It took them mere seconds to cover the distance between the car and warehouse. Robin voiced his plan as it formulated in his head. "They'll still mostly be outside. When we get close, lean forward a bit and let me jump off of you. I'm gonna go forward, so duck your head. You say when." As he relayed their next move, he tensed, knowing he wasn't going to have much warning of when to spring. Indeed, the last word had been out of his mouth for less than the space of a breath when he felt KF bend towards the ground.

"Now!"

He reacted instantly, arching as he launched himself from the speedster's shoulders with a handspring. Kid Flash, he sensed from the direction the breeze of his passage blew, had dodged left as soon as the last weight had left his back, and knocked out a man on the other end of the group before he touched the ground. Flying now at a speed he was more used to, Robin took quick stock of the situation. They brought another dozen, and these guys have even bigger guns, he gulped, hitting ice and automatically rolling. He rose to his feet, leapt backwards as a huge, laughing man made a swipe for him, and then kicked out and connected with the brute's kneecap. There was a harsh snap, and the guard's face contorted as his amusement at seeing a child enter the fray turned into agony. Robin had to hustle to keep from being landed on, but his escape trajectory allowed him to put his fist into another goon's face. His momentum added serious weight to the punch, and his second man in as many seconds crashed down. Yes! This is awesome!

Realizing that there was more than one person dealing damage to their group, the gunmen split, four heading for Robin while the others began to fire wildly outwards, hoping to hit whatever demon was taking them out almost without being seen. Three of the quartet approaching the dark-haired boy reached for the handguns strapped to their hips, and his mouth tightened. When someone's shooting at you, keep moving, Batman's instructions from one of their earliest training sessions rang in his ears. Your greatest talent is movement. Use it. Seeing them spread out slightly, apparently thinking that he would try to run, he grinned. Perfect.

KF was still speeding in circles around the quickly tightening edge of the baddie mob, reaching out to strike every time he had a good angle, when he heard shots begin to sound again. It's weird, I thought I'd be more afraid than this. But it's all so natural…it's like my feet just know where to go. Like now, he thought, dodging between two of the shooters who weren't concentrating on his cohort. Hah, bet they think I'm still out there, too, he laughed. This is so much fun. He was going to try and help Robin, who he'd seen being encircled by several other guards, but it quickly became obvious that the kid could handle himself. Kid Flash ringed the inner bunch a few times as the acrobat leapt up, the first shot ricocheting off the pavement where his feet had been an instant before, and began to throw himself from body to body. He's like an angry pinball, the redhead giggled, watching two of the four collapse under painful-looking kicks.

Confident that his friend could finish the other pair, he turned, sped up behind one of the men who were just beginning to realize that they weren't hitting anything, and dealt him a blow to the back of the head. Seeing their compatriot fall in their peripheral vision, the guards on either side of the now-unconscious man swiveled inwards, their fingers still tight on the triggers of their guns as they searched for their assailant. KF had just turned to come back and take another of them out from behind when the pair fired into one another.

His feet froze to the concrete. Oh. Oh, god. They just…They just… Part of him knew he shouldn't be fazed by it, should just be able to carry on with the mission without a second thought other than maybe being glad that there were two fewer adversaries to deal with, but his brain kept clicking over that moment again and again. I've never seen anyone actually get shot before, he thought numbly. Action movies don't do it justice. Their faces, when they realized they were shooting at each other without meaning to…and then when they…and that one's head…

"KF! Move!" Robin screamed. He'd finished off the last of his own opponents a moment before, and turned to check up on the other boy just as the unlucky gunmen hit the ground. His timing didn't allow him to see them shoot one another, but he did see Kid Flash standing completely still, gaping, in the middle of the parking lot. More importantly, he saw the evil smile on the last standing guard's face as he, too, noticed the horrified-looking figure and prepared to take full advantage of the situation. Not gonna happen, you sleazeball, he swore. His hand dipped to his belt, pulled out a batarang, and chucked it so hard that he heard it connect with the man's skull from thirty feet away.

