This is the second part of "Image". There will be a third part. I had been hoping to wrap up the episode here, but I really wanted to update.
-Quick side note: If you have any questions about how canon fits into this story, check out down below. I will try to explain most questions, but if you are still confused just ask! If I do not reply, that just means I'm toying with the idea of using that later in the story and saying anything will spoil it.
Two shout-outs before we get started: KaliAnn and ForeverA90'sKid. Thanks for your wonderful reviews! Also: You guys both made a comment about either me leaning towards canon a little too much or what would to poor Robin's psychological happen if I went full canon here (both of which are true and I am not offended in any way).
Disclaimer: (I've been forgetting to do this...shoot...) I own nothing!
However, I had also realized that both of those were true earlier. This chapter is for you two.
I hope you enjoy!
"Hey! Get it off!" Kid Flash yelled as a small monkey jumped on his shoulder, climbed around on him for a moment, before leaping onto Garfield's shoulder. Except now, the monkey was clutching a prize: Kid Flash's protein bar.
Garfield laughed a painfully familiar laugh, "It's okay." He told them, "Meet Monkey." Monkey took a bite of the protein bar, causing Kid Flash to glare at him.
"Good name," Says the guy who named a wolf "Wolf", "but I hate monkeys." Superboy told him disapprovingly.
Monkey, sensing the insult, tossed the protein bar which hit the Boy of Steel in the forehead. Superboy glared and growled at the monkey, which screeched back at him.
"Looks like Monkey hates Superboys." Kid Flash commented, a smirk on his face, "But Dude - just be glad he only threw a protein bar."
"Hmph." Superboy simply crossed his arms and looked away in response. Garfield took that as a sign that the conversation was over and he continued to lead them into the house.
He glanced around the living room, and sat down on a chair closer to the door and farther away from Garfield. Kid Flash set next to him, while Superboy just stood in the middle of the room, facing the boy at the front.
"So," Garfield started conversationally, "pretty weird about Miss Martian and my mom, huh?"
"What do you mean?" Superboy asked, slightly confused. He noted how the clone immediately stopped pouting and perked up at the mention of the martian girl. Could he be anymore obvious?
"I mean she looks exactly like Marie." He pointed out, and he inwardly nodded, slightly surprised Garfield had noticed it before Kid Flash or Superboy. He always was observant. He thought, a small pain shooting through him. "You know, except greener."
"She does?" Kid Flash asked, his face lighting up in realization.
"Well duh, especially back when mom was a TV star on Hello, Megan!"
And the mystery continues.
"Wait, "Hello Megan" is a TV show?" Kid Flash asked.
"I just thought it was something she said all the time." He remarked, the words coming out of his mouth of their own accord. With Garfield there, a reminder of a life that was never lived, he found it easier to open up, as if he was back in the simulation.
Maybe this won't be such a bad mission after all.
...I probably just jinxed it.
"Yeah, on the TV show. Way before we were born. Only one season. You can't even find it online." Garfield informed him, saying that last fact with disbelief. The boy turned and began having a staring contest with the cabinet underneath the television. "I know mom has a tape somewhere." he mused quietly.
As the boy began digging through the old tapes, dust flying upward. He heard Kid Flash mutter to Superboy about something, but he ignored it. Instead, he watched his old (would it be old, if it never actually happened?) teammate deep in thought.
Didn't Beast Boy get his powers when he got sick of some deadly animal disease? And his mom injected him with animal DNA because the cure was fatal to humans, thus giving him his powers.*
And here he is on an animal sanctuary…
"Hello, Megan!: The Pilot Episode." He heard Garfield read triumphantly, and he looked up to see Garfield blowing the thick layer of dust off of the tape before inserting it into the VHS player.
"Woah," Kid Flash looked at the piece of equipment, "You still have VHS. Where's your 8-Track?" He remarked jokingly.
Just as the copyright information began to play, Superboy turned suddenly. "Wait. Aircraft; headed this way."
Superboy ran towards the door, with Kid Flash behind him.
He stood, "Gar, stay put." He ordered, flinching inwardly when he used the boy's old nickname before moving to follow his teammates. He paused in the doorway, a thought occurring to him as he looked back at the eight year old.
Beast Boy never followed orders in the beginning.
He cursed underneath his breath as he rushed towards the younger boy just as he exclaimed, "The animals! We have to get them out."
"I'll do that." He assured the boy, knowing that if he didn't, the eight year old would. "Where are the animals?"
"Follow me." Garfield began running towards the back door, but he caught the boy's shoulder and gently turned him back around so they were facing each other once more.
"Tell me where." He expanded on his previous statement.
"The barn." Gunfire sounded from outside. He cursed inwardly once more.
"Okay." He said, thinking quickly before unclasping his cape, "If you stay here, you can keep this." He told Garfield, whose face lit up as he handed the cape over.
"I'll stay! Promise!" The boy nodded eagerly and he smirked slightly on the inside.
Bribery. Always works. He mused as he turned and opened the door.
He ran towards the barn, managing to open up the door to let all the animals run out without being shot.
