The next day there was a debriefing.
Early in the morning, Batman walked through the zeta beams and into the mount, Robin stumbling right behind him. He had bandages over his ribs, half hidden by a cape, his head was also bandaged, his lungs burned, and he limped on his bandaged leg that had been smashed and semi-broken. He often found support on Batman's shoulder. Kaldur was the first of the team to notice a stark bruise on Robin's face, which made him shrink back ever so slightly in anguish.
Everyone stared at him as he walked in. The team had no idea that Robin had been so injured, but it was apparent now. His face pale, breaths labored. He looked so beaten down.
M'gann established a mind link between the team, excluding Robin who served as the topic of their conversation.
'He was like this last night!?' KF shouted. 'I should know about this, I'm his best bud.' He received mutual responses.
'I suspected he was hiding an injury, but I had no Idea...' Aqualad trailed off, mentally kicking himself.
M'gann spoke next, 'he really did almost die.'
'The bruise on his face,' Aqualad said guiltily. 'How much did that really hurt him?'
'Badly, I'm sure. Total ouch.' contributed Artemis. Connor agreed.
'Wait'll Roy hears of this... I'd hate to be Klairon.' Wally commented, to no one in particular, more to himself.
They all gathered in the main room, including many justice leaguers, Red tornado, Superman, Black Canary and Flash, all of them watching Robin. All of them awaiting answers.
"Robin," Superman questioned calmly, "can you enlighten us on the events of last night?"
Robin nodded. "There's not much to tell. I snuck out, I was fighting Klarion, I used a flash bomb, the cat touched him, and he lashed out at the cat in blindness... I suppose I'm kinda responsible for the cat. Once it died he, they disappeared." Robin looked up at Batman for reassurance incase anyone would turn against him, but got no response.
The man seemed to be made of stone, and spent a decent amount of time telling Robin about everything he did wrong. Batman had yelled at Robin for his stupidity several times this morning, right after Robin managed to sneak in a power nap.
"Why was there a whole in the roof?"
KF snorted, then looked around apologetically when no one else found it funny.
Before Robin could answer, a loud, insane laugh echoed through the cave. Everyone tensed, and appeared ready for battle. Kaldur took the liberty of standing close to Robin, wanting to protect him. Batman eyed Kaldur for a moment, unsure that he could trust him to protect Robin. After a moment, he let it go, deciding that Kaldur was no longer the greatest threat.
Suddenly, the pressure in the room increased. The form of Klarion was faintly seen by Artemis in the corner of the room. A dark swirl appeared in the air, right behind Robin. He turned around in surprise, and he was suddenly pulled off his feet. Kaldur and Superboy ran forward, reaching for him, but instead they were pulled into the darkness. M'gann was lifted, although she tried to fly away, the force was too strong.
Wally, quick on his feet, grabbed Artemis and ran over to the other side of the room to where the leaguers stood.
As if satisfied by the four human forms, the crack in the universe closed, leaving not a trace. Klarion disappeared, and Wally faintly noticed a strange symbol written on Klarion's left hand as he disappeared like he did on the roof top.
'Well shit.'
The room was silent and still; everyone was stunned into a frozen state of animation.
Once again, Artemis was the first to break the silence. "What the Hell just happened!?"
For Robin, there was darkness, then a blinding light that greeted him, along with a cold wind that chilled his bones. The light blinded him, shining brighter then the heavenly stars.
Violently he was thrown towards this light, and for a moment he saw a thin outline of Klarion, then he hit the ground with a thud, successfully knocking the air out of him.
He fell onto a cold floor, face first, and hated himself for not landing lightly like he usually does. He was about to stand and look at his surroundings when an incredible weight came down on him for anything but the first time within the last twenty-four hours.
Before the full weight could be set on him, it caught. At first Kaldur had fallen on him, but when Superboy came through, Kaldur had done a push-up in order to keep the weight of the Kryptonian and himself off the more injured member of the party.
Superboy immediately rolled to the side and helped Kaldur to his feet. Robin was standing up when he found it incredibly difficult to stand. He slipped and fell to his knees, the surface of the ground much too slippery. Looking around now, Robin noted his surroundings.
There was white everywhere, a thin powder of snow. If it had been midday, they would all be snow blinded, but alas it was darker, and the white light that shone was from a moon. The moon hung in the sky, almost threatening to touch the ice it was so close. It was far too large and close to be a moon of any planet in the solar system. No moon so close had ever been reported before... It looked like earth's moon.
The next thing he noticed was the ice. He had slipped because the spot in which he fell had been deprived of snow, the snow having been pushed aside. The snow layer was constant but thin, only three inches deep. Beneath the snow was pure ice, and a darkness beyond the ice. There was no ground beneath them, Robin realized in a shock. If the ice gave way, he would fall into freezing waters.
Now Robin was standing, but he didn't leave his spot. He tried to spread his feet some to be as light as possible.
Kaldur hadn't noticed anything, and took a step towards Robin. "Are you okay my friend?"
"Kaldur, don't!" Robin said sternly and held out his hand as a warning.
Kaldur seemed to have misunderstood Robin's intentions, because he became angry and stormed forward heavily. Robin took a step back, but soon Kaldur was standing directly in front of him.
"What ever you have done, Robin, you should set straight. Don't tell me to stay away, because right now, you're angry emotions towards me are unimportant! We need to figure this out, so set yesterday aside, and tell me something I don't know."
Robin began to take a few steps back, and this enraged Kaldur. He grabbed Robin by the shirt and pulled him forward. "Don't walk away from this! There is no more time to sit alone and review yesterday's events!"
"Kaldur shut up!" Robin said quietly but sternly. "I'm not saying 'don't' because I don't want to talk about yesterday, or because I don't want to hear your orders!" Kaldur looked confused.
"I'm saying don't move."
"Don't move?" Superboy asked as he examined the surroundings, looking everywhere but down. "Why not?"
Kaldur looked down at Robin and roughly shoved him away, but he was careful not to touch any of his boy barely managed not to slip and fall. Kaldur regretted the movement as soon as he did it, but wouldn't let it show. He still didn't understand what Robin was warning him of. 'Does he think I'll hit him again, or something of that manor?'
As Kaldur stepped over to Superboy, Robin noticed a crack in the ice under where Kaldur and himself had been standing only a moment ago. 'Don't group together, even for a moment.'
"Robin! What are you staring at?" Kaldur asked, beginning to realise what Robin meant.
Before he could answer, the previously closed portal re-opened, and M'gann emerged, falling roughly on her butt. She fell directly upon the splintered ice, and there was a sudden cracking sound.
"M'gann, levitate now!" Robin ordered, and it was carried out without a moment's hesitation.
"Robin, what is it?" Kaldur's attitude changed at the cracking sound. Now his voice dripped with concerned.
"Like I was saying, don't move. We're on ice here, literally, and it's apparently not too thick." He said, motioning down to the snow covered surface.
Kaldur looked straight at Robin as if all his worries disappeared. "I can swim fine in the Arctic, Robin. Falling through the ice is no issue."
Superboy grunted in agreeance. "I can easily break the ice if it freezes over above me, and the cold doesn't affect me. Same as how heat doesn't affect me. I could swim in lava, if it didn't hurt."
'Well good for you but I can't.' The comment was too much of an admittance to weakness to say out loud, and Kaldur and him weren't on the best of terms from yesterday; he didn't with to pick a fight with the Atlantean.
As if reading his thoughts, though she wasn't, M'gann took on an expression of shock. "Kaldur," she said, "have you forgotten that you're not human so easily?"
"I don't understand, Ms. M."
"You should know what happens to humans, Kaldur, when they fall through the ice."
"The point is that I'm not an average human, M'gann. I'm an Atlantean."
"A fish-stick," Superboy added, earning him a slight glare from Kaldur.
"You are, but for some of us it's normal to be afraid of being on ice."
"Who?" Kaldur challenged.
"I'm not afraid, M'gann," Robin interviened, knowing full well that she was talking about him. 'I'm not scared.'
Kaldur looked at him for a moment. "I believe Robin will be fine, he is light, and will not fall through easily." He turned and looked back to M'gann.
M'gann was about to say something else when the cracking sounds started up again. From above, she could see the ice crack. As if being manipulated, it stretched around until a dozen cracks were beneath Robin. Unnaturally, the wind speed also picked up. Snow flew, circling them like a sandstorm, blinding their view of anything else. Far off in the distance, they heard a howl.
