Chapter Five.

What a long nap...

---Dick's P.O.V.---

After the League members left, I was tempted to stay awake, and I tried, I really did, but I fell asleep again. After that, I was in and out of consciousness for about two weeks. I rarely woke up and the only time I was woken up was because of Alfred saying I had to eat, even though I only had a few bites each time, before practically passing out. I would like to say my sleeping was perfectly happy, no dreams or anything because I'm mentally exhausted. But then I'd be lying.
Let's just say, the last week and a half have been hell. Whenever I fell asleep I'd be haunted by horrifying nightmares, worser then ever before. Whenever I woke up, I'd be in pain, nothing but sheer agony. Not only that, but I'd be starving which only adds to the pain. After a while though, I could only guess that my stomach had shrunk from not being used enough, which is why the pain lessened considerably.
I hate to admit it. But...
Bruce was right about me needing to be on bed rest for a week. Of course I'll never admit that out loud. I think...
I remember one time when I woke up, I was shocked to hear Bruce and Alfred talking. Turns out, when they first brought me back to the cave, I almost fell into a coma. Bruce was forced to give me some sort of drug that stopped that from happening even though it causes me more pain. Also a big amount of painkillers to last me 3 days straight.
I suppose that probably explained why it felt like I was forced awake before. Also why I can barely stay conscious half the time. At first I thought it was only just a dream, but after asking Alfred multiple times whenever I woke up, I was convinced it was the truth. Although I could only assume.

