The screen in the room went dark abruptly. Batman looked at it in confusion, as did the Justice League and the Young Justice. Everyone was surprised by the sudden cut in power. Then it turned back on again, only to show the Joker in its place. Someone gasped, and Batman growled lowly, taking a step forward.
"Joker," he snarled. "What do you want?"
A few faces went pale and nobody dared say anything. They all knew Batman had been pissed since Robin went missing two days ago. The older hero was most definitely not to be angered any further than he already was. Joker was treading on thin ice. Very thin ice.
"Now, now," Joker smirked. "Don't be so hasty, Batsie. It doesn't suit you," he cackled.
Batman kept his mouth shut. Joker was visibly surprised. But then the clown smirked in a sickening way and Batman grimaced.
"I see the Bat is worried for his little Birdie," the Joker said happily.
The clown clapped in his hands and took a sweeping step to the side to reveal their missing member. The room gasped as Robin was unveiled. He was tied to a chair, unconscious and visibly bleeding from several scrapes and small cuts. His utility belt, shoes and gloves were removed. His clothes were ripped to shreds, barely keeping him decent and his cape was missing. His mask was, luckily, still on his face. Batman growled low in his throat, gloved hands tightening into fists.
"What did you do to him!" he snarled at the Joker, eyes filled with hate.
Joker laughed sinisterly, in a way that only he could. It sounded creepy, unearthly and insane. Nobody in the room was comfortable hearing it. Joker went to stand behind Robin and stroked a gloved hand over the boy's face. Robin moaned a little in pain and his eyes fluttered open, though he clearly didn't see much.
"Such a lovely little Birdie, don't you agree, Batsie?" Joker cackled teasingly, gripping Robin's chin in his hand to turn the boy's head his way.
Batman growled, "If you touch him again I'll-"
"You'll what, Batsie? Hurt me?" Joker laughed. "You can't even kill me."
Batman knew Joker was right. He couldn't kill him. It would go against his moral code. But he was so very tempted to snap the clown's neck right then and there. He just wasn't there. And it vexed the Bat to no end.
"If you would hurt me," Joker spoke up, catching their attention again. "Would you do it like this?" he asked.
He had grabbed a crowbar and was now swinging it over his head. Batman gasped, lunging for the screen even though he couldn't touch it. A few others followed his lead. Joker hit the recorder, making it fall to the ground. The footage now only showed Robin's feet. A sickening sound followed the clatter of the camera. It was the sound of bones breaking and the screaming of a boy. Batman felt like he could throw up any second. Hysterical laughter followed the scream and then the screen went completely black, and it stayed black.
Everyone looked at Batman, Batman looked at the screen. His face was unreadable, and a few of the older heroes looked increasingly worried.
"We have to trace the video feed," Aqualad piped up.
Batman seemed to have been pulled from his stupor by that comment and he shot one last look at the screen before running to his computer and inputting all sorts of commands. A few minutes passed in silence.
"Found it," Batman then said, turning to the group behind him.
"Let us go, we are his teammates," Aqualad said. "We will bring him home."
Batman looked at the small team. Kid Flash, Aqualad, Zatanna, Miss Martian, Superboy and Artemis. They looked dead serious and Batman knew they would retrieve Robin, no matter what. Batman agreed, as long as they took an adult with them. Black Canary volunteered, and they went about getting ready as fast as they could. They were gone within the hour, and Batman was left behind with the remaining members of the Justice League. He knew the Young Justice could bring back his son, he had faith. He wanted to go, he wanted to save his son himself, but he couldn't. He had to be Bruce Wayne for the remainder of the day. Putting on a mask, hiding his true self as Batman, waiting for the team to bring home his son.
He contacted them one last time, "Bring him home."
"Yes, sir," came seven scratching replies.
***
{Two Days Ago}
Everyone online? Miss Martian asked telepathically.
Yep, Zatanna and Artemis both replied.
Sure, green cheeks, Kid Flash replied, and M'gann could hear the smirk in his voice.
Online, Superboy replied matter-of-factly.
Alright everyone, Aqualad said. This is a stealth mission. We are only here for the information.
Miss Martian was sitting in the Bio-ship, keeping her ready for a speedy extraction together with Superboy. Artemis and Zatanna were on top of a building, scoping out the situation. Aqualad was at the treeline, keeping a close eye on the entrance should they get unwanted visitors. Kid Flash and Robin were inside, getting the information they needed.
