Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The streets are deserted and quiet. The cold penetrates through his thin jacket, and he shelters himself from the wind. A light flashes faintly and then goes out. Wonderful. He continues through the alleys, taking the most remote ones. There is less chance of meeting other people, but the ones he can risk meeting are dangerous types. He takes the chance anyway. "Stop, don't" a young girl appears at the corner and two large men have held her captive against the wall. Her red hair falls in waves down her shoulders and her dress is curled. Piss. Keith turns his head towards them in annoyance and stops. The girl squirms and tries to get around them. Keith pulls his hood over his head and steps closer. All three turn their heads towards him. The two men smile sly, and one steps away from the girl. She can barely be 15 maybe 16.? His own fucking age. He can feel the nausea deep in his body but continues towards the men. Hands in the pockets of his holey hoodie. "What's up, weakling." one of the men, the one who stepped closer, speaks in a deep voice. He has broad shoulders and shoulder-length greasy hair. A scar cuts through the left eyebrow and a gold tooth gleams from time to time. Keith is almost close to them, and he can smell alcohol oozing from them. "Are you going to join us?" The other man smiles disgusting and lets a finger slide over the girl's cheek. She whines and her eyes are blank. But she doesn't cry. She does not want to give them that joy. The fighting spirit disappears a little from her eyes, but it is there.

Keith doesn't answer back but just looks at the men. He looks for a long time and makes sure to stay on their faces and keep eye contact. The men start to trip a little and they become more tense in their body language. "Listen, either you go, or you let the princess stay here with us." Keith still doesn't answer, but lets his hands slowly come out of his pockets. They look at him cautiously but clearly relax as they don't see any weapons from his hands. Keith leads his hands up to the edge of the hood and lets the hood fall. A loud gasp sounds from both men, and they step away from him. The girl's whimpering becomes clearer, and Keith knows why. Because if the big men are afraid of the lanky boy in front of her, she should too. Keith challenging lets an eyebrow slide up. "I'm sorry. We didn't know it was you." the man with the scar puts a hand on his partner's shoulder and pulls him back. "We'll go now, right?" he looks back at his friend, who nods in fright. They both turn around and run, partially wobbly, down the street. Keith follows them with his eyes but turns to the frightened girl. "It's okay now." he whispers softly to her, and she whimpers even more. Finally, the tears fell. She starts shaking and half-choked sobs sounds from her. Keith looks at her but doesn't touch her. He steps away from her and puts his hands in his pockets again. "What do you want with me" she hiccups. She looks up at him frightened, her hair in disarray and red cheeks. "Nothing" Keith looks at her calmly. Little by little, her breathing becomes calm and her eyes more focused. Panic fades away and distrust glows from her. She makes herself smaller and presses herself against the wall. Keith leans back and makes himself smaller, so he seems less intimidating. "Who are you?" her voice is low and wondering. "No one of importance" Keith turns around and starts walking down the alley away from her. "No, wait!" she yells at him. Keith continues. He can hear clattering heels coming after him. The moment before the hand touches his shoulder, he turns to the right and avoids it. The girl's hand hangs in the air and hovers where his shoulder was just before. "What's your name. At least you owe me that." Her brows are drawn in stubbornness, not letting her hand fall as if she actually has a hold of his shoulder. She raises her left eyebrow defiantly and her mouth tightens. Keith turns around and continues walking. No steps are heard after him and he reaches the corner. Just before he turns to the right, he says in a loud voice. "Red"

Keith continues down the street, with his hood is up. It's later in the evening, and he's on his way to a shop open around the clock to see if he can find something to eat. A bell above the door jingles as he enters. Warm air settles like a blanket around him and makes him drowsy. The hood is still up and the man behind the check-out looks at him suspiciously. Keith doesn't care and continues down to the chips. He lets his gaze run along the shelves but doesn't really consider anything. He has no money, so either he needs a distraction or steal. Right now, everything points to stealing. But he can't really do that. The bell jingles over the door again and two men step through the door. Keith looks up briefly but chooses to ignore it. He's down at the back of the store and they don't seem to notice him. The men split up and stand so that they cover the left and right sides of the check-out. They pull their hands out of their pockets and two guns gleam in the dim light. Gunshots fill the air and a half-choked scream from the man behind the desk. "Shit." Keith whispers and hurries to duck behind the shelves so that he is hidden. He turns his head so he can peek out and sees one of the robbers who has grabbed the cashier's neck. He's broad, ugly and full of big tattoos. One ear is chopped and his crown shines in the glare from the lamps. "Come on, you know the routine." His voice is hoarse and deep, and he is missing several teeth. The other robber starts throwing things from the shelves onto the floor. Lots of bottle's smash against the linoleum floor, and Keith makes a face. His heart starts beating harder in his chest and it's as if the air isn't really coming down properly. Calm down now. He is not here, and he is not coming back. Keith shakes his head. Why always him.? First the girl and now this.? He simply cannot find peace. He take a deep breath and gets up and calmly starts walking over to the men. The robber who threw things on the floor starts to fill up a sack and they don't notice him getting any closer. "Look, I can't do this today." The heads of the two robbers fly at him, and they both point their guns at him, but Keith just puts his weight on one leg and starts cleaning his nails while looking at them unimpressed. The guy who's holding the cashier's neck smacks his head down on the desk and the cashier faints down on the floor. "Hands up or we'll shoot" The robber with the hoarse voice steps closer and puts the gun to Keith's forehead. "Hands up or I'll shoot you right between those beautiful eyes there" he smiles sly, and a nasty stench comes pouring from him. Keith laughs humorlessly and leans a little further forward. "Just go." Keith looks up at the robber with dead eyes. "Shot, if you can. But then you should know that you have killed a 16-year-old boy in cold blood. Can you live with that? Because then you are welcome. I don't really have anything to live for." Keith smiles and he can see the thoughts running inside the robber's head. Why is this kid not afraid? While Keith is talking to the robber, the other robber has gone down through the shelves and is standing at the back of the store where Keith was before. A cold press against Keith's spine tells him that the other robber is smarter than his friend. A wicked laugh accompanies the question, and Keith closes his eyes. Finally, he can see his mother.

A shadow comes down from the ceiling and glides along the shelves. The same on the other side. Just a lot bigger. The robber sinks and tries to think of something clever to say to the honest boy. Because he's just a boy. He admitted it himself. But a terrible pain shines from his eyes. The boy is really okay with dying. The robber hesitates. And that's all Keith needs. Keith raises his left arm high. The robber focuses on his left arm, and in the meantime, Keith quickly snatches the gun from his hand. He points it at the robber. "Oops." Keith smiles at him coldly. "Well done, kid." a deep, hoarse voice sounds behind him, and Ketih spins around with the gun pointed at the voice. A large man dressed all in black stands in front of him. He has a cape and a mask that are pointy in the ears, so it looks a bit like a bat.

The robber sees his chance, but doesn't manage to do anything, because he is knocked unconscious. Keith doesn't notice though, he's still standing with the gun, pointing directly at the black-clad man. "You can lower it now." The voice is gentle but at the same time harsh. Keith doesn't stop pointing it at him. The man dressed in black slowly reaches out and pushes the gun so that the head is pointed at the floor. Keith lets him do it. He just stands and looks at him analytically. The man takes the gun from him and puts it on a shelf next to him. "All good, Red Robin?" The man's attention is partly focused on one behind Keith. Only now does Keith notice the person behind him. Keith takes a big step to the left, so he's facing both. The person behind Keith is on a par with Keith. His suit is red with a little yellow here and there. His mask is a black domino mask with white around the eyes. His cloak is yellow, and he has a big yellow "R" on his left chest." Are you okay.?" the red one asks kindly as he looks at Keith worriedly. Keith nods and turns his gaze to the bat-man again. "Thank you." he whispers to him. The man just nods briefly and looks at Keith thinking. "Why are you here all alone, don't you know that you should never be out at night?" asks the red one reproachfully. Keith just shrugs his shoulders and tries to look behind the black man. As if he senses it, the man leans back so Keith can see better. The other robber is tied up and lies unconscious on the floor. "Answer the question." the deep voice hums. He looks down at Keith, and he just knows that the brows behind the mask have lifted in concentration. "What do you think yourself." Keith can feel the defiance burning in his blood. Why would he tell him? Keith doesn't know this man. The red one steps forward and places a hand on the black one's shoulder. They look at each other and it almost looks like they are having an invisible conversation. "Do you know who we are?" The red one turns his attention back to Keith and tilts his head. Keith shakes his head weakly. The black one snorts and turns around. He goes down to the back of the store mumbling. "I go by the name Red Robin and the big guy over there." Red Robin points to the black-clad man trotting back and forth. "That's Batman." Red Robin smiles kindly. He reaches his hands down towards his belt, and Keith tenses. Red Robin stops immediately. "I would like to be allowed to examine you. Is that okay?" Red Robin pulls out a small light from his belt and looks back at Keith. Keith nods silently. "Great." Red Robin smiles and turns on the lantern. "Okay, look to the left. Well, now on the right." Red Robin examines him, and Keith feels the adrenaline disappears more and more. His eyelids become heavier, and his brain slows down. "Ah, the adrenaline is running out." Red Robin laughs to himself. "I know it well. Your body is finally processing the situation, and you've soon feel even more tired. Where do you live?" Keith looks at him confused. Why on earth would he say that. Not that he lives somewhere. Being homeless gives that kind of freedom. "Thank you very much for your help." Keith moves and takes a big step away from Red Robin. "Has he been examined?" Batman steps closer, and he looks first at Red Robin, who is nodding, and then at Keith. "Am I allowed to go?" Keith asks the question and tries to really focus. If only he can get out, so he can get to sleep. Fuck the food, Keith just wants to get some sleep. "Am I allowed to go?" Keith asks the question again, more insistently this time. Batman nods and Keith turns around and walks out the door.

Keith finally makes it to his last stop. His sleeping bag under the Gotham Bridge. He had been walking for an hour because he was further away than he thought. And just as it couldn't get any worse, it started to rain. Soaked, he picks up the sleeping bag and drags it to a corner. Lies down with all his clothes on and zips it all the way up. The energy is completely drained from his body, and he lies for a long time with his eyes closed. But without falling asleep. His teeth clatter against each other and he shivers with cold. He can hear the rain pouring down, but luckily, he is mostly dry under the bridge. Keith closes his fingers the familiar stock under his jacket and a calm descends over him. His breathing becomes weaker, and he finally falls asleep. Completely without noticing the two silhouettes looking at him from a building over the bridge.

Five days. That's how long it takes for Keith to get a visit again. Keith's days were spent looking for small jobs around town, without success. On the fifth night, after a long day, Keith finally arrives at the bridge. It's dark and cold, just like the other days. It's 1 a.m., and Keith is falling over from fatigue. But in the middle of the darkness of the bridge stands a large figure. Keith stops abruptly. "The bridge is occupied. Find your own place." Keith continues to his things and starts to throw off his shoes. The figure stands and looks observant. Keith can feel the eyes on the back of his neck but continues with his own things. "Don't throw me out at all, oh big Red." Keith tenses. If they know who he is, there are defiantly problems. "I tried to be kind, but since you know my name, I see no reason to." Keith straightens up and takes out the knife from his jacket. He turns to the figure. The figure still says nothing but comes into the light. Black military boots, dark pants, and a leather jacket. Nothing abnormal there. But what makes Keith curious is the red helmet he's wearing. Keith has no idea who it is, but many of the other perks on the street have been talking about him. The man who stops the bad guys, and not like Batman. Stop permanently. Why on earth doesn't he speak? Everyone else always tells how he jokes and laughs manically. Now he is just quiet. Keith is confused. "How old are you?" Red Hood's voice is distorted by a machine. Why does he want to know? Red Hood steps closer. Keith tightens his grip on the knife. Red Hood stops immediately. Annoyed, he shifts his weight to one leg and waves his hand. As if to say, now move on. "Why do you want to know?" Keith demonstratively takes a step back to distance himself from Red Hood. "Do you know it's illegal for children to live on the streets when they're under 18." Red Hood doesn't ask it as a question, but as a statement. "And you, my friend, are not 18. Anyone can see that." Red Hood's voice is the same distorted, but Keith can hear the smile behind it. "And now I want you to go so I can sleep." Keith turns around. It's brave on the street, but he can't bear to talk anymore. "Unfortunately, that's not an option." Red Hood is stepping closer. "You see, I can't leave a child on the street. It goes against my morals. So now I'll take you to an orphanage, and there you'll spend the night." Red Hood stops and crosses his arms. He has morals? Red Hoods attitude exudes authority. As if Keith has nothing to say. Think again."Yeah, that's not happening. I'm fine right here, thank you very much." Keith raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms. They stand like this for a long time, staring each other down. Amazingly, Keith is the first to give up. "Fine." he sighs heavily. He squats down and collects his things in the sleeping bag. He zips it so that it closes completely so that none of his things will fall out and straighten up. "Take me to that orphanage of yours"

Red Hood clearly relaxes and lets his arms drop. He turns around slowly, but still so he can keep an eye on Keith. He bends down and picks up a bag that Keith hadn't discovered. He reaches down a gloved hand and picks something up. Keith watches his every move with suspicion. If he sees just a glimpse of metal, he attacks. Keith stands with his legs slightly spread and knees down, just in case. Red Hood is still rummaging around in his bag. "There." Keith squirms with surprise and is about to drop the knife. Red Hood turns around with a bag of chips in his hand. He throws it at Keith without further ado, who grabs it with one hand. Red Hood zips the bag and picks it up. Then he straightens up and throws it on his back. "Just eat." he points to the bag that Keith is holding. Red Hood goes very close and picks up the sleeping bag. He throws it on his back next to his own bag and turns to Keith. "Seriously, it's not poisoned or anything. Completely unopened." Red Hood stands and waits until Keith opens the bag. A mild scent of spices fills the air, and Keith's stomach constricts with hunger. He keeps a close eye on Red Hood while his hand with the knife is passed under his shirt. It snaps into place and Keith has one hand free to eat. And he wastes no time. He sticks a hand and grabs a huge handful and throws them in my mouth. He really needs to pull himself together not to close his eyes in delight. It's been a long time since he's eaten, and it tastes excellent. Red Hood nods contentedly and starts walking. Keith has no choice but to go along.

The building is dark, gloomy and looks exactly like what Keith imagined it to look like. He sends angry glances at Red Hood, who is slightly ahead. He stops right in front of the gate. "A bed has been arranged for you, so you just pop in and ask for the name Alex Massen. Okay.?" Red Hood has turned to Keith and holds out his sleeping bag. "I thought you were going to make sure I actually walked in." Keith takes his sleeping bag with suspicion and opens the rusty lattice door. "Believe me, I do." Red Hood turns around and starts walking down the road. Keith looks for him and waits until he's completely gone. Then he steps through the gate door.

The lady at the desk is old, grumpy and uncomfortable. She smells of cigars and she has a moustache of crumbs around her upper mouth. She clicks on her computer for a long time, as if she doesn't really know how it works. Keith is not supposed to judge, he doesn't know either. He has never owned a computer or any other electronics. Not even a phone. "And you said what name again?" she looks out from her big horn-rimmed glasses with an annoyed look. "Alex Massen." Keith blinks his eyes tiredly. He can't handle this. Can't he just be allowed to sleep? "Oh, here it is. Yes, there is a bed for you. Come here." she gets up with difficulty and starts walking down the dark hallway. Keith follows distractedly. She continues far into the house and stops in front of a door. "You just go in and grab a bed. But be careful not to wake up others. They won't be happy about that." she smiles sweetly and goes back again. Keith lets a deep sigh leave his mouth and quietly opens the door. Inside, it's dim, but a lamp right in front of the window provides plenty of light. Keith counts six beds and four of them are in use. He sneaks up to the furthest away and throws his things on the floor. He pulls his shoes off his tired feet and lies down on the mattress. He doesn't have the energy to unpack the sleeping bag, so he just pushes it under the bed with one foot. Shortly after, he falls asleep.

Outside the windows, a large figure sits and watches. The red helmet rests against the knee and a hand sits in a bag of chips. The white stripe in the hair contrasts sharply with the rest of the darkness. A small smile on his lips "Well, this is where you been." The deep voice is familiar. "Hello, Bat." Jason doesn't take his eyes off the sleeping figure on the bed inside the building. "I found him." satisfaction emanates from him and he turns a cocky smile towards the figure at his side. "You did." Not praise, just a statement. The broad figure sits down beside him. "How is he like?" Batman also turns his attention to the sleeping boy. "Wounded, strong but also devastated." Jason looks away. "He reminds me of you," he whispers softly. Jason looks at him in surprise. His gaze is still on the boy, but not attentively. "He has this fighting spirit. Even though everything in life has gone wrong, he still has it. But there is pain in his eyes." Batman looks at Red Hood gently. An understanding little smile is shared between them. "I'm leaving, the patrol isn't over, and the others are on standby." Batman gets up and fires off a shooting hook. A second later, he is gone. "Oh Bruce." Jason shakes his head. He smiles a little smile and stands up. Put on the mask and turn to the window again. "I sense a incoming in the family."

Chapter Text

"Oh, wake up, you idiot." Keith wakes up to an angry voice right in front of his ear. He jumps up and falls off the bed. A child's voice comes mocking from the other side. "What the fuck is going on.?" Keith's voice is groggy and hoarse with sleep. He stays on the floor and rubs his eyes. A pair of legs appear in front of him. "There is a meeting down with the adults. We need to get together, a man is coming by and is going to adopt.!" The voice rises in shrill, and Keith makes a face. He follows up the thin baby legs and ends up with a burdened face. Eyes are emerald green and light up with joy. Short curly hair adorns the head. "Are you okay, by the way?" A thin hand passes down to Keith, and he leaves it hanging. Instead, he pushes off the floor and stands himself up. The child stands for a while and looks at him depressed. "Then show the way." Keith waits impatiently, but the boy lights up and runs past him with a smile. He stops in the doorway and turns around. "Then come on.!" Keith follows without a word.

The kitchen is packed with people when Keith and the boy come downstairs. He hates being close to people, and a small room with 20 people in is not for him. He immediately heads for a corner and pulls a hood up over his messy hair. A woman steps into the room. It's different from yesterday, and her whole charisma is different. This one seems like she actually wants to be here. "As I said, a very special gentleman is coming by today." She smiles around at all of them. There are children from the age of 6-17 it seems. The smaller children look happy and excited, while those who are older just look tired. Keith understands them. He would also rather sleep on. She smiles and tries to make the atmosphere a little happier. She tries to make eye contact with Keith, and he sends a disinterested look back. A bell rings faintly. All sounds are silenced. Now there has been a twinkle in everyone's eyes, even the elderly, though more reserved. Keith turns his eyes.

A man in a very stiff and fancy-looking business suit enters. He stops and talks to the lady for a while. Something seems familiar about him, Keith just can't figure out what. The man looks around and his eyes stop at Keith. A friendly smile spread across his face, and if Keith didn't live on the street he would have missed the calculating eyes that looked him up and down, sizing him up, judging how strong he was. Keith did the same. This man had too strong a build to be the role he was portraying, (which Keith thinks is a very wealthy, and casual man.) "Is this the one we talked about, Miss Albany.?" The man turns his attention to the woman again and she nods in agreement. "Yes, it is" she replies as she steps closer to Keith. She grabs his arm, and he pulls away hard. She looks at him strangely and a little pitifully. "And this is the one you want to adopt Mr. Wayne?" Keith looks back at the man in surprise. Keith's chest constricts and his heart beats faster. Adopt? He does not want to be adopted. In some circumstances. He sends an angry look at the man, hoping to scare him away in that way.

The name 'Wayne' makes a faint bell ring, but Keith can't think of it. "Come along here so we can talk a little." The woman follows them to a small office, which have some armchairs and a small coffee table. Keith first notices the cold silence in the room when the man awkwardly clears the throat and holds out a hand. "Hi there. My name is Bruce Wayne, the owner and founder of Wayne Enterprises. And you are?" the man, Bruce, holds out his hand. Keith lets it hang. He hates human touch. "Keith Kogane." Keith answers flatly. The man still hasn't removed his hand, and Keith now realizes that he probably won't do it until after he's squeezed it. He reaches out and squeezes the man's hand. A shudder spreads through him. He makes sure to squeeze it as hard as he can, but the man looks unaffected. Strange. "Great, then we can have a look at the adoption papers." The woman claps her hands as if it is the best thing in the world. Will he not have something to say? Apparently not, because Bruce pulls out a nice-looking ballpoint pen from his pocket. The adults start talking back and forth, and to be honest, Keith zooms out.

Time passes quickly, a little too fast based on what he thinks it usually takes. But when you have money, anything is possible. "Gather your stuff and come back after five minutes, okay.? I just need to finish the last one." Bruce smiles kindly and stands by the sideboard with the lady. Keith slips down the hall and sneaks into the room from yesterday. The boy who woke him up is sitting on his bed, "How lucky you are." The boy looks up at Keith sadly. His eyes are blank. "Imagine spending one night here and then being allowed to be adopted." His voice is thick and finally the tears fall. "Enjoy it, right?" before Keith can say anything, the boy jumps off the bed and runs away. Keith looks after him. He feels sorry for the boy. He doesn't even want to be adopted at all. Piss. Keith slips over to the bed and gets on his knees. He takes out the old sleeping bag and throws it on his back. The man is waiting by the sideboard. He leans forward calmly and is still talking to the lady. "Ah, there you are." Bruce turns his attention to Keith, and something makes him think that the man had spotted him before he said anything.

Keith is led to a fancy limousine. He sits down tensely, and Bruce sits down unnoticed. They drive a little in silence "Well, Keith." Bruce points towards the driver. It is a middle-aged man with a thin moustache and slightly squinty eyes. "This is Alfred. It's the butler of the family and if there's something you're missing, he's the one you can ask. He is also the driver and our chef." Alfred finds Keith's eyes in the mirror and smiles. "Please let me know, Mr. Kogane." Keith has never heard his last name said that way, and it makes him a little uncomfortable to be addressed like that. "I've been looking in your file, Keith" Oh no. Keith naturally tenses up in his body, ready for the uncomfortable questions. "How was your school life?" For Bruce, it's probably a common question that anyone would be able to answer. But not for Keith. He can't remember his schooling. He doesn't know if he has gone to school. "It was okay Mr. Wayne" Keith lies with discomfort. Bruce's eyes fire in him and he already feels that he has been discovered in a lie. "Please, call me Bruce." a smile is tentatively sent off and is not met with another. "Okay... Bruce." When he says the name, it follows like needles on his tongue. It sounds strange. Bruce laughs quietly when he hears the name roll from Keith's mouth. He must hear how unfamiliar it is to say. "I bet you have some questions?" Bruce changes position and crosses his knees. "Why did you adopt me? You don't even know me." Keith exclaims bluntly. He hates even half-answers and is therefore very straightforward. Bruce looks like he was expecting the question. "Because you seem like a good kid. You don't deserve to be in the clutches of the orphanage." Keith snorts loudly. He certainly knows that he doesn't look like a good kid. He looks like an emo street rat who hasn't been in the shower for a few weeks. "What does Wayne Enterprises do?" Keith curiously asks the question while crossing his arms. Bruce raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Don't you know that.?" he looks sincerely surprised. Keith says nothing and shrugs. "Well, we have several divisions, from nuclear tech to cars," Bruce says simply. Keith is quite happy that Bruce keeps it simple, because he doesn't get a damn thing about what was said. "Cool." Keith finishes quickly and looks out the window. A few minutes later, Bruce interrupts Keith's lovely quiet moment. "I'll have to tell you that I have 4 boys at home." Bruce smiles and pulls out a wallet from the set's pocket. He finds a picture and hands it to Keith. It is a picture with Bruce in the middle surrounded by four boys. Their age looks scattered, and they all have black hair. The gaze is vigilant, just like Bruces. Something is clearly up with this family. Besides that, they all look genuinely happy, even if they all look a bit set up. Keith can never imagine himself with his family, happy and loved. "They look nice." Keith replies hoarsely. "They are fantastic kids. But I must warn you" that doesn't sound good. "My boys aren't special..." Bruce stops and sighs and seems to think for a while. Keith holds out his hand with the picture and Bruce takes it absent-mindedly. "How should I put it? My boys aren't known for the warm welcome," Bruce says as he makes a face. Wonderful. Keith didn't think he would be thrown out of the family so quickly. Annoyed and confused, he turns his head towards the window again and the silence persists until they arrive.

Wayne Manor is gigantic. As Keith steps out of the car, he abruptly stops by the admirable construction. Why the hell do you need all that space! However, Keith is not used to being so close to the finer houses, as he has lived on the streets for as long as he can remember. "Come here, Mr. Kogane." Keith is about to jump into the air in fright. Alfred stands next to him and waits. "Master Bruce is talking to the boys about your arrival." Keith blinks and turns around. Bruce is nowhere to be seen. Keith can feel his cheeks turn red at the thought of him standing just long enough that Bruce felt he could walk. When do you stop making a fool of yourself? Keith quietly scolds himself.

Alfred leads Keith into the house, and he is greeted with a huge foyer. Keith thinks it's the main entrance. Keith is taken to a beautiful oak door and asked to wait. Alfred slips through the door, leaving Keith alone. In the short second the door is open, he can hear angry voices from the room. Keith's stomach takes a dive. He doesn't know these people, and yet he had hoped that he would at least be met with kindness. But judging by the angry voices, this is not an option. After a while, Bruce walks through the door. "Is everything okay in there?" Keith asks, because Bruce looks like he's just 10 years older. "Yes, everything is fine. I just think I should have told them about my decision to adopt you before I did," Bruce says, rubbing his fingers along the bridge of his nose. He sighs loudly "Well, we'd better do as we would with a band-aid. Get it over with." it doesn't exactly help Keith's feeling. Bruce opens the door and gently pushes Keith inside.

Keith honestly feels that being cut in half would be less painful than the cold hostile looks he got from three of the boys. The only one who looks reasonably friendly is the tallest and maybe oldest. His dark blue eyes measure Keith but are otherwise gentle in a way. He catches eye contact and smiles faintly at Keith. But the other boys looks gives Keith goosebumps all over and he wishes he could shrink to the floor. "Hello." The eldest steps forward and holds out his hand. Keith rolls his eyes inside, but chooses to take a neutral approach and shakes his hand. "My name is Richard, but you can just call me Dick. Dick Grayson." Keith keeps his face neutral but is about to go down with curiosity and confusion. Why in the world would you want to be called Dick. "That guy over there is Jason," Dick points over to the next tallest boy, and Keith realizes that they are standing by age. Jason stares at Keith. It's not a very friendly stare. "And I'm Tim." the boy next to Jason steps forward with a cautious smile, "And the little demon over there, it's Damien." Keith's eyes find the boy he avoided at first. The smallest boy is the most intimidating. Keith's gut tells him that it's not someone he should piss off. "My name is Keith. Keith Kogane." he shifts his weight from one leg to the other and tries not to shrink. All those glances at him make him uncomfortable. "How old are you?" Tim looks at him expectantly. Keith hates that question. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but he doesn't know. He can't remember his own birthday and it frustrates him. But he says what he usually does and thinks he's "Sixteen" Tim's eyes light up. "Wow, that's great!" Keith doesn't know how crazy he is about the enthusiastic tone. "So am I," Tim continues. "Ohm, cool" Keith has never been around peers, so he doesn't know what to do or say at all. "What's your favorite color?" asks Dick as he sits down on the armrest of a chair. The question comes as a bit of a surprise to him, as the first was a little more personal at first. "Uh, red" Keith notices the way Jason's eyebrows furrow. "Really.?" Tim sounds surprised. Keith looks down at himself. Black dirty pants, a holey black hoodie and black shoes. Keith can see it himself. "Why are you in Gotham?" Damien takes a step forward and Keith is very tempted to take a step back to avoid too close contact. "I live here," Keith says stupidly. No one seemed to believe him. Keith can't really blame them. "Okay," Jason says flatly. His eyes drill into Keith's soul. The silence spreads as the boy assesses Keith. Keith does the same. Bruce, who seems to feel the tension, steps forward. "Now that the introductions are done, how about you show Keith around the house. And now please," says Bruce, and puts extra emphasis on the last four words. Damien sighs, but Dick and Tim look happy at the thought of showing them around. Keith is shown around the dining room, bathroom, ballroom, living room, library, yards, (in the fucking majority) and the training deck. Ketih likes the last one al lot. The Manor is so big that Keith is sure he will get lost. Then Keith is shown to the rooms. Dick and Jason's rooms are right across from each other. It's the same with Tim's and Damien's. Keith's room is a guest room right next to the boys. For a few seconds, Keiths is shown Bruce's office and his room, which are strangely close to the main floor.

The sun is high on the sky, so Keith thinks it's around noon. Keith hasn't slept very well lately, so he's a bit grumpy. And when you meet your new "family", it's not so good to be the knob. Alfred, Bruce, Tim, Damien and Jason look like they understand that he wants to be alone. But Dick is determined to have a conversation. "Well Keith," Dick says, hanging upside down from a branch. Keith fled to the garden as soon as he got the chance. He needed some fresh air. But still, Dick found him. "What's your favorite game?" Dick smiles and rocks back and forth. "Um, I don't really know any games" Dick looks at him confused. Keith hurriedly asks "What's your favorite game.?" says Keith. Dick slips along with the question frighteningly fast. Keith thinks that when you're the adopted son of a billionaire in Gotham, you often get in the news and get questioned by the press. "I love Mario Cart" Dick swings around and grabs the tree. He does a somersault and lands perfectly in the grass. "Well, Keith. I would have let you settle in, but we're having a family movie slash game night. You are welcome to join us." Dick smiles and starts walking back to the house. Keith leans his head back, against the tree, and sighs loudly. He closes his eyes and lets the sun hit his face.

