For what seemed like an endless number of seconds they stared at one another. Robin saw no glimmer of recognition in his mentor's eyes, only a chaotic and all-consuming madness. This madness had a name, but it was one Robin dared not think, as though by denying it he might somehow force it out of existence. Blood lust. Lashing out, and killing as a release for anger. Terrible anger, of such depth and darkness as to be beyond Robin's ability to comprehend or even recognize.

A sudden blink, a twitch, and Batman let Robin go. Robin slid to the ground, coughing and choking, his lungs trying to inhale and exhale at the same time and succeeding in neither. Batman turned away from him and glared at the unconscious man on the ground as though he would resume his attack. And perhaps he might have, had he not just then heard the sound of sirens.

"Come on," he growled at Robin.

Instead of returning to the batmobile, he shot his grappler at the top of a nearby building. Robin was half-tempted to just let him go. But he knew that he couldn't do that. Batman's temper might again get the better of him and he might... well... there was no telling really. Robin didn't want to think about it, but it really would be irresponsible of him to leave Batman alone now, knowing what might happen.

His right side still felt pretty numb, but he knew that wouldn't last long. In a few seconds, his body would finally register the impact and begin to complain bitterly about its maltreatment. The place Batman had hit him already hurt so badly that it was difficult to take a deep breath.

Batman had never hit him that hard, not even once. He was sure that at least one rib was broken, and only hoped that it wasn't any worse than that. He struggled to get his feet under him and fired his own grappler, holding it with both hands as he swung after Batman and biting his lip, trying to ignore the pain it caused in his side.

"What's gotten into you?," Robin asked when they had put some distance between themselves and the scene of the crime "you totally lost it back there,"

"Nothing," Batman said.

"That was not nothing!," Robin exclaimed "that was full blown-out of control-," he was abruptly cut off by Batman, who turned on him so suddenly that he was half afraid of being hit again.

"It does not concern you!," Batman snapped after a second, eyes flashing with irritation.

Robin shrank back, and refrained from pushing further. He knew Batman's anger wasn't truly for him, but for whatever it was that had gotten under the caped crusader's skin. It was still intimidating, and still hurt to be yelled at, almost as much as being hit earlier. But he tried to take it in stride, to tell himself this was just another of Batman's off days. Everything would settle down before he knew it. He was sure of it. Or, at least, that's what he told himself.

04:33 AM

The next four hours had passed in rigid silence. Talking was rarely important to their work. However, the tension between them spoke volumes, even as they refused to speak to one another. Robin expected no apology, and got none. He had hoped for an explanation, but his hopes were in vain. Maybe tomorrow then, when they'd both had some time to decompress, and absorb what had happened.

When they returned home, Batman removed his suit and mask, then went directly upstairs and locked himself in his study. Robin stayed down in the batcave. Once his mentor was gone, he sat down on one of the tables. He took a steadying breath, and tried to lift the right side of his shirt.

A hot flash of pain in his left side just below the elbow halted his progress. He tried doing it the other way around, but his right arm had stiffened from its earlier collision with the wall, making it awkward to use. He eventually managed to pull up the side of his shirt and looked at the dark bruise forming there. He winced as he pulled the shirt the rest of the way off.

He had just completed the complex procedure when he heard footsteps on the stairs. Looking up, he recognized Alfred's silhouette almost at once. Alfred stepped into the light, took one look at Robin, and then went for a first aid kit.

"And what happened this time?," Alfred asked as he set to work on the injuries without waiting for request or even consent from Robin.

Robin didn't protest the help. It was welcome. He felt so stiff and sore that he hadn't been sure just how he was going to manage tending to his injuries, all of which seemed to require a substantial amount of flexing to get to in the first place.

"Just your typical alley fight," he hadn't planned to lie, not really.

The words just rolled off his tongue, and he didn't have it in him to take them back and tell the real truth. It wasn't so much denying that it had happened as not wanting to actually say it. As if telling the true story would somehow be a betrayal of his father.

Alfred looked vaguely suspicious and Robin averted his eyes. He almost expected Alfred to demand the truth, but instead Alfred merely shrugged, evidently thinking Robin's behavior was a sign that he was embarrassed rather than being deceitful.

Somehow Alfred taking his comment at face value made everything that much worse. He'd never lied to Alfred before, and doing it felt wrong. It made him feel... well... dirty. But how could he tell the truth, when that truth would sound like an accusation?. It felt wrong to lie to Alfred, but it would feel like treachery to say that it had been Batman who hurt him.

He was reminded of his conversation with Kid Flash earlier that month. He hadn't really understood then what it was like, being torn. But now he was beginning to feel as though his heart was being ripped in two. His loyalties were coming into conflict.

