The Wi-Fi is poor but this is up.
It's longer but it's the last one. I don't own DC
Chapter 15—
Where was he? He was wandering a desert of some sort, had been for a while but only recently had his mind started to clear; as usual, his only thought and instinct was to run and run. There was only sand for miles with the rare bit of greenery but the golden and yellow was starting to hurt the Boy Wonder's eyes that were so used to the dark. His head hung in thirst as he tried to shake off the headache. His boots kicked up sand and gloved finger pushed sweaty bangs from his eyes. Looking down at his suit, he didn't recognise anything he wore; the boots were steel toe-capped, by far heavier then the trainers he remembered and the wrist-computer gloves were beyond his pay check.
The name Robin echoed in his mind from the 'R' emblem on his chest but why was his mother's pet name for him haunting him five years after her death? A new source of pain stung anew in his heart; it harmonised with the banging in his head and a soft groan escaped his dry lips as he stumbled. The heat was taking its toll and Boy Wonder was thankful for the mountain of sandstone that he could lean on. A low rumble of engines caught his attention and, sneaking a glance he saw armoured vehicles approaching. He scrambled up the rock mound and hid in the crevices to wait as the army men passed, the uniforms were familiar.
The memory hit him suddenly and he saw Batman standing before a dark stone backdrop with a holographic computer glowing behind him. He closed his eyes and clutched his head as he fought to replay the image in his mind. He was trying desperately to find something more within the memory but it was slipping painfully slowly from his grasp. Robin could have been mistaken but he could have sworn the computer had shown a map reading Bialya. Was that where he was? It was clear he was under Batman's but why and what was he meant to do for him?
He leant back and poked at the wrist computer experimentally until he got the gist of the controls and was able to pull up a map of his current location. He thought long and hard, memorizing the landscape and contours that map supplied him. When he was content, he sighed, glancing back up at the unrelenting sun before back down to the computer. As if the fact it was noon and he was in the bright daylight in uniform was bad enough, the last he'd remembered was midnight in Gotham, curling up to get some sleep in a dusty warehouse and now he was in a Middle-Eastern country with no way to get back. Then, the date below caught his eye and Boy Wonder's yes widened.
"It's September? What happened to March?"
A weight in his eye told I he had a communicator and if Boy Wonder had any sense, it would be linked to someone who could supply answers—Batman.
"Maintain Radio silence at all times."
"So much for that."
As much as crawling across Biayla with six months memory loss repulsed him he knew he would bake to death if he didn't find water. The question was whether the Batman was in Bialya too and if he was suffering from the same amnesia. He'd have to find him. Boy Wonder flipped down to ground, steadying himself with a hand on the dirt when the dehydration decided to remind the Boy Wonder of its nagging presence. It took barely a second of scanning the horizon to find the snag of material caught on a rock. On closer inspection, Superman's symbol was in red on the black material. It might not be Superman's exact uniform but it gave small hope.
Night had fallen and Boy Wonder was relieved when the sun went down, he did so much better in the dark. He felt better at least now that dehydration was cured and forgotten. He'd sliced into a cactus and extracted water, using the empty vials in his belt, now he knew where everything was stored. He no longer had the stolen ammo from Queen; they were replaced with proper pellet to go with the new sleek black slingshot in his boot. He mask was smaller now I fit to his face more snugly. On top of that, several Bat-a-Rangs and what must have been proposed anecdotes.
Moreover, the new suit must have thermal lining because while his face felt the chill his muscles definitely didn't. He knew know he could fight better without fear of his muscles locking up under the cold or his shivering being interpreted by fear. In the past six months his armoury had lengthened and at heart he was thankful for it but also, what had he done differently in the past six months that had changed his life from better to worse. Had he finally sorted himself out? He was used to rarely eating but now his stomach hurt as if it were used to food and now missing it.
As he neared the tracker he'd placed, he bit down on the hunger pains as he climbed the last sand dune. His mind rattled through reasons as to why he had laid the GPS marker there when a small whirring spooked him into ducking. When nothing happened, he gingerly looked over to find a black box. Scanning the area, he found no sudden threat and so with narrowed eyes, he sprung forwards to take a closer look. On hindsight, he should have seen the freshly shifted sand, scattered strategically around the box; soldiers sprang up, surrounding him with pointed guns.
