I don't like writing out the lines from the actual show, it seems redundant, so I scene-cut a lot. You get the picture if you've ever seen the very first episodes of Young Justice which I kinda hope you have. Sorry for the long wait but since I'm trying to sow my own story in with the show, it takes time, not to mention I have uni again. Which takes priority over this guilty pleasure. Over 6000 words though, can't complain there! R and R if you want, though I would like if you did.
Batman growled and whipped around, his cape lifting with the momentum. He had never run from an opponent but he was highly tempted to now. There seemed to be no escape, no way of not giving in to the demands. They had worked out his weakness and were exploiting it at every turn. Not facing them was doing little to save him for they were tricky and simply forced him to look at them.
"Dad, please!"
There they were again. Adorable blue. He really had to learn how to say no to Riley and her blue eyes. His feet begged him to run, as though they knew what was coming.
"Dad, please, please. We've been working so hard. It's not like we're asking to join! We just want to be allowed in the headquarters and to know what you all do. If we're all going to join one day then this could help to keep us safe. Please, Daddy."
There it was. Blue eyes, rational reasoning and the word Daddy. Three sure fire ways to get through his well build defences if that person is Riley Grayson.
Batman opened this mouth to reply and hesitated. "I... I'll talk to the others."
"YES!" Riley yelped, jumping and giving Batman a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
The tall hero sighed after hugging his daughter back. "Suit up, we have patrol."
Riley nodded her head before spinning around and running off to get changed. She was back in minutes, her costume on, utility belt secure and her mask finally hiding the eyes that Batman could not say 'no' to. Their night was quiet, a handful of muggings, a group of men who were trying to abuse a woman, nothing major but they didn't get to bed until one in the morning. Robin was too tired to press the matter from earlier but Batman knew that if he didn't talk to the others in the Justice League about letting their sidekicks into the headquarters that he would be substigated to those torturous eyes.
Kid Flash, Robin, Aqua Lad, though to a lesser extent, and especially Roy had been pressuring their mentors to give them the opportunity to see the Justice League headquarters, and join, even if it wasn't on any real missions. He had to admit that Robin did have a valid argument, though that could have been the blue whirlpools. He really needed to learn to say no to her on matters like these before the other heroes realised Robin had the great Dark Knight wrapped around her little finger.
It wasn't as though she used it against him with everything, only the things she was most passionate about, and most other time she didn't even realise she was doing it. He had to admit, he was thankful she wasn't a super villain because he would lose against her.
It was two days before he was able to talk to Aquaman, Green Arrow and Flash. All of them had been hearing the same things from their sidekicks, but didn't think they were ready to join the Justice League. Batman didn't voice that he thought Robin was ready, but he wasn't. He couldn't handle the thought of her going up against what he did every day with the League. Now he knew how his and Black Canary's mentors felt.
Instead, the four heroes and Martian Manhunter, who had been contemplating inviting his niece, decided to only show them the basics in the Hall of Justice, which led to the zeta tubes, and not the actual headquarters. None of the sidekicks knew that that was not truly the headquarters, though Batman did worry that Robin would work it out once she took in account that civilians could see in and that there was only three chairs. Hopefully it would be enough to show them that they did trust them, they just wanted them to spend a little longer training.
With that decided, he returned home, only to find Riley not waiting for him in the Batcave. She tended not to wait if he was simply going to a meeting of the League. Instead, he found her in the lounge room, watching TV as she absently turned her charm bracelet. The eight charms chimed against one another, making a soft tune.
He had learnt that only the charms Kid Flash bought her actually ended up on the bracelet. It wasn't hard for him to calculate that she had one for every exhilarating mission the two had been on, in which she had came out unharmed. He noticed the injury clause by the fact that she did not have a charm for the last mission the two had together, in which the two Speedsters had to come to the Dynamic Duo's aid when Two Face had given them a beating. The two had arrived in time to see Robin take a hit and go flying into a wall. Kid Flash had caught her, only to find her unconscious.
That was part of reason Batman didn't want Riley to join the League. She still had a bruise on her cheek. He argued that she was to young, didn't have enough experience, to immature, but really, whilst she needed to learn how to work with a team instead of just him, she was capable of becoming a League member, he just knew she would be put into more dangerous situations and he couldn't be able to come to her aid, since he might not always know where she was.
