Disclaimer: I don't own TT. Really…I don't.

Yep, the next chapter's up! Sorry to keep people waiting after a cliffhanger. I'll make up for it, I promise. And yet again, just so people don't freak out, this is Robin and Raven friendship.

If anyone can give me some tips on how to write Madame Rouge's accent, that would be really helpful. Thanks!

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My heart pounded deafeningly in my ears, and the first thing I became aware of was that the feeling was coming back into my legs. Moving quickly, desperately, I ran down the stairs, running almost on autopilot, rushing to Robin's side and dropping to me knees. I knelt in the warm liquid that was pooled around him and choked back sobs that were tearing me to pieces inside.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god! Please don't be dead, Robin! Please don't be dead!" I said aloud as I grabbed his shoulders, turning him onto his back as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. He was my best friend. He was the only person who really understood me, who really opened up to me. He was everything to me, and here he was, lying on the floor and not moving, and it was enough to break my heart. How was I supposed to live without him? And why the fuck did these things have to happen! I just couldn't understand.

My hand flew to Robin's neck, two fingers pushing gently into the little hollow below his jawbone where I would be able to feel for his pulse. And, miraculously, as though suddenly fate loved me and the world that had always screwed me over had suddenly decided to grant me one wish, I felt his skin shudder in what was unmistakably a heartbeat. And then it beat again, and again. I tide of relief washed through me, leaving me weary. And it was then, after the panic subsided and my world righted itself again, I realized the strong smell of coffee that hung in the air. A closer look at the liquid I squatted in revealed that it was indeed coffee, and the chipped mug lying empty on the floor a few feet away made the fact more concrete. So Robin had indeed slipped on the stairs, but the consequences were nowhere near as dire as I had first suspected. He was merely unconscious. I could feel my world begin to right itself and come back together, while only seconds ago it had been shattered into pieces. After the terror of the moment was gone, after only the relief remained, I was so worn out by having such a violent array of emotions in a span of ten seconds that I wanted to lie down and sleep, but I couldn't just leave Robin there on the floor.

I managed to get Robin off the ground by using my powers, and then I carried him (with some difficulty) back up the stairs, down the hallway, and into his room. I had never imagined someone so small and wiry would weigh so much, but it may have just been because I was so extremely exhausted. He felt like a sack of cement in my arms. I lugged him over to his bed, and lowered him into it as gently as I could, pulling his blanket up over him and tucking the edges up under his chin. God, I felt protective of him right then. If anyone had burst in with intent to hurt him at the moment, I really doubt they would have survived, or even stayed physically intact. At that moment, he seemed so peaceful and innocent, almost like a child. There was a bump on his forehead, probably from his fall. It was swollen and already purpling. It made me wince.

I reached out a hand to heal the painful-looking wound, and as my fingertips brushed Robin's skin, I was suddenly hit with a blast of something strange and yet familiar. My mind was being bombarded with hordes of images, flashes of motion and color, incoherent babblings. Struggling to calm myself down, I centered my mind around these images and flashes, and they slowly melded into one steady image, one moving scene. Knowing there was nothing to do to fight it, I braced myself and allowed the all-too-familiar sensation of being pulled into a vision set over me, and I was whirled mentally into another world, the images before my eyes crisp and clear as though I were watching the scene unfold before my eyes.

I was staring at the depths of the Brotherhood's main base. I had been here before, but not like this. Rather than being populated by hordes of Titans in the process of kicking some serious bad guy ass, it was relatively empty. Hot Spot and Wildebeest were standing atop one of those horrible shelves along the walls, bodies sheathed in ice, as mine had eventually been, too. I took this all to mean that this was before the rest of us had been captured.

