Disclaimer: I do not own Batman nor do I own Lord of the Rings. They are the sole property of DC Comics and JRR Tolkien.

Author's Note: Hey Kids! Thanks ever so much for the reviews you all sent. I'm back and ready to do some major updates.

Chapter 22
The Eastfold Connection

With the help of the Riders of Rohan, order had been quickly restored to Eastfold. The few remaining Orcs were quickly defeated by the horse lords, after which the bodies were taken to the outskirts of the village and set ablaze.

With the threat of Mordor dealt with, if only for now, matters turned to the damage left in their wake. Many of the homes and buildings of the village had been damaged beyond repair by Orcs and nearly a third of the village's populace had been injured or killed.

One of the larger buildings that was still in relatively good condition, had been quickly transformed into a makeshift hospital. Cots, blankets and chairs were set throughout the building for all the injured. Meanwhile village midwives and healers and volunteers were doing what they could for the victims of the attacks.

Among those helping the injured was an odd young man, dressed in an outrageously colored red, green, black and yellow costume and wearing of all things a mask. Many of the villages look weary of him, but Robin paid them no mind. Instead he continued to bandage wounds and splint broken bones as if it were a common day occurrence.

It was well past midnight and soon the morning sun would be rising in the west. Tim allowed his eyes to glance down at the watch under his glove and sighed. If he had any hopes of catching up with the Batgirl and the others, he would need to leave soon and get back on the road. The longer he stuck around, the less chance he would ever find them.

But he couldn't leave. Not when there were so many people who needed his immediate help, right here.

Besides, even if he wanted to, Robin hadn’t slept or eaten anything since the past morning. He already felt dead on his feet and yet he still continued to work.

He only had limit training when it came to medicine, but it had to be enough. His current patient was Lillian, the little girl he had rescued from the burning building earlier. Her mothers, who had introduced herself, as Yolina stood close by, while rocking her son Lexington in her arms.

"Now take a deep breath, Lillian, alright? This might sting a little bit," Robin said, reaching of a bottle of ale. Using his teeth, he pulled the cork from the bottle. Most of the medical supplies Robin had in his utility belt had been slowly used up over his time with the Fellowship and due to his recent… fall.

"Owowow!" the little girl moaned dramatically.

Robin raised his eyebrow with an amused expression. "Um… kid? I hate to interrupt you, but I haven't done anything yet."

Lillian paused in mid-moan and looked at him sheepishly. "Sorry.".

"Okay, here it comes." Robin poured a bit of the ale gingerly onto the wound. With that done, he then tore off a piece of cloth to bandage her arm with. Giving his work a quick final glance, Tim looked back up at his patient. "There. All done. Didn't hurt all that much now did it?"

"No…" Lillian said, unsure at first but she allowed herself a smile. "Thank you."

"No prob kid. You were pretty brave in there, you know? Watching over you're little brother like that."

"Father told me to take care of Mama and the baby," she said quietly.

Robin looked over at the girl's mother and noticed the somber look that came over her eyes, which as it turned out was a very familiar sight for him. Their father must have died long before the Orcs had attacked the village. Tim knew what it was like to lose a parent.

"I'm sure he'd be very proud of you," Robin said.

Lillian smiled brightly at him before lunging forward and hugged Robin tightly around the neck. At first Tim was a caught off guard, but then awkwardly returned the small girl's embrace.

"I can't thank ye enough," Yolina said earnestly, "for everything ye've done."

Tim shook his head, as he stood up. "You don't need to thank me for anything ma’am. I'm just doing what I can to help."

"Ye act as if jumping into a burning building were common place," Yolina chuckled softly at the boy's modesty.

"You have NO idea..." Robin murmured sarcastically.

"Then perhaps, you'd care to enlighten us?"

Everyone tuned to find Éomer standing besides the main archway of the makeshift hospital. After he and his men did away with the Orc bodies and extinguished the fires, Éomer had begun visiting with the injured and frightened. There wasn't much else he could do, except be there for his people.

His Uncle may have turned his back on their people, but he hadn't. And as long as he had blood in his veins, Éomer would continue to stand as a symbol of hope of Rohan.

As he approached them, Éomer seemed to be staring at Robin rather suspiciously, just like he had along with many of the other Rohan soldiers when they rescued Robin, Yolina and the kids from the orcs. Obviously the great 'Riders of Rohan' weren't too trusting of outsiders. Especially masked outsiders. Though it could be considered a wise policy considering the way things were in Middle-Earth currently.

"I beg your pardon?" Robin asked, meeting Éomer's stern gaze with his own.

