When you're the fastest man alive, the feeling that time was standing still was an everyday occurrence. The feeling was that normal time, for normal people, had stopped all around you, and that you had all the time in the world. As Flash raced across the Atlantic Ocean, he cursed the fact that even he couldn't move instantaneously…that for once time seemed to be racing on without him, no matter how hard he tried to keep up.
It had taken him only a few milliseconds after he'd received Babs' call to be in costume and on his way. Another two seconds to get from the middle of the country to the water's edge, and now he was pushing a grand total of five seconds as he zoomed onto the sandy shores of western Africa. Five precious seconds that would never be regained….seconds in which the likelihood that Tim Drake's heart would remained silenced forever increased.
He skidded to a stop in the middle of a battle…after another wasted three seconds canvassing the city searching for Robin…with the Titans ranged against one rather emaciated man. They didn't even realize that Tim was unconscious yet…let alone the fact that he may never wake up. They registered surprise at his appearance, and would have questioned him…Superboy looked particularly annoyed at having an adult interrupt…but he was already performing a super-speed version of CPR.
The import of his actions didn't register with everyone at first…in fact, they could barely see what he was doing, and were only vaguely worried as they realized it had been quite a few seconds since Robin had moved. Kid Flash was the first who grasped the meaning, with Batgirl and Raven, their mind and body-reading abilities aiding them, close behind. In a typically impulsive move, Kid Flash let out a howl of rage and attacked Johnny Warren.
The attack obviously catching Warren off-guard, he was hard-pressed to defend himself. The demon had put up one last burst of energy to deflect Robin's attack, and this new threat was a rush of unpredictable power...power that was doing its best to destroy him.
"Bart, stop!" Forgetting to be careful with identities as she realized his intent, Batgirl launched herself into the fray. She could feel her heart pounding, her hands trembling, as she forced herself to control the same impulse that had Kid Flash in its grip. She wouldn't think about Tim…about the chance that Flash wouldn't be able to save him. She just had to…
Every single one of the Titans hit the ground as a tremendous explosion split the air. Raven, recognizing the opening, managed to send her power out, covering the fleeing demon who, sensing his immanent demise, had abandoned Johnny Warren' body and tried to escape into one of the many hosts nearby. The dark energy surrounded and swallowed the demon, then disappeared with a pop.
With a shuddering gasp, Robin's body jerked and twitched…then he was curling into a fetal position, coughing and hacking…drawing in shaky breaths and wondering what he was going to have to do to get the elephant that was currently trampling his head to stop. Flash, still kneeling by his side, was also breathing heavily, his eyes closed against the flow of relief that Robin lived. The other Titans, still dazed by the explosion, weren't even entirely sure what had happened in the last few seconds. Superboy cast a confused look at Robin and Flash, whose appearance and interference he couldn't figure out. Wonder Girl was busy helping Raven to her feet while Kid Flash shook his head, trying to get the ringing in his ears to stop.
Robin risked opening his eyes, only to have the sunlight pierce into them and, he was afraid, blind him forever. With a groan, he struggled to a sitting position, his eyes once again firmly closed. There was a crushing pain in his chest and he found himself back on the pavement, something pinning him down. The pain didn't stop, and he felt himself being crushed in a vice. With a gasp, he struggled to pry the offending object off of him, only to have the grip tighten. He opened his eyes again, this time to be met only with stars as his air was cut off.
Vainly he pushed at the restricting bands again, believing them to be one of Warren's attacks, then found himself both surprised and relieved to feel them loosen. As he drew in deep gulps of fresh air, his vision cleared…and nearly knocked him unconscious again. Batgirl had latched onto him and was apparently trying to squeeze what little life he had left back out of him.
"Bat…girl…" She raised her head at his weak protest. She could tell he was in pain…and somewhat disoriented…but she couldn't bring herself to let go. He was alive! That's all that mattered…now. For a few heart-stopping moments she'd thought…but that was then. Now all was again right in her world, for a little while, anyway.
"You're ok!" She was tempted to hug him again, but his painful wince finally registered and she pulled back. "Or…not. You ok?"
"No." He grimaced. "But I…"
"Hey! Robin, you all right?" He was cut off as the rest of the Titans finally realized something had happened and made their way over to him. Wonder Girl cast him a worried glance and he tried to smile to reassure her.
"Yeah…sure. Just a bit…sore." He used a light tone, playing down his injuries, but the truth was there was still a sharp pain in his chest and a burning sensation in his lungs…even with Batgirl no longer squeezing him to death. He noticed her sharp glance, but she didn't contradict him.
"Man! That was…weird. Anyone actually know what just happened?" Superboy rubbed his head, feeling sore from the effects the demon's magic had caused as it sought to escape. His teammates shook their heads, though Raven didn't respond at all. Flash, having recovered from his own fright and subsequent endeavors on Robin's behalf, rose, drawing attention to himself.
"I think the questions might be better suited to someplace more secure." With some muttered agreement… and some disagreement on where that place should be…the Titans decided to withdrawal to the warehouse for now.
