Hey all! Okay so, first of all, if you read any of my other stories, I'm so sorry about the long update time...I recently started seeing someone and I've had severe writers block, so coming up with the next chapters to most of my stories just isn't happening right now. I will try to update asap, but I do want to make sure that I get my stories right, even if that means a bit more of a delay than usual...my apologies, but I hope you enjoy this chapter!

And thank-you Rune Kensington for your review...I'm glad you think it deserves more reviews! If only...ah well, I'm glad that there are some people out there who like this story, and really, that's enough :)

And now, CHAPTER 2! :)

Finding the Enemy

Previously:

"Okay, for our newcomers, group session is where we explain what's bothering us and how we feel about it. While you are not required to participate, we highly encourage it to help you relieve your anger," she explained, "Since there are some new people, let's go around and say our names. My name is Kori Anders."

She then pointed at the person sitting to her right and the patients began to say their names. When they had finally gotten around the circle, Kori announced in her peppy voice, "Alright, this week's group session can now begin. Who wants to go first?"

Several people discussed their issues for the week but when Kori had reached Richard in the circle, he politely declined, much to the dismay of everyone.

Still, Kori brushed it off by saying, "The healing process takes a different amount of time for everyone. I hope you'll feel up to sharing with us really soon."

Richard gave a tentative smile; her enthusiasm was truly contagious. Still, he knew that he could entrust no one with his secret. It was too precious for him to lose.

Kori continued progressing around the circle, still asking Raven if she had anything to contribute despite knowing that Raven wouldn't speak. After Raven, Kori gestured to the green teen, who was seated on all fours trying to itch himself with his leg. Kori quickly consulted her clipboard before announcing, "Everyone, this is Garfield and he thinks he's a dog."

Before she could continue, Garfield gave a happy bark. Raven shot a curious glance in his direction, so it seemed that the ward had inherited yet another silent companion. Raven smiled inwardly to herself, hopefully he would help alleviate some focus off of her.

When Kori finished the weekly session, Richard finally knew everyone on his floor. He prided himself on his photographic memory and detective skills, and consequently, was able to memorize who everyone was and what their conditions were. There was Anna, the anorexic, Nina, the depressed one, Bill, the schizophrenic one, just to name a few. There was also Gary, who was claustrophobic and Jane who was paranoid beyond belief, always muttering how the government was spying on her. Richard felt uncomfortable around most of the residents and cursed Bruce for sending him here.

He knew that Bruce was trying to be helpful, but these people were delusional, he wasn't. Deathstroke had tortured him painfully a few weeks ago. Because of that experience, Richard had been a bit more reserved and had been getting terrible nightmares that he couldn't shake. He would thrash about, imagining that he was in a battle against this enemy. In these battles, he could never win. Richard remembered each loss, they all seemed so real to him, and it was several days before Bruce could discern the fact that Richard was hallucinating. As if that wasn't bad enough, Richard hurt himself during these hallucinations. After calling in several specialists who found no cure, Bruce sent him to the asylum.

Richard sighed, he wanted out. He knew that despite having crazy nightmares, he was normal. Fully functional. And he needed to get back to the streets of Gotham as the Boy Wonder. He couldn't stand the thought of sitting idly by while Gotham relied on Bruce and Tom. He had a job to do and he was going to recover so that he could complete his job. He would stand vigilant as long as criminals prowled about his city.

Naturally, after several years of crime fighting, Richard found himself incredibly restless. He was purposeless. Well, until he had his first visit with the overseeing doctor.

It was a few days after the weekly meeting and Richard had been summoned for evaluation by Dr. Wilson. Ever since the tour, Richard had been wary of Dr. Wilson, for some reason Wilson set all of his nerves on edge. And if there was one thing Richard learned, it was to always trust his instinct.

So Richard slowly made his way to the door decorated by the plaque that read Slade Wilson, M.D., his stomach churning. When he arrived, the door stood ajar with Dr. Wilson seated across the couch in his comfortable, black leather desk chair.

"Have a seat," offered Dr. Wilson in a chilling voice.

Reluctantly, Richard sat down, waiting for the interrogation to begin.

