*I don't own Young Justice, but I might own the inside of Robin's head, maybe?*

Thoughts

"Talking"

It's been awhile, Crocodile ~

Chapter 3 – Come One, Come All

Black. Everything was black. The five heroes stand up and see nothing around them, but each other and the darkness.

"What happened?" Wally asked as he stood up.

Wally offered a hand to Artemis to help her up "Yeah, where are we?" Artemis adds. Then a bright florescent light flicks on overhead and the world comes into view. They were in a jail cell.

One of the large ones that are designed to hold multiple people while they wait to be bailed out. It was a concrete box, with steel benches on each of three of the walls. The last wall was large steel bars that went from ceiling to floor, but there was one thing missing from the room… an exit.

"Prison" Connor growled. He stalked over to the bars and pulled. Nothing happened they didn't even budge. Connor began to pull with all of his strength yelling as he did, still nothing.

All the while M'gann was staring at the cell turning in circle eyes wide in shock. "We can't leave… I can't leave Robin's mind! The connection, it won't break!" M'gann said she was now in full panic mode.

All eyes snapped to M'gann.

"W-What? What did you just say?!" Artemis shouted back.

"B-but how? I mean- you can't just get accidently stuck inside someone else's head!" Wally hollered.

"While I was trying to find the proper memory, something grabbed my mind and yanked me into to his mind. And because we were linked at the time, all of you guys got dragged in too. I-I'm so sorry… I just don't know what to do…" M'gann said as she lowered her head to her hands. Connor moved over to M'gann and held her.

"Stop yelling. It's not her fault!" Connor said, defending his girlfriend.

"Nah, Miss M it's not your fault it's mine." Wally said as he looked down clenching his fists "I pushed you into this, if I hadn't, then-" Wally suddenly stopped mid-sentence and looked at his hands in horror. They weren't shaking, when Wally got up set his hands would vibrate, but they weren't. "I-I can't use my powers. I can't use my powers!" he shouted as his eyes roamed around the cell as if something in the cell might be able to tell him why.

Artemis interrupted their panic and said "I don't care whose fault it is, all I care about is figuring out how to get out of bird boy's brain. Powers or not, we are still heroes and nothing is going to stop us." As she spoke, she turned to look each one of them in the eye. Then Zatanna's head whipped around and she looked out of the cell and into the hall. "Zatanna, what is it?" Artemis asked. The walls in the hall were also made of concrete, but floor had a white and blue checkered tile.

"I thought I saw something moving down there, but it's too dark to tell." She said not looking away. Artemis was about to speak again when they heard a child's giggle.

The others turned to the look at the hall. A child's voice could be heard as it mumbled something. Then they heard a *clop* almost as if someone was jumping down the hallway. The team froze. They just stared at the hall waiting for something to move.

*clop* "…atentă am aproape a cazut…"[ …be careful you almost fell… ]

What on earth could that be… Artemis thought as she moved into a fighting stance.

*Clop* "Hehehehe… amintiți-vă de dale albe sunt lava…"[ Hehehehe ... remember the white tiles are lava ... ]

Why can't I see anything? This thing should be in sight by now… Zatanna thought anxiously as she continued to stare down the right side of the hall.

*Clop* "Arahidă, trebuie să fie mai atenți…"[ Peanut, you should be more careful ... ]

Wait, did that just say- I smell Blackmail~ Wally thought and he relaxed his stance.

*CLOP* and a small child around the age of seven jumped into view from the left side of the hall. The boy had a mess of black hair and was wearing white leotard with a golden bird insignia on the front. He was holding a stuffed animal of some kind. The others tensed, uncertainty filled their every thought.

*CLOP* The boy hadn't even noticed them. He was staring intently at the floor as he hopped from one blue tile to the next one.

*CLOP* The child was standing in the center of the hall completely focused on his task. He was about to jump again , but he paused. Suddenly he turned to stare into the cell, his startlingly blue eyes were wide with shock.

And then as if he suddenly recognized them, he smiled from ear to ear in absolute joy, the way only children can. He the squealed in high pitched delight and rushed forward. "Tu ești aici! Nu pot să cred că e voi! Am cunoscut pe cineva a fost capturat, dar este într-adevăr echipa mea! Artemis și Wally și Connor și M'gann și Zatanna!"[ You're here! I cannot believe it's you! I knew someone was caught, but it was really my team! Artemis and Wally and Connor and M'gann and Zatanna! ] as the child said each of their names he pointed to them "Așteaptă aici, trebuie să-i spun cuiva!"[ Wait here, I have to go tell someone! ] Once he finished shouting his little speech he turned and ran back the way he came, giggling the whole way.

