Well here we go. The aftermath of the events that occured in the last chapter will now come to pass. I hope you all enjoy the conclusion. And please review. I enjoy people's comments. Rock on!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 3. Unbreakable

One year later...

Robin opened his eyes and sucked in the cold air. He looked at his clock- 5:45. He could try to go back to sleep. But he knew the he couldn't even if he wanted to. Today was the day.

Today marked exactly one year it had happened. The day the Joker had kidnapped him and nearly destroyed him.

July 11th, 2011...

He looked outside the window. It was still dark, but the oncoming sunrise was turning night into a dull, quiet grey. The sun would be up soon.

Robin sat up, stretched and got out of bed. Still in his underwear he headed towards his bathroom. He turned on the sink and started to splash his face. Robin didn't have his mask on, his piercing blue eyes stared back at him in the mirror.

It had taken a long time for him to get over his ordeal. Originally when he came to, Bruce told him that there was a very slim chance initially that he would regain his sanity. But resilience paid off in the end. His adopted father had hired the best psychologists in the world to talk to him and try to break through. He had also hired specialists to try and reverse the effects of the Joker's experiments on his body.

Many things had to be done. He had to be taught proper posture again, it took a special kind of shampoo and conditioner to rid him of the green hair. Even then it took months to fade. The makeup was thought to be permanent, but Bruce had done some real digging and finally found a surgeon that used a combination of baby oil and a harmless acid to create a cream that would restore his proper skin tone. His molars were replaced and his mouth steadily fixed into a normal position.

But they couldn't fix everything. As Robin stared at himself in the mirror he couldn't get over how his eyes now looked. They now had a gaunt look to them. His cheekbones high and thin. Cyborg had praised on what a good job they had done, but the haunting look in his eyes served as a constant reminder of what the Joker had done.

After brushing his teeth and gelling his hair, he went over to his closet and put on his uniform.

He remembered the first day he had put it back on. The ol' traffic light had never felt better.

The reactions had been very emotional. Starfire had hugged him for at least ten minutes, Beast Boy had brought out a bottle of champagne, Raven had given a rare smile and hug. Cyborg had shed a small tear the sight of his leader back not only in uniform, but in the right state of mind. That had been a good day.

The surgery and counseling had all helped. He knew this as he put on his gloves and adjusted his mask.

But the key deciding factor was the fact his teammates, his friends, had visited him every day in the hospital. When the doctors were saying that he was lost forever, their visits slowly pieced him back together.

Starfire had talked to him in a soft soothing voice, Raven had read to him, Beast Boy telling him his latest jokes, Cyborg talking to him about the latest version of Mega Monkeys. The simple things had truly brought him back. No amount of therapy from therapists and psychologists could bring to him what his friends did.

He headed out from his room, careful not to wake anyone else up. He wanted to be alone. To watch the sunrise mark another day. To thank God (A/N: Not literally) he was alive.

It was a day of reflection, that was for sure. Robin thought of all the nightmares he suffered afterwards. Cold sweats and waking up in the middle of the night screaming. Haunting memories of the endless torture and murder. Sometimes he wondered whether or not the Joker was really dead. But he had killed him, in an act of free will and mind and nothing would bring him back. Peace had come to the world. But peace had not truly come to him until one fateful day in the hospital.

Flashback, four months previously

Frail, that's what they called him. Robin sincerley doubted the doctors who presided over him. But every time he tried to take a step forward, to prove he was mentally fit to go home, an imaginary cane would pull him back down.

True, he recognized his father Bruce Wayne, his friends, and his old butler Alfred Pennyworth. But the Joker haunted him every day, in his sleep, in his steps. He still heard laughter in his head, he would wake up in the middle of the night shrieking and the nurses would have to calm him down. He was scared of his own shadow, and despite the progress that he had made, he feared that he would be forever confined to this institution. A little birdy in a cage never allowed to fly.

Would life ever be the same?

Just then a doctor in white came into the room.

"Mr Grayson you have a visitor"

He nodded quietly to show his approval of the visit.

"You may come in Miss Roth"

Miss Roth? He didn't know anyone called that. Was it a trick?

Then out stepped a pale skinned girl with violet hair and dark eyes. She wore a dark leotard and matching cloak and a hoodie. She removed it and Robin instantly recognized her.

Excitement beated in his chest. Raven had come to see him!

"Hello Robin" she said kindly.

