Nightmare
PortofSeas, a.k.a. Shigure-Sensei or Talon.
Disclaimer: Next to last chapter and I still don't own Teen Titans. I hate life.
Thank you so much for reviewing. I now have an average of seven reviews per chapter! Someone asked for a longer chapter, so this and the next one will be longer. Special thanks to A Titans Fan, my most loyal reviewer! Glomps My friends have started joking that I can't post a chapter till I get a review from you, lol. But seriously, thank you all for reviewing! And see? Just because I wrote that other fic doesn't mean I forgot this one.
Chapter 8: The Unwelcome VisitorAs the days wore on, Robin's condition steadily improved. At first, his body rejected everything he tried to eat, but with help from Batman, he managed to get it under control.
"You're lucky I didn't send you to the hospital," Batman told him one day as they both watched TV in the living room. "That was very rash and irresponsible of you to do that."
"Four days and you're still onto me?" Robin moaned. "Can't you just drop it? I get it."
"I'm not going to drop it until you've made a complete recovery."
"I think the only thing that makes me sick anymore is the thought of chicken noodle soup!" Robin said disgusted. "If I have to stomach one more bowl…"
"That's what happens when you get sick," Batman said simply. "But that's not what I was talking about. We need to get to the bottom of this nightmare problem."
"I thought we already did," Robin flipped channels. "Slade just got to me. I'm sure it'll go away."
"Things like that don't just go away, Robin," Batman reprimanded.
"It's not that big a deal. Come on, didn't the Joker ever get to you?"
Batman's face was an emotionless mask.
"No."
"What about the Riddler?"
"No."
"Penguin? Poison Ivy? Dr. Freeze?"
"The only thing that bothers me is the thought of you getting into trouble again."
Robin grinned.
"It's Harley, isn't it? She creeps you out."
Batman's stare fell hard on Robin.
"You need to be more careful, Robin. This could be more serious than you think."
"I know already, it's just…I don't like being treated like a little kid."
"Nobody's treating you like a kid. It's all in your mind. But you do have to remember that technically, you are a kid, and therefore have limits."
"Teenager," Robin corrected. Batman grinned.
"It's all the same to me."
Robin rolled his eyes.
"Glad to see you haven't changed. By the way, who's protecting Gotham while you're here?"
"Batgirl."
"I was afraid you'd say that. She's a little bit…"
"Pushy, eccentric? A little bit of both."
"At least she listens to Alfred…sorta."
"He's her uncle," Batman reminded him. "He actually has authority most of the time."
"Hope she's having fun."
The door slid open and the other titans stepped in.
"Well, Robin, it looks like every criminal in the city officially knows you're under the weather," Cyborg announced sarcastically. Starfire flew over and sat next to him, Batman hardly moving.
"Joy!" she exclaimed. "My favorite show, The World of Fungus, is to come on this channel shortly."
Batman and Robin exchanged a glance and both scrambled for the remote. Unfortunately, it slipped out of their hands and into Starfire's. The other titans came and sat down beside them, positioning themselves as far away from Batman as they could.
"Please be cancelled, please be cancelled!" Cyborg whispered, crossing his fingers. The show title flashed on, and the episode name:
When Good Toenails Go Bad!
Starfire's face fell.
"Oh, it is a rerun."
"Thank you!" Cyborg cried, snatching the remote from her hands and changing channels. Beast Boy, however, snatched it away and changed it.
"Ah ah ah! My turn for the remote!"
"Is not you little twerp!"
Raven stood and walked off.
"I'm going to my room."
"Gimme the remote, dude!"
"No way!" Cyborg yelled.
Starfire reached into the scrimmage and retrieved the remote, flipping the channel.
"Please, friends," she urged. "Let us sit together and please watch something together."
"Like what?" Beast Boy asked.
"Perhaps this pleasant documentary," she answered, gesturing toward the screen, "about the fascinating world of the micro-organisms that dwell on the human skin."
Cyborg and Beast Boy paled, and tackled Starfire.
Batman turned to Robin.
"Aren't you worried if every criminal in the city knows you're sick?"
Robin shrugged.
"I've been out of it for over a week. If something hasn't happened yet, I doubt anything will."
"If you say so."
The sound of a flushing toilet echoed through the dark, empty hall of Titan Tower. Beast Boy stepped out of the bathroom, stretching and yawning profoundly. Scratching behind his green ear absently, he made his way down the hallway back to his room.
Behind him, the shadows seemed to shift from one wall to the other. Beast Boy stopped and glanced back, but found nothing. Shrugging, he turned and kept on toward his room.
The shadows shifted again and Beast Boy let out a yell as a figure garbed in black tackled him.
Robin sat upright in bed, breathing heavily and shivering. Batman reached over and gripped his shoulder.
"I'm all right," Robin insisted. "This one wasn't so bad."