"I am certain that you are all weary from the day's events and have not been able to eat or rest. I bid you and your family to join me."

Éomer turned to Yolina and her children, a lopsided smile appearing on his lips. Yolina ducked her head under the horse lord's gaze and blushed. This did no go unnoticed by Robin or the children, who shared bemused looks.

"Um… This isn't my family," Robin replied. "Only… friends."

"Mama?" Lillian said, pulling at her mother's skirt. "Can we? I'm very hungry."

Yolina smiled at her daughter's honesty, and turned to Robin who did his best to not sigh.

"I guess that settles that," he smirked. "Sure, we'd be happy to join you."

Éomer bowed his head in acceptance, and began to lead them out of the crowded 'hospital'. The calm that had been left in the wake of the Orcs was deafening. The smell of burning wood still hung in the air and several buildings were still smoldering.

The Rohan Soldier's had set up their camp in the center of the village as well as a makeshift kitchen. The odor of real food smelt absolutely mouth-watering. Éomer called to several soldiers/cooks who brought over dishes of food for them.

One soldiers handed Robin a bowl of questionably smelling stew. Picking up the wooden spoon, Tim shoveled a bit of the stew into his mouth. He paused slightly in mid-chew. It tasted pretty good (and considering it was the first real meal he had in days, that was no understatement), and yet he couldn’t help but notice that there was something… off about the food. The meat. He could not figure out what kind of meat it was. And a juvenile part of him did NOT want to know. "Mm-hmm..."

"Is something wrong?" Yolina asked.

"No…" Robin said, "I'm just having flashbacks to High School and the great 'Hot Dog Surprise' debates…" Everyone looked at him in confusion. "…And you people have no idea what I’m talking about. Never mind."

Tim continued to spoon more of the food into his mouth, trying not to think about what animal it came from. It didn't seem to bother anyone else though. Lillian for example, had cleaned off her bowl and quickly ran back to the cooks for seconds.

"You're daughter has a very mighty appetite, milady," Éomer laughed as the girl raced back.

"Aye, that she does," Yolina said with a chuckle. "She got that from her… her father."

"He is no longer with you?"

Yolina nodded sadly, as she rocked her son in her arms. "Orcs… Before… our son was born."

"I am truly sorry, milady," Éomer said as Lillian threw herself down in-between him and her mother, and began to stuff her mouth with more stew.

"Daughter!" cried Yolina in a stern yet embarrassed tone. "I did not raise a farm animal. Do not behave like one!"

Lillian cringed at her mother’s tone and mumbled a quick apology in-between a few more civilized bites of her food.

Éomer let out a hearty laugh. "My mother would say the same thing about my sister and I when we were young."

Tim looked at the two adults with an amused smiled. If he didn't know any better he would have sworn that there was some serious flirting going on here.

Finally Lillian let loose a full out giggle, drawing the attention of the adults. Yolina's blush became more intense and Éomer ducked his head slightly, before picking up Lillian, he set her on his lap. "Oh, and just what are you smiling at little one?" he asked, tickling the child playfully. Lillian started laughing wildly, which was frankly a welcomed sound for everyone who could hear it.

At last the little girl escaped the Horse Marshal's grasp and raced to hide behind her official protector, Robin. Again everyone burst out laughing and even Tim allowed himself a full out laugh as he mussed the girl's hair playfully. "Don't worry half-pint, I got your back. But watched the threads okay?".

She smiled at Robin, before sticking her tongue out at Éomer mockingly.

"You are not from here, are you?" Éomer asked without warning. Robin was at first a bit surprised at how blunt the older man was, since he had been expecting this to be one of those interrogations that took hours to even get close to the real point of things.

"What gave me away?" Robin smirked. "It's my hair isn't it? Not long enough?"

Yolina grinned. "That… as well as yer garb. It IS rather… unusual. If ye don't mind I too would like to know from where do ye hail from, and what brings ye to the lands of Rohan?"

"Right now, I'm just trying to find my friends," Tim answered honestly, a tone of sadness in his voice.

"What happened to them?" little Lillian asked, looking up at Robin worriedly.

"We were separated nearly a week ago. I think they might have passed this way, but now… I'm not so certain." Tim rubbed his arm awkwardly, trying not to meet anyone else's eyes. "As for where I… achem… 'Hail' from well trust me. Its no where you'd be familiar with. Gotham City USA."

"Gotham…" Éomer repeated his brows furrowed as if to remember something. "Tell me, your companions, how many were there?”

“Four. Why do you?”

