Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Young Justice gets missions from Batman, completes the missions, treat their wounds, train to be better, repeat.

This fight should have been like most others. No serious injuries, a destroyed building or so at worst, and a bad guy behind bars or a destroyed robot. Simple. Predictable, even.

A simple mission gone completely off the rails, as per usual. Recon gone wrong. Stealth turned blatant. In the end, they find the bad guy juiced up on super strength and take them down before they can become a bigger threat.

This guy, though, really liked to throw rocks and wow was it starting to get on Robin's nerves. He was going from whelmed to overwhelmed pretty quickly.

Superboy was behind him. He could hear the Kryptonian taunting the guy while Robin was preoccupied with some goons. They would be easy for him to handle, especially with Artemis providing ranged support.

He's doing just fine when suddenly, a rock collides with the back of his head.

Robin stumbles, as anyone would after getting hit in the head by a fastball. He blacks out for a fraction of a moment, seeing double when everything comes back, balance thrown off kilter. The ringing in his ears makes it hard to hear what's going on.

Of course one of the goons he was fighting chooses that moment to punch him right in the face.

He falls backwards, considering his balance has been sufficiently thrown out of whack, and he can taste blood. Awesome.

He's going to have a killer headache once the adrenaline wears off.

Thankfully, Artemis nails the goon with an arrow while Robin manages to hit the last one with a batarang. Once they're all down, Artemis runs over. She holds a hand out for Robin to take, pulling him up when he takes it. She raises an eyebrow when he takes a moment to find his footing. Her hand steadies him while he he chokes down bile.

He definitely has a concussion. Great.

"Are you okay?"

He blinks, taking slightly longer than normal to process the question before brushing her hand away. "I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle."

"Okay... if you say so."

Artemis doesn't sound convinced but unfortunately, that's a her problem. And one that can be dealt with later. Right now they have a big boss on super steroids to beat.

It should be easier now that the goon squad has been taken care of. Keyword: should. And Robin's totally just jinxed it. Lovely.

He runs in to join the fight before Artemis can say anything else. And before he can jinx it worse.

The other members of the team are struggling slightly. As they do. It isn't a proper battle if you aren't losing a little bit before you get the upper hand and claim victory, after all.

None of them seem to have noticed that Robin got hit. Considering they have their hands full, that makes sense.

He throws a flash grenade as Superboy gets knocked into one of the pillars holding up the building. The flash makes Robin's vision even worse and the bang only increases the volume of the ringing in his ears.

The light fades and thankfully the bad guy seems thoroughly disoriented. For the moment, anyway. Robin takes the opportunity to land some hits in, sliding under the guy when he makes a swipe at him.

Only, he was too slow. He can only react so fast when when his thoughts are blurred at the edges by fog and his limbs feel like he's moving through something thick he can't put a name to. Not molasses but closer to it than he'd like.

Robin catches a super strength backhand to the chest. It sends him flying and it's his impact with the ground that causes the most damage.

The adrenaline does an amazing job at keeping away the pain. He can only feel a dull ache at the moment that'll turn into something far worse later. Unfortunately, the adrenaline doesn't stop him from knowing exactly when a sharp bit of rib pokes a hole in his lung.

The pain of it is distant but he can feel the way his lungs stop being able to inflate fully. If it were anyone else, it's the kind of feeling that would make you feel suffocated. It would cause panic.

Fortunately, Robin is Batman's sidekick.

"I got you, Robin!"

His tumble across the floor is halted by Miss Martian. The sudden stop disorients him. His vision swims and he can't open his mouth to say thanks without feeling like he's going to vomit.

He's lowered to the ground gently before she returns to the fight. He takes the moment to adjust his breathing, just like how Batman taught him, and reorient himself.

He shakes out his hands, ignoring the blood slowly trickling into his gloves from all the scrapes on his arms. He's fine. This is fine.

It feels like he's running on a trampoline as he joins the fight again, and it takes a lot of willpower to not fall over. But that's fine. The world can keep spinning around him as long as he helps take this guy down.

He's forced to duck when Superboy gets thrown in his general direction. Doing so causes his already questionable balance to send him to the ground. Fortunately, Robin is able to drop into a roll and make it look intentional.

