Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Chapter Two: the Spell is Set

Superboy heard Robin hit the water, but couldn't react immediately; he was too busy trying not to accidentally kill the gang members in front of him. He finally succeeded in downing the two idiots, and whirled around to punch Riddler once in the face as hard as he dared. "That's for what you did to Red," Superboy growled, picking a codename at random for Robin. He shoved past the super-villain, who was now writhing on the ground clutching a broken nose. Just then, he became aware of a faint buzzing sound, so quiet he actually had to strain to hear it, but only for a few seconds. It stopped, but returned, louder and more insistent. It was emanating from the water where Robin had fallen. Superboy hurried to the side and looked over to the faint ripples still visible below. He could see a glowing shape maybe ten feet underneath the surface. A dark silhouette drifted in front of it, and with a surge of panic Superboy recognized Robin. He's not moving. Why isn't he moving?

He watched as Robin moved suddenly backwards as if pushed by an invisible Atlantean.

Superboy blinked. An Atlantean! He could have slapped his forehead. Hello, Superboy! He started to turn away, scanning the docks for his dark-skinned friend, but the humming increased again, pulling his attention back to the water. There was a sense of urgency in the noise, heightened by a sort of metallic growl growing in the background, setting his teeth on edge. It was audible even to the other fighters, now, and many looked up in confusion. Superboy ignored them and watched the light expand to swallow Robin. It shone bright, painfully so, and disappeared with a brilliant flash. Superboy stumbled backwards, temporarily blinded. He failed to notice the rune that appeared on his chest, shuddered briefly, and faded away to nothingness.

"Hguone!"* A voice barked sharply from somewhere underneath the stunned fighters. Many of them gasped and looked down, taking involuntary half-steps back. "Uoy evah devres ruoy esoprup. Won og!"**

Superboy blinked in surprise and confusion as the criminals they had been battling scant seconds earlier turned passively and walked away, some banging into poles or stepping off the pier. Incredulously, Superboy watched several shimmer and dissipate into thin air. The rest walked back into the city, slack-jawed and vacant. Within moments, the dock was empty apart from him and his teammates. Aqualad counted heads, and Superboy saw his eyes widen, then narrow, when he realized that they were one short. "Where's…Robin?" He demanded, somehow retaining his aura of authority despite the fact that he looked ready to collapse, his hoodie was in tatters, and superficial wounds were scattered across his thick Atlantean skin.

"Gone," Superboy told him. A sudden sense of urgency and paranoia made him glance over his shoulder. "I'll explain later, but right now we should leave," he said hurriedly. "I don't know what just happened, and right now, I don't want to find out."

"Agreed," Aqualad nodded, and Superboy thought it was a mark of how truly exhausted they all were that no one argued. M'gann called the bio-ship, and they all trooped inside. Superboy saw Aqualad count everyone at least eight times, repeatedly ascertaining that Robin was the only one missing.

Kid Flash hesitated as he came into the ship, blinking slowly as he finally processed what was going on. Superboy felt a surge of annoyance at this momentary pause, and, if he had been closer, might have yanked Wally in himself.

"Wait," Kid Flash blurted, stopping M'gann before she could close the ship's entrance. "We weren't actually just about to leave Robin, were we?"

A sudden wave of confusion enveloped Superboy. "I am...fairly certain he's gone," he said, slowly. "But—he disappeared in the water over there, so if—"

Before he could finish, Aqualad was already halfway along the dock, and then diving into the water. There was a sort of whisper in his ears, and Superboy had a vague sense of coming back into himself. He felt suddenly stronger. The world sharpened around him. With a feeling of disbelief, Superboy realized that he—they—had been about to leave a teammate behind. They hadn't even looked for him! In five long strides, Superboy was back outside the ship, leaning precariously over the water. He watched as Aqualad resurfaced.

"M'gann," Kaldur said, urgently, "Use your telepathic powers to locate him."

