"Had a change of heart, did you?"
Jade sneered at her father as she pulled out a small tool from her belt and started picking the lock on the cell door.
"What, was Red just not good enough for you?" Lawrence asked, leaning against the wall on the other side of the bars, watching his daughter's fingers work.
"I know what he is," Jade stated simply.
"And you want to be on his side." Lawrence laughed. "How sweet."
Jade ignored the man and continued to work on the lock, listening for a moment for the tell-tale click. "I can't believe you let Green Arrow, of all heroes, put you here," Jade scoffed, letting the cell door swing open.
"He wasn't alone," Lawrence hissed, pushing himself off the wall and stalking out of the cell.
"Right, I forgot, he had Robin with him." Jade smirked. "The kids a wreck; not even supposed to be able to walk right."
"And I suppose you know that from all your time hanging around your sister?"
Jade rolled her eyes. Then she reached behind her and pulled the case out of the bag on her back. She held it out to Lawrence. "For you."
"How did you-?" Lawrence stared at the case.
"Being a good daughter has its perks," Jade snipped. When Lawrence continued to stare she sighed. "Told her I was taking it somewhere safe – where you couldn't get to it."
"And she believed you?" Snatching the case out of Jade's hand, Lawrence gave his daughter a doubtful look.
"I did just help stop you from stealing this. What's there not to trust?"
"And I'm to believe this isn't a trap because…?" Lawrence snapped open the case and stared at the contents inside for a long moment.
Jade shot a quick glance around the small room outside the cell. Sportsmaster had been put in isolation – no surprise – and Jade had taken out all the guards she'd encountered on her way in. There was only one hallway that led in and out of the room they stood in and it was at the far end of the prison, away from the main patrol route, but eventually someone would notice the men passed out at the entrance to Solitary. The quicker they got out, the less work they'd have to do.
"You're to believe this isn't a trap," Jade finally growled, "because I stole this… case –which I'm sure is some sort of dangerous weapon - from Mom and am now handing it over to you to do with as you please. So take it or leave it."
"Fine," Lawrence snapped. "Then let's get out of here."
"My thoughts exactly."
Jade led the way up the long hallway and back into the main prison building. She led her father up the back staircase that led to an upstairs maintenance closet with a small window overlooking Star City. They encountered only a janitor and Jade took him down with a swift kick to the head.
"So, are you going to tell me what's so important about whatever's in that case?" Jade asked as she pried open the window again, waving away the dust that littered the air.
"There's nothing important about it… yet," Lawrence replied, holding the case under his arm in reverence. "But once these are activated…." Lawrence smiled.
"I wasn't able to get your weapons, so I'm afraid you'll have to ride with me," Jade said, ignoring her father's dodging of the question. She leaned out the small, circular window and shot a grappler out to the Queen Industries building a hundred feet away. Rather ironic, having the biggest business in the city located right across from the prison. At least the city knew its businessmen. Jade attached a harness to the grappler line and held it out to her father. "Are you going to tell me what those little star things do, or am I still not deserving of your trust?"
Lawrence took the harness with another smile. "These, Little Girl, are our key to controlling the Justice League."
oOo
"Seven, uh, six, eleven… radian… um, log to the base, uh, twelve? Thirteen? Hmm…." «natural… what's the word? Um, uh… log? Of five… er, no, six… 'a' squared, 'h' squared… Guess I need to learn some Romani math terms. If Romani even has words for math terms. I suppose Gypsies weren't exactly in the calculus-doing business. Lucky them….»
Dick reached up and rubbed his eyes. His vision blurred for a moment and he dropped his head into his hands, willing it to clear again. His calculus teacher had taken pity on him and let him carry on working on the class into the summer so he could still get a credit for it, but that resulted in him spending two to three hours a day on calculus homework over summer vacation.
«Not like I have anything better to do,» Dick sighed.
"Dick."
Dick looked up to see his guardian standing in the doorway, dressed in a pair of workout pants and a black sweater.
«What?»
Bruce sighed. "I want you to come with me."
