Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. I don't own anything, really.

Clowns (Can You See Me Now?)
t.A.T.u

Gotham City
February 18, 2011

Nothing was supposed to happen. The mission was simple. All they had to do was find out who Penguin was meeting with and call the League if it was indeed anything big. It wasn't to be anything dangerous. That's why they only sent Kaldur'ahm and Robin. Of course, the rest of the team is hiding around them, ready to help when it went wrong. Because it always does.

"Kaldur, call the team." Robin whispers as he dropped down next to them from where he had been watching the conversation inside the warehouse. "The Joker is inside"

Kaldur nodded, turning his head away as he turned his comm on. "Team, we know you are here. Miss Martian, link us up." It was only a second before they could hear M'gann's voice is their heads.

Miss Martian here. Link is up and active.

Okay guys, meet at the rendezvous point. I will assume you all know where that is. Kaldur orders as he and Robin lean against the wall.

And here I thought I was the only one who followed. Zatanna says, clearly amused.

I thought the same about me. Apparently not. Artemis agrees.

Can we get to the point? Superboy practically growled.

Is it past your bedtime or something Supey? You need to relax. I thought we were being sneaky, how did you guys know we were here? Kid Flash says quick enough that anyone not used to it wouldn't understand a word. Thankfully, they have all been on the team for a while.

You can't sneak anything past a bat, KF. You should know that by now. Robin laughs, doing his signature cackle as the team show themselves. He and Kaldur stand up straighter as their team forms a circle around them. They look at each other and Kaldur nods, signifying that this is Rob's home, his enemy, and he is in charge for this one. He smiles, though all he can think about for a split second is when he was in charge in the training simulation. He shakes off his thoughts as he turns back to his team.

We came here to spy on Penguin. He had a meeting that he kept boasting would tear our team apart. But he is meeting the Joker. This is being stopped, now.

His team looked shocked for a moment at the force behind his voice. They quickly recovered and began to smile. They were again disobeying orders to fight a villain. This is what this team does best. The speedster looks the youngest in their team and asks What's the plan, Boss?

Robin sits propped up on one of the rafters going across the ceiling when he realized something was wrong.

They had all slipped into the building easily and worked on cutting off all routes of escape. Those same two men had been talking animatedly just long enough that the team had finished.

Now they both went quiet, smiles slipping onto their faces. It unnerves Robin a little, how perfect their timing was to go quiet. It almost seemed like they were listening to something-

They both have comms. They were told that it is time for them to begin something. Superboy tells him. Robin goes even more alert, watching his enemy's both begin to look to the ceiling. He moves his spot just before they see him. He has a really bad feeling about this.

"Come out and play, little birdie. We know you're here." The Joker taunts, his falsely-sweet voice making Robin feel a little queasy. How many times had he been haunted by that same voice? The two had been fighting ever since Robin first joined Batman. Sometimes he would win, sometimes the Joker would. When Rob wins, the clown gets locked up, and later breaks out again. When the Joker wins, Robin usually is kidnapped, and later gets found by Batman. They have played this sick game for years, and Robin is tired of it.

Someone call the League, this reeks of a trap. He quickly sends out, hoping desperately he is wrong. He knows he is right when he hears Kaldur speak calmly.

There is no signal on the communicators. We cannot contact the League.

He sighs. There is no possibility that this is a random scheme. They knew word would get back to the League and that they would send the young team to deal with it. This does not change the pl- He begins to tell his team, but he stops abruptly as he watches no less than 100 men walk into the room. They are dressed as if they all were wealthy businessmen, no doubt Penguins goons. How did he not know they were here? Tentatively, he sends out a thought. Did you guys see anyone come in? Well dressed, probably weaponized?

He receives negative replies. The men must have already been inside when they got here. He heard Wally's curiosity get the better of him. Dude, what's up? You see someone we didn't? He could tell his friend was only half joking, and that he was kind of worried.

Don't worry, Kid Mouth. Nothing we can't handle. Just a bunch of guys that are totally not feeling the aster. Team, come to the main room. We are going to fight our way out of here.

Robin jumps down, landing just as Wally speeds into the room. Knocking some people over, he quickly made his way to the small birds' side. At first Robin isn't sure what to do. If the rest of the team doesn't get there soon they won't be able to fight long. He decides to do what he does best. He talks.

"Hey, I heard you guys were looking for me. Look! I even brought a friend along. Now, when does the party start?" Where are you guys? Superboy should be here by now… he was only a few rooms down.

The Joker starts talking, mostly about how he knew his plan would work and that he knew Robin would be the only one in the room with him and Penguin. Robin didn't pay attention. He was too busy listening to Artemis.

We're all outside the room, except for Kid Flash. Knowing that idiot he is already inside by your side.

You ready to come in and fight? He asks, already knowing the answer. They seemed to know he didn't need a response, since one never came. Instead, Robin turned his attention back to the deranged clown. "Yea, sure dude. I hope you don't mind, but I brought a few friends. The more, the merrier, right? I am sure you already know all about them." As he finished speaking, the door bursts open and his friends came into the room. Artemis's bow was ready, Miss Martian flew in, Zatanna and Superboy were calmly walking, and Aqualad had his Water-Bearers out and ready.

They were allowed to walk to the middle of the room, where Robin and Kid Flash were standing. The team formed a circle, facing the threats that had somehow moved to surround them while Robin had been talking. This is not good. Not good at all.