She looked up at him and smiled. "Hey, dad, what's up?"
"We have decided to let you, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Speedy to see the League headquarters, so you know what you are working towards, but you can't join, yet."
Riley seemed to contemplate this for a minute before she nodded. "I can accept that."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The day had arrived and Robin seemed to be bouncing with anticipation, impatiently waiting as her father dressed. She sat in the chair in front of the computer, spinning around in an attempt to quell her anxiousness. She swore her father was dressing as slow as possible to annoy her, and it was working.
"Dad, if you don't hurry up, we are going to be late!" He voice hit a high note towards the end right before she heard her father's chuckled drifting from the changing room. She glared and whispered under her voice, "seriously?"
As she was contemplating yelling out to Batman to hurry up again, the computer started beeping. Hitting some buttons she got it to display the emergency. Freeze was in a park, causing havoc. Luckily, dealing with him was child's play with the location. He honestly didn't seem to have thought it through, though he was crazy.
"Dad, emergency." Instantly, Batman was beside her, making her scoff. "Now you dress quickly. Can we get this over and done with?"
They rushed down to the park, seeing some of Freeze's frozen victims. The two heroes looked at each other and silently communicated a plan. Batman sent a Bat-o-rang out to slam into the gun Freeze held before Robin sent out her signature laugh and jumped out, surprising the man. She landed heavily on his helmet, cracking it, before stringing away and throwing two bird-o-rangs at his face.
"Oh, Girl Wonder," he grumbled as he slowly lifted himself back onto his feet. "The Bat sent you to drag me off to prison. Frankly, I'm underwhelmed!"
"Great, but I'm kinda in a hurry here," Robin said, talking to Batman who was sneaking behind the villain.
Freeze scoffed. "Kids, always in such a rush. I prefer to preserve these moments." He pointed his freezing gun at Robin, who smirked as it powered up. "Or rather..."
"No talking to you," sung Robin, cutting off the man.
Freeze looked frightened before Batman jumped into the air, seeming to fly. The sun was half blocked by his form. He came down, throwing a punch straight through Freeze's helmet.
The thirteen-year-old gave him an exasperated look, tilting her head to the side. Her father simply smirked at her, making her narrow her eyes. They gave each other a quick stare down before Batman turned slightly; gesturing in the direction they had to go to get to the Hall. Robin shook her head before walking towards her father, giving him a mocking glare as she walked passed.
They got to the Hall of Justice just as Green Arrow, Speedy, Aquaman and Aqualad. Robin quickly gave Aqualad a high five and Speedy a hug, which made Batman frown. She had explained to him multiple times that Speedy was nothing more than an older brother. He reminded her of Dean from the circus. He was the son of one of the lion tamers and was training himself. He always told Robin bedtime stories when her parents were busy training or entertaining the crowd.
The crowd that had gathered kept calling out to them, making Robin wave. She noticed a group of little kids holding pictures of her. She smiled and walked over, crouching down so she was closer to their level. "Hi, are you superheroes in disguise too?"
The children giggled before boldly asking for her signature. She signed Robin, with a quick silhouette of a bird with its wings spread. The last one she signed belonged to a ten-year-old boy who was blushing as he handed over a picture of Robin. Most of them were the same, though this one was a little different. The others had been a still from a security camera from a mission not long ago. She was crouching, a night stick in each hand, whilst the one the boy handed her was of her just as she let go of her rope at the height of a swing. She was also ten in the picture, it was her battle with the Joker, minutes before they became overwhelmed and Batman was knocked unconscious.
"How did you get this?" Robin asked in confusion, smiling, a little flattered.
"I... I was there," he admitted, "I'm Billy Batson."
"Hi, Billy, I'm Robin." She shook his hand as he laughed.
"I wouldn't have guessed."
Robin handed back his picture, now signed 'Billy, I'm glad you're safe, Robin', and walked back to her father, facing the Hall. He put his hand on her shoulder, making her look up.
"Today is the day."
"Oh, man."
All the heroes looked over at the noise to notice the two speedsters had just arrived.
"I knew we would be the last ones here," whined Kid Flash, making Robin chuckle at the irony.
