The End of the World (Part 3)

Robin had long since switched over to autopilot, but he still hovered over the controls. He had no clue what else to do with himself. Most of the team was sleeping fitfully, and he didn't want to wake them until he had too. Unfortunately, they were getting closer and closer to that deadline.

Nudging Artemis, Robin signaled that he was leaving the cockpit and going to wake the rest of the team. She nodded, and Robin made his way back, gently shaking Wally, Conner, and Kaldur awake and gesturing for them to follow him. Robin couldn't help but close his eyes as he walked back. He was tired. So, so tired. He needed a vacation. He needed Bruce. He needed Bruce to whisk him away to some private island without cell phone reception and wifi. He needed a break to recharge and remember why he was a hero.

Sitting down in his seat, Robin activated his comm. "M'gann, we are half an hour out from our landing point. From there, it will take at least forty-five minutes, if not more to reach the bunker by snowmobile. Can we get a sitrep?"

"From what I can tell, everything looks the same. The heat signatures have moved around a bit, but there are the same number of signatures."

Wally bit his lip. "Can you still find my Uncle's heart beat?"

There was a pause, and Robin could hear M'gann typing. Another pause, and Robin could hear the sounds of Agent A typing. His fingers moved a lot quicker than M'gann's, and there was something instinctively familiar about it. What worried Robin though, is why M'gann would need his help. "Uh. Robin? We can't find it."

"What do you mean you can't find him? He was just there!"

"Hold on, I'm linking my hologlove to the main system."

Robin typed, his eyebrows furrowing. Okay, that was not a good sign. He couldn't find it. So either the system glitched originally and he was never there, or it could no longer detect his heart beat. Robin wasn't sure which was worse. "Okay Wally, here's the deal. The system can no longer detect your Uncle's heart beat."

As expected Wally started to freak out. And his panic was starting to get to the rest of the team. Yanking his glove off, Robin stuck two fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle. "Enough! I get that you are scared and worried, but right now, there is no time to freak out. I am going to start descent in very horrible conditions, and I need you all to sit down, strap in, and shut up! Wally, I'm sure your Uncle is fine. I've read case reports from Batman where he detailed that your Uncle's heart sometimes beats too fast for modern machines to monitor. M'gann said that the number of heat signatures is the same, so as of right now, our plan to breach is the same. We'll adapt as needed."

Wally frowned but nodded. "Fine. Whatever."

Robin took the plane out of autopilot and started the slow descent. "Okay M'gann. We're landing, and I'm bringing the plane into a cave for concealment. Can I please have an update on the state of Gotham and the Sirens? I could really use some good news."

###

M'gann could barely keep up with the reports of alien sightings. She had given up telling the Sirens where to go, as Harley had yelled that all they had to do to find the aliens was follow the singing. M'gann wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but judging by Commissioner Gordon and Catwoman's grimace, it wasn't good.

What M'gann did know however, was that there were too many patients crowding the Bat Bunker medical bay, and there were more on the way. It got so bad, that at one point, Agent A loaded up a helicopter with as many stable patients as possible, and brought them to the nearest hospital. M'gann could truthfully say that she had never been so relieved as when Agent A returned. Robin may be her friend, but she didn't doubt for a second that he would harm her or worse if Agent A was harmed. Not to mention what Batman would do to her.

The whole situation was a major disaster. And as Robin would say, heavy on the 'dis'. The Gotham Sirens were tiring out, and M'gann was dreading contacting Robin to let him know. Especially after she had to deliver the news about Wally's uncle. Robin had managed to give them hope, but what if it was like that simulation where he was just giving them false hope until the end? No, she didn't think that Robin would do that again. And Agent A had pretty much told her the same thing when she originally couldn't locate the heart beat. A flash lit up the Bunker, and M'gann turned to great whoever had Zetaed in, but immediately stopped and gasped.

Catwoman was lying on the ground in a steadily growing pool of blood. She must have activated the Zeta right before she fell unconscious. "Agent A! Leslie! Come quick! She's really hurt!"