Robin was standing with his wrists in large metal shackles apparently similar to the ones that Starfire had been bound with on the first day we had met her. His shirt had been removed, and goosebumps were standing up on his skin from the chill of the room, with its large freeze ray sitting against one of the walls, ready to be put into action. Several of the most prominent members of the Brotherhood stood before him; The Brain, Mallah, and Madame Rouge, and also present were some of our regular criminals that I recognized. Mallah and The Brain stood slightly back from Madame Rouge; it was clear that at the moment, The Brain had put her in control of the situation. And for good reason. Rouge did indeed seem to be enjoying her role in the situation. There was a very sinister smile on her lips as she stared at the Boy Wonder, a smile that would have made anyone else cringe.

"I'll never tell you anything," Robin said fiercely, fixing Rouge with his usual determined stare. She gave a small, cruel laugh. Her ruthlessness was legend, and anyone in their right mind would have been terrified by then. Robin wasn't showing any sign of fear, though. That was just how Robin was. There was a tiny, invisible layer of strength between his outer appearance and his emotions in serious situations, no matter how severe the emotional pressure was. Right now was no exception. He stood straight and stared Rouge head on, steady rather than shaking.

"Really, now?" Rouge asked, a small, mocking smile playing across her lips. "Vell that is just too bad. Perhaps I vill have to…persuade you." that sadistic glint in her eyes was almost too much to bear. She was so brutal and yet so sophisticated all at the same time, which just added to the terror at the thought of being at her mercy. Robin didn't flinch. He didn't speak. He only stared her straight in the face as though challenging her with his hidden eyes.

Rouge appeared amused at his determination. One hand on her hip, she spoke without a backward glance or even a gesture. "Red X, restrain him properly." Almost immediately, Robin's former alter ego in his signature suit moved forward, slipping behind Robin and grabbing him at two strategic points on the back of the neck with one hand. He had thrown Robin forward onto the floor before he could make a move and in about the amount of time it takes to blink he had one foot in the small of Robin's back to restrain him as he undid Robin's shackles. He pinned Robin's arms to the floor, and two tiny trapdoors opened to release two chains with manacles at the ends before closing once more, leaving the manacles clamped around Robin's wrists. He could only move each arm about a radius of six inches. Red X retreated to his place with the others. Robin knelt on the floor, restrained and looking indignant.

"You won't get away with this!" Robin pulled against the thick chains that bound his arms to the floor, but they remained solid. He looked like a drowning man flailing there, struggling against his impossibly thick restraints.

Madame Rouge gave a small, belittling chuckle. "I von't? You underestimate me, Robin."

Moving a little to the left, Rouge stopped before a large metal table that gave the eerie feeling of an operating room. Eyes scanning the flat table's surface, which was mostly obscured by various strange devices, it was clear she knew the element of power she had at the moment, and her eyes browsed the surface slowly, trying to prolong Robin's agony. Eventually she chose a large metal rod, bent to create a flat portion at the end. She sat this rod, flat end down, on a small round disk-like gadget, and turned several knobs on the disk. Then she turned her attention to a small contraption that looked a bit like a two-pronged fork, lifting it delicately between two fingers and flipping a small switch on the side. A beam of cold, blue, jerking light leaped up between the two prongs.

"I vill give you one more chance," Madame Rouge looked extremely threatening with a foreign glowing object in her hand. "Vhat are the coordinates?" I wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about (it seemed I had come in a little late), but whenever a serious villain uses 'coordinates' in a sentence, it's bound to never be good.

"I won't tell you anything," Robin said again, bracing himself for the worst. Madame Rouge stepped forward, leaning down a bit and dragging the glowing blue end of the device she held a little way across Robin's exposed chest. It cut as though it were hopelessly sharp steel, without so much as stalling as it tore the flesh. A trail of deep red blood slid down Robin's chest and dripped onto the floor. Robin didn't cry out. He didn't show any sign that he was in any pain. Horrified, I could barely bring myself to keep watching. But I was seeing this for a reason. I had to keep reminding myself.