Torn between the truth and protecting his mentor, being pulled apart trying to get any time at all with the Team but always being dragged along with Batman. It was amazing, and terrifying, just how fast everything could change. As his thoughts churned these issues in his mind, he suddenly hit upon an insight.

Batman's sudden attachment to him might be his own way of calling for help. Perhaps he was using Robin's presence to keep an even keel. Whatever was going on in The Bat's head, it was evidently affecting just about everything, including his logical way of thinking.

Then and there, Robin came to a decision. Whatever was going on, he was going to do everything in his power to help. If that meant taking a few hits and telling a few lies, then so be it. He owed Batman that much, and more. Whatever this was, they would ride it out together, whatever the personal cost.

Little did Robin know just how high that cost might be.

October 21st, 8:08 PM

"What happened to you?," Superboy asked, taking one look at Robin and immediately seeing that something was off.

"Nothing," Robin told him, shrugging very carefully "just a little too much night last night,"

In truth, he would rather be in bed, preferably asleep. Bruce had dragged him out at seven o'clock to go along with him to Wayne Tower, followed by an afternoon party for the rich and famous, which had gone on far too long for Robin's taste. Then he'd had to sit outside a board room while Bruce was in a meeting. He was only here now because Bruce had finally gone home to get some sleep.

Robin would rather have been at home sleeping as well, but he'd promised Aqualad that he would show up and help test a new security system a member of the Justice League had cooked up. Aqualad hadn't showed yet, so Robin had wandered into the living area of the Team headquarters. Superboy had walked in and found him sitting on the couch. Robin had been about to fall into a light doze, but the interruption robbed all chance of sleep from him.

Superboy raised an eyebrow, but didn't insist on an explanation. He was almost tempted to tell Superboy what was going on, fully aware that, of all people in the world, Superboy would be willing to let things rest. Superboy had never been one to tell people how they should or shouldn't deal with their problems. Perhaps it was the controlled nature of his origins, or maybe it was just a personality thing. But, in spite of his fiery temper, Superboy rarely forced his opinions on others.

Still, Robin felt that he would be better off saying nothing, stubbornly clinging to the belief that it would all blow over, given time.

While Robin had been thinking, Superboy had already gone on through the room, off to do whatever it was he'd been going to do before stopping to speak with Robin. Evidently he'd sensed that Robin didn't want to talk about it, whatever it was.

A few minutes later, Aqualad showed up, and asked virtually the same question as Superboy.

"You do not look well, my friend. Are you alright?," Aqualad asked.

"Everybody keeps asking me that," Robin tried to sound disgruntled but felt as if he was coming off sounding more weary than anything "I just had a bad night is all,"

Aqualad looked him up and down critically, but said nothing for the moment.

"Now," Robin said by way of changing the subject "about the security system...,"

10:00 PM

It had been a difficult two hours. Robin couldn't seem to stay focused on the task at hand, and Aqualad had noticed. More than once, he had suggested they work on it later, but Robin turned him down. Something told him that, if it didn't get done now, it wasn't going to get done.

Robin had been testing the program's ability to be hacked into, while Aqualad had been trying others means of circumventing or destroying it. Together, they had found a number of weaknesses in the system, all of which seemed easily fixable.

Aqualad looked as though he were about to suggest they finish up for the night when they both heard voices outside the room they'd been working in. They were muffled through the door, but both could easily recognize the sound of Batman and Black Canary's voices.

"I just think you should keep an eye on him," Batman was saying in a low voice.

"Any particular reason?," Black Canary asked.

"He's been acting strange lately. Paranoid," Batman replied, somewhat evasively.

"Paranoid?," Black Canary sounded skeptical "isn't that a given in this line of work?,"

"This is different," Batman told her, his voice growing harder to hear as the two of them walked past the door an on down the hall "in his present state, Robin may actually be a danger to the Team,"

Robin cringed at the sound of his name. He wanted to go right out there and protest, demand to know why Batman was saying these things about him. But he resisted that impulse. He also resisted the urge to look at Aqualad, to see how he was taking this bit of information.

"I expect he's here for me," Robin said after a tense moment of silence "I've been going with him on his nightly patrolling of Gotham," he bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying anything further.

He tried to look Aqualad in the eye as he said this, but found himself unable to do so. He felt somehow ashamed, and didn't entirely know why. He supposed it was because he was keeping secrets from the Team's leader now, as well as Alfred.

He was good at lying, of course. You had to be, in order to lead the double life of a superhero. But lying to these people, his most trusted of allies... felt wrong. And yet, he found that he could do nothing else. Even if he had wanted to speak, he couldn't find his voice to do so.