Kid Flash heard Robin's call and snapped his head around to find the barrel of an automatic weapon trained on him. He ducked just as a single shot whizzed through the air where his head had been a moment before, watching as his friend threw something. The shooting ended as the object smacked into the back of the gunman's head, making his eyes go comically wide as he toppled forward, unconscious. As the smaller figure hustled over to him, he pushed himself back onto his feet, still shaking and unable to stop looking at the two lying in spreading puddles of blood.

"Dude, KF, he didn't hit you, did he?" He gripped his arm and pulled him the rest of the way up. "…KF?"

"Are they dead?"

"What?"

"Are…those two there…are they dead?"

Robin glanced over at the men he'd seen fall just before he noticed the danger the other boy was in. "I…I don't know." He glanced around the parking lot, but nothing moved. I would have thought Batman and Flash would be out here by now, he worried. "Maybe we should go in-"

"We have to check, Rob. We can't just leave them."

"…No. You're right." They might be bad guys, but they're still people. No one's attacking us or seems to be trying to get away from the warehouse with anything. We have time; we can't walk away knowing they could die. He approached the first bleeding body, but before he got there he knew it was useless. Half of his face is just gone, he felt his stomach flip, quickly going towards the other man instead. "KF! This one's breathing!" he said, dropping to his knees and pressing his hand against the worst-looking wound. A second later the speedster was crouched beside him, looking on anxiously but not touching anything. "We should call an ambulance. What happened?"

"They shot each other."

"…Huh?!"

"I knocked out the guy between them, and I guess when he fell they must have thought it was me or something, 'cause they turned towards each other and…and they were still firing…" He hiccupped, and Robin shot him a worried look.

"Dude, are you okay? Seriously, I need to know."

"I'll be fine. It's just…"

The figure under the smaller boy's hands jerked suddenly, gasped twice for air, and shuddered into stillness. Maybe I can try CPR… The hopeful thought trailed off as he glanced down the rest of the guard's body and found multiple other entrance points. Even if I brought him back, the ambulance would have to be Flash speed to get here in time, he gulped. They aren't supposed to die when we attack them. Just take a long nap… Shaking himself as he pulled his arm back, he sighed. "Sorry, mister," he said quietly. "It's not supposed to work this way."

"Rob…did he just…did he just die right in front of us?"

"…Yeah, KF. He did," he whispered, wiping the blood off as best he could against the cold ground. His head jerked up as Kid Flash vanished. "…KF?" he ventured. A second later he heard the sound of retching from just around the corner of the warehouse. Oh. Oh, no. I'll bet he's never seen someone…oh, man. Rising with a final, regretful look towards the body, he moved silently up behind his friend, who was leaning palely against the wall, one arm around his stomach, his cheeks wet with tears. "Hey," he said softly, resting his head on the other child's shoulder and wrapping a comforting arm around his waist. "I'm sorry."

"…F-for what?"

"I didn't know you'd never seen someone die before. I just kind of assumed…and that was dumb of me."

"…I'd never even seen someone get shot before," he revealed, swiveling away from the puddle he'd made. "They…it was like they knew, you know? And that one guy…his head, Rob…Jesus." He covered his eyes. "You didn't see it?"

"No. I was facing away. I didn't see them until they were on the ground." He bit his lip, throwing his other arm around him and giving him a proper hug. "It's awful, I know. But…you didn't do it. It was an accident."

"I know, but…" He wiped his eyes and peered down at the dark-haired form trying to make him feel better. "…How come this doesn't seem to be bothering you? That guy died right under your hands, and you're comforting me. What's with that?" Is something wrong with you, or what? he thought angrily, a feeling of inferiority rising in him again.

Robin took a small step back at the edge in his voice. "I'm sorry," he echoed his earlier sentiment. "It's not that it doesn't bother me." He closed his hands reflexively, felt the gummy warmth that still streaked them, and winced. "It's just…it's not the first time I've seen someone die," he said uncomfortably.

