Disclaimer: I do not own either Young Justice or its related characters. Such are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.

Yearning

Chapter One: Fourteen

The first time Superboy met the new Robin he had not exactly been in the best of sorts to begin with.

His break-up with M'gann was still fresh and the fact that she had already moved on with another man just confirmed a suspicion that she never really loved him to begin with. It hurt. So, he spent a great deal of time in seclusion, away from the rest of the Team in private training sessions, the gym door locked from the inside. Or out and away from the Cave completely. At the farm doing chores for Ma and Pa or in Metropolis bothering Clark and Lois and just generally making a nuisance of himself (as Lois informed him was every younger brother's right and privilege).

It was coming back from one of these jaunts away from the Cave that they met.

Nightwing did mention that he and Batman were thinking of integrating the newest of the Robins into the Team. But the bats had their reservations about the idea after what happened to the last Robin. Poor kid. Nobody deserved the fate he got. Slowly beaten to death with a crowbar while your tormentor laughed on in hysterics. Conner had been one of the first on the scene, along with Batgirl and Wally (that had been before he lost his stomach for the job, maybe that was why he lost his stomach for the job). It was not a pretty sight. So, the Superboy completely understood their hesitation in introducing the third Robin to the Team.

He hadn't realized they'd finally made a decision.

The gold light of the zetta-transporter faded from around him, leaving a faint tingling feeling on his skin that slowly dissipated as he stepped out of the tube. And right there. Standing directly in front of him. With Gar, La'gaan, M'gann and Mal crowding. Was the new Robin.

He couldn't have been much younger than thirteen, but Robins were always small for their age, he was more likely fourteen or fifteen. Dark haired, like they all were. He wore a similar red and black costume to his two predecessors but with longer sleeves tucked carefully into his gloves. Hair combed back and out of his face gave him an almost strict 'no nonsense' look that didn't seem to fit on a Robin. Nightwing had always been a bit of an impish little troll when he was Robin and the other one... Conner didn't want to use the word 'punk' because Ma taught him that it was wrong to speak ill of the dead. But the kid certainly had not been a 'no nonsense' kind of guy. It was clear, just by looking at him, that this Robin would be different.

Then the boy turned to look at him and Conner's whole world did a funny little... tilt.

His senses were filled with by the young Boy Wonder. The scent of his shampoo and deodorant filled his nostrils, mingled with the cents of kevlar and leather from his uniform, flash powered and magnesium from his belt, and a natural body odor of fresh perspiration and spice.

For a moment he wondered if this was what vertigo felt like for normal people. It was like the bottom had suddenly fallen out of his stomach and the only thing keeping him from falling after it was the critical stare of the new Robin. He couldn't see the boy's eyes through the whited-out slits of his domino mask, but Conner knew that their gazes were locked and for one brief moment he imagined something significant passed between them.

It was completely ridiculous, of course.

Significant sparks between complete strangers upon first meetings didn't actually happen outside of the movies. And chick book. And porn. But not in the real world. He was just imagining things. He was probably over-tired. Trying to avoid M'gann and La'gaan's cooing and mooning seemed like a full-time job and was both emotionally and mentally draining. That was it. He was just mentally drained and imagining things.

Then, Robin spoke. "You must be Superboy."

That voice. That adolescent voice with just the slightest of cracks to it, hinting at the voice he would have when he reached manhood... It was one of the most pleasant things Conner had ever heard. (And considering just how sensitive his hearing really was, he had heard a great deal with which to compare it to.) For a second time within the space of three minuets, the Superboy found himself off balance. So much so that he barely managed to croak out a response.

"Tha- ahm. That's what the computer says."

Robin smiled in what almost looked like approval. Thin pink lips parting to reveal very strait and well brushed white teeth. "That's very true. You're a lot cleverer than Nightwing lead me to believe."

Conner found himself fighting the urge to blush. It was nice being complemented. And he got complements so rarely too. Add that to the fact that it was coming from a bat, the bats dealt them out so rarely and almost never on intelligence. (God forbid anyone ever be smarter than a member of the bat-clan.) And, sure, he didn't really get what he said that merited said complement. But that didn't matter. Not one bit.

The Superboy instantly decided that he liked this Robin very much.

"Maybe we can train together some time." The little bird suggested. "I need more practice fighting an opponent stronger than me anyway."

"Uh, sure." Conner found the words of agreement poring out of his mouth before his brain had even consciously thought of them. "Whenever you want."

...

It was during training with the new Robin that Conner realized something was up.

