Robin's POV:

Leaving her was harder than I'd imagined it would be. Just the sight of the tears in her eyes was almost enough to make me forget my plan and agree to go back with her, Harley be damned! And what she'd said, or hadn't said, about her past... How could she have kept something like that from me, from the team? Starfire a prisoner? A part of me insisted that I go back and demand to know what had happened. But the mission came first, and Starfire was entitled to her secrets just as I was bound to keep mine. Speaking of which...

The Titans have several safe houses located around Jump City. The Bat Family has several more. With Harley Quinn terrorizing my streets I needed a direct link to the Batcave, one I didn't have to worry about Cyborg or Beast Boy hacking later.

I chose the safe house located in an apartment building three blocks from downtown. It was close enough to what was happening for me to keep tabs on the action while giving me enough distance to be safe from another attack while I rested. God, my whole body hurt. The burns on my chest and back made it painful to move at all, let alone crawl through a thirteenth story window. Then there were the scrapes and bruises from the Tower collapsing on top of me. After making sure all the blinds were closed I flipped on a light and went to the bedroom to check my appearance in the dresser mirror.

I looked about as beat up as I felt. It was no wonder Starfire had been so worried. At the thought of her, my chest tightened, and quickly I pushed the thought to the back of my mind where it wouldn't trouble me anymore. I peeled off the remains of my body armor. The worst of the burns were across my back from when I'd tried to outrun the explosion. Blood and clear fluid stuck my shirt to my skin making it a bitch to strip off. I swore several times in the process.

The television screen blipped on, making me grateful that I hadn't started on my pants yet. With no way to hide the evidence of how my night was going, I looked up to see Batgirl staring at me in horror.

"Oh my gosh, are you all right?"

"Peachy," I said, rummaging around in the dresser for a first aid kit. Of course, turning my back only gave her a better view of the damage, but I wasn't ready to look her in the eye just yet. Being the only human on a super-powered team gave me weird hang ups about revealing my vulnerabilities.

"It's all over the news. We saw the Tower go down. Is everyone okay?" I sent a 'do you think I'd be standing here if my teammates were in trouble?' look over my shoulder and began winding medical gauze around my waist.

"What's Joker up to? Harley said he's planning something that's got to do with me."

"I don't know. Joker's been unusually quiet for the past few months."

"He's not the only one," I muttered, thinking back to the conversation I'd had with Starfire before this whole thing began. "He's been planning this for a while. I don't know how he got them to agree to join forces, but he's got most of the petty criminals here involved too. The Titans will have their hands full for weeks just trying to get them off the streets."

"Say the word and we'll be there." She smiled to back up the words, but I shook my head.

"This is my city. I don't need his help protecting it."

She threw up her hands.

"Oh get over yourself! This isn't about you and him. You've got a full-scale riot on your hands, your resources are gone, your team can barely put one fire out before another one springs up, and you don't look like you'll be up to much for at least a few days."

"Where is he?" I asked, ignoring her little rant. She thought because she was older that she knew better than me, but I've been fighting criminals since I was twelve years old. I already had Starfire worrying over me, I didn't need Barbara doing it too. Of course, she didn't like being ignored. Her glossy pink lips pinched in irritation and her green eyes narrowed, but she didn't intimidate me. I lived with Raven and Starfire. One's got a scowl that could make the Dark Knight check himself, and the other can snap me like a twig with her little finger.

"He's getting the Batplane ready," she said in a huff.

"And you're what, trying to stall for time so he can get it up in the air? He can't come. If Harley or one of her goons gets a glimpse of the Bat symbol all hell's going to break loose."

"You mean it hasn't already?"

"Since you've been keeping such close tabs on me tonight, maybe you saw that my team has everything under control? Raven took out two magically-inclined super-villains single-handedly, Cyborg stopped a shootout from killing half a dozen cops, and Beast Boy managed to turn Killer Moth's mutants back on him."

"I saw," she said a little stiffly. Babs wasn't a huge fan of the Titans, or rather, she wasn't a fan of me leaving Gotham to stay with the Titans. On one hand I understood why she was hurt by the decision, on the other, I'd been gone for almost three years and it was time for her to get over it. It was hard on our friendship when I couldn't mention my new teammates without her getting defensive. If I was dumb enough to bring up Starfire she straight up stopped talking to me altogether. I think she knew before Star and I did what was developing between us.

"Robin, at least let me send Alfred. You're not even bandaging yourself properly."

"All I want is for you to put him on the line."

"Ugh, fine. Batman, he's asking for you." She tapped her earpiece linking her with Bruce, and suddenly the image on my screen shifted to reveal the inside of the Batplane. Batman was fiddling with the overhead gauges, deliberately not looking at the camera. It was a power play, making me wait even half a second on him to be ready to speak to me.

"You called?"

"Don't come to Jump."

"One of my criminals is terrorizing your city. She's my responsibility."

"Ignoring the fact that she broke out on your watch in the first place, my team can handle this. You turning up is only going to make things worse." He stopped switching dials and finally looked at me directly. His narrowed eyes swept over me in instant appraisal and I knew he registered every injury. Stubbornly, I squared my shoulders despite the way it pulled at my burns.

