Sorry I was gone for so long. Ok I know there was not a lot of action in the last chapter but it does mean something. I promise it does.

Okay there are a few italics and quotations but that is not the mental link. Sorry.

This chapter on the other hand is going to be very dramatic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or Teen Titans.

Chapter 7: Reward or Punishment

Young Justice POV

"Recognized: Zatanna B08. Recognized: Rocket B09."

The two girls walked in expecting a happier team. Kaldur acknowledged them but nobody else even looked up. Then they noticed the strangers sitting off to the side. There was something about them that just did not sit right with the girls.

"Okay, what's with all the gloom? I don't think we have seen you all like this ever." Zatanna asked startled by the atmosphere.

"Yeah," started Raquel. "This is not normal at all. By the way, where is Robin?"

That sent a shudder down everybody's backs and did not go unnoticed.

"What happened? Where is he? Is he hurt?" Zatanna asked worried.

"He is recovering." Black Canary said when she overheard the worried teen. "The Team was sent on a mission and it turn out to be a trap. However, that was the worst I have ever seen him when you all arrived."

"No, he's been through worse." Wally said dryly. It was the first thing he had said since they returned.

Everybody stared at him in surprise and terror.

Finally after what felt like forever, Artemis spoke up almost screaming at the speedster. "What could be worse than being stabbed straight through the chest?!"

"What?!" questioned the girls at once, but was completely ignored by the archer.

"He almost died out there and here you are saying he has been through worse? If that were true then he would be dead."

"Wally's right though." said a voice behind the others.

Every single person in the room turned to see the teen behind them. He had changed into his civilian clothes after Canary left the med-bay. He seemed sickly pale in contrast to his black jeans, green sweatshirt, and the black jacket. The Team or the Titans did not know what to do or say.

"What did you say?" asked Cyborg. The team almost forgot the Titans were even there.

"Wally is right; I have been through worse."

"Artemis is right though. If you have been through worse then you would be long dead. And should you even be up and moving around?" asked Raven.

"Have to be getting back to Gotham soon."

"I'll walk with you back to the zeta tubes." Zatanna added quickly.

Teen Titans POV

Starfire was stunned to see the boy standing. She wanted to protect him at all costs. Even though he was not the same Robin she had fallen in love with, she still cared for him. Seeing him so pale from the loss of blood terrified her. She was about to jump up and rush to his side when he started to walk away from the others.

"I'll walk with you back to the zeta tubes." Zatanna added quickly as she followed the boy out of the room.

There was something that Starfire did not like about her. Her black hair was smooth and her face pure perfection. To think that she would be alone with him caused her powers to surge with her. About to rage with anger and jealousy, she excused herself from the others. If they fail to return to their own world, then she will not let Robin go here. Following the two teens ahead of her, she hid around to hear what they were saying.

"Robin, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine really."

"Please don't lie to me."

Then he paused. "Okay, so maybe I am not feeling the aster and the mission was heavy on the dis, but all I need to do is return to Gotham. I will be back to normal before you know it."

"Last night we were supposed to go out on our date."

Star's anger raged even more. "Date? My robin and I were supposed to go out on a date, as well. Is she his girlfriend in this dimension then?"

"I know and I am sorry that I had to cancel. That mission was pretty big and some things came up."

"Was it them?" Zatanna asked in dark tone.

"What?" he asked confused, finally stopping and turning around.

"Was it them?" she repeated. "Those others. I have never seen them before or heard of anyone like them. Were they reason we had to cancel?"

Another pause. "Yes, they were involved. If anything, it was more about those quakes instead. Zee, don't worry about a thing. Okay?"

Then he did something that stopped Starfire's heart. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and a small smirk before disappearing into the blinding light.

She waited for the rival to pass before following back to the others.

"Why do you keep fighting this?" Artemis questioned angrily.

"Because it is not mine to tell." Wally snapped back.

"Then you should not have brought it up in the first place."

"I was trying to lighten up the mood."

"Lighten it up? You were telling us how he had almost died!"

"We put our lives on the line on every mission! It is even worse for him; fighting all those psychos every night. Even the Penguin and Riddler can pose a threat, you know, if they actually acted like bad guys. But think of Joker, Poison Ivy, Bane, Two Face and all the others. They are more than just villains there, they are cold blooded murderers."

"I live in Gotham, Wally. I already know this. So why don't you just cough up the info and we with all forget this conversation ever happened."

"That's impossible." Wally muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"I said that is impossible! To forget that information, to forget the image your imagination creates with it; it is impossible."

"Please, if it will help our friend" Kaldur started to beg.

The speedster sighed.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. When he was nine, he was with Batman investigating a case. Little did they know that Two Face was behind it. So when they arrived on the scene, somehow they got separated and Rob ended up in a room alone with the psycho. Well, since it was one of his first missions, his fighting was not what it is now and the room was small so he could not use his acrobatics. The freak beat him up so much that there was not much left of him. By the time Bats found him, Two Face was long gone and Robin was close to death. His heart stopped many times when he was being healed and it is rumored among the League that he actually died. Of course, that just added to the rumor that the Bats are some dark spirits guarding Gotham."