The invitation was not so much an invitation as it was a request. Keith sat in the corner of the couch while the four boys argued vehemently during the movie. Keith doesn't really see the film. His stomach growls and he desperately tries to get it to stop. The Wayne boys have never hinted at being hungry, and Keith is about to blow up. He is so hungry that it feels like his organs are eating themselves. "Then let's ask Keith." a loud voice brings Keith's attention back. Keith looks over at the noisy boys, "No, idiot." Jason shouts indignantly. "He obviously agrees with me," Jason says, crossing his arms. Keith has no idea what's going on, but luckily Tim leans in and whispers in Keith's ear. "Who's the better vigilante, Nightwing or Red Robin?" Keith doesn't know any of them and, to be honest, and doesn't really know why it's such a big issue, but if they're similar to Batman, he won't meet any of them. "Nightwing." the name sounds coolest. Dick rushes to his feet and laughs loudly. A small frown appears on Tim's forehead, but it quickly disappears again. Keith rolls his eyes at Dick, who jumps around and sticks his tongue out at Jason. Jason growls angrily and jumps forward with a pillow, hitting Dick right in the face. Dick blinks his eyes wildly in shock but then attacks Jason himself. Tim laughs out loud and follows the show. Keith's eyes catch Damien's, and he's reminded that he doesn't belong here. Damien's cold and analytical gaze finds Keith. Damien's eyes go to his arms. Keith knows why. They are scared and scratched. Keith's hands are thankfully covered by his gloves. Keith smiles kindly at Damien, hoping that he looks like someone who is unaffected by the cold gaze from him. Keith forces his eyes back on the TV and tries to look like someone who is watching.

The film finally ends, and Keith almost runs out into the garden. Two and a half hours are far too long compared to the fact that he is used to living outside. He sprints across the lawn and into the woods. He stops gasping and puts his hands on his knees. A few minutes later, he caught his breath, and he turned around. He finds a thick branch and pulls himself up. He continues far up the tree and sits down. His view is a beautiful sunset. He turns his face to the sun and quietly closes his eyes. He takes a deep breath and listens to the birds sing at the end of the day. His stomach growls again and a grimace spread across Keith's face. "Keith.?" Dick's voice comes from down to earth. Keith looks down and meets a distantly smiling face. "Are you up there.?" Dick starts to climb up the tree. When he comes up on his side, he grabs onto a branch and fades the last bit. "Hello." he laughs. A wide smile is on his face, and he looks so happy. Keith's chest tightens. Imagine being so carefree. A lump slowly forms in the throat. "I actually came because Alfred says it's dinner. Do you want to come in?" Dick's smile has become smaller, but nevertheless happy. Keith nods, and they begin to crawl down the tree. Although Keith is good at climbing, Dick is much better. It is as if he knows which branches can hold him and he climbs like a monkey down to the ground in a flash. Keith land on the ground a little after Dick. "You know what, I've missed climbing like that. Thank you very much for that." a gentle smile is sent in Keith's direction, and he is so close to answering it. Close, but don't. He starts to move across the lawn. Dick follows and talks away. Keith only listens with half an ear, and they finally reach the door.

A nice wooden dining table stands in the middle of the dining room and the others are already sitting down and waiting. Bruce sits at the end of the table and talks quietly with Tim on his left. On Bruce's right sits Damien and next to him, Jason. Dick goes to the chair next to Tim and sits down. Keith awkwardly stands in the doorway. A movement catches Keith's attention. Jason discreetly waves his hand by the chair at his side. Keith goes over and sits down. Keith gives him a tiny nod. Jason looks at him funny but doesn't comment on anything. "Are there any allergens or other preferences I need to know, Mr. Kogane.?" Alfred's voice comes suddenly, and Keith gives a little twitch in his chair. He looks to the right and the butler is standing there with a small cart with trays of food. "I already have a vegetarian option, so there are no problems." Alfred smiles as he starts distributing the trays to Bruce and the boys. "Oh no, I just eat what there is. And I actually don't know about allergies," Keith stammers out. Alfred nods to himself and hands him a plate that is bottomed with food. There is some meat, potatoes, peas and some kinds of gravy. The others are already eating and talking among themselves. Keith realizes that they are trying to give him some privacy while he talks to Alfred. "Enjoy." says Alfred as he pours water into a glass for him. After that, he goes out with his cart again. Keith confidently picks up the fork and grabs a piece of meat. He brings the fork up but stops right in front of his mouth. His whole body is tense, and he takes a deep breath before he eats the bite. The meat is tender and tastes so good, and yet it is as if it is growing in his mouth. He takes a long time to swallow it, and he has to drink a sip of water before he can take another bite. Bruce, Dick and Jason are having a loud conversation and Keith wrinkles his nose at the sight of chewed food from Jason's mouth. Tim laughs and joins the conversation. Damien sits and has a small smile on his face but is otherwise quiet. Keith fights his way to five more bites, but then he can't take it anymore. Even though he is bursting with hunger, his body and mind simply don't want the same. Fortunately, the others are almost finished. "Keith, I was wondering if you want to go shopping tomorrow?" Keith is suddenly caught up in the conversation by Dick, who looks at him excitedly. "Yeah, you'll need some new clothes and also a lot for your room." continues Dick resentful and Bruce just looks satisfied as he talks to Tim. Keith nods uncomfortably and looks down at his food again. He is not spoken to again and they finally get up. "Well, get to bed, boys" Bruce smiles at them all and moves himself down to his room. Alfred quietly comes in and starts to take the plates from the table. Keith then takes his glass and plate and follows Alfred outside. He needs to help with something, and it doesn't seem like Alfred minds him doing it. He smiles, however, and starts humming to wash the dishes. Keith stands and looks for a while. Alfred reaches out with a tea towel and a raised eyebrow, as a question. Keith hesitantly steps further in and takes the tea towel. They work in a pleasant silence. Alfred doesn't try to make small talk and Keith can just be there to help. "Now it's time you got to bed, Mr. Kogane" Keith has fought against the yawns, but finally he just lets them run. He yawns wide and rubs his eyes tiredly. Alfred resolutely takes the tea towel from him and gently grabs his wrist. "Out to the left and then up the stairs." it takes Keith some time to find out that Alfred told him the way to his room. Alfred gently pushes Keith towards the door and then begins to wash up again. Keith slips out and follows Alfred's instructions. Sure enough, he comes to the door, which he recognizes, and he goes into the room. The room is large, and dim and Keith stumbles his way to bed. He doesn't have any nightwear, so he throws his shoes on the floor and climbs into bed with the clothes he's wearing. The mattress is soft and appealing, and the duvet is nice and warm. Keith crawls under it and settles down. Shortly after, he falls asleep.

Chapter Text

A loud bang sounds from the lower floor. Keith jumps out of bed and stands on wobbly legs in front of the door with his knife held high. His head spins after the rapid shift from sleep to wakefulness and Keith shakes his head to clear it up.
"Come down from there, Grayson!" Jason's voice beams with anger. Keith throws the knife back under the madras and rushes to the door and opens it. The door to the room next to his pops opens and a shabby Tim comes out with his hands raised. "What on earth is going on?" Tim's voice is hoarse, and Keith shrugs his shoulders confusedly. Together they walk to the stair railing and look down.

The scene in front of them is not what they expected. Dick hangs from the chandelier and dodges the flying things that Jason throws at him. Shoes, plates, books, even knives fly through the air, and all the while Damien is standing in a doorway, drinking from a cup with an unaffected expression on his face. "Shut up, you're lousy at throwing Todd," Damien says, before he takes a sip. "Language, Dami." says Dick as he dodges a particularly close-flying book that was aimed at his head. Keith looks at Tim in confusion. "Is that normal?" Keith doesn't quite know what he wants the answer to be. "I wish I could say no." says Tim with a shake of his head and starts down the stairs. Keith quickly follows. Tim continues into the kitchen and grabs the coffee pot. "Dick no." Bruce's voice mixes with the sudden noise of shattering glass. Tim looks up tiredly and walks over with a full cup for Keith and hands it to him with a small smile. Then he goes to the doorway and looks out. Keith follows. Shards of glass adorn the entire floor and in the middle of it all sits a laughing Dick. Bruce had a pillow thrown under him just before the chandelier fell down. A scary Jason stands to the side and looks down at Dick angrily. "What were you thinking.!" Bruce looks at them both angrily and waves his arms. "Dick, I thought we had established that the chandeliers can NOT hold up to you. And Jason, don't throw things at your brother so that he falls down when he's already hanging up there." Bruce squeezes his bridge of the nose and squints his eyes. "Now I need to buy a new chandelier, too," Keith hears him mumble. Keith finally takes a sip from the mug he was given by Tim. It's coffee, black, and just what Keith was missing. "Mr. Drake and Mr. Wayne, you know very well that the coffee can be taken after a glass of water." Alfred's hands come rushing and take both Tim's and Damien's glasses. Surprisingly for Keith, they both let him do it. "And that goes for you too, Mr. Kogane" Alfred holds out his hand to Keith. Keith chooses to be himself and bellows the whole glass in front of everyone. "Here you go" Keith hands the empty glass back to Alfred with a smug grin. Laughter sounds from Dick, Jason, and Tim and even a smile comes from Damien. Bruce just shakes his head, as if to say, 'what am I going to do'. Alfred looks at Keith with a twinkle in his eye but doesn't say anything. "Now that the escapade between me and Jason has calmed down, do you want to go shopping now, Keith?" Dick stands up with a fluid movement, and steps carefully through the labyrinth of broken glass. "Not so fast, Mr. Grayson." Alfred lifts an index finger and points to a cupboard. "You and Mr. Todd need to clean up after yourselves, and it's going to be right now." Dick and Jason shrink together at the same time and start walking to the closet. Inside there are brooms, dustpans and plastic bags. "It happens often enough to be prepared," Tim whispers in his ear. Keith walks through the glass shard maze without any problems and takes a broom himself. He begins to sweep it all together without words. If he had looked up, he would have noticed the wondering and confused gaze that was shared between the family. "You don't have to help." Jason squats down and receives the shards of glass that Keith has collected. Keith doesn't say anything but continues to sweep. The truth is that if Keith doesn't help, he feels so terrified that he just does it automatically.

During the work, the others leave them, leaving only Keith, Dick and Jason. Keith allows himself to look at the others. Dick moves with a grace that is not often seen. It's as if he's walking on a tightrope and making a performance. He is friendly and several times he has playfully nudged Jason and even Keith. Jason is reserved and moves in jerks and sharp movements. He is calculating and attentive, but also silly and relaxed, and he playfully pushes back at Dick. Both boys hide a pain behind their eyes, but they each use their own mood as a defense. Keith feels surprisingly safe with them, not at all like with Damien, who is cold and impossible to read. "Finally done" Jason leans back and cracks his back loudly. He has thrown both broom and dustpan on the floor. Automatically Keith takes the things and puts them neatly in place in the closet. "Are you ready to go, or do you need a break?" says Dick as he leans up the stairs. "I'm ready if you are." says Keith quietly. He is not ready at all, but there is nothing to be done about it. Dick straightens up with a smile and starts walking. Keith follows him quietly.

The drive to the shopping center is interesting. Dick jumped into the car and clicked in. Keith follows suit and Alfred gets into the driver's seat. Soon they will be on their way. "Where are we going again?" Keith asks the question that has been on the tip of his tongue for a long time. Dick looks surprised that Keith himself is talking but pretends its nothing, "Because you are now part of the family, and as part of the family I, along with the rest of us, want you to have your own things," Dick says with energetic energy. "Are you going to get anything?" Keith tries to create some distance between them by leaning back against the door. "Maybe, but I'm only there so that you don't have to shop alone. And of course, because I'm great at decorating rooms." Dick puts a proud hand on his chest and bows his head. "And then, of course, to make sure you're actually buying something for yourself." there's a funny twinkle in Dick's eyes as he says it, but it fades so quickly that Keith isn't sure. Keith looks out the window and looks at the few people walking around the street. They are curled up and trying to make themselves as small as possible. "What do we even need.?" Keith can't stop the question, and he curses himself in his mind. "Really anything you feel like. Wall décor, bed sheets, clothes, books," Keith cringes at the mention of books. He has never owned a book and therefore cannot read. Or at least he doesn't remember owning any. "Uh and a suit." Keith blinks. "A suit.?" Keith leans forward and looks reproachfully at Dick, who smiles sympathetically. "Yes, unfortunately. Bruce throws gala parties to stay popular with the press, and they are eagerly waiting to meet you," Dick says as he looks out the window to avoid Keith's angry gaze. "Why on earth do they think I'm interesting" Keith scowls as he leans back in his seat. He does not understand the concept of the media. And he especially does not know how to be the news himself. Dick chuckles and grins like a maniac. "You should see the stories they make up about you," Dick laughs. Alfred's gaze is disappointed, but Dick seems to ignore it. "Is that a good thing?" Keith looks at Dick confused, who just laughs louder. "It depends on who you are. Jason loves to fuck with the media, but I have a feeling you're not very fond of attention," Dick says, wiggling his eyebrows. Keith is close to smiling. "You're right. I'm more of a 'lone wolf' kind of guy." "Hey Keith." says Dick a little more quietly. "What." mutters Keith back as he looks at Dick again. "Are you by any chance...sick?" asks Dick, nervously wringing his hands. Keith is confused for a moment, until he remembers what he looks like. Pale skin, sunken eyes with bags almost tattooed underneath, and a thin body from lack of food "Not that I know of." he replies evasively, shrugging his shoulders. "Do you want to see a doctor. Just so you can get checked?" Keith looks at Dick suspiciously. Bruce has probably set him to do it. Keith doesn't like the idea of doctors. Needles, blood to be taken and a lot of human contact. Not for him. "Well," Dick begins, reaching out a hand to pat Keith on the shoulder. But it quickly fades away again as Keith leans far away from it with a warning look. "Bruce has probably already made an appointment so" Dick stops himself. "Fine." Keith looks out the window tensely. They don't talk the rest of the way. "Come on," says Dick, as soon as the car stops in a parking space. He jumps out the door and waits impatiently for Keith. Dick begins to walk energetically through the center. He tells about one of his friends, Wally, who once got stuck on an escalator and started riding it, held up by his shirt. Keith honestly didn't pay attention. A strange feeling spread through Keith's body. "Where are we going first?" asks Keith Dick, ready to get it all over with. "Probably a clothing store, oh no a shoe store," Dick says, grabbing Keith's wrist and pulling him to a store called 'Sketchers'. Rows of colorful shoes adorn the wall, and Dick resolutely pulls Keith with him. They end up in front of a black pair "You only own that pair, right?" keith looks down at his shoes. They are holed, filthy and stretched after many long walks. Keith feels a blush spread on his cheeks. He nods embarrassedly. Dick pretends it's nothing and pulls out a black pair of shoes. "Try them on" They end up walking out of the store with two pairs of shoes. A black pair and then some red ones with black out lines that Dick insisted on buying. Dick hands the bags to Alfred, who looks quite used to that behavior. Keith felt uncomfortable with Alfred carrying his stuff, but the butler seems to be perfectly fine with it, so Keith doesn't say anything.

Keith swears that Dick must have super speed as he rushes from one store to another. Keith stumbles after him, desperate to keep up. "Which one do you like the best?" asks Dick as he holds out almost two identical black shirts. Keith opens his mouth to answer, but Dick just throws them both into their growing pile. "Do I really need all of this?" says Keith mutely, looking at the big pile. It all felt a bit unnecessary. "Yes, of course you do." says Dick simply. "Now we're almost done with clothes. And then it's my favorite thing. Room decorations" Dick jumps a little at the end. He reminds me a bit of a five-year-old with sugar shock. Dick pays and throws the three bags into Alfred's arms. "I don't think it's necessary..." Keith doesn't have time to finish before he is dragged away by Dick. A small, defeated sigh sounds from him.

Finally, they stop at the last stop of the day. A huge sign with the text 'Tailor' and a small icon of needle and thread flashes in front of them. Alfred had slipped over to the car with all their bags, so it was only Keith and Dick left. Dick is standing and looking at a sign with many different types of suits. "I think a matching set is best," Dick mumbles to himself. Keith looks at him confused, "Match with what?" asks Keith, creeping a few steps closer. "Match with me, Jason's Tims, and Damien's set." says Dick, reaching out to feel a vest. Keith thought it looked like some sort of servant uniform. It looks like something he has seen for somewhere. But I wonder where? "Keith?" keith quickly turns his head towards Dick. "Yes?" says Keith and straightens up a little "We can go in now" says Dick and points to the door. Keith's mouth parted as an 'oh' slipped out. Dick smiles warmly and starts to walk in. Before Dick can open the door, it is opened by an elderly gentleman. "Mr. Wayne, good to see you again." He steps aside so Dick can come in. "What can I do for you today?" "We'll just have to look around a bit and maybe make a measurement if we find something we like," says Dick and steps through the rows of fabric. Keith uncomfortably follows to the meeting with. A tingling sensation is in his whole body, and it becomes more evident every second. Something is clearly wrong.
"Wonderful, I'll be here if you need help." the man walks in between the rows and disappears. Dick starts reaching in and takes out a lot of different types of fabric. He takes them out and puts them against Keith's chest, looking for the colors and how they complement Keith's skin. When he finds a color he likes, he starts looking at ties. Keith is impressed by how normal these things seem to Dick. The movements are almost automatic, and Keith thinks that when you are the son of a billionaire, you have been to many galas. "Do you need something?" asks Keith, while Dick pulls out a darker colored tie. "Even though I'm absolutely awesome, I've stopped growing, so I don't need to get new clothes all the time." Keith snorts at Dick's silly face. "What about Jason and the others.?" Keith has always been curious, and finally it seems like someone wants to answer his questions. "Jason doesn't need new sets either, and Tim and Damien got theirs corrected a few weeks ago," Dick says, a frown spreading. "How did Bruce actually find me? I mean, I hadn't even been to the orphanage for a whole day and there were so many other kids, but it's like Bruce asked specifically for me." Keith scans Dick's facial expression as he asks the question. His eyes look for some shifts in expression or position. Dick hides it well, but a slight shrug and the way his jaw tenses shows that Dick is hiding something. "I don't know, you'll have to ask him yourself." The voice is flat and monotonous, and it makes Keith nervous. Oh, Dick clearly knows more than he lets on. "Okay." says Keith hesitantly.

Keith stands in silence as Dick flips through some pieces of fabric and he mumbles to himself, as the tingling sensation gets ten times worse. Keith's gaze shoots around the store, but there's nothing to see. "Dick, are you done soon?" asks Keith, the strain in his voice making him realize how tense he actually is. Dick looks up with concern. "yeah," Dick says, as he slowly lets go of the pieces of fabric he has in his hands. "Keith... Are you okay?" Keith's head races around and scans the entire store again. The feeling gets stronger and stronger. "We have to get out. Now" Keith steps over to Dick and grabs his wrist tightly. He starts to pull him towards the door. "Keith, what's going on. Are you okay.?" the worry shines out of Dick, but Keith simply can't concentrate on it now. They finally make it out the door, but Keith continues at a high pace, he just must leave. "Keith." shouts Dick as he struggles in Keith's grip. "Where are you doing!?" Keith doesn't look back or stop. Dick struggles even harder and wears out his grip, so Keith has to pull him forward. Keith stops, "Don't fight back," Keith hisses wildly. Keith breathes in the air forcefully. He hadn't noticed that he was holding his breath.
"Keith..." is all Dick gets to say before the whole world explodes in flames.

Light seared through Keith's eyes, blinding him. Keith feels a force slam him backwards along with Dick as heat scorched his skin and clothes. He feels himself colliding with the ground, eyes and throat burning, and with ringing ears. The heat from the blast had been so intense it left his skin raw, and it felt like he no longer had any nose hair. After several minutes, Keith finally begins to gain control of his body again. His hearing has been destroyed by the bang but is starting to get better and slow but surely Keith is gaining complete control of his body. He lifts himself up on his knees with great effort. "Dick?" he croaks hoarsely as he scans the area for signs after him. When Keith finally spots him, he is lying among a large pile of broken things. Dick seems to be okay, but clearly in worse shape than Keith is himself, given that he was behind him and received most of the bang.

Keith gets to his feet and stumbles towards Dick. He slumps to his knees next to him and presses two fingers against the side of his neck. A faint but steady beat sounds behind his fingers. The ringing from his ear has not improved, but he can faintly hear sirens. He looks around. The entire center is in ruins. Large pieces of concrete are scattered everywhere, and one particularly large piece has landed dangerously close to Dick. The tailor shop is completely blown to pieces. Large flames lick up the walls, which were a shop a few minutes ago. The flames are large and a bright orange. Keith checks dick for any broken bones and conclude there isn't any. He then lifts dick armes and starts to pull him after him. He finds a corner that's fairly safe and starts to build a wall around them for protection. He sits down next to Dick. He leans over him and closes his eyes. He is dizzy.

The sound of heavy boots comes close. Keith quickly turns his head to the sound and is ready to see a man with a torch or a grenade. Keith isn't completely off, though. A boy in a bright red suit, with a yellow R embroidered on the left side of his chest, and a black mask shaped like a bird's head, covers most of his face. Keith can feel his heart beating faster. "Are you okay?" ask the boy, but Keith can't formulate a sentence, so he just moves away from the boy. "It's okay, you're safe now" the boy says softly as he squats down in front of Keith. Keith recognizes him. It's the boy from the store, the one who was with Batman. "What happened?" Keith croaks and moves aside so the boy can look at Dick and check his signs of life just like he had. "Batman is still investigating everything with Robin," the boy explains. He pulls back one of Dick's eyelids and lights up with a light that he took out from his belt. Keith can see Dick's pupil dilate, which is good. The boy then turns to Keith again. "Where are you?" he asks. Keith blinks and tries to swallow to soften his dry throat. "I'm at Gotham Mall," Keith croaks, trying not to blink when the light hits his eyes. "You're the new Wayne kid, right?" the boy asks, and Keith can feel his eyebrows contract, the light shifts to the other eye. "Yeah, how did you know..." Keith is interrupted by the light that is shining into his mouth. Keith has no idea what it was for, but he's not complaining. "You're all over the news," the boy says, sticking his light back into his belt again. Oh," Keith just says stupidly. The boy's head is looking around at the chaos. "Where were you? When the explosion happened" asks the boy. Keith lifts a finger and points to the place he thinks they were in. Keith is surprised at how far he managed to drag Dick with him. "Is he going to be okay?" asks Keith, his gaze searching down to Dick. The hero's gaze becomes gentler, even though Keith can't be sure because of the white holes in the mask. "Yes, he will get well again. There is a rescue team on the way over here." As he says so, he pulls out a gun-like object and aims high above his head. A hook shoots out and gets stuck on a building ahead. Keith opens his mouth to ask who he is, but he is interrupted by the hero himself. "Your family has been contacted. They will see you when you arrive at the hospital." assures the hero. Keith doesn't know if he's relieved that the Waynes will see him okay, while Dick is unconscious and probably has a concussion, albeit a small one.

A few minutes later, more people arrived climbing through the broken elevators with a lot of stretchers. After them some firefighters come and starts to close the fire. Keith tries to protest when he is locked to a stretcher, but the paramedic calmly tells him that he is safe and that he is suffering from shock. Which makes Keith angry. Either these paramedics are terrified of letting something happen to the new adoptive son of a billionaire, or they are not very good at their job. Keith doesn't hope for the latter.

Keith is carried through the broken elevator, with Dick on his own stretcher behind him. While Keith is being carried through the center, he has time to look at all the injuries. Most of the floors are on fire and firefighters are shouting commands and running around with their hoses. A few people stand and talk to the police, put in shock blankets and a firm grip on their water bottles. Keith stops looking as soon as he spots the man with the cape. Keith quickly turns his gaze away as Batman walks up to a man with gray hair. Keith's last interaction with Batman didn't go so well, and it's not something Keith plans to repeat. Keith and Dick are taken in the same ambulance, with the doors slammed behind them. The sirens are brought to life and the car starts moving. The rescuers inside the car talk loudly back and forth and move around in the car. Keith closes his eyes and tries to ignore everything that is going on around him. His head is pounding and the sound of many people talking at each other's mouths mixed with a noisy siren doesn't make it any better. Keith just wants to sleep a little.

Keith doesn't know why the nurses insist that he stay in the uncomfortable bed. Keith refuses to lie down completely, despite the disappointed looks of the nurses, so he sits with his legs crossed with his eyes scanning around the room. Both he and Dick have been placed in a private hallway, and he overheard one of the caregivers talking about how it is reserved for the Wayne family because Bruce has donated a lot of money to the hospital. Keith is particularly annoyed that he is not allowed to get up and walk around a bit, especially now that he there's nothing wrong with him other than a few small burns on his arms and legs. Luckily, the burns on Dick hadn't been so bad either, a few days with burn salve and they should both have healed fine. The Waynes still hasn't shown up, and the longer Keith waits, the more nervous he gets. Keith fumbles with the patient ID band around his wrist. Fortunately, the nurses had not forced him to wear a hideous hospital shirt. Keith hoped that Alfred didn't have time to meet them and was safe when it jumped. Keith has no idea how old Alfred is, but he is sure that he is old enough to being close to such an explosion would kill him. No one stops to inform Keith about what happened and he becomes more and more frustrated, but mostly with himself. If Keith hadn't ignored the feeling, the poor tailor was probably have been alive right now. Keith squints his eyes hard and tries to hold back the tears.

Keith is pulled out of his thoughts when the door is opened hard. Bruce, followed by Jason, Tim and Damien comes rushing in. Keith looks away and suddenly finds an interest in the tired, brown plant standing in the corner. Keith wants to give the family peace so they can be sure that Dick is okay. Keith is so invested in looking at the plant that he doesn't notice Bruce until he's pulled into a bone-breaking hug. "Uhmmff." the air rushes out of him as he is pulled into Bruce's strangely hard chest and held tight. Keith has no idea what to do with his arms, which are half trapped at his sides, and irritate his burns a little. After the longest seconds of Keith's life, Bruce finally lets go. Keith is uncomfortably aware of the hands still placed on his shoulders and Bruce's worried gaze scanning Keith for injuries. "Thank God you are alright." says Bruce and pulls Keith in for a new but shorter hug. "Where's Alfred?" ask Keith the moment he's released, "He's back in the manor," Jason replies. Keith is surprised that Jason is talking to him. "He just made it to the parking lot, and after the explosion, the police asked him to go home." Keith lets out a sigh of relief. He is happy that Alfred has made it out to safety and is safe and sound. "What even happened?" asks Keith, watching Bruce and Tim lean over Dick. "The Joker and Harley Quinn planted bombs and started fires all over the mall," Damien explains, again someone Keith didn't expect to talk to him. "Batman, Robin, and Red Robin investigated the explosions and still haven't found a reason why the bombs were planted there." Red Robin. He is the one Keith has met so many times. "Joker and Harley Quinn are mentally ill," Bruce reminds them, "I highly doubt there's any pattern or reason for their decision." silence feels Bruce's words. "You guys are both hella lucky to have gotten out of the shop when you did." says Jason, leaning against his brother's hospital bed with his arms crossed. "You would've been blown to bits if you stayed for even a second longer." he continues. "Are anyone dead?" asks Keith hesitantly. "We don't know yet, but the police don't suspect it," Bruce replies, leaning away from Dick to look at Keith. A few minutes pass and Keith returns to look at the plant, while Bruce and Jason talk about how the press will eat the stories that two of the Wayne children could have been blown to pieces. Keith doesn't know how crazy he is about being referred to as a 'Wayne kid'.

Keith can feel the bed sink a little and helooks over and expects to see Bruce. Surprisingly, it's Damien sitting in frontof him with his hands clenched. "I'm glad both you and Dick made it out in time." says Damien,avoiding Keith's gaze. "So am I," Keith replies,forcing his hands to rest in his lap. Damien is silent for a few seconds beforehe actually looks at Keith. "I'm sorry I've treated you like an outsider." says Damien andstraightens up a little and Keith is surprised at how sincere he sounds. Keithtakes a little time to answer. "To be honest, I wouldn't trust meeither," Keith says. It was meant as a joke, but Keith can feel that it'sa little truer than a joke. Damien nods in response but doesn't answer. Keithlooks around the room, trying to avoid the other bed. It hurts to see Dicklying there, unconscious and injured. And yet, even though he does his best,his eyes still find their way there. Dick lies with his eyes closed and lookslike someone who is sleeping. There is a scratch on his left cheek, and it willprobably turn into a scar. Keith leans back and keeps looking at him. Hedoesn't even notice his eyes drop in, and he falls asleep.