"Well, that's new…" Wally said in a highly amused tone. It wasn't every day you got to see a seven-year-old Dick Grayson. The rest of the team looked back at Wally.

"Did you understand what that kid was saying?" Artemis asked in shock.

"What, no way!" Wally said with a dismissive gesture "That was total gibberish; the only thing I recognized was our names."

M'gann snapped her fingers as she remembered where she had heard that language before "That's the same language that Batman and Robin had been using during the incident!"

"So, what does this mean?" Zatanna asked.

"I'll tell you what it means-" Wally started but Artemis suddenly clapped a hand over Wally's mouth. She held a figure up to her lips, shushing the others. Then they heard it, two voices talking.

"…Haide! Ești atât de lennnttttt." [ ... Come on! You're so slooowwww. ]the child whined.

"Quit whining and stop babbling in that weird language, just speak English." the other voice said. The team however, recognized this voice. It was Robin.

Zatanna jumped towards the bars and shouted "Robin! Come let us out!" The footsteps picked up speed as the two people came running from the left.

But it hadn't been Robin… It was Robin's costume…Without anyone in it… the domino mask seemed to just float in the air.

Zatanna stumbled back, in surprise. The Robin costume whistled at the sight of them "Wow, you weren't kidding about them…"

"Seeee I told you, you needed to go faster…" the child said as he crossed his arms, a stuffed elephant in his grasp.

"Whatever. Look, I need you to go and tell Guard we can't leave them in the cell… well, that we can't leave Zee in the cell." As he said Zatanna's nickname, the mask moved in a fashion that clearly indicated he was giving her the once-over "Do you think you can do that Before?" the costume said to the child.

"Yes of course I can. Before and Așteaptă are on the case!" the kid shouted with glee as he continued to the right and out of sight.

"Wha-what is going on here!?" Artemis shouted.

"Temper, temper." The costume said as he shook a gloved finger at her, "If you aren't nice I might not let you out." it said with a cocky attitude.

"Who are you and why do you want to let me out?" Zatanna questioned.

"I, am Robin." It said with a mock bow "And my day can only be Asterous, if you share it with me" it said still just as cocky. "Discaged, of course."

"You aren't Robin, you're just his costume." Connor said bluntly.

The costume shook his imaginary head "Only in the physical world is that true, but here inside his head we take the form he gives us."

"Robin, cease confusing our guests. It's exceptionally rude." another voice said from down the hallway.

The costume turned to the right and his whole body slumped "Ugh, not you…"

"Yes, me." The voice replied and suddenly another not-person walked into view. This one was wearing a high end black suit. His black shoes shined and matched his thin black tie. His blue shirt looked like it was silk and matched his blue handkerchief. The suit was also wearing a mask. This one resembled a theatre mask of comedy; it was very plain and ordinary unlike the rest of him.

"Oh, god not another one" Wally groaned as he scrubbed his hands over his face.

The suit bowed his head in acknowledgement "My apologies, for the discomfort of a cell and for the rude behavior of Robin, but there are six Personas and Influences in all, plus him."

"Greeaaatttt" Artemis said sarcasm dripped from her voice.

Zatanna rolled her eyes at Artemis and then asked "What is your name?"

"You may call me Richard, Miss Zatanna" Richard purred his voice as smooth as silk.

The others were about to ask questions when Robin interrupted them and asked Richard "Why are you here?"

"Before informed me of our unusual guests while he ran off to find Guard" Richard replied.

"Brat, just had to go and run his mouth…" Robin grumbled to himself as he crossed his arms.

"I take it, you did not want me to come and steal Miss Zatanna from you" Richard said, a challenge in his voice.

"In your dreams, Pretty boy." Robin snorted.

"Me? Steal me away?" Zatanna said clearly vexed "I am no one's thing, and I don't get stolen by anyone."

"No, but you do like being Kidnapped." both Robin and Richard said at the same time. Neither seemed fazed by the fact that they said the same thing at the same time, however Zatanna flushed.

Then out of nowhere the child from before dropped down from the rafters and shouted "Știam că voi doi ar putea conveni asupra lucrurilor!"[ I knew you two could agree on stuff! ]

Robin shook his head "We have been through this. Speak English, not Gibberish!"

