Wally looked up at the snap of a twig. Grinning at the distinctive sound of cursing, regardless of his inability to comprehend the language. He assumed the vehement utterances were Atlantian, based on the subtle similarities to Greek Robin had once pointed out. He shifted his weight and considered his friend and fearless leader, wondering if the older boy would ever break down and invest in footwear.

Kaldur maintained that his dense Atlantian skin, coupled with the delicate membrane between his toes rendered footwear unnecessary at best and painfully restricting at worst. Still it might be beneficial to at least consider the possibility of sandals. The membrane that assisted his mobility in water were, as previously noted delicate, and stepping on something sharp was annoying, regardless of how dense your skin is.

Kaldur emerged from the forest a few minutes later.

Wally stared at his friend, the other boy's movements were awkward and somewhat stilted, as if he walked with a heavy limp. Wally stepped forward greatly alarmed. Desperate to make some semblance of sense out of the scene in front him.

He must have dozed off, because there was no way in hell this was actually happening.

Why the hell didn't he have a camera?

Kaldur had Robin, partner of The God Damned Batman perched on his hip, like a small child. Robin's head rested against Kaldur's shoulder, ears twitching slightly in what looked like exhausted sleep. The smaller boy's fluffy tail dragging upon the ground as Kaldur carefully maneuvered them both out of the forest.

It was a genuinely adorable sight.

The tiny fourteen year old being carried by their much bigger seventeen year old friend as he slept. Robin's size and their general pose lent Robin a much younger air. Their friend had always been small for his age, but he also appeared to be a bit of a late bloomer, having yet to actually hit his growth spurt. Though any baby fat he may have once possessed had melted away under the brutal physical exertion vigilantism required of them all. That at least kept people from assuming he was too much younger then he actually was. Robin hated it when people assumed he was ten. Their current assumption of twelve drove him up the wall, but at least it was closer to the truth.

The team moved as one, closing in on their two friends. Conner carefully lifting Robin out of Kaldur's somewhat precarious grasp and cradling him to his chest. An act, which succeeded in making the boy look even younger. The fact that his tail curled up to his chest only to be caught and held like a stuffed toy did not help the image.

At all

"I so wish I had a camera."Wally said absently, flinching slightly under the combined might of Conner and Kaldur's glares.

Kaldur locked eyes with him before turning to take in every member of the team. "I will not order you to do this." He said in a tone that was soft and oddly final. "No one will look down on you should you chose to avoid the wrath of the Justice League by returning to base now. If need be Robin and I will handle this alone."

Artemis crossed her arms. "Because that worked so well the last time we tried to handle things on our own rather than as a team." She said derisively.

Conner and M'Gann both flinched at the reminder of the situation had all found themselves in a few months ago.

"She's Right," Conner commented, "We are a team, we stick together. The Justice League can get on board or get out of the way."

Kaldur relaxed slightly. "Whatever Klarion did, Robin is stuck like that." he said softly gesturing to the exhausted boy in Conner's arms.

Looking at his best friend, Wally noticed the dried tear tracks on his cheeks for the first time.

Kaldur sighed, "Robin is… uncomfortable with anyone seeing him like this, particularly Batman. The Dark Knight's feelings towards Meta humans in his city is well known and Robin is alarmed by the idea of how he will react to seeing him in that state." He gestured at their physically altered friend as he spoke. "Zatanna?"

"I won't say a word." She replied firmly. Then followed the apparent non sequitur by adding. "I do not know if I can reversed Klarion's spell, but I can sure as hell try."

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH

"You alright dude?" Wally enquired, glancing over at Robin. The Fox boy sat huddled in his seat, somehow managing to hide in the cloak Zatanna had conjured for him. All around him the shadows seemed to draw out and envelop him. Obscuring him from sight in the otherwise bright cabin of the Bioship.

The effect was rather creepy.

"Been better." Robin replied shortly, his words perfectly enunciated despite the recent edition of fangs.