They barked in a foreign tongue that Robin barely caught. 'Her majesty wants' and 'alive' was all he could understand but he got the message.
Robin frowned, disappointed in himself more than anything. Then he dropped a gas pellet, not bothering with his slingshot and attacked. While the men coughed, he took them out on by one with kicks and took them out with Bat-a-rangs. They looped around the enemies like a rope and Robin knew he like the weapon already. Turning, he reminded himself to focus as he too running jump and took another out. More Bat-a-Rangs were thrown, knocking the guns from their hands, all they could do was cry out in surprise and stare at the boy as the smoke died away behind him. He knew he looked cool but he still thought a cape would look better.
Pivoting on one man's shoulders, he swiftly span and took out to more advancing men, the same trick he'd tried the first time battling the Joker but that was nearly two years ago know, if he were to believe the computer that it. Someone yelled orders again and Boy Wonder didn't have time to figure out what they were saying before bullets ripped through the night air. He merely back flipped out of their range and watched as a blur shot through the ranks. Trace immediately thought Flash but the shape was too small and the colours were off, black and orange.
"I'll hold that. Thanks." The shape stopped and there stood Kid Flash, dropping all the guns, and Trace's own trademark grin was bold on his face.
Robin spun as another came at him and he heard KF at work behind him. Hearing men behind him, he turned, only to see them thrown back by some force. Glancing up, he saw shimmering air and he narrowed his eyes as a green girl revealed herself, a Martian he quickly concluded; she wore a similar costume to that of Martian ManHunter and so he relaxed a little. Batman wasn't here, neither was any of the League, instead they'd sent their partners. He could live with that, it just meant Aqualad and Speedy were somewhere out there still.
Even as he thought, a green arrow took one down and made Boy Wonder falter in his punch, just slightly. However, when the last man was down, they turned to see a green glad girl that was definitely not Roy Harper. As she joined them, KF sped to a stop beside them. Trace mumbled in greeting and the said speedster beamed at once again seeing the younger boy. Trace didn't understand why he was so cheery and jealousy panged in his chest. Get over yourself. He scolded himself mentally.
"At least it's a familiar face."
Archer-girl was also a familiar face but he didn't want to say that, she seemed to be on their side, for now.
"Bee, memory loss?"
"Six months. Wait, Bee?"
"BW, Boy Wonder. Even you've got to admit that name is to long and I can just tell you hate Trace."
"Wait you're Boy Wonder?"
"Yes. Now, let's hog-tie these creeps and compare notes."
Once it was done, the Martian filled them all in, "So we're a team?" He asked sceptical.
"The four of us and Superboy."
"I find that hard to believe." He crossed his arms.
"Me too, don't you work alone." Artemis asked.
"Hey Crock, don't you work for…"
"You're about to get on my bad side already."
"This is his." The Martian smiled taking the ripped shirt from Trace as he withdrew it. "Did you see him?"
"I think we did." Artemis glanced at Wally.
"Feral boy? Some team-mate," he scoffed, "he attacked us."
"He didn't know who we are. I don't know who we are."
"Bee probably does." KF murmured.
"Where's Aqualad, he's not part of the team?" Boy Wonder asked as if in response.
"Who?" Artemis asked.
"We need to call the League." The Martian girl told us sternly, with a hint of fear.
"I remember Batman ordering radio silence." He admitted. "Our team must work for him."
"How do you know we don't work for my mentor?" He stabbed at his own chest and the emblem rippled throughout the whole of his costume, changing the black and red and to the famous flashlight colours Boy Wonder was used to. "Whoa, this is so cool."
Boy Wonder scoffed at the attention span but it was Artemis to give in first, exclaiming, "We look ridiculous." Kid Annoying continued, "Quit touching yourself," she snapped but still Kid Flash continued to watch his suit change colours. "We need our memories back."
