WARNING: Maybe Some Language, And A Rather Uncomfortable Topic . . .

"Did you find anything?"

Superman landed beside Batman with a shake of his head. "No. No sign of Poison Ivy or the scientists that were working here. Whoever they were left few tracks. I lost them at the large river to the north of here."

Batman said nothing, but Superman had known him long enough to recognize that as a sign in and of itself. The Dark Knight was worried.

"You sure it was Ivy?" He felt the need to ask again. "She's a little far from Gotham City."

"There were clues," Batman said.

They were in rainforest, so Superman didn't know how he could tell, but he didn't doubt him. A breeze ruffled their capes as Flash skidded to a halt in front of them. Dirt and small pebbles showered their boots, but Batman ignored it.

"What took you so long?" The Dark Knight growled.

Superman rolled his eyes. Only Batman could get away with asking the fastest man alive that question. He revised his earlier opinion, however. Batman was worried sick!

"Hey, it's not easy to navigate this terrain, you know. It took a while, but I was able to follow their tracks to the river," Flash told them. "The rains nearly wiped out all traces of them."

"The river? They were following the people who were here, then?"

"No," Barry clarified. "There is a smaller tributary that cuts through the south. It's the same river that the boys had to have crossed to get here, but they took a route that is much further west than the one that they came in on. If I didn't know better, I'd say they were lost."

Clark frowned. "How can that be? You sent them in with equipment, right?"

"I did. Even without it, though, Robin carries a compass," Batman stated simply. "If they are off course and not following their targets, then it is likely that they were captured at some point and divested of their gear and Robin of his utility belt."

"I thought that you had rigged his belt to be impossible to remove by someone other than you or Robin?" Flash commented.

"Not impossible," Batman ground out. "It could be cut off of him, although the person doing the cutting would end up severely regretting his actions. But there is the possibility that Poison Ivy or whoever else captured him convinced him to give it up willingly."

"How would they do that? Losing the belt would leave him vulnerable," Clark said.

"Robin would do it if it was the only way to save his teammates."

Superman blinked at that. Robin was the only non-meta in the group of three boys. He supposed it was possible that Kid Flash might have run into trouble, but Superboy should have been invulnerable to injuries, like him.

Batman answered his unvoiced question. "Conner isn't an exact replica of you, Clark. His DNA has human elements to it. He's not completely invulnerable to injury. He can be hurt."

"Conner . . .?" This was new information to him, but then Clark had been purposely avoiding anything to do with the clone.

"His name, Clark," Batman gritted out. "He has a name, now."

Superman frowned. Shouldn't he know that his clone's DNA had been mixed with human? He knew that he couldn't fly yet, but Clark had supposed that it was merely a matter of time. He, himself, couldn't fly until he was seventeen; instead he had been forced to leap large distances. He wondered now what other weaknesses the clone had. Kryptonite, certainly . . . Any Kryptonian DNA would be susceptible to the radioactive rock. But the men that had been here hadn't been expecting Superman, he was sure. His clone shouldn't have run into kryptonite.

"So, you think they were captured and injured, then." Clark surmised this much, trying to focus his attention back on the trouble immediately at hand.

"That would jive with what I found," Barry said. When both men looked at him, he cleared his throat. "I found blood." He met Batman's gaze. "And Robin's cape."

"Where?" Batman snapped the question out. "Show me!"

Superman wrapped an arm around the Batman's waist and flew after Flash; dodging trees where necessary.

They landed in the middle of a rocky beach next to the river.

Flash led them to a crude shelter made up of numerous thin branches with broad leaves woven in covering a section of a large tree's root system. The roots were enormous and the spaces between them were large enough for two or three teens to sit comfortably. At the back of one of the spaces was a swath of material. The bit of yellow showing was like a beacon.

Batman crawled in and picked it up. It was filthy and torn, and on one corner was a reddish-brown stain. Blood. He pulled out a light and shone it on the ground; locating several large splatters of more blood. His stomach clenched at the sight. He took what little comfort he could from the fact that there wasn't much of it, but it was clear that part of the cape had been used for bandages.