It wasn't the fact that Robin was more skilled than he originally let on and that he could use the demi-kryptonian's own body-weight against him as easily as Canary had back when he was still a completely green rookie who didn't know anything. Or the fact that he was light on his feet and fast like a freak (or, at least, as fast as a person could be without being a meta). Or just the general fact that Robin didn't actually need practice fighting stronger opponents. No. The thing that made Conner realize something was different about training with Robin was that it felt to goddamn much like foreplay!

He told himself it was just his imagination. Because he seemed to have become hyper-aware of this Robin. He'd never been so aware of any of his other Teammates before -not even M'gann. So, of course, he would pick up on the quickened heartbeat and breathing, smell the fresh sweat that mingled with that tantalizing natural odor of spice. These were all normal things that happened to humans when they exerted themselves physically. Conner was just getting excited over nothing.

But, at the same time, he had dated M'gann for four years. Conner liked to think that he knew a lot about foreplay. And what came after it. And this... this had that same kind of playful and suggestive feel to it.

It was in that lazy, cocky, almost teasing smile the Boy Wonder flashed whenever he used the demi-kryptonian's own body weight and momentum to throw him. Or how he would calmly and softly whisper, "Do you submit?" when he pinned the Superboy to the training room floor.

"Have you got kryptonite?"

"Not on me."

"Then no." And the Superboy threw the little Robin off himself and then they were grappling again and it was the most fun Conner had had in a very long time. At their first meeting he decided he liked the new Robin, now the demi-kryptonian was growing to like him even more, and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about that...

On the one hand, he did just get out of a rather long relationship. But his ex had already moved on, so it should be alright if he did, right? But then, they were both guys and... and, well, he lived in Kansas. Nuff said. But then, it wasn't really anyone else's business, now was it? But, the biggest argument against him asking the little bird on a date wasn't his still relatively fresh break-up, or possible homophobia in a bible-thumping state like Kansas. No. It was his age. Robin was only fourteen, and Conner was... well, technically he was five. But he looked sixteen and was supposed to be twenty-one (according to his college transcripts). So, really his age was up in the air. But Robin was still fourteen and no matter how you sliced it that was just to young.

...

Was he jealous of the camaraderie that formed between Gamma Squad? Yes.

If they only ever interacted with one another on missions and during mandatory training, Conner would not have minded all that much. But since Blue Beetle, Lagoon Boy and his Robin were Teamed-up together so often, the three of them had also taken to practicing drills in their spare time. If it was any other Squad, with any other Robin, the Superboy probably wouldn't have cared. If he did have an opinion it would have been approval that they were so dedicated to the Team and the Mission.

But this Squad didn't have just any Robin, they had his Robin.

Conner would find himself pulling up holo-screens and patching into the security feeds to watch them train. His Robin was a thing of beauty in motion. Not nearly as graceful or acrobatic as Nightwing had been, but certainly far more polished than the late second Robin. His little bird...

"Oh, Kon, you're not spying on La'gaan again, are you?"

The Superboy nearly jumped out of his skin when Nightwing came up behind him. He closed the holo-screen reflexively before turning to face the Team leader. It wouldn't do for Nightwing -for his Robin's 'older brother'- to learn who he'd really been spying on. Robin was to young. Nightwing would disapprove. "I was just wondering what M'gann sees in that fish-stick."

But in all honesty, he had stopped caring about M'gann and La'gaan.

...

Showering after missions was hell.

Conner could not remember ever suffering through such a mingling of frustration and embarrassment. He turned the cold water all the way up and the hot water all the way off and tried to tune out the voices of the other guys and wished desperately that he wasn't so goddamn invulnerable that the cold shower might actually have some effect on him!

Two shower-heads down from him, Robin and Beast Boy were splashing each other, laughing and carrying on like it was the most natural thing in the world. Conner tried to ignore them. Kept his body turned to avoid seeing them -seeing Robin wearing nothing but that domino mask, soap suds, and a smile- and so they couldn't see his... frustration. Tried to shut them out of his ears, shut out the sound of his little bird's laughing reprimands to "Cut it out, Gar!"

Damn it! He wanted to hear that voice laughing and giggling because of him! Not because of the little changling. Conner could just imagine it. Not a splash fight, that ran the risk of his little bird slipping and injuring himself, and the Superboy did not want that. But another setting. Maybe in the privacy of a bedroom. With the little Robin pinned to the bed wearing nothing -not even his mask or sunglasses, nothing preventing Conner from seeing his face. And he would tickle him mercilessly. He had always enjoyed tickling M'gann. And Robin would giggle, and squeal, and moan, "Kon... stop..."