«Why? For what?»
"English, Dick."
"Sorry." Dick shut his calculus book and stood up. "Why do you want me to go with you?"
"I want to talk to you about something." To a casual observer, Bruce looked completely at ease and relaxed but Dick could tell the man was mildly on edge and maybe even hesitant about whatever it was that he wanted to talk to Dick about.
"What?" Dick asked again, hesitantly approaching Bruce at the door.
"Just follow me," Bruce huffed and led the way out of the room. Bruce led them through the main hallway and past the kitchen and Dick caught a glimpse of some maid (Dick was pretty sure it was Maggie, but they changed on a daily basis and none of them ever seemed keen on introducing themselves to Dick) boiling water over the stove while chopping vegetables. So Alfred wasn't cooking; something was up.
Bruce continued on into the old lounge where the picture of Martha and Thomas Wayne hung on the wall across from the grandfather clock that housed Gotham's biggest secrets. To Dick's surprise, Bruce crossed the room and turned the clocks hands, opening the entrance to the Batcave. Bruce hadn't purposely taken Dick down into the Batcave (or even allowed him down on his own) since his injuries and it sent Dick's mind spinning as to why that was suddenly changing.
Practically melting from curiosity, Dick followed Bruce down the creaky metal steps (Bruce had started taking the elevator whenever possible since Dick's injuries; what was happening that he now took the stairs?), careful not to hop. At the bottom, Bruce led Dick passed the computer and the training centers and into the back changing rooms in the cave. They entered to see Alfred standing at a table, his face absolutely unreadable.
"Now are you going to tell me what we're doing down here?" Dick asked, looking from Bruce to Alfred.
Bruce ran a hand through his hair and went to stand by Alfred. "I've been talking to Lucius," Bruce began, his face adopting a mask of strictly business. "And he's managed to come up with some very promising technology. Alfred and I have been talking as well-"
"Master Bruce has done most of the talking, I assure," Alfred cut in and Bruce shot the butler a look before continuing: "As I was saying, we've both been very impressed with your progress over the past few months and have seen a few videos of your… extracurricular activities and we – I – have decided that maybe I was wrong."
Dick looked with wide eyes between Bruce and Alfred. "Do you mean…?"
"It would require rigorous training and even more intense rehabilitation."
"But I could…?"
"If you are able to get to a point physically where I think you would be able to hold your own, then yes. But nothing is set in stone yet," Bruce added quickly, seeing Dick's face light up. "We have a lot of work to do and it's not going to be easy. It may not even be possible, any of this, and you have to be willing to accept it if it comes to that. I will have the final say in whether I think you're ready."
"Bruce, I-"
"Like I said before, Lucius and Alfred have come up with some modified gear that should help-"
Dick launched himself at Bruce and wrapped his arms around the man's middle, completely throwing him for a loop. Dick pressed his face into his guardian's shirt and his fingers gripped the fabric tightly. "Thank you," he murmured, scrunching up his face as he felt a lump in the back of his throat.
"Dick, I – you're welcome." Dick felt Bruce's arms come to rest on his back. "But like I said before, nothing's set in stone yet and-"
"Yeah, I heard it the first time." Dick let go of Bruce and instead went over to Alfred and gave the older man a hug as well. Alfred was much more welcoming of the contact and returned the hug with much better form. When they broke apart, Dick turned his attention to the table full of equipment behind Alfred. "Is this…?" Dick motioned to the pieces.
"This, young sir, is only the finest quality gear that both Lucius and myself have been working on for the past two weeks. Allow me to show you…."
oOo
Dick watched as Bruce slid the new brace into place on his knee. It was a shiny silver color, made entirely of extremely slim, durable metal that Lucius had been perfecting for a few years. Once the contraption rested in its proper place, Bruce tightened the bands around Dick's thigh and calf. Trying not to hiss in pain, Dick carefully flexed his knee, feeling the joint of the brace move effortlessly with it.
"Wow, it feels… great," Dick whispered, watching his leg as he continued to move it. "It's like it's not even there!"
