Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or its characters
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Previously in A Lone Bird
"Good" Batman said. He turned to Karasu, "will you work with the team?" he asked.
"Will you pay for the repairs?" Karasu countered.
"No" Batman replied. Karasu turned back to the TV and let his head fall unceremoniously back against the couch – an air of disinterest surrounding him.
Batman sighed.
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Chapter 14
Karasu looked back up to Batman expectantly after hearing the exhale of breath.
"If I pay you, you will aid the team, correct?" Batman asked.
"I suppose so" the bird replied.
"Fine, but only because it is necessary" Batman said. The team looked at Batman in shock.
"Are you seriously going to give him the money?" Artemis asked, surprised that the bat was giving into Karasu's demands.
"Yes, you will need a hacker for this mission and it would be near impossible to find another on such short notice" Batman replied curtly. The archer nodded in understanding.
Batman looked around at the assembled teens.
"Catwoman will not make a move until tonight, meet back here at six – four hours from now – understood?" Batman said.
"Yes, we shall be prepared" Kaldur replied with a nod.
"Good. Karasu, come with me" Batman ordered heading out of the room. Karasu remained where he was and raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" he asked. Batman's voice floated into the room from beyond the door.
"You need a new persona"
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(Mt. Justice: 6 pm)
When the team arrived at the mission room at the instructed time they found Batman and someone they didn't recognize, but could only assume was Karasu.
He was in a totally different outfit, the only similarity being the color scheme. He wore a red tunic with black short sleeves and black Kevlar pants. He had black gloves that went up to his forearms. His boots were like the ones he normally wore, only with gray trim rather than red. Around his waist was a yellow utility belt resembling the one Batman wore. The hacker also had a black cape with yellow lining that came down to the back of his knees. The lower half of his face was uncovered, but he wore a domino mask with white, reflective lenses over his eyes.
They could tell that he had some sort of protective armor underneath his uniform like Batman wore. On the left side of his chest was a yellow 'R' situated within a solid black circle. They weren't sure what it stood for, but assumed that Karasu or Batman would explain.
"Karasu?" M'gann asked tentatively.
"The one and only, but please – call me Robin" The now dubbed Robin replied.
"Like the bird?" Wally asked.
"Why does everyone ask me that? Yes like the bird" Robin replied somewhat irritably.
"What did you mean when you said everyone was asking you that?" M'gann asked tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Well, when I first suggested the name Batman asked me the same question. Is there even another definition for the word robin?" the acrobat asked.
"The name 'Robin' hasGermanic roots and it means 'bright fame,' but I don't know of any other definitions for it" Conner replied. Robin looked up at him, eyebrows raised in surprise - he hadn't expected an answer to his question.
"I'm glad you know that" He ventured in response.
"So, where'd you get the new outfit?" Artemis asked.
"Batman had it specially made or something. He basically asked me what I wanted design-wise and three hours later, there it was. Pretty impressive actually" the bird replied.
"Why'd you need a new persona anyway?" Artemis asked.
"Apparently it wouldn't do for us to be caught and have people see me working with you. This way they would assume I was a new hero – Batman's words, not mine. Personally I don't see how we'd get caught" Robin said with a shrug.
"Well, we're kind of good at being caught actually" Wally said.
"Quite the skill for a team based on stealth" Robin drawled.
"What can I say, we're talented" the speedster replied with a grin.
"So the change is so you won't be recognized. You even changed the style of mask" Artemis pointed out. Robin grinned.
"I know, you all have seen most of my face now" he replied.
"All except for your actual eyes. Hey, did you see his whole face?" Wally asked turning to the Dark Knight.
"No, I was not in the room when he changed" Batman replied.
"Oh yeah, that would have been…awkward" the speedster amended sheepishly. Batman stared at him for a couple of seconds – just until he was getting uncomfortable – before turning to the rest of the group.
"If you are all done chatting, you have a mission to complete" he stated.
"I apologize, please continue" Kaldur said.
Batman pulled up a map of Gotham on the holographic screen. There were a few red dots and one green.
"I have narrowed down the possible locations of the next robbery. These are indicated by the dots on the screen. The green dot shows the most likely museum for Catwoman to show up at" he said. The teens nodded studying the map closely.
Batman zoomed into the area that included the green dot.
"The security at this museum is the second highest of all the museums in Gotham, but this will not deter Catwoman. Robin should be able to crack it without much trouble. Even so be careful, I don't want anyone knowing of your presence there" the Dark Knight explained.
"We understand" Kaldur stated.
"Good. Remember – you don't have to capture her, just prevent anything from being stolen" Batman said.
"Of course" the Atlantian replied. He turned and led the team and Robin toward the hanger.
When they boarded the bioship and M'gann had another chair form for the disguised Karasu.
"Cool" was all he said as he plopped down and seatbelts formed around him.
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(Gotham)
The ride was uneventful and they soon arrived in Batman's city. Robin directed them to a rooftop near the museum where they could land.
Once the teens were all out of the bioship Miss Martian activated its camouflage to keep it hidden.
"So, what now?" Robin asked.
"Now our great leader gives us his orders" Kid Flash replied with a grin, gesturing to Aqualad.
"Well then 'great leader' what would you like me to do?" the bird asked turning to Aqualad who shook his head slightly with an amused look at the two's antics.