It didn't mean that this was Robin's blood. One of the other boys might have been injured and Robin used his cape to help him. Despite what he told Clark, the likelihood that the blood belonged to the clone was slender to none, but it was worrisome. Open wounds in the rainforest equaled the potential for serious infections, and they had already been missing for several days.

Batman had started searching the morning after they had failed to arrive back at the designated rendezvous point; giving them a few more hours in case they had merely been running behind. He had called in reinforcements after the first twenty-four hours hadn't produced the boys nor clues to their whereabouts.

Had the other team members not been on their own mission, he might have called them in first, but then he had found this place and signs of Poison Ivy. For all that she identified with Mother Nature, Ivy was not a motherly figure. Her hatred of the human race extended to everyone, no matter their age. To her, they were all a cancer; needing to be eradicated before they had a chance to grow . . . Or else they were a means to an end.

Clark had met her before; he was more than aware of the danger the woman represented. If Batman were to meet up with a super-powered puppet, he preferred to have back up capable of holding their own. And, like him, both Flash and Superman had a personal stake in the outcome. Clark, whether he admitted it or not.

"Batman?"

He looked up. "Someone was hurt. We need to find them."

. . . Or what's left of them. He left that part unspoken, but he knew the others had heard it anyway. It was what they were all thinking; what they were all afraid of.

"It won't be easy after this much time," Flash told him. "It was pure luck that I found enough of a trail to locate this place. The rain washes away everything."

Superman rose up several feet above them. "If someone was injured, they might have had to find another way to ford the river. I'll search the shoreline from the air."

Flash and Batman watched as the Man of Steel flew straight up and used his telescopic vision to look for another way for the boys to cross.

"It might not have been Wally who had been hurt," Batman said softly.

Flash shook his head. "If it had been anyone else, Wally would have raced them out of here, and the river's depths would not have been an issue." They were silent for a moment. "Iris is going to kill me."

They both knew that Iris wouldn't have to. If Wally was seriously injured or . . . otherwise, Barry would beat himself up enough for the both of them over it. But even that possibility did not ease Batman's own worry that the blood had belonged to a certain bird rather than to a speedster.

And then there was the problem of Superboy.

If either of the other two boys had been injured, why had the clone not used his abilities to get them to safety? The loss of their camping gear would explain much in either case, however. They could simply be lost.

But why wouldn't Robin have insisted on remaining in one place? He knew that it was safer in this instance to stay still and wait for help to come to them than to attempt to traverse the dangers of the jungle. Batman understood the need to distance themselves from the enemy, but why desert their little river refuge?

He had more questions than answers at this point, and what possible answers that were present didn't lend themselves well to his comfort.

Superman landed in front of them. "There is a tree that leans out over the river a couple of miles in that direction," he said, pointing to the west.

Flash frowned. "They are getting further away from their original route rather than closer. This makes no sense. What are they doing?"

"If they are lost . . .?" Clark began.

"They would have noted the direction the sun rose and set," Batman interrupted. "Flash is right. What they are doing makes no sense."

"It's like they were no longer worried about reaching civilization . . ." Flash rubbed a hand over his neck. "Could . . . Could they be looking for something?"

Superman blinked. "So, now you are saying that they aren't lost? What could they be looking for if it were not to follow their mission objective?

"We never said they weren't lost," Batman corrected. "But that they were no longer attempting to make their way back to the rendezvous point. What would be more important than reaching the rendezvous point, especially if one of them was injured?"

"It could be more than one of them that was injured," Clark told them. "From up there," he pointed to area he had been hovering, "it looks like a struggle took place here. It isn't noticeable from the ground, however, but I saw signs that rocks had been disturbed and moss had been scraped off."

"All the more reason to make it back," Flash argued, "not go deeper into the jungle."

"We can find the answers to our questions when we find the boys," Batman reminded them. "Lead the way."

"Right," Clark lifted Batman easily and began to levitate up. He wanted the detective to get the opportunity to see what he had.

Batman nodded. "A definite struggle," he agreed, glancing down at the scars the beach still bore. "Now, let's find them. They can tell us what happened easier than we can deduce it."

Flash stared at the tree in dismay.

"Are you kidding me? There's no way Kid would have crossed over this willingly," he stated. "The boy can barely make it downstairs to the breakfast table without tripping over his own feet!"