Unfortunately, it only serves to make things worse.

No more acrobatics. Noted.

He gets up without turning to look at Superboy. He's probably fine. Better than Robin, anyway.

He rushes at the guy while Kaldur has him distracted, aiming to maybe hit him in the back of the head or something. Wow the concussion is really starting to cause problems.

Robin raises his arm to go for a punch only to have his arm caught. The guy then grips his arm with enough force to break it, swing him around hard enough to dislocate it entirely, and slam him into the ground. He chokes on the air that leaves his lungs and barely has time to register what just happened before the room becomes a blur.

Suddenly, he's a few feet away in Kid Flash's arms. He holds onto him like he'll fall over if he doesn't. He just stands there, dazed, leaning on Kid Flash while he tries not to hurl.

Thankfully, Kid Flash holds him until his feet are steady on the ground. He scans Robin for injuries so fast he almost doesn't notice. Almost.

"Well you seem to be off your game."

Robin groans. Before he can open his mouth to say anything, Aqualad runs over.

"Robin! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Definitely not feeling very whelmed right now but I'll live."

He takes a step away from Kid Flash to accentuate his point. He watches as Aqualad's gaze flicks down to his clearly broken arm. Robin watches the gears turn as he considers whether or not it's severe enough to bench him for the rest of the fight.

"Do you have any ideas?"

Right. He's the brains. He can be smart. Just breathe. Observe.

He turns his attention to the rest of the room.

It's the entrance hall for an event building. High ceilings and fancy, modern architecture. A second floor that's a balcony lined with glass railings, looking over the building's entrance. A massive metal art piece hangs from the ceiling, at eye level with the balcony. If he times it right, maybe they could hit this guy with it.

"Remember that doctor we fought when we found Superboy?"

Aqualad turns, following Robin's gaze. "I see. And you're sure this will work?"

Robin shrugs. Really he just wants this to be over with. "Potentially. Think you can get him into place for me?"

"Of course. How much time do you need?"

He thinks for a moment. "Three minutes."

Aqualad nods. Him and Kid Flash leave to go play decoy and set up the trap, leaving Robin by himself. With his good arm, he grapples up to the second floor. The dismount is incredibly clumsy but two concussions will probably do that. It takes a moment for the room to stop moving and for his stomach to stop churning before he can actually assess what he has to do.

The sculpture is held up by six metal cables connected to the ceiling. Considering his one arm is currently broken, he won't be able to snap all the cables with batarangs. Explosives it is.

Each cable has an explosive batarang lodged into the ceiling by where they connect. The explosions shouldn't bring down the whole ceiling, just that section. No collapsing buildings. Just a ceiling. And it shouldn't be falling on any of his teammates.

"READY!"

With Robin's signal, Aqualad and Kid Flash make their move. Just like with that scientist, they lure the guy under the sculpture, trap him in a puddle of electrified water, and Robin sets off the carefully placed bombs.

He crouches, covering his head and the back of his neck with his good arm. The explosion sends bits of ceiling everywhere, shattering the closest parts of the glass railing.

It takes a long moment for the ringing to die down enough for Robin to understand that everything is over. It sounds over, at least. He stands up, shaking as the adrenaline starts to wear off.

Carefully, he uses his grappling gun to lower himself to the ground before joining the rest of his team, hoping they didn't see how long it took him to be steady once his feet were on solid ground again.

They all stand there, breathing, waiting for the guy to get up or for the fight to somehow continue. He doesn't and it's over.

Megan and Artemis cheer, high-fiving each other. They're all a little worse for wear. Nobody got out of the fight unscathed but nobody seems to have super serious injuries. If Wally has any, they're probably mostly healed. Megan, Conner, and Kaldur all are able to take more blows so they're fine. Artemis seems to have kept her distance for the most part.

Everyone's okay.

Everyone but Dick.

His head is killing him and every sound is too loud. His limbs feel like lead. It hurts to breathe. His arm is going numb. His thoughts are floating to the surface slower and slower. He's dizzy and lightheaded. His whole body hurts so much and so suddenly to the point it's almost overwhelming.

He wants to go take a nap.