There was more cracking, but it was drowned out by the wind. M'gann had yet to establish a mental link, and Robin's cry for help was lost in the wind as the ice beneath him gave way.
Faintly, Kaldur heard the sound and realized what was happening. "ROBIN!?" he called out, it was barely audible over the wind. Kaldur waited only a moment for some kind of response. When he received none, he broke the ice and dove in, but he couldn't see the younger. He was in the wrong place; he wouldn't find Robin in time to save him.
Robin took a breath, but once he was submerged, the cold water shocked him and seemed to freeze his lungs. His air left him in a gasp caused by the stinging numbness, like a million needles digging far into his skin.
It was almost pitch black down there, the only light was a fragile blue emanating from the ice above.
Struggling with his heavy growing arms, Robin reached the surface, but it had iced over already. His limbs grew too numb to move, his eyes lay open in an icy glaze. He quickly felt his warmth leave him, and along with it, his life.
He heard his team stomping above the ice, perhaps looking for him, or maybe they hadn't even noticed yet.
Faintly he saw light break through the ice and a large white figure grabbed him from his cape. There was more cracking that echoed through the water as the white blur burst through the ice and onto the surface, dragging Robin along. His mind slipped as he lay on the cold ice, heavy wind and snow chilling him to the point of nothingness.
Wolf set Robin onto the ice and shook the water off of himself. When Robin didn't move, Wolf quickly encircled him, trying to warm the pale-skinned boy, but wouldn't completely because he didn't want them to fall through the ice again. Wolf let out a cry for help that startled M'gann, Kaldur, and Superboy with it's nearness. As if signaled by Wolf's voice, the wind died and the snow settled.
Kaldur was the first over. Wet from diving in after Robin, being unsuccessful at finding him, and shivering a bit, Kaldur came over in concern. "Robin..."
Wolf's silvery eyes looked up pleadingly, but took a step back for Kaldur. There was no breath in the boy, no color in his cheeks. Kaldur bent down slowly and checked for a pulse. There were a few labored, uneven heart beats at first, but soon they fell silent. Kaldur felt his chest, his lungs had somewhat iced over from within, the water he inhaled was freezing.
"Kaldur," M'gann whispered with a sob. "Kaldur, p-p-please d-d-do something."
Kaldur thought for a moment, then pulled out an empty water-bearer. He brought it up to Robin's mouth and concentrated. As gently and quickly as he could, Kaldur liquefied the ice within Robin using his magic and skilled precision. He had the water flow up and out, and within a minute, the end of the water trail came forth.
But Robin still didn't breathe, his heart didn't beat. Performing CPR would make the ice crack again, unless…
Kalder stood cautiously, broke the ice several feet away, and begun putting down layers of water onto the ice. The water quickly solidified, and after a few moments of this, Kaldur had made an area where the ice was eight inches thick, enough to support the whole team and more. Cautiously, he lifted Robin's small, pale form and set him on the thicker ice, only about twenty feet away from where they first stood. Wolf and Superboy also stepped on the thicker ice, and M'gann landed.
"He needs to be okay Kaldur." Superboy added from the side, unsure how to help.
Kaldur immediately started CPR. He remembered training, and how he had been told that a person has seven minutes to be resuscitated after being drowned or else they would never awaken. How the cold conditions changed that fact, Kaldur didn't know. But he tired anyways.
It pained Kaldur to think of how this must hurt. With broken ribs from last night, the pressure of CPR would definitely take it's toll when Robin woke up. If he ever awakened.
'Don't think about if; he will wake up.'
And the cold. Kaldur has only heard of what it's like to be in such cold waters as a human. He himself didn't have such a large issue with it, he grew up in cold water, but he's been told that it feels like a million needles rather than a rainy day. And the strain in his sore muscles, the sting of cold air; Robin's awakening would not be pleasant.
Kaldur breathed into Robin for the third time. It had already been nearly five minutes since Robin was pulled from the water by Wolf. Hope was growing thin as Kaldur tried to force half frozen blood through Robin's veighnes.
M'gann was crying violently, and Superboy had pulled her into his arms, near ready to do the same. The young bird lay with his cape spread out like broken wings, his skin pale and lifeless. Wolf howled in pain, and Kaldur breathed into Robin for the last time. It was hopeless.
Kaldur stood slowly in regret, about to face his sulking team. The purple bruise was so, so painfully visible on the boy's pale skin, it disgusted Kaldur. He regretted ever hurting Robin. Now, he would never have the chance to apologize.
But, unknown to Kaldur and the others, this was all Klarion's fault. This was another plain of reality altogether. And for Klarion, the fun, the revenge, it wasn't over yet. In this place, Klarion controlled everything, and he wasn't ready for Robin to die yet, It was much, much too soon for that. If Robin needed warmth to survive, then so be it.
The dark clouds rolled in quickly, but the team didn't notice until lightning split the sky. There was a fast flash, and lighting struck only two feet from where Robin lay. Instead of actually connecting with the ice, like normal lightning would have done, it left a glowing white flame that hovered above the ice. The flame was warm beyond belief, and just by being near to it, a little color came back into Robin's face.
Lightning still flashed through the sky, and the team watched in wonder. They knew now that this was controlled. These things weren't natural. They were phenomenon beyond their understanding, for the moment. Kaldur backed up from Robin in surprise, unsure how to address the situation.
One last flash blinded them, this time hitting Robin directly. It sent electricity singing through his body in an electric shock. A scream erupted the air as Robin's heart caught flame. He writhed in the pain, his lungs screaming and his skin stinging. His muscles didn't obey his command, but instead moved with the flow of static energy in shuddering movements.
After the third second, the lightning crawled back into the sky. The ordeal stunk of the Witch Boy, but he wasn't in site. Kaldur had no time to think about it.
Robin lay on the ground coughing violently. A sudden eruption of blood stained the snow and his lips bright red. Everything hurt, and although it was night, the world was too bright. His thoughts swirled and he trembled on the cool ice and freezing bloody snow.
For a moment the team just stood and stared, not knowing how to react. But the facts were, they didn't care about what just happened. The fact that the area was being controlled by some outside force slipped from their minds entirely. Robin was alive.
M'gann and Kaldur kneeled beside him, Superboy just held Wolf back from smothering his smaller companion. Kaldur picked up his shivering body and held him. His skin was cold as granite, but the white flame was quickly heating the area, and miraculously not melting even a snowflake.
"K-K-Kaldur," he whispered weakly through chattering teeth, a bit more blood escaping his mouth. M'gann had been silent since the lightning strike, but now she burst into tears and cried on Superboy's chest, afraid to touch Robin without hurting him further.
"I'm here, Robin." Wolf barked to the side, tail flapping around like crazy to display how he felt.
Robin's clothes were wet, and now mostly frozen. The fire had no effect when it came to drying clothes. Instead, M'gann shifted off her cape and used the biological material as a blanket for him, which he took gratefully.
Robin glanced up, and behind Kaldur's head he could see that the sun had begun to rise. "W-w-we need t-to make a-a-an i-igloo," he whispered faintly.
"Why?" Conner questioned.
"T-th-the sun r-reflecting off the s-s-snow will b-e-blind us. It n-n-e-needs to have i-ice walls with an o-o-outer s-s-snow coat-t-ting."
Kaldur nodded in response. "Conner, you and Wolf watch after him," he said. He tilted his head at Robin. "Keep him as warm as possible. M'gann, you can fly around and collect snow. I'll make the platform bigger and construct the igloo." They nodded and Robin was placed into Conner's sturdy arms.
"I-I-I'm f-f-f-fine you know. I c-can help... and stand." Robin said in a little whining voice. Conner only laughed and shook his head.
Kaldur broke another hole in the ice and made the platform twice as large and thicker still. Then he formed an igloo of water and waited for it to freeze, meaning there would be no wind blowing through cracks. M'gann collected plenty of snow, and covered the outside of the igloo with it to make sure the sun reflecting on the snow wouldn't blind them.
Kaldur returned to the other four to see Wolf curled around Robin, who was awake but silent. "The Igloo is done, my friends."
The inside of the igloo was just big enough for the five of them. Kaldur could barely stand unless it was in the center, so he sat instead, back against the curve of the wall. Superboy finally sat down, only now daring to relax. M'gann joined him at his side. Wolf sat by the exit, laying down but still on high alert.