Agent A rushed over muttering curses while he lifted the Catwoman onto a gurney and rushed her to an awaiting grim-faced Leslie. M'gann stared down at the puddle of blood on the ground with tears in her eyes. There was no way that she could hold off calling Robin now. He had once confessed that Catwoman was kinda like his mom.

"Bat Bunker to the Sirens. Catwoman is here with serious medical injury, she is currently being treated. How are you guys doing?"

"Puddin, if I could get a little back up, I'd be doing much better."

"They've killed my babies. I need to retreat and regroup."

M'gann sighed and rubbed her temples. She couldn't help despite how much she wanted to. And she promised to protect the Bunker and it's occupants. "Robin, come in Robin."

"Kind of in the middle of driving a snowmobile through a blizzard, M'gann. What can I do for you?"

M'gann didn't really appreciate the tone. She wouldn't have used the comm if it wasn't important. "Robin, Catwoman is down. Harley and Ivy are regrouping, but they are tiring out fast. We need help, now."

There was a quick intake of breath, but that was the only sign that Robin wasn't completely calm as he said, "How bad a shape is Catwoman in?"

"I don't know Robin. Agent A and Leslie rushed her off to surgery."

"I need you to patch the Commissioner and the remaining Sirens in."

M'gann bit her lip. Robin was sounding far too resigned for her liking. She didn't have a good feeling about where this was going. "Sirens, Commissioner, I'm patching you guys in to Robin."

"Guys, can you hear me?"

"How's it going Bird Boy?"

"Well I'm currently freezing my ass off in the middle of nowhere Alaska. On the bright side, I have a very warm Kryptonian hanging onto me."

"Robin. How much longer until you're able to free the Justice League?"

There was a soft sigh, and M'gann knew that the answer was not going to be one the Commissioner was hoping to hear. "Too long, I'm afraid. I'm calling for one of the 'Batastrophe' plans to be put in action. Commissioner, in a minute, a map of underground tunnels with appear on your phone. I need for some of your officers, and people you deem 'responsible' to start leading women and children out of the city. In the meantime, let Bane, Killer Croc, Deadshot, and Clayface out. Make sure to tell them that they can't make a living if we all die. Harley, Ivy, take a breather. When, and only when you feel like you will not endanger yourselves, rejoin the fight."

"Aw Puddin. Don't you worry about your Auntie Harley. You just worry about saving your Daddy. Leave the rest to us!"

"I never realized how much you care Boy Blunder. Don't think that I'll let these aliens take me down, I still need to spread the word about saving the environment."

"Robin. I let out Bane, Killer Croc, Clayface, and Deadshot. They've all agreed to help until the alien problem is gone. After that, it's free game." There was a deep, world weary sigh, and M'gann knew that whatever the Commissioner was going to say next mattered. "Now you listen here, son. I know you, and I know Batman better than most can claim. And I know, that right now, your mind is torn between here, and wherever the hell you are. I need you to forget about Gotham. I need you to focus on what you're doing, because at the end of the day, the world needs the Justice League. Gotham may need Batman and Robin, but the world takes precedence, because there isn't a single doubt in my mind that the Justice League could not do what they do without Batman and Robin. So you do what you have to do, and I'll make sure that Gotham stays in one piece until you're back. It's the least that I could do considering how many times you've saved me. How many times you've saved all of us."

"Thank you Commissioner. I won't let you down."

"I don't think that's possible Robin, the Boy Wonder."

###

Robin held his chin up high and ignored the tears blurring his vision. He needed to prove himself worthy of all the faith that people were placing in him. He needed to earn the name 'Boy Wonder'.

Robin glanced behind him at his team. Artemis was driving a snowmobile with Kaldur behind her (much to Wally's annoyance) and Wally was driving the other. Meanwhile, Robin was leading the pack with Conner seated behind him. They wouldn't have enough room for the Justice League, so either they had to make some sort of sled, or they needed to steal a vehicle, preferably after disabling any others. Not that the aliens could drive. Most likely.

Robin slowed as they made their way to the crest of a small hill. Jumping off of the snowmobile, Robin climbed the rest of the way and laid down on his stomach. The rest of the team followed suit. "Okay. M'gann. I need to know if you can see any vehicles through the thermal imaging. I also need the latest body counts, and where you think the hostages are located."

