One of the one-shots promised to my reviewers of Death of a Partner, Birth of a Hero.

Here you go The Shadow Keeper! You wanted Angst and suggested the Team seeing what Gotham was like, and so that is what I tried to give you. It was fun. XD

Have a happy Holiday!

Disclaimer: I in no way own any of these characters, although I would love to own Robin. And Batman. And Alfred's cookies.

It was a regular mission; observe, collect proof, and then return to the cave and report. The biggest difference was that this time, they were in Gotham. Usually Batman made sure that they steered clear of his city, but today, to everyone's surprise, he'd sent them to the warehouses on the waterfront.

Of course it didn't work like that.

Aqualad had sent Kid Flash and Robin to investigate and make sure the coast was clear, which thinking back on it now, was probably a mistake, and Robin should have caught it.

He was the sidekick to the Batman and he'd just rushed in like this was a normal mission with the Team. He hadn't considered that this was Gotham, he hadn't run through his mental list of what villains had recently escaped from Arkham and Belle Reve, and he hadn't thought to make sure that everyone else knew to be especially wary.

How could he have been so utterly and completely stupid?

That was the question that echoed through his head bitterly as he hung from the chains he'd been tied to. He had a perfect view of his Teammates, scattered about, unconscious on the ground.

Oh how grateful he was that they were unconscious.

Artemis was the only one who hadn't been caught. She'd used her Gotham street kid smarts to evade capture, and as soon as Rob had been brought down, she'd taken off to get help. Good thing too, Robin thought dismally. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd last.

In a way, he was relieved. The villain that they were facing wasn't the Joker. He'd felt a lingering concern when he'd first entered the warehouse and realized that something was wrong that they'd be facing the deranged clown.

Of course, he had to admit that the Scarecrow wasn't good either.

He'd done his best to insure that all of his friends weren't hit by any of Scarecrow's fear gas, but that had been while he'd been fighting, so he couldn't be sure . . .

Wally had gone down first of course. That was when things started going wrong. He and Robin had been turning a corner, and one of the Scarecrow's henchman had punched his lights out. Before Robin had the chance to tell them to stay out of it, the rest of the Team had burst in, and all heck had broken loose.

Scarecrow had taken down Superboy and Miss Martian himself. Aqualad had been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.

Robin and Artemis had been the last two standing, edging as close to the door as they dared. Robin had finally used himself as a distraction so that Artemis could escape. He'd forced his way through the underlings to each of his friends, injected each one with the last cure Batman had made for the Scarecrow's fear gas. Then he'd gone down, watching, dazed, as Artemis made her escape.

He'd come to when they hung him from the chain. It was rather hard thing to miss, and he hadn't been unconscious, just a bit out of it.

Robin sighed. He'd watched as they tied up his friends, and then left them on the ground, obviously unimportant. Of course, since he wasn't with them, what did that make him?

"Twinkle twinkle little bird, let's find out what you have heard," Scarecrow's smooth voice whispered, and Robin couldn't stop himself from shivering. Scarecrow's knack for speaking in nursery rhyme had always bugged him a bit, mostly because of the way he twisted the lyrics.

"I haven't heard anything Scarecrow," he said insistently, swallowing nervously, "and before you try anything, you might want to reconsider. Batman isn't going to be very happy."

"Twinkle twinkle little bat, how I wonder where he's at," Scarecrow said viciously, stepping into the dim light, right over M'gann, who thankfully didn't stir.

"You were expecting me and Batman?" Robin guessed. "Sorry, no luck. Just Robin and a bunch of teenagers." He tried to make his voice purposefully light, but knew instinctively that he was failing.

"Silly little bird," Scarecrow hissed, abandoning the rhymes. "This was a trap for you and the bat, and you stumbled right into it. Your little friends were unexpected, but I'm sure they'll be fun to play with later. First, I think I want to hear you scream."

