Tesseract Child

Robin in the Rain

This chapter was inspired by the song "Robin in the Rain," by Claire Senior Burke, as sung by Raffi.

- Robin in the rain, such a saucy fellow.

Robin woke again about 4 hours later. The infirmary was empty this time. Jarvis, the house computer, instructed him to stay where he was and that someone would be along momentarily. Okay robo-nanny thought Robin. Just to be sure of his situation he tried the infirmary door to make sure it would open. Feeling more confident with the door open, he stared at his reflection in the shiny stainless steel door. It was both surprising and normal how little he was. He hadn't brushed his hair in days. That part was wonderful. Robin shook his head pretending to be one of those fuzzy haired trolls with a gem in the belly. He wouldn't mind brushing his teeth. He knew he should be focused on getting home but he wasn't sure what to do now.

It was Thor who came for him.

"Hi! I have no idea what to do with myself," admitted Robin smiling up at him feeling a little nervous and at the moment very aware of his size. "Is your whole family as tall as you are? I seemed to be cursed to forever make tall friends."

Thor gestured for Robin to follow him. He was a little surprised when a small hand slipped into his.

"Sustenance first," Thor answered softly. Asgardians, were so long lived they almost never had children. He ate his own lunch of three large chicken sandwiches, finished off with an apple and a beer. He watched quietly as Robin ate almost a quarter of a sandwich, a few grapes and what looked to him like a thimble full of milk before pushing his plate away.

"Is this normal?" Thor asked of Bruce who was also there eating lunch gesturing to the child's plate.

"It's okay for now," Bruce reassured pushing up his glasses. "This new role? I've never met someone instantly at ease with it."

Thor did not like the thought of not being equal to any task but he was completely out of his comfort zone.

"Thor, he'll be hungry in an hour. It's just how a very young child is built."

Thor took an apple out of the fruit basket and passed it to Robin for later.

Robin looked at the apple then balanced it on his head with a grin and looked up at Thor questioningly. Then Robin took an orange and pear too and started juggling all three. When Thor glared at him, Robin put all the fruit back sheepishly and climbed under the table. Confused Thor looked under the table. Robin was just sitting there tracing swirly patterns in the floor, kind of unhappily.

Bored, so bored... thought Robin. I can't go see Mr. Stark yet. That'll just slow things down.

"Roar!" Robin yelled popping up beside Bruce suddenly. "Can Hulk come out to play?"

Bruce jumped back startled at little but shook his head smiling, "Sorry, I don't really get to choose. He comes out when I'm upset or angry."

"That's sad," said Robin. "Have you ever been to a Monster Truck show? Smash, Crash! I saw a truck that shot fire and it had ..." Robin fell silent because Thor looked, well not exactly unhappy but stressed.

"What's the matter?" asked Robin. Robin never got an answer because an alarm started blaring and amber lights started flashing.

Jarvis's voice came over the intercom. "Avengers assemble. Avengers to the war room."

"Stay with Dr. Banner," ordered Thor leaving quickly.

He heard Robin's disappointed protest to Bruce as he left. "Why don't you get to go?"