Disclaimer: Still not mine. Neither Young Justice nor the plot.

Alright, here we go again, second chapter in which Batman finally gets to meet Robin. Definitely more fluff than in the first one. Enjoy :-)

There were two people in the room, immediately stopping their fight at the sound of the almost violently opened door. They turned on the spot to face the incomers. Batman felt relief washing over him, it nearly made his knees give way. God, how he had missed the boy. And there he stood, seemingly unharmed, eyes wide open. He could see the smile on the boy's face vanish as it was replaced by hope, mixed with disbelief. Batman felt like he had never been so happy to see someone. Beside him, looking at Robin and with a stiff posture, Batman saw himself. He had never imagined how weird it would be to meet himself. He could see now, why everyone thought him so intimidating. Dark clothing, broad shoulders and a constant glare in his eyes. If he were someone else, he would be careful around that man, too.

Batman locked his eyes with Robin's and took a few steps into the room until he reached the mats the others were training on. There he stopped dead, still looking at his partner and not moving a muscle. He could feel the Leaguers stay behind, they obviously tried to give them space but didn't want to leave them completely. Inquisitive heroes!

He tried hard not to show his emotions, he didn't want all of them to know how sentimental Batman could be. And he searched for words. What do you say after your ward was sent to another universe and it took you a week to rescue him? Hello? I'm sorry? How are you? Good to see you? All of it seemed wrong. Shallow. And Robin didn't react either, he just stared back, his face still full of hope. Usually the boy never stopped talking, sometimes the constant chatter even was annoying. Especially his puns. Batman knew of nobody as creative with words as the Boy Wonder. How often had he come up with a ridiculous neologism he insisted on using permanently from then on. A few times he actually used existing words for a new meaning, saying it was only logical. The first one of these words would forever stick in Batman's memory, he had laughed at it a lot when he first heard it.

„Define aster." This made the boy smile again, widely.

„Opposite of disaster."

„Nope, it's a daisy" Batman continued the game. He could hear his own joy in his voice, although it surley wasn't as obvious to the others, except Robin and the second Batman. „And dangerful is not a word."

Now Robin laughed openly. „Oh yeah, I'm so whelmed at that conclusion." The man couldn't contain a smile any longer. It felt so good joking with the boy again! The change in his expression seemed to trigger something because all of a sudden his ward broke into a run towards him. He nearly overthrow his mentor when he glomped him. Batman closed his arms around the boy, his cape completely consuming the small figure. He felt a bit like he was falling, losing control over his emotions and appearance. He was glad the others couldn't see his face which he had buried in the boy's dark hair. He could feel and hear Robin cry against his chest. It made him hug the boy even tighter. They had missed each other more than anyone would have imagined and being back together gave them more comfort than anything else ever could.

They held onto each other for nearly a minute, neither wanting to let go. There was this irrational fear Robin could disappear again if they lost touch.

„I hear you've behaved for once." At this, the boy took half a step back but still kept touch. He laughed.

„You could say that."

„Any injuries?" Batman took another look at his ward, more thorough than before. He still couldn't see any major wounds. No bandages and the boy held himself upright. Good. He calmed down a little.

„A few bruises from some tussles, nothing bad." He lifted a hand to wipe the remaining tears from his face. „Well, one shoulder's not looking so hot but what can you do. You?"

Now he felt the boy's eyes on him, performing the same search his had before.

„Bruises, cracked knuckles, cracked rib, knife wound." Nothing too unusual…

„Joker?"

Batman nodded. „Team helped take him and Scarecrow down while you were away. I see they aren't here." He had noticed this before, of course, but had pushed it from his thoughts since there had been more pressing matters, such as getting his ward back. Was it a coincidence because they were on a mission? Or did this world lack young heroes in general?

„The team doesn't exist here," Robin confirmed his theory. „You wouldn't believe the differences here! Here Roy became a bad guy! Artemis was with her dad, too! Zatanna and I kinda snuck out earlier to fight Sportsmaster, Cheshire and them." Batman could hear the growing excitement in the boy's voice, mixed with pride. „Oh and Mister Twister, too! They were after some secret government gizmo. Didn't find out what though `cause I was getting Roy to rehab. I mean, Artie's still a minor so they'll go easier on her, right? She being under coercion and all that jazz." The speed this boy could talk at would make the Flashes proud.

„They will," Batman assured him. Robin still had a grip on his cape while his mentor's hands rested on his shoulders. Beside the fact that it calmed himself, he knew how much Robin worked on physical contact. As much as the boy reacted to the right words, they would never replace the effect of a simple touch. Whenever he was scared or sad, nothing could sooth him like a hug. Which had been a bit difficult when Batman first took the boy in, for one, because he himself never had been much of a hugger and further because the boy barely let the man touch him back then. Amazing, how much things had changed over the past few years. By now, Batman needed physical contact to his ward nearly as much as the boy did to feel assured that everything was alright.

His thoughts were interrupted when Robin continued telling his story.