Damn it all to heck! This shower was not cold enough!

"Will you two quit horsing around!" He snapped at them in his frustration. "One of you is gonna slip and die and I am not cleaning it up!"

"Sorry, Conner."

"Sorry, Superboy."

Gar turned his shower-head off and shook himself rather like a dog, spraying water in every which direction. Before leaving the shower-room he glared at Conner for a moment and said, "Ya know, you've been kinda snappy ever since sis started seeing that other guy. If it bothers you that much, you should just get back together with her. I liked you better anyway."

Beast Boy left. Robin hung back.

"Its not really Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy that have you so bothered, is it?"

Damn smart little bird! Of course his Robin would be smart, all the bat-clan were smart. But his Robin seemed... more so. In the months since he joined the Team, Conner had learned that before he became Robin, he was able to figure out Batman and the first two Robins' secret identities just from newspaper articles and photographs. He was a brilliant little bastard! His Robin.

Did he already know Conner's secret? Did he see through the Superboy as easily as he had seen through the Batman?

"My romantic issues aren't anyone's business but my own."

And for some reason, even with that domino mask obscuring the upper half of his face, the little bird looked disappointed by that statement.

...

After a while, Conner began to realize that he could hear Robin's heartbeat no mater where either of them were on Earth.

The healthy rhythm would lull the Superboy to sleep at night, a regular thumping almost in time with his own, beating all the way from Gotham. The sound would greet him in the mornings, the first thing he heard when he woke-up. Before the clinking of cowbells in the barn as they stood in their stalls anxious to be milked. Before he heard the wind rustling over the rows of corn, already knee high. Before the sound of Ma frying bacon in the kitchen. There was the sound of Robin's heartbeat in another city almost four states away.

He became so accustomed to that heart, he could recognize the slightest change in its rhythm and know what his Robin was doing. The quickened pace of physical exertion meant he was either out on patrol or else training. The slightly agitated ba-bump of nerves or anxiety meant he was taking a test he hadn't studied for or else was working on a rather perplexing case for Batman. The slow, even pace of sleep told the Superboy when he was sleeping in after a late night out. And when that heartbeat suddenly spiked with the quick and eratic pace of panic, Conner knew his Robin was in trouble.

His Robin was not one easily given to panic and hysterics.

Before the Superboy was consciously aware of it he'd leapt from his bedroom window -still in his pajamas- and was leaping across the fields to the old shed on the edge of the Kent property that hid the zetta-tube. Conner was already in Gotham by the time his conscious mind finally caught up with the rest of him. Batman wasn't exactly keen on the idea of metas in his city. Clark he tolerated because they were friends. But that tolerance did not extend to Conner.

None of that mattered at the moment, however. Because his Robin was in trouble.

Following the sound of that panic-stricken pulse, and driven by visions of the late second Robin, the Superboy found himself landing on the roof of an abandoned warehouse by the Finger River docks in Low Town. Not a nice neighborhood. Why had Nightwing and Batman let the new Robin come here alone and without back-up? Or had there been back-up and they were already taken down?

The Superboy didn't take the time to think. He just acted.

Barefoot, wearing plaid PJ pants and an old Smallville Crows T-shirt, he found the roof-access door and pull it off its hinges. Making more noise than any self-respecting member of a 'covert ops' outfit should ever make. But he didn't care -or even notice- his Robin was in danger and that was all that mattered. The whole of his being was focused on that one fact and how he could help his little bird.

The villain was average height. Maybe a hair shorter than Nightwing, a bit younger too, if his voice was anything to go off of, and there was something familiar about that voice, but Conner didn't have the time to place it. Combat boots, black pants, leather jacket and a red mast that covered the whole o his head from chin to cranium. It was the only bit of color on him. His red head. His red... hood. That sounded about right, Red Hood.

He obviously already knew Conner was there. Even if he hadn't yet seen the Superboy, the racket he'd made when he ripped the roof-access door open could not have gone unnoticed.

"I expected better from you, Bruce." Robin's captor called to the warehouse. "Or are you already lousing your touch, old man?"

Bruce? Who in the world was 'Bruce'?

It didn't matter. Conner had never seen this guy before, he had no idea who he was or what his motivations were. There was no point in trying to decipher it crazy psycho-babel speeches. Who wanted to listen to insane psycho-babel anyway?

