A/N: Thanks for the reviews Blas and Batman Dude! You people are awesome! :)

There's a disclaimer for this chapter. There is a sentence near the end that uses two direct quotes that appear in episode 1x19 in the tv show - "The Purr-fect Crime". There are apostrophes around the direct portions of the quotes. So, the credit for those goes to Stanley Ralph Ross and Lee Orgel, authors of the script. Also, I'm not making any money off of using them.

Chapter 12:

Robin was still falling, the chasm was endless, but the darkness inside him had lightened. The black shadow was back and following him down. He was grateful but he also knew the shadow wouldn't like him anymore. Finally he hit a solid surface and found that it was hard to breathe. He didn't know who was trembling – himself or the shadow – but he wanted it to stop. He sat up and looked around but the bright light made it hard to see. He squinted his eyes and put his right hand up to shade them. The purple shadow had arrived and it was still furious but the black shadow stepped in front of Robin, almost like it was protecting him. Batman; I remember you. He also recalled that he had promised to wake up when Batman told him to so he stood up. I'm awake.

No, you're not. Fight! The dark shadow turned around as the purple one disappeared.

Fight what?! Robin was frustrated by that continual command because he didn't understand how to follow it.

But the shadow just kept repeating that word and Robin yelled back at it, trying to explain that he didn't know how or what to fight. It was like the shadow expected him to be some kind of hero and magically comprehend everything it was talking about.

Robin, fight and wake up. Those were all things the shadow had been saying to him for so long and he thought he had been doing a good job. He knew he was Robin and he knew he was awake.

No, you're not. Fight! The black shadow advanced toward him and Robin became nervous. Was the shadow that he trusted now turning on him? He decided to fight the shadow and see if that would work. He tried to be brave as he walked up to it and threw a punch at its head, following up with a kick to its legs and finishing with a chop on its neck. The shadow dropped to the ground and Robin jumped on top of it, ready to try and knock it out so he wouldn't have to fight anymore. But instead of landing on the shadow, he fell through it and everything went dark again.

"Fight," Robin sighed quietly and Batman - who was sitting in the chair with his head in his hands and tear tracks on his cheeks - raised his head, jumped up and stepped quickly to his partner's side.

"Robin?" he shouted. "Can you hear me? Fight, that's right, keep fighting!"

"Fight," Robin repeated a little louder and Batman's despair began to turn into elation. His partner was fighting and trying to come back. He had been dead or so close that it seemed that way!

"Bat-shadow, I beat you," Robin murmured as the antidote became stronger and began to flow faster throughout his body.

Batman thought he understood so he came back with, "That's the only time you'll ever beat me, though, Robin."

Robin heard his name and slowly opened his eyes. Batman was hovering above him, just like the shadow had been, and Robin gave him a small grin. "I can fight," he whispered. He attempted to lift his left hand but gave up and, with concern etched onto his young face, quietly asked, "Why are you crying?"

Batman ignored the question as he looked into his fourteen-year-old partner's now-blue eyes. Running his left hand down his face to erase the evidence, Batman stated, "Yes, Robin, you can fight. Welcome back and don't you dare die again. Ever."

Robin's eyes widened slightly, "I died?" He considered that for a moment then stated, "No, the black shadow beat the angry purple one and then I beat the black one so I couldn't have died because a dead person can't win a fight." He paused thoughtfully then continued, "Also, a dead person can't fight…at all. So, obviously, I didn't die," he finished with an emphatic nod.

Robin's logical explanation made sense, in a way, so Batman nodded, also.

"You're right; you didn't die. Thanks for not dying."

"Anytime, Batman," Robin grinned again as he attempted to sit up.

Batman put his right hand on Robin's shaky torso and his left under Robin's neck. He gently pushed him back down and declared, "No, Robin. You may be strong and able to fight but you are not getting up and walking out of here. You've lost a lot of blood."

"Blood? I'm bleeding?" Robin lifted his head slightly to look at his chest; the red of his uniform was darker than usual but there was no blood streaming out of him and he was confused. His head dropped back onto the table and he stared up at Batman uneasily, "Um, do you hear a beeping noise or is that just me?"

Batman listened carefully, then ran to the back of the warehouse and found the bomb. There were only thirty seconds left and he sprinted back, sweeping Robin off the table and practically throwing him into the Batmobile when they made it outside. He didn't take the time to buckle either of them and had just exited the row when number seventeen blew up; throwing debris everywhere. He pushed the Batmobile to go faster and saw Robin bouncing around but figured that was better than being crushed by a block of cement. He slowed down and then stopped when they were out of range and turned to Robin, who – apparently – found something funny about the situation.

Robin was trying not to laugh too hard as he declared, "Didn't you once tell me to 'remember motorist safety' when I didn't buckle my safety Bat-belt and I said 'we're only going a couple of blocks'?"

"Yes," Batman said slowly as he realized where this was probably going to go.

"Well, Batman, we went less than a couple of blocks and neither one of us had our safety Bat-belts buckled which, technically, was your fault," Robin was smirking now. "So…" he continued but Batman cut him off.

"Yes, Robin, we all need reminders once in a while and this is a good one for you: never try so hard to die that your partner has to throw you into the Batmobile in order to save your life," Batman was pleased that he had turned that into a "lesson" for Robin.

"Holy one-track mind, Batman, not everything can be turned into one of your lectures," Robin shook his head in amusement. "Please, from now on, 'remember motorist safety' when you are driving away from a bomb. You never know who could be out at this time of night. Which would be worse: killing an innocent person taking a late-night drive or being mortally wounded because you stopped the Batmobile to save that person's life?" Robin knew he had won and he leaned back in his seat.

Batman frowned, trying to ignore the comment and the huge grin on Robin's face. He couldn't think of any way to turn that around so he buckled them both up and began driving back to the Batcave.

"I beat you again, Bat-shadow," Robin laughed softly as he closed his eyes and started to fall asleep.

Batman laid his right hand on his partner's forehead – no fever, no shivering, no non-stop bleeding. He was still as white as a sheet but he was alive. Batman smiled; he had known his partner was strong enough to beat whatever was in that drug because Robin was a fighter and, this time, he had fought for himself.

THE END

Will Batman go after the Gorsh brothers and be able to retrieve his utility belt? What will Franklin do with Batman's belt? What does all of this have to do with the strange red symbol? Tune in sometime in the future (maybe, because right now I have no idea!) to find out. :)

P.S. I no longer have a title for my next story. It was "Unbreakable" but then I found out that there is a movie with that title and now I don't really want to use it. It's unfortunate because I really liked it. Anyway, if I can't think of anything else that fits the story then it will be called "Unbreakable" but - just in case the title changes - I'm going to give you the summary so you can keep an eye out for it, if you want to. :) I haven't even finished it yet, though, and I'm stuck...really stuck. So, please don't forget about me and, as always, thanks for reading! Here is the summary:

"Batman has called Robin 'unbreakable'. One man wants to prove him wrong."