Warning: Some Language . . .


The couple entered the Rail Canada railway station in Jasper, Alberta, Canada. There were two routes to choose from but the Intel that they received indicated the destination was Prince Rupert, British Columbia rather than Vancouver. The pretty brunette smiled and fluttered her eyelashes demurely at her companion. The redheaded man laughingly allowed her to lead him through the passenger train in search of their private cabin. They were a good-looking couple and several of the passengers watched them pass with interest or amusement.

The brunette leaned against the wall and glanced around but the corridor was empty. Her companion unlocked the door to their cabin and allowed her to enter ahead of him as he carried what appeared to be a bag containing ski equipment with them. He propped it against the door leading to what he assumed to be a tiny bathroom and shut the door behind them.

"Do you think anyone noticed," the brunette asked.

"If they did, they didn't recognize us," he replied.

She peeled her wig off and, seconds later, her long, blonde hair was cascading down her back. "Out of uniform and without our masks no one should have recognized us," she commented. "I'm still a little surprised that you came. I thought that the team was beneath you."

Roy sat on the couch that doubled as one of the beds with a sigh. "I'm here as a favor . . . And to keep an eye on you and that super clone."

Artemis bristled. "Were you always an asshole or do you take lessons?"

Roy grinned and laid across the small couch, placing his hand behind his head in a decadent parody of relaxation. "This is all natural, baby."

Artemis rolled her eyes and made a face. "Ew. I wouldn't go bragging on that if I were you."

She headed over to the extra door that looked like it was a closet. It wasn't. Opening it revealed the backside of connecting door that led to the cabin next to theirs. She had just raised her hand to knock when the door opened. A young boy, incongruously wearing a pair of sunglasses despite being inside a train compartment, smirked up at her.

"About time you two showed up," Robin commented. "Conner and I have been here for the past half hour waiting on you."

Artemis glanced behind her at Roy. "We would have been here sooner if macho man here would have stopped to ask directions."

"Hey! We made it, didn't we? With time to spare," Roy sat up.

Almost as if to remind him how close they had been cutting it, the train lurched and began to move out of the station. Artemis made a production of checking her watch.

"Five minutes," she remarked dryly. "We had all of five minutes to spare."

"Chillax, we're all good," he watched as the outskirts of Jasper slid by their window.

"'Chillax?' Who says that?" Artemis gaped at him, exasperated.

Robin moved into the tiny cabin and ignored the chair to prop himself onto the tiny table. Conner moved into the room behind him.

Artemis waved a hand at Superboy. "Why couldn't I have been paired up with Conner? Why did I have to get stuck with him?" She glared at Roy as he pointedly ignored her.

"Because Robin and I look more like brothers than anyone else on the team," Conner replied.

"You both have black hair," Artemis snorted. "Not much else in the way of resemblance."

Conner just shrugged. "Take it up with the Bat, then. I'm just following orders."

"What about that Martian chick," Roy chimed in. "She could have made herself to look like anyone."

"That may be true," Robin said, "but she's busy checking out airports and piloting the bioship for her part of the mission. Anyhow, I've been teaching Supey how to act like a big brother."

"Really?" Artemis looked skeptical.

"It'll work," Robin assured her.

To demonstrate, Conner reached over and ruffled Robin's hair. He then pulled the smaller boy off of the table, putting his arm around the smaller boy's neck and giving him a noogie on the top of his head.

"Cut it out, you jerk," Robin yelped, pushing his way out of the hold. "I'm telling Mom!"

"Mom's not here to save you, shrimp," Conner replied smugly.

"Not bad," Artemis admitted, smiling at their antics.

"Better than Roy," Robin laughed. "Seriously, dude, I think KF would have made a more romantic boyfriend than you. No one seeing you two would ever believe you're a couple."

Roy snorted. "And what would a thirteen year old know about being romantic?"

"I've had the best of examples to learn from," he said confidently.

Conner glanced at him, confused. "Batman?"

Robin hesitated and then laughed. "No, not Batman," he told them. "My . . . Uh, my dad is a bit of a . . ." he faltered again.

"A playboy?" Artemis supplied. "Seriously? Who's your dad anyway? Bruce Wayne?"

Robin blanched. "No! He's nobody important, but he's good with the ladies."

Artemis looked at him funny. "Really? And what's your mom think about that?"

Robin's smirk fell away. "She . . . Uh, she's gone."

"She's dead?" Conner asked bluntly.

Robin turned his head and watch as the Canadian town finally disappeared and farmland now swept by the window. "Just . . . She's just gone." He was suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation. He wasn't supposed to give away clues to his identity and admitting his mother was dead, he worried, might be too revealing.

"My dad left," Artemis volunteered in a whisper. She leaned forward to lay a hand over the younger boy's briefly. "It's just my mom and me now."

Robin glanced at her gratefully. He would take that excuse. He almost blew it. Time to change the subject. "We should go back over our mission. You know, make sure we have everything down the way Batman laid it out."

"We are to remain incognito, intercept the agent of the Light, and relieve him of whatever merchandise he is supposed to be transporting, then return to Happy Harbor," Conner stated succinctly.