"H-home Sweet H-h-home." Then Robin had another episode of sorts. His hand flew up to cover his mouth as he exhaled from his nose, making a sound similar to that of crying, which then turned into a shallow coughing. Blood poured from his nose and mouth, gathering to his hand and then dripping to the floor, creating red splotches on the snow carpet.
"Robin!" The three were at his side as soon as they noticed the gore dripping from his hand. The boy's eyes squeezed shut and stayed that way for a while, and when he opened them again, they displayed more pain through his mask.
"I fear the CPR did more harm on you than it did good." Rob nodded, before curling up with Wolf, either for a pillow or heat source.
"I'll be okay guys." Robin wiped of his gloved hand on the inside of his cape, creating an interesting visual.
Moments of silence passed before Robin spoke up. "Kaldur, did you mean it?"
"Mean what?"
"You said if I did it again you'd kick me off the team... Did you mean it?" M'gann glared at Kaldur, giving him the 'you better answer this right,' look.
"...No... You would have to do a little more that that my friend, but that doesn't mean you can do the same thing next time."
"M'kay..." Robin muttered though blue lips. M'gann stayed close to Connor, her clothes morphed into a heavy snow suit. Kaldur shivered every now and then, showing he was cold, but that he was more that capable to handle it.
They stayed like this though the rest of the night, awake with subtle conversation, and constantly asking Robin how he was doing. When morning came they took turns sleeping.
For the whole day they slept and kept warm. The only ones to receive any amount of sleep worthwhile where Wolf and Robin. Whenever Robin lay awake, the team spent most of the time testing if he was okay. When he lay asleep, or when they thought he was asleep, they would talk about him.
Robin faked sleeping when the team discussed the merge of images and memories that remained from the fight with Klarion. A good bit of Robin's memories were shared at the debriefing, but they didn't know what all was true.
"I think is is best not to bring it up to him; I'm sure he is trying to forget the memories and doesn't need us knowing any of his secrets."
"But Kaldur," M'gann started. "Those were awful things. What if he needs to talk about it?" Robin tensed. 'Yeah right.'
"He's awake." Superboy added, noticing Robin tence.
"And I don't need to talk about it." Robin added.
From then on, whatever conversation the team had when they thought he was asleep was mental.
After several hours, the sun set and the moon hovered out over the opposite horizon, creating more darkness, but too little to hinder one's eyesight.
Along with the nightfall came many new horrors and surprises.
At some point during the day it had been decided that staying still was not an option. The water here was abnormal, to say the least. It wasn't salt water, but there were also extra… flavors, to it. As if it wasn't really water, but some profound chemical mixture. There was no telling what it was, or what effects it could have in the long run, so they decided to play it safe.
One thing was certain, they needed to find land. They hoped that the whole world wasn't a frozen wasteland, and that there would be somewhere they could go. Somewhere with food, shelter, and hopefully some replacment for water or an average stream that wasn't frozen solid.
So as the moon creeped past the horizon and into the sky, the teens began their journey.
They walked with much space between each other, and Miss Martian hovered. Robin struggled to keep pace, and for obvious reasons. He kept on having to remind his lungs to take in more air and his feet to work. Each breath he took sounded a little rattly.
Superboy turned to him. "Do we need to stop?" He looked a little worried, and his voice suggested he didn't know if it was the right thing to ask. The other two turned to face them, waiting for Robin to answer.
"No," He said bluntly, sounding almost insulted. He trudged further, boots slapping a little too hard against the surface, creating a tap sound that could be heard from underneath.
Miss M. floated up in front of Robin, trying to get him to stop and talk properly."Are you sure Robin? You sound a little-"
"Yes, I'm sure." Robin cut Miss Martian off. Kaldur sighed at the youngest's defiant attitude.
The conversation would have gone further if Wolf hadn't have raised his ears and huffed in team assembled fighting positions, Robin drew out a projectile. Wolf circled once, now with his ears pressed flat against his head and admitting a slight growling sound.
"Where is it?" Connor asked, not seeing anything but white and a black sky with a moon and few stars.
Wolf let out a whine before the ice beneath him gave way with a crack as loud as a gunshot. He plunged into the water before he had any time to react or jump out of the way.
"Wolf!" Which one was screaming for him, Robin didn't know. The voice was high, so it either had to be him or M'gann. Kaldur dove into the freezing water, not wasting a second.
The animal continued to thrash around in the water, the opposite of what he did when Robin fell through and he rescued him. He began to go under a few times, and to yelped franticly.
"Save him!" Connor yelled as Kaldur tried to push the four-hundred pound animal up above the ice.
"Something is trying to pull him down!" M'gann then used her telepathic power to help lift Wolf out of the water. Robin resisted the urge to run and ingulf his furry friend in a hug, but he was afraid their combined weight would send them both back into the water.
Kaldur splashed around in the hole in the Ice. Just before it froze over, he dove down to confront whatever beast was trying to prey on wolf.
What he found surprised him. The animal was easily half the size of wolf, about the size of Robin, maybe a little less even. It was similar to a seal, a reddish one with black stripes. Its mouth was garred open showing mismatching teeth, but each as sharp as the other.
It took hold of Kaldur's arm, barely managing to pierce though his atlantean skin, and tried to drag him further under the water where light didn't reach. It might have succeeded if Superboy hadn't jabbed his fist through the ice and taken hold of one of Kaldur's water bearers. Connor pulled both the Atlantean and the stubborn beast above and onto the ice. A projectile launched itself into the odd animal, silencing it at once.
The combined weight was too much. As soon as the cracking sound commenced, Kaldur shouted, "M'gann, levitate us, now!" Hoping M'gann would have time to pick up the team.
The ice shattered and sunk, which is not a property of ice, the seal-like creature sank along with it, farther and farther down into the abyss. The team was glowing ever so slightly, standing a few feet above where the ground would be.
"Thank you," said Robin as he was set down a few paces to the left. Kaldur wiped any water away from his gills so it wouldn't freeze. "Yes, thank you, that water is so cold, even I no longer want to enter it."
Superboy mumbled something about saving Wolf as he stared into the hole in the ice, half expecting another creature to crawl out of the cavity.
"...Could we stop and rest for a bit?" Robin asked, slightly embarrassed he was asking when he was so opposed to doing it only a minute ago. "Only for Wolf of course..."
Wolf glared at the boy with a doggish smile and wagged his tail. It was rare to see Wolf acting more like a domestic dog that a wild beast.
"Of course my friend, let me thicken the ice."
Within moments the team was able to rest on a sturdy piece of ice. The shock of almost losing Wolf was beginning to wear off, even for the animal itself. Robin stiffened a yawn and M'gann laid down, Wolf snuggled his way up to Robin, seeking some sort of heat.
"I have a question." The team looked to M'gann, all eyes on her. She waited for a moment, opened her mouth a few times trying to find out what to say. Finally, she found some way to comment. "We have been traveling one the ice all evening." The team nodded, waiting for her to continue. "But only now have we seen one of those... things. Why hasn't one shown up earlier?"
It took a moment for someone to reply, and of course it had to be Kaldur, as level headed as ever, quick with a response. "I believe when we pestered Robin about stopping," he turned to Robin with neither a expression of blame or annoyance. "We offended him." Robin gave him a 'so what' look before Aqualad continued. "When you were offended, my friend, you tried to stomp off proving you could still continue, creating a lot of noise that the..." Kaldur struggled to find a word to pair with the thing they encountered. "The beast heard and possibly was attracted to. I believe it broke through the ice thinking we were some sort of food."
Robin looked a little pink in the cheeks, which was nice considering the only color that had been on them for awhile was purple from the bruise. "Is it my fault?"
"No my friend, you had no way of knowing this would happen." Robin seemed to accept the answer for a moment, but then he cast his eyes downward, letting his hair shadow his face.
"I had no way of knowing the flash bomb would end up killing Teekl either."
Such a comment made M'gann's resolve stronger… Robin definitely needed to talk this out. But the team stayed silent, unsure how how to acompany that comment, so in the end they didn't and chose to ignore it all together. M'gann knew that at least now was not the time to come forth.
"M'gann, go gather more snow for an igloo. Superboy, accompany her." Kaldur ordered and they left to do so. Wolf got up and trudged along to follow Superboy loyally, leaving Robin and Kaldur alone.
"Sorry Kaldur." Robin muttered, it was barely audible, as if he didn't want Kaldur to hear the remark directed to him.