The Martian's face hardened and Boy Wonder wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been scrutinising her closely. He had read of the infamous Artemis Crock while going through the League files—but that had been a year ago, from his memory anyway and that was missing the last half a year—he knew too much about Wally West as it was; however, Green Stuff was new. He didn't even have a name to put with the face. He felt it compulsory that at least one of them remained alert and paranoid.
"To help Superboy."
Her hands went to hold her head and eyes glowed white. Boy Wonder straightened an inch—still short though—and slowly let his hand drift to his belt. Her voice echoed through his mind and immediately he shut every wall and defence down around him. The Batman had showed him how to block someone or something out mentally and shield one thought with another if someone was to read his mind. As it was, the Martian had just landed them in some sort of mental landscape with images of their own memories scattered around the three of them.
"I brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far, but I need your help. Together, our broken memories can form a whole, if you open your minds to mine." She said as she took form before them.
She was turned away from them, her hood hid her face and the shadows hid her features. The freckles were gone as the light cast from the shards of memories around them made her skin seem a shade of turquoise. Boy Wonder couldn't shake the feeling of her radiating from her; she was even hiding herself from them. He knew why she was so afraid, afraid of intruding, breaking their trust or failing to help. However, Boy Wonder was afraid that if she did succeed then all his memories would be laid out for her to pick up and inspect as she pleased like a library book.
"You want to paw through our private thoughts."
"I have no wish to intrude but…"
"Hey, my brain's all yours. Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you." He smirked.
"Or underwhelm you," Robin scoffed, and then the thought occurred to him, "Hey why isn't anyone just whelmed?"
"Thanks Dude."
"Past six months only, and only what you need." Artemis warned but conceded anyway.
"Robin? Do I have your consent?"
"No, don't call me that either. I don't know why I chose that name but it was a mistake. You don't want these memories. Now get me out of this place, I can't see behind me." He snapped and they all raised an eyebrow at him.
"Okay…" She sighed, no doubt disappointed that he didn't have her trust but he didn't care tight then.
His surroundings came into view and he sighed in relief. The other three remained in that frozen state. He probed at the box he'd left the GPS marker with as he recapped everything that had happened so far. He had woken up with six months amnesia in Bialya, they were on a mission sent by the League but why? What was the motive? He admitted that he needed the memories but something was stopping him; they were his team then why had he trusted them, what had changed so drastically that left him with… 'friends'.
"Aqualad!" The voice broke Boy Wonder from his thoughts, "Where is he? What happened next?"
"I don't know! That's the last thing I—we remember." She closed her eyes as if she was trying to find more memories, but the she sighed in defeat.
"Do you remember what happened?" Bee asked.
"We landed twenty four hours ago."
"If Kaldur'ahm's been wandering the desert that long, well, that's not good for a guy with gills." KF pointed out with a lot of concern for their leader and old friend.
"Now that I know to look for him…" The Boy Wonder typed commands into his computer and scanned for the Atlantean. "He's close! But he's not moving."
"What about Superboy? 6 months ago, he didn't exist. He has no memories- just animal impulse. I'm the only one who can help him." She panicked.
"Superboy's indestructible. Just ask those tanks. It's Aqualad who needs your help; he needs his memories." Kid Flash tried to argue but Boy Wonder shook his head.
"We cannot do this, Aqualad is clearly your leader and without him you're arguing and fighting each other."
"Then you step up to command."
"KF, recount events."
"We placed this here and scanned for the source of a power surge the Watchtower detected. This is a rogue state…" KF informed him but was soon cut off.
"'…ruled by Queen Bee, and not a member of the League's U.N. Charter.' I know I've hacked the computer."
"Huh, and you remember it word for word?"
"Were we sent just to scan?"
"Batman said 'Find out what happened at that site, what landed there.' So you were right, Batman sent us."
Boy Wonder plugged his glove in and scanned the area again, the League's Watchtower had zeta beam tubes, and so it would be understandable if the power surge would have zeta beam radiation. It wasn't long before the computer beeped and a red dot signalled a hotspot of activity for not just zeta beam radiation but other non-terrestrial energy. With a more detailed scan through the same area, he found a storage cell of solar energy.