Wally couldn't help smiling at that. The situation was completely absurd. Yet, Wally couldn't help being impressed with how little time it had taken Robin to adjust to having elongated canines. He'd been a werewolf for Halloween once, complete with Hollywood style fangs. It had taken him almost a week to learn how to talk normally with the dammed things in.

Yet Robin already sounded as if he'd had elongated upper and lower incisors his entire life.

Were they sure Robin wasn't a Meta Human? Because his ability to fly by the seat of his pant and adapt to any situation was downright freaky at times.

Seriously did the boy even have the capacity to be alarmed?

Wally glanced over at Kaldur. Their fearless leader currently occupied the pilot station, a look of concentration and mild alarm on his face as he directed the alien machine. M'Gann was currently otherwise occupied, her eyes glowing softly as she focused all of her attention on cloaking them from any and all forms of detection. Most notably, her own uncle.

Kaldur's plan was simple enough. Pretend they were still on assignment dealing with Klarion, and avoid detection by the Justice League until Robin had been returned to his proper anatomical form. Easier in theory then in practice. The League was headquarters for a man who could chase down any lead in the time it would take a normal man to sneeze, various telepaths, several ridiculously powerful magic users and various other aliens and Meta-humans. To say nothing of The God Damned Batman, greatest detective on Earth and overprotective father of one of their team mates.

Batman would be on their trail by dinner time, if he wasn't already.

Personally, Wally thought this whole venture was a lost cause, the league was bound to find them and discipline them for going rogue. He'd said as much, but none of them were willing to back down. Young Justice was their team, and they would do what they could to protect each other. If that meant trying to evade Batman until they reversed Klarion's spell.

So be it.

Despite his decision to play Devil's advocate Wally was pleased with the outcome.

They were a team, a family

They looked out for their own.

Still he was not looking forward to facing Batman and the rest of their irate mentors when this was all over. He was sooooo grounded when his uncle got his hands on him, but that was nothing compared to the hell Bruce was likely to put Dick through for this one. Bruce was somewhat found of extra training and manual labor as punishment. Robin had once confessed to having to wash and wax the Batmobile with a three inch long star-shaped art sponge after sufficiently annoying his adoptive father.

It was not an experience Wally was looking forward to, but for his friend he'd run the gauntlet at normal speed. Being grounded was hardly going to stop him now. Particularly not with the memory of the profound relief on Robin's face when they'd woken him up to let him know that they had his back.

It had taken the combined efforts of Robin, Zatanna, M'Gann and himself to find, remove, and or hack all of the tracking devices Batman had in the team's equipment. Before he and Robin had set about ensuring the damned things were transmitting false telemetry. In the end, the decision to abandon their uniforms had had less to do with stealth and more to do with practicality.

Robin's uniform and various parts of his gear were bugged. A safety precaution of Batman's that Robin understood and accepted. However it was damned inconvenient in this instance. Since none of them had any idea if Batman had applied this same precaution to their costumes, they had been forced to abandon their hero personas in favor of relative civilian anonymity.

They'd pooled their resources and Wally had run to nearest source of cheap clothing. A small hole in the wall thrift store. Several sets of cheap second hand pants and t-shirts later. They bore only a passing resemblance to their civilian selves. Instead they looked like a rag tag group of teenaged runaways. Or possibly a very small, very scruffy, inner city gang.

Relative anonymity accomplished they'd set out in search of a place to disappear. A difficult prospect when one needed to vanish off Justice League Radar. It would have been simpler if they'd split up. As Robin had reminded them, if you wanted to disappear you had to change your habits. So familiar Haunts were out. In the end, they'd decided that it might be a good idea to pick a state away from any of their home turfs and try to find a poorer district of a medium to large sized city.

They'd picked a direction, North West, in an attempt to further evade their elders, but didn't really have a set destination in mind. They were currently flying over Montana and Conner was busy scanning for a place they could set down that would shield them from the prying eyes of superman. If this worked the team would have their own secret base, in case they ever had to execute a dooms day scenario where the Justice League went rouge …again.

Or in case of the Zombie apocalypse.

Hopefully the Zombie apocalypse.

