Prompt Post - Part Four [CLOSED TO NEW PROMPTS]
THIS PART IS NOW CLOSED. YOU CAN CONTINUE POSTING FILLS, BUT PLEASE PROMPT ALL NEW THINGS HERE.
Part one here!
Part two here!
Part three here!
Feel free to reprompt posts from parts one, two, three in part four once. If you do so, I'd recommend leaving a link to your fill on the original prompt, in case somebody is tracking the first thread.
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“Wait guys, I’m picking up signatures in quadrant-”
Robin was cutoff at the sound of an incoming projectile. He was forced to abandon his post, but not before a throwing knife snapped the cable connecting him to the enemy network. Cursing as he lost visual of both his teammates and their closest threats, he resorted to the communicator.
“Guys, hey…anybody read me?”
“R-bin? We didn’t co-py that las-”
Aqualad’s voice was lost altogether as the radio transmission gave out, as did the others’. He was out of M’gann’s mental range, so now he was not only separated from his group, but they were both operating blind. Forced to concentrate on the immediate threat, Robin focused on eliminating the lone guard that had discovered his hiding spot. He didn’t waste time with the usual witty banter, intent on finishing this swiftly and efficiently.
The woman was not the same as the ones he’d seen patrolling the secret facility; she had the air of a hired mercenary. She was adorned with lightweight armor meant to retain fluid motion and a vest equipped for long distance combat. Weapons were attached within reach, and she grabbed more blades to toss at him again.
He back flipped to avoid the sharp instruments, each knife embedding in the ground inches behind him. He took refuge behind a thicket of trees, more blades sticking to the trunk he used for hiding. She tried luring him out with explosives. A grenade landed close by, and instead of dodging to the sides and into the open, he took to the treetops. Jumping that height was out of the question - his joints were already protesting acrobatics as simple as the ones he’d just accomplished, so he grappled a tree and perched on a branch hidden in thick foliage.
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“Come on, come on, come on,” he said under his breath, chanting the two words as he hurried to the area he’d staked out. Robin reconnected his gauntlet computer to the hidden network and regained the progress he’d made.
What he saw caused his jaw to clench - his friends were in danger of being apprehended. Aqualad and Artemis were wounded, the latter to the point of bleeding, and Kid Flash had gone through one too many glass walls. M’gann was being held hostage; she was unconscious and sporting various burn marks already. The guard that held her had aimed a flamethrower at her head. Superboy was forced to stand down due to the threat. A horde of security personnel moved in to keep him pliant.
Located thirty-five minutes away and without transport, Robin seriously debated whether or not to contact the League. The covert group was on rocky terms as it was, and if a Justice member was forced to bail them out and were caught in such shady territory it would be bad news. No, it was up to him to save everyone, and he had to trust that his team would do what they had to do to survive until he arrived to back them up.
Accessing a compartment of his utility belt, he retrieved a dosage of pain medication. The amount was just enough to last an hour and a half, max. It wouldn’t completely mask the pain, but it would allow him to work past it. Anything stronger inhibited his concentration and that was a risk that couldn’t be afforded on the battle field. Injecting the serum, Robin hurried to his friends’ aid, making the long trek on foot.
~+~+~+~+~
The sensors were even easier to override on the actual base; Robin bypassed most threats by taking to the roofs. He sneaked in through a hole he made and resorted to crawling along the ceiling using magnetic pulses in his kneepads and gloves. The metal beam construction of the building and steel panel surfaces made traveling this way ideal.
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“Miss Martian? You with me?”
“No Uncle J’onn, I can’t have another Oreo,” she said, and proceeded to mumble incoherencies.
He examined her eyes with a penlight on his person, and her pupils not only showed signs of being under, but they shifted colors. They went from brown to yellow to purple, and settled on a blend of blue and white. Even in his peak condition, Robin was not physically strong enough to carry her, but leaving her behind also wasn’t an option. He searched his utility belt for anything that would help, hoping that her alien physiology would combat the sedatives coursing through her system faster than it would a human.
“R-Robin?” M’gann eventually asked.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t feel so good,” she confessed.
“I know, but can you hold it together long enough to find the others? Everyone else was taken hostage, too,” he said.
At the news, M’gann nodded and prepared herself, getting to her feet. She wasn’t up to flying yet, but she could telepathically search for their group. The act strained her a great deal, and Robin had to support her for balance, but M’gann was as determined to find them as he was.
The rest of the team was locked up two structures over, amongst various animals in different stages of scientific development. That solved the issue of their initial objective. The latter group was caged together, while their friends were being held in individual, high-tech prisons amongst the beasts.
Upon their arrival, M’gann mentally pushed three guards in a closet after Robin tied them up, and Robin dealt with the two scientists inspecting their new ‘lab rats’.
“Hey, Space Emerald! Glad you’re all right,” Kid Flash called to M’gann, and offered her a wink. “You too, Robin. What took you?”
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“I took the scenic route. How is everyone?”
“We need medical treatment, but it can wait,” Aqualad reported. “I also have all we need.” He demonstrated by revealing a tiny camera that had been secreted in the fin of his legging. “We have completed what we came to do. It’s prudent that we escape while the opportunity has presented itself.”
“Oh, but I wish there was something we could do for these poor animals. They look so abused, and they are…unhappy. Frightened,” M’gann lamented, eying the rows and rows of contained experiments.
