Author: Jinx

Fandom: Young Justice

Pairing(s): Gen.

Character(s): Dick G./Robin

Warning(s): Robin whump, language, squeamish scenes, OOC

Note(s): Fill based on FuzzyBee013's "Disease and Illness Challenge" with the illness "malaria." Sorry if Aqualad and Artemis's fight seems... lame... or unbelievable. I really don't do so well at fight scenes. Gotta work on that.

Survive

Day One: Part One

When Dick opened his eyes it was still dark outside and turning his head to glance at his clock only confirmed his suspicions: 5:07 AM. It wasn't unusual for him to wake up randomly at this time every once in a while. The only difference between this time and the others was that he woke up with an agonizingly painful headache—scratch that, it was probably bad enough to be a migraine. His comforter and sheets were wrapped tightly around his lower legs and sweat covered every inch of his exposed skin. His whole body was also shaking pretty badly, but he didn't feel cold.

Dick sighed to himself and laid his arm over his face so the bridge of his nose rested in the crook of his elbow and covered his eyes. It was probably a forgotten nightmare and now his body absolutely refused to move, but he would have to if he wanted any kind of relief from this headache. Dick slowly steadied himself as he sat up and then stood up. His legs threatened to give out, but he pushed himself forward to the bathroom anyways. When he made it he immediately grabbed for the strongest pain relievers and after throwing them back, held himself with both hands on either side of the sink.

Dick had to physically hold back a gasp when he caught sight of himself in the mirror above the sink. His skin was pretty pale and covered in sweat, his eyes had dark bags underneath them, and his face looked terribly sunken in. Overall Dick thought he looked like the walking dead.

'Great… I'd better not be sick. That must've been some nightmare.'

Giving himself one last look, Dick carefully made his way back to his bed and collapsed on it, cocooning himself in the blankets. 'I'll be fine in the morning,' and he immediately feel back into a dreamless sleep.

The second time he woke up it was to his alarm clock loudly announcing it was nine o'clock. Dick groaned to himself, in pain and annoyance; the incessant beeping only made the pounding in his head greater. He didn't think that his headache could have gotten worse, but apparently someone was out to prove him wrong. Dick closed his eyes one last time, giving a bittersweet goodbye to sleep, and then pulled himself out of bed.

He had to quickly steady himself so he didn't fall over and sighed when he did. This headache was surely going to be the death of him—it was even worse considering it was Saturday. Though there was no school, he still had his other full-time job to commit to. The Robin inside him was joking about how he couldn't be stopped by a mere headache, but the Dick was softly telling him to lie back down. This time Robin won as he picked out his normal civvies—including the dark sunglasses. Usually he hated the damn things, but this time they actually brought relief from the light and hid his tired eyes and dark bags, for which he was grateful. Hey, maybe he'd make it through the day after all.

After stuffing his Robin costume and a bottle of pain relievers into an extra backpack Dick made his way downstairs making sure to walk slowly through the kitchen. As always, Alfred was there and had seemingly just finished making his famous scones—Dick's favorite.

"Hey Alfred."

The older man turned to him, always his proper self, before he addressed him, "Good morning, Master Dick. Slightly behind schedule this time, are we not?"

Dick smile sheepishly as he grabbed a scone with one hand, the other rubbing at the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, I had a bit of a headache earlier and it made me move a little slower, but I'm fine now." Truthfully, the headache was still there and as strong as ever, but he didn't need Alfred worrying about him anymore than he did on a normal daily basis.

Alfred raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more on the subject. As Dick began to walk away he was stopped by the butler's next question, "Only one today, Master Dick?"

Dick hadn't even realized it, but as he looked down at his hand he did only have one scone. Though when he glanced back at the others to contemplate grabbing another one or two his stomach did a flop, rejecting the idea entirely. "I'm not that hungry. Don't worry; I'll eat extra for lunch. See you later, Alfred!"

Dick didn't hear Alfred's reply as he made his way to the secret entrance to the Bat Cave. As usual, Bruce—or rather Batman—was already gone, probably up at the Watchtower. He stepped up to the zeta tube and set his destination as Mount Justice. As he stepped inside he braced himself for whatever would be happening on the other end.

"Recognized: Robin, B-01."

A wall of shouting blasted him the minute he stepped out and Robin cringed as his head gave a painful throb in response. 'Really, Walls? You have to mess with Artemis this early?'

