Hello all. Hmm...I didn't plan on doing this for quite some time, but...the inspiration finally got the better of me. And, well, it was my day of creation, if you will, not long ago, so I thought I'd give you guys a present. Hoping this will please Mystyre (since she asked the most for it :) and everyone else that read Aftereffects and Broken. Attention New Comers! I highly suggested you go read the stories mentioned, but especially The Reason; without that you will be utterly lost. Ahem, keep in mind that updates will be slow. Ok, I think that's it! ON WITH THE STORY, finally.

"BRUCE! BRUCE!"

Robin's voice cracked from the strain as he bashed his hip on the banister, leaping down the stairs three at a time. He felt horror cloud his senses, a rush of white noise drowning out all but the frantic beating of his heart.

we don't want to bother you, but...ravens missing.

"Richard! What? What is it?" Bruce's face was stark white as he caught Robin by the shoulders, searching franticly for the injury. From the way he had been screaming, there must be blood somewhere.

"Email--Gone--Rae--Have to go--S-Slade--" The words poured from Robin's mouth in a senseless stream as the rushing noise intensified, his knees buckling beneath him.

Bruce tipped slightly, but he quickly adjusted to the new weight. Watching Richard's eyes cloud and roll, he swore quietly and picked him up, setting him down on a stair and placing his head between his knees. It might be too late, but it was worth a try. "Breathe, Robin. Shh, just breathe..."

The voice was calm and soothing, so much so in fact that it seemed to hypnotize him into doing its bidding. It seemed to take an eternity, but his head eventually cleared, his heart beating normally once again and the rushing noise subsiding.

Bruce waited for him to lift his head before speaking, voice calm and careful. "Now...let's try that again. What happened?"

Robin sighed, fighting to keep himself calm. "I got an email, but it wasn't from Raven, it was from Mina, and she said that Raven's gone mis--" his throat caught at that point, and he buried his head in his hands, eyes wide. "I shouldn't have come here," he whispered. "I deserted her...now anything that...that happens is my fault. So what in hell are you waiting for?

Surprising even Bruce, Robin leapt from the stair and raced for the big double doors as though he had every intention of running to Jump City in the rain...but he didn't get far.

Robin's eyes went wide as he stared at the muscled arms wrapped tightly around his torso. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Stop, Richard. Think. What are you running into?" Bruce's voice was low yet firm, just as it had always been during their training.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"

"You don't have time to think?" asked Bruce, an eyebrow raised.

"I HAVE TO STOP HIM! LET ME GO!" The Boy Wonder struggled with all his might, trying every evasive manuever in the book, but Bruce held on.

"The last time I 'let you go'," snapped Bruce, sweat standing out on his forehead as he fought to keep Robin still, "you came back physically and mentally trashed. All I'm asking you to do is think, Richard! Think first for once in your life!"

Little by little, Robin's struggles subsided as the words began to penetrate at last. Bruce didn't loosen his grip, however. "I have thought. I've thought about everything. I think too much." His face paled, a look that he had not worn for several months creeping into his features.

Bruce had softened somewhat when he replied. "No, you haven't. You haven't considered the possibility that this may be a-- So help me, Richard, if you don't shut your mouth...!" Well...he was soft.

The Dark Knight left his threat hanging, but Robin got the message. "You haven't considered the fact that this may be a trap. You haven't thought of the possibility that Raven is not missing at all. You've given no thought whatsoever to your current fighting condition, and heaven forbid, you actually ask what I think you should do."

"You think I care about any of that? Do you think I care about traps or...or fighting condition? Raven, Bruce!" His chest heaved for a moment, emotion coursing painfully through him. Something malicious and cruel awoke in the forefront of his conscious. "But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Bruce froze, his dark eyes wide as they rested on Richard's hardened features. "What?"

"You've never loved someone like that, have you? No...you're too busy thinking about yourself to take time for anyone else. Besides, they might hurt you." Robin was shaking now, a smirk that looked painful plastered on his face. All that mattered was hurting the closest person to him: Bruce.

His mentor's face had drained of all color. "That's enough, Robin."

"You have no idea what it's like to give your whole heart to someone. But then, you can't really give something you never had in the first place." The shaking had grown more violent, though his voice was steady, as a single tear made its way down his cheek. This would make it better...

"I said, that's enough!" growled Bruce, a fire erupting in his eyes.

Robin couldn't stop, it just kept coming. "You're just a selfish, withdrawn, obsessive fre--"

"RACHEL!"

