Author's Note: Thank you to Guest (Robin got into the Watchtower because he's part of the Justice League, although that will be explicitly mentioned in the chapter after this. As for the specialist, you'll just have to wait and see. *insert evil laughter here*), IndiaMoore (Thank you so much!), and Prodigy16 (I don't know for sure if chalant will be an actual ship in this. I do think Zatanna and Robin are adorable in Young Justice but romance wise I'm not sure where I'm headed with this story.) Also, if you happen to be the anon who left three rather long writings about your personal opinion of DC characters in the reviews sections, I mean no offense but your reviews have been deleted simply because they are not actually reviews. If you want to chat about DC characters, feel free to either sign on to your account or create an account and we can PM one another. I own nothing of Young Justice but I hope you enjoy!
He opened his eyes and found himself in the tube again. He tried to move his arms, to pound against the glass, only to find that they were chained at his sides again. His head thrashed back and forth as he squirmed against the restraints, panic at being confined washing over him. He wasn't sure whether he, the clone, was afraid of being confined or whether Dick Grayson was but that thought didn't matter when he was struggling to breathe through the panic. Beings in other tubes began to thrash and squirm too, alarms suddenly screaming in the formerly silent room. Footsteps pounded through the halls and a frazzled looking Desmond rushed in, a man dressed in armor with some kind of small creature riding on his shoulder right on the scientist's heels.
"He's waking up all of the subjects," Desmond snarled, frantically tapping buttons as Robin heard something shatter nearby. "Guardian, go take care of any escapees." Despite all Desmond's work the alarms weren't quieting and as Robin strained against the cuffs another tube somewhere shattered. "Damn it all," Desmond growled and Robin would have laughed if he wasn't so terribly frightened. His vision was blurring because he couldn't manage to pull enough air into his lungs.
A rap on the outside of his tube made him jolt, slamming back against the surface behind him with a breathless whine of terror. "Open his container." The voice wasn't one Robin recognized, which didn't help his panic any.
"I am not releasing the clone on some kind of whim," Desmond snarled and Robin watched through tear blurred eyes as the figure in front of his tube moved and slammed Desmond against the control panel.
"Open the container and release my student or I will snap your neck," the figure said, voice low and dark. A moment later he toppled out of his cage and onto the hard lab floor.
"You had better have a good explanation for this," Roy growled at his thirteen year old companion. They were making their way through the sewers of Gotham after their tussle with the zombified Flash and Green Arrow, Robin promising Roy that the Justice League wouldn't be able to find them down here. The archer wasn't sure he believed the boy he'd once trusted. After all, Robin was the mole.
"I do, at least I think I do," the younger boy replied, stopping and turning back to face Roy. "I'm not the real Robin. I'm a Cadmus designed clone with the real Robin's memories handed off to Batman as the real one after he was captured during his first patrol." Robin wrapped his arms around his stomach and stared down at the grimy ground at their feet, shoulders hunched. Roy stared at him, shocked. The Robin he'd met when the Boy Wonder had just turned ten had been a clone? A cheap copy? Where was the original? Roy felt as if someone had pulled the rug out from under his feet, as if he'd been purposefully betrayed by someone he trusted.
"How long have you planned this?" he demanded, voice sharp. "How long have you been waiting to betray us all?" Robin shrank back from the older boy, shoulders rising up around his ears. He looked as if he expected Roy to hit him.
"I didn't know," Robin whimpered, arms rising up to shield his face. Roy felt sick to his stomach. The Robin he'd known would have been yelling right back at him, not trying to burrow into the slimy sewer wall behind him. The Robin he'd known though, maybe that had been the real Robin's memories and personality superimposed over the clone's actual personality.
"When did you find out?" he asked in a softer tone, hoping maybe the clone would calm down a little and give him some actual answers.
"After I'd already infected the Justice League," the clone told him, trembling a little. "There was some kind of code word they implanted in my subconscious. I didn't even know what I was doing until it was already done. I didn't even know I wasn't real until I saw Vandal Savage." There were tears dripping down the younger boy's cheeks and it suddenly struck Roy that the child in front of him wasn't really thirteen. If the clone had replaced the real Robin at nine then the clone was maybe four years old and terrified.
"It'll be okay," he told the small boy, not moving any closer in the hope that he wouldn't scare the child off. "We'll figure this out." Tears were dripping down the clone's cheeks and he was staring at Roy with wide eyes.
"What do we do?" The question startled Roy. The archer was used to Robin always knowing what step they needed to take, always having a plan. After knowing the boy for almost four years it was difficult to acknowledge that everything he'd known and loved about Robin was a lie. The clone, the boy behind the facade of Robin, was someone completely different.
"First we find the rest of your team," Roy told him.
"It's not my team. It should have been Robin's team," the clone replied. "For me it was just another step towards the Justice League. Another step forward for the Light." He looked as if everything he'd known was a lie as well.
"Come on kid," Roy said, slipping a cautious arm around the clone's shoulders. "We have work to do."
Artemis Crock felt numb as Kaldur broke down the door to Roy Harper's safehouse in Gotham. They'd been searching the city as best they could as soon as Batman had left. None of them could really believe that Robin, the Robin they'd known and loved, had been the mole. He had been giving information to the Light, informing their enemies of their every move. The betrayal hurt, especially to Artemis who had always felt so welcomed by the Boy Wonder. The young boy had known who her father and sister were but had befriended her anyway. Now she knew that was all a lie.
"Red Arrow?" Kaldur's voice was cautiously optimistic and Artemis slipped around M'gann to see Roy standing near the window.
"Aqualad," the archer replied levelly. That was when Artemis saw who was peering out from behind Oliver Queen's previous sidekick. She had her bow out and an arrow knocked before she had even consciously considered her actions. The traitor let out a little frightened squeak and cowered back behind the older boy.
"Artemis, I can explain," Red Arrow said, hands held up to show he wasn't armed.
"What?" the blonde snarled, her grip on the bow tightening. "That you've been in league with the traitor all along? That you've just been waiting for this to happen?"
"Artemis," M'gann squealed, tears shining in her brown eyes. Artemis knew her own eyes were watering but her aim was steady.
"Artemis put the bow down and I'll explain everything," Roy said.
"Maybe we should talk about this," Kaldur added at the exact same time.
"I'm a clone!" The traitor yelled suddenly and the room fell silent. Robin shrank back toward the wall, shaking a little, as all eyes turned to him. "Cadmus created me using DNA from the real Robin and programmed me to behave certain ways with certain phrases. Sportsmaster was my handler. I didn't realize what I was doing until it was already done." The boy shrank back against the wall near the window as if he wished he could become part of it.
"When did they replace Robin?" Kaldur asked, voice gentle.
"During his first patrol with Batman," the clone told them, looking down at the floor. "I don't remember everything but I do remember waking up in a pod, like the one Superboy was trapped in. That's the only time I saw the real Robin. I'm sorry." He hunched in on himself and Roy wrapped a protective arm around his shoulders, drawing him close.
"How do we know he's not lying?" Artemis demanded, arrow still aimed at the child's heart despite how her hands were trembling.
"Two reasons," Roy told her, slowly sliding the boy behind him. "One, he didn't infect me even though he had the chance, and two, I saw Sportsmaster down him without laying a hand one him just by saying the right words." Artemis studied the other archer for a moment before slowly lowering her weapon. That was when Kaldur's communicator beeped.
"What is it?" the Atlantean asked when he picked up.
"Umm Aqualad," Wally replied, sounding nervous and sheepish all at once. "We may have a slight problem."
