[For Titans, Exiles and other Friends of the treehouse]

[needsarobin]

Tim tried to explain that he was fine. That he could get up and move and live his life again. Dick was having none of it and Tim considered it a minor victory that he'd been allowed clothes. Had been bundled with clothes in fact until he thought that it was likely he resembled a snowman built from sweaters. Overprotective big brothers had never

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[thethirdwonder]

Cassie had waited until later to come visit Tim, having spent the morning running around getting stuff done to make sure there was as little as possible for the others to worry about, which included Dick and Roy. On one of her runs to the Compound, she'd checked out the bookshelf and pulled down some books she thought Tim might like. They were all detective stories, Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie and that kinda thing and since he'd been trained by the World's Greatest Detective she thought he might like them.

At one point when she knew no one was in the room, she walked in, books under her arm. "So, how are you feeling? If you say better, I brought you presents."

[needsarobin]

For Cassie, he summoned up a rueful smile, "What do I get if I say like an idiot?"

It was good to see her, someone that he hadn't tried to hurt yesterday, that he hadn't driven away. Someone who knew Stephanie, if only the couple of times that Cassie had met her. Right now, that seemed like water in the desert.

[thethirdwonder]

"Your being honest so you still get presents." She said with a beaming grin, glad to see him smiling despite how awful yesterday had been for him.

She walked over and carefully sat down on the edge of his bed, facing him, and fanned out the five paperbacks she'd gotten from the bookshelf. "Since I doubt Dick is going to let you out anytime soon, I figured you could use something to stop yourself from going stir crazy."

She'd known Stephanie and genuinely liked Stephanie, even if they'd only met a few times. When Dick told her Stephanie had died, Cassie had been heart broken, for her and for Tim. But she had people who needed her to she'd worked through it. And making Tim smile helped too.

[needsarobin]

Honest...well, that was a matter of perspective, wasn't it? He felt like an idiot, that was true enough. But the smile was a lie and the enthusiasm he showed when he leaned forward to investigate her gifts. "You'd think that he was the one who'd spent the last two years studying medicine. He's being irrational about it. Recovery is fairly quick. Oh, hey, Murder on the Orient Express."

[thethirdwonder]

They may have been a lie, but even if Cassie knew that, she wouldn't have cared. Seeing him smile was good enough for her.

"Let him be your big brother. He needs too." She said with a knowing grin as she picked up the book he'd named. "Darn, did I get one you've already read? Want me to try again?"

[needsarobin]

"It's a classic. One of the great mystery novels. Great film too. Lauren Bacall, Albert Finney. Don't make them like that anymore." It was entirely possible he sounded like he was fifty not eighteen.

He looked up at her. His face was still pale, despite all the heat and liquid they were pumping into him, his eyes still hollow and dark. "I'm glad you came."

[thethirdwonder]

Cassie just kind of looked at him as he talked about the movie and just put the book back down in his reach.

Then she just smiled. "Hey, no problem. I would have come in sooner, but I didn't want to crowd you with all the visitors and stuff." She knew what he probably meant, her being on the island, but she still didn't quite know what to say about that herself. "What are friends for?"

[needsarobin]

He meant her being there right now. Right this second. Being someone who was the person he remembered, not someone who had grown beyond him. "You have good timing."

[thethirdwonder]

That worked too. And she would understand that sentiment. This Tim and Bart were just as confusing as the island, but they were still her Robin and Impulse. "I try. So anything else I can get or do for you?"

[needsarobin]

He gave her a wry smile, "Are you playing Alfred for me, Wonder Girl? I'm pretty sure you're not old or British enough for that."

[thethirdwonder]

Cassie only laughed. "Hey, I'm trying to be nice! You better take advantage of it now, because you know you won't get it when your feeling better!"

[needsarobin]

"Maybe I'll just never feel better. Conveniently. And you can continue to be this nice to me all the time." He managed to say it without any kind of hint that he was joking.

[thethirdwonder]

"Oh nice try there Rob." This was one of those cases that he didn't fool her. They happened occasionally. "It won't be good to spoil you like that. It'll go to your head."

[needsarobin]

"Am I the kind of guy who lets things go to my head, WG?" He grinned at her. Something about Wonders just lifted the spirits. Even this one, who he hadn't always gotten along with.

[thethirdwonder]

Cassie just gave him a long look. "I'm under the belief that it's a shared male trait, so no, your're not getting out it." Then she laughed. "And don't let me catch you getting sick on purpose just so I'll wait on you." They both knew that was a BIG joke, because well, this was Robin they were talking about.

[needsarobin]

"Curses. You've caught on to my sneaky plan. I had my year all planned out too. I was going to get pneumonia in April for a vacation." He made a mock-sad face.