Ringing silence fell as Robin's eyes widened in shock, the tiniest hint of fear awaking inside him as Bruce panted for breath, fists clenched and eyes burning. Guilt fell like lead inside the Boy Wonder as he realized the wound he had cruelly broken open. Choking wordlessly a few times, he at last managed a small, "Bruce...I..." It wasn't Bruce he was angry at. It wasn't Bruce he wanted to hurt.

"Don't." Batman's face was as white as paper, dark circles and worry wrinkled more prominent than usual. "You're accusation was fair...if not entirely true."

Robin could only stare, his stomach twisting in horror. Rachel...? That meant... Somehow he had never thought of him that way. True, there were plenty of rumors circulating about the "billionaire playboy" Bruce Wayne, but never, not even once, had Robin suspected Batman of falling in love. If he accepted that, he would have to accept the fact that Bruce was human...a terrifying concept. It was so much easier to think of him as the cold, unfeeling Dark Knight of Gotham City. What ever happened to her...?

As though reading his mind, Bruce said, in a forcefully measured voice, "I learned very early on that a superhero rarely, if ever, gets what he or she wants. We exist to serve the people, not the other way around."

Robin remained in stunned silence, completely shocked. Bruce had never talked to him like this before; he wasn't speaking in the blunt, hardened tones of lecture, but with the barest undertone of regret mixed with forced apathy. It was so unlike him...

Ah, at last, a familiar gesture. Bruce began to pace, covering a small section of the entrance hall in short, precise steps. His hands were not clasped behind his back, but straight at his sides, fists clenching and unclenching with the rhythm of his steps. "Your situation is different, in some ways, but essentially, it creates the same set of problems. You love Raven so much that you would do almost anything (if not anything at all) to keep her safe and happy. What may at first seem your greatest strength quickly becomes your greatest weakness."

Oh yes, that was Batman all right. Robin felt blood rush to his face as Batman stated matter-of-factly the purest and deepest truths of his soul. He struggled to keep his mouth shut, however, knowing that there was more.

"You aren't just some air-headed teenager whose problems disappear as soon as the girl says 'yes'. That moment is when your problems begin. From then on you and your lover must maintain the highest level of secrecy, hiding your relationship from all but the most trusted alliances. Should the information ever fall into the wrong hands...you would be put in the one situation that every hero bends over backward to avoid. You would have to choose."

It was Robin's turn to pale, the shaking coming back in full force as Bruce ceased his pacing to fix the Boy Wonder with a piercing yet not unkind gaze. Robin knew what was coming next.

"Richard...It's time."

"There is one way to save her, Robin...but I'm sure you are unwilling to do it."

He took a long shuddering breath, fighting to keep his voice under control as the pain awoke in unused passages of memory. "Slade...he knows. He knows everything, he--"

"Excellent. Now tell me, once and for all, who is Batman?"

Robin's eyes burned as a lump formed in his throat and stomach, but he struggled to continue, instinct telling him that somehow, this would help. "He u-used Raven...he was going to k-kill her, Bruce...unless I t-told him..."

A deafening shot tore through his eardrums. Even as it played out before his eyes, his mind could not comprehend it. Raven's blood. On his hands.

"I-I couldn't, Bruce. I c-couldn't l-let him...n-not Raven..." He choked, swallowing hard and bowing his head. This was a thousand times harder than he ever could have imagined.

The blast echoed through the silent building as the speeding bullet collided with Batman's chest. A sharp intake of breath rasped in the defeaning silence as Batman stumbled backward, eyes wide with shock and pain.

Robin tried to breathe, but it didn't work. "Listen, I...Bruce, I--" His voice at last siezed up. All he could do was stare at his godfather and hope that somehow the message was communicated. He never meant for any of it to happen...

Again, the words seemed to burrow straight to the core of his thoughts as Bruce spoke gently. "I know. And..." He let out a gusty sigh, ruffling his hair in a way that was strangely familiar. "It wasn't your fault. None of it. Ok?"

Robin nodded slowly, hoping that it might release the vice-like grip on his chest. Maybe it was the fact that he still couldn't believe the words, but it didn't.

The gravity of his situation returned to him in a guilty flash, his chest becoming, if possible, even tigher. "B-but Raven--"

"Don't panic, I won't make you stay here." Bruce smiled ever-so-slightly, gripping Robin's shoulder comfortingly.

A breath of relief escaped as the Boy Wonder felt some of the pressure release. "Good...um, thank you...for everything. I'll call..."

"That won't be necessary."

Robin looked up, eyebrows raised in question.

Batman's smile got a little wider, the smallest hint of mischief flashing in his eyes. "Because you're going with me."