Chapter 15:

Robin attempted to move but the nutrients he had received in the tunnel had worn off and the ones in the IV hadn't had a chance to get into his bloodstream before it was ripped out. He sighed in his mind; he had been rescued from Joker only to die at the hands of O'Reilly. He couldn't even lift an arm to get the paper towels out of his mouth.

"Giving up means that you aren't trying anymore," Batman had told him and he was ROBIN; he would not stop trying. Joker, his biggest nemesis, had not broken him and this small-time criminal wouldn't either. At least he wasn't tied up; that was helpful. He forced his right arm up and tore the paper towels out, took a short moment to rest, then closed his eyes and forced both arms out to push weakly against the doors. They didn't budge and he remembered a scraping sound; there was something in front of them. Just a little nap….

Joker woke up and heard footsteps. He looked at the front entrance, expecting the police or Batman, but there was nobody there. He turned his head toward the back door and saw – to his utmost surprise – Conall O'Reilly. The guy probably hated him and he was secured tightly; he had no way to fight back. He laughed as he realized that this was probably how Robin had felt earlier.

Conall frowned and sped up when Joker laughed. Joker was going to pay for his trickery but he would leave him alive so that the villain could be sent back to Arkham. Instead of punching him right away, Conall knelt down beside him and whispered darkly, "I would have come back for you. Now I have the kid and you are returnin' to Arkham."

Joker realized that, since Conall had Robin and he was still here, Batman would still be here, too. He frowned; he didn't want to have to call for help, especially from The Bat, but if it would save him from a beating…

"Batsy," he screamed as loud as he could, "he's here, come…"

Joker's yell was interrupted by a fist in the face and his head smashed against the pole, immediately knocking him out. Conall decided that he wasn't worth it and, after kicking the guy a few times, he turned around to go back and retrieve Robin.

Batman had decided to head through the trees and was fifty yards in when he heard a faint cry from…Joker? Nobody else had ever called him "Batsy" so something was going on back in the lab. Was it a distraction? Joker wouldn't know that O'Reilly had escaped unless he saw him, though, so Batman turned around and raced back toward the lab. O'Reilly must have taken Robin when Batman was in the tunnel but he couldn't have gone through the front entrance; Batman would have seen him. He angled his path toward the back of the lab; assuming there would be, at least, some kind of emergency exit.

Conall strode into the kitchen, ready to exact his revenge. He began searching through the room, opening drawers and cupboards: knives, too cliché; a meat tenderizer, too quick; some matches but, when he tried one, it was too old to catch fire; a can opener…what could he do with that? He went to the island and angrily shoved the table out of the way. The boy was probably unconscious and Conall could surely find something to do before he awoke.

Robin's little nap was interrupted by the sounds of doors being thrown open and slammed shut. He knew Conall was back and realized, to his surprise, that the short rest had returned a small amount of energy to his tired body. He decided to put it to good use and attempted to quietly move around. There was no space to do much maneuvering but he was able to wrap his hands around the support beam and situate himself on his right side with his legs planted against the east wall. He was so squished that his knees were almost touching his chin and his neck was awkwardly bent against the west wall. His muscles were tiring quickly and he hoped that O'Reilly would open the doors soon.

Conall bent down, opened the cupboard doors and was rewarded with a kick to the face. Robin had pushed off his left foot and snapped his leg out as far as he could. Conall stumbled back into the counter where the sink was located as Robin pulled against the beam with all the strength he had. Somehow he snaked his body around the pole and slid himself out onto the floor, flat on his back with his neck propped against the bottom edge of the cabinet.

Conall straightened up and loomed over the small body. The kid was annoying; how was he so strong? The first thing he saw within his reach was the can opener so he grabbed it off the counter and straddled the boy's torso.

"I was going to make you pay in the slowest way possible but you just keep fightin'," he growled. "You should give up already! You're bloody, your ribs are stickin' to your skin and you can barely breathe. Just give up!"

Robin was attempting to catch his breath; he had spent a lot of energy on his exit and didn't want to waste any more by replying. His brain sent movement signals to his legs and abs and he was amazed when they obeyed the instructions.

Conall saw something move behind him but thought nothing of it. The kid was strong but he had obviously used up all of his strength just getting out of the cupboard. Suddenly, a pair of small legs were wrapped around his hips and pulling him backwards. He fell back into the counter again and his head hit the metal edge of the sink, knocking him out and causing him to slide down to the floor.

Give up – I'm Robin you idiot! Robin grinned slightly when he heard the 'crack' of bone against a hard surface as his legs gave out and his neck slid off the edge of the cabinet. He was exhausted but knew that eventually the guy would wake up and he needed to be as far away as possible. The most logical place for Batman to search for his partner would be the forest; Batman wouldn't come back to the lab before going through there. Robin was on his own again, but at least this time he knew it would only be for a short while.

Batman rounded the corner to the back of the lab and silently burst through an open door that led to an office. He crept quietly through the room and had a straight view of Joker, knocked out against the pole to which Batman had secured him. He cautiously peered out and saw a forked hallway; should he go right or left first? He heard a loud crash to his right and easily made his decision, running toward the door that looked like it led to a kitchen.