"That vas just a sample," she told him, eyes glinting in an almost terrifying way. "I suggest you reveal vhat you are hiding before it becomes increasingly unpleasant for you." Robin only stared back. When it became clear that he wasn't going to respond, Rouge turned away, but then at the last moment she turned back and sliced a long cut down Robin's chest, eerily leaving an undoubtedly painful wound there in the shape of a cross that dripped blood down Robin's chest and stomach and onto the floor. The blood ran down in a sluggish, uninterested kind of way, and Robin looked down, watching it flow for a moment as though he were unaware of where it was coming from.

Rouge walked back to the table, switching off the beam on the device and setting it on the table, abandoning it in favor of a long, vicious-looking whip. She walked back toward him, brandishing it with relish. "Vhat are the coordinates?" she asked yet again, and Robin only stared back. I could feel the immense dislike coming from him in waves as though it were happening at that very moment. Upon receiving no answer, Rouge walked around behind Robin, standing there for a moment to lure him into a false sense of security before striking. When she did, leather hit flesh with a sickening impact, slashing a jutting red welt across Robin's back. I could see his jaw clench for a moment, and then he retained his normal face. "Vhat are the damn coordinates?" Rouge asked him. Robin didn't answer, and she struck him again, leaving another welt. And then she struck yet again, this time slashing a cut in the skin that began to bleed.

The hits began to come repeatedly, one after another, some with enough force to tear the skin. Some people did this for kinky pleasure, and watching this happen to Robin now, I couldn't understand how something so fucking demented could turn anyone on. I was on the verge of tears watching this happen and knowing I could do nothing about it. It was hurting him immensely, and Robin's pain became my pain. I could feel it searing across my own back as clearly as though the whip were hitting me as well as him. It was nearly unbearable, and Robin just sat there and took it like some kind of duty-bound lunatic. A brave one, but still a bit of a lunatic.

The whipping continued for what seemed like an eternity, until finally Rouge lowered her arm. She was growing visibly irritated with Robin's failure to answer her. Clearly this had not been in her plan. People like Rouge, though experienced they were in such matters, sometimes failed to leave margin for error. And it as grating on her. She threw the whip off to one side and grabbed a handful of Robin's hair, wrenching his head sideways. She pulled him forward by the hair, slamming his forehead into the floor. I was strongly reminded of Slade. "Vhat are the fucking coordinates?" she was losing some of her composed cool, and it took her a moment to get it back. When she did, she slowly lifted his head upward by the hair, looking him straight in the face. "I can cause you pain beyond you vildest dreams. And just because I do not have the authority to do so does not mean I vill not."

Robin glared at her threat but refused to make any comment. Rouge, trying to keep her calm façade up, walked back over the table. The metal rod with the bent end was still sitting on that strange disk, and when she picked it up, I saw that the flat bent end was blowing a vicious orange-hot like a stove burner or hell's fire…any number of similes would have been appropriate. There was a moment of calm, strange and almost comforting. The tension mounted, and the air was thick. I could hear Robin's uneven, ragged breaths as his body, wracked with pain, attempted to cope with the situation. I was close to tears.

Rouge broke the stillness as she jammed the hot, flat end of the rod down against Robin's arm. The flesh seared, making a strange and terrible hissing sound, and Robin actually cried out slightly. Rouge's smile was obvious. She struck again, hitting his lower arm, and again, slamming the hot metal into his left shoulder. I could feel the metal burning my own skin through the vision, and I bit my own lip as the tears started to fall, from pain and terror and fear for Robin. Rouge slammed the rod down against Robin's leg, burning him through his tights. And then she took one last stab, pressing the rod into his stomach and leaving it there for a moment as he struggled to escape from the blinding pain, the pain that flashed through my own skull and left me feeling weak and cold. When Rouge finally pulled the rod away, Robin was breathing heavily and shaking. His body was ragged with pain and his emotions on the verge of collapse. But Madame Rouge knew no mercy when it came to her duty. The air was heavy with the odor of burning flesh, and I felt like vomiting.