Easy.
He began to run back towards the house.
That was when the barn exploded.
It was thankful that he was a fast runner, being the protégé of Batman (he would never get used to the sound of that. Batman was dead), so he managed to get a safe enough distance away that the actual blast only knocked the breath out of him. He hissed as a shard of wood embedded itself in his leg, and another in his back.
Taking a deep breath and blocking out the sounds of explosions, gunfire, and yelling, he concentrated on turning from his position in the dirt and examining the wound. The simple action made him let out another hiss of pain but he managed to accomplish the task.
The debris was lodged in his thigh, and he couldn't just take it without it splintering and causing more damage. Blood was beginning to leak out. He couldn't tell anything about the other wound, but he guessed that it was about the same.
He could feel that there were small pinpricks down the back of his arms and back, but they would just be small splinters - nothing to worry about yet.
He - carefully, so not to further aggravate his wounds - began to move back so that he was lying on his stomach. This way he would minimize blood loss because gravity would be working with him.
Plus, he doubted he would be able to get up.
Lying there in the ruins of the barn, a thought came to him.
Garfield.
The boy would have been caught in the explosion. He wasn't as fast, as focused as he was. He would have hesitated after releasing the animals, if he had even made it that far before the gas tank was hit.
I just almost condemned an eight year old boy to death.
I just almost killed another teammate.
But you didn't, a part of him whispered. You didn't make the same mistakes.
You didn't fail. Not this time. Not when it counted in real life.
"Robin!" In a blur of yellow, Kid Flash was beside him. "Dude - are - you - okay - we - saw - the - explosion - and - oh - my - God - are - you - okay?" Was asked so fast that he could barely make out what the speedster saying. "You're - bleeding!"
"I didn't know that." he mumbled sarcastically, a headache that wasn't there before began throbbing, making it hard to think clearly. "Gar-field?" he asked, stumbling slightly over the name.
"He's fine dude. We found him sitting in the room clutching your cape. What was that about?"
Kid Flash asked as he carefully picked him up. He knew he was trying to keep him talking - keep him awake.
"Bribery. Eight year olds...don't do...orders." He muttered sleepily. The wound on his back must have been worse than it seemed.
He never remembered closing his eyes.
He slowly became aware, but didn't open his eyes. He heard footsteps, voices - where was he? What had happened?
He did a mental check over his body and his memory came back in bits and pieces. when his shoulder began throbbing mercilessly.
Dent. Warehouse. Goon. Gun. Shoulder.
Ouch.
"Oh God."
"When will he wake up?" He heard Damian ask, his voice unusually quiet and timid.
"Don't worry Damian." He could hear Stephanie soothe the boy. Another unusual thing - Stephanie and Damian getting along. Well, Damian getting along with anyone besides him and Barbara. "He's strong. Before you know it, he'll be up and mother-henning us. Like always."
"You did not answer the question," Damian didn't snap, instead his voice had worry in it.
He heard a familiar sigh - Tim. Wait no. Tim was in Jump. Why would he be in Gotham? Had something else happen? Had Jason or Barbara been hurt? Or one of the Team or League? "That's cause she doesn't know, Damian."
"None of us do." Jason. Jason was also there. Why?
Before he could crack open his eyes and demand what crisis or imminent threat they were up against this time, he heard someone shift in a seat right next to him. "He's waking up." Barbara said softly, smothering what Damian might have said next. There was a tense silence in the room and he hesitantly opened his eyes.
"Robin?" A strange, yet familiar voice called, and he ignored it.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Barbara said softly, a smile on her face and a hint of tears in her eyes. What had happened while he had been out?
"Dick!" Tim yelled, and in an instant Tim, Jason, Stephanie, and Damian were also crowding around him. They were all in civilian clothes, which made him more couldn't possibly all be here...for him?
He attempted to sit up, but Jason gently pushed him back down, careful not to touch his newly-bandaged stitches.
"Don't." The vigilante warned, "You might overexert yourself."
"Never stopped me before." He retorted, but didn't attempt to sit up again. He shifted carefully so he could see Barbara better. The question was silent, but Barbara could easily see it in his startlingly blue eyes.
"Thirty six hours." A day and a half. That was how long he had been out for.
He gave a nearly imperceptible nod, but they all - being highly trained in the art of perception - caught it. They also caught the flash of emotion that ran through his eyes briefly, but only Barbara and Jason were able to recognize the emotion, for they had known him the longest.
Realization.
He could faintly feel a small gasp and someone else saying...something. It sounded foreign to his ears. He mentally pushed it away; it didn't belong here.
"You guys came to Gotham from Jump and 'Haven…for me?" He asked disbelievingly. He was surely wrong. He was just being selfish. He couldn't possibly that important…
"Of course." Tim said, his tone suggesting that he was surprised that he was even thinking that they weren't there for him.
A warm feeling spread through him; they really came all this way for him? Jump City was all the way on the other side of the country, and he had barely held a conversation with Jason in what seemed like forever.