Chapter Text

Dick POV:
He knew it. That was all Dick could think. How could Keith have known? Dick woke up in the hospital, with a pounding head and a sore body. After tying several glasses of water to cool his dry throat, Bruce enters the room and smiles warmly. "Hey Dick, how's it going?" asks Bruce as he sits down in a chair close to Dick's bed. "What happened?" asks Dick as he sets his empty glass down on the table by his side. "Joker and Harley Quinn set up the center with a lot of bombs and fires, some of which I've never seen them use before." Bruce's voice drops in strength and his smile disappears. Dick looks around the room. As far as he can see, no one else can overhear them. "Does Batman know how they could get into the mall with so many cameras and guards?" asks Dick as he takes a second look, just to make sure a nurse doesn't enter. "No. The press says that Batman and his team have not found a way they could have come from. The press has also asked Commissioner Gordon where Nightwing was during this whole affair," Bruce says, leaning back and crossing his ankles as if he were in an important meeting. "He was probably doing something in Bludhaven," Dick says as normally as possible. He has always thought it was foolish to talk like that, but again also smart enough if they don't want to be discovered. "That's also what the press thinks," Bruce agrees. Dick, unable to hold it any longer, leans forward "He knew it," he whispers. Bruce looks confused. "Who knew what?" he asks, noticing the seriousness in Dick's voice and leaning himself forward. "Keith. I think he knew the bombs were going to go off." says Dick and moans softly as the scabs on his wound open. Bruce pushes him back into bed before he answers. "What do you think? How would he have known?" asks Bruce. Dick can see that he is worried even through the impressive mask that Bruce constantly wears when he is out in humanity. A trick he has learned from living with Bruce since he was thirteen. "Well, I was in the tailor's shop with him and looked at the fabric samples when he suddenly became completely tense. And I mean really tense. And then he just took my arm and started to pull me out of the store, saying we had to get out," says Dick. Bruce's face is locked in on an expression that Dick knows all too well, named 'the detective face', by Jason. "Maybe he saw Mr. Reid sneaking out and realized something was about to happen," Bruce speculates. Dick wrinkles his brows in confusion. "What do you mean Mr. Reid sneaked out?" ask Dick and Bruce sigh. "Batman reported to the press that Mr. Reid has been in a union with the Joker and was one of the people who helped plant the majority of the bombs," Bruce says wearily and closes his eyes, and Dick is reminded that Bruce is actually in his 40s. Dick can feel his heart drop into his stomach when he realizes that the faithful tailor they have used for years is actually in cahoots with the man who killed his brother and has caused so much pain and suffering to his family. "And it has been confirmed?" asks Dick dejectedly. Bruce nods. "Unfortunately, after a bit of investigation done by Red Hood—" Bruce begins "After the police cleared from the police crime scene and," Dick paused, trying to figure out how to say that Jason went out investigating after keith and Alfred had returned safely back at the manor. "The other victims from the crime scene were returned home safely?" Bruce nods "Yes, after everyone was evacuated and safely back in their respective houses. Unfortunately, Mr. Reid was found dead by Red Hood. Mr. Reid was thrown from the fourth story window after, or possibly, during the explosion" Bruce said solemnly. Dick had to think for a second to process this. "Did the Joker throw him?" asked Dick, lowering his voice even further. "That is the conclusion Red Hood came to," confirmed Bruce. Dick sighed, even if this man had 'betrayed them' and harmed dozens of people, Dick still felt bad. No one deserved to die. "How do you think Keith knew something bad was going to happen?" asked dick, no longer bothering to be secretive. "There are a lot of possibilities. Something about Keith just seems different. We all sensed it, Jason in particular." Dick looked down at his hands which he was wringing in his lap. "But what?" dick mumbles "I don't know." sighed Bruce "But I think we, as in you, Jason, Tim, and Damien, need to meet in the Batcave to discuss Keith." Bruce said and opens his eyes again. "Did you find anything?" asked Dick apprehensively. From the very moment Keith arrived he was like an enigma; Dick knew next to nothing about him. He knew his age, name, where he was from, his favorite game (he didn't play) and that was it. "It's more about what I haven't found," Bruce said, standing. "But we will discuss more about it later with the rest of you there. But for now," Bruce straightened his tie and knocked on the door, probably signaling to a nurse or something "We are going to get you back home."

After being slaughtered in another layer of burn cream dick was given a clean pair of clothes (courtesy of Alfred, who Dick was happy to see was perfectly unscathed.) and discharged from the hospital. As Dick exited the front doors he was blinded by the familiar flashes of cameras, his ears assaulted by the sounds of dozens of reporters all clamoring, asking question after question. Dick just put on his signature smile and just waved to the reporters, letting Bruce make the way to the car which was waiting just a few feet away. Bruce did most of the talking, probably because he knew Dick wasn't exactly in the best condition to give the best answers to a pack of hungry reporters. Dick did answer on question: How are you doing now that you are out of the hospital? Dick just responded with a simple I'm just happy neither I nor my brother were more hurt than we were. Once Dick slid into the car and the door shut, he breathed a sigh of relief. Buckling himself in, he rested his head against the seat and closed his eyes, only opening them again when he heard the passenger's side door close. "Jeez, please tell me they did not swarm Keith like that. I don't think he knows how to handle that." Dick said, looking at the back of Bruces head as Alfred started the car. "We tried to not let the press catch the wind of when he was being discharged from the hospital, but it somehow still got out. Keith handled it surprisingly well, stayed silent but didn't stare at the floor." Bruce said, glancing back at dick from the rear-view mirror. Dick sighed and settled into his seat, looking out the window. He hadn't seen Keith since the bombs went off. From what Bruce had told him he was fine, not hurt from the blast, and seemed to be doing okay mentally. Which Dick thought was weird. He was pretty sure Keith had grown up on the streets so he must have seen some stuff, but any normal person would have been at least slightly traumatized. "How was Keith so unharmed that he was able to be released from the hospital jus a few hours after the incident" while Dick, a trained and hardened vigilante, was knocked unconscious for two days. Not that Dick was ungrateful that his new brother had escaped the real harm of the explosion.
"We don't know. The nurses were equally as confused, they said it seemed as if Keith had a weak healing factor or he was very slightly invincible." Bruce said as Alfred slowed to a stop at a red light. "I left for the 'bathroom' and requested a sample of Keiths blood from the nurses. I plan on running a few tests on it." Dick blinked in surprise; Bruce never seemed like the kind of person who would do that. "Isn't that invading his privacy?" Dick asked, he already knew the answer was 'yes', but he wanted to know if Bruce felt bad about what he did. Judging by the way he signed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, that was also a yes. "Yes, it is. But I figured it would be in all of our best interest to find out if Keith is a meta-human. Whether he knows or not." Bruce said. Dick felt his heart skip a few beats at the realization that Keith might be the product of experimental testing by some evil scientist. No matter how much Dick wanted to believe Keith was just a tough kid he also knew how much I would explain. "Do you really think he is a product of experimenting?" Dick asked Bruce hesitantly. Bruces silence was enough of an answer for Dick. Yes. "Jason texted me a few minutes ago, Keith is in his room, sleeping, I think," said Bruce glancing back at Dick. Dick suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Keith on their way to the mall. "Did Keith get a check-up at the hospital?" Dick asked, leaning forward and ignoring the way his seatbelt pressed against the burn on his shoulder. "Yes, apparently, he is in decent health for what his background might be. The only problem is he is a little underweight, but he will surely be getting back on track with Alfred's wonderful cooking." At Bruces words, Dick could see a tiny, proud smile appear on Alfred's face. "That's good" Dick said in relief, it wasn't the best-case scenario, but it certainly wasn't the worst and with Keith, Dick would take any win he could get.

Once the car pulled to a stop in one of the manors many garages, Dick hopped out and entered the house. Immediately he was met with Damien's hug. Dick grinned and hugged him back. Damine loved every one of his brothers even his newest one (even if he would never admit it.) "Hey there little D." dick chuckled, finally managing to disentangle himself from his baby brother's death hug. Even if Damien was only fourteen, he had still been raised to be an assassin. His little arms were trained to be death grippers. "I am glad you are put of the hospital." Damien said, stepping back and gathering his usual indifferent composure. "I'm glad I'm out of the hospital too little dude." Said dick, grinning and throwing his arms out for added effect. "Dickhead.!" A loud voice shouted from across the entrance hall and dick had to resist rolling his eyes, as Jason walked over and flung an arm around his shoulders "You look great for a poor wittle billionaire boy who was just nearly blown to bits.!" Jason jeered, trying to give dick a noogie. Dick easily pushed him away, laughing. "Dude." Tim cried, climbing down the grand staircase two at a time. "You're finally back." "I am" Dick agreed, welcoming Tim into a growing hug. "How'd they treat you over at the hospital?" Jason asked, releasing dick and casually stuffing his hands into the pockets of his sweats. "Decent enough, the press was like mosquitos." Dick said, sighing as Tim pulled back from him as well. "It was on the news, a channel went there live" Tim stated "You handled it like a champ" "Indeed, I could not tell you had just been in the hospital," Damien said, puffing his chest out like he was proud. Dick smiled and patted his little brother on the shoulder. "what did you find out about the scene?" dick asked, the smile dropping off his face. The three other boys mirrored him. "Well, I found you and Keith." Tim said. "Once I checked both of you, I went off to the top floor to try and check for a possible entryway" "I went with father and investigated the lower floors, that is where we made the discovery of a remnant of a Joker bomb." Damien said, his arms rigged at his side. "I went later, as I'm sure you know, and I found Mr. Reids dead body and the communication log holding every conversation he had had with joker." Jason grunted, crossing his own arms and glaring at the wall. Dick could tell he wasn't the only one affected by Mr. Reids betrayal and death. "Where is Keith by the way?" Dick knew that he was supposedly up in his room but that could have changed in the twenty minutes it took to get to the manor. "He is up in his room" Damien responds "Though he did leave a little bit ago to grab an apple." "Are you spying on him?" Tim asked, wrinkling his nose slightly. Damien didn't look fazed. "No, you dummy. His room is right next to mine." Damien retorted, Jason rolled his eyes and elbowed dick in the arm. Dick, decided to leave before he got roped into another one of Tims and Damien's bickering sessions. He climbed the stairs and made his way to Keiths room. Once he reached the door, he raised his fist and knocked softly on the door. "Come on in" keith called out. Dick felt a little smile make his way across his face as he pushed the door open. Keith wasn't looking at him when he entered but the movement his dark eyes landed on him, he was at his feet. "Dick." Keith said, taking a step forward. "I didn't know you were coming back" "Just got discharged from the hospital" dick replied, grinning and taking his own step forward his eyes scanning Keith for any signs of burns or any other injuries. There were nearly any. It was almost as if Keith had never ever been at the mall. He probably has a healing factor. Dick thought to himself as he pulled keith into a hug. He was surprised when Keith returned it. "It's good to see that you are alright." Keith mumbled, pulling away. "I was worried that something bad had happened to you when you didn't wake up" dick felt himslev smile at Keith's words. "It's all thanks to you" Dick said, his smile fading slightly as Keith tensed and looked away. "Keith." Dick started, waiting to continue until Keith was looking at him. "Thank you. I don't know how you knew and I'm not going to ask, but your quick thinking saved both of our lives." Dick said as sincerely as possible. "I probably could have saved more people if I had thought a little harder." Keith mumbled; Dick figured Keith was manly talking to himself. "How?" Dick asked, reaching out and gently placing his hands on Keith's upper arms. Keith didn't answer and Dick sighed. "You did amazing. Better than everyone else in the mall." Dick reassured "Besides, from what I've heard, you meet one of the heroes" dick said, smiling, hopping to lighten the mood a little. Dick saw Keith's brows furrow and he opened his mouth as if he was about to say something before apparently thinking otherwise and closing his mouth again. "Yeah, Red Robin." Keith mumbled, moving away from dick and sitting down on the edge of the bed. Dick noticed that the decorations the brought were still sitting in their bags, stuffed in the corner. "You haven't decorated?" Dick asked, leaning against the wall keith was silent for a few seconds before he signed quietly, he seemed relay tense. "It felt wrong, you know, decorating while you were still at the hospital." Keith admitted, looking down at his hands, his fingers tugging at the gloves, dick noticed he was wearing. "Oh. Well now I'm back so please, make yourself at home. Please" Dick smiled letting the silence follow, he could tell Keith wasn't really up for a conversation at the movement. Dick took the opportunity to look around Keith's room. For the first days, Keiths room had been barren, his sleeping bag not even being unpacked. But now, his stuff had slowly migrated into the closet and random things had been placed on the shelves next to the bed. The desk, which Dick had expected keith to use the last, was cluttered with random pieces of paper and a pencil, along with a sharp knife. Keith paused his tugging on the gloves to yawn. Dick felt another smile spread across his face. "You seem tired," Dick stated moving towards the door. "I'll let you rest" Dick smiled. "Alright bye Dick" Keith said looking up at him."Sleep tight, Keith" Dick replied, smiling as he closed Keith's bedroom door. Dick turned around and began walking down the hallway when he saw Jason walking up the stairs. They both paused for a second. "We're meeting down in the cave," Jason said after quickly glancing behind Dick to make sure Keith wasn't there.

Dick sighed and nodded in response. Dick slowly made his way down the stairs (his legs hurt!) and towards the clock in the manors sitting room. Dick took his time in moving the clock hands so it would read ten forty-eight. Once the time was set dick heard the lock click open and the clock slid to the side, exposing the entrance to the Batcave. Dick stepped inside and pulled the clock closed behind him, he waited to make sure the hands moved back into place so no one (keith) could accidentally stumble on it. Dick grabbed onto the fire pole and hooked his legs around it; he was so not giving his hands pole burn today. The slide down was short, and Dick was glad Bruce installed a squishy pad at the bottom because of the number times one of them (manly a very sleep-deprived Tim) slipped and fell was embarrassing. Dick made his way over to the bat computer, where everyone else was gathered. "What did you want to show us, Bruce?" Dick asked, accepting the seat Tim offered him once he arrived. "Well, when I talked with Keith during his first few days here I noticed how vague he was being, so it got me curios." Bruce said adjusting his position in his seat in order to begin typing on the Bat computer. "Bullshit" Jason grumbled under a poorly disguised cough. Bruce raised an eyebrow at him "You would have run a background check on him anyway." "Father is wise to investigate people whom we are welcoming into our home" Damien said, crossing his arms and shooting Jason the stink eye. Jason responded by waggling his fingers over his head and sticking his tongue out. "What did you find, Bruce?" Tim asked, drawing all their attention back on topic. "Not a lot." Bruce admitted, pulling a few documents "It's mostly from Gotham, which account for a little under a year of his life, the rest is basically undocumented." "So, you mean he managed to live off the grid when he was a small child?" Jason asked, he probelbly knew more about living on the streets than the rest of them did. "That's impossible, he must have been caught somewhere like a security camera or picked up by social services since he has a birth certificate." "That's the problem" Bruce said, pulling up Keith's 'official' birth certificate, so it took the majority of the Bat computers screen. "That's a little too detailed." "So you believe his birth certificate is a forgery?" Damien asked, his eyes scanning the lines of text "It certainly looks like it." Tim mumbled to himself, reaching out and stealing the mouse from Bruce. Dick leaned forward to look at Keith's birthday, which was on the October 23. Dick knew the feeling of being watched very well, so as he looked at the document, he could immediately tell that eyes were on him. Dick turned and looked around the Batcave, no one else was there and everything looked normal. Dick felt a shudder run down his body as he remembered the last time he felt like this. Slade. "Oh, hey Alfred!" Tim called, waving at said butler climbing down the stairs specially installed for him, carrying a tray of his delicious cookies. Dick forced his shoulders to relax. He was probably just being paranoid, hopefully, he was just being paranoid. "Just remember that dinner is in a few hours" Alfred said looking disapproving at Jason and Tim who immediately went to stuffing their faces with chocolatey goodness. "Thank you Alfred" Bruce said taking a cookie of his own. "It was really no problem, Master Bruce" Alfred said, giving dick a small smile and turning to leave the way he came. "So" grunted Jason after swallowing a particularly large mouthful of cookie. Dick winced, it looked painful "What exactly is so weird about his birth certificate.?" "It has weird detail. Like very, very specific details." Tim started. "You have all the normal stuff like his sex, name, time of birth but then his weight at the time of birth was included, along his height, which is not very common in the U.S., and we know Keith was born here, so putting weight and height isn't very common." "I don't think a scientist would be this sloppy" Dick mumbled. "If they were really trying to keep Keith as a secret science experiment I don't think they would even report his birth, let alone give him a birth certificate." Bruce opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Jason. "Whoa. Back it up now" he said, pushing his hands out in front of him. "Where did this 'science experimentation' come from?" Bruce sighed and looked up at the ceiling of the Batcave before looking back at the bat computer. "Based on Keith's lack of records, purposeful vague references to his past, and his body apparent strength-" Bruce began looking at Jason only to be cut off again. "What do you mean father?" Damien jutted in. "He has super strength?" "No, his skin or muscular tissue is stronger-" "I think he has a healing factor" Dick cut Bruce off this time. Immediately alle eyes were on him. "I went to check on him before Jason called me down here. All signs of the blast were gone, there were no burns, no scrabs, nothing." "Well then," Bruce paused, taking a deep breath and daring them to interrupt him again. "Whatever has happened we will most likely get an answer soon. I am running his blood sample that I got from the nurse. When the results are in, we should be able to see any sort of irregularities in DNA." "Do you really believe that he was a science experiment?" Tim asked, he sounded as defeated as Dick had felt when Bruce first told him. "I don't want to think it, I want to believe that he lived a semi normal life, but all signs point to the opposite." Bruce sighed, taking the mouse from Tim and minimizing Keith's birth certificate. "Do we know the identity of his parents?" Damien asked, looking over his father's shoulders. Bruce began typing again. "There isn't a lot of information on Keith's parents. I know his father is Frank Kogane." Bruce paused "But that is about it, he had an older brother named Shiro both Frank and Shiro died in a car accident." Dick didn't know keith had any siblings. "He was seven when they died?" Tim asked quietly. Dick looks up at the screen and does the mental math. "That must have been so hard for him." Dick sighed, staring sadly at the screen "He lost his mother at birth." Bruce said. Dick could see the saddened looks on his brothers faces. "What happened to him after that?" Jason mumbled, Tim reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "It goes fuzzy again after that. The records are basically from here up until he appeared in Gotham." Bruce explained and pulled out the records "What about his earlier past?" Tim asked, finally sitting down on the stone slab the Bat computer was resting on. "Nothing after that" Bruce said. "That's all" Damien mumbled, losing his stance slightly. "Yes." Bruce responded. "Nothing at all?" Jason asked confused. Dick was confused as well. "No, nothing," Bruce replied seriously.

Tim opened his mouth to say something, but he was stopped by the sound of the Exome sequence beeping, signaling that the DNA testing was done. Dick turned to look at the screen, along with the rest of the people in the room. A few strands of text popped up, saying things like 'Analysis complete' and 'Anomaly detected'. Dick leaned forward and, from out of the corner of his eye he saw everyone else lean forward as well. "Holy shit! That's so not normal!" Jason exclaimed, pointing his finger at the screen. On the screen, there was a 3d diagram of Keith's DNA strand, which would look normal expect for the fact that half of the paternal DNA was missing. "Is that the agnate?" Tim asked, pointing at the gaps in the DNA strand. "Yeah" dick concurred. "So this is proof?" Damien said. "Unfortunately, yes" Bruce sighed. Dick looked at his adoptive father, sharing a grave look with him. "What are we going to do, father?" Damien asked, looking up at Bruce with his usual serios facial expression, amplified to a hundred. "Well, I don't know if Keith is aware that he is a metahuman. Either way, we are going to help him if he gains any or currently has any super abilities. Which it appears that he does, even if it is a small and rather unnoticeable healing factor." Bruce said, his eyes never leaving the screen. "And if he does manifest some sort of power?" Jason asked, Bruce sighed. "Then we might have to introduce him to Young justice," Bruce said. Dick felt his stomach drop. He didn't want his newest sibling to be exposed to the dangers of the superhero life. but if it was for his own safety and benefit, dick guessed he would be alright, especially if he and Tim were there to 'protect him' (though Dick had a feeling that Keith didn't really need any sort of protection) tim streted talking about how this was possible when the chill ran down dick's spine again. He turned around, searching for the cave again. He couldn't see anyone but as quickly as the feeling came, it disappeared.

Chapter Text

Keith is still a little confused about how he ended up in the Batcave. Keith knew something was wrong. As soon as Dick left the room, Keith got up and took off his shoes. He didn't know where Dick was going, but he wanted to follow. Muffled voices sound from the hallway and Keith waits for them to disappear. Then he quietly opens the door and looks out. Dick stands with his back to him and starts walking down the stairs. Keith waits until Dick is completely down before he goes to the railing. He looks down and looks down at Dick's hair that goes into the sitting room. Keith follows him quietly down the stairs. Dick walks over to the old clock that stands in the room. Keith can't see what he's doing, but there is a sound of clicking and then a hidden door opens. Keith hides behind the wall and listens. Footsteps walk in through the door and Keith can hear the rush of the door closing. Keith dares to look forward. The room is abandoned. Keith sneaks to the clock. The hands point to ten forty-eight but begin to move to the right time. Keith stands completely still and waits. Is it weak breathing he can hear through the door? Keith waits a little longer and then turns the hands so that it is facing ten forty-eight again. There is a click, and the door slides open again. Fortunately, the room behind is empty. Keith steps in and pulls the door closed behind him. He himself waits for the hands to move back to the right time. Meanwhile, he looks around. The room is not so much a room as it is a hall. There is a hole further ahead and a firefighter's pole comes up from the hole. Keith steps over to it and looks down. A faint light comes from the bottom and Keith can hear a muffled gait moving away. Keith grabs the stand and swings his legs around. But still so he can land without making noise. Keith drives down and lands on the soft cushion at the bottom. Smart. He quickly slips down and walks to the wall. Weak voice sounds further ahead. Keith walks along the wall and looks out. The whole Wayne family is there except Alfred. Dick is on his way to them, and Tim gets up and gives him his chair. Dick sits down and looks tired. Keith can faintly hear their voices, but not what there is being said. Keith slides along the wall and moves closer. Keith can feel his heart in his chest as he hides behind one of the many stalagmites that adorn the entire cave. And that's where Keith is now. He looks forward and looks at Dick who leans forward to look at the screen with his birth certificate. Keith doesn't even know what that says about him. His new family is the Batfam! How sick is that? Keith had had an idea about it. He had been doing research about his new family while Dick was in the hospital. (There were stacks of newspapers talking about the heroes and all the battles they had had with various villains that he had found in the library in the house. He had only been able to look at the pictures, but it looked pretty crazy.) and Keith had quickly found out that he lived with the world's best detectives. Suddenly, Dick turns around and looks around the cave. Keith just manages to hide before he is discovered. Why on earth would he have to look around! Keith is sure Dick can hear his pounding heart, and he only looks forward when he hears Alfred's voice. "Just remember that dinner is in a few hours" Keith can hear the disappointment in his voice and he smiles at the thought of either Jason or Tim but probably both of them slurping down. Keith looks forward and he's right. Both Jason and Tim fill their mouths with cookies. Keith still has one to try. Alfred walks away again and walks towards a hidden staircase that Keith hadn't discovered. That is my way out. The others continue talking and Keith sneaks closer to the stairs so he can quickly escape if he needs to. It takes a lot of time but finally, he squats down and follows the conversation again. "Are you sure, Dad?" asks Damien, wondering "Are we absolutely sure Keith will be okay with being forced with a team of young heroes?" Keith winks. He has not been able to find any newspapers with anything about young heroes. It must be something relatively new. "Yes, if Keith has powers, or gains powers, it would be best for him to be with other children like him." Keith has to hold back from snorting at Bruce's words. It's not going to happen. Keith won't be needing a group of super-powered people to help him, whether they're his age or not. "He clearly has some sort of super healing." says Dick again. Keith blinks. Super healing? Keith has no idea what they are talking about, but then remembers that, unlike Dick, he is not full of burns. But it's quite normal for him, so it must be Dick who heals slowly. Right? "How do we even know that he doesn't have powers already? That is, apart from his healing," Tim muses; his eyes are glued to the screen "He's already so secretive, I doubt he'll tell us anything voluntarily." Bruce sighs and even from the length Keith is at, he can see the worry wrinkles on his face. "We just have to keep an eye out for any kind of powers, and especially, if Keith has gained these powers through experimentation, there's something traumatic associated with them." Keith fights another snort. He was definitely traumatized. He can't even remember his own life! "What if he already has power?" asks Jason, who is leaning against that famous cave wall. "If he hides them, it is most likely that he has not been trained. What if he loses control?" Keith can feel his heart drop in his stomach. Jason is right. If he does have powers, he hasn't been trained in them. Keith already has a challenging temperament. A lump forms in the throat. That would be terrible. Keith trembles and forces his thoughts away "All the more reason to introduce him to Young Justice. If he joins the team, he will be able to train with the right means and with people who can actually help him. Young Justice will help provide Keith with support," says Bruce. "I thought you wouldn't want Keith to become a superhero or be part of any of this things" Dick says, crossing his arms over his chest. Keith can see how conflicted Bruce is, the lines on his face are deepening and his eyes are getting tired. "Besides, doesn't that increase the chances of him finding out about us?" Keith leans forward and shifts the weight on his legs. Keith has of course sampled the dots, Bruce was Batman, Tim was Red Robin, Keith was fairly sure that Dick is Nightwing and Damien is probably the current Robin. But Keith has no idea who Jason's secret identity is. Keith had not found any articles about a fourth hero who had been trained by Batman. Or could they even be called superheroes? Where they more like vigilantes? Keith sighed quietly, he didn't know the exact definition of the word or why it had such a big meaning. They helped people, didn't they? Keith didn't understand the difference either. "Keith is a smart kid; He is bound to find out sooner or later." Keith is surprised by Bruce's words; he can feel the blush creeping up on his cheeks as he senses that the world's best detective just called him smart. "Shall we leave some traces for him?" asks Damien. "Or do you think he can figure it out himself?" Keith feels bad, crouching awkwardly behind the stalagmite, and listening to the Waynes, discussing whether or not they should reveal their biggest secret (which Keith had discovered in the stupidest and most accidental way possible) to him. While Keith couldn't tell them anything. They had opened their home to him and trusted him, and Keith could hardly bear it. It almost made Keith want to step out of his hiding spot, fling his arms open, and tell them he knew everything. "I think Keith is perfectly capable of figuring it out for himself," Bruce says firmly, leaving no room for argument. Keith is happy that Bruce believes in his intelligence. (Not that Keith felt it had been attacked) it helped him feel welcome. "How are we going to talk to Keith about this?" Tim, who has been quiet during it all, asks. Even Keith, who was far away, could see how the tension spread." I don't know," Bruce admits, with weakly drooping shoulders. "With Keith, I'm not sure whether a blunt or an upfront approach is better or whether we should handle the situation in a less confrontational manner." Bruce reaches up and rubs his face as he speaks. Keith needs to think about it himself. After a few seconds of consideration, Keith decided he would prefer a straightforward approach. The quicker they started, the quicker it would be over. "Let's mention it off-handedly and see how he reacts a go from there." Dick suggested. Bruce nodded with approval. "Should we do something?" Jason asked. Keith didn't think he had ever seen them so serious, especially at the same time. Always one of them had to be joking around. "If he reacts poorly, I want you all to immediately redirect the conversation." Bruce explained, finally looking away from the screen in order to look at all of his sons. Damien shifted and hesitantly raised his head. "Would you look at the time!" Dick butted in. "it's nearly time for dinner" Keith felt his heart begin to pound in his chest again. Oh no. Keith waits for the family to be further in the cave and Keith sprints up the stairs. He runs through the darkness and comes out through the living room and luckily Alfred is not there and Keith sprints through the house, up the stairs and into his room. Keith throws himself on the floor and all the air leaves his body. After a pathetic gasp for breath, Keith rattles up to his feet and starts walking to the bed, but he quickly changes direction and rushes into the bathroom. Keith quickly closes the door behind him, locks it, turns around and slams the board down so he can sit.

Keith took the minutes it took for Damien to get up the stairs and tell him there was food, to breathe and gather himself. Keith walked down the stairs dragging Damien. As Keith walks down the stairs, his panic increases. When Keith made it to the 'informal' dining room (Keith still thought it was absurd that the manor had two types of dining rooms.) he sat down in his chair. Keith looked at the Waynes and if he hadn't overheard their conversation in the Batcave, Keith would have thought this was another, normal, 'family' dinner. "Did you get some sleep, Keith" dick asked, smiling warmly. Keith had almost forgotten that Dick had been discharged from the hospital that afternoon. Keith shrugged, but didn't verbally respond. Alfred soon entered the room with his food cart and began distributing plates to those seated at the table. At first, Keith thought it was weird that Alfred didn't eat with them but both Bruce and Alfred reassured them that Alfred loved his job and would rather serve the family rather than eat with them. On the menu for tonight was chicken noodle soup. Keith was a little surprised since Alfred's cooking was usually so fancy. Keith didn't mind, most of the time Keith actually preferred the simpler foods. Keith's mood slowly started to improve as he ate the food and chatted with his four adoptive siblings. Keith started hoping that maybe Bruce had forgotten about 'confronting' him. Keith knew it was foolish thinking as soon as Alfred brought the fruit out. Keith could sense the tension increase in the room. But none of the five other people sitting at the table showed it. Which Keith guessed was to be expected, they were probably some of the best liars on the planet. Keith stared down at his half-empty soup bowl and avoided eye contact with everyone at the table. Keith didn't know if this would be considered suspicious by Bruce and his sons. Keith hoped it wouldn't, but he was also aware of how Bruce and everyone in the room were studying him. Keith felt his breathing stop as he waited. It was agonizing. Bruce takes a breath, and Keith squeezes his eyes shut. Here it comes. Keith could feel everyone's eyes suddenly on him. Keith couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. Keith remembered one of the kids from the street, talking about a time when they got so nervous they were nauseous. Keith never really got it until now. Keith faintly heard dick say something that vaguely sounded like 'how good is the pineapple?' Bu Keith couldn't pull himself back. This was not good. This was so very not good. Keith's brain felt fuzzy and his skin cold and clammy. Keiths churning stomach did not make it any better. Keith forced his eyes open, and the table seemed to distort as Keith stared at it. Keith could feel his hands shaking as they gripped his shirt. Keith's skin was ashen grey, but Keith's brain didn't have time to register it as his throat constricted. Keith felt his eyes begin to burn as tears started welling up. This is going so terrible.