"Robin there appears to be some sort of garage on the far end. A lot of the aliens have conjugated in that area. The body counts appear to be the same, though there is a heat signature located in the same area as Flash was previously whose heat output is significantly lower than the others."

"Like the aliens?"

"No. It looks human. The temperature is just cold."

Robin closed his eyes, and pretended not to notice the strain in his voice as he said, "Could be Batman. He trained with Himalayan monks for a while. They can control their body temperatures. He may be attempting to conserve energy."

Robin really doubted that he fooled anyone with that excuse. He could barely convince himself that it was feasible, let alone a group of other people. There was no point in procrastinating though. The situation would only get worse the longer it went on. Pulling a snow camouflage tarp out of one of the pouches on the snowmobiles, Robin covered them so that they were no longer visible to the naked eye. "M'gann, tag where I'm standing right now. If it keeps snowing like it is, it will be impossible to find the snowmobiles later."

Turning to the rest of the team, Robin stuck out his hand. "We got this. Don't leave any room in your brain for doubt."

Wally put his hand on top of Robin's, and the rest of the team followed. "Okay, M'gann. Whenever you're ready. Lead us in."

###

Robin crept down the empty hallway feeling exposed by the lack of shadows to hide in. He knew that M'gann was watching their backs, but he would have been much more comfortable in an air vent. The team had agreed to allow him and Artemis to take down any aliens that they spotted because they were able to do so without making a noise. Robin smirked. Gotta love that assassin training. Not that Artemis knew that Batman had been a student of Ra's al Ghul.

Robin was startled out of his concentration when M'gann's whispered, "Around the next corner. First door to your right. Be careful."

Robin took a deep breath. "Okay. We got this. I got this. I don't see any noticeable traps on the door. Kid Flash, you're in first. Then Conner, me and Kaldur. Artemis, you watch the door. Take down anyone that gets close. You guys got it?" Upon receiving their nods, Robin continued. "Three. Two. One."

Kid Flash burst through the door with Conner following close behind, acting as a shield for both Robin and Kaldur. Robin noticed right away that the room was clear, save for the Justice League. Which didn't bring much comfort considering the state the Justice League were in.

Green Arrow, Wonder Woman and Aquaman were barely lucid, though they seemed to be better after Kid Flash untied them. Probably just a concussion. Flash's legs were both severely broken, and would probably need to be rebroken and set. Both Superman and Martian Manhunter were unconscious, probably for the same reasons that Conner and M'gann had been unconscious.

But it was Batman that drew Robin's attention and his worry. He was curled in on himself, and his skin was cool and clammy to the touch. Flipping his mentor onto his back, Robin took a quick intake of his breath. There was a major bite on the side of side of his mentor's abdomend, and it was deep. And it was bleeding. Judging by the pool underneath him, his mentor had lost a lot of blood.

Blood. There was so much blood underneath two very broken bodies. Why were they broken? They were smiling at him a moment ago. He was supposed to jump? Why hadn't he jumped? Why was he covered in blood? It was warm. To warm. He felt sick. Why was someone grabbing him and dragging him away? He had to be with them! He was supposed to jump. It was his turn now. Why was someone hugging him? He was wet. He'd ruin their nice suit. What was happening? Why was everyone so sad? Why was he crying?

"Rob! How's Bats?"

"Motherfucking motherfucker fucking bastard!" Digging through his belt, he grabbed a pressure bandage and hastily applied it. "We need to go! Batman needs urgent care stat!"

"I'm afraid that getting out won't be as easy as getting in. Robin, the heat signatures are moving closer to you."

Robin cursed again. Batman could wash his mouth out with soap later. "Okay. New plan. Artemis and I are going to go make a big boom and cause a distraction. You guys get the League to the snowmobiles. Kaldur, if you could carry Batman with your water bearers it would be greatly appreciated. Supes. Carry Big Blue and Flash over your shoulders. KF, you have Martian Manhunter. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, you guys need to walk. We'll try and steal a car if we can. Got it?"