Superboy slunk behind a pile of empty boxes, stacked tall and wide. An almost perfect hiding place. He scanned the area for Robin and found his little bird tied to a chair, the whited-out eyes of his domino mask wide with concern, trying to take in and process every detail of the scene. Glancing all around him, searching for a rescue in the form of Batman, Nightwing, or Batgirl, but afraid to take his eyes off the red hooded villain.

"Probably the GCPD." Robin suggested. Presumably for no other reason than in an effort to distract his captor. He might be scared, but Superboy's Robin was not witless. "You and I both know that no Bat would ever make so much noise."

"Shut up!" Snapped the Red Hood, and he gave Robin a hard SMACK across the face that made Superboy wince in sympathy for his little bird. No one treated his Robin that way. Nightwing, fine. He was the Hostage Wonder, after all. Batgirl, she could take care of herself. Batman, nobody smacked Batman is he wanted to keep his hand. And nobody smack Superboy's Robin if they wanted to keep their arms in their sockets. "You don't get to talk! You're nothing but a replacement!-"

If he was going to say more, he didn't get a chance to, because that was the moment when Conner jumped out of his hiding place at the villain. If he was surprised, it didn't show in his movements. The Red Hood leaned right, took hold of the Superboy's extended arm, twisted his own body and used the demi-kryptonian's own momentum to propel the would-be rescuer over his head and away from him. A strain-line Judo toss. Almost identical to the move that Black Canary taught him -that Black Canary taught every member of the Team.

Of course, that didn't mean anything. Anyone can lear Judo with enough discipline.

"Supey? Of all the rescuers I thought the old ghoul would send, you are not the one I expected."

Conner blinked as he climbed to his feet. "Do I know you?"

"I should think so. You were always getting on my case about smoking in the Cave."

And the Superboy's eyes went wide. That was why his voice sounded so familiar. He was... but he couldn't be! "You're supposed to be dead!"

There conversation could have gone on, but it was cut dramatically short at that very moment by three dark figures dropping down around them, capes swishing dramatically. It was the Batman that took down the Red Hood, the man claiming to be the late Robin resurrected. One arm wrapping under the man's chin, forcing his head up, exposing his neck to the needle of a syringe the Dark Knight held ready in his hand. A sedative. The Red Hood went limp in his arms, unconscious but unharmed.

Batgirl knocked Conner's feet out from under him and pinned him to the ground before she registered who he actually was. "Superboy? What are you doing here?"

And Nightwing went to Robin. Knelt in front of the Boy Wonder to untie his bindings and check for injuries.

Conner was furious at himself for being so very inept. He was glad that his Robin was safe and among friends again, but... He had wanted to be his little bird's rescuer.

Batgirl offered him a hand up which Conner promptly ignored, climbing to his feet on his own and crossing the space between them to Nightwing and his Robin.

"What are you doing here, Supey?" Asked Nightwing, echoing Batgirl's question from just a few moments ago. "Interesting new uniform. I had no idea plaid was back in season."

Robin was on his feet now, waving Nightwing off and standing on his own. He gazed up at the Superboy with a mixture of confusion and appreciation. "He was here to help me." he said. "He kept the guy busy, giving you guys time to get here."

Okay, so maybe, in his Robin's eyes at least, Conner was a hero. And that was all he wanted, really.

...

It was a few weeks later that Superboy and Robin finally found a moment alone to talk about the incident.

Robin cornered him in the corridor of the Team's new base. Pinned him to a wall, actually, before muttering a quick, "Come with me." and pulled him into an empty room. The little bird locked the door behind them before rounding on the Superboy.

"I appreciate your ill-conceived rescue attempt." He began, sounding far older than just his fourteen years. "But I need to know how much you heard."

"What do you mean?" And Conner was honestly and truly confused.

"That guy..." Explained the little bird, "He was the Robin before me. Don't ask me how he's still alive, its a long story. But he talked a lot before we heard your clumsy entrance. I need to know how much of Batman's secrets you know now."

Oh. This was about Batman. Truth be told, Conner hand't really been listening to anything but Robin's heartbeat. If the Red Hood had been speaking -ranting- the Superboy had not heard it. So, he could say with total and complete honesty, "I wasn't paying attention. I still only know what I knew about Batman when Cadmus programed me. Nothing new."

"Nothing new..." And Robin looking equal parts relived and disappointed about that. Conner understood the relief. His mentor's secrets, and by extension the rest of the bat-clan's secrets, were still safe. So... why the disappointment?

