Grundy chuckles low and charges.
Robin throws his good arm forward, launching the sand that he had picked up while getting to his feet.
Grundy grabs his eyes and stumbles, screaming in rage. Robin barely manages to get around him before Grundy falls to the sand. Limping forward with all he's got, Robin closes the distance, and lashes out with his feet, stomping on Grundy's giant knee. Wheezing, he sucks in another breath, and stomps again and again and again. Grundy cries out with each blow, and Robin keeps on stomping until he hears a loud, wet snap!
Grundy screams, and rolls away, recoiling violently, grabbing at his leg. Robin moves his attention from his leg to Grundy's face, stomping his nose, his eyes, his teeth.
Crying out with each motion and twitch, Robin hammers away for all he's worth, giving each blow the full strength he can muster, causing himself great pain in the process. Suddenly Grundy's fist is around his Robin's throat, choking him.
He struggles but it's useless. Grundy's too strong. His vision starts going dark, and he knows it's over. He's too wounded, and too weak. He has but one option left. He has to kill Grundy. As much as he hates to do it, he knows Grundy will resurrect.
Robin poises his leg, aiming at Grundy's heart. He can do it; he can stop Grundy's heart. He knows how. His vision goes red, his lungs burning, he summons all his will and courage, preparing to make the fatal blow-
A whoosh of motion, then he drops to the ground, coughing, wheezing, sucking air, suddenly free of Grundy's grasp. He doesn't know what happened, he hadn't dealt the blow, he hadn't kicked. He tries to blink the world back into focus and sees the blurred outline of Grundy lumbering away slowly into the shadows. He starts to question it as his rational mind comes back into focus.
Then he feels a gentle hand on his cheek, then the arms of an angel wrap around him, pulling him to a seated position on the sand, cradling his head tightly against her chest.
"Oh, Robin," it Raven's voice. "Please be okay!"
He realizes it isn't an angel, but Raven. He sighs as much as his searing lungs allow as he listens to her heartbeat. His good arm wraps around her, squeezing her tight.
"Hi," he wheezes.
"Shh," she says, cheek buried in his hair. "Don't try to talk. Just breathe."
He knows what's coming, and tries to steel himself.
She draws away slightly to look into his eyes. He nods a yes, then her eyes start to glow white.
"Augh!" he cries out as a viscous pain wracks his body.
Raven's using her powers to heal him. He grips her tighter, fisting her cloak. Her hand moves to his shoulder.
"Gah!" he cries out again.
Searing heat, agonizing pain, then he feels it starting to knit back together painfully slowly. Her other hand moves down to his midsection. He sucks in the deepest breath he can muster as his lung starts knitting itself back together, then his ribs.
Sweat pours off his forehead, and he isn't sure how long he can keep breathing. Finally, she moves her hand away, the white light leaves her eyes, and everything becomes still, and silent, except for their rapid breathing. She looks every bit as winded as he feels- more so. They sit in the moonlight, faces inches apart, each just struggling to breathe and stay conscious. Her hand drops to rest on his good shoulder. His hands both sit on the sand at his sides.
"Thanks," he finally manages to say.
"It's not. . ." she says. "I couldn't heal you completely; the injuries were too severe. I just helped speed you along."
He nods very slowly, eyes heavy. "I understand..."
She nods back, and then her eyes drop closed. She starts to fall backwards, and he leans to catch her, grabbing her cloak and tugging to keep her upright, then she falls forwards, right into him, taking them both to the ground, him on his back, her head buried in his chest as he looks up at the night sky. He hears the sound of waves crashing on the beach, and allows his eyes to fall. The last thing he hears before passing out is Raven's soft breathing.
(******)
Raven
Her eyes open to see the shiny walled medical wing. Hooked up to machines, she lays on a medical bed. The memory of what happened flashes in her mind-
"Robin!" She sits up, panting.
"I'm here," his voice reaches her from somewhere to right.
She turns her head to see him sitting up against the headboard of his own bed. His arm is in a sling, and he isn't wearing a shirt, so Raven can see the medical bandages wound around his ribs tight.
