Disclaimer: same as always

Epilogue

There was something so calming about riding a bike, something that distracted him from the rest of the world, that made him forget why he was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.

He wasn't even riding the R-Cycle, but a normal bike with pedals. Truth be told, he was glad to get out in the sun; the past few months had been spent in a small cell. No doubt his health would suffer if he didn't get some exercise, though he was still on the alert for trouble, even if he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

No matter what the others thought, he wasn't taking his punishment very well. It would be another month before he would be a Titan again, and even then he wouldn't be the leader for another few months. It wasn't that the Titans didn't trust him, just the public. Although given the circumstances, you'd think they'd be more lenient...

Huffing and puffing, he finally reached the top of the hill and looked down on the busy streets. Without his uniform or his mask, he just looked like a normal kid. Which was nice, actually, since he no longer had to put up with the throngs of love-sick fans that seemed to have crowded the visitor's center at the detention cell he'd been stuck in.

He let go of the brakes and flew down the hill, finally coming to a stop after turning down a few alleys. He let his momentum carry him for a little while further before coasting to a stop to grin. He loved to do that.

"Hey bozo!" shouted a voice from the shadows.

"Oh brother. What do you want?" he shouted back.

"You're on our turf! And we don't take too kindly to strangers intruding on our turf!" the voice shouted back, and Robin saw several shadows dart around. About ten teenage boys, he guessed. Maybe eleven.

He grinned and rolled up his sleeves. At that moment, one of the boys leaped from the darkness, a blade catching the faint light as he dove for Robin's face. The Boy Wonder twisted away at the last second and grabbed his attacker's wrist, flinging him into two other hooligans who had been trying to sneak up on him from behind. He assumed a fighting stance as five more ran towards him. With ease, he dodged their clumsy punches before he delivered his own swift kick to one's stomach. That boy doubled over, leaving a gap for Robin to jump through. He did so, then slammed two of the boy's heads together. Both crumpled to the ground. Two down, nine to go.

The one whose wrist Robin had grabbed at the beginning came running at him again, blade still in hand. He dropped to the ground and brought his leg around in a sweeping circle, knocking the guy off of his feet as the blade fell away. He picked up the fallen teenager and swung him around to land on two of his comrades. All three slammed into a wall and crumpled to the ground. Five down.

One, the apparent leader, rushed at Robin so fast that he narrowly avoided that blow. As the Boy Wonder avoided several swift punches and blocked several kicks, this youth smirked, "You're pretty good, kid. Where'd you learn to fight?"

"This?" he chuckled. "Naw, this is what I do for fun!" With that, he dove out of the way and rolled, stopping right in front of two of the guy's comrades. These two jumped for a moment, then grinned as they leaned down to strike, but he slid between the bigger one's legs and appeared behind them, knocking their heads together as well. Seven down. Now he was actually starting to breathe heavily, but he could take on four untrained teenagers, right?

Three of them rushed at Robin, surrounding him as he looked for an opening. This time, one of the blows connected with his jaw, and he felt a warm trickle of blood running from his lips. He compensated by jumping into the air, twisting around, and landed a hard kick to one of the guy's heads. That one was out before he even hit the hard cement.

Unfortunately, he didn't see the guy coming up from behind, and this big hooligan grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt to pull him backwards. The strings caught on his throat as his head hit the hard ground, and he saw stars for a few seconds. Of course, a few seconds was all this gang needed to surround him. In a moment, he had the guy's arms around his chest, pinning him as the leader wound up for a punch.

Fortunately, his legs were free. He hooked his foot around the big guy's ankle, tripping him. What he didn't plan on was going down with the big guy. Thankfully, he landed on his side, so his elbow cushioned the blow, but now he was bleeding some. He squirmed free just in time to receive a hard kick the the jaw, and the small trickle of blood intensified to a steady flow. He wiped it away with his hand, then rushed forward with a battle cry.

His first punch hit the biggest one square in the nose, and his second knocked him out. As he was about to deliver a third to the smaller one's stomach, light exploded in his eyes and his nose started throbbed. He kicked out towards where he thought he could see movement, but until he could see again, he would have to rely on his other senses. Which was okay; he had learned how to do that when training with the True Master.

He could taste the blood flowing from both his lips and his nose as he dropped to the ground to knock the legs out from under one of his attackers. His eyesight returned presently, just in time to alert him to an oncoming punch. He ducked, then grabbed the arm and slammed the guy to the ground. Two left; he could handle that.

