A huge spacecraft flew towards the Earth, its red and black colors making it look intimidating, as though they were colors of battle . Two Green Lanterns flew towards it at high speed, coming to a halt right in front of it. The Batplane hovered behind them, ready to attack if their 'visitors' proved to be hostile. "Attention, you have entered the boundaries of Earth space. Disengage all weapons and engines. This is your final warning." A sudden beam of light shot out of the ship and headed towards the Lanterns. The two heroes attempted to hold up their shields to block the attack, but it proved to be a useless act. Within seconds, their shields shattered, and they were bathed in bright light. When the beam died out, they were completely gone.

"Code red!" Batman shouted. "Full offensive deploy!" The cargo door to the Batplane opened and Superman, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, and Captain Atom flew out and moved towards the enemy. Two new beams were immediately fired in return, and while Batman was able to get out of the way in time, the other Leaguers were destroyed.

Batman didn't stay lucky for long. One of the beams changed directions, and managed to catch the Batplane in its light. The Dark Knight ejected the control area from the main body in hopes of escape, but a quick fire from the aliens took him out too.

Inside the Mountain, Robin grimaced. Sure, this was only a training scenario, but the thought of losing Batman still stung a little. Apparently, M'gann felt the same, because he felt her project her grief for her uncle for a split second before she quickly pushed it away. Good, it wouldn't do them any good if they started to forget that it wasn't real.

God, if Batman really died, he had no idea what he would do.

Red Tornado ended the live feed from space to speak with Zatara. "Tornado..." the magician sounded mournful. "Did you-"

"Yes, Zatara, we saw. Celestial defenses have failed, initiate all terrestrial measures."

"Affirmative. See you in the field." The call then ended, and the screen disappeared.

Red Tornado turned to look at the gathered teens. "I must join the League. We will protect the planet at all costs, but should we fail, the responsibility falls to you."

Aqualad turned his head and took in his teammates's stern expressions before nodding. "We stand ready."

xXx

"This is Iris West-Allen reporting live." A redhead news reporter announced. "The extraterrestrials have brought their relentless global attack to Central City." Behind her, several citizens were lost in beams of light. One came close to hitting her, but a red blur grabbed her and brought her to safety. As the alien cannon readied to fire again, the sound of gibberish was heard and the scene suddenly moved to the rooftops, where Iris could be seen with the Flash and Zatara.

"You should both be safe here, at least for now." The magician told them.

"Thank you..." she gave the speedster an odd look, as though she wanted to say something else but decided to keep herself from doing so. "...Flash. And Zatara." Flash gently touched her arm for reassurance before racing back to the fight with Zatara following closely behind. "Denny, you okay?" A thumbs up appeared on screen, and she smiled in relief before addressing her audience once again. "As you can see, the Justice League is attempting to hold the line." The camera moved to look at a distant building where the two Leaguers were attempting to rescue screaming citizens. A sudden beam shot through the air and struck them, adding them to the list of fallen heroes. Iris gasped, "No..."

"Iris! Iris, get out of there!" A blonde woman in the news station screamed as an alien ship aimed at the reporter. Seconds later, the footage went to pure static. "...I'm sorry, we're experiencing technical difficulties. We take you now to a devastated Taipei," The tv showed the image of a once beautiful city being attacked at all directions, smoke rising from several buildings, "where another League contingent is having a bit more luck."

Four Leaguers were stationed there, each of them launching their attacks without any form of restraint, aiming to kill and not to cripple. Soon after they appeared on screen, they met the same fate as their fallen comrades. The blonde news lady's eyes softened. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've lost Black Canary, Green Arrow, and the Hawks. Other heroes reported dead or missing include Batman, Ikkon, Atom, and Aquaman."

The Team shifted their attention to view Woman and Red Tornado's battle. Soon after they began to watch, Wonder Woman fell, leaving Red on his own. "Red Tornado to Cave. I fear that I am all that remains of the League."

Robin watched as a canon was aimed towards him. "RT!" He shouted, but the android was still caught in the beam. The acrobatic winced, but quickly reminded himself that it wasn't real, that Red was perfectly fine, and so was Batman and everyone else.

"We are Earth's heroes now," Aqualad declared, standing tall.

Superboy turned to look at him. "So what are we waiting for, a theme song?"

"A strategy. Earth weapons are ineffective, and it has been made tragically clear a direct attack will not succeed."

They would have to think outside the box for this one. "Checking satellite imagery." A 3D image of the Earth appeared before them, clusters of red dots displaying the known locations of their opponents. "Here's where the aliens are now."

Connor frowned and pointed to a lone dot. "This one get lost?"

Robin squinted at the area; he knew that specific spot was somehow significant. He then remembered when Batman told him about Superman's version of a Bat Cave, and his eyes widened. "It's Superman's Fortress of Solitude!"

