Chapter 48
Damnit. Was working on another chapter and it turned into THESE DAMNED STUPID BOXES AGAIN! PISSES ME OFF! If anyone out there knows how to undo that let me know.
To: DARBY! OMG ITS YOU! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH LOL! my MOST loyal readier and reviewer, the only person to review all chaps twice jsut to cheer up the author after his story was deleted, DARBY! Dont take offense people but Darby is by far one of my most favorite readers. Darby, my dear friend, it is so good to get another review from you. Where have you been? I've been in the army. Its not fun, dont recomend it unless you have alot of patience and time to kill. Thankyou Darby for reviewing, again. Well, heres your 'high'. This chap is for Darby.
To: Those who know I've mixed up tim drake and richard greyson... I KNOW! I watched Batman the Animated series and the episode 'fractured' too. I just like that name better is all, and I didnt really realise I had done that till several chapters afterwards, so I'm just sticking with it.
Robin and Jinx do have a mental link. They cant quite say words through it, not always. Sometimes they do without meaning to, but what they most often can 'transmit' is memories, feelings, images.
About this fic being the next season... I think it would take a few seasons to cover it so far, 333000+ words and all. That and with some of the content I think it would have to move from CN to late night HBO or something. Just a thought.
Jinx awoke from her sleep, having a nightmare that did not belong to her. She was awake instantly, and knew what it had been.
Robin walked the rooftops of Gotham city alone. It was cold. There was a foot and a half of snow on the ground, slightly more on the roofs. He had to step carefully. His mentor had forced him to wear a summer uniform, without the cold weather gear. IT was supposed to be a part of training, but he hated him. He hated Batman for sending him out into the cold like this. His ears hurt, his fingers hurt. He hurt. The cold hurt so bad. Wasnt there any way to make it stop?
"Why am I out here?" Robin asked himself. His voice sounded odd to Jinx, and she realised he must have been eleven or twelve, maybe younger. His arms kept his cape wrapped tightly around him. He shivered horribly with every gust of wind. Jinx found herself standing next to him as he walked. She felt no cold, and he didnt seem to notice her presence. "Its so stupid." Robin said. "He wont let me go after the ones that killed my parents until I've spent a night in the cold like this. WHY?" He shouted, and kicked an AC unit. Snow fell off of the top of it onto him, the fall caused by the vibration, and he looked like he would cry. "Whats so freaking special about the cold?" He shivered more and Jinx's heart ached for him; no child should go through this. Robin came to the edge of a rooftop and looked down into the alley below him. There were several barrels with fires in them, the homeless hudled around them. He wanted to go down and stand amongst them, but knew he shouldnt. He wanted to go down, and be just like them around the fire.
"Its so easy." Jinx said. "I get it. Its so easy to do what you want, what feels good. He wants to see if you have the discipline to do what you dont want, what hurts you." The young Robin paid her no mind, but watched the fire, as if the sight of it alone would warm him. "Can you do whats right?" She asked him. "Can you do it for the right reasons? Thats what he's testing you on."
"Cold." Robin said, and a few tears slipped down his cheeks. They turned to ice. He knew he would be welcomed down there. The 'Caped Crusader' and his sidekick were loved amongst the homeless, more often than not defending them from the street gangs. He knew they would take him into theyre ranks as one of theyre own and warm him by the fire. They might even give him something warm to drink, even if it was only boiled water, water made by snow they had melted. There was the off-chance that one might even have a packet of instant coffee for him. They would throw a discarded blanket over his shoulders and worship him as a god almost. He saw the elderly woman without gloves holding her hands above the fire. He knew instantly she would rub his shoulders, using the act to warm him and herself all at once. "So cold."
"You can only bring them to justice once you realise that you have to be indifferant towards them as you do it. In that you are unlike all people that seek retribution. You are alone."
"But I'm not alone. I fight with you! Why wont you let me go after the gang that cut the ropes?"
Jinx realised that she was hearing an argument between Robin and Batman in her head.
