The Last Resort (A Sonic / Teen Titans Crossover)

XI. Robin

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow; that rarely happened. I was never exhausted like that. Even as I reminded myself of the battle the day before, I could feel the soreness revealing itself over my body again. My friends had been right the night before, and I was suddenly glad I had listened to them.

I looked down to see my arm wrapped in a cast. I had been so out of it Raven had been able to wrap my arm up. I closed my eyes and sighed. I would have to live with this cast for a few days. Sure, Raven could speed up the healing process and such, but if the break was bad enough...

I sat up, groaning as my back popped and cracked. My neck was stiff, and my shoulders could barely hold the rest of my arms. I turned to get off the bed, letting my feet dangle off. Then, I pushed myself off, stretching out the muscles that were crying for me to sit back down.

After yawning and doing morning stretches, I went downstairs to see who was there. Everyone was awake and in their normal position; Starfire and Raven were reading and Cyborg and Beast Boy were playing games.

They paused when they saw my face. It was probably distorted and frowning with pain, but no one seemed to mention it. "Pancakes in the oven, dude." Cyborg announced. "Made 'em myself."

"Why would there be pancakes in the oven?" I asked, rubbing my arm and walking to the pancake-oven. "That's like-"

"That's what you do to keep them - HEY!" Cyborg suddenly shouted. "I was talking to our leader! You aren't supposed to suddenly shoot me!"

"You should have paused." Beast Boy said, a hint of triumph in his voice.

"You little squirt! I'm not going easy on you anymore!"

Beast Boy eyes widened. "You were going easy-"

"Shut up!" Raven intervened.

The now annoying sound of buttons started again, and I went to the counter with my pancakes. I poked and prodded at them, but I didn't feel like eating. Even though they smelled amazing and I had put just the right amount of syrup on them, I didn't want to eat. I felt like it was my fault that I had lost a member of our team, and that I now couldn't try to get him back. At least, it would be a few days before I could go out again. It made me feel depressed more than mad.

"Robin?" Starfire said. Her voice almost startled me; she was standing right behind me.

"Oh, hi, Starfire." I said, glancing at her. I returned to poking my pancakes.

She began to rub my shoulders, and I immediately put my head down and began to relax. "What occurred yesterday was not your fault; it was just a chance of you being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yeah, uh-huh." I muttered, my eyes began feeling heavy.

"What Slade does does not have to all be on your shoulders; let us carry some of the burden for you."

"Uh-huh..."

"We are your friends, and friends..." She started to talk about friends and what they do for each other. I closed my eyes, thinking about Slade. But he didn't matter. Starfire did. Cyborg and Beast Boy did too, but just not as much. And Raven was a big part of the team as well; we wouldn't be able to succeed on many of the missions without her. But I didn't need them as much as I needed Starfire. She made me happy; why didn't I notice that every time I saw her? Why did I only notice that on special occasions? Was it because it was something I didn't want to face or because Slade was so large of an obstacle? Or... Was it because I wanted to protect her even if it meant the worst?

"Are you there, Robin?"

"Uh-huh." I muttered every time she finished what she was saying.

 "Are you... Okay?" She said, looking into my face.