Booker2008 is the requester of the day

"No," Robin stated firmly, crossing his arms across his chest like a child then regretting it immediately as the movement aggravated his ribs. The team collectively groaned at his stubbornness. A few hours ago, he'd taken one hell of a hit to his chest which successfully broke one of his ribs and bruised three others. He was obviously in pain, he'd lost colour in his face and he was white-knuckling the blankets but he refused any sort of pain relief stronger than over-the-counter medication no matter how much they insisted. It was horrible to see him in pain but whatever grudge he had against strong painkillers was standing in the way of him at least being able to relax. It couldn't be good for him to be so tense and God knows how bad it would be in the morning. 

"What're you worried about? If you were going to get addicted to this stuff, you would've done so by now," Cyborg reasoned.

"I'm not worried about getting addicted," he replied. 

"Then what is it?" Starfire pressed, pushing out her bottom lip in a pout hoping it would give them some answers. It made entirely no sense that he'd rather just deal with the pain than receive some pain relief they were happy to give him. Surely he knew he'd be better off in terms of recovery if he were able to rest which he couldn't do if he were wincing every time he drew in a breath. 

"I don't like how they make me feel," he admitted.

"What? Pain-free?" Raven asked sarcastically. 

"No, it's like I'm stuck in the mud and I can't think clearly. I get confused and go loopy, and sometimes I get upset." He looked more miserable recounting how he acted with painkillers than he had when they told him about his ribs. His shoulders grew tense as he thought about it and a burning blush appeared on his face. "I don't- I don't like feeling out of control, okay?"

"Dude you're not in control now," Beast Boy argued. "If you take them then you're controlling the pain." The older shook his head stubbornly.

"I don't want you to deal with me when I'm like that either. I was a handful for even Batman."

"No offence but Batman isn't my basis for competent care," Cyborg muttered. "Look, none of us here are gonna judge you. You've seen us through this, let us pay you back. Don't you remember when BB threw up in a plant pot because when his painkillers didn't settle well?"

"You understand that I am going to be a lot to handle, yes?" They nodded. "And that at some point I will get upset because I always do?" They nodded again. "Like really upset, like you can't console me upset I will just cry?" Not even a moment of hesitation. "Fine. But you're going to have to lock the windows."

"What? Why?" 

"I'm a jumper."

"It's a miracle you're alive," Raven deadpanned.

At first, they thought Robin had been overreacting. They'd moved him to the couch so they could all keep an eye on him whilst also helping him relax because no matter what they did to the medbay it still felt too sterile. He'd taken the painkillers with ease and fell asleep not long after with little fuss. It was probably the easiest they've ever seen him go down. They wondered briefly if this "being too much even for Batman" business was just his mentor being unable to cope with a kid in pain. 

"How long do you think he'll last on bed rest?" Beast Boy asked.

"I give it at least until he can move without immediate pain," Raven answered.

"Are we taking bets?" Cyborg asked with a smile. He usually won and took great delight in spending their pocket money on useless items just to annoy them. Last time he bought an overpriced Garfield phone. Before they could agree, Robin suddenly shot up from where he'd been comfortably laying on the couch. He looked around frantically before his eyes settled on them and he sighed. "You alright Rob?"

"Smol nightmare," he replied, his voice as distant as his stare. He then looked down at where he was sitting. "I'm on a couch."

"You are on a couch," the older confirmed with a smile.

"Couches aren't for sleeping."

"Sure they are," Beast Boy argued. "I sleep there all the time." Robin pouted at him, something he couldn't help but smile at. It looked so out of place on his leader's face. 

"You have a bed. I have a bed. Beds."

"Beds?" Starfire repeated, amused by his babbling.

"Mhm. Beds. Two. Wanna go."

"You should probably stay here so we can keep an eye on you. You warned us that you're a jumper," Cyborg reminded him gently. They got the sense that they were now dealing with the loopy easy to confuse Robin they'd been warned about. He tried not to make his tone too infantilising but he didn't really know how easy to upset his leader was. 

"Jumped off a chandelier. Broke it." Robin lifted his eyes from the couch and dug the heels of his palms against his eyes. "Was uh...uhm. The thing where you keep it. The uh the thing. From your family."

"A family heirloom?" Raven supplied as his voice tightened with distress. He took his hands away and nodded. "Rich family then."

"Not mine," he hummed. He rubbed at his face with a frown, picking at the edges of his mask. He'd taken it off around them before and they'd seen him maskless in passing but they were more accustomed to the white lenses rather than real irises and pupils. They never asked about it, assuming that he just wanted to be ready all the time to be called out to save the world. He let out a low whine when the mask wasn't peeling from his face as easily as he wanted it to. His fingers were clumsy and with the gloves, it was hard to get a good grip on the fabric. Starfire took pity on him, flying over and peeling it off for him. He grinned at her as he rubbed the skin where his mask once was. "I love you," he stated. She giggled and kissed him on the cheek. 

