While it is not too unusual to lose consciousness in a battle it is rarely at a convenient time. Rarely is it in a convenient place either. This time when Robin lost consciousness pushing civilians out of the way of rubble caused by a Cinderblock attack, his cranium was not the only thing to get rocked. He knew his ankle had been damaged since that throbbing had been the first sensation when he woke up.
Though he was probably not woken up by it as his face was slightly damp like someone had dumped water on him. He looked around slowly as light sensitivity was a factor. He saw Cyborg nearby with an empty bottle, but he was back to fighting a Killer Moth who had seen an opportunity when Cinderblock had struck. Some of the lower level villains would join in fight since the Titans were diverted.
"You awake dude?" Cyborg called and he shot into the air. "Starfire some air cover would be nice around now!" Moths were circling them. He tried to shoot an R-rang but it was too left for it to hit anything. Then he noticed the throb in his head. Well, hello obvious concussion number 9.
"Friends I recommend the ducking." Came Starfire's voice from the communicator and came soon enough as Cyborg rushed to cover Robin as a large circular blast of green decimated the moths and caused them to fall. They were heavy about 50 pounds and were creating cracks from falling from that height. She had not been there in the original fight against Killer Moth and that would have been a great trick.
"You good?" Robin thought Cyborg was talking to him, but he saw that Starfire had a little red blood on her knuckles, not hers.
"Yes friend, he is simply subdued and tied to a pole. Robin, you are awake now?" She said as she saw him below Cyborg. "Are you okay?" She said as she landed and stalked with purpose towards him.
"Yeah right as rain." She tilted her head at his idiom, and he realized the ringing was growing louder in the back of his skull. His stomach turned without warning and the contents reversed. "Or maybe not." He said as he clutched his head before darkness found him again.
When he woke again he was in a dimly lit room with curtains drawn around the bed. Hospital. He instantly went to check his mask and was relieved that it was still on. Though the hospital gown was still worrisome, though he knew it had to be the best after his reversal of fortune.
Dammit if someone had actually admitted him into a hospital it would taker forever to clear. He debated escaping or trying to talk sense into the doctor. Escaping would be what Bruce would do so he checked to see if he had his utility belt or preferably pants handy. Though as he sat up and pulled back the curtain he found out he had a guard. Raven was sitting in a visitor's chair head settled reading a book seeming emersed he almost debated whether she would notice. Often she could read through everything after living in such close proximity to the other Titans.
He saw a neatly folded uniform on the table outside of the curtain. He could not smell it, so it had to be a different one than he had been wearing. He began to tiptoe out of bed reaching for the suit hoping not to make unnecessary noise, when a black barrier stopped his hand.
"I'll let the doctor know you're awake." Raven spoke and the black barrier appeared on the windows and door handle as soon as she swooped out the door. She and Cyborg were strict on medical advice which was a bad thing in this scenario since a doctor would put him out of condition for two weeks due to the severity and number it was. That brain damage would kick in somewhere down the line. Though he knew he would be fine in a few days.
"Well, well let's see what the matter with our resident hero is." A doctor said a little too cheery for his headache walking in with Raven behind him.
"Just a headache." He said playing it off as a milder case.
"Hmm with loss of consciousness, regurgitation, and a goose egg you can see from space. With your provided records you understand why I doubt it is just a headache. Do you consent to treatment?"
"Sure." He wanted to say no but knew it would be just more trouble.
"Good, we are going to do some tests, standard memory, reflexes, and cognitive. Would you like your friend to stay or?" He broke off.
"Raven, would you mind? I won't run." He said as he would like a chance to talk to the doctor in private.
"Fine with me." She said and left the door swing touch with out her closing it.
"I'm going to need you to close your eyes and touch your nose with your pointer finger." He said as they began the standard tests which Robin knew concluded concussion.
"I am not going to keep you for observation, but I need you to follow the instructions. I want to see you putting your own safety ahead of Jump for two weeks, no alien invasions, no time travel, no high tier battles or whatever you have on your schedule." He was a funny doctor the best kind. "If you feel worse come back, but stay in bed as much as you can."
"Thank you doctor." He said and looked at the papers received.
"I am going to let you get changed, but I believe your ride is coming through the window when you are ready. Also refrain from operating any bat or bird themed vehicles." Ah Starfire was picking him up. He was a little surprised since she was the absolute worst at receiving medical treatment. She didn't like hospitals or labs. She was a good nurse on bed rest, but the hospital was hard for her.
