A/N: New story. I think I'm going to like this a lot. I do know it is AU, but it's not overly AU. Like, the team is still the team, but not everything fits in with the rest of the DC Universe. So hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

It was like every other day. Every day, the six teens showed up at Mount Justice, awaiting further instruction. On a good day, Black Canary would keep them training until the sun had dipped far below the horizon and until they could scarcely move. Those were the days the young team liked. It made them feel like they were actually doing something instead of just standing around and waiting.

But it was that day that had been jam-packed with training that Robin had had to stop in the middle of a punch that was about to completely take Black Canary down for the first time that any of the teens had seen. She had worn down after a long duel with Superboy and Robin's agility had discombobulated her enough so that that last hit would've sent her to the floor so she could receive the fail that the rest of them had gotten countless times over again. But he hadn't been able to deliver the final strike that would put down their teacher.

Instead, the dark-haired boy had paused at the sound of a buzzing alarm in his ear, his earwig going crazy as it livened with sudden activity. So he moved away from the blonde woman who had been about to fall because of his fist and pressed the button on his ever-present earwig. "Go," he said, moving to a place where he could take the call without hearing so many other voices such as those of his teammates (mostly Artemis and Kid Flash's, chastising him for stopping) who had suddenly grown loud.

There was a long moment of verbal silence in his ear, static the main sound that was relayed through the communicator. Then the voice of Clark Kent rang through with a dark undertone. "Turn on Channel Twelve."

Robin gave a quiet, "On it." He didn't yet turn off the communicator. He had heard something in Clark's voice that he wasn't relatively used to; he'd known and looked up to Superman for years now and the sound of his voice had contained some emotion that Robin was unable to identify. Because how often did the Kryptonian show any real emotions? The boy turned around, looking at where the glowing blue screens appeared out of thin air, hanging high above the heads of the young team.

"Dude, you stopped training to play with your little computer?" asked Kid Flash, completely flabbergasted as demonstrated by his dropping jaw. They had finally almost taken down Black Canary with one person alone. When two of the members teamed up, they'd managed to take down Black Canary a bit easier, but no one had successfully beaten her in hand-to-hand combat. "Come on, get back in the ring and-"

"Hush," hissed Robin, tapping in letters and commands to let his computer know what he wanted. The keyboard on his wrist did happen to make things pretty easy for him. The Boy Wonder could still hear Superman's breathing in his ear, a sign that the metahuman was still on the other end of the line. Then Robin punched in the final order for the computer to take in and work with before the television channel that Clark had requested he turn on came up on the giant screen of cerulean. And the boy's masked eyes flitted upwards to watch what Mr. Kent had wanted him to see.

Upon the screen was a sight of blazing flames that engulfed a building in licking fire. The stark black smoke that billowed out of the building laced the sky with gray clouds of ash. The flames that lapped their way out of the windows were eating away at the very structure of the building, the whole thing threatening to collapse.

"I've got it," said Robin into the communicator. His sapphire blue eyes were flitting over the screen, analyzing every aspect of the scene. He recognized the building, but he was unable to put a finger on where he knew it from. "What am I looking at?" asked the thirteen-year-old as he searches through his memory banks for some recollection of this place. And why in the world was Clark calling him?

"A fire in Gotham." The wailing sirens that were in Superman's range sent their cries of alarm through the earwig that the metahuman was using to the one that Robin had placed in his own ear. "It's the city hall building."

"Ah, got it." The boy hadn't recognized it like he should have. The architecture was harder to see behind a wall of thick smoke and the blazing of the bright scarlet flames. He folded his arms across his chest, watching the building get devoured piece by piece, brick by brick. "Do you need me there? I'm pretty sure Bats can handle it. Fires are such trivial things..."

The rest of the team had gone quiet at last, figuring Robin had had a good reason to take his call. By the looks of it, things on the home front weren't going great for the Boy Wonder. Wally and Artemis, despite their chiding of the ebony-haired kid, had finally fallen silent.

Clark took his time in answering. The static was the only sound that Robin was able to hear for the longest time. There was just silence as Superman drank in a breath of air, trying to figure out how to say it. "Just... Just stay these. Flash is coming."

Robin, skeptical of what was going on, just let the older hero kill the connection, the line going dead. So he turned off his own earwig, figuring Flash would be there soon enough for whatever was going on. Robin wasn't too worried. Batman had been taking on things bigger than fires since before his protege was even born. He wouldn't be needed, obviously, but that still didn't explain Superman's tone or why Flash was coming. He didn't feel the need to be concerned. Batman could take care of everything himself. What the Boy Wonder was more worried about was the fact that the buildings of downtown Gotham were in such close quarters that it would be easy for the blaze to spread to the next building over.

"What's going on?" asked Artemis, now watching the screen intently as well. She had been able to pick up on the structure of the building how Robin hadn't been able to. She knew it was Gotham City Hall.