"You wont always fight with me. Its a never ending battle. The instant you allow yourself to do it for pleasure you become no better than they are. Justice is indifferant. YOU must be indifferant. YOU must be alone!"
Robin turned away from the fires below. He readied himself to jump from one roof to another. He made the leap, and even though Jinx did not jump she seemed to follow with him. As he passed the space between the buildings two green rubber gloves fell onto the head of the gloveless old woman. She fell to her knees, pulling them onto her hands and fingers, some of which were only frostbitten stubs, thanking the lord above for his generous gift. She wondered though later when she took them off why the lord would gift her with gloves that contained a lock-picking set.
Robin hit the roof of the next building and skidded in a pile of slush. He fell. He slipped and hit a puddle of water, the only reason there was watter was there was a heating duct right below the rooftop. Still the water was cold and seeped through his suit to his skin almost instantly, paralyzing him. He laid in the puddle, unable to move or breathe. This only allowed the water to seep through even more and saturate his clothing. He sat up finally, hugging his arms and now naked hands to his chest. "Oh." He cried. "It hurts!" The young Robin broke into tears. It was too much to bear. It was just too much! "Why is this happening?" He asked. Jinx had a feeling that he was asking whatever powers that be up above. "Why do I have to go through this?"
Robin slowed his breathing and increased his heart rate. He burned more calories. He didnt make his body temperature rise with this trick of visceral control, but made it drop slower. Small whisps of steam rose off of his exposed skin. Except for his hands, which had poor circulation. Jinx understood it was a genetic trait, as the thought of it flew through Robins mind. Grandpa Drake had died of a heart attack at fourty-five. Grandpa Gibson had died of a heart attack at fourty-seven. He had been a baby when both died. He had heard his father express concern for his own heart, given the history of heart diseas in his familly, as a younger child. Father had been worried that his heart was not well, that his hands and feet were always cold. He would never know. He would never know if father was meant to die of a heart attack at a young age. This was because his father died of a cranial injury caused by falling at the young age of twenty-nine. These thoughts passed through Robins mind. They only made him cry harder. He got up out of the slush quickly, and tried to shake off as much water as he could. His cape became heavier, so he took it off.
Jinx could see how cold he really was. She knew a boy of his age, no matter how durable, would die if left out too much longer. What kind of monster was Batman? Then she understood though, the saying: "Take the hard right over the easy left.". It meant doing right was supposed to be hard. It was supposed to hurt. His training was infinetly harder than hers had been.
His lips were blue, his skin was white. He looked like death. Jinx feared he was going to die. He continued to just stand there in the cold, rubbing his arms and shivering heavilly, and crying. This is what training was like for him? Training for her was fun. The hive always made sure they were happy, having fun. The hive never made them do anything hard. The hive, that was it. The HIVE always made it seem like there was nothing really wrong with what they did. Thats how they did it. They made it seem like fun, like they could have everything they ever wanted just by taking it. She had a great time, while a young child like Robin was freezing to death on a roof-top in Gotham, training to fight her. Had she known this was what it was like for the other side she doubted she would ever have been able to do the things she did.
"Its alright." Jinx said. She took a step closed to the child. He noticed her, took his arms from his sides and took up a deffensive stance. He shuddered harder and lost muscle control. Jinx caught him before he could hit the ground. She found he was gone. She looked behind her, there was Batman, carrying him away. She kicked herself. She couldnt do anything here, the child had seen Batman, not her. Just a memory, thats all this was.
"Your not strong enough." She heard Batman say. He was an eleven year old! What did this man really expect from him. "You have to do better." Batman jumped off the edge of the roof with the boy in his arms. Jinx ran to see which way they went. By the time she got there they were gone, a large, sleek black car was fishtailing around the corner already. Jinx stood around for a moment, wondering when this would end. As she wondered it the dull colours of Gotham faded, and ran together. She blinked herself awake.
