Not sure how this went...Some of this was stream of consiousness.

It took Robin a couple weeks to gather up the courage to go back to the cave after he recovered from the toxin. Bruce had filled him in on the amazing – albeit – quick beating he'd given Alfred and Lucius when he ran off. He'd been a little abashed at the whole Idea that he'd attacked his own family members even though all of them stated that it wasn't his whole fault.

They'd spent a day or two talking about what he'd seen – envisioned – with the toxin's help. He hadn't wanted to talk about it considering what he'd seen and heard – the looks on Bruce's face as he'd explained it only gave his reasons more standing. Alfred, he knew, had listened in. The look on his face when Bruce had left to do something was proof enough. Robin was glad Lucius had left before it all happened.

He was still thanking whatever god there was that it was flu season at school allowing him a perfect reason to stay at home for a few days. It had been more than enough time to talk to his father about his screwed up head's entreaties and also sleep off the last of the toxin's bitter grips. It also gave him a bit of time to catch up on homework and work on some of his flips and other fighting skills.

Needless to say though, stepping back into the Cave only to be greeted by a worried looking Kaldur didn't really help his confidence levels. Silver eyes gazed at him with relief and sorrow as he stood at the transporter mat for a moment wondering what to do.

Kaldur, naturally, breaks the silence.

"How are you feeling Friend?"

Robin frowns mentally at the tone of voice the elder boy gives him – fatherly, big brother, protectively, pitying. He hated hearing that tone from people. Even Alfred never gave him that tone. Outwardly, however, he smiled kindly at his teammate and spread his arms out to his sides before turning in a circle.

"Perfectly fine," he chuckled as he came to a halt, his hands clapping back to his sides. "It's a good thing it's flu season at school. I had a good excuse to use."

Kaldur nodded with a relieved smile on his face. It didn't take very long for Robin to realize that he'd passed a test; weather or not he should be watched over like he was the delicate piece of glass in the group. He'd just proved he wasn't as tough as Superboy but he was still tough for a human. As long as that fact held, he'd probably be fine.

"That's good to hear My Friend," Kaldur states back before the teleport whirs back into action.

"RECOGNIZED, KID FLASH, B03," the computer yelled. "RECOGNIZED, ARTEMIS, B07."

The speedster was sighing and scratching his head as he entered, glaring over his shoulder at the young archer behind him who looked about as tired as Robin felt. She sent Wally a glare as well, hers holding a little more power than his. Robin smirked softly when both of them stuck their tongues out at each other and turned to find the youngest member of the team standing in full gear, smiling at them ruefully.

"Rob!" Wally yelled out first, eyes shining with glee as he tackled the boy in a hug. Robin chuckled – glad that he would get at least one normal reaction for someone – and hugged the taller boy back as well as he could with pinned arms.

"Easy KF," Artemis chided. "You'll suffocate him if you hug him too hard." Robin managed to glance past Wally's shoulder to see Artemis scowling slightly at the speedster's back. Something told him she wanted to hug him too but her personality wouldn't allow her to do it first no matter how much she wanted to.

"No offense to Conner, but I doubt I could really crush Robin like he very well could," Wally growled back as he hugged his friend tighter.

"You're lucky he's with M'Gann at the moment," Kaldur sighed with a roll of his silver eyes. Robin found himself wondering if Artemis was beginning to rub off on the stoic Atlantean for him to do that very human gesture.

"Where are they?" Artemis asked as she slid past Wally, her boots clicking against the floors.

"M'Gann is a cheerleader at her school remember?" Robin chuckled as he pried himself free from Wally's strangely possessive grip. In some ways, Robin thought, Wally seemed to act more like the protective brother that Kaldur was – however, he was the annoying one.

"Really?" Wally murmured softly – like he was in awe – as his eyes bugged. Robin nodded. "So…did Conner go out for the football team?"

Robin nearly winced aloud at the idea of Conner in football padding and tackling people down. It didn't matter what Clark said about his high school days as a football player – Robin couldn't think of Conner in any kind of contact sport without hearing bones breaking in the distance. Clark had admitted it had taken forever to talk his parents into allowing him to go out for the team and Robin knew which Super had more control at the age of sixteen.

Kaldur and Artemis however, didn't hold back the winces. They apparently thought the same way Robin did on that whole possibility. Robin could see Conner in the uniform sure but he still heard legs being broken. He had a feeling the other two could as well.

"I sure hope not," Artemis murmured. "Do we even know if he has control over the super speed yet?"

"Not to mention the super strength," Kaldur muttered softly.

Wally shared their wince. He'd put two and two together and could hear the snap of calcium and marrow in his head already.

"RECOGNIZED, SUPERBOY, B04. RECOGNIZED, MISS MARTIAN, B05," the computer chirped. Robin tried to brace for impact but M'Gann was stronger than she looked.

"ROBIN!" she cheered as she flew over to wrap her arms around his shoulders. "You're back!"