She breathes out a huge sigh of relief before she can stop herself.
If he noticed, he doesn't show it.
"How are you feeling?" he says.
"Tired," she says. "But all things considered, not bad. You?"
He shrugs his good shoulder. "Oh, I'm fantastic."
She scrunches her eyebrows together, her deadpan scowl coming back.
"No, seriously," he says. "Yeah, I was thinking about running a marathon, maybe go skydiving after."
She shakes her head at his sarcasm, unable to say anything, knowing that she's the most sarcastic person on the team.
The team.
"Where is everyone?" she says.
"They're taking Star and Gavyn around town."
She nods.
Of course.
They fall into a silence.
"What happened last night?" Robin says. "How did you find me on the beach?"
She hesitates, not knowing how much to say. She clears her throat.
"The alarms went off, I had-" She clears her throat again. "- I had a feeling something was happening down on the beach, so I checked it out."
Robin nods.
"Thanks," he says.
He smiles at her. Not the normal, friendly leader smile. But the kind of smile that she can feel all the way down in her toes. Seconds tick by and she doesn't even notice.
Finally, her senses clear.
"I have to go," she says.
She rips the the wires linking her to the monitors off, then hops to her feet, feeling immediately dizzy, she almost falls back on the bed, but manages to steady herself.
Wincing, Robin makes it to his feet.
"What's wrong?" he says.
"It's nothing!" she says louder than she had meant to. "I just have to meditate. In my room. Alone."
Before he can say anything, she marches from the room, not trusting her powers until she can recover a bit more. The path to her room feels so long, but she finally makes it, breathing a sigh of relief as the doors whoosh shut, leaving her in darkness. She collapses on the bed, feeling utterly spent.
You have to control this, she thinks.
"I have to control this," she says. "I have to."
Sooner or later, he'll stop looking at her like that. Sooner or later, his feelings will fade, and then it won't be so difficult for her to be around him, but until then, she must make sure she does not lose control. For his sake, she has to be in control.
(******)
Robin
His morning passes painfully slowly as he meditates in the hospital bed. Meditation can be useful for many things; as a part of his training, Batman taught him many different meditation techniques; many of them quite dangerous. This one, focuses the mind, promoting his body to heal. It's amazing the things your body can do. He once saw Batman get shot in the middle of a fight, and before the fight was over, his wound had already clotted all by itself. Bane once broke Batman's back. Batman healed and came back to beat Bane's rear. Cyborg checks on him in the afternoon, says it's okay for Robin to leave Medical.
He joins the rest of the Titans in the common room. Beast Boy sits at the counter that joins the kitchen to the common room. Starfire and Gavyn join him there, each putting globs of mustard on their pancakes. Cyborg digs in the fridge, looking for his real bacon, complaining about the soy bacon that Beast Boy always tries to force-feed down everyone's throat.
Robin looks around, but doesn't see Raven.
Must be in her room.
"Oh, ho!" a voice says. "Look who decided to join us."
Robin turns to the couch to see Speedy sitting with a plate, his red hat off to reveal his short orange hair. He wears his usual red uniform.
"Speedy," Robin says. "Thanks for helping out while I was away."
"Aw, any time, pal," Speedy says.
Robin smiles and reluctantly heads for the kitchen.
"Hey," he says.
Starfire turns around in her seat. "Friend Robin, is it not a lovely day?"
True enough, the sun shines bright and he's sure there's birds singing out there somewhere. He nods a yes.
"How is the arm?" Gavin says. "It looked pretty bad last night."
Robin shrugs. "I've had worse."
Gavyn nods, then curls his hand around Starfire's. She blushes slightly and smiles at her husband. Robin looks over to Cyborg, not showing any of the discomfort he feels.
"Anybody seen Raven?" he says.
"Nah, man," Cyborg's voice sounds from somewhere inside the fridge. "Been in her room all day."
"So," Starfire says, her voice especially high-pitched. "How have you been, friend Robin?"