Robin didn't wait for an answer before running, Artemis trailing close behind him. "M'gann, lead us to the garage! Artemis be ready to take down anything and everything! Let's make as much noise as possible."

Robin didn't pause as they ran by three aliens, hitting one with an exploding batarang, while Artemis took out the other two. M'gann was shouting directions, and it wasn't long before they were bursting into the garage and grappling into the rafters. "See that car by the exit? Think you can hotwire it while I make things go boom and open the door?"

"Sure thing shortstack."

Robin rolled his eyes at the nickname not really perturbed. Gotham villains had called him much worse. Instead, he focused on hacking the door. It took a few moments longer than he would have liked, but the door started to creek open. Robin took that opportunity to strip his belts of the multitude of explosives, activate them, and throw them at the other vehicles, and at the aliens. Hopefully, Artemis would get the car ready long before he ran out. He wasn't really sure that he had anything useful for this situation in his belt anymore.

"Let's go Wonder Boy!"

Robin jumped down and landed on the hood of the car. "Go! Go! Go!"

Artemis didn't hesitate and slammed her foot on the accelerator. Robin jumped through the open passenger seat window and onto his seat. He watched as the garage became smaller and smaller, and realized that he had grabbed the SUV with tracks, which basically meant that the car was designed for deep snow. His subconscious mind was a genius!

"Team. Status report?"

"Robin. We are at the snowmobiles. However, the Justice League's uniforms are not meant to withstand this cold temperature for long."

"Start unburying the snowmobiles. We may have lost them for now, but that's gonna change as soon as they realize that we unkidnapped the League. Soon as we park, I want the Justice League loaded in the back. Wally, you're driving with Kaldur shotgun. Everyone else in on the snowmobiles protecting the car."

"Eh. Why me?"

"Wally, you're superspeed won't be helpful in a when we need long range weapons experts throwing the explosives I stashed in the pouches of the snowmobiles. Conner can chuck them way father than you can, Kaldur's water bearers are at an advantage with all the snow, and Artemis and I know how to handle things that go boom, unlike you Kid Idiot. The last thing any of us need is another man down."

"Sheesh. No need to tell me twice. I got it. Lighten up! We got the Justice League! We saved the frickin Justice League of America! We're heroes!"

Robin was glad that Artemis had just pulled up, because he could tell Kid Idiot to shut his mouth in person. Wally had the worst luck of anyone he knew, and he knew the Condiment King! The last thing that they needed at the moment was for Wally to have jinxed them.

And judging by the the headlights coming their way, Wally's rotten luck had managed to rub off on them. "Go! Go! Go!"

Jumping on his snowmobile, Robin revved the engine before taking off after the car. "M'gann. Lead us to the Batplane! Or better yet, let's hope that Batman's knew update works!" Robin slammed his hand down on top of the homing signal on the snowmobile and prayed that it worked. In the meantime, he turned around, and started throwing explosives at the incoming alien...podmobiles? He really wasn't sure what those things were, but they moved fast, and needed to be taken out. Spinning around, he put the snowmobile in reverse, thank you Bruce for being a billionaire and being able to cough up money for expensive upgrades, and activated the missles. Now he only had one shot at this, ready, aim, fire!

The snow behind them exploded and began to slide down the mountain. An avalanche. Thank you, mother nature. And the missle.

Spinning back forward, Robin noted that there were still few podmobiles chasing after him. But that didn't matter, because the Batplane broke through the clouds and hovered, a large platform descending onto the snow. "Everybody get on the platform! It's magnetic, so it will lock you in place!"

Robin was glad that nobody argued the safety. He probably would have, if it was just him and Batman. But it wasn't. And he was certainly not bringing up just how unsafe what they were about to do was. Instead, he threw the last remaining explosives at the podmobiles. And when they were safely loaded inside the plane, he locked all the vehicles in place before pointing at the med bay. "Get the League situated. Artemis, you're my copilot."

"Dude. You have a snowmobile that launches missles."

"Technically, it belongs to Batman. You were riding the one I generally use. Conner was on the spare."