"You're getting better," Batman agreed. He grinned at Robin, who returned the informality. "You should be back on your feet in no time." Robin's smile faded.
"Then you go back to Gotham, right?"
"Probably," Batman said with a shrug. "Who knows what kind of havoc I'll return to?" He released Robin's shoulder and messed up his already unkempt hair. "Don't worry; I'll keep in better touch. I don't want you going and doing something like this again."
Robin nodded.
"Well, it's just…I haven't seen you in so long. Could you stay a little bit longer?" he pressed.
"Of course," Batman's hand fell to Robin's back, as though he didn't want to loose that comforting physical contact. Robin felt grateful.
"Thanks," the teen said in relief, smiling slightly. "I know you have work to do, but I feel like I'm caught in the calm before the storm, you know? I just…need you to be here."
Batman patted his shoulder.
"Get some rest," the entrepreneur ordered. "I'm going to get some water."
Robin nodded, leaning back into his pillows.
"Night."
Batman turned on the sink to fill his glass with water, his senses habitually open and wary. Despite the security of the tower, he couldn't get over the careful paranoia that seemed to come each time he donned his suit. He nearly jumped at the sound of footsteps, but recognized the common click of platform boots, a common sound for many women he passed back in Gotham.
"I did not mean to disturb you," Starfire said. "I wished only to pour some milk to be warmed, that it might help my sleep."
"Don't mind me," Batman leaned against the counter and took a cup of water. Almost hesitantly, the Tamaranian made her way to the cupboard, then the refrigerator as she poured herself a glass of milk, and then popped it in the microwave. The whole time, Batman just watched her silently. Starfire turned and they stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Please, I wish to know. How is Robin?" she said, breaking the silence.
"He's fine. I expect he'll be over it soon," Batman replied. "It was mainly emotional trauma." He paused for a few seconds, carefully considering his words. "This man, Slade. Any idea how he managed to get to Robin like that?"
"I am not sure," Starfire folded her hands together. "But Robin has overcome much since Slade first appeared."
"Is he gone?" Batman asked.
"It would appear so, but after so long, it is hard to accept for all of us, Robin especially."
"They have a tendency to do that, and they're seldom just 'gone'!"
Starfire nodded. "We suspected as much, and though we tried to keep it from him, he still is haunted by the memory of his greatest foe."
The microwave beeped and Starfire pulled out the milk, blowing softly on it before taking a sip.
"Robin's strong," Batman assured her. "He's not going to let this keep running his life."
"You and Robin are more alike than you know," she told him with a smile.
"I'm choosing to take that as a compliment," he took another sip of water.
"You are both able to 'take a hit,' as you might say, and keep on going. To me, that is the most notable similarity yet among other things."
"Should I ask what those are?"
Starfire was about to answer when a loud crash diverted their attention. Stimulated by the lightning reflexes developed in their line of work, Batman and Starfire abandoned their late night drinks and dashed into the hall. Scattered across the floor was one of their few hall plants, uprooted, its pot shattered. Briefly, Starfire knelt down to examine the mess before turning her eyes to the hall.
"Who is there?" she called. Predictably, there was no answer. Batman joined her on the floor, peering closely.
"It looks like an accident," he announced. "Someone just knocked into it and ran off."
"But, what could that mean?" Starfire questioned in confusion. Stone-faced, Batman peered into the dark of the corridor.
In the dark of the night, small beeping lights went off, waking Cyborg and Raven from their slumber. Instinctively, they sprang out of their beds and dashed down the halls to the control room. Raven, passing the broken plant, paused and knelt down. Laid carefully atop the rubble, as though carefully placed not long ago, was a note of the same paper they usually used in the tower.
Curious, she plucked the paper off the mess, stood up, and opened its hastily creased edges. Her eyes skimmed over the words and widened as she let out a gasp. Clenching her fist, she dashed into the control room.
Robin's eyes flickered open and he sat up in the bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He glanced around. Where was-oh yeah, he left to get some water.
Robin was shocked to full wakefulness by a sudden yell outside his room.
Beast Boy?
Hastily, he stumbled out of his bed and swung open the door. The hallway loomed empty, dark, and ominous to either side.
"Beast Boy?" he hissed, taking a few hesitant steps out his room. Something wasn't right. He could feel it in his stomach. His stomach…he winced as it churned painfully. He made a mental note never to skip a meal again…and get checked for ulcers.
Silently, Robin paddled down the hall, his dull senses alert for any sign of life. The hair stood up on the back of his neck and chills ran down his spine. This couldn't be right. Usually, there was some kind of noise, like Beast Boy making a midnight trip to the bathroom, or Cyborg snoring. It was just eerie.
His stomach lurched again, filling him with an all-too-familiar feeling of nausea. This was going to have to wait. One hand over his mouth to guard it, he rushed to the nearest bathroom.