"I love you too," she replied. "Did you want to wear something more comfortable?"

"Too texture," he complained, leaning against her. "Is loud."

"The texture is loud?" 

"He means it's overstimulating," Raven once again supplied. "He's probably more sensitive to it now. Get him that Gotham Rats shirt and the basketball shorts."

"Alright. Robin, are you able to walk?" He nodded and let himself be pulled onto his feet. "We will be back momentarily."

They returned half an hour later with the smaller of the pair looking exhausted and wincing every time he took a breath. Starfire had an arm around his shoulders to guide him and held his hand as support whilst they walked over to the couch.

"Even with the medicine, he still seems to be in pain," she informed her teammates. "His ribs look painful."

"They will do, Star. They're broken and bruised. Anyone without the insane pain tolerance would have to be sedated," Cyborg explained, hoping to quell some of her worries. 

"No sea-dating!" Robin whined, his eyes welling up just at the thought. "Can't wake up."

"Okay, no sedation," the alien soothed. She ran her fingers through his hair a few times to keep him relaxed.

"Since he isn't as crazy as I thought he was going to be, I'm gonna take BB and get some groceries. Something tells me we'll get put on some sort of healthy eating course if we only get takeout whilst he's benched," Cyborg announced. "You two think you can handle him on your own?"

"Of course!"

"He's already falling back asleep," Raven commented. 

"You'll call if anything happens right?" The girls nodded despite both being confident they'd have no reason to call them. "Alright. BB c'mon, you've got shotgun."

To their credit, they did have it handled for the first twenty minutes. Robin had fallen asleep not long after Cyborg and Beast Boy left. Perhaps that's what led them to become a little overly confident as they both left the room for no more than a few minutes. Surely he couldn't get very far in a few minutes right? 

Wrong.

Starfire flew back into the room after fetching a blanket only to find her teammate missing. She stared at the empty space for a moment before dropping the blanket and going to the bathroom. If he'd moved, surely that's where he went right?

Wrong.

The bathroom was empty as was his bedroom and she came to the sickening conclusion that she had no idea where he was. 

"Robin!" she called out, receiving no reply. He was pretty out of it before and helping him change clothes had been like trying to dress a newborn. He could've fallen on his impromptu walk around the tower, he could've gone to the roof and was now teetering on the edge or he could've left the tower entirely and was now trying to swim. She was stuck in place as she tried to figure out which thought she should go with to somehow hone in her investigation but all of them were so plausible she couldn't decide. "Robin!" she called out again. Still no reply. She urged her body to move forward, hoping instinct would take over and lead her right to him. It didn't. She ended up running around like a headless chicken until she physically bumped into the missing acrobat. "There you are!" Starfire exclaimed, flying over to the acrobat and wrapping her arms around him. He whimpered and pulled away which would've hurt her feelings had she not realised the condition of his ribs and that she'd just knocked him over. "Sorry!" He didn't reply or even look in her direction, instead returning to whatever drew him away from the comfort of the couch. She frowned and followed after him. "Robin? Are you okay?"

"Can't find them," he replied.

"Oh, Cyborg is out with Beast Boy getting groceries. Raven should be in her room looking for some holistic methods to ease your pain."

"Not them. Them."

"Who is them?"

"My parents," he answered on the brink of tears. "They said they'd be here when I get hurt but I can't find them."

"Batman is in Gotham. Would you like to call him?"

"No my parents," he insisted, tears now trailing down his face. "I don't know where they are." He didn't bother to wipe away the tears as he grew increasingly upset at not seeing them or knowing where they were. Starfire chewed on her bottom lip. 

"Robin, your parents are no longer with us," she replied slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"They died. When you were nine. You saw them, remember?"

Starfire had never broken the news that someone was dead before and she was extremely thankful for it. She had no idea how she would react if she was told someone she knew had died nor did she ever want to feel the guilt of being the one to break the news. Yet now, she was left with the crushing weight of telling someone their parents had died. Logically she knew that Robin had already had the news broken to him. He knew that they were gone behind those clouded eyes but then she remembered what he told them. That he got confused and upset, so upset they could do nothing to help him. She doubted she'd ever be able to forget the pure look of grief that swept over Robin's face. The brief moment where he'd frozen before more tears ran down his face and he let out a broken sob. Not knowing what else to do, she tentatively brought him into a hug and let him cry into her shoulder. 

"I fucked up Kori," he whispered. She was surprised to hear that name come out of his mouth but then again he was confused. "B- We had a fight. Hates me n my parents are gone." She didn't know what to do. What was she supposed to say? "I've lost them." His legs gave out from under him and although she was more than capable of sustaining his weight, Starfire found herself lowering them to the ground. He clung to her like she was the only thing left in the world he cared about. "I just wanna go home." She wanted to call out to Raven or call Cyborg but she didn't think it was the right thing to do in this situation. 

So they sat there in the cold hallway as Robin cried his heart out. 

She had to agree with what he said in the medbay. She didn't like him on painkillers either.