But then that brings me to my current situation. Like I said earlier, when I'm awake I experience physical pain, but when I'm asleep, it's mental pain. I'm honestly not sure which is better. I'm beginning to think that if this keeps up, I might end up losing my sanity, and that'll be a disaster. Heavy on the dis.
Right now, I'm struggling to stay awake. I'm also limping down the hallway at who knows what time, panting like I've just run 100 miles without stopping. The pain is immense, and it burns, obviously not liking being stretched out. My eyes are threatening to close against my command. Honestly I'm hating every second of it, and I just wanna fall to the floor and sleep. But I push myself further. I'm doing a lot better than before though. I mean when I first moved, the world was everywhere, I saw five of everything, there was a ringing in my ear, and I was stumbling and crashing everywhere, which only increased my pain, ten-fold.
To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure where I was heading. I just knew that I didn't want to go back to the nightmares. I figured if I could get some painkillers, then staying awake won't seem so bad. As fate should have it, I leaned straight into an open door, falling in, and surprising Tim and Damian.
"Hey." I croaked, and ended in a coughing fit. Damian was the first to recover, immediately helping me up, and positioning me on the side of a bed. That's when I noticed I had fallen into Damian's room.
Amazing. I walked out my room, past one door, and fell into the next one. I got so far, didn't I? I am so not feeling the aster.
"Dick what are you doing our of bed? You should be resting!" Damian scolds, before passing me a glass of water which I gratefully accept and drink, feeling the cool liquid soothe my throat.
"I've already been in bed for ages! I think... How long was I out for again? Two weeks?" I ask.
"Three." Tim corrects.
Damn. Even longer then I thought.
"Good enough! By now most of my scratches should have faded."
"Scratches?" Damian asks, confused but somewhat scared at the same time.
"Yeah. Scratches. On my back. Were they really that small?" I ask. Tim and Damian's faces both fell even more, and they shared a look.
"Dick... You didn't have any scratches... You had other injuries... But you didn't have any scratches. All your injuries were serious, nothing minor like a scratch." Tim explains.
"Then... I just had the slash on my back?" I asked. I noticed the anger that flashed through their faces, and noted to ask them about that later.
"Well yes. The slash, is definitely there. But your back... The injuries inflicted were not scratches. They were practically stab wounds." Damian explains slowly.
I gape. Stab wounds? Impossible!
"Stab wounds? There's no way! I mean sure, the rocks were sharp, but they weren't that sharp!" I say.
"Rocks? Huh. That explains the ruggedness of the wounds." Tim muses. I immediately glare at him to shut him up.
"I need to talk to Bruce." I state. I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to talk to him about, but an idea is beginning to form in my head. I smirk as the plan completed in my head.
Damian and Tim share another look before nodding.
"But first." They look to me.
"Pain killers." I beg. Tim shoots up and runs out, so I assume he's going to get me some. I stare at the door before turning back to Damian.
"So. How's life been since I've been out?" I ask.
"Well... According to our company we're still on vacation, and it turns out you had half term last week, so we're clear for the four weeks. Extended term for some reason. Don't know why, but I'm not questioning. Hood's been mad every second of the day, Alfred's complaining about how you keep refusing to eat, which by the way, reminds me, you have to eat. No, you will eat. Even if one of us has to force it down your throat. Bruce is going mad, and is trying to fun out who your attacker is. But with no leads whatsoever because somebody didn't tell him anything... He's had a tough time. Your team is going nuts. Wally came over but Bruce refused to let him in until further notice. So Wally being Wally, climbed up to the window. Ha! You should have seen Tim's face at the time! He was so surprised! After he got over his shock he let Wally in before he fell. When Bruce came up to check up on you, you would have seen his face. He was furious! He gave Wally his best Batglare, although it was more of a Daddybat glare. Wally was absolutely terrified! He even considered jumping back out the window during the time Bruce was scolded him. But after a while of his scolding, Bruce calmed down and let Wally stay for a while. Wally was kind of banned until the month is over. You know, because of the no visitors for a month thing. The League calls in every now and then to ask how you are. Oh! And Batman and Hood captured Joker and put him in Arkhum. But guess what? He escaped. Again. Batman is furious, and as always tried to find him but ultimately failed. Oh! But! Riddler is in prison now. And he's still there, along with two-face who was captured four days ago. Other then that... That's about it really." Damian explained. I let out a snort and laugh every now and then.
"Arkhum really needs to update their security or something. Jokers always getting out." I snort, just as Tim walks in with some painkillers and another glass of water.
"Yo Tim!" I smile. He smiles back, and hands me the water and painkillers which I gladly accept. I'm pretty sure I could drink a whole 10 gallons of water at this rate. I sigh, as the last drop of water eases my throat.
"That felt good. Asterous." I sigh.
Damian takes the glass and puts it on the bedside, next to the other empty glass.
"Feel better?" Damian smiles.
"Much. Absolutely asterous."
"Since when do you say absolutely?" Tim scoffs.
"Since now!"
"Your so stupid."
"Yeah? Well your an idiot!" I argue.
"What? I am not an idiot!" Tim rages. Damian just smiles and sits back, enjoying the argument.
"What are you smiling at?" I ask him.
"You. Glad to see your back to normal." He smirks.
"I've always been normal!" I rage. He raises his eyebrow at this.
"You? Normal? Ha! You've never been normal! Your a Wayne! No Wayne is normal!" He laughs.
For a moment my happy moment drops because I thought he was going to say I wasn't normal because I'm a circus freak, but it immediately goes back up again when he says it's because I'm a Wayne.
I smile, and continue my argument.
"Well then! You just admitted it! That makes you just as weird as me! Maybe even weirder then Tim!" I laugh.
"What? No way! Damian's weirder then me! He calls practically everyone by their last name!" Tim rages.
"I am not weird! So what if I call people by their last names? It's a respectable thing to do!" Damian argues.
"Maybe to you! Some people find it offensive!"
"No they don't!"
"Yes they do!"
"They don't!"
"Do too!"
"Don't!"
"Do!"
"Don't!"
"Do!"

------Time Skip.----

My smirk was at it's fullest as I walked down the short distance to my room. (Despite Damian's and Tim's protect to help me back.) I walked back into my room, and immediately got out some clean clothes. I hadn't really showered the last three weeks. I made sure to stretch before going in the shower. Even though I could feel my back and arm burn slightly in protest I ignored it, enjoying the way it felt to finally move my limbs officially after so long. I stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over my body, letting it wash off all the sweat and possible blood.

After I had spent a long hour or half, I stepped out and dried my hair, putting my normal clothes on. I checked the time to see it was 5:43pm. Perfect. I eventually found my shades and slipped them on, before sneaking out my room and heading down to the Batcave. I quickly grabbed my utility belt, since I never leave without it, and put it under my clothes. Bruce was busy with League Business, (At least that's what Tim said.) And Jason had stormed off somewhere. He's a mystery even Batman can't figure out.
I stepped into the Zeta Beam, and materialized in the Mountain. I smirked at the familiar sight. Nobody was in the Main room, so I walked to the kitchen. I smiled and leaned on the door frame. (On my good side)
M'gann was rushing around trying to sort out her burnt cookies, Kaldurr was reading a book, and Artemis and Wally were arguing about who knows what, and Connor was lounging on the wall, trying to keep his calm and not shout at the two.
"Hey!" I called out, and cackle. Everyone turned to look at me, and their faces brightened up.

