"So," Robin drawled out as he leaned back in his seat with an easy grin, "You wanna try this again?"
Fury's singular eye glared at the teen's nonchalance about the whole thing. He never quite realized how cooperative Peter was until he had met the dark haired world-jumper.
The interrogation room was standard, to say the least. Metal floors and walls with a large, one-way mirror that the bird seemed to love sneaking faces at. There was one table with two metal chairs. Robin was casually leaning back in his while Fury preferred to stand, but with how long this was taking, he may end up taking a seat himself before the day was over.
The director could almost feel the gazes of the Avengers from the other side of the glass, and he shared their surprise in how long the small boy held up against him. At this point, he was tempted to break out the truth serum, despite Dr. Banner's protests.
Robin released a deep sigh and finally sat upright in his chair, propping his arms on the table as he did so.
"Look, I don't want to be here as much as you don't want me here. I've got a city relying on me back home, and as much as I like this version of Earth, I need to get back ASAP. This little chat is just slowing both of us down."
I don't even want to think about what kind of state Gotham is in right now. Babs can only do so much, and I have no idea how my team is doing, he thought and carded his fingers through his ebony hair in frustration.
The teen's fingers flexed as he tried to ignore his throbbing side. He could really use those painkillers about now. But no, he had to play 20 questions with the pirate version of Batman.
The gears began spinning in Fury's mind. A city? Who would leave the protection of a city in the hands of a kid?
"How did you come to our world?" he asked instead. Robin pinched the bridge of his nose in a display of exasperation.
"What happened is when 80% of GC villains were once doctors or scientists and I'm interrupted by my dear but overbearing team. Honestly, I told them to stay out Gotham, but did they listen to me? No~!"
That sounded more like a rant than an explanation, but at the moment, he didn't care. He had been dumped in another world. His side hurt, and he really wanted to finish that ham sandwich he left on the counter. In his opinion, he had the right to be a little grumpy.
Fury crossed his arms, "I'm going to need something better than that, kid."
Even though his eyes were covered, the man could feel the fierce glare being emitted from the boy. Robin pushed himself up into a standing position and mimicked the director's stance.
"Listen up, Nicholas," he spat, "It took me less than fifteen seconds to hack into your oh-so-advanced system. I know who you are, and I know what you're capable of, and let me tell you something. I've gone up against things that would squash you like a bug by myself. You wouldn't understand any answer I gave you as to how I got here, so let's cut to the chase."
He paused, either to take a breath or just for dramatic effect, they weren't sure.
"I'm here, and you're going to have to deal with it until I'm not, so suck it up. You can either help me, or I can do this myself. But let's get something straight here; if I have to do it alone, I'm going to be here a lot longer than any of us like. That is, if Batman doesn't get here first, then you'll have a real problem on your hands."
Yes, Batman and most of the league were off-world, but did these wannabes need to know that? Nope. No, they did not. But then again, if his team was okay, they had probably contacted the Dark Knight and made him aware of the situation. Or worse, they were trying to figure it out themselves. That second notion tempted him to facepalm.
Glancing upward, the boy wonder noticed how his interrogator was miffed. He'd likely never been spoken to like that by someone else before, and the thought made his blue eyes light up in mischievous pride.
Their "conversation" was interrupted by the door opening to reveal Agent Romanoff. Robin smirked. The lady was gorgeous, and she had an air around her that reminded him of Black Canary. If Kid Flash were here, he'd be flirting nonstop with the agent...and most likely get shot in the leg for it.
"Sir," she began and motioned for him to join her in the hall, "Maybe we should try a different approach?"
"What do you suggest?" he whispered, glaring at the door as if it could strike the kid inside.
"It's easier to trap flies with honey than vinegar," she quoted like it solved everything, "I've been watching him. It's clear he was trained against almost every technique there is. Let us watch over him here at the Tower. It'll be easier to get information from him when he lets his guard down."
