...

Hush

Seeing Red

Robin sucked in a breath through his teeth as he peered down the face of the building to the street twenty-eight stories below. He'd never been one for vertigo; the feeling of being perched so high…he was at his prime.

He cast his sight to the left a tad, spying the brisk approach of the metal-plated android and his teammates in hot pursuit. He faintly considered that informing the rest of the group of his plan would've been a sensible move, but then, where was the fun in that?

Eyes, veiled behind the ever-present domino mask, gauged the distance and speed that his foe was traveling at, then calculated how long it would take his body to attain the ground from his present altitude.

"Cake," he muttered to himself as he stepped up to the ledge, spreading his arms out and plunging headfirst into open air.

A grin peeled athwart his maw in his descent; the air rushing past his skin, tugging at his ebony locks and taking life at the tips of his cape; it was what he was born for. Eyeing the rapidly approaching earth, he tipped forward elegantly, flipping from his nosedive to finish his descent heels first.

Kaldur'ahm knew this chase was heading nowhere. Not only was their quarry steadily drawing further away, but somewhere along the line they'd lost track of their youngest team member! His legs pounded the streets mercilessly as he pushed his body faster, bare feet toughened by training padding atop the asphalt.

Superboy and Miss Martian had taken to the skies (Superboy leaping more so than flying), but weren't having much better luck. Kid Flash was the only one amongst them who was right on Twister's tail, dodging every tempest wave that the android let loose at him.

It was still a mystery as to how the robot had come about again; M'gann had definitely taken care of it the first time around, so it had to be a new model. But then, who rebuilt it? And why had it shown up once again, calling for attention?—only this time, it didn't demand "real superheroes", instead, it was quite content in attracting the group of teenagers.

Mr. Twister (2.0) was about to unleash another wave, aimed precisely at Kid Flash when a small, dark blur hammered into it from above. The intruding presence was in no way heavy, but the momentum of its fall carried with it a devastating punch.

Robin.

The force drove the machine into the pavement, dragging and scraping the ground with a horrible grating sound, sparks flying.

With a shout, Kid Flash leaped aside at the last moment to avoid a collision, loosing balance briefly before regaining composure. His head snapped back to the scene in confusion.

Regrettably, the boy wonder was not as fortunate. Unprepared for the jolt, as it had been a spur-of-the-moment whim, Robin was catapulted from the android's back and sent rocketing forward. He cried out as his body made contact with the street and continued to double over and over itself, the asphalt pummeling his form despite his efforts to stop himself.

The damage would have continued to multiply had Superboy not leaped in the way and taken the impact of the boy's momentum. The thirteen-year-old rammed into the larger male's chest, sending the clone back a few inches in his crouch.

"Robin!" Aqualad and Kid Flash shouted simultaneously.

"Th-Thanks for that…" the boy gasped, wincing when pain rocketed through him. But, even so, it didn't feel as bad at is should have with adrenaline pumping through his veins. With the help of the clone, Robin stood up on jellied legs, half grinning as he produced a small control.

The robot was picking itself up from the crater it had generated, pieces of rock and dust tumbling off its metallic outer shell.

"Gain way!" Robin shouted, pausing briefly as his teammates dove to the ground before jamming the button with his thumb and shielding himself and Superboy with his cape.

The machine had barely registered the three beeping devices stamped on its back when they exploded. Chunks of debris were hurled outward, colliding with cars, busting windows and taking out a branch or two from a nearby tree.

Coughing through the dust, M'gann peered out from behind the car she'd used for cover, eyes scanning for her friends. Is everyone alright? She communicated mentally. …Guys?

Fine, came Kaldur's mental reply, easing her rising anxiety.

Ugh…Not dead, Wally huffed.

…Superboy? Robin? She called when neither responded immediately. Vainly she extended the psychic link, only to hear nothing.

"Can someone fill me in here?" the red-head asked, waving a hand to clear the air around his nose. He coughed. "What the heck just happened?"

As the dust began to dissipate, settling down with a fine layer of soot, Aqualad's highlight blue eyes began to make out silhouettes.