They all walked towards the Hall, listening to the crowd as they debated Kid Flash's name.
"Have all four sidekicks been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash asked, looking at how the crowd was behaving.
"Don't call as sidekicks," spoke up Speedy, "Not after today."
"Sorry." Kid Flash looked shocked at Speedy's tone. "First time at the Hall, I'm a little overwhelmed."
A thought crossed Robin's mind. "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed." She gave a sigh and walked into the Hall with Kid Flash right behind her. She stopped as she spotted the ceiling to floor statues of all the heroes. "Maybe that's why." She was suddenly overwhelmed.
A door slid open and there stood Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado. It was Martian Manhunter that greeted them all in his deep, level voice. "Robin, Speedy, Auqalad, Kid Flash, you now have unlimited access to the gym, fully stocked galley and of course, the library."
They swivelled their necks around, looking at the library at its entirety. Robin's eyes lastly landed on the large computer and she instantly calculated her probability of hacking into its system and how long it may take her. She estimated that she should be able to in under a minute because if the Justice League had higher security then the Batcave, they would be using it.
"Make yourself at home," Flash stated, gesturing to the three chairs.
As Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad sat, Robin couldn't help but wonder why there were only three chairs and not more. She wanted to trust that her father hadn't lied though, so she said nothing and sat contently as Batman turned to the other seasoned heroes and talked about the four ice villains who had attacked. They turned towards a door, that the young girl thought might lead to the meeting room, as Speedy started talking in a sharp tone.
"That's it? You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified back stage pass."
"It's a first step," assured Aquaman. "You've been granted access few others have."
"Oh really?" the eldest teenager snapped, gesturing to a glass window high up on the wall were they could see civilians snapping photos of them all. "Who cares what side of the glass we're on!"
"Roy," Green Arrow spoke up in an understanding tone, "You just need to be patient."
Robin started putting the pieces together as Speedy talked about needing respect, and for all of them to not be treated like sidekicks. She could understand, since Batman didn't just treat her like a sidekick, but a little kid, since he was a protective father. Turning her eyes on the Dark Knight, she saw him fidgeting, so minuet that only she noticed. He was hiding the truth from her, like Speedy said, and was feeling guilty.
"We deserve better than this."
Speedy's words snapped Robin out of her thoughts, making her look at him, only to see him looking at the protégés. They all then looked at each other. It was obvious that Aqualad wanted to serve his King, and Kid Flash was slightly confused, she however, was conflicted, but hid it. She wanted the truth, but didn't want to go against her father. She understood that he had his reasons and just wanted to protect her.
"You're kidding, right?" spat the young archer, glaring at them. "You're playing their game. Why? Because you think they play fair? Today was meant to be the day! Step one on becoming full-fledged members of the league."
"Well sure," Kid Flash started, looking at Robin for reassurance, "but I thought step one was a tour of HQ."
"Except the Hall isn't the real HQ." That got all of their attention, Robin knowing she was about to get answers. "I bet they never told you it's a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching Zetabeam tubes to the real thing," he gestured to the roof, "An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."
Green Arrow had the dignity to look guilty as he turned to look at Batman, who crossed his arms. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception." He only received a cold stare in return. "Or not."
"You're not helping your cause here, son," voiced Aquaman, trying to speak reason. "Stand down."
"Or what?" started Speedy, seeming to be angrier by those words. "You'll send me to my room? I'm not your son. I'm not even his." He gestured to Green Arrow, who tried to hide his pain. "I thought I was his partner, but, not anymore." He took off his hat and threw it to the ground, turning to walk out but stopping to spit words at Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad. "Guess their right about you three. You're not ready!"
They watched him leave, Robin feeling hurt that she had yet again lost another person in her life, before Superman appeared on the screen. A metal screen silently slid down over the observation window, stopping the tourists from seeing in. They listened to him talk about an explosion in something called Cadmus before Zatara interrupted, calling for the whole League. Once it was settled that they had to deal with Zatara's mission, Batman turned to the three teenagers.
"Stay put."
"Why?" Robin asked, knowing her father knew she meant, not just this mission but not seeing the headquarters. He gave her a look that clearly said they would talk later.
"This is a League mission," Aquaman tried to explain.
"You're not trained," added Flash.