That scenario would be easier to handle.

"There," Conner informed them all sharply pointing at an old but fairly well maintained building. "Infrared vision shows the paint is lead based, my brother won't be able to see through it."

"M'Gann?" Kaldur enquired.

Their friend turned her head towards the building, eyes glowing briefly. "It's clean, no one's inside."

Robin turned towards the window and scrutinized the building. "It's for sale," he commented mildly. "So as long as we don't stay to long, and are mindful of the noise, we shouldn't run into any problems."

Wally couldn't help wondering how Robin had come to that conclusion.

SSNHSSNHSSNH

Zatanna sighed and crossed another spell off the list of the ones she'd come up with in an effort to free Robin from the form he currently wore. That last one had been disastrous. She crouched down beside the little creature at her feet. "Can you shift back or did I just manage to trap you in an even more inconvenient form?" she asked softly.

The little creature sighed and looked up at her. It blurred briefly, before snapping back into the form of a small fox kit with a pained yelp and a sound like a rubber band snapping.

She groaned. "Don't worry I'll fix this." She said softly.

Robin yipped at her, and rose slowly to his oversized paws. He promptly tripped and landed snout first upon the ground. He growled as she scooped him up and set him on his feet. With a sigh she sank into a meditative pose and tried to figure out how to undue her magical mishap.

An hour later she was drenched in sweat and Robin was a lovely shade of lavender with deep almost royal purple points. Oddly enough the tip of his tail remained stubbornly black. She groaned. "I'm so sorry Robin." She said after a moment, her stomach roared at her reminding her in no uncertain terms that using her magical gift consumed calories just like anything else. "Let's get lunch and then I'll see if I can at least get you back into the other form you were stuck in.

"It's okay. I've wanted to bite Wally for a few days now, this just gives me an excuse". There was an odd tone to Robin's voice, in fact it sounded strangely musical despite the words being in no way lyrical. It took her a moment to work out why. The little fox was talking to her, but his mouth was not moving. She was hearing his voice as if he'd spoken aloud, so she didn't think it was telepathy, more like he was wearing an invisible speaker. She filed that information away for later.

It took a moment but her friend managed to follow her to the door, still a bit unsteady on his paws. She held the door out for him letting the hilariously colored fox kit proceed her out the door. Wally predictably started laughing the second he laid eyes on Robin.

Zatanna rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Why do you put up with him again?" she enquired in a bland tone. However when she looked down the brightly colored animal had disappeared.

She sighed and made her way over to their makeshift kitchen. It wasn't much just a bunch of battered odds and ends. Consisting of an old folding table, a badly dented pot, a pan that had seen better days, assorted mismatched flatware and a single burner propane backpacking stove. The stove was the only thing that was actually new. Wally had procured it from the East Coast with Robin's Debit Card their first night in their new abode.

Artemis and M'Gann had cooking duty for the simple reason that they actually knew how to cook. Technically so did She and Kaldur, but she was embroiled in the hunt for a cure for Robin's current magical ailment, and Kaldur could only manage Atlantian fare. Which they'd soon discovered was ridiculously difficult to make on the surface. Not that it mattered, since they'd also discovered Robin was the only one able to stomach the pseudo Atlantian food Kaldur had been able to cobble together out of the ingredients they were able to acquire in the city. Apparently Robin could also cook, but seeing as their friend currently had fur, they weren't about to let him.

Their collective resources were rather slim at the moment, but M'Gann and Artemis had managed to make something vaguely edible between the two of them. She stepped on the impulse to groan at the plate her friend handed her. There was only so much a person could take when it came to beans and rice. The chunks of what was probably Spam floating in the mix felt like a luxury. Still it was better than school lunchroom fair, and after her earlier mishap, she was thankful today's lunch was so bland. At least Robin could eat this without them having to worry about rushing him to the nearest vet.

Behind her Wally shrieked in alarm.

She spun around and smiled at the sight of Robin, clinging to his best friend's back with his ear lightly clamped in his jaws. He growled and tugged, playful as a puppy then let go and bounced off disappearing into the shadows again.