"So your foster father told me that you think you're the superhero, Robin," began Slade.

Richard tensed up, that was supposed to be his secret, and his alone. He and Bruce were supposed to carry their identities to the grave. Richard sighed, did Bruce think that revealing their identities would help with his therapy? Because Richard just found it a dumb strategy.

Richard shook his head no, just because Bruce was careless didn't mean that he would follow suit.

Dr. Wilson sighed, wondering why he never was given the 'easy' patients to cure. He could tell this was going to take more effort than he'd planned.

"You'll never be able to progress if you don't learn to trust me," said Dr. Wilson, staring into Richard's blue eyes. Richard cringed, the expectant look reminded him of the look that Deathstroke always gave him during battle, always assessing and evaluating him. Richard suddenly went rigid, What if Slade is Deathstroke?

Suddenly, Richard found himself a whole lot less trusting of this doctor. It just had to be Deathstroke. It only made sense...If superheroes had their own secret identities, then the villians would too. And Deathstroke was definitely twisted enough to want to warp peoples minds, just for the fun of it. Richard solemnly promised himself that he would not crack. Too much was at stake. Instantly his thoughts flashed to Raven and he was suddenly glad for the fact that she never spoke to the criminal seated before him.

Noticing Richard's rigid posture and defensive glare, Dr. Wilson dismissed him from the office. Clearly, this patient was too wound up to be cured. This would be a long, long process. Dr. Wilson sighed. He decided to look for Richard's file once again to look for anything he might have missed.

Richard all but sprinted into the common room area, relieved to find Raven at her usual location. He rushed over and grabbed her arm gently, indicating that she should follow him. He could see the concern reflected in her eyes, but he couldn't explain quite yet. He whispered to Raven to trust him, she nodded and quickly followed him to his room. Upon arriving to the dingy, yellowed room, Raven left the door open as protocol demanded. Richard glanced warily at the door before sitting on the edge of his bed. Raven sat next to him, waiting for an explanation.

"Okay, I'm about to tell you some important things and I need you not to react, can you do that?" he whispered into her ear. Raven nodded, she had perfected the stoic look.

Richard took a deep breath before continuing, "What you are about to hear, very few people know. I trust you not to tell anyone, please don't make me regret this."

Raven cocked her head to the side and looked at him, her violet eyes boring through him, trying to guess what he was about to tell her. Richard felt awful that she was in such danger, but he knew that he had to tell her and protect her.

"Ever heard of Batman and Robin?" he asked. Raven nodded Only in the movies though she thought.

"I am Robin, and my dad, he's Batman. I'm here because I was tortured by Deathstroke-an evil villain of Gotham- and I just found out that he is Dr. Wilson. I think he knows who I am too and he may try to exploit our friendship. Do not share anything with that man. Hopefully I can do some investigating and have him arrested soon."

Raven's eyebrows shot up in skepticism, but it was still hard to doubt him, he sounded so sure of himself and harbored such hatred for this person. Raven wondered if he even could've conjured all of this up.

"Just...promise me you'll watch your step around him, okay?"

Raven nodded dumbly. So he really believes this? I guess it can't hurt to be extra careful, though, no matter how absurd the claim about Dr. Wilson being a villain sounds.

Richard grinned, "Great!"

He then hugged her, beaming all the while. As long as he and Raven could stay away from that Doctor, they could make it-Richard was sure of that.

Suddenly, a large figure loomed in the doorway.

"Sorry, Mr. Grayson, but we need to borrow Raven for a bit. It won't take long, don't worry," came the eerie voice of Dr. Wilson. Richard could swear that he saw a flash of malice in the man's eyes, and didn't trust what he was going to do. Still, they had little choice seeing as two nurses flanked Slade, ready to step in if necessary. Richard watched Raven follow Slade, his feeling of happiness shattered. He began to pace wildly. Unable to take the strain, Richard poked his head out of his room to see that they took Raven to a different room than Slade's office.

Richard mashed his teeth together, This is not good.