Kid Flash's mouth dropped open in shock. "Since when?"
"I meant you're not trained as a part of this team," clarified the speedster.
Aquaman gave them all a sympathetic smile. "There will be other missions, when you're ready."
Those words made Robin feel like a rooky hero again and her father's didn't help.
"But until then, stay put!" With that, he turned towards the second door, which revealed the zeta tube. They were all scanned and walked through one by one, Red Tornado stopping to silently look at them first.
"When we're ready?" Kid Flash started, starting to pace.
"My mentor, my king," started Aqualad in a dejected voice. "I thought he trusted me."
"Trust? They don't trust us with the basics. Like that they have a secret HQ in space." Kid Flash gestured to the ceiling in an angry manner.
"What else aren't they telling us?"
Robin could understand his frustration. She was having trouble understand why her father lied to her. He could have told her the truth, explained it to her. "I have a better question: why didn't we leave with Speedy?" she spat out bitterly, knowing she only half meant it. She could never completely leave her father, and her friends like Speedy did.
"What is project Cadmus?" the Atlantican asked slowly.
A smirk creaked onto Robin's face before she answered. "Don't know, but I can find out." She walked over to the computer, getting to see how long it would take to hack. She tried the simple method of through the front door, only to be denied. "Wanna bet." Using the skills her father dearly wished on occasions that she did not posses, she hacked into the system within seconds, making system details scroll down the screen as small Robin heads appeared, telling her when she had broken through firewalls.
"Wow, how are you doing that?" the speedster asked slowly from beside her.
"Access granted," the computer spoke in a female voice.
Robin laughed. "Same system as the Batcave." She started scrolling for the information, relaying it to the others. It didn't seem to take much for Aqualad to suggest poetic justice. It took Robin a bit more pressing before he seemed to give in to the idea of going
"Wait, are you going to Cadmus? Cause if you're going, I'm going!" Kid Flash asked, spinning Robin around to face him.
It was as easy as that for them to decide to become a team. They quick headed to DC, to the location the Justice Leagues computer had said Cadmus was. Getting in was easy, once Robin had pulled Kid Flash into the window. They hacked into the computers, finding nothing suspicious until they found the elevator.
What was under the building had been nothing like they expected. Creatures of all sizes that should not exist, build to be weapons, as well as Guardian, a hero, who had tried to harm them; nothing though, compared to what they found in Kr.
The moment Kid Flash had told them to look, they could not do anything but. They were so shocked, having not expected Kr to be a boy, let alone what he was. The moment the lights had went on, the wheels in all their heads began turning.
"Kr, big K, little R, atomic sign for krypton," Kid Flash exclaimed, turning to Robin and Aqualad. "Clone?"
"Robin," Aqualad started, turning to the young girl who was gaping in surprise. "Hack."
"Oh, right, right." Robin instantly gained access into the computer. "Weapon designated Superboy, a clone force grown in six months! From DNA acquired from Superman."
"Stolen from Superman," hissed Aqaulad.
"There's no way the big guy knows about this!" Kid Flash looked at the other two for conformation.
"Solar suit can exhaurb yellow sun radiation 24/7," read out Robin.
"And these creatures?"
"Genomorths Knomes, telepathic, force feeding him an education."
"And we can guess what else," added the redhead. "Their making a slave out of... accentually Superman's son."
"Now we contact league," reasoned Aqualad, looking at Robin.
She tried, only to hear static. "No signal."
Kid Flash sighed softly. "We're in too deep, literally." He turned his gaze onto Superboy, who seemed to be sleeping in his pod. "This is wrong."
"We can't leave him like this," agreed Robin, looking sadly at the dark haired clone.
"Set him free." Aqualad looked at Robin when she hesitated and narrowed his eyes. "Do it."
With a hit of a small number of buttons, the glass raised up to allow him out. He cracked his neck before opening his eyes, showing them the same light blue as Superman's. He then pounced.
"Wow, hang on, supey," tried to reason Kid Flash after they had failed to defend themselves.
"We're on your side," Robin promised with difficulty.
He didn't stop. He just kept throwing them about and blocking their attacks. Everything they did seemed to be useless. There was no way to get him down.
Aqualad tried one last time to get through to the clone as the end of the fight obvious end. "We are trying to help you."