Keith stumbled away from the table, finally managing to open his mouth and take a ragged breath. Keith immediately regretted that decision as his stomach twisted, forcing its contents up Keith's throat. Keith clamped a handover his mouth and desperately tried to hold it back. He couldn't breathe again. Keith's mind seemed to be empty as he struggled to think of a way to remedy this situation. Keith felt scared; every move he made only seemed to make it harder to breathe. Everywhere he looked only made more tears come. Every step Keith took only sent a jolt of nausea straight to his stomach. Fresh air. Keith needed fresh air. Keith stumbled out of the dining room as quickly as he could. Keith struggled through the halls, ignoring everything except his path to the courtyard. Keith slammed the screen doors open, ignoring the groaning of the hinges and wobbling outside. It felt like bowling balls were attached to his feet and hands. The chilly night air hit Keith's face and he opened his mouth, gulping as much of it into his lungs as he could. Keith didn't know when his feet had carried him over to the fountain, but he became painfully aware of it as his legs finally gave out and his knees collided painfully with the cement basin. Keith let his body slide to the ground, his forehead resting on the cool concrete. Keith closed his eyes and forced his diaphragm to actually work. The cold cement helped wash away Keith's nausea, settling his stomach. Keith couldn't see his skin, he didn't want to, but he could feel his blood vessels dilating. His skin felt almost rubberish, which just made Keith nauseous again. Keith finally couldn't handle it anymore. He tilted his head to the side and let himself vomit. Keith eyes flew open as he heard the sound of someone shoes hastily scooting back. Keith had recollection of Bruce crouching down beside him and Keith felt bad about nearly puking on him. "I-I'm sorry" keith gasped, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. Keith's nose wrinkled at the sour taste of bile that still lingered in Keith's mouth. "There is nothing to be sorry about" Bruce said softly, moving to crouch on Keith's other side. "Are you feeling a little better now, Keith?" asked Bruce. Keith didn't know how to answer. Keith still felt sick, his stomach churning. Keith couldn't believe he lost his head like that and is still losing it. But Keith didn't feel as nervous anymore. (He was lying) "I'm better." Keith mumbled, looking away from Bruces warm gaze. Something about this felt wrong to keith. He wasn't a Wayne. He didn't belong in this family. Yet here he was, Bruce's hand resting comfortingly on his shoulder blade. Keith wanted to cry again, the entire situation was so awful and keith didn't know what to do. Keith felt helpless. He hated feeling helpless. "Come on" Bruce said softly, standing up and offering a hand to Keith. "Let's get you inside." Keith stared up at Bruce, he felt ten years old again. Hunched over on the ground, trying to hide from the scary things in the world, and there were a lot of scary things in this world. Keith reached up and accepted Bruce's hand, letting Bruce help him to his feet. Keith expected Bruce to let go but Bruce's grip did not loosen. Keith looked back at the mess he made on the ground. Bruce gently tugged on Keith's hand, leading him back inside. Keith followed him automatically, he felt oddly detached from his body. Keith felt Bruce's hand free hand pat his shoulder again. Keith didn't know why but his tears returned in full force. The next thing Keith knew, his face was buried in Bruces upper forearm.

Chapter Text

Keith was sat down in Bruce's office, where he stared blankly at the fish tank. Bruce let Keith sit there in silence, which Keith was grateful for. He still had no clue what he could possibly do to tix the situation. Keith had no idea what Bruce was going to say next, but keith figured it wouldn't be good for him. "Would you like a glass of water?" Bruce asked suddenly, making keith jump. Keith was about to say yes because he desperately wanted to get the throw up taste out of his mouth. But he decided against it. "Uh, no thank you" Keith mumbled looking down at his hands which was desperately tugging at his gloves. A few minutes of silence followed, and Keith was now having trouble deciding whether or not he liked it. "Keith" Bruce started, leaning forward and clasping his hands together with a serious look on his face. Keith knew this was the question he had been dreading. "I'm sorry to be blunt about this, I need to know if you were a victim of experimentation as a child and why you reacted so poorly at dinner." Keith took a deep breath, preparing himself to answer. "I know" Keith mumbled, he decided he would be truthful, at least the much he can. "You know about what?" Bruce asked his voice surprisingly level and clam. "I know about your secret identities" Keith mumbles, he feels the nervosity return. Bruce raises an eyebrow. "And what may these theoretical secret identity be?" Bruce asked, and keith swallowed his nerves. Keith was in too deep to back out. It was now or never. "I know your batman," Keith said, sitting up straighter and making himself look Bruce in the eyes. "How" Bruce asked, his eyebrows furrowing. Keith couldn't answer. "You freaked out at dinner. Are you being forced to anything, Keith?" Bruce asked seriously. Keith shakes his head violently. "No, I promise I'm telling the truth" Keith pleaded, lifting his head and looking at Bruce." Please Bruce... I know it's hard to trust me with how little I've told anyone of my past... about me... but please trust me, I'm not lying" Keith felt small as Bruce looked at him. Keith didn't know what to say. He had never been very good with people; he was especially not good at convincing people to trust him. "What are you?" Bruce asked so bluntly Keith winced. Keith opens his mouth to tell him, but nothing comes out. "I-I don't know" Keith blurted out. He could feel Bruce's sus gaze intensify. "What?" Bruce paused. "I-" Keith could feel atingle run down his spine "I-" "Keith, you can say anything here. No one is going to hurt you" Bruce said gently, reaching out and resting his hand on top of Keiths. Keith stared at the top of Bruce's hands and didn't answer. Keith wasn't sure he wanted to be touched right now. "Since you know about my secret identity, -" "I know about Dicks, Damiens and Tims identities too," Keith interrupted, needing to say that. Bruce was quiet for a few seconds. "May I know who you think they are?" Bruce asked. Keith took another deep breath and pulled his hand out from underneath Bruce's hands and hid it underneath his desk. "Dick is Nightwing," keith began, "Tim is Red Robin. And Damien is Robin." "And Jason?" Bruce asked, his voice level and calm. Keith was a little disturbed by it. "I don't know" Keith admitted, looking away from Bruces unreadable face. "I can't figure it out" Keith hisses. Bruce raised his eyebrows again. "Really?" Keith nodded in response. "That's interesting." "So I'm assuming you won't tell me?" Keith mumbles, his eyes drifting back to the fish tank. "He is Red Hood," Bruce said, giving Keith the first smile since he sat in the office. Wow. So, the creepy ass dude how let him to the orphanage, was his new brother. "Oh," Keith said simply. He hadn't expected Bruce to just straight out tell him. Keith couldn't say he wasn't grateful though. "However. I need to know how you discovered our secret identities. Because I must say, you discovered it far faster than any other of sons." Bruce sighed, his eyes scanning Keiths face. Meanwhile Keith was trying to figure out if Bruce just called him his son. "It wasn't Dicks fault!" Keith blurted out. Which was probably the worst thing he could have said to make it seem like it wasn't Dicks fault. Bruce seemed to agree. "Alright, it wasn't Dicks fault" Bruce said, nodding his head slightly. "Well, I had my suspicions when you picked me up at the orphanage. You seemed weirdly familiar." Keith mumbles. "Keith, I need you to look at me while we're talking, at least for now" Bruce said, he sighed and leaned back in his chair. Keith didn't want to look at Bruce, but he made his eyes look back at Bruce. "And, for a few nights, I walked around the house because I couldn't sleep, and no one was there." Keith said making his voice louder, so he didn't sound like a mumbling and nervous mess. Which, you know, he was. "And how does Dick play into this?" Bruce asked, and Keith blinks. "It wasn't Dicks fault" keith clarified again. "But, when he came home, he came to my room. He was a bit distracted and when he left again, I followed him. He was talking to Jason and looked tense. So, I followed him to the old clock and saw the points of the hands. So, I waited until he went through and then I followed. I activated the watch and came down into the Batcave. I heard everything you were talking about down there. And also, when we were in the center, I recognized Tim's voice." Keith can feel the redness spreading in his cheeks as he remembers how Bruce had hugged him "And in the hospital, when you hugged me, I felt your equipment. That's where I figured it out," Keith says, letting his gaze fall to his hands in his lap. "It had to be pretty obvious for me to guess huh?" keith said, giving a weak chuckle. Bruce frowned. "You should be proud of yourself that you were in a well enough mindset after nearly being killed in at attack by the Joker that you were able to put the pieces together." Bruce reassured. Keith didn't really know how to respond to that, but his check grew redder. "Oh, thanks," Keith said quietly.

Bruce nodded his head in that serious fashion Keith was sure he used both as Batman and when he was in front of the press. "Now, to the start," Keith winced again, Bruce looked very, very serious. "What about it?" Keith said flatly. "I'm going to believe you, for now" Bruce started and Keith immediately felt as if the weight of the sky lifted of his shoulders. "But" the weight then crashed back down. "I'm going to need more details later on," "Okay," Keith said hesitantly. Bruce looked a little surprised. "Keith, we can protect you if anyone is trying to hurt you," Bruce said. Keith hated how serious he sounded. Keith glanced back at the shadows of his chair and debated leaving the conversation. "Just tell us- " "You don't understand," Keith hissed. After a few seconds, Keith felt his heart drop again. He didn't know why he yelled that "I-I'm sorry" Keith mumbled, looking down at his lap in shame. "It's alright Keith," Bruce said kindly. Keith hiccupped in surprise. "Why are you being so nice?" Keith groaned, buying his head in his hands. "Keith." Bruce said kindly "It's alright" Keith took several deep breaths. "What do you want to know about?" Keith eventually said. "Well, how much do you remember?" Bruce asked gently. Keith didn't understand the understanding Bruce was showing him. "I'm not sure, about 20%?" Keith said, thinking about the last thing he could remember. Bruce nodded, reaching down to a drawer in his desk, pulling out a pad of paper, and scribbling down. "I hope you know you're safe here, Keith" Bruce said gently leaning down and giving Keith another hug. Keith just sat there stiffly. "Are those all the questions?" Keith asked dumbfounded. He had expected more from the world's greatest detectives. "I want to ask you more Keith, but I can tell this is a lot for you" Bruce replied, pulling away from him. "Why don't you head up off to bed and we can maybe talk more about it in the morning," Keith nodded and stood. He couldn't believe that it was that. Keith was glad that, at least this time, he hadn't broken down and started crying and hyperventilating. Keith stepped outside the office. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He took another deep breath and started off to his bedroom. He hadn't been kicked out of the manor. Bruce hadn't even flipped out after he learned that Keith knew about all his sons identities. As keith sat down on his comfy bed, lying down on his back, he wondered why Bruce hadn't mentioned anything about his potential powers or him joining Young Justice. Keith wondered if Bruce had just forgotten (though Keith figured Bruce wasn't the type to forget things so easily.) or if Bruce really wanted to talk to keith tomorrow morning. He guessed he would find out in about fourteen hours.

The breakfast was tense and really awkward. Keith stared down into his bowl of oatmeal with sliced raspberries on top. He squeezes the metal spoon hard in his sweaty hands. Keith can only get a few bites of his food down before he has to push it away. He has never been a breakfast person and even less now here. "Bruce has told us about your 'shiny' detective skills," Jason smirks. Keith looks up at him. He has no idea why his skills should be 'shiny', but Keith takes it as a compliment. "I'll have to say that" Tim starts and puts his own spoon down. "I'd love to hear how you found out so quickly" "I thought Bruce had told you?" replies Keith confused. Dick shrugs. "He told us you figured it out, not how," Dick says happily. Keith can feel the blush in his cheeks appear. "That was stupid," Keith admits, and looks down at the food again. Why do you actually put fruit in hot food? Fruits should be cold. Keith doesn't really understand oatmeal either. A lot of oats squeezed together with milk and water to turn into porridge.? Oatmeal generally doesn't taste good without a lot of stuff in it, so why should it taste good as porridge? "It can't have been so stupid if you could figure it out?" adds Dick and Keith frowns at the irony. "We need to know so we can avoid it for another time," Damien chimes in, back to his cold demeanor. "I'm sure Bruce will tell you at some point." says Keith without looking up. He really doesn't want to talk about it, especially because of the way he found out. By the way, Bruce had already told Keith that he would talk to him down in the Batcave after breakfast and Keith can't handle more than one serious conversation today. "Maybe," Jason sighs and leans back in his chair and slams his feet up on the table. Alfred comes out of the blue and slams Jason's feet back down with a feather broom. Jason just shows all his teeth in the creepiest smile Keith has ever seen. "What time is it?" asks Keith out in the room. Keith could have looked at the large clock that hung over the entrance to the dining room, but he was just as good at reading the clock as he was at reading in general. "Around half past nine." says Tim who looks down at his watch, which has a digital hand. Keith needs to get one. "Why?" asks Damien, his green eyes boring into Keith. Keith doesn't know how a child can be so tough. He guesses that being a vigilante at such a young age must do something to you. "Bruce is waiting for me," Keith says simply. He puts his spoon down in the bowl and gathers it all together. Alfred comes into the room and snatches it from him. On the way out, he gets a smile from the old man. Keith feels bad about not cleaning up after himself, but Alfred won't let him do it under any circumstances. Keith stands up. The four boys nod at him without asking any more questions as he leaves the room without a word.

Now Bruce or Batman, as Keith should call him down in the Batcave, hadn't given him any instructions on where to meet other than that it was in the Batcave, so Keith walks with firm steps to the clock and turns the hands. The clock goes up and Keith walks into the familiar darkness. He waits until the clock is closed again and walks over to the pole. He takes a good grip on it and slides down. When he lands down in the cave, it is pitch black. A cold, damp air hits his face and Keith stands still and watches. Keith has always been able to see well in the dark, almost like a night vision. And he uses his vision to look around the cave. It's so dark that even Keith has a hard time seeing anything. He steps away from the pole and goes further into the cave. He looks for clues on Bruce or Bruce as Batman. "Hello?" calls Keith out into the cave, hoping that Bruce will make himself known. "Hello" Keith feels every muscle tense in his body. That is so not Bruce's voice. He pulls his hand into his pocket and grabs the handle of his knife. He picks it up and puts himself in a fighting position. "Who are you!?" calls Keith out again, spinning around in a small circle, trying to catch a glimpse of the talking thing. Keith quickly realizes that the cave is dark for a reason. Someone doesn't want to be seen. All his senses are sharpened, which often happens when he is in a dangerous situation. Keith turns a little faster, and his ears catch the faint sound of heavy boots stomps moving closer. He tightens his grip on the knife and gets ready. On the fourth turn, his eyes fall on the Bat computer, specifically a big red button on one of the many consoles. Red buttons always do something. Keith looks around one more time and wonders why he hasn't been attacked yet and whether Bruce himself has been attacked. Keith strengthens his nerves and forces the thoughts out of his head, leaving only logic. He steers forward, arm outstretched and desperately reaches for the button. Keith hears the sound of something flying through the air and Keith barely has time to slam his palm down on the button and pull it back again. A large crater forms in the console where Keith's hand was a few seconds ago, and he steps a few steps away in fright. When nothing happens, Keith feels his heart drop. A cold laugh sounds behind Keith, and he spins around. The shot must have come from his right side, which meant that he was either facing several enemies or that his one enemy was absurdly fast. He didn't quite know what he was hoping for. "What have you done to Batman!" shouts Keith. He can't tell if it's a man or a woman even as they step closer. "He's in a nice place down at the bottom of this fine cave," they reply, and Keith can feel the blood in his body getting cold. No. Keith hates the idea of Bruce's mutilated and broken body lying at the bottom of the cave. Keith hears another whistling sound, and he throws himself on the floor. A large crater has blown up the floor a few inches from his head. "Who the fuck are you!?" shouts Keith again, his eyes desperately scanning every dark corner of the cave. His heart stops when a hand grabs his arm. Keith spins around and tries to rip his arm free. But they are strong, so indescribably strong, inhumanly strong and Keith doesn't stand a chance. Keith looks up, his attacker is a big man, his body is covered, head to toe in black armor. But what really catches Keith's attention are the two intricate sticks that sit on either side of the man, and the equally split mask split between orange and black that covers his face. "Deathstroke," says the man in a low voice, and Keith can feel that this man is dangerous, really dangerous. Since Keith can sense that the Deathstroke dude is dangerous, his senses are sent into overstimulation and he lets his instincts take over. Which is both the best thing and the worst possible thing ever. The blood rushes in his vein (which is a very strange sensation) to allow as much oxygen to get to the blood as possible. Keith reaches up, his fingers curled around the Deathstroke's armor. He uses his new strength to swing Deathstroke, who, if Keith may add to it, is not an light person, over his shoulder and throws him to the floor, using only the adrenaline rushing through his body. Keith rattles to his feet and picks up the knife that fell out of his hand. Deathstroke grunts but is just as fast on his feet as Keith. "You're a strong kid," he says casually. Keith can immediately see that this man is anything but relaxed. Deathstroke's grip on his rods, staffs or something, tightens and Keith can see the ends start to glow warmly. "How did you get into the cave?" asks Keith, holding his voice firmly, despite the adrenaline pounding. "A little trick here and a little trick there," Deathstroke replies softly. Keith barely manages to parry a blow coming from the side. He hadn't even noticed him moving. This man is fucking fast! Keith backs away and holds the knife high. Deathstroke glides forward, with deathly quiet steps. Keith lowers his arm, this man doesn't look like a human, but there's no glow of magic from him. In a flash, Keith is thrown back by a strong kick to his ribs. Keith hisses and barely manages to stay on his feet. Keith needs a bigger weapon. In one swift motion, he pulls a tube free from the computer and swings it toward Deathstroke, while putting the knife back in his pocket. "Smart," praises Deathstroke and attacks again, and Keith protects himself with the tube. Deathstroke's staff slides against Keith's tube with a force so hard that Keith's arms vibrate. Fuck. Keith can feel his arms getting tired as Deathstroke stabs and attacks every part of Keith's body. He quickly realizes how rusty he is. However, Keith doubts whether he would still be able to beat Deathstroke if he trained every day. This man was frighteningly good at fighting. But Keith hadn't trained every day. He is getting more and more tired; his movements are slowly becoming sloppier.

Keith blocks a blow to his face with the tube. It creaks and will bend soon. Keith can see that it is close to being split in two. Keith doesn't have time to discover that only one of Deathstroke's staffs was in the attack. A sharp blow to Keith's calf sends a wave of numbness through his body. Keith drops the tube, and his legs collapse under him. Keith's head hits the cave floor with a crunch ringing in his ears. His vision becomes blurry, and his fingertips are cold. Keth's vision returns, just in time to see Deathstroke's boot come flying towards his face. Keith squeezes his eyes shut when he feels the metal-cast boot collide with his nose. A warm river of blood flows over Keith's face and neck. He can barely breathe; the pain freezes his brain. Keith can immediately feel that his nose is broken. "I've never seen you before. You must be new to the Bat-Colony." says Deathstroke softly and Keith can't hear his intention from the tone. "Yeah sure" Keith complains, his mouth is paralyzed, and it makes it hard to speak. Deathstroke leans over Keith, his equipped hand reaching down and grabbing his hair. Keith desperately tries to fight his way free. He shrinks as Deathstroke pulls his hair back, bending Keith's head back as far as it can without breaking, exposing his entire neck. A wild panic spreads in Keith and his brain abandons him completely. He squints his eyes, his face throbbing as blood runs down his neck, blocking his airway. Both the blood and the pain make it impossible to breathe. Keith can hear the sound of metal scraping against metal. Keith recognizes the sound as in a very sharp blade being pulled out of the sheath. From the position that Deathstroke has forced Keith into, with his neck fully exposed, Keith realizes that Deathstroke intends to cut his jugular to end. Keith waits for the blade to puncture his larynx, but it never comes. What happens instead is that Deathstroke grunts and releases Keith from his grip. Keith groans, his body helpless and his face hurting. He falls back up on the computer half lying down. Keith can hear more grunts and more whistling sounds, followed by exploding sounds.

Chapter Text

Keith can feel another hand resting on his shoulder, but this time much gentler. Keith gasps and forces his eyes open. His retinas are immediately attacked by flashing lights coming from one of the many rods flying through the air. Keith closes his eyes immediately. "Keith, please tell me what happened" a voice that Keith quickly recognizes as Damien's sounds. Unfortunately, he can't speak at this point. His lack of air and collapsed nostrils make it very difficult to speak. "Deathstroke" he blurts out, unable to say more. "Batman?" asks Damien, his hand putting pressure on Keith's shoulder. "Don't know," Keith coughs, hissing harder as blood keeps flowing. Keith can feel Damien stand up and a shink from a new staff unfolding. Keith has no idea how long he lies there, but he can feel a battle unfolding. Weapons collide and people grunt and crash to the ground. Keith wishes he could open his eyes, but the pain of his smashed nose sends spikes of pain through his nervous system, making it impossible to focus on anything other than the brokenness of his nose and the numbness of his body. Shortly after, Keith hears the last very big explosion and silence follows

"Keith!" shouts Dick, in his Nightwing costume, running over to Keith and lifting him onto his back. Keith hisses in pain. "His nose is broken" observes Tim. "No shit Sherlock" Jason hisses and kneels down next to Keith. Or Keith thinks it's Jason. The red helmet has the voice distortion turned on. Keith groaned in response to all of them. There's so much blood on his face, and it would probably get in his eyes if he tried to open them. "His healing factor doesn't seem to be working," Damien says, looking over at Dick. Keith is confused. Healing factor? What were they talking about? "Keith, do you know where Batman is?" asks Tim, his gloved hand reaching out and stroking a lock of hair out of his face. It stuck to Keith's skin. "Bottom" chokes Keith, blood pouring down his throat. Jason seems to notice it and rolls him around the page. Keith can hear someone get up and turn around. "Did you see it?" asks Dick softly. Keith shakes his head weakly. "Is Alfred coming with a first aid kit?" asks Tim. "I've contacted him about the situation" Damien calls, he sounds like he's moving away, he's looking for more certainty than in every crevice in the cave. Keith wishes he knew what had happened to Bruce. Without knowing why, Keith just knew he wasn't dead. Where he was, he had no idea, but he was NOT dead. "He's safe" Keith blurts out, he couldn't tell if Dick, Jason, or Tim had heard it. but at least he felt several pairs of hands lift him up from the ground and lay him on a cold, hard table. "You look like shit," Keith hears Jason say as a piece of fabric is run over his cheek. Keith laughs, but it quickly ends in a groan when he realizes he can't breathe. "Red Hood. Please, he's obviously in great pain," Dick scolds. "Do you have a healing factor?" asks Tim softly. Keith is still confused. As far as Keith knows, he has never been able to heal himself. Yes, okay, he was a bit faster to heal, but he didn't want to see it as a healing factor. "No, not that I know off" it surprises Keith how horrible he sounds. "Okay..." Keith can hear Jason say before his boots disappear from where Keith is lying. "Where's Alfred?" says Tim, mostly to himself, looking around the room as a rag is run over Keith's cheek again, careful to avoid his broken nose. The bleeding seems to have stopped. Keith wishes the pain stopped too. "He probably handeling the mosquitoes," Dick replies. Keith forces his eyes open. He is happy that he can now. Dick must have seen the confused expression on Keith's face, because he is smiling, his eyes curling behind the bird-like domino mask that hides his face. "The press. We call them mosquitoes because they swarm around us when we go out." "Don't they have a team that follows our every step" asks Tim and looks up at Dick who has the cloth and wipes Keith's face again. "Yes," Dick replies. It sounded horrible to Keith, which only made him even more impressed with how they had hidden the fact that they are superheroes from the press. "I haven't found any trace of father," Damien says, returning to his brothers' side. "Is he going to be, okay?" "He'll survive," Dick says, duping Keiths neck lightly. "Red Hood is off to get something," says Tim. Keith's eyebrows curl up. No sign of Bruce? Damien reaches down and awkwardly rests his hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith can see the proud smile on Dick's and Tim's faces. He raises his hand himself and rests it on top of Damien's. It felt awkward to him, especially since he's not a fan of human contact, but Keith will accept it for one of his brothers. "Have you looked everywhere?" asks Dick, "He must have been somewhere nearby" "I've checked all the possible places that Batman could be here in the Batcave." replies Damien, squeezing Keith's shoulder. Keith can feel that he is not the best at human contact either. Dick frowns at Damien's words. "Are you sure?" asks Tim insistently. Damien wrinkles his nose. "Tsk, tsk. Yes, I'm quite sure" Damien replies, he sounds tense and angry. Keith doesn't quite know what to do, other than squeeze his hand. Silence follows. Keith is very aware of his ragged breathing and the way his face throbs. Keith closes his eyes at one point because he can't bear to see the worried expressions on his brothers' faces. Luckily, Jason comes to his rescue. "Here it was," he calls out loud. Keith opens his eyes to see a large water bottle in his hands. Keith lets go of Damien's hand and reaches for it. As he holds it, Tim and Damien help him up to his seat. Keith closes his eyes and takes a few ships, but they fly open when the cold liquid hits his tongue. Keith is so distracted by the strange taste that he barely feels his nose clearing back into place. Keith groans in pain and curls up. "Holy fuck!" whisper-shouts Jason. Keith reaches out carefully and feels his nose. It no longer felt broken, but Keith still lets it be. Dick seems to recover first and quickly reaches out and begins his act of wiping blood off Keith's face.

"Who was that man?" says Keith as he looks around. "And why are you all in suits?" "We had to switch to the fight cloth," Damien replies. "And that man was Deathstroke," says Dick. Keith can immediately sense that Dick has some history with that man from the tone. Keith chooses not to push. "He said that Batman was lying on the bottoms of the cave," Keith explains. His throat feels rough and dry. "I've checked," Damien says coldly. Keith frowns. "He's not dead," Keith says, looking around the cave. "How do you know?" asks Jason, reaching out a hand to help him stand up. Keith accepts it. "I can feel it." Keith replies and waits anxiously for the questions. "What do you mean?" asks Tim curiously. He has obviously waited a long time at this point. "I don't know. It's as if I can feel his energy, if that makes sense. I just KNOW he's not dead." explains Keith. "It's... strange," Jason says, stuffing his hands into his brown jacket. Keith shrugs. "What else was in the can?" asks Tim curiously, as he reaches out and takes it from the table. "Good question. Jason?" Keith turns to Jason, and he can feel that the others do too. "Just some lemonade," Jason says confused. "What?" Now everyone turns their attention to Keith. "How can it heal you?" "Is it something that has happened to the seeds?" "Did you know it would?" the questions fly around his ears and Keith puts his hands up to his ears and closes his eyes. He takes a deep breath as a pair of hands gently wrap around his hands. Keith opens his eyes and looks into Dick's kind eyes. Keith removes his hands again and looks at the others a little embarrassed. "Sorry, we're just curious and worried." says Dick softly. "I know that." sighs Keith. "But I have no idea myself. I've never been able to heal before, but on the other hand, I haven't broken anything before, so how would I know. And I'm just as confused as you and I-" Keith rambles away and the others look at him in surprise. It's the longest sentence they've heard him say, but they can also see the panic in their new little brother. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out together," Tim says energetically.