He got dressed and sat on his bed for a moment trying to decide what was the best next move. He would have to heal, his aim was off and he would be a liability. Though he did not want to leave the team short handed. He sent a message off asking if they were free for the next two weeks. It could be a bit before they would respond. Themyscrira was not known for having good service. Though he sent Starfire a simple text that said, ready and in moments a light tap came from outside his window.
"Are you feeling better? Do you have everything?" She asked hovering in the room. They shared the desire to be anywhere else.
"Yeah, let's go." He decided to tuck the file in his belt and entered her open arms where she quickly took away his anxiety with the signature true Starfire hug of hers.
Donna still had not responded by the time dinner rolled around which was not unusual thinking of the time difference he forgot earlier. He had been ushered into his room for a shower and then bed rest. The shower did make him feel better, and the dimness of the room was better than the hospital. His file was gone which he assumed Cyborg had updated their records and briefed Starfire in a way she would enforce the instructions. Having a super alien girlfriend had many perks, but she was stubborn about his well being. He would likely not be on Titan duties until he was cleared officially. Good thing he had tried to get a fill in.
He laid down after changing into pajama pants and put an arm over his eyes trying to see if any of his tricks would help. Eventually his headache eased, and he felt like he had more of his bearings. Which was a good thing since Starfire had come with sushi take out.
"Are you hungry?" She asked as went to get a towel to lay out on his bed so they could eat together. She liked when they could share a meal like this and watch a movie, but there would be no movies at the moment.
"I should probably eat. Did I?" There was no good way to apologize for potentially throwing up on your girlfriend.
"No, I dodged." She said reading his mind and getting out the board they used as a table from the side of his desk. "I got your usual and a few other rolls if you want to try mine."
"You can turn on the light if you need." He offered even though it would hurt.
"I can see everything just fine. Though maybe I should light a candle so you can." She said and lit a candle on the bedside behind his back. It provided light without making his ears rings. She was lucky with her built in night vision. "Cyborg says the light sensitivity will be bad for a few days."
"It'll get better." He said breaking his chop sticks apart.
"Okay." She said catching he was done with the conversation and pulled him in for an improtu kiss. He smiled into it before she pulled back feeling slightly better than before.
"What was that for?" He asked since while it was pleasant it was random.
"It seemed wise to kiss you before eating an 'atomic' amount of wasabi." She answered which made him laugh and grateful. She could handle heat better than him and that would have sliced his appetite.
"Good idea. Thank you for getting dinner, this is perfect." He said grateful she had put effort in making him feel better.
"Of course. Do not attempt to get hurt more often for this treatment." She said trying to be funny but slightly missing the mirth in her tone.
"I'm okay, and I will be more careful next time I'm out in the field." He said and she seemed to relax. "How did the battle end?"
She gave a report on the battle and read notes from the others since he was supposed to take it easy. He was admittedly tired which was a side effect. She caught on after the second yawn.
"I'll let you get some rest." She said breaking off her sentence in tune with him. She started to clean up his space, placing everything where it belonged. "I am glad they agreed to send you home."
"Me too." He replied and she moved forward to hug him shifting them both to cuddle in the bed. Her motions were gentle that it didn't jostle him too much. "You're so warm." He said as it was cozy having her next to him like this. She didn't spend every night over and sometimes he went to hers, but he knew that she would leave tonight. She often would check on him, but not stay with injuries.
"You're so sweet." She said and kissed his forehead before finding his hand to apply her fingers the pressure point she used when he had headaches. It did dull some of the pain. "Goodnight." She said slipping away from him gently her nose skimming against his before she ducked down for one more goodnight kiss, but she pulled back before his fingers could trap in her hair and keep her close.
"Goodnight." He whispered back as she blew out the candle and sweet darkness was returned.
It had been a few hours worth of sleep before he was awoken by his communicator beeping signaling a call. He reached for it from his nightstand and answered it without opening his eyes.
"Hello." He answered still a bit sleepier and sluggish than he would be in other circumstances.
"Well, I see why you called." It was a voice he hadn't heard in a while.
"Donna, how have you been?" He said and at least sat up a bit more.
"Better than you. I'm glad you called in some help, concussions get worse the more you have them. Hera knows you and Wally are in a contest to see who can get the most."
"I think he is still in the lead." There had been some unfortunately low bars in his early practices.
