*Obviously, this contains spoilers for the story "Derailment", so if you plan to read the story, you might do that first.*

I told you it took me several tries to get it right. Here is one of the many versions of "Derailment's" epilogue that I wrote before deciding it wasn't working. It was frankly too depressing. I like ending on a happier note and Robin was having trouble with his near-death experience to fix it all in one sitting. We had all the drama already - Now, was the time to wrap things up and leave you feeling satisfied, much like you would after a great meal. But all in all, it wasn't all bad . . . Bits and pieces were quite good, in fact. Enough so that I wanted to share it with you here.

Derailment - "Epilogue: Version 1"

Warning: Um, maybe some little bit of language, possibly? Rating: T (just in case, I forgot something)


The Bioship cut through the sky, low so as not to attract attention on radar and camouflaged so no one would notice it. So low, in fact, it almost skimmed the tree tops.

"Can we go faster?" Robin asked over his shoulder at M'gann.

"We can but it isn't advisable at this low altitude," she smiled at him.

Robin had talked nonstop for the past week once Batman had given the go ahead for this trip. There was no doubt the Boy Wonder's excitement, but what had surprised her was Conner's. Although not so publically displayed, M'gann was very aware of the young Kryptonian's own eagerness. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as Conner leaned forward in his seat, his gaze scanning the landscape with anticipation.

"I can't believe there is still snow on," Artemis exclaimed. "It's been five months! Shouldn't the snow be gone by now?"

"The snow is only up high," Wally pointed out.

"That's where we're going, up high," Robin grinned.

"I have read that there is often snow in the mountains even in summer," Kaldur told them. "It is very beautiful here. I am sorry that I was not available to join you on the mission."

Conner smirked. "You would have come in handy hauling Robin's butt out of the river."

Robin laughed. "Oh, yeah," he smiled. "You were definitely missed, Kaldur."

"I am glad you are able to laugh about it now," he commented. "I remember hearing how close it had been for some of you."

Artemis rubbed her arms. "Too close. I'm not ready to laugh over it yet."

Robin kicked back and stuck his feet up, placing his hands behind his head. "Just enjoying the feeling of being alive and healthy again. I mean if you can't laugh about it . . ."

"I hear you," Artemis said. "Talk to me in another five months, maybe."

"And yet you wouldn't dream of being left behind, princess, would you?" Roy teased, kicking a foot into the back of her seat.

"Hey! Keep those big, smelly feet to yourself," she snarked back at him.

"Hah! You like the smell of my feet," Roy joked.

"Ew!" Artemis rolled her eyes but she was smiling.

Wally looked back over his shoulder at the two. "When did you smell Roy's feet?"

"When he came back from hunting or collecting wood and had to dry out his boots and socks by the fire," she reminded him.

M'gann knew that Artemis had spent the second night the team was at the watchtower with Wally on the observation deck, telling him her experience in what she had called a mission disaster. That wasn't quite true, however. Despite everything, they had been able to recover the prototype weapon and from what her Uncle J'onn told her, the League was currently working on a set of armor to shield Superman from the red sun radiation it produced.

She glanced at Conner and smiled. They were making Superboy a set as well and Superman was busy overseeing the project himself. Conner was happier now than she had ever seen him. He still was impatient and his temper quick but the reconciliation between him and Superman made all the difference. He was smiling now and would even laugh sometimes, although only Robin seemed to manage that feat easily. But his attitude had improved ever since Superman had taken him to Smallsville to meet his parents.

That and now this trip was such a high for him, Conner might have been able to actually fly here all on his own, she thought with a smirk. He glanced back at her and flashed her a brilliant smile before leaning over to tease Robin again.

"By my calculations, we should be there by now," Robin announced.

"And according to the ship's coordinates, it should be just over that ridge ahead," M'gann confirmed. "We're almost there."

It was everything Robin could do to sit still. The Bioship told her that he was constantly straining against the safety straps that held him safe in his seat.

"I am anxious to meet this biologist who saved your lives," Kaldur said. "Dr. Dupree sounds like a fascinating individual."

"And Cecil," Robin grinned. "I wonder if he'll remember us?" he asked Conner.

"We'll know in a minute," Conner told him. He pointed as they cleared the last of the trees and the cabin finally came into view. "We're here."

"That looks a lot bigger than the shack we were in," Artemis noted.

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it," Rob agreed. "We might all fit inside at the same time."

Artemis looked at the Boy Wonder. "Don't you know? You and Roy nearly died trying to reach it!"

"He made it, but the concussion he got slamming into the side of the cliff wiped his memory of it," Roy told her. "What's the last thing you remember before waking up on the Watchtower, Rob?"

Robin sobered a second as he tried to recall. "Um . . . I can remember walking away from the shack after telling Conner I would be back but little else."

That was a lie, however.


Robin shivered. He still had nightmares on occasion . . . The images that came to him in the dark were chaotic; glimpses of snow, broken trees, and boulders raining down only a foot or so from his face. He would feel the cliff shaking him from his perch and then he would be falling and falling. He hadn't fallen in real life but that wouldn't prevent him from waking up screaming, nor would it allow him to go back to sleep. At least, not without Bruce's help.

He was grateful that Bruce had been so understanding. Dick figured that had been because Bruce had his own nightmares from that mission to contend with. The man never complained about it, though, and, after the first night it had happened, Bruce saved time by simply sliding into bed with him and holding him.