That's the last conscious thought Dick has before his legs buckle underneath him and the world goes dark.

"ROBIN!"

Everyone turns to see their youngest, limp in Wally's arms. He managed to catch him before he hit the ground, thankfully, but something's wrong.

He's never passed out like this after a mission before.

"Is he okay?" Megan reaches out a hand. She desperately wants to try to read his mind, to know that he's okay, but she knows how he'd react.

Artemis crosses her arms. "I think he just has a concussion. He got hit in the head by a rock earlier when Conner was asking for it."

Conner winces, muttering an apology. Kaldur's face scrunches up. "I saw him hit his head as well. When he was slammed into the ground. He was still up so I did not assume it was serious. I suppose I was wrong."

Conner tenses up, leveling someone or something with a not-quite glare. The rest of the team turns to look, spotting Superman.

His eyes scan the young heroes, likely searching for injuries with his x-ray vision. His face pales when his gaze sweeps over Robin. There's almost a look of fear and panic in his eyes. He reaches out to gently take Robin into his arms, his hand coming away from black locks covered in red.

Wally pales. Megan feels her stomach churn. Conner's heart drops. Kaldur holds his breath. Artemis tightens her grip on her bow.

Superman clears his throat, gaze rising to look at the kids again. "What happened?"

Kaldur opens his mouth to speak before Superman raises his hand, silencing him. "Actually, nevermind. Save it for the mission briefing. You all get home safe. I'll take Robin back to Gotham."

They stand in silence, watching the hero leave.

Artemis is the one to break the silence.

"So we all agree that's bad, right?"

Megan and Wally mumble their agreements, thoroughly shaken by Superman's reaction. Kaldur shakes his head.

"I don't... What happened? What did I miss?"

"His breathing..." Conner mumbles almost inaudibly.

"What?"

"I... While Kid Flash was holding him I could hear his breathing. It didn't sound... right. Kinda... shallow?"

"He'll be okay though, right?" All eyes turn to Megan as she wipes her eyes with the back of her hands. "Aren't humans really good at healing?"

Wally and Artemis share a look. She sighs. "It's... Sometimes. But it can take a while, especially if you don't have the right resources."

"WHICH," Wally chimes in, putting an arm over Megan's shoulders. It's clear he's trying to assure himself just as much as he's trying to assure her. "he absolutely, positively, one hundred percent has access to! Batman wouldn't just let him die."

Artemis facepalms. He definitely could've worded that better.

"Are you sure?"

Wally nods. Megan relaxes ever so slightly.

Kaldur sighs. "Well whatever happens with Robin now is out of our hands. Let's all go home, tend to our wounds, and get some rest."

Artemis mumbles her agreement. Wally looks like he's ready to run back to Central. Megan and Conner nod as well.

Kaldur goes back to the base with Conner and Megan. There's still a report to write, after all, and Batman would probably like to know why his sidekick is severely injured and unconscious.

He's not looking forward to it.

Kaldur just hopes Batman will be merciful.

Chapter Text

Wally watches Conner spar with Black Canary, foot tapping on the floor out of boredom.

Watching him get his butt whooped while he attempts to blow off steam is only entertaining for so long. Eventually it just gets a little sad.

The whole team has been tense since their last mission. They're all worried about Dick but Wally doesn't really understand why. If anyone is gonna survive something like that, it's gonna be the guy trained by THE Batman.

He's been more productive. Reflecting. Thinking about what he did wrong, what he can do better next time.

Definitely not beating himself up over the fact that he didn't realize his best friend was super hurt.

Wally winces as Conner gets thrown to the ground. It probably doesn't feel as bad as it looks but still. Ouch. Having your spine slammed into the ground does NOT feel nice.

He's startled out of his thoughts by a buzzing in his pocket.

Phone call! Hopefully it's someone he can distract himself with.

He grins when he sees the caller ID. "8==>". None of them have heard from Dick. If Wally had to guess, it was Alfred's doing. B wouldn't even tell them anything when he called the base to lecture them on being aware of their surroundings.

Wally answers the video call with a smile.