Kaldur sighed. "Don't worry too much about it. Just don't let it happen again." He took out his water bearers and turned away. He tilted his head back slightly to look Robin in the eye. "Don't kick yourself for it to much. I already did." He whispered. "Just learn and improve, you won't be able to change what happened, and neither will I, no matter how much we wish to replay it and fix our mistakes, we can not. But we can still move on." Kaldur spoke compassionately and quietly so the others wouldn't overhear. No longer speaking of the ice incident so much as what had happened the day before.
Kaldur was apologizing; something that he had been itching to do from almost the start. Robin didn't reply and turned away trying to control his stinging eyes. He didn't need to reply, and he wouldn't.
Kaldur walked a few steps away before using his water bearers to construct the base of the igloo. He crafted it carefully and then helped M'gann and Superboy collect snow to use as the outer layer.
Minutes later they were once again in an igloo, almost identical to the last. Superboy seemed real near to falling asleep, and Kaldur didn't look much better. No one on the team exactly looked good, only better than another.
"How are you feeling?" M'gann questioned, not looking at anyone in particular, but everybody knew who she was addressing.
'Man, you cough up blood once, and they just won't let it go.' He thought to himself before answering.
"My head hurts, my ribs hurt, my lungs feel like they have a rib in them, and I am possibly internally bleeding and freezing to death, okay? And next time you feel like asking, remember I haven't magically healed since last time." Robin stated rudely, annoyed by her question.
He looked to M'gann, not glaring at her, but on the verge of glaring. He watched her intently and M'gann turned away sadly. The last thing she wanted was for Robin to be angry with her, and Robin regretted showing any annoyance. It was rude, and she was only trying to help.
"I think we are all simply frustrated and irritable from a long night's travel," Kaldur added quickly, trying to spare some of M'gann's feelings and excuse Robin's behavior. He sent Robin a glare, and Superboy one telling him not to make it worse.
Superboy huffed and threw his arm around the green girl.
"I think we need to sleep a little, all of us, but I will take first watch." Kaldur scootched over towards the entrance as the others mumbled agreements and understandings.
"Sorry... I'm a little irritable... like Kaldur said." Robin told M'gann before snuggling up beside Wolf in his cape and blanket.
M'gann wanted to reply, but she was at a loss for words.
Robin just curled into Wolf's side and slept.
The next thing he could perceive was he was cold. Then that he was alone and cold. He sat up slowly, observing his surroundings. The warm fur of Wolf was gone, only a few hairs lay amongst the ice and snow flakes. Robin shivered and turned to see that the bodies that once warmed the room were missing.
'Maybe they're just outside for a walk.'
Slowly and slightly more alert, Robin crawled to the entrance. Once outside, he stood atop the igloo, looking out as far as he could. There was an offsetting white and black between the clouded sky and fallen snow. Robin's eyes glanced over the horizon, but they saw nothing that sparked hope. A sinking feeling started to seep in.
'Where are they?'
He tried to push the thought away, but it returned again and again. Sitting atop the igloo in the freezing cold, he waited. He waited for what seemed like hours and couldn't wait any longer. With every second the darkness had crept closer, the sky coming in. He couldn't sit still anymore. He had to move around, to prove to himself that he was in an open space, not a black and white box.
He began to walk around the igloo, wondering what could have happened. The thought he feared most started to form words in his mind.
'Did they… Did they leave me? And worse, can I blame them?'
Just as he found it getting harder to breathe, he looked down and saw footprints in the white snow. Recklessly and with a racing heart, he ran out onto the thinner ice, hearing a crunch with every leap. He raced hard, creating a funny feeling in his lungs, but he ignored it. He needed them; he couldn't be left alone. He hadn't said so, to anyone, but he feared the loneliness, the oh so familiar loneliness that his life revolved around.
He ran, following the tracks when they suddenly stopped mid stride. All of their tracks, Wolf's, Conner's, Kaldur's. Gone.
'Don't be scared, don't be scared, don't be scared.'
Not knowing what else to do, Robin continued on in a straight line. Faintly, he heard roaring. At first he called it the wind, but he soon found it too abnormal, to erratic. He pushed harder, his feet fly beneath him. If he weren't going so fast, he was sure gravity would have pulled him to the ground by the slippery ice.
The roaring stopped abruptly as a flicker came into Robin's view. There was white penetrating the line of darkness that so finely split the world in two. The small amount of white was no more than a dot on the horizon, but Robin was sure.
'Wolf.' He thought as he automatically shifted his direction to the left, racing forward to greet his teammates. The thought of them leaving only flashed through his mind. He'd rather be with them and have them hate him, have them hurt him, then to be alone in the cold.
As he neared, Wolf's outline became much clearer. But his breaths also became more rigged and shallow. For a moment, he thought his lungs would quit before he would make it too them, and he'd collapse and die alone on the ice.
But Kaldur turned. He turned and looked directly at Robin, his eyes to far away to portray any emotion. The others stopped and waited without facing him.
'But they are waiting for me.'
Still running full speed, he came within thirty feet. Now he tried to stop, but he slid on the ice. He fell on his knees and stopped directly in front of Kaldur, his breaths catching and a small trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth.
"Robin," Kaldur said, startling Robin into looking up. He sounded disappointed, and full of a strange kindness. A kindness that was almost elusive and incense, like the ice that covers the deep dark waters. it sounded like Kaldur was speaking to a young child again, and Robin hated it.
"Robin," he continued, "Don't you know better by now? You'll wake the monsters."
Robin's face flushed as he realized what he had just done. Everything creeping under the ice from here to the igloo had heard him. No doubt they had followed him. He had put his team in danger.
"Kaldur," Robin said, "Make a thicker section of ice so they can't break through beneath us!"
But Kaldur only shook his head solemnly. "It's too late Robin. We're dead now. You killed us."
Conner let out an angry scream and turned to Robin who was still panting on his knees weakly.
"It's your fault Robin! This whole time I've been looking out for you and now you do this!" He came forward as if to hit Robin, and Robin coiled back, but M'gann hovered down from the sky and stopped Connor's hand. She gently grabbed his fist and brought it down while shaking her head slowly.
"There's no point," she whispered uncharacteristically. "We're dead."
Right on cue, there was a heavy thud beneath them. The ice cracked, but it didn't falter. Robin shakily got to his feet and wiped away the blood. A little splotch had formed in the snow where the gore had fallen.
There was another heavy thud some twenty feet away. It shook and vibrated the ice, and was still easily felt by the young teens.
"Wait," Robin said. "Before anything happens, Kaldur, why did you leave me?"
"You know why, Robin."
"No Kaldur, I won't accept that. Tell me why."
Kaldur shook his head in disapproval. "Because Robin," he said in his strange, quiet voice "you slow us down. You cause problems. You get in the way. There's a million reasons why we could have left you. Because you killed Teekl, you don't follow orders, or because you're weak. But really, it all ties into a much larger, simpler reason. We hate you."
Robin staggered back as if Kaldur had reached out and hit him again. "No,Kaldur, please. I… I didn't…" He just didn't know what to say. He was in shock, for a moment, but as it wore off, every pain within him enhanced and it became increasingly harder to breathe. He slowly sunk to the ground while clutching his chest tightly.
There was a sudden crack that echoed through the distance, and for a moment, he thought it was his own heart finally giving out. The situation flooded back as he turned around and saw that only a little ways away there was a colossal beast. Wolf growled deeply and came to stand by Robin's side.
Robin looked up at him in confusion. Did Wolf still love him?
There was a roar and Robin turned back to the beast. It was giant, nearly six feet tall and had large claws. It was a bright red and white and had dark stripes on it's back; large hunched shoulders and a square head. It looked, altogether, like a tiger/polar bear mix on steroids that had contracted rabies and lived under the ice. But when it moved it moved with the slickness of a cat. It's eyes seemed familiar, they were a deep solid red, like blood marbles. there was no whiteness in the eyes, no pupil or layers of color. Only a deep red, as if it's vision was full of rage.
The beast came forward, but after only a few steps, it's weight broke the ice and it fell through. Robin sighed a little in relief, but Wolf stood tensely by his side.
Suddenly, on Wolf's opposite side, the ice broke and claws slashed out as the beast emerged, furr encased with ice crystals. Its claws struck Wolf's side and Wolf cried out. Long jagged cuts penetrated deep into his side, and clumps of meat hung on the beast's claws.
The beast licked at it's claws, as if tasting Wolf. Robin then stood, trying to protect his only friend, and pulled out several of his projectiles. He threw two at the beast and they exploded, making it jump to the side and skid on the ice. Robin threw three more at the ice below it, and when they exploded the ice cracked and shuddered. The beast fell through once again and Robin ran to Wolf who was now laying on his side.
