Chapter 10: Checkmate

AN: Hi again! Sorry I've been kind of slow with the updating . I just got a new job and was in orientation ALL last week T.T LOVE the job so far! Everyone is super nice! XD Anyway, this is sadly the last chapter of this story. If you love Young Justice as much as I do, be on the look-out for a new oneshot that I am in the process of writing! It's a rewrite of the fight between Bats and Robin in last week's episode. You guys know how much I love torturing Dickie Bird, so you guys will be in for a treat! No worries! Lots of DaddyBats will follow! Muhahaha! Will probably work on that one either later tonight or tomorrow. I know, I need to work on 'Jealous Bird'…I'm sorry! I'll get to it! I swear! Probably tomorrow! Mostly cause this is the first weekend I've had off in 8 months, so I'm trying to make the most of it before I start the new job on Monday! Thank you all again for all of the support! Love you all! And thank you so much for sticking with me these 10 chapters!

Reminder: Dick= YJ Robin, Robin= TT Robin. Bruce= YJ Bats, Batman= TT Bats. Wally= YJ KF, Kid Flash= TT KF.

Mindlink

Klarion skips through the portal, back to his dimension happily, with Dick in tow. The bird was still trapped inside the force shield, struggling against his restraints to try to escape. "You're just wasting your energy, Birdie." The agent of chaos sneers, before pulling out his communicator. Ra's al Ghul's face appears on the screen, looking rather expectant.

"Do you have him?"

"Yes, yes. No need to get impatient."

"It took you two days. The League is already becoming suspicious as to the Team's absence as well as the Detective's."

"Well, we have what we were after anyway. After we finish up with him, they won't have time to figure out what hit them." Klarion grins, glancing back at his captive. "Where are we meeting this time?"

"We are going to commence phase two. Meet in the lab. I'll contact everyone else. Just make sure you aren't being followed. And whatever you do; make sure the package arrives alive."

"Alright, alright." The witch boy waves his hand dismissively. "See you later." He hangs up, slipping the communicator back into his pocket.

"You won't get away with this." Dick growls as Klarion rolls his eyes.

"We already have."

Bruce starts modifying the zeta transporter with the help of Cyborg and Batman as the rest of the teens huddle anxiously. Instead of being separated into two separate groups, they were merged into one. "We cannot just leave you! What if you need our help?" Starfire laments to the Young Justice team before shooting a glance over to Robin.

"This is not your burden to bear. Robin is our teammate and it is our fault for not protecting him properly." Aqualad states.

"The reason he's in the mess in the first place is because Klarion got the help of Slade. It is our problem. He may be from a different universe, but he's still a hero. We can't just sit by and do nothing." Robin steps forward, smirking. "We're coming with you. Batman already knows the coordinates, so that we can get back. If this Light organization is as bad as you say, you could use the backup."

"Yeah! We can't let you guys have all the fun!" Beast Boy cheers. Aqualad smiles gratefully, looking back to the rest of his team. They all nod in agreement. The Atlantian grins, turning to face Robin once again, and extends a hand.

"Thank you. It will be a pleasure working beside you." Robin smirks, shaking his hand.

"Same for us."

Batman focuses back on his work, having caught himself watching the teens converse. Bruce smirks, having seen the exchange in the corner of his eye. "My Robin has only been with yours for a day and a half and he's already starting to change…I've haven't seen him this upbeat in a long time…" Batman muses, looking over at Bruce. The alternate billionaire pauses his work and meets eyes with him.

"He tends to have that effect on people…why do you think I have such a hard time saying no to him? I already bought him a motorcycle…he's thirteen." Bruce shakes his head slowly in shame.

"Robin used to be the same…"

"You fired him because of a bullet wound."

"I should have been able to prevent it."

"He's had worse."

"But it was my fault."

"So you fired him." Bruce raises an eyebrow, not missing the fact that Cyborg was obviously trying not to listen in, but couldn't help himself.

"It was to protect him."

"For him, it was more like a punishment. He thought you stopped believing in him."

"I didn't."

"You cut all contact with him and banned him from his home. What was he supposed to think?" Batman's eyes narrow dangerously.

"You don't know him like I do." Bruce smirks knowingly.

"On the contrary. I know him better than you do. Instead of pushing my son away, I keep him close. Yes, I slip up sometimes and he gets hurt. I will never forgive myself for that. But he forgives me…he always does. I don't deserve his kindness, but he gives it anyway. I can't imagine what I would become without him…..however, after seeing you; I think I'm starting to be able to." Batman balls a fist.

"I did it to protect him! I'm not the monster you portray me to be!"