"ROBIN!" M'gann squeals. Wally stares at me before speeding up to me and crushing me in a hug. Also hurting me. A lot.
I hiss in pain, and try to move away but his grip is too strong. He notices this, and immediately moved away.
"Sorry."
"Dammit Kid Idiot!" Artemis scolds, before hitting him across the head.
I chuckle and walk past the arguing duo and sit on the sofa, as the team follows me. I take note of how their glaring at my back. Was it really that bad? So not asterous.
"How have you been doing my friend?" Kaldurr asks, sitting opposite me. I shrug, only feeling a slight burning sensation this time.
"Been better but... That's not what I came here to talk about." I reply.
"So, what did you come here to talk about?" Artemis asked, from her spot on the sofa.
"Actually I came here to ask how you guys were doing." I explain, surprising everyone.
"Also, why my brother said Wally had to climb through my window to see me..." I trial off, glancing at Wally who lights up like a Christmas tree.
"I-I had no choice! Batman wouldn't let me in! You know how he is when he goes Daddybat's!" He defends. I raise my eyebrow, and the team stares at him.
"Well, I suppose your right. So, what happened when I was gone? What did I miss?"
Artemis stares at me.
"What did you miss? Why were you missing? You've been gone for three weeks! We've been worried sick! What happened to you? Wait... Don't answer the last one. I already know what happened. Kind of. Robin, what happened on the mission?" Artemis asks. I sigh, dreading the moment when I'd have to explain. But then an idea forms in my head.
"I don't really know. I think I hit my head too hard. I can't remember much of the mission. All I remember is blood and snow. Nothing else really." I lie. Wally glares at me, but I send him the we'll-talk-about-this-later look.
Everyone else seems to buy my lie. Good.
"So. What have I missed?" I asked, smirking.
"Not much. Batman's been... Well, who knows what recently, so we've only had one mission." Artemis explains.
"Sounds... Eventful." I say. I look to Conner.
"How about you? Heard you started school? What about you M'gann?" I ask.

"Oh! I started school! It was great! Earth school is so different from mine! I learned so many things. Im even considering joining a team! I think it was Cheer squad..." M'gann squeals. I smile.

"Sounds great. Connor?" I look to him. He sends me a small smile.

"It was okay. Too many superman fans though." I can feel the anger radiating from him. Oh boy. Daddy issues. Daddy-Clone issues? What would you call this?

"What about you?" M'gann asked. "What about you injuries? They were so serious... So bloody... Horrifying." M'gann trailed off, obviously reliving the memory.

"That reminds me. Sorry you guys had to see that. I know it wasn't pretty." I apologize.

"Do not apologize my friend. It was not your fault, you could not have predicted that some a predicament would take place." Kaldurr says.

"I know, but still. I'm sorry. I should have fought harder, so you didn't have to see that. It probably scared you M'gann, sorry about that." I look to M'gann as she shivers, and i'm pretty sure shes about to cry as she remembers me in the snow. I sigh. "Man... This might be worse then I thought after all..."

--------Time Skip------------

We finally calmed M'gann down from her hysteric's and close panic attack, and for a while we just spoke about stuff that happened. It was nothing that interesting, but it was still good to hang out with them. 

But it was short-lived, as I heard Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, and a furious Red Hood walk in. I sunk down into my seat, praying that they wouldn't question me, even though I knew it was inevitable. 

"Robin." Batman growled, in one of the most furious voices I've ever heard. Usually he can refrain from that, but not this time.

"Yes?" I squeaked, hoping the couch could just swallow me whole. But of course that didn't happen.

"What the Hell are you doing here? Your supposed to be in bed! Hell! You were in bed until a couple of hours ago!" Hood growled.  

"Actually, Batman said Bed rest no exceptions for one week. A week's over now." I stated in a matter of fact voice. I turned round, to be rewarded with one of the most meanest Batglare's. I gulped.

"Cave. Now." Batman ordered. I immediately got up.

"Yes sir." With that, I walked out. Well, more like sprinted...

I am in so much trouble.