Announcement time: Saving Grace will be updated on Monday instead of Sunday, because I will be camping this week. As for Now You Know My Pain...well, I haven't finished the next chapter yet, so don't expect it today. Maybe Thursday? I don't know, I have a lock-in.

And I'll be posting a one shot as well.

Robin was dead.

He was sure of it. Even though he never felt his body hit the ground. Oh, there's a scary thought. He would have died the same way his parents did. That would be horribly ironic. Although, now that he thought about it, he couldn't be dead. He could here the sound of traffic and people talking. No one shrieking. He felt a cool autumn breeze on his face. Something wasn't right, and why did his hand hurt like hell?

Slowly, he opened his eyes and blinked a few times. At the moment, everything felt hazy to him. He had to take slow deep breaths to clear his head. Finally, he could see, his vision was double, but he could see. From what he could tell, he was outside. And high up. The lights of the city danced behind him; The lights he had grown to love from the many patrols he had been on, the numerous amounts of times he would wake up in the middle of the night and sit up on the roof, the lights were always there. Constant. And it gave him peace. The world felt normal.

Tonight however, he did not have that feeling. As his vision focused, he remembered he didn't have on his uniform, this was a serious moment. A dire moment. Something had kept him from splattering on the cement, and he needed to know what...and why the heck did his hand hurt so bad!?

Looking up, he realized the liquid running down his arm wasn't sweat. When Slade had let go, his arm had shot out and grabbed the window ledge...which had broken glass protruding from it. In fact, a piece of glass that was still attached to the window was now sticking out from the other side of his hand.

Oh great...

Now the only thing keeping him from falling to his death was a shard of glass. He was lucky that the drop hadn't pulled out his shoulder. He tightened his grip on the ledge and pulled up. He got about a third of the way up, but had to drop back down because he was not strong enough. He looked down and became dizzy. The height he was used to, what made his head spin was the blood running down his legs and dripping off of his toes. At this point, he was sure the Slade had reopened all of his wounds. He lifted himself enough to get his other hand up for a grip. With this done, he just had to will himself enough strength to get up.

You can still make it, you can still be the hero everyone looks up to. You can be with your friends, you can be with Starfire, you can defeat Slade. You just have to get up. He used the bricks for gripping under his feet, but the blood made it slippery. He screwed his eyes shut and grit his teeth. With a final tug, he lifted himself with a groan and climbed inside the window.

He tripped on his entrance and rolled off the window seat landing on the floor. He coughed a few times, and then laid there, silently. He knew he was bleeding. He could feel the cotton of his hospital gown becoming more saturated by the minute. The glass was still in his hand, but he didn't have the strength to pull it out. He didn't have the strength to do anything. He just let the coolness of the linoleum send him off to sleep. He was safe...for the moment.

Starfire arrived at the hospital like she did every morning. Her bubbly personality put smiles on the patients she walked past. Although, she didn't merely walk pass anyone, she greeted them with a 'good morning!' or 'how are you?' Everyone there had come to know her and was eager to see her cheerful disposition. She stopped at the third floor information desk to check in.

"I am here to see Richard Grayson."

The receptionists looked at each other and then back at her. "I'm sorry miss, but he's not allowed to have visitors."

Her smile disappeared. "What do you mean? I saw him yesterday."

"But he's not allowed to have visitors today."

"Why?"

"We don't know, no one's saying anything."

"What do you mean? Did something happen? Is he alright?"

"I told you, I don't know!"

That wasn't a good enough answer for her, so she stormed off in the direction of his room.

"Miss! There is no entry!" The receptionist called after.

Try to stop me. She walked determined to his room where a large 'do not enter' sign hung on his door. A doctor saw her coming and recognized her.

"Uh Miss Starfire!" he called after. She ignored him. "Wait! You can't go in there!" He grabbed her arm.

"Do not touch me!" She yelled as she snapped her arm away.

"Please miss, he's in critical condition, no one can go in!"

Other doctors saw the commotion and hurried over.

"I am going in to see my friend. And you can not stop me!"

"Grab her!"

Normally, her alien strength would have been able to break through, but all she felt was unjustified anger and confusion, and there was no power in that. they pulled her away, to the waiting room.

"Let go of me you klorbag valbernilk! Robin! Robin!"

The doctors saw the look on her face, but knew they weren't allowed to let her in.

Back in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne was in a meeting with some new big clients and it was looking prosperous.

"So gentlemen, as it stands, Wayne industries is where you'll be getting your supplies from this fall?"

"Yes sir Mr. Wayne"

"Excellent, let's talk payment."

The secretary spoke from the phone from the middle of the table. "Mr. Wayne, you have a call from the Jump City hospital."

"Oh good! Put them through. Excuse me gentlemen, this should only take a moment...Bruce Wayne speaking!"

"Mr. Ba-Bruce!" Star cried from the other line.

"Oh Starfire...I wasn't expecting you." He said nervously as the clients listened to the call.

"I came to visit Ro-Richard this morning and I checked in like I normally do but they told me I wasn't allowed to go in because he was not allowed to have visitors and they won't tell me anything and I don't know what's going on!"

