He found her and sat down beside her. "Hey. Are you okay?"
"Great, just great. One of my closest friends is in pain and could have died thanks to a stupid slip up on my part. My other friends are going to hate me when they find out about all this. I will tell them, though. I'm sick of keeping this a secret. Batman already knew about me, but what are we going to tell him about Robin? I'm not okay, Wally, I'm panicking."
"We'll figure it out," Wally assured her. "We have been in worse messes. It's not like we have to explain to the entire Justice League how we managed to trash D.C. looking for one low powered villain."
She smiled at the memory. "Okay, that was bad. But still. How are we going to explain this to Batman?"
Wally scratched his head. "No idea. But we'll figure something out."
They were interrupted by unexpected arrival of Kaldur'on. In seconds he had swords in his hands and was pointing them at Ruby. "Who are you? Where is Robin? If you have hurt my friends, I swear-"
Wally stood and walked over to him. "Dude, chill. It's Ruby. I know she looks different, but it really is her."
She turned to face him and he paled. "Regalia? Princess, what are you doing here?"
She changed back and walked over to Wally. "I'm rebelling. The same thing I always do."
Kaldur's eyes flicked down to her hand. "The mark. Wally?"
Wally and Ruby looked at each other. "Uh, no."
Kaldur looked confused for a moment. Then it dawned on him. "Robin."
She nodded miserably. "I never meant for this to happen. But then Robin jumped in the pool and things just got worse."
Wally looked upset. "It's my fault. All of it. I dumped her in the pool. If I had just listened when Ruby said she didn't want to go swimming-"
"Enough, both of you." Kaldur's voice was firm and commanding. "What's done is done. Blaming yourselves for what happened solves nothing. Where is Robin now?"
Ruby walked toward the door. "He's in the sickbay, asleep. Follow me."
They were walking through the main command room when the zeta beam computers spoke up. "Recognized: Batman 02"
Ruby groaned. Could this day get any worse? Apparently the answer to that was yes.
Batman stalked over to them. "Where's Robin?" he growled.
Ruby held up her marked hand. "Hold. He is safe. Robin is sleeping in the infirmary, and if I allow you to see him it will be because you promise not to overly excite him. The poor boy is exhausted and he does not need you getting him worked up. This has been a hard enough day already."
He glared at her but she held her ground. "Fine," he spat. "Now take me to him." He nodded at the mark on her hand. "You can explain on the way."
Her explanation was short, to the point, and finished by the time they got to the sickbay. Batman sat down in the chair next to Robin's bed. Gently, he shook his protege's shoulder.
Robin turned his head and opened his eyes. "Hey, Batman. What are you doing here?"
His slow speech and tired eyes scared Batman, but Batman forced himself to remain calm. "You weren't answering your communicator, so I came to check on you. How're you feeling?"
"Sore. Tired. But I'll live."
"Ruby told me what happened. Are you going to be okay?"
Robin's eyes widened. "Please don't be mad! I'm fine. She didn't know this would happen," he babbled. "She warned me against jumping in, and- I understand if you don't want me around anymore." He drooped; his energy spent.
"I'm not mad. Not really. It was an accident. A preventable accident," he glared at Wally, "But still an accident. Robin, look at me. You are my son. I will always want you around. No matter what happens."
Robin reached up and hugged his mentor. Batman froze for a second and then hugged him back. Ruby and Aqualad looked at the two of them and then at each other and left the room. Wally followed.
Batman came into the main room about ten minutes later. "Robin is asleep. Ruby, are you sure he's going to be okay? He seemed so weak."
"He will be just fine. Given a couple days of rest Robin will be back on his feet in no time. So long as you continue to be the father and mentor that you have been to him for so many years. He needs you. Don't walk away from him."
Batman shook his head. "I wouldn't dream of it. He's my son. I care about him far too much to ever do that."
Wally and Kaldur'on were keeping a safe distance from Batman. They knew he wasn't nearly as okay with all this as he acted. So when Ruby shooed them out of the room they went gladly.
Ruby turned back to Batman. "He's scared. I'm scared. What am I supposed to do? This wasn't supposed to happen for at least another two years! My grandmother will have my head on a platter for bonding to a surface dweller. I'm heir to the throne. This sort of thing just doesn't happen!"
"Ruby. Ruby! Calm down." Batman's harsh voice cut through her fog of fear and she took a deep breath. "Look at this situation the way you would look at a mission. Figure out what your options are and find the one that doesn't end in someone dying."
"Right. Calm. Thanks."
Batman walked over to the zeta beams and gave her one last instruction. "Keep him safe." Then the computer spoke and he was gone.