A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews and comments Psyche Castle, JokerFan2011, Batman Dude, Blas and Carl!
Batman Dude - Batman is bolted to a wall in the same manner as Robin so, technically I guess, he is not tied up. ;-)
Blas - I would love to be able to write the regular villains well enough to use them in a published story (I think it would be especially fun to do one with King Tut) but I can't yet write them the way they should be written. I've been working on characterization from the TV show because I want the bad guys to be at least somewhat authentic. So far the only one that is even a little bit believable is my Joker, I think...? Anyway, that's why my villains are almost always original and I hope to be able to figure out how to write the "real" ones soon. I don't really like original character villains but, if I didn't use them, there would be no "poor little Robin" stories from me. :) I might hold off on publishing another story after this one so that I can work on characterization. Thanks for being patient with me.
Carl - you know me well... ;-)
Chapter 8:
The villain stayed away for the rest of the afternoon. Robin kept trying to shift his body around; his muscles were screaming at him because of the inactivity and his left leg was throbbing through the cramp in his calf. The metal u-bolt was tight against the fracture and the leg below it was slowly going numb.
Batman knew that being restrained against a wall was harder on Robin's athletic muscles than it was on his more powerful ones. His partner's body had calmed down but it would still shudder every once in a while. Batman was proud of Robin's strength but he was also concerned about what else the villain might have in store for his young partner. They hadn't spoken since Robin had asked for silence and Batman didn't like not knowing what was going through his partner's mind. Robin always expressed whatever he was feeling but now he was just…there.
"Robin?" Batman said quietly. Robin shook his head but Batman wasn't going to allow this to continue. "Robin!" his voice was still quiet but it was commanding. "Look at me, Robin, and do it now!"
Robin lifted his head and glared at Batman. "Stop! I don't want to talk about anything right now!" He dropped his head again and tried moving his right ankle. It didn't work; he didn't have any energy left.
Batman was startled by the viciousness of Robin's glare but, then again, he was trained by the man with the Bat-glare. "I don't care if you don't want to talk about anything because we are going to anyway."
"This would be easier if you weren't here," Robin grumbled and he sighed.
"Why?" Batman truly didn't understand why Robin would want to be alone in a situation like this.
"Having you here all strong and healthy and watchful…just forget it," Robin mumbled.
Batman sighed. "Robin, just say it," he said quietly. "Why is it hard for you to have me here? Why do you want to be alone?"
Robin, his eyes still on the floor, shook his head. "I said forget it, alright!" he raised his voice in frustration.
"I'm not going to 'forget it' because we still need to find a way out of here and we can't do that if you are going to sit there in silence!" Batman was frustrated, too, and he was almost yelling at Robin. "We don't have to talk about how you feel but we do need to talk about this situation. Try to focus on that, okay?"
"I AM trying!" Robin yelled back. It took all of his strength but he lifted his head, shame again lacing the pain in his eyes. "I'm trying to forget that you are here watching me fail and I'm trying to forget that all this guy wants to do is break me and I'm definitely trying to forget that I had a chance to help us get out of here but I WASTED it because I wanted to kick him in the face! You don't have an older, stronger and more heroic partner, Batman, so you can't understand anything about this situation. Why do I want to be alone? Because I hate seeing the pity in your eyes that you probably don't even know is there! Because I know you want to help and you can't and it frustrates you and that frustrates me! Because I don't want you to see me weak and worried about breaking and…" he was exhausted and dropped his head again.
Batman was stunned and his mind filled with rage, directed at the villain. Robin was right; he couldn't understand the situation from the younger hero's point of view, just like Robin wouldn't be able to comprehend what Batman was thinking and feeling. He opened his mouth to speak but heard soft snores filled with tiny groans and decided to let Robin sleep.
The next morning:
Batman opened his eyes, surprised that he had fallen asleep. He looked across the room at Robin, who was either asleep or unconscious. He tested each bolt – like he had been doing often throughout their time in captivity– but still couldn't find any weaknesses. He needed to get Robin out of here but he had no ideas! It was strange, not having a plan for escape, and he never wanted to feel like this again. The first thing he was going to do when they returned to the Batcave was work on the mini Bat-blasters – they would have been very useful in this situation. It was actually the second thing he would do, after he and Robin had a long, long discussion about what he should and should not be putting into his utility belt.
Robin opened his eyes wearily. How long had they been here? Did Batman have a plan to escape? He lifted his head and stared across the room in shock: his partner was gone! The metal bolts were gone, the IV tube was gone; it was as if he had never even been there! Robin grinned slightly and sighed in relief; he wouldn't have to worry about whether or not he would break in front of his hero anymore and it would be easier to focus on staying strong when there was one less thing to worry about.
Batman was rolling the kinks out of his neck when he noticed Robin lift his head. His partner's eyes were glassy and he looked confused. Batman exhaled in relief when Robin sighed and gave him a small grin. Robin's eyes were still unfocused, though, and he was mumbling to himself now.
"I can wait for you to come back, Batman. I'm strong; I can wait," Robin whispered calmly. He started rubbing his right ankle against the metal, this time with a little more strength. It was so nice to have the burden of being carefully watched off his back.
