Robin's Point of View
It took a while for me to surface completely. I think Raven was using a spell to keep me under. I fought it of course, which meant that I trapped myself in a semi-conscious state while she worked on me, feeling my torn muscles knit back together, the tendons and ligaments fuse, and worst were the fractures that snapped into place. I couldn't move or speak thanks to her spell and so I lay in silent agony as my fractured cheekbone slid forward and realigned with the rest of my eye socket. How was I even alive? I took silent inventory of my injuries. Though she had healed the damage my nerves still sang with the pain of what had been done.
There were voices all around me. I couldn't open my eyes to see, but sometimes it sounded like I was in the infirmary in the Tower and others like I was back in the Bat Cave. I swear Barbara came in and pushed my hair back off my face. She's the only person besides my mother who ever did things like that. It was her way of establishing that I was just a kid while she was three years older when we used to banter back and forth in the old days. But then Babs would be gone and I'd feel this warmth on my face and catch a whiff of a familiar piña colada fragrance and knew that It couldn't have been Babs beside me. Maybe Raven was feeling extra maternal...? My head hurt too much trying to figure it out.
"It's been four days, why isn't he awake yet?"
That voice brought me all but fully alert. What the hell?
"Without my help he'd have been in a coma for weeks, if he survived that long," said Raven, and I could practically see the coolly smug look on her face that demanded recognition of her awesomeness.
"You said you've healed the worst of the damage," said Bruce. Did he sound...anxious?
"I'm keeping him under so that he won't undo my hard work by trying to do too much at once." She must have paused to make a face and turn toward me because her voice was marginally louder when she added, "But he's been fighting it off since yesterday."
"Let him wake," Batman commanded in a tone I remembered well. He expected instant compliance. To her credit, Raven took her time, but not even Raven was going to outright defy him.
It felt like invisible shackles unclamped from my mind. As soon as the spell lifted my eyes flew apart to see the fuzzy shapes of Batman and Raven leaning over me. Not the cheeriest welcome back committee a guy could hope for. My eyes slid from side to side in the hopes of catching a glimpse of long red hair, but I knew she wasn't there because she never would have kept quiet once she found out that I has been semiconscious for almost twenty-four hours.
"Was that your idea of having things under control?" Batman said stiffly. If I hadn't heard the worry in his voice from a moment ago I might have risen to the bait, but instead I settled back against my pillows and attempted to shrug.
"Yep. I had him right where I wanted him. I take it he's back in custody or you wouldn't be standing here like you've got nothing better to do." His mouth narrowed against what I suspected was a smile of relief. Nothing like a little normalcy after a crisis. He and I don't do sentiment. There's no, 'I thought I'd never see you again,' speeches in the Bat Cave, which was where I was-I recognized the medical bay. Nope, for us welcome back went something along the lines of, 'because you went and nearly got yourself killed I had to defeat the bad guy single-handedly and come save your life,' followed by a quick, 'that was the plan all along. Thanks for following the script.' We may not have super powers but beware he spur ego. It's our greatest strength and weakness.
"But seriously, it's good to have you back,' he said uncharacteristically. My smile slipped. Well so much for normalcy. I saw him roll his eyes.
"I have video footage if you can't comprehend why your friends and I haven't left your side."
"Where is everyone?" Batman shrugged to say, as long as their out of my hair I don't care. From the doorway I heard the familiar sound of a throat being cleared.
"I believe to spare the changeling from suffering the wrath of your physician when his attempts to help proved more of a hindrance he has been relegated to the game room upstairs and Cyborg has accompanied him to ah, keep an eye on him." Alfred had mastered the unspoken word, and what he was really saying is that once Cyborg got a look at the movie theater that housed all of the video games, he'd been incapable of leaving. Well there was two down but what about...?
"Miss Gordon has classes this morning. I believe she will return sometime after three."
I didn't like that smug look on his face at all. I squirmed. Alfred knew entirely too much about everything, and damn him if he didn't like doling it out at a snail's pace. Was he really going to make me ask about Starfire? That subtle twitch of his mustache told me he was. If Batman wasn't standing at the foot of my bed I'd have found something lightweight to throw at him. A pillow maybe.
"And Starfire?" I asked, determined to keep my voice neutral. She would be frantic. Any time I was even scratched she was all over me. If I had been nearly killed I'm amazed they got her away from my side. Unless she was hurt too. Joker had teased me about going after 'the redhead' next. If Star was hurt and they werren't telling me...!
"Miss Starfire was quite distraught over your condition. Batman suggested sedating her-"
"What?!" I sat up so quickly my head spun and a throbbing thundered in my temples. Batman snorted. My whole face was pulsing now and I covered it with my hands.
