Chapter 16

After a few agonizing moments Robin gasped for breath and started to breath on his own allowing Batman to stop doing compressions. Seconds later the energy form of Raven flew out of Robin and she returned to her normal self. She tried to stand instead of float but started to collapse. Starfire flew to her in time to catch her friend. Raven breathed heavily and stood up herself. She rubbed her head and thanked Starfire. Raven was not hurt, she was just exhausted. Beast Boy brought her a chair to sit in which she gladly used.

Everyone looked at Raven nervously before she actually smiled. "It worked," she said.

The other teens cheered and Batman tried to stay more calm and gratefully thanked Raven. "You were a big help too," Raven told him.

Suddenly Beast Boy heard Robin stirring and quickly got everyone's attention. Robin opened his masked eyes to see the familiar stalactite-filled ceiling of the Batcave. What surprised him more than that was how much better he felt. He sat up to see the Titans and his former hero partners.

Unsure what to say he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhhh hey guys."

Almost everyone wanted to happily greet him but Starfire confronted him first by being the first one at his bedside. Robin turned to face his girlfriend but kept his gaze on the floor. "Starfire I…" he began but was cut off.

"You Roafining Flagor! You lied to me and to all our friends when you were dying! And that only happened because you left us in the first place! How could you not see we are your friends and will always want to be there for you! We are all so fortunate you survived at all! A dangerous man like Slade should never be confronted or dealt with alone!" she yelled.

"What she said," Beast Boy whispered.

Once Robin was sure she was finished he said quietly, "You're right Star, I was an idiot. I let my personal hang-ups control me instead of doing what was safe and smart. I can't possibly expect you or anyone here to forgive me."

Starfire and the others were surprised by his response. Usually when Robin made a bad decision that angered them he would argue back to try and justify it and make it seem like he had good intentions in mind when he did it. This time he admitted that what he did was wrong in every direction.

Starfire was unsure on what to say and Robin made eye contact with her and continued. "I'm so sorry, I wish I was better to you. I see now I don't deserve you, so it's justified for you to not want to be with me anymore."

Without hesitation Starfire slapped Robin across the face. Cyborg and Beast Boy gasped at this unexpected response from the usually loving Tamarainian. Robin put his hand where she hit him stunned but said nothing.

"I am not doing the breaking up with you! I am fairly certain couples on your planet have fights but can work the problems out," Starfire exclaimed.

"But how will I-?" Robin began but was cut off by her kissing him.

Batman was surprised by this and thought about scolding his adopted son later for being in a relationship with a teammate. But he right away realized that his strict standards was a large reason why Robin left in the first place. That and it was quite clear Starfire could easily protect herself and even Robin from danger.

When Starfire pulled away Robin was speechless again. "You can start with more of the apologies and making it up to us when we get home."

"Oh can you make tofu waffles when we get home? You make them way better than Cyborg does!" said Beast Boy.

"Yo! Nobody can make tofu waffles taste good!" Cyborg countered.

All the teens laughed relieving a lot of tension. Batman then cleared his throat and got everyone's attention. "I need a moment with Robin to make sure he is fully cured and ready to go home," he siad.

Batgirl got the message and led the Titans to a separate room on the other side of the bat cave.

Robin felt awkward again when it was just him and his former mentor in the room. Batman sat on the bed next to him and was silent for a moment. "So…I have to say I like your friends," said Batman.

Robin chucked, "Yeah they are pretty great."

"I still can't believe you made me bring them to the Batcave."

Robin's expression became more serious and he replied, "My biggest mistakes happen when I exclude them. When I first left *ahem* here I wanted to work solo. But a short time after meeting them I realized I belonged with my friends."

Batman nodded and both were silent for a moment before Batman spoke up again.

"Do they know your identity?"

Robin sighed knowing that was going to be asked at some point. "They didn't for awhile. Raven found out first when she entered my mind over a year ago. I told Starfire my real name is Dick Grayson when we started dating. As for Cyborg and Beast Boy, I plan on telling them when we get home. I don't want to keep secrets from my friends anymore."

Batman was unsure how to handle this. Robin had every right to tell his friends. They were like a family and deeply cared for one another. The rest of them really did not have secret identities anyway. But the problem was they could figure out about his and Barbara's if they knew. Batman took his mask off and Robin did the same. The Dick could easily tell what Bruce was worried about so he spoke up first.

"Look they won't worry about details. They are pretty respectful of my privacy, hell Starfire thought at first she wasn't supposed to see my eyes even when we started dating. And if they did figure it out, I trust them with my life. They would know to keep that information a secret," Richard explained.

Bruce nodded in a way Dick knew was his complete approval. "I'm sorry about…what happened," said Bruce.

Dick sighed, "Well it wasn't completely your fault."

