Title: Missing
Pair: Slight Aster.
Chapters: 1/?
Summary: It's a race against time when two members of the team go missing after a mission. Can the league and the team find them before it's too late? Will they be able to escape or will Robin forced to do something he'll regret?
The mountain was unusually quiet for Friday afternoon. Normally it was mission day but lately they hadn't been given any missions. Batman said it was because the league was preoccupied and they'd have to wait. Not that they minded a whole lot. Artemis and M'gann were currently in one of the bedrooms having their girl talk. Wally had taken over the kitchen and Kaldur was meditating to pass the time.
Conner was working on his bike when Robin walked over. The smaller teen sat down and merely watched. He had already done his training and he had meditated with Kaldur the day before. As much fun as girl talk sounded he passed on that idea and watching Wally eat was never a pleasant experience.
Wolf walked over to join them, flopping down at Robins side and pushing his head against his lap, demanding attention.
"He likes you. "
"Of course he does." The shorter teen snorted, scratching the giant canine behind the ears. "I bring him the best treats."
Conner rolled his eyes and went back to working on the bike. It seemed to be Robin's personal goal lately to try and get him to loosen up. Whenever there was something that confused him, Robin would be the first to explain it to him without any judgement or laughter like Wally often did. Robin showed him a few techniques Batman had taught him for training that helped a lot when he sparred and when he felt like he was going to lose his temper, Robin was the first to drag him off and show him something he'd never seen before to distract him. Maintaining the bike was actually the bird's idea and it was a nice way to pass the time.
There was a yelp as Wolf pushed most of his weight on the small teen, licking his face happily. Conner couldn't help but laugh, getting up to save his friend.
"He's squishing me!"
"Batman Zero-two, confirmed."
Both teens stopped what they were doing and looked over to see Robin's mentor walking out of the zeta tube.
"Batman?"
"Suit up. Call the rest of the team. Five minutes and I'm debriefing you. I have a mission for you. "
The mission Batman had given them was meant to be a simple one; something to keep the little team of theirs busy while the league dealt with some other, large scale problem. They were to investigate three warehouses along a shore line that had reports of suspicious activity. Simple search and find recon. Look for evidence of what was going on and report it back to the league. They weren't supposed to engage.
The team had split into groups of two. Artemis and Kaldur took the first warehouse while Kid Flash was with M'gann in the middle. Superboy, acting as guard for Robin while he did most of the snooping on a computer located there, were in the last one.
Sneaking in had been easy. Robin launched up to the outdoor window, climbing in and leaving it open for the clone to jump through. They slipped into the office room unnoticed and Robin went to work, connecting his holo-com to the work computer set up there. There was idle chatter between the six of them via a mental link as usual. Artemis was telling Wally off after he mentally hit on M'gann once again. Both Robin and Conner managed a shared smile when they mentally heard Kaldur sigh at the antics. When files were brought up on the screen, Dick frowned. He skimmed them over faster than anyone Conner had seen before the clone tilted his head.
'What is it?"
'I don't…There's nothing here.'
'What do you mean there's nothing here.'
'I mean exactly that. These warehouses are only here to store car parts. There's nothing suspicious about this place at all. '
'Are you telling us the League sent us out on a bogus mission!? ' Artemis chimed rather loudly in their minds.
'What I'm saying is—'
'We were set up. '
'It's a trap! Get out of the buildings now!'
Robin's warning came too late though. The building he and Conner were residing shook as the first warehouse blew, followed by the second one shortly after. Both teens shared a wide eyed look, their mental link now cut off from the others.
"We need to get out of here!" Robin panicked, attempting to pull his glove free from the computer.
"No time!" Conners words fell on deaf ears, an explosion tearing through the building as he spoke them. The smaller teen moved to cover himself with his cape as Conner tackled him down, covering him like a shield as the walls came down around them.
He was an idiot. How had he not seen the signs beforehand? Batman grit his teeth angrily, mentally cursing himself as he flew batplane to the location he was given. Him and a few other members of the league had gone to follow their own leads, reports of a similar case to the small team he ran coming in at several other locations. Upon further inspection it didn't take long to figure out that it was a hoax. The building's they went to and investigated having been empty and it seemed that they had been for a while.
It didn't take him long after seeing the empty building to piece together what happened.
They had been duped. Strung along. And he had sent a group of teenagers straight into what was more than likely an ambush.
He tried Robin's communicator once more. He hadn't received any answer and that worried him to no end. If something happened to his son he would never forgive himself and upon arriving to the location, he now only feared the worst. The buildings were destroyed, the fires long put out. Superman, Green Lantern and The Flash had all arrived before him and they're attention turned to the plane as it descended.
Leaving the plane Batman continued to keep his head. Flash was tending to his nephew, whose head was streaked with red on one side. Aqualad and Miss Martian seemed to be recuperating from the flames and Artemis was knocked out cold. He went rigid realising that there was no sign of Robin or Superboy.
He marched over to Superman, eyes narrowing. "Report. "
"You were right. We sent them straight into a trap. The team took extensive damage. "
"Robin and Superboy?"
The man of steels face hardened and he looked to the side. "Green Lantern dug up the entire building Kid Flash said they were in. " His voice dropped and he opened his hand, Robin's charred glove resting there. He dropped his voice as Batman took it, shaking just slightly. "Bruce…There's no sign of them. They're gone."
Everything was blurry when he woke up. He was aware of a white room and a really bright light in his face. Was he in the hospital? How did he survive that explosion? Where was Superboy? When he tried to move Robin discovered he was strapped down. Upon further investigation he discovered that his cape seemed to be gone as well as his gloves and boots. The loss of the weight around his waist meant they took his utility belt as well.
Nope. Definitely not a hospital.
Hearing voices he turned his head, (which was harder to do when seemingly drugged), blinking tiredly at the blurred silhouettes in front of him.
"He's awake." A woman; she sound relieved.
"Good. It's time to administer the first dose." This one an older gentleman.
"So soon? But we don't know how it will react with the drugs you gave him. "
"I gave you an order. Proceed with phase one. Time is of the essence."
"Yes sir."
The blurred images moved and a bright, glowing green was brought to his attention. He squinted, trying so hard to focus on what it was. There wasn't any liquid he could think of at the moment that glowed so much. His thoughts were deterred when he felt a pinprick in his arm and he struggled to move.
It was a needle.
They were injecting him with something.
And whatever that something was hurt.
a/n: First chapter up! This will be maybe…3-5 chapters I think. I just couldn't get the idea out of my head. A little side note: I guess this is a little AU, mainly due to the fact that SuperMartian didn't happen in this stories timeline.
Any who, I'll have chapter 2 up soon. Reviews are always welcome of course!