Sphere rolled up to where the Team was moping about on the one year anniversary of Richard's abduction by the light. She was chittering excitedly.
Connor turned to her when she wouldn't leave them alone. "What is it, Sphere?"
Sphere nudged him and rolled away a bit before rolling back a tad.
"Okay. Who wants a slight distraction from moping to find out what Sphere wants?" Connor grumbled.
"I'll go." Artemis agreed. "A distraction sounds refreshing."
When no one else chimed in, the two followed Sphere to the hangar, Wolf tagging along behind them, where Sphere transformed into the Supercycle.
"Red Tornado, the hangar doors, please." Connor called after they all climbed onto the Supercycle.
Once the doors were open, they sped off into the sky.
They'd traveled a ways down the Eastern seaboard and were somewhere off the coast of North Carolina, when the Supercycle slowed to a stop and landed on the shore.
Artemis, Connor, and Wolf climbed out. The Supercycle transformed back into Sphere and rolled up next to them.
"Why have you taken us here, girl?" Connor asked.
Sphere chittered just as the Forever People landed in front of them.
"Guess that's why," Artemis commented offhandedly.
"Hello Friend Superboy! The Forever People are happy to see you again!" Bear said.
"Hey. This is my teammate Artemis. Might I ask if there is a reason you called us here?" Connor inquired.
"As a matter of fact, we'd appreciate some assistance," Vykin said. "We found a human held captive on Apokolips. We thought maybe you could help him get home."
"Sure." Artemis agreed swiftly. "We wouldn't mind." Connor looked at her, so she defended. "It's not like we were doing anything else today anyways."
Dreamer was helping someone out of their vehicle. From the angle, it was difficult for Connor and Artemis to tell who.
"What were you doing on Apokolips? Aren't they your enemies?" Connor asked.
"The Forever People were unfortunately also being held prisoner." Bear explained. "We managed to escape and found Richard on our way out."
"Wait! Did you say Richard?!" Artemis cut in.
"You know him?" Vykin asked.
A smaller voice jumped in. "They do."
Artemis was running the moment she caught sight of the boy beside Dreamer. She scooped him into a hug, overly relieved to see him.
"Ack! You're crushing me!" Dick exclaimed.
"You have no idea how happy we are you found him." Connor explained. "He's been missing for a year now. Kidnapped by our enemies."
"Your enemies?" Vykin questioned.
"Yes. On second thought, that could mean our enemies and yours are working together now." Connor frowned. "Regardless, we're very grateful you brought him home."
"You've helped us before, Superboy. Consider the gift reciprocated." Dreamer replied.
Connor smiled. "Come on, Artemis. The others need to know about this."
Sphere transformed back into the Supercycle and Artemis helped Richard in, making sure he was secure before getting into her own seat.
"Thank you!" Richard called to the Forever People. "Thank you so much!"
The Forever People waved as the Supercycle took off and flew back toward Mount Justice.
"Artemis, do you have your comm unit?" Connor asked.
"Yeah. I'll call Batman." Artemis caught his drift immediately.
"Wait. Batman?" Richard interrupted. "Does that mean I can go back to Batman?!"
"That's right. You were kidnapped before the Supreme Court case's results came out. Yeah. They said you could go home as long as Batman did his part to bring down the crime rate in Gotham without killing anyone," Artemis told him. She was met with a look of utter delight on Richard's face. "On to the call..." She activated her Comm Unit. "Artemis to Batman."
"Is it important?" Batman asked.
"Very. Can you meet us at Mount Justice in..." She glanced at Connor.
"Twenty minutes if we push it." Connor informed her, speeding up.
"In twenty minutes?" Artemis finished.
"Fine. Batman out."
"He'll be there." Artemis informed her companions.
Richard just grinned.
"Recognized: Batman 02."
Batman stepped out into the cave that was Mount Justice.
The team looked up when he walked into the living room.
"Hello Batman. We weren't expecting to see you today." Aqualad said quietly.
"Artemis called. She said it was important." Batman grunted.
"Well, she didn't clue us in. She left with Superboy a little over an hour ago because Sphere wanted to show him something." Kid Flash told him.
"Well, it seems it's not that important if she didn't tell you what was going on." Batman grumbled. "I'll be on my way. Tell her to tell me what it is next time if it's really important."
He started towards the Zeta Tubes. Superboy darted in his path when he was about to step in.
"Wait!" He cried.
Batman narrowed his eyes. "You said it was important. It doesn't appear to be."
"Important doesn't always mean life-threatening," Superboy retorted, still blocking the way to the Zeta Tubes.
Batman leveled him with a batglare. "Get out of my way."
"No." Superboy stood his ground.
Just when Batman was about to start shouting, they both heard gasps from the living room.
"Where's Batman?" Artemis's voice traveled loudly and clearly.
"Uh. I think he was leaving. Sorry. We didn't know." Kid Flash replied.
A few seconds later, Artemis made it to where Superboy and Batman were standing.