"I thought it a bit calloused as well," said Alfred smoothly, enjoying himself. "We did give her some sleeping pills when she couldn't sleep the third night." It was hardly much better.
"Raven, you let them give Star sleeping pills?" My second mistake was using Starfire's nickname in front of Batman. I could feel disapproval gathering around him like storm clouds.
"She was worrying herself to death. I didn't have enough energy to spare to put a sleep spell on her."
"How long has she been asleep?"
"No more than eighteen hours, Master Robin. Miss Raven informed me of the side effects. I was instructed that concern was only necessary after twenty-four hours." Human medicine does a wonder on Starfire's system. Some things her metabolism burns right through and others hits her at triple force. Sleeping pills knock her out for days.
"It's a concern the moment she has a nightmare she can't wake up from," I said through gritted teeth. Once, when the tower was newly built Starfire had combined of not being able to sleep. Not knowing any better I suggested sleeping pills, though to be fair we looked at the ingredients together to make sure nothing was toxic for her. She'd fallen asleep almost instantly for thirty-six hours on the common room couch. I'd stayed up the next night when everyone else went to sleep and witnessed her thrashing around in a nightmare that had left her shaking and crying. I had to shake her as hard as I could to wake her up and the fear in her eyes had been so real I knew that whatever she'd seen had been based on memory rather than imagination. I never told her. She'd been groggy from the sleeping pills and I just told her I woke her because she'd overslept. With everything going on it was more than likely it would happen again.
"Where is she?"
"It doesn't matter. You're not going anywhere," said Batman flatly. Uh oh. I cringed, picturing the lecture building in his brain. Flexing my toes, I decided to test Raven's handiwork. She said the worst injuries were healed, and there weren't any casts.
WHAM. Black energy flattened me out on the bed.
"Batman's right. You need to rest."
"I've been asleep for four days," I protested.
"That's not what I would call restful."
"Raven." I'm not a telepath and I don't know how to project my thoughts to hers, but she was an empath and I knew she could feel everything that I was feeling. The anger, frustration, and panic. In front of Bruce it was the best I could manage. I needed to see Star, I needed to see that she was alright, and I needed her to know that I was okay. Raven knew why. All of the Titans knew why. Heck, by now Bruce probably knew why.
"Alfred, is there any way you can bring Starfire down here?" Raven asked with a faint roll of her eyes for me. She's fine Robin. She's the one who flew in and saved you before the bomb went off. Save your worry for yourself. You're going to need it when Batman's relief wears off. Ordinarily, I don't like having Raven's voice in my mind. I don't know how much she can see in there, but her message calmed me Enough to glance at Batman. His expression was severe. Had the relief run it's course already?
"I will have Misters Cyborg and Beast Boy assist me," said Alfred, slipping away. Underneath all that decorum I think he was skipping. It's one of his guilty pleasures I think riling up the bat boys when it c,e to our emotions. Of course, he knew as well as I did how Bruce felt about the whole dating a teammate thing, so I don't know what game he was playing by bringing my obvious feelings for Star front and center right now.
It took longer than I would have liked, but twenty minutes later Cyborg and Beast Boy arrived. Cy carried Starfire bridal style with her head pillowed on his metal chest and her knees curled up tight like a child's. There was a second cot up against the wall, but I shook my head and scooted aside so that Cyborg could put her next to me. By now Batman was a stone monument of disapproval. He was showing amazing restraint too, which meant that later I was in for a real doozy of a dressing down. I didn't care.
"Starfire? Wake up. Star?"
Starfire's Point of View
I was back in the Gordanian slave chamber when I heard Robin calling my name. I did not know what was a dream and what was real. Robin was hurt and could not be calling to me, but I clung to the sound of his voice, praying that it would leave me from the terrible nightmare.
"Starfire? Starfire!"
I woke to him shaking my shoulder, and when I opened my eyes his face was barely inches from mine.
"Robin? You are alive?"
"I'm fine. Star, why did you let them give you sleep medication? You know it's bad for you."
For some reason I found his concern highly amusing. After everything I had been through it was this that he wanted to discuss? Why did I prefer the sleep of oblivion when the alternative was watching every bruise and broken bone fade? I put my arms around his neck and, mindful of my strength, gently laid my head against his chest.
"It is glorious to have you awake again."
"D'aw, how sweet," Cyborg said loudly. "You guys going to make it official or are you going to keep up this whole 'we're just friends' charade?"
"It's not-"
"Now is not the time!" Batman's voice cut across us and I flinched. Robin's fingers tightened against my shoulder. I thought he was scolding us, but when I looked he had gone over to his enormous computer monitor.
"What?" Robin called over my head.
"There's been a breakout at Arkham," said Batman. I froze in dread. Was it truly not over?