Superboy blinked. "Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?"

Oh, that's right... Connor probably didn't know about that. That must have hit a nerve. "It's power source must be attracting the aliens's attention, at least enough to send a scout ship to investigate."

The clone boy scowled and turned away. "Must be some fortress..."

"Connor..." M'gann rested a gentle hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away.

"No, it's okay. I guess there's a lot about Superman I'll never know," he said softly, a hint of his usual anger laced in his words.

Aqualad stared at the red dot on the globe. "We must target this lone ship."

"Yeah!" KF curled his hands into fists. "Break it down, build more! Let's hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo!"

Artemis scowled and smacked his arm, making him yelp. "Hello, Martian and Kryptonian in the house!"

Connor and M'gann did not look amused, and Wally smiled at them sheepishly. "Uh, not that all aliens are automatically ugly..." he said lamely, and Robin snorted.

"At least your feet are faster than your brain," he teased with a smirk.

"Dude!"

xXx

As the Team flew to where the lone ship was located, Aqualad went over their strategy, and Robin and Artemis were requested to make sure all of their weapons were working properly.

"Hey Rob, can't you just use that chip thing of yours to break down the alien technology?" KF asked.

Robin stopped sharpening his birdarang, pausing as everyone turned to look at him. "Well, um, I've never tried doing that to extraterrestrial technology before, and it might be too big for me to totally break down. Sorry guys, but with the limited time we have, I wouldn't put all of your hopes on me."

Aqualad nodded. "It was a good idea, but if you do not believe that you are capable of doing so, we will not push you."

His fingers tightened their hold on the birdarang, and he nodded stiffly. He didn't exactly lie- he was certain that he wouldn't be able to take down an alien ship on his own, but he also left out the part that he couldn't even hack a laptop if he wanted to. A malfunctioning chip meant that he wouldn't be doing anything technology related without the use of his holo glove, unfortunately...

Someone poked his shoulder suddenly, and he turned his head to see Kid staring at him worriedly. "Dude, are you okay?"

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" He relaxed his grip on his weapons immediately, hoping that the chip thing didn't come up. He did not want the Team to know that the only thing that made him useful wasn't working properly.

"Well, uh, it's just..." Wally lowered his voice. "You kinda have a history with... you know, parents dying. And seeing Bats like that, well..."

Robin glanced away. "This is different."

"I know that, but I thought that seeing that must have brought up old memories."

[Snap!]

[CRUNCH!]

"...I barely remember that part of my life." He ran a gloved finger over his birdarang thoughtfully. "And sure, I've always had some sort of fear of Bats either dying on me or kicking me out, but I'm okay right now."

Wally nodded. "Okay, good. Just tell me if things get too much, alright?"

"Yeah, sure..." Robin finally turned to look at him. "Are you okay? You saw your aunt and uncle die on tv."

The speedster looked solemn. "Yeah, it's cool." He looked down. "It's just weird to think about what would happen if... you know."

Robin sighed. "Trust me, I know."

xXx

Robin watched from a distance as Artemis ducked behind a cluster of tall rocks, wearing a white coat to both protect her from the cold and provide her with camouflage. While she prepared herself to strike, the invisible Miss Martian flew towards the lone ship and used her telekinesis to pull its radio device off. "Communications disabled." She told them through the mind link as the ship fell to the ground. "Propulsion disabled."

Artemis rose from her hiding spot and shot a foam arrow at the ship's door. The aliens responded by shooting in the direction that the projectile came from, but the archer ducked to avoid the attack. "And ETs are sealed inside."

Aqualad suddenly shot out of the ice and flew into the air to land on top of the ship. The alien cannon swerved to shoot at the extra weight, but was stopped by a growling Wolf and Superboy. Kid Flash then arrived at the scene as well, and Robin jumped off of his back to join their other teammates. A quick touch of a button brought his holo glove back up, showing him the ship's weak points. "Identifying weapon's structural stress points and links to the ship. Here, here, and here," he pointed to the correct areas, and Miss Martian nodded before attacking the indicated spots to weaken them. Superboy then pulled at the weapon, deaf to the whining sound it produced. Robin frowned and looked back at his glove, but it showed no signs of there being a problem. Huh...

All of a sudden, Wolf surged forward and rammed into his Master to get him out of the way, and was lost in a beam of light. Superboy stared after him in shock, eyes wide with surprise and sadness.

"Wolf..." M'gann said with sorrow.

Robin promptly ignored the grief he felt for the fallen animal. Not real, he reminded himself sternly. Wolf was completely fine. "There was no indication of feedback." He looked at Superboy. "I'm sorry."

