Chapter 13

"Recovering Time Lost"

The smoke was clearing, the stands were empty, there were fallen guards scattered everywhere. Ivy put her face in her hands. It was over now, there was nothing left to try. The cops were quickly filing into the arena. 'At least I won't be going down alone this time,' she thought bitterly, glancing over at where Penguin should have been.

There was nothing in the spot but his empty chair.

* * *

Nearly everyone in the arena looked up in surprise at the sudden scream of rage that echoed out from the spectator's box. Leigh shook her head, "Someone go and get her."

* * *

Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot sighed, finally letting go of his parasol and laying it down in the seat next to him. The limousine was quiet as usual, but the sounds of his own regret-filled thoughts enveloped the small space more than he thought possible. Once again, so close, but no cigar. Ivy would be going back to Arkham, so she surely wouldn't need her share of the profits. That was, at the least, a small (or large, depending on the beholder's view of the value of a dollar) consolation prize. There would always be time for another plan, another scheme. But not tonight…

* * *

Everything was winding down. Robin had passed out long ago, but Star showed no signs of fatigue from carrying him. Quite the opposite in fact; she absolutely refused to let him go. Raven was still working on calming Beast Boy, with some slow signs of progress. The guards were being rounded up by the police and Amy was personally seeing to the carting-off of Poison Ivy. She was raving almost beyond comprehension, screaming as they dragged her off that she was going to kill the Penguin with her own bare hands for deserting her.

Leigh sighed as she slammed the door of the Arkham van and then descended the stairs into the arena once again. The night had been more successful than she had hoped. They hadn't gotten many of the spectators, but she hadn't expected to. There was no way the D.A. could handle trying them all anyway. She approached Star slowly and followed her gaze to where Raven and Beast Boy were.

The Goth was on her knees, hugging the changeling close to her. Beast Boy had his face buried in her chest, and his back was rising and falling quickly with animalistic sobs. She kissed the top of his head gently, and hung her head.

"The boys will both need to be taken to the hospital," Amy said quietly.

"No," came a strong voice from behind her. Batman was approaching, shaking his head slightly at the officer of the police force, "I'll take care of them."

"Are you really sure that's –" she began but stopped short after one stern look from him, "Of course…" she nodded, feeling the color rise in her face, "I'll leave you to it, then." She turned and headed back towards the stairs, stopping only for a moment when she passed Cyborg. "It was nice workin' with ya, Cy," she said, "We'll have to do it again sometimes."

He smiled, "Yeah. If you're ever in Jump City look me up, alright?"

"I'll do that," she said, "It's the big tower in the middle of the bay that's shaped like a 'T', right?"

"That's the place," he said, "Kinda hard ta miss it."

She put a hand on his arm, "See ya 'round," then began jogging up the stairs to the street.

* * *

The world slowly came into focus in front of Robin's eyes as he awoke. It was a local he hadn't seen in years: the high, stalactited ceiling of the Batcave. He tried to sit up, but a jarring pain shot through his entire body and he laid back down quickly.

"Well, look who's up," came a familiar voice and he forced his head to turn to his left. Beast Boy was grinning, lying in a hospital-like bed beside him, covered in bandages. "Welcome back, dude."

"What happened to you?" Robin asked.

"Alfred said I got a bullet through the arm," he said, almost proudly, "I don't remember it though…I was, kind of out of it at the time…"

"What'd you mean?" the leader of the Teen Titans asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Beast Boy blushed as a third voice answered for him, "He means that, in an act of rash bad judgment, he rushed off to your rescue, Master Tim, only to wind up a prisoner himself." Alfred had appeared at Robin's side, changing the bag of donated blood that was flowing slowly into the Boy Wonder's veins through a small plastic tube.

Robin groaned, smirking a bit, "Not that surprising, Alfred. It's good to see you, by the way."

"The feeling is mutual, Master Tim," the old man said with a smile, "Though I would prefer our meetings did not have to be when you are in this sort of condition." He pulled a wet rag out of a basin of water and washed the young man's face with it.

"Wouldn't we all, Alfred?" Bruce Wayne asked, walking down the stairs towards the small group.