Nick Fury sighed. He didn't like the idea of the child hacker staying so close to accessible secrets, but at this point, it didn't look like he had much of a choice.
"Fine," he gritted out, "Do what you have to."
Natasha turned to hide the small smirk gracing her features. While what she said was true, she had actually spoke to him to get the poor kid away from him. She wouldn't admit it out loud, she was beginning to feel a soft spot forming for the boy. His dark hair, light tan, and facial features suggested a European heritage. It was frightening how easily she could imagine the teen in the Red Room, wearing a Kevlar assassin suit with colors similar to his current uniform, ready and waiting for his next target.
She quickly shook her head and opened the door, greeting Robin with a small smile, "Come on, kid. Let's get back upstairs."
"Finally!" Robin chirped and hopped out of his seat. He flexed his hands in an effort to hide his pain, "But can we stop by the medbay first? I could really use some painkillers about now."
"Sure thing, Робин."
Robin stiffened, "You're Russian," he stated, head cast down, before he shook himself out of whatever daze he fell into, "Sorry. Some of my childhood friends were from Russia, before I became Robin. It's been a while since I've had contact with any of them."
Black Widow nodded in understanding, and the two began to walk down the hall, "Do you speak Russian?"
"Oh, yeah," the teen wonder bragged, "I know a few different languages. I was working on Mandarin and verbal Martian before the, well, accident," he explained and scratched his jaw in thought, "Maybe I should start working on Old Norse. I'm sure Thor would like that a lot."
Natasha rose an eyebrow at him but simply let him chatter as they walked to the infirmary. Robin gasped as another thought came to him.
"Oh, man! You don't think Thor would be offended by the way I greeted him, do you? Aunt Diana gave me a whole lecture about the proper way to greet ancient deities, and I totally blew it!"
At this point, Natasha just shook her head and rolled with what the boy was saying, "You don't have anything to worry about. Thor doesn't get insulted that easily."
"Okay, phew!" Robin breathed out, "That could have been a disaster. Heavy on the dis."
The two warriors chatted back and forth lightly as they grabbed Robin's meds. The boy wonder listened intently to Nat's stories and asked questions about almost everything. He was curious, to say the least, and excited to learn anything he could about the world he had fallen into. He was also happy to answer any questions not related to his secret identity or any league secrets, and he would go into great detail about some of the missions and patrols he had gone on in the past.
He was just finishing up about how he and two other sidekicks discovered and rescued a clone called "Superboy" when they reentered the Avengers' lounge. The adult heroes quickly tuned into the young vigilante's story.
"—and then Batman and almost the whole League showed up right after we got out of the rubble, but I'm pretty sure the others came just to watch Bats chew us out. We got to keep Superboy though, and that was how we started Young Justice. The mentors knew we wouldn't sit around, so they helped us train as a covert ops group for the league. Things don't always stay covert though," he laughed sheepishly, "Miss M and Arty joined up a little while after that, and that's how the team came to be."
"So the kid returns in one piece," Tony piped up from behind the counter. Robin didn't act too enthused around the billionaire. He reminded him too much of his adopted father's idiot aristocrat persona, only he had a feeling Tony's was legit.
"Please," he drawled sarcastically, "I know you were listening in, so don't act so surprised."
And without a second glance, the small teen strode up to Thor and enacted a forearm handshake, "I don't think I greeted you properly before. Sorry if I offended you; I usually have better manners."
Tony scoffed indignantly, making both Bruce and Steve chuckle.
The bulky hero looked down at him and gave a broad smile, "No harm done, little Robin. I'm not like my fellows in Asgard."
The invisible weight on the boy's shoulders lifted, and a cheeky grin was reflected back up at the man. His side was already feeling better, and he was making new friends in this weird dimension. So far, things were totally asterous.
Until an explosion lit up part of the city just outside the Avengers Tower.
Then it was heavy on the dis.