Superboy brought his gaze away from the icy ground. "Can't do anything for him now.." he returned to his place on the ship, and yanked the weapon off with a grunt. "Let's go." He and Miss Martian jumped over to what looked like empty air, but was actually the invisible bioship.

Miss Martian knelt and put her hands on her ship, beginning the process of giving her a new weapon. "Rerouting systems to integrate weapon into ship's biomatrix. We'll need to decamouflage for a few minutes."

Just then, Robin caught sight of two new aliens ships coming towards them in the air. "Might not have a few minutes."

"Miss Martian, open fire!" Aqualad shouted.

"Can't. Weapon systems are offline to incorporate the new cannon. And that's not fully integrated yet, either!"

"Gotcha covered, get inside!" Artemis shouted, shooting three arrows at the approaching enemy. "I'm almost there!" The arrows hit their targets, and the ships crashed into the icy terrain as the blonde rushed to safety. Time seemed to slow down as one of the ships' cannons slowly turned to aim at the retreating figure.

"Artemis, behind you!" M'gann warned. Artemis turned around and readied another arrow, only to disappear in a beam of light. "ARTEMIS!"

"Artemis!" Kid Flash shrieked in an echo, eyes wide in disbelief.

And just like that, everything shattered, and Robin's mouth fell open as waves of grief hit him like a tidal wave, ripping away the cocoon of denial he wrapped himself in to hide from reality. Oh God, Artemis was... dead. Realization finally settled in: the entire League was dead. Batman was dead. The strength of both his and M'gann's projected sadness made his knees weaken, and bile rose in his throat. Everyone was gone. The Team was alone in their fight against evil. Bruce was gone and Dick had no one.

"Report to Deathstroke," his chip suddenly told him, and he nearly laughed. Oh, now the damn thing was working. And out of all the advice it could give him...

Aqualad suddenly brought out his water whips. "Inside, all of you," he ordered before jumping down and launching a deadly attack on the ships. Robin felt his stomach rebel against him; Kaldur was fighting to kill.

KF growled as the Atlantian joined them again. "They're dead! Every single alien, if it's the last thing I do!" Robin's breath hitched. Not Wally too...

He then stilled. What if he had to kill too?

xXx

The ride in the bioship was filled with almost complete grief, the new empty seat's presence weighing heavily on their minds. Kaldur and Connor stared out of the ship's visor with lost eyes, Robin remained as stoic as possible, M'gann bowed her head while quietly sobbing to herself, and Wally pounded his fists against the control panel with vengeful anger.

After letting the Team grieve for long enough, Kaldur stood. "There will be a time to mourn later. Now we have a mission to do: defend the Earth, and ensure Artemis's sacrifice was not made in vain."

Robin's jaw set, and he forcefully pushed his panic and the rest of his emotions to the side. Kaldur was right, they couldn't afford to lose themselves when the fate of the Earth still rested on their shoulders.

God... the fate of the Earth rested on their shoulders... That was not whelming. Not at all.

"Back to the Cave?" M'gann asked softly.

"The Hall of Justice. The human race must know there are still heroes defending him. There is still hope."

...For a symbol of hope, Robin sure felt hopeless...

When the Team arrived at their destination, it was to witness a branch of military attempt to fend off another attack. At Aqualad's command, Miss Martian opened the bottom hatch of the bioship, and Superboy jumped down onto an alien ship below, immediately taking out its cannon. Miss M then used her newly installed weapon to attack the other two ships, destroying them with their own fire.

...M'gann was killing too?

This was war, Robin suddenly realized, gripping his seat tightly. This wasn't just training in the Bat Cave, or a simple patrol in Gotham City. The Team weren't just superheroes anymore, they were soldiers in the battle field. Robin glanced at his comrades and felt his gaze soften. The probability of all of them surviving until the end were slim. Artemis was not their first loss, and she would not be their last.

The question was: who was next?

As the bioship landed, and the door opened to reveal the young heroes, several soldiers roared in triumph as they took in their uniforms. "See, it is Superman," someone said happily. "I told you he wouldn't leave us here alone!"

The other man looked unsure. "I dunno... He looks kinda young. Where's the cape?"

"I'm not Superman," Superboy said gruffly.

The general came forward with a smile of gratitude. "I don't know who you are, son, and right now, I don't care. You wear the 'S,' and you got the job done."

"...I'm not Superman."

"Tell that to the enemy." He turned to Aqualad and saluted. "General Wade Eiling, U.S. Air Force."