"Jeez, how the fuck does he do that!" Wally yelled rubbing his much abused ear. "There aren't even that many shadows in here right now, and how the hell did he even get into the rafters? He's like a foot tall and purple. Why is he purple?"

Kaldur rolled his eyes at the scene Wally was making, and made his way over to their improvised kitchen, bending his knees slightly to absorb the impact of Robin landing on his shoulder. He winced at the sight of their lunch, but smoothed his expression out quickly enough that she almost didn't notice. She wondered how Kaldur who had been raised on an all seafood diet was coping with their rather pathetic food selection.

"Do you want your meal on a plate or in a bowl?" he asked the small fox riding his shoulder.

"Whichever you feel would work best." Robin replied.

Artemis grabbed a small, much abused camp mug and ladled a small helping of lunch into it while M'Gann served up a portion for Kaldur. Their leader took both the servings with a murmur of thanks and retreated to the makeshift dining area.

"Um, can you just put my portion on the ground please?" Robin asked, hopping down from his perch and settling himself down on the floor at Kaldur's feet. The expression on his fuzzy little face, coupled with the big ears made him look like a puppy begging for a treat. Kaldur obliged him before digging in to his own portion, Zatanna settled herself down beside her friends and applied herself to her lunch. Trying desperately not to laugh at the expression on her Leader's face at his first taste of spam.

He paused, swallowed and then began carefully eating around the dubious chunks of meat. Handfeeding them to Wolf and dumping a few more chunks of meat into Robin's cup. Robin ate them with the same gusto as Wolf.

SSNHSSNHSSNH

Wally sighed as he wandered through the streets of Southern California. He technically shouldn't have been out in the open since Batman had proven adept at hacking street cameras and he knew what Wally looked like without the cowl and goggles. Still he was a speedster, he needed to get outside.

Needed to move.

He wasn't sure when, but sometime during his walk he'd found himself walking along a long stretch of HWY 101 which wound through the edge of several towns along the coast. There was sand on either side of him, the ocean on one side of the road and small lagoons on the other. It was a beautiful sight, if entirely too warm for his tastes. He stopped and watched the civilians play in the surf, pulled off his boots and made his way onto the burning sands.

He walked for about a mile, shoes dangling over his shoulder by their laces, and simply enjoyed the feeling of the sun on his back and the sand between his toes. Around him the various beach goers, frolicked and generally enjoyed their day. The sight that met his eyes as he rounded a rocky outcropping made him smile and for some inane reason reminded him of Robin.

It seemed he had wondered onto a Dog Beach. Around him dogs frolicked in the sand and surf. He pause on the banks of a relatively slow flowing river that emptied out into the sea just a few feet away. A trio of Golden Retrievers were embroiled in a fracas in the middle of the river over a particularly long stick. Two large dogs had the ends of the stick. Between them a half grown pup clung to the stick, front legs beating the air in an amusing parody of swimming. On the other side of the bank a brindle colored Boxer pursued a gaily colored fabric and rope Frisbee. Not far away a Chihuahua chased a ball across the sand, leaping over the legs of a young woman who sat on a towel. All around him happy people played with their dogs.

Idly he wondered how Robin was holding up.

Robin was generally hyperactive on a good day, it was he thought a side effect of spending his early childhood in the constant motion of the circus. The boy had even more energy now that he'd been transformed into a juvenile American Gray Fox. His best friend had to be bored. Consequently, they kept finding him curled up in strange places.

Not that finding Robin curled up in strange places was in anyway new.

Still many of the places they'd found him were truly bazar. So far they'd found him curled up in a crawlspace between floors, and inside an air duct for a dryer, judging by the cupreous amount of lint.

It hadn't taken him long to identify what species of Fox Zatanna had turned Robin into, at least not once whatever spell had turned him purple finally worn off. Robin's coloring was unusual in that form regardless. American Gray foxes were in fact not actually gray, being more salt and pepper then anything approaching true gray. Robin's coat was a beautiful metallic silver, offset by a darker gun metal gray on his legs. Oddly enough his eyes were outlined by a slim, almost eloquent mask of the same color. In truth the only thing that had allowed him to identify their friend had been his long bushy tail, with its trade mark black stripe and tip.