Shortly after those words, all three lost consciousness, only to wake up in pods of their own. The Girl Wonder had a horrible feeling about what was to happen to them. They had woken to find Superboy staring at them. Not in a questioning way, or even a curious way, simply staring. This seemed to annoy Kid Flash, who was in the middle pod.
What?! What do you want?" He fought against the locks holding him. "Stop staring! Your freaking me out!
"KF," Robin reasoned, "how about we don't tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" She sensed more then saw out of her peripherals that her words calmed Kid Flash a little.
"We only sort to help you," explained Aqualad.
"Yeah, we freed you and you turned on us," started the red head again.
"Kid, please be quiet now," urged the sea dweller. "I believe our new friend wasn't in full control of his actions."
Superboy frowned before opening his mouth. "What... what if I wasn't?"
"He can talk?" exclaimed Kid Flash in shock.
Superboy glared at him "Yes, he can!"
Both Aqualad and Robin gave Kid Flash exasperated looks, making him shrug the best he could in his restraints. "It's not like I said it!"
"The genomorphs taught you, telepathically," guessed Aqualad, seeming to have the most luck getting through to the clone.
"They taught me much. I can read, write, I know the name of stuff."
"Have you seen them? Have they ever let you see them?" Robin asked in a soft voice, a wave of sorrow for him washing over her. To live a life in nothing but a pod was not really living in her opinion. "Have they ever let you see the sky? The sun?"
"Images are implanted in my mind, but no I have never seen them," admitted the strong boy.
"Do you know what you are? Who you are?" questioned Aqualad, wanting to see what Cadmus was willing to tell him.
"I am the Superboy, a genomorph a clone of the Superman, to replace him if he perishes, and to destroy him if he turns from the light," he recited as though he had it memorised.
To be like superman is a worthy cause," complemented Aqualad, seeming perfectly calm even though he was tied up, "but like superman you deserve a life of your own, beyond that solar suit, beyond your pod this, beyond Cadmus."
"I live because of Cadmus, it is my home," Superboy yelled.
"Your home is a test tube," reminded the only girl in the room. "We can show you the sun."
"Arr, I'm pretty sure it's after midnight," interjected Kid Flash, making Robin glare at him, "but we can show you the moon."
"We can show you, introduce you, to superman," tempted Aqaulad.
"No, they can't, they will be otherwise occupied," cut in a man with long brown hair. "Start the cloning process."
Those words shot fear through Robin's system, but she hit it well with a joke. "Pass, batcave's crowded enough."
The man chose to ignore her. "And get the weapon back in its pod."
"Hey, how come he gets to call Supey an it?" complained Kid Flash.
"Help us," pleaded Aqualad to Superboy as someone started to lead him out of the room.
"Don't start thinking now!" snapped the scientist. "See you're not a real boy, you belong to me, well Cadmus, same thing. Now get back in your pod."
As Superboy walked away from them what looked to be metal fingers came out and attached themselves to each of their chests, shooting electricity through their systems. Robin was blinded by pain, her attempts to unlock her handcuffs forgotten as she tried to hold in her screams of agony. Her effort was lost though, for eventually they slipped through her lips.
She didn't know how long it lasted but the moment the pain lifted she focused on unlocking the restraints, knowing she needed to get out as soon as she could. She only half listened to Kid Flash and Superboy talk about heat vision before the glass of the pod opened, just seconds before her cuffs clicked open.
She landed in a crouch, rubbing her wrists. "Arr, good thing Batman isn't here, he'd have my head for taking so long."
"Seriously, that's what your worried about? The whole league will have our heads after tonight," Kid Flash exclaimed in shock, fighting against his cuffs.
"Free Aqualad, I'll get Kid Mouth," Robin spoke, half glaring at her friend.
"Don't you give me orders either," growled Superboy before he jumped towards Aqualad.
She rolled her eyes and climbed up above her best friend's pod, unlocking him quickly since she could see what she was doing.
"You'll never get out of here, I'll have you back in pods by morning," threatened the man who tried to clone them.
"That guy is not whelmed, not whelmed at all." Robin shock her head as though it was a great sin.
"What is it with you and this whelmed thing?" Kid Flash asked, only half wanting an answer.