Robin suppressed a groan. He didn't have enough of the antidote to suppress the gas completely, and even if he did, Scarecrow tended to test out new versions of it on him or Batman whenever he could. Chances were that if this had been a trap for them, that was the whole purpose of the encounter. He could handle his fears pretty well until a certain point, and even if he managed to resist the gas enough to fight and get free, it would hit him pretty hard later.

Come on Batman! he thought fiercely.

By then the Scarecrow was standing right in front of him, his straw masked features probably stretched into a crazy grin.

Robin could see Wally starting to stir. He'd been out the longest, having been hit first, so it was a relief in a way. Of course, Robin was not too thrilled with the thought of his best friend watching him be tortured via fear gas, but it could be worse.

If the Joker had been the one who caught them, it would have been a lot worse.

Robin warned Wally with his eyes as best he could, telling him not to make a sound. It would have been better if M'gann had been awake to establish the mental link, but as it was, Wally got the message, nodding, and then lying still, although his eyes stayed fastened on his friend.

"Little Bird Robin sat on a wall," Scarecrow whispered. "Little Bird Robin had a great fall. All the Bat's money, and all the Bat's men, couldn't put Robin together again."

Robin snorted. "Dude, no one has ever broken me badly enough that a little bit of time couldn't fix the damage."

"No one has tried to break your mind, have they?" Scarecrow asked viciously.

Actually they had. There was Psimon, and the Joker, and even Riddler had tried once, although his attempt had been fairly weak compared to the others.

Robin didn't say that though, because he didn't have time. He felt the prick of a needle in his arm, and groaned as the fear gas started to spread. Immediately he began thinking of all of his counters for fear.

Bruce, Alfred, Jason, Tim, Wally, Roy, Clark, Diana, M'gann, Connor, Kaldur, Artemis, and more members of the league.

After only a few cycles, unusually quickly, he noticed that he was shaking and sweating. The effort of remembering the good and not being afraid was getting harder, more taxing on his mind and body than it usually was at this point.

He groaned as the faint feeling of being trapped in a small dark space reached him, and pushed it away. He'd been right, this was a new version of the fear gas.

To distract himself, Robin tested the ropes that held him. He'd been working at them since coming to, and they were just loose enough that he could get out. Of course, he wasn't quite sure how he'd hold up once he got out of them, but that was unimportant. He needed something to distract himself. With one quick sharp movement, he swung himself forward, planting his feet squarely in Scarecrow's chest, and knocking him backwards, while simultaneously severing the rope that tied him to the chain. He was free, and he was . . .

Falling.

Crap.

Robin stumbled as he hit the ground, almost collapsing to his knees, but managing to keep himself on his feet.

Bruce, Alfred, Tim, Jason, Bruce, Alfred, Tim, Jason, he thought furiously, shoving everything else to the side.

He dodged just in time to miss Scarecrow's fist as the villain roared and leapt at him. "I'm going to get you Robin. You can't last much longer against my creation, and when you fall, not even your Martian friends will be able to fix you," he yelled furiously.

Robin winced. His breath was getting short, and his heart was racing. Usually the adrenaline from the fear gas was almost helpful, but this time, he just wished it would stop. He would give anything for it to stop. He fired his grappling gun into the air and was flying away, out of the Scarecrow's reach. In the back of his mind he was aware that it wasn't the best idea he'd ever had, and he was proved right as something cut through his line and he fell the nearly twenty feet to the ground.

Of course, he was out before he hit the ground, the fear and memories overwhelming him.

Falling.

He was nine again, standing back on the platform, overcome with disappointment that he wasn't to be allowed to participate in the family routine again. He'd been an acrobat since he could walk!

His cousin, Rick, ruffled his hair and smiled at him. "Don't worry squirt, you'll get a chance sooner than you think," he said.

Dick glared up at him, but only for a second, a smile breaking over his face. "Alright," he said cheerfully. "See you when you're done."

He perched himself on the platform and watched as his family members swung into the air. However, they were only airborne for moments. There was a snap, and suddenly instead of flying, the were falling . . . Always falling . . .

"Robin!"

M'gann's scream woke him. He was hovering limply a few feet above the ground. Miss Martian must have woken up and caught him.