"Ra...Rav..Raven" he struggled to say her name.

Raven sighed. Despite everything the doctors had done, Robin's speech was still nothing more than a stutter and his mental age that of a four year old. They feared he might never progress past that.

She walked over to his bedside and sat down.

"I brought a new book today" she said with a smile pulling out a novel from her handbag. "It's called the Lord of the Rings. Would you like me to read it to you?"

Permission. She always had to ask, as he was forced to do many bad things, it was important to let him make his own decisions. The stressed this point to them every time one of them visited.

Robin however nodded very eagerly.

"Ok then" she said with a bigger smile. The sorceress then began to read.

It was an amazing story to Robin. There were creatures called hobbits that were short and small, but tough in spirit. Wizards who could do magic, wise elves, men with swords, evil orcs and trolls. Coolest of all was a magic ring that gave the wearer great power. It fascinated him.

But then he heard the story of the dark lord Sauron. An evil being sought out to steal the ring and conquer the world. He too tried to torture and delighted in hurting innocent people. This scared Robin, it reminded him of a dark master he once served...it reminded him of...of himself.

As Raven read on she suddenly felt a small tug on the sleeve of her leotard.

She looked down and saw it was Robin, those small, innocent blue eyes looked at her in fear. Much like a child afraid of the dark.

"Raven?" he asked without stammering.

Surprised she asked, "What's wrong Robin?"

"Ra..Raven. I'm a b-bb-ad person" he said trying to formulate the words.

"What? No" Raven dismissed calmly. "No you're not. You're a very good person Robin"

"No Raven...I..he..I kill...people" Robin said struggling to make a sentence.

"Robin don't worry, nothing you did.."

"NO!" he shouted now. His efforts became stronger. "I did bad things. I..I killed children. I listen to clown man. He injured me...I do bad things. I lost...I lost.." Tears were forming in his eyes.

Raven grabbed Robin's hand and squeezed. "Robin listen to me" she said in barely more than a whisper. "Everything you did or might've done, it was all because of him. Not you. It was his doing. Clown man made you do bad things. But he couldn't make you forget who you were. You are a good person. Ok?"

"Raven..." Robin said.

"Dick" Raven said now putting her hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault"

He couldn't hold back any longer. He started sobbing tremendously, tears running down his cheeks.

Moved almost to the point of tears herself, Raven remained strong and pulled Robin into a tight hug. It devastated her to see him like this, anger rising at the fucking twisted sick son of a bitch that did this to her friend. But she couldn't focus on that. She needed to tell Robin it was alright, that everything was ok.

"Shhhh" she said softly, rubbing his back. "It's ok, shhh"

"Raven* I'm *sorry!" he said between sobs.

"It's not your fault Robin, it's not your fault"

His sobs became louder and he held on tighter. But this time they weren't maniacal or screeching. It was tears of remorse, of sorrow, of regret. She could feel it coming from his very soul.

Just then the doctor rushed in.

"What's the matter in here?" he asked concerned.

Raven looked over, still hugging the boy wonder. "Nothing doc. I think he's ok."

"Wait a minute, is he crying?" the doctor asked, his eyes widening.

Raven nodded.

"Doctor Lindemann! Doctor Freid! Come quick!" he shouted as he ran down the hallway.

She knew he was getting the pompous psychiatrists to analyze him now. But for once, Raven was sure that Robin had made a break through on his own. This wouldn't require evaluation or testing. It was perfectly clear to her what was going on.

The doctor reappeared followed by a blonde woman and middle aged man, both in professional clothing and holding notebooks. Raven let go of Robin, but the boy didn't want her to leave.

"Raven..no!" he cried.

The doctors looked at the empath with confusion.

"I'll be back Dick. Don't worry" she said soothingly.

The blue eyes scanned her down.

"Promise?" he asked.

Raven smiled at him. "I promise" she said without any hint of doubt.

Robin, tears still shining in his eyes, smiled back. It was devoid of any emptiness or cruelty. It was the smile she had once known, it was now back. A genuine, true smile.

The doctors then began to fuss over Dick, asking him questions, pestering him endlessly while the boy wonder insisted he was fine.

"Call Mr. Wayne!" one of them said in an excited tone. "He needs to see this. This is a break through. He's going to be ok"

'Better than ok' Raven thought, as she walked out of the room. 'Way better than ok'

And for the first time in months, she truly believed it.

