As the wind brushed steadily against his face, Beast Boy dreamed of animals.

To be precise, he dreamed of being animals.

Leaping high in the air as a dolphin only to crash back into the ocean with a tremendous splash.

Racing across the plains as a cheetah, feet barely touching the ground.

Basking on a rock as a lizard, sunlight seeping into every pour.

A hundred scents mingling together every time he breathed as a wolf.

Bowling bad guys over as an elephant.

He'd turned into hundreds of different animals during his young life, but he had to admit, the birds were probably his favorite.

Nothing beat the sheer joy of flying. Soaring high in the air, gliding along an updraft. Diving towards the ground at breath-taking speed, wind ruffling his feathers as his body dropped like a stone, only to pull out of the descent at the last possible instant.

It was pure joy.

So the jade Titan was a bit disappointed and more than a little confused when he came to. The air wasn't rushing past him because he was flying, but because he was on the back of Robin's motorcycle. A motorcycle which happened to be going rather quickly at the moment.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, tightening his grip around the driver.

"You're awake," Robin replied, "That's good."

The leader of the Titans slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road, coming to rest under the glow of a streetlamp. Beast Boy quickly realized by the position of the moon that several hours had passed since he had been in the alley with Batgirl.

What happened? Where did she go?

He gingerly touched the back of his head and hissed in pain.

And why does my head hurt so much?

"Are you okay, Beast Boy?"

He realized Robin was looking over his shoulder at him, concern clearly etched on his face.

"Yeah, but I don't know where Batgirl is."

A split-second later, he did a double take.

"Dude, what happened to your face? That's one heck of a bruise."

Robin looked away, "Don't worry about it."

"Batgirl and I came to look for you. Do you see her?"

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"Is she okay? Where did she go?"

"She's fine. I think she went back to Batman."

"Why would she do that? She didn't even say good-bye!"

Robin sighed, taking off his helmet and rubbing his eyes wearily.

"I don't know, but she's gone. Let's just leave it at that, okay?"

Beast Boy threw his hands up in disgust, "No way. Things haven't been normal with you since Batman showed up. Dude, what is going on? Why are you acting so weird lately?"

"It's difficult to explain."

"Try me."

Robin was silent. Beast Boy got off the motorcycle and walked in front until the two young men were face to face.

"Are you gonna talk to me or what? I thought we were friends."

"We are friends," Robin replied, "And very soon I'll explain everything. For now, I just need you to trust me."

Beast Boy looked away in anger, "Dude, how can I trust you when you don't tell me anything?"

Robin stared at him but did not speak.

"Fine. Keep your secrets," Beast Boy began to walk off, then stopped abruptly. "You know, I used to think you were nothing like Batman. But I was wrong. You are two of a kind."

He transformed into an owl and disappeared into the dark sky, leaving a sullen Robin behind.

-----

Robin parked the bike and made his way to the main chamber of the Tower. He hadn't eaten much during Slade's training sessions. He'd make a quick snack and then hit the sack. He needed to be well rested for tomorrow night's confrontation with Bruce.

He hadn't even opened the refrigerator when he was discovered.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."

Cyborg got up from the couch and walked over to the dining area.

"Hello, Cyborg."

"About time you got back. What's it been? Three days?"

"Something like that." Robin sat down at the kitchen table and began to eat.

Cyborg watched him for a while, arming folded casually, almost as if he was studying his leader. He didn't speak again until Robin was almost finished.

"You gonna tell us where you've been?"

"I had some personal business to take care of."

"Important stuff?"

"Yeah. Something like that."

"Important enough to leave the team twisting in the wind?"

Robin set down his fork hard. The sound echoed harshly in the silence of large open chamber.

"I knew you could handle things without me," he said through gritted teeth.

"Oh yeah, we can handle it," the large young man replied casually, finally taking a seat across from the other teen-ager. "But it would have been nice to have had some way to reach you when the shit hit the fan."

"I had my communicator with me."

"Yeah," Cyborg leaned forward, "Too bad you turned it off."

Robin's eyes widened.

"See, I tried to contact you," For the first time, some anger seeped into the metallic Titan's voice, "We ran into Control Freak again a couple days ago, and your help would have made that whole thing a lot easier."

"I'm sorry about that, Cyborg. My mistake."

"Sure, sure," the oldest Titan appeared to shrug it off, but Robin wasn't fooled. "There's just one thing that bothers me."

Robin braced himself before replying.

"What's that?"

"You don't make that kind of mistake. Beast Boy, maybe. But you? I don't think so. You turned it off on purpose."

Cyborg stared at his leader, human eye almost as stern and unforgiving as his robotic one, "And I'd really like to know why."

"I can't go into it right now."

"Cut the crap, Robin. You've been acting strange all week. You can bullshit your way past Beast Boy, but not me. This has something to do with Batman, right? Your odd behavior. Batgirl showing up. You disappearing for days. Level with me. What's going on?"

Robin avoided his gaze and did not speak.