When the other two men looked at him, Barry shrugged. "Don't ask me. I don't know how he manages avoid road rash on a regular basis either." The irony was not lost on him. He smirked at Batman. "Yours is the only one of the three of them that isn't a bull in a china shop."

Unexpectedly, there was a splash and roar as a large black caiman crocodile burst out of the water near Superman. The Man of Steel moved back, twisting, as he caught the reptile's jaws in his hands and shoved it halfway across the river with one push. Suddenly there were several more crawling out of the river towards them.

"Uh oh," Flash flung Batman's arm around his neck and a second later they were both standing on the embankment above the river on the other side. "You don't think they seriously tried to cross here, do you," he asked as he stared down at the half dozen or so crocodiles that had appeared out of nowhere.

Superman flew over to meet them, frowning down at the angry crocs. "I'd like to think I'm wrong, but there was nothing else for miles in either direction. If they crossed at all; they did it here."

"They crossed here," Batman murmured, drawing their attention away from the violently churning river. He was kneeling a few feet away, next to a tree.

"How do you know?" Superman asked, stepping over to see what had Batman's attention.

He peeled a strip of bright yellow material off of the bark and held it up for their inspection.

Flash sighed. At least he knew that Wally had made it across the river of death in one . . . Well, mostly one piece. But there were no clues as to whether the other two boys had managed to make it across with him.

"There's something else," Batman announced abruptly.

Superman narrowed his eyes. "More than one somethings."

"What?"

"It looks like they had company at this point," Batman held up an arrow as Superman picked up a piece of beadwork with a feather worked into it.

"There's no sign of a fight, although the rain might have destroyed the evidence," Barry noted.

"If Conner had fought," Batman said, "there would have been more evidence than the rain could have washed away."

"Good to know," Flash commented. "I'll scout ahead and see what there is to see."

"Be careful," Batman warned. "You're not exactly wearing camouflage."

Flash ran a hand down his torso lightly. "Hey, I like red."

"Hm, doesn't show blood, at least," Batman remarked dryly.

Barry ignored the dig. He knew that the Bat was having a hard time right now; as hard as any of them. He gave a two-fingered salute and took off.

Footing was treacherous, and Flash wasn't as capable at moving at the speed he could attain on open terrain, but even then, he wouldn't be much more than a blur to any of the indigenous tribes that happened to be in the area.

He stopped at the top of a ridge and looked down at the small village below. Huts were placed sporadically in a circle around a central clearing obviously meant to be the village 'square'. He squinted at the activity going on below.

Several of the natives were clustered around something. After a few minutes, several of those below moved to reveal a familiar head of red hair topping the battered and weathered yellow and red costume of Kid Flash.

It was all he could do not to yell and run down to greet his nephew in order to reassure himself that the boy was truly all right. He looked around, but couldn't see any sign of Superboy and Robin, however, and this bothered him. The boy appeared unhurt, but he couldn't tell from this distance what sort of activity was happening.

Batman and Superman would want to be here.

Hang on, Kid, Barry thought. We're coming.

With that, Flash turned and raced back. He got lost along the way, but even still, he arrived back at the river embankment in less than ten minutes after he had originally departed.

"I found them," Flash blurted as soon as he stopped. "Well, I found Wally. I couldn't see the other two."

"Is he okay?" Superman asked.

"It was hard to tell," he answered uneasily. "Something was going on in the village when I got there, but he didn't appear to be in any immediate danger. Otherwise, I would have gotten him out of there right then."

"How far?" Batman demanded.

"Maybe four miles. You want a lift?" Flash offered.

"I'll catch one with Superman," he said, even as Clark lifted him up. "We'll follow you."

"Right," and then he was gone.

"Are you okay?" Clark asked him as they moved through the trees just fast enough to keep Barry in sight.

"Just get us there without running into anything," Batman growled.

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're going to get right now," Batman snapped.

The truth was, he was terrified, but he wasn't about to tell Clark that. He couldn't admit that the relief he had felt when Flash had told them about Wally was fleeting and immediately buried beneath the worry he felt for the other two boys . . . For his boy, Robin.

