Trigger warning for mental health
It took awhile for the team to notice anything was wrong. Most of the times it was something small, Artemis caught Robin trying to hit something on the wall with his boot. He'd throw the boot near where the wall met the ceiling, and then curse as it fell to the floor and he tried it again. She asked what he was doing and he looked at her with a 'what do you think?' face, explaining that he was trying to kill the spider. To be fair, she really tried. She stared at the top of the wall where Robin's boot was hitting and she looked for anything.
"What spider? I don't see anything"
"You don't… Artemis, it's right there!" he motioned up to where his boot had hit. She looked, even trying to jump against the wall for a closer look, but she saw nothing.
"Robin, there's nothing there. Are you feeling okay?"
He looked at her incredulously as if he wanted to ask her the same question.
Feeling a bit awkward and more than a little confused she excused herself, tossing a reluctant "good luck" over her shoulder as she moved to the common area.
The next time she saw Robin was over a week later. She assumed he left the base, but never really asked.
Artemis usually tended to mind her own business. She knew demons and skeletons in the closet and she knew about shameful pasts. Even with that, she couldn't help but take note every time Robin did something that seemed a bit off. Wally used to say Robin had "off days", usually right after he would blow up at nothing or start talking to the air. It was so odd, seeing their normally confident and clever Boy Wonder get lost in an everyday conversation or start screaming because Wally had made other plans on some random day.
Wally would play it off. Whenever Robin started to make a scene or draw attention, Wally would drag him to one of their rooms and give out some lame excuse afterwards.
"He's just having a bad day"
"Rob's been under a lot of stress lately"
"It's my fault, I forgot we had made plans"
Whatever was up with Robin, the Kid Flash knew about it.
The next time one of these episodes occurred, Artemis made sure to pay attention. Over the edge of a book she saw Robin talking to Miss Martian in the kitchen. Robin was telling her some story about a birthday cake or something, and he just started talking nonsensically.
Miss Martian stopped and scrunched her eyebrows together, trying to figure out what was happening as Robin threw together random words and phrases, getting off on unintelligible rhymes and sounds.
"Rob! Stop messing around" KF called from across the room once he noticed what was happening. He was by his friend's side in an instant, awkwardly hovering an arm around Robin but never touching. Robin had stopped talking. "I told you, dare's off."
Looking up at Miss M, he apologized and tugged Robin off down the hall.
Artemis waited until the two were out of obvious earshot and then asked the room in general "Alright, does anyone else think Rob's been acting strange?"
Superboy, who had been sitting on the couch watching static on the TV claimed ignorance of any odd behavior.
"Artemis… I do not think this is really any of our business," Kaldur chastised "If Robin wished us to know something, he would let us know."
"But you have noticed it! Kal, I don't want to did into something that isn't mine, but what if that happens on a mission? It's something we need to be prepared for."
Miss M stayed silent, not wanting to join in to any fight between friends.
"If we were in any danger, I'm sure Batman would warn us. Until that time comes, I implore you to trust in your friends and please, do not try to cause any trouble."
Artemis dropped the conversation after that, but she knew she had gotten her point across. The next time Robin stopped speaking for days on end M'gann stopped by his room with a plate of semi-burnt cookies. Kid started having to actively push people away whenever Robin did something that left him sitting alone in his room. Even Superboy could no longer ignore the behavior.
Finally Kaldur had to address it.
During a mission to infiltrate a large human smuggling operation, Robin disappeared. This in and of itself wasn't uncommon, but once his absence was discovered Kid started to get worried. He hadn't wanted to go on a mission that day anyways and even tried to call Batman to get it called off, but the Bats was unavailable.
Superman had sent them out, and Kid Flash had fought it tooth and nail. He was finally given a choice between going with the team and having the team go without him, and after failing to get help from the silent Robin, he resigned to follow along. Now he was freaking out, trying to get Kaldur to set up a search party.
"Kid Flash, Robin is more than capable of staying out of trouble. I'm sure he will be rejoining us shortly, and sending out someone to search for him would only increase the chances of our cover being compromised." Kaldur replied over coms. He was searching with Superboy in the East wing while Artemis and Kid were in the West. Miss Martian was supposed to be paired with Robin to spy on the workers, before she confessed to not having seen him for ten minutes. "You simply have to have faith in Robin's ability and judgment" Kaldur finished, sounding more confident than he felt.
They continued to search for the human cargo, when Miss Martian called back in.
"Um, I found Robin. I think he's been captured in the control room at the southern point of the building. Uh, he's… one second."
Kid Flash vanished from Artemis's side before she even processed the information.
"Miss M!" he yelled down the hall in front of the control room, ignoring the mission's need for stealth.
Miss Martian flew through the closed door, looking relieved to find Kid Flash.
"I incapacitated the guards, but I don't know what to do about Robin." She looked uncomfortable, not really meeting his eyes.
Kid pushed past her and entered the room.
Robin was curled up on the floor against a wall. At first glance Kid thought he was crying, but then realized he was having a quiet laughing fit.
This wasn't at all the first time Kid Flash had to deal with one of Robin's fits, but it was the first time one had severely interrupted a mission. He went through the normal procedures, trying not to look like he was rushing before the rest of the team showed up. He should have told Miss M to stand guard.
Wally took the earpiece out of Rob's ear to get him to focus. Robin flinched at the touch, but that was expected. As an afterthought, he took out his own and cut off Artemis and Kaldur's voices ringing in his ear.
Next, he sat down next to Robin and tried to catch his attention.
"Robin? Robin I need to talk to you. Rob, come on you gotta listen. I'm trying to talk to you, Rob." He laid his hand lightly on Rob's knee, like the psychologist told him. Don't hold eye contact, don't grab, and don't get angry.
Robin's laugher died down and he finally made looked over at Kid with sad eyes. This was Kid Flash's least favorite part of the process, once Robin finally comes to. He knows what happens to him and despises it. Robin apologizes for "the trouble" and shuts down.
Ignoring what the psychologist had told him (the episode was already over anyways, probably) Kid Flash grabbed his friend and squeezed him in an awkward hug, careful not to pin his arms down. He planted a kiss in Robin's hair, like Barry used to do with him when he was a kid.
Robin was quiet. Wally sat next to him and replaced the earpiece, and they continued with the mission.
A/N: I just really love the idea of Robin having some terrible mental illness that he only trusts Wally with, and they have to hide it from the team. Obviously Batman knows, both because guardian and because Batman.
I based his behavior off of paranoid schizophrenia, and the steps to calm him down are vaguely accurate. I'd like to continue it, but I'd also like to finish all of my other stories.
Let me know if there's any particular P. Schiz episode/reaction you'd like to see and I'll try to add it into the hypothetical second chapter.