That moment was the first time he felt it. A cold sensation starting in his gut and spreading through the rest of him like ice in his veins. Not quite dread or guilt, but very much like both together. A feeling that didn't really have a name, yet was undeniable in its existence.

Robin didn't like it. Didn't like it at all.

October 25th, 04:33 AM

The last few days had proven grueling for Robin. It seemed like Batman never slept, and was always doing something. Robin intended to tag along whether he was invited to or not, but it never came up. Batman always said something along the lines of "you're going with me" and that was the end of it. It rubbed Robin the wrong way, irritated him to the point of profanity, but he always bit his tongue and said nothing. Sometimes Robin wasn't even given a chance to eat before they headed out to do something. He got dragged out on patrol, into investigations, was forced to sit through meetings and attend parties, all under the careful watch of Batman/Bruce Wayne.

He thought he was finally going to have a moment's peace when he got an unexpected call from Kid Flash, who he had not seen since their conversation two weeks ago. Kid Flash evidently wanted to speak with him in person, so they arranged to meet on a rooftop in Gotham.

It was a much shorter trip for Robin, but Kid Flash's speed allowed him to get there first. When Robin arrived, Kid Flash was nervously pacing the rooftop, his hands clasped behind his back.

"What gets you up at this hour, KF?," Robin asked, by way of announcing his arrival.

Kid Flash stopped and looked up, somewhat startled. Robin had, as usual, snuck up on him. Often Robin found this an amusing thing to do, but this time it had been wholly accidental.

"I figured you'd still be up. I've been trying to talk to you, but you're never around anymore,"

Robin's face fell, but he hoped Kid Flash couldn't see it in the dark. He'd been so busy trying to help Batman, that he'd virtually forgotten that maybe his Team needed him too. He felt the now familiar tug of war taking place inside, as he tried to figure out just where he was most needed. It felt like he was supposed to do everything, but that was impossible.

"Talking to Artemis didn't go well," Kid Flash went on, obliviously "I think I came on too strong, and it upset her. We... well... we had a fight,"

"You two haven't stopped fighting since the day you laid eyes on one another," Robin said, trying to hide his weariness "it's what you do,"

"Not like this," Kid Flash replied, his voice unusually soft "I think I really... really made a mess of things, and I don't know how to fix it,"

"Like I'm the expert on relationships," Robin said, barely stopping himself before he elaborated.

"Maybe not... but... you... you always seem to have an answer. You've got to have a solution somewhere in that bag of tricks of yours,"

Robin was silent for a moment, trying to think. The problem was, his brain felt overworked and didn't seem to want to think about anything. He'd been in high gear for too long and what he needed most was a break. But none seemed forthcoming.

Hoping Robin's silence was an indication that he was thinking, Kid Flash scurried over to stand next to his friend, as if his proximity would somehow speed up the thought process. To his surprise, Robin flinched away from him. Robin's reaction to the sudden movement in his peripheral vision probably startled Robin almost as much as Kid Flash.

He blinked a couple of times and forced the tension out of his shoulders, trying to pretend that his reaction was nothing out of the ordinary. After all, he was a high strung individual, didn't he have a perfect right to be a little on edge once in awhile?.

Kid Flash took a step back and looked seriously at Robin for a long moment, his face completely serious. Robin pretended to be thinking very hard and avoided his friend's gaze. More than anything, he wanted to crawl away and disappear. To take a break from reality, which seemed to be pressuring him on all sides lately. Most of all, he didn't want his friend to ask that all-important question, because he didn't want to lie to his best friend. Inevitably, Kid Flash asked it anyway.

"Are you okay?,"

"Everyone keeps asking me that. Why the hell does everyone keep asking me that?!," Robin hadn't meant his retort to be so venomous. In fact, he hadn't meant to say anything at all.

It had just sort of... happened.

"Yeesh, sorry, can't a guy be concerned about his buddy?," Kid Flash asked, sounding somewhere between offended and hurt.

"No... I mean... of course... I didn't mean...," Robin shook his head in frustration.

The words were right there, he just couldn't form them into a coherent sentence. He decided that it was because his brain was trying to talk, but his heart wouldn't let him. Kid Flash had enough problems without having to listen to Robin whine.

"Long week?," Kid Flash guessed, showing his great capacity for kindness in not forcing the issue.

"You could say that," Robin nodded "so, back to your problem-,"

"Hey, if you're too tired, I totally get that. I can figure it out myself," Kid Flash interrupted hurriedly.

"The day I don't have the energy to help someone when they need it is the day I put away the name 'Robin'," Robin told him "now, seriously, what makes you think this fight was any different from the ones you've had over the past two years?,"