"Well maybe if you'd watched where you were going-!"

"Yeah, 'cause I can see people who move at the speed of sound, Baywatch!"

There was a slight pause—Wally didn't seem to have a comeback—and Robin sighed in relief. It was short-lived however. "You shouldn't have been in the middle of the hallway!"

"Why you—!"

Robin finally made his way to the living room/kitchen area of the Mountain where he was greeted by the sight of Megan and Conner sitting on the couch between Wally and Artemis, heads turning back and forth as if watching a tennis match. Kaldur was seated on a separate chair with a book tightly gripped in his hands. If Robin didn't know how mellow he usually was, he would have guessed Kaldur was a second away from exploding.

"Wally, Artemis. Would you kindly refrain from arguing? It is far too early." Though both of the teens huffed, they each respected Kaldur's command. Robin silently cheered his thanks to the team leader. Wally crossed his arms with a childish pout and as he turned away from the blonde he caught sight of his best friend.

"Rob! You're here!" The speedster zipped over and briefly suffocated his friend. Robin smiled on the outside, but on the inside he was screaming from the explosion of pain his head gave due to the pressure from the hug.

"You would've known right away if you and Artemis hadn't been having an old married couple's spat."

"Dude, we were fighting 'cause we hate each other!" Wally's hands were waving around his head as he defended himself which the Boy Wonder found looked pretty comical.

Robin waved him off as he made his way over to the only unoccupied chair. "Whatever you say, KF." He winced again as a rather sharp stab of pain made itself known before dulling slightly.

Conner narrowed his eyes at him. "What's wrong." It didn't even sound like a question, rather a demand.

He gave him an innocent smile. "Nothing's wrong, Conner. What do you mean?"

The clone's gaze narrowed even more. "I saw you—"

"So!" Robin interrupted him, "What's on today's agenda?"

Artemis was examining callouses on her hands as she answered, seemingly disinterested. "Canary has us signed up for at least two hours of training. Other than that, it's up to whether we have a mission or not."

"Asterous." On the inside Robin was dreading the future training session. How was he supposed to concentrate with this pounding headache?

Someone must have really hated him today because just then Black Canary entered the room. With her hands on her hips she briefly looked over each member, pausing slightly on himself Robin noted, before announcing, "Team, hand-to-hand combat training in five minutes." With that said, she left to go set up the training room.

Megan seemed to literally bounce out of her seat with her ever present smile in place. She immediately changed from her civvies to her costume. Satisfied with her change, Megan grabbed Conner's hand and started leading him out of the room. "Conner and I will meet you guys in the training room!" Robin wondered how anyone could always seem so cheery.

Kaldur and Artemis both swiftly left the room after the couple. Robin saw Wally gear up to run to his room, but suddenly he paused and face him head on. "You okay, Rob?"

Robin gave him his infamous smirk. "Yeah, KF. Why?"

Wally furrowed his brows slightly in confusion and fingered one of the hems on his sleeves. "Well, usually you ninja your way out of the room first. It's kinda weird looking over and seeing you still sitting there."

The younger of the two rolled his eyes for show. "You're just overanalyzing things. I'm fine." Wally gave him a look, one Robin really couldn't put a name to surprisingly, before zipping out of the room. The lone occupant sighed and ran a hand down his face before standing and making his way to his pseudo-room at the Mountain.

While Robin never really stayed in his room, it was nice to know he had a spot to place all his things while he was at the Mountain. It did also come in handy after a really long and tiring mission… or even really long and tiring training sessions. Putting on his normal black, red, and yellow costume wasn't difficult, but he did note that it took him longer than usual.

Shaking off the pointless fact, Robin made his way to the training room. As expected, Megan and Conner were standing next to each other and Kaldur was on their left; Wally and Artemis were nowhere to be seen. A minute later the two arrived together and not arguing. Robin sent Wally an "I knew it" look to which he immediately broke eye contact. The 13 year old could also swear he saw red flare up on the speedster's cheeks.

Black Canary was standing in front of them and towards the middle much like the first time they had ever trained with her. "Today we're going to begin with a light sparring session. You each must incorporate some form of any of the moves you learned last weekend. I will stop the match and call a draw if it lasts for more than five minutes." Her eyes did another brief look over each of them. "Artemis, Kaldur, you two are up first. Remember, this is hand-to-hand combat; no abilities."