"What's the situation?" Cyborg asked, stifling a yawn. "And where's-"
"There's someone in the tower!" a familiar voice called. Raven bound into the room, clutching a piece of paper in one hand.
"We know," Starfire explained.
"They must have gotten past your security somehow," Batman told them.
"Hey, ain't no way anybody got past my system," Cyborg retorted proudly. "I just upgraded her."
"Which is why it's so incredible."
Raven, eyes wide with frustration, snapped:
"They've got Beast Boy and Robin!" she handed Batman the wrinkled note. "They don't mention Beast Boy, so he must have been an accident."
"How do you know they've got B?" Cyborg asked.
"Do you see him anywhere?"
Batman took off suddenly down the hall, and none of the titans had to ask where he was headed.
The black-cloaked hero threw open Robin's door and flipped on the light. But the room was empty, bereft of the sole reason Batman had come to Jump City. His hand tightened on the doorframe and he spun around to face the three titans, who started stonily back.
"When someone says they've kidnapped someone, it's usually the truth around here," Cyborg told him gloomily.
"The note says to meet him at the docks in about an hour," Raven pointed out. "I think we should go ahead."
"But what if it is a trap?" Starfire asked.
"We'll know if it is," Batman insisted. "If he has both of them maybe whatever he's planning won't work as well as he'd planned."
The streets were home to few people this late at night. Even the lowest scum of gangs and muggers hid in the shadows or subways, not straying out into the open roads. The only forms that moved undaunted by the faint breeze or chill were four heroes.
"Why aren't we hiding or something?" Cyborg asked. "He could be watching us now."
"Which is exactly why we're walking," Batman explained. "We want to draw him out."
"But what if our friends are not with him?" Starfire asked woefully.
"We take out the person who doesn't want us to find them," Raven told the Tamaranian. "Then we search."
"This isn't the greatest plan," Cyborg said uncertainly. Batman didn't turn back, but answered in a low voice.
"We weren't caught in the greatest situation."
Robin stood wearily and flushed the toilet, wiping the sweat off his forehead. His nerves were taut, and the uneasy nervousness only made him feel sick again. He ran the water and washed out his mouth, trying to rid himself of the awful taste of bile that lingered in his throat. With a start, he peered at his reflection in the mirror. He knew he had gotten better since Batman had come but…he was still so thin. Logically, he had known he'd lost a bit of weight, but it still shocked him a bit.
Robin glanced down at his hands momentarily before turning back to the mirror. First he wouldn't eat, then he couldn't eat, and now he was hardly managing to finish a thin bowl of soup.
He looked so fragile. As much as he hated to admit it, he looked like he would break if someone wasn't gentle with him. Weak and frail. How had he let this happen? Let his own bullheaded doggedness do this to him.
Robin shook his head and stumbled out the bathroom, into the silent ball. Something scurried across the light at the other end, sounding in his ear. Robin jumped back, his heart pounding. Someone was in the tower…he had to warn the others! Taking off down the hall, he threw open Beast Boy's door, crying out the shape shifter's name. But, the empty room did not answer; the still bed sheets awaiting their owner's return.
Robin turned heal and dashed toward Cyborg's room, but again his yell echoed in the room, and the quiet flashing machines held no clue to where the titan was.
He pounded on Raven's door, and then opened it. Somehow, he knew she was not there amidst the dark shadows.
At last he charged into Starfire's room, and his last flicker of hope died. Gone, all of them. Had the intruder already gotten to them?
"Batman!" he yelled, barreling into the living room. "Batman? Batman!"
In the kitchen beside him, a half empty glass sat alone and forgotten.
Robin fell to his knees, half leaning on the counter, feeling he was about to collapse on the floor. No…no, no…Everyone was gone. Even the person he felt safest with had disappeared. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily. He couldn't panic…he needed to calm down and figure out what to do.
"All alone, Robin? Whatever will you do?"
Robin jumped and coughed, eyes suddenly wide. It wasn't possible.
"I'm dreaming again," he insisted. "You're not here."
"Am I not? What's the difference between dream and reality?"
Robin whirled around, trying to peer through the sudden darkness that enveloped him. There was a surreal quality about everything, and his very words seemed unreal.
"You're dead. You can't be here, not if it's real."
"Well then, Robin. If you're so convinced you're only sleeping. I'll just have to kill you in your dreams."
In the dark, the intruder crept into the room, drawn by Robin's yells. But the boy's fever-hot and nightmare-plagued mind transformed him into Slade. Foolishly, Robin charged, but the intruder was ready. He caught Robin's arm and flung him into the wall. Robin let out a weak sort of whimper as his limp form fell to the ground.
