regular one that all the guards know."

"Okay, so I just have all day and then Lt. Copple will be able to open the door?"

Batman grimaced. He really didn't want to answer that question. But the teenager had a right to know.

"Dinner time, then?" Robin inquired, a touch of anticipation in his voice.

"Well," Batman began and then stopped.

"Well what?" Robin asked.

The slight sound of anticipation had disappeared and Batman grimaced again.

"Well, dinner time tonight is the end of your first day."

"WHAT?!" Robin shouted in a whisper.

"A day is twenty-four hours, kiddo, which they take literally here."

"So…dinner time tomorrow?!" the teenager whispered, despair filling his voice.

"I'll be right here the whole time, Robin," Batman declared. "I'm not leaving you alone."

"Whether you're there or not doesn't really matter because I am alone. You can move around freely while I'm stuck in this sixty-ish square foot cell. You can read a book or stare out the windows, if there are any out there, while I have nothing to do."

The bell screeched again and Robin said, "Back to cells."

Batman shook his head and whispered, "Showers."

"Awesome," Robin commented sarcastically. "Wish I could take a shower. All I have is toilet water so…"

"I don't think you need to go that far," Batman replied, trying to force a grin into his voice.

"Come on, Batman, I'm a teenager!" Robin stated, also trying to add some humor to the situation.

"Well," the Caped Crusader said, "what do you want to talk about?"

There was a heavy sigh and then Robin replied, "I'm just going to work out for a while."

"Okay," Batman stated, somewhat surprised. Robin had room to work out in that small of a cell?

Two minutes later, the older crime-fighter heard numbers alternating with short grunts of exertion. His partner was either doing sit-ups or pushups. Five minutes after that there was a gasp and the flopping sound of flesh hitting a hard floor.

"Robin!" Batman shouted, jumping to his feet. "Talk to me, what happened?!"

"Tired," Robin gasped. "Did…fifty…of each."

Inside the cell, Robin was lying flat on his stomach with his right cheek resting on the ground. He was disappointed in himself but also knew why it had only been fifty. Breathing still hurt, swallowing still made his throat sore, his limbs were shaking and he was barely sweating.

Outside, Batman was sitting down again and wondering why Robin sounded so tired after only fifty pushups and fifty sit-ups. Then the Caped Crusader remembered the small sandwich bags of water.

"You need a drink, kiddo?"

"Yeah," the Boy Wonder gasped.

"The guard should have returned by now. I'll go find him and get you some water. No more exercising for now," Batman commanded.

"Yeah," Robin gasped again.

That one word worried Batman. Robin never wanted to stop training, even when he was tired. The boy was the hardest worker Batman had ever known. But he was gasping and using one-word answers and admitting that he was tired.

"Sit tight, chum, I'll be back as quickly as possible."

This time there was only a grunt in response and Batman, who had already stood up, began running. The bell rang again and Batman growled. Now it was cell time so at least he could find a guard without a bunch of villains attempting to assault him.