Alfred nodded from his place in the corner. "As it should, Master Richard."
It had been two weeks since Bruce had first sprung the news that Robin was a possibility. Two weeks of intense therapy that had, at times, left Dick doubting his capabilities and questioning whether Robin was even worth it. He'd pushed through, though, and Alfred had been thoroughly impressed. At that point, Bruce agreed to begin training and Dick was now getting his first test-drive of the new equipment Lucius had made for him.
"Try walking on it," Bruce ordered Dick, backing away to give the boy room to stand up.
Nodding, Dick pushed himself to his feet, cautiously placing his left foot on the ground, testing the support. He hadn't walked without the black brace from Leslie and, as much as he hated to admit it, he was hesitant to trust anything to support his knee and his weight. Satisfied that his knee at least wouldn't give out, Dick took a few experimental steps, bouncing slowly on his bad leg to test the brace's abilities. They were impressive, to say the least.
"It's… really good," Dick told Bruce, barely looking up. "Better than my other one. And it'll fit under my leggings."
"That's part of the idea," Alfred nodded.
"But it's not a miracle fix," Bruce cut in. "You're still going to have to learn a completely new style of fighting that will put minimum strain on that leg."
"Yeah, I heard it the first thousand times, Bruce," Dick sighed, walking back to the chair he'd been sitting in where Alfred had laid out the gear from Lucius. "What about the glove?" Dick pointed to the glove, nearly identical with the gloves he wore with his Robin costume, laying on the table next to a domino mask. "And the mask?"
"The glove," Alfred explained, "works to replace the brace on your arm. It will give your wrist adequate support as well as stay in tune with the circuitry in your arm and help it run properly."
Dick nodded, impressed. Quickly he removed the brace from his wrist and slid on the glove. It was a little strange not being able to feel the material of the glove against his skin, but the gentle pressure of fabric was comforting and familiar. Dick tightened the straps, running his left hand over the glove and feeling the solid brace against his arm.
"And I will let you figure the mask out, Master Richard." Alfred had a small smile on his face as he watched Dick flex his fingers and move his hand around experimentally.
Dick took the mask and pressed it onto his face. "Woah…." He breathed, blinking a few times. His vision was slightly green tinged and… clear. The vision in his right eye wasn't distracting his left and when he focused on his right eye alone he was greeted by a display that looked like a computer screen. It didn't show much of his actual surroundings but the display was clearly visible. "This is so weird…." He muttered, closing his right eye and just looking with his left eye and then doing the opposite and finally both at the same time.
"I'm glad you like it," Alfred smiled.
"It – all of it – is amazing!" Dick laughed a little. "Thanks."
"Oh, don't thank me. It was mostly Lucius."
"Yeah, but it was your idea."
Alfred sniffed a bit and pretended to look uninterested. "I was merely doing my duty, sir. Now, don't make me regret it."
"Alfred's right," Bruce interrupted again. "If this is going to work, you need to start training again, so let's get to work. Thank you, Alfred."
"Of course, sir." Alfred gave a small bow and a wink to Dick before heading for the staircase.
As Alfred was leaving, Dick turned his attention to Bruce, staring up at the man expectantly.
"We'll start small." Bruce face Dick, his face void of emotion. "If this is something you want, then we're going to have to make some changes. Your body will no longer be able to manage your old fighting style so you're going to have to adopt a new one. Are you sure you're ready for this?"
Dick nodded. "Are you ready, Bruce?"
Bruce stared at Dick for a long moment. "I guess we'll find out."
The first… month was brutal. The second was nearly as bad. Dick quickly found that any and all of the muscle he used to possess was long since gone. Even the simplest things left him sore for days. True to Bruce's word, they started small. Stances, simple moves that resembled yoga more than any type of fighting style; when Bruce said start small, he meant small. Strength training began right away as well. Dick had a lot of muscle to regain and he had to do it in a way that wouldn't leave him lopsided with his damaged limbs.
