Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or any of its characters.

Five motorcycles rumbled softly in the night air as they halted near an alley, careful to stay out of sight.

" Robin was last seen here," Superman was saying in their ears. " The Wayne Tech building at 1530 today. Aside from the broken windows and two security guards without any serious injury, they did no other property or human damage and took nothing."

" They didn't take anything?" Megan repeated in confusion.

" Wasn't today the major opening for that new military device that they've been talking about for weeks?"

" But why didn't they take it then when it was right there?" Superboy wondered out loud.

" Maybe it's to make a point," Artemis frowned. " Wayne Tech is one of the most prominent companies in the world. To attack the place is almost saying to the world that they could."

" And probably as a slap in the face to Batman," Wally added knowledgeably. " This is his city." Not to mention stealing away his sidekick right under his nose, he silently added to himself.

" If Slade had been waiting for a chance to get Robin, he must have set up some sort of hideout in Gotham," Superman said. " Whether he is still there or not, that is another question."

" We'll find him," Superboy confidently said.

There was a slight pause. Wally wondered if Superman realized that Superboy had been a mixed state of exhilaration and agitation since Superman had personally assigned this mission to them and now spoke to all of them as equals. Including Superboy himself.

" I'll stay in touch," Superman coughed, sounding strangely awkward. " Remember, no contact with Slade and keep the communicators on."

" We will," Kaldur assured him and the little beep let them knew that Superman was gone.

" Now what?" Artemis crossed her arms, glancing over the looking buildings that looked much less frightening during the day than at night. How are Batman and Robin able to work when it looks like even the architecture is waiting to get you? " We don't even know if Robin is long gone by now."

Wally groaned. " It's like a needle in a haystack."

" Megan, why don't you use your telepathy to check if Robin is in Gotham?" Kaldur suggested.

She froze, eyes going wide with the realization. " Hello, Megan! Why didn't I think of that?" she exasperatedly exclaimed, slapping a hand to her forehead.

Kaldur placed a hand on Megan's shoulder. " Don't blame yourself. In our haste to help Robin, we all did not think to our full capacity," he gently consoled her. Then, his voice returned to his firm, authoritative tone. " Can your telepathy extend across the city?"

" It should." She bit her lip. It was harder to do so when she did not already establish a link with her target. Much less knowing if her target was still in the city.

" Try it," Superboy encouraged.

" But if Robin is with Slade, we don't want to alert Slade," Artemis warned.

Megan nodded, taking a deep breath, and closed her eyes, focusing her energy on one single person.

Robin?

~.~.~

Creeping silently in the dinosaur exhibit, Robin hated the fact that the stealth skills Batman had trained him for were now being used for stealing.

The object that Slade wanted was nothing out of the ordinary from the rest of the priceless things from the Gotham Museum. It was a tiny golden reliquary that was said to house the ashes of a famous monk. He found that out when he and Bruce had attended a charity event in the museum a few months ago and a helpful tour guide (who was more interested at flirting with Bruce who cheerfully indulged her) explained to them the significance of the relic.

He found a nearby plug and carefully downloaded all the security cameras and information regarding the guard shift changes. He was in luck as there was a ten minute exchange with the guards in the room where the relic was.

Quickly scanning the camera and seeing the guards were chatting outside the room, Robin made his move.

He blended in with the shadows, unnoticed by the guards who were more occupied in talking about their girlfriends and tastes in coffee. Edging past a few statues which also helped in hiding him from view, Robin noted how the floor was lined with thin red lines, criss-crossing over the floor like a snake and coming to a tiny circle illuminating the relic towards the corner of the room.

A normal person might not have been able to find enough room to roll, somersault or flips with the red lines so close together and randomized all over the floor. But for the previous circus acrobat, it was nothing short of easy.

Robin landed perfectly in front of the relic, not a toe or hair out of line, careful not to use his bruised wrist from his earlier confrontation with Slade. The feeling of exhilaration prickled his skin as if he had just finished a performance.

And now, for the grand finale.