Then there was a sudden grinding sound, followed by crackling before a shout breached the atmosphere. The three teens sprang into action.

"Kid Flash, see if you can rid us of this cloud and call for back-up! Miss Martian! Come with me; try to locate the others!"

Robin and Superboy broke apart and dodged the shot of electricity the android let loose. Neither was pleased that the machine was hardly damaged. Apparently this new model had been created to withstand Robin's bombs—how could the creator have known the caliber of his weapons?

"Now, now, don't tell me that's all you've got? Apparently this is all I can hope for from a couple of children," the robot drawled out, taking aim and firing once more.

"Who're you calling children?" Superboy growled, leaping at the enemy and swinging at its head. He really didn't need to take this. If the oversized toaster insisted on insulting him, he'd simply smash it to pieces. The typical punch-and-crush was Connor's preferred solution to most issues.

The android merely shifted back quickly, avoiding each and every punch aimed at him. It almost seemed as if the thing could read his attacks. Obviously this new version could match his speed.

"Child's play," it cooed, cuffing the teen across the head before electrocuting him.

The clone cried out and was sent flying backward into a mailbox, mashing the object beneath his body. He groaned dizzily, placing a hand on his head and glaring death at his enemy before Robin was suddenly on top of the machine's shoulders.

Instantly he dug his hands into the neck of the Mr. Twister upgrade, fingers searching for a weak point where he might access inner wiring. He guessed that the neck was the weakest area; it had to be flexible for range of movement thus the armor should have been thinner…

There!

Just under the jaw. All he needed was to pry it open and…

Something clamped down on the thirteen-year-old's ankle and the next thing he knew he was yanked down. His back connected with the asphalt, driving the breath from him, his leg still hitched up in the enemy's grasp. The back of his scull felt oddly warm all of a sudden…

"Let him GO!" Connor roared, lunging.

"Superboy! Wait!" Kaldur yelled after him, appearing with M'gann in suite, twin blades at hand.

But the kryptonian's momentum drove him straight into Mr. Twister. Using the opening, the android seized the boy's neck and elevated him, compressing its fist around the muscled throat, eliciting a gargled growl from the teenager.

Aqualad surged forward, hacking at the enemy when Superboy's body was shoved into him and kicked backward, sending the two flying. M'gann screamed in horror and turned on the android, eyes alight with fury.

"So we meet again young shape-shifter," the machine drawled, releasing Robin's flaccid leg and turning to face her. "You're trick won't fool me again." Electricity trickled off the tips of the robot's hands and sprang forward.

She dodged. Levitating a SUV, she launched it in response—Mr. Twister leaped back in evasion; several streetlights followed suit. In the moments subsequent, she failed to see the fist hurled at her through the cloud of debris that billowed from the collision; her eyes barely registered the danger when…

"Miss M!"

A body impacted her and she cried out; the fist narrowly missing her form.

"Wally!" she gasped, finding herself in the teen's arms. He set her down. "We can't handle him, he's too strong!"

"I know! I already called for back-up…and watch with the identities." His acidic eyes scanned the scene around them. Superboy and Aqualad were back up and fighting but… "Where's Rob?"

"I-I don't know…Ah!" she cried out, locating the battered body of the thirteen-year-old within the chaos.

Wally followed her gaze, eyes widening. He rushed over, kneeling down beside the boy.

Robin wasn't moving.

"There's…blood," M'gann whimpered, trembling hands enclosing her mouth.

"Rob, wake up!" Wally urged, one hand carefully lifting the boy's head while the other nudged his arm.

Robin let loose a groan, but somehow managed to respond. "KF…" He was wheezing.

Wally tried to stay calm and not think about the blood that was dribbling from his hand down to his elbow. "Rob! How many fingers am I holding up?" The boy exhaled in response, clearly irate with the question, but replied when the speedster repeated it.

"…Four." At least, it looked like four. It also looked like Kid had grown a second head, but that was irrelevant.