"Aqualad, Justice League. We'll help you savage as many of the aliens' cannons as possible," a look of determination crossed his face. "Then, we start taking back what is ours."

xXx

Inside the Hall of Justice, the League's statues lay crumbled on the ground. Robin caught sight of the one of Batman, and felt his grief consume him once again. "They're really gone," he said, more to himself than the others. Part of him still didn't want to believe his mentor- his father, even- was gone. It wasn't fair! Bruce and him only just met a few months prior, and now Bruce was gone. Robin wanted to scream and burst into tears, demand to a higher power that his dad was returned to him, but he held back. His priority had to be the Mission.

Shouldn't it? That's what both of his past mentors taught him- to disregard all emotions until you were out of the field...

He was suddenly unsure.

Robin watched as Miss Martian flew to the fallen statue of her uncle, collapsing on her knees and letting out a quiet sob. The acrobat was tempted to join her, but refrained. Mission. Remember the mission. That was the important thing.

All of a sudden, the martian girl stiffened and flew away, using her telekinesis to lift the statue off of the ground.

... And there was Martian Manhunter, holding his head and looking frazzled.

"Uncle J'onn!" M'gann exclaimed, throwing the stone to the side and rushing to the male with her ams outstretched.

Aqualad came between them, looking at the Leaguer with distrust. "M'gann, check his mind. Make sure he is whom he appears to be."

"It's him, he's real. And he's alive!"

Superboy frowned suspiciously at the martian man. "But we saw you get disintegrated. You and Superman... and everyone!"

"Yes, I remember." With M'gann's assistance, J'onn stood, rubbing his head. "But I cannot remember how I survived, or how I arrived here."

M'gann smiled. "Maybe you were density shifting, and the beam passed right through you!"

Robin nodded shortly. "Which could have scrambled your brains along the way." He felt a stab of resentment, but ignored it. He was happy that J'onn made it, he really was...

But Batman had to powers that could have been used to save him.

"My mind is clouded. I feel certain I had something important to tell you."

KF suddenly smacked his head. "Hello Wally! Come on!"

The Team shared an odd look but followed Wally outside, where the speedster made Robin scan the weapon system. Ah, that's what he was so excited about. Knowing where his friend's thoughts were heading, Robin winced. "I knew it, look! It's giving off zanopenes, the same stuff that powers our Zeta Tubes! This thing doesn't disintegrate, it teleports. Artemis is alive!"

Robin frowned. Zeta Beam technology didn't automatically mean that it was being used for teleportation. The most innocent things could easily be turned into weapons, he knew. Just look at the Joker; the man used child-like gag items and turned them into deadly weapons. Robin knew that Kid Flash was aware of this as well, but grief must have made him blind to logic. "Maybe, but-"

"No 'maybe,' they're all alive!"

While the idea of Batman being alive was definitely something he wanted to believe, he wouldn't let himself have any false hopes. Everyone was dead, and he knew it.

"That must've been what you wanted to tell us!" M'gann said to her uncle. Robin refrained from sighing out loud. Was everyone in denial?

Before Manhunter could reply, another squad of alien ships appeared in the skies, firing their lasers at the building. The Team immediately ducked behind the nearest vehicle for cover while Aqualad spoke, "We are our way," he announced.

"Negative," Robin argued, eyeing the number of enemies swarming the area. "We can't win this. Miss Martian, camo the bioship."

A sudden beam then struck said ship, and both of the martians fell to the ground with groans of pain. "M'gann!" Superboy rushed to her side and pulled her into her arms.

The martian girl was in total shock. "That didn't feel like..."

Robin growled. Just as he expected, there wasn't any teleportation involved. If M'gann felt the bioship die on her, then he did not need any more proof. "We're falling back."

The Team and what was left of the Airforce ran inside, and the general sighed as he took note of the walls surrounding them. "We're trapped."

"Maybe not," Aqualad said thoughtfully, and led them into the library. "We can all Zeta to the Cave if you can grant us access to the Tubes," this was directed to J'onn.

"I can only authorize one at a time."

Kaldur nodded. "Send the soldiers first."

"Belay that! You six are assets we cannot afford to lose," the general argued forcefully.

After a second of indecisiveness, Aqualad nodded again.

Martian Manhunter moved closer to the Tube, and stood still as it scanned him. "Override: Martian Manhunter, 07."

"Recognized. Access granted." The Tube scanned Miss M next. "Miss Martian, B05."

Kaldur gently urged Robin to go next, and the acrobat hesitantly came forward, though his instincts were screaming that he should stay in case something happened. "Robin, B01." He slowly walked into the Tube, hearing the system announce Kid Flash's name next. After a second of bright light, he was in the familiar setting of the Cave.

He didn't have time to do anything but blink as Kid Flash literally flew into him, sending them both onto the floor. In an instant, Wally was off of him and helping him back up to his feet. "We have to go back!" The speedster shouted.

"...Why?" He asked, still held up on the fact that Wally flew into him.