Then Richard bent down to the child and said "Please."

The kid sighed and said "I said that I knew you two could agree on stuff, but no one ever listens." Then as an afterthought he turned to Robin and stuck his tongue out "Romani isn't gibberish, and you're just jealous 'cause Masks can't understand it."

"Romani?" M'gann questioned at the exact same time Wally asked "Masks?"

The little boy turned to look at the heroes, just as happy as before "These two are Masks that he wears. And Romani is my native language."

"I still don't understand, what do you mean wears?" Wally asked.

Robin snorted "Figures." only to get a look from Richard who replied "We are Personas that he uses when he is being Robin or when he is being Richard. We are the masks he wears to face the world, whether that world is the Gotham streets and thugs or the pompous and arrogant members of the upper class."

"But this Robin is nothing like the one we know" M'gann said.

The young boy jumped around "I know, I know why!" Richard put a hand on Before's head as a signal to answer "That's 'cause they aren't being filtered through his real personality." When Before finished he looked up at Richard to see if he was right.

"That is exactly right, well done Before" Richard replied.

"Wait, is your name 'Before'?" Artemis questioned.

The boy looked back to her nodding vigorously "And this is Așteaptă." Before exclaimed as held up his stuffed elephant "She's my partner, we do everything together!" Now that they could get a good look at the toy, it was very obvious that Before loved this elephant, a lot. One of the eyes had been replaced with a black button and the stuffed animal had been patched a few times with strips of some type of blue canvas.

"Before isn't a name so why are you called that?" Connor grunted.

"Because silly, I'm not After." Before giggled.

"Wait, so there is another one of you named After?" Wally asked.

"Yes, indeed. They represent the personality difference that occurred. The Before and the After." Richard explained. "For most people, your personality slowly changes over time as you learn new things and gain different experiences. However if you go through…a life-altering event, your personality might split into the type of person you were to the type of person you are now. With Before and After they both have continued to gain experiences and learn new things however they interpret that information differently due to the trauma of the life-altering event."

"Both After and I are Influences. We help him decide things; because of our independent views of the world we can each make calls that suit certain situations better." Before said in a very serious tone as he stared at Wally.

Wally in turn bowed his head at the information he had learned. Wally walked over to one of the benches and just sat, not saying anything to the team or to the three outside of the cell.

"…Wally, it's okay…" Before said and Wally lifted his head to look into the familiar blue eyes "You don't have to know all of the gritty details to be my best friend…"

Wally snickered. "At least now I know who actually comes up with the touchy feely lines…" Wally said as he shook his head slightly.

"And the pranks, I remember the time that I duct taped you to the ceiling a-and you t-thought you h-had b-been ab-bducted by Aliens!" Before managed to say between giggles. Everyone snickered at Wally's expense.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up. I still managed to dye your school shirt pink" Wally said with victory.

This time Richard responded "And I look damn good in pink. The best part was that it was in October, everyone thought I was trying to make a bold statement to support Breast Cancer Awareness. The school board changed everyone's uniform shirt to pink for the rest of October in support. I have been meaning to thank you ever since."

"Dude, I can't even prank you right." Wally groaned as he leaned back against the wall.

Robin spoke up "I'm just Loving this group bonding session, but, Before, didn't I send you to go and get Guard?"

"I did, he said he had other things to do before he came to deal with you." Before said with a serves-you-right attitude.

"What 'other stuff'?" Robin asked.

"He was saying something about a sleep spell and that he had to go help him get rid of it." Robin replied and Zatanna winced.

"Sorry about that… It was a reflex spell." Zatanna said to her shoes.

Robin leaned against the bars and said "Don't worry Zee, it's almost impossible to stay mad at you…"

"…Especially when you smile. You just light up the room, so please, look up for me and smile." Richard finished.

Zatanna looked up as a nice flush spread across her cheeks. "I-I don't know what to say to that… our Robin doesn't ever act like this…"

"Much to our displeasure, I mean you look so adorable when you flush like that." Richard said.

So that's the end of this chapter. First, I'm so sorry about the late update; I just got back from Europe yesterday, so I just didn't have a chance to post this chapter. Second, the underlined "he" and "him" s are not stressed in any way it's just to help show you guys a significance in the pronouns and that they aren't referring to someone in the room. Feel free to ask questions if you don't understand something. Thanks for the Favorites, Follows, and Reviews they help keep me going.

Until next time ~