Multiverse Travel Sucks (Part 7)

Robin yawned. Traveling across the country in a helicopter really sucked. Royally. Especially when Wally pretty much ate all the food in the first hour. It was really inconvenient that he was a nervous eater. It meant that nobody else got food when they wanted it.

Maybe Batman was right and he needed to sleep more. He wouldn't have nearly as much to complain about if he was asleep. Granted, he would also be plagued by nightmares. There was just no way to win.

Shifting, Robin stared out the window. They were over Nevada now. They would be at their destination soon. Then it was only a matter of figuring out which Earth they were from and how to get there.

Robin closed his eyes again. It was too much. He needed to go home. He needed everything to be okay again. He needed Bruce. He needed his dad. Listening to the loud bickering of his teammates, Robin allowed himself to slowly drift off to sleep.

###

Robin woke up to the sight of the mountain literally opening up and swallowing the helicopter. Unfortunately, that was not in the top ten weirdest things that Robin had seen in the week yet alone the year. Number one of course being listening to Bruce sing in the shower.

Deciding that he did not like where his thoughts were headed, Robin shook his head and stood up. It was time to figure out where they were and how to get home. He was telling the truth before. It would not be pretty if Bruce came before they could get home. Especially when he found out Fury had ordered his men to kill them if they tried to escape. If Fury thought he was dangerous, he needed to meet Daddybats. There was a reason he was feared by everyone in the Justice League, and it wasn't because he growled a lot.

Sighing, Robin once again shook his head, forcefully trying to extract all thoughts of Bruce. Not that it worked. If anything, it made it worse. But he had to focus. If he didn't, he would never see Bruce again. In the back of his mind he knew that his thoughts kept going back to the man because he missed him. But to admit that to anyone, even himself felt dangerous. He wasn't ready to lose another father. And Bruce tended to run into danger without thinking about his own personal safety.

Exiting the helicopter, Robin made a move to follow Tony. Maybe the multiverse theory and finding out which Earth he belonged to would take his mind off of his mentor. His very grumpy, intimidating, gentle, and caring mentor.

###

Artemis was bored. They were essentially fugitives, and they were stuck in a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Granted, Robin was working with Tony to get them home, but that didn't exactly help her current situation. Knowing the troll, he probably had a transporter in his belt and was awaiting the best moment to use it.

She felt bad immediately after thinking it. Robin had really stepped up for them on this mission, if they could call it that. He had taken charge when the rest of them were too scared to think straight. And to top it off, he had been oddly serious the whole time. Sure there had been the inappropriate quips, and the the odd cackle, but he had yet to disappear, and he exuded authority in a way Aqualad never had. Like no one in the Justice League did besides Batman. Perhaps he was the reason the Avengers took them seriously. He acted like a real hero, and unlike Booster Gold, he was not all talk. He had the skills to back him up.

Observing the room, Artemis observed that many of the Avengers were cleaning their weapons. Stiffening slightly, she watched as the female assassin version of Robin approached. The Black Widow. Or at least that was what Robin had called her. She couldn't remember what her given name was, and Artemis found herself wondering why she even cared. It was not like they would be around much longer.

Artemis eyed the woman as she sat down next to her. They sat in silence for a moment before the Black Widow finally spoke. Nodding towards Robin, she asked, "What's his story?"

Artemis raised one eyebrow. "Even if I did know, why would I tell you?"

The woman raised one shoulder nonchalantly. "I'm just wondering if I need to watch my back when in battle. He refused a gun, and strategically speaking he should have killed Fury."

"Doesn't your world need Fury?"

"Sure. But if he dies, another would just take his place. And I doubt that this world's safety was what was on his mind. It was natural for him to make sure Fury lived."

Artemis hunched her shoulders slightly. Her stomach churned as if she was betraying Robin by having this conversation. Lowering her voice slightly, she said, "Look. I don't know anything concrete, but rumor in Gotham is that the Bat Clan has a no kill rule. And I'm pretty sure that they have something against guns too. But that's just a personal theory due to the fact that I've never seen either of them use one."

The woman nodded slightly, and Artemis looked down at her interlaced fingers. She wondered how mad Robin would be that she revealed that information. Knowing the boy, he would either not care or go apocalyptic. Or perhaps it was Batman that would go apocalyptic. She wondered why their identities were such a big secret. It wasn't like they were Bruce Wayne and his son or something.

###

Robin bristled. Someone was definitely thinking about him being Richard Grayson. Tony looked down at him with a confused frown and Robin shook his head and offered a weak smile in return. There were more important things at stake here than his secret identity. Even if he would be grounded for life if the team found out who he was.

Focusing on the screen, Robin suddenly snapped his fingers in excitement. "This isn't getting us anywhere!"

Tony frowned. "No kidding kid. No need to get so excited."

Robin grinned. "What if we can backtrace a signal across the multiverse?"

"What do you mean? Like your computer? I thought you said it worked here. I don't think we can backtrace it."

Robin shook his head in excitement. Digging through his belt, Robin took out what looked like a piece of lint. "It's a tracker. Batman keeps putting them on me. I guess we're lucky he put it in the belt and not my uniform, because I abandoned that awhile ago."

Tony blinked and scanned it into the computer, pulling up the specs immediately. "This is amazing. I can see why you wouldn't notice it."

Robin snorted indignantly. "Please. I noticed the second he put it there, but he worries so I let him think think that I don't."

Tony nodded, not really understanding but deciding to rather focus on the tracking device. "Okay. So if I can backtrace the point of origin on this tracker, we can find which Earth is yours. And by I, I mean JARVIS."

"I shall do my best, Sir."

Robin looked around and murmured to himself. "JARVIS is like a computer version of Agent A. Always there, knows what you want before you do, the definition of helpful. But Agent A makes cookies. I wonder how B would feel about testing to see if he was a robot. We already tested him for a metagene."

Tony gave the boy a strange look. He was muttering to himself, but he couldn't find the heart to stop him. Something told him that despite the tough act that he had going on, he was just a kid missing his home.

"Sir. I do believe I've found the location you were looking for. It belongs to a city that does not exist on our map. Gotham."

Robin perked up, as did the rest of both teams. "That would be the right place JARVIS. Can you tell us which Earth it is on proximal to this one?"

"According to the data collected, this is Earth 616 and the tracker's origin point is Earth 16."

Robin cracked his neck and then moved to stretch his arms and back. "Well guys. Looks like we have our destination. Now we just need to figure out how to get there. Wally, were going to need you for this one. I'll help Tony with programming a cross multiverse zeta beam. You build the machine." Seeing Wally's raised eyebrows, Robin rolled his eyes. "I have the specs. I stole them from the Batcomputer a few weeks ago. Never know when you'll need something like that. Good thing too, huh?"

Turning to the rest of the team, Robin smirked. "Help Wally however you guys can. He's not very strong so I'm sure that any heavy lifting you can do will help." Ignoring Wally's annoyed cry, Robin turned to face the computer. "We're going home guys. I'd bet the Batmobile on it."

Wally blinked. "You must be really confident. Batman will not take you betting his precious car lightly."

Robin laughed as Artemis smacked Wally and yelled at him for ruining the moment. He didn't really think that Wally had, he had just made the mood lighter, and that was not a bad thing. They had been far too tense since arriving at this Earth. For the first time, the whole team believed that everything was going to be okay. For the first time, Robin truly believed it too.

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A/N: So I looked up which Earth Marvel was on and Young Justice. Thank you google. So pretty sure that the next chapter will be the last. Should I add another confrontation with Fury? Please review!