All three boys were breathing pretty hard, and Robin's sweatshirt was torn in several places. He was going to have a hard time explaining this to the others when he got back. The two remaining thugs rushed at him with battle cried, but he was faster. Spotting an overhanging flagpole, he bounded off of the wall to grab it. After swinging around it, he landed on his feet on top of it and bent it. Using the momentum of the pole, he flew towards the two and slammed them to the ground, knocking them both out. But he had miscalculated his momentum, and all three of them slammed into the wall. He was able to turn just in time to avoid getting knocked over the head, but he also slammed his shoulder into the wall. He heard it dislocate with a pop and grimace. With a groan, he forced himself to sit up and look after his wounds.

His jeans had been torn off at the knees, and several pieces of granite had been embedded in his legs. His sweatshirt was also torn pretty badly and plastered to his chest in sweat, so he just pulled it off. When he did so, though, it only revelaed several cuts and bruises, as well as a deep gash he hadn't noticed before from one of the thug's blades. He wiped at the blood rushing from his nose and lips, then muttered, "They're going to kill me for this, I know it."

He pulled himself shakily to his feet and gathered the sweatshirt up. Smiling, he surveyed the scene; all of the hooligans were out cold, sprawled across the pavement. All eleven of them. Not bad for someone who had been inside for several months with no way to train. Oh, he missed his gym, but there was no way that the others would let him anywhere near that place. He'd had to beg just to go on a bike ride.

"So, have fun?" asked a familiar voice behind him.

He groaned, then slowly turned. "Rae, you saw it. They attacked me. Clear cut case of self-defense, right?"

She rolled her eyes, cocking her head slightly to the side. "And you weren't looking for trouble by going through the alleys that you knew would house gangs?"

He paled; she had caught him. "Come on, Rae! I just got back outside! I had to do something!"

She shook her head in mock disbelief, but smiled nonetheless. "Alright, let's get you cleaned up," she said, reaching out a glowing hand. The flow of blood coming from his nose and lips stopped.

"Thanks," he muttered as she reached out to heal the rest of his wounds. He shuddered when her hands touched his chest; he was very sore. Then when she reached for his shoulder, he stifled a gasp of pain.

"Sorry!" she gasped, immediately retracting her hand. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, his hand going instinctively to his shoulder despite his pride. "Yeah, don't worry about it."

A long silence followed before she finally said, "Alright, let's get you back to the Tower."

"What are we going to do about them?" he asked, gesturing towards the fallen thugs.

"Cell phone," she ordered.

He sighed, handing it over. That cell phone was his only source of communication; his communicator wouldn't be returned to him for another month. "Police?"

She nodded, "Police." She quickly dialed the number. "Hello? Police? Hi, it's Raven from the Teen Titans. Had a run-in with a small gang of about eleven members. They had a fight between themselves, apparently. Come pick them up, please. Thanks." She hung up, then gave him a small smile. "Found a new gym, I see."

He nodded. "Well, you guys weren't going to let me train..."

"Robin," she sighed, "you can't just use physical distractions to avoid your problems. You've got to face them. Are you ever going to pull yourself together enough to apologize to Starfire?"

"I..."

"Robin, you apologized to me, Cyborg, and even Beast Boy. What's so hard about this? You still have feelings for her, don't you?"

"Well, do you think she still...?"

She rolled her eyes. "She's been counting down the days, Robin. Do you realize you broke her heart by insisting on a bike ride before you could even spend five minutes with her?"

"I didn't realize..."

"Robin, how is it that you can fight eleven gang members with knives without a single weapon to protect yourself and yet you can't even face someone that I know you consider to be your best friend?"

"I...how did you...?"

She sighed in annoyance. "I'm an empath, remember? Now, let's get you back to the Tower, and then you and Starfire can talk."

"But, Rae, it's so much easier to train or fight than it is to do this!"

"Robin..." she growled.

"Fine."

She engulfed him in her soul self, and he shivered slightly. He had forgotten what it felt like to be part of Raven. It was a...nice feeling. That is, until she dumped him on the beach in front of the Tower. His bike followed soon after, and he rolled out of the way. Finally, Raven dropped down beside him and helped him up. "Think I can touch that shoulder now?" she asked.

He nodded. "Go ahead."

Very carefully, she reached out to heal him. It hurt a bit, but he bit his lip. It wouldn't do to start shouting every time something was slightly uncomfortable; he had just gotten back!

"Robin? What has happened to you?"

He groaned inwardly when he heard Starfire approaching. "I...took a spill on my bike," he lied.

"Ahem."

He jerked his head around to see Raven glaring at him, her arms folded across her chest. "Alright, alright. I needed some practice, okay?"

Starfire giggled. "I am just glad to see that your incarceration has not changed you for the worse. When you left, I feared that I had lost the Robin that I missed so badly while you were gone!"

He smiled slightly. "No, it's still the same old obsessed Robin."

"And I am glad!" she beamed, then wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Hesitantly, he returned the hug, but eased into it eventually.

And out of the corner of his eye, he could see Raven standing there with a small smile.