"…What, you've seen it with Batman? Flash said you've only been going out with him for a few months, though, when did you see-"

"It wasn't with him," he cut him off, looking away. "It was…before him. No one's died when Batman and Robin were both around." Not yet, at least.

Kid Flash was confused. If he didn't see someone die since he's been working with Batman, then when did he… It struck him suddenly, and he felt like throwing up again. "Rob…you don't mean…I mean you didn't see…them?"

"…Yeah," his voice broke.

"…Your own parents?"

"…Yeah."

"You-"

"I watched them die, KF," the boy said softly, feeling arms pull him close as his tears started.

His anger at being more affected by the deaths they'd just witnessed faded as what he'd heard sank in. "…I'm so sorry, man."

"I couldn't do anything for them, either. Just like that guy. It was just…too much." They stood like that for several minutes, each lost in his own thoughts.

"…Does it ever get better, Rob?"

"Which part?" he sniffed, calming himself, trying to regain control of the situation. We're still in danger, and we've got to figure out what's going on with Batman and Flash. There's no way they wouldn't be out here by now, not after gunfire.

"Seeing that. Seeing…people die."

"…Batman says no. But it's part of the job."

"A really sucky part."

"The worst part, he says."

"He's right."

"Yeah. He usually is." He stepped back a bit. "Do you feel any better?"

"Not really, no," the redhead admitted.

"Me, either." He paused. "The hug was nice, though. Thanks. It made me feel not alone."

"Sure thing," he gave a weak smile, still looking horribly sick. "Me, too. Thanks."

"Any time." Shoving his roiled emotions aside, he flicked on his radio. We have to keep going. We've got to find Batman and Flash. "…Batman?" he asked hesitantly. Where are you? "Come in, Batman? Flash?" Anybody who doesn't want to kill us at this point, really, he thought.

"They aren't answering," Kid Flash muttered. "Why aren't they answering?"

"I don't know," Robin shook his head. He shouldn't have sent us away. We could have helped! "This isn't good." He's never disappeared like this before. He always answers his radio when I call.

"…Maybe they're just out of range?"

"These are good up to ten miles."

"No signal, then?"

"There's nowhere in Gotham that they don't work, except the sewers. And Batman wouldn't go down to the sewers without either getting us or sending us back to the cave. Besides, the cops need to come and get all of these guys, and the drugs, too. They would be here by now if he'd called them before the reinforcements arrived. If he didn't call them, that means he must not have gotten a chance to."

"What do you want to do? What Batman said? Go back to the cave?"

"I…" Alfred knows what to do, he said. But what would Batman do? If we leave now…maybe they're just in there unconscious or something. It would be really, really stupid to go all the way back to the cave and then find out all we had to do was get them from the other side of the wall. Plus, if they got caught by these drug runners, they could move them. They have a boat and three trucks, they could take them anywhere. How will we know where to go if no one's here to see where they take them? "We've got to get inside, KF," he whispered.

"How? We can't just waltz right in, what if there are more guards?" To his credit, his voice also dropped in volume.

"…The same way we originally planned. I'll go up to the roof and radio you, then you come zooming in from here and I'll drop from the rafters."

"…Dude, that plan didn't work so well the last time. I mean, judging from the radio silence."

"I know, but anyone inside definitely won't be expecting a couple kids to do the exact same thing. And I can scope it out from up top before we go in. Plus, anyone who's left will be weakened. You know they didn't go down without a fight."

"…Just be really careful, okay?"

"I will be," he promised. "You, too." Seeing that his words didn't ease the stress on Kid Flash's face in the least, he tried to smile. "It's cool, KF. We're gonna do what Batman said; stick together."

"…Says the kid about to disappear on top of the roof," the redhead pointed out.

"I'll keep my radio on. You do the same. Then we can hear if anything happens. Okay?"

"…Okay." The younger boy had his grapple in hand when the other stopped him. "Rob!"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning.

"…For good luck," he offered his fist.

"Yeah," he sighed, bumping it. "We're gonna need it."