"Nnn?" Jinx moaned. She rolled off of Starfire onto the floor. The link with Robin was active, so active she could feel it pulsing. Why? It was too big of a distraction to be able to sleep. The alarm on the bedside table told her it was too late to go back to sleep. What the hell was he doing awake? She got up off the floor and headed out into the hallway, following the link which always lead straight to him.
Jinx liked to think that being accustomed to powers and such that she held the advantage with this link over Robin, who was a regular human. Of course, she doubted this after Robins little show earlier, forcing so many cumulative memories and feelings on her all at once, like a trained expert. It was scary, creepy, and just the kind of thing she expected from him. She opened the door to the training room, and there he was.
Robin was training, giving it his all. He wore no shirt, just his spandex green pants. Around him were seven training bots Cyborg had made, all in a fighting stance. There were pieces of three other drones on the floor. Robin saw her. A robot thought he was distracted and took the opportunity to attack. "What are you doing?" Jinx asked, like he was a madman. He dodged out of the way of the first robot, the second, and kicked the third in the head. The other four continued to stand back, moving and trying to stay to his blind side.
"Training."
"Now?"
Robin took a remote control from his pocket and de-activated the robots. He turned to Jinx, slightly annoyed. "Yes, now. What, did I wake you up?"
"As a matter of fact you did."
"So, train then."
"I'd clobber you."
"You know thats a lie."
She did. Robin and she reguarded each other as equals in every aspect and treated each other with respect, except when competition was involved. Jinx knew that in this area of expertise the differance was small enough so that a fight between them would still be interesting. "Gonna have to prove that." She said cockily, heading for the matts. Robin shrugged and followed. He stopped at a weight rack halfway there and got four arm bands. He tossed two to Jinx and pointed to the wrestling style ring. "What are these?" She asked as she put them on.
"Weight bracelets. When electromagnets under the floor are activated they can become heavier or lighter."
"What are we setting them to?" This actually sounded good to Jinx. She relied more on her legs for fighting anyway, while Robin was an expert grappler.
"Fifty pounds in each hand. Just enough to slow us down." They climbed into the ring at opposing corners and Robin hit a button on one of the posts. Jinx slumped as she instantly gained a hundred pounds. She struggled to stand upright.
"Better move quick." She heard Robin tease. She charged him at full speed and jumped into the air trying to kick him in the head. He stood perfectly still with his hands at his side until the last moment. His left arm came up and parried the blow, stopping it dead. The other came up and grabbed her other foot and pulled, causing Jinx to land on her back with a loud thud. Jinx reached up to hex him, but her hands were unsteady. She missed, and hit a weight rack some feet away. Robin was gone from where he had just been. Jinx rolled onto her back quickly to try and get up. She pushed up with her hands and was forced back down again. "What the hell?" She yelled. Above her Robin was resting his hands on her back, letting the weight of his bands transfer to her. She couldnt get up with that on her. He laughed as she laid helpless.
"Your slow tonight." Robin teased. "Your slow even though I gave you the 'I just woke up' handicap." To prove his point he took one hand off her back and rested it in front of her. The little digital display box on his bracelet said '100' in blinking little red numbers. Jinx's eyes bugged out of her head and she looked to her own bracelets at her side. They each said fifty.
"Oh whatever." Jinx growled. She used her legs to trip Robin up, and while he struggled to maintain his balance she swung her heavy arm at the side of his shin. The weight behind the move took his legs right out from under him. "Get over yourself. Jinx growled as she jumped on top of him. She put him in a double arm lock as she straddled his stomach. She kept her feet close to her thighs so he couldnt tangle his own with hers and roll her off. If she applied just enough pressure she could break his arms, because his hands were tucked up behind her armpits, and she was pushing up on both of his elbows with her hands. She looked down at him, thinking she had won.
