A/N: Hi guys. This is the first chapter of my first fanfic. Reviews would be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy it. ~ Velvie
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.
He slumped to the floor, and the picture frame bounced off the ground. Pictures were all he had left of her. Robin grabbed the picture and clutched it to his chest as he wept silent tears for Zatanna. He knew she was never coming back. Nabu would make sure of that. The night she placed the helmet of Dr. Fate on her head, Robin knew she would never come back. Her magical abilities were perfect for the role, and her father had been unable to convince Fate to take him instead. He knew Zatara would be taking it harder than himself, but Robin could not help but feel grief. He loved Zatanna more than anything, but had never worked up the guts to tell her.
The rest of the team walked in to find Robin lying on the floor in tears and didn't know how to react. There he was, the strong, independent young boy, broken down and defeated. Kaldur approached Robin slowly and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"She may not be gone forever" he said calmly.
"She is!" Robin yelled "Nabu wouldn't release her then, so why would he ever release her?!" he rolled away from Kaldur and jumped to his feet. "She's gone! ... She's gone..." The tears rolled down his cheeks. Robin fell to his knees and let the picture frame fall to the ground as he covered his face to hide the tears.
Kaldur slowly picked up the picture and set it down on the nearest surface. He bent down again and spoke gently to Robin once more."It's ok to miss her, we all do. She was part of our team, and will never be forgotten".
Wally went up to Robin and Kaldur and crouched beside them. "Rob, it's ok. She's not really gone. She's just gotta be someone else for a little while. We'll find a way to get her back. I promise." The rest of the team gathered round silently. Robin remained unmoving for a few moments. Suddenly, he jumped up and ran out of the room.
"You don't understand!" he yelled back to them. The team all looked at each other, unsure what to say next.
"Maybe we oughta call Batman" Wally suggested.
A few brief moments passed between the call to Batman and his arrival.
"So where is Robin?" he asked, getting straight to the point.
"I'm afraid to report that Robin is no longer inside the cave" Kaldur sighed as he returned from his search.
"Did anyone even see him leave?" Wally asked. The team shared a look to confirm that nobody had seen or heard him leave.
"He could be anywhere by now" Artemis said, looking at the zeta tubes.
"I suggest we split up and start searching" said Kaldur.
"But where do we start?" Conner asked in a negative tone. Everyone looked to Kaldur and Batman for leadership and direction.
After a few moments of silence, Batman addressed the team. "Aqualad, you and the team divide up and search any place you think he may be". Conner and M'gann glanced at each other at the same time as Wally and Artemis.
"I will go with Superboy and Miss Martian and start searching downtown. Kid Flash and Artemis will do one more search of the cave and then join us in our search. We will split up again from there." Kaldur decided. Batman nodded approvingly and started towards the zeta tubes.
"But where will you search?" Wally called over to Batman.
"I will search in the place I believe I will find him. The Batcave."
Wally sped around the cave in search of Robin while Artemis waited by the zeta tubes. "He's definitely not here" Wally sighed.
"I'm really worried about him. He's just a kid." Artemis replied
"Which is exactly why we need to find him." The pair left the cave and began their walk downtown. Wally walked beside Artemis instead of running ahead, obviously worried about his best friend.
"I just... I thought Rob was stronger than this. He's never reacted so badly to anything since joining the team." Artemis looked over to Wally sympathetically.
"We'll find him, and he'll be ok. Like I said, he's just a kid. He's probably never had to deal with loss before". Wally knew Artemis was wrong, but he could never tell her that. He knew all about the Flying Graysons and his family's deaths. But he was the only one on the team that did.
Kaldur, Conner and M'gann walked along the street in silence, alert for any sign of Robin. "Poor Robin..." said M'gann. Conner touched M'gann's arm.
"It's ok, we'll find him." He told her.
"I agree. I'm sure Robin is just calming down somewhere that he feels safe. Although I doubt he'll have come out here to do so, we must keep searching." Kaldur added. The three of them returned to silence as they continued their search. Conner suddenly tripped on a loose paving stone and fell. He fell on top of Wally, who was coming in the other direction.
"Hah, thanks for catching me" Conner joked.
"Ow" Wally mumbled from underneath Conner. The boys stood up and brushed themselves down.
"Now that we're all here, let's continue our search" Kaldur said. The team nodded in agreement and started walking.
Batman began his journey to where he knew Robin would be. However, he wasn't headed to the Batcave. He was headed to his home. When he arrived, he opened the door and was greeted by his butler, Alfred. "Dick is..." Alfred began, but was interrupted by Batman.
"I know". Batman headed straight to the gym, and was unsurprised to find Robin down there. He pushed open the door and Robin stopped and dismounted from the trapeze.
"What do you want?" Robin asked angrily, maintaining eye contact with Batman.
"I heard you're upset over Zatanna" Batman responded calmly.
"Yeah, but what's it to you?" Robin spat back. He couldn't understand why Batman would care about his problems.
"Your team is worried about you. They're out searching for you now." Batman remained calm and kept eye contact with Robin.
"So why are you here?" Robin responded, slightly surprised that Batman had joined the search for him when he could have been doing any number of other things.
"I was looking for you too. I'm... worried." Batman replied. "Not everyone will stay in your life forever, Robin. You have to understand that you can't let your emotions get the better of you. Zatanna wouldn't want you to act like this; she'd want you to go back to being a valued member of the team. They need you in their team. I need you as my sidekick." Batman nodded to Robin before exiting the room. Robin was left speechless.
The team gave up their search and returned to the cave to find Batman waiting for them. "Did you find him?" Kaldur asked. Batman nodded.
Artemis stepped forward "So? How is he?"
Batman remained silent for a few moments longer before replying. "Robin is fine. However, he will be taking a few days off from team assignments in order to help him clear his head. He will be allowed into the cave but will not be participating in missions given to the team. He will return when I believe he is ready."
The team looked at Batman in stunned silence. Robin was off the team? He was only gone temporarily, but who knew how long it would take him to recover from his sadness? Batman left the cave without another word and the team stood still, thinking over what they had just heard. Wally sighed and sat down, obviously upset over the news about his best friend.
Kaldur spoke up "There's no use all of us being sad. We have to move on and get on with life, for Zatanna – and Robin." The team nodded in agreement but none of them could quite shake the feeling that their team was falling apart.