The call connects. The camera turns on. And there Dick is, sitting in bed. His broken arm is in a cast and the visible skin of both arms is covered in bandages. There's an IV in the castless arm and one of those oxygen masks that covers half your face.

Wally didn't know it was that bad.

Dick leans back on the pillows that are propped up behind him, blue eyes locking onto Wally's green ones through the camera. He's definitely moving around too much.

Wait... blue?

BLUE?!

He fumbles to hide the screen from the others' view, leaning forward to whisper conspiratorially.

"Rob, I'm at base. With the others."

"So? Also sorry I didn't call sooner. Alfred just gave me my phone back."

He sighs, pulling back. He covers his eyes with one hand before removing it to stare at Dick. He stares back blankly for a few moments before understanding blooms on his face.

"Shit." He leans off camera, searching for something just out of view.

Wally snorts. "I'm telling Alfred you said that."

He earns himself a middle finger as Dick swears AGAIN because he leaned on his still very broken arm.

Wally rolls his eyes. He quickly checks to make sure Dick's face is 100% not visible when he sees Artemis looking over curiously.

Robin leans back into view, struggling slightly to put his mask on. He manages, though, with a scowl.

"I do not appreciate these meds making it hard to think."

"Yeah but at least you're not suffering." Robin scoffs. Wally continues. "Do you think A would let me come over?"

"HAH! No. Something about needing rest or whatever."

Wally snorts as Robin rolls his eyes, something he just knows happened despite not being able to fully see it. He's also no longer paying attention to whatever Black Canary is doing or saying.

Artemis raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms like he did something wrong. "And who are you talking to, Baywatch?"

"Rob–"

Wally somehow lacked the reaction speed to prevent his phone from immediately being snatched. He just gives up with a sigh as Artemis takes in the state Robin is in.

"Oh my God Robin! Are you okay?!"

Wally groans. She just had to talk loud enough that everyone else heard. He's not getting his phone back anytime soon. That's HIS best friend!

Robin waves Artemis off, gesturing vaguely to where Wally assumes the IV is. "I'm fine. Pain meds are pain medding."

Kaldur gently takes the device from her hands. "Robin, I am relieved to see you are alive. Are you alright?"

Robin's eye twitches, voice slightly strained. "Yeah! I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

Megan pushes her face into the camera's view, hovering over Kaldur's shoulder. "Are you resting? Your injuries seemed pretty severe. Do you have everything you need?"

"I'm fine. Br... Batman is aking care of everything."

Conner looks at the screen as well. Wally can see a bit of guilt in his eyes and the way he holds himself. They're all responsible for this. He gets it, though.

Kaldur clears his throat. "I am happy to know you are being cared for. On behalf of the team, I would like to apologize. We failed to notice you were unwell and act to prevent further injury. I apologize for our negligence. We failed you."

Robin is silent for a moment. And then...

"You look like a kicked puppy." That startles a laugh out of Wally. He gets a glare from Artemis as Robin waves his hand dismissively. "It isn't even your fault anyway. I should've been more careful. I know better. Blah blah blah. B hit me with the disappointed stare. It's fine. I'm fine. You're fine. It's fine."

"And, you are sure?"

"Yeah. And this isn't even like, top five worst injuries. I mean it sucks but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

Megan's eyes go wide. "You've experienced worse?!"

"I live in Gotham." Robin deadpans.

Black Canary takes the phone with a smile. "I'm happy to see you're doing well, Robin. You are disrupting training, though."

He responds monotone. Like a robot, sarcasm dripping from every word. "Oh no. We can't have that."

"Get some rest, Robin. I'd like to see you back here as soon as possible."

"Yeah yeah. I need a nap anyway."

"Bye Robin!" Megan shouts enthusiastically. Her goodbye prompts the other to do the same. Black Canary hangs up after a moment, handing the phone back to Wally.

"It's your turn, Kid Flash."

He groans, tossing his phone onto his backpack. He'd rather not have to buy a new one. He's snapped, shattered, and busted wayyy too many phones.

He'd rather be hanging out with Dick. That sounds so much more fun than getting his shit rocked.

Wally does as he's told, though, stepping forward as he wonders how close Alfred would actually let him get.

He totally doesn't go down immediately. You're imagining things.