"I'm trying!" The Martian girl gasped, skin flushing green with effort. She and Artemis had followed the boys to the edge of the dock. "There was a—a disturbance...just a minute ago," she said, eyes closing as she remembered. "A voice—I hadn't even noticed it—but then it stopped, and there was a sort of...flex...underneath us, in the water. Like—a lot of power. And then it was just—gone."

"Robin?" Aqualad asked sharply. His eyes were blazing with emotion, but none of it directed at her. Something strange was going on, and they were going to get to the bottom of it.

"No...no, he was already gone, before the voice stopped." Ms. Martian frowned in concentration. "I—" he voice broke for a second, but she composed herself and continued, "I don't know why I didn't do anything...it just felt natural to ignore him. I didn't even think about it!" her eyes opened, and Superboy could see the anguished misery in their depths. Artemis put her arm around Ms. Martian's shoulders in silent support.

"It was like that for me, too," she confessed. "I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't focus on it. It was like someone was whispering in my brain, telling me it was okay, and not to worry, and just fight…I didn't even realize until just now."

Aqualad sighed heavily. He had climbed back out of the water and stood next to them. "So how…exactly…was Robin abducted?" he asked Superboy. "Tell me what you saw."

-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-

After Superboy explained as best he could, the team scoured the deck and surrounding area for clues. There was nothing immediately discernible, but eventually their tenacity paid off and they discovered the remains of what was clearly a magic circle beneath the docks. They called Zatara, then, and he sent them back to Mount Justice while he and a few other League members took a look at it. There, they faced their biggest challenge yet; confronting the Batman.

As their leader, it fell to Aqualad to relate the events of that morning. When he was done, the hall fell deathly silent. Batman stared at each one of them in turn. No one dared to move.

"So…" he said, deceptively calm. "You made a mistake…and because of it, my protégé is in some unknown location, presumably at our enemies' mercy—or lack thereof?"

Aqualad tried to meet his gaze, but couldn't. "Yes sir," he said, and was amazed how steady his voice was, if very, very quiet.

"I see…" Batman said softly. For a moment, everything was still. Young Justice didn't know what to expect. Half of them were waiting to be attacked and killed, or maimed at the very least. The other half were waiting to be verbally assaulted and destroyed with words alone, then banished to the far ends of the galaxy to suffer out the remainder of their lives in misery.

Batman did neither. He turned the full force of the Batglare on them for what seemed to be an eternity but was actually only a few minutes. Finally, he looked away. "You are dismissed. Now get out of my sight," he half-growled, half-whispered. The team was only too happy to comply, and scattered.

Batman stood for a moment, listening to them leave. Then he called up the zeta-tube and teleported to Gotham.

When he got to the docks, he found Zatara kneeling, studying the ground and muttering to himself. Knowing better than to interrupt the process, Batman stood back and waited. Several minutes later, Zatara stood, looking tired and frustrated.

"Have you found anything?" Batman asked. He knew Zatara had been there for at least twenty minutes trying to ascertain the events of almost an hour ago.

"Some," Zatara sighed. "I cannot say much for sure, but one thing we can be certain of is that this was premeditated. Some of the preparations must have taken months."

Batman's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, but he otherwise did not react to the news. "I thought so," he muttered, mouth turned downwards in a definite frown.

"And something else—" Zatara's voice took on a troubled tone, and he rubbed his temples as if warding off a headache. "Whatever they were planning to do, and I do not know what exactly that was, it went wrong. Wherever they were planning to send Robin, he's not there."

Batman instantly understood what that meant. "We have no way to track him," he realized. Zatara inclined his head gravely.

"I'm afraid you're correct," he said. "Robin is safe from Klarion and the others, most of whom I am still trying to identify by the feel of their magic, but he is also hidden from us. We may still find him, but I won't lie; the odds of that are—"

"Astronomical. I know." Batman's gaze was lowered, brow creased in thought. Thus far, he had retained an almost disinterested façade, locked firmly in his Batman persona. But this news nearly destroyed that as a rush of emotion threatened to overwhelm him. Taking a deep breath, he locked it all away once more. Later. He would deal with this later.