Artemis and Kaldur made their way to the center of the room and faced each other. Once Black Canary gave a nod, both of them dropped into a beginning fighting stance. Kaldur seemed to be grounding himself for a defense maneuver while Artemis quickly calculated his current weak point.

She discovered that his legs were a bit too wide for the defensive stance and exploded forward with her right arm drawled back. While the Atlantean was blocking her punch, she hooked her left foot around his right ankle and swiftly jerked it. Because of the slight error in his foot placement Kaldur immediately fell to the floor.

He tried to recover by sweeping his own foot, but she anticipated that and jumped over it. Her right foot came down and pushed on the shoulder that had left the floor during his sweep effectively turning him over onto his stomach. When Kaldur reached for the ankle of the foot holding him down, Artemis lifted it and instead pinned that arm with her own.

Black Canary called the match and Artemis held out a hand to her teammate to help him back up on his feet, which he accepted graciously. "Great work from both of you. Kaldur, your beginning stance was slightly wide which allowed Artemis to take you down so easily. Bring your right foot in a bit more for a more solid stance.

"Artemis, your execution was good, but react a little sooner when your opponent falls and they won't have a chance to try and sweep out your own feet. Good recover."

Both of the teens nodded before rejoining the rest of their team. Throughout their spar Robin found himself shaking, but couldn't find a reason why or even stop.

"Megan, Robin, you're next." As he made his way to the center everything just seemed to ache and his headache didn't seem to be letting up any. Robin readied himself and then Canary gave the signal.

One moment Megan was rushing at him and the next pain was exploding in his head. A small cry left his lips and he vaguely felt his legs give out beneath him. He could hear panicked voices, but he couldn't concentrate on what they were saying—the pain was too great.

Robin felt cold all over and his shivering seemed to increase, but his forehead was covered in sweat. He could feel pain in each of his limbs and his stomach was churning uneasily, but all he had eaten was that one scone. As awareness came back Robin realized he had his eyes tightly clenched shut. When he opened them he saw the whole team and Black Canary hovering over him with worried and confused faces, but immediately closed them when the light caused the pain to flare up again.

"Robin? Robin, can you hear me?" It was Black Canary's voice.

He couldn't seem to move and let out a shaky breath, "Y-yeah…"

"Tell me what's wrong." Robin didn't understand what was wrong; he felt fine yesterday and this morning, besides the headache. Though now, he felt the exact opposite. "Robin, you need to tell me what's wrong so I can help you. Please." Something wavered in the woman's voice.

His voice came out as practically a whisper—as if he didn't have the strength to talk at a normal volume. "I-it—," Robin gasped at the throb his head gave before continuing. "Hurts…"

"What hurts? Robin?"

"Everything…" Though he could only really concentrate on his body's shaking, the coldness, and the pain, Robin tried his hardest to tune into the outside world. "It's really cold…"

"Step back. I'm taking him to the infirmary. Kaldur, contact Batman and tell him to get down here immediately. Do not let him back out of it. Wally, run ahead and ready a bed for me. Megan, Conner, grab me washcloths and a couple blankets. Artemis, follow me." He felt arms slip underneath his neck and knees before lifting him into something warm.

The warmth felt so good against his chilled skin and Robin tried his best to completely cover himself in it. "It's okay, Robin. It's okay." He wasn't sure if her voice was trying to convince him or herself, but he did relax a bit at its sound. A feeling of extreme exhaustion suddenly washed over him and Robin did nothing to fight it and succumbed to the sleep.

Black Canary tightened her hold on the small boy and sped up when she felt his body go limp though tremors still wracked his whole frame. The infirmary came into view and she could see Wally standing there waiting with his whole body practically vibrating in anxiety. She asked, "How was Robin before training?" as she laid him on the cot and began to speedily hook up to multitude of monitors. Canary motioned for Artemis to check for symptoms of sickness.

Wally could only stare at his friend as he answered mechanically. "Conner and I saw him wincing earlier and after you announced training he was really slow to get changed. Also, he was late. Robin's never late."

The League member had nodded her head the whole time to let him know she was listening as she continued to check his vitals. "He's pale, clammy, constantly shivering, complaining of full body pain and coldness, labored breathing…" Canary paused as Artemis finished taking a reading of his internal temperature. "And a 102.4 fever and climbing." She immediately started an IV to give Robin the proper fluids and pain and fever reducers. A few months ago he may have said he didn't want to be like Batman, but really, they were exactly the same.