He gave a smile at his teammates, his friends, his family. "Thank you," he murmured, "for coming."
Jason gave him a grin, "Next time you want us to visit, just call."
He could feel himself waking up. He knew it was just a dream, just a memory of the way things used to be.
That didn't stop him from clinging tightly to it, trying to grasp that picture of the five of them standing over him.
No...don't leave me Jason. Don't go Tim! Steph! Please come back Damian!
They all slowly faded, until he was left looking at the red-haired girl beside him, who was smirking.
That was, until she was consumed by consciousness too.
No! Barbara! I love you! Babs! Barbara!
Barbara?
*This is how Beast Boy got his powers in the comic books, which is probably would have happened in the simulation since M'gann wasn't there to give him his powers. He got this disease (Sakutia, I believe), which is deadly to every species except the West African green monkey (for...reasons). To save him, his dad used an untested serum (because it's always smart to give your children untested medicine in a comic book) to change him into a West Africa green monkey for a day so that the virus could die (don't even ask how that works. I don't know). The serum had the side effect of turning his skin and hair green, and granting him the ability to change into any animal of his choice (because...reasons).
Jason Todd: Jason did not die. The Joker was killed in the Invasion (I think I mentioned that, but I might've accidentally edited it out. Oops!). He is a founding member of the post-Invasion Team. When Jason became old enough to retire the title of Robin and take up his own mantle, he became Redbird (which was Damian's title in the comics, but oh well). The Redbird costume is basically the same, with a few changes here or there to make them more Jason. He watches over Blüdhaven (my reasons being that someone needed to and it couldn't be Dick because Dick was too busy with Gotham). As Redbird, he is unofficially part of the post-Invasion Justice League. He didn't officially join because he prefers to work alone or with other members of the Batfamily, but will still help out if he is needed.
Barbara Gordon: Barbara took up the title of Batgirl after the Invasion so she could help out Gotham. She believed that both Batman and Robin were dead, as well as her best friend, Dick Grayson (who was Robin and alive, but she didn't know that yet) so she became Batgirl (don't ask where she got the costume from on such short notice). Later, she was informed that Robin was alive and allowed to visit him in recovery, thus finding out his identity. She works with him in Gotham. When her father died several years after the Invasion, she moved into Wayne Manor to live with Dick and Alfred (who, sadly, passed away a few years later, before Jason came to become Robin). She eventually became Oracle, a less fieldwork and more behind-the-scenes hero. She had a relationship with Dick for several years, before Dick proposed and the pair married (Jason was the best man). She was not paralyzed, because the Joker is dead.
Roy Harper: Canon, besides that fact that he was not a clone. He still marries Jade Nguyen (sp?) and has Lian.
Timothy Drake: Tim's father died, making him an orphan (his mother had died a few years previously). He was a neighbor of Dick and Bruce so Dick adopted him after he revealed that he had discovered that he and Bruce had been Batman and Robin years back (cause he is very, very observant). He becomes Robin after Jason becomes Redbird. When he retires the mantle of Robin, he becomes Red Robin (from the comics) and goes to Jump City (which was home of the Teen Titans in the comics. They do not exist in this fic, and are replaced by the Team).
Stephanie Brown: Formerly Spoiler and currently Batgirl. Her father is Cluemaster, a Gotham villain (not a huge one, like Riddler or Dent, but still a villain). She became Spoiler so she could take her father down, and teamed up with Barbara who had been searching for him to do so. The pair succeeded, and Barbara was impressed with her abilities (which is a feat in its own) and took her under her wing (pun totally intended) as her protégé when she became Oracle. Eventually, she was introduced to Dick (as we have seen in a flashback), Jason, and Tim (who was currently Robin) and became Barbara's ward (because her father was still alive, her mother was killed in the Invasion). She never became Robin. At one point, her father joined the Suicide Squad (a group of villains who were threatened by the government to go on government missions, to briefly explain) and was murdered. Stephanie was saddened by this event, but Dick and Barbara (who were a couple at this point) helped her through it and later adopted her. She never faked her death.
Damian Wayne: Biological son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul. Bruce never knew about him. I'm not going to go into too many details about the events surrounding his birth, but just know that it's basically the same as canon (which is why I'm not going into detail...if you know about him, you understand). However, after his birth (which was about six months after the invasion) Talia put him into this stasis under her father 's (Ra's Al Ghul) orders, where he would remain as a child until the opportune moment so Ra's could turn him into a weapon to destroy the Batfamily (because Ra's is a manipulative [insert word(s) here]). He would be eventually removed from stasis and trained as an assassin, but Talia disapproved and brought the boy to Dick when he was eight so Damian could have a "proper" life (because normal eight year olds wear spandex and run around one of the most crime-infested cities sharing the name with a bird under the guidance of someone else who used to run around in spandex with a bird name. I know that's what I was doing at that age). Damian became Robin after Tim and is "currently" Robin.
Whew, I think I covered everything there. Sorry it's so long (it's like, half the length of the actual chapter) yet still not really detailed. I hope that clears up any confusion.