He glanced up, and saw Slade towering silently, cockily over him. Hot anger swelled within the titan and he clambered to his feet. His head throbbed and his chest heaved from the exertion. He was still in no physical condition for this. But all logic was pushed from his mind, all his thought focused on his opponent.
He charged again aiming a purposeful kick at the man's stomach. He chocked and stumbled back, but did not miss an opportunity to catch Robin's ankle and threw him.
Cyborg ran a scan of the docks, glancing at his arms as he did so.
"Bio signs say we're the only ones here," Cyborg reported. "Robin and Beast Boy definitely aren't here."
"Then why would the note say they were?" Starfire wondered aloud. Batman's eyes narrowed. Without so much as a word, he walked to the edge and leapt off, landing with only the faintest of thuds on the sandy beach. Strapped to one of the legs of the dock was a small device with a timer counting purposefully down from sixty seconds. Deftly, he stripped it of its meter casing and cut one of the wires with something from his utility belt. The timer flickered and died.
Batman climbed up the rocks and back up onto the dock. He tossed the device on the planks beneath their feet.
"Whatever he had in mind, it wasn't to give us a chance to get Robin back."
"Then where are our friends?" Starfire asked.
"Right under our noses," Batman explained dismally.
"The tower!" Cyborg cried.
Robin gasped and clutched his sides, clinging to the sofa to pull himself up. This should have been like every other nightmare, but everything was darker…and everything hurt so much more. Heaving, he charged at Slade's still form again, he cried out as a hard blow fell between his shoulder blades. It seemed that every hit he took only made it harder to fight back. The only thing that angered him more that his own petty weakness was that Slade didn't have a scratch on him.
Outside Robin's mind, the intruder was taking a worse end than the Boy Wonder thought. The kid looked like he would pass out at any minute, but still he managed to go on beating him. He struggled to catch his limbs, dodge his blows, and defend himself without killing the boy. His employer had specifically requested Robin alive. He wiped away a thin dribble of blood from the corner of his bleeding lip.
Robin charged, beginning the fight anew. He could tell the boy's strength was waning…maybe it would all be over soon.
"Just give up," he rasped as he caught Robin's arm.
Robin growled in anger, panted and looking over Slade.
"Just give up," the apparition instructed. "You can never hope to defeat me. Why bother killing yourself trying?"
The intruder grasped and dodged a decisive kick toward his midsection. The boy seemed to have heard a lot more than those simple three words.
The door suddenly burst open, ad the intruder let out a yelp as something sharp and fast struck his hand. A black bat-shape embedded itself in the sofa. Before he could react, a green flash blinded him momentarily, before throwing him back with a tremendous force.
Robin wavered on his feet and fell to his knees, breathing heavily, sweat dripping off his forehead. Everything was utterly dark and silent. He felt so lost all of a sudden. Alone and without a purpose.
"Robin!" Batman let out a yell and dashed toward his former sidekick. The intruder took advantage of their sudden worry and jumped to his feet, dashing out the doors.
"Hey!" Cyborg cried but Raven stopped him.
"Let him go. Something tells me he isn't worth it. Besides, we need to find Beast Boy."
They nodded toward Batman and Starfire and took off in separate directions. Batman paid them no heed, kneeling before Robin in concern.
"Robin," he said gently. "Are you alright?" There was no response. He reached forward and placed his hand on Robin's shaking shoulders.
Robin eyes widened and he jumped back, his fever-sick mind still warping his hazed vision.
"Don't touch me!" he exclaimed. Batman was struck with confusion and disbelief.
"Robin-"
"No!" Robin cried, fear cracking his voice. "Stay away from me, Slade!"
Batman retreated a few steps, reluctant to come near the boy.
"He's hallucinating," he said, more to himself than Starfire. "It must be panic-induced."
"He believes you are Slade," she murmured, aghast.
Batman and Robin stood, facing one another, each too hesitant to approach the other.
Raven heard muffled cries echoing down the hall. She made her way to the source, a simple closet holding their seldom-used cleaning supplies. Beast Boy sat bound and gagged amidst the dusty brooms and maps. Without even bending down she snapped the ropes with her mind. Beast Boy peeled the bonds off of him with disdain.
"Man, I'm never gonna look at this closet the same way again," he complained.
"Beast Boy, I need you to tell me exactly what happened."
"I got up to get some water," he explained. "Someone jumped me, tied me up, and threw me in there. Do you know what it's like to be stuck in a closet that long? Geez, I thought you'd notice when I knocked over the vase!"
Raven flipped on her communicator.
"Cyborg, I found Beast Boy. He's just fine."
"Okay then," Cyborg's voice said. "Let's meet up back in the control room. I want to check out Robin's condition."
Beast Boy turned to Raven, confused.
"Robin? Is something wrong with him?"
"He had a run-in with the intruder. He looked pretty weak, so we'll want to get him back into bed soon. Come on."