They made a run for it, trying to get to the elevator. When they did, Robin quickly hooked a rope up as far as she could, letting Kid Flash slip his hand into hers. Holding onto him tightly, she retracked the rope once Superboy had grabbed Aqualad and flown off. The two started rising at a fast rate. Luckly she was still able to notice when Superboy started calling, throwing an arrow into the wall for Aqualad to grab.
"Superman can fly, why can't I fly?" the dark haired boy asked dejectedly.
"Don't know, but it looks like you can lead tall buildings. Still cool," Kid Flash assured, trying to cheer him up.
They ran through the floors, following Superboy's directions, only for him to lead them to what looked like a deadend. Once they had followed Robin's instructions, they crowled through the airvents to another floor where they dropped out. Instantly Robin was on her computer.
"What are you doing?" Kid Flash asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I hacked the motion sensors," Robin cheered, obviously proud of herself.
"Sweet," Kid Flash agreed, giving her a grateful smile. Not only did it give them an advantage it also gave him room to run, which is exactly what he did. He left a train of unconscious behind him as he ran through the stairwell, clearly the path for the others.
It wasn't until sublevel one that they found trouble. There was an entire army of Genomorphs as well as Guardian. Robin's head became fuzzy and she fell to the floor. Moments later though, they were all back on their feet and told to run by Guardian. Before they could, the elevator opened and the scientist was back with a test tube. He drunk the liquid inside and started changing. His flesh seemed to rip away from him, exposing greenish gray muscles underneath. Robin gulped at the atrocious sight before all four teens started fighting.
Even with Superboy's strength they seemed to be no match for this monster. They threw everything they had at him and yet it seemed to do nothing. Then robin gained an idea. Quickly, she set about putting it into motion. When the roof finally caved they all ducked, Superboy pushing them all together so he could shield them. In all the commotion, robin didn't notice a hand slip into hers, holding it tight as though afraid hers would suddenly turn limp.
Once everything had calmed the hand disappeared and Superboy lifted the largest piece of rubble off of them all, leaving them to move the 'smaller' bits. They gasped, drinking in the fresh night air that had the hint of debris in it.
"We did it," exclaimed Aqualad, sounding shocked.
"Was there any ever doubt?" teased Kid Flash before he highfived Robin, making both of them wince and hold their sides.
Robin was not looking forward to when Batman found out. He hated her getting injured, especially it he couldn't beat the guy up who did it.
Kid Flash grinned at her and helped her to her feet before nudging her arm and looking at Superboy. "Look, the moon." As they looked up at the abnormally large orb, a shadow slowly appeared before they could all make it out. "Wow and superman. Do we keep our promises or what?"
Slowly, the whole league arrived, landing on the mess they made and surrounding them. Superboy calmly, almost eagerly, like a child showing his artwork to his father, walked up to his older counterpart and lifter up the torn part of his solar suite. Superman's face showed his displeasure as Batman looked shocked.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"He doesn't like being called an it," sung Kid Flash, coming up beside the clone.
"I'm Superman's clone," snapped Superboy.
Batman frowned, looking at the four, his eyes lingering on Robin, though only she could tell. "Start talking!"
They explained the best they could, giving them all the details before the adults dispersed into separate groups. Robin fought the desire to go to sleep since she had been on patrol until three the morning before and had slept very little in anticipation of being shown around the Justice League Headquarters. She was regretting that now. The only thing keeping her standing was Kid Flash's hand on her shoulder. Finally, her father came up to her, making her think about how much she wanted to go home, have a shower and get a protective hug off of her father. The only one she knew who could hug as well as him was Wally, but his were different, not the fatherly kind.
"Cadmus will be investigated, all 52 levels," Batman assured, "but let's get one thing clear..."
"You should have called!" cut in Flash, making Robin try not to laugh. They may not have been related but Barry and Wally were very similar.
"End results aside," Batman continued, clearly trying not to glare at the speedster, "We are not happy. You hacked justice league systems, disobeyed orders and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again!"
"I am sorry," started Aqualad in his deep, calm voice, "but we will."
"Aqaulad stand down," Aquaman ordered, frowning at his once loyal servant.
"Apologies, my king, but no. We did good work tonight, work you trained us to do, together, on our own, we fought something powerful, important."