It had taken some delicate maneuvering, not to mention the near-use of force in a couple instances, but the Titans, meaning Tim, had finally convinced Flash that he didn't need to hover over them like a starched-up algebra teacher. They were all fine, all alive, and they really didn't feel like explaining the whole mission to an adult who would probably find all sorts of flaws and reasons to threaten to take away their heroing-privileges…at which point Bart had protested, saying Wally wasn't that bad, and more arguing had ensued.
But finally the Titans were alone in their warehouse. Tim found himself vaguely thinking he'd miss it once they left. He shook his head…he obviously needed a break. But first…
"Ok, guys, settle down. We need to go over what happened…figure everything out." And he needed to be sure that the demon and Warren wouldn't be coming back this time. His friends groaned and made a few comments about Bat-obsessiveness, but they gathered around their make-shift table with a minimum of fuss.
"What's there to figure?" Conner commented, "The bad-guy blew-up, end of story." Cassie threw Conner a disgusted look and even Bart screwed up his face with a "Geeze, Kon" muttered under his breath. For his part, Tim didn't react at all, except to raise one eyebrow as he waited for them to quiet back down.
Personally, he thought this lack of reaction spoke well for his self-control, as the fact that Warren had died in the fight was an added sore to the already legion aches, pains, and bruises to his body and soul.
"True, but we should at least go over what went wrong, what went right, and if we're absolutely sure the demon is trapped." This last was said with a glance in Raven's direction, and she gave a slight nod. Her face looked even more drawn than normal, the shadows under her eyes darker, and the taughtness in her cheeks more pronounced.
"He is." Seeing that more would be required from her, Raven drew in a deep breath. "The demon was tied for centuries to an artifact. From what I gathered when I...um...captured it, it had to have a human host or return to the artifact it came from...those were the only two ways for it to survive." She glanced down, deep in thought. "The object was somehow molded into Johnny Warren when the demon possessed him. Without time to..to..separate it, the demon had no choice but to find another human host. When the demon sensed Warren was going to lose, that he was draining all the power both from the demon and from his own life-source, it tried to escape."
"Yeah, we got that part." Conner cut in with a shudder. Although the event had happened so fast the Titans barely knew what was happening at the time, they could all remember the instant they recognized that Tim may be dead and the demon had intended on taking over one of them...had Raven not swallowed it first.
"Well...so it's trapped...and I'm not sure it can survive for long."
"So, you're sure it hasn't possessed you?" Tim knew she may take offense, but the question had to be asked.
"I'm sure." And no one questioned Raven when she used that particular tone of voice. Wisely deciding it was time to move on, Tim cleared his throat.
"Ok. So...no worries on that front."
"And what about 'what went wrong' huh?" Conner piped up, giving Tim a dirty look. "I do believe you said this was to be a psychological attack. You said you'd be fighting him, sure, but not just with physical weapons...what the hell happened to the mental attacks you had all planned out?" Cassandra bridled at Conner's tone, all set to leap to Tim's defense...after all, he'd just died and been revived...couldn't the argument wait a few days? But Tim shook his head and indicated for her to chill.
"I admit it. I didn't plan as well as I should have." He dropped his gaze, not comfortable confessing this to his friends and allies...people who weren't supposed to see his vulnerabilities, his weaknesses. "I was in such a hurry to get it done...and...well, of course there was the whole 'this guy killed my dad' aspect...and...I wasn't thinking clearly. I hadn't come up with any good psychological weapons by the time we had planned to attack and instead of postponing the operation, I told myself that it would come to me. Or that maybe just being forced to fight me would be enough. I was wrong."
There was a few moments of stunned silence. Not necessarily because Tim, Robin, the 'boy wonder' and all that, had confessed to making a mistake, but more because...well, because he'd felt so alone. As Conner would have said, had he had the vocal capacity to do so at the time, "like, none of us make mistakes?"
Tim had pulled all of them out of crises and mistakes countless times. But he hadn't felt free to come to them for the same aid. And now each of them were fighting their own reactions...hurt, confusion, irritation...after all, you couldn't expect Superboy to admit to something like hurt feelings...but
underneath even these negative emotions was the recognition that he had probably been justified. After all, he was the "leader"...the one they turned to. Though they'd offered their help, had he really been able to believe in it? He was trained not to show weakness...
"S'ok." Five pairs of eyes swung towards Cassandra, who gave four of them fierce glares as if to say "I said, it's ok...now agree!" and patted Tim's shoulder trying to be comforting. The image was so incongruous to what most people thought about Batgirl, that Bart started giggling. His attempts to cover it up led to Conner and Cassie chortling along with him, and even Tim grinned as he shook his head.
"Thanks, Cass. But I should have trusted you guys more. I'll tell you what, being dead really puts things in perspective." This statement had the effect of successfully dampening the humor and bringing depression back down on the group.
Tim rolled his eyes. "No, really. Come on, guys. I'm not dead now. And I'm going to try to be a better team-member...and friend." With that pronouncement, the meeting adjourned into teary-eyed snuffly "aww's" from Cassie, which led to a mocking shove from Conner at her mushy emotions and a laughing slap on the back to Tim, which nearly send Tim back into unconsciousness...whoops. Bart got into the spirit of relief by zipping around the room at superspeed hundreds of times. Even Raven smiled a knowing look in Tim's direction. And for the first time in weeks, Tim felt a twitch…something akin to humor, yet not tainted by darkness.
He smiled.
To Be Continued…