"Kaldur and everyone else are being attacked!"

M'gann gasped from a few feet away. "No, Connor!" She rushed back to the Tube, but Robin stopped her.

"Didn't you hear the General back there? We are assets that the world can't afford to lose. I'm sorry, but we're not going anywhere. If Connor and Kaldur make it, then great, but we can't risk our lives to save theirs."

"Dude..." Kid narrowed his eyes. "We can't just sacrifice our friends like that!"

"Then don't think of them as friends. Here and now, they're just our teammates, and we can't let our emotions stop us from saving the world. The Mission has to be our priority."

Wally's mouth fell open. "How could you even say that?!" He paused, then a defiant expression formed on his face. "Wait, never mind. Nearly forgot I was talking to the assassin kid."

Robin's anger flared, and the lights in the room flickered as his chip responded. "It's Batman's kid, actually," he snapped, pushing him back. "And apparently, I'm the only person in this room who knows what he's doing!"

Kid Flash snarled and was probably going to hit him when the Tube announced another arrival. "Private Jason Bard. USMC." A soldier stepped out of the light, an awed expression forming as he took in his surroundings. "Superboy, B04." the clone came in soon after. He suddenly halted in his tracks, and spun around just in time to catch Martian Manhunter, who fell in backwards.

"Uncle J'onn! Connor!" M'gann flew towards them and caught them both in a tight hug, relief evident on her face.

Robin froze. Manhunter was supposed to come in after everyone else, but they were still missing a major teammate. "Where's Aqualad?"

The rest of the Team mimicked Robin's expression, already expecting what his answer would be. Manhunter sighed and shook his head sadly. No. Not... not Kaldur. That meant- "The leadership of this Team now falls to you, Robin."

The acrobat swallowed thickly. Okay, now he was the responsible one. He had to make all of the decisions. Most of the Earth's weight had moved from Kaldur's shoulders to his, and he could not let himself be overwhelmed. "...Then as my first act as leader, I will plan our next objective." He lifted his head high to display the confidence he definitely did not have, and led everyone to the mission debriefing room. "Our next mission is clear," Robin told what was left of his Teammates. "If we believe the aliens have been teleporting their victims-"

"We do," Kid put in.

Robin ignored the interruption and pulled up a map on his holo glove. "-then the only reasonable detention facility is here:" A screen appeared in front of them, displaying the image of the same ship that killed the first group of Leaguers. "The mother ship, atop of what used to be Smallville." He put his glove away and turned to J'onn. "Ring any bells?"

The Martian stood. "No, I'm sorry."

He was now very certain that everyone was very dead, but no one else seemed to be able to grasp that concept yet. He wouldn't push them; they would have to come to terms with it themselves. "Superboy, you'll create a distraction."

"No!" M'gann gave Robin a glare before looking at her boyfriend. "He's offering you as a sacrifice!" Robin winced at that word, the title of 'assassin boy' still fresh in his mind. "Aqualad would never do that!"

"You're right," he said quietly. "Aqualad would sacrifice himself, a mistake that just cost us our leader." And if Robin did the same, then who would lead next? The impulsive Kid Flash? The easily angered Superboy? The overly emotional Miss Martian? No, Robin had to lead them for as long as he could. "Superboy is the most likely to be perceived as a threat, motivating the aliens to deploy."

Wally gave them a reassuring look. "Worst case, he's teleported inside and we set him free along with Artemis. And, uh, Aqualad... and everyone."

Robin turned away. If only that was the case...

xXx

After sending a worldwide message to the surviving humans, and stocking up on whatever supplies they needed, the Team used the Mountain's Batwing to fly to Smallville, with Robin piloting since he was the only one who knew how to operate it. Being in the familiar plane only reminded Robin of his loss, and he just barely managed to keep himself together. After they destroyed the mother ship, then he would allow himself to cave and let out his built up depression. For now, he would have to continue fighting.

"Dick..." Kid whispered from next to him. Robin stiffened at the use of his civilian name, but relaxed when he remembered that M'gann and Connor were in the back. Superboy could probably hear them, but the chances of him actually caring enough to look for his identity were slim.

Besides, with what was going on right now, how important could identities be anymore?

"What?" He asked, remembering their argument at the Mountain not too long ago.

"...I'm sorry for what I said. I was angry at everything, and I took it out on you. You're not an assassin, you're a hero who listened to logic instead of your feelings, and I should have listened."

Robin stayed silent for a minute before sighing. "No, you were right. A part of me will always be that assassin kid trained by Deathstroke." Before Wally could protest, he continued. "No, I don't kill, and I don't do anything that could define me as evil, but I still have the mindset that was forced on me. But you know what? I'm okay with it." He closed his eyes momentarily. "Sometimes, remembering how I was punished for expressing emotion in battle is the only reason why I won't break down crying. I'm glad I still have that mindset, or I wouldn't be able to make the hard decisions."

