Robin looked from her now-shrouded face to his communicator, half-intending to stop her, tell her he could take the call later. Raven was so rarely open to talking like this, and she clearly needed someone to talk to, but…

"Robin. Take the call."

"Okay, but find me later, all right?"

She nodded slightly and backed away. He swore under his breath as she disappeared into her room, door sliding shut behind her. He was still swearing as he pressed the 'answer call' button, stalking down the hallway faster than was strictly necessary.

"Bruce."

"Hey, Dick. Bad time?"

His adopted father looked calm and unruffled, as per usual, but he had read more on Robin's face than he had meant to communicate. He ran a hand over his forehead.

"Kind of, yeah. Hang on a second."

Once he was safely ensconced in his study and Bruce's face was projected on the screen that hung over his desk, Robin removed his mask. Bruce smiled slightly, and Robin thought he saw pride in his expression.

"It's been a while."

"Yeah. Sorry, things have been…"

As he was trying to come up with the words he needed to describe the last few months, Bruce held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Woah, hey, not your fault. We've both had a lot on our plates."

Alfred came into view just then, a toolbox in one hand and a roll of bandages in the other. Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Clearly."

Bruce shrugged and half grimaced.

"All in a days work," he paused briefly to accept the bandages from Alfred and wind them around a nasty gash in his forearm. "So what was I interrupting back there?"

Robin winced slightly, unsure of how to answer. His adopted father could read most of his thoughts on his face, and would definitely know if he was lying. On the other hand, Raven's problems were her own, and he wasn't about to go sharing them without her permission.

"I was just…talking…to Raven. We're having a problem with a new villain around here."

He knew Bruce would detect the half-truth, but to Robin's surprise, he let it go.

"That's what I was calling about, actually."

Robin bristled slightly. Ironically, he didn't like to admit when his pride was hurt, but he also hated Bruce poking around in his crime fighting. He had a lot to live up to as it was, and constantly struggling to prove himself didn't help much. Bruce smiled slightly.

"Relax, tiger. I'm not muscling in on your turf."

Robin relaxed his body language only slightly, resenting the comfortable intuition of his guardian.

"What's going on?"

Bruce scowled for the first time, and the air was suddenly full of the sound of typing.

"We've been having trouble in Gotham lately. Politics. Just about my least favorite thing, but you can't avoid them sometimes."

Robin leaned forward, hand hovering over his mousepad as he scrolled through the encrypted file that had just been transferred.

"Sebastian Hady…why do I know that name?"

"He's been all over the news lately…guy is running for mayor in Gotham."

A frown tugged at Robin's forehead as he scanned paragraphs as fast as he could.

"Financial support from the Iceberg Lounge…Public endorsement from Judson Caspian…platform is…what?"

Batman's voice was characteristically grim, but uncharacteristically worried.

"Exactly."

Robin spluttered incoherently for a moment, then recovered and ran both hands roughly through his hair.

"So this guy is running on a bill that would criminalize superheroes? What, does he want to shut down the Justice League?"

Bruce grimaced.

"I gather that's his long-term plan. He's an ambitious guy. Ambitious and corrupt. You recognize the Iceberg Lounge?"

Robin was scowling fiercely at this point, frown etched so firmly on his face that he doubted it would ever disappear entirely.

"The Penguin's business."

"Exactly. In other words, it's a drug den and crime syndicate headquarters."

"And Judson Caspian…isn't he the guy you think was the Reaper?"

"I could never prove it. And he was smart enough to calm down and partner with a few crime lords…now I have to see him at every fucking party with his pretentious wine glasses…"

Bruce snorted, clearly still frustrated by his early failures. Robin, still coming to terms with the implications of what he was being told, rested his head in his hands.

"So this guy, the guy running for mayor, he's partnered with the villains of Gotham City to rid the world of superheroes in the least objectionable way possible."

Batman, though clearly equally horrified, was annoyingly calm.

"I wouldn't say it's that cut and dry, but yes, essentially."

Robin ran both hands over his face, feeling as though his list of things to worry about had just tripled.

"And he has public support, doesn't he?"

Bruce sighed.

"You know as well as I do how people feel about heroes, Robin. Once the stardust wears off, we're as scary as the bad guys."

