Note: Inspired by Amarin Rose.

'Taking You With me'

by Song Six

.x.X. If you need me, just yell. I'll hear you .X.x.

When he first opened his eyes, nothing really made sense. He had all this information in his brain. They put it there; it was an endless amount of information. His brain was a dictionary with legs. He could tell you almost anything you needed to know about most subjects. Despite all this, not much made sense to him. What was his purpose? Why did they give him life? What was his place in this world? Where was his place? The only thing that was truly clear to him for a long while was that he wanted his freedom. As of late, things have changed.

He was created with the sole purpose as acting as, pretty much, a puppet to the organization known as N.O.W.H.E.R.E. His missions consisted of taking back to them meta-humans, dead or alive so they may do as they pleased. One of his first had involved Wonder Girl, whom didn't like being called as such. She was a member of a group of super powered teens lead by the only one that was completely normal: physically, anyways. He defeated all of them, but he refused to bring her back to N.O.W.H.E.R.E leading up to a whole mess of trouble. They called themselves the Teen Titans. One shared enemy and a few team-ups later, he ended up joining them. Now here he was, standing on the rooftop of their leader's 'top-secret', whatever, penthouse. Why?

Because, Red Robin had been sitting up here alone for a while now. Superboy had noticed he does this, a lot. Now he wants to know why. The rest of the team has always wondered as well, why their 'self appointed' ambassador of endangered super powered teens was always wandering up here late at night by himself. It had occurred to them before to ask, but the sneak was just as good at dodging questions as he was at bullets or hits that would surely kill him.

He stood idly by the entrance of the rooftop for a long minute, trying to think of the right way to initiate a proper conversation before floating over. He didn't want to be all:"What's up, Red Robin?" For starters, it seemed too casual, and secondly, he felt like a bigger tool calling him Red Robin than he did working for his creators. Then again, right now all they could call him was Superboy. But he felt that slid off the tongue pretty well in comparison. "Hey there." He greeted, quite aware Red Robin knew he'd been there for awhile.

"Hmm." The other boy responded without moving, sitting at the edge, overlooking the city.

Superboy floated beside him waiting for more to be said, but when all that came was continued awkward silence, he sighed, "do all humans go off alone for hours on end, or is it just you?"

"I know a few worse than me."

"Key word being 'few'."

"Hmm."

Superboy rolled his eyes; he almost wanted to shove Red Robin off the roof, to see if he'd get a reaction. All it would take is even the slightest poke with his strength. Would he scream? Kick? Still not really give a damn too busy…thinking of whatever it was he was thinking of. It could be so easy! Don't worry though, he'd catch him. He always did. "I don't suppose you soak in solar energy into your skin?" He pondered, referring to his own alien physiology.

"Uh, no?" Red Robin finally turned his head to look at him cocking one eyebrow. No mask, interesting.

"Then aren't you cold?" Superboy asked, crossing his arms.

"Nah." Red Robin shrugged, and turned his gaze back to the city. He could see the reflection of the lights bouncing off the blue of his eyes. They looked like they were searching for something. He wasn't sure what, but he was going to find out. Maybe.

Settling down next to Red Robin, Superboy took a seat and folded his hands together in his lap looking out at the different skyscrapers with him. Maybe he was trying to find some crime heist for them to bust, but that didn't make much sense. He was aware that New York was filled with thugs, so it wouldn't take this long to find their team a mission. Unless he was looking for another meta-human to save, but it seemed unlikely since he could simply use his fancy little computer he had inside of the penthouse. "Lemme guess. Cold blooded?"

Superboy smirked feeling a bit of pride when he saw the slightest twitch in Red Robin's left eye. "I'm pretty certain you're a smart one, Superboy. I'm a mammal; therefore, I'm warm blooded."

"I dunno, that one kid said differently."

"Which one?"

The shift in Red Robin's tone caused his smirk to grow bigger. "Really fast one with the mouth? Mentioned something about a sweatshirt." Superboy described, with clear amusement.

For a second, he thought Red Robin was going to be really pissed, but instead he shrugged his shoulders and responded calmly, "I'd like to think I'm a nice person, he just needs to get over it."

Superboy grinned at that. He appreciated the familiarity and the sense of casual relationships that had already formed between the Teen Titans. They told him, they had only begun to start to fight side by side; nonetheless, from what he's observed they have already developed a sort of closeness to each other – It was a closeness he would like to know himself. Back with N.O.W.H.E.R.E., all he knew was that he wanted his freedom. When he met them, for the first time ever he experienced flickers of empathy. He even thought to himself how they all could have been friends as he fought against Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Bunker, Solstice, Skitter, Red Robin…suddenly, after their fight and short conversation, every second of his life felt like a waste of time that he could be spending somewhere else. His grin faded into an unsure smile, "Wonder Girl said the same, said you were a good guy."