"Although..." Continued the demi-kryptonian, "Before I showed myself, and he still thought I was Batman, he called me 'Bruce'. Who's Bruce?"

There was a beat of silence between them in which the only sound in the room was the nervous beat of Robin's heart.

Then, "I told you when we first met that you're a lot cleverer than Nightwing made you out to be. Prove me right."

...

Conner spent some time reflecting on that conversation.

Was Robin trying to break Batman's near-ironclad gag-order against sharing identities without actually breaking it? Did Robin want him to know Batman's identity -and by extension his own? Or did his clever little bird realize that after Conner heard Batman's name, it was only a mater of time until the demi-kryptonian figured it out.

In all honesty, the name 'Bruce' was meaningless to him without context. It wasn't exactly a common name, but it wasn't exactly uncommon either. There were at least two Bruces in attendance at Happy Harbor high when he'd still been there. One in the class just above his and the other in the freshmen class the year he graduated. Assuming the name was just as common in Gotham as it was in Happy Harbor, then really, Robin had nothing to be worried about. In fact, the name was probably even more common in Gotham due to it also being the name of one of the city's most prominent citizens -Bruce Wayne.

Then it hit the Superboy like a collapsing eighty-foot skyscraper.

Bruce Wayne.

Batman was a normal human with no powers but an almost never-ending supply of high-tech gadgets at his disposal. Technology like that cost money. Bruce Wayne had money. Batman was a master of multiple forms of combat. Bruce Wayne had the means and resources to travel all around the world searching for the foremost masters of each discipline. Could Batman be Bruce Wayne?

But what would the motivation be?

Come on, Supey. Robin managed to figure this out all on his own with no prompting from just newspaper articles and photographs. Newspapers... If some incredible life-altering event had happened to the multibillionaire philanthropist, something big enough to prompt him to become a masked avenger in the night, it would most definitely have made the news. That meant it could probably be found in the daily Planet's archive database. Now, what was Clark's password again... Ah, that's right.

It took the demi-kryptonian only a moment to log-on by remote under Clark Kent's username. He should really stop using the day he came to Earth (his birthday, for all intents and purposes) as his password. After logging on, it took him only a moment more to find an article entitled "WAYNE FAMILY MURDERED!: Young Son Only Survivor". Conner scanned the article briefly. He had witnessed it, his own parents' murder. Yes. That could certainly prompt Someone like Bruce Wayne to become something like Batman.

So, supposing then that Batman was Bruce Wayne, who were Nightwing, Robin and Batgirl?

Over the past ten years, Bruce Wayne had taken in two foster children. The first one was probably Nightwing, the original Robin -Richard Grayson. That meant that the second Robin, the one who dies and, apparently, came back to life would be Jason Todd. But then... Who were Batgirl and his Robin?

...

"I think I have it figured out." He told the little bird one day. "Some of it, anyway."

His Robin's fingers had been practically flying over his computer's keyboard, either writing code or breaking code, neither would have surprised the Sueprboy. But at the demi-kryptonian's words, his hands stilled. "Oh?"

"I'm not as good a detective as you are -or any Bat for that matter. But, like you said, I'm cleverer than they think I am, so... I think I got it."

"And what have you got?"

"I think-" Here, Conner paused, nervous. This was a JLA base, it belonged to the Team, but the security and software belonged to the League, that means that Batman had near unlimited access to it. The walls had eyes and ears and those eyes and ears belonged to the Bat. The Superboy lowered his voice to a conspiratory whisper, bending down low so that his lips nearly brushed the top of Robin's ear. "I think... Batman might be Bruce Wayne. And if he is, then Nightwing is Richard Grayson and the other Robin was Jason Todd. But..."

"But...?" Robin pressed.

"But I have no idea who you are." Conner finished. And he was disappointed in himself because of it. The other members of the bat-clan, sure it was interesting to know who they were. But Robin... this Robin... his Robin... He was the one he wanted to know about. He was the one Conner wanted to... He was the one Conner wanted.

Robin sighed in disappointment. "I expected more from you."

Conner didn't know what to say to that. Robin wanted him to try and figure out his identity? Why?

The little bird closed the window he'd been working on and slid the laptop off his knees. Standing, he turned to face the Superboy and, removing his domino mask said, "Tim. My name is Tim. But you didn't hear it from me. You figured it out on your own. You got that?"

Conner wanted to ask 'Why?'. The question was on the tip of his tongue. But instead what came out was... "Tim, huh. So, Tim, when's your birthday?"

...