"Yeah some contests are not worth winning." She said and he peeked his eyes open slightly to see her smiling.
"Strong words from the woman who has caused some of them." He responded back enjoying banter from an old friend.
"Yeah, I guess I owe you one. Which is why I'm guessing you are calling? To cash one in."
"My team is putting me on lockdown to heal. Wally has covered for me so many times I don't want to ask. Would you mind taking a vacation from your paradise island and filling in?"
"I think I can manage it. You're in Jump now right?" She asked and he nodded.
"Yeah, they can mostly handle everything themselves, but having numbers is important if we have the HIVE Five strike."
"Makes sense, I'm excited to meet your team, I meant to more last time I was around, but I got busy."
"They're a good team. I should be on my feet soon, it just would make me feel better having you around. They wouldn't mind company either." He unfortunately had a nail of pain strike him which must have been obvious.
"Alright, I'll be there when I can." She said and her tone was more of hero voice.
"Thank you." He responded and she promptly hung up. He sent a note to Cyborg that Donna was coming since they had met briefly in a previous interaction in the Watch Tower. He was going to try and sleep in if possible.
By the time he woke up his ankle had remembered it had been bruised as well. Though it meant that his headache was reduced enough to notice it. He simply turned over so he could try and get some more rest, but when he closed his eyes he knew that was a harder task now. He was too awake now.
Maybe he should brief the other Titans about their guest.
He found some sunglasses to help with any instances of light sensitivity. He found out that the noise sensitivity was also in play when Beast Boy was complaining about their not being any waffles even though no one had taken out the box. He had done this to himself last time.
"It is okay friend, we have some wonderful bagels." Starfire said trying to cheer him up.
"Or you can eat some of the vegan breakfast burritos filling up half of the freezer." Cyborg said since fridge space was often a little tight.
"Maybe I will." He said and then went to grab one. "Oh, hey Rob good to see you are up."
"I was going to bring you a Bagel." Starfire said and he noticed some were in the toaster. She had gotten better at reheating things without turning them into her preferred charcoal texture.
"Thanks, I just wanted to move around a little bit." He said since it was the truth. He did not like sitting around too much it brought on extra time to be on the dark side of his worries. "Cyborg did you get my message?"
"Yeah, I was printing some briefings out for her, I think Beast Boy has met her too now thinking of it."
"Who?" Beast Boy and Starfire echoed at the same time and Raven looked over invested in an answer.
"Wonder girl, she's just going to be some extra back up while I'm down so I can actually relax. She should be arriving today." He answered and took the bagel that was offered with some cream cheese
"Oh, she's cool!" Beast Boy said as he must have had a positive interaction.
"I'm glad you're taking your health seriously." Raven said and went to prepare her own breakfast.
"Glorious, it is always nice meeting new Earth heroes. What is she like?" Starfire asked sitting up on the counter.
"Well, she is kind of like Wonder Woman in powers, super strength, battle trained, and has her own weapons." He said kind of giving a basic overview of her abilities.
"Hmmm weapons." She hummed looking up, "I assume you knew her from your days of kicking sides."
"You can say that, Wonder Woman is a little more protective, so she's been working on her fighting skills for the past few years after an incident. She's pretty easy to get along with though and I trust her to be extra help if for some reason you need it."
"I trust your judgement." She said and glanced at the window.
"She was fun last time we met, though you know we don't need a babysitter." Cyborg said.
"Think of it as peace of mind for me, I know you have it dialed, but you can never go wrong with back up." Robin defended since he didn't want to go down that road with him once again. "If I am benched I want to know my team still will score."
"Do you need anything from Gotham?" Starfire asked as she was now looking at the clock.
"No, why?" Robin asked taken aback.
"Alfred sent a message earlier saying he made you a batch of feel better soup. I was going to do the picking it up." She said and he was grateful and embarrassed at the same time. If Alfred knew something embarrassing had to be in the news and then Bruce would know. Though the "feel better" soup Alfred made was really enjoyable and nostalgic. Alfred would sometimes do check ins on him via Starfire since they met so it wasn't a bog surprise.
"That's nice of him, but I would rather you not linger in Gotham." He answered so she would hopefully not hang around too long.
"Okay. Maybe I should do some shopping for Wonder Girl, so she has something to eat." She answered.
"Good idea." Raven said and started writing out a list. "I am out of some things so I might join you."