"Yes Miss M. I'm back and you've knocked me off balance," Robin mumbled. "And Wally's already tried to strangle me with a hug so no offense but…" He allowed the sentence to hang in the air until she gave a soft 'yeep' and released him.

"Sorry," she said sweetly, her face apologetic.

"Blame Wally," Robin chuckled kindly.

Wally gaped at him but the expression disappeared as Robin sent him a kind smile. He smiled back and shrugged the exchange off – it was always surprising how easily Robin could coerce a reaction with a simple smile. Maybe Bruce had rubbed off on him more than he thought.

"It is good to see you back," Kaldur announced easily as he squeezed Robin's shoulder. "I do believe however, that we will need to get prepared for training lesson with Black Canary. Captain Marvel is threatening to show up as well."

Robin wasn't able to stop himself from sighing painfully. He was a bit tired of the overly childish League member who'd been a 'den mother' for them after the Reds craziness. Speaking of, Robin was wondering where Conner had stashed Wolf and the Sphere for the past few weeks. Maybe they were with someone – the guys from the Sphere's home planet maybe.

"Wolf and Sphere will be happy to see you back," Conner's deep, rumbling voice murmured as he passed Robin by to head off to his room for his Superboy shirt. Robin smiled and simply nodded thinking he'd be able to see both later.

"Cool," Robin chuckled. "I haven't seen them in a while. How are they?"

"They hung out with Red Tornado for a little while," Conner explained as he halted. He managed to ignore the fact that the others glanced back at them with glad smiles. He knew well enough how they al had expected him to act over the last few weeks. He also knew that he hadn't acted scarred from the experience let alone like it had affected him. Then again, when he'd felt he was going to blow up; he'd gone to hang out with Canary alone. "He wanted to help run a few more tests on Wolf's blood – see if the venom stuff is having any other effects."

"Sounds good to me; last thing we want is one of ours getting sick huh?"

Conner gave him a strange look then.

"What'd I say?" Robin asked, his eyes quickly flashing over the room to find he was indeed alone with the clone.

"Yes," Conner stated. "Very last thing I want is one of you getting hurt."

I didn't say hurt, Robin thought worriedly as Conner continued to give him that weird look. It was like he was seeing Bruce looking over him gently but worriedly only it was going through Clark's face instead. It was Clark giving him the look that was reserved for shitty situations in which no adult in their right mind would want a kid present.

He didn't like the look on Conner.

"Stop looking at me like that," he growled as he moved past the taller boy to work on a pre-programmed drill on the training platform. A solid hand snatched at his small arm and dragged him back to stand, on his toes, next to Conner.

"You're sure you're alright to be back after that?" Conner asked, tone soft and his hand strangely gentle as it held Robin slightly off the floor. There was no bruising power in that grip, just a firm hold that Robin suddenly didn't really want to get out of. His thoughts flashed to his father, Bruce, Alfred, Lucius, and – yes – Clark.

"Yes," Robin breathed softly as Conner stared at him. He watched as the clone's blue eyes narrowed but felt that hand set him onto flat feet before it slipped away. Robin watched, a bit shocked, as Conner walked away.

"Liar," he heard the clone mutter as he strode through the door down the hall to his room.

"How would you know?' Robin muttered a bit bitterly. "I am."

The last bit sounded more petulant than he thought it would and he mentally cursed himself for it. Even to Bruce, he hadn't admitted that the nightmares he'd always had since that day had seemingly gotten worse than usual. They were…more vivid. Almost tactile in some ways. He continually found himself remembering when Bruce had thought he was going to die when a certain event happened – Clark did too considering he'd been hit with Kryptonite dust when he'd tried to tell Bruce that Dick was fine but Bruce couldn't see him and reacted.

He still wasn't sure if it was the test thing Bruce had helped out in as Batman or if it was Scarecrow's toxin stuff. It had been years ago so god only knew what exactly had happened. It never really had been all that clear.

Not that it mattered at the moment. Bruce had gotten past it, he'd gotten past it, and that was far more scarring than the most recent event. Yes, far more scarring than Scarecrow making him relive his past recently; shit tons more terrifying.

Liar, Conner's voice echoed in his head.

Crap…

Conner was fairly sure he shouldn't have said anything. It had been that strange edginess that seemed to cling to Robin – that the young clone had noticed wasn't nearly as terrifying as Batman's own edginess. He'd felt it after the Reds when Conner had yelled at Kaldur for not telling them he thought there might be a mole. Something however, had felt different once he'd seen Robin standing amongst friends.

Despite it being Robin, Conner couldn't help but realize that the young boy wasn't acting like himself. M'Gann always gave him hugs lately and he'd simply gone through the automatic – human – response; he'd hug back as he laughed. It was almost natural to see Robin allowing people to hug him or pat his shoulders. Sure, Robin seemed almost unable to let people to get close but he let them in more than Batman did – Conner could tell that much.

This time however, Robin seemed unwilling to be hugged. Even Conner couldn't shrug off the fact that Robin seemed to not want to be touched. M'Gann and Wally were already whispering about it.