Movement and words seemed to come back to Wally all at once. He practically stomped to his best friend's bedside and angrily fisted the sheets. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were sick, you idiot!"

Artemis was just as worried about their youngest member even though it seemed to only be a slightly out of control fever. "Wally… you know how Robin is—"

"That's not an excuse!" The archer immediately recoiled as if she had been hit. Wally sighed and fiddled with the hem of his sleeve. "Artemis, I'm sorry. It's just… frustrating how much like Bats he can be sometimes."

"We have washcloths and blankets!" Megan announced as her and Conner sped in. Conner handed Black Canary the washcloths and Megan laid the blanket out on top of Robin. The woman nodded her thanks and wet them with cool water. She folded them slightly and then laid them on the boy's burning forehead.

Kaldur entered a moment later and his eyes focused on his downed teammate. "Batman is on his way."

"Did he say when he'd be here?"

"He—"

"What's happened?" The Dark Knight had arrived like a shadow and had caused everyone to jump slightly at the sudden appearance. Batman was immediately by his ward's side and checking him over for himself.

Black Canary stepped forward to address the man even though it seemed as if he was too busy to listen. "I had the team participating in a training lesson and we started with small spars. He'd been out of it and shivering the whole time Artemis and Kaldur sparred. Before his spar could begin Robin collapsed. I got out that he was in pain and cold before he passed out.

"He had a fever of 102.4, but it may have risen. I have him on fluids and pain and fever reducers currently."

Batman nodded and leaned away from his protégé. "When he is stable, I will take him for further examination. For now, I have to return to the Watchtower." His eyes connected with hers. "There is a current situation in Eastern Europe and your help is needed." His imposing stare turned back to drill holes into the team. "Contact me if his condition changes at all." He left as quietly as he had come, but not as swiftly. If anything, his gaze seemed to linger on Robin.

Canary sighed before turning to face the five concerned teens. "Training is going to be postponed until further notice. I don't want you all hanging out in here—a maximum of two people in the room at once. You can take turns watching over him and re-wet the washcloths as needed.

"You are to let me know if anything changes as well—if you cannot contact me or Batman on our comms. Martian Manhunter is stationed at the Watchtower." She gave a leveled gaze to them all. "I trust you all to take care of Robin." With that, she exited.

"I'm taking first watch," was all Wally said as he pulled up a chair to Robin's bedside, leaving no room for debate.

Artemis turned to Kaldur, Megan, and Conner. "Wally and I will take first. We can do it in one hour intervals." Wally opened his mouth to complain, but he quieted at her glare. The other three agreed on the plan before also leaving. Artemis grabbed an empty chair and set it up on Robin's other side, directly across from Wally. "Are you okay?"

The speedster rebuked, "Tch, why wouldn't I be? My best friend's sick and I didn't even know it!"

She glared at him again. "There's no reason to get snappy at me, Baywatch! Just calm down! All we need is for Robin, sick Robin, to wake up and face your pissy-self!"

"Yeah, because you're so concerned over his wellbeing." His tongue was positively sharp and poisonous.

"He's my friend too, you know!"

"Please! For all we know, you're the goddamn mole!"

That immediately shut her up. Artemis leaned back from her previous guarded position and lowered her eyes to her lap. Wally's glare let up as soon as he realized what he just said. "I-I didn't mean that…"

"Yes you did; people are the most honest when they're angry. Anyways, what reason would any of you guys have to trust me? I sure as hell haven't given you any."

"You have though! As soon as you shot that arrow at Amazo you had our trust." The blonde glanced back up at the boy across from her who was now smiling pleasantly. His eyes shifted to the sleeping bird. "Plus, Robin trusts you and that's enough for me."

Artemis gave a genuine smile back before smirking lightly. "Don't get all sappy on me, Baywatch."

His returning expression was completely playful. "Hey! You started it!"

"God! You are so immature!"

A pleasant silence spread over the room only to be broken by Wally's tired sigh. "I'm just so frustrated that I didn't notice he wasn't feeling well."

"But you did and, like usual, he denied it. There's only so much you can do without holding him down and forcing him to answer." Artemis put a finger to her lip in thought. "Actually, I don't think you can even hold him down."

He chuckled at the thought of trying to hold down Robin to answer a question. "You're right. I don't even think Supey would be able to hold him down long enough to get an answer." Artemis couldn't help but agree.