Chapter 1

"Ow." Robin groaned.

He was really beginning to hate trains. The last time he was on a train he got thrown off it and would have fallen to his death had Miss Martian not caught him. Now, for the second time in as many weeks, he had been thrown off another train. Only this time there was no Miss M. to catch him. The tracks weren't as high up as they had been in Bruges, at least there was that. It meant that he was still alive. Face down in the dirt and in an incredible amount of pain, but alive.

He couldn't stop himself from groaning in pain once again as the initial shock from the fall wore off and he could begin to feel his injuries. Literally everything on him hurt. He focused on his breathing to try and get the pain under control. It only worked a little bit; he was pretty sure he had a concussion and it was throwing his concentration off.

Once his breathing was sort of, not really, under control, he tried to push himself up, but his arm immediately failed him as white hot bolts of pain shot through it, and he crashed back to the ground with a barely contained scream of pain. His arm was definitely broken. Possibly dislocated too.

After a few minutes the pain subsided a little and Robin thought he could try sitting up again. He would just have to roll onto his back and get up without using his injured arm. Yeah, easier said than done. Eventually he managed to get himself into a sitting position. He glanced at his arm. Yep, definitely dislocated and broken. All the doctors he knew, and Batman, were gonna flip.

He sighed painfully as he used his good arm to reach for the communicator in his ear, only to find that it was gone. It must've fallen out when he hit the ground. He needed both arms to use his wrist computer so that wouldn't work either. He sighed again. Trains sucked.

There was no Miss M. for him to contact either. Just Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin had been assigned to the train. Wally had loved that since the three of them were technically the original 3 of the team. Wally had wondered if this was what it felt like for Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman when they went on missions together as they waited for the train earlier that evening. Stupid train.

They were assigned to the train as a decoy transport. There was a rather large amount of plutonium-239, a primary isotope used for making nuclear weapons, that needed to be transported from one army base to a different one. Obviously both the government and the League had been worried about terrorists trying to steal that. So they assigned two decoy vehicles and split the team up as protection for both. Artemis, Miss M., and Superboy were travelling via truck, while the rest of them were on the train. The plutonium ,on the other had, was being transported via Martian Manhunter in the Bioship.

Obviously, everyone was correct in worrying about terrorists trying to steal the plutonium. Which is why Robin was no longer on the stupid train. He wasn't entirely sure what happened. He had been on the roof. An alarm had been tripped on the train and he had wanted to get to the train car where the trip had occurred without giving his presence away. Going via train car roof had seemed like a good idea at the time, but then someone had snuck up behind him and hit him hard enough to throw him clear off the train before he could do anything to stop them.

Suddenly Robin heard a loud boom in the distance. He turned toward the sound just in time to see a massive ball of fire go up into the night sky. His stomach clenched. That could only have been the train. Aqualad and Kid Flash were still on the train! He need to get to them, now!

He pushed himself to his feet with much difficulty. He was struggling to breathe and he was pretty sure he had broken a couple of ribs. His leg was also on fire, but he couldn't focus on any of that right now. His friends needed him. With that thought in mind, he began walking. It was by no means an easy walk as bolts of pain shot up his leg with each step he took and he kept stumbling because of it.

After what felt like 10 miles, but could only have been a few feet, he started to feel lightheaded. He wondered if it was because of the concussion, or if he was bleeding somewhere. Neither option was good. He couldn't stop though. His friends needed him. After a few more steps he stumbled again. This time, though, he fell flat on his face and couldn't help screaming in pain as all of his broken bones were jarred.

He tried to get up again but suddenly felt so weak, he could barely even lift his head. He was beginning to seriously worry that he might definitely be bleeding, and badly at that. It could also be the concussion, though, his head was killing him. Still, neither option was good. The pain in his arm, chest, head, leg, and everywhere else was getting to be too much as well. He could barely breathe.

Black was beginning to creep in around the edges of his vision as he struggled to pull air into his lungs, promising relief from all the pain. He knew he needed to fight the darkness but he just couldn't find the strength to do so.

He had to though… his friends… they needed… him…