"I didn't hug him that tightly," Wally claimed.

"I'm sure it's just the stress," M'Gann replied softly. Conner couldn't stop himself from hearing the uncertainty in her quiet reply.

"Right," Wally whispered back.

"There you all are," Canary called happily from the platform. Her cheeks were flushed, her chest heaving slightly as she panted softly, but she was waving happily at them. Robin was standing nearby, hunched over with his hands on his knees as he panted a bit. Conner stiffened a bit at the sight of his friend huffing so hard and he moved over to the boy's side quickly.

"You alright?" Conner asked, a hand straying naturally to Robin's shoulder. The boy shrugged it off quickly.

"I'm fine Conner," he ground out. "Thanks for the session Canary."

"You've improved again," she laughed. "Feel free to stay and observe. Conner, since you're already up here…" Her sentence hung in the air almost dangerously as her eyes seemed to narrow at Robin's actions.

"Alright," Conner replied as Robin stomped off the platform to perch himself on one of the outcroppings around the room. He almost seemed unwilling to talk to anyone at the moment though Conner couldn't glean why.

"Alright, Attention to your opponent Conner," Canary called gently like the den mother she was. His blue eyes shot to her form as he fell into position almost naturally. She smiled proudly at him before darting towards him.

He had to admit; she was fast. Really fast. For a human at least. Though, truth be told, her sonic screech was anything but human and so was her endurance. Maybe it was the fact that Conner was probably only half Super that made her a bit more daunting. Maybe it was the fact he was technically only a year or so old – he'd actually lost track. Or maybe, it was because she seemed to do what Batman and Robin did; look at you and automatically know everything she needed to know to get to you.

She'd kicked his butt the first – thirdish? – day in and she'd brushed it off as if she could do the same to Superman and not bat an eye. He wasn't sure if there wasn't a possibility that she had done it either which only made her more terrifying.

He dodged punches and kicks, edging a few of his own – controlled – ones back into the fray of her quick attacks. He made sure to keep her upright knowing if she got the chance to take out his feet, she'd take it. He knew she would. He'd felt her do it.

"Good movements Conner," he heard her chime at him. He nodded curtly, his eyes still fixed on her torso and elbows. There was no way he wanted to miss a possible hit she may try to give him. He'd done that before. He didn't want to let her get the chance again.

Apparently, that wasn't going to happen.

Canary's fist shot out at his head. He managed to dodge but that took his eyes off her legs and he only realized it when her leg connected with his stomach and sent him flying back. The computer bleeped that he'd lost almost laughingly. He sighed as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Good job," Canary chuckled. "You lasted longer than usual which is good." Her smile was kind as she helped him up. "Kaldur, you're next."

"Yes Ma'am," the Atlantean stated as Conner tapped off the platform. He gave Conner a reassuring glance which was quickly returned with a soft smile.

"Nicely done," Robin muttered softly as Conner sat next to him, his tone soft but still a bit scathing. Conner glanced at him worriedly.

"This is why I asked if you were alright," he whispered back.

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that Conner."

"It was."

"Really now? Conner, you've seen me come back from way worse than a little fever and hallucinations. Have a little faith in me will you?"

"I do have faith in you," Conner replied softly as Kaldur dodged a hit. "I also know you seem almost incapable of avoiding injuries lately."

"You still worried about the whole thing with Ivy? That was months ago. Hell, I survived a volcano dealing with the over demented Red remember? I'm sure I can handle anything the missions dish out to me."

"That's what I'm worried about."

"What, that Hubris will bite me in the butt? I can tell you it's happened to Clark already."

"More reason to avoid whatever Hubris is."

"You really need to learn literature."

"Why? Reading's useless unless it's a file or information."

"Reading is always information Conner," Robin groaned. "Not all of us have telepathic tutors for sixteen weeks remember?"

"Don't remind me," Conner growled a little loudly, earning himself a worried look from the girls. M'Gann stared as Artemis glared at both him and Robin. Conner flushed and turned his eyes down the hall.

"Do me a favor Conner, and learn how to shut up."

"I'll work on that," Conner muttered. "Hey…I looked up some more stuff on Scarecrow after everything." He missed Robin's eyes narrowing. "What did you - ?"

"Leaving," Robin hissed as he swung off the outcropping and moved off to the teleporter with a stiff quickness.

"Robin?" Kaldur called.

"I just remembered I have homework to do," Robin called over his shoulder as he pressed buttons and the device whirred awake.

"You can do it here," Canary called gently, a tinge of worry singing in the background of her tone. Robin smiled back at her.

"Yeah but I promised Batman I'd get this one project done tonight and if I stay here, it'll never happen," Robin stated easily. "Sorry!"

"I guess you can't do much on it," Wally sighed a little put out.

"Yeah," Artemis murmured softly, her own disappointment and worry beginning to shine through – for once.

"Liar," Conner whispered to himself.

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