Although the dreams no longer came nightly, he preferred to pretend that he didn't remember the climb or the avalanche during the daylight hours. Maybe it would have been so bad if he could remember making it to the top and reaching the cabin but his last real memory was the world collapsing all around him.

"You don't remember the avalanche?" Artemis asked him.

Robin shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it. He was a little afraid that doing so would bring the nightmares back. Batman almost didn't approve of the trip because of it but Robin had convinced him that facing the mountain again would be cathartic. And he almost believed it himself. The truth was that Robin wanted to see Ramón and Cecil again and prove to the mountain and himself that it hadn't beaten him.

He had survived.

"So, what started it," Conner asked. "If Robin can't remember, does anyone know?"

Roy snorted. "That would be Rob," he chuckled. "He set it off with one of his exploding batarangs. Artie and I heard the explosion from the river."

Robin shrugged, ready to change the subject. "I'll have to take your word on that."

"You do just that," Roy told him. "Crazy kid."

He must have been crazy . . . What had he been thinking? He only remembered the explosion clearly, however, not the actions he had taken to have caused it.

"We're here," M'gann announced as the Bioship settled in the clearing just beyond the cabin's front porch.

Robin, Conner, and Artemis were already out of their seats before M'gann could open the hatch. Roy followed at a more leisurely pace but was right behind them. The rest of the team brought up the rear. They understood that their teammates, instead of dreading the return to a place they nearly died, had bonded with the wilderness and, in particular, with the wildlife biologist who had gone out of his way to save them.


The cabin door swung open and Ramón stomped out onto his front porch.

"Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit," he boomed cheerfully. "The young'uns have come to see us, Cecil. And here I thought you might have forgotten me."

Robin reached the biologist first and nearly disappeared as he was engulfed in the giant of a man in a bearhug. Ramón didn't even bother releasing Robin when he pulled Conner into his embrace, too.

"Boys, welcome back," Ramón grinned. He let them go and caught Artemis up next, swinging her around. "Well, missy, I hope you've been keeping these rapscallions in line."

"It is definitely a chore, Dr. Dupree," Artemis smiled. "They keep me on my toes."

"It's Ramón, missy," he corrected. "I hope you haven't forgotten already."

"Right, Ramón. Of course, I didn't," she assured him. If the others were surprised that she didn't correct their host about her own name, they didn't mention it.

Ramón turned to greet Roy. Of the four, he had had the least amount of time to get to know this one, but he sobered when remembering how close the young archer came to dying when they found him. It had been obvious that the redhead considered himself a kind of shepherd of the flock, but young man's easiness with the young'uns bespoke of a mutual respect between them.


As the two shook hands, Roy smiled at the crusty woodsman. For all that he met Ramón for twenty minutes that last day here, the man had saved two of his teammates' lives and had looked after Artemis when Roy had left to find Robin. He owed him . . . Maybe even liked him a bit. Ramón had been amusing when he had visited them on the Watchtower. For whatever reason, Roy had jumped at the chance to tag along when the team told him of this impending visit.


"So, you hiked to the cabin wearing these?" Wally stood on the porch staring at the snowshoes hanging on the wall. "They look a little big."

Robin grinned. "They ought to. They belong to Ramón."

"How the heck did you walk in them?" Wally lifted one of the snowshoes from the peg. He balanced himself with a hand on the wall as he measured the snowshoe with his foot.

"It wasn't easy. I basically had to walk like this," Robin told him while demonstrated his wide-legged walk. "I hadn't made it a mile before muscles I didn't know I had begun aching."

"And yet you didn't turn back . . ." Wally shook his head. "I don't know whether to congratulate you or smack you in the back of your fool head."

Robin sobered a bit. "Conner was dying, Walls."

Wally knew this. He knew the whole story having heard a version of it from everyone involved but of the four of them, strangely, it was Robin who had been the least forthcoming about his experiences. A good portion of it, the speedster realized, he couldn't remember because of injuries or illness but whenever Wally brought it up or asked a question, it was like Dick would pull away from him.

"How was nearly killing yourself supposed to save him?"

Sure enough, Robin shut down and turned away. He stood on the edge of the porch and looked out over the field. You couldn't quite see down into the valley from here. The cliff was too far away from where the cabin sat and the surrounding trees masked all but the granite peaks of the opposing mountains. But for all of that, the view of the snow-topped, craggy peaks and early Spring crocuses were breathtaking.

"Why won't you talk about it?" Wally asked. "It might make you feel better."

"I told you everything I can remember," Robin said.

Wally snorted. "You might be able to get the others to believe that lie but I know you."

Robin shook his head. "Not yet. Please, Wally . . . Not yet."

The speedster sighed. "I can't believe you wanted to come back here. What's more, I can't believe you managed to talk the Bat into letting you."

The younger boy shrugged his shoulders. "I can't explain it, Walls. I just . . . I needed to come back here and face it one more time."

"No, you didn't," Wally disagreed. "If you never stepped foot back here again, you'd have been just fine."

Robin glanced at his friend. "I told you, you wouldn't understand."

Wally watched as Robin stepped off the front porch and walked away.


REACTIONS?

Tell me what you think? If you read the published epilogue from the story already, do you agree with my choice to write another version?

Although . . . I might just write one of the nightmares Robin was bound to have suffered after this mission and add it to "Collection 1: The Stuff of Nightmares". Hmm . . .