"Dude..."

"Don't. Don't feel bad for me, because I don't need to hear it." He opened his gave him a fierce look. "Don't pity me when my past is the only thing holding me together."

Wally frowned. "...Was there anything nice about your life in Cadmus? I know you don't like to talk about it, but if something happens out there... I want to be able to say I actually knew you."

Robin gave him a small grin. "Honestly KF, you probably know me more than Bruce did." His smile wavered for a fraction of a second, but he fought to keep it up. "And no, there probably wasn't anything 'nice' about living there. The food sucked, it was always dark..." he wrinkled his nose. "And then there was that goddamn costume... Always hated that thing..."

Kid snorted. "Yeah, your new one is definitely an improvement." His eyes caught sight of the distant object on the horizon, and he sighed. "Well, it's time..." he looked at him oddly. "Hey, quick question. If you survive this, do you have a girlfriend waiting for you back in Gotham? 'Cause there's this girl named Zatanna... I think you'd like her."

The acrobat shook his head. "I already have someone I'm interested in... but thanks."

"If I survive, you're telling me about her. Deal?"

Robin chuckled. "Deal."

The plane landed far enough away from the ship to avoid being detected, and the Team quickly exited. They would be lucky if any of them survived through the night, and Robin had already accepted that he wouldn't make it. Being the only teammate without powers meant that it was more likely for him to fall in battle than the others.

...And he was surprisingly okay with that.

"Stay close to J'onn," Robin whispered to M'gann when they were near the mother ship. "He's still..." He gave her a pointed look, and she nodded in understanding. "First team, deploy!" The two martians took off into the air, taking each other's hand before disappearing.

"Ready, in position," she told them after a few minutes.

Superboy looked at Robin, and at his nod the clone jumped onto the ship's rooftop, grabbing one of their cannons. Robin frowned. "Careful, don't disconnect the power source," he warned.

Superboy obeyed, and did not pull it any further. "All right, you glorified trespassers! You want to see how a real alien fights?!" Two beams shot out of the weapon, and destroyed nearby cannons. Several cargo doors of the mother ship then opened, and dozens of smaller ships flew out in retaliation. "Now or never."

Robin climbed onto Kid Flash's back, and the speedster gripped his legs before moving towards the ship at full speed. The redhead didn't slow down as he launched himself and his passenger over a large cliff, and into a newly opened entrance. Their landing wasn't very smooth, but they were both able to roll to avoid damage, and uncurl into an immediate sprint.

They ducked behind a wall just as a couple of scouter ships flew by. "Way's clear, go!" They were able to run another fifteen feet before they had to hide behind a thick beam to avoid being seen again.

All of a sudden, a scouter on their other side that they didn't notice fell to the ground, destroyed by one of the martians before it could alert the others. Robin swallowed; if they had been caught so soon, the entire mission would have failed.

Swearing to himself that he would be more careful, he continued.

The four of them snuck through the interior of the ship without interruption for a while, but then Miss Martian suddenly groaned and became visible again. "No... He's gone." She fell to her knees, eyes squeezed shut.

Connor...

"It's alright." KF put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find him with Artemis, I know it."

"No." Manhunter lowered his head. "My mind is clearer now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility, no prisoners to rescue. Our mission holds no purpose."

Kid scowled and grabbed him by the front of his cape. "No, you're wrong! The Zeta radiation proves she's alive! She's-"

Robin grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back, giving him the sternest look he could muster. "Stop it KF! I've been scanning for Team and League signals since we got inside. They're not here. Artemis is gone." He watched as Wally's expression morphed from furious to anguished. He must really love her, he realized with a blink. And now he must regret not being able to tell her. "...But our mission still holds purpose, to destroy this mother ship." He gave him a meaningful stare before turning around and continuing what he set out to do. Bruce, Artemis, Kaldur, Connor... they can't have died for nothing. He will make sure of that.

After a few more minutes of avoiding scouters, the remaining Team members arrived in a large room with a large glowing sphere being held in the middle. Robin quickly checked his computer, which confirmed his suspicions. "This is the power core. Blow this and the whole mother ship blows." Nodding, the others raced with him towards the orb, jumping onto a platform high above it as the got closer.

A sudden pull of gravity pulled Robin sideways without his permission, making his eyes widen. The core was magnetic?! The way his feet were pulled out from under him when he tried to resist just about confirmed it, and his hands fruitlessly tried to get a grip on something. Kid Flash raced towards him and attempted to grab his hand to pull him back to safety, but he too ended up being pulled off of the platform.

Then, they were falling.

["The Flying Graysons!"]