"What is that? Superboy is kryptonian, right?"
"Half and half, why?" Artemis crouched by him.
"And kryptonians absorb ultra-voilet waves."
"His Cadmus file had something along those lines."
"Then I think I found him. You can go, but first," he pulled a vial of cactus juice from his belt, "Drink this, I know Martian's aren't used to heat."
"It's Miss Martian, or M'gann but thank you," she drank it quickly and handed it back before flying off with a whip of he cloak; it was clear what she felt for him this 'Superboy', sure, just team-mates.
"Oh, I was going to say, KF go with her, but never mind. We have to find Kaldur'ahm."
"He lets us call him Kaldur."
Boy Wonder only had five spare vials and KF'd had all of them so when the got the chance to restock they were all happy. Boy Wonder was used to being low on fuel and fluids and Artemis was just glad she wasn't in KF's situation. She almost felt sorry for him, then he complained and she got angry again. When they had the last member of their team, they had come to a conclusion pretty soon.
"He needs immediate dehydration, Kaldur, can you hear me, drink this." Boy Wonder told him sternly as he held the vial to the older boy's lips but his only response was jumbled Atlantean. "Note to self: learn basic Atlantean." He murmured.
"Are you joking? How well can you learn a language?" Artemis asked disbelievingly.
"I learnt English and two native languages growing up. Then when studying for this job, I learnt French, German and Spanish; I'm almost fluent in them but they need polishing. And my Mandarin, Vietnamese and Russian are just behind them. What about you?"
"I know Vietnamese, English and basic French. No German at all, my teachers are pulling their hair out every lesson. Not Mr. Simmons though, he doesn't have hair."
"Do you hear that?" KF asked, being the vigilante one for once; sure enough a four-by-four rolled by with men on foot close behind, all looking for something.
They ducked behind the rock where they'd found Aqualad and hushed him when he mumbled, "Kaldur'ahm, quiet now."
"We can't risk a firefight with Aqualad KO'ed like this." Bee whispered furiously and Kid Flash agreed.
"It's not just him. I'm way out of juice."
"And I'm almost out of arrows."
Bee slipped away then, a plan forming in his head to distract the soldiers. He scattered discs that must had been his adaptation of Bat-a-rangs. He searched through his computer for the trigger as he slinked back through the night, ready to return to his team-mates. As it was he could hear them bickering about nothing, maybe he could teach them how to whisper when they had some free time.
"I forgot how much I hate it when he does the ninja thing. Hey, you never said why your dad would want you to ktttk me." He ran a finger across his throat in gesture.
"I got confused by some old movie I saw the other night. About a ninja girl whose ninja dad ordered her to kill her ninja boyfriend 'cause he was from a rival ninja clan."
"So, I'm your ninja boyfriend, huh?"
God, they went from flirting to arguing, how unfocused was their team? Why had he joined?
"Hey, amnesia, remember?" She snapped back, "Completely forgot how truly annoying you are."
"Oh, like you're the goddess of congeniality."
"Yeesh." Bee had sat down and interrupted them when they went back to arguing, "Get a room."
"Dude, where were you?"
In answer, he held up his wrist and the computer showed a massive red button. With narrowed eyes and a hesitant hand, Kid Flash pressed the button and flinched as the discs charged and blew behind them. Bee jumped to his feet and in a swift movement pulled some sort of scroll from the back of his belt. He unrolled it to supply a stretcher, Aqualad was lifted on and Artemis and Kid Flash carried him. Meanwhile, Bee threw down smoke pellets to ensure to get-away was safe.
"I've got Superboy. He's back to normal, and we're on our way." M'gann's voice caught them all by surprise, no one more than Boy Wonder though.
Aqualad did shift though, "Who are you, and how did you get inside my head?" English made it though aloud but the cactus juice hadn't done much for him.
"Hello, Megan. Aqualad's memories! I knew I forgot something."