Wally had been highly amused once they'd recognized the species their friend had been turned into. Trust Robin to get himself trapped in the body of one of only two arboreal canine species. He'd seen a few of the little things playing in the woods a long time ago; and remembered thinking they looked graceful scampering through the trees, leaping from branch to branch on nimble paws.

Robin already seemed to have mastered the form. They'd found him asleep in the rafters this morning, curled up in the crook of two beams, nose tucked under his tail. Still he couldn't help feeling sorry for his friend. Robin seemed to be taking the mess Klarion had made of his life in relative stride.

True to form he'd simply adapted.

But his youth was really beginning to show.

Robin didn't seem to mind but Wally couldn't help feeling humiliated for him.

As a fox Robin was full of boundless energy, like a puppy. Until he suddenly wasn't. Then he slept. Usually where he dropped. They'd had to scrub beans out of his fur this morning after he'd fallen asleep while eating. He'd looked adorable cradled in Artemis's arms like an exhausted puppy and watching him try to chew on Conner's fingers had been cute as hell. Ability to talk or not, Robin was currently a fox.

A very young one.

And he seemed to react like an odd mixture of fully functioning, thinking human and fox kit.

To make matters worse. He was board and they all knew it. Robin was used to a training schedule that had always been more rigorous then theirs. His friend's days had always started before dawn. Around 4am if he remembered correctly.

It was starting to show.

This morning, Robin had somehow managed to cajole Artemis into sparring with him. It had largely consisted of her shooting and Robin dodging. It had horrified their friends and exhilarated Robin. Still it was a mark of how adaptable Robin was that he was able to dodge, and defend in that form despite having claimed it for less than 24 hours.

Idly Wally wondered if he'd be able to get away with taking Robin for a walk. Surly it wouldn't seem so strange here of all places. Exotic pets were fairly common in the Hollywood area. Weren't they? He could run there with Robin in his arms if he had to.

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH

Kaldur sighed as he watched the half-grown fox kit play with the odd little ball Wally had picked up at a local 99 Cents Store. The ball wasn't very big. Soft, baby blue downy fabric covered it and extended out into a ridiculous striped tail. So that it bore a passing resemblance to a cartoon caricature of a toddler's depiction of a lemur. The damn thing, produced a high pitched wailing noise whenever the tail tip was pressed. Neptune grant him patients, the actual ball itself was worse. The world must have hated him, because his currently four-legged, troll of a friend was engaged in an attempt to make the damned thing squeak out Beethoven's fifth simony. He wasn't sure if he should be glad Robin had found a way to entertain himself or ring his neck for inflicting such torture upon the rest of them.

He still had no Idea what type of Foxkin the boy was. Robin was a bundle of contradictions. His ability to be completely human for example. All Foxkin could Look human. But very few could be human. That was a high court ability. They could assume three forms a many tailed fox, a human, and something somewhere in between.

Robin it seemed was determined to be different even in this.

He clearly had an in between form, but it was wrong. Everything he knew about the high court suggested that they were a lot more humanoid. Another problem with the assumption that Robin was High Court Foxkin, was his ability with fire.

All Foxkin played with, manipulated, and fought with fire, but as far as he knew none of them did it the same way Robin had. Teekl's Fur and whiskers had truly been scorched. If he remembered his lessons right, when High Court Foxes fought with fire. Their victims died without a mark on them. Their mind experiencing the agony of being burned alive, while their bodies remained untouched. That was the power of High Court Spirits.

Illusions were their bread and butter.

Then there was, as Wally put it, the "Nightly Light Show." He had no idea what to think about that one. When Darkness fell Robin's tail produced a small, single colored, indoor Aroura Borealis that swept across the walls, following the path of his tail.

That suggested another species of Foxkin entirely, but they were huge, about the same size as a fully grown man. He'd be very shocked if Robin currently weighed 3 pounds. Additionally, they tended to be white.