Wolf whimpered in pain, his side cut deeply and blood pouring swiftly. It was all Robin's fault, he caused the deep searing pain. As Robin neared him, he snapped weakly, attempting to return some of the pain to the young boy. Robin pulled his hand back, but still tried to advance. This time, Wolf growled at him deeply and threateningly. Robin retreated with a hurt expression.
'It's all your fault,' Wolf's eyes seemed to say. 'I hate you, just like the others. It's all because of you.'
Robin's rational side tried to interfere, to realise that Wolf doesn't talk, but it couldn't make the connection. Dick Grayson knew first hand that a person's eyes held a lot of emotion. Why would Wolf be any different?
Wolf's eyes rolled back into his head now, and his breathing caught. Robin ran forward and clutched the white fur that was stained red. He looked to Superboy who remained unmoved.
"Superboy, why didn't you do anything?"
Connor shook his head. "Despite what I told him, Wolf still wanted to protect you. Now he's paid for it. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but he made his choice. And now you've killed him too."
'When did you tell him this?' The thought was replaced with sorro.
Tears stung Robin's eyes as he was faced with the death of his friend. Wolf's large heart was silent and still.
"Kaldur, please. I-It wasn't me. It wasn't my fault. I didn't know."
Kaldur looked at the small, frail boy. "Of course you didn't know, Robin. You know nothing. You understand nothing. No one expects you to know because you never will. You'll wake up tomorrow and pretend that nothing has happened. That it's all just a dream. But even dreams have a purpose, Robin." Kaldur turned to walk away. "Don't follow us."
'No. This can't be happening. It's all in my head. Please, don't go.'
But it seemed painfully real. Wolf's warm blood on his hands. The cold that stung the tears in his eyes. The ache and pain in his chest.
Then there was another sound. The familiar and sickening crack of ice. Robin turned just in time to see the beast above him. Its red eyes omitted darkness as it stared down at him.
'Your eyes are as dark as mine.' Robin imagined the beast saying.
"No! My eyes are bright! Bruce always said I have the brightest blue eyes!"
'As cold as the bright blue ice. Your eyes are dark, Dick Grayson. Darker than the deepest red because behind your eyes is the depth of darkness that stretches downward. As deep as the deepest ocean, covered only by the thin brightness. It's an illusion you use on people. Truly, you are deeper than the black. Dark blue is always darker than black.'
"No." With his last whisper, the beast attacked, first ripping his chest open. He screamed in deep, dark pain.
He watched as his teammates turned away for the last time. Wake up!
"No! Please! Don't leave me! Please stop! Conner! Kaldur! M'gann!"
The beast continued to rip into him, exposing blood and flesh.
He screamed again. "KALDUR!"
Then his mind began to slip quickly away. His breathing stopped, his heart stilling. His mind was calmed in a frozen way, his thoughts dark and sad.
Slowly, so so slowly, he slipped away, only slightly aware of the shredding done by the beast.
_Brake Line_
It was daytime, the sun outside, hidden from Kaldur's sight. Everyone slept deeply, their exhaustion taking them far into unconsciousness. It was fair to say Kaldur had a difficult time trying to sleep, wind was constantly sending flying chunks of ice and snow at the igloo. At one point Kaldur heard an ice bit crack the outside of their station and he had to venture outside to mend the crack before it damaged their igloo further. He had almost blinded himself when he ventured out, all the light reflecting of snow and ice was overwhelming and had doubled the time of the task.
But farther into the day, after Kaldur was able to rest more or less peacefully, he heard a slight movement from the inside. His eyes opened only slightly, looking for anything out of place, but then reclosed. He was almost instantly back into a well needed and dreamless sleep.
Several minutes later, he was once again aroused from his rest by panting. Slowly his mind tried to function, but he was so tired, he thought nothing of it. His eyes began to close again when he heard a small whimper, a human whimper.
Now he stood quickly, hitting his head harshly on the ice roof of the igloo; he had forgotten where he was. This motion made M'gann and Connor jump into awareness with an instant snap of the mind. They looked to their leader.
'Kaldur, what's wrong?' M'gann asked mentally.
Kaldur looked around, but heard and saw nothing unusual. 'Nothing, I suppose. I thought I had heard something. It' must have been only a dream. Go back to sleep.' He was going to sit down when a movement caught his eye, Robin cringed.
With a sigh, Kaldur came to Robin's side. Wolf's eyes opened slightly to look at him, but the large silver eyes closed and Wolf went back to sleep.
Kaldur watched Robin for a moment to see if there would be any other movement. Robin was clutching his chest, and Kaldur could faintly hear his breaths. They were irregular, which worried him. He lifted the younger off of Wolf so that he could better look him over. But when he lifted his head, he stopped out of shock.
A small amount of blood began to slide out of Robin's mouth and down his jaw, slowly mending into Wolf's fur. Kaldur took in a breath, and held it for a moment.
"Robin?" Kaldur whispered in concern. The boy didn't awaken. "Robin?!" He asked louder, shaking him a little.
"Kaldur, what's wrong?" M'gann asked as she came closer, bending down to inspect what Kaldur seemed so fixated on.
"He will not awaken," Kaldur said painfully, shaking Robin's shoulder and bringing Wolf to alert. The animal contemplated getting up, but instead just craned his neck to see what everyone was looking at. He licked Robin's face soothingly but drew back when the smaller quavered.
Wolf whined and shook slightly, shaking the blanket Robin and him shared off and rising to stand by Connor, who scratched Wolf's head and kept back, afraid to help in fear he may only make the situation worse.
"Robin, Wake Up!" Kaldur prompted with more stress from more blood slowly bubbling from Robin's mouth. "My friend, you must get up!" Robin started coughing in his dream-stricken sleep, each cough emitting splotches of red over his jaw and an inner rattling sound.
Kaldur held the boy tightly, trying to arouse him from the nightmare. Things seemed to escalate as Robin suddenly squirmed and let out a shrill scream. Tears began to run down his face as the team watched helplessly. With such a vivid dream, there was no way that the boy could still be sleeping. There was something wrong; very wrong. Something had to be holding Robin beneath consciousness.
Kaldur thought it over in his mind. Maybe Robin's concussion from the fight with Klarion was now beginning to take it's toll. Still, why now? It's been several days since the incident now, and only now it is affecting him? It didn't sit straight. Something else had to be in play here.
"M'gann," Kaldur said, and he turned to her, still clutching the coughing, shaking boy tightly. "M'gann, something is wrong. Robin is being kept from awakening. You need to go in and see what you can do."
"Go in?" M'gann asked. "I can't! It's Robin's mind, Robin's dreams! What if he isn't Robin in there, but his secret identity self? I just can't Kaldur."
"M'gann," Conner reached forward and gently grabbed her hand. "If you don't do this, Robin may die. He may never wake up. And whatever nightmare he's having, that's going to be his end. That nightmare is how he's going to remember the world, his life, maybe even us! You have to get him out."
M'gann turned away from Conner's dark blue eyes and to Robin's eyes, secretly the brightest blue of all the stars. Eyes that she may never see.
"He is in pain," M'gann said sadly. Without any further hesitation, she slipped into Robin's mind.
There was chaos, at first. Red and black swirled through her vision and she gasped. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, and couldn't feel either herself nor Robin. But she quickly pushed through and found Robin's inner mind. His sight became her's as she saw what he saw.
Everyone looked down at him; Kaldur, Conner, and herself. There was warm blood everywhere, and an immense pressure. He turned back, and there were large gashes through him. A terrible beast stood, and M'gann herself screamed, causing Robin to cry out as well. He didn't know she was there yet, he only saw what was before him, and he believed it to be true.
They looked to the others, begging, pleading for them to turn around. He cried out each of their names, and once more for Kaldur. Turning their backs, they left. M'gann felt the wrench of his heart. She was only in his dreams shortly because as the beast racked him again, she was thrown from his mind by the pain.
While M'gann was within Robin, Conner and Kaldur faced their own problems. It started with one terrible knock as something crashed into the thicker ice beneath them. Then it came again, and again. M'gann needed to get out quickly. As if on cue, M'gann gasped and fell over on her side, her breaths heavy and erratic.
"M'gann!" Conner called and gently lifted her. She had tears streaming down her face.
"I have to save him, we had to save him. We wouldn't leave, not ever…" she carried on in a staring whisper.