"Batman is still missing." Damien interrupts and crosses his arms over the Robin emblem above his chest. "Yes, we need to contact the Justice League," Dick says, standing up again. "Wait, where did that Deathstroke dude go?" asks Keith, while all the boys at the same time point to a giant hole in the cave wall that leads further down into the cave. Keith blinks in surprise. "Does he have a concussion?" asks Damien, looking over at his oldest brother. Dick stares at Damien in response. "I'll contact the Justice League," Tim says, and quickly walks over to the Bat computer. Jason grabs Keith's shoulders and pulls him out of sight. "We can't be seen by Bat's friends," Jason explains, sitting down on the cave floor. Keith sits down next to him. "Because you're supposed to be dead?" says Keith without really thinking. Jason tenses his jaw "You know that?" he asks coldly. Keith feels bad. "Uhh yes, sorry, I didn't think it was something I should mention." explains Keith and looks away from Jason. Jason is silent throughout the call with the Justice League. Keith can hear the panic from the members. He sits awkwardly on the cave floor, and he takes the time to look around. Large pieces of grotto lie around, many with soot marks on them. Pieces of technology lie opened, with wires scattered on all sides. A dozen of the batarangs sit in the cave walls and floor. Keith had heard the fight, it had sounded intense, but not so intent. Keith's pipe is broken close. He crawls over and picks up both pieces and lies them next to him. Jason looks at him strangely but says nothing. Finally, Dick, Tim and Damien are done, and they walk over to where Jason and Keith are sitting. "We all have to go to Mount Justice," Dick says, looking down at them. Keith knew he could feel the tension. "You three just go like that." says Jason, trying to sound relaxed. Tim sighs. "You two are supposed to be with me," Dick replies. Keith doesn't quite know what or where Mount Justice is or why it's so important, but he can see that Jason is shocked. "Why!" says Jason harshly and quickly gets up and walks over to Dick's face. Keith hesitantly stands up too. "We're not sure," Tim replies, looking nervously between his two big brothers. "I'm not supposed to be with you at all," Jason hisses, pressing a finger against Dick's chest. "We know, but Wonder Women said—" begins Dick. "I don't care what she said!" shouts Jason, giving Dick a hard push on the chest, "I'm not going along" "You have to!" says Tim, stepping in between his siblings. "What makes you think you have the right to tell me what to do, Replacement!" screams Jason. Keith can see that the statement is loaded. The silence that follows is so thick that Keith would be able to cut them with a knife. Jason is breathing hard, and his fists are clenched tightly to fists. "I'm going to my apartment in Bludhaven," Jason hisses, who turns around and starts walking. Dick steps forward, ready to say something, but Damien stops him with an arm. "Let him go," Damien says, looking at Jason's back. Tim sighs and looks down at his feet "He needs air to cool down." says Tim quietly. Keith can feel that 'Replacement' hit him just as hard as when Deathstroke's boot hit his face. "He's an ass," Dick hisses. He turns his back on the place where Jason disappeared in the shadows. Keith just stood there. He had no idea what to do. It all felt strangely personal, and Keith was very aware that it was absolutely not his business. "Come here, Keith," Damien says, grabbing his arm and pulling him away. Keith follows along without hesitation. "We need to find you a super suit, and then we're going to Mount Justice." "Wait what?" says Keith, pulling his arm free. "Black Canary has specifically asked that all those who were present during the match come to Mount Justice. You're the one who was most present, aren't you?" says Damien, finally stopping in front of a giant glass dome twice as tall as Keith. "What is Mount Justice?" asks Keith. Damien turns around and looks at him like he's crazy. Keith felt a bit like that too. "Have you been living without any kind of contact with the world?" asks Damien incredulously. Keith shrugs "A little?" says Keith shyly. Damien stares at him in silence. It is creepy, because of the white eyes on his domino mask. "That's stupid," Damien grumbles as he turns around and fiddles with a control panel on a base in front of the glass dome. A few buttons later, and Keith stumbles backwards with a slight gasp as the glass door hisses and disappears downwards in a cloud of smoke. A few seconds later, it reappears, now with a suit in it. "This is one of Red Robin's old suits," Damien says as he holds it out. Luckily, he's not joking about Keith's reaction to the dome. "Tim used to wear it?" says Keith, looking at the emblem on his chest. "Yes, I thought it would fit you. You're basically twins and everything," Damien says, putting his fingers back on the panel. Keith looks back at Dick and Tim who are talking softly. Tim's head hangs and Dick looks disappointed. The only thing Keith thinks he has in common with Tim is their black hair color. Damien chuckles as if something is funny. "Haha, twins. Two twin brothers." "What's so funny?" asks Keith, and Damien turns around and looks at him with a grin. "You're like Siamese cats," Damien says, laughing even more. Keith doesn't understand it "Okay?..." Keith says, moving next to Damien. "What are you doing?" "I'm in the process of re-designing the old suit to be a bit more your style, using new Bat-Tech," Damien explains. And right in front of Keith's eyes, the suit begins to change color and transform into a suit of dark colors and black. "Wow," Keith whispers as the suit adjusts the size to better fit Keith's thin shape. "So, Keith, what should the vigilante's name be?" asks Dick, who comes walking with Tim behind him. "I have no idea." admits Keith. He has never given it a thought that he would need a secret identity. He is completely unprepared. "You don't have any powers you know about?" asks Tim and Keith shakes his head. "But we don't know if he has, so it can't be extinguished." says Damien. "You're moving in the shadows, so how about-" Dick starts, pausing for a moment "Barracuda," interrupts Damien. Keith can't tell if he's serious or not. "Absolutely not." says Dick offended. His voice rises and becomes a little shrill. "I was thinking more of something like... Shadowslinger" Dick waves his hands above his head for more effect while suggesting the idea. Keith wrinkles his nose. "Nightshade" Damien says, his smile getting wider. It didn't sound too bad, but it didn't feel quite right."How about Crossborn" Tim says, looking them all in the eyes. "It is actually... not bad" Dick says slowly, a smile spreads on his face. "It is settled then," Damien says, nodding in acknowledgement.
"We give you a temporary welcome to the vigilante family," says Dick beaming.

When the suit was finished being adjusted, Keith could put it on. By then, they had removed the Robin logo. Damien gave him one of the masks that Keith found out, actually was called domino mask. It felt like it was glued directly to his skin. The rest of the suit is a simple dark grey with a black belt and black combat boots. Keith kept his gloves on. The others looked at him strangely but said nothing about it. Keith is grateful for that. "You look great, little dude." says Red Robin as he reaches out and taps Keith on the back. "Thank you." he mumbles in response, looking at himself in the mirror that Damien is holding up. Keith doesn't recognize himself. Keith's skin is no longer ghostly pale, and he's got a little more fullness, but the big difference is that the domino mask covers a lot more than he thought it would. "He's all grown up." says Nightwing theatrically. Keith rolls his eyes, even though no one can see it for the mask. "We have to go," Robin says, settling the mirror. "We've already let the Justice League wait too long." "You're probably right." sighs Red Robin. "They might be a little worried" "Just wait a minute," Nightwing says, crossing his arms over his chest. "Crossborn have never gone through a zeta tube before." Keith looks over at his older brother. "It can't be that bad?" murmurs Keith and looks over at the surprisingly undamaged tubes. Keith was wrong, Keith was so wrong. Traveling through the zeta tube felt like every particle in his body was being pulled apart, thrown through the air to get to the destination, and then being smashed back together. The whole experience made Keith nauseous, but it also felt very familiar. He felt unwell, but not so much that he felt like he was going to vomit. Keith stepped out of the zeta tube and had to grab Red Robin's shoulder to keep from falling. When he had regained his balance, he looked up. A large group of teenagers stood next to a large group of very scary adults. "What took you so long?" a lady with blonde hair and a blue and black vest asks as she steps forward and crosses her arms. "We're sorry Black Canary," says Robin, matching with the crossed arms. "We just had to brief our friend here," says Nightwing, pointing to Keith standing behind him. Keith waves awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do. "Was he there at the time of the attack?" a lady in bright red, blue and gold asks. Keith doesn't recognize her "Yes, he was the first one on the scene" explains Red Robin. All eyes are suddenly on Keith. "Who is he?" asks a blonde girl in a green superhero costume and an evil bow stuck to her back. "His name is Crossborn" Nightwing says, and when the group of heroes is clearly waiting for more information, Nightwing sighs and says, "And his identity remains a secret, on behalf of Batman." "What happened?" the only hero Keith recognizes, Superman, asks. It takes a second for Keith to realize that he is being spoken to. "I had a meeting with Batman." Keith starts. "So I had to meet him in the Batcave. But it was completely empty and dark, more than usual," says Keith and adds it last from the skeptical looks from the others. "But Batman wasn't there, so I looked for him, but all of a sudden Deathstroke attacked me." "Deathstroke!" says the golden woman. Keith nods: he can guess from the other reactions that Deathstroke is a very dangerous man. "Is your face, okay?" asks the girl with the bow. Keith blinks: It takes him a second to realize that he probably has blood everywhere from the broken nose. "It's okay now" Keith replies; He's a little uncomfortable with all those looks at him. "You must have fought well if you could survived an attack against Deathstroke," says a man in a green and black suit, adorned with a glowing green ring on his finger. Keith can feel the blush blooming up his cheeks. "I became paralyzed pretty quickly." Keith admits, rubbing the spot on his leg where Deathstroke stabbed him with something, whatever it was. "All three of us fought Deathstroke and he escaped after blowing a large hole in the northwest wall of the cave. After Deathstroke escaped, we looked at the cave for clues for Batman. There was none." "And Crossborn says that Deathstroke mentioned something about Batman lying, what was that?" says Red Robin, pausing to look over at Keith. "Deathstroke said he was at the bottom of the cave, but he said it in a cryptic way," Keith says, shrugging. "Well, he wasn't there," says Nightwing, looking over at the adult superheroes. "He's still not dead, or mortally wounded," Keith says, looking over at the zetas. He half expects to see a half-beaten Batman come in and drag a bound Deathstroke behind him. "Did you see him being dragged away, or what?" says a tall boy with dark hair and a simple black t-shirt. Keith opens his mouth to answer but quickly realizes that he is not the best at explaining it. He looks pleadingly at Nightwing. "Crossborn is a metahuman-" Nightwing begins, but he is quickly interrupted by the girl with the bow. "I didn't think Batman liked metahumans?" she says with a frown, pointing a finger at Keith judgingly. "Crossborn is special," Robin states. His voice is firmer than Keith has ever heard it before. "Feeling death is part of ... metahuman abilities, but we don't know for sure because neither we nor he know his abilities," Nightwing continues, giving Robin a look. "And then we have to trust him?" says the boy with the black shirt harshly. Keith frowns irritated. "Please, Superboy," says a boy with tattoos. A faint breeze of the sea comes from him. "Yes Crossborn is completely trustful." Nightwing says firmly. Keith can feel his cheeks turning red again. "Batman was talking about you" says a dude in a red suit with lightning bolts on his shoe like the god Hermes. "Did he?" asks Keith, he didn't expect that. "Yes, he wanted you to be in Young Justice." says the golden woman. "What about Batman?" asks Robin. "We still have to discuss a rescue plan" "We don't even know where Batman is, Robin" a green-skinned girl points out. "Which I'm sure the Justice League is already handling." "We have our programs out and look for him," says a green man. What happens to all the people of color? Keith wishes he knew who each of them was. "What about mental searches?" Red Robin asks mostly of the Green Man. "Magic?" "Zatanna and Constantine are investigating," Superman says. Keith assumes that they must be the 'magical people'. "Okay." sighs Nightwing. "Why don't you introduce... to Young Justice and let them become acquaintances." suggests the green ring. Even Keith can see that it's code for 'we need an adult meeting, without children'. "Come here," Red Robin says, grabbing Keith's arm and pulling him away.

Damien's comment about him and Tim as twin's echoes in his head. They walked together towards a kind of side room fused with a kitchen. Keith sits down at the counter, Red Robin and Robin on either side of him. The rest of Young Justice flows in after them and takes a seat on sofas and chairs. "So..." begins a kid in yellow. "Death kid..." "He has a name," Robin growls at him. "Oh yes, sorry." says the boy in yellow and brings his hands up in a defensive position. "Crossborn-" "Batman must think that you are quite special since you have been invited to Young Justice." says the girl with the bow. Nightwing sighs and looks up at the ceiling for a few seconds before looking at the group again. "Crossborn, this is Artemis, Kid Flash, M'gann, Miss Martian, she has multiple names," Nightwing says, pointing to each person he introduces. "Aqua lad or Kaldur, Superboy." continues Nightwing "And as you already know me, Red Robin and Robin." "And then we have some others but they are out on a mission, so we will have to wait to introduce them." "He doesn't know who we are?" asks Kid Flash and Keith feels a breath of cold air fly past him and suddenly Kid Flash has a huge bowl of Mac'n'chesse in his lap. Keith shakes his head in response. "Wow, dude. You must have been living under a rock" "I don't think that's very sweet," Miss Martian scolds. Keith honestly doesn't know if she's serious or not. "Alright, women are always right, after all" says Kid Flash and throws his feet up on the table. Keith wrinkles his nose in disgust, as he chews with his mouth open. "Don't worry," Red Robin says, turning to Keith with a huge smile. "You'll get used to it after a while." which leaves Keith wondering how long he'll actually be here. "I'm sorry, but what are the names of the Justice League members?" asks Keith, his voice descending to a whisper. Red Robin looks surprised, but don't ask about it. "Well, there looks Batman, Superman, Aqua man, Martian man Hunter, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Black Canary, Green Arrow, who is not here today, and Green Lantern," Red Robin blurts out. Keith is not able to remember them all at all. "There are many more, but they are not full members, or they are, but they are not fighting full time" "That's a lot of people," Keith mumbles. Red Robin smiles. "And you're now one of them," Robin says, joining the conversation by leaning close to Keith's arm. Keith has never seen Damien as a 'touchy' person but he seems to initiate a lot of contact during the conversations they have had. "Hooray," Keith sighs, looking at the group that spreads out in conversation, sometimes with a glance at Keith. "Let's show ... his room." says Nightwing, giving his siblings a given look. "Wait, I'm staying here?" asks Keith, which clearly brought some attention from the other members of Young Justice onto him. "Yes, there's a change in plans," Nightwing explains. Keith wasn't aware of those changes. "Oh" Keith mumbles, looking away from Artemis and Superboy, who are looking at him suspiciously. "Come here, I wishes to go" Robin says as he stands up and frowns at his siblings. "Okay, Red Robin, ..., you can go too. I need to explain the situation a bit more to the team and also brainstorm some ideas for location tactics." says Nightwing, Red Robin and Robin smiles, although Keith can't understand why they don't want to be part of the brainstorming, but Keith doesn't question it. He doesn't want to be a part of it either. "Are the rest of us going to stay tonight too?" asks Red Robin and Nightwing nods. Keith can't tell if Robin is smiling or making a face, but he grimaces. "Fine, let's choose our room." says Robin, grabbing his arm again and pulling him out of the room. Red Robin follows closely behind. Keith has been searched through several times, and he can feel how they are being led further and further into the mountain.

Chapter Text

"You're lucky, the rooms are pretty nice." says Robin, who stops in front of a large metal door and presses some buttons on a keyboard. An electric keyboard. "Are we out of Gotham?" asks Keith, in a slightly strained voice, and his brothers look at him worriedly. "We're right out of happy harbor, Rhodesia Island," Red Robin says slowly. "Why?" asks Robin, who enters as soon as the door opens, pulling Keith behind him. Red Robin steps in after them and closes the door. "Does this have anything to do with the thing Batman told us about?" asks Red Robin as he looks around the room for a while before removing his mask and collapsing on the bed. Keith pulls his own mask away, relieved as the cold air hits his eyelids. "Yeah, I'm actually a little surprised that you haven't mentioned anything," Keith says and sits down in front of Tim's legs hanging from the bed. Damien copies him but keeps the mask on. "Trust me, I want to ask about it, but father wouldn't let me," Damien says in a reserved tone. "But I do have a few questions, more about your powers," says Tim, who sits up and looks into Keith's eyes. "Yeah?" says Keith, looking away, as much as he's warmed up a bit to human contact, he still can't handle eye contact. "How do your death-sensing abilities work?" asks Tim, and Keith sighs. "It's really complicated," Keith sighs, rubbing his face with his gloved hands. "I don't really know where they come from, but I would think they come from my mother." "Your mother is dead?" says Damien bluntly. Keith has to hold back a snort at the sight of the look Tim gives him. "Dami, that's insensitive," Tim hisses. "It's okay," Keith says, smiling faintly. "I don't remember my mother, or my past in general," Keith says with a deep sigh. The others look at him worriedly, but Keith continues before they can ask questions. "I can tell when people are close or already dead. I can also feel if people are mortally wounded up close." "Can you feel people dying all the time?" asks Tim, but the worry flashes out of him. "Yes, but I can mostly block it," Keith replies, fumbling with the laces on his boots. "Is that scary?" says Damien, sounding as his age for ones. "Yes, it is." admits Keith. "It's like a cold feeling all the way down in my stomach. It was especially scary when I was younger and didn't know what was happening." Keith can look expressively on his brothers' faces. "But luckily I can block it now." "It must be terrible." sympathizes Tim and lays his head on Keith's shoulder. Keith looks over at Damien, who looks like someone who is about to jump off a question. Keith has an idea of what it is. "I could feel that Jason had died and come back alive," Keith says. Tim immediately removes himself from his shoulder and Damien tenses up. "Could you?" asked Damien tensely. "Yes, I mentioned it before you came over and mentioned that we were going to Mount Justice. He looked really upset about it, which is why I haven't mentioned it." admits Keith. "That's probably why he was so mad when he talked to us," Tim sighs, resting his head in his hands. "When did you first notice it?" asks Damien and instead sits down next to Tim. Tim didn't look up. "That was the first thing I felt when I met him." Keith explains, looking over Tim's head and over at Damien. "He has a really strong aura of death. I would probably have felt it even if I blocked." "You didn't block?" asks Tim, looking out at Keith through his fingers. "Blocking takes a lot of effort, so it's not something I do so much, and I focused more on you guys. I tried to give you privacy by not sensing you," Keith explains. "Did you use your powers to discover our identities?" asks Damien. Keith shakes his head. "It doesn't work that way. I can't feel you as such, more just your life energy." "What else can you do?" asks Damien and Keith is happy about the change of subject. "That's a good question, I don't know" "We'll have to find out then." says Tim resolutely and stands up. He puts on his mask and hands Keith his own. He puts it on confused. Tim has a whole new energy, and it scares him a little. "Come along" Tim moves to the door and opens it. Keith looks over at Damien, who looks just as confused as Keith feels. But they still follow. Tim moves quickly through the mountain, and it ends with Keith and Damien having to run after him to keep up. They end up out in the common area again and interrupt Nightwing in the middle of a sentence. "Therefore, we have to... Red Robin?" Tim whizzes past Nightwing and continues. Keith and Damien come running after. "What's going on?" Nightwing looks at Keith and Robin in confusion. They shrug their shoulders and follow Tim. Keith can hear running steps behind him, but he focuses on following Tim's mantle. Tim leads them into a large room where the rest of the Justice League sits. They look up in horror at the growing crowd of teenagers pouring in "What's happened!" exclaims Black Canary. She primarily asks Nightwing the question, but he shrugs his shoulders and looks over at his brother. Red Robin has run up to Martian Manhunter and talks frantically with him. A wrinkle spreads on the green man's forehead. "Red Robin?" Black Canary looks at the conversation worriedly. Red Robin makes wild gestures and talks indescribably fast. Before anyone realizes it Keith has walked up to them, and he now puts a hand on Red Robin's shoulder. Red Robin squirms and looks over at Keith. "Breath and get me into the conversation," Keith says softly and he sees his brother take a few deep breaths a few times, with his eyes closed. "Martian Manhunter can see memories and thoughts," he says. Keith just looks at him confused. "He can see your memories, Crossborn. We can find out your powers if he gets access to your memories, right?" the question is addressed to Martian. Keith's heart speeds up. Can he remember again? "Can you?" he whispers. The thought makes him dizzy. It is his greatest wish to get his memories back. To get his life back. "I can try, my friend." Martian's voice is deep but gentle, as if he can feel Keith's emotions. Everyone else in the room is quiet and feels the scene. It is not normal for Red Robin to flatten down so quickly after his brain has been cut off, and it is quietly impressed by the newcomer. Robin and Nightwing share a small proud smile. "Come with me," Martian says, leading Keith to a chair. Keith sits down uncomfortably. The room is filled with tension. As Martian reaches out his green fingers and places them on Keith's temples. It felt like Keith was sitting there for several minutes while Martian's fingertips were pressed against his skin. He begins to wonder if anything is going to happen at all, as a voice rings in his head.
You have a strong mental reinforcement says Martian's mental voice.
Uh, thanks? Keith replies. The sound of someone else's voice in his mind is really strange.
I promise, it shouldn't take much longer, Martian says as if reading Keith's mind. Which, now that Keith thinks about it, he probably did.
Is there anything I can do, or should I just let you do it yourself? Ask Keith, Martian
There's nothing you can do but relax, which I can feel you don't, Martian says, and it sounds a bit like a laugh.
It shouldn't take much longer. So, Keith sat there completely still, waiting for Martian to finish. He could feel his presence, but no one spoke to him. He wishes he knew what Martian was doing. A sharp pain spreads throughout his head and Keith lets out a scream and throws himself away from Martian's hands. "Woah," Keith can hear Tim say, and two pairs of hands grab him as he falls off the chair. A blinding pain flashes through his entire head and Keith covers his temples with his hands. He twist in pain and squints his eyes shut. The hands that grabbed him lay him down and hold him still against the floor. Keith struggles violently in their grasp. With every second, the pain gets stronger, and a hiss of pain falls from Keith's lips. "Hold him still." shouts a roaring voice and cool hands are placed on his burning head. "No, don't, please" Keith whines, struggling against the grips. "What's going on?!" Black Canary's' voice is clear, and it's bathed in panic.
You must hold out a little longer. Martian's voice suddenly sounds in his mind.
What's going on.? Keith can hear himself, how scared and young he sounds, but right now he couldn't care less.
Hang in there. Martian's voice is full of suppressed panic and Keith is now really scared. Darkness begins to fill his mind and the sounds slowly disappear. The cool fingers leave his skin. A dump sounds next to Keith. "Martian!" shouts a shrill voice. It is strangely far away. The darkness spreads and Keith can no longer hear anything. The pain is beaming, but less than before, and Keith can focus a little. A woman's voice that Keith had never heard before suddenly sounds in his mind.
Hello, my chosen one. The pain increases tenfold, and Keith can feel himself disappearing into the darkness.

Everything is dark. That's the first thing Keith sees when he opens his eyes. Or are they open? He tries to open and close them, but there is no difference in the darkness. Fortunately, the overriding pain is gone. Strange. Everything is spinning around a bit and it doesn't feel like there's anything around him. Only darkness. He floats around weightlessly, trying to look around.
Prince of Darkness. The voice is back again, and Keith turns around in the dark at lightning speed. The voice is deep and hoarse and sounds a little unused. The darkness gathers in heaps and slowly becomes a silhouette of a woman. She stands bent over as if she has a bad back and she has a hood covering her face.
Who are you? Keith's voice sounds distorted almost like he's underwater. The silhouette disappears and Keith turns around confused. He lets his fingers rest on his thighs to draw his knife. But there is no cool metal under his fingers. Shit.
You will find out in time. The voice and silhouette are much closer, almost right next to him, and Keith instinctively sends a fist flying. It meets nothing and he falls forward at the momentum. A cold laugh reverberates through the darkness.
What do you want with me? Keith looks around angrily. His powers are slowly disappearing. Almost as if they seep out of him and into the shadows. I need to fucking get out of here.
You are stronger than I thought. But that's only good. The Silhouette appears right in front of him, but Keith can't move. His whole body is locked in a tense posture. One of the silhouette's hands is curled up and Keith realizes that she is the one holding his body captive. The hand is wrinkled and thin with clear bones under the skin. The veins stand out clearly like blue eels that snake under the light skin. He tries to wriggle free from the grip but quickly gives up. All his powers are gone, and the darkness gathers tighter and thicker around him.
See you again soon. My prince. The silhouette smiles and the pain from before comes back as gentle throbbing all over the body. The silhouette's hand relaxes, and Keith falls deep into the shadows in free fall.

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It's still dark. It is as if not all the shadows have left him, leaving him in a kind of anesthesia. He can't feel his body. The murmur sounds all around him. But he cannot separate the voices or the words. Just as quietly, he begins to feel his toes. He gently wiggles them and they obey his wish. He is about to sigh with relief. The feeling in his body comes back quietly, toes, fingers, legs, arms, and finally his ears. "We have to do something!" angry voices are finally forming and Keith recognizes Damien's voice. The shouts get louder, and Keith can't hear anything again. He opens his eyes carefully. Fortunately, the lights are turned down, and Keith can open his eyes completely. The room he is in looks like a hospital room. A monitor stands by his side and is connected to his arm. The needle is of course in his arm and Keith pulls it out with a grimace. Of course, the machine starts to make noise, but Keith pushes it away with his arm. He sits up in bed and shadows gather in the corner of his eye. Running steps sound from the hallway and Keith looks over at the doorway. Red Robin, Robin, Nightwing, Black Canary and Superman are written there. "Hello," Keith says with an awkward wink. This causes the others to wake up and Nightwing comes in with violent steps towards him, followed sharply by Red Robin and Robin. "Nope, back in bed with you." Nightwing gently pushes him back into bed and gives Keith a worried big brother look. "I'm fine, let me get up, Night." Keith straightens up again and lets his feet come out of the bed again. "I don't think that's smart." Superman enters the room and looks at Keith seriously. His big arms are crossed, and he gives Keith a worried look. "Crossborn, how are you?" Black Canary also enters and stands next to Superman. "I'm fine." Keith can hear the irritation in his voice, but he doesn't really care. He needs to tell his brothers what the fuck is going on in his head, and then they need to find Bruce. "I need some minutes alone with Nightwing, Red Robin and Robin, thank you very much." Keith is definitely looking at Black Canary. She seems to be the one who is most likely to listen to his wishes. "Fine, but only 5 minutes okay?" She then grabs Superman and they both leave the room. They close the door behind them. Keith waits a few seconds to make sure they don't listen at the door. Then he pulls off his mask with a sigh. "Are you okay?" Dick looks at him seriously and sits down at the end of the bed. He has taken off his mask too. Keith looks back at him and is about to nod but instead ends up giving a gentle shake of the head. Dick looks at him more worried and opens his arms. Keith hesitates but then throws himself into his arms. Dick's strong arms close around him and Keith can feel himself shaking. Pull yourself together, a voice hisses in his head. You're fucking stronger than this. You're weak right now. Keith's thoughts get uglier and uglier, and he is about to let go of Dick when he feels someone hug him from the side. He looks down and sees Damien's small body leaning against him with his head on his shoulder. Keith lets one arm fall around Damien's as well. They sit for a few more seconds and Keith can't take any more. He pulls back and takes two deep breaths. Red Robin still hasn't joined them and he's just standing in the corner. He has his eyes fixed on the floor and looks like someone who is going to vomit. Keith props his feet on the floor and stands up. His legs wobble, but he locks his knees and supports himself out of bed. Damien gets up without a word and stands at Keith's left. Then he takes Keith's arm and puts it on his shoulder so Keith can lean on him. Keith starts walking over to Tim with Damien by his side. When they are close enough, Keith lets go of Damien and goes to Tim himself. "It wasn't your fault." Keith's voice is gentle and much calmer than he expected. Tim looks up at him with guilty eyes. "It wasn't your fault, Tim. It was your idea yes, but I said yes myself. And none of us could have predicted that this would happen. So, stop blaming yourself and listen to what I have to say." Keith finishes by letting a gentle hand land on his brother's shoulder. Tim looks at his hand first and then Keith's face. Whatever he sees, he is satisfied with, and he sighs deeply. "Tell."

He just manages to tell what happened in the dark when Black Canary comes storming in. "To the Zeta tubes now." Her voice leaves no room for discussion. Luckily, they had all managed to get their masks back on and together the Bat brothers look at each other and follow Black Canary. Nightwing and Robin races after her. Keith follows more slowly, with Red Robin by his side. No words leave them, but Keith stops them just before they move on. "It's okay." he gives Tim the slightest smile and a quick hug. Red Robin holds the facade, but Keith can clearly see how his shoulders fall back down and together they go after the others. The Zeta tubes flash in a fiery blue color and Keith can only look at them quickly before he has to look away. The entire Justice League and the entire Young Justice team stand together in front of them. Keith stays close to Nightwing and leans discreetly on him. Dick lets him do it. The zeta tubes give a beep, and some begin to come out from its light. First, a short, short-haired brunette steps out. Her suit is light green with short sleeves. Then a big boy steps out. An orange bandana is around his head, and his suit looks like the girl's just in yellow colors. Finally, a tall, slender boy steps out. His suit is in light blue and dark blue colors. Nightwing is clearly relaxing. He knows these people. The girl and the blue boy are arguing loudly and the boy in yellow looks resigned. The whole trio stops when it sees all the supers in front of them. They line up and shut up. Black Canery sighs disappointed and steps forward. "Frostbite, Technician, Stoneheart. Welcome back." The trio relaxes and moves towards the rest of Young Justice. The blue one, Frostbite, looks over at Keith and his eyebrows slide up in surprise. "Okay, it wasn't exactly what we expected, but I think everyone could use a break. League, go home and sleep, and then we'll find a plan tomorrow. Young, we'll meet in the training room in 10 minutes for the briefing." People disperse and several of the League members step forward towards the zeta tubes and walk through to disappear.