"Thats gotta be heavy." Robin oberved. Holding those 50 pounds each up under my elbow, with my arms weighing 100 each as it is. Your strong if you can do that for long. Jinx was already sweating. Robin did something she hadnt expected. He bent his knees, planted his feet on the floor and pushed himself out from between her legs in a split second while she was distracted. He curled up at the stomach, his arms no longer locked out all the way and twisted them. He was out of her grip in no time and back on the offensive. Jinx tried to hex him but missed. She hit one of the posts to the ring which sparked and smoked. The other four posts did likewise as the computers therein fried. The weights were put up to the maximum, 300 per bracelet. Robin and Jinx hit the ground with simultaneous thuds. Robin glared at Jinx across the three feet that seperated them. "Good one." He grumbled.
"I didnt make you dodge!" Jinx defended. "How do I take these off?" Jinx tried to get up and was unable. She was on her back with her arms and legs splayed out in all directions, as was Robin.
"You need another hand to do it." It took a moment for it to sink in on Jinx that they were stuck like this until found by the others.
"Oh this sucks." Jinx complained.
"Yep."
"Cant you still move with all that weight? Do the macho thing? You waved a hundred pounds around like it was nothing."
Robin laughed a little sheepishly. "Yeah. About that. I made it seem alot easier than it was. I'm pooped." Jinx sweat-dropped and growled at Robin, who visibly shrank.
A few moments later Jinx realised she could still move her feet, and if she strained she was able to kick at Robins legs. "AH!" She yelled triumphantly. "Have at you!" She managed to kick Robin in the shin.
It was just a sense. The intruder in her room made no noise. It was just a sense. The intruder made no movements. It was just a sense. The intruder made no body heat that might disturb the airflow patterns in the room, it was just a sense. Starfire awoke, knowing someone was in her room. It was just a sense. She scanned quickly, and saw her sister. There she was, after so long, Blackfire was standing by the door with her hands held behind her, nervously fidgeting. Starfire was upright in less than a second, unable to believe what she saw. Blackfires attention was caught when she moved. They locked eyes.
She was at a loss for words. What could she say? She loved her sister, with all of her heart. She had been so worried, so scared, so sad for her, but now she was right here! Starfire opened her mouth and choked back a sob. "Blackfire?" She asked. Maybe she had only dreamed what had happened to her sister, and she was here for something else. MAybe everything was alright, just perfect and Blackfire was here for a minor reason. No, that was not it. She knew it all was true, and that Blackfire was here for a good reason. "Oh." The simple earth word slipped from her lips, almost too quietly to be heard. Red tears rimmed her eyes, she blinked, and they spilled over. "Oh oh oh." She repeated and dove for her sister, who caught her with open arms.
"Blackfire!" Starfire cried quietly. She hugged her sister close. "You are back!"
"I decided it was time." Blackfire said quietly. She felt panic rising in her chest as her sister talked to her so fast. Starfire was excited and highly emotional, it made Blackfire nervous. She felt like she couldnt keep up in this emotional outpouring. Starfire seemed to sense her plight and calmed herself. She let go of Blackfire and sat down on the floor cross-legged. Blackfire followed. "I wanted to appoligize for how I acted that night." Blackfire said quietly. "It wasnt right. I know how worried you were."
"It is alright." Starfire whispered. She leaned foward and too Blackfires hands in her own. "We were there for you, we would let you come to us." Starfire had been waiting outside her door when she felt Kali inside. She wasnt sure how her mother had returned from the final death until Raven had later explained it to her, but she knew not to interfere. Blackfire needed her more. "Come, would you like to see the others?" Starfire was already on her feet, heading for the door. It had Blackfire trying to shrink into herself again.
"No! I mean, thats okay. I'm not quite ready for a big crowd yet." She bit her lower lip, worrying it between her teeth. She decided who she should see. "Wheres Beast Boy?"
"He is not here right now."
"Where is he then?"
"Blackfire his eyes have not gotten better. Robin has signed him up for a less traditional regimen of medicine." Starfire saw her sister was puzzled, so she went on. "On earth the animals are very perceptive. There are trained dogs that can sniff out unfortunate peoples who may have a cancerous growth, or in some cases people who will get them later in life. Homes for the elderly often keep felines because they seek out the company of dying patients and refuse to leave them until they have departed. Recently though the humans have discovered that the ultrasonic waves some animals such as dolphins use to communicate can have healing properties."