"Does he know that? It doesn't matter what my opinion of you is. Frankly, the only two people whose opinion's matter to me are my Robin and Agent A."

"You bastard! Of course I care what he thinks! I always make sure that he's safe! It may be from the shadows, but he's made it clear that he wants nothing more to do with me!"

"Has he actually said that?" Batman pauses. "I didn't think so. We have a bad habit of making quick assumptions. You should know that Robin is one person we should never make those judgments about." With that, Bruce picks up his tools again and beings to work on the zeta beam transporter once again. Bruce: two; Batman zero.

Klarion releases the force shield, causing Dick to fall to the ground with a grunt. The bird quickly jumps to his feet, about to make a run for it, when Vandal Savage close-lines him in the throat. Dick coughs roughly, falling back to the ground, having the wind knocked out of him. He gasps, trying to catch his breath as Vandal picks him up by his bound hands and drags him towards concrete slab with restrains for each limb.

"Is everything set up?" Vandal asks, hauling the bird onto the slab. He cuts the rope, and starts to retrain him. Dick quickly twists his body, kicking Vandal in the chest. Caught by surprise, the villain stumbles back slightly. The bird hops off the slab, making a b-line for the massive computer in the room. Before he could make it, Klarion uses his magic to restrain the bird. The energy rope wraps around the teen before electrocuting him. Dick cries out in agony before going limp. "I thought he was unconscious." Vandal growls, glaring over at Klarion.

"Well, I didn't expect him to do that. Ra's already stabbed him earlier, so I didn't think he would put up much of a fight." The witch boy shrugs nonchalantly.

"Lex. You get him this time." Vandal growls, walking over to the computer.

"Oh no. I'm not going anywhere near him. Ocean-Master. You get him." Lex states, having had too many negative experiences with the boy wonder. Ocean-Master sighs heavily, not understanding the other's opposition to getting the boy to the table. He walks over to the unconscious bird, about to pick him up, when Dick's eyes fly open. The bird whips out a taser, jamming it into the weak point of the villain's helmet. Ocean-Master cries out in pain, falling to the ground in a convulsive fit as Dick hops to his feet. He whips out his bow staff, holding it out to them threateningly.

"That's enough." Queen Bee states, walking into the room from the darkness. Dick's eyes narrow as he reaches for his utility belt, but Klarion rips it away with his magic. The bird slams the bottom of his bow staff to the ground, using it to vault out of the way of Klarion's next attack. Before he had a chance to make it to Queen Bee, Ra's catches the staff. He yanks it forward, causing Dick to soar towards the leader of the League of Shadows. Dick lets go of the staff, trying to jump back, but Ra's punches him in the face.

"Queen Bee. Now's your chance." Ra's states, collapsing the bow staff and toss it aside. Queen Bee smirks, looking straight at the bird.

"Robin." She purrs. "Be a good boy and lay down on that table for me." Dick holds his head in pain before going limp. He then starts walking over to the table without a fight and lays down. "Good boy." She coos, locking his arms and legs into the restrains. Dick shakes his head, snapping out of it, and glares up at them.

"What, are you going to torture me? Just wait until the others find me!"

"Silly boy." Ra's states, walking up to him. "You see…you possess important information that we need…all of the League's secret identities…their weaknesses…all of the heroes for that matter…the Detective has taught you well. We knew better than to try to capture the man himself…but, you see…we know his greatest weakness…his only weakness…is you." Dick's eyes widen as Lex approaches the retrained bird with a helmet that was connected to the massive computer.

"You will be the downfall of not only the Justice League; but the entire hero community." The Brain states, cruising over to the computer to join Vandal.

"You won't get away with this!" Dick growls, starting to thrash against the restraints.

"No one knows you are here. We already have." Lex smirks, about to place the helmet on the bird. A shuriken suddenly flies out of the shadows, slicing Lex's hand. Lex drops the helmet, grunting in pain as he holds his hand to stop the bleeding.

"I have business with the bird first." Slade states, stepping out of the shadows. Klarion glares over at him.

"How did you get here?"

"You honestly thought I would just let you get away with my prize? I planted a tracker on your pet." Klarion hisses in rage, starting to search his familiar's collar. Sure enough, there was a small, blinking tracker. He rips it off, crushing it in his hand.

"You'll pay for that!" Before he could attack, a shadow materializes next to the witch boy, forming a muzzle over his mouth. Raven floats out of the darkness, flinging up a shield just as Klarion shoots a burst of energy at her. Noticing her appearance, the others quickly set their eyes to the shadows as the two sources begin to send bursts of energy at each other. Starfire joins the brawl, sending her green energy bolts at the witch boy as well. Klarion sets up a force shield, blocking the attack from behind. He rips off the shadowy muzzle, muttering a spell. Teek'l grows in size, growling viciously as the giant cat lunges at Starfire.

