The Brighter Side
Disclaimer: I don't own the Young Justice Characters so please don't sue me for borrowing them
A flash of light engulfed him as lightning jolted through his body setting his nerves on fire. He could hear their voices crying out to him in mind and voice even as he fell backwards into oblivion.
Robin didn't know how long he'd been out only that he woke to find himself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling and bright florescent blue lights. There was a disorienting moment until he realized that he was in the medical bay of Mount Justice, not someplace he frequented often enough to become associated with it. He could hear a slightly muffled but nonetheless heated argument happening somewhere beyond his line of sight as he tried to remember what had happened. One voice he easily recognized as the deep baritone belonging to Batman while the other was the slightly calmer voice of Zatara the Magician. Robin pushed aside the two in favor of remembering what had happened, he did not want to get between any argument involving Batman.
They had tracked Klarion the Witch Boy to some kind of abandoned warehouse with trace amounts of Zeta-tube activities. The mission was simple, find out what the chaotic psychopath was doing and stop him if possible. Simple. If it were so simple then why was he lying in the Medical bay and what about the rest of the team? Robin delved deeper into his memories but all he found were fragmented at best, chaotic at worst. Every time he got close to those pieces of chaos his body began to shake and his breathing hitched painfully. Gritting his teeth he forced his mind to relax and set about piecing some of it together staying clear of the panicky bits. At worst he would have to speak with Black Canary about all this since she was their resident shrink in times of crisis. For now he just wanted to know what had happened. Robin breathed out letting his body and mind fall into a relaxed state as he let his memories flow around him like a river around a rock.
He clung to the shadows becoming a part of them in a way that the others could never manage to duplicate. Even M'gann could only become invisible to a certain degree, and the others had to rely on their specially designed stealth suits. But Robin had been trained to take advantage of even the smallest shadow, he could at least remain unseen from human eyes even when he was right in front of them. Through their telepathic link he could sense where the others were. It was convenient to a certain degree, being able to communicate with the others without speaking but still…he held himself back. There were some things that even he wouldn't dare share with the team, even if Batman hadn't ordered him to remain quite about them he doubted he would have openly shared everything he knew.
There was movement down below, drawing Robin's attention back to the mission as he dropped silently from the ceiling. He heard Kaldur's warning in his head and replied with a mischievous little chuckle as he disappeared back into the shadows getting closer to the target. The room was washed in an eerie orange light that gave the impression of a fire but seemed to originate from a small crystal floating in the air above the black-haired boy standing in the middle of a large pentagram. Robin listened to the archaic sounding words that echoed to every part of the largely abandoned warehouse and felt his heart begin to beat loudly in his ears.
A hand on his shoulder jerked him out of his memories as he reflexively grabbed the wrist of whoever had touched him. Robin blinked as he stared up at Batman confused for one moment as to why his mentor looked so…distressed (?), concerned (?). It was the most emotion he'd ever seen from the stoic-faced Batman and it did not leave him with a sense of uplifting hope. The few times he'd seen Batman looking so…concerned things had not ended well.
"What happened?" Robin blinked, the words were his – he'd definitely spoke them but the voice, it was too soft to have belonged to him. He jerked his hand back and a few of the memories he'd kept in check burst free engulfing him.
There was a flash of orange, a searing pain as if lightning were racing through his body as he fell to his knees against the hard floor feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of him. His skin felt like it was on fire, as if every part of him was caught in the orange flames coming from the crystal. He heard the chanting echoing above the searing pain and clamped his hands over his ears in an attempt to shut it out. It felt as if those archaic words were somehow engulfing him, he could sense confusion, panic and alarm through the link and quickly shut himself off from the others. He could hear the rumbling purr of Teekl, Klarion's familiar getting closer to him even as his mind started to sink beneath the waves of pain.
"I only got one. Huh, such a shame oh well, I guess I'll just have to play with you instead." Klarion's laughter followed him into oblivion.
Robin jerked back his heart beating a frantic rhythm against his chest as he rolled off the bed ducking beneath Batman's outstretched hands and slipping easily around Zatara's efforts to stop him. There was a mirror in the medical bay, something he'd always considered to be useless. If you were injured enough to be in the medical bay then why the hell would you possibly want to see just how injured you were? Couldn't you already get a picture of it without having to look at the possible scars? Now, however he needed that mirror, needed to be reassured beyond mere words. Words he knew Batman would speak even if they weren't true.
"Robin."
The dark knight called out a second too late as Robin stopped just in front of the full length mirror. He was still dressed in his Robin suit, although it felt tighter in certain places and looser in others, it also helped to reveal more of what was wrong. Already shorter than most of his classmates and possessing a slight, lean, well-toned build there was little about him that appeared different except where it was different. Robin stared down at his chest surprised to see the slight rise where before it had been flat, he twisted around to see that his hips held a slender quality to them that could in no way be attributed to any form of training. He felt Batman standing behind him but refused to look his mentor in the eyes as he clenched his fists at his sides. Klarion, that psycho-nut had cast a spell on him changing him into – of all things a girl.
