This is a collection of stories capturing the milestones of our favorite young heroes. You'll find some fluff, hurt/comfort, friendship and a healthy dose of angst- a little something for everyone! Chapters are rated individually. Suggestions are welcome!

Chapter One

If you can accept losing, you can't win. -Vince Lombardi

The halls of Mount Justice were unnaturally quiet.

Normally there was loud music and shouting coming from the gym. Today it was empty. So was the kitchen, the library and all of the bedrooms. The six team members were all sitting in the living room. They couldn't bear looking at or talking to each other, but they also couldn't bring themselves to separate, either. A stifling, heavy silence had taken the place of the friendly banter and one team member couldn't tolerate it anymore.

"Anyone feel like going to the beach?"

Silence.

Robin sighed softly, his question going unanswered yet again. He tossed the remote to Superboy and was about to leave when Kaldur spoke up.

"I'll come with you."

Robin waited while Kaldur finished whatever he was writing in his journal. He looked hopefully at Wally, who was perched in the bay window across the room, an unopened book in his lap. Wally met Robin's gaze and shook his head softly, then resumed staring at the book.

"Well, you know where we'll be." Robin glanced at the others, hoping someone else would follow. Megan was curled up on the couch, her expression one of pure misery. Superboy shrugged, picked up the remote and started channel surfing. He was the only one in the bunch who was successful at avoiding the rather large elephant in the room. He worked out all of his issues in the gym. Black Canary had replaced another punching bag that morning.

Robin shifted his gaze to Artemis. She glared at him from her place on the other couch, not far from the window where Wally was sitting. He didn't return the glare, instead choosing to ignore it altogether. He and Kaldur left and were halfway down the hallway when they heard Artemis finally snap.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Robin?"

Kaldur stopped abruptly and looked back toward the living room, then at Robin, confusion replacing his normally neutral expression. Robin paused and sighed wearily, taking a deep breath before heading back to the living room. He entered the room and stopped just a few feet inside the doorway. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Wally looked up at him, then at Artemis, who moved to stand directly in front of Robin. Her hands were on her hips and her blue eyes glinted furiously.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked. She nodded once. "Nothing. I just need to get out of here for a while." His tone was even and quiet, which seemed to annoy Artemis even further.

"You can't run away from this. Going to the beach won't fix the fact we failed, kid." She crossed her arms defensively, the anger in her voice starting to falter.

Robin pushed his sunglasses a bit higher on his nose as he thought about what he wanted to say. He glanced at each of his team members and he could feel the despair in each one of them. He could feel his own grief festering in his chest, slowly eating away at him from the inside out.

"I was there, Artemis. I'm well aware of the fact we failed. But I can't sit here and wallow in it. I need to... We all need to move on."

"How can this be so easy for you? Someone died because we couldn't get there fast enough and two days later you're ready for a trip to the beach? You can't just shove this aside and pretend it didn't happen! We failed. Someone died." Her voice broke as she finished and she looked down at the floor.

Robin looked at everyone again, noticing how they were all staring at him, waiting for him to take his turn and crumble into pieces. He didn't. He wouldn't. He kept his tone neutral, but it was hard to hide the pain he was feeling. It crept into his voice anyway.

"This isn't the first time I've lost someone, you know. And unfortunately this won't be the last time, either. For any of us."

Artemis snapped her head up, startled by Robin's honesty. An embarrassed blush blossomed on her cheeks. Robin then glanced at Megan, who gave him a knowing look. She knew of one of Robin's losses, his friend Nora.

"It's probably the first time you guys have lost someone, I imagine." He paused, looking right at Wally. The redhead was trying hard to keep his composure but it was slipping. "And it hurts. It hurts every time. But if you let it stop you from doing your job as a member of this team, I guarantee you more people will die."

Robin felt Kaldur's hand give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He turned his head slightly to acknowledge the gesture and continued.

"So yeah, we're going to the beach. If you want to stay sane I suggest you find something else to do instead of sitting here and letting this come between all of us."

Robin glanced at Superboy, who gave him a small smile in return before looking back at the TV.

"I'll come along, just let me get my things," said Megan. She brushed past them, also squeezing Robin's shoulder.

"Wally, you up for some sun and some sand?" Robin asked hopefully.

"No. Thanks anyway, though."

Robin nodded to Kaldur and they left. Artemis still stood in her original spot, arms still crossed at her chest. She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes.

"Robin?"

"Yeah?" he answered from the hallway.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you, but.."

He poked his head back into the room, a smile on his face. "No worries. Believe me, I understand." She visibly relaxed.

