Beyond the Night: Beyond the Team (Young Justice/Teen Titans fanfic)

Asterous Start

The mission certainly started off asterous.

Zatanna saying, "don't let that make you nervous" definitely made him nervous, yet Batman came on screen right after that in order to debrief them regarding their mission. He was sure, despite the fact Bruce hadn't reacted, that the man could see right through him. No, he didn't fear Batman. He feared over-protective Bruce Wayne who could ground him but get Alfred onboard with the treatment as well.

That was far more asterous than Batman, for sure.

"As you recollect, prior to the teams founding, those of you with mentors helped take down a set of ice villains. It has come to our attention they built an ice fort, so we are sending the team in for a reconnaissance mission. Let me repeat this is a recon sense mission. Do not engage, period."

A silence fell over the team. None of them were asking questions, yet Robin knew there was an important one to ask. Or maybe he asked to quickly, he honestly didn't know, considering how asterous he right now felt, particularly since he didn't want anyone to suspect he was the leader of the Teen Titans. "Who's giving orders?"

"You decide."

Asterous, as something told him Roy would want to be leader, meaning he'd be sidelined due to Red Arrow treating him like a child. Batman signed out, and Robin flipped the switches, preparing the craft to fly. The ship teetered slightly, yet hit nothing, simply catching the others off guard slightly. Only, Wally had to open his big mouth. "Man. You do have a crush on..."

"I do not!" Robin swung around, not paying attention to the controls. The ship began to spin.

The next thing he heard was a slight crunch and Kaldur yelling, "Robin!"

He quickly corrected, before checking for damage. His face burned red, knowing full well this mistake would get back to Batman, and he'd find himself grounded for weeks. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the look on Zatanna's face, one of concern, even if he couldn't see the rest of the team. He also noticed she'd gotten knocked over slightly but was regaining her balance.

Mentally, he cursed at himself, but found himself glad Raven wasn't there to hear what was going on in his head.

Pushing this into the back of his mind, he flew the ship to the location indicated, a place in the north, and set it down. Zatanna stood looking towards the back, placing a hand on Robin's shoulder. "I'm not going with you, as I expect the five of you to function as a team. In that regard, do keep in radio contact. I'll only interfere if you need help, but don't be afraid to ask for help if you get in over your heads."

"Whatever." Roy commented. Robin couldn't help but feel the last part of Zatanna's comment was directed at him, particularly since she was staring at him.

"What?"

Zatanna blinked. "Sorry. I was just thinking..."

"What?" Robin held back lashing out. He'd already found himself reacting too much for his liking today, to all sorts of emotional stimuli.

"No. I..."

"Come on. Spit it out."

"I shouldn't. I really shouldn't." Zatanna shook her head, sucking in her cheeks ever so slightly.

Robin smiled at her. "Come on. I can handle it."

"I'm not sure..."

His smile turned to a bat glare, making her swallow.

"You really don't want me to."

"Come on. Robin said he could handle it. The polite thing to do is to say what you're thinking." Superboy piped up.