After about a month of mindless exercises that left Dick feeling a little too stretched, they finally moved into moving. It was small things at first; short bursts of running (which felt better than Dick wanted to admit), extremely simple routines on the bars, and a lot of swimming. Bruce dropped Dick off in the pool in the Manor once a day (sometimes twice) and made him swim for sometimes over two hours. It was the best way for him to build up his strength again without damaging his body. All the boy knew was that he would never see the Gotham Academy swim team in the same light again; those guys were tough. Waking up at five in the morning to swim was not Dick's idea of a good time.
Leslie was furious, of course, and she and Bruce had had many a screaming match (though neither one did much screaming, which was confusing). She refused to concede that maybe she'd been wrong, even after seeing Dick on the trapeze (doing basic maneuvers, but still) as well as running, jumping, and generally moving. So she stopped talking to Bruce and refused to come to the Manor for Dick's check-ups, forcing Alfred to bring him into her clinic. But the check-ups steadily decreased as well, and Leslie was became a scarce topic around the Manor.
Barbara started joining in on Dick's training as Dick continued to progress. Bruce would make them spar together and, while at first Dick knew that the girl was going easy on him, they became genuinely well-matched as time went on. Of course, Dick knew his skill used to be leagues past Barbara's, but it was heartening all the same to be able to knock the girl off her feet even when she was giving her all.
But Dick still struggled – all the time. He was forced to relearn everything he knew and put up with a body that just couldn't keep up with him. He couldn't throw a direct punch with his right hand, there were very few kicks his bad leg could perform, he always had to watch his blind spot his damaged right eye created; it was beyond frustrating. As Dick's training progressed into acrobatics, he had to learn to land on only his right foot, Bruce warned against handsprings and anything that put pressure on his right arm, and gripping the trapeze with two hands was more difficult than Dick ever admitted to Bruce.
There was progress, however, and Dick forced himself to push through. There were times when he would leave the Batcave fuming because he was physically unable to pull a move that he used to be able to do in his sleep, but always he would grit his teeth and struggle on. Alfred was always encouraging, as was Bruce, and both seemed to accept that this was something Dick was determined to do and rarely, if ever, questioned whether he wanted to continue. Even Barbara would urge him on, throwing out ridiculous challenges that they would both fail at together.
And then came the day that Dick had been waiting for: he was being let on patrol. Everything went well except for the fact that he wasn't allowed to do anything. Batman ran off after ten minutes when he received a call from Commissioner Gordon about a crocodile that had just eaten two of his men (Barbara said it was old news) and the Bat made Barbara promise to keep Dick close and not to let the boy fight anyone (or anything) and call him if they saw something and rules, rules, rules. Dick had been itching to fight all night and try himself against someone besides Barbara; it seemed flying around the city had awakened his dormant desire to beat up people.
"Just one crook, that's all I ask. He doesn't even have to be good; he can be armed with a chair leg for all I care!"
Barbara rolled her eyes, shooting another grappler to the building across the street.
"One hit! I'd be happy to take him down in one hit! Bam, knocked out. So it wouldn't be very fun, it would be something. Something, Barbara, anything! Just one, little thing!"
"Don't whine to me, whine to Batman," Barbara sighed, waiting as Dick alighted on the roof beside her.
"But Batman put you in charge of me," Dick retorted. "And don't deny it!" He quickly added. "I saw you listening to him on your comm."
"He would kill me if I let you do anything."
"And it's annoying!" Dick sat down on a metal vent poking out of the roof. "What's the point of going on patrol if I can't do anything?"
"Well, you get to swing around on your grappler," Barbara tried, sitting down next to the boy.
"Yep, woo hoo, lucky me, I get to grapple." Dick dramatically flopped onto his back. "Better sign me up for hero of the year award. I'm basically a shoe-in."
"All that downtime made you really sassy."
"I'm naturally sassy, but normally I take out my sass on bad guys. Now that I've been deprived of that luxury your my next closest target. I apologize."
"Sorry, this is a forgiveness free zone."
Suddenly, Dick started laughing.
"You really don't do well with downtime." Barbara shook her head, watching Dick slowly creep towards insane.
