Of Birds and Jokers

Chapter 10

I am SO sorry for the very long wait. I'll try not to let it happen again, and for those of you still here thanks for sticking with me :)

    Robin forcibly swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, the fact that it was even there disgusting him. The dampness that he was sure was plainly visible in his eyes was even worse, and he clenched them shut before they could spill over.

    The teen could practically feel Slade's eye boring into his face, his features solid as stone, trying to find the best way to approach the situation he found himself in.

    It wasn't every day you had a random teenager breaking down in front of you, after all.

    Robin felt the hand on his shoulder clench slightly, and despite who it belonged to, he clung to the anchor like a life line.

    His mind was panicking, just like in the alleyway. Robin felt his hands shaking slightly, and clenched them shut in an attempt to stop them. It was futile, the shaking continuing, spreading to the entire length of his arms and then his entire chest.

    His breath hitched before he realised what was happening, and was it just him or was it getting harder to breath? The air grew thick and his previous calm, controlled breathing turned into short, little gasps.

    His arms came to wrap around his middle, his entire frame shaking now.

    Robin knew what was happening, of course. He had panic attacks before, back in his own dimension. When things went wrong in their circus act. When nightmares grabbed him by the ankles and refused to let go. When everything just became too much.

    Batman had taught him how to get past it. He could feel the memory trying to break through the haze of his mind, pushing against the panic.

    The lump in his throat returned, and with it the memory evapororated completely. Robin's small gasps of air turned long and wavering, his lungs desperately trying to get more oxygen to his brain.

    He barely registered the hand tightening even further on his bare shoulder before his knees collapsed on him. The hand stayed where it was, even as Robin folded in on himself.

His breathing increased, and he felt his head get lighter. His mind flitted back and forth, not knowing what to do. The neurons firing in his brain were going haywire.

One second Robin felt panicked; How would he ever get out of here he was stuck he would never see Bruce again or Alfred or Wally Artemis Kaldur Connor M'gann never see them again he was going to die-

Then anger; Why in the world did he have to get captured he was so STUPID and he should have just listen to Batman's orders like he was supposed to even though those rules were just as STUPID-

Sadness; Everyone would be wondering where he went if he was alive and they would grieve for him and Bruce would fall even deeper into that hole he had made for himself and maybe they would even have a funeral that would be nice they at least deserved that much-

Paranoia; What exactly happened to him would he have any permanent affects and where was the Joker he should have come to finish the job by now and why was Slade being so weird and why was no one acting like they should-

Wait. Slade. He was still there. The warm spot on his shoulder. Hand. That was a hand. That was his hand. He hadn't left, he was still there, and he had to pull himself together so he didn't look so weak in front of an ENEMY-

His breaths started to get deeper, and as more oxygen returned to Robin's brain he dully heard a noise in front of him.

A voice. Slade's voice. He was talking to him. The man's voice, the deep baritone that sounded so much like Bruce's in the haze of Robin's mind, peirced through the veil of thoughts and Robin desperately latched onto it.