Chapter 3
The two materialized outside the entrance to the emergency room then went inside, Raven taking a more dignified pace than Robin.
"Cyborg, how'd the surgery go?" Robin asked, seeing his friend by the waiting room door.
"It went fine Rob." he said, "They fixed her internal injuries."
"Cyborg what's wrong?" Robin asked, not liking the tone of Cyborg's voice.
"They said something about the anesthetic they used, reacting with whatever she was drugged with," the big titan explained, "they think she's slipped into a coma, but they won't be sure for another couple of hours, when she's supposed to wake up."
"I want to see her." Robin demanded, his tone brooking no argument, and for once he didn't get one.
"Right this way." Dr. Benson's voice said from behind him.
"Raven come with me." Robin said as they passed her in the hall.
Felling the level of concern in Robin's mind, she quickly fell in step with them.
"She's in there," Dr. Benson told them, indicating a door, "go right on in, you're expected."
Robin put his hand on the knob, and suddenly found himself unable to turn it, to open the door. He pressed his head against the cool, white painted wood, and tried to calm himself down. He jumped when he felt a warm feeling come over his mind.
'Be strong for her.' Raven said from in his mind.
"Yes for her." Robin mumbled, then straightened up and entered the room, nodding his thanks to Raven.
"Robin!" Beast Boy cried when he saw him, "Umm. . . I've been kinda keeping your chair warm for ya."
"Thanks Beast Boy," Robin said. "any change?" Robin watched as the green titan's face fell, and his shoulders slumped.
"No, sorry."
"Raven, I. . . ." Robin began.
"No." she said flatly. "I couldn't face what might be the worst right now."
Robin's face hardened a little at this refusal.
"Fine then leave us alone for a few moments." he snapped.
After the door had closed behind his friends, Robin sat in the chair next to Starfire's bed. He looked over at her and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, smoothing a stray hair. Finally, like a dam bursting all his pent up emotions of the day flooded out of him, and he lay his head on the pillow next to hers, and cried silently, until the adrenaline rush that he had been running on faded, and he fell asleep.
A few minutes later a nurse looked in on her charge, and smiled softly at what she saw. Starfire, of course, lay on the bed, and Robin was seated in the chair next to it. His head was on the pillow, and his right hand held Star's. His left arm framed the young woman's head.
Making a note on the chart, that the EKG monitor that Star was hooked up to read a steady, normal rhythm, she went back down the hall.
Robin didn't know how long he had slept, but when he woke up, the first thing he saw was Starfire's upper body, covered by a blanket, slowly rising and falling with her breathing. He sat up, carefully, trying not to disturb her, and looked into her face.
"She looks so peaceful." he muttered, then brushed the back of is left hand against her cheek.
"She has a strong heart beat, and her blood pressure looks normal." A nurse said from the door. "Would you like some breakfast, it's just before dawn?."
"I'm not sure I'm all that hungry." Robin replied, then his stomach growled.
"So I'll make it a small plate." the nurse said, with a smile, then went back out of the room.
Robin looked out the window in the room, and saw the sky brighten as the sun neared the horizon. "The promise of a new day," he said softly, "Yeah right, with Star here, how good can my day be?"
"Here you go, two pancakes, some sausage, orange juice, and a cup of coffee," the nurse said as she came back into the room. "Dr. Benson has told us not to worry about visiting hours for her with the members of your team." she added.
"Thanks," Robin replied, surprised at how hungry he was as he straightened himself in his chair and attacked his breakfast.
"Robin," Raven's voice said, and he turned to see her standing in the doorway. "You should take a break," she told him, "Remember Dr. Benson said she's not supposed to wake up until about noon."
Robin stood up and stretched.
"I know Rave, it's just. . ."
"Well he's going to have to leave anyway," Linda Bensons' voice said as she walked up behind Raven. "I've got a few tests to run, to make sure the surgery went well."
Reluctantly Robin left the room, and walked down the hall with Raven beside him.
"She's going to be alright," Raven stated flatly, "You have to believe that."
"Why?" he asked, "so if she slips into a coma and never wakes up I'll lose my mind?"
Raven quickly floated in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.
"Because you'll lose something of yourself if you give up on her." she told him.
"Anything about last night on the news, this morning?" Robin asked.
"See for yourself." Raven replied, as they entered the waiting room, and nodding toward the TV mounted on the wall.
'In local crime news, Benny the dart Janson and two of his know accomplices were found badly beaten in an alley this morning." the reporter said. "Apparently tied to Mr. Janson's criminal activity, it appears that he earned the ire of other criminal elements."
"Rae, I didn't do all that." Robin gasped when he saw the film footage of Benny and his two buddies being loaded into ambulances.
"No, you did what you had to kid." X's voice said from behind him. "Let's just say that the rest of the patrons of that place weren't very happy with him. After you left, I stuck around, and let's just say that what you did to them was mild in comparison to what they did. They really didn't like the idea of you having to come onto their turf."
"Robin, look." Raven said, her voice bringing his attention back to the TV
"In other local news, the Teen Titan Starfire has been hospitalized after injuries received during a recent battle," the reporter said while a picture of Star was projected behind her. "for security reasons which hospital she's recovering in is not being released.
"I would have rather not released information about her being injured." Robin stated, "but admission records are public information, and anyone can check them. That reminds me, I'd better check to see that her name is removed from the records."
As Robin approached the admittance desk, he saw that there were two police officers there, and he couldn't help but notice how much more alert they became when they saw him.
"Commissioner Barkstone wants to see you." one of the officers said. "You're not under arrest, but I'm not permitted to take no for an answer."