"Dolphin... Therapy?"
"Precisely. Today is Beast Boys first treatment."
Blackfire smiled. You didnt need to be a genius to understand just what that would mean to the changeling, especially after that encounter with those strange creatures in space. If they were anything like theyre earth-borne counterparts she knew Beast Boy would be coming home quite happy. "What time should he be home?"
"Around the time of the mid-day meal. He and Cyborg should be back by then." Starfire took her sisters hand. "Come, until then we shall make use of the room of recreation."
"Alright." Jinx said for the fifty-somethingth time. "This time, I've got it." Around she and Robin the gym lay in ruins. She had been trying to hex her way out of her situation, but without being able to see what she wanted to hex the hex waves went wherever they pleased and wreaked havoc.
"Your just going to break something else." Robin complained. He was going to make her clean this, he swore.
"Its not my fault jackass. I just cant see the damned machine!" Jinx's anger forced her to let go of the wave early, to disastrous results. The waves lept from her fingers and hit Robin, who was propelled out of the ring. He slammed up against the far wall of the gymnasium he fell to the ground, outside the ring now where the weight bracelets weighed a normal twelve ounces each. Jinx shrugged as much as she could in her position. "Well it worked."
There were voices all around him. He wanted to cry. He had come here to get better, for treatement and people all around were talking about him like he wasnt even there, like he was a freak. He shrugged it off, like he had his whole life so far but for a moment it made him wish he was still deaf.
"...Newcomer... Strange... Differant..." An entire crowd had showed up to watch his dolphin therapy session! Beast Boy fumed, and next to him Cyborg noticed his friends distress.
"Hey man whats wrong? You still wanna go through with this right?" Why wouldnt he? Cyborg wondered to himself. Hell, he wanted to go through with it and there was nothing wrong with him. Cyborg had been expecting some kind of laboratory enviroment, but the address had been some old ladies back yard right on the ocean. She had invited them in for tea, and brought them out here. Cyborg could see that the water here was teeming with life, the dolphins were schooling here.
"Yeah." Beast Boy said, as if he had been hurt. "I just didnt think there would be a crowd."
Now Cyborg truly thought his friend was deranged. "Dude you'll have fun. Dont worry."
"Here." The old doctor set down a bucket of fish in front of Cyborg. He smiled and thanked her. Dr. Ramera, as she had introduced herself, had been in the medical field longer than Cyborg had been alive and after a brief examination of Beast Boy had voiced his confidence in his making a recovery with regular treatment. "I normally do this myself, but I thought you two might like to give them breakfast."
"Are they captive here?" Cyborg asked. Did she have an underwater net to keep them penned in?
"Oh heavens no." She made a clicking sound in the back of her throat. "They live here."
Cyborg was floored. "But-"
"They are mammals. Just like dogs and cats and us. I just started feeding them regularly some years back, and before you knew it they started coming right up to the dock." She patted her hands against her legs. "So I didnt even need my boat anymore. After a while we just became friends, and they stay. They like me, so they stay."
"Wow." Beast Boy made a whisteling noise, forgetting the crowd watching and talking. He let Cyborg guide him out onto the dock.
"Just take a fish and hold it out over the water, dont worry, they wont bite."
Beast Boy held out the first fish and waited. He heard a splash, got nervous, dropped the fish. The hungry dolphing belly flopped right in front of him and the onlooking crowd laughed uproarously. "I thought this would be a little more private." He said irritably and was handed another fish. He held it out in front of him.
Splash, the dolphing jumped. He heard the crowd 'ooh' in anticipation. The fish was snatched from his hand and the crowd cheered. He felt good from this, almost like taking a bow.