"Robin?" she said tentatively inside his head.

He moaned, and forced her out, throwing up as many barriers as possible. He had so little control right now, he couldn't be sure he could keep her from seeing . . . Well . . . Anything, if she was already inside his head.

Aqualad, Superboy, Kid Flash, they were all getting up. Wally had managed to vibrate out of his ropes. Superboy and Kaldur simply broke theirs, and M'gann had morphed, getting slightly smaller and slipping out. Robin stood shakily, trying to block the images that still lingered in his mind. He realized he was shivering and grimaced. This was one of the strongest shots of fear gas he'd had in months.

"We have to get out," he mumbled, barely audible, although he knew at least Superboy caught it by the sharp look he threw at him.

They didn't have time. Within seconds Scarecrow was on him, and Robin was down. Well . . . Sort of. He fought as best he could, but it was hard when he was repressing the fear gas, and already shaky from the fall. He could hear screaming somewhere in the warehouse too, which made it even harder to concentrate.

Suddenly there was a crash, and something knocked Scarecrow off of him. He relaxed and lay, dazed, on the floor. There were shadows moving above him, but he couldn't make his eyes focus enough to see them. He realized that he was moaning, and tried to stop, but couldn't.

Tony Zucco. He could see him! He was coming towards Robin, smiling the way he had the night he found out that Dick was the remaining member of the Flying Graysons. "The last bird, and I've brought it down," he said coldly.

Then the Joker leered to the front of Robin's mind, leering. "Hello Boy Blunder!" he crowed, pulling a crowbar from behind his back. "Ready for some singing?"

Robin realized he was the one screaming as his parents fell again, but he couldn't stop it, no one could stop it.

Artemis had never been so happy to see the Dark Knight as she was right then. She'd escaped the warehouse when Robin got caught, knowing he was giving her the chance to call for backup. It had only been fifteen minutes, but that felt like fifteen minutes too long. She was on the roof of a warehouse near the one she'd just vacated, and couldn't help but glance nervously back there.

She'd known as soon as they rushed in that it was a trap. The panicked look Robin had sent her was clue enough, not to mention the resigned look that followed soon after. Then of course there was the fact that the villain they were fighting turned out to be the Scarecrow. Artemis was a Gothamite born and raised. She knew more about the Scarecrow than she ever wanted to. She'd even been hit by fear gas once, although only briefly, and not with very much of it.

"Artemis, what happened?" Batman said.

She jumped. She hadn't even noticed his approach. "It was the Scarecrow," Artemis said immediately, feeling a flood of relief when she saw the hero. "He set up a trap. He and his goons outnumbered us. Wally was down by the time we got there, Robin was holding his own. Kaldur and M'gann went down really soon after that, and so did Connor. Robin . . ." she trailed off, realizing that she was talking to Robin's mentor.

His dad.

Crap.

"I assume that Robin allowed himself to get captured, seeing that you had the best chance of escape," Batman said when she didn't continue. She nodded, and he frowned even more than he had been before, his eyes narrowed. "If it was a trap, it was probably directed at myself and Robin," he muttered.

Then his eyes widened heartbeats before a heart wrenching scream came from the nearby warehouse, and he was gone.

Artemis was too, because she recognized the scream. Robin. Robin was screaming. She'd never heard him scream before, and she'd lived in Gotham her entire life. The Team had been going strong for a couple of months, they'd fought villains upon villains, but she'd never heard Robin scream.

Artemis burst into the warehouse after Batman, and stopped, taking in the scene before her.

Kid Flash was up, zooming around the room and taking down bad guys left and right. It was a reminder that he'd only been out before because he was taken by surprise. Superboy was barreling through, roaring in fury, and some of the goons were running in terror. Kaldur and M'gann were kneeling next to a thrashing and screaming Robin, who didn't even seem to be awake or aware. Artemis couldn't see any injuries, but that just made her heart sink. Fear gas was worse than any other pain she'd experienced. For someone with dark memories, it was something to be avoided at all costs.

