Sorry this one took so long, but life got in the way. The next chapter should be coming especially quick to make up for this one being so slow. This one is a bit low on the action, but the next chapter should have a decent amount. Thanks to everyone who has read this, favorited it, reviewed, or followed. I really appreciate it. But enough of my ramblings. Here is chapter Four.

CHAPTER FOUR

"Robin B02," the computer said as he zetaed to the Cave. Wally was sitting in front of the T.V. surfing channels. Superboy and Artemis were watching the T.V. as well. Zatanna was no where to be seen, "Probably asleep in her room," Robin thought. Megan was in the kitchen making cookies, and Kaldur was sitting on the other couch reading.

"So you finally decided to join us," Wally stated with a grin.

"We should be getting the briefing for our next mission in a few minutes,"Kaldur said, as Wally paused his channel surfing. There was some circus thing on. Wally glanced at Robin, then back to the T.V. He was glad that Robin was paying no attention to the T.V. or else he might recognize what was on.

Wally was about to change the channel when Robin saw the screen. "Oh… that reminds me," he said. "Batman gave me the day off for personal stuff." The members of the team looked at Robin sort of funny. They had known him for quite some time and he had never gotten the day off for personal business. Then again, the team had only been in service for about 9 months. Occasionally Robin would miss due to the Dynamic Duo thing in Gotham, but he had never missed for personal stuff. "What," Robin said. "I have a life you know." Of course the team knew this, they had just never contemplated it before. He needed to keep his identity a secret, which meant he actually had a life. He just always seemed to be with the team, or with Batman in Gotham. They had never actually heard anything about his personal life.

"Will you be staying for the briefing?" Kaldur asked.

"Sure," Robin said. "That way I can join you if I have time."

"Hey, does anyone know why the circus is having this special show going on tonight?" Artemis asked. Wally face palmed as she asked. "Well, Mr. Speedy, do you know why the circus is doing some special show tonight? After all, you were the one to stop on this channel."

"Some Gotham trapeze artists died a few years back tonight. Apparently they were the best anyone had ever seen, and the special show is a commemoration for them," Robin forced out, trying hard to keep his voice steady.

"And you know this how?" Artemis asked.

"It's a large event that happens in Gotham every year. I'm usually there, after all, villains just love to crash large events and try to kill all of the people there, or threaten to kill them, so, you know, it's just sort of smart to attend these sort of things," Robin said, improvising.

"Team come to the briefing room to receive your mission," Batman said over the intercom. The team rushed to the room. As Robin ran in, Batman gave him a funny look. They seemed to have a silent conversation in a matter of seconds, and Batman started the briefing. Right after Batman had explained that the mission was to sneak into a Kobra facility, get any information they could find, and get out without being noticed, Robin's phone rang.

Robin pulled up the caller ID, and stared for a second, before looking at Batman. "I've got to take this," Robin said after a second, walking away from the group. Robin connected his phone to his earpiece, and answered it.

"Where are you!?" immediately rang out. Superboy suddenly looked over at Robin. He had obviously heard that. And so had almost everyone else.

"Great," Robin thought. I really need to turn the volume on my phone down,"

"Umm….. Robin,… something you've been meaning to tell us, or is that not a girl asking where you are?" Zatanna asked, a bit of worry seeping into her voice. Sure she and Robin had only kissed once,… on New Years,… but she still liked him, and if he was going on a date with someone…

"Yeah I'm coming, be right there," Robin said into his earpiece as he walked towards the zeta tubes. Before he reached the exit, Robin yelled back "Gotta go, see you guys later," and then he disappeared around the corner.

Batman continued as if nothing had happened. "Scanners on the watchtower have picked up activity in this location," Batman said, pointing to the middle of the pacific on the holo-map. "I have done some subtle hacking, but the security is amazing. The little I was able to find out without revealing to them that they were being hacked only leads to more questions."

Wally raised his hand. He could tell Batman was ignoring him, and about to move on, so he interrupted. "Can Robin hack better than you, because he can cover his work almost every single time, so the people he hacks have no evidence saying he has hacked into their systems."

"Here they have people constantly watching their security. If you tried to hack them, they would see you doing it, and trace it back, or copy the signature of the hacker. As of yet, they still don't know that I infiltrated their systems at all. But as I was saying, they are working with Joker. The team of scientists housed on that island are attempting to make a super venom, sort of like Blockbuster. The biggest difference is that they are trying to make it controllable. They want to be able to infect random people, and then be able to take complete control of the subject,: Batman said.

"Wow," Wally said in wonder. "If they can pull that off…"

"Your mission is to infiltrate the base on the island, take any samples you can find, and retrieve all the information you can find. Then you need to get out. If possible, you must do all of this without being noticed,"

"Without Robin?" Artemis clarified.

"Robin will join you if he can, but the mission will be executed without him, yes," Batman said.

"Where will Robin be?" Zatanna asked.

"Yes, where will he be?" Kaldur asked as well.

"As he has already said, Robin has tonight off for personal business," Batman replied.

"Is there a reason the team has been assigned this mission, and not the league?" Superboy asked.

"Does it matter?!" Wally said. "We don't have to be bored anymore, because we have a mission. Don't complain, just accept it."

"The league will not be able to help because we are most likely being watched by Kobra. They would be alerted if anyone in the League suddenly went off the grid, or came for them. That would raise their security, and maybe even stop their work. If that happened, we wouldn't be able to find out how far they are, or be able to stop them from completing it." Batman said.

"How soon should we deploy?" Kaldur asked.

"As soon as you're ready," Batman said.

…

Robin grappled up into the night sky. He was supposed to meet Barbara in about 2 minutes, and she wouldn't be happy if he was late. Swinning through the air, he was once again reminded what had happened that very day, years ago. The image flashed through his mind, over and over again. Robin fought the tears that threatened to come. Dropping onto a rooftop just a little ways away from the circus entrance Robin changed into the civvies he had brought with him. Dropping off of the rooftop, he took off his mask, completing his transformation into Dick Grayson.

Dick ran across the street, and was just about to cross the corner that led to the circus tent, when his phone rang again. It was Barbara again. Looking around the corner, Dick saw her, and hung up. He snuck up behind her, and tapped her on the shoulder. "There you are," She said as she turned around. "Took you long enough."

"Sorry about the wait," Dick said, genuinely sorry he had made her wait.

They walked into the circus tent together, and Dick handed the tickets to the appropriate staff member. They found their seats and sat down. It wasn't long before the show began. However, the second it started Dick felt the tears. This brought back so many memories. When his parents first brought him to the circus, they had taught him how to play acrobatic HORSE. And the acrobats were playing just that.

Of course to the audience it looked like a practiced routine, but it wasn`t. They hadn't practiced at all for this. As thoughts of his parents clouded his head, Dick felt a hand on his shoulder. Barbara looked at her friend in concern. But in his eyes, she could see that this would be good for him.

Dick took a deep breath, clearing his mind. He could mourn his parents more later, now he really needed to watch the show. Leaning back, he rested his hand on the armrest. And internally he smiled a bit when Barbara's hand found it's way onto his.