Finally it was time for the big show, to swim with the dolphins. He jumped in blind, much to the distress of Cyborg but took well to the water. He was startled when one of the creatures brushed his leg, but laughed and spit salt-water. Out of habit he wiped his eyes so he could open them.
"Over here, newbie." A joking voice said. Beast Boy huffed and swam towards the voice. A dolphin bumped against him in the water and everyone laughed uproarously, including himself. He felt around for a moment. His hands came into contact with one of the creatures and he pet it as best he could, like it was a dog. It seemed to appreceate it.
Cyborg sat on the beach, watching Beast Boy carefully. "So, you think the ultrasound Dolphins generate is good for the human body?"
"Oh yes, it doesnt heal us though. It just increases our metabolism, slows the aging process, increases immune system response and promotes healing, doesnt cause it."
"Wow. When did you figure that out?" He wasnt completely sold on the idea, but Beast Boy seemed to enjoy it.
"Well, I've been a doctor for fifty years." She smiled when Cyborg double-taked. "Forty years ago, after I started to swim with them regularly I noticed some differances in my own body and came up with a theory.
"Wait." Cyborg said, his hands out in front of him. "Just how old are you?" She looked fourty, maybe fifty. Her numbers just didnt add up. The woman smiled, looked to her left and right and motioned for him to lean in close so she could whisper.
"One hundred and fifteen years old." She stepped back, giggling to herself as Cyborgs jaw dropped.
Cyborg replaced his jaw and opened it, as if to argue but realised it was pointless, mostly because his sensors that monitored heat patterns on her skin, pulse, voice frequency, all told him she wasnt lying, as did his gut. He scratched his head. "Are you a vampire?"
"Oh heavens no!" The doctor burst into a fit of laughter that lasted nearly a minute.
"Well, I'll buy that for a dollar. I mean, I'm the kind of stuff you'd see in an Ed Wood film so who am I to judge?"
Holding onto the dorsal fin Beast Boy found himself rocketing through the water. He never imagined the creatures were this strong, just tugging him about like he wasnt even there. The dolphin jumped up into the air and he lost his grip some feet high, and landed in the water doing a belly flop. He didnt miss a step though, as another of the creatures darted up to him and began to play. After fifteen minutes Beast Boy decided to shift forms. He shifted to a dolphin and the creatures all backed off from him.
"Holy hell, check it out!" Beast Boy heard one of the crowd say. Then a thought occured to him. He was underwater. Why was he hearing people above water so well? A cold chill went up his spine.
"Hello?" He said as best he could. It sounded about right, or like a bunch of clicks and squeels.
"Yeah, hi." Came a sarcastic respone.
Beast Boy screamed in what he would call dolphinese. It was a happy scream. "I can understand you!" He bellowed. "And you can understand me."
"Oh hell, he's got a babble-fish." Said one of the dolphins to another. The second made what he could only assume was a grunt of agreement.
"What?"
"A babble fish."
"No, mine died. I had two, but one died of starvation and the other died when I was blown out an airlock." A thought occured to Beast Boy. "Say, you guys wouldnt happen to know anything about a group of dolphins that lives in space, would you?" The dolphins around him chattered back and forth for several minutes while Beast Boy tried to listen.
"Yeah. Big lot right? About the size of a boat? Communicate telepathically?" It was a kind female voice that answered him this time.
"Yes!" Beast boy screeched back. "They saved me!"
"Cousins." Said another lamely.
"Huh?" Beast Boy went to smack his forehead, and of course was unable to do so with a flipper. He could be the only one, the first human -or something like it- to communicate with dolphins and say 'huh'.
"Yo, kid, simple version kay? Those evolved from us." The speaker swam around him rapidly. "You spoke to them with your mind, probably took theyre form. They just left something in that brain of yours so you could understand them, or us."
"But its my ears that hear you." Beast Boy said.
"But your brain that interperets it. Its the same language, no matter what you hear it with."