“Two of them being an Elf and a dwarf, by chance?"

Robin head's shot towards Éomer. "Yes!" he cried. "You've seen them? When? How long ago? Are they okay? Where did you find them?" He normally wasn't one to allow him self to get so excited, but he couldn't help himself. This had been the first bit of real news he had about the others since he returned the campsite at the Falls of Rauros.

Éomer held up his hands to halt the barrage of questions. "Please, one question at a time," he said. "It was about two days past. My company and I had slain a large army of Uruk-Hai near the outskirts of Fangorn Forest the previous night and upon gaining word of Orc movement in the south began traveling towards here.

"Several leagues south of Fangorn, we came across a band consisting of a man, young lady, Elf and a rather… unsavory dwarf."

Robin smiled slightly. That had to have been them. Only Gimli could have made that kind of impression to get the Horse-Lord to call him 'unsavory.'

"They spoke of hunting the very same Orcs that we had slain the past evening,” Éomer continued. “When we asked why, they informed us that they were searching for two-"

"Hobbits! Yes, Merry and Pippin," Robin interrupted. "Did you find them?"

The Horse Marshal's face fell slightly. "Nay, we had found not but orcs. And that was what we had told your friends. Though I fear they did not take our words for it alone, and went further to see for themselves."

Robin sighed. "Do you have any idea where they could be now?"

"I fear not," Éomer said, shaking his head, "when last we say them they were traveling north towards Fangorn. But that was one day passed, now nearing two."

"Damnit," Robin grunted. "They could be anywhere by now."

He fell silent, lost in his own thoughts, while Éomer and Yolina sat by feeling a great deal of pity for the boy before them. Lillian meanwhile was gripping Robin's torn cape absentmindedly while staring up at him with big eyes.

"What are ye going to do now?" she asked finally.

"What else can I do?" Robin replied. "I keep looking for my friends."

"Alone?"

Robin shrugged. "Yup. Its no big deal really."

"Are you mad? You cannot be serious!" Éomer said urgently. "Saruman's Orcs travel in all corners of Rohan now. It is not safe!"

"Hey, until I got here, I didn't have any problems traveling alone,” Robin replied with another shrug of his shoulder. “I'm used to playing it solo. Besides from the way things are, I doubt anywhere will be safe for long. Just look around you."

"Aye…" Éomer said, though clearly he wasn't pleased with the idea of a child, no matter how capable he made himself to be, traveling alone through the Orc infested lands.

"I beg yer pardon,” Yolina interrupted, “but it is far past my children's bedtime and we still need to find a new place in which to rest.”

Éomer shot up like rocket. "If you will, milady, you and your children may use my bedroll. It is not much, but I hope you accept."

Yolina blushed furiously. "But my Lord Éomer, what of you? I do not wish to put you out?"

The Horse marshal waved his hand dismissively. "Worry not Lady Yolina," he said. "I shall not be needing it. I still have much work that needs to be done before I may rest."

Yolina smiled widely, and after a brief moment of consideration kissed Éomer quickly on the cheek. Éomer’s face turned crimson and turned away. Yolina moved to lift her son back into her arms and taking her daughter's hand, bid Robin and Éomer goodnight. She then went to where Éomer indicated his tent had been set.

"Are these people going to be okay?" Robin asked, looking over the damaged village. He had seen worse destruction than this, back in Gotham. The Clench Virus Riots. The Quake. No Man's Land, but these people weren't Gothamites. They were simple folk, most of which probably had never left the village since birth. And to be delivered such a painful blow, without warning or reason.

"They will survive," replied Éomer thoughtfully just as someone began calling out to him.

"MY LORD!" shouted one of his soldiers. "Lord Éomer! My lord, one of the scouts returns with news from the north. They carry ill news!"

Éomer nodded, and stood up. "Very well. Forgive me, Robin, but-"

"Yeah, yeah. A Horse Marshal's work is never done," Robin said with a stifled yawn. "Not a problem, bro. I should get some Zs anyways."

Everyone stopped to look at Robin as if he had grown three heads. "I am sorry, but… 'Get some Zs'? What does that?"

"Sleep," Robin sighed. "It means to get some sleep. If I want to catch up with my friends, I need to get what rest I can. I’ll talk to you later, ‘kay?"

Both Éomer and the messenger nodded weakly. Wherever this Gotham was, they certainly had a bizarre language. With a final wave, Éomer and the soldier went off to speak with the arriving scout.

After everyone had left Tim walked aimlessly through the village lost in his own thoughts. He felt so tired and lost. Any chance he had of ever find the others looked less and less likely by the minute.

