Uhm, guys I highly recommend listening to a certain background music for this one. It's the one I listened to while writing most of this. I think it really sets the mood, so I hope you guys take my advice. Link is here. http:/ www. youtube. com/watch? v=dZZuFxb3R4c

"Stop!" M'gann ordered, eyes closed and landing on the sidewalk.

"What?"

"I thought I heard…" M'gann waited, listening for the voice to say something else. She linked all of them up and they stood in the middle of town on a sidewalk, completely silent and still.

"I want Batman. It hurts. I want Batman."

"Robin?" M'gann asked, trying not to yell mentally. She could feel the others all about to say something, but the voice of their friend came back, a little weaker.

"Why the bird jokes?"

Wally couldn't help the relieved smile on his face. Robin must not have heard them or been aware M'gann had linked him up.

"Robin?" She asked a little louder.

There was no response and suddenly the link was cut. Wally's breath hitched and Superboy held back from punching the nearest thing, which happened to be a stop sign. M'gann frantically tried to reconnect, but failed every time.

"He must be close, he's within range." Roy said, trying to bring the team back out of despair. "We need to keep going North."

"Keep trying to reach him, M'gann." Wally grabbed her hand and squeezed. "If you get him, try to get a location. If you have to read his mind, do it!"

M'gann nodded and tried to reconnect again. Superboy pulled her up to sit on his shoulder as they moved. She would be able to concentrate a lot easier with her eyes closed.

"I can't connect with him, but I've got a location. He's behind Baker Street, in an alley."

Roy didn't bother to acknowledge M'gann's accomplishment, instead opting to start moving. She did well, but he had more pressing matters to attend to. Wally frowned at him, but didn't say anything, instead flashing a grateful smile at M'gann before also starting forward.

It was dark. Was he asleep?

It was hot. Was he on fire?

He couldn't breathe. Was he dead?

Snapping open his eyes, he struggled for breath. Blood came dribbling out of his mouth as he coughed and hacked, his body doing anything it could just to gain some oxygen. He couldn't see anything but the faint glow of fire above him. He could taste the smoke from what little air he managed to breathe in.

Memories of the Joker, getting shot, and the building collapsing on him from above flashed through his head and he let out a small groan. He heard a voice calling to him, calling his name, but he couldn't for the life of him remember who it was.

He tried to move, a very bad idea. Pain flared through him and he stopped breathing. He would have passed out if it hadn't been a technique Batman had told him to use if—

Batman.

He needed Batman. Batman would help.

One hand was trapped against his stomach and he was grateful it was there. He barely managed to reach the emergency button on his utility belt. A red light blinked, providing him some light. He would have been able to make out some of the shapes of the debris had it not been for the spots dancing in his eyes and forcing him back to sleep.

Tim was terrified. One second they were running as fast as they could, trying to find Robin, the next Batman had leapt on a figure to Tim's right. A gunshot went off, missing him completely thanks to Batman, who smashed the gun against the assailant's face.

Kon almost stepped in to help, but Batman had started to growl out something to the man. There was laughter, a crazy, psychotic laughter that Dick had described to Tim nearly three months ago. He never thought he'd actually hear it, or how accurate Dick's description really was. It sent shivers down his spine and caused him to take a step back.

"Who wants to know?"

"I do!" Batman snarled, ramming him into the brick of the building behind him. "Where is he, Joker?"

"Oho? Who is this who knows my name?" Joker grinned, eyes lighting up. "You aren't like the others, are you? You're different."

"Yes, I'm different." Batman retorted, batarang out and against the clown's neck, sharp edges biting into his neck and releasing precious blood. "Where is Robin?"

"You're going to kill me?" Joker sounded so skeptical and excited. It made Tim sick. "What a laugh! Who is this hero threatening my life? I just want to know your name. I'll tell you where the boy is buried. I'll even take you to him!"

Batman didn't respond verbally. No, instead he pressed the batarang harder into his neck and kneed him in the stomach, causing Joker to start to curl in, but due to the batarang, leaned back instead.