That explains why Zatara is here. Robin glanced out of the corner of his eye towards the Magician then quickly looked away. This changes nothing.
"The rest of the team?" Robin asked glaring at his own reflection as if by doing so he might somehow change himself back to normal.
"They're fine, thanks to your quick thinking." Batman replied calmly keeping his hands tight by his sides.
"Klarion?" Robin flexed his fingers looking down at them in an effort to reassure himself that some parts of him remained – normal, even if others were different.
"He managed to escape."
"Then the mission was a failure." Robin sighed turning his head to look up at Batman. If Klarion had escaped chances were that they hadn't found out what he was doing in such a remote location in the first place.
"We have a few leads, but yes. Robin," Batman paused showing possibly the only signs of discomfort he ever would when speaking with his ward.
"The mission takes priority over me, Zatara can figure out how to change me back. We have to find Klarion." Robin replied calmly, he understood better than most that missions like this could not afford to be aborted just because of one little mishap. Even if that mishap means I might stay like this for the rest of my life. Robin shied away from the thought shaking his head as if to purge it from his mind.
"I have Aqualad, Kid Flash and Miss Martian looking for Klarion, you," Batman's eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke, "You are going to stay here with Superboy until Zatara can find a reversal spell."
Robin blinked, opened his mouth to argue then clamped it shut when he saw the stern look in Batman's eyes. There would be no arguing his point on this, for now. But I'm not giving up, I'm going to find that bastard and beat him to a pulp until he changes me back. There was a moment of surprise at the ferocity of his own thought before Batman stepped quietly out of the room reassured that for the time being Robin would listen to his orders. Left alone with Zatara, Robin sighed returning to the bed with less bravado than he had shown earlier. It was more the resigned walk of the tired than that of the doomed.
"You are taking things surprisingly well for your age, Robin." Zatara's voice made him look up as he lay back in the bed lacing his fingers behind his head as he let a slight smile spread across his face.
"It is better this way, if I go with the rest of the team I'd only end up getting hit on by Wally and that is the last thing I want to go through right now."
Zatara smiled softly as he placed a hand on Robin's shoulder, "Trust me, my young friend. I will find a spell to reverse whatever Klarion has done to you." Zatara patted Robin then turned and walked out of the room with a graceful flourish that only a magician could manage.
I trust you, but that still doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and kick my heels up while I wait for news.
Robin counted slowly in his head, letting the minutes tick by while he listened to the slow rhythm of his heart beating in his chest. After what he guessed to be about a half-hour or so, he climbed out of bed and slipped out of the medical bay without a sound. He didn't need to see the empty hanger to know that the others had left, but he would need his bike. Slipping through the shadows with trained precision he managed to make his way through the halls without being seen. It was only when he had finally made it to the hanger that Robin slipped away from the shadows. There was a loud mechanical beeping noise as a large sphere rolled past him turning to block his path. Sphere, an intelligent machine discovered during one of their missions had taken a liking to Superboy who had convinced Batman that they should keep the strange tech. Now the odd tech was keeping him from getting to his bike.
"Sphere, I don't have time to play with you!" Robin hissed in irritation folding his arms across his chest. He kept his own discomfort at the feeling of his chest from showing as his arms brushed against what he could only consider to be breasts. Not thinking about it, not thinking about it. Robin repeated the words in his head as he glared at Sphere trying to figure out how to get around her.
"Sphere doesn't think you should leave, and neither do I." The sound of Superboy's voice coming from behind made him flinch.
Of course, he should have considered the fact that wherever Sphere was Conner was never that far behind. Robin was beginning to question Batman's decision to leave the boy here instead of sending him with the rest of the team. Wally wasn't an option, for reasons beyond the fact that the boy was as big a flirt as his Uncle, Kaldur was the team leader and M'gann was needed for her telepathic abilities. Leaving Superboy, despite his obvious issues with authority and taking orders as the only possible solution.
"I'm not staying here while the rest of the team go chasing after a mad-man just because I was stupid enough to get caught in his spell." Robin replied clenching his fists at his sides, "Someone like you wouldn't understand."
"I understand that you're going out there no matter what I say." Conner replied in what had to be the calmest voice Robin had ever heard coming from the often-times volatile boy. "I'm not going to stop you, the Bat's never said I had to keep you here. He only told me to keep an eye on you in case you tried to go off on your own."
"Meaning…?" Robin glanced behind him in time to catch the bike helmet Conner tossed his way.
"Meaning I think it's better if the two of us go together. I'm not much for babysitting and Sphere needs to be taken out anyways, she's getting bored staying cooped up here."