"M'gann, snap out of it! What happened?!" Conner demanded. M'gann blinked and sat up quickly, ignoring Connor. She dove for Robin again. This time, she would pull him out. She wouldn't leave him amidst the Chaos for another moment.
Chaos... Maybe it was Klarion messing with them again, preventing Robin from waking up from whatever artificial dream he may be trapped in. Robin would never really believe those things, not ever. It was only a dream forced upon him… it had to be!
If only she knew.
Quickly, she reached violently into his mind again, the distant sound of ice breaking the last thing she heard as the chaos consumed her. Robin screamed somewhere among it, lost and in pain. She felt for him, and this time she grasped him, instead of forcing her way in, she pulled him into her mind, and then to reality. Within a millisecond they were back in the real world, Robin screaming in pain.
He was afraid, scared as hell and confused even more so, but he was awake.
"Robin!" Kalder cried intently as tears streamed down the youngest's face. He gasped and coughed violently. Blood splattered and his small frame shook with such violence that Kaldur could barely hold him. But again, he was awake. That gave Kaldur the slightest amount of relief.
Before Robin could regain control, the wall to the igloo smashed in. Wolf yelped and then glowled deeply. He lept through the original entrance and to the outside where he lunged upon the attacker. Conner looked out at the fight through the new hole on the shelter and instantly regretted it. The snow reflected the sun like a mirror, and Conner was instantly blinded. He fell to his knees and stared blindly at the Igloo's floor of thick ice.
"We can't stay here!" Kaldur called to the others nodded in agreeance.
Without hesitation, the team ran into the sunlight being reflected from the snow to every visible surface. Robin was tightly clutched in Kladur's arms, his eyes shut tightly and his head tucked against Kaldur's chest as he rattled and coughed. M'gann threw an arm over her eyes in response of the exposure to the light. The light was unbelievably blinding, even when you shut your eyes it was overwhelming. It was sort of like the result of the flash bombs Robin carried around in his belt.
Everything was white. The ground, the sky, and Wolf, who bounced around attacking what none of them could see. Ice cracked and sank, and a beast snarled and lunged. Wolf mimicked it's noises, making it increasingly difficult to locate whatever had attacked them.
Superboy's eyes were the first to recover. Though it still felt as though someone poured a cup of bleach on his face, he could make out shapes. Kaldur stood to the left, M'gann must have been what was floating to the right, Robin was a blur within Kaldur's arms, and Wolf was a little beyond his limited line of sight, though he could hear him by the sound his nails made against the ice as he scattered about, probably as blinded as the rest.
But their was another shape, this one even with the slightest bit of color; red.
It jumped and broke the ice beneath it, leaping off before landing in front of another...
"Kaldur! Look out!" Superboy lunged out, trying to beat the beast but landing way to far out.
Kaldur saw it just as it landed in his face. He let out a muffled cry as the thing's claws connected with his face, teeth trying to sink into his shoulder. Kaldur threw Robin aside as the beast came down on him, the ice creating a ripple effect underneath him before the creature used him like a spring board and landed in a different area which Connor couldn't see, he couldn't hear it, he didn't feel it, so it wasn't close. Where did it go?
Kaldur slowly sank to the bottom along with shards of broken ice, which Superboy barely noticed in his mission to tear this creature limb from limb.
"M'gann, levitate Robin now!" And she did, but not soon enough. Robin gave a squeak as the beast bit his leg and tried to pull him down beneath the ice.
Connor launched forward, this time landing in the right spot. He sent a punch to the animal's head, but instead hit its back. It cried out, almost like an angry cat would. It let go of Robin's leg and arched its back to bite Superboy.
To Connor's surprise, when the beast wrapped its teeth around his hand, the needle like stubs sunk through the skin, causing Superboy to erupt in pain.
"Gahhh!" After flinging his arm the opposite direction, the beast let go, once again falling on the remains of their igloo. It lay there for a moment, dazed, no doubt seeing stars.
As was Superboy, he stood there for a moment, squinting through his eyes and staring at his hand. It slowly oozed blood, the color stood out against the shattering and repetitive white. It was a sight he was not used to seeing coming from himself. His skin was nearly impenetrable, harder than steel and tougher than diamond... but the animal tore through it as if it were simply stuffing from a plushy. Not even Wolf could do this kind of damage on him. And it hurt...
It was a new pain he was not yet accustomed to. He clamped his eyes shut and opened them sparsely.
He barely glanced at Robin who lay on the ice, shivering but quickly regaining control of himself. The new pain had sharpened his mind to the situation. M'gann lifted Robin as the hole of Ice he sat by, where Kaldur had fallen through, began to further creep towards him.
And Wolf, where was Wolf? A white creature among a flood of white sky and snow. Not exactly seen easily. When a white creature is hopping around with a red one, it is no easier. Just when Connor would think he could for-sure identify one of the two, it would jump away in pursuit of the other.
"Superboy!" M'gann hollered down from somewhere above. She sounded worried, really worried. Her voice was more like a pleading than a warning. Robin was panting somewhere above him, thanks to M'gann, but he said nothing.
And Kaldur, yet to come out of the ice. Was that what M'gann was warning him about? Get Kaldur? He opened his eyes and stared through the ice intently, looking for his leader and friend.
He could see nothing, barely even the ground, but he could hear everything, even the slight knocking from underneath him. He was just getting used to using his ears, not eyes, when the beast was able to evade Wolf and attach itself to Superboys chest, giving him a nib on the side of his face before leaping off and causing Superboy to stumble backwards with a cry of pain. Robin gasped and made a sputtering sound, like he just couldn't get his words out fast enough.
Wolf, the ever humble and loved beast, who was like a familiar to Connor, dove in front of him to help protect Connor from the beast like and loyal pet would do.
Connor didn't think of his humble beloved pet, or anything but the Red cat-like thing trying to make a meal of him. He didn't see Wolf right in front of him as he prepared to attack. He wound his arm up, preparing to swing around and clober whatever stood in front of him.
Robin had seen this before. It was this nagging feeling that let on the minute he stepped outside the shade of the igloo, a feeling that had now evolved into full fledged terror, he grabbed M'gann's arm and squeezed tight, unable to get any words out, hoping she would be able to see well enough now to realize what was going on. Hoping that she would see this is just what happened with Klairon.
She didn't, or at least not soon enough. In a last attempt to get words though his lips, he shouted. "Connor, don't it's-!" It had sounded girly, one full octave above what he meant it to be, but Connor stopped in mid swing before Robin even finished. "-Wolf..."
Thank God, everything had been just right. He almost had to see Wolf suffer the same fate as Teekl.
Tears from both the horrific dream and the immense light problem stained his face, and blood still speckled his jaw and threatened to pour out as he shouted once again.
"Wolf, come 'ere." The pooch abandoned Superboy to come and sit under Robin and M'gann. Both gave it encouraging words and praises to make him stay where he sat.
Robin was still looking down at Wolf as they heard an abrupt crunch, signalling the end of the cat creature. With watery eyes he tore his eyes from Wolf to catch the sight of the cat thing.
Robin still didn't understand. He hadn't known it was all a dream. He didn't know why the team had come back,or why his chest wasn't clawed to shreds. When he awakened, all he could really do was think of Wolf, who miraculously stood besides him. Then the beast, at first without blood in it's fur. It was as if the whole thing had never happened, but when Robin had awakened in the igloo, he didn't know he was waking up; he didn't even know he was ever asleep.
And now that this sudden and confusing battle was over, his mental pain returned. As far as he was concerned, everyone had still abandoned him.
"Can, can you put m-me down now?" Megan nodded in return, slowly lowering the two of them to the ground and let Robin gain full control of his body again.
He was still trying to wrap his mind around it all when he remembered...
'Oh shit, Kaldur!' He rushed over to the spot of ice he fell though, now well freezed over to the three inch regular, only identifiable from the rest due to the lack of powdery snow over it. He wiped off the condensation with his hand and tried to see if Kaldur was floating underneath it.
He saw nothing but black, which was a nice change from white, but only a little.
"I'll try to locate him," said M'gann before using her telepathic powers. Superboy was holding her hand with his good one, waiting for her to tell him where to smash and drag out their leader.
"Still searching..."
'Come on Kaldur.' Robin was slightly annoyed he wasn't here and that M'gann wasn't finding him, as soon as something goes right, something goes wrong. Robin placed a gloved hand on the ice, supporting himself once the adrenaline wore off and the desperation sunk in. He was only mildly surprised when a hand touched the other end of the ice, really. He only jumped a little.