Everyone was wide eyed and jaws dropped.

"That would give evidence to my theory." said a robotic, monotone voice walking into the room.

"What theory?" asked Black Canary.

"Well," Red Tornado continued, "the Bats may have powers after all. They put on a mask."

"Um, don't we all in a way?" Beast Boy replied puzzled.

"What I mean is, both the Batman and Robin are able to put on a mask of indifference. Even if they are in the worst pain of their lives or on the verge of death, they will act like nothing is wrong. Even though that wound should have been fatal, Robin just stood up and walked out like it was nothing but a scratch. However, after hearing Kid Flash's story, I do believe the boy may just think of it as a scratch."

"And he will continue to do his normal routine." Canary finished. "But, if he does think that it is just a scratch…"

"Then he will surely hurt himself in the process. If I remember correctly, sometimes people in the hero business believe that no wound is a bad as their first major one." the machine finished.

Then Bumblebee busted out, obviously annoyed, "Listen, okay. Robin is nice and all, but this is not the most important thing here. Separating our dimensions is. And honestly, I couldn't care less if-"

"Parw a htolc dnuora reh htuom ot gag reh."

All of a sudden a dishtowel from the kitchen flew off the counter and wrapped itself around the hero's mouth before she could finish her sentence.

The other Titans looked around to see who cast the spell and found Zatanna with a stern face and her hand pointed straight at Bumblebee.

"I don't know what is exactly going on, but here on the Team we stand up and protect one another." the sorceress explained sternly.

Starfire could hold her rage no more. With a short yell, she lunged at her rival with all her force. After all, she would never lose her boyfriend and her friends to this witch. However, she ended up smashing her face to some sort of wall. She looked up to see the other girl who came in with Zatanna, this Rocket, with her palms facing the alien. No matter how hard she hit, the barrier would not break.

"The barrier is fueled by kinetic energy. The more you hit it, the stronger it will get. Might as well calm down before I let you go." She stated simply.

"However, we must think of Robin here. He hates it when others fight his battles for him." Kaldur concluded.

"Even when his life could be on the line?" Raven questioned taking a quick glace to her friend still trapped in the giant bubble.

"Especially when his life could be on the line." Wally answered.

This confused the Titans. They knew how Robin sometimes liked to do things himself, but he always asked for help when he needed it. The two Robins were so similar yet polar opposites.

"But we still need you all to finish the mission." A man's voice, a bit high pitch though, said as he leaned in the doorway.

He had a bright red suit on with mask covering most of his head and eyes. A lightning bolt symbol was on his chest, similar to Kid Flash's but a different color.

Behind him stood a tall man with green skin, red eyes, and a black suit. Another was in almost Greek or Roman styled clothes with another lightning bolt on his chest. The rest even the Titans knew as Superman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Green Lantern. Well, everyone except Star, who was finally out of the bubble. She didn't quite understand why her friends were in amazement. Then Batman walked in, his black cape coving him whole.

"The others have their reasons for being here and so do I. What happened?" he demanded in the deepest, most sinister voice imaginable sending a chill down everyone's backs.

After a moment, Kaldur finally spoke up, not looking the man in the eye. "I am sorry we failed. The mission turned out to be a trap and because of our eagerness, we overlooked that detail until it was too late."

"Overlooked is being generous. You almost lost a teammate out there. If this becomes a habit, I will dissolve the Team permanently."

"Wait a second here. There is no reason to threaten them. I mean their reactions are to those of a death threat." Jinx rebelled. Little did she know her mistake until he shot her a glare so cold nobody would go up against him.

Bumblebee finally free spoke up as well. "We don't need to listen to you. We are fine on our own."

"Then why were you beat up by only two members of the Team easily before?" asked Green Arrow.

"We-We were caught off guard. That's all."

"Uh-huh. And would that explain why none of you were given orders to be in the stealth group?" perked the red suited man with a smirk on his face. "The League knows what they are doing and we were able to teach that to our protégés." nodding his head to the Team. "Robin included. He was the first to wear the mask after all. But, if I were you, I would not make the one person in the room who can take all of us down even without powers mad. He was the one to train Robin."

The Titans finally looked away, feeling ashamed and terrified. Although they did not watch, they all felt Batman turning to leave.

"Slade." Cyborg announced.

"What?" Batman asked stopping dead in his tracks.

"The man who attacked Robin is Slade. He is from our dimension. Extremely dangerous."

"And why did you not bring this up earlier?" he responded with a new ferocity in his voice.

"I- I guess we were all out of it from the shock."

"Then find a way to track him. Even if the mission continues to be a failure, he will be brought in."

As he finally walked away, the Titans remembered what Wally said about the Bats being dark spirits. Boy was he right.

Hey sorry it was so long. I felt compelled to have a long chapter after being gone for a while. Not much action again but many connections between the teams coming apart.

Please review and fav.

Next chapter: Just Following Orders