Disclaimed.

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'Coffee'

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It was tense in the cave that evening. At about six, the members of the team had been corralled at the mountain with the simple instructions: "stay here until further notice'. The unsaid consequential threat, 'or else', lingered heavily in the air as the Batman turned sharply to leave. He left the befuddled teens to their own devices. For the first few hours they were blissfully ignorant of the reason for their sudden confinement. It wasn't until after ten that night that the Boy Wonder voiced his growing curiosity in between rounds of the racing game they were playing. The others didn't seem to perturbed by the sudden question nor did they seem too concerned with the answer.

The answer would actually be provided by another in the dead of the night.

A short chine startled the sleeping thirteen year old from his deep slumber. Bleary, blue eyes glared at the offending electronic that was resting on his bedside table. Robin was quick to snatch up the dimly lit phone and skim over the text that had inappropriately jeered him from his sleep. Re-reading the words a few times to make sure that he was understanding correctly, he tapped out a response. A scowl was unpleasantly set on his face as he pressed the 'SEND' button.

'Roy, it is 3AM. What are you talking about?'

Robin didn't bother lying back against the mattress as he waited for the reply. He didn't have to wait long before the chimes sounded out once more. Robin's brow furrowed as he read the new text, eyes skimming over it it a few extra times once again to confirm his understanding. Dropping the phone onto his comforter and grabbing his shades, Robin was out of the room before his phones screen faded back to black.

Instinctually, he wanted to wake the others and solve the mystery as to why they were barred from leaving the base. Robin was quick to quell his instinct though, instead heading away from the private quarters towards the front room. He made sure that volume was set to low before turning on the television and seeking out Gotham's local news station. The station was running repeats of the previous days newscasts. Robin took a seat on the couch to watch for any word on what happened. That's where Conner found him two hours later.

The larger boy gave a question look to his younger counterpart; the look went unnoticed. Conner gave a slight shrug and continued towards the kitchen for some cereal. Mindlessly, he listened to the low commentary coming over the surround sound. The sounds of the cereal hitting the sides of the ceramic bowl almost covered the newscast and Superboy's attention was diverted to his hunger. It wasn't until the reporter mentions something about Batman that he focused his attention back to the news report. This time he listened intently as he re-entered the front room and took a seat on the couch.

"…while the Joker made an appearance on 43rd street yesterday evening, the recent crime spree continues on the north side of town. Three more homes were burglarized this evening, Amanda Millians has the story," the male newscaster passed the story off to an onsite reporter. Conner was mindlessly watching the new change of scenery on screen as he chewed slowly on his still crunchy cereal. The well-dressed woman on screen looked out of place in what he assumed to be one of the slums of Gotham city.

"Thanks Todd. While the focus of Gotham citizens was on the latest showdown between the Joker and Batman earlier this evening, the local thieves came out to play. While local authorities were busy, the string of burglarized homes grew longer, but this time there was an unfortunate casualty. The group, known by Gotham's press as the 'Backdoor Bandits', used the conflict on the other side of town to their advantage by breaking into three more homes.

"Normally, the thieves target homes throughout the middle of the day when residents are at work or school. Today, one of break-ins did not go as planned. Either by miscalculation or carelessness on the part of the burglar, instead of being met with an empty apartment the thieves were met by thirty-eight year old, Paula Crock. Mrs. Crock was assaulted and knocked unconscious by the attackers and was found hours later by her fifteen year old daughter. Despite the fight in the southern part of Gotham, authorities responded promptly to the call and Mrs. Crock was—" the television was snapped off.

Conner shot Robin another questioning look as her crunched on another spoonful of his cereal, but once more, it went unnoticed. Robin instead was striding out of the room quickly, with no answer. The clone was left alone. Conner rolled his eyes and turned the focus back to his food. Only moments later, Megan wandered in looking half-asleep. She offered a small smile, breaking it to yawn widely. Kaldur appeared as well, looking far more aware than the Martian despite his haggard appearance. Finally, Robin reappeared with Wally in tow. Out of all of them, Wally was by far the worst. He could barely walk on his own, and he looked a sight with a large drool stain on his cheek and his hair sticking up in every direction. He hadn't even pulled a shirt on before he had been dragged from his room. Robin directed him to the nearest seat and let him fall into it.

"W'az so 'mportant, Rob?" Wally mumbled, unable to keep his eyes open as he spoke.

"Open your eyes and just watch this," Robin flipped the television back on and rewound the DVR back to the segment he and Conner had just finished watching.

"Hey, that building is where…" Wally trailed off as Amanda Millians began a repeat performance. The team sat in silence watching until Robin deemed it appropriate to turn the television off once more.

"Why is it that her name sounds so familiar, Robin?" Kaldur broke the silence, his gaze turned in the Boy Wonder's direction.

"And what does it have to do with us?" Megan added as she stifled another yawn.

"Because Paula Crock us—"

"Artemis' mom," Wally finished Robin's sentence. His voice now lacked the dreamy quality it had held only a few minutes before.