"The birdie is dead." Joker laughed, gurgling when Batman shoved his fist into the man's ribs, effectively breaking three of them. "A corpse under a pile of metal."

"Where?" Batman ground out, slamming Joker's head into the brick.

"Batman!" Tim called, nervous but alarmed.

Batman spared a glance at Tim, who was pointing to a blinking red light on Batman's utility belt.

"Batman, huh?" Joker laughed, eying Batman before focusing on Tim and Kon. "So there are more of you… How many do I have to kill? I've already clipped two birdies' wings."

Batman slammed his fist into Joker's face before letting him drop to the ground. Kon was nervous; was Batman going to kill him? Tim seemed to think so because he grabbed a hold of the Dark Knight's cape.

"Robin spoke highly of you." Tim asserted, tugging on the cape. "Don't throw that away."

Batman snorted but didn't reply. He gave one last kick to Joker's side, cracking another rib before leaving. Kon jerked his head towards the retreating Batman, signaling for Tim to forget about the bad guy for once and focus on following Batman.

"What is that?" Tim asked, hoping Batman would say something.

"Emergency signal." Batman answered, suddenly turning a corner. "He's alive."

Tim let out a relieved sigh. Batman wasn't showing any emotion, but he liked to believe Bruce was in there somewhere, breathing a sigh of relief as well. This Bruce was nothing like his adoptive father. This Bruce was cruel, silent, and cold. There was no warm laugher, caring smiles, or kind words. Batman was all orders and facts.

How did Dick live with him?

After rounding two more corners they were devastated by the sight that greeted them. There was a demolished building, an ally filled with the remnants of the building, and fire spreading along the debris, nothing but twisted metal underneath.

"Robin!" Tim called fearfully, lurching forward. Kon caught him and pulled him back.

"Let me, okay?" Kon darted forward, wincing at the heat, but paying no mind the burns on his hands healing and rehealing as he shoved debris aside. Batman helped, his gloves heat resistant, allowing him to pull away the smaller metal while Kon tackled the bigger ones.

Tim felt useless. Robin hadn't had time to equip their outfits with heavy Kevlar or heat resistant capes and gloves. He was stuck on the sidelines until all of the metal on fire was discarded.

Wally wanted to cry. They were greeted with a mess of warped metal and fire, fire everywhere in the dark of the night. It was eerie and felt like the scene had come out of a hellish nightmare. Roy shot two ice arrows, trying his best to cool down the fire; Kaldur was doing the same with his water.

"Kid Flash, Superboy, we need more water!" M'gann ordered despite being absolutely terrified. Robin was underneath this, she could feel it. Robin was trapped underneath fire.

The mere thought of it made her eyes well up with tears. He must be so scared. She would have died of fright. She couldn't even approach this, how was she going to help? She would try to contact him again. If she could talk to him, let him know that they were there and going to get him out of there. She could comfort him and talk him through this.

The link never formed.

What if he was dead?

She shook her head. She couldn't think that way, not when they were so close to getting him back. How she missed him; his childish laugh, his understanding of everyone's situations, his great advice, everything. He'd always been there and now it was her turn to be there for him!

Wally and Superboy had come back with water, using their super speed to create a miniature hurricane to transport the precious liquid. Once they released the water on the fire, most of it went out.

"C'mon, you can move things with your mind, right?" Wally clapped a hand on her shoulder for a moment before speeding away to hurriedly move the now cooled down debris.

Wally was right. M'gann could help now. She didn't have to be near the fire; she could stay away and move things. She could help!

It took them a good ten minutes to clear half of the debris and they were surprised to see Batman and the two kids from earlier removing debris from the other side of the monstrous pile. Batman caught sight of them, but never said a word, continuously shoving piles of metal out into the street and further away from Dick who was still lying there somewhere underneath it all.

Hope was dwindling. M'gann couldn't get a connection, there was so much debris and there was no way someone could survive all of this on top of them. But Young Justice, Batman, Tim, and Kon pushed forward. They would not surrender Robin to death.

Phew, guys this chapter was a tough one. I hope I captured the urgency in this chapter. If you weren't feeling it, uh, sorry?