As briefly as possible, Robin told him what he had been uncovering lately, including a brief rundown of their most recent villain. Bruce's frown deepened with every word.

"This is worse than I thought," he paused to take down a few notes. "I called because Hady mentioned 'political allies' in Jump City. If this…recruiter…is the ally he's talking about…who knows what other supporters he has."

"You think he has a shot."

Bruce's voice was bitter.

"Of course he has a shot. Politicians always do. They can rebrand as many times as they want. We don't have that advantage," he smiled grimly. "At least, our hero selves don't."

Robin raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sensing a Bruce Wayne initiative somewhere in here."

Bruce chuckled hoarsely, but not without humor.

"As soon as I knew which way the wind was blowing, I figured I should hedge my bets. Bruce Wayne has been distinctly anti-hero these past months."

Behind Bruce, Alfred chuckled not-so-subtly. Batman turned around, grinning, as his butler leaned into the shot.

"Something to say?"

Alfred grinned.

"Good to see you again, Master Richard. As you can see, your father is as duplicitous as ever."

Robin grinned despite himself.

"Good to see you too, Alfred. And I can't say I'm surprised."

Bruce gave his old friend a glance brimming with mock-fury.

"Don't you have shoes to polish or something?"

As Alfred cuffed him around the head and disappeared from sight, Bruce turned vaguely serious again.

"A week ago, Hady approached me for financial backing. I agreed to meet with him to discuss it…at a party, naturally. I thought I'd give you the opportunity to gather some intel."

"Undercover?"

Bruce grinned slyly.

"Black tie. I know you love your formal events."

His smile was definitely devious now.

"Maybe you can bring Raven."

Caught off guard, Robin spluttered for a minute, feeling his face go red.

"I…that's not…"

"I'll send you the details."

Given to abrupt gestures, Bruce signed off with a wink that suggested he knew exactly why Robin was so uncomfortable.

A knock at his door made him jump. He knew it was her before he opened it, knew because they had training scheduled that afternoon, but also because he knew what her knock sounded like. How creepy are you? Very creepy. Very creepy was the answer to that. Who knew what someone's knock sounded like? Shaking his head, Robin opened the door, checking his watch with the uncomfortable realization that he and Bruce had been talking for almost two hours.

"You said I should come find you. I came. I found."

He smiled slightly, fighting to keep his feelings away from his face. One of the many amazing things about Raven was that she was perceptive in a way that was mostly unsettling.

"Yeah, I just…got the sense that maybe you needed to talk. Sorry we got interrupted."

He knew as he said it that it was too late, anyway. Raven's 'sharing' moods were few and far between, and this one had passed. Even so, her gaze softened slightly.

"I'm…I'm all right now."

He tucked his hands into his pockets.

"Okay, well…any time you do want to talk…"

She smiled slightly, though there was a hint of sadness in her expression.

"Thank you."

He took a deep breath, changing the subject quickly before he embarrassed himself.

"You still up for training tomorrow?"

Raven looked warily across the gym, heart pounding far too hard in her chest as she moved in a slow circle around Robin's tense form. He gave her a quick once over, pausing to frown slightly.

"Good, but lower your hands a little. Don't give anyone an opening."

Raven, who was used to shielding herself with dark energy, winced and adjusted as Robin moved forward, attacking with a quick sideways slash to her neck. She blocked it easily, but he was already in motion again, this time going for a low kick. She sidestepped and saw an opening in the way he landed, foot perpendicular to her own. One foot behind…she stepped forward, putting the back of her calf against his, then applied pressure to his opposite shoulder, forcing him back into a bridge.

"If you weren't an acrobat that would've worked," she muttered, returning to a defensive position as he moved flawlessly into a back handspring. He grinned.

"What, did you think I was going to make this easy for you?"

They had been training for almost an hour now. Robin, having found that Raven knew most of the basics of hand-to-hand combat and had some Judo training, had moved quickly into the areas where she was weak, mostly where she relied heavily on her powers. As it turned out, self-defense was her weakest link; she rarely let villains get close enough to attack, and when she did, inky black shields came to her rescue. Robin found that Jujitsu was best for high-contact defense, so that was what they had been drilling.