"Why would the League order us to stay here then? Do they believe it was an attempt on Artemis' life?" Kaldur questioned aloud, though no one had an answer.

"How would they even know Artemis' civilian identity to target her?" Megan now looked more awake than she had been earlier.

"Sportsmaster," Conner supplied shortly, a gruff tone to his voice.

"He wouldn't sell out his own daughter…would he?" Megan looked horrified at the prospect. Robin was quick to shake his head in disagreement.

"Too sloppy. If the Shadows wanted them dead, there would have been a fight that would have made the latest Bats vs. Joker look like a ballet performed by seven year olds," Robin protested.

"Then why are we here?" The simple question Conner posed became far more difficult than it should have been. Surprisingly, it was Wally that answered.

"They didn't want us to make a scene," he spoke matter-of-factly. It made sense; enough sense that no one else offered a comment. "We should call…someone."

Robin nodded, despite Wally's lamely finished suggestion. "Maybe Canary or Green Arrow know what's going on. If Roy knows, one of them has to know something about what's going on," Robin elaborated . "Anyone have their phone?"

Robin's question was met with blank looks. He repressed rolling his eyes as he had left his own phone in his room as well. Just as he began to push himself from his seat to retrieve his phone, a small 'oh' stopped him. All eyes moved to the speedster that had begun to dig in his pajama pants pocket as he fished out his own phone. Wally sheepishly grinned as her held the phone up and offered it to his best friend. This time Robin rolled his eyes exasperatedly and took the proffered phone. He was quick to dial the head of the Arrow Clan's number from memory (something that he wasn't supposed to know, but did nonetheless). He was greeted by a gruff Oliver Queen.

"Hello?"

"Ollie, it's Robin."

"Dammit. I told Bruce you would find out sooner or later."

"Roy text me."

"I swear, I can't tell that boy anything anymore!'

"You should know better after last time, Ollie. He doesn't have a problem blurting out secrets."

"Yeah, yeah. What is it that you need, Robin? I just got back to Star City a couple of hours ago and I need to get some sleep."

"How is she?"

"Who? Artemis or Paula?"

"Both. I mean, Artemis' mom is going to be okay, right? And Arty's fine, isn't she?"

"Well, kid, Paula had lost a lot of blood yesterday by the time Artemis found her and Arty's a little shaken up, but she's no worse for the wear."

"We can't come see her can we?"

"Sorry, kid. The hospital restricts visiting. You have to be family to get in."

"I mean Artemis."

"That's not up to me, you know that Robin."

"Will you at least keep us in the loop?"

"I'll make sure someone calls you later on today. Besides Bats should be there soon, you can interrogate him some. He was supposed to hunt down the guys that did this."

"Alright. Thanks Ollie."

"Anytime, kid."

With a sigh, Robin ended the call and tossed the phone back to the red head. After a survey of the room, he noticed that Conner and Megan were now absent. After hearing the water in the kitchen turning on, he assumed they were in the kitchen. Robin, having nothing else to do, turned and began trekking down the hallway to retrieve his own phone and finally text Roy back. By the time he reentered the living room, Megan and Conner were sitting together, mugs in hand looking somber. Both Wally and Kaldur had mugs of their own, but scowls were present on their faces as they looked down in distaste at whatever was in the mugs. A pleasantly familiar scented wafted through the air catching Robin off guard.

"There's coffee in the kitchen if you want some, Robin," Megan informed him softly and Robin nodded deftly.

He took a seat on the couch after he had poured himself a cup of coffee, adding liberal amounts of sugar and cream. Both Kaldur and Wally still held onto their mugs, looks of disgust having yet to subside; and the couple sipped their own coffee, leaning into one another effortlessly. The team stayed there until Batman arrived.

After he departed from their mini interrogation session, they had more coffee and continued waiting.

It's been a couple of weeks. :c
Sorry about that. Between my laptop being jacked and my sister having to go to the ER four times (thank god it wasn't seven hours away though) I just didn't have time to sit type stuff out on my phone.
I had time to scribble in a notebook though!
But I abhor copying from a piece of paper, it takes me so long for some reason.

I felt that this was pretty appropriate considering a lot of my time over the past week and a half has been spent waiting to find out what's going on.
And drinking coffee while doing so.

It takes me a little bit longer to type from written notes because I get distracted, but please do bear with me. I have outlines and prompt plans and all that good stuff drawn up in pretty organizational charts!
More Roy and Artemis time! A little more focus on the neglected members of the team (hopefully)! And Wally is going to take another trip! Yay. c:
Oh, did I mention that I quit Christmastide? No? Of course not, but cause I haven't yet. I'm just struggling my ass off trying to write the tenth chapter.

Random notes:

Love to all of you.
Go read Catchphrase for Kaldur/Artemis goodness.
Pairings will be bounced around when I get to it. If I get to it.
Did I mention that I suck at romancy-crap? Because I do.
'Tease' will get a sequel! (eventually...)
Thanks for the reviews (times a million).
Sleep. Get some.

Until next time!