Penguin seemed to disagree. "Oh, this is good. The entire team gets to watch each other fall. Oh, it's Christmas! Just don't kill the little one or none of you get paid." Robin wants to wipe that crude little smile off his face so bad it almost hurts. They really need to get a hold of the League.

As the first of the men attacked them, Rob glanced over at M'gann. She was holding herself above the battle, wiping down men that got too close to the other members of the team. He got an idea. M'gann! Try to telepathically contact your uncle! He knew she would know why, and focused back on fighting.

The men were obviously trained in hand to hand combat. Artemis was having the most trouble, since she was at her best with space to use an arrow. Zatanna took over where the Martian left off, striking down those who got too close. Robin was flipping over them, causing them to damage themselves more than he actually hurt them. Superboy, Kid Flash, and Aqualad all were having a simple time, knocking men out without injuring them seriously.

Then Robin noticed a few taking guns out. Wally, weapons! They have guns, and are about to use them. He practically shouts inside his head. Thankfully M'gann had left the link up while she called her uncle. Wally began to run around, swiping the majority of the guns off the men within a few moments. But he couldn't get them all.

A gunshot rang out. The bullet nearly hit the Atlantean, being stopped last minute by M'gann, who was apparently done talking to the Manhunter. Relief flowed through the link, followed by gratitude. Thank you, M'gann Kaldur says, polite as ever.

No problem! Uncle says the Justice League will be here in about 5 minutes. Think we can hold them that long? She wonders, earning an Of course, babe from the young speedster. Robin doesn't respond. He looks around his team and wonders about her question. They only knocked out a little over a hundred of the men, less than half, and they were already tiring. Could they hold out for that long?

He sees two figures standing off to the side, watching with amusement. Anger flared up inside him. Slipping out of the battle, he drops behind them. The second he landed, both men turned and began fighting him. He was sure he had been silent, so how did they know he was there? He gasps as he gets kicked in the stomach. Yep, that'll leave a bruise. Jumping to the side to avoid getting hit again, he nearly runs into the wall. When did they get so close to the wall? Robin wonders as he ducks, causing Penguin to punch the wall. Guys, could use a little help over here.

Suddenly he is grabbed, pinned against a thin body that has to belong to the Joker. Once again, he is proved correct as he listens "One more step towards us, and it will be his last few moments." Robin watches as Superboy takes a step closer, apparently he had been on his way to help, and he gasps as a sharp pain erupts from his stomach. The entire warehouse grows silent as a blade finds it way into the youngest person there.

Wally decided to try next. He began to speed towards his friend, stopping only a few moments later when the knife begins to slide across the small stomach. The knife stopped when he did. They all stood transfixed as blood seeped onto the bright Robin uniform.

1 minute away. M'gann suddenly says. The link! They had all forgotten about it!

Wally took advantage of it while he could. Robin? How you doing? Pain bad? Oh god it looks bad. It's not as deep as it looks, right? God, god, god, god ,g-

Wally! He's not going to be able to answer if you don't SHUT UP! Artemis says loud enough to make Rob flinch. Joker caught on.

"Ah, talking with the mind. If you want to play that way, I wanna play too." He pushes the knife deeper into the young acrobat, making him cry out, which only makes the psychopath smile wider. "Now, I have what I came for. We're gonna leave without you following. He gets hurts worse for each time I see one of you behind us. That counts for you too, Penguin. Don't think I forgot about you screwing me over before. This is my payback." He began walking forward, towards the door to the basement, all but carrying Robin before him, the knife still pushed into him. Everyone moves out of the way, even Rob's fellow teammates. There was nothing they could do but watch as the blood leaks onto his outfit faster with every second that passes.

They reach the door quickly, the door being swung shut behind them. Robin isn't aware of much as he is quickly lifted into a seat. He doesn't know what they are in, but he does know that he is suffering from blood loss. It's not enough to kill him, not yet, but it is enough to knock him out. He hears a few messages through the link, and weakly gives his friends a message. I'm fine. Don't worry about me. It's harder than you think to keep a bat locked up. Tell Batman-

He doesn't finish his message, swiftly being welcomed into unconsciousness.

He watches as door closed, forced to leave his best friend in the hands of his worst enemy. Feeling like a total failure, he turns and walks with his friends to the doors heading outside. Just before they reach the doors, they burst open, revealing a very ticked off Justice League. Shit! They all looked at each other, then at Batman, who was watching the room behind them, trying to understand just what had happened.

So, who wants to be the one to tell him that his protégée was kidnapped by his worse enemy and that's what this whole trap was for? He asks his team, really not wanting to have to deliver bad news to the guy who could kill them. He received a bunch of No's and Not me's in response. Thankfully, they didn't have to argue about who it would be, because Batman addressed the only one of them that is actually supposed to be there.

"Aqualad, would you explain to me why I got a call that the Joker was here, what happened to the simple mission I gave you, and why the entire team is here except for the only one who is supposed to be here with you?" His voice was cold, yet calm as always. It caused Kaldur to look at Batman with worry, and say "Perhaps this is a mission best discussed at the HQ"

Batman continues to look at them, and suddenly it seems as if he understands. "Fine." Kaldur had just opened his mouth to respond when he hears Robin's voice over the link.

I'm fine. Don't worry about me. It's harder than you think to keep a bat locked up. Tell Batman-

Tell Batman what? Man, Wally really wished Robin would have finished that thought so they would have something to tell him. But more than anything, he wished Robin was here to explain himself.