Chapter 23
Batman nearly choked when he got the call from Beast Boy. Hurriedly, he fixed on Beast Boy's location, called the Titans, and they all ran for the car. Slade had escaped, but that didn't mean that he was going to find Robin first.
It took only forty minutes to get from where they were to the boarding house where Robin was. Once they pulled up, Batman couldn't seem to make his legs work. There the Boy Wonder was, sitting on the porch sipping cocoa, and he couldn't get himself out of the car and up the stairs to the porch.
The Titans didn't suffer any problems, though. Once they spotted Robin, they were out of the car so fast that Batman could have sworn he'd heard the sound barrier break behind them. As one, they swarmed the porch shouting Robin's name.
Space
"Robin!"
Robin dropped his mug of cocoa, not quite sure that he had heard what he had. That sounded like Starfire! Where?
She came flying out of the darkness, arms open wide, and scooped him up into a bone-crushing hug. She clung to him, crying his name over and over again as if she couldn't believe he was real, and began sobbing into his shirt. Cyborg suddenly appeared next to them, saying "Dude! Dude! Aw, it's great ta see ya!" and Raven was smiling. That in itself was surprising. Beast Boy had sprung up from nowhere in basset hound form, and was jumping up and down, trying to lick Robin's face.
Randall was staring at the Titans. "Friends of yours, I take it?"
"Yep, these are the Titans." Robin said, smiling. He was close to breaking down in tears.
"You're the Robin?" Rosemary gasped.
Robin could only grin at her.
"Cool," remarked several people on the porch. They went back to what they were doing. Apparently, remarkable things were everyday occurrences to them, and they weren't about to make a fuss. All sorts found their way to the boardinghouse after time.
A man came out of the shadows then, and was staring at Robin. Not quite sure who it was, and by instinct, Robin waited for one of Batman's call signals. After all, Slade could have followed the Titans there in disguise.
"99392," he said, and Robin knew that it was Batman. Leaving his circle of friends, he all but flew into the Caped Crusader's arms and allowed himself to break down. Batman's arms wrapped around him and held him close, and Batman could feel the guy's shoulders shaking with emotion. He was found by his friends, and Batman was there. He was safe. Safe! Safe!
"Well, isn't this just a lovely little scene," everyone heard.
Robin felt ice form in his blood. Turning, he saw Slade standing at the foot of the porch stairs, surrounded by Slade bots.
"I've come to fetch my apprentice," he said, as the Slade bots began up the stairs towards Robin.
