i.
When Conner wakes in the middle of the night, it's not unusual to hear the unsteady breathing of someone who's evidently not asleep. It stands out from the low murmur of heavy sleepers, and is accompanied by something he thinks is a book having its pages turned in quick succession. He goes to investigate.
With a team of strange characters and unique traits, Conner's witnessed things weirder than someone reading in the late hours of the night—or perhaps now it's the early hours of the morning; he hasn't checked. He'd thought it would be one of the metas, though, or maybe an Atlantean. Robin is as close to human as they've got and so, by definition, the most normal.
"Couldn't sleep?" Conner asks, frightening the young boy. Odd. He'd never managed to sneak up on a Bat before.
"Never can," Robin replies, his voice quiet and obviously tired.
Conner sits beside him on the couch. The book open on the other's lap is not in a language he recognises, which is quite impressive when one considers the variety of information fed to him while he was still incubated. Robin is still clad in his uniform, though he is missing his belt and cape. It doesn't look like a comfortable ensemble but Conner isn't going to question it.
"Insomnia?" he prompts, after a moment of silence.
"You would have it too if you worked in Gotham." Conner can't tell whether he's making a joke or not. He doesn't laugh.
"Mind if I keep you company?" He has nothing else to do. His room has yet to be equipped with suitable sound-proofing and once he notices the noises, it's hard to block them out again.
"Not at all." Conner thinks he sees a smile.
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ii.
The surveillance mission goes on for far longer than expected. It had required stealth, cunning, and apparently an unreasonable amount of patience. Conner feels like punching something.
Robin is poised in a semi-crouch; one knee is drawn up to his chest while the other maintains his stability, folded against the damp ground. He fiddles with his mask every now and then, and Conner knows from experience that he's switching between lens modes. They're lucky they decided to leave Impulse at base; he would've driven Conner insane. Wonder Girl's tapping against the crate she's hidden behind is starting to irritate him.
They wait for what seems like forever, but when Conner asks it's only been ten minutes. Something should've happened by now. The only thing note-worthy he's noticed are the worried glances Wonder Girl has been sending in Robin's direction. Robin never looks back.
The hours of night soon descend upon them and they find themselves shivering against the cold. Conner mostly does this out of reflex; he's very good at pretending to be human. Beast Boy has subtly changed his form so his fur is thicker and Robin is gradually drawing his cape closer around himself. Once their breath starts to condense before them, he makes a decision as team leader to take a more active role in this situation. Everyone looks a little relieved when he calls them over and relays his plan of attack to them.
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iii.
He overhears something he's sure he's not supposed to. When he listens more closely, he can identify the voices as Nightwing and Robin. He doesn't wish to intrude, so he carries on down the hall and tries to make his footsteps drown out their argument.
When Nightwing enters the team meeting a few minutes later, there's no sign of the anger that had previously laced his voice. Robin trails in after him and his shoulders seem to sag under an invisible weight. Conner wants to ask, but he doesn't.
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iv.
This time Conner is already awake when he hears it. He knows what a nightmare sounds like; he'd experienced them far too often.
He pads barefoot to the source of the sounds and finds himself standing in front of the room Robin uses whenever he stays overnight at the base. He doesn't know if he should knock; he doesn't know if he could help. He knows that he's better with feelings now—he can empathise to some extent instead of throwing up emotional shields wherever he goes—but he doubts he would be much help in this situation.
He hears another pair of footsteps walking towards Robin's room and leaves. It's somewhat reassuring to hear a quietened conversation between Cassie and Tim. Their voices are whispered and almost too quiet. Perhaps they know he's listening in.
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v.
He doesn't know why he says it. It had just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
"Nightwing had nightmares too," he remarks as he unwinds the binding for his hands. Nightwing had insisted that Conner helps Robin with training because apparently he needs more experience with people much heavier than him. Conner had wanted to say that that most people are much heavier than Robin, but he'd just nodded instead.
Robin pauses in his actions. He'd been in the process of fixing his weapons back onto his belt when he looks up at Conner. Some of his hair falls into his eyes, a little damp with sweat. "Excuse me?"
Conner doesn't repeat himself. He just stands to his full height and returns Robin's level gaze. At least he thinks it's level; he can't tell from behind the mask.
"I know," Robin says, and he seems to be considering his words carefully. "He's already talked with me about it. I know he means well but I can manage on my own."
"He can relate," Conner says. So can I, he thinks.
Robin lets out a frustrated sigh. "I know. He just wants to help me, and I understand that, but most of the time he doesn't listen to me."
"I can listen." He's not sure why he says that either.
Robin stares at him for a while and Conner wishes he could decipher his expression. He can't, though. He has to wait.
"Okay," Robin finally replies.
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i.
Nightwing thanks him the next day and it takes him a moment to figure out why. Robin doesn't look so weighed down anymore.