“I know, but it’s not as if your ship can hold all of them, much less us with them,” Artemis said, retrieving their weapons. “The better question is: how are we leaving? We really underestimated the number of security personnel and their skill level.”
M’gann nodded, but still seemed uncertain. That gave Robin an idea. Walking to the control panel of every cage there, he grinned and started typing in commands.
“Uh, Rob - I recognize that look. What are you planning?” Kid Flash asked.
“I’ve devised our way out of here,” he announced, unlocking the cages and sounding an alarm. As soon as the doors opened it became utter chaos, the commotion distracting the staff long enough for the team to break for it. They ran full out, retracing Robin’s and M’gann’s steps. At the last leg of the journey, Robin’s time was up.
“Ergh, not now,” he muttered. His medication had worn off and the strain of that night caught up to him. His steps slowed until he limped outright, his teammates gaining distance and farthering themselves from him. Robin gritted his teeth and continued on sheer force of will.
Sudden heat at his back signaled that an accident had occurred, possibly due to panicked workers or one of the animals. He dared not risk glancing back because it’d decrease his already sluggish speed. Then, without warning, he was swooped up by his utility belt and onto Superboy’s shoulder. In Robin’s determination to escape, he’d forgotten that his teammate had positioned himself at the rear in defense. Now, he hurried to reach the exit before the fire burned one of them alive. Superboy reached their destination at the last possible moment and jumped. Artemis and Aqualad caught him by the elbows, guiding him away from the explosion and to steady him.
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Superboy nodded, then shifted Robin until he was holding him under the arms and out in front of him. He was scrutinizing Robin. He squirmed in his grasp, hoping his friend didn’t have x-ray vision and had forgotten to tell them.
“You can put me down now,” Robin instructed.
“No,” Superboy said. “Why did you fall behind? Are you hurt?”
“Nah, it’s cool.”
Superboy flinched, and Robin knew what it was like to kick a puppy.
“You struggled to keep up,” Superboy persisted, perhaps stubbornly, after witnessing Robin’s lie for what it was.
“Can we like, not have this conversation now?” Kid Flash asked, coming to Robin’s rescue. “Bioship now, interrogations after, okay?”
Superboy frowned, obviously ready to continue the conversation, but their leader agreed with Kid Flash’s sentiments. And so the group fled to M’gann’s spacecraft, Superboy refusing to release Robin until they were on board. As the group settled in and M’gann controlled the bioship toward their volcanic headquarters, Superboy positioned his seat backward. He glowered in Robin’s direction, both hands gripping his knees. Robin remained silent, giving no outward sign he was fazed by the other boy’s behavior other than the thinning of his lips. Kryptonians, even clones, may be stubborn, but Batmans and their protégés possessed ironclad wills.
The staring contest lasted half the trip.
“U-um, so all those animals we released… Will they be all right?” M’gann asked to break the silence.
“Sure, beautiful. With the proof we have and it roaming out in the open, the League will have to step in,” Kid Flash said, aiming for laid-back, but his eyes shifted between Robin and Superboy nervously.
Artemis slammed both hands on her thighs, attracting all their attention, and said, “All right Robin, just man up already. You know Superboy won’t let up until he’s sure you’re okay.”
“Artemis is right,” Superboy agreed.
“I said I’m fine!”
“You’re not!”
“Am too.”
“You’re not telling the truth,” Superboy said, the confused expression that crossed his features as difficult to accept as the flinch.
“If you came into contact with something in that facility, we should know. It’s not sensible to let a wound from there fester,” Aqualad advised, and Robin prepared to pounce on the explanation when their leader gave him a stern look. “Unless the problem stems from a prior predicament?”
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“Robin…” M’gann started.
“Stop pressuring me!” Robin snapped, the back of the seat releasing him instantly in alarm. “It’s not anything I can’t handle.”
Everyone remained silent after his outburst except Artemis, who released a sigh that disturbed the wisps of hair that had come undone from her ponytail.
“Fine, whatever - we all have personal details we want kept secret. I can respect that. But you have to promise us you’ll call for help next time, all right? We each have our limit and so help me, if I find out you pulled the same sacrificial stunt a second time I’m carrying you, and you won’t like it if I do.”
“Deal,” Robin said, and made certain to catch Superboy’s eye in particular. “Seriously, I promise. I…Batman and I have this handled.”
After a beat, Superboy nodded in acceptance and turned his seat to face the front. The rest relaxed as the confrontation was averted. The relief that flooded the interior of the ship was almost palpable. Robin felt it most of all; his secret was kept intact and the mission was completed.
He gripped his wrist to cover the tremors showing through, intent on keeping his word. He would handle this, and he could - if this mission proved anything, it was that he wasn’t incapacitated. When it came down to it, he was still capable of performing.
A nudge to his upper arm startled him out of his thoughts. It was Kid Flash, and he was tentatively grinning; the upturned corner of his mouth more of a question than an offering. Robin provided a genuine smile, the grip on his wrist loosening so he could give his friend a bump against their knuckles in reassurance.
Soon he’d return to Gotham, and Batman would probably lecture him and Alfred would patch him up and there’d be bouts of physical therapy for weeks, but it was worthwhile. It’d always be worthwhile.
~+Fin+~
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Thank you so much for writing this!
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