"Yes, Master Bruce," Alfred nodded, "I shall go and alert the others of Timothy's reinstatement into the world of the conscious." He turned towards the stairs, leaving Bruce alone with the boys.

"Hey, old man," Robin said, grinning up at his mentor, "Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has. Longer, apparently, than I should have let it be," the boy billionaire said warily, eyeing his bruised and beaten former partner.

Robin turned his eyed downward, blushing, "Guess you had to bail me out, huh? Just like old times?"

Bruce opened his mouth, his harsh words he had recited sticking to his tongue, unable to come out. Watching his shamed tyro, the older man felt something he had not expected: pity. He sighed and watched as the two female members of the Teen Titans came flying (literally) down the stairs, followed by the large, lumbering android. 'I must be getting old…' Bruce thought to himself, knowing he had missed his chance. Instead, he just smiled at Robin, "Just like old times.

"Robin!" Star cried, flinging herself on his chest, and pressing her lips to his, "I am so glad you are conscious at last!"

"Down Star, give him some room to breathe," Cyborg said.

Raven just shook her head and floated over closer to Beast Boy.

Robin gasped in pain, but tried to ignore it as best he could. He was really back. Back amongst his friends and family. Back with Starfire, at last. Her kiss was like a little piece of heaven granted to the hell that was now his body.

Star stroked his face tenderly, tears welling in her eyes. "We are all so happy to have you with us again," she said.

"Both of you," Raven added quietly, putting a hand on Beast Boy's uninjured arm.

"Thanks…" Robin said, "How long have I been out anyway?"

"You mean since you got kidnapped, or just since we saved your butt?" Cyborg asked.

"The first one."

"Almost two weeks."

"Two weeks??" he cried, "Aww, jeez…did I miss anything important?"

"Well, Cyborg's got a cop for a girlfriend," Beast Boy said.

"It's not like that, okay??" the android cried.

"He said 'anything important', Gar," Raven muttered.

"Anyway…" Robin tried again, "You guys caught Penguin and Ivy, right?"

The two females and robot gave each other quick glances before Cyborg spoke, "We got Ivy. She's back up in Arkham now."

"And Penguin?" Robin asked tentatively.

"Like we said…we got Ivy," Raven said.

"Oh come on, guys!"

"There was nothing we could do," Star said quickly, "The waterfowl man was not in the building when the police arrived."

"They searched the perimeter, but couldn't turn up anything," Cyborg said, "He covered his tracks."

"There's no incriminating evidence against him either," Raven said, "According to every source, he wasn't involved."

"Goddammit…" Robin spat.

Bruce Wayne shrugged, "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I'm just glad that you're all okay now. Penguin will get his."

"As they all do, in the end," Alfred added, appearing once again among them, "Now perhaps we could turn our attention towards relocating the young masters up to more comfortable rooms in the house. I always felt that the draft in the cave impeded a quick recovery."

Bruce Wayne nodded, "I'm sure we can find some place for them. After all, there are only 200-plus rooms in this place."

* * *

When Robin had packed his things and left the Manor five years ago, he had wondered if he would ever see it again. Now that he was back in his old room, in his own bed, it was as if he'd never left. He settled back against the feather pillows, he sighed. There was a soft knock on his door. "Come on in."

The door opened and Star stepped in, dressed in calm civilians clothes: blue jeans and a long-sleeve lavender T-Shirt. She shut the door behind her and smiled at him, "I hope I am not disturbing you."

He smiled, "No, not at all." It was a pleasure just getting to talk to Star again. She had been the reason the drug Ivy gave him hadn't made him completely insane.

She sat down beside him on the bed, placing a hand over his. "How are you feeling today?"

"Better," Robin told her, looking up into her eyes, "Better."

"I do wish there was some way I could help to ease your pain," she said sincerely, squeezing his hand.

"I might be able to think of a way or two," he told her, eyes beginning to drift from their lock with hers.

She followed his gaze down to her chest and she smiled in spite of herself. "Is that so?" she asked, lying down beside him, "Do you really think you are strong enough yet?"

WWBD? "I think so. It'll be a good test, won't it?"

"I think I will be gentle…just to be on the safe side," she said, rolling on her side and kissing him.