It literally hurt Boy Wonder to listen to the mental link; it constantly tried to force itself into his head. However, he resisted and that meant his headache was coming back. He refused to let her into his mind, only letting her wander the boundaries so they could talk. The rest of the team could sense him guarding himself and they cast cautious glances. Even Aqualad could sense the defensive position and looked to Kid Flash—the only face he knew—to explain. He only patted his shoulder then froze as he remembered something too.
"Aw, man. Me, too. I didn't get a souvenir from the mission." He winged.
"Don't worry. Got the souvenir thing covered."
It was barely five minutes later when the Bio-ship swung around to land. They boarded and immediately, Boy Wonder asked for an IV drip for the fish out of water. As they flew over Qurac, they knew it safe to contact Batman. The Caped Crusader's face lit the ship, an obvious frown present on his stoic features. He looked over the team, the leader on a drip, Superboy's shirt ripped again, the Martian wiped out and KF slouching in exhaustion, however, Boy Wonder was no different. The Martian, Batman addressed as Miss Martian, took a breath after helping Aqualad's memories to report since the Atlantean couldn't.
They were flying over the Atlantic by the time she had finished. "Psimon has been handed over to the police of Qurac to be placed in a coma ward as of Robin's orders. We were then thanked personally by President Rumaan Harjavti in Dhabar, except Robin; he refused any thanks."
"Have all your memories been restored?"
"No, Robin doesn't want me to delve into his mind." She glanced at him and flinched at his stare, "Sorry, Boy Wonder refuses my help."
"I understand, Boy Wonder, what is the last thing you remember?"
"March."
"Good, and if I second M'gann's reliability, will you trust her then? Or would you rather being at such a disadvantage by not knowing what everyone on your ship does." He persuaded the boy; he knew him to be lost in memories of an orphan waiting in the orphanage for Bruce Wayne to adopt him and save him from his own hell.
"I guess. Okay." He nodded after much thought.
By then Aqualad had then when his strength came to him and his seat moulded for him to be more comfortable. M'gann set the Bio-ship to what could be described as auto-pilot as she pulled everyone in with her telepathic powers and Boy Wonder dropped all of his defences. His memories closed around them.
It started with the funeral, the names of the graves blurred through tears, and then the abuse of the orphanage, looming older kids. The pain from the beatings and the mourning whelmed them as if it was the first time happening. The helplessness and the loneliness consumed him but he heard sobs telling him a team-mate wasn't doing as well. The escape to life on the street, the beginning of Boy Wonder and all the mistakes, guilt and hard training that went along with it as well as the overpowering need to know more, to be faster, to be stronger, to be better at anything for the sake of a goal he didn't even understand.
Justice.
The pessimistic voice that told him it was never going to happen. The feeling when he sliced into his wrist and the pain distracted him from the horrible world he lived in. The suicidal urge to end it; the want to jump, cut deeper or just shut down and let something else kill him, be it the cold, the hunger or a thug similar to the one who took his parents from him. Gotham would never find Justice.
The image of cutting himself burned strongly, yearning to savour that pain and clinging on to that feeling for fear of not being able to feel at all.
Batman stood at the entrance to a warehouse, beckoning him. Warmth replaced misery, and he was swaddled in a blanket, staring down at a mug of hot chocolate one cold night. Music ghosted by his ears it was quiet and relaxing, as he meditated. His own voice could be heard chanting and mumbling in hitched breaths.
"Forget the pain, be strong. Forget the emotions, be calm." He repeated, sobbing before and after each line.
Then that all faded away and a woman's gentle voice could be heard beyond the blackness, "Now, my little Robin, show them all how we can fly."
Even that disappeared and Robin bolted forwards. "Take me back to her, M'gann, take me back."
"I shouldn't, I'm sorry but I don't want to dig around." M'gann sobbed and hid in her camo-mode. While the images and emotions were shared, only Robin understood what was happening and recognised the faces.
Robin glanced at the screen where Batman was watching his every movement, "Mommy." He whispered, eyes wide and brimming with his own tears.
"Sleep, you'll be back here before you know it. Aqualad, rest, and don't touch that IV. M'gann if you…"
Boy Wonder didn't listen to the rest; he just curled up and tried to forget all that was around him. "Forget the pain, be strong. Forget the emotions, be calm."