"I was just thinking," Dick laughed. "Last time we were on a roof together, we kissed."
Barbara's eyes widened. "Wow. I think you took a few too many pills this morning…."
"You don't remember?" Dick stared at her, looking flabbergasted.
"Yes, I remember."
The white lenses on Dick's mask narrowed. "Why the long face?"
"I don't…."
"What's up, Babs?"
Barbara turned away from Dick. She ran a hand through her hair. "That wasn't the last time we were on a roof together."
"This has been happening to me a lot lately…." Dick muttered. "Guess I'm not very good with dates and place…." Of course he did remember the last time they'd been on a roof. When Batman had found them and Dick's identity had been revealed to Barbara. And then he'd been kidnapped and that had been the last time they'd seen each other…. "I'm not mad," Dick suddenly spoke. "Are you?"
"About what?"
"About what happened. I'm really sorry. What I did…." Dick shook his head.
"We've really grown up, haven't we?" Barbara asked, kicking her feet softly against the vent beneath her. "It's been almost a year…."
"I promise I'm not mad about it," Dick repeated, watching the gorgeous girl next to him. "But I understand if you are. I was… stupid."
"You've always been stupid," Barbara sighed. "And I'm afraid there's not really anything you can do about it either. It's kind of in your genes I guess you could say; you're a boy."
"Well, I'm still sorry. For having stupid genes."
Barbara laughed. "Haven't we been over this already?"
"Maybe when I was half conscious."
The night was beautifully silent. Engine brakes could be heard from the city limits and car horns reverberated through the dark alleys. Screams echoed off forgotten walls and advertisements warned the world against this and that and promised everything. Factories that never slept chugged along under the streets and the above-ground subway raced through the smoky air, subjected to the same fate of restlessness. It was silent, in a beautiful, loud way that only those who'd spent many a night on a Gotham City rooftop would understand.
"Let's make it official," Barbara whispered, sitting up straight and staring at Dick.
"Make what official?"
"I forgive you, for everything. Do you forgive me?"
"Yeah, of course…."
"But we have to make it official."
"….How?"
Barbara leaned in close. "Haven't you ever heard?"
Dick leaned in too. "Maybe…."
"To make it official…."
The night was fading away again, beautifully silent as it was.
"... you seal it with a kiss."
oOo
"Spar with me."
Artemis whirled around, her fist inches away from smashing into a holographic opponent. "What are you doing here?"
"Batman had to check on some security thing and meet with Black Canary or something."
Artemis abandoned the glowing blue figure in front of her and stalked over to Dick – Robin –, crossing her arms. "That doesn't tell me why you're here."
"Well, I guess that depends on what you mean." Robin walked around Artemis nonchalantly and pulled up the holographic computer. The mountain was empty that day and Artemis had been enjoying it that way…. "See," Robin continued. "Are you asking why I'm here or why I'm here?"
Artemis rolled her eyes and grumped. "Never mind; if you're not going to tell me, I'll just ignore you and continue with what I was doing… alone."
"I'm here," Robin said, not looking up from the holographic screen he was now absorbed in. "Because my parents fell into mad gypsy-love and had a mad gypsy-baby and then through a twist of fate I ended going to live with a man who parades around as a bat in his spare time. I'm here because Bats wanted to get in a training sesh when he was done with whatever important business he's doing with BC and the security system."
"Oh." Artemis turned around and walked away. "Well, don't bother me, I'm in the middle of… stuff."
"Sparring with the computer?"
"Yep." Artemis tapped the glowing green circle on the floor and readied herself to continue her fight with her virtual opponents.
"Spar with me instead."
When the glowing blue figures didn't appear, Artemis turned around again to face Robin. "What?" She demanded.
"Spar with me," the boy repeated. He hit a final button on the computer and turned, walking slowly towards Artemis.
"Spar with you?" Artemis raised a doubtful eyebrow and tracked the boy's progress across the floor. She knew the kid was back training and patrolling with Batman (she hadn't seen him much in the past few months except in school, which was an unfortunate occurrence in itself), but she was surprised to see him putting himself out so readily.