Blackfire sat across the recreation room, suprised at how nice it was. It was her first time in here. It had everything. Along the wall were lined up many archaic arcade games, in a corner was a large tv with many differant consoles attatched. In the other, far corner there was a small stage set up with instruments. On it was everything from the flute to the harp. Blackfire imagined it was there for Ravens bennefit, Cyborg thinking it the only reason she would have use for the room. Finally, in another corner was her sister, sitting in an oversized bag of beans chair and smiling at her.
"Do you like this room?" Starfire asked. "I have many of the shiny disks that make movies upon the television. We could watch some of those."
Blackfire felt distant suddenly. "No, thankyou."
"The games are free." Starfire said hopefully. "I could show you some of the 'Combating Mortals' finishing moves. There is one that is most excellent, in which one combatant pulls out his opponents spinal column and-"
"No." Blackfire felt as though she were leaving her body.
"Oooh!" Starfire jumped towards the stage and held up a microphone. "Karaoke!" She squeeled hopefully.
The next thing Blackfire knew she was standing on the stage, in front of the piano. Her finger was depressing the e-sharp key. She looked about quickly. What had just happened?
"I do not know how to play instruments." Starfire said to her side, desperate for something to do with her sister. "But I could learn."
"I have something else we could do." Blackfire said. She looked down at her manner of dress and suddenly found it distastefull. "I need new clothes."
Robin and Jinx staggered out of the gym, looking tired as ever. One of Robins arms was drapped over Jinx's shoulder. "One hundred pounds each is too much!" He joked. "Just not cool." He said.
Jinx looked at one of his arms. He hadnt beared the weight for long, but the speed of his movements had hurt him with the increased weight. The arms were red. They looked swollen, like he had pulled every muscle in them.
"I did." Robin complained. "Kitchen." Together they began to stagger in that dirrection.
"This mental link is actually kind of cool." Jinx said.
"Hows that?"
"Last night, what woke me up was a memory of yours from your training days."
"Which one?"
"The one where you were out in the winter, it was cold and you had no cold gear." Robin tensed at her side. "What?" Was he so egotistical that he cared that she had seen him weak, seen him cry?
"No, its just, thats personal." They got to the kitchen and sat down in opposite chairs. Robin knew an in depth conversation was unavoidable and thought it odd how close they were but how little they really knew about each other. A pepsi was set down in front of him. and Jinx took the opposite seat. "Its just that that was the only night I ever cried durring training."
"So I saw the hardest night you trained."
Robin gave her a haunting look. "No, you didnt. I just learned to get harder. After that night I spent two weeks in a hospital. I stayed out longer than the Bat thought I would. My fingers and toes were blue by the time we were back at the cave. I was hypothermic, obviously. I slept for four days, had a fever upwards of a hundred and four for two weeks. I was delirious. I was given my last rites four times."
"Oh." Jinx said, her voice full of hurt for him.
"I was awake all four times, somehow. I was catatonic but I remember somehow." Robins gaze turned from somewhere else into the room to Jinx, where it bored a hole in her soul. "It was alot, for an eleven year old to see the preacher give you last rites, to see everyone think you were dead and be unable to move even."
"Your scary." Was all Jinx could say.
"That wasnt the hardest night of training, it just made me harder so I could keep it together on the hard nights to come. Being eleven, and not even able to cry when I was about to die made it easier not to cry for anything else." Robin sat back in his chair, having been leaning towards Jinx. He became distant. And all the while I was awake, he was always standing in a corner. He never looked worried, he never bat an eyelash. Just stood there, face impassive."
"Monster."
"No." Robin shook his head calmly. "He loves me like a son. For the time I was awake he was always there, never said a thing or flinched. He showed me what it was that I was working towards: true discipline. He reminded me what it was. True strength. By standing there, doing nothing, he did just as much for me as any of the doctors. It showed me what I was working and suffering for, gave me strength Jinx. Bruce showed me what it meant to be strong. He watched his son get his last rites four times and never flinched."
"Just for discipline." She said quietly.
"In a fix discipline can save you where all super powers would fail."