He shrugs. "Been fine."
"What has been as you say 'up'?"
"Just doing what we always do," he says.
Cyborg chimes in from the fridge: "Kicking evil butt, and lookin' good while doin' it!"
Beast Boy cheers his agreement. For a second, it really does feel like old times.
"And what about you?" Robin says. "How have you been?"
She goes on for a while, telling him about their palace and how their intergalactic politics work. He logs everything she says of course, but he isn't paying much attention right now.
Right now, his mind is occupied by other things.
Things like who sent Grundy to kill him. Things like why they are so determined to hurt him. Things like why Raven ran out of Medical so fast— though he really doesn't want to ponder that one. But of course, that doesn't stop him. He eats pancakes and bacon, listens, makes small talk, congratulates them when he feels necessary, and excuses himself as soon as possible. He goes to his room, finding the window already repaired and the glass cleaned up.
Everything appears to be back in order. He grabs his communicator from the bedside table where he'd left it the night before. He presses a few buttons and waits.
"I was wondering when you'd call," Batman's voice growls through the speaker.
"This is the first chance I've had since I woke up. What have you got?"
"Dummy trails leading all over the place, fake sightings, bogus tips, the usual."
Robin shakes his head, resisting the urge to pound the end-table into oblivion.
"So, he's in the wind."
"Grundy- yes. His boss- no."
Robin's eyes grow wide. "His boss?"
That's what he's been after all along. The person pulling the strings. If Grundy's boss isn't behind it- odds are they know who is.
"He's been careful, but not careful enough. There'd never be enough to prosecute or convict-"
"We're not the court of law," Robin cuts him off.
"Their biggest mistake was the Arkham takeover. Too big to pull off without leaving traces behind," Batman says. "Cobblepot. He used his connections and resources to orchestrate the breakout. He must also be Grundy's shot-caller."
The Penguin. Recruiting talent like Grundy is definitely in his wheelhouse— but why come after Robin? Sure he helped Batman foil his schemes more than a few times, but he's never shown the kind of hatred that typically drives these kinds of attacks.
"You're thinking he's the middleman," Robin says. "Whoever is behind the attacks hired him to stage the takeover, help the Joker escape."
"And when the Joker failed, sent Grundy to kill you in order to keep you from following the traces back to him."
Of course!
"Makes sense," Robin says. "So, what's our next move?"
"How's the arm?" Batman says.
Robin rips the sling off his arm, tossing it on the bed. "Never better."
He can practically hear the Dark Knight smirking on the end of the comm.
"How about we pay our friend Mr Cobblepot a little visit?"
Author's Note
First things first. Been forever, right? I wish I could express how truly sorry I am about that. Life got busy, writing got hard, life got even busier, the ideas stopped flowing, other stories taking up my interest, campnanow hit. There were a lot of factors. Again, just want you to know I'm sorry.
So, Robin has a nugget of info on the mastermind, and is on a mission to get another nugget. I think it's time I upped the pace again. As much as I know you all probably wanted a bit more fallout from Starfire's sudden appearance, I think this is a better direction for the story overall.
Thank you guest for the review. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! And thank you. As for Robin/Starfire/Raven love triangles that become squares... I would recommend you look into RobRae stories with Red-X involved.
Thank you Stolen and for Sale for the review. Thank you so much. I love hearing that!
Thank you PrincessTrekkie for the review! I hope you still think I can be forgiven... Thank you, that is very much appreciated.
Thank you chinaluv for the review. :)
Thank you June Grayson for the review. I so love hearing that.
Thank you LimitlessDarkness for the review. I'm so glad you liked that. And I'm glad it was so crisp in your mind.
Thank you psychic soul for the review. Yeah, the poor guy just can't catch a break at all. Haha, added chins for emphasis, huh? :)) )
Thanks to ever reviewer, follower and favorite. You are all so awesome!
And thank you everyone who has read the story so far. Thanks so much.
Well, that's it for this chapter. Let me know what you think.
Until next time, dear readers. I hope life finds you all well.
mojo