"Batgirl's right. You're not even doctoring yourself properly." I was so used to him spying on me that it didn't occur to me to react that he had been listening in on my conversation with Babs.

"What does Joker want with me?"

"You think I know what goes on in that deranged mind?"

"I think it takes one to know one. Why are you making this so difficult? Innocent lives are at risk." The night's events were taking their toll on me and I was quickly losing patience.

"And yet when I offer to help you throw it back in my face." His expression was stoic, but his blue eyes were cold with disapproval. "What's your plan, Robin?"

"I'm going to lay low for a while. Harley knows I was still in the Tower when it went down. For all she knows I never made it out. Once I'm back to fighting shape I'll lead her back to Gotham."

"And your team?"

"Starfire knows I'm alive. She'll tell the others."

He grimaced and scrubbed a hand over his face. If Babs was taking it hard that I had a new team it was nothing compared to Bruce. Every chance he got he criticized them to me. They weren't disciplined enough, they needed more restraint, Beast Boy needed to control himself when he spoke to the press, Cyborg left wide openings for enemies to hack into his software, Starfire was entirely too trusting and needed to display more modesty in public... Strangely, I didn't hear many complaints about Raven. Batman wasn't a big fan of magic, particularly demon magic, but I think he sensed a kindred spirit in Raven and he approved of her desire to keep people at arms' length.

"If your team knows you survived they won't worry about you," said Bruce as if I was a two-year old who couldn't put two and two together.

"That was kind of the point."

"If she can't find you Quinn will watch them. If they don't seem worried she'll know you're alive somewhere." I knew that too, and originally I hadn't planned on telling the others, but when I saw Starfire fall back because worry and sadness were affecting her powers I couldn't stop myself from reassuring her. When she cried there wasn't anything I wouldn't do to make her smile again. I'd tell her my real name if she asked me, not that she ever would. Starfire respects people's privacy, and after tonight I was starting to understand why. I wasn't about to tell Bruce that though. He constantly lectured me on the dangers of dating a teammate. The closer I got to Starfire the louder he protested. We both knew it was only a matter of time before I acted on my feelings though.

"So you're telling me you have no idea what Joker's up to? Why do I not believe you?"

"Because you're a paranoid brat with an inferiority complex," said Batman lightly.

"Pots and kettles, Batman."

"I'll look into the Joker. Try to stay out of trouble," he grunted, ignoring my comment altogether. Without so much as a goodbye he transferred the screen back to Batgirl. She had removed her mask and was leaning anxiously toward the computer with her yellow-gloved hands clasped in front of her.

I hadn't stepped foot through the Wayne Manor doors since I walked out of them three years ago to forge a new identity separate from Batman. Apart from the occasional video chats, I'd left Babs behind in that life along with him. Looking at her now I remembered being fourteen again and desperate for her to notice me. She had wavy red hair, freckles, and eyes that sparkled with an intelligence to rival mine. She was all grown up now, and I could tell from the way she was looking at me that she wasn't seeing the skinny little boy who used to tease her because he didn't know how else to tell her he had a crush on her.

"Robin, are you really coming back?"

"Just long enough to finish this," I replied. It sounded harsh even to my ears, and disappointment made her shoulders droop, so I added, "I don't belong there anymore. I found a new life here."

"You're one of us whether you like it or not. You'll always come back to Gotham."

It was Babs who ended the call. I went back to dressing my wounds in the dark apartment building. Outside I could hear the sirens from police cars and fire engines rushing to take care if a city under fire. Out if the corner of my eye I caught a flare of green light. One side of my mouth turned up. The Titans would be fine without me.

Starfire's POV:

We needed Robin desperately. When we weren't battling criminals we were helping remove people from burning buildings and transport those affected by the Joker Venom to their nearest medical facility. It was exhausting and within the first couple of days we were quickly becoming overwhelmed. Of Robin there was no news and I worried constantly. I fear my anxiety began to wear on my teammates because Raven would clench her teeth when I mentioned his name, and Beast Boy ceased trying to reassure me that he was unharmed.

As the sun set on the seventh day the Titans gathered around our television in a vain attempt to gather our energy and see what progress had been made. The first image to cross the screen was a body being laid on a stretcher. A limp arm hung over the side wearing a bright green glove. Not even when I saw the ragged black and yellow edges of his shredded cape did I comprehend what I saw. Only when the headline flashed across the bottom of the screen was I forced to accept what I saw.

'Titan Leader Robin Presumed Dead.'

A/N: originally I planned to have this story only in Starfire's pov, but I realized that it would leave gaping holes in the narrative, and I really enjoy getting inside Robin's head. And no, I may not have introduced Babs in the most flattering light, but there is a character arc for her as more than just the jealous ex that I've sometimes seen her portrayed as in other stories. In my opinion, if she ever had feelings for Robin as anything other than platonic then it would be difficult to be replaced as his partner in crime fighting and as a love interest. And even though I've written Robin as not as clueless as in other stories, he's not as sympathetic as he could be to her feelings. Plus she's got Bruce in her ear listing all the Titans' shortcomings, so until she meets them she has little reason to have a high opinion of them.