Zatara watched him sympathetically. Having a daughter of his own, he understood the enormity of Batman's loss. Oh, nobody had ever been able to tell for sure whether or not Robin was Batman's son, but Zatara had seen the way they acted around each other, and in his mind there was no question. Robin had been Batman's son, possibly his only son. It would take Batman a long time to recover, assuming he ever did.

Abruptly, Batman looked up. His gaze was penetrating, and in it Zatara could see the desperate determination of a man not yet ready to let go. "Then I have no choice," he said in a clipped monotone. "I will search the dimensions, one by one until he is found. Zatara, can I count on you to help me?"

Zatara studied him for a moment, not even bothering to try to hide his astonishment, which was directed more at the mere thought of it than the fact that Batman had suggested it. "My friend…it will be quite difficult," he warned.

"Will you help me?" Batman's tone implied that he wouldn't ask again.

Zatara sighed. It was impossible, what Batman was suggesting, completely and utterly hopeless. But…if it was his daughter, lost…would he accept it, or would he attempt the impossible? "…Yes, I will help you."

Batman nodded once, then turned and strode away.

-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE-BREAKLINE—

Tony Stark, a.k.a. 'Iron Man', was having a Very Unusual Day. First, a sudden glitch in his systems had J.A.R.V.I.S. playing Tony's five favorite songs over and over on a loop for an hour before Tony could fix it. It would have been aggravating, but…Tony really did like those songs.

Then, Bruce had completed a whole pile of Tony's paperwork in thanks for something Tony didn't even remember. If Bruce hadn't, Pepper would probably have ended up doing it instead; as it was, when she found her schedule suddenly a lot more free then it had been before, Pepper had come to visit Tony in a gorgeous outfit she'd apparently gotten at Christmas, but had neglected to wear until just then. They'd gone on a marvelous date, despite a flat tire (it was a new car, too! Seriously, what the heck?) and a sudden rainstorm near the end of their evening. When they'd gotten back to the tower, Pepper had given him a kiss and told him, smiling, what a wonderful time she'd had.

Wow. That hadn't happened since…a long time ago. Their dates were interrupted so often that Tony had come to expect it and was surprised and a little wary when they weren't.

Still. Pepper was happy, and that was what mattered.

After their date, Tony was just innocently walking through the Tower when he'd been tackled by Hawkeye, who had been accidently drugged with the wrong dosage of morphine after the Avenger's last big fight. Tony still had bruises from being pushed down, and a few superficial cuts from the ensuing chase, as he and his teammates tried to catch a hyper and highly confused Hawkeye. It'd been Thor and Black Widow who had finally taken him down, and Hawkeye was currently recuperating in the hospital wing.

After that little episode, Tony had realized that Steve—Captain America—was missing. He'd come home briefly after their fight with Hydra, then disappeared. Since he had told Bruce, Thor, and Natasha he was leaving, no one was particularly worried. However, the fact that he hadn't told anyone where he was actually going, or when to expect him back, bothered Tony. Because of that, and his mounting boredom, Tony decided to go looking for him.

But just as he was walking out the front entrance, lo and behold, Steve came walking up the drive. Tony immediately noticed Steve's preoccupied demeanor; his gaze was distant and his expression troubled. When he saw Tony standing there, some of the worry seemed to lessen.

Tony smiled easily. "Hey, soldier," he greeted. "I was just about to go looking for you. What's up?"

Steve hesitated. Tony noticed with interest the way that his military stance seemed to have slackened somewhat. "I am…not entirely certain," Steve admitted. "I need to speak to you and the others."

Intrigued, Tony raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Come on, let's get inside, and we can call the others. Except for Hawkeye—he's out for the count. Too much morphine," he added, at Steve's inquiring look. "But don't worry, we can catch him up later."

Once everyone was gathered in the conference room, all eyes turned to Captain America.

"I want to bring a child into the Tower," he said. "Temporarily," he added, almost as an afterthought.

Mystified, Tony glanced at the others. "Um…okay," he said, slowly. "Why?"