Red Robin scoffed as he spoke, "don't call her that, unless you want your face pummeled. I know you're Superboy and all, but she can really pack a punch."

"Tell me about it." Superboy agreed, still feeling that whopper she gave him in their first battle. She truly knew how to use her strength. "She's pretty hot."

Superboy could have sworn he saw a slight flinch, but it was probably just hopeful imagination. "Glad you noticed."

Together, they sat there for a bit: Red Robin watching the city, and Superboy watching Red Robin. The other boy's posture was straight and stiff. He was on alert, and Superboy guessed it could be just because he was there. But from what he's known, Red Robin was always like that. The guy was a total paranoid. His pupils flicked across the horizon, still looking on at nothing specific. Blue remained on blue as he wondered what exactly was Red Robin looking for. It was clear he wanted an answer, but to what question? He could ask, but then the guy would think he was being weird if he was wrong. However, somewhere in his gut told him that Red Robin was indeed searching for something. His gut also told him, that just maybe, he was the one with that something.

"You planning on coming inside anytime soon?" Superboy asked, breaking the silence. There was a continued quiet tenseness lingering in the air, until Red Robin finally said…

"Hmm."

Superboy fisted his hands in frustration groaning, "So we're back to this?"

Red Robin didn't even budge, he just kept his gaze forward, "sorry, I've never been big on small talk."

"I came from a pod with no real social interaction, I'm sure you can manage." Superboy muttered, but even without super hearing, Red Robin heard.

"I know a few that are worse."

"So you've mentioned."

"Hmm."

Maybe trying to push–Red, isn't the right way to go. No, he knows it's the worst way to go despite the fact the guy needed it to open up about anything including his favorite color. But right here, right now, he needed to tread more carefully. Superboy needed to think of some sort of plan if he wanted to find out anything about Red Robin. The problem, he was never really the best with words. He had all this information in his head now, but that still didn't mean he was any good with knowing the right things to say. He needed to find out more from Red Robin, without saying anything he shouldn't, but how? He could just go in bluntly, but that may just scare the boy off. Red Robin was the sort of person that needed easing in.

"You–" Superboy started in a stammer, before finding his words, "You really are a good guy."

Red Robin turned to look at him, almost making Superboy flinch backwards. But he didn't. "Yeah?"

His eyes were startling. For a moment, Superboy lost his train of thought taken aback. Red Robin's look was hard, like he was seeing straight through you. Funny, even despite all that, Superboy couldn't quite read his expression. He stared for a long moment, before replying with a forced undertone, "Thanks."

"For what?"

Superboy fiddled his fingers, unknowingly slowly floating upwards due to his telekinesis. "They said it was your idea to save me."

"Anytime." Red Robin responded quickly, but he didn't move away his stare.

Superboy paused before asking softly, "So why did you?"

Red Robin closed his eyes, as if in deep thought, but without hesitation he explained, "Same reason I want to help everyone else. We need to work together and–"

Superboy shook his head. "Yeah, I know. But why me?"

"You're still one of us Superboy. I don't discriminate, even if you did try to obliterate us." Superboy cracked a nervous smile at that, but Red Robin had even smiled himself. So, it was all O.K. now.

"You're not even a meta-human, and you still care…that still doesn't make sense to me." He commented, legitimately confused. He always will be. Red Robin is mortal, the most vulnerable of them all, but he runs around acting invincible with a bunch of metas. One of these days, he could actually die. The next battle may leave more than just another scar. Then again, that isn't really fair for Superboy to accuse.

"Someday, maybe it will." Red Robin commented dryly, slightly annoyed. It must be a touchy subject for him, still.

"So...there are other reasons?" Superboy asked with caution, grabbing at the concrete edge as he floated back down. His fingers dug into the building, but not too hard. Didn't want to break their headquarters. He didn't want to be the first one to break Red Robin's stuff. He was hoping Kid Flash would beat him to that mess.

"For what?" A second sooner, and Superboy would have though he said that just a tad too fast.

"Why me?" Superboy wondered, a bit antsy in his tone.

Red Robin cocked his eyebrow; his mouth was in a firm line, replying "None I can think of."

"Oh."

"Expecting something else?"

"No."

"Alright."

He was killing him right now. Superboy wanted to punch something, anything. What was it going to take? What was the right thing to say? Red Robin was acting like a nut with an unbreakable shell. Serious emphasis on the 'nut', just because the guy has always been a total freak. But really, what did Superboy have to say or do to get what he wanted to know from him? He knew there must be something, and he knew the other boy was looking for answers too.