Robin hadn't really listened to the sound-off, too busy finding the computer he was looking for. He needed to inject the hard-drive and get what they needed, then get out. He walked, slowly, a little further, rounding a corner. But then he came to a stop and turned around, facing his best friend. Kid Flash almost bumped into him, and he let out a surprised sound.
"Why'd you stop?" he whispered.
"I thought I heard something," Robin whispered in reply.
There was no sound other than their breathing for a long moment, but then a click caught Robin's attention and he spun around. He came face-to-face with the Joker, who had a sickly smile on his sheet-white face.
"Hello Boy Blunder, Kid Crash," Joker cackled, cocking his head to the side.
His voice was happy, and that was what made shivers run down Robin's spine. This could not be good. He and Kid took a fighting stance, but Robin had already seen their chances were very low. The Joker was holding a knife, and a smoke bomb. The click had been the pin of the smoke bomb being pulled out.
We got a problem, Robin said in his head.
What's wrong? Aqualad asked.
We need help, fast, Kid Flash replied, sounding anxious.
Joker laughed, seeing their distressed faces. His laughing could apparently be heard through the mind-link and Robin could feel his face paling.
Joker! Robin, Kid Flash, get out of there! Aqualad shouted in their heads.
But it was too late. Kid Flash could probably make it out, but Robin was nowhere near fast enough. He blocked the slash of the knife that Joker made, and Kid Flash dodged the smoke bomb as the clown threw it at their feet. Robin instantly knew this was all wrong. Normal smoke was white, and thick. This smoke was green and light. He could see through it. He watched with blurring eyes as Joker put a mask over his own face, and Kid Flash staggered to his side.
Sleeping gas, then, he concluded. Robin staggered as well, and he coughed loudly. The gas was foul-tasting and he was getting nauseous. He fell against the wall and slid down it, trying to stay awake. It was no use. Kid Flash almost did the same, but sped ran out of the building before he could fully collapse. Artemis and Zatanna were there to catch him, and Aqualad ran into the building to help Robin. When the gas cleared, however, Robin was nowhere to be found.
***
{Present}
The Bio-ship was flying at top speed to the location she had gotten from Batman. Kid Flash was wiggling in his chair, clearly wanting to go out and kick some butt. He wanted to save his best friend. He wanted to save Robin, so bad.
"How long until we get there?" the speedster asked curiously.
"You asked that five minutes ago," Zatanna replied, tired of him asking the same question every few minutes.
Kid looked down and shut up. Time was something different to him, and he was tired of waiting. But he hadn't meant to make his team as anxious as he was. Then, suddenly, the whole team screamed out in pure agony. It was over a split second later, but everyone was out of breath and surprised.
"What was that?" Artemis asked, her voice trembling.
"Well," Miss Martian said, sounding out of breath. "I never actually severed the link between us and Robin."
She said it slowly, but everyone clearly understood what was happening. Their mouths were open and they gaped at her for a good five seconds before Kid groaned and almost vibrated off his chair.
"That means Robin is in pain. We have to help him," he declared.
M'gann nodded. "I can feel his pain now that we're getting closer, but I can also see what is happening. Sort of like a window. I can see through his eyes."
That wasn't pleasant to hear, for any of them. Artemis grimaced, it didn't sound very nice. If Robin was in pain and M'gann could see what was happening, then she was practically receiving the same torture he was.
"Please," Aqualad said as he stood from his seat. "Show us."
M'gann nodded and stood as well. She spread her arms out, and her eyes glowed green for a moment. Then, everyone found themselves in the same black room, with M'gann looking at them seriously. Everyone was now linked in her mind, but she needed their minds.
"I have to access your minds, is that okay?" she asked.
Everyone agreed and Miss Martian placed six glowing hands on each of their heads. Then, they all shared what M'gann had seen and felt. What Robin had been going through. Each of them; Aqualad, Miss Martian, Artemis, Zatanna, Kid Flash, Superboy, and Black Canary. They all shared the same image.
***
"Boy Blunder, it's time to wake up now," Joker cackled.
He punched Robin with a tightly closed fist, and the boy's eyes flew open. He looked at Joker with hate-filled eyes, one almost tightly shut with, his lip split and his cheek darkening with a bruise.
"Finally awake," Joker sighed heavily. "What'd you think of the show I gave Batsie?" he giggled.
Robin glared. He was exhausted. He had lost a lot of blood and had less of the liquid left in his body than he probably should have had. Joker ignored his gaze and picked up a taser. A big one. A powerful one.