Then she saw Batman. He had Scarecrow pressed up against the wall, and was snarling into his ear. The fury radiating from him was enough to make Artemis shiver.

She fired a few arrows, taking out the last of the bad guys, and then proceeded to help Superboy tie them it was something Wally would do, but he was too busy leaning over Robin and shouting something indistinguishable in his best friend's ear.

Then Batman was there. The entire Team backed away from Robin, knowing instinctively that Batman was the only one who would be able to help their friend.

Batman took something from his belt, and Artemis was unsurprised when he injected Robin with something. Almost immediately the boy stopped thrashing, and his screams started to die, fading to a whimper. Batman muttered something into Robin's ear, and he relaxed completely, his eyes blinking open.

"B-Batman," he said hoarsely, stuttering over his mentor's name.

"Robin," Batman replied evenly.

"No more missions in Gotham," Robin muttered. "First Clayface, now Scarecrow. Not good for morale."

Artemis found herself exchanging a disbelieving glance with Kid Flash. He was joking? After that?

"Agreed," Batman said, helping his protege to his feet. Robin swayed slightly, leaning on his mentor, something Artemis was sure he would never do unless he absolutely had to. Batman turned to the rest of them. "The mission is over. Robin and I will wait until the police get here. All of you are to return to the Cave and rest. I will be there in two hours with Robin to receive a full report, so Aqualad, please prepare what you know. Robin and Artemis will fill in the rest."

"But Batman-" Wally started, but the Dark Knight turned and gave him a withering glare.

"Yes?" he asked darkly.

The speedster gulped, and looked away. "Nothing."

"Good."

The Team left slowly, and Artemis couldn't resist glancing over her shoulder just in time to see Batman's arms go around Robin.

After a revamped antidote, some of Alfred's cooking, a good scolding from Alfred (the scolding came with a hug and was totally unconvincing), and a glare from Jason, Dick was feeling a lot better.

Thankfully the changes to the serum hadn't been too big, and the antidote had only taken a couple of minutes to be fixed. His head still hurt, and his throat was hoarse, but he was no longer plagued by his fears and memories. By the time Batman's two hour time was fulfilled, he was more than ready to reassure the Team that he was fine.

They were waiting when Batman and Robin entered the cave.

Robin stumbled backwards as M'gann's arms went around him. "Robin!" she said. "You're alright!"

"Of course I am," he said smoothly, hugging her back as best he could. "Totally feeling the aster."

"Dude, that was horrible," Wally said, standing next to them. He was vibrating, and eating chips faster than was probably healthy- at least for anyone else.

"I am glad to see that you are well my friend," Kaldur agreed. His eyes were calm, but Robin knew that he wanted to talk. He wanted to know if that was what Robin faced on a daily basis when he was out with Batman.

Robin squirmed out of M'gann's grip. "Trust me guys, that was nothing. I'm still glad we didn't run into the Joker."

Artemis's shiver at the mention of the name didn't escape his notice, and he caught her eye. She was silently asking him if he was really alright. He responded with a tilt of his head, and she nodded. None of them were ever really completely alright, but today still hadn't been his worst day as Robin.

"What was that?" Superboy demanded. He sounded angry, or at least angrier than usual. "You were in pain Robin. M'gann sensed it, all of us heard it. You're acting like nothing happened!"

Robin sighed. He'd known this would have to happen sooner or later. "That's because I'm used to it Connor. That's nothing I haven't seen or experienced before. Yes, it's horrible, but it's better than letting it run rampant through the streets of Gotham."

His eyes met Artemis's again, and there was a grim agreement in them. She was the only one besides him and Batman who had any idea of what he was talking about. Gotham without Batman and Robin, was a Gotham without order.

"I'm fine, really," he added, and did a backflip just to prove his point, ignoring the glare he got from his mentor.

"Alright Team," Batman said, his tone informing them all that there would be no more conversation on the matter. "Report."

So report they did.

Well The Shadow Keeper (and anyone else who reads this), I hope you liked it!

REVIEW!