Chapter Text

Black Canary stood in front of the large training mat. Her whole attitude was tense, and it was obvious that she didn't want to take a break either but just wanted to keep going. But here they were. Red Robin stood next to Superboy and talked softly while Nightwing stood and talked quietly with Kid Flash. Robin stayed close to Keith and let him discreetly lean on him. Fatigue seemed to be radiated from him, because his brother had not even said anything about it. The three new ones that Keith hadn't seen before, stood and talked together. The boy in blue attracted a lot of attention with big arm movements. "Again, welcome back." she paused and looked towards the trio who finally shut up. "To keep everyone updated, Batman has been kidnapped and we are working hard to get him back." a gentle gasp comes from the girl in green, while a much louder and more dramatic one comes from the boy in blue. "Batman." the boy looks at Black Canary with wide eyes. "That big bad bat that not even you can get down to training?" Black Canary sighs strained and nods. The boy gets a depressed expression on his face and looks over at the Bat brothers with pity. "I know we want to get going again, but we need to get some food and some sleep first." Black Canary looks at the brothers first with pity and then firmly. Red Robin and Nightwing begin to protest, but both get a hard look from her and keep their mouths shut. "I think it's time for some food. Who's having a food day?" Artemis grimly raises his hand and starts to head towards the kitchen. Superboy, Aqualad, Kid flash, Red Robin and Miss Martian feel for her. Nightwing, Robin and the trio stay behind. Black Canary pulls Nightwing behind her and they stand and talk for a while before she gives his shoulder a squeeze and walks towards the zeta tubes. Nightwing is left with slouching shoulders and takes a few breaths before joining the others in the kitchen. "Hi, who are you and what are you doing here. Are you helping the Justice League?" Keith gets a huge shock but luckily doesn't flinch. He turns his head to the voice that asked the question and sees that it comes from the yellow boy. Robin, who is standing by Keith's side, pulls away a little with a quiet snort. Keith looks at him tiredly, but Robin just mumbles something and walks towards the door. However, he waits over there and doesn't quite leave Keith behind. "Hallllloooo?" the boy in blue looks at Keith in annoyance and leans heavily on the boy in yellow. "I'm Crossborn." says Keith briefly from his head and starts walking towards Robin. He falters a little and the boy in yellow tries to grab him. "I'm fine." hisses Keith and pulls back from his hands. He stumbles towards Damien who luckily doesn't catch him and leans over from the door frame. "Relax, he was just trying to help," Frostbite says judgmentally. "I don't need help," Keith snarled. "You look like someone who has." Frostbite leans forward with his arms crossed. "And you didn't answer the question. What are you doing here?" "He's here to help find Batman. And if you don't have any more questions Frost, I'd like some food," Robin says arrogantly, grabbing Keith's arm. He pulls on it gently but quickly lets go when he sees Keith's gaze. "Are you okay?" he whispers softly. Keith just nods.

The kitchen has a cozy atmosphere and Keith and Robin head straight for the kitchen chairs that are around the large kitchen island. Superboy, Nightwing and Red Robin are already sitting around the table while Kid flash, Aqualad and Miss Martian are sitting on a couch that is in the corner of the common room. Artemis is cooking in the kitchen. The yellow boy joins her with a smile and starts cooking with her. The other two sit at the opposite side of the kitchen island. "What are we having?" both Kid Flash and Frostbite sing the moment they make eye contact. They smile silly at each other and look excitedly at the chefs. "Pasta with meatballs." A loud sigh sounds from the many heroes. "You have put me on the meal plan yourself, it's not my fault you choose the one who can only do two things." she snarls and turns to the food again. "Guys relax, I'll help her." says the yellow one with a smile and continues cooking. "Are we really going to wear masks all the time while the guy is here?" Frostbite looks at Keith in offense and has pointed a finger at him. Luckily, Robin snarls for him, so Keith doesn't have to. "It's smart, at least until we get Batman back," Nightwing says calmly. He turns his gaze at Keith for confirmation, and he gives a nod. "Who are the new ones?" he whispers to Robin. Robin looks at him in surprise, but whispers back. "The blue one is Frostbite, but I think you already know that. Then there's Stoneheart, who's the yellow one, and Technician, who's in the green suit." Keith nods gratefully at him.

Conversations flow around him, but Keith can't really concentrate on them. He would rather just go home to the manor, go to bed and sleep out the whole strange experience and then talk to Bruce or Jason about it. But he can't. Firstly, he's here in a mountain, secondly, Bruce is gone, and it has to be found that he or the other could be seen with Jason, neither as himself nor Red Hood. Time flies by and suddenly there is a plate of hot pasta drizzled with tomato sauce and meatballs. He looks up and meets the face of the yellow boy. "Enjoy." he smiles and puts a plate in front of Robin. "And the meatballs are vegan for you. Enjoy." he smiles again and goes for more plates. Keith looks down at the food distractedly. It looks delicious, and yet Keith can't bring himself to eat. He fought a few bites down, but that's it. He pushes the plate away and rests his arms on the table and then his head on his arms. There he lies for some time. A murmuring voice sounds to him, and he lifts his head again. "What?" Keith blinks in confusion at Nightwing, Red Robin, Robin, and Stoneheart. "Are you not going to have anything to eat at all?" Stoneheart looks disappointed and a bit sad. The other bats just look at him worried. "I'm not hungry." Keith mumbles. He makes eye contact with Nightwing, who looks more worried now. "Don't you like it? Because I can just do something else if it is." Stoneheart has already risen. "I'm just not hungry. But it tastes really good." Keith desperately tries to get the boy to sit down again and not create a scene. Stoneheart looked at him uncertainly but fortunately sat down again. Keith let out a small sigh of relief. Frostbite looked at him strangely, but for once said nothing. "Yo Crossborn, sweet or salty?" the girl in the green suit, Technician, shouts throughout the room. Everyone looks at her, but then their conversations continue as if it's normal. "Salt, I guess?" Keith looks at her confused. She nods to herself as if she is satisfied with the answer and continues her conversation with her sidekick. A snort sounds to him. "Salt is just so basic. Sweet is so much better." says Frostbite. "And what do you know about it?" Keith can't help himself. "Oh, salt is just like chips and popcorn, even though popcorn is good, and that's it, there is just so much more within the sweet category. Chocolate, caramel, marshmallows, uh and gummies." he lists all the things on his fingers. "What are you, five?" sneers Keith. A loud laugh comes from the Technician, while a gentler one comes from the others. Frostbite gets color in his ears and looks at Keith angrily. "And that will make you what, a basic bitch?" he replies. Keith just shrugs.

They finish eating and the rest of the teamstarts to disperse. Superboy, Red Robin, Robin and Aqualad go down to thetraining room, Miss Martian, Kid flash and Nightwing have washed the dishes andare now playing card games with Frostbite, Stoneheart has gone back to thekitchen baking, Technician has gone into her room and Keith, yes Keith has goneto bed. He got worried looks from Nightwing, but he chose to ignore them andwent straight to his room. And there he lies now. With his eyes fixed on theceiling and thoughts spinning around in his head. Every time he was close tofalling asleep, he returns to the cloaked lady in the dark. After a few hours,he gets up and sneaks out of the room. It seems that everyone has gone to bed,and he sneaks through the silent darkness. Keith continues through themountain. He ends up in the kitchen again and he starts looking in the drawers. They must have some chalk or at least a pencil? Keith continues and inthe very last drawer he finds a piece of colorful chalk and a small pencil thathas seen better days. But Keith takes what he can find and goes back into theroom. He closes the door to his room and pulls off his mask. Afterwards, hetakes off his suit and changes into the T-shirt that Tim lent him before goingto bed. Wearing the T-shirt and boxers, he turns on all the lights and lets histhoughts rage as the chalk flies over the floor and walls.

Dick POV

The sun shines through the mountain and warms everything in a cozy atmosphere. It's 6:30 am and the morning workout will start soon. Almost all the members of Young Justice are up and snoozing on the sofas, talking tiredly. The only ones missing are Frostbite, Technician and Crossborn. Worried about his little brother, Dick makes eye contact with his other brothers. Tim and Damien answer immediately and they move in a group towards Keith's room. Damien's face is clenched, and he seems more secluded than usual. Tim just looks sad. "RR, he said it was okay. Put it behind you." Dick murmurs gently as they walk down the hall. Tim looks up at him in surprise. Dick just smiles down at him with a supportive smile. They finally reach Keith's door. Dick is about to knock on the door when there is a loud rattle from inside the room. The brothers look at each other nervously and choose to take the chance. Dick opens the door while the others stand ready with their hands at their weapons. However, they all stop in the doorway. All the furniture is stacked together in the middle of the room and there are chalk drawings everywhere. The walls, floor and ceiling are adorned with colorful drawings. Balancing on top of a chair stacked on top of a desk stands Keith. The raven-black hair is completely messy and bristles everywhere. He is wearing a T-shirt and boxer shorts and does not seem to have noticed them. Tim is the first to wake up and he gently pushes the others into the room and closes the door behind them. Keith still can't seem to detect them. He is busy drawing on top of the ceiling while standing on tiptoes. "Uh Keith?" Dick doesn't quite know what to say. Keith quickly turns around and loses his balance. He falls from his stack and Dick rushes forward. He grabs the squirming boy but quickly puts him down again. Keith blinks his eyes in confusion and backs away from him. Tim and Damien stay in the background, but Dick can clearly feel the worry radiating from them. "What are you doing?" asks Tim gently. "Why are you in here?" Keith sways back and forth a bit and doesn't seem to see or hear them right. "Keith, are you okay?" Dick steps further forward and puts a hand on his shoulder. There must really be something wrong because he doesn't shake it off as usual. Instead, he just looks up at Dick, as if only now does he really see who's in the room with him. "Dick?" he whispered. A mist clears from his gaze, and he now shakes his hand off. "Dick" he says more strongly. Keith looks over at Tim and Damien and gives them a confused look. Tim waves awkwardly and Damien just looks back hard. "Are you okay?" asks Tim again. "I'm fine" Keith says as he turns to the room. He seems to hesitate a little but then ends up grabbing Dick and pulling him towards a drawing. "I know where Batman is."

"So, you're saying Batman is here?" Black Canary looks at the larger drawing with disbelief. The drawing depicts a jagged mountain range, where on the outskirts of the drawing there is a small hunting lodge. From the mountains and the way Keith has drawn every grain of sand on the ground in front of the cabin, it looks like a desert. Behind Black Canary are Aqua Lad, Superboy, Artemis and Miss Martian gathered. Keith is put back in his suit and stands next to Dick. Even with a mask, you can see wild eyes looking from picture to picture. It is as if he does not know what he has drawn. His hair is still wild and unkempt, but he doesn't look care. After Dick, Tim and Damien had looked at the drawing, they immediately called Black Canary. "Do you know where it is?" Black Canary has turned on his little brother, and Dick can see Keith shrinking. "I... I don't know." Keith looks over at the drawing in despair. "When I tried to fall asleep, it was as if something wanted to contact me. But I couldn't get a grip. All I wanted was to draw." Keith shrugs. "The last thing I remember is finding some chalk in the kitchen." "Really?" exclaims Artemis. Keith nods tiredly. "This picture tells me something, but I can't fucking find it.!" Keith sends an angry look at the drawing and looks like someone who is about to kick down the entire wall. Damien clearly sees it too and steps closer to him. "I can try cross-referencing it with satellite images." Tim is already on his way out of the room and out into the hallway. "Hey, yes sorry, but I've made breakfast. So um, come and eat." Stoneheart sticks his head into the room and looks around nervously. His eyes skate over the drawings and his gaze becomes even more worried. "We can do nothing but wait for Red Robin's analysis anyway." Black Canary walks out of the room and the rest follow. Dick stays behind and joins Keith. The boy walks with his head low and Dick can hear his murmuring. In a group, they go down to the kitchen and mingle with the other members. "Canary, the Justice League has beamed and said that they will arrive at 8 o'clock. They ran right into some trouble," says Technician with his mouth full of scrambled eggs. Dick can see how Keith curls his face with disgust. But Keith needs to eat something, so Dick pushes him toward a seat and sits down next to him. Then Dick takes his plate and stuffs it with food. "Eat." he commands. Keith looks at him angrily, but Dick just shrugs. Dick pours himself a portion and eats away. "Why do bats fuss so much about you?" Frostbite's reproachful voice comes across and both Dick and Keith look up. Keith looks both angry and ashamed and the bite of food he was about to bring up to his mouth is brought down again. Lance, why do you have to be like that? Reprimands Dick irritated in his head. "That's not something you need to know." says Dick harshly and looks at him angrily. Frostbite just shrugs his shoulders and laughs a little. Dick pushes Keith with his shoulder and he looks over at him. Dick mimes down to the food and sends a determined look to Keith. Keith sighs but picks up the fork again.

At 8 o'clock precisely, the Justice League members arrive out of zeta tubes. Superman and Wonder Woman come out with confident steps first. Next comes Flash, Green Arrow, Zatanna, Aqua man, and Martian manhunter. Martian's usually wild green skin looks pale and there are large black rings under his eyes. "Where's the drawing.?" Wonder Woman goes straight to Black Canary and waits impatiently. Black Canary just sighs and starts to down Keith's room. Dick can feel the tension gathering in his little brother's body. He turns his head down to the boy and sees his despairing gaze. "Come, let's go along." Dick turns to Keith and the other bats. Tim nods and Damien were already on his way. Keith follows Dick like a ghost. The room quickly fills up with adults and bats. Keith has positioned himself in the corner as far away from everyone as possible. "Wow." says the Flash in surprise. His eyes rush around to look at all the drawings. Zatanna has almost stopped in the doorway and looks around at the walls in confusion. Green arrow, Aqua Man and Martian manhunter signed up to train with the others from young justice so they wouldn't be disruptive. Wonder Woman and Superman stand by the drawing that Keith pointed out to Dick along with Black Canary. They discuss quietly and dick joins them. "How on earth did he manage to do this." Superman's voice is strained and suspicious. "Why would he draw all this and then not be able to know where it is." he continues. "I know it's all absurdly strange, but it's kind of what we have to work with." Dick's voice is firm, and he has at the same time straightened his back to make it seem firmer. "Nightwing, why can't you share what you know about him?" Wonder Woman's voice is monotonous and signals only business. "I..." more when Dick not to say for a voice interrupts him "It's up to Batman to choose what to share and what not to. And don't snoop." Damien's voice is angry and harsh and clearly cuts through with the adults. They drop the questions and start talking about the pictures again. "It's the Chisos Mountains in Texas, isn't it.?" Flash asks quickly before moving on to another smaller picture. The whole room becomes dead quiet. After a while, Flash looks up and looks around at the others in confusion. "Do you know where it is?" Keith's voice comes out as a whisper. "Um, yes, or of course it is if it's the Chisos Mountains." says flash awkwardly as he scratches his neck. "How do you know.?" "Have you been there before?" Superman and Wonder Woman interrupt each other and then look at each other irritated. "Yes, I needed a break, so I just kept running. And then I kind of just ended up there." Flash smiles wryly and shrugs. "Wow" Damien looks up at him unimpressed. In all the time that has been discussed, Keith has not really entered the field. Dick looks over at the quiet boy and sees him swaying back and forth a little on his feet. "Cross.?" Dick first tries to get hold of him privately in a quiet voice. But Keith doesn't seem to react. "Crossborn, are you okay?" Dick raises his voice, and the others silence their conversations. They all turn their gaze to the swaying boy, who still doesn't have the answer. Dick slowly moves up to him and crouches down in front of him. "Cross?" Dick can hear the worry in his voice but can't really bring himself to stop. Keith's head is turned to the floor, but Dick can faintly see his lips move. Dick slowly reaches his hand towards his shoulder. But just before the hand makes contact with Keith, his hand rushes forward and stops him. Keith looks directly into Dick's eyes. "We're going to Texas."

Chapter Text

Keith can't quite remember how he ended up on the plane. The Zeta tubes hummed and out stepped Wonder Woman and Superman first. Their steps were confident, and Wonder Woman immediately walked up to Black Canary and demanded to see Keith's drawings. Black Canary had just sighed and waved her after her. Dick had hinted that they should follow, and Keith went after Dick without protest. He had immediately stood in the corner to avoid being in the way. Wonder Woman and Superman stood over at the drawing that Keith had drawed and discussed quietly with Black Canary. After them followed Flash, who started looking at all the drawings in wonder, and Zatanna, who stood in the doorway. The others had stayed behind with Young Justice, or at least that's what Keith thought. After that, everything had become a bit blurry. As if a veil had settled over Keith's mind. Other voices mingled in his head, speaking a language he didn't understand. Keith waited and listened for recognizable words. Did it just say Texas.? Keith listened extra carefully. Yes, it definitely said Texas. Another voice interspersed. But it sounded different. It sounded more worried and closer than the others. What the fuck was going on? The voice said something again, and this time Keith recognized it. It was Dick's voice. His body was moving, before his brain registered it. His hand flew forward and stopped the hand that was about to land on his shoulder. As if the veil lifted from his mind, his surroundings became clear and Keith looked directly into Dick's shocked eyes. "We're going to Texas."

And that's how Keith ended up sitting in a plane with the most tense atmosphere in the world. Superman and Zatanna had immediately rushed out the door to get ready for departure. Wonder Woman had tried to talk the bats out of leaving, but after Damien's fourth knife throw and Tim and Dick's arguments, she had dropped it, so they were also on the plane with Keith. The others were now sitting and talking to Superman and Wonder Woman. Keith had realized, albeit a little late, that they were probably in charge when Batman wasn't there. In the seats in front, Flash sat eating nuts, while Green Arrow sat opposite and watched in disgust as Flash pulled out another bag. The plane was flown by Zatanna. Martian Manhunter had had to stay at home as he still hadn't healed from Keith's strange mental attack. And Aquaman had signed up to stay behind as he didn't see the greatest joy in desert and heat. The plane had really surprised Keith. A huge fighter plane with beautiful grey steel wings and huge engines. Keith had first thought that they would fly in the Bio Ship, but since Martian was not going with them, they couldn't, and they had instead taken the Justice League's fastest fighter plane. Keith's stomach had jumped at the sight of the plane. Not out of fear, but out of excitement and joy. As if his body could remember, the joy of flying and the speed that came with it. Just a pity that he couldn't remember it.

Keith was hit directly on the shoulder by a ball of paper, pulling him far away from his thoughts and back to his surroundings and the airplane cabin. He not only made eye contact with the perpetrator, but with everyone in the aircraft cabin. He had obviously been asked a question. "Excuse me, what?" Wonder Woman got an annoyed expression on his face and Superman's brows contracted. "We're planning what we're going to do when we arrive, so come over here," Red Robin thankfully helped him. Keith got up self-consciously and walked the short way to them. Red Robin patted the seat next to him, and got a little nod back from Keith. "We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into, so the first rule is that no bat goes alone." She didnt have time to say anything more, because Damien snorts angrily and exclaims. "I can easily take care of myself." Damien's eyes are cold and scornful. Wonder Woman meets them without fear. "It can be, but I don't let any bat get hurt while Batman is gone." "Batman doesn't treat us as children, but as equals.!" Damien's voice rises in anger, but Dick, sitting next to him, puts a hand on his shoulder and shakes his head quietly. Damien snorts again and crosses his arms, but he is silent. "Like I said," says Wonder Woman, looking at Robin with a stern look. "No bat goes alone, so therefore some teams must be made. Robin and Superman" she doesn't have time to say more, because an indignant gasp sounds from Robin. He looks at Wonder Woman angrily, but doesn't say anything. "Me and Red Robin. Flash and Crossborn. Nightwing and Green Arrow. And Zatanna has to decide whether she wants to go with Green Arrow or stay on the plane." Wonder Woman concludes. "I stay, Wonder. And by the way, we'll be at the landing site in two minutes," says a faint voice from the cockpit. Although, while Keith has been looking out the window and ignoring a question, the pilot herself had been listening. Pull yourself fucking together! "Wonderful," says Wonder Woman satisfied. "And now for the plan itself. The area around the mountain range is relatively large, so we also make a battle plan for the division. Me and Superman plus our bat take the air our separate ways, while Flash and Crossborn stay on the ground. Green Arrow and Nightwing will have Zatanna's assistance in getting the bikes out, and you'll be on them. Since Martian isn't there, it's going to be the old-fashioned way," Superman says, holding out a small box. Inside are several small earbugs, and sighs spread from Keith's brothers. However, without complaining, they each take one and put it in the ear. Keith follows them and picks one up. He takes a brief look at the little black thing and then puts it in his left ear. Superman passes the box on to Flash and Green Arrow after Wonder Woman takes one. "We're getting ready for landing, so everyone just has to find their way back to their own seats and click in please," comes Zatanna's voice. Keith immediately gets up and hurries away from the others. He clicks with lightning speed and looks excitedly out of the window. It's not much, but Keith can almost feel when the wheels hit the ground, even though no shake runs through the plane.

The air is nauseatingly hot and Keith can already feel the sweat gathering between his shoulder blades and running down his back. However, the others do not seem to be affected by the heat. In a group, they all go down from the ramp. Keith can feel the heat through his shoes, but it's not uncomfortable for him. Strange? Wonder Woman and Red Robin chat briefly before she grabs him bridal style in her arms and takes off into the air. The sand around her flies up briefly and lands again. Superman bends down to do the same with Robin. "Try it and you'll lose your arms." hisses Robin and walks around Superman, who is still squatting. Robin crawls with a dignified face onto Superman's back and sits piggyback style. Then they also take off and speed away. A gentle laugh sounds from Keith's right side, and he sees Nightwing looking over at where Superman just was. He glances at Keith and smiles, and starts walking over to Green Arrow and Zatanna, who are unloading a couple of motorcycles from the plane. Keith looks at them for a while and doesn't notice the figure on his left side until a voice sounds too close. "Do you get motion sickness?" Keith praises all gods for not jumping. He calmly looks over at Flash, who is standing and stretching out. Keith raises a questioning brow. Flash catches the allusion and repeats the question. "I asked if you get motion sickness.?" says Flash with a smile. Keith hesitates. He actually doesn't know if he does. "Um, I actually don't know. I don't remember," he says quietly. "Well, it doesn't matter. We'll find out," says Flash with a laugh as he stops stretching. He's moving closer to Keith. "How will you do this? The Superman way or Wonder Woman.?" Keith thinks about it. On the one hand, he won't touch the Flash for too long, but he also won't be difficult to run with. "Whatever is easiest for you, I think," Keith says with a shrug. "Great," says Flash and turns around. Keith understands it to mean that he has to climb up like Robin. When he's ready, he gives flash a pat on the back. "Hold on tight, 1,2,3.." and then Flash blasts off.

It's an unforgetebale feeling. The air pressure around him is huge and yet Keith feels almost nothing. The landscape flies past him and the cacti are just blurry blobs. Flash moves around smoothly and doesn't look like someone with a person on their back. A smile spreads on Keith's face without his permission. But he simply can't help it. His whole body screams with joy. Keith obviously likes speed. "You can scream, if you want." Flash's voice is distorted but clear. Keith looks at him confused. "Awoooo.!" screams Flahs himself. A huge smile spreads on his face at the sight of Keith's facial expression. Flash howls again, albeit louder. A gentle laugh flows from Keith's lips. It's low, but it's there. Flash looks up at Keith cheekily and gets ready to howl again. "Awhoooo," Keith howls before him. Much louder than Flash and much more lifelike. "Yes, exactly.!" screams Flash and howls along. The laughter now explodes from Keith and he can't help it. But something in him doesn't want either. It's been a long time since he's felt so free. Flahs picks up speed and they move further into the desert.

They have been running for about fifteen minutes when it comes. The pain comes so suddenly that Keith almost falls off. A tightness in his chest so violent that it is as if someone has just pulled his heart out. Keith lets out a small gasp, but Flash doesn't seem to notice. "Stop." whispers Keith hoarsely, because he can't get any more out. "What?" Flash just yells, but he keeps running. "Flash, stop.!!" shouts Keith loudly right into his ear. Flash wobbles, but stops immediately. Keith tumbles off his back. His legs collapse under him and he lands heavily in the sand. Keith grips his shirt tightly and gasps. He closes his eyes and leans forward so that his forehead rests on the sand. Flash's voice sounds worried, but Keith can't part the words at all. But all of a sudden, it's as if the pain becomes less and becomes more of a kind of pressure. The pain is not gone, but gets better and is left with more pressure. Keith feels extra closely. He clossed his eyes to feel better. When he turns his body slightly to the right, the pressure becomes stronger, as if something is calling to him. "Crossborn!" a voice explodes in his left ear, and Keith lets out a big scream and waves his arms. He falls on his ass and looks up at the Flash squatting by his side, confused. "Good God, you mustn't do that, kid." breathes out Flash with relief.
"Whoa. what?" Keith looks at him confused. But beofre Flash has time to say anything, a voice comes again in his left ear.
"Crossborn, are you alright?" Keith quickly turns around and looks ready to fight to the left, but no one is ready for the attack. A laugh comes from Flash and Keith looks over at him again. Flash takes pity and points up to his ear. The earpiece, you idiot. "Everything's okay, Crossborn just got a little sick." Keith wrinkles his nose at the statement. "I didn't get sick," he mumbels offended. "I want to hear an answer from you, Cross." It's Nightwing's voice dripping with worry. Keith looks up at Flash confused. "Should I just talk normally or.?" he whispers. Flash's smile gets bigger, but he nods in response. "I'm fine," he says to the air. Flash laughs again at Keith's facial expression. He must obviously look as confused as he feels. Look, Keith can't remember a damn thing and has been living on the streets for quite a while, so he hasn't had time to play with electronics. "What happened?" Wonder Woman is entering the scene now. "We were just running as usual when Crossborn screamed for me to stop. And then he fell to his knees and didn't answer me. I thought you were going to throw up, to be honest," Flash says with a shrug. "There is no need to be embarrassed, it happens to everyone that they get a little sick." "I didn't get sick," Keith insists. "Or maybe a little, but not because of you. All of a sudden, a pain spread throughout my chest. It wouldn't stop. But now it's become a kind of pressure, and every time I turn to the right, it gets stronger." It's probably the longest sentence Keith has said with Justice League, because Flash looks at him in surprise. "Okay, there's going to be a change in plans. Flash and Crossborn, follow his feeling and the rest of us continue with our own route. If there are any problems or obstacles, please let me know, understand Flash?" "Understood, Wonder." says Flash with a certain expression. He stands up and turns his back on Keith. "Jump up."

The feeling is too strange. The longer they run, the weaker the pressure becomes. But Keith knows that they are running in the right direction, because otherwise the pressure would not be there. They had tried it with other directions. The landscape changeed just over five minutes ago. Now there are nice little dunes around them, and in the distance you can make out windmills. Flash and Keith haven't spoken since the sudden pause. Keith sits with his eyes closed and moves his fingers to Flashe's shoulder to guide him. "Woah." exclaims Keith, scaring Flash. "What is it. Are you getting off?" says Flash, almost already stopped. "No, keep going, keep running." says Keith quickly. However, Flash continues a little slower. "We're going to make a sharp left now." senses Keith and Flash follows his orders. They run next to a dune and continue along its side. It is high and wide as a wall and shields their view to the left side. Still, they keep going, because Keith can feel the pressure changing. Now it's more like a string is pulling on him. "Just keep going," he says to Flash. The dune ends, and they both let out a gasp. Further on the horizon, they can glimpse a lone hunting cabin. The distance is too big, but anyway Keith knows, it's the cabin from his drawing. Everything fits down to the smallest detail, even the location of the sun. "That's it, kid." exclaims Flash, running faster. "What's going on?" says a voice from his left ear. It sounds a bit like Red Robin. "We have found a cabin. Maybe it's the cabin from the drawing," says Flash happily. "I thought we agreed that you should tell me as soon as you found something," Wonder Woman says sternly. "Relax, we kind of just found it." snarls Keith before thinking about it. Before he can apologize, a laugh sounds from his youngest brother. "Check it out, but carefully," Superman says. "If there are any problems, please contact us immediately. And Flash," Flash listens from the look on his face. "Put location on. Now," Superman says firmly. "Oh, yeah. I'll do that," Flash says, pressing his chest twice. A kind of yellow shield beams around him and dissolves. "Thank you." Superman concludes and the voices disappear again. Flash speeds up and they quickly move towards the cabin.

As they get closer, Flash slows down and stops right behind a dune. Here he lets Keith come off and stretch his legs a little before they go further forward. "Okay, here's the plan. We move quietly. I take the back and you take the front. If you see some people, hide. If you hear any voices, hide. If you are in any doubt in any way..." "Hide." interrupts Keith. He can easily play obedient, if that's what it takes for Flash to let him go alone. Flash notices nothing and smiles happily. "Precise. Are you ready?" Keith nods, and they step out from the cairn's protection. They sneak closer and stay below the window's line of sight. They end up at the wall and Flash looks at Keith to say: Now remember the plan! Keith rolls his eyes, but gives a thumps up and moves towards his side. Behind him, he can hear Flash doing the same. Keith waits for a while and then looks behind him. Flash is gone on the other side. Keith takes a deep breath and sneaks further forward.