Bruce snickered, "Just mostly?"

Robin laughed, "Pretty much."

Bruce chuckled as well before saying "I don't want to stay out of touch again. Let's put that behind us."

"Yeah I think you saving my life will make me want to call more often," Dick joked.

Bruce ruffled Robin's hair which made him get punched in the arm.

"Well we better get going, your team is waiting to go home with you," said Batman putting his mask back on.

Robin stood up and put his on as well. "Wait I thought you said you needed to make sure the cure worked properly?"

Batman had stood up and started to walk away but stopped to say, "Oh I knew you were fine, I just wanted some alone time to talk."

Robin was shocked for a moment before following him.

Back to when Batgirl left with the Titans

"I want to show you guys something, but be quiet. Batman would kick all our butts if he knew," said Batgirl.

Knowing that was quite possible, the Titans stayed silent and followed her to a deeper part of the Batcave.

They came to a large door and Batgirl typed in a security code that Batman thought she could not hack. The automatic door opened to reveal a room just large enough to snuggly hold the Batmobile. The stale air made it feel like the room had not been visited in months. When the lights flicked on the whole room was visible. Inside was shelves lining all the walls filled with stuff involving Robin. Left over gadgets, weapons and even old framed pictures. It seemed as though anything involving Robin has been moved from the rest of the Batcave and into this room. Unlike the rest of the cave, this room was messy and appeared to be set up in a hast. The only neat thing was a tall glass case displayed Robin's uniform which instantly attracted Starfire's attention.

Raven walked over to some shelves and accidentally nudged a glass bottle aside with her cloak. No one else noticed but Raven knelt down to take a closer look. It was an empty bottle of whiskey and Raven had a pretty good idea of who had drunken it. Moving on Raven looked at some pictures on a shelf. The oldest one was of Robin as a little boy dressed in a tuxedo at a double funeral. From being in Robin's mind, Raven knew it was his parent's funeral and that it was Bruce standing beside him. Another picture was of Robin and Batman posing with a police commissioner and it appeared to be not long before Robin quit. Raven smiled slightly at the more cheerful photo.

The sound of Batgirl's voice snapped Raven out of her thoughts. "Okay we better get out of here. I really don't want to get caught."

The four Titans agreed and rushed out of the room making sure everything was where it was before. Batgirl sealed off the room again and quickly led them over to the vehicle hanger just seconds before Batman and Robin came up the medal stairs.

Neither were suspicious much to everyone's relief. "How are you feeling?" Raven asked Robin.

"Better than ever," Robin replied. "That is until we all have to deal with Slade again."

"Dude do we have good news for you!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

Robin raised and eyebrow before Starfire happily shouted out, "We banished Slade to another planet! He now has no one to hurt and no where to live!"

"That's putting it mildly," Raven said quietly.

Robin was shocked and so proud of his team. Their solution was far better than he had ever come up with.

"Wow that's amazing! I never thought we'd get rid of him for good!" he said happily.

As the Titans got ready to leave Beast Boy reminded Robin, "Dude don't forget we have to go get you R-Cycle."

Robin nodded before turning to Batman and Batgirl. "Well thanks for everything. Check the Batcomputer for calls from now on."

Batman nodded and Robin went over to hug Batgirl. She happily hugged back and felt Robin hand her an extra Titan communicator. She smiled at the more personal way to communicate with them and hid it in her belt.

When Robin turned back to his team Cyborg pointed to the T-Car. "Need a lift?"

"No thanks I think I'll fly," said Robin.

Starfire happily went over to him. He put his arm around the middle of her back and she did the same to him. They both lifted into the air and she flew them out the exit followed by Raven and the T-Car carrying BB and Cyborg.

When the Titans got home they relaxed/celebrated with a movie marathon. By the end of the third movie Raven stood up and said she was going to bed. She was about to enter her room when she heard Robin call after her. She stopped and turned to see her friend approach.

"I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to talk to you sooner," he said.

"It's no big deal," she said but Robin shook his head.

"You saved my life Raven. That is a big deal. Thank you" he said.

Raven smiled, "Well I owed you after you saved me from Trigon."

Robin snickered and folded his arms. "Annnnd?"

Raven sighed uncomfortable with these kind of things, "And because you're my best friend."

"And you're mine," said Robin.

Raven was surprised, "But I thought Star-"

"As long as Starfire is willing to put up with me, she's my girlfriend. Besides anyone can have a bunch of best friends if they're all so great."

Raven smiled bigger this time.

"Sorry about this," said Robin.

"About what?" Raven asked right before Robin hugged her. Normally anyone who tried this would face her wrath but she decided to make an exception.

After all, not long ago she was worried he could never bother her again.

THE END

I hope you enjoyed my story. I know it took awhile so I appreciate you sticking with it.