Robin decided that, since he was now flat on his back, the best way to escape would be rolling. A memory flashed before his eyes as he gathered his energy: he had tried to roll away from this particular criminal before and it hadn't worked out very well. Tossing the recollection aside and grunting in pain, he pushed himself onto his stomach and then forced himself to continue onto his back. That one roll drained him of every last bit of strength he had. He was Robin, however, and Batman would be upset if he gave up. He rolled again and angled his body around the island so he was hidden from Conall's view. At least he could take a breath; hopefully O'Reilly wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

Conall opened his eyes and touched the back of his head. It was sticky and he saw blood all over his hand when he brought it forward. He was surprised that Robin's body wasn't in front of him anymore and, when he glanced around, he didn't see it anywhere.

Batman threw open the kitchen door, saw Conall on the floor and flew at him; knocking him onto his back and pushing his shoulders into the floor.

"WHERE IS ROBIN?" he thundered, just as he had to Joker earlier.

Conall - who had no idea but knew that Batman thought he did - decided to play with the hero's mind so he shook his head, leaving a streak of red on the tile, and grinned as he pointed to some blood on the floor by the island, "Around..."

"You will regret not telling me, just like I told you back in Arkham," Batman shouted darkly. "Where. Is. ROBIN?!"

Conall's eyes widened and Batman saw fear in them but still he shook his head and actually attempted to laugh.

"If he is dead, you are dead," Batman whispered menacingly and Conall's jaw dropped open in surprise.

"You wouldn't do that," Conall was slightly confident that a hero would not become a murderer because of his sidekick's death. "He's just a sidekick and you don't really need him."

Robin had decided to take another little nap but his eyes flipped open when he heard Batman yelling at O'Reilly. He tried to call out but couldn't find enough air so he lifted his head and let it fall against the tile instead.

Batman heard the noise as he punched Conall in the face and roared, "He is my partner and you will tell me where he is NOW!"

Conall had heard the sound, also, and rolled his eyes as he spit some blood out of his mouth."Lotsa ratsin here," he stumbled the sentence out – his jaw was aching and he could barely open his mouth.

Batman glared down at him and slammed Conall's head onto the kitchen floor, knocking him out. He flipped the now twice-a-villain onto his stomach and cuffed him, wrists and ankles, just like Joker. He stood and started to search for the source of the noise but all he had to do was take a step over O'Reilly's body and around the island. There was Robin; lying on his back with his tired eyes open and a slight smirk on his face.

"Took you long enough," Robin grumbled. "I thought I was going to have to go find you after I was finished with him," he flicked his eyes in Conall's general direction.

"Sorry," Batman rolled his eyes as he crouched beside his partner, "I'll try to keep a better eye on you while I'm down in a tunnel securing one villain that hates you and you're in the arms of another one that hates you almost as much as the first."

"I'm tired," Robin sighed wearily and closed his eyes.

Batman picked him up and ran through the lab toward the entrance, pushing through the shattered glass and rushing up the ramp of the Bat-jet. He swiftly but gently laid Robin's body on the bloody table and re-attached the IV then grabbed a blanket and placed it over him. Robin opened his eyes and gave his partner a small grin. Batman sat down in relief, placed his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands.

"How can a person almost die twice in one day and still be grinning," he commented quietly.

"Well, I'm not dead and that's a pretty good reason to smile," Robin answered and Batman looked up at his face.

"Good point," it was Batman's turn to grin. "Go to sleep and I'll take us home." He picked up the Bat-jet's Bat-communicator and talked to the commissioner through Alfred again. "Conall O'Reilly is in the kitchen in the same lab," he reported. "Tell Warden Crichton to keep his prisoners under control; Robin almost died twice because of them," he growled and flipped off the Bat-communicator.

"Batman," Robin murmured, "thanks for coming."

Batman had turned toward the front of the Bat-jet but when he heard Robin he pivoted and walked back to the table. "Always, Robin. I will always come for you."

"Why were you home early?" Robin asked.

"You weren't answering or returning my calls," Batman replied, "and I knew it wasn't just because you were irritated with me."

"I didn't patrol; I kept my word," Robin stated, "but I still got caught." He frowned, upset with himself.

"I'm proud of you, Robin. This is one of the hardest things you have ever been through and you never gave up."

Robin grinned, "I told you I can handle myself."

"Yes, I know you can but look what happened: Joker and O'Reilly. Do you think you could have lasted another week with both of them?"

Robin thought about that for a moment. He shook his head, "I might have kept trying but I don't think I would have been successful. And you never would have found…"

"Okay, that's enough of that," Batman interrupted. "You are here and alive and they are both going back to Arkham. Ready to go home?"

"Yes," Robin sighed tiredly. "But, Batman?"

Batman had turned toward the front again but he looked back at his partner. "Yes?"

"I lasted seven days," Robin grinned, proud of himself, and then closed his eyes.

"Yes," Batman frowned, "seven days and I let it happen." He was furious with himself for not returning as soon as he had suspected something was wrong. He thought Robin was already asleep so he was surprised when he heard:

"Not your fault. But, seriously, seven days is a pretty good record."

"Just don't try to break that record, okay? I need my partner in crime…fighting."

"Wow, Batman, just…wow. Partner in crime-fighting, really? You need sleep."

Batman smiled and whispered, "Sleep well, kiddo." And Robin, for the first time in seven days, did.

THE END

P.S. Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement; it's crazy to me (but also awesome!) that people actually like my stories. I nearly stopped publishing after my "Merlin" story, which was my first one, so my Batman/Robin stories almost didn't even exist on here. Do you have a favorite story? :-)

"Fighting for Robin" will be coming in the near future so don't forget about me! ;-)