He carefully inspected the relic, noting a tiny alarm at the side of the glass barrier. Typing away at his wristband computer, he held his breath as the alarm's green light blackened, signalling that it was off. Cautiously, he raised the glass and his fingertips just brushed over the relic's cool surface...

Robin?

Shocked at hearing a familiar voice calling his name, Robin flinched, swinging his head around, half-expecting Megan's intangible form to appear before his eyes.

Unfortunately, in his panic, his foot crossed over the red line.

The alarm went off and already Robin could hear the shouts of the security guards hurrying into the room. He hastily put the relic in a small satchel around his shoulder before running like the thief he wasn't supposed to be.

His thoughts raced as he leaped over the guards, causing them to crash into each other and add to the pandemonium. But his thoughts were not on the robbery he had just committed.

Did Megan find me? Were the others with her? Are they here in Gotham on Batman's orders? Or are they still in Mount Justice, trying to see if I was still alive? Or -?

" Stop him!" someone yelled. " Don't let him get away!"

Robin dove between their legs, sending out batarangs to tie up the guards running towards him. They tripped and collided with each other, cursing and groaning, and out of Robin's pathway. He inwardly apologized to them and again for a second time as he knocked over a table and a suit of armour to distract the arriving guards.

The hallway that should have been freed from guards was suddenly crowded. " He's over here!" a guard shouted.

Skidding to a sudden halt, he turned heel and ran back the direction he came from, remembering he passed by a few vents, large enough to allow his escape.

But no sooner did he turn around, the corridor was surrounded by guards and he was trapped between their advancing numbers. The guard who Robin assumed was the head security guard judging from his uniform and big name tag gave him a haughty smirk even with the guard looking winded. " You got nowhere to run, kid," he sneered.

Now it was Robin's turn to smirk. Batman had trained him better than this to allow himself to get caught by a bunch of security guards.

With a mocking salute, he tossed a barrage of smoke bombs, just enough to buy him enough time to shoot his grappler through the glass window and escape through it. He could see just as the smoke cleared, the guards shouted at him and each other, vainly ringing more alarms and demanding where the police were. With a weightless soar, Robin leaped from rooftop to rooftop until he was certain he was far enough from the museum and away from the approaching sirens of the police.

Why he felt slightly out of breath and feeling the glorious rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins was something that Robin didn't understand. He wondered why he felt so thrilled after successfully evading all the alarms in the room. He didn't understand why he chose to return a smirk at the guard. Or why he decided to aggravate the guard by adding a theatrical salute.

The weight of the relic pressed against his hip, a thorn to his side. He wanted nothing more than to throw it away in disgust. The relic was nothing special and both he and Slade knew it.

But it was proof that he had completed his first successful robbery. The very thought made his stomach roll and the taste of bile lingered in the back of his tongue.

" Robin?"

He froze, like a child caught stealing candy. A whoosh of wind and a second later, he came face to face with his teammates.

Megan gazing with a mixture of relief, shock and confusion. Superboy with his clenched jaw. Kaldur's eyes narrowing. Wally making an odd sound in his throat. Artemis about to demand answers.

He should have known that they would have tried to find him and Megan's earlier voice was a foreshadowing of this meeting. But it still caught him off guard that his friends were standing in front of him, witnessing his robbery.

Wally gave a little laugh. Like everything was fine and it was just another hide and seek game that he and Robin used to play, just like the one they played a few nights ago. Like he was trying to ignore how Robin was dressed up like Slade and staring at them as if they were his enemy. Like he was trying to laugh away how angry Superboy looked and how Kaldur looked disappointed.

" Geez, Robin. Don't you think it's a little too early for Halloween?" he joked. " You could have done a better job with -"

Only for him to see a scatter of gas pellets and explosives at his feet.

A bang and a few seconds later, while the team was trying to breath normally again and rubbing away the burning sensation at their eyes, they found that Wally was tied up to the ground and Robin had finished delivering a swift kick to Megan's stomach, who was too shocked to react.

Robin mentally sent both her and Wally an apology. He hated playing dirty but he knew he was no match for all of them, especially when Wally's unmatched speed could pin him down in less than a blink of an eye and Megan's telekinesis could have easily send him flying or immobile.