"If this is about your treatment at the hall, the three of you..." the Flash started, looking guilty.
"The four of us," interjected his protégé, "and it's not."
Robin turned a tired version of the puppy dog eyes on her father, knowing its effects wouldn't be a strong with the mask on. Her voice was soft, not wanting her father to be mad or hurt. "Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us, or why teach us at all?"
"Why let them tell us what to do?" snapped Superboy, his arms folded. "It's simple, get on board or get out of the way."
The adults shared a look, realising it was a lost cause. They slowly nodded before the Flash suggested taking them to his house to be checked out. The moment the four, as well as Batman, Flash, Aquaman and Black Canary got to the Allen house they set to work. The first thing Robin did was walk into the bedroom Wally used when there and laid down gingerly on the bed. She closed her eyes and started to dose, not even opening them when someone entered the room.
"Keep your eyes closed," Kid Flash instructed.
"Okay," the young girl assured in a drowsy voice before the sound of rustling clothing could be heard. "Are you getting changed?"
"Yes. That's why I said keep your eyes closed. I didn't want you have to move, you look tired."
She nodded, her eyes still closed. "Tired and sore."
The bed dipped besides her, making her roll slightly towards that area. "I know. When I heard you screaming I wanted to rip that guy's head off. I don't like you being hurt."
"It was worth it. We got a new friend, and some respect," she mumbled, groping around for a pillow, her eyes still closed since she was too tired to open them. All she found was Wally's chest, which she decided to use. He didn't complain when she put her head on his chest, making sure to be careful of any injuries. They both knew they should go out into the living room where Aqualad and Superboy were being treated for injuries, but both were too tired to move.
"Nothing's worth you being hurt," Wally muttered, looking down at Robin, who was more then likely asleep. With a yawn, he, too, fell into a slumber.
"Alright, you two are fine, you should heal within a day or two," Black Canary assured, smiling at Superboy who seemed to be a bit socially awkward.
"Superboy, if you want, you can stay here until we work out where your teams headquarters can be," offered Barry, who had changed out of his uniform. He had already asked Iris if it was alright for the clone to stay. When he received a nod, he smiled. "I can also make you something to eat, if any of you are hungry."
"You should look at Wally and Robin," spoke Aqualad from his seat on the couch. "They took a lot of hits."
"Where are they?" asked Aquaman before realising his mistake.
All the heroes looked at Batman. Although he had his cowl up, it was obvious he had just stepped into father mode. He frowned and started walking out of the living room, towards the spare room. He threw open the door only to stop. There had been a number of things running through his head, since Robin was injured, but what he saw calmed him.
She was curled up asleep on the bed with Wally protectively holding her to him in his sleep. Batman knew he never had to worry about her when she was with him, which was perhaps the only reason he was letting Robin onto this team of teenage heroes. He allowed a small smile that he quickly masked as Barry, Black Canary and Aqualad came over to the room.
Upon seeing them both sleeping soundly, Barry sighed. He had had the two stay over enough that he was used to them sleeping on the same bed together, since they often fell asleep playing videogames. Black Canary, however, gave a small gushing noise and muttered something about 'such sweet friends'. Aqualad just frowned in confusion, never having seen them like that.
"Should we wake them?" Barry asked, looking at the Dark Knight who was gazing at his daughter.
"No," Batman finally answered. "I'll take Robin home. Agent A can look over her in the morning. I think she needs sleep at the moment." With that, he walking into the room and scooped her up into his arms. She turned into him, cuddling into his chest.
Whilst she didn't wake, Wally did. He jumped awake with a gasp and looked around for Robin. He held his side in pain as he looked at Batman as he cradled his daughter.
"She doesn't wake up, but he does," chuckled Barry. "Don't worry, kid, his just taking her home."
Wally nodded and dropped back onto the matrices before he patted his stomach. "I'm hungry." He lifted himself off the bed and followed Batman out of the room, flopping down onto the couch with a wince. "Oh, tell Robin she's not getting a charm for this mission," Wally told Batman in a sleepy voice, getting a confused frown from the man. "I told her she doesn't get a charm if she gets hurt."
Batman gave Barry a confused look, only getting a shrug in reply. Instead of dwelling on it, he turned and carried her out into the Batmobil he had hidden outside.