"Because he doesn't legally exist," the Captain said. "And I think he's in some sort of trouble, I found him after he took a shot to save a little girl who says that she doesn't know him and hadn't ever seen him before that. I can't find him on any records anywhere. I suppose he could have lied to me about his name, but I don't think he did. He's got scars all over his body, obviously the victim of abuse. He won't tell me about that, either." He hesitated. "He is…strange. I need somewhere to put him until I can figure out what to do with him."

"You could just let the system handle it," Bruce pointed out gently.

Steve considered this briefly. "…I don't think the system is equipped to handle this kid," he said finally. He glanced quickly over at Natasha. "He's been trained…for what, I'm not sure. But whoever did it is sick. Really sick. I…I think he might be one of Fury's pet projects, actually. I mean…I'm sorry, but the guy does kind of have a track record for this sort of thing."

Natasha's eyes narrowed, but she didn't deny it.

Thor hefted his hammer. "On Asgard, it is forbidden to send children into battle. Training is allowed, yes, but not war. Surely it is the same on Midgard?"

"Not exactly," Tony told him. "Even just training a child could be deemed inappropriate, depending on how you do it. But we also do not allow children onto the battlefield."

"What sort of scars does he have?" Natasha asked quietly.

Steve closed his eyes briefly as he remembered what the doctor had told him. "A handful of burns…several knife wounds…a few bullet scars…bruises…he had two cracked ribs when he came in, he told me he was thrown into a wall during Hydra's attempted invasion."

Bruce stood suddenly. "Excuse me," he said politely, and left as rapidly as possible without running.

"Huh," Tony said when he was gone. "Who knew the Big Guy felt so strongly about child abuse?"

"Only a very bad and malevolent person would not," Thor said firmly, and they all nodded in agreement.

"If you want to bring him here, I have no objections," Natasha said to Captain America. She stared down at the table thoughtfully, but her shoulders were tense.

Steve nodded at her in acknowledgement and turned towards Thor. "Aye," the Asgardian warrior nodded. "At the very least, we can protect the child from his tormentors."

Steve looked at Iron Man, who shrugged. "Could be fun," he said easily. "But only on the condition that I get to help you track whoever it was who thought carving up a kid was a good idea."

A relieved smile curved Steve's lips. "That's…almost everyone, then," he said.

Tony shrugged again, flippantly. "Eh, Hawkeye'll get over it. And I'm fairly that Banner was on our side anyway. Now our only problem is convincing Pepper."

Steve hadn't thought of that. "I should tell her; it was my idea. Where is she?"

But Tony shook his head, smiling. "Don't worry about it. Go get—oh, hey. You never told us the kid's name."

"Jonathon Wayne, he goes by John," Steve told him automatically. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's all good," Tony waved him off. "Go get Johnny; I'll have everything arranged before you get back."

"…thanks," Steve said.

"No prob," Tony had already stood, and was making his way out. "Just make sure he doesn't get into any of my stuff."

Steve watched the door close behind him, then with a nod at his remaining teammates, made to leave.

"Can I come with you? To get him?" Black Widow asked suddenly. "I am…curious about him," she added as an explanation.

"Sure," Steve said. He was a little confused, but didn't question it. "He's still in the hospital. I asked them to keep him there until I got back."

"I wish also to accompany you," Thor said, rising from his chair.

"Okay. Let's go," Steve said with a smile, gesturing for both of them to follow him. Well, he thought, a little bemused and a lot pleased, that went well.

*Enough!

**You have served your purpose. Now go!

A.N. Yo. Don't have much to say except everything in this chapter was deliberate. Even the whole thing about Tony's Very Unusual Day. Remember that, it is actually related to…actually, I'm not sure I can say without spoilers…well anyway, it wasn't random.

Please give me feedback…I hate this chapter so much. . I don't think I managed it very well…thoughts?

Also, I've had this thing up for less than 24 hours…1 review, 1 favorite, and 4 follows already? Seriously? You guys are awesome. :D