"Okay, just as long as I'm back here by eleven thirty." he told the officer, who almost sighed with relief. "Raven!" he called and she poked her head out from the waiting room. "Commissioner Barkstone wants to have a word with me," he told her, "go sit with Star while I'm gone. I want a familiar face to be the first one she sees." he added, knowing that Raven knew that he wanted his face to be the first one she saw.
Robin actually relaxed to the point of dozing off during the ride through the city, and he felt much better for the sleep.
"Here we are." the officer driving said, as he pulled up in front of police headquarters. "We're to escort you to his office." he added after he opened Robin's door and stood there waiting for him to get out of the car.
Robin got out, and looked at the front of the building. 'Not much different that Gotham's.' he thought as he looked over the wide stone façade, with it's stone steps leading to the doors. He wished his coming her were under better circumstances, but he knew the Commissioner was no fool, and had climbed the ranks in the police department one rung at a time to get to where he was.
"Any idea what this is about?" he asked his guide, who only replied with a shake of his head. Deciding that small talk was out of the question, Robin fell silent for the rest of the journey to the office. He was surprised to find that the Commissioner had his office on the first floor of the building, just two doors down from the front desk.
The officer stopped outside the door, and knocked.
"Enter." came a firm, commanding voice. "Ah good you're here," Commissioner Victor Barkstone said from behind his desk. "have a seat." he told Robin, then dismissed the officer, watching until the door closed behind him. He then reached over and turned on a small radio, that was on the bookcase behind him, and soft music could be heard.
"White noise," he told Robin. "makes it hard for listening devices to record what we say, and we have plenty to say." he added pinning Robin with a hard stare. I have an interesting problem this morning." he said, and Robin raised an eyebrow behind his mask. "Don't give me that innocent look. I've been a cop since well before you were born, and I know how things work on the street. I simply thought you were smart enough to leave the non-super criminals alone."
Robin knew that if he admitted to having anything to do with Benny the dart and company that he could be labeled a vigilante, and end up behind bars. "I'm afraid I don't follow."
"Okay let me lay it out for you. Like I said, I've got an interesting problem, I've got three citizens that have been badly beaten up, and they won't say who did it to them." he explained. "Not only that, but I've got three eye witnesses who, when I asked them privately, deny that you had anything to do with the condition of those three citizens.
"Why would I have anything to do with the beating of any citizen?" Robin asked.
"Because their names happen to be Benny the dart Janson, Luke Wilson, and Joe Wineman." Victor replied. "Now word on the street is that they're responsible for your team member's condition, and like I said, I know how things work on the street."
"Let's say, hypothetically, that I knew this information, and acted on it," Robin said, "and let's go even further that I tracked these people down and took out some kind of vengeance on them. Would I simply walk into your office knowing that I could be arrested for that act?"
Victor sat back in his chair and absently scratched at his beard as he studied the young man before him. "The last thing I want to do is disband the Titans." he said after a few moments thought. "For two reasons, one I like my job and disbanding the Titans would probably get me escorted out of the city with instructions never to come back. The other reason is I see the good you people are doing. Not only do kids look up to you, but adults as well, with myself included.
He paused again thinking about what he wanted to say, and weighed it against what his job called for him to do. "Do you have any idea how many of the regular criminal element in this city want to apologize to you for what happened to Starfire? If it had been any one of you but her that Benny did that to, I'd have enough evidence on my desk to actually pursue and win a case, but as it is I've got three badly beaten people in my security ward of Mercy Hospital, and absolutely no suspects that I would think of charging."
Robin blew out a breath. "Off the record?" he asked, then got a nod from the man behind the desk. "I managed to find out that Benny the dart was responsible for what happened to Starfire, and that it was a message for us to leave. I, and I alone was responsible for her safety as the leader of the Titans, it was also my responsibility to answer that message. I know how things work on the street too Commissioner, I've been there. It's been a while but I've been there, and I knew that if I went to the police that we would all be looking over our shoulders every time we were on the streets, so I took the only actions that I thought were necessary."
"How badly did you beat them?" the Commissioner asked, then slid a file across to him.
Robin took the folder, and scanned the hospital reports inside. "Not that bad, not by any stretch of the imagination." he replied, setting the file back on the desk. "aside from some bruises, and being sore all over the worst injury I gave any of them was a dislocated shoulder, that I made sure was taken care of before I left."
Victor entwined his fingers, rested his chin on his thumbs, and stared at Robin for a few moments. "That follows the report from the undercover officer that was there." he finally said. "Like you implied to them last night, your going after Cinderblock, Slade, and the others I'll gladly let you do, but you step over the line, and start going after the so called small fry, and I'll have no choice to lock you up for being vigilantes."
Robin stood up, and offered his right hand to the man behind the desk. "I'm glad we had this conversation, and that his has been cleared up." he said.
"So am I." Barkstone said, shaking Robin's hand. "How is she, by the way?" he asked softly.
"Well no change since I left, seeing as this has been quiet." he replied, with a small smile, holding up his communicator, then his smile vanished. "Fractured right femur, jaw, and left humerus," he listed his tone flat. "a couple of broken ribs, and some internal injuries they had to go in, and repair." he looked past Victor and out the window, which happed to include Saint Mary's hospital in it's view. "They also say she might have slipped into a coma, from a drug interaction."
There was silence in the room for a moment, as Robin tried to get his anger back under control, and Victor said a silent prayer for Starfire. "I'll have a marked car bring you back to the hospital, as fast as possible." he said, pressing a button on his desk. He instructed the officer, that answered the summons, to that effect, and Robin was on his way back. On his way out of the building, he noticed that the time was just after eleven o'clock.