"Wrong," Wally sighed, ice settling in his stomach. This was bad. Real bad. They needed help, now.

A yell shattered the air; Kaldur fell, body smoking from the shock he'd received, limbs still twitching somewhat. Conner wasn't fairing much better as he rose again to combat the enemy. It was no use, though.

Their situation had become even more desperate, Wally concluded. The android knew and far bested their forces, Kaldur was down and sizzled, Robin was bleeding out with possible head trauma, and the remainder of their team was hardly adequate against this foe. He watched as Miss Martian joined in on the fight. "It's got no weakness."

"Ihh does…"

The red-head looked down, startled. Robin was attempting to sit up, masked eyes riveted on Mr. Twister. "Stay still! You're in no shape to move!" Wally interjected, resisting the boy's movements with his arm.

Suddenly Robin turned to him, pain and determination tightening his jaw. "Lissen," he slurred, gripping Wally's bicep with such force it caused the elder to flinch. "His weakness…neck…" A moan escaped him, gloved fingers cupping his head, breath erratic.

Kid Flash couldn't help but stare at the amount of blood Rob had lost suddenly, how his skin had drained of its color making him look waiflike, almost…dead. A shiver racked up Wally's spine but a tight squeeze on his arm returned his focus.

"His neck…!" Robin stressed again, producing a small bomb from his belt and thrusting it at the speedster. "Geh this on his neck…right at the base."

"Rob—"

"GO!" he growled, sitting up and shoving his friend away. The two met gazes, one worried, the other determined. "Ten seconds."

After a moment's hesitation, the speedster nodded, stood and shot off toward the mayhem.

He made it just in time to catch M'gann as she was hurled to the ground. Her hand passed over her mouth, wiping away a stream of blood, he noticed, while her cheek developed a purplish bruise. "I'm fine," she muttered, regaining her posture.

"Good," he sighed, not uncaringly, "'cause we've got a plan." He flashed her the bomb carefully enclosed in his fingers. "Link us up?"

"Got it!" she nodded, extending her awareness to the thoughts of her teammates. Team. Can everyone hear me? She communicated.

Somehow, M'gann, came Kaldur's hoarse response as he struggled to his knees. The shock to his body had been brutal; he doubted he'd be of much use. The burn to his duty, though, was far worse: how could he have let his team suffer this badly? He should have devised a full-proof plan from the start…

Aqualad! You're okay! She gushed, comforted that their leader was at least conscious as she and Kid Flash approached Mr. Twister, M'gann doing her best to help Superboy. A brief grunt from the clone indicated his wellbeing.

Robin found a weakness—I need an opening on circuit-dude's neck! Wally cut in, knowing time was not on their side.

Kaldur somehow made it to his feet, brandishing his blades once more. Understood. Superboy and I will restrain him. Miss Martian, you cover Kid Flash. Then, something hit the Atlantian. Where is Robin?

Wally and M'gann flinched somewhat.

There's no time for that. We gotta hurry! Wally shrieked through the connection, causing the entire team to flinch.

The dark-skinned youth nodded an affirmative. Go!

Superboy and Aqualad sprang into action, charging their foe with deadly force—breaking apart at just the last second. Superboy aimed a fist at the android's chest, tipping his weight and strength into the blow, only to have it blocked; the team leader swiveled right around and slashed at the unprotected back. His attack was also blocked, but it gave Conner enough leverage to restrain one arm in a furious grip that triggered a strained whine from the metal. Aqualad immediately seized the other limb, holding fast with all his might, his grey-blue eyes flashing at the other two.

M'gann immediately rammed her knee into the enemy's skull while the two teens grappled with its powerful arms. The blow looked deceivingly frail, but the disturbance it blew into the atmosphere was a palpable sign otherwise. The metallic cranium snapped to the side momentarily and she wrapped herself around it to keep it placed.

A chuckle reverberated through the air. "You feeble weaklings think that will do much damage?" the machine taunted as electricity sparked in its hands.

Just then, a yellow blur pounced atop the android's back, slapping the deadly bomb at the base of its exposed neck. Wally's face split into a merciless grin as he retorted, "No…but this might! Bail!"