"Calm down, what do you mean they aren't telling you anything?"

"His door is closed and blocked off and they won't let anyone in, I asked why and they said it's classified!"

"Okay okay, don't worry, I'll be there in about three hours. Meanwhile, just hang tight and see if you can get anything out of those doctors."

"Yes sir!" And she hung up.

The meeting was forgotten as Bruce grabbed his coat and started to punch in some numbers on his cell.

"Uh...excuse me Mr. Wayne?"

"I'm very sorry gentlemen, I know this is not professional, but that's my son she was talking about."

The men nodded understandingly, "Then we'll continue this meeting later. Hope everything's alright."

"Thanks!" and with that he ran out of the room, calling Alfred on his cell.

As promised, Bruce Wayne arrived at Jump City hospital with soon as possible, traffic and speed limits not concerning him. He was about to walk in when his detective eye caught something that made his heart stop. A window on the third floor was broken and was papered. Underneath, bloody footprints were present on the gray brick. Bruce shuddered and had an idea what they were dealing with.

He met up with a frantic alien in the waiting room. "Still nothing?"

"They are avoiding me!"

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Come on!" He walked determinedly to Robin's room where doctors saw him coming.

"Freeze!"

"Oh shut up!" Bruce countered.

The interns began to rush him, but he simply picked a younger one up over his head and threw him back. "Unlike this sweet girl here, I'm not afraid to fight you to get to that room!"

"It's locked."

"I am also not afraid to sue this hospital for everything that its worth and open my own! I already have five!"

"Mr. Wayne, please calm down!" Robin's main doctor approached.

"Calm down?! My son is in there in who knows what kind of condition and we're not allowed to see him! And you expect me to be calm?!"

"You're scaring the other patients!" He took a breath. "I guess I don't have a choice do I?"

Robin awoke to shouting.

"What do mean 'mentally unstable'?! He was fine when I left a few days ago!"

"I know...'was' is the keyword. Something must have triggered in his mind."

"How do you know?! All you've said is that he's unfit for society, and your not even giving me a reason."

"Mr. Wayne." The doctor said sternly. "His nurse went in to check on him this morning and she left soon afterwards in tears. He was found very close to death lying on the floor, almost drowning in his own blood."

Robin couldn't see it, but Starfire clapped her hands over her mouth.

"What...?"

"We think he is suicidal. We found finger shaped bruises on his neck and the window was broken, his blood was on the shards. We think you might want to check him into...St. Mary's psychiatric center up north."

"You want me to check my son into an insane asylum?! Do you even have a child?!"

"It's for his own good, sir."

"No! You will kill him!" Starfire blurted.

"Excuse me?"

"Robin is sick yes we know, but he gets into trouble when he is away from his friends, he lives an unhealthily lifestyle when he is cut off from us. Surely he will die if he is put away!"

Bruce suddenly had an epiphany. "Those bruises...were they the same as last time?"

"...come to think of it..."

"On my way in here, I noticed bloody footprints on the wall under the broken window."

"What are you pointing at...?"

Bruce looked at him with his eyes narrowed. "You're have your security system worked on now aren't you?"

"Yes...but..."

"Starfire, get him out of there, we're leaving."

"But he's not stable!"

"Listen to me doc!" He grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. "That boy was kidnapped and tortured by a psychopath. That's why he's here. I thought he was contained...silly me for being naive. If he stays here, tomorrow morning, someone will find him dead. Do you understand?!"

The man gulped and nodded.

Meanwhile, Starfire had used her starbolts to blast the handle from the door. Instantly, she regretted coming into the room. The light was off, the only thing illuminating the room was the other window which had not been broken. The air was bitter and cold from the open window, and there was a puddle of blood on the floor. It looked like they hadn't even attempted to clean the room. That's way they didn't want anyone to come in. She walked on to see her friend, reverted to the way he was only a few days ago. Weak, shaking, and battered.

"I am so sorry I could not protect you." She said dismally. His eyes were open, but he was too weak to do anything. She pulled the blankets back, but stopped. The top sheets were clean, but the bottom sheets and his gown were drenched in blood. They hadn't bothered to clean his up or tend to his wounds. She was beyond angry, she bit it back to do her job.

"Forgive me, I know you need this to help you respire, but I must remove it." she explained, touching the mask.

He closed his eyes in understanding.

She gingerly removed the mask and wrapped a clean blanket around him. With a gentle caress, he was up into her arms where he fell asleep again.

She met up with Bruce and let him know the condition of the room. He promptly turned on his heel and punched the doctor in the face.

"You can expect a call from my lawyer within the month."

Starfire was having problems with the Boy Wonder. The flight back to the tower was easy enough. Bruce told her to go straight to the infirmary and hook Robin up, he would take care of everyone else. Problem was, she didn't know what she was supposed to hook him up to. She knew he needed oxygen, but where to get it?

He interrupted her frantic train of thought by waking up. Well, sort of. "...it...hurts..."