He comes around to the terrace and slides between the bars on his side. He sneaks forward and something inside stirs. He instinctively knows that he has to avoid the third board as it squeaks. He is quickly at the window. Keith looks up just as quietly and looks into the house. It's completely empty. All the furniture is covered with sheets and the dust has gathered on all surfaces. There haven't been people here for long. Keith crawls on to the front door. He gently lets his hand fall down on the handle and pulls it slowly. It goes down, the door is unlocked. Strange? Keith gently pushes the door, which slides open without a hitch. Keith straightens up his entire height and steps inside. It smells stuffy and moldy, but a hidden smell is hidden beneath the others and sends a sense of security through Keith. He steps further into the house and looks around. The room he is standing in now seems to have been the living room and hallway in one. A partition wall separates what appears to be the kitchen from the living room. At the very bottom of the house there is a hallway that seems to lead to two bedrooms and a toilet. Keith goes further into the living room. On the partition wall hangs a huge map of the mountain range, along with a lot of notes and other illustrations. One particular image catches Keith's attention. The picture shows a giant blue lion surrounded by the stars. It's beautiful, in an old-fashioned, caveman-like way. A series of wave coordinates hang next to the image. Keith lets it hang and continues into the hallway. A squeak makes him stop. Keith crouches down and hides in the doorway to the living room. He pulls his knife from his sheath and puts himself in a fighting position. Then he sneaks back into the hallway. Squeaking comes from the door at the bottom. But Keith makes sure and carefully opens the door to the others as well. The first door leads into something that looks like a parent's bedroom. A large double bed stands in the middle of the rooms up against the right wall. A bedspread is thrown on top. Keith guesses that the color was once purple, but he's not sure. He steps out into the hallway again and opens the next door just as quietly. He was right, it's just a bathroom. He has finally reached the last door. He stands in front of it and lifts one of his legs. He mentally counts to three and kicks the door hard. The door bursts off its hinges and Keith bursts in, with a knife raised. The room is completely empty. Keith looks around confused. There is absolutely no one in there, and it doesn't look like there has ever been. The room, unlike the other, is filled with color. The walls are in a soft red color and a cot stands in one corner. Keith walks over to the bed. A mobile hangs over it, with five different lions as pendants, each lion being in its own color. The two smallest are red and green, the largest is black, and the other two are yellow and blue. The blue looks like the same one from the drawing in the living room. Down in bed there is a teddy bear. It is a hippo, with a grey-purple coat and the cutest pink snout. It smiles gently and its eyes glow with life. Keith can feel the tears pressing on. The hippo brings back a strong memory.
Keith is a little boy out playing. He whizzes around, the bearers of the hippo and a small wooden sword. He shouts commands to invisible soldiers and puts the hippo down.
"Sergeant, you have to hold them back before they become too many." Little Keith hands the hippo the wooden sword and turns around with a brave expression on his face.
"I'll save you time." a faint lisp can be heard from his pronunciation. Little Keith rushes forward with a battle cry and punches and kicks down invisible enemies. But he also gets punches back. Little Keith pretends to be hit hard in the face and then in the stomach.
"Oh no, I'm badly hurt. Now who will save us all?" he shouts.
"Fear not, my little warrior." comes a deep female voice. A woman in her mid-20s, early 30s steps forward. She is tall and strongly built, with clear muscles. Her hair is tied up in a short braid that ends right at the shoulder blades. But that is not the most surprising thing. Her skin is covered in light purple fur, and her ear is like a cat's, just dark purple. A fine tail wags after her with a small tuft of dark purple fur. On her cheeks glows markings. She moves with cunning and agility and looks like a true predator. But the twinkle in her eyes and her whole relaxed attitude radiate playfulness. She jumps forward and lets a pair of strong claws impale the air.
"I got him." she smiles down at the boy, who looks up with joy. The boy jumps up with renewed energy and shouts loud commands to the mother, who looks with pride and love in the eyes of her boy,
"Kid." A cautious voice, wakes Keith from his memory. He returns to the room in the cabin. He has fallen to his knees in front of the cot, with the hippo clutching at his chest. The voice belongs to Flash, who stands by his side with sadness radiating from him. Flash has a hand on his shoulder, but Keith lets it stay. He puts his hands to his cheeks and feels that they are wet with tears. Keith doesn't say anything for a while. Neither does Flash. They just sit in silence while Keith still hugs the teddy bear against his chest.

Chapter Text

"Are you okay.?" Flash's voice is gentle and understanding. He hasn't said a single word to Keith and just let him sit and digest it all. "Um." Keith's voice is hoarse and choked with tears, so he has to clear his throat before he can continue. "I... remembered something," he whispers. The hold on the teddy bear is getting stronger and Keith feels that if he lets go of it, he will lose his mind completely. "Want to talk about it? I've turned off the earbuds if that's.?" asks Flash and Keith shakes his head vigorously. "No," he says to support his opinion. "Okay, we don't have to either," Flash says reassuringly, with his hands raised in front of him. Keith stands up firmly. What the hell, does it look like him crying on the floor over a teddy bear? No, fuck no.! He is just about to put the teddy bear down again when he hesitates. "I think you can bring it if you want," says Flash mildly. He sounds like he's talking to a child. Keith is not a child. He is about to throw the teddy bear down, but everything in him is screaming not to. Keith looks at the teddy bear. Then he hesitantly looks up at Flash. He nods encouragingly and Keith hugs the teddy bear to him again. He looks up at the mobile. The lions sparkle in the afternoon sun. The red and blue lion shines in a race, more clearly than the others. Keith lets his hand slide up and gently touches them. Flash also lets his hand slide up and detaches the mobile from its hook. Then he looks around and wraps it in a sheet that covers a changing table. He carries the wrapped mobile with him as he walks out of the room and into the living room. Keith automatically follows. "I'll have to turn them on again," Flash says, waving a hand to his ear. Keith just nods in response. Flash presses the earpiece twice and Keith's comes to life hummingly. "Hello, are you there?" Green Arrow's voice comes through. "Yes, hey, we're here," the Flash replies. "Flash, you answer immediately and not by the tenth hello." hums Red Robin abruptly. "Oh well, there was just something I needed to fix," Flash says with a smile down at Keith. "At first glance, there is nothing useful in the cabin, other than a lot of papers and maps. We'll take a look at it and get back to you." concludes Flash. Keith didn't have to say a word. Keith would be forever indebted to the Flash. Flash moves to the wall. But before that, he carefully lays the sheet down on the coffee table and makes sure it doesn't fall down. Then he stands closer to the board and lets his eyes drift back and forth. "Why are you so kind to me?" The question falls out of Keith before he can stop it. Flash stops abruptly in his movements, and looks over at Keith with a horrified look. "Why on earth shouldn't I be nice to you. We're on the same team, right?" says Flash, smiling. "Yes, but Superboy, and Wonder Woman are not comfortable with me. And I know many of the others are not either. So why are you?" Why can't he just shut up?! Keith worriedly hugs the teddy bear closer. "Because no one deserves to be judged without a chance. I choose to give everyone a chance to show themselves, before I choose whether I trust them. You haven't had a single chance in life, and yet you keep going. I can see that and I admire it." Flash looks over at the pictures again and runs a hand over the map. "The others have been through a lot and it makes them forget that others can also have a hard time. But you're here to save Batman, or at least that's what you claim. But why should you? In reality, you have no reason to, and you could wait to meet him until WE have found him. But you help. That means something in my book," Flash concludes with a shrug. "Will you come over and help or what?" he says with a wry smile.

Soon the entire floor is covered with pictures and notes. Together with Flash, they have cleared the entire wall and taken everything down to look at it. Some of the notes are in another language that none of them understand. And it has been put aside in a pile. "Well, I think we need to pack this up and take it with us." "It's getting dark soon and we should have been on our way to the plane 20 minutes ago," Flash says and stands up. "I can see if there's a backpack or an old cardboard box somewhere." Flash ventures into the hallway. Keith leans back and feels the satisfying cracks in his back. Then he also gets up and starts putting it all together. "Uhm, Crossborn?" Flash's questioning voice comes from the hallway, and Keith turns his attention to the doorway. Flash is standing with an old cardboard box in his hands and is heading towards him. "Don't freak out," Flash says, handing Keith the cardboard box. He opens the cardboard box. Inside there are a few pictures and some notebooks. At the very top there is a kind of oblong box that looks a bit like a phone. Keith sits down on the floor with the box in front of him with his eyebrows raised. He removes the phone and places it next to his legs. Flash gives him privacy and has started collecting all the notes and pictures. Keith picks up one of the pictures. It depicts a sunrise out on the cabins terrace. Inside the picture, the woman sits and looks at the camera with a nice smile. Her teeth are visible and the large fangs are clear. Keith puts the picture down and takes out another. The other depicts the lady with a small baby in her arms. The baby is wrapped in a purple cloth and lies close to the mother's body. The whole woman's attitude is peaceful. She looks like neither a warrior nor a predator. She looks like a mother holding her beloved child. The third image is a selfie image. It depicts a little Keith on the shoulders of a strong big man. His hair is raven black and resembles Keith's hair color. Little Keith is filled with band-aids, but he sits with the little wooden sword raised high in triumph. The woman is there too. Her hair is a bit longer and on her hip rests a scabbard with a sword. The sword looks recognizable, but Keith can't remember why. The woman's eyes shine with love. The man carrying the boy is most likely the father of the boy. Keith's father. And Keith's mother? Keith flips the images over so that they lie with the subject facing the phone. Okay, you just found a picture of your parents that you don't remember. But you have to pretend nothing until Bruce is back. You can easily do that. Keith takes a deep breath and peeks over at Fash. He still walks around collecting papers, and has he even started humming? Keith shakes his head and turns his attention down to the notebooks in the cardboard box. He lifts the first one and lets his hand slide over the soft leather. It looks used and worn, but still lasts. Keith turns to the first page. It is also in the foreign language. Ketih snorts in frstration. "All right?" Keith looks up and meets Flash's gaze. "Yes, everything is fine. The notebooks are just in the same language as some of the notes." Flash nods in agreement, as if he had expected it to be. "What about the pictures?" and Keith chooses to do something stupid. He grabs the pictures and puts them down to his knife. "What pictures?" he asks stupidly. Flash blinks in confusion and steps closer. "There were three pictures in the box." "There wasn't," Keith says confidently. Flash's brows curl up in confusion. Keith can hear him mumbling something as he walks away, something about how he could have sworn there were three pictures. "Well, it must be my fault. Will you come and help unpack?" says Flash with a smile that doesn't really reach his eyes. Keith kills the bad conscience. He then pulls the box behind him and together they start to collect all the things.

When they finally finish, they have been contacted three times via the earbuds. Flash has repeatedly said that they were just about to go, but then they just found something new to bring. "Are you sure you can bring that much.?" asks Keith uncertainly, as he looks at their big pile. "Yes, absolutely. The cardboard boxes aren't that heavy at all, and you're just on my back." says Flash confidently, turning his back to Keith. Keith climbs up and holds on tightly while Flash bends down and picks up the cardboard boxes. They tied them together with some string, which they grabbed from one of the kitchen drawers, and Keith reluctantly put the teddy bear down in the bottom cardboard box."And you promise you won't lose them, right?" Keith hates how childish his voice sounds."Yes, I promise on Justice League Honor that I won't drop the cardboard boxes," says Flash, while sending a wry smile. "Are you ready?" Keith nods and Flash starts running. The cardboard boxes shake faintly, but not nearly as much as Keith had feared. The run is longer than they both remember. After 10 minutes of running, they can see the glimmer of the steel wings in the sun. Keith can finally feel the effects of not sleeping all day yesterday, and his eyelids are heavy when they arrive on the plane. However, Zatanna has been waiting for them with the doors open. Flash stops just before the ramp, and Keith clumsily crawls down. Together they walk up the ramp and Keith throws himself into his seat with a sigh. Flash smiles and carries the cardboard boxes inside and puts them on the floor in front of Keith. Keith gives a grateful nod back and lets his eyes drop. "Crossborn, is everything okay?" Nightwing's voice comes from the right side and Keith opens his eyes to look at his brother. He meets the gaze of all his brothers. Keith just nods tiredly and makes a gesture with his hands that signals later. The others nod in understanding and gets silent. Wonder Woman and Superman don't seem to be talking anytime soon. So Keith rests his head on the window and lets his eyes drop. Not long has he been lulled to sleep by the plane's gentle hum.

Humming voices sound all around him. The voices are very different. Some are light, others are dark, young, old, hoarse, every singing voice is around him. But everything is still dark. The darkness is lightning and sends warmth through Keith's entire body. "Look at the signs." The humming voices begin to chant in unison. A lot of flashes of light glide around Keith.
Look at the signs
Look at the signs!
Look at the signs!!
The voices are becoming more and more insisting. Keith looks around in the darkness and catches a small flash of light ahead. Even though he has learned the saying that one should not seek the light, he does it anyway. The light becomes stronger and ends up in an image. The overwhelming urge to draw fills Keith's entire body, and he can't focus on anything, but the picture in front of him.

Tim's POV.

Keith fell asleep almost as soon as he sat down. He must have really needed it. Whatever Flash and him found in that hut, had shaken his brother so violently. Tim feels unwell. It's not that bats usually get a break from their chaotic lives, but Keith was thrown straight into it without warning. Tim lets his eyes drift away from his brother's sleeping body and towards Nightwing, who is sitting and talking to Wonder Woman. "We didn't find anything of importance either," says Wonder Woman frustrated. She and Tim had been flying for several hours, and he could clearly feel it in his body. He was cold through and his limbs were stiff and creaking after many hours of non-use. So had Robin. However, he didn't seem to feel any trouble. But on the other hand, Damien would never admit that he was tired, or in any way felt bad. "Me and Green Arrow didn't find anything on the ground either, there were no wheel tracks leading anywhere out by the mountains and there were no suspicious vehicles at the tourist spot either," says Nightwing and slides further down on the seat. The worry is shining out of his older brother and Tim wished there was something he could do. As soon as we land, I hurry back to the cave and analyze Keith's drawing again. Sleep can wait.

A half-choked sound comes over from Keith and is the first sign of life in some time. Tim looks over at him with furrowed brows. Keith turns around facing Tim and the others. His mask covers his eyes, but his brows can be faintly seen. And what Tim sees is that they are deeply curled up in tension. He mumbles something unintelligible and squirms in his seat. Tim is just about to get up to check on him, but he doesn't say anything again and he lies completely still. Tim waits for a few seconds. Nothing happens. Keith's face is blank and he breathes quietly again. Tim looks over at Nightwing. Dick had also noticed Keith, and they now made eye contact. Dick shrugged his shoulders and continued talking to Wonder Woman. A loud gasp startles everyone in the cabin, and everyone turns their attention to Crossborn. The said boy sits straight and stiff in the seat. His eyes are wide open and completely engulfed in black. "Oh, shit." comes startled from Flash, who jumps away from Crossborn. Tim has to admit that his brother looks somewhat scary. Keith's eyes search the entire cabin, and he stands up with a fluid movement. He rushes around in the cabin, clearly looking for something. None of the others move. Damien is the first to react. "Crossborn?" Damien sneaks a little closer to the looking boy. As if everyone else is woken up by Damien's words, everyone starts to get up. Nightwing moves closer with Wonder Woman, while Green Arrow and Flash are left back with agitated looks. Superman moves out into the cabin to update Zatanna. And Tim, yes Tim just stays put. Keith's movements become more and more hectic. Nightwing tries to speak to him calmly, but it's as if he doesn't hear him. "Crossborn, snap it off!" shouts Wonder Woman. She has grabbed hold of her lasso, but does not use it yet. Keith can't seem to find what he's looking for. The next thing he does scares them all. He sits down abruptly and bites his arm. Hard. A chorus of screams sounds around Tim, but not from Keith himself. He just sits and bites. Then he removes his teeth and blood pours out. "Cross.!" screams Tim frantically. Keith just squeezes so that the blood flows more and then he puts a finger against the blood. He brings his bloody finger down to the floor and starts drawing. Wonder Woman is about to throw the lasso around him when Tim realizes something. "No, you can't.!" He shouts loudly and jumps in front, so the lasso wraps around him instead. "Red Robin, what are you doing?!" Wonder Woman sounds monotonous, but to a trained ear, one can discern concern. "He needs something to draw with." shouts Tim from his seat from the floor. The others look at him confused at first, but Damien seems to catch it. He runs to a seat on the plane and presses a button that Tim didn't know was there. A hidden compartment pops out from the side. The room is filled with coloring books, markers, a first aid kit, and other things. Damien quickly takes the markers and spreads them in front of Keith. Keith, however, continues to use his blood, and quickly draws as if it hurts him not to. Damien is not cowed, however, and resolutely hands Keith one of the markers. First, Keith stops completely stiff in his body again. But then the drawing begins, this time with the marker. Everyone lets a sigh of relief fall from their lips, the bat brothers the loudest. Tim makes eye contact with both of them and can read their thoughts behind their gaze. Mostly because it's the same thoughts that run around in his head. If they don't find Batman soon, this is going to get a lot worse.

Keith keeps drawing. The entire flight, he sits on the floor and fills it with pictures. Some are simple and take him no time. Others he spends several minutes on, and they are so detailed that it is like being there yourself. Superman came back shortly after Damien handed the marker to Keith. "Zatanna will look at him when we land." he said in a sad voice. The tension was noticeable in the air. Tim can't wait to get back to the Batcave and back to his beloved computer. There he could do something to help. Not here. Damien hadn't said a word since the hidden compartment in the seat. Not even when Nightwing asked how he knew about it. He had just stared at Keith and kept a close eye on him. Tim didn't quite know for what reason. Either because he didn't trust Keith or because he would be ready to help. With Damien, it was probably both. Dick hadn't said much either. He sits just like Damien and looks down at Keith, but with a more absent-minded look. As if he was looking through Keith, and not at him. "Hey, we're landing in 5 minutes." Zatanna says quietly. Everyone, except Damien, looks up and locks eyes. How were they going to remove Keith from their drawings? "I think we'll have to let Crossborn stay put, until he's here again," Flash says quietly. He hadn't said a word and had seemed completely out of it when Crossborn became like this. They must have had a good trip together. Keith had actually seemed happy enough when he came back. Or as happy as he used to be.

"We're flying over the mountain now," Zatanna says over the speakers. The plane shakes slightly from flying over the magic barriers, but otherwise it goes smoothly. "We'll land in 30 seconds." Zatanna sends the message out to the whole mountain, and not just on the plane. The landing is soft and soon the engines are completely switched off. Green Arrow and Superman are the first to rush out of the plane. Flash quietly steps over to Keith's seat and takes the cardboard boxes. Flash smiles sadly at them and, carrying the cardboard boxes, he moves out of the plane. Zatanna comes out into the cabin to the others, and sits down tensely next to Wonder Woman. "I know I've said I'll give it a try, but if even Martian can't, I doubt I can do anything," Zatanna says with a sad smile. "I think it's best to do it while he's under this kind of trance, though, as it makes the magic more apparent," she continues. Tim looks over at Dick worriedly. However, he hasn't really done anything to engage in the conversation. So Tim chooses to answer instead. "Whatever you think works best, Z," Tim says with a sigh. Zatanna looks at him wonderingly, but takes him at his word. Wonder Woman doesn't say anything to it, but sits ready with the lasso. Damien looks at her briefly and then back at Keith. Keith, however, doesn't seem to notice anything. He continues his frantic movements. His current drawing is the largest, and the one he has spent the longest time on. Tim can't quite see what it's supposed to represent from his seat.

"What in the world?" Zatanna says breathlessly, and the glow from her hands becomes fainter. She tries to reach out her hands, but it looks like she's stuck in the air. "Zatanna?" says Wonder Woman carefully. "I... I've never seen anything like it" "Irf gim pils." hisses Zatanna angrily. Her hands twitch more and more, but they linger and the color that shines from them is now fiercely red. Zatanna's face turns paler and sweat starts to run from her temples. "! Irf ås gim pils" she shouts, and a wind spreads in the cabin. Suddenly, the magic releases its grip on Zatanna and she flies backwards in her seat, of her own pulling, with a loud gasp. Keith continues to draw completely unaffected. "Wow," Zatanna says from her place on the floor. "It's crazy. I've never seen such strong magic before." Wonder Woman gets up and helps Zatanna back into her seat. "This is not something I can help with, Wonder," she says with a shake of her head. Nightwing finally seems to wake up, because he lets out a half-choked gasp. "But I might have a friend who can help," she concludes with a hand on Nightwing's shoulder. Dick looks up at her gratefully. "For now, we just have to wait for him to get out."

Chapter Text

Keith's pov

Keith is completely overwhelmed by the sight. The lion is majestic and stands proudly in front of him. Its metal sparkles and the blue color pops into the eye. The blue shield around it, glows like glowsticks in the dark. The cave is dark and dim, but it is large and with high ceilings. The road to the lion was certainly not easy either. When the urge to draw had overwhelmed him, he had "landed" in the middle of the cave passage. The entrance to the cave was narrow, and every time Keith moved towards it, his left arm radiated up in burning pain. So he figured that was stupid, and didn't try that again. The walls of the cave were adorned with drawings in similar colors to the lion's shield. The drawings depicted different things. Some were of humans, or something that looked like people, with sticks in their hands. Others depicted galloping creatures that looked a bit like a horse and yet didn't, and a giant beast roaring, to name just a few. Keith had walked through the hallway, stopping at each drawing and drawing it to the best of his ability. When he finished drawing the passage of the cave and the drawings, the floor began to shake and a double glowing circle spread around him. Between the two circles there was a kind of rune that glittered and then the entire cave, the floor on which Keith was standing, disappeared. He fell down and was met by ice-cold water. And he certainly didn't scream. The direction of the water was like a water slide and led him deeper into the cave. A huge waterfall met him further ahead and the water splashed around him when he landed in a huge underground pool. Keith had swam towards the shore with a bit of perplexity and, to his great surprise, found the large mechanical lion in front of him. In front of the lion's paws, a shadow rests unconsciously against the shield. Batman's body is recognizable and Keith can feel his blood running cold. He rushes towards Batman's body. As he runs, he tries to see if there are any visible injuries and if he is breathing at all. At first glance there don't seem to be any, luckily, all Keith can be seen is. He runs even faster. When he is about 10 meters free, the lion's eyes start to glow golden and Keith stops abruptly. The urge to draw is doubled and Keith can do no mercy but listen.

Lance's/Frostbite pov

Crossborn is sitting on the floor of the plane and looks miserable. His left arm is soaked in blood, but he doesn't seem to feel it. His body is curled up across the floor and he draws frantically. It's actually a bit creepy that he has no control over himself. I didn't want to be bound like that. But on the other hand, I had never succumbed. Lance smiles slyly to himself. "Why are you smiling like that, Frost.?" Stoneheart, or Hunk, as his real name is, sits with his legs crossed. He holds his cards close to his body with a concentrated gaze, and looks at the small pile of cards that has begun to spread at the feet of Technician, or Pidge as her real name is. Although it's Lance's turn to keep an eye on Crossborn and make sure he doesn't hurt himself, they've joined him and they're now sitting on the plane with blankets, snacks (made up of Hunk's homemade cookies), and card games. "Nothing, buddy." Lance knows that Hunk won't care about his thoughts. Hunk is a good person and rarely thinks badly of others. Lance and Pidge are quickly more judgmental. Mixed in with Lance's bad habit of talking before he thinks, it's not a very good combination.
"This plane makes me completely cold," Pidge snarls angrily from her pile of blankets. She had come prepared, with three fluffy blankets and two pairs of woolen socks. Their suits aren't the warmest, but Lance doesn't notice it at all. He never feels cold. It probably has something to do with his powers. "Language," Hunk admonished. "You sound like Nightwing," Pidge replies again, holding out her tongue. "You have to talk like a role model and a mature adult, Technician. Not like a 15 year old." says Lance in his best Nightwing voice. He stood up and put his hands on his hips while looking down at Pidge sternly. She grunts with laughter and holds her stomach while laughing out loud. And Lance notices that Hunk's lips move up into a small smile. A warm feeling spreads in his stomach and Lance lets himself fall to the floor with a satisfied smile. The joy of making your friends laugh makes pride bloom. Hunk looks down at his cards with newfound concentration. He draws a card and throws it into the deck. "HA, I'm winning.!" Pidge shouts loudly and leaps forward with her cards in front of her. "What, again!?" Lance squeals as he throws himself theatrically to the floor with his limbs out on all sides.
"Yeah, she did" mutters Hunk, disappointed. Although they have played three rounds, he did not manage to win a single one. Pidge won the first, then Lance, and then a tie between Pidge and Lance. And now Pidge has won again. Hunk almost never wins, but he takes it nicely. It's just so typical Hunk.

"I'm bored!" exclaims Lance from the floor. His attention span is roughly equivalent to that of a 7-year-old. "I don't want to play cards anymore," Pidge says as she gathers the cards. Hunk has started to stand up. "Hey, where are you going?" Lance looks up with big dog eyes at Hunk, who shrugs his shoulders awkwardly. "I'm going to get up and cook, Lance. I can't put it off much more." Pidge also stands up with the blankets all around her. "Pidge?" "I don't want to sit here much longer. Nothing will happen anyway," she murmurs and begins to untangle herself from her blankets. Already at the first blanket, she shivers from the cold. Just as Pidge's words leave her, Crossborn straightens up with a jerk. Lance, who is sitting closest to him, creeps away from him with a scream. "What the heck.." Hunk stutters and backs away with raised hands as if Crossborn is about to jump on him. Pidge doesn't move, but gets huge curious eyes. Crossborn begins to move his body. He first moves his left arm but contracts in pain. He doesn't make a sound. That gives Lance the creeps. Crossborn shakes his head and looks down on the drawings surrounding him. His eyebrows curl in an emotion that Lance can't guess. "What... where?" he doesn't seem to know what has happened, though. "Hhello?" Hunk tries cautiously. Crossborn's attention shoots at Hunk and his body seems to tense, ready to attack. Pidge obviously sees it too, because she straightens up a little and discreetly puts her hand on her left loin. Lance knows that's where her weapons rest. Crossborn doesn't say more, but continues to look at Hunk. "Hey, do you remember us or are you completely gone. Because you sure stare a lot." growls Lance angrily. He has finally regained control and he jumps up with his hands on his hips. Crossbron looks at Lance in annoyance. He clearly remembers me. Whether this is a good thing, Lance doesn't quite know yet. However, Crossborn does not answer Lance's questions. "Where are the others?" Crossborn has risen up. He sways violently and leans on one of the seats. Hunk, being the amazing creature he is, tries to help. But Crossborn just raises a hand in warning. Hunk sadly lowers his hands. You don't make Hunk sad on my watch. Lance is about to say something when Crossborn starts moving. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" Lance stands hovering in front of Crossbron and stops him. Not that it took much. "Why are you so interested?" Crossborn looks up at him defiantly and Lance rejoices at the height difference. "Because you are my responsibility. I'm on Crossborn duty." Lance hovers his chest forward tantalizingly. "Then you won't like what I'm doing now." Crossborn smiles without warmth and shoots forward. It all happens so fast that Lance can't stop it. Crossborn first throws a powdered chalk right in Lance's face. Lance stutters and squirts as he stumbles backwards. He can't see anything, but he can hear the commotion and Hunk's counsel behind him, followed by a big bang. "Hey.!" Pidge sounds surprised and a small scream falls from her lips before a minor bump sounds. Lance rubs his eyes furiously to remove the chalk "What the hell are you doing?!" He turns around angrily and a chill flows from him. Ice crystals form on the windows of the plane, and Lance can see Crossborn's breath. White spots float around in his gaze, but Lance still sends off a jet of ice. He blindly attacks the blurred form in front of him. Crossborn slides down to his knees and sweeps his legs away from under Lance. He lands heavily on the floor. But Lance wastes no time. He reaches out his hands and grabs Crossborn's biceps tightly. "Why are you doing this?!" they tumble around on the floor. Unfortunately, Crossborn gets the upper hand. Lance is lying on the floor on his back. His arms are held firmly above his head and Crossborn sits heavily on his lap and holds his legs down. "Because I have to find Batman." Crossborn's voice is strained and out of air. It's also the last thing that Lance picks up before his head is smashed to the floor.

Dark shadows creep in and Lance lies completely limp on the floor. Crossbron gets up wobbly and he stumbles down to the floor again. Lance battles the shadows fiercely, but they are fast approaching. Crossborn gets up again and he moves down towards the cockpit. Lance loses the battle against the shadows, and the last thing he sees is Crossborn turning on the plane's engine.

Lances pov.

Lance slowly returns to his senses. The first thing he feels is a thundering headache floating from the back of his head. Strange noises flow past him, but he can't really focus on any of the sounds. Lance gets his sense of smell next. Convenient when he now needs to use his sense of hearing. A strong smell of chalk and blood fills his nostrils and Lance desperately wants to move his head away from the smell. "Froosst?" The sounds finally form things he understands. But why do they say frost? It's not frozen, is it? Far too late, Lance realizes that it is his alias that is being shouted at. Panic begins to set in as Lance begins to remember what has happened. His body chooses to function at that moment and he lifts his heavy head off the floor. With a little difficulty, Lance straightens up on his knees and hands. "Frost.?" the voice whispers again. A hand lands on his shoulder. Lance looks to the left and looks straight into a yellow suit. He looks up and is greeted by Hunk's worried face. "Hunk?" The word stumbles out of Lance's mouth and he looks around confused. Hunk has put a finger to his lips and he straightens his head towards the cockpit of the plane. Lance follows his gaze. On the way, his gaze meets Pidge's shape, which is leaning against one of the seats. She looks at him scarily. Lance looks further and into the cockpit. Crossborn's cape has been thrown on the floor and Crossborn himself is sitting in the plane's driver's seat. Lance looks over at Hunk again. However, he shrugs, and looks just as confused as Lance feels. "Is everyone alive over there." Crossborn's voice is hoarse and sounds quite strained. "What the fuck is going on.?" Pidge's voice is shrill, and Lance shrinks. He has never heard her so angry before. Lance makes eye contact with Hunk and Hunk looks uncomfortable himself. "We're on our way back..." Crossborn stops talking and coughs. Violently. With such a hoarse voice while it sounds like he's suffocating. His form collapses and the plane makes a sharp dive. "Woahhh.!" All three scream loudly, but Crossborn quickly corrects himself. "Sorry." he croaks, his head turned towards them. He raises a hand and wipes a few drops of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Eyes on the sky!" shouts Hunk frantically. Crossborn says nothing, but does as Hunk wishes. "Okay." Pidge takes a deep breath before continuing, "Okay, now I want to know what the fuck you think we are going." Pidge's voice is ice-cold, and she angrily directs her gaze towards Crossborn. "We're on our way back to the mountains, where I was earlier with the others." "Huh.? Had you just thought that we were going with or what? Hunk is going to cook dinner for the rest of the team and it's fucking movie night today. It's even my turn to choose. My turn.!" Lance is rambling angrily and has stood up in excitement. He angrily stomps out to Crossborn in the cockpit.