"Thanks. Mind if I join you?"

"Nope, the more the merrier."

Robin's face disappeared from the doorway and Artemis stopped, turning to look at Wally. "You sure you don't want to come along, Baywatch? I promise I won't drown you."

Wally looked up and smiled when he realized she was genuinely concerned, but he declined again. His voice was unusually quiet. "No, I think I'll stay here. Redhead, remember? It's not like I'll tan anyway."

"And you think Robin will?"

He laughed out loud at her comment. "Good point. But it's okay, I'm fine with staying here."

"Well, you know where to find us if..." Artemis trailed off, turning to leave.

Wally glanced out the window again and saw Kaldur, Megan and Robin making their way down to the water. They weren't smiling, but he could tell their moods were definitely a lot lighter. Deciding he wasn't in the mood to be a spectator, he left his spot in the window and went to his room. A few minutes later he heard Superboy walk by, presumably on his way to join the rest of their team.

Later that night, Wally lay awake staring at the ceiling in his room. His brain was running on a continuous loop, replaying the night everything went wrong over and over again. With a groan he rolled over and pulled his pillow down, as if that would quiet the screams echoing in his head. Before he realized what he was doing he got out of bed, pulled on a t-shirt and sweats and made his way to Robin's room. He put his ear to the door and heard music, so he knocked.

"Yeah, c'mon in."

He walked in, shutting the door quietly behind him. Robin was sitting on his bed, a leg tucked beneath him and his computer on his lap. He looked up and smiled for a moment but it disappeared once he saw the look on his friend's face.

"KF? What's up?"

"Couldn't sleep. What are you working on?"

Robin looked at him for a moment and realized Wally would eventually explain the reason for the late-night visit, so he played along with the diversion.

"I'm organizing photos, actually."

"Can I see?"

Robin nodded and moved over to make room, then he handed the laptop to Wally. Sliding his index finger around on the touch pad, Wally brought up the folder of photos Robin had been sorting through and opened one. It was a girl, a very pretty girl, and she was holding a trophy.

"Who is this?"

Robin leaned over to look at the screen.

"That's Nora. She was a friend of mine. We won that trophy for our science project."

Wally looked at the screen then at Robin, who had ditched his glasses and was rubbing his eyes.

"Wait. She was a friend of yours?"

"Yeah. She, uh, died." Robin looked away for a moment, then back at the screen. Wally elbowed him when he didn't elaborate.

"When? You never told me about her."

"In case you haven't noticed I don't talk about my personal life much." Robin crawled off the bed and went to sit in the chair at his desk.

"But this is me we're talking about here. I've known you for a while now." He closed the laptop and put it on the bed beside him. "So spill."

"There's not much to say. She was a great friend of mine and she died. Cancer." He spun the chair around to avoid looking at Wally.

"When?"

"Couple of weeks ago."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah." Robin spun the chair again.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Robin stopped spinning and looked at him. "That's kind of the whole point. I didn't want anyone knowing, it doesn't change anything. We still have a job to do and I couldn't let how I feel get in the way."

Wally didn't say anything at first, letting what Robin said sink in. He was pulled from his thoughts when Robin asked him a question.

"So why did you stop by, anyway?"

"How do you do it?" Wally asked. Robin just looked at him.

"Do what?"

"Move past all of this crap. Your friend dies and you just kept going like nothing ever happened. I wish I could do that, just make it all go away."

Robin chuckled. "I didn't make it all 'go away'. It hurts, KF. It hurts a lot. But I can't sit here and cry about it. It doesn't do me any good."

"I can't stop replaying everything that happened in my head. It won't stop."

"Good."

"Why the hell is that good?"

"You take it all with you, the good and the bad. It's a reminder of why we do what we do." He got up from his chair and went to sit down on the bed again. "It's easy to do all of this when you think about the good stuff, the missions that went right. It says a lot about you when you can continue to fight, even when all you want to do is quit."

"Batman tell you this?"

"Yeah, he did."

"And you believed him?"

Robin punched Wally in the arm. "He's got a point, you know."

"I know."

They sat for a few minutes, processing their conversation. Wally was the first to break the silence.

"You know, Bats is a lot like Yoda, except he's really tall and not green. He always seems to have such good advice."

Robin cracked a smile. "Learn a lot from him you would."

"Not even close to funny, dude." Wally smiled, then yawned loudly and stretched. "I think I can go to bed now."

"Good. Then get out of here."

Wally climbed off the bed and turned back to him. "Thanks, Rob."

Robin shrugged. "No problem. You'd do the same for me."