. . . For his son, Dick.

When the three of them were standing atop the ridge, Wally was gone; disappeared back into one of the huts they could only suppose. Superman scanned the village for the presence of Robin and Superboy.

"There," he pointed to a hut on the far side. "I found them; all three of them."

"Are they okay?" It was Batman's turn to ask.

"I-I . . ." Clark hesitated. "I'm not sure."

Batman grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "What do you mean, you're not sure?"

"There are a number of people in the hut with them. Superboy . . . Conner is sitting on the ground, holding Robin. Wally is kneeling next to them," He said.

"Holding Robin? Holding him how? Holding him down? Against him? Across his lap?" Batman growled angrily. "You need to learn how to get specific in your reports."

Clark blinked. "Holding him against his chest . . ."

And then he was speaking to air.

Batman spun and shot a grapple line into the tallest tree between their location and the village. The recoil sent him soaring high above the surrounding foliage. He swung out and released the line; flipping in midair to slow his descent and then extended his cape as an assist. He landed in a crouch on one knee; the cape settling around his shoulders like wings as he stood up in the center of the village. On a scale of one to ten, as far as dramatic entrances went; it was a twelve as natives screamed and ran in all directions.

Men burst from the huts, shooting arrows and throwing spears. Superman disintegrated three as he lowered himself to the ground; his own red cape swirling in the afternoon breeze. Flash knocked four more away as he seemed to appear out of nowhere. Batman caught the remaining arrow in a fist; several inches from his face.

"Where are they?" He demanded in a growl.

The natives fell back in awe and fear; talking amongst themselves.

"There were better ways to handle this, you know," Superman remarked with rare irritation. "They probably think you are a demon."

"If he's hurt, then that description wouldn't be far off the mark," Batman snarled.

He didn't wait. It was obvious that none of the native villagers spoke English. He stalked toward the hut that Superman had indicated. He ignored the natives and their weapons, leaving the others to protect his back.

"I don't want it," Robin whined.

He was in one of his more clear moments. The jaborandi had saved his life, but the preparation of the leaves and its method of administration couldn't match the purity of extract that Poison Ivy had injected the boy with. His body still struggled to throw off the effects of the belladonna poisoning.

The jaborandi's effects were nearly the exact opposite of those of belladonna. If it had been refined and administered in a hospital, it would have immediately begun neutralizing the symptoms that Robin had been suffering. As it was, however, the jaborandi could only ease them enough to keep Robin from succumbing to them.

The plant pulp was extremely bitter, and Robin continued to have difficulty swallowing the amount necessary to make an effective dose. As when the boy had fallen into a coma, there was still only one method of delivery that was available to them in which his body could absorb the dosage necessary to ward off the returning symptoms. And that was their current matter of contention.

"Robin, you have to have it," Wally explained to him again. "Your body hasn't rid itself of the belladonna poison yet. If you don't take it, you'll fall sick again."

Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask. They had replaced it shortly after the first dose of the jaborandi. They merely kept the lenses up now so that they could monitor his pupils.

"Again?" he snarked. "Like I'm not still sick now."

"Fine. Sicker, then," Wally said. "It's not like you have any choice."

"There is always a choice! I could just die," Robin groused under his breath, and immediately felt guilty for it. His friends had suffered and sacrificed to save his life, and he was being ungrateful, he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to do what had to be done voluntarily.

Conner gave him a little squeeze. "We told them you are a great hero," he reminded the younger boy, gently. After days of this, they were becoming immune to Robin's crankiness. "You might start acting like it."

Robin snorted. That line had worked when they had needed to administer the antidote to him the second time, once he had awoken from the coma. But then Robin had experienced it. He glared at the half dozen people crowded into the hut with him. The chief, the shaman, and two women along with his best friends. That was five too many in his opinion. And he was expected to do this with those women looking on? Robin would rather take on the Joker by himself . . .

Okay, he grumbled inside his head. Maybe not Joker . . . But he'd take on the Penguin or Riddler any day than have an audience for this!

"Your fever is returning," Conner reminded him.

His vision was blurring a little again, too. Robin licked chapped lips with a too-dry tongue, and sighed. The symptoms just kept coming back. But as much as he hated them; he still didn't care for the cure.