Crossborn flies like it's the only thing he's done in his life. This causes Lance to completely stop in the opening out to him. Crossborn's hands fly over the consoles and he flies with such a carefree face. Lance can feel the envy in his stomach. "Please get all the way in. Just know that if you remove me from the seat, we will crash." Crossborn doesn't even turn around to look at Lance. Lance wakes up again and stomps hard next to Cross. "Listen, Crossy. I don't know who you think you are, but you can't get away with stealing a plane, a Justice League plane even, and then kidnapping three of the members of Young Justice. So right now it doesn't look very bright for you." he growls angrily. "It's Crossborn for you, popsicle." snorts Crossborn. He has turned around and is now looking at Lance challengingly. But before Lance can do anything, Hunk and Pidge come out to them. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't pick you down." Pidge is back to her normal tone of voice, but the threat sounds sincere. "I don't think it's a very good idea to provoke the pilot, Tech." mutters Hunk nervously. "I have no hidden plans for you. As soon as we land, you are welcome to leave again. You can even take the plane, I don't care. I have a mission." Crossborn shrugs. "Don't you think the Justice League will discover that their plane is missing.?" Pidge's question is one of Lance's as well, so he leans forward a little to listen. "Certainly, I don't count on anything else. But by then we will be ready to go home, and we will have an extra passenger with us." "Who?" asks Lance quickly. He has never had patience. "Batman, of course." Crossborn turns to him, and sends him a grim smile. Lance takes a step back, uncomfortable. "Do you know where he is?" Lance sounds a little too eager. Pidge kicks him across the shin and sends him a look he doesn't quite catch. Lance shrugs her shoulders and turns his attention to Crossborn. "No.." If Lance hadn't looked closely, he would have missed it, but he saw it. Crossborn looked worried. Which makes no sense. From what Nightwing and the others have said about Crossborn, he should not have any special connection to Batman. And yet, this mysterious boy sits and looks wildly worried over a stranger. Something didn't fit the story. "No, but I have a really good idea of where he is." Crossborn continues firmly. "Okay, so you're not going to do anything to us.?" Crossborn shakes his head in response. "Why on earth did you attack us then?!" says Lance indignantly and with his nose high. "I thought you were going to stop me." Crossborn turns around "You seemed particularly keen on it." His glare sharpens towards Lance. "I'm not apologizing. Just so you know" says Lance, leaning forward to invade Crossborn's personal space. Crossborn leans away from him, with barely shown teeth in a hiss. Lance chooses not to comment on it.

"We will land in a moment. So buckle up." Crossborn's voice comes from the cockpit and it gives Lance a big shock, so he jumps in his seat. After their little reconciliation talk, Pidge, Hunk and himself had sat down in some seats in the cabin. Together with Crossborn, they had agreed to stay with him to help.

"You don't look too good, mate." Lance leaned heavily over Crossborn's seat and looked around at the buttons and all the flashing lights. Crossborn quickly yanked him away. "I'm not your mate," Crossborn says, annoyed. "And I'm fine," he insists. However, the tone is not quite as firm anymore. Crossborn's already pale skin has become paler and he also looks more tired. "Either way, we want to help. That's kind of what we're here for, right," Hunk says with a smile and gives a light squeeze on Crossborn's shoulders. Lance sees how Crossborn's whole body tenses up and how he freezes in his seat. After that, they sat out in the cabin to kill some time. "Good, because this can't get much more BORING." exclaims Lance loudly and tragically. He had previously flung himself over two seats and sighed loudly every two seconds. Even Hunk, who can usually handle quite a lot of Lance, had looked strained. "Get ready," Crossborn just says. Lance hurries to look out the window. He is greeted by the sight of a huge mountain range and sand. A lot of sand. A whole fucking desert. "Oh no," Pidge exclaims. Lance looks over at her worriedly, "I don't have sunscreen with me." she looks at him with a twinkle in her eye, and he giggles. Hunk lets out a tired sigh, but laughs a little along. Lance looks out the window again. It has approached the ground significantly and he is starting to get a little nervous. It's one thing to fly, it's another to land. He grips the armrest on both sides and gets ready for a huge bump ride. But nothing comes. One moment he is holding on to his whole life and the next there is a voice: "We have landed." Crossborn sounds tired. Lance looks out and sure enough, they are. He had hardly felt anything when they landed. Maybe Crossborn really had done nothing but fly.

"Here's the plan." Crossborn have moved out to them. He had walked slowly but more confidently on his feet. "I know there are some motorcycles in the trunk of the plane. We're going towards this mountain range." Crossborn pulls out a piece of paper. It's full of a lot of sound waves. "It's not a mountain range, idiot. It's sound waves." Lance can't really help himself. Crossborn just looks over at him annoyed. "If we compare it to a mountain range, it fits. Or at least that's the hope." "Have we gone all the way out here, to look for a mountain range that might look like these waves.? You can't be serious" Lance stands up and looks down at Crossborn. "Frost, relax." Hunk puts a hand on Lance's shoulder. He smiles kindly at Lance and Lance quickly falls back into his seat with a snort. "Stone, I have an idea." Pidge's voice has acquired its special sound. The sound that indicates that her brain is working on something amazing. Hunk looks over at her. "If we now make a monitor, a bit like a radio, we can get it to focus on exactly these sound waves. And then we can find the mountain range Crossy is looking for." a smug smile spreads on her face. "Kind of like a metal detector.?" says Lance confused. The smile is quickly replaced by a downcast expression. "Yes, Frost, precise as a metal detector." she murmurs. Lance smiles with satisfaction that he understood the technicalities. He rejoices even more when he sees Crossborn's confused face. Ha, take it.

"Can you make it now?" asks Crossborn hesitantly. To that, Pidge just smiles and cracks her knuckles."Watch me" with Hunk on her side, Pidge sets about converting one of the walkie-talkies they find in a first aid kit. Quickly, they have made a small device that immediately starts beeping. "What does that mean?" says Crossborn excitedly. "That, my friend, means we're close." Hunk smiles proudly and stands up."What are we waiting for?" Pidge smiles up at Lance and Hunk and stands up as well. In a group, they head for the door and step out into the desert.

Chapter Text

Keith's pov

Keith is not exactly happy about this change. His plan had been easy. Wake up from the shitty trance, grab the plane, find the mountain range, rescue Batman, go home. It couldn't be simpler. However, his plan had already failed at point two. Keith didn't exactly expect that he would have guards with him, so when he woke up to three strangers with him, you could say that he was surprised. The fact that it is the most annoying member of Young Justice who had been put in charge did not help. Luckily, they hadn't been prepared, and he had easily taken them down. However, he would have to take them with him. Keith definitely regrets that. He should have just thrown them out on the landing pad and flown without them. Then he wouldn't have been trapped with the crybaby Frostbite out in this shitty desert. "Can't you just shut up?" whispers Keith sourly. They have been walking for about half an hour, and he is already exhausted. But you don't fucking hear him complaining. "But it's so HOT." whines Frostbite. He is furthest behind and drags himself along. Sweat runs down his face and his hair sticks to his temples. Keith probably doesn't look much better. Especially not dressed in black. He feels it's a bit like being in an oven. "We'll be there soon, Frost." Stoneheart smiles reassuringly at his friend, stoneheart has taken his cloak and holds it above Technician's head so she can look at the screen and at the same time to give her some shade. "We're going to take a right turn here." she mumbles and starts to turn sharply. They have moved together into a ditch between two mountain ranges, and have twisted into corners and climbed over some rapids. "Look!" she suddenly exclaims. And there out in the horizon is his mountain range. He pulls out the papers with fumbling hands, and holds it up to compare. "That's right." Keith sighs with relief and speeds up. He starts running, and behind him he can hear the others complaining. But he continues anyway: "Crossborn, wait," Stoneheart says strainedly. A shadow approaches from the left side. "Try to keep up." Frostbite smiles mischievously and shoots forward at speed. Keith looks at him in amazement and rushes after him with a shout. Damn no, if he lets him win. Together they race, gasping next to each other. When they arrive at the beginning of the mountain range, they both stop. Frostbite came forward a second faster than Keith. Yet Frostbite hovers as if he had won the Olympics. "Ha, take it, you slow fart." Frostbite spins around herself and does a victory dance. He laughs out loud and sticks his tongue out at Keith. Keith can't quite bring himself to be angry, though. He just gasps for breath. Stoneheart and Technician join him and they all gather their breaths for a few minutes. "Look there!" exclaims Hunk. Further down in the ditch there is a small opening into a cave. It must be there! Keith runs forward and jumps down to the opening. The others will soon follow.

The cave looks completely like itself. The drawings on the walls match exactly the ones Keith has seen in his trance. Behind him, loud gasps are heard. "Wow." For the first time, Frostbite's voice is completely low. Keith turns to them. Frostbite stands with admiration in his eyes, Stoneheart has covered his mouth with his hands and big eyes. Technician stands and looks around in amazement. "Completely blown away, huh, big guy.?" Frostbite says amused. "It's so beautiful!" Stoneheart lets a trembling hand run over the drawings. But something doesn't fit. The drawings do not glow blue as they did before. Keith steps closer to the drawings and lets a hand run over the grooves himself. Frostbite comes up on his side. "Why aren't you as surprised as the rest of us?" "I've already seen this. But there they were shining blue." Keith looks over at Frostbite, who is looking at him strangely. "How blue.?" Frost removes some dust from one of the drawings to be able to see it better. As soon as his hand touches the drawing, it begins to glow brightly. "That's how." whispers Keith. Frostbite looks over at him worriedly. At the same time, the floor begins to shake and the circles with the runes appear on the floor. However, the circle is larger and catches them all. "Get ready," Keith shouts loudly as the floor disappears beneath them.

A cascade of shouts sounds around him. Frostbite is in front of him, screaming in the cloud of savage. Technician sits on Stoneheart's shoulders and pulls his hair. Keith also screams, preserved, but much lower than the others. They all land in the water with a huge splash, Stoneheart the biggest. "OMG." whines Frostbite loudly. He treads water and looks around angrily. Technician, scowls from her seat behind the shoulders of the Stonehearts. She has switched from sitting on them to holding on with white knuckles. Keith himself immediately swims towards the shore. The lion stands as it should, glittering in the cave. Behind him, Keith can hear the splash of the others swimming after him. "Wait." Frostbite rushes up to his side. "What is that?" The amazement is evident in his voice. Keith just snorts and swims faster. The hope of finding Batman brings out new powers in him. At last he reaches the bank, and he drags himself up. "Batman!" He shouts loudly and hurries back up to his feet. His knees protest and he falls hard to the ground again. "Hey, be careful." Frostbite has come up on his side. He doesn't do anything to help him up, and Keith is only happy about that. Keith pushes hard off the ground and falters a few steps. He then heads steely towards the lion's shield of power. "Does anyone else get the feeling that it's staring at them?" Frostbite goes slightly from side to side and looks mystified. Stoneheart replies confused "No?" "Yeah, the eyes are totally following me," his brows curl in confusion. Keith reaches the force field first, resting his hands on the cool surface. There is no vision of Batman, or that there have been any people at all. "I wonder how we get through this?" wonders Keith out loud. "Maybe you just have to knock?" Frostbite first reaches up to him and knocks on the forcefield with two firm knocks. The forcefield glows brighter and the eyes of the lion begin to glow yellow. The forcefield goes out and hidden runes around the lion begin to glow. The lion moves and rises up. It moves its head down towards all of them and Stoneheart and Technician scream loudly. Frostbite stands as if frozen next to him. "Frost!" Keith shouts loudly and quickly pushes him away. The lion growls angrily and deep down from the throat. Keith stands completely still and looks at it. Frostbite looks around hesitantly. "Can the rest of you hear it?" he asks, a little panicked. "Hear what? The lion?" whispers Keith. Frostbite nods hesitantly. "No, what does it say?" "It says welcome, first paladin." As soon as the words are out of Frostbite's mouth, the lion moves again. It straightens up and starts roaring. Loud. The whole cave shakes and everyone screams again. The lion finishes and looks down with shining eyes. "Does it say anything?" whispers Technician. Frostbite just looks at the lion enchanted, without responding. He steps one step closer to the lion, and Keith instinctively reaches out for him. But Frostbite just shakes off his hand and stands in front of the lion. The lion turns its gaze down to Frostbite and lowers its head towards him. Then a dull hum starts pouring out from it. The lion begins to shrink. It is getting smaller and smaller. At first it's the size of their plane. Then a house, an elephant, a car and finally it's about the size of a lion, though a little bigger. "Wow" comes breathless from Stoneheart. The lion circles around Frostbite once before it sits down and starts licking its fur? Metal? "Whaaaat?" exclaims Frostbite hoarsely. "Does it say anything?" Keith steps one step closer to Frostbite. The lion looks up, but luckily doesn't do anything. "Nothing other then that we have to find the others." Frostbite shrugs. "Find the others. Who? Justice League.?" tries Stoneheart. The lion does not react, but continues to lick. "No, um, how about... Batman?" tries Keith hopefully. The lion lifts an ear, but otherwise nothing. "Should we find others like you?" Technician's question is almost inaudible, but the lion turns its full attention to her. "Yes." whispers Frostbite. "Do you know where Batman is.?" I... we really need to find him." tries Keith. The lion snorts and begins to walk further into the cave. It continues to a small fault of rocks and moves on from there. "It must know the way out.?" Technician mumbles confused. Keith rushes after the lion. "Listen, do you know where he is? Batman? I really need his help.'" She doesn't know. "She says we need Red's help." helps Frostbite. "Does she know where we're going?" asks Stoneheart cautiously. "She is showing us the way back to the plane. Then we have to find the other lions and only then can we find Batman." Frostbite shrugs.

They have walked for quite a while before they come out from the ditch's narrow path. The lion confidently walks everywhere and disappears several times from sight, as she is faster than them. However, Frostbite always seems to know which path to take to find her again. Keith's thoughts are racing. He thought he was going to find Batman. And now they are getting sidetracked yet again. He angrily kicks several loose stones and quickly falls behind the others while pondering. "Prince?" a voice sounds in the wind and Keith quickly turns around with raised fists. "Who's there?" he growls angrily. "There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of." The voice is recognizable and Keith can feel the cold spreading through his body. The voice belongs to the hooded woman from the darkness. "Come forward," Keith spits out, moving around in a circle. The others have disappeared around a corner without him, so he is completely alone. "To find the other lions, you have to look in the source of our language." The voice is closer and Keith is desperately looking around for something. Come on. A cold feeling hits him on the cheek. Keith is locked in his entire body. "You're stronger than I thought. Which is annoying. But that will probably change. Just wait, my prince of darkness." The cold feeling travels across his lips and down his neck. Here it stays a bit and there is more pressure. Keith gasps, half-choked. A laugh comes through the wind, and the feeling disappears as if it has never been there. "Crossborn, are you coming?" Technicians' voice brings Keith back and he breathes in big mouthfuls of air. "Are you okay?" Her voice sounds a little closer. Keith turns around and starts moving towards her. "Fine," he says in passing, with a neutral voice and face.

The lion finds the plane surprisingly quickly. Keith sticks to the rear end and away from the others. The cold and anxiety are still in him and he doesn't know what to do. This woman is stalking him and keeps getting in his way. I wonder if she is to blame for the trances? Keith wears the nerves on his clothes. He goes so far into his own thoughts that he doesn't notice them arriving to the plane. He continues forward with his head turned down towards the sand and doesn't look up at all. The others, of course, discover that he is moving on. "Hmm, Crossborn?" Stoneheart's voice is wondering and a bit worried. Keith's head rushes up to the sound and he is so surprised that he stops his walk. He is somehow good 7 meters away from the others. "What?" he says neutrally. Stoneheart's expression becomes more worried, Technician's brows contract in thoughts, and Frostbite just shakes his head as he points a finger at the plane at his side. Keith can feel the blush spreading to his ear. He ducks his head to the ground and hurries quickly to the others. He doesn't say anything, but slips up the ramp and into the driver's seat. Behind him, he can hear the others moving up. "Guys, the lion isn't following" Frostbite shouts out. Keith gets up annoyed and heads out again. He is met by Stoneheart and Technician who had not quite made it in. And sure enough, the lion is sitting down in the middle of the sand and is looking up defiantly at Frostbite. "Does it say anything more.?" Ask Stoneheart gently. The lion growls, "She," Keith and Frostbite say at the same time. Frostbite looks over at Keith in amazement, who defiantly raises his eyebrows. Frostbite snorts, but says no more. "No, not really. I don't know what's wrong?" Frostbite looks down at the lion a little sad. And right there in that second, Keith's brain chooses to turn off. He steps down from the ramp with brisk steps and stands right in front of the lion. She looks up at him calmly, with a little surprise. Behind him, he can hear three gasps in unison. "Wouldn't you please say what you want.? I'm going home to find Batman." Keith looks at her calmly and squats down in front of her. "You see, I've lost all my memories. All of them. And I want them back. I want ME back. But I can't do that without him. So please help us." Keith maintains eye contact with her. There is complete silence for a few seconds. "She will get on the plane. But only if she can sit in the cockpit." whispers Frostbite in a strange voice. Keith says nothing, but stands up with stiff legs. A lump has settled in his throat. He moves quickly up the ramp and sits back in the chair. The burning sensation in his eyes is not tears. He doesn't cry! Steps sound again from the ramp and Keith squints his eyes hard. He takes a few deep breaths. Fortunately, the steps do not come close to him. A soft hand lands on his shoulder, and Keith gets a huge shock. He forces his body to not react and continues to sit with his eyes closed. "You'll get your memories back. We'll help you." Technician's voice is gentle and surprisingly soothing. She holds her hand there for a few seconds and then heads out to sit down. "We're all in." Frostbite sounds strange. His voice has completely lost the fighting spirit that usually is in it. Keith doesn't like pity, so he just hums provocatively. A sharp intake of air tells him it works. "She's coming in with you now." Frostbite says bitterly. A dull sound of metal against metal can be heard after, and then a gentle thump as the lion lies down. Keith takes one last breath and opens his eyes. He lets his hands slide over the various buttons and turns on the plane. He's grateful for muscle memory, otherwise he wouldn't even know how to turn this shit on. Then something comes out of his chaotic thoughts. Halfway through the flight, Keith feels a breath behind him. He tenses up in his whole body and it takes everything in him to not turn around and attack. Fortunately, his rational thinking is still with him, so he just looks over shoulder with an angry look. However, he is only greeted with the sight of glittering blue metal. The lion rests its head gently against the top of Keith's. There is no exchange of words, and it is only for a few minutes, but that is enough. A sense of calm that Keith hasn't felt for a long time spreads and he can finally breathe properly, if only for a few hours.

Static noise comes through the radio by his side and Keith reluctantly picks up the megaphone. "Crossborn, what the hell are you doing!?" Nightwing's angry voice cuts through the air, and Keith shrinks. "You can't just take our plane, and then kidnap and BRING three of the young justice members with you," he continues. "Nightwing, can this wait? I kind of need some help to land." says Keith unaffected. "If I can wait. ..." Nightwing's voice is interrupted by a gentle female voice. "Crossborn, I'll teleport into the plane and help you." Keith doesn't immediately recognize the voice, but comes to the conclusion that it must be Zatanna, as he knows her voice the least. "Okay" he says a little late, when he remembers that he hasn't answered her. A flicker of light forms on the right, and a female figure begins to form. The lion begins to growl and steps in front of Keith. "Hey, what's going on." Frostbite's panicked voice can be heard from the hallway and he comes soon after. "Oh, Zatanna." he exhales. Zatanna's form is clear, and the middle-aged woman stands in front of them with a determined gaze. Her attention is completely focused on the lion. "She doesn't do anything." Who Frostbite is telling it to, isn't clear to Keith. "What is that?" says Zatanna, slowly raising her hands. The lion growls more and shows its sharp teeth. "It's okay, she doesn't do anything," Frostbite says to the lion specifically. They keep sharp eye contact and a kind of conversation, and the lion relaxes again. "We'll talk about this when we've landed," Zatanna says sharply. "But for now, let's get this landed." She looks at Keith. He gets up from the seat still with his hands on the handlebars and waits for Zatanna to sit down. Zatanna takes the control and begins to steer down towards the ground. "Go and sit down both of you." she doesn't even look at them. Keith and Frostbite go out together with the lion behind them. She obviously doesn't want to be with a stranger. Keith sits down in an unoccupied chair and pulls on his seatbelt. Then he pulls his knees up to his chest and looks out the window. A movement on his left side tells him that Frostbite has sat down next to him. "We're in really big trouble, aren't we?" whispers Stoneheart worriedly. Keith doesn't answer, but keeps his eyes glued to the window. "Yes, we are. Because of him," Frostbite says bitterly. Keith snorts at the offended voice. "You could have just not come along. I even told you so," he replies again. He has turned around and is looking into Frostbite's mask. "We didn't choose to go with you. You knocked us down!" Frostbite talks a bit louder. "No, I said I wanted to go and YOU didn't move out of my way." Keith is also raising his voice now. He lets his knees fall back down and looks angrily at Frostbite. "Guys, stop it." Stoneheart is desperately trying to break in. "Shut up!." They both shout back. Frostbite immediately looks guilty and he starts to stutter an apology. Keith shuts off all sound. He pulls his knees back up and rests his head against them. An unmistakably recognizable darkness spreads around his vision, Keith's whole body tenses up and he straightens up abruptly. A surprised gasp sounds from Technician and Frostbite stops with his apology "Cross?" Stoneheart sounds uneasy. "No," Keith whispers pathetically. He can feel the darkness spreading and takes hold of his mind. Keith's body begins to convulse and he falls halfway over Frostbite's body. "Cross!" a chorus of screams sounds around him. The darkness has completely taken his sight and he is losing contact with his body. The toes, legs, fingers, arms and the rest of the body, everything disappears. "What the fuck." a hoarse whisper sounds close to Keith's ear and he holds convulsively to the little sound. "Frost.!" Stoneheart's cry is the last thing Keith hears before he loses to the darkness.

Keith is getting tired of this shit. Colors whirl around in his eyes, without making any sense. Sounds in so many different pitches, accents and languages whiz around him and together with the ringtone it's so violent. Keith sinks to his knees with his hands pressed hard against his ears, but there is no difference. A pitiful whimper escapes from his lips. But then it's as if everything changes. Normally, it all goes away when Keith starts drawing, but now it starts to disappear all by itself. A weight that has not been there before, is by his side. The voices and sounds disappear completely, leaving only the image, which slowly takes shape. Keith gasps and looks up all the way. He is still on his knees with his hands on his ears. With shaking hands he lowers them away from his ear. "What the fuck is going on?!" a voice that in no way belongs here interrupts his chaotic thoughts. Keith looks towards his voice and is greeted with an unpleasant sight.
"Frost?"

Chapter Text

Lance pov.

Fuck no. No with no and an extra big no. Lance politely declines. He wants to go back now. Crossborn had tensed all over his body, and when Stoneheart had asked if he was okay, he had fallen stiffly into Lance's lap. What happens to that.? Hold your own weight, thank you very much! Lance had tried to grab him so that he wouldn't get down on the floor, but a burning heat had engulfed his body. He had crept over Crossborn gasping and could faintly hear Stoneheart's panicked voice. Then his vision had dissolved into flashing vivid colors and Lance had fainted.

When he came to his senses, everything around him was dark. Not just like the, Oh we've just turn on the lights, no pitch black everywhere. Lance could already feel the sweat spreading by his shoulder blades, at the strange heat that seemed to surround him. He isn' t used to being warm. That kinda comes with icepowers. Lance slowly spins around himself, trying to see something in his surroundings. And further ahead there was a small light. Lance feels the relief spread and he starts to move quickly towards it. As Lance gets closer, he can make out a crouched figure on the floor. Lance stops abruptly and looks speechlessly at the little figure. A wild and painful cry can be heard from it. Lance's heart contracts and he slowly moves closer. And what Lance sees is the last thing he expected. Crossborn's breathing is just big gasps for breath and he is shaking with his whole body. His hands covered his ear convulsively and a whimper came from his clenched teeth. Lance doesn't think at all, he moves right towards him and is about to put a hand on his shoulder to shake him out of whatever he's trapped in. But just before he reaches it, Crossborn lets out a huge sigh and almost collapses to the ground. Lance just looks stunned without moving. Crossborn looks up confused and doesn't seem to notice Lance. With trembling hands, he lowers them away from his ears. "What the fuck is going on?!" whispers Lance hoarsely. Crossborn quickly turns his head towards Lance.
"Frost?"

Crossborn's voice is hoarse and completely ruined. His mask is gone, but it's so dark that Lance can't see his face. However, he can glimpse long raven black hair in a kind of mullet. "Do you seriously have a mullet?!" He can recognize a hysterical breakdown when he hears it. His voice falters in tones and is much more shrill than usual. "What?" whispers Cross confused and his voice is completely devoid of life. Something is going on with Lance. To see the hot-tempered, battle-ready, tense boy, so lifeless. All the energy and him himself, is gone. "Where are we?" asks Lance cautiously. He has sunk to his knees next to Crossborn. He gets closer, but it's as if the shadows cover his face. It almost looks like his masks are there, but made of liquid darkness. "Um, I don't really know." mutters Crossborn. He has sat down completely in a crossposition with his arms protectively around his stomach. "Is it always so dark?" says Lance, pulling on the collar of his suit. "And hot". He hums irritated. "Hot?" Crossborn looks at him confused. His brows are pinched in confusion and his head is slightly turned to the left. He looks like a confused puppy. He's a little cute. What, no no, ew, NOT cute.!! "Isn't it hot for you?" asks Lance, when Cross doesn't say anything more. "No." He pauses, and Lance just thinks he's done talking. "For me, it's freezing cold. As if I'm buried in snow and can't get away." His voice slowly rises back to its normal volume. Something deep inside rejoices at the thought that he, Lance, is the one who gets him back again. But it's probably because he's such a good person and a fantastic teammate. "Shit." is what comes out instead of his thoughts. "Is it dark for you?" Crossborn whispers to him. Lance nods slowly. Crossborn sighs tired and lets a hand run over his face. The shadows spread from his hand and settle again around his face. Does he even know that this is happening? God, is Lance wearing a mask! He discreetly picks up his hand and feels for the familiar edge of his mask. He finds it, and holds back a sigh of relief. "For me, it's also dark, but further ahead there is light. The light flickers and it is only there if I focus on it. But there is one," Crossborn says, shrugging. "Theres light?!" exclaims Lance loudly, and Crossborn jerks violently. He nods uncomfortably. "Why on earth are we sitting here then?" Lance gets up uncertainly and begins to walk briskly. But he stops after two steps.1, because he has no idea where the so-called "light" comes from and 2 because Crossborn doesn't follow. Lance looks over his shoulder and sees Crossborn sitting back. Lance sighs in annoyance and walks over to him again. "Come on." He grabs Crossborn's arm and pulls it. He tries to ignore the tension from Cross. "No, stop." Crossborn fights back and the fear in his voice causes Lance to freeze on the spot. He looks down at Crossborn worriedly and the panic is evident on his face, even covered in black. "Okay," he says just as quietly. He gently lets go of Crossborn's arm, and shows his hands. Crossborn's body is battle-ready, a bit like a trapped animal. "Okay," he says more firmly. Crossborn looks around tensely, and his hands alternately, clenching and opening. "Why not?" he asks just as cautiously. "Because... Because if we go over there, I have to draw something and I can't stop. I can't stop and you're alone and it's dark and I can't stop.!" his voice becomes more and more panicked and his breathing turns into big gasps for breath again. Lance does something he never thought he'd do. He pulls Crossborn in for a hug and keeps him tight to his chest. At first, Crossborn seems too far out, but just as quietly he quiets down and his breathing is smooth, against Lance's shoulder. "I'll be fine. But if we're going to get out of here, you'll probably have to draw." he hums against Crossborn's head. A small sigh can be heard and Crossborn pulls away. "I don't know what's in here. I don't know where we are, Frost" he looks up at Lance "I can't help you." His eyes are grave serious. Lance smiles confidently, "As if I need your help, mullet." "It's not a mullet," Cross mumbles, but without a bite. He takes a deep breath. "Can you see anything at all?" he says as he looks around. Lance's smile disappears, and he slowly shakes his head. "Okay. This is going to be uncomfortable for both of us." Crossborn doesn't say anything more before he takes Lances hand.

A shock goes through Lance's entire body. Crossborn's hand is warm, but not like the shadows. His skin is hard from hard work, but still incredibