Chapter Twelve: Rescue

Cold. Hot. Suffocating. Relieving. Those were the paradoxical feelings that Robin experienced as he felt his body drift deeper into the water. His whole body felt lighter in the water, but heavier in the fact that he was sinking. He could force himself to kick or move his arms or something to get himself back up to the surface. That would have been great, except for the fact that he knew what was waiting for him up there.

And when he tried to move, he didn't have the strength to make the necessary push.

He was drowning whether he wanted to or not.

Well, maybe that wasn't bad in its own way. He'd no longer be a pawn in Luthor's game, and maybe Bruce could escape whatever deal he was making with that devil. And this way, his worst fear—the fear he had nightmares about for the past week—wouldn't come true.

Suddenly there was an arm wrapped around his lower stomach. His body was suddenly growing closer to the light—closer to the surface that he had broken through a minute ago.

When his head hit the air, he found himself gasping for breath. His chest ached with the heaves and he was certain that he would throw up if he only had food in his system. Throwing up was one of his least favorite things to do, and so he tried to refrain from it while glancing over to his left to see who still had their arm wrapped around his stomach.

It came as a surprise to him that it was Kaldur.

Someone had actually come. Finally, someone had actually come to save him. His body weakened and he would have toppled face first into the water again if Kaldur hadn't lifted another hand and pulled him back towards him more.

"Well, isn't this an unpleasant surprise," the snooty voice of Klarion reverberated in Robin's ears. "Looks like the brats are here to save the day."

Dick opened his eyes and saw the witch boy staring at them with red energy glowing in his hand. But he also saw a yellow blur heading his way. Wally—Kid Flash—swept in and threw a punch right at the sorcerer. Before the punch could hit, Klarion switched his aim from the two in the water to Wally.

All according to plan, shockingly. Superboy came charging in from the other side and threw his own punch. The witch boy dodged again, but barely. The battle was pushed further away from Kaldur and Dick, so the two could get back up. Kaldur used his powers over water to lift both of them onto dry land. While Kaldur stood tall, Dick could hardly keep himself up on his knees.

Wally ran back over in that instant, looking at Dick with unmasked worry. "I'll run him-"

"We have to change our plans," Kaldur interrupted. "He is too fragile to cope with that speed. We must defeat our enemies and then transport him via the bioship."

"Where's Miss Martian?"

"Helping Artemis with Sportsmaster and Mercy."

"There's another," Robin breathed. Both of his friends looked at him with alarm. "A sniper…tried to take out Sportsmaster."

"He's not with us," Wally said. "Why would he kill Sportsmaster?"

"Luthor…wouldn't want anyone else knowing Batman's identity," Dick hypothesized as he tried to stand upright. He stood very slowly, and even after he was up, Wally had to move quickly to his side to help him stay that way. "But now…"

"Now the sniper will prioritize keeping you so that he may return you to Luthor," Kaldur inserted. "We understand. Kid, go find that sniper and neutralize him. I will keep Robin safe."

As much as Kid obviously wanted to argue, he knew now wasn't the time. He gently handed Robin off to Kaldur before he sped off to try and help things on the battlefield. While he was gone, Dick did a survey of the area. Mercy and Sportsmaster had both shifted their priorities to attack his friends instead, and Klarion was pounding Superboy with his magical energy.

"We can't win like this," Robin said aloud. He specifically focused on Miss M and Artemis, seeing the latter almost shoot an arrow towards M'gann. "Everyone's out of sync."

"Miss Martian could not establish a telepathic link for this battle," Aqualad responded. "We have grown to depend on it so much that we are now not working the best we could."

"She couldn't do a link?" Robin repeated.

"We are unsure why."

The answer dwelled in the back of Robin's fuzzy memories. "I was kept under. They used a g-gnome. It's still here." There was the answer. The g-gnome was still working to block any telepathic communication.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Sportsmaster left it behind. In a briefcase in my room." He could clearly picture the route it would take to get to that room. "I can-"

"No. You can hardly stand."

"I can help. Besides, the team is dying out here, Kaldur. If you don't jump in, we're going to lose."

Aqualad couldn't ignore the rational points. "How do you plan on doing this?"

"I'm winging it," Robin said bluntly. "Aren't we all?"

That evoked a bitter smile. "Indeed. I will make sure you get to the building safely. Once you are inside, it will be your responsibility."

"Got it."

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Then move."

*…*…*…*…*…*

Artemis didn't need a telepathic link or eyes on the whole battlefield to know that they were losing. She and M'gann weren't clicking right, Wally was nowhere to be seen, and Superboy's annoyed screams kept getting louder and louder. She let out her own cry as she swung her bow at her father, who blocked it with his arm before grabbing it and swinging the bow (and her) into a wall. She grunted in pain, reaching behind her for an arrow as she sat on the ground.

"Pathetic, Artemis," her father scolded in a tone darker than usual. "You came here to fight, and this is all you've got? You should have stayed away like Jade wanted you to."

"I'll never abandon my friend. Not like you abandoned us!" She pulled out an arrow and stabbed it into his leg, piercing it.

In return, he gave her a kick to the jaw.

"You don't have time to worry about that, slugger." He bent down and held her jaw in his hands, forcing her to look up at him while she knelt on the ground. "You can't save yourself, let alone your friend." Artemis looked past him and saw the robotic Mercy shooting towards the sky where Miss Martian was dodging everything. M'gann looked over at her, and all of a sudden, Artemis had an idea.

M'gann, switch! she mentally shouted. But then she felt like an idiot; the link was down for some reason.

Suddenly, Sportsmaster was in the air, and he was no longer gripping her jaw. She reached into her quiver for a specialized arrow, pulled it back on the bow, and launched it at Mercy.

The results were instantaneous. Electric sparks ran over the robot's body as the system began to shut down. "Water!" she shouted to M'gann.

This time, she understood the message completely. She reached out her hand and manipulated Mercy, picking her up and launching her into the water along with Sportsmaster.

Okay, so maybe she didn't get the message entirely. Artemis had only wanted Mercy in the water, not her dad.

When the electric Mercy touched the water, her circuits fried and her functions starting to shut down. Sportsmaster also got a small electric shock from being so close, but Artemis knew he'd live.

She panted a breath and looked at M'gann, who landed on the ground beside her. "That's one down," she said. Sportsmaster would come back up in a second. Kaldur and Conner were facing off against Klarion and Kid Flash was against some random man in black and orange. She hadn't seen him before, but she saw he was excellent at one-to-one combat. She felt an urge to run over and help, but there was a sudden thought in her mind. "How did you know to lift up Sportsmaster?"

"I heard you. You said 'switch.'"

"I didn't, though…I shouted it telepathically."

"The link is up!" Miss Martian gasped. "Team, the link is up!"

Tired cheers came over the link from Kaldur, Wally, and Conner.

It occurred randomly to Artemis that she hadn't seen a team member for a while. "Kaldur, where's-"

The door at the top of the stairs opened up. She aimed her bow and prepared to launch, but then she saw who it was. "Robin!" She ran to the stairs and reached the top in just a few seconds—not in time to catch him before he fell down to his knees. As soon as she was there, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Robin found the g-gnome that was blocking our telepathic link," Kaldur filled in. "Is he unharmed?"

"He's in bad shape," Miss M responded. "Why didn't Kid Flash run him out of here?"

"He is too fragile. We need to transport him with the bioship."

"But we can't do that until this area's cleared up. Understood."

The team had their exchanges and started formulating battle plans, but Artemis wasn't listening. Robin was in this state now, yet it was supposed to be her. She just wanted to hold him and take away all of the pain, but she couldn't.

"Artemis, I'm going to join the battle," M'gann stated aloud. "Stay here. Protect Robin."

"Got it."

And with that, Robin was sidelined again with a new bodyguard. Artemis took her responsibility seriously and drew an arrow onto her bow. She had the advantage; she was an archer on higher ground than anyone else. She could see the whole field. Superboy switched to battle the man they were later know as Deathstroke while Kaldur focused on containing Klarion. Even with two enemies left, the team was in a bad spot.

Still, Artemis knew her task. She aimed to support Kaldur by pointing her bow towards his battle. Klarion was a lord of chaos, not a natural resident of earth. In order to have a physical presence on this earth, he tied his soul to his cat—his familiar.

Artemis scanned the area for the cat but failed to see it. Klarion was smart enough to keep his familiar hidden now. The cat had to be somewhere close, because it could grow to be a fearsome beast and defend itself if Klarion was in a pinch. Now that it was 5 against 2, she had a feeling the familiar would appear.

A subtle growling came from atop one of the shipping crates. There was the cat, keeping an eye on the battle and staying out of sight of those on the ground. "Gotcha," Artemis muttered while pulling an arrow back on her bowstring.

An arrow pierced the cat.

Not her arrow.

Artemis started, turning her body to face where the arrow had come from. Someone had been standing on the roof of the warehouse and shot the cat before she could. When the figure jumped down, she wasn't surprised to see the person's identity. "Red Arrow," she greeted in surprise.

Roy Harper, Red Arrow, jumped down and landed next to her and Robin. He took in her confused look and scoffed. "You couldn't think I wouldn't hear about this," he stated with slight bitterness. "You guys should have called me. I would have helped."

"It was Batman's orders not to involve anyone else," she said honestly.

"Robin's my best friend," Roy snapped.

She could quibble with him all day long, but not in the middle of a battle. She looked at the cat and saw it lying there, screeching in pain as it was constantly electrocuted.

Down on the battle, Klarion's form began to flicker. She heard him whine about his defeat before he teleported to his cat. This was her chance to deal her own blow. With her bow still drawn, she aimed her arrow at the cat and shot.

A millisecond before it would have hit, the witch boy and his familiar disappeared.

"Ugh," she grunted as she put her bow away. Klarion would be back. Not today, but someday.

Roy knelt down next to Robin, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Robin, stay with us," he said with more sympathy than Artemis had ever heard in his voice. She could see why he was being kind though; Dick really wasn't in a good spot.

"Kaldur, we need to end this," Artemis relayed to the team leader. "Robin's fading. And Batman's waiting."

"I understand," the team leader responded. "But this last opponent will not go down without a fight."

Artemis shifted her gaze to that fight, seeing the man smack Kid Flash away with his long javelin pole. Superboy took a swing at him, but missed and was kicked back into a crate with enough force to make an indent.

As soon as he had some air to breathe, the stranger pulled out three small balls from his belt. They dropped to the ground and instantly exploded with cover smoke. Wally sped over and cleared the smoke with his rapid movement, but by then, the area was clear of both smoke and enemies. The mystery fighter was gone.

"Should I go after him?" Kid asked telepathically.

"Negative. Our first priority is Robin."

Artemis put her bow away and turned to pick up her friend while M'gann called in the Bioship. However, Roy already had him in his arms, bridal style. Her heart sunk when she saw his body looking smaller and more fragile than she had ever seen before.

The whole team rushed up, all ignoring the random presence of Roy and staring at their friend.

"Robin," M'gann started tearfully. "I'm so sorry."

"Hang in there, dude," KF added.

"You did well staying alive," Kaldur praised. "Let us handle everything now."

"His heart's not beating right," Conner inserted to the whole group. "It's beating too hard."

"Miss Martian, where's the bioship?"

"Here." The ship appeared above them and a ladder also descended. "I'll lift Robin in." She flew up and gently handled Robin with her powers, lifting him up into the ship and into the medical bay.

The team started to climb, but Kaldur and Roy were the last two at the bottom. "You shouldn't have said that to him," Roy said to Aqualand. "You can't handle everything. He's still got to fight for his life."

"He knows that," Aqualad said. "Robin would never give up fighting."

Roy stared at him for a moment, conceded, and then climbed into the ship. Kaldur recalled the moment he had entered the water and seen Robin sinking down. Not fighting. Giving up on life. He prayed that Robin didn't really give up at that moment, and that he would keep fighting this long battle.

But his wasn't the only battle that was being fought. He climbed up into the ship and found a phone Batman had lent to him. There was only one number in it: a direct number to the office of Bruce Wayne. He called, heard Bruce answer it, and gave his message. "He is safe."

*…*…*…*…*…*

Five minutes earlier

The meeting in Bruce's office took a long time. Before, when he asked for proof that Dick was alive, Lex let him speak to him briefly. If he was able to speak to him, that meant that the team hadn't gotten there yet. Assuming his calculations were correct, the team would have arrived within five minutes of that call, and with that in mind he concluded that they were twenty minutes into the rescue. They couldn't afford to take much longer; not with Lex starting to grow impatient.

It was fair; a person could only reread a contract so many times before it was considered to be stalling.

"I want to know more about how you plan to release my son," Bruce said again.

"Mr. Wayne," Lex said tiredly. He leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest as he stared at the businessman. "I've already said that I won't give you a time."

"Within the day."

"Yes, yes."

"At my manor."

"No. It was Sportsmaster who abducted Robin, and he will release Robin in a very public way. This is for your benefit as well so that no one else can potentially link the missing hero to your son. I trust you made a suitable excuse for him being away the past two weeks."

"I wish you would stop calling him that."

"Mr. Wayne, it doesn't matter what I call him. The fact of the matter is, I have your son and unless you sign that contract in front of you, you will not see him again."

"I should have known that you wouldn't be above extortion."

"This is far more than extortion," Lex said. "But, when opportunity arises…"

The phone on Bruce's desk began to ring. At that, Lex uncrossed his arms and sat forward. Bruce grimaced, looking at the caller ID. "It's my secretary. May I?"

"Of course, please."

Bruce picked up the phone and wore his best expression of annoyance. "Caroline, I firmly requested that…"

The voice on the other side of the line wasn't Caroline, and he knew that well before they spoke. Aqualad had a message for him. "He is safe."

"I see," Bruce responded. "Anything else?"

"Nothing that will not wait."

"Thank you, Caroline." Bruce hung up the phone and looked at the person across from his desk. Lex Luthor. The man who was behind Dick's abduction and this whole blackmail. It was both him and Sportsmaster who knew Robin's identity, but if he could manipulate Lex Luthor, then Lex could manipulate Sportsmaster.

Bruce folded the contract and put it inside his desk drawer. "Lex, we won't be making any deals today."

"I suppose that decision was made with that phone call?"

"It doesn't matter. The deal is off."

"Bruce." That was the first time in the meeting where Lex wasn't professional and refrained from calling him Mr. Wayne. A sign of annoyance, or cockiness, on his part. "I will assume that call stated that your son is safe. Congratulations. However, that doesn't change the fact that I know his identity and yours."

"You captured my son and found sensitive information on me that you now intend to use against me."

"You've already brought up that point at least three times this meeting. Your constant rephrasing won't change that it's true."

"I believe in compiling substantial evidence for the police when I need to." Lex looked both startled and confused as Bruce reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pen. "This pen has been recording this entire meeting. You stated numerous times that you kidnapped my son and are extorting me through him."

Lex stared at the pen with widened eyes. "Yes…" He regained his composure and looked at the billionaire. "But I also stated numerous times that your son is Robin and that you are Batman. You agreed—"

"No. I never agreed to those outrageous statements. And if you are ever tried in a court, they will count these statements as the ravings of a madman—a man who is certainly no longer fit to run Lex Corps." When Lex didn't respond, he continued. "Perhaps they will investigate me and my son to ensure that you are not insane, but rest assured that they will never be able to prove I am Batman or that Dick Grayson is Robin. These foolish allegations will never be proved."

Lex stared a few moments longer as he took all of this in. He may have had the identity of Batman, but now Bruce had substantial blackmail on him. "But you would rather avoid all those investigations, wouldn't you, Mr. Wayne?"

"I believe it would be a waste of everyone's time. So, allow me to present a new deal: You and Sportsmaster will never reveal my identity or Dick Grayson's to the world. If you do, this tape will be released and we will go through a very lengthy legal process where you are convicted and sentenced for kidnapping my son and extortion."

"I believe…that's a fair deal."

Lex Luthor stood up, grabbing his briefcase as he walked towards the door. He stopped right in front of it. "Well played, Mr. Wayne."

He stepped out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, Bruce rose to his feet and grabbed his coat. He was ending his day in the office early. He needed to make it to the cave to meet the team when they arrived. He needed to see his son.

*…*…*..*…*…*

Author: As always, thanks for reading! And thanks go to The Best Guesst and Thatonebookworm for leaving review for Chapter 11. Hope you're all enjoying the story so far and that you'll stick around for me. I've hit a snag with chapters 14 and 15, but I'll push through it. The story as a whole is longer than I anticipated it being but that's just because the ideas keep coming and coming. So stick around, it's gonna be an exciting ride!