Robin shrugged, still watching the building being torn apart by the fire. Time would only pass until the whole thing collapsed under the burning frame. "Nothing Batman can't handle. It's Gotham stuff."

"Then can we get back to training?" urged Wally, a bit antsy to get back to working on his moves. Now he was ready and prepared to take Black Canary down. His green eyes flitted to the woman.

Instead of focusing on the screen that Robin had pulled up, the blonde heroine had turned away from the image and was listening to someone talk to her through the earwig that she kept in the same way Robin and Superman always did. Not all the Justice Leaguers kept them on hand at all times, but the few that did were of the highest ranks. Her voice was so faint that the ginger couldn't pick out exact words, but he knew it related to something that was going on on this screen because she kept checking over her shoulder, azure orbs watching the Boy Wonder and the blaze that engulfed the building.

Wally just caught Artemis's glare and shrugged it off, finally resigning. Training could wait. The actual hero stuff came first; sometimes he hated it, other times, he loved it.

All seven heads in the room snapped towards the entrance at the cave's announcement of Flash's arrival, the man in the red suit coming into the cave from the bright light of the world outside. The speedster noticed that he had been a bit more conspicuous than he had originally wanted to be. So he gave a little wave and walked in, heading directly towards Black Canary.

Robin had seen Barry's entry, but he was still wrapped up in the problem that was on his home turf. He was almost waiting for the blaze to catch onto the buildings beside the city hall, but it never did. The crimson flames stayed intent on the city hall, the heart of Gotham's government. His arms remained folded across his chest, masked eyes focused on the screen that displayed the destruction of his hometown.

Wally was watching Black Canary and his uncle talk. He almost wished he had superhearing like the clone in the room did. Almost. The boy was trying to figure out what was going on. It was definitely something out of the norm. The heroes of the Justice League were almost always open with the sidekicks that they had raised, but this was more... closed off, more reserved. It was like everything was centered around some vital fact that was the missing piece of the puzzle. Kid Flash didn't want to ask, but he had to bite his tongue to keep the words from accidentally slipping out.

When the older speedster had finished speaking with the new team's teacher, he looked over his shoulder, eyes specifically looking at someone, but behind the mask, the ginger boy wasn't able to tell where his uncle's gaze fell.

Them Flash stepped away from the woman's side and walked towards the group of teens. He gave a little nod of acknowledgment to his nephew and said, "Hey, Kid."

"Hey, Uncle Barry," responded the freckled boy. He gave a little smile, still not sure what was going on. But whatever it was, Wally had a bad feeling about it. The vibes that Black Canary and his relative were giving off weren't good ones. The ginger was almost happy when his uncle walked past him. Whatever was going on didn't relate to him. A wave of relief crashed over Kid Flash.

And Flash stepped to Robin's side. He put a hand on the ebony-haired boy's shoulder, finally drawing the kid's attention away from the screen that showed the crumbling of the building as the structure finally gave way, the whole thing collapsing in a puff of smoke and dust that rose out from beneath the rubble when it hit the ground. "Come with me," said Barry gently to the young boy, hoping he knew what to say. If only Kent had just done it...

"Superman said you were coming," noted Robin dutifully, finally letting his arms hang at his sides again, already having seen the city hall building crash to the ground. "Are we going to Gotham? The fire's pretty much already dead and the other buildings are still standing."

Flash shook his head, really hating that he had been the one tasked with this job. He gave the kid's shoulder a little squeeze. "Let's go to the back." And he quietly began leading the young Boy Wonder to the blackest depths of the cave, the plan to be to take him out to the ledge that served as a back door for the mountain hideaway.

Still skeptical of the whole situation, Robin followed, not arguing. Batman had taught him to listen to his elders, with the exception of Wally, of course.

When the Boy Wonder and Flash were out of earshot and out of sight, Miss Martian was the first to speak up. Her voice was tentative, but she knew what she wanted to know. "What's going on?" asked Megan, brown eyes watching Black Canary's silhouetted figure in the blackness. The girl flew forward a bit to stand by Artemis and to see what she could of the situation in Gotham.

Black Canary finally turned around to face the team. She couldn't imagine telling them, let alone wonder how Barry would manage to tell Richard Grayson. So the woman ran one hand through her thick blonde locks and said, "We lost someone in that fire."

It took the team a few moments to put it all together. Gotham. Robin. Death.

None of the teens spoke, but by their expressions, Dinah could tell that they all understood what had happened. The metahuman's gaze fell to the floor. "Batman." Just that one name meant so much to so many people. But Dinah knew that the boy that Barry had walked away with would be bearing another wound by the end of the day.

A/N: Yes, it's AU. So either enjoy it or find somewhere else to go. But it's not AU enough that I feel like seriously panicky over it. I'm not usually one to read AU stuff, let alone write it. But I do like this idea. So review please? Thanks for reading!

~Sky