"Let's have some more fun, Kiddie," Joker laughed.
Robin looked at the taser with fear and distaste. He hated Joker, but this was a whole new level of hate. Joker cackled at his look and pressed the taser to Robin's chest.
"Night, night, Birdie," Joker grinned.
He pressed a button, and Robin screamed.
***
The team came out of the shared mind-link with gasps. M'gann sat back down in her seat with a heavy sigh and continued to steer the ship, her body feeling all sorts of wrong.
"That was cruel," Artemis gasped, sinking in her chair.
"Y-Yeah," M'gann mumbled.
She then slid so low in her seat she almost fell off. Superboy yelped her name, shooting out of his own chair to catch her gently. He tucked her head against his shoulder and looked at her face worryingly.
"She must have felt the taser," he whispered.
"I'll fly," Aqualad quickly said, taking up the empty space.
"What do we do?" Zatanna asked. "Is the link still in place?"
"It is," Kid Flash said.
"How do you know?" Black Canary asked from her seat.
She hadn't moved much, she was only here for supervision, after all. But her curious gaze lingered on M'gann, and Kid Flash knew he had to answer.
"Robin told me," he said softly.
"What, how?" Artemis asked, dumbfounded.
"I don't hear anything," Superboy stated.
"I don't know why," Kid said. "I can just... hear him."
Everyone looked at him, but nobody said anything. They'd seen stranger things, and now was not the time to dwell on any of them. They had a teammate to rescue.
***
The Bio-ship landed outside an abandoned warehouse not far from the outskirts of the city. Miss Martian was awake again and had taken back control of the ship. She re-established the mind-link and opened the hatch.
"Good luck," Black Canary said. "I will wait here."
Aqualad nodded at her and was the first to exit, carefully looking around. Artemis came up behind him, followed by Zatanna, Miss Martian and Kid Flash. Superboy came last, and he guarded their flank as they entered the warehouse.
Kid Flash looked around carefully, before spotting his best friend at the back of the building. He instantly sped towards him.
"Wait!" Aqualad yelled, but he was too late.
Kid hadn't realized the floor was full of water, and he slipped on it, gliding to a stop just before the figure strapped to the chair.
"Robin," he breathed, looking at his best friend with worried eyes.
"KF, watch out!" Artemis shouted.
Kid Flash looked up to see a cage dangling above his head. The ropes were sliced by men with knives and the huge, metal thing came falling down on him. It cut off his route to Robin and he was trapped instantly. Dust flared and when it cleared, Kid had no way out. He couldn't vibrate himself through the bars, not like Flash could. He was stuck.
"Kid!" the team yelled, coming towards him.
Kid Flash looked at them and his eyes widened. He stood, rushing to the bars, and grabbing hold of them.
"Look out, behi-" he got cut off.
An electric current ran through the bars and Kid Flash fell back with a yelp, hands sizzling with heat. His suit had been burned right off, and his hands were charred. He couldn't help his friends, but his yell had warned them. Behind his team, were men with guns, and the Young Justice instantly dispersed to deal with all of them.
"Give up, kids," one of the goons shouted. "If you do, we won't kill you, too much."
"I don't think so," Artemis shouted, and she shot an arrow that exploded in front of their faces with a smoke screen.
They dealt with the goons and the fight took a little longer than all of them wanted it to last. Before it could end, they heard another agonizing scream. Kid knew who it was, and he knew the others had heard it just as clearly.
He's here, Zatanna said, disappearing behind the cage towards where Robin was.
Don't, Robin said. It's a trap.
Where are you? Zatanna asked, ignoring the obvious.
Of course it was a trap, it always was when it came to Joker. But they didn't care, they just wanted to rescue their friend. And they would, even if they had to bring the whole building down.
Back of the building, but be careful, Robin replied, sounding exhausted.
Aren't we always, Aqualad replied, flipping over his own feet and slamming a goon to the ground.
You guys are idiots, Robin chuckled.
We got it from you, Kid Flash replied with a smirk.
Robin, who was indeed at the back of the building, smiled. He had some good friends. He had known they would come for him, but he wished they hadn't. It was a well thought out trap, even by Joker standards. Robin was hanging from the ceiling, his hands chained above his head. His chest was constricted and he wasn't going to last long like that, but he could hear footsteps coming closer.
Then, Zatanna appeared around a corner and she gasped at seeing him. She came towards him and extended her hands towards his bonds.
