Challenge: Robin in Peril from the Young Justice Challenges Forum
Yeah… I kind of turned it into a Red Arrow and Green Arrow bonding fic near the end. And there isn't much of Lex, but… Heh *shrugs sheepishly*
X
Red Arrow hitched the small body higher up on his back as he trudged through the damp ground of the cave. The mission would have been too complicated for him alone, so he asked Robin - the person in Young Justice that he had known for the longest - to help him out.
They were supposed to be fighting some new villain to the scene. Roy and Robin had even laughed about it earlier. New villains always under estimated heroes, which almost always lead to them being easily taken down. So it was easy to imagine when they saw Lex Luther at the heart of the cave they were surprised. Luther had taken them down effortlessly. As a last resort, Red Arrow shot an exploding arrow at the ceiling. Rocks rained down and created a wall between Luther and them. Everything seemed alright until he looked over to Robin just as a rock clocked him on the head.
Thinking quickly, Red Arrow scooped him up and bolted in the direction of the exit. He ran until he couldn't hear the noises coming from the heart of the cave. Roy set Robin down against one of the walls and gently tapped his face until he came to. "Speedy?" Robin looked around. "Where are we?" This is bad Roy thought as he grit his teeth. He searched his mind for information on concussions. Grade I on the Cantu guidelines: Post-traumatic amnesia, no loss of consciousness. Okay, not that one since he already passed out. Grade II: Loss of consciousness for up to five minutes or amnesia lasting thirty minutes to twenty four hours. Probably that one.
"Speedy?" Robin's voice cracked. "What's going on? My head's throbbing."
"You have a concussion," Roy decided to put it bluntly. "Only grade two, but you'll probably lose consciousness off and on and you have amnesia-"
"Oh," Robin said softly and went limp.
"-and my name is Red Arrow." Roy sighed and started to pick him up again just as he heard voices down the hall. He shot a grappling hook arrow at the ceiling just before five henchmen rounded the corner. Roy's eyes widened behind his mask. They were out already? There was no way they were going to make it out on their own. He still had to climb up at least three sloping miles without getting caught and there was only one way out. And he couldn't shot another arrow exploding arrow at the ceiling – their only hope for escape - or the whole place would probably fall down on them. Roy was going to have to call – he sneered – the League. He sent the distress signal out and prayed that someone would arrive soon.
X
Roy moved them farther up in the cave to a dark passage that he knew leaded to a dead end. The goons weren't particularly smart, so they might not check there. Roy knew it wasn't the safest place, but it was the only place. Robin woke a couple minutes later and rose on shaky legs. He made it a couple steps before swaying and falling on his backside. Red Arrow tries to think of the last time he had ever seen Robin like this and realizes that he's never. Robin was a lot of things – quick on his feet, clever, small, young – but never so weak. Roy hasn't even heard of a time that he was ever fatally injured, but it's probably happened. Batman was the best at keeping secrets.
Robin leans his head on the cold cave wall, and Roy wishes he could help, but the best thing for a concussion was sleep. "Speedy?"
"Its Red Arrow now."
Robin frowns. "Why? And why do you have a different costume?"
"I was tired of being treated like a sidekick. I left the League," He snorts. "Yeah, right. I wasn't even in the League."
Robin 'hum's and loses consciousness.
X
Red Arrow waits another fifteen minutes before help arrives. He hears the sound of boulders falling and water rushing in. Robin jolts awake as Roy roughly grabs him and runs toward the source. He makes it halfway there before Aquaman meets him.
"Are you alright, son?" Aquaman asks as he offers a hand to help him onto the dolphin cluster thing. Roy can't help it, but he's surprised he can hear Aquaman around his impressive beard.
"Yeah. Robin has a Grade II concussion, though."
Aquaman nods. "Better get him to a hospital."
X
Red Arrow waits outside of Robin's hospital room. He had been in there when Robin woke up again, Batman coming shortly after. Roy decided to give them some privacy.
"Roy?" Came the all too familiar voice. His jaw twitches, and Red Arrow moves to walk in the other direction. "I know you can hear me."
Roy turns to face him. It was the first time seeing each other in months, and Green Arrow looked the same. His new sidekick must be doing her job. "What?"
"Sit with me," He says, patting the seat next to him. Roy wants to tell him that he's not the boss of him anymore, but does it anyway. "You could have asked me for help."
"I handled it."
"No, you didn't. Robin getting hurt is proof of that," Oliver sighs. "Don't you think it could have gone better if it was me and you? Like old times?"
"Like old times," Roy narrows his eyes behind his mask. "Any chance of old times was destroyed when you got your new sidekick."
"I thought you left forever, Roy," Oliver's lips quirked. "You're stubborn, and you know it. You wouldn't come back."
"That's not the point-"
"Yes it is," Green Arrow cuts him off, and it's silent for a moment. "You feel like you've been replaced, but you haven't. She's not like you, Roy. And if you did come back, it could be the three of us. Not like old times, but better."
"I'm not coming back. That's that."
"Fine, I can deal with that," Oliver's forehead wrinkled in a way that Roy knew he was looking at him seriously. "Just visit every now and then. I miss you."
Roy's face falls at the last part. He stands. "I'll come, but when I want to."
Oliver's lips quirk. Stubborn, like usual. "That's fine with me."
Roy storms off and Ollie chuckles to himself. That went easier than he thought it would have.