He really wished he'd closer attention to them in his lessons.

Wally's laughter brought him out of his thoughts.

"Ever hear of a little thing called cruel and unusual punishment?" Artemis enquired, voice thick with annoyance.

Robin responded by squeaking out I'm sorry on the dog toy.

"That's it!" Artemis shouted lunging to her feet. "I'm damned sure the Geneva Accords don't apply to the fay."

Robin snagged the dog toy between teeth and his sprang to his feet. He lept sideways neatly evading the advancing archer and bounded off, happily squeaking out an improvised and surprisingly accurate rendition of Monty Python's 'Run Away' as he went.

"You little Troll!" Artemis screeched, chasing him across the room.

Kaldur rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. The squeaky ball was a highly aggravating musical instrument, but at least Robin had kept his sense of humor. He was fairly certain that if someone had somehow managed to turn him into a fish, he would not have handled it nearly as well.

Eventually the archer gave up trying to catch her fleet footed advisory and simply flopped down on the ground next to Zatanna. Robin trotted up to her and dropped the ball at her feet, an imploring expression on his furry little face.

Artemis groaned, but gave in and threw the toy.

Robin chased after it, with a happy yip. He growled playfully, holding his prey by the tail and shaking it enthusiastically, before tossing it away again. He lept after it, in bounding side leaps.

Kaldur groaned and considered his options.

He needed to find a way to bring a more experienced sorcerer to help him without breaking his promise to Robin. Or maybe just find out more about what they were dealing with. Because if they hadn't figured out how to reverse this damned spell in a week. They weren't going to without some outside help. Maybe he could find something in the conservatory Library.

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH

Robin lay sprawled at Kaldur's side as his friend absently ran his fingers through the thick fur at his neck and tugged lightly at one of his ears. In the days since Zatanna had accidently bound him in fox form, he gotten more physical contact then he'd had since before his family died. Bruce was great, but he wasn't very demonstrative.

Dick shifted slightly snuggling closer to his friend's side.

He needed touch.

He always had.

His family had always indulged him. Alfred was a bit more demonstrative then Bruce, but he still longed for touch. For physical contact. He didn't know why. He should have grown out of it by now. When he was younger, after his time in Juvie, he hadn't wanted to be touched. He hadn't felt safe, yet he'd still craved physical contact.

Needed it, like a junkie needed his next hit.

As time passed he'd begun to realize he was safe. The safer he'd felt, the more he'd craved physical contact. Until one night, he'd swallowed his fears and climbed into bed with Bruce, seeking the comfort of another living creature. Bruce had held him that night, kept him safe from his nightmares.

He was fourteen, he should have outgrown it.

But he never had.

It was his addiction.

The safer he felt with people. The closer they became. The more he needed it. For the most part he stepped on the urge to cuddle and ground it ruthlessly into the dust.

But he still craved it. So much, that at times it almost physically hurt.

His transformation into a first his in between form and then his fox form had utterly obliterated any desire he had to keep his distance. It also seemed to have resulted in his friends losing whatever basic teenaged instinct kept them from being "clingy" or "Touchy Feely." As a result, there were hands on him almost constantly. Fingers carding through his fur, fingers scratching at the base of his ears. He'd arched his back and leaned shamelessly into their touch.

He'd always known a lot about his friends. That came part and parcel with being a Bat. They were detectives and he'd always been "an incorrigible snoop." He may have been fully capable of being human, but for all he'd been born to a human family… he didn't think he really was one.

At the circus it hadn't mattered, no one would look twice at something abnormal in the circus, and they never stayed in one city long enough for it to become a problem. Now however, he was Bruce Wayne's ward, under nearly constant public scrutiny and so the battle against his instincts had begun.

Still even without Batman's lessons he knew things about his friends. Things no human could know without very particular training. He could distinguish their individual footsteps, and almost always knew where they were in relation to his position. That was largely, as Wally Put it "Bat-Training." However, over the course of the last few days he'd learned things he'd determinedly ignored before.

