Chapter 3

When Robin woke up he fully expected to be in the same amount of, if not more, pain as he had been the last time he had been conscious. Instead he was pleasantly surprised to find that he was only numb.

He opened his eyes to find that he was in the medical wing of Mount Justice. How'd he get here? The last thing he remembered was that stupid train and being thrown off it in the middle of the desert and… and there had been an explosion! Aqualad and K.F.! He didn't get to them!

He surged upright in response to that thought, only to have his ribs and arm scream bloody murder at him for moving so suddenly, forcing a cry of pain out of his lips.

"Whoa, hey kiddo, calm down." Bruce's baritone suddenly sounded from somewhere to his side as he curled in on himself, trying to will the pain away.

He felt a comforting hand land on his back, just below his neck, and begin to rub soothing circles there as the pain began to subside.

"Bruce?" Dick asked in a whisper that sounded weak even to him.

"I'm here." Bruce immediately answered, "Do you want to lay down again so you can stop aggravating your injuries?"

That's exactly what he wanted to do but first, "K.F. and Aqualad - "

"Are both fine and uninjured save for a few cuts and scrapes." Bruce cut him off before he could even finish his question.

Dick deflated in relief and then nodded, "Okay, then I would like to lie down again, please."

Bruce chuckled, "I'll help. Start lying back again."

Dick did as he was told and a few seconds later was lying back down and feeling relatively pain-free again, save for a bit of a headache that had started up when the rest of his injuries had made themselves known.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked.

Dick looked up to see that Bruce was in his Batman suit, except for the cowl, which lay on the bed next to him. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. Dick winced, knowing that he was probably the cause of that. How long had he been out?

"I'm okay now, just a bit of a headache." He answered.

Bruce nodded, "You had a pretty serious concussion. Explaining the scar on your forehead is going to be interesting."

"Scar?" Dick asked and lifted his good hand to investigate, only to run into bandage, "I didn't even realize that I had been cut there. My arm was pretty distracting."

Bruce winced, "I can imagine, it was dislocated and broken in three places."

Dick stared at Bruce, bewildered. He had never broken an arm that badly before. Then he groaned. The recovery was going to take forever!

"Dick?" Bruce worried.

"I'm fine, just dreading the recovery time. Totally not feeling the aster."

Bruce nodded in understanding, "You have 3 broken ribs, and random piece of metal got lodged in your calf too."

Dick groaned again, "Why? Why me? What did I ever do to the universe to deserve such cruel and unusual torture?" His recovery really was going to take forever!

Bruce sighed, "I'm sorry, kiddo."

Dick sighed too, "It's okay. What happened though? Did the rest of the team get attacked too? Did you catch the people who attacked us?"

"It's a long story and you need to rest. I'll fill you in on all the details later." Bruce answered as he reached for the cowl.

"But - " Dick began to complain but was interrupted by the appearance of Aqualad and Kid Flash just as Batman finished pulling the cowl on.

Dick's hand flew to his face and felt that he already had his mask on and breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad to see that his friends seemed okay though. Obviously no major injuries, as Batman had said. Though Aqualad did seem be limping a little. Kid Flash's injuries were probably already healed thanks to his accelerated healing factor.

"Dude, you're awake!" Kid Flash exclaimed and was just about to hug Robin when Batman's hand shot out to grab him on his shoulder.

"Ribs." was all that Batman needed to say before Kid Flash pulled back looking sheepish.

"Sorry! I got excited to see him awake and forgot." He explained quickly.

"It's alright, just keep his injuries in mind, and keep the visit short. He needs to rest." Batman said, "I have a few things to do, I'll see you later." He said to Robin.

Robin nodded, "Okay."

"It is good to see you awake, my friend." Aqualad said once Batman had left.

"Totally dude! We haven't been able to see you since the League whisked you away from the crash site." Wally added, "You didn't look so great, you know."

Robin could imagine just by remembering how he felt. What Kid Flash said reminded him of one of his earlier questions though, "How long was I out?"

"Well it's been two days." Wally answered.

"What?"

"We were told that you did wake up before now." Aqualad explained, "But you needed surgeries to fix your arm, and remove the metal from your leg, among other things. You just came out of the biggest one, on your arm, about an hour ago."

Robin felt a little bewildered again, "What happened? Batman wouldn't tell me."

Kid Flash and Aqualad glanced at each other before Aqualad answered, "We will give you the short version as we promised Batman to keep this visit short."

He nodded at Kid Flash who then launched into the tale of how some random terrorist had admitted to sneaking up on and then throwing Robin off the train roof. Then, upon finding that the plutonium was not on the train, he had set a bomb to blow the train up. Aqualad and Kid Flash had found him just as he finished and did not have enough time to disable the bomb so they grabbed the terrorist and jumped off. Kid Flash also explained what happened afterwards, including how he had found Robin and waited with him until the League came.

"Wow, K.F., you saved my life. Thank you." Robin said sincerely.

Kid Flash rubbed the back of his neck. "It was nothing man. You would have done the same for me."

"Damn straight." Robin agreed and lifted his good arm to give Kid Flash a fist bump.

"What happened to the jerk?" Robin asked after he dropped his arm again.

"He was appropriately dealt with." Aqualad answered.

"Yeah, man, if Batman had laser vision that guy would have been a puddle." Kid Flash said.

"I believe that if you had laser vision he would have been a puddle before Batman could have gotten to him, Kid." Aqualad noted.

Robin wanted to laugh but knew his ribs wouldn't agree with that so he smiled instead. He would get all the finer details later. For now he was just glad to be alive. He knew his recovery would be long and tedious, but at least he would have his friends to help him through it.

"Guys, just promise me one thing, though: no more missions involving trains!" Kid Flash said.

"Seconded!" Robin immediately agreed.

"I agree, no more trains." Aqualad agreed solemnly.