The rod was safely returned to the table, dropped into a bucket of water. Rouge looked amused once more rather than irritated. "So, I cut you, I vhip you, I burn you, and yet you still vill not tell me vhat I vant to know. Perhaps I have underestimated you." she paused. "And yet, perhaps not. And suddenly the manacles around Robin's wrists unclasped themselves and they and their chains disappeared back inside the small trapdoors that opened in the floor. Rouge retrieved Robin's shirt and gloves, tossing them to him to put back on as she watched in some amusement. He was to weak from feeling so much pain at once to escape now. I watched Robin pull his shirt on, wincing with him as the material dragged against the mutilated skin of his back. He pulled on his gloves, and Red X clasped the shackles that covered his wrists and hands back on.

"It is time for you to join your friends Hot Spot and Vildebeest. I have no more use for you," Rouge said, dismissing him. And with that, she began leading him in the direction of the large freezing mechanism.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me or what you're planning," Robin said with obviously more bravado than he was capable of feeling at the moment, but the faith in his voice was genuine. "The Titans will stop you."

"Vill they now?" Rouge asked cruelly. "I look forward to seeing this." and she led him toward a point where in a matter of moments he would be nothing more than a Robin-shaped block of ice.

I was hit with another flash of images, and this time when they became one coherent image I was in Robin's bedroom, my hand still on his forehead. My body was trembling and sweat was running down my forehead and back, my stomach churning. I stood up and hurried over to Robin's trash can as the contents of my stomach made a frantic escape through my mouth. I managed not to get vomit in my hair as I retched into the small trash can for a few moments.

"Raven?" came a voice behind me, and I turned to see him sitting up in bed.

"Robin." I made a shaky beeline over to the bed. "I…I saw…that day, in the Brotherhood headquarters…" I sat down beside him. My body was shaking even more now as I relived a flash of the events in my head. "I saw what they did to you and…and…" I struggled to remain rational, but normal words slipped away into a kind of idiotic babbling. And then the tears. There was no hope in stopping my tears, I and let them fall and fell with them into a steady rhythm of manic sobs.

"Raven…" Robin sounded a bit surprised by this sudden outpouring of emotion, but it wasn't as though things like this hadn't happened before, and he kept his head about him. "It's okay," he touched my arm and I collapsed even further at this gesture of kindness. Robin shook his head slightly, as though not really sure what to do, and then pulled me into his arms, a bit awkward at first but getting over it quickly. "Really, it's okay." I hugged him back without hesitation and cried harder (if that was possible). I felt the need to lie down and I pulled him with me, causing his torso to stiffen in my arms for a moment. "It's okay," he told me again, relaxing a bit and patting my back in a motherly kind of way when he realized with relief I wasn't going to act like some kind of perverted freak.

I just kept sobbing into his chest, pressing my nose into the little safe hollow between his collarbones and crying as though the world were collapsing around me. It took a while before my sobs quieted enough for me to breathe properly, and I lifted my head to look at him. "I had a vision, and I saw everything." I choked again, and saw that he was crying too, to my great surprise. Not big helpless tears, but quiet tears. Tears that were working their way under the edges of his mask and making large, semi-transparent wet spots on the white parts of the mask. I glimpsed blue eyes before he pulled the mask off all together, startling me. But he had his eyes closed, and I saw nothing before he pushed his face closer, letting his tears mingle with mine just as his pain had mingled with mine in my vision. It felt a little better to know that I wasn't alone my tears, but what felt even better was crying in the first place, letting emotions out for once. It was quite a change, but a nice one, just to lie here and blubber and not care what Robin or anyone in the entire world thought about it.

I was wet and stuffy and disgusting from crying so much, but so was he. And so my best friend and I lay sobbing together over something no one else would ever understand until we finally cried ourselves to sleep.

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"Here we are, going far to save all that we love. If we give what we've got, we will make it through. Here we are, like a star, shining bright on the world today. Make evil go away." -Noam