Ocean-Master whips out his Neptune's Trident just as a whip made from water comes towards him. He uses the Trident to block the attack, absorbing the magic from it. Following the path that it came from, he sends the energy back towards where he believed Aqualad to be. However, a green bull comes running towards him from behind and tackles him to the ground. Aqualad jumps out from the shadows and whips out his water barrers as Ocean-Master gets back up.

"It's been a long time, Kaldur'ahm." Kaldur glares at the villain, his tattoos glowing light blue.

"We will not let you hurt our friend." He runs at his enemy, jumping to the side as Ocean-Master swings his Trident. Kid Flash speeds up to them, kicking Ocean-Master in the side.

The Brain spins around just in time to be slammed into by the green bull. Cyborg shoots his cannon at him as well, not letting up on the assault. The Brain quickly whips out his laser beams, shooting them at the two. They run off in different directions, making an arch around their target. They meet up in the middle. The bull then jumps up, midair, turning into a squirrel. Cyborg catches the small furry creature, using his momentum to fling it towards The Brain. Yet again, Beast Boy changes midair into a rhino, slamming the villain into the wall with a sickening crack.

Wally rushes at Vandal Savage, trying to kick him, but the villain catches his leg, flinging him aside. The massive computer monitor behind him glows pink before toppling over towards him as Jinx steps out of the shadows. Vandal dives out of the way, only to be met with Wally's fist.

Lex jumps back, having just avoided being slammed to the ground by Superboy. The clone roars with rage, running at him again. Lex smirks, flipping open a box of kryptonite. Conner winces, holding his head in pain, stumbling back. Just as Lex reaches into his pocket to pull out a gun, a green arrow shoots the box in his hand, sending it skidding away. Artemis sends a trick arrow towards it, engulfing it in foam. Conner smirks, feeling his strength returning as Artemis nocks another arrow, pointing it directly at Lex.

Queen Bee looks around at all of her falling comrades, and starts to make her way towards the exit. Before she could make it, she gasps in shock, being lifted off the ground. Megan appears next to her, glaring. Before Queen Bee could say anything, the villainess cries out in pain as the martian brain blasts her.

Ra's blocks a batarang with his sword, awaiting the oncoming attacks. He jumps out of the way when a fist flies at his face. Bruce sweeps the feet out from under him, causing him to fall. However, instead of hitting the ground, Ra's flips out of the way. A line catches his leg, yanking him back. The two Bats run at him, both punching and kicking at him in unison. Ra's tries to block most of the attacks, but some still get through his defenses.

Robin drops down next to the concrete table, frowning when he saw that the one they were there to rescue was missing. Guys. Robin's gone. Miss Martian. Can you get a location on him? The bird asks through the mindlink Megan had established between all of them earlier.

Guys! A little help! Dick's voice calls out. Robin whips his head around to see Slade holding a knife to Dick's throat, smirking. The bird struggles in the mercenary's hold, wincing when the knife starts to draw blood. Robin glares, sending a birdarang directly at Slade's head. Slade blocks the projectile with the knife. Dick uses the opportunity to elbow his captor in the solar plexus. However, it didn't have the intended result. His blow hit only armor. Slade grins, grabbing the bird's arm and twists it behind him. He cries out in pain as Slade digs the blade into his shoulder. Robin whips out his bow staff, running at his arch enemy.

"Let him go, Slade!"

"I think not. You've clearly still got a lot to learn compared to this one…he nearly took out three members of this criminal organization by himself…he will make a wonderful apprentice."

"Pedo." Dick growls, ripping the knife out of his own shoulder and slices at the mercenary. Slade jumps out of the way, chuckling darkly.

"You see? He has so much more spunk than you."

"Shut up!" The two birds shout simultaneously, running at him. Dick throws the knife at Slade, who dodges. However, Robin anticipated his movements, slamming his bow staff into the mercenary's side. Slade stumbles to the side, grabbing onto the staff. He yanks the bird towards himself, only to have Dick roundhouse kick him in the head. As he falls to the ground, Robin smashes his staff into Slade's helmet for good measure. Dick pants exhaustedly, holding his fist out towards Robin.

"Totally asterous." Robin returns the smirk, fist-bumping him.

"I believe it was." Dick snickers before swaying slightly. Robin frowns, catching him. "Woah…don't push yourself…"

"Eh…'m good." Bruce walks up to the two just as Ra's falls to the ground with Batman hovering over him.