"Man, we just want to help you. We're a team. Whatever it is, we can get through it together."

"Not this time," Robin replied bitterly, "This is something I have to do on my own."

"Why are you so damn stubborn?" Cyborg shouted, clearly angry, "I thought you put all this crap behind you when we defeated Slade that first time. You don't have to go it alone anymore. None of us have to. That's why we formed the damn Titans in the first place."

"But what if there was no more Titans?" Robin retorted, voice beginning to rise as well, "What if the team disbanded? What then?"

"That's not gonna happen. We've got a good thing going here. We all know that. No one's planning on bailing."

"What if we don't have a choice?"

Cyborg paused, confusion clouding the human side of his face.

"Robin, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't you get it?" Robin shouted, finally letting his pent up frustration, doubt, and fear erupt, "He gave me an ultimatum! If I don't beat him, he's going to destroy the Titans."

"Who is? Batman? He's one of the good guys. Why would he want to do that?"

"Because he can!" Robin stood up, spreading his arms for emphasis, "Because he thinks it's the right thing to do!"

Robin spun around and began to leave, "Because he believes I need to return to Gotham for more training and he's going to do whatever he damn well needs to do in order to make that happen. That's the way he is."

He paused at the doorway to the living quarters and looked back at Cyborg.

"So cut me some fucking slack and let me handle this, okay?"

Robin stormed off.

Cyborg stared at the empty doorway.

"Dude, that's messed up."

-----

Raven awoke early the next morning.

She immediately sensed Robin's presence in the Tower. His emotions were literally blaring across the entire building. The young empath was used to such mental bombardment from Starfire, but usually the Tamaranean pelted her with saccharine feelings of happiness, wonder, and kindness.

Robin's current state of mind could best be described as caustic. An acerbic broth of bitterness, anxiety, and aggression assaulted her, laced with a level of determination Raven hadn't sensed in her friend since the do-or-die confrontation with Trigon all those months ago. Whatever had been bothering Robin obviously hadn't been resolved, in fact, it seemed to have only gotten worse.

I thought his little disappearing act was so he could take care of whatever was tormenting him.

She rose from her bed, instinctively willing her cloak to envelope her as she floated across her room and phased through the wall.

Seconds later, she found herself in Robin's room.

The chamber's owner was currently doing one-handed pushups clad only in his underwear.

"Did you forget how to knock, Raven?"

Raven blushed. Okay, now this is awkward.

"I'm sorry, Robin. It's just that you're broadcasting some very powerful emotions right now. I just wanted to make sure everything was all right."

Robin switched hands in mid-motion, beginning another set of pushups. If being half-naked in front of her ever concerned him, it obviously didn't at the moment.

"Do you have any idea how tired I am dealing with people making sure I'm okay?"

Raven found herself becoming distracted by the young man's near perfect physique and so looked away, taking in her surroundings instead.

"We're only asking because we care."

"Yeah, well, I'm fine."

Raven sighed. "You're lying."

Robin began to do a series of regular pushups, this time clapping between each one. "So what? Let it go, Raven. I've got enough on my mind."

Becoming annoyed, she finally reached out with her magic and caught her leader in a black cocoon. Before he could protest, she brought him to her, until they were face to face.

"Let me help you," Raven whispered, "Please."

His brow began to furl in anger, but suddenly relaxed. She sensed gratefulness bubble up from his psyche for a few seconds, only to be subsumed by that overpowering determination yet again.

"Raven," he said earnestly, "I appreciate what you're trying to do. And I'm lucky to have someone like you as a friend. But this is something I have to do on my own."

He smiled grimly.

"Surely you, of all people, understand the need to keep some things personal."

Staring into his eyes, and sensing there was no way to change his mind, Raven reluctantly let him go.

He affectionately placed his hand on her cheek. It felt so warm.

She began to feel some powerful emotions of her own.

"Thank you," he murmured, turning away to continue exercising.

She watched him for a few minutes, but finally left the room. Although she sensed Robin's emotions had tempered, she realized nothing had really changed.

Something terrible was about to happen to him.

And apparently there was nothing she could do about it.

-----

He stayed in his room most of the day, practicing various martial arts moves, both the old and familiar as well as the new and lethal. After a quick lunch, he methodically checked his equipment, making sure each and every piece of his gear was in perfect operating condition.

Around dusk, he finally got the call he had been waiting for.

"Robin."

"I'm here."

"I'm sending the co-ordinates now. I'll be there in exactly two hours. Don't be late."

"I won't be."

"Alfred has your room ready. He's looking forward to seeing you again."

Batman terminated the connection before he could reply.

Dick Grayson carefully replaced the com-link.

He donned his costume methodically, double-checking to make sure everything was in place. Then he surveyed his room. It had been his home for the past two years. Two years that he could honestly say had been the best of his life so far. He wondered idly if he'd ever come back here again.

Finally, he left.

There was only one more thing he had to do.

He had to talk to Star.