And he couldn't afford to have any of them here, not while Slade was so close. So he calculated his plan and made his move when Wally was talking.

Megan dropped like a stone and Superboy let out a roar. He swung a punch at Robin, who was only able to dodge it with the knowledge of Superboy's fighting style and his own natural reflexes. Even when using his combination of rolling and redirecting the force of punch back to Superboy, it wasn't enough to soften all of the impact on his already injured wrist. He could hear the breaking of bones and he bit his lip to hold back the cry of pain.

He tumbled clumsily to the ground and Superboy charged again, ignoring Kaldur's call of "Wait, Superboy!"

" You are not Robin!" Superboy snarled, raising his fists to pummel this imposter who took the form of his friend and intentionally hurt his two friends. " Where is the real Robin?"

His blinded anger was all Robin needed to unhook the high density polyurethane foam pellet he had gotten from Roy a while back ago. He purposely decreased its strength to half, knowing Superboy didn't like being suffocated or being in really tight spots, before throwing it directly at him.

The foam immediately spread from Superboy's hands, snaking around his wrist and arms, curling around his legs. He fell, all tangled in the foam and unable to move, snarling out.

He barely had a second to catch his breath when he ducked to miss three arrows fired from a furious Artemis. Rolling on the ground, Robin winced as he was forced to use his injured hand to throw batarangs to evade Artemis' arrows.

" Why are you doing this, Robin?" Artemis yelled, firing arrow after arrow, her aim not wavering even if her voice did. " Why are you working for Slade? Why are you attacking us? Answer me, Robin!"

Her questions stung deeper than Robin would have liked. But a distraction was a distraction. And he knew from studying Artemis, it took her approximately 1.5 seconds to reach and pick up an arrow and another 1 second to aim and fire. The moment she released her latest arrow, Robin struck.

He scrambled up from his somersault, flinging two batarang explosives at her feet, not too close to do any serious damage but just close enough for the resulting explosion to knock Artemis unconscious and off her feet and scattering her bow and arrows haphazardly to the ground.

But no sooner did he throw the batarangs at Artemis, Kaldur had his water bearers out and they whipped Robin across the face and he stumbled to the ground. He threw another explosive batarang that Kaldur shielded with water and in the same instant, had another onslaught of water rush towards Robin in a wave that vastly crashed down over him.

Quickly, before he ran out of oxygen, Robin fired out his grappler to a nearby ledge and pulled himself out of the wave, his face scrunching up at his throbbing hand that held the grappler, his other hand holding the satchel with the relic. He stumbled near the border of the roof, spluttering and gasping for breath.

Kaldur was a formidable opponent indeed and Robin found himself smiling slightly at how strong his leader was. He didn't have the hesitation that plagued Wally and Megan. He would not let his emotions cloud over his judgement, like Superboy or Artemis. He would not fall for his tricks and deception and he knew Robin as well as Robin knew him. And now, Robin's energy was spent and left to deal with Kaldur at his full strength.

" Robin, I do not wish to fight you," Kaldur said in his ever calm voice.

In the shadow of the night, he didn't see that Robin's eyes flicked very briefly towards the ledge. All he could see was a sliver of Robin's masked face.

" You may have to," he replied softly.

" Talk to me, Robin. Tell me why you are doing this," Kaldur urged. " We can help you. If Slade has blackmailed you ..."

Robin interrupted with a chuckle that surprised Kaldur. Unlike his usual laughter, it was hollow and dead. " You can't help me," he replied with a bleak smile.

Behind Kaldur, he could hear Megan stirring and Wally almost done unravelling his binds. " Get out of Gotham while you still can," Robin coolly told him. " All of you."

Kaldur frowned. Those words did not sound like something Robin would say. " What do you - ?" he started.

But Robin already disappeared over the edge and out of sight.

~.~.~.~

Author's Notes:

*dodges flying stones and pitchforks* Yeah, it's been a while since I updated. My apologies! I've gotten a bit sidetracked with other works and real life has been distracting as usual. Hopefully, the next update won't be as late.