"Except that we don't know who the agent is or how many of them will be required for the transport," Artemis added.

"Or what the merchandise is exactly," Robin put in. "Have you guys come up with any ideas for that?"

Roy spoke, "It would need to be something relatively small as this is a passenger train."

"It could be a person," Conner said. Everyone looked at him in silence. Uncomfortable with the sudden attention, he spoke, glaring at each of them defensively. "What? It's a viable option!"

Robin chimed in quickly. "No! No, you're right! It's a really good suggestion! I don't think any of us considered that the merchandise could be a person but it makes sense. Why else would they choose a civilian passenger train?"

Roy leaned his elbows on his knees, nodding. "Yeah, I can see that. I mean, why not choose a freight train to transport the merchandise unless one needed to be concerned with its comfort?"

"Why wouldn't they just fly it, then? Why go to the trouble of taking a four-day train trip across the Canadian Rockies and leave the merchandise exposed when they could have just hopped a plane and been there in a few hours," Artemis argued.

"Because security is much tighter at airports," Robin told her, "even in Canada. But security for trains is lighter, making it much easier to smuggle something or someone who might be recognized."

"Again," Roy spread his hands out as he played devil's advocate, "there are roads, too. If you can afford a few days, why not just take a car or a truck? Why a train?"

"Driving a car through a pass in the Canadian Rockies during winter? These guys are bad but I don't think they're crazy!" Robin countered.

"Actually, those areas are already being investigated by Kid Flash and Miss Martian," Conner announced. "They are checking out the airports nearby and flying to our destination city. If they cannot locate the Light's agents there, they will begin to search the highways via the bioship."

"The roads that aren't closed during the winter months," Robin inserted.

"Two of them to check airports and highways, but it takes four of us to check out a train over the course of four days," Artemis muttered in disgust.

"According to the intel that Batman received, the train was the most likely scenario. Batman wanted to make sure our bases were covered in the event that more than one agent is involved in the transfer," Robin told her.

Roy looked out the window and noticed that the city had fallen away and they were now traveling through farmland. "We are well on our way. I suggest we make our way to one of the dining cars and begin searching for the Light agents."

"Are we going to know each other," Conner asked.

Roy shook his head. "No. We don't want to attract too much attention. The team's disrupted enough of the Light's business that they might be suspicious of too large a gathering of teenagers, even while traveling in disguise."

"You two go ahead," Artemis suggested. "We'll follow in a few minutes. I want to restring my bow first."

Roy picked up the bag and began pulling out their weapons of choice. They had had to remove the strings in order to fit them into a bag more suited for ski equipment. He handed Artemis hers. It was more complicated as she used a compound bow but it gave her extra power and accuracy while Roy preferred his more traditional recurve bow.

"Catch you later, then," Robin hopped to his feet, punching Conner in the arm playfully. "Ow," he yelped, shaking his hand out. "Come on, Conner. We can eat in the lounge car."

Conner smirked. "Did you hurt your hand, squirt?"

"I'm telling Mom," Robin threatened yet again.

"Hey! You punched me, remember?" Conner shoved Robin back into their cabin gently but the smaller boy still went through the doorway stumbling. Conner turned back to wave at his teammates. "We can meet back here after din- . . ."

A pillow flew through the doorway to slap him in the side of his face. He turned and growled as Robin's distinctive cackle was heard.

"You're not going to be laughing when I feed you this pillow, runt," he hollered, moving into the cabin with purpose and slamming the door behind him.

Artemis laughed. "I think they're getting the hang of this," She was surprisingly impressed with Conner's new-found acting ability. Despite their differences in appearance, the two certainly acted like normal siblings.

"Maybe we should have taken some of Rob's acting classes," Roy huffed. "It might have been easier to make people believe we are a couple."

"Could we change the subject," Artemis asked sarcastically. "You're going to ruin my appetite."

"Shut up and finish restringing your bow," Roy snarked.

Artemis sighed, exasperated. "This is going to be a long four days."


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Okay, I've had to tweak this quite a bit to fit the story I wanted to tell. So . . . Rail Canada from Jasper to Prince Rupert only takes something like 2 days and has at least one stop. Most people sit in reclining seats for the trip, but I wanted cabins for our main characters . . . So there! ;P

For my story, this trip will take a full four days. The train will travel at a much higher elevation than it would in truth and it will make no stops during the course of this story. You can pretend the Rockies are wider and more rugged than they actually are, either by increasing the distance between the two cities or by slowing the train's speed - whatever works for you. Suspend your disbelief and enjoy.

*FYI: The bridge in the picture is not a railroad bridge at all. It is the New River Gorge Bridge located near Fayetteville, West Virginia. It most closely resembles the bridge that will come into play later on in the story. By the way, it is one of the largest single-arch bridges in the world. Every year, people come from all over the world to participate in "Bridge Day"; a day in which people are allowed onto the bridge in order to base jump, rappel, and bungee jump from its great height.*

In this story, no one (Not even KF) knows Robin's secret identity. This is not a part of the Lab Rat series. This was my original story idea for Black Friar and ARL15's YJ writing contest before I changed my mind and wrote "Jaborandi" for you instead.