"Nu Niahc mih," she shouted, and Robin felt the chains loosen.
He fell to the floor and his friend caught him quickly, lowering him carefully to the ground. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. She was clearly happy he was still alive.
"No fair!" they heard.
Joker stood behind them, crowbar in hand. His face was dark with an unhappy look on it, and he smacked the weapon into his open palm.
"You can't take my toy!" he shouted, charging towards them.
Zatanna quickly extended her hands again and shouted, "eit mih pu, dna gnirb su ot ytefas!"
They disappeared into a puff of smoke, and Joker fell to the floor, tangled in ropes and chains. The crowbar fell on his head and he whined in his unhappiness. His plan had been so perfect, but those meddling kids just had to ruin it all!
***
Zatanna and Robin reappeared in the Bio-ship. Black Canary shot from her seat and helped Zatanna lay the injured boy on a gurney.
"I'll take care of him, go," Black Canary said to the magician.
Zatanna nodded and poofed herself away, back into the battle. She ran to the cage, rusted the bars away and pulled Kid Flash out with Artemis's help. Then they all fought off the goons, and Joker appeared once again.
"Little Boy Blunder is mine," he shouted, holding a large gun.
"He's not," M'gann countered.
She levitated Joker off his feet and threw him aside. He flew against a wall and slid down it, falling to the floor. There, he stayed. Aqualad and Superboy dealt with the remaining goons, while Miss Martian flew off to get the ship ready. Artemis nodded at Zatanna, who turned to Kid Flash.
His hands were badly burned and she held out her own for his. He lay his hands palm up in hers, and she cast another spell.
"Laeh is snurb," she whispered, and the burns disappeared.
"Thanks," Kid Flash said, smiling.
"Let's get out of here," Zatanna replied.
"I like your thinking," Kid replied with a grin.
Around them, the building burned, Joker scrambled to his feet to make a hasty retreat, and most of the goons lay groaning in pain on the warehouse floor. The mission was a success.
***
Robin flickered his eyes open to see an awfully familiar ceiling. He frowned, then slowly sat up. His body protested in pain, and he groaned. He obviously had a few broken ribs and probably a concussion to boot. Nothing new, and nothing he couldn't handle. He looked around for a moment, concluding that he was indeed in his own bedroom in Wayne Manor.
Robin looked down. He was wearing a black shirt and blue sweats. His feet were bare and his face felt naked without his mask. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stepped out, albeit a bit wobbly. He found balance and waddled to the full-body mirror he had in his room. His own icy-blue eyes looked back at him, confusion written on his face.
He had no idea how he had gotten home. He didn't remember much after Zatanna had found him, to be honest. Behind him, the door to his room opened and Robin turned to look at Batman- Bruce, as he walked in. The man was saying something, but Robin couldn't hear him. He creased his brow in confusion and tilted his head.
"I can't hear you," he said to Bruce.
"Oh," Bruce said.
Robin knew, because he could read lips. Bruce looked distressed, but stepped forwards to hug his son. Robin smiled, hugging him back tightly, though his ribs smarted at the action. He let go and his father motioned for him to follow. He did. The older man led him down to the Bat-Cave, where his friends were waiting.
"Robin!" they yelled as soon as they spotted him, running towards him to hug him and crowd him and ask him how he was feeling.
Robin couldn't hear any of it, so he gestured to his father. Bruce understood the unspoken request and pulled his son out of the chaos.
"Robin can't hear you," he explained. "I think he has momentary deafness."
"Oh," the team said, and Robin could see.
"I'll link us," Miss Martian smiled. Can you hear us now?
Yeah, Robin smiled. It's good to hear your voice.
It's good to see you, Kid Flash replied, a happy smile on his face.
It's good to be back, Robin replied.
And it was true. It was so good to be back. He had spent two days in absolute Hell and his friends had come to save him. They caught up for the rest of day, watching movies, chatting, and goofing off with the mind-link never severed.
If I was in trouble, you'd come save me, right? Robin asked as the day ended.
His friends were sitting around him on pillows, popcorn, pizza and whatnot scattered around them on the floor. He smiled at them, and they all smiled back.
That's what friends are for, right? Kid Flash replied, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing.
Yeah, Robin thought. That is indeed what they are for.
If they saw the happy tears in his eyes, nobody said anything.
***
Hi everyone. This is the re-written version. If you want to see the original, just place a comment and I'll upload it or something.
I hope you still enjoy this. I think it is loads better now.
Author-chan