He knew them all by scent for example, and he didn't think he would ever forget them.

Kaldur smelt of saltwater, brine and something, oddly spicy yet floral. It made him hungry yet it also made him feel safe. Conner smelt of heather, rye and vast open places with just a hint of something he couldn't identify. His scent also co-mingled strongly with Wolf's. Wally's scent reminded him of an autumn wind, vibrant and complex with the scents it had picked up along the way. Artemis like Red and Green Arrow smelt of leather, wood, lacquer, sinew and an oddly potent mix of gunpowder and whatever chemicals were in her various trick arrows. M'Gann smelt of iron, magnesium, aluminum, and potassium. Somehow it didn't surprise him at all that the Martian would smell so strongly of Volcanic Rock. Zatanna, like all magic users had a sweet almost floral scent. She smelt of magic, herbs and something (he suspected it was her shampoo) that made him want to sneeze.

He'd also found he knew them by touch.

Wally vibrated gently as he restrained the power that pulsed through his very being. His fingers left a tingly feeling in their wake that gently warmed his skin and sent shivers down his spine. M'Gann's touch was entirely gentle, and in many ways reminded him of his mother. A gentle caring embrace he could fall into. She brought with her a feeling of safety. Artemis's hands were strong, and deliberate, nails filed sort so they didn't interfere with her archery. Superboy seemed afraid to break him, and his touch resonated with that fear, yet he knew his friend was more comfortable with animals then he was with people. Zatanna's touch crackled with restrained power. Like pins and needles beneath the skin, and Kaldur… Kaldur's touch, oddly enough, felt the most natural. He was calm and in control, his fingers clever and gentle, the soft webbing between his fingers distinct.

He shouldn't take advantage of the situation.

He knew that

But he just couldn't help himself.

He needed physical contact. It was an almost physical need, something he craved day in and day out. It tugged at his soul and left him raw, empty and so, so alone. He needed touch like he needed his next breath of blessed air. Yet he restrained himself. Boys his age were not supposed to crave touch the way he did. So he reveled in the freely give contact, though he had growled when someone was rude enough to manhandle his tail. He wasn't sure why, but his tail was… intimate. He didn't want his friends touching it.

He put his head down on his paws and listened to his friends talk, trying vainly to stay awake when all he wanted to do was melt into sleep at his friend's side. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to just feel his friends. Not their hands on his fur, but something else.

Something deeper.

He knew Wally was tired of beans and rice, but in no danger of running out of energy. Zatanna, Artemis and Conner were content, and Wolf could care less as long as he was with the others. He knew a little something about each of his friends, though he couldn't have said how he knew.

He felt them all as he had felt no one since his family died. Not since he'd slammed that particular door, blocked out and actively ignored everything his strange gifts told him and stayed stubbornly human. Now, he reveled in it, addicted to the feeling of kinship and safety. The bond he could feel forming between him and his team soothed something he hadn't realized was raw. Filled a deep, cavernous void he hadn't known he even possessed. He basked in the bond's warm low and wished he could share it with Bruce. Forcing that thought out of his mind he closed his eyes and resolved to enjoy it while it lasted.

He was more than half asleep when an odd sensation dragged him into wakefulness and he sat bolt upright, nearly tripping over his own tail in alarmed confusion as wrongness flooded his awareness.

It took him a minute to work through the jumble of scents, random sounds and strange sensations. Finally, with agonizing slowness he figured out what the headache inducing barrage was. His rapidly forming bond to Wolf was flooding him with information he was struggling to decipher. For the first time in his life he wished his gift came with an instruction manual.

"Wake up pup, someone comes." Wolf's warning was more sensation then actual words, as a few feet away Wolf rose to his feet with far more grace then he had managed. Robin closed his eyes and tried to understand what he was smelling. Trying to decipher what threat wolf's nose had picked up that his own had missed. The great white wolf's sense of smell may not have been much keener then his own, but he had more experience with it. It took him a minute to work out what had alarmed Wolf. A stranger was in their makeshift Den. Whoever or whatever was coming smelled of exhaustion, desperation, hunger and something he couldn't place. It also carried with it the scent of brimstone.