"Ye-e-e-s-s-s," Robin slowly drew out. "Do you understand English?"
"Shut up." Artemis appraised the kid; he was dressed as Robin and his walk was almost devoid of a limp. He held himself confidently and – "Are you taller than me?"
Robin smiled, drawing himself up to full height. "Am I? I am fifteen, you know."
"How could I forget? You've been texting me the past month reminding that your birthday was, oh wait, did I forget? No, of course not! December 1st . Which was over a month ago." Artemis gave Robin meaningful.
"Guess I didn't turn off the daily reminders I set my phone to send you." Robin smirked. "I didn't want you to forget about it, you know."
"How thoughtful."
"What can I say? I'm being raised by a philanthropist. Now, do you want to spar or not?"
"Do I really have a choice?"
Robin appeared to think for a moment, before shaking his head. "No, I don't think so. I already set up the computer, soooo…."
"Guess I'll just have to take you down hard." Artemis casually switched her stance.
Robin moved before she was ready, leaving his usual quip hanging in the air. Artemis spun around to keep the boy in her sights, watching as he gracefully danced around her. His movements were surprisingly flawless and calculated, like they'd been before he'd been kidnapped. He made the first move, darting in and attempting to land a blow to Artemis's shoulder. The archer just managed to block it in time, but missed her opportunity at a counterattack as Robin vanished, reappearing a few feet away. It was then that Artemis realized she wouldn't be able to hold back on the boy if she wanted to win. And apparently, there was no need to.
Readjusting her stance, Artemis charged, skillfully delivering a sequence of two punches and a kick. All were easily blocked and retaliated with a chop at the ribs. Artemis rolled away, coming up again and launching into another attack. She felt the hesitance in her own body to throw all her power behind her hits for fear of hurting Robin, but his every block was powerful and his every attack was forceful. Pulling her punches wasn't necessary and she had to convince her subconscious of that.
Robin charged next, but pulled out at the last minute and threw his body into the air, sailing up and planting his hands on Artemis's shoulders. He sling-shot up into a handstand on the girls' shoulders and twisted, attempting to swing the archer's body sideways. Artemis had been beaten by the attack before against the boy and she knew how to counter it. She threw her body backwards, forcing Robin to leap off.
"I'm impressed," Artemis smirked, cartwheeling back to her feet.
"Don't be," Robin winked. "That was nothing. Wait till you see all the new stuff I've got up my sleeve."
True to his word, Robin ended up having quite a few new moves to show off to Artemis. She struggled to keep up with the boy who seemed to be trying his hardest to make up for all the time he'd spent not moving by moving extra fast. It was almost like trying to spar with a speedster. The archer did notice, however, that while Robin was fast, he was also careful. Light on his feet and never standing still, the boy never put too much pressure or weight on his bad arm or leg. And he always kept Artemis to his left….
"Robin."
Artemis shot a quick glance at the direction of the voice. Batman stood to the side by the holographic computer, his arms crossed and his typical 'I'm-actually-a-rock-not-a-living-breathing-human' face on.
"Your landing off of that kick was too heavy. Absorb the impact with your right leg and only follow through with your left."
"Sure thing, Bats," Robin replied, not even sparing his mentor a glance. Artemis had no idea when the man had walked in, but suddenly she felt a little judged. Okay, a lot judged. And she really wanted to win this fight.
She felt herself acting without a second thought. She knew it was a dirty move; she knew it was underhanded, but she was desperate. Any minute now and Robin would have her on the floor at his feet and she was so not in the mood for that. So she spun to the right, moving left, and came up in Robin's supposed 'blind-spot'. She knew his vision was bad in his right eye and she'd seen how he'd been keeping her to his left.
Artemis was right. Robin lost her for only a fraction of a second, but it was enough. The archer drove a spinning side-kick into the boy's side and sent him sprawling on the floor, a large, red 'FAIL' igniting beneath him. Artemis smirked until Robin started coughing.