"I know . . ." he admitted miserably.

Wally patted his arm. "When you are well enough, we'll be able to hike out of here. You won't have to ever do this again."

"Fine," he yelled, abruptly. "But everyone who doesn't have to be here has to leave!"

Wally looked skeptical. "You won't fight him?"

Robin ground his teeth together. "I won't fight him," he promised.

That hadn't been their experience previously. The first time hadn't been a problem as Rob had been unconscious and incapable of fighting when given the treatment. But the second time, it had taken not only Wally and Conner, but Caua and Araci to hold him still enough that Ubirajara was able administer the second enema. Wally was just grateful that he hadn't had to be the one to give it.

The shaman had to draw the dosage into a long, wooden tube, insert it, and then blow the concoction into him. It had been horrible for everyone involved and Wally wanted nothing more than to go back to civilization where all your ills could be cured with a pill.

This was the third dose, and Ubirajara was confident that after this one, Robin would be well enough to handle the journey back to civilization on the morrow. That is IF they could convince Rob to allow it. Neither boy was anxious to have to wrestle their friend into submission if they couldn't get him to take it willingly.

"Why don't I believe you?" Wally asked.

Conner grunted. "Maybe because last time he said he wouldn't fight he blacked Caua's eye."

"I said I was sorry for that," Robin grumbled irritably.

Ubirajara said something and Araci translated for him.

"He says that the mixture is at its peak and for it to be effective battling the poison in his system, it must be given quickly. No more talk. We must do this now," she smiled apologetically at Robin even as she made the declaration.

Robin made an aborted attempt to swallow, but it continued to be difficult for him without saliva. He closed his eyes and whispered. "I wish Batman was here."

Just seconds later, screams and chaos erupted outside the hut.

The chief began yelling orders, and stood to go meet the challenge. Wally stood up with him. He, too, would do what he could to protect the people that had helped to save Robin's life. He and Conner understood well, that even had they found the jaborandi plant on their own, Robin would have died anyway because neither Conner nor Wally would have known what to do with it.

They were just about to leave when the blanket was thrust aside and a demon from hell, or was it an avenging angel, entered the hut.

Kid glanced back at Robin, astonished. "Are you kidding me? All you had to do was make a wish?"

"Where is he?" Batman growled.

Wally jumped back; pointing to where Conner stood in front of Robin in an effort to protect the weakened boy from the threat.

Conner stepped aside as Batman swooped in to kneel beside his son.

There were shouts now both inside and out. Araci grabbed Wally's arm.

"What manner of demon is that?" she gasped, cowering behind the speedster.

"That isn't a demon," Wally assured her. "Well, he's not unless you get on his bad side."

She stared in panic at the black figure who was hunched over the sick boy.

Wally sighed. "Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. That's Batman. Believe it or not, he is a very great hero where I come from, and Robin is his partner."

"Partner?"

After a moment's hesitation Wally came to a decision. It wasn't like these people would be chatting it up with the supervillains that Batman and Robin normally face. Their secret would be safe here.

"His son," the teen admitted to her quietly.

Her eyes were wide as Araci turned to relay the information to the chief.

Two more figures entered the already crowded hut.

"Kid," Flash grinned and hugged the boy. "You are a sight for sore eyes."

"Is everyone okay?" Superman stood next to Conner and asked.

"Robin should be fine with medical treatment," Conner reported.

He watched the reunion between Batman and Robin. With the blasted collar on, at least he didn't have to worry about eavesdropping on their private conversation anymore. Robin wrapped his arms around Batman's neck as the hero picked up his son. His eyes flicked over to where Flash was giving Wally another hug.

"Kid Flash had broken his foot. Although he can walk on it now, it hasn't healed well. He's probably going to need to see a surgeon for that," Conner said.

He was startled when a large hand came to rest gently on his shoulder.

"What happened here?" Superman asked next, fingering the tears and stains on Conner's shirt.

The clone shrugged. "Jaguar," he said as way of explanation.

"You have scars?" Superman exclaimed in shock.