"All right, what are your options for stand-up?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly and flicked from his knee to his left wrist.

"Good. Go for it."

Lightning-fast, she placed her foot at his instep, gripped his collar with the same hand and his wrist with the other, and pivoted into a sitting position, sending him flying over her in an almost circular fall. He was about to remind her to maintain her grips, then realized that she had and smiled.

"All right, how do you follow up?"

Using his weight, she kicked his leg out, then rolled onto one knee, still maintaining her grip on his collar.

"Good. What are your options from here?"

"Arm bar or choke."

"And if I wind up on my hands and knees?"

"Triangle."

"Or?"

"Closed guard."

"Correct."

He smiled in spite of himself. He had known Raven was a fast book learner, but she had impressed him with her fighting intuition. Of course, he shouldn't have been all that surprised; she was an experienced fighter, even when she was relying on her powers.

"All right, let's drill the other sequence."

Raven stood, feeling slightly unsteady. The training was going well, and she was glad, but she was still nervous, mostly because she had no idea what could trigger a deluge of memories, none of which she was ready to relive. She did have to admit that Robin was an excellent teacher, once you got over the bossiness. And he wasn't coddling her, which she appreciated.

Even as she thought it, he stepped forward, aiming to tackle her. He watched carefully as he did so. Robin wasn't trying to go easy on her; she would have hated that, but he was more aware of her body language than usual, and more aware of his own actions. As he moved forward a second time, he saw her tense up as she stepped backward. A look came briefly over her face, one of poorly-disguised panic, but Robin also thought he saw pain in her eyes. Immediately, he let go of the grip he had on her wrist and stepped back, holding his hands at chest height.

"You okay?"

She shook her head slightly to clear it and rubbed her wrist with one hand.

"I…yeah. Sorry."

Robin, feeling suddenly as though something was fighting to get out of his chest, shook his head.

"Don't be. You need a break?"

Raven took a deep breath and shook her head.

"No. Here, tackle me again."

He hesitated for a moment, but moved into action again when she shot him a dirty look. She hated feeling like an invalid, and Robin's sensitivity, while kind in a way that she hadn't been expecting, irritated her. He sprang towards her, looking to pin her against the wall. Thinking quickly, Raven sidestepped to avoid his grip, but he followed it up with a different sweep, and she found herself on the ground. Three points of contact. Hastily, she gripped his sleeve, then put her feet at his knees, throwing him off balance. He nodded approvingly as she pressed her advantage until he was sitting opposite her, smiling at her success.

"Good, but get to that contact more quickly. If we had actually been fighting, I would have…"

He pinned her easily with one knee by way of demonstration, holding her to the mat. Then, abruptly, she was no longer in the gym. Darkness flashed into her mind, then dizzying pain as she felt a sickening blow to her side. Ribs cracked. She spat blood, but it made no difference, just earned her a blow to the face. What did you do to my powers? Handcuffs. Bleeding. Why are you doing this? A knife. More blood. Dripping, hot, breathing dust, choking on dust and mouth-blood. Stop. Please. Grinning. Your friends will come to save you and I will have them too.

"Raven!"

He must have been calling her name for several seconds, because his voice was panicked.

Your friends will come to save you.

She had thrown up a force field, she realized, she must have because her hands were still leaking inky blackness.

And I will have them too.

"Raven, it's all right. You're safe."

Release her. Knife across her stomach.

She was in a corner, somehow, knees pulled up to her chest. Robin was crouched in front of her.

Hurt her again

He was moving closer.

And this goes through your skull.

She couldn't breathe.

Let her go.

He wrapped his arms around her, she knew because they were warm across her chest.

Can you stand if I release you?

She gripped his forearm until her knuckles were white.

Doubt it.

His free hand moved up and down her arm, soothing the tremors that wracked her body.

"It's all right."

He seemed to be saying that over and over, like she hadn't heard him the first time.

Just get my powers back.

She stopped shaking. Collapsed against him, head to his shoulder.

"I'm scared."

He took a deep breath, rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I know."

Thanks for reading! And I appreciate the influx of detailed reviews; helps me out a lot.

xxxx