Chapter Five
The other Titans were already engaged in breakfast when Raven arrived. She prepared herself some herbal tea, and sat in the lounge.
"How's our guest?" Robin asked her.
"He's fine." Raven said. "Still unconscious, but other than that, he's okay."
"He won't be if he doesn't get some food." said Cyborg. "Otherwise, we'll have to feed him intravenously."
"Huh?" asked Beast Boy. "What's that mean?"
"It means you inject nutrients into the body directly, rather than getting them from food." Raven explained.
"Oh. That's just weird!" the changeling said.
"Should we prepare for such a thing?" Starfire said.
"We'd have to take him to a hospital." said Raven. "And they'd ask too many questions."
"That settles it, then." Robin said, standing up. "We should wake him today."
"Are you sure?" the mystic asked him.
"Yes. We need to know what happens tomorrow and how we might stop it."
"Does it have to be stopped?"
"Why not?"
"Even if you go back in time, we still have the future Robin to continue in your place. And he is you, remember?"
"But we don't know exactly what the circumstances were, now do we?"
"I could find out from the T-ship's recording device." said Cyborg.
"I didn't know it had one of those." Beast Boy said.
"You also don't know how to program a DVD recorder." Smiling, Cyborg led Beast Boy to the elevator.
Robin heaved a sigh. "Come on, let's see about waking up our guest."
Raven threw her hands up in exasperation, leading the way to the infirmary.
Once there, she searched for stimulants.
"There are no guarantees this will work." she told Robin as she checked the syringe.
"I don't care. We have to know what happened!"
Shrugging, Raven took the other Robin's arm and injected the stimulant. She then monitored his vitals. "Heart rate is going up." she announced. "Brain waves are changing. Looks like he's coming around."
The twin Robin stirred, moaning. He slowly opened his eyes. Starfire stood over him, staring down at his face. "Robin? Can you understand me? It is I, Starfire!"
He stared at her, a look of confusion on his face. He tried to get up, but Raven held him down. He grunted in protest. "It's for your own good!" she said, struggling with him as he tried to squirm off the bed.
Raven used her powers to hold him down. "Robin, get restraints on him!" she said.
He did so, strapping his twin self down tightly. When he finished, Raven relinquished her hold on him. "He's confused." she said.
"No shit." Robin deadpanned.
"Why should he be confused?" Starfire asked.
"My guess is that he's disoriented by the time shift." Raven said. "Whatever caused it must not have been too pleasant for him."
Starfire stared at the second Robin with sympathy. She caressed his cheek. "Oh, Robin! What has happened to you?"
Robin began to feel jealousy toward his twin self. "Let me talk to him, Star." he said, standing next to him. He grabbed his shoulders.
"Robin!" he said. "Do you know where you are?"
He stared back at him with confusion.
"Do you know who I am? Who these people are?" His twin only gave confused glances around the room.
"What happened to you?" he asked. "Answer me, Robin!" He heaved a sigh. "Come on! Robin...Timothy! Answer me!"
There still was no answer; only confused glances, as if he was an animal in a cage.
"Robin," said Raven. "I think we ought to give him time."
The Boy Wonder paced the room. "Why can't he talk? What can we do?"
"We must give him time." Starfire said.
Raven's expression brightened. "That's it! He's out of synch with time! I bet as we get closer to the time he left, he'll get better."
Robin nodded. "Good. In the meantime, to avoid confusion, we ought to think of a name to refer to him as." He thought for a moment. "I think Timothy should suffice."
Raven glared at him. "Is that wise?" she said. "It is your real name, after all."
"I'm sure we'll be alright with that." he replied, heading for the lounge. The two girls followed him.
"He seems moody, does he not?" Starfire asked.
"He feels threatened." Raven replied. "We value our uniqueness. Having a duplicate threatens that."
Starfire considered that for a moment. "I believe I know the feeling. I felt resentment when the Trigon made an evil version of myself."
"But that wasn't an exact duplicate. This Robin, er, Timothy, isn't an evil version. He's Robin's future self."
When they entered the lounge, they each sat down on the sofas. Robin appeared to be fuming.
"What is wrong, friend Robin?" Starfire asked him.
"I'm a little frustrated at not knowing what happened with him!" he said, anger in his tone.
"We got your answers here, Robin." Cyborg said tersely as he entered the lounge with Beast Boy. "And believe me, it doesn't look good."