„That's great! Oh and Wally doesn't have superspeed here either. M'gann hasn't left Mars yet, and you know how we found Conner. They haven't looked very far into Cadmus here. I haven't the slightet clue what's going on with Kaldur. They haven't told me. Zee's the only one I've been able to see." Wait, that was a name he didn't know.

„Zee?"

„Zatanna." Well, could have thought of that. „We hung out for a couple days, then I kind of blew it for her when we hacked the systems to go off and fight bad guys."

Yes, this sounded like Robin. Not listening to reason or any adult, just hack something and do what he thought was right. The League here certainly had had a good time looking after the boy. And they failed, he had managed to run off to fight villains too strong for him.

„Sportsmaster and Cheshire."

„Yep!" It was almost comical how proud the boy was of himself.

Just to make sure. „You fought them on your own?" Batman couldn't deny he was impressed.

„Mostly. Zee managed to tangle Cheshire up before she could skewer me, so I can't take much credit with her. But I definitely beat Artemis on my own. Roy kinda ganged up on me before I could do the finishing touches on Sportsmaster. Mister Twister was a lot easier the second time around." With every word the pride on Robin's face became more evident. And Batman had to acknowledge that it indeed it was quite an achievement.

„They usually are. You can give me the full report when we get home." At this, he took his left hand from the boy's shoulder and let his right slide down his back. He turned on the spot so both of them faced the door where the other Leaguers still waited, watching the reunion. Black Canary actually had red eyes and even the men looked slightly shaken. Before walking towards them, Batman reached down and picked up Robin's uniform which he had dropped when the boy hugged him. His ward laughed.

„Ten-four. What did Wally shoot me with anyway? Some kind of alien banishment thing like Superman's phantom zone projector?" The question made the man feel slightly awkward. If only the whole thing hadn't been so ridiculous!

„Almost", he had to admit. He looked away while he handed Robin his uniform. „It was a Volvion storage transporter." Such a stupid thing that had caused all this drama!

He could see the boy looking at him incredulously, same as everyone else in the room.

„You're kidding, right?" If only…

„Wish I were", Batman answered. He started feeling a little tired. Switching realities after a week of sleep deprivation really took something from you. But the conclusion was so near! Just a little more adrenaline. He rubbed his eyes, trying to stay on alert.

„Apparently they're a bunch of packrats who wanted more space" he continued his explanation. „Someone made interdimensional technology to find a dead version of their planet to use it for extra storage. Homing beacons are placed on crates sent to their alternate world so they can get them back."

„That's why you didn't come running after me the first day." The boy was quick. „You didn't have the homing beacons." Somehow, he sounded reassured. A bit like he had feared it was by choice that his mentor had waited so long before coming for his rescue. Batman intensified his touch on the boy's back to sign him, this feeling wasn't true.

„And they're one time uses. It took Jordan all week to get them to Earth, and I had Steward and Gardner back him up to make sure it didn't take more than a week. They aren't easy to come by, at least not out here."

His ward groaned. „Great. Count on Wally to blast me to another world with only half the instruction manual. I'm so going to slug him later."

Batman smiled slightly. „You won't be the first." Indeed, he wouldn't. Everybody had picked at the speedster for the past seven days. If it weren't for a good reason, Batman would have pitied the boy.

„Oh, I can imagine", Robin answered, grabbing his forehead and trying not to laugh. „Considering that me being dead here made the world way too kooky for my tastes, I can just see everyone betting on his case for making me go away."

„You're dead here?" Batman couldn't help but sound highly alarmed. No Robin in this world was one thing but a dead Richard Grayson… He didn't even want to imagine it. Of course, the people here didn't know what they were missing, but he knew. It really wasn't a nice thought.

„Apparently", the boy nodded. „And no Robin means no child heroes in general." That explained J'onn's reproachful manner. He wasn't used to the idea of sidekicks at all. The differences between his world and this one were bigger than he had thought at first.

„Hm… Well, you did break the mold." Come to think of it, the whole Team only existed because of Rohin. Batman making the boy his partner had triggered some kind of chain reaction which concluded in the Team. And he knew, his boy was the center of it, always had been. Which had become evident when he was gone. The other youngsters had given their best to continue their work but you could see, they missed the person they all used to circle around. And not only the kids. Half Batman's life had seemed to have dissappeared alongside the boy, too.

He was silent for a moment. Before they finally reached the Leaguers waiting at the door, he couldn't contain himself any longer. So low, probably only Superman could hear him, he told Robin.

„We thought you were dead for a few hours." The memory hurt and saying it out loud brought it back with more force than Batman had imagined.

He could see Robin turning towards him, trying to get a look at his face. „Dead? Me?" He sounded shocked and slightly incredulous.

His guardian nodded. The grief from back then filled his heart once again. „Worst three and a half hours of our lives." Especially of his own. He could very well remember how stranded he had felt, utterly powerless.

The boy kept his eyes on him for a few moments longer, then moved closer and tightened his grip on his mentor's cape. He tried to comfort the man by his touch.

„I'm not going to leave you like that." Batman just rubbed the boy's back, he couldn't think of anything to say. Having him near again was enough for the moment.

A/N: Hope you liked it. Major mistakes in language? Tell me about them.