He sneezed instinctively hacking from ruff to rump. Brimstone was never a good smell. That he knew instinctively.

Somehow he knew, whoever had come into their makeshift den, didn't know they were there yet.

SSNHSSNHSSNH

"M'Gann," Robin whispered. His voice soft but clearly alarmed. "M'Gann, the link, hurry."

She reached for their minds with her own, each familiar presence snapping easily into place. Wolf entered the link with a familiar tingly feeling along her spine. A dangerous, if friendly, predator stalking confidently into her mind. She didn't get words from him just images and feelings. He'd been a part of their group for long enough that she was prepared for the inherent differences in the feel of his mind.

She wasn't prepared for Robin.

She shuddered violently at his presence. His mind was as hard to read as ever, but somehow it was brighter, stronger than before. Through him she could feel an odd echo of everyone else, herself included.

They were all bound to him in a way she could not understand. Those bonds screamed to her. Alive with possessiveness, protectiveness and a sense of shelter and belonging. It was a truly odd feeling. One she didn't think she would ever truly understand.

"Someone is here." Robin informed her mildly, the message was not in words. At least not the way it always had been. She heard his voice, but she also got a wave of other information. Robin's vision was better in the dark then hers, thought the vantage point left much to be desired. She felt him revel in the shadows, exult in their song. She also knew what he smelled, though it took a lot of effort for her to straighten out what his senses were telling him.

"We are all in Civvies," Kaldur said softly. "Do not engage."

At his command they scattered, behaving as a group of homeless teenagers rather than seasoned heroes. M'Gann shifted slightly becoming Megan, or at least a version of herself that was down on her luck and sleeping in an old drafty building.

She could feel her team mates around her, Robin had vanished into the shadows and felt …high, as if there was a vast empty space beneath his little paws. The others had all found different places to sequester themselves. She considered her options, but the door was opening, so she simply camouflaged herself, rather than risk moving.

What entered the room was not what she was expecting. The girl was tall, and clad in a mismatched assortment of dark clothing. Her short black hair was stringy, but looked as though it was usually well cared for. She looked around, vividly violet eyes taking in everything and made a beeline for the little pot of beans and rice, they were keeping heated for Wally to sack on. She didn't look dangerous.

Curious she allowed herself to float off the ground and moved closer to the strange girl. That proved to be a mistake. She never was sure what alerted the other girl to her presence, but she spun around, and launched herself into the air. Before M'Gann – quite – understood the situation she was pinned to a nearby wall a strange black mist.

M'Gann let out a half strangled yelp of surprise and felt her friend's react through their mental link. They were all coming. She could feel them collectively move to defend her. But this was different. They didn't need to defend her. Something wasn't right here. The girl in front of her was hungry, afraid, and oddly trying to suppress her emotions. But she meant them no harm.

She reached for her team, prepared to tell them to stand down and let her talk to the terrified young woman who had stumbled upon them.

A small form barreled down out of the rafters before she got the chance.

Claws slashing, and snarling defiance the three and a half pound ball of fluff, hit her attacker squarely in the chest. Knocking her back and a few steps.i

Robin twisted in midair to land delicately on all four tiny paws, absurdly attempting to shield her with his own much smaller form. The team surged into the room as the girl stepped forward radiating confusion and alarm. The tip of Robin's tail lit with soft blue glow, as he took a menacing step forward. The link between them flooded with protective possessiveness.

MINE she clearly heard him snarl.

He opened his mouth, emitting a high-pitched inhuman shriek. Around them the shadows moved drawing closer until the small form was shrouded in darkness so thick it was impossible to see through. The small spot of darkness condensed and then exploded outwards in dancing ribbons of indigo flame.

i For any of you who think that can't happen, it can with enough distance, I went away for a few weeks and when I came back my Chihuahua launched herself off the top of a staircase, not only did she knock the wind out of me, but I went down under five pounds of licking squirming puppy.