###

It was thirty minutes after they had left the horrible bunker behind, that Robin felt safe enough to leave Artemis alone in the cockpit. In the med bay, Robin quickly went to a bare wall panel and typed a code into the hidden panel. Immediately, the panel slid out, revealing multiple blood bags. Robin gave one to Wally and nodded to Superman. "Hook him up." He took out two bags of Batman's blood and started the rapid infusion.

Robin cursed as he realized that the bandages that he had applied in the field were already soaked through. Batman would never make it all the way back to Gotham. Good thing that he had made an operating room within the Batplane with a gyroscopic floor to eliminate all plane related movement.

Rushing back to the cockpit, Robin turned the plane. "Sorry guys. We're gonna need to make a quick pit stop in San Francisco."

"Uh. Why?"

"Batman needs a world class trauma surgeon. And I know just where to find one."

###

Robin stormed through the trauma department, ignoring all the stares. He had hacked into the UCSF hospital database and knew exactly who he was looking for. "Where is Dr. Nicoletta Marino?"

A confused nurse pointed to a lounge, and Robin didn't so much as thank her as he ran by. He didn't have much time. The team didn't have much time. There was only one doctor in the lounge, so Robin grabbed her, noting that her ID did in fact, identify her as the woman he was looking for.

"You have a patient. Severe bite mark from an unknown species. What we do know, is that he hasn't stopped bleeding in over an hour and that he's been given three bags of blood. He also has not regained consciousness."

"Um. The operating rooms are in the other direction. Wait, I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm the person trying to stop the alien invasion that you were just watching on TV. I'm also the person who is getting very perturbed by how slow you are moving, and is contemplating just grabbing you."

"Now hold on a minute—"

Robin didn't let her finish that thought. He threw her over his shoulder and marched to the roof like he owned the place. Immediately, a grapple appeared, and he was pulled into the awaiting plane. The good doctor let out a very high pitched scream.

The team watched with wide eyes as he held the protesting doctor. Wally made a high pitched noise that sounded like a squeak. "Rob, please don't tell me you kidnapped her. We were joking when we said let's grab her and go. You know that. Please tell me that you know that."

Robin ignored Wally and instead preceded to carry her past the med bay and into the operating room, where Batman was ready and waiting, cowl still covering his face. "That's—"

"Yes. It is. This operating room is state of the art. You won't feel any of the jostling from the plane. Now I need to fly this plane and get us to a safe place without drawing the attention of the aliens that want to kill us. If you could just, I don't know, fix him? That would be a big help."

"I don't have any assistance. What about an anesthesiologist? And a second?"

"KF. Can you handle anesthesia? Remember he's not a speedster, but his system goes through it pretty quick for a nonmenta." Turning to face the doctor, Robin glared. "As for a second, you're supposed to be one of the best trauma surgeons in the world. Figure it out. If you really need help, ask Kaldur."

Robin knew that he shouldn't have left it there. That he should have been nicer. But he couldn't afford to, not now. Not when he felt so raw. When he felt like he was going to explode from the sheer magnitude of his own emotions. Steeling himself, Robin settled into the pilot's seat. "M'gann. We're on our way back. We have the Justice League. I repeat, we have the Justice League. Conditions vary, but most seem on their way to recovery. Batman is in surgery. We're making our way to the Bunker to regroup. We'll fill you in on the details then."

"Got it Robin. I will tell the others."

"Thank you M'gann."

Robin looked down at himself as he adjusted his position. He was covered in so much blood. In his mentor's blood. He was sitting in front of their broken bodies, covered in their blood. Why was his face wet? Was he crying? No. Tears weren't red. He was wiping blood onto his face. Oh. The air smelt so thickly of blood that he could practically taste it. It was making him sick. He was going to hurl.

Robin faintly heard Artemis scream his name as he vomited and passed out on the floor of the cockpit.

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A/N: So. That was a lot of action. Made up for the lack of action in the previous chapter I would say. I think that there will probably be two more chapters of this arc. Maybe three.

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Next chapter- Batman/Robin's condition, heroes awaken, a plan is formed, Gotham continues to have problems, Alfred, maybe a cute bat family moment

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