[Snap!]

[CRUNCH!]

Robin narrowed his eyes and used his free hand to pull out his grapple gun. Sorry universe, but there would be no falling Graysons today. He fired grapple, which hooked onto a platform above them and halted their descend. Miss Martian and her uncle landed close to where it stuck, and M'gann used her powers to gently lower Robin and Kid Flash onto the core.

Robin immediately unbuckled the belts wrapped around his torso and set the explosives on the orb. As he did this, KF gave him a look of realization. "You knew. You knew from the beginning why we were really here."

Robin ignored him, activating the timer. "Four minutes and counting. Let's go."

"...We'll talk later, then."

When they returned to where they came in from, the doors slid shut to deny them exit. "Perfect," KF said sarcastically. He then stiffened as a sound was heard, and they all turned around to be greeted by robots. Robin rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being disintegrated, and ducked for cover besides Kid Flash.

Robin glanced at his timer. "Sixty seconds and counting. Manhunter, take Miss Martian and go."

"No!" M'gann immediately protested. "I won't leave you!"

"That's an order. We'll follow as soon as we blow those doors." They had no possible way of escaping at this point, but she didn't need to know that. M'gann bit her lip but nodded, leaving with her uncle as Robin forced himself to come to terms with his own demise. Sure, KF might be able to learn how to vibrate his molecules in the next twenty five seconds, but Robin had no powers.

So like his equally powerless mentor, he was going to die.

Heart beating loudly, Robin brought out his holo computer, which showed him and Wally that they only had ten precious seconds before...

He deactivated the computer, and met his friend's eyes. Wally nodded to him slowly 'It's been an honor' being silently communicated between them. Robin pulled out his explosive disks and nodded in return, before turning the corner and flinging one at the nearest opponent, a lifeless cackle echoing throughout the ship.

Sure, last week he wouldn't have ever guessed that he would die today, but fighting off robots with his best friend wasn't the worst way to go.

"Danger alert, priority alpha." His chip warned, and then everything exploded in painful flame.

Everything ended...

...except it didn't.

The darkness that Robin had assumed was death was suddenly replaced by the familiar Cave ceiling as his eyes flew open. "Wha-" he sat up quickly, and saw his teammates doing the same around him. His mouth went dry, and his heartbeat picked up as he saw Batman standing not too far away. Bruce.

"You're all alive!" He heard M'gann exclaim, and his breath caught in his throat. He... he didn't die?

"What happened in there?" Batman asked J'onn. Robin stared at his mentor, the silent 'HOW?' ringing in his ears.

"The exercise... It all went wrong."

"...Exercise?" Robin repeated, digging his fingertips into the metal underneath him to keep himself grounded. Deep breaths. Inhale, exhale.

Batman turned to look at him. "Try to remember. What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter psychically linked the six of you within an artificial reality. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise."

Robin's eyes widened. He... he remembered that. None of the Team's mentors were supposed to tell their proteges that the exercise was a failsafe, but Bruce told him anyways to decrease the chance of him having a panic attack when things took a downturn.

"No matter what the Team accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still, you were aware nothing was real, including the deaths of the entire Justice League." That explained why Robin didn't mourn for Batman for the longest of times...

"That is why you hardly grieved, even Wolf was disintegrated before your very eyes," J'onn explained. "But all that changed when Artemis died." Robin glanced at the archer, whose eyes remained glued to the floor. "Though consciously Miss Martian knew it was not real, her subconscious mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise and her subconscious took control, making all of you forget, too."

M'gann looked around the room with regretful eyes. "I-I'm so sorry."

"This isn't her fault!" Connor shouted in her defense. "Why didn't you just stop the exercise?!"

J'onn sighed. "We tried, but M'gann had a death grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should have awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had passed she slipped into a coma. I realized I would have to rest control from Miss Martian's subconscious control from within, but upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was too much... noise to think clearly, to remember why I was there.

"The deaths of Aqualad and Superboy helped, but only when the mother ship exploded, and Robin and Kid Flash were silenced-" a steady hand fell on Robin's shoulder, and he looked up to see a flicker of emotion cross his mentor's masked face "-did my mind clear enough to remember my true purpose: to shock M'gann out of the exercise before your comas became permanent." J'onn lowered his head sadly, and Robin closed his eyes as he leant against the comforting presence of his mentor. "My apologies. I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous... so damaging." Robin shivered and gripped the sleeves of his jacket.

He wasn't dead. Batman wasn't dead either. Everyone was... alive.

And while he should have been jumping for joy, all he could feel was the built up emotions that he refused to let out earlier.

xXx

"I'm going to change out, and then we're going to talk," Bruce told Dick as he sat him down on the chair in front of the Bat Computer. The boy didn't respond, but he was sure that he heard, and slowly left to the changing area.