Present Time Period

She was right. He became better than ok. He became normal.

His speech rapidly became more sophisticated and structured. He could sleep at night without a nurse present. Eating became a regular habit. But even more he began to feel. He could laugh at his favorite TV show, cry at a sad movie, be embarrased when he stood up in front of a pretty nurse with an erection. The only thing he feared was anger. How it might take control of him again and turn to murderous rage.

But Robin had learned to conquer that too. Within a month he was allowed to leave the hospital. The doctors and psychologists called it a miracle case. To Robin, however it was if nothing had ever happened. That life was simply resuming where it had left off. He never saw what the hulabaloo had been about.

Of course he couldn't go back immediately. Bruce had insisted that he come and live with him in Gotham for a time. Partly to make up for lost time, partly to keep an eye on anything suspicious or dangerous occuring within his mind.

But not even the great Batman himself could keep him from rejoining his teammates. After a month of living in a huge, boring old mansion of Wayne Manor and with some help from Alfred, he finally returned to Titans Tower.

Within another week he was fighting crime again. Life had never been so good.

Robin climbed up the stairs towards the roof. The sound of his sneakers hitting the stairs, and his quiet breathing rang clearly in his head.

He reached the top and breathed in the cool morning, summer air. A breeze blew gently in his face. The sound of birds chirping was the first music of the morning. Facing the East, he waited for the golden sun to greet him.

Closing his eyes, he felt clam and serene standing in the midst of such a beautiful scene. After all this time, he stood upon a vast plain of beauty and greatness. Was this all real?

Just then he heard a voice. Soft and sweet like butterfly wings. Pleasant to the ear.

"Robin?"

He knew who it was.

"Starfire" he replied.

She seemed hesitant. "Please, I did not mean to disturb you. I will leave if..."

"No" Robin cut her off. "Stay"

He didn't turn around to see her. Nevertheless he felt a pair of delicate hands touch his shoulders.

He turned and saw the beautiful Tamaranian girl standing next to him.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up"

"No you did not" Starfire said. "I merely woke up and could not go back to sleep. I remembered that today was the day.."

Robin was surprised. She had remembered.

"I saw you go up to the roof. So I thought I might join you." she continued. "You are sure it is alright if I accompany you?"

"Positive" Robin said giving her a smile, and she blushed in return.

They stood in silence for a moment watching the early morning sky. Starfire then spoke again.

"One thing I enjoy very much about Earth is it's sunrises" she stated. "On Tamaran we do not get to enjoy such luxeries"

"I've always loved the sunrise" Robin said. "As I said once before. It gives me hope. The start of a brand new day"

The alien princess looked down for a moment, as if unsure what to say, then,

"Robin, I just want to say how proud I am of you on this day"

"Don't be" Robin said, a twinge of regret going through him. "It should never have happened. None of it."

"But you overcame it" Starfire said more firmly. "For that I applaud you"

"Starfire" Robin said looking into her deep green eyes now. "I nearly lost myself. A murderer and a psychopath, forever more. For awhile when I was with him I lost faith. I lost all belief in myself."

"For awhile so did I" Starfire admitted. "But never to the point where I would give up on you. To give in was to declare victory for him.

"The Joker..." Robin started.

But Starfire pressed a finger to his lips. "No, you do not need to say his name. Leave it behind for you have defeated him. You were his greatest failure, and his downfall"

Robin thought for a moment- Yes, he had defeated him. He had never truly submitted to his will. It comforted him. Then he noticed Starfire was getting closer to him. She placed a gentle hand upon his chest. His heart began to pound as he said,

"To be honest Star, what brought me back wasn't all the therpay or treatment and tests they made me go through. It was you. All of you guys. The last thing I remembered was...your faces. Your smile, your heart, your courage..everything. I could never forget it. No matter how hard he tried to squeeze it out of me, I won. I did it. I beat him"

Starfire pulled him close now, practically inches from each other's face.

"There is a word on my planet for people like you" she said softly. "We call them 'Zorfnoka', but translated to English, it means 'Unbreakable'"

She inched forward as Robin also moved in.

And as they kissed softly in the morning breeze, the sun arose, lighting a fire upon their embrace.

They broke apart. Their heads still resting upon each other, hands tightly wrapped in a loving gesture.

For the first time in nearly a year, Robin at last, felt at peace.

THE END