"Uh. Batman. It's important. I swear!" Artemis exclaimed.
"Get on with it." Batman growled.
Kid Flash sped into the room and dropped his armful of Robin. "They found him! They found him!"
"Technically, the Forever People found him." Superboy corrected.
Batman knelt beside the boy, scarcely believing his eyes. "Robin?"
Robin beamed and threw his arms around him. "Batman!"
Batman hugged him tightly, barely keeping himself from crying at the sight of his bird. He stood up with the boy still wrapped in his arms. Just before the Zeta Tube whisked them away, he said, "Thank you."
Artemis, Kid Flash, and Superboy smiled, happy that the two were reunited at last.
"Wait. Did he just actually thank us?"
Alfred dropped his tray when he heard the designations in the Batcave.
Batman set Dick on the ground. The boy listened for a second then bolted straight for Alfred.
Alfred quickly stepped over the mess and intercepted him. "Master Dick?"
"Alfred! I missed you so much!" Dick exclaimed.
"Is it really you, Master Dick?"
Dick caught the slight disbelief. "If Bruce wants to run some tests, I'm okay with it."
"We're going to do just that," Batman confirmed.
Alfred guided Dick into the medical area of the Batcave, Batman, cowl down, following right behind them.
Dick swung his legs happily as Bruce took blood and ran tests.
"Master Bruce, we may have a problem." Alfred spoke up from where he was watching the results come in from the blood test.
"What is it, Alfred?" Bruce walked over to the older man.
Alfred spoke to him in a hushed tone. Dick could barely make a word out here or there.
"Anomaly… blood… different…"
After a few minutes, Bruce nodded and walked back over to Dick.
"We need to run some more tests. There's an anomaly in your bloodwork."
Dick felt confused and slightly worried. "The Forever People only checked me over. That's it. Do you think it has to do with the Light?"
"I do. Dick, how long were you gone?"
"Don't you already…"
"I want to hear it from you. How long were you aware of being gone between when you were taken from the Allens and when the Forever People rescued you?"
"I…" Dick thought about it. "I can't remember more than a couple days here and there. But maybe it was longer? A couple months maybe?"
"That's what I was afraid of." Bruce scowled. "Dick, the Light had you for exactly a year from the day you were taken from the Allens to today. The fact you don't know how long you were gone is a bad sign. I'm taking you to the… Dick?"
"I'm listening." Dick was on the verge of freaking out. Bruce's sudden halt of speech did nothing to stem the growing flood of panic.
Bruce reached out slowly and touched his shoulder.
"W-what is it?" Dick stammered.
"Dick, you need to calm down," Bruce said, a barely noticeable waver in his voice.
"W-what?" Dick stuttered. "What's wrong?"
Bruce took a deep breath. Dick realized it was to steady himself as well as Dick. "Take some deep breaths, okay? Breathe in 2 3. Hold. Breathe out 2 3 4."
Dick slowly got his breathing under control. He knew he'd been about to panic, but that didn't explain Bruce's reaction.
"Master Bruce…" Alfred began.
"I know. Go call Superman and tell him what just happened. Tell him I'll be up to the Watchtower with Robin in a couple minutes." Bruce didn't take his eyes off Dick as he spoke.
"What's happening? Is something wrong with me?" Dick asked as Alfred hurried away to complete his given task.
"You'll be alright, Dick. Just try and keep control of your emotions, okay?" Bruce helped him off the examination table.
"You're not telling me what happened!" Dick replied, struggling to obey the command to keep his emotions in check.
Bruce stuck a mask on Dick's face and pulled his cowl back over his head. "If I tell you, you'll panic, and that's the last thing we need right now."
"That's not comforting!"
"Would you rather I lied to you?" The Bat kept an arm around Dick's shoulders as he guided him to the Zeta Tube.
"Well, no…" Dick admitted.
"Recognized: Batman 02. Robin B01."
"Robin, thank goodness you're okay!" Black Canary and Wonder Woman hurried over when the Zeta Tubes announced Batman and Robin's arrival.
"B doesn't seem to think so." Robin mumbled.
"Batman, the Medical team is getting set up now. Is what Agent A said true?" Superman interrupted.
"The medical team?" Wonder Woman questioned. "Is something wrong with Robin?"
Batman glanced down at his son. "Unfortunately so."
Robin's breath caught. He felt the panic beginning to build up again. Wonder Woman and Black Canary gasped.
"Robin, breathe in 2 3. Hold. Out 2 3 4." Batman once again focused his attention on getting Robin to calm down.
"Batman, what's going on? Why's everyone so worried?" Robin blurted out.
"He can't see it happening, can he?" Black Canary exclaimed.
"No. He can't." Batman replied.
"Can't see what happening? Batman? Batman!" Batman scooped Robin up and deposited him on a recently arrived gurney. "Batman, what's going on?! Someone tell me what's going on!"
"We can't see you, Robin." Superman finally explained. "You're invisible."
True to Batman's prediction, Robin panicked.
