FudoTwin17: Hey. *pie to the face*

All Goldfishes: *laugh*

FudoTwin17: Okay, I admit that I deserved that. But I wanna let you guys know that I just found out that the notebook and the sketchbook that I've been using to map out this story is in Arizona. That means that I would have to travel through about eight states to get it. :( In other words, I had to rewrite this entire story.

Cat: Which sucks.

FudoTwin17: Yup. I need to update, though. You guys deserve it, and I have to rewrite the entire story anyways. :( So, enjoy, I guess.

Dog # 2: She doesn't own Young Justice.

Chapter 8

Robin's fingers moved like lightning, his lips mouthing words that Wally couldn't hear. It'd been three days of doing that almost nonstop, and Wally was beginning to worry about the younger boy's health. It couldn't be healthy to work forty hours a day!

Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it wasn't that much of a stretch! And either way, Wally was worried for his best friend.

"Hey, Rob?" He spoke before waiting for a reply.

The bird didn't answer.

Wally frowned. He couldn't even tell if the younger boy heard him or not. It was like the boy was so caught up in his research that the real world was secondary. To be honest, that thought scared Wally a little bit. Ignoring reality for long enough meant that you'd be trapped in your secondary world forever. Plus, he hadn't seen the boy eat since he'd stolen those cookies (that Wally was still not over)!

"Rob?" Wally repeated, looking for a sign the bird had heard him.

There was none.

"Dude? Earth to Robin! Anyone in there?" Wally spoke, a slight nervousness just noticeable in his tone. "Rob-"

"Yes, KF?" The hacker finally spoke, looking up. His fingers halted momentarily so the other male would feel as though the boy's full attention was on him. Of course, Wally knew Robin, and he therefore still was a bit worried and unhappy knowing how his mind worked.

"When was the last time you ate?" Wally asked, his tone oddly sharp. Normally, Robin would laugh him off and make a joke about speedsters and their food. The fact that Robin's lip twitched instead immediately alerted the redhead to the fact that Robin didn't want to divulge that information. "Okay. How about slept?"

Another lip twitch.

Wally could almost feel his own lip twitching.

"Put down the computer. I'm gonna go make us food." As Robin opened his mouth to object, Wally gave him a harsh look, emerald eyes ready to cut. "Ah, ah, ah. Did I ask you anything? I'm not giving you a choice."

After a brief stare down (that Wally couldn't believe he actually won), Robin sighed and powered down his hallo-computer-whatever-ma-bob. Wally neither knew the technical term nor cared. Biology and chemistry were his areas, and he chose to stick to them.

Robin was oddly quiet and skulk-y as they ate their finely made sandwiches, and Wally had no doubt that it was less because of sandwich quality and more along the lines of it having to do with whatever case it was that Robin was working.

Because that was a case, plain and simple. Wally knew the difference between work and play when it came to Robin.

Finally, he sighed. Pausing before he took a bite, Wally spoke. "So what's going on with your little research project?"

Robin blinked at him, setting down his half-eaten sub in favor of speaking. By the subtle way Rob bit his lip before speaking, Wally faintly realized that Robin was torn about telling him about it. He tried not to let it show how much that bothered him. "Okay. So, on a mission I came into contact with a girl."

"Ooh, la la." Wally joked. The way the youngest member of the team's shoulders dropped in silent laughter made him smile.

"Anyways, she was . . . strange. She helped me out, but I couldn't get a read on her. I don't know if she's villain or hero. So I researched her for a bit getting nothing." Robin began, leaning forward.

"I'm sensing an 'until' is about to be used." Wally stated simply, finishing up his sandwich.

Robin gave him a withering look. "Until I met this guy on the street. He was dirty, sick, and weak, but he was still out passing out missing person posters. The same girl was on the poster." Robin leaned forward, obviously much too involved in his work to set it down. "Her name is Leah Gold. She was a fairly good student seemingly intent on becoming a police officer or working in social services. She wasn't very involved in school, but she had an after-school job at – oh, and get this – at a self-defense class, a fairly good one at that by the name of Sudo's Karate Club."

"Okay. So she could defend herself or fight." Wally stated, leaning forward.

Encouraged, Robin continued, his voice lowering and speeding up as he became more and more invested in Wally's understanding. "Yeah. Her mother was single and raising her and her brother after her dad supposedly committed suicide, but I did some digging and it looked like murder to me. I'll probably end up talking to the local officials after I figure out the case."

Wally nodded. Seeing that the younger was trailing off, he spoke up. "How did she get involved in possible vigilantism, then?"

Robin snapped to attention, fingers drumming on the table. "Well, a few years ago she went missing."

Wally frowned. "How many?"

"You weren't Kid Flash yet." Robin stated.

"Oh." Wally stated, waving the younger hero on.

"Officials think she was lured into a car on her way home from school. However, what I noticed was the town. The town is really special." Robin's voice had an edge to it that Wally knew too well. It was barely noticeable, but his voice had a sharpness to it that meant that Robin was about to divulge something huge. "For a while they had their own vigilante. Here, let me show you-"

Before he could pick up his computer again, Wally cut him off. "Uh-uh. No computer until you finish your food."