Conner blushed. "Poison Ivy got the drop on us. She stuck me with this inhibitor collar. Without the tools in Robin's belt, we couldn't get it off. It's made everything a bit of a challenge."

Superman finally noticed the device. He frowned. Pinching the lock, he then crushed the device in his hand freeing the boy.

Conner felt a surge of strength immediately and slumped as the pain of the past several days finally faded away like a bad memory. He reached up and rubbed the raw place that the collar had left. The redness slowly vanished beneath his hand.

"The marks aren't going away," Superman noted with some concern. "Shouldn't they be going away?"

"Maybe it's because he's got some human in his DNA," Wally interrupted. "The jaguar he fought was actually able to pierce his shoulder."

"The cat left more than just marks?" Superman ignored the boy's flinch as he rubbed the marks lightly with his thumb.

Wally laughed. "He left an incisor the size of my thumb behind! Show him, Conner."

Conner pulled out the tooth and held it in his palm as everyone gaped at it.

"You took on a jaguar without your powers?" Superman asked him. "I'm impressed!"

Conner looked up at him for the first time since he entered the hut. "You are? Really?"

"I certainly could not have done a better job," he said giving Conner's shoulder a squeeze. "For what it's worth, Conner . . . I'm proud of you."

The smile was hesitant at first, and then grew bigger. "Thanks," he said. A thought crossed his mind, and he pushed through the group to stand in front of the chief. Conner held the tooth out to Caua.

"A gift," he explained to Araci. "It isn't much, but tell him that without his help; without Ubirajara . . . All of you; Robin would have died. And maybe Kid Flash and I would have, too. We owe your people more than we can repay."

Caua was impressed by the tooth and by the story that Araci had translated on how the boy had come to have it. He bowed deeply and spoke with sincerity.

"Caua says that the gods have blessed you, and by helping you, perhaps they will bless us in return," she told them; bowing as she gave her chief's words to them all. "Go in peace."

EPILOGUE

"Hey, Conner," Robin called out to him as he entered the TV room. "I have something for you."

Conner frowned as Robin flipped over the back of the couch to sit beside him. One would never know by looking at him that Robin had been at death's door just a week ago. Robin handed him a plain white box with a red and black ribbon on it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Open it and see," Robin laughed.

Taking the lid off, Conner gaped at the jaguar tooth he had given the Ashinawa chief before they had left the rainforest. He pulled it out and held it up. It had been cleaned and polished and mounted on a gold chain.

"How did you get this?"

Robin smiled. "Caua gave it to me right before we left. He said it belonged with a true hero; one who sacrifices much for those around him. I happened to agree with him."

Conner frowned and handed it to Robin. "It is for you, then."

Robin pushed it back. "He meant it for you, Conner. I just wanted to make it a little special. You can wear it now!"

Wally walked in, then. He rushed over to gape at the jaguar's tooth as Conner was slipping it over his head.

"Ah, man! That is so cool! Wish I had a tooth on a necklace like that," he grinned, admiring it.

"Actually, you do," Robin said. He shoved another box at Wally; this one with red and yellow ribbon decorating it.

"What?" Curious, Wally opened the box and pulled out another tooth. It was large and sharp and impressive, but very different from the one that Conner had. "Where did this one come from? It's not a jaguar tooth."

Robin grinned. "Nope, it's from a black caiman crocodile."

The two boys blinked at him in surprise.

"How did you get a crocodile tooth?" Conner asked as Wally studied his new souvenir.

"Batman pulled it out of my boot," Robin told them with a smirk. "One that I was wearing while in we were in the rainforest."

Wally gasped. "Oh yeah! That croc almost had you for dinner!"

"But you managed to pull me right out of its mouth," Robin crowed. "Anyway, it was Batman's idea that I should have it made into a necklace like Conner's and give it to you." He turned serious. "I really can't thank you guys enough. I shouldn't even be here right now. I wouldn't be if it hadn't been for the two of you."

"You would have done the same for us," Conner remarked. He fingered the tooth. The gesture touched him deeply.

"In a heartbeat," Wally agreed with Superboy, "because that's what all great heroes do."

Robin threw his arms around the two of them; gripping them tightly.

"Not just heroes, guys," he told them. "Brothers!"

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