At last he found a secluded area of the village to set up his own camp. It was under a larger tree near the village well, which surprisingly had survived the Orcs attack. Draping his cape around him, he looked up at the evening sky. His last thought before falling into a deep sleep was of Cassandra and where she could be at that moment.

Tim let out a groan, as he was rudely shaken awake from his dreams. Give a growl/moan, he opened his bleary eyes to look at Short, bearded Rohan Soldier. "Huh? Knock it off. I’m awake I’m awake… What… (Yawn) time is it?" he asked, running a hand through his jet-black hair. "Feels like I just laid down…"

"Tis nearing mid-morning, and Lord Éomer has sent me to bring you to him." Robin gave a yawn and stretched his arms out. Mid-morning? When the hell was mid-morning? Rolling down his sleeve, he tried to read his watch.

"Oh hell no…" Tim groaned. "This can't be right… 8:30? In the morning…?" He HAD just lain down. Less than two hours ago! Dropping his face into his hands, Robin groaned. “Not fair. I do not do a 8:30 am wake up call without a cup of coffee…”

"Master Robin?" the soldier said a bit more urgently. "We must make haste. Lord Éomer is waiting."

Tim eyes narrowed, giving the soldier a toned down version of the 'LOOK.'

'Then Lord Éomer can just keep waiting…' he grumbled to himself. The first real non-pain induced sleep he had gotten in nearly a week had been interrupted, thus meaning it was not wise to push him.

A short time later, a still yawning Boy Wonder was shown into a small hut that was being used by the Riders of Rohan as their base of operations. Éomer along with a handful of Rohan soldiers were standing around a map of the area in deep discussion.

"You rang?" Robin asked a bit more sarcastically than he intended.

Everyone looked up from the map at Robin, and it was obvious from the rings under their eyes that they had gotten about as much sleep as he had.

"I shall return shortly," Éomer told the other soldiers, before turn back to Robin. "Walk with me, Robin."

Éomer led Robin out of the hut, and the two of them began to walk about the village, which was already teeming with activity. Robin waited patiently for the older man to speak.

"My men and I shall be leaving the village, this evening," stated the Horse Marshal.

Robin raised his eyebrow. "I thought you guys were going to stick around longer to help with the rebuilding."

"Aye, that was our original intent," Éomer sighed, "but I fear our plans have changed. News has reached us that a large force of Orcs are making movements in the North."

"So you guys are going to try and stop them."

"No," replied Éomer in a growl and stopping to face Robin. "We SHALL stop them. Robin, I want you to join us."

"What? You want me to go with you guys? Why?"

"Because I think we may be able to help one another," Éomer said. "Robin, do you still intend on traveling north in search of your companions?"

Robin nodded. "Of course. They're my friends. I’m not going to just give up on finding them."

"Then since we too are intending to go that way, it would make sense that you travel with my company. Orcs are moving far to freely across Rohan, and it is not wise that anyone travel alone."

"But that doesn't really explain why you'd want a teenager to go with you," Robin said flatly. "You're going into battle. I'm looking for my friends, remember?"

"Aye, you are young," Éomer said, "but I think that your skills make up for what you lack in age. I spoke with Yolina earlier this morning and she told me of how you rescued her children from the fire and how you defended them from the Uruk-Hai. I have seen you help these people and ask for nothing in return. My company is strong, but we have lost many comrades during our exile. We need any help that we can get and I think that you may be of use to us."

Robin looked at the older man, not certain whether or not to be flattered or insulted.

But there was a note of truth to Éomer's words. If the Orcs really were on the loose, then it would be suicide to keep traveling alone. But it could also be suicide to travel with his group of soldiers headed straight into a fight.

'Bruce, what would you do?' he thought darkly.

Tim knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to find Aragorn, Legolas, Merry, Pippin, Gimli and Cassandra. He wanted to hold her in his arms again and feel her heart beat against his chest. But the truth remained that it was possible that he would never find them again. Middle-Earth was such a large place and he had long since lost their trail. He could guess and estimate all he wanted, but the fact remained that he was at a lost.

"All right," Robin said after a long silence. "I'm in. I'll go with you guys."

Éomer inclined his head slightly. "Very good. We best make haste. There is still much that we must do."

Walking back towards Éomer's HQ an evil sort of smile appeared on Robin's face. "So Éomer… Why exactly were you hanging out with Yolina so early this morning?"

The Horse Marshal stopped in mid-step and his face blushed crimson.

To Be Continued…