A/N: I know it was Batman that was shoved down the stairs and ultimately saved Batgirl and himself using the Bat-rope trick. I claim creative license for the small difference. :)


Fifteen-year-old Robin stared at the African death bee, silently willing her to stay by her hive. But a queen bee doesn't bow to the whims of a human, and five seconds later she was resting lightly on his green glove. Lady Prudence knelt beside him, smiling at his predicament.

"Once a death bee lands, she usually stays a while. Or she may sting you, Robin, and you'll die."

The bee made her way up Robin's arm, her skinny legs tickling his skin as they skimmed across the surface. She stopped at his elbow, as if daring him to make a move. He didn't.

"I'll leave so you two can get acquainted," Lady Prudence said with a quiet laugh.

Standing up, she condescendingly patted the Boy Wonder on his head before walking away.

"Fly away," Robin commanded softly.

The bee ignored him, choosing instead to walk a little further up his arm. This time she stopped right under the edge of the sleeve of his tunic. Robin held his breath, waiting for the tell-tale prick of a bee's stinger to enter his arm.

They stayed that way for almost two minutes: the teenager lying on his right side propped up on his right elbow, and the bee lightly settled on his right bicep. The bee finally got bored. Turning around, she began traveling back down his arm.

The Boy Wonder released the breath he had been holding, realizing too late that doing so would produce too much movement. She didn't like it, and she swiftly slid her needle-like stinger into his elbow.

The effect was instantaneous. She rolled lifelessly off Robin's arm, and he collapsed onto his back. It felt like needles were being shoved into every nerve in his body.

And that's when Robin remembered Batgirl's predicament. She was in the dungeon in the super-secret cricket pavilion, and he was the only one who knew the location. Batgirl had been exposed to Lord Ffogg's paralyzing fog; anything could have happened to her.

"Holy incapacitation," he whispered.

Attempting to ignore the spikes of pain flowing through his body - but not succeeding very well - Robin rolled over and pushed himself to his hands and knees. He didn't know how long he had before the poison in his system would consume him, but he did know that he wouldn't make it to Batgirl if he crawled.

Biting his tongue to contain the agonized grunt, and control the nausea, the Boy Wonder shakily forced himself to his feet. He stumbled across the lawn toward the super-secret cricket pavilion, hoping he wasn't too late.


Unbeknownst to Robin, Batman did know about Lord Ffogg and Lady Peasoup's treasure trove. The Caped Crusader was currently in the Batmobile, racing across Londinium in search of his two younger counterparts. He hoped to find them safe and sound, but a cloud of doubt was threatening to overpower that flicker of hope in his chest.


Robin staggered into the pavilion and made his way to the dungeon door. He failed to notice Lord Ffogg and Lady Peasoup peering at him from the shadows on the other side of the room. The teenager slowly opened the door and slid into the darkness, and the man swiftly and quietly followed him in.


Batgirl looked up when the door to the dungeon creaked open. She was surprised to see Robin staring at her. He was swaying slightly, making his progress slow and unsteady as he traveled down the stairs.

Batgirl watched him carefully, wondering why he seemed so unstable. Her study of his movements ceased momentarily when the door at the top of the stairs opened again.

"Robin, look out!" she exclaimed as Lord Ffogg entered the room.

Her warning came too late. Batgirl watched in horror as the villain gave Robin a hard shove, causing the teenager to tumble down the last few steps. She heard the heavy 'thud' of bone connecting with cement when his body hit the ground, and from the sudden silence she assumed his head had taken the brunt of the impact. But the floor was still covered with remnants of Lord Ffogg's stale deathly fog pellets, and Batgirl could only see part of Robin's crumpled body.

Lord Ffogg tossed down a new batch of deathly fog pellets. The fatal dosage of smoke slowly began filling the dungeon, and Batgirl was helpless to do anything but watch the remainder of Robin's body disappear into the dark smog.


Batman climbed the fence by the locked gate that led to the Ffogg estate. He immediately noticed the man hiding in the bushes, and quickly dispatched him with a swift jab to the side of the head. Then he jogged toward the super-secret cricket pavilion, which wasn't very secret anymore.

