Robin had had worse days. Then again, he didn't think that being thrown in the freezing murky waters of Gotham was a real good treat either. Gotham was a trash-filled city despite Bruce's help in cleaning everything up as best he could. Robin and the team were on another mission. Unfortunately, their opponent was none other than the Joker. He had put a time bomb, and Robin had barely grabbed Aqualad in the nick of time before it exploded.
Then again, Robin did have an inkling that being blown up and burnt was better than being the dirty gross water of Gotham at midnight.
"God! That was disgusting! I really should get some people to clean up this place." He sputtered, coughing out water.
"That is true. I would not be surprised if you caught some form of illness." Kaldur said, attempting to wipe off some of the disgusting slime and muck that had coated his skin and gills.
"We failed. The Joker always escapes. We might've had better chances if Batman was us." Robin muttered as he was beginning to make his way to shore. As soon as he reached land though, a mine went off, blasting Robin back into the water.
"Robin!" Aqualad yelled. A minute later, and the young hero still hadn't come up from the water.
'There's…something choking my neck…can't breathe! Gotta get to the…surface…!' Robin panicked. There was something constricting his airways, and he couldn't figure out what it was. And, not to mention that there was someone dragging him downwards…or was that his imagination? He couldn't tell, and for the moment, he'd just have to rely on his instincts as he struggled for air.
"Robin! It's Megan, where are you?" The voice of Miss Martian rang in his ears, but by now he was quite used to it.
"Sinking to the bottom of Gotham Harbor. Just cheeky." He replied sarcastically. "There's someone-or something- pulling me down, can you try to locate me through this mess?" At this point he was sure that he had a fifty percent chance of making it, and the chances were getting slimmer by the minute.
There had been more than a plenty of times when the situation was looking pretty grim for him. Once, Scarecrow had injected his fear gas in liquid form directly into his bloodstream. It had taken about a whole week to recuperate from that incident. The fear had grabbed a hold of his very heart, and he felt that he couldn't even breathe. When he had been dragged out of that world…he remembered seeing Bruce, asleep in a chair pulled up next to his bed.
At the time, there hadn't been an antidote, so both he and his mentor were recovering. At times, Robin almost forgot that he was a mere child. He'd been so wrapped up in responsibilities, that he had forgotten what it was like to be a kid. Until he met Wally. Kid Mouth reminded him how fun it was to be a kid, and Robin decided to change how he acted on missions with Batman a tad bit.
Robin was losing oxygen. Resorting to his last attempt, he kicked backwards, trying to hit his enemy square in the face or at least jaw. He figured that they could see him better than he could see though the murky water. Wait…they can't see! They can hear my heartbeat, right? He thought. Robin nearly screamed when he felt a warm hand grab him by the scruff.
Luckily, it was just Miss Martian.
When he opened his eyes, he was nearly close to bursting out in laughter. He was relieved. Robin cared for his team mates, just as they cared for him. And he wondered how long it took for him to realize that.
His team always had his back, just as he for them. Always.