As Raven trailed Dr. Wilson and the nurses, she found it more believable that he could be evil. First of all, his voice was cold and unfeeling, even by her standards. And he never showed an ounce of compassion for his patients or felt bad about some terrible treatments he'd prescribed. Yeah, he did seem like the incarnation of evil.

And suddenly, Raven was wary. Richard's words echoed in her mind...he may try to exploit our friendship...just what were they going to have her do?

Raven followed the group into a pristine, white room. The only furniture in the room was a chair with clamps and the table that held the wiring. Raven noticed that Kori was there, a look of pity in her emerald eyes, and it clicked. Raven's senses went on overdrive, she turned and tried to bolt, fighting the nurses that tried to restrain her. Eventually, however, she was given a sedative. As Raven felt her muscles giving way to the injected drug, she felt herself being dragged back to where the chair was. It was all over now.

To say Richard was worried was an understatement. He was petrified. Therefore, he decided to wait a bit before going to the room where Raven was being treated. He could then burst in when Raven needed help. Finally, his 8 minute wait time elapsed and he quietly took off for the room she was in.

Standing outside of the room, he heard something shake, as if someone had been slammed into an object. Richard shuddered, he figured this was some plan of theirs to get her to talk. He almost bursted in, ready to fight them off with his martial art skills, however, there were no more sounds of struggle. Richard waited and pressed his ear to the closed wooden door, trying to discern any amount of conversation.

All he heard was the clicking of the shoes inside.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" asked the voice Richard identified as Kori, the fact that she sounded concerned made Richard even more frightened.

"We need to see if her vocal cords are even functioning before we think of other treatment options, this test, while regrettable, is vital," responded Dr. Wilson's detached voice.

Curious, Richard pressed his ear further into the door, but he soon found that he didn't have to. Raven's screams were loud enough to be heard throughout the hall. Angry, Richard tried to break the locked door open, but no amount of rattling, punching, or kicking knocked the barrier over. Richard continued his attacks on the door, and continued until a team of nurses armed with a sedative arrived.

As they set Richard on his squeaky mattress, all he could think of was how he had let her down. He was a hero, meant to protect people, and he'd let her get hurt. Richard felt the hot tears of embarrassment slide down his face. He silently vowed to himself that he would make Dr. Wilson pay for hurting Raven like that.

Raven lay in her bed after the treatment, immobile. She had been through so many treatments at the asylum that she thought she'd seen the worst of the place. She clearly was wrong. The electroshock therapy had been excruciating. And if Slade was evil, Raven had the feeling that this would be the first treatment of many. For once, Raven just wanted to rot and die in the ward, anything would be preferable to more 'treatment'. Raven just looked up at the peeling ceiling, feeling like she was falling apart herself.

The next day, Richard woke up to yet another nightmare. However, instead of fighting Deathstroke, all he heard were Raven's screams in his dream. He sighed, letting his shoulders sag against the weight of the memories from the day before. Richard sat up at the edge of his bed, contemplating whether or not he should go out to the common room. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to face her after everything. Not after knowing that he didn't do his job and certainly not after hearing her screams echoed in his mind all night. He was sure that when he saw her, that he would still hear her screaming as loudly and painfully as yesterday...So this is insanity...

After a long period of time, definitely after lunch, Richard could hear the noises of the resident pet in the hall. He closed his eyes, trying to push out the thoughts of the jubilant 'dog' when, rather suddenly, the green kid came bounding into Richard's room. Richard eyed the boy, trying to discern what he was going to do. The kid cautiously approached Richard on all fours, pausing every so often to see what Richard would do. Eventually, when he reached Richard's knee he lunged for Richard's sleeve, getting it securely in his mouth before attempting to drag Richard out.

After several attempts, Richard was able to wrestle his shirt free of Garfield's grasp. Richard then laid back down on his bed, turning fully away from the green teen. Garfield whined, but left shortly after. Richard briefly wondered why the kid had tried to 'speak' to him at this time, but he dismissed the thought. He just needed to be alone for the time being.

So I hope you all liked this chapter and the way the story is progressing! I'll probably include more of Beast Boy's character and the back stories next chapter! Please review! :D

~RukiaRae