The Caped Crusader entered the pavilion just as Lord Ffogg and Lady Peasoup were making their way out the back exit. He didn't notice them, mainly because he was focused on finding Batgirl. If he was lucky, Robin was also somewhere nearby.

Batman noticed a gate on his right that led to a door. Slowly, he opened the door, expecting some kind of ambush. What he found was the exact opposite.

Batgirl was chained between two stone pillars, only the top half of her body visible. Her head was hanging limply over her torso; Batman couldn't even tell if she was breathing. Some sort of fog was steadily filling the room. Without hesitation, the Caped Crusader grabbed his Anti-Lethal-Fog Bat-spray out of his utility belt and began spritzing a path for himself.

Down the stairs, across the floor, and straight up to Batgirl. Batman was sure that the fog was some kind of diabolical concoction, so he quickly retrieved two Universal Antidote Bat-pills from his utility belt. He put one in his mouth then gently lifted Batgirl's head and slid the other one into her mouth.

Ten seconds later, she was awake. Batgirl began coughing, expelling the noxious fog from her lungs.

"Robin," she croaked, tilting her head to her right.

Batman glanced to his left, but he only saw smoke. He began spraying the air around him again, and it didn't take long for him to see his partner. Robin was lying motionless three yards away from the bottom step.

The Caped Crusader dropped to his knees by the Boy Wonder, simultaneously pulling another Universal Antidote Bat-pill from his belt. He slid it into Robin's mouth, then began gently patting the boy's cheeks.

"Wake up, chum," he commanded.

It had already been thirty seconds, triple the amount of time it had taken Batgirl to wake up. Why wasn't the Bat-pill doing its job?

"Batman, I think he hit his head pretty hard," Batgirl explained. "You'll have to release me from these chains so we can get him out of here."

The man didn't want to leave the fifteen-year-old lying on the floor, but the woman did have a point. He needed to free her before he could take Robin to safety. Standing up, and reluctantly turning his back on his partner, Batman strode to Batgirl and pulled out his Bat-file.

It took five long minutes to file through one manacle. Batman glanced back at his partner, who was still motionless, before moving on to Batgirl's other wrist.

"Did you give him one of your Bat-pills?" she asked.

"Of course," Batman almost snapped.

He was frustrated with the amount of time it was taking to release her. And that frustration was compounded by his lack of understanding regarding Robin's inability to wake up.

After another five minutes, Batgirl was finally free. Before she could say thank you, Batman was already kneeling by Robin again.

"Come on, old chum!" he commanded loudly. "Why isn't it working?!" he demanded when Robin failed to respond.

"I have no idea, Batman," Batgirl replied, although she knew the man probably wasn't talking to her. "But I did tell you that he hit his head."

Batman grunted in acknowledgement as he slid his arms under Robin's limp form. Gently, he lifted the boy up and turned toward the stairs.

"Let's go," he almost snapped again.

"What about Lord Ffogg and Lady Peasoup?"

"We can come back for them. Robin needs medical attention."

"But the villains need to be stopped before they can get the crown jewels!"

"I'll call it in. Lord Ffogg and Lady Peasoup are probably already on their way. Superintendent Watson and Commissioner Gordon can meet you there."

Batgirl nodded as they exited the cricket pavilion. They separated, and Batman increased his speed. The quicker he could get to the Batmobile, the sooner he could put Robin in Alfred's capable hands.

The Caped Crusader glanced down at his young partner's face. It was pale, and his breathing was almost non-existent.

"Why isn't it working?" he mumbled. "A hit to the head shouldn't affect your breathing."

As he laid Robin on the passenger seat of the Batmobile, the man noticed something. A black dot, surrounded by a brick-red bruise, in the crook of the teenager's elbow. Batman raced around to his side of the vehicle and practically jumped in. This was a job for the Super-Sensitive Bat-magnifying glass.

Sixteen minutes later, the Batmobile coasted to a stop in the Londinium Batcave. Batman climbed out and swiftly went around the front end of the vehicle.

"Alfred, bring the Super-Sensitive Bat-magnifying glass to the medical area," Batman commanded as he picked Robin up and headed that way.

"Very well, sir."