"My dearest Robin, I know you are in pain, and if I knew what to do, then maybe you would not be in so much pain. Please, wait until Cyborg gets here!" she almost choked.

"No...still...stuck...help..." He held up his hand that was wrapped thickly in gauzes.

She took his hand and gently unwrapped it. The piece of glass was still lodged through his hand. She gasped.

"They did not remove it?" she asked concerned.

"A lot...of things...they...didn't...do..."

She wanted to ask, but decided to ease a little bit of his pain first. "This...will hurt."

He nodded.

She took a firm grasp of his hands and applied pressure. She slowly pulled and wiggled until it came out. Once it was, he gave a sigh of relief.

She lit a starbolt the size of two fingers, a deep green in color. "This is a low heat, hopefully it will be enough to sanitize the wound." Then she pressed it carefully into his hand.

"...thanks...star..."

"You are welcome." She kissed his fingers in her hand. "Let me get some clean bandages to wrap that up."

Not much later, Bruce came in alone.

"Where are the others?"

"Out on an assignment. Somebody named Control Freak."

"He has been very rambunctious lately. They will be gone for awhile, he is slimy."

"Slippery?"

"Ah, yes."

"Let's get to work then. Go to his room and get him some clean clothes."

She nodded and headed out quickly. Bruce turned his attention to the room, walking briskly, opening cabinets and sweeping shelves. He would grab an item or two and set them on the table next to the bed.

To Robin's relief, Bruce strapped a new oxygen mask on him and he took a deep long breath. Starfire came in not long after.

"Here, put these on." He handed her a pair of latex gloves and nurse's filtration mask. "We're going to get him cleaned up." He threw her a clump of gauzes and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. "Start swabbing the cuts on his torso, I have to re-stitch his side and his hand."

And so they worked. The trash bin slowly filled with more and more bloody cotton. Every once in a while, Robin would clench his fist in pain, but it was a good sign that he still had feeling. Starfire, however, was feeling like a rock was sitting on her heart. The blood to clean went on and on and she never thought it would stop. But she did not let her feelings show, Robin needed her and that was more important.

An hour later, the other three titans came home. They thought something was up when they saw the bat mobile in the garage.

"Was Robin getting discharged today?" Cyborg asked.

Raven and Beast Boy shrugged. They headed into the tower and looked around. Nothing out of the ordinary. "Let's check the infirmary, if they brought him home, that's most likely where he'd be."

And that's exactly what they found.

"Oh wow...that's a lot of blood." Beast Boy said queasily while turning peach.

"Glad you guys are back. Cyborg I need you to hook him up to the monitors. Raven, can you help stop the bleeding?"

She nodded.

"What would you like me to do?" Beast Boy asked trying to avoid all the red.

Bruce took off his gloves, pulled out his wallet, and removed a card. "Go to the Wayne enterprises building downtown and present this card to the front desk, saying that you represent me. On the third floor, there will be another desk. Ask for 4 cases of cotton gauzes, a couple of cases of morphine drips...depending on how many units are in a box, we need about a weeks worth. We also need a case of catheters, I couldn't find any here, and a six pack of Dr. Pepper."

"Why Dr. Pepper?"

"It's the official drink of Batman and Robin."

"Dude, I can't drive."

"Here's my credit card, go buy yourself a moped."

"Or turn into a pack mule," Raven provided. "You're already an ass."

Beast Boy frowned.

"I'll be done in a minute, grass stain. I'll drive you."

"...Beast...Boy..." Robin at last spoke.

"Yeah dude?"

"...I'm...thirsty..."

Beast Boy's ears perked up. "One cold glass of water, coming right up!"

Everyone was set on their own jobs and were busily fussing over the boy. Beast Boy returned with a glass and a really long curly straw.

"I know it's not your style, but it's the only straw we had..."

Robin accepted it regardless.

Two hours later, Robin was cleaned, stitched, and wrapped in so much gauze, he could hardly move. Bruce had retired to the guest room and the Titans were left with their leader.

"Have...you found...what Control Freak...has been...up to?"

"Not a clue. He keeps going all over the place and in no specific pattern."

"That...is strange."

"And what's super creepy is that he's the only villain doing stuff!"

"Star...told me already...I don't know...what to make of it."

"At first we thought that he was trying to distract us, but no reports have come in."

"...Very strange..."

"Dude, I'm having such a time listening to you. You sound like you've smoked your whole life."

"Not...my fault!" and then begins the hacking.

"Beast Boy, leave him alone! He can't defend himself." Cyborg defended for him.

"I was just pointing out a fact!"

"No, that's an opinion." Raven corrected.

Starfire was standing next to Robin idly, watching her friends childish arguing, when Robin grabbed her hand. She smiled at him, but he wasn't smiling back.

She sighed. "He is back?"

Slade was standing across the room, arms crossed.

Robin nodded.

She leaned close to him and smiled. "He will not touch you while we are here."

He didn't doubt her, but he looked back at the monster.

"Next time. Just wait." Slade smiled.

Silly Slade. Such a creeper.