Robin rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll summarize it." He took a small bit of his food and rushed on, talking almost as fast as the Flash. "So a few years back they had a superhero called Sargent."

"Sargent? What kind of name is that?" Wally asked, giving Robin time to take another hurried bite of the sandwich his best friend made so lovingly for him. However, Robin rose an eyebrow at that and glanced at him.

"Says Kid Flash." He noted.

"Touché." Wally muttered.

"Anyways, this hero was young. She was in the same age group with the same general physical features as our missing Leah Gold. Now adding in the fact that she could fight, she could very well be the Sargent. Even worse, though, the Sargent went missing around the same time Leah Gold did." Robin informed him. Wally's eyes widened faintly at the insinuation. Robin was in much too deep with this one. "Now, even more incriminating is the fact that during her last few months, Sargent was known for having a partner her age known as Soldier."

Wally would have snorted if not for the dangerous terrain.

Robin continued seriously. "Soldier was a male with similar features to the guy who stopped me on the street. Soldier still protects Alex-"

"Alex?" Wally spoke in confusion. "Who's Alex?"

"Not a person." Robin stated simply, seemingly not bothered by having to stop again for an interruption. "It's the town. Alex, Oklahoma."

"Oh. Well, carry on, then." Wally replied, crossing his arms as he watched his friend pick at the rest of his sandwich. Che, food-waster.

"Soldier's still protecting Alex, but he's doing it alone. I think he might be one of the only ones still looking for her. It looks like she was presumed MIA and left like that." Robin stated, eyebrows furrowed. "Now, I did a little research, and I figured it out. She was kidnapped as Sargent which is why there wasn't a fight as a civilian. It couldn't be staged realistically by her family. Because she was kidnapped, and there's still at least one of them looking for her, I think that she's playing on the other side of the law."

Wally frowned. "But what would make a hero change sides?"

Robin hesitated. "I don't know, but I did see something in some videos I caught of her. I think she works on a team. They don't have much power when it comes to computers and hacking, but I noticed that in one of the videos, you can just catch her back. On her back, there's a number burned into her skin."

Wally's eyes widened dramatically. "Burned?"

Robin nodded. "Yeah. It's a number six."

Wally frowned. "Six? What's it stand for?"

"I think . . ." Robin licked his lips, tearing the bread. "I think it stands for the number in their group that she is. What order she was taken in. So looking at the fact that she was a child superhero, I looked for other child superheroes that were kidnapped or disappeared. I found five other cases I think are viable, but . . . ."

"But what?" Wally asked, watching the tired way that Robin's face dropped.

"I caught the number on another one of them. It was a number eleven." Robin stated. Wally's eyes widened at the new information. "I don't know how or why they ended up on the other side, but I think that they're all being forced into it."

"That's . . . That's crazy. How would someone control them if any of them turned? I mean, if it's a bunch of superheroes against this one kidnapper, why don't they just gang up on them? Could this person have other people to keep them in line?" Wally asked, giving Robin time to finish up his sandwich. "How much time was there between kidnapping and beginning to work for the kidnapper?"

"She began working no less than three weeks after her kidnapping." Robin stated darkly. "What I don't like about this case, though, is the fact that no one noticed. Someone's been plucking child superheroes, our age and less, without anyone realizing it, and they've been doing it for years. We have a serial kidnapper on the loose and he or she or they have been taking superheroes without anyone ever realizing. Once this comes up to Bats, he's going to be angry. The entire superhero community will be angry." Robin sighed. "But before I can show him this, I need to get more information."

"What kind of information?" Asked Wally, eying the tired boy wearily.

"What superheroes have been taken, why are they working for the enemy, how the enemy gets their information, who the enemy is, where they've been taken to, what have the superheroes been forced to do, and how long some of the heroes have been in captivity." Robin sighed. "This isn't going to be a good case."

"Well, count me in." Wally stated, standing.

"Count you . . . ." Robin blinked in surprise, staring up at his best friend.

"I'm not letting you work a case in which kid heroes go missing. No way, bro. I'm going to help, and, no, you cannot refuse." Wally grinned at his best friend, and when a slow smile made it's way to Robin's face, he couldn't help the realization that this case was possibly the most dangerous one he'd ever helped Robin with before.

After all, they were child superheroes researching the serial kidnappings of other child heroes.

This would not be a good case.

. . .

FudoTwin17: Ugh. It's hard to update when the plot I already wrote is gone. I don't like it. I'm, once again, never writing out a story plot beforehand. It's hard and painful when I loose things. :(

Goldfish # 4: Stop whining. Anyways, she hopes you enjoy this while she goes and starts redoing all the characters.

FudoTwin17: Yes. And I also hope you guys like the new twist. Originally, Robin was going to be stuck and emotionally tormented over how he couldn't find anything, and KF wasn't gonna be involved at all, but since that plot is gone, so is that little angle. To be honest, I like this better. Robin's tracking the team while the team's tracking him. I hope you guys like it!

Cat: Read and Review! Bye!