"I'll take it from here. The portal is still open for you and your team to return home." Robin nods, extending a hand.

"Thank you." Bruce nods, shaking his hand. Dick grins, wrapping both arms around the alternate bird, engulfing him in a side hug.

"Thanks for the backup! I was worried there for a few minutes…looks like Red X kept his word after all!" Dick mumbles, as Robin tenses slightly. "And remember the notes I gave you. Those words are law." Robin nods slowly as Bruce raises a curious eyebrow.

"Don't ask." Robin mutters, handing Dick over to the Bat. Dick beams up at him before collapsing from exhaustion. Bruce catches him, scooping him up. The bird disappears behind the Bats' cape before the two disappear into the shadows. Aqualad approaches Robin, having just finished off Ocean-Master with Kid Flash.

"Thank you for all of your assistance. Batman already called the Justice League. They are on their way now to collect the criminals." Robin nods, shaking the Atlantian's hand. "We could not have done it without your assistance."

"Anything to help out fellow heroes." Robin pulls out a yellow communicator with a 'T' printed on the front. "I'm not sure if this will work between dimensions…but keep it in case you ever find yourself in Jump City again."

"We will. Thank you, my friend. The same goes for you." Robin nods, turning back towards the unconscious Slade.

"We'll take Slade with us as well. Take care of Robin…he can be a bit of a handful…but he really is everyone's light…he helped remind me of that." Robin grins back at the Atlantian before kneeling down to tie Slade up. Megan hugs Starfire tightly as the two start to tear up.

"I will miss you, my fellow alien!" Starfire laments as Megan nods, sniffling.

"Hopefully we can write! I'll try to find a way to contact you from our dimension!"

"I will do the same, Friend!" Kid Flash walks up to Wally, crossing his arms.

"Guess you're not half bad." Wally smirks.

"Not bad yourself. And for the record…ask her out already…it's clear that she likes you." Kid Flash blushes looking away.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He mumbles before taking Jinx's hand and speeding through the portal.

"Titans! Let's move out!" Robin calls out as Cyborg helps him carry Slade through the portal. The Titans say the last of their good-byes before disappearing back through the portal. Aqualad looks back to the unconscious villains and smiles warmly.

"It appears that we have made new friends." Artemis nods in agreement.

"Yeah…it's nice having extra backup for a change."

Several days later, Robin sits down in the conference room across from Batman, raising an eyebrow. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes…" Batman slips his cowl down, looking over at his adoptive son seriously. "It seems that we have a lot to talk about…and I have a lot to apologize for…" Robin's eyes widen in shock as he silently thanks Dick yet again for his help. Looks like he was right, again. Luckily, he had spent the last few days studying Dick's notes. He would finally be prepared for this conversation.

Dick sighs heavily, stretching out on the sofa in living room of Mount Justice. "I keep telling you guys that I'm fine."

"Batman banned you from training for a week. It's only been three days." Artemis states, turning the page in her magazine. "None of us are going to face the wrath of the Bat to merely ease your boredom."

"I did have something that I wanted to ask you about, Robin." Megan asks shyly, sitting on the sofa next to Artemis. Dick glances over at her curiously, pushing his sunglasses up.

"Sure. What's up, Miss M?"

"It's about what we saw…when Klarion put you under that spell…it was only a few flashes…but-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Dick snaps, sitting up on the sofa. She looks down sadly.

"I'm sorry…"

"It's nothing personal, Miss M. You guys shouldn't have even seen that." With that, he gets up, starting to head out of the room. "Guess I'm going to take a nap…sadly, that's one of very few 'Bat-approved' activities." He disappears into the hall that led to the sleeping quarters, causing the martian to look to Wally nervously.

"Is he angry with me?"

"Nah." Wally waves his hand dismissively. "It just means that he's not ready to talk about his past…when he's ready, he'll tell us all…until then, we respect his privacy and support him…you have to understand…Gotham is a bad city…most of the villain's we've faced are nothing compared to the ones he sees on a daily basis. There's no way anyone can survive in that city without several scars." Artemis nods in agreement. "Just let him get some rest. We all know he needs it. He pushes himself too hard."

"Alright…" Megan smiles weakly before floating towards the kitchen. "Do you think he would like it if I made him some brownies?" Wally nods, smiling warmly.

"He would like that a lot…we should make him some hot chocolate too! It's his favorite! I'll help you!" Wally leaps off the sofa, heading into the kitchen to assist her. At least with the Light finally in custody, things finally seemed to be returning to normal.

FN: Wow! This was so much longer than I thought! Lol ah! My fingers are killing me! Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I loved writing it! *hearts*