Running calloused fingers through freshly cut hair, Superboy groaned in frustration. One would think all of this would be so easy, but it wasn't. Because of the way Red Robin just is it's that easy to scare him off where he'll shut himself down, and never let anything out. He hated this. Really hated all of this. After every mile, every hour, every second that had gone by since the first time he's met…seen, Red Robin out of the pod, his mind has been going crazy. But he's figured it out, and now all he needed was some sort of definite answer from the other boy. But how he was going to get it from a kid as paranoid and closed off as Red Robin he would never know. Why can't this jerk just work with him? He promised he wou– wait.

"You and me, we're going to be working together now." Superboy commented, as nonchalantly as he could muster up.

"Yes, and with the rest of the team." Red Robin added, slightly curious mixed with a bit of irritation.

"Okay."

Red Robin squinted his gaze at Superboy, studying him. "Anything else?"

"No…no…yeah, no." Superboy stammered, scratching at the back of his neck sheepishly. He could see the twitch in Red Robin's eye returning.

"No?"

"Yes, I mean…look, when we're fighting…" Superboy's voice trailed off nervously into nothing. He lowered his head downwards, not meeting Red Robin's eyes. His heartbeat going a thousand miles an hour, and his own posture becoming stiff and straight.

Red Robin gestured for him to go on, "when we're fighting?"

Finally, Superboy cleared his throat, and standing up he said in a low voice,"…If you need me, just yell. I'll hear you." He stopped, letting the silence eat them both waiting for his own something. Red Robin's expression had not changed, but he saw a difference in his eyes. It could be just hopeful imagination working it's magic again. But his gut did tell him otherwise…

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, I will. Is that alright?"…but his gut was wrong sometimes.

Superboy scratched at his arm, before responding in a quiet deflated voice, "I guess so." As he started to walk off, he almost jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder. It was clammy, and rough. The sensation of no gauntlet weirded him out. His first reflex was to punch the other guy out, but it was just Red Robin. Did he always have to sneak up on everyone? Superboy's muscles tensed under his touch, and Red Robin pulled away after letting his hand linger for a second longer than it really should have.

Blue stared into blue intensely, searching again. There was a spark, as though Red Robin had found that something. Hope ignited inside Superboy. "I'm sorry."

"What's that?" Superboy uttered, quickly and much too eagerly.

Red Robin moved his eyes to the side not looking at him, before he said in a soft voice, "I'm sorry for not being there sooner."

Superboy pulled away shocked, "What do you mean? You guys freed me, that's what matters." He said in exasperation.

But Red Robin shook his head, before blue met blue again, and this time his gaze made Sueprboy feel his throat tighten up. "You must have been really lost, confused…alone. All up to this point."

"Red, I–"

Red Robin interrupted him with the wave of a hand, "I know how all of that feels. I know you know that already."

Superboy gulped loudly, swallowing hard. His search was over, it seemed.

"So there were other reasons?" He asked, cautiously.

"Why I wanted to save you?"

"Yeah."

"You tell me." Red Robin challenged, taking a step back himself.

Superboy sucked on the inside of his cheek, before stating firmly, "You've been looking for me."

"We all have."

Superboy gulped once more, fixing the collar of the sweatshirt Red Robin allowed him to borrow, after he asked, closing his eyes listening to both of their heartbeats. He could hear Red Robin's breathing go unsteady, and he could sense something in the air – familiarity. "No. You've been looking for me."

"It's what I do."

"Man, do you really have to keep–" But just as he started to speak, Superboy had been cut off as a pair of arms latched themselves around his body holding closely. Relief flooded through him, and the tug at the corners of his lips was impossible to fight off. He'd never felt more at peace, " –If you're trying to be all dark and grim now, this isn't going to help." He joked, again.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything. I couldn't be sure." The boy apologized, his voice muffled from his nose and mouth being buried into his chest. His body was still as stiff as it always was, but the entwined hands behind Superboy's back were shaking – with guilt? From Fluster? Happiness? Either way, Superboy could feel the slight moisture soak through the thin sweatshirt. "This is the second time we've had to do this." He whispered, as though it were a secret.

Superboy shut his eyes shaking his head, burying his own face onto the top of the other's head, "I know, I know. It sucks."

"I thought I lost my best friend again." Came another whisper, only quieter and in a broken voice Superboy never wanted to hear from him, not ever.

He always had a habit, of never making promises that weren't easy to keep. But after everything they've been through this was one he was going to follow through with. It was going to take a lot of work, but the first time he left this boy alone it was the worst time to be away. No way was he going to do that again. He swore he'd come whenever his best friend needed him. Not even a new universe was going to keep them apart. They've already wasted too many hours and miles being away, but now that they found each other Superboy wasn't going to let anything come in between them. "Next time, I'm taking you with me."

.x.X. I know, Conner .X.x.