"There's something in his elbow," the younger man murmured when Alfred handed him the tool.

Batman tilted the glass in different directions, searching for the entry point of what he assumed to be a splinter.

"Bat-tweezers," he gruffly commanded when he finally found the tiny hole.

Alfred dutifully handed him the tool and then held Robin's arm tightly in his grasp. If the teenager woke up, the butler didn't want him smacking anyone in the face.

It took almost a minute for Batman to be able to grab the tip of whatever it was. And it took almost two more for him to carefully pull the needle-like object all the way out of Robin's skin. He dropped it on the small tray Alfred was holding, then taped a piece of Bat-gauze over the tiny wound.

"Master Batman, this is the stinger from a bee," Alfred remarked, surprise in his voice. "An African death bee, to be precise, sir."

"Right you are, Alfred!" Batman exclaimed. "Lady Peasoup showed me the hive on the lawn!"

"Master Robin needs more than a piece of Bat-gauze if he is to be healed, sir," Alfred observed calmly.

"Luckily, I have an African Death Bee Antidote Bat-pill in my utility belt. He'll be right as rain in no time."

Batman quickly found the yellow Bat-pill and slid it into Robin's mouth. Now he had to wait again, but it wasn't a long wait. The boy stirred, then slowly opened his eyes.

"Batgirl is in the dungeon," he whispered. "I..."

"She's fine, chum."

"The bee stung me, I'm..."

"I already gave you the antidote."

"Lady Peasoup..."

"Is with Lord Ffogg, and they will be arrested as soon as they attempt to pilfer the crown jewels."

"Gosh, I guess you don't need me, then."

Robin slowly sat up. He grimaced and gently touched the back of his head. Alfred circled behind him and quietly gasped.

"Master Batman, you did not tell me about the head injury," the butler stated reprovingly.

"Head injury?" Batman echoed as he, too, circled behind the teenager.

There was a large bump on the back of the boy's head. A clump of hair was matted to his scalp by a mass of dried blood.

"Luckily, it is not severe, Master Batman," Alfred stated after a quick but thorough examination. "A bit of cleaning, a few stitches, and some Bat-ice should do the trick, Master Robin."

"Thanks," the teen responded softly.

Alfred's examination had allowed a heavy headache to manifest itself. Robin tightly clenched his jaw in an effort to keep the pain at bay for now.

Batman removed his cowl and Bruce sat on the bed by his partner.

"You just escaped three death traps, chum," the man said quietly. "You were lucky today. Do you have..."

"Any sense of self-preservation," Robin muttered as Alfred removed the boy's mask in order to clean the head wound.

"The only one that was my fault was the bee," Dick continued. "Batgirl was trapped, I wasn't going to just let her die! And I was going to die anyway - I didn't have any African Death Bee Antidote Bat-pills - so trying to save her wasn't an impulsive act! I wasn't trying to ignore the 'tiny seed' because I already knew my life was forfeit!"

Dick was yelling by the time he finished his short speech. His tone was full of frustration, so Bruce patiently waited for the end of the boy's tirade before continuing.

"Let me finish," the man stated when it was clear that Dick was done talking. "I was going to say, do you have any idea how proud I am of you?"

Dick stared at him for a moment, shock shining in his light-blue eyes. He couldn't think of a response to that, because he had been so sure that a lecture had been on the horizon.

"An African death bee, a tumble down a flight of cement stairs, and a deathly concoction of fog," Bruce commented, ticking off the death traps on his fingers. "Not to mention the fact that you fought your way back to us after nearly suffocating in the winch room. I don't say it enough, I guess. Dick - Robin - I am proud of how you have handled yourself during this entire trip."

Dick still had nothing to say. Bruce grinned at the lack of response as he stood up. He grabbed Dick's hand and firmly shook it.

"Good job, chum."

The man turned around and walked away. Alfred chuckled quietly as he handed the teenager a pack of Bat-ice.

"Cement that in your memory, Master Dick."

Then he, too, walked away. Dick watched them until they disappeared around the corner that led to the secret entrance. After two minutes of staring at the emptiness of the Londinium Batcave, the teen finally replied, "Thanks."

THE END