The boy sat up as coughs ran through his body.
"Oh my go – Robin, are you okay?" Artemis hurried over to the boy and crouched down next to him.
"Fine, Artemis," Robin laughed, the coughs fading. He smiled up at her. "That was a good fight."
"I'm sorry I went there, I know it was dirty…."
"Nah, it's fine. Anyone would've done it. I gotta work on protecting that side better…." Robin was still smiling, his fade slightly flushed from the exertion.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Artemis asked again, holding out her hand to the acrobat. "The coughing didn't sound good…."
Robin took the proffered hand and let Artemis pull him up. "It's nothing. My lungs were damaged in the fire, but they're okay…."
"Robin," Batman stalked over. "That was sloppy. You can't afford to let anyone sneak up on you like that."
"Yeah, I know." Robin still didn't pay Batman much mind and Artemis couldn't help but crack a smile at that. The boy really was growing up.
"Robin?"
The two heroes spun around at the sound of the new voice. Batman just stalked to the side; of course he'd known. M'gann was floating in the doorway leading to the other parts of the mountain, Conner at her side.
"What are you…. I thought…." The Martian girl was clearly at a loss for Earth words and suddenly started babbling in Martian. Conner sighed next to her.
"She says she's glad to see you," Conner translated, his face a little confused. "That's about all I could catch…."
"It's good to see you too, Miss M," Robin laughed, walking slowly over to his teammates.
"I – I just…." The girl stuttered for a moment before finally getting out: "Wally said y-you weren't coming back and so I thought…."
"Important life lesson, Miss M: never believe a word Wally says," Robin laughed, coming to stand in front of the girl.
"Recognized, Kid Flash, B-03, Aqualad, B-02, Flash, 04."
"I heard that!" Wally materialized and zipped over to Robin, shoving him in the shoulder.
"Robin!" Kaldur's face was lit up in a smile and he quickly crossed the cave to where Robin was surrounded. "It is… a pleasure and a relief to see your face again."
"Nice to see you too, Kal," Robin replied, giving the Atlantean a friendly punch on the shoulder. "But what about you, Con?" He asked, turning his attention to the clone. "You haven't said anything yet about how thrilled you are to see me!"
"You assume I'm thrilled," Conner replied. Then the clone smiled too. "You grew."
"Yeah, everyone seems to be commenting on that," Robin huffed. "I appreciate that you notice, I guess, but it has been almost a year. It would be more remarkable if I hadn't grown."
Artemis shook her head at the kid, turning away from the small gathering as she heard her mentor's designation announced on the computer. Green Arrow walked with purpose to where Batman and the Flash stood by the computer. He started talking in a low voice and Artemis had no idea what he was saying because Wally was being extremely loud. Black Canary walked in after a minute and then Batman turned to face the Team.
"We have a mission for you," the Bat said.
"Should you choose to accept it," Wally muttered from the corner and Robin snickered.
Batman glared at them both before continuing. "Sportsmaster escaped from prison almost five months ago and fell off the grid. The League searched for him but was unable to find any lead. Green Arrow has just received word he was sighted near Santa Prisca."
"You're sending us after Sportsmaster?" Wally asked. "Sweet!"
"No," Batman replied and Artemis internally sighed in relief. "Cheshire, who we believed was his accomplice in his escape, was sighted near Asheville in the Smokey Mountains. She has something with her that we believe could be part of whatever it was that Sportsmaster was trying to extort from his estranged wife, Huntress."
"So you're going after Sportsmaster and sending us after Cheshire?" Robin asked.
Batman gave Robin a look that Artemis could easily figure meant 'I-want-to-talk-to-you-in-private-about-this', but in response to the question replied: "Yes. Batgirl will be joining you and you will all be leaving at once. Robin, I want to talk to you alone."
Artemis quirked her lips in a miniscule smile. She was so good at batspeak.
"The rest of you," the Dark Knight continued, "get ready for departure. Robin will join you in a minute."
Artemis and Wally exchanged looks. It looked like the kid was back on the Team.