The four young heroes ripped away from Mr. Twister as the tiny device lit up and a high pitched squeal reached their ears.

Ten seconds! Kid Flash communicated as he quickly—but carefully—lifted the boy wonder into his arms and took off, the rest of the team clearing the bomb zone.

"…Wa…lly," Robin muttered weakly.

"I know, Rob…Hold on!" The speedster quickly crouched and shielded his friend as the blast erupted behind them. Despite the distance he'd covered, Kid Flash still felt the rush of wind from the explosion and the sharp pelting of debris against his back. Several pieces, he felt, sliced right through his suit and cut the skin around his spine. When the air finally stilled, the red-head chanced a look back.

A dense layer of smog still tarried near ground zero of the bomb, but as it slowly dissolved, he could identify the strewn lumps of scorched metallic fragments.

"We nailed him!" Conner shouted, a rare but satisfied smirk gracing his lips, his shirt hanging in shreds around his chiseled physique as he lifted the android's dismembered arm.

Aqualad allowed himself a smile, dropping a hand onto the clone's shoulder as he came around. "Well done, team," he said with relief, eyeing the small crater blackened with soot and the splinters of metal and wiring that speckled the ground. It was a bit more damage than he'd have hoped, but it was inevitable. Desperate the situation was to drive Robin to detonate the prototype mortar—their foe had been far too powerful for things to have stayed clean.

All of a sudden, M'gann's mouth fell open, a gasp stealing her breath as she recalled their youngest team member.

"Robin!" she cried, soaring over to the speedster, the rest of the team following in urgent confusion. The look on her face was more than concerning and Superboy and Aqualad somehow sensed their triumph was blighted.

Upon arriving, the three teens felt their stomachs wrench in horror. Wally was kneeled down, cradling Robin in what appeared to be a literal blood bath. The thirteen-year-old was dangerously pale and unmoving as red dripped from his scalp and down Wally's forearm, smearing the bright yellow suit and pooling on the concrete below them. Blood leaking from the speedster's slashed back only augmented the callous scene as it too found home on the discolored street.

"Rob, you gotta stay with me!" Wally was saying, gently nudging the youth, panic and concern etched across his freckled face. It was almost heartbreaking how his voice splintered calling out to his best friend; he didn't seem to even register his own injuries which, by the look of them, weren't so minor themselves. His physical pain was numbed in comparison to the state of his dear friend.

Just as the three approached, green eyes snapped toward them, lustrous and acidic in urgency. "Miss M.," he commanded forcefully, but not crudely, "get the Bioship! He's practically class three hemorrhage and is about to go into shock if we don't stop the blood loss!"
"O-On it!" she gasped, bidding over the ship and mentally reproaching herself for not doing so in the first place.

"Superboy, I need strips from your shirt to wrap his head. Aqualad, see if you can help support him while I do so. Don't let him pass out on you!"

The team was quick to move, three tending to the boy whilst the ship made it over to their location. "What happened?" the Atlantian asked after a moment of hushed work.

"That talking toaster slammed him into the ground," Conner growled furiously, fists clenched and trembling in ire. He hadn't been fast enough to prevent it from happening…and he was contrite. His mind worked furiously in his shame. Bet Superman would've been able to stop it… The guilt cut him like a knife wouldn't.

Kid Flash made an outraged noise as he continued his delicate work. "Because of that fucking thing Rob might have a severe contusion! Let's not forget the fact that his scalp's split open and he's hemorrhaging with a concussion!" His voice swiftly dropped into something so toxic it surprised even Superboy. "I swear if I ever get my hands on the loser who made that thing—"

"Kid Flash," Aqualad cut him off harshly, drawing attention to himself; the younger male abruptly looked up. "You need to calm down," he reasoned in a milder manner, eyes holding the speedster's gaze. "We are all worried, but you need to maintain your cool…for Robin's sake."