"That would be wonderful friend. I'll leave for Gotham now." She said and moved to grab her long-distance food cooler. It was extra insulated which helped food stay warm or cool and together when she flew super fast. "See you later." She said and gave him a light forehead touch before taking off. It was a Tamaranian form of affection.
"Lucky." Beast Boy muttered lowly. "Is feel better soup vegetarian by any chance?"
"Nope." He said since the chicken was a highlight.
"Wonder girl can stay in guest room 7, if someone wants to open up the windows and stock it. She's been out of general population for a bit so give her a break if she needs some reminders."
"I think we can cover that." Cyborg said before changing his demeanor. "I'll cover paperwork while you're out so don't worry about that. I remember how much like trash I felt after a nasty concussion while I was still playing football so good for you for taking it easy."
"Yeah." He said since he was feeling his headache return with power. "I'm going to go back to bed for a bit."
He had not truly fallen asleep, but somehow time flashed in a blink. He knew that from his legs cramping that he was in need of electrolytes. Maybe Star had come back and gone shopping. She would have picked up the blue Gatorade he preferred.
She was very sweet and caring when someone was hurt after getting past the anger at whoever hurt them. She had final blowed Killer Moth, and apparently given Cinderblock a start for a nose job when he went down. Scary if she crossed the line, but with repetition of expectations they'd gotten to a good place with that. Though who wasn't that way, the line existed for a reason.
He got dressed into some fresh clothes since he needed to be somewhat prepared for company when Donna came. It'd been a few years since they worked directly together, but it was good when they had. Communication, strategizing, and skill in a fight were a big perk of working with her. She was a powerhouse much like Starfire but was a little more used to how things went on Earth. She and Wally hung out a ton and it was just easy as a team until she got hurt…
He walked out of his room and checked to see if guest room 7 was stocked. He knocked first just in case and was happy to see windows open and a bed made up. They had more rooms than guests, so some needed a little double check.
He then continued on to the main area where he found no one there. Though when he went to investigate the fridge he found it fully stocked and a pot of soup that he knew would have chunks of chicken, star pasta, and wavy cut carrots with the perfect seasoning. He went ahead and put the pot on the stove to heat himself up a portion.
He wasn't supposed to watch screens or read so he ended up turning on some tv as background noise. It was a sitcom, but it wasn't too bothersome to change. It just made the space seem less empty since it appeared everyone was otherwise occupied. It was peaceful and unsettling in a weird way. Did they go on a mission? He hadn't heard an alarm. Did Donna come? He debated sending out a message, but he wasn't wanting to see micromanaging. He knew he could come off that way easily.
Though he finished his soup with just the background noise and an internal debate whether he should call Alfred and tell him thank you. He decided he would when he was feeling better in case Bruce was eavesdropping waiting for a lecture moment. The elevator dinged signaling that he was no longer alone.
"Hey dude!" Beast Boy said and did a big wave. He wished that he came with a volume dampener since his head did not respond well.
"Careful." Raven chided as she must have caught his wince.
"Good soup?" Cyborg asked referencing a meme. Robin turned back and saw that three of his teammates had returned via elevator, but his girlfriend was still absent.
"Yeah, you guys can have some if you want to try."
"Thanks dude, but we are pretty stuffed. Donna showed up and the first thing she wanted was pizza so we just got back." Cyborg explained and put a box in the fridge.
"That makes sense, where is Donna now?" He asked since it seemed odd they hadn't came back as a group.
"She didn't have any civilian clothes so Starfire took her to the mall. Who knows when we will see them again." Beast Boy said shrugging his shoulders. Ah that would make sense.
"How did she seem?" He asked more looking at Raven since she was the empath.
"Glad to be here. She seemed excited to be back in a city." Raven said and seemed neutral to the situation which was a good thing.
"Makes sense, it's only temporary so it'll be like a mini vacation…hopefully." He responded. "Everyone get along?"
"No reason not to, but I think your girlfriend is overly excited to have another girl around." Cyborg said and after the disappointment of Terra that was likely true.
"That's not a surprise, Donna is really chill so I'm sure they'll be fine." Starfire could be a lot… Too much for Raven. He loved she was a lot, but he knew plenty of people were intimidated by her. Donna was not intimidated easily.
"I'm sure, it's a pretty mellow night out there. We did a quick patrol and checked at the jail and it's pretty under control for the time being. You might have found a good time to recover if it stays this smooth." Cyborg said and Raven knocked on wood.
"We'll see." He said and let them continue to talk listening in.