"I've found him!-" M'gann began.
"So have I." He removed his glove and penetrated ice, reaching into the cold water. It was just as frigid as he remembered, it felt as though his skin was being eroded by ice chips. Kaldur grabbed his hand and began chipping at the ice from the bottom as Robin did the top.
M'gann noticed this and came over to help, but the hole was big enough to pull a man though when she got there. She helped levitate him out and onto the more solid ice, just before she floated forward to hug him.
Robin shook his hand off and placed it back in his gauntlet, already unable to feel it because of the cold. He smiled a little, happy that everyone had made it through the day. But, then he remembered…
Everyone hadn't made it through. Wolf had died, at least he had thought so. Now, watching his team, he couldn't help but wonder, 'they're the ones who abandoned me, aren't they?'
Everything was confusing, and contradictory. Everything was so confusing, and everything was so fuzzy, and bright.
Conner walked over to Kaldur and set his good hand on his shoulder. Robin took a step back, not sure what to make of this. They were all standing together, their faces so different from before. And the monster, it had been exactly the same, but had no previously bestowed blood.
The more Robin tried to wrap his head around it, the more his head would spin. His breaths became heavy again as fear started to grip at his heart, threatening to send him into a panic fit. He was finding it hard to stand as he began to stumble and lose oxygen.
Were they going to leave him again? Did they really hate him? They were his team, they wouldn't do that... Right?
'Of course they hate you,' Robin thought bitterly to himself. 'Why wouldn't they? Everything they said was true. I get in the way. I caused Teekl to die. I'm unpredictable, unstable, and worst of all… I'm weak. Why would they care?'
He looked again to their smiling faces. 'Must be dreaming now. There's no way that this is happening. One thing or the other is real, and when they left, the pain, the blood, Wolf. That was real, I know it. The beast must have left me alive...'
'Or not.' He reasoned with himself.
Robin had been backing up, his eyes searching behind his mask, not actually seeing the world before him. Conner was the first to notice the youngest's retreat. "Robin?" He voiced his curiosity. Kaldur and M'gann also turned, their smiles fading as Robin's heart paced.
'That's it,' Robin concluded. 'Their faces are shifting, showing what I've known all along. They're angry, disappointed; they hate me. When the beast attacked me, it must have left me alive. I've slipped into unconsciousness, dreaming about Wolf being alive, about them still caring. That's why the pain has come back, why my chest still aches. This is going to be a Nightmare.'
Robin stopped backing away, frozen to where he was by his realizations. He was bleeding out on the ice somewhere, in the real world, while his mind was here.
'Or not.' His head told him again.
Kaldur began to walk towards him. "Robin, what is wrong? Everything is okay now…" He spoke quietly, trying to calm the younger down once he witnessed the distressed state.
"No," Robin whispered, and again he began to slowly inch back. His thoughts were racing a million miles a minute, but everything was still slow and foggy. It was getting redundant.
M'gann glanced at Conner worldly, her concern reflected in his eyes. They also went to take a step forward, which resulted in Robin flinching back, feeling as if they were closing in on him. Kaldur was the only one who advanced, trying to seem as harmless as possible.
Robin looked scared, somewhat horror stricken, but mostly confused and still half asleep. Kaldur was closing the gap between them quickly, Robin still barely inching back. At the last moment, Kaldur reached out to him and Robin flinched in fear. Kaldur's hand froze in mid air.
Kaldur also flinched in response, hating to see the fear on Robin's face. He crossed some sort of line.
"Robin…" Kaldur said heartbrokenly and reached out again. He stopped as a tear slipped down Robin's cheek, his head still turned and cast downward in expectancy of Kaldur's hand.
Kaldur let his hand return to his side and made no movement closer. He stood a maximum of four feet away from where the small boy trembled slightly from the cold and fear of Kaldur hurting him again.
"Robin…" He tried again, his voice soft and quiet. "Robin please; I promise I won't strike you again." Robin didn't move, his dark black hair still covering half his face. "Robin, I was angry. I was angry, but not mostly at you. I was angry because you had to do it all alone, because I was helpless, and mostly because you were right." Robin's head lifted slightly so he was barely able to see Kaldur from underneath his bangs.
Kaldur looked down at him sadly before leaning down to his level. He talked slowly and quietly. "Robin, you were right. If you had followed my orders, there's a good chance the rest of us would have died. And if it had been you in trouble, I would have stayed as well." Kaldur cast his head down slightly in shame. "I didn't believe in you, didn't think that you could manage it, but you did. I was wrong. And then… and then I hit you. Of all the deeds that I've ever done, that was the worst, most vile one. I've spent every moment regretting it since then. I betrayed your trust, and at such a crucial moment. I'll understand If you never trust me again, but I will always be trying to regain it."
Kaldur watched Robin for any clues as to what was going through his mind. Robin only hung his head further, looking straight down in front of him, his arms tucked in and hands clutching his chest. Kaldur was slightly shocked as Robin stepped forward and let his head rest on Kaldur's chest. Kaldur wrapped his arms around Robin's shoulders, embracing the boy lightly.
"This is a dream. But I wish I could live here instead," Robin whispered quietly.
Kaldur's heart sank instantly. "No, my friend," Kaldur whispered quietly. "I am here. We're here. This is no dream. I will not harm you. We will protect you! All of this I promise you. We love you."
For a moment, Kaldur felt more than just a team relationship. He felt like they were family, and Robin his younger brother, the sibling he never had and never would have.
"Love?" Robin whispered quietly. "You don't love me. You can't love me."
"Why?" Kaldur challenged this. Robin was wrong.
"You have to hate me. I ruin everything."
M'gann came up and spoke kindly to him. "You saved my cookies a week ago. I remember that. And you fixed Artemis's bow when it broke."
Wolf licked him affectionately. "You helped Wolf when his paw had a thorn in it," Conner communicated.
"Mostly," Kaldur said distantly "you saved our lives that night on the roof. Something I should have recognized long ago. We need you Robin. This is real."
Slowly, the fog and confusion left Robins mind, allowing him to rationalize his thoughts. 'This is real,' He tried.
They stayed like this for a minute, uninterrupted by the others. Robin's chest shook slightly, then a little more rapidly for M'gann and Connor to see. He sniffled for a moment before telling Kaldur, "I'm okay now."
'Doubtful.'
Kaldur held him for a moment more before letting go and rising to full height and speaking for the whole team. "I'll make another igloo."
Robin was able to stand by M'gann and Superboy. Wolf sat at their feet, looking back and forth between members, waiting for something.
M'gann was fussing over Superboy's hand and wiping the blood off his face. Robin tore a strip from his cape.
"Give me your hand." Superboy did so, still unsure why his hand was bleeding in the first place. He was still stuck on the idea that his skin was nearly impenetrable. Robin wrapped the strip around Superboy's hand.
It seemed that was the only true injury. Connor's face was bleeding, but it would soon stop, as would the nip on Robin's calf and the torn skin from when it turned on Kaldur.
"Robin!" He turned his head to Miss M., who had been trying to gain his attention for a while. "Are. You. Okay?"
He was almost truthful when answering, he wanted nothing more than to admit everything and pour out his thoughts to her like a faucet, but instead he just pulled out a horrible unconvincing smile and wiped the tear tracks on his cheeks. "I'm fine."
"As if." Connor replied bluntly, inspecting his hand as he did so. He wasn't mean on purpose, it wasn't a comment that was meant to contradict Robin, he was just saying what was on his mind.
"I'm fine." He repeated mindlessly, his attention already appointed elsewhere. Wolf was fidgeting and twitching. He was now pacing and whimpering slightly. Nuzzling at their hands.
"What is it?" Superboy asked. He pet the animal and looked at the others, waiting for another to answer for him.
It took Robin an ache in his gut and a peer at the frozen carcass to realize what Wolf wanted. "He's hungry."
Superboy looked at the carcass and Wolf, unsure what to tell him. He motioned to the dead cat thing, "Uhhhh, Go ahead." Wolf ran over to it and sank his teeth into the meat enthusiastically. The team turned away to look at the igloo in the making, thankful for a distraction from the meal Wolf gorged himself on.
"Ya know, it looked kind of like Teekl," M'gann stated flatly. Robin flinched a little and was glad that he was standing behind them.
Superboy glanced back at the strange creature, "I'll take your word for it."