He had to admit that he had started panicking the minute Miss Martian took control of the exercise, and when Manhunter told him that the Team became unaware that everything wasn't real. Oh, the panic attacks that Dick was sure to experience, and the endless nightmares he would likely have after they were pulled out of that mess. He had spent the duration of the time it took Manhunter to get them out monitoring the Team's health and pacing the room, not liking that he had no control over the situation whatsoever.

And then he nearly lost it when Robin slipped into a coma, even if it only lasted a minute or so. Dick hanging in between life and death like that did not sit well with the detective, and he would have drove himself insane if Manhunter didn't succeed in his mission soon after. That kid nearly died on him, and he couldn't even do anything about it! There would be no more virtual realities from this point forward, no matter what anyone said. Dick was not allowed to participate in anything like that ever again, not if it meant losing him.

As Bruce finally finished pulling his civilian clothes on, the power went out, taking away his vision. Since it was stormy outside, he didn't question it at first, but when the emergency generator didn't immediately kick in he froze. No matter what kind of weather Gotham had, the emergency generator always worked.

Someone had to have deactivated the emergency generator. And since Alfred knew not to touch it and Dick didn't know it existed, there likely was an intruder.

Bruce scrambled back to the main room, where his son was left alone. "Dick?!" There was no reply, but Bruce could sense the child was exactly where he left him. As he got closer, his earlier panic faded away enough for him to finally hear the quiet sobs the boy was making. "Chum?"

The lights turned back on just as Alfred hurried into the room. "Master Bruce? Thank heavens... When the power went out and remained that way, I was certain there was an intruder." He blinked as Robin came into view. "Sir?"

"I think I know what happened to the power," Bruce said quietly, watching Dick bury his face into his hands as he continued to cry. The billionaire narrowed his eyes as the lights flickered and the Bat Computer sparked. Bruce's gaze softened when the boy's sobs became louder and he scooped up the distressed child, holding him close. "It's okay now, Dick. You need to calm down."

Dick sniffed in response. "Sorry..."

"Don't be. We'll talk tomorrow; I have a feeling you could use some rest." He then carried the boy upstairs and up to his room, laying him down on his bed and making sure he was completely wrapped up in blankets. Dick seemed to have fallen asleep on the way there, so Bruce simply removed his mask instead of making him change out completely. He looked absolutely terrible...

"Master Bruce?" Alfred said when he returned to the Cave, sounding worried. "I'm sorry, but what in the world happened to Master Dick?"

Bruce set the mask down on his computer panel, and quietly told him what happened during the failsafe mission. "And when we came here, I guess he finally broke down." He ran a hand over his face, and collapsed on the chair. "Manhunter is concerned over the power his niece possesses, and now Dick showed me how much he can do with just a little chip in his brain. Alfred... You and I both know it takes a lot to take out the backup generator. I designed it to be able to withstand almost anything, and Dick took it out by crying. If something really set him off, who knows what he'd do? Without control over his abilities, he could kill someone."

Alfred took this all in silently, and did not speak for the longest of times. "...Then you must train him to control those abilities."

"How?! He can hack into things just fine, but he only breaks things when he has a strong emotional response! What do you suggest I do, Alfred, scar him for life once a week until he has full control over himself?!"

"You know that is not what I'm suggesting at all, sir." He frowned at him. "I feel as though there is something else on your mind, Master Bruce, and I suspect you should get it off your chest now before you accidentally lash out at the more emotionally vulnerable."

No, he most certainly did not want to snap at Dick. Bruce took in a deep breath before speaking again, "Alfred... Manhunter told me he gave Dick a mental look over when he wasn't paying attention, and the same results came back as last time: Dick doesn't have any other abilities besides hacking. It's impossible for him to do anything else, yet he does!"

"But why does this worry you so much? I don't believe it is because of his lack of control; you know that there has to be a way to train him. So what is bothering you, if I may ask?"

"...I have a feeling that this ability of his shouldn't be used at all; it's bad news." He closed his eyes. "I have a hunch that this has something to do with Deathstroke, and the last thing I want is for Dick to be hurt because of it."

xXx

AN: Over seven thousand words. Sheesh, this is one long chapter.

Robin: *glares* Seriously, I turned off the power? Why didn't I have this ability when I was fighting those stupid androids?!

Me: *laughs* Because I'm evil Robbie, plain and simple.

So, uh, yeah we're starting to get into the really fun stuff! Fun as in: emotionally scarring, and probably very depressing, but if you've gotten this far you obviously enjoy reading sad stories, so don't complain!

See you all next chapter!

(PS: those who read Differences in Grief should notice something interesting) ~^-^~