"You are to head inside to begin hacking the security. Kid Flash will accompany you and watch your back. The rest of us will take up position on each side of the building and watch for Catwoman" he said.
"Alright, do you have communication devices or anything?" Robin asked.
"We tend to use a mental link provided by Miss Martian" the Atlantian replied gesturing to the Martian. Robin pursed his lips.
"Is this only for communication or can it be used to delve deeper into a person's mind?" he asked.
"It can, but the team explained to me that doing so is considered rude on earth, so I only do that with the bad guys" Miss Martian explained with a smile. Robin looked apprehensive, but sighed.
"OK, but I'm trusting you not to dig around in my mind" he said.
"I won't betray your trust" Miss Martian replied seriously. Robin nodded.
"Now that everything is settled, Miss Martian will you please set up the link?" Aqualad asked.
"Of course" the Martian replied.
'Everyone here?' she asked after establishing the link.
'yes' Superboy answered.
'you know it, Babe' Kid Flash said.
'yeah' Artemis replied.
'yes' Aqualad said.
'yep… this is weird' Robin commented.
'It does take a little getting used to' Kid Flash agreed.
'Alright team, Robin, you have your instructions. Move to your positions' Aqualad ordered. The other teens nodded mutely and moved to do their respective tasks.
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(With Robin and Kid Flash)
Robin quickly unlocked the side doors of the museum - an emergency exit most likely - and disabled the alarm set on them. He moved silently into the building, Kid Flash close behind him.
The bird stopped at a corner holding a hand out to signal for the teen behind him to halt as well.
"Wha-?" Kid Flash started only to have a gloved hand cover his mouth.
"Shh, there's a camera around the corner, not sure if it picks up sound – probably why the side doors were so easy to get through. They'd catch any intruder as they rounded the corner" Robin whispered, his words barely audible at all.
Kid Flash merely nodded and Robin withdrew his hand. The ebony took a step back and studied the hall they were in.
"There" he whispered pointing to a vent high on the left side of the wall.
"How are you going to get up there?" Kid Flash asked quietly. Robin grinned.
"Just go stand by the wall under the vent and brace yourself" he instructed. The speedster furrowed his eyebrows at this but complied.
"Now what?" he asked facing the wall.
"Just brace yourself" was the reply.
Suddenly he felt Robin landing on his shoulders, his knees nearly buckled at the added weight, but he recovered instinctively - reaching up and grabbing the acrobat's legs to keep him still.
Kid Flash glanced up to see Robin unscrewing the vent from the wall. He handed the metal grate down to the speedster before pulling himself into the hole left behind. Kid Flash placed the vent cover gently on the ground and jumped up taking the hand offered to him from in the ventilation system.
Robin had a surprising amount of strength in his arms – Kid Flash discovered - as the ebony pulled the larger teen into the vent.
They crawled along for awhile eventually coming to a spot where they could see a computer through the vents. Robin removed the cover again, this time maneuvering it into the vent before dropping into the room.
Kid Flash followed, albeit a little less gracefully. Robin was already plugged into the computer trying to see if it was connected to the security system.
"It's connected, just got to get in to the security system" Robin muttered.
"Awesome, I'll tell the others" Kid Flash replied. Robin nodded absently, already starting to hack into the security.
'Hey guys, he's connected to the security' Kid Flash said over the link.
'Good, remember to stay unnoticed' Aqualad replied.
'Yeah, yeah, I know' the speedster retorted. He turned and watched Robin typing away at the computer in his glove.
"Are you done yet?" Kid Flash asked after a couple of minutes.
"I'm sorry; did you want to do this?" Robin retorted glancing up from his computer at the speedster.
"Nope, just wondering how long it was going to take" the speedster said with a noncommittal shrug.
"More than five minutes" Robin replied absentmindedly, looking back at the screen in front of him. They lapsed into silence.
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(Outside the museum)
Artemis was crouched on a rooftop on the north side of the museum when she caught a shadow out of the corner of her eyes.
'Hey, I think I saw something' she reported through the mind link.
'What did you see?' Aqualad asked.
'Just a flicker of movement near the side of the building – don't know if it was really anything. Should I investigate?' Artemis asked.
'Yes, be careful' Aqualad replied.
The archer stood and stretched her slightly cramped muscles before descending the building and following the direction she had seen the shadow moving in.
Artemis crept along the side of the building, sticking to the shadows as cover. She came around to the door Kid Flash and Robin had entered through.
She straightened out and inspected the area. It didn't look like anyone else had gone through the door.
'I don't see anything' she reported.
'Alright, head back to your post' Aqualad replied.
'Right' Artemis said. The archer sighed as she turned to head back.
"Hmmmm, what do we have here?" A voice asked from behind her.
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This ended up being later than I expected. I knew I wouldn't be able to work on it over the weekend, like I said last chapter, but I wasn't home Monday and didn't have time to work on it on Tuesday or Wednesday either. So I started working on this chapter Thursday, spent a ridiculous amount of time on it and here it is Friday - well it's Friday where I live anyway.
So yeah, Dick's dressed like he usually is in the show. Hopefully that's the image everyone got. And I went ahead and referred to him as Robin while he was wearing the Robin outfit 'cause having the team call him Robin while using Karasu for everything else would be kind of confusing.
I think that's it…
BYE!