They all watched patiently as Kaldur finished the igloo. Each of them lingering on Wolf's feast and thinking of their own hunger, and how gross the scene behind them was. Finally, Kaldur finished and they all stepped inside, their headaches easing slightly.
It was somewhat clouded out, so the sun's blinding effect had been muted. Looking back on it now, Robin was sure that if the clouds had not rolled in, they would have all been completely blinded, and Wolf would be dead.
An hour or so later, the sun once again shone brightly and Wolf walked back inside, licking his mouth to wipe off blood. He walked in only to curl up in between Robin and M'gann.
Everyone sat quietly and slept; all except for Robin. His fears gripped him too tightly to sleep, and he didn't want to have another nightmare. He had been so relieved when Kaldur had told him that this was real, that the terrible things had only been dreams.
Only a dream.
Don't be scared, it was only a dream.
For the next hour and a half, Robin sat awake. He watched the others sleep peacefully with some sort of envy.
Eventually, the sun had set and the rest of the team awakened. They stepped out into the frosty night and begun to continue their travels. The moon still hung fully, and Robin concluded that it must always be full on this planet because in the last days it had not changed in appearance. He had to ask himself, 'How does that work?'
He decided not to try to apply logic to the minor, little problems and trudged on.
They walked lightly and quietly for another stretch of time. Then, miraculously, the ice thickened. They were all relieved when Robin tested the ice and noted that it was now well over five inches thick. They continued to walk lightly though, in fear that another creature from the depths could still emerge.
They were well aware of the beasts both above and below the Ice. At every noise not connected with his team, Robin jumped.
Slowly, ever so slowly, grey clouds covered the moon. It was getting windy,only a slight breeze at first, it took little bits of snow with it as it blew about. Then the temperature dropped a devastating amount in less than a minute.
"It's going to storm."
"I know." Kaldur stated, feeling drained. "I shall make an igloo we will take shelter in." And he did, or at least tried, but the ice was impossibly thick now and the wind picked up more, sending ice chunks and snow though the wind in the dark.
A strong gust of wind suddenly caught, and snow blew up everywhere, creating a near white out, the darkness made the snow to appear almost grey.
Wolf howled, and the team came close to the sound, using it as a beacon. But a cracking sound so immense suddenly started, drowning out Wolf's voice for a moment. The cracking was of the ice, not splintering like before. Now, it split between Robin and the others. They were on two separate platforms of ice, like large glaciers, and the two were separating and began to break apart.
When the snow settled for a matter of seconds, all Robin could see was his teammates crouched down, keeping their center of gravity low so they wouldn't blow away. Robin, the lightest, was having trouble with this. He pulled out two blades and shoved them into the ice. He held on tightly, the blades slipping a little.
"ROBIN!" Kaldur held his hand outstretched to Robin, who he more than noticed was having the most trouble not whisking away. Robin reached for it, trying his hardest when the wind picked up again and blew snow in between them, blocking each other's view of another. The crack in the ice split, forming more of two ice continents. They slid apart ten feet, separating Robin from the others almost most completely.
Robin was drifting away, little by little, more and more. Kaldur was screaming for him, along with M'gann and Connor, who were in each other's arms, but no one could be heard between the wind and snow.
The distance between them grew, and each knew if they rose to full height, or any height, to try to pursue the other, they would disappear altogether. Otherwise, Kaldur would have jumped across the crevice between them, or would have swam across if necessary. If the wind had allowed it, M'gann would have levitated the team back together, but right now it was impossible.
The wind let up again, if only for a second. Robin ran, as if going to leap over the gap, but another gust started, fighting against him. As Robin regained his balance, he saw that the stretch had doubled, if not tripled, the ice still separating. Robin ran again, his feet barely making contact with the ice. Determined, he ran straight, knowing that this was his last chance. At the last moment his calculations caught up with him and the distance became just a little too far. He halted, skidding to a stop. He would never have made it, even if he wasn't in critical condition. His emotions whirled as he watched his team leaving. If he jumped now he would fall into the waters below.
"NO!" He screamed, he cried, he shouted into oblivion, hoping that would change the weather's mind and that the distance between the ice would close. The wind roughly carried his cries away and ripped them up until nothing could be distinguished. Almost nothing, Wolf's ear twitched and his instincts told him that this situation was even worse that he had thought.
Wolf glanced quickly around. Although he couldn't actually count, he knew when there was an absence, one less presence than there should be. He twisted and turned in a panic. Wolf cared about every member of the team, and the unexpected disappearance worried him deeply. He had been in enough dangerous situations with them, had gone on enough missions to know that it was his job to watch over them all, especially Conner. And if one of them wasn't there, he was supposed to find them.
Kaldur, M'gann, and Connor watched Wolf as he turned and twisted, his ears pricked and nose sniffing the air.
He stood and jumped. He was carried with the wind, hitting the ground frequently and violently in between each gust. The ice started to crack each time the four hundred plus pound animal hit the surface, creating a loud sound that the majority of the team was too far away to hear.
Robin covered his face as another strong gust blew past him, sending him farther. He looked up after a thud sound to see a great white form extend over the split. Wolf had thought on instinct and ran, jumping far out into space. He cut through the air like a blurred white bullet. Robin blinked and flinched back as Wolf landed right above him, his paws on either side.
Wolf absorbed the impact without touching Robin so that he wouldn't crush him with his enourmous form. Somewhere behind him, Connor cried out for him. Cries that no one could hear.
M'gann screamed for them, but her voice was drowned out by the wind much too soon for it to make it even twelve feet away.
"M'gann!" Kaldur said solemnly yet loud enough to be well understood, "Make a telepathic connection!"
She did. M'gann concentrated on the minds growing fainter with distance, it was taking all of her power, and Connor had to support her from drifting away as well.
'Robin,' Kaldur thought. There was no response, but although Robin tried to hide it, a great wave of deep emotion could be felt. Kaldur flinched at it, feeling the pain.
'Robin, you have Wolf, and our previous igloos if you can find them. Stay alive,' he pleaded, 'and we will find you. When the storm lets up, M'gann will search for you."
'Kaldur," Robin thought heartbrokenly, 'Don't leave me, please.'
Again, Kaldur felt the pain, and this time it mixed with his own, and the pain of the others. 'I… I will see you again, my friend. Wait for us… we will find you.'
'P-p-promise?' Robin asked weakly. He hated sounding so weak.
'I promise.'
Connor spoke to Wolf, who had been waiting patiently. 'Wolf, protect Robin.' He spoke as unemotionally as he could, but it was plain he was hurting both for Robin and his loyal pet.
Wolf's concern for him could be felt, growing weaker by the second as they drifted apart.
'Don't worry about me Wolf. Just protect Robin, he's going to need you.'
Wolf weighed Robin down, when each gust hit, they blew together and slowly slid along the ice, Robin clutching Wolf for his life. They continued to blow together under the dark sky. The wind blew again and the snow covered their sight. M'gann screamed as the link was violently ripped by the distance.
Robin blinked through the darkness. They were gone. Like in his dream, they were gone. Wolf nuzzled him and licked his face to remind Robin that he was still here, which the smaller was thankful for.
The wind died down around him and the night became calm for a few moments. Far off to the side Robin could see a white wall of snow that retreated, leaving in the same direction the team was.
The boy doubled over and vomited. He puked the water contents from the snow he had been drinking/eating, and a worry some amount of blood. Wolf sat loyalty next to him, waiting for the violent episode to be over, which it soon was.
"Ouch..." Robin commented to himself and wiped his mouth on his ever staining cape.
Snow was now falling heavily from the sky and Robin shivered. Wolf pressed his body against Robin's to keep the boy warm. The blanket M'gann had given him was long gone, ripped from whoever had it into the blizzard.
Slowly, Robin turned away and trugged against the wind, which was now only a gentle breeze. He was trying desperately to find an igloo, a shelter for when another storm hit, or something he could sleep in.
Then another thought occurred to him. His belt was running low on everything, he didn't bother to restock it from the fight with Klarion, and his body was so very week, if another Teekl-look-alike came along, he would depend on Wolf completely.
He hated being defenceless.
Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. His mind repeated over and over again, even when his body went numb, and when his head was starting to go numb. He tried to stay strong, but his body was telling him he was done.
Don't be afraid...
After another hour, he collapsed from exhaustion, the only thing preserving his life was Wolf as he curled up over him and kept him warm. Snow quickly covered them, and they were buried in the powdery white.
A/N: Thanks for reading our story... please review!