The teen gritted his teeth until he was sure they would shatter, but knew Kaldur had reason. Looking down at the fragile boy, he felt his heart tug, his jaw slack. Guilt, much like the one plaguing Superboy, hit him deep, and it was all he had not to break down in tears of resentment and anguish. If Robin didn't make it…no. He would make it. Of that Wally would make damn sure.

'Just gotta stay calm…" he mentally recited. Robin couldn't afford inattentiveness. He had to save his best friend. Nothing else mattered.

Miss Martian's brows pulled together in muted sympathy for the red-head as her mind inadvertently tuned into his. She turned away respectfully, but could not shake the intensity of the boy's emotions. It was almost suffocating…

"It's almost here," she remarked tightly, sighting the ship from around a building as it descended toward them. Her hand swiftly did away with the wetness brimming her eyes.

As Wally finished tying the makeshift bandages, Robin's hand suddenly clamped down on the speedster's wrist.

"Robin!" Kaldur blurted, looking down at the young boy's face for any sign of coherency.

"His heartbeat's racing," Conner cut in anxiously, hearing the muscle flutter within the boy's breast.

"Wha…ugh," Robin's grip on the fifteen-year-old's wrist tightened to a bruising squeeze before his hand went limp and dropped away. "Don' touch meh…" Vainly, he attempted to move, his actions slothful and clumsy.

"Robin, it's us, the team. Don't you recognize us?" M'gann asked, hovering just feet away.

"It's the blood loss," Wally explained, slipping his hands underneath Robin's knees and shoulders, tenderly tilting the younger male's head against his chest as he stood up.

"We need to get him to the base, immediately. M'gann, please set the course and try to get in contact with the League."

She nodded her affirmative. "Of course, Aqualad."

"Need help?" Superboy offered, sincerity evident despite his awkwardness.

Wally shook his head as he swiftly boarded the freshly landed Bioship, eyes riveted on his friend's pallid face. "I'm fine…Thanks, Supey." He nudged Robin a bit to keep him conscious, eliciting a pained mewl and muttered nonsense.

"Incoming transmission," came M'gann's voice as the last two entered and the ship took to the sky. "It's Black Canary."

The blond woman's face flickered into the teen's view.

"Get the medical wing ready immediately!" Kid Flash blurted before the woman could utter a word.

Her gaze narrowed through the screen. "What hap—" She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes fell on the speedster and his charge. Shock, alarm, and conception guttered past her face. "Understood. Hurry." Her last word—tinged with worry—lingered in the air as the transmission ceased. The entire team felt the choked sense of dread.

'Hold on, Rob. We're almost home,' Wally thought, coming down to his knees, tears finally spilling from his eyes. He buried his face into the inked locks, chest heaving coarsely with every sob as he broke apart, piece by piece. His fingers trembled whilst they cleaved to Robin's form in the fevered hope that his hands and pleas alone could keep the boy wonder from slipping away into silence. 'Rob just…You can't leave me…'

Tah-Dah~

The very first chapter of my very first (and to me overdue) Young Justice fic! Yaaaay! :D [based on the original YJ series where Dick was Robin]

PLEASE REVIEW! I WANT to know what you think about the story; in fact I NEED it! And please refrain from giving me those short "Cool story. Update soon." reviews because they can't even be considered reviews and frankly do nothing to motivate me in updating-better put, I just don't like those very much. I do love well thought-out reviews and delight in answering questions. Constructive criticism is also well received. So please, if you can, leave me a review! They make me happy(:

For those who intend on following this fic, I'd like to let you know that the second chapter is already in the making, so it shouldn't take too long for me to finish, edit, and upload it. Also, this story is (as pretty much all of my stories are) slash. Expect a bit more than friendly interactions between Wally and Dick, though I've not yet decided how far it will go (in terms of bases, if you catch my drift). Then there's going to be the ever-expected, ever-loved friendship fluff between Robin and the rest of the team (because Robin is the baby of the group and everyone loves Robin! xD).

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the beginning as much as I enjoyed writing it (well, the times where I wasn't plagued with writer's block...).

- Edited 1/8/17 -

-Kit