"Robin, you don't have to wait for me, I'm right here!" Batman stated loudly, concern manifesting itself in his voice. Robin thought he was gone?!
Kirik entered the room while Batman was talking and he smiled. Today would be the day; he could feel it. Today, the Boy Wonder would realize that he was just another helpless sidekick that always needed protection. Today, Batman's "unbreakable" Robin was going to break. All he wanted to hear from Robin was a "please". Add it to anything the sidekick said and it would be considered begging; that was something Batman would deem unacceptable and he would reject Robin. Kirik could hear the conversation in his head:
"A real hero wouldn't break," Batman would sneer as he loomed over the sidekick.
"I'm sorry, Batman," Robin would cry pitifully.
"You are no longer worthy of the name Robin and you are no longer my sidekick," Batman would be merciless and the "Boy Wonder" would be pleading for forgiveness.
Kirik laughed out loud at the pictures in his mind and Batman turned his head to glare at the man, fury flashing in his eyes.
"This is your last warning," Batman growled. "Let him go and all I will do is beat you to a pulp and throw you in Arkham. If you don't let him go…" Batman let his voice trail off; a thinly veiled threat that actually caused the villain's heart to pound a little faster.
"I'm about to let him go because he is about to break," Kirik replied, condescension clearly evident in his tone. He walked over to Robin, whose eyes were vacant, and waved his hand in front of the sidekick's face.
"Yoo-hoo, anybody in there?" he chuckled. "Actually, was anybody ever really in there? How are you feeling: sad, scared, stupid? I think it's the last one," he turned to Batman, "don't you think he looks a little stupid this morning?" Kirik turned back to Robin when Batman snarled at him and was surprised to see the boy's eyes almost completely clear.
Robin shook his head slightly when he heard a voice. His vision became blurry then started to clear and he was disappointed to see that Batman was still there, directly across the room and tightly restrained to the wall. The villain was in front of his face and insulting him so he spit at the man and mumbled, "Coward." That earned him a fist to his already bruised jaw and the right side of his head brushed against the wall; opening the slight wound he had received the day before.
Kirik wiped the spit off his face and punched the boy, upset that he was still talking back. Kirik was, he had to admit, amazed that Robin was holding out; everyone else had been done after two days and here they were at the beginning of the fourth day. Batman was right – his sidekick was strong – but Kirik knew he would break today. No boy could last longer than this; of that the man was certain.
Robin had nothing left; his body was slack, his left leg was aching and he couldn't even slide his right ankle around in the metal bolt anymore. He didn't even consider begging or pleading; those were things that would never come out of his mouth. If he died, so be it. The man had said that dying was breaking but that couldn't be true because the human body could die from lots of things: being shot, a car accident, falling out of a tree. People who died like that wouldn't be considered "broken" and dying from lack of nourishment was the same. Sure, he was immobile against a wall when – no, if – he died but he could still be considered unbroken. So he grinned as he stared at the ground; he was unbreakable. Batman believed in him and, after all of this, Robin knew it was true. He recognized that he would always be a sidekick but he would also be an unbreakable sidekick. That would be intimidating to bad guys; just like Batman's strength and power were intimidating.
Kirik was astonished when he saw Robin grinning at the ground. Did the boy find something funny about the situation? He obviously didn't have the energy to do anything and his left leg was probably killing him. Why was he grinning? Kirik had nothing else planned because he had known that it wouldn't take too long for Robin to break. He had, obviously, been wrong so the only leverage he had now was the lack of food and water. He decided to let the kid hang there for the rest of the day and check on him tomorrow. Until he could come up with another plan of attack there was really nothing else to do. He shrugged, kicked Robin's left leg then turned and walked out the door.
Batman was confused; why was the man leaving? He pushed against his bonds when Robin flinched at the pain of a fractured leg being kicked but there was still no movement in the restraints.
"Robin," he said loudly, "talk to me."
Robin sighed quietly, "Batman, is my hair still 'I've been captured and look stupid' messy or has it turned into 'I'm an unbreakable sidekick' messy?"
Batman grinned slightly, "It's a combination of the two but I think it's leaning more toward the 'unbreakable partner' messy." He was amused that Robin would still be thinking of his hair.
"I think I might need a shower before I go to school tomorrow…uh, I don't even know what day it is so maybe I don't have school tomorrow but I still need a shower so do you think we could find a way to escape now?" Robin whispered, his lack of energy manifesting itself to Batman in a voice that was continuing to lower in volume.
"Well, I can't find any weaknesses in any part of these bolts and I've been working on them all the time. I'm sorry, Robin, but I still don't have any ideas; I can't reach anything or do anything. I don't…" Batman trailed off, frustrated because he couldn't figure out how to help them escape.
Robin sighed and attempted to shake his head. "Holy helplessness, Batman, do I have to do everything?" he grumbled but Batman heard the slight trace of humor in his voice. Robin closed his eyes and pushed all the energy he had down to his right leg. Blood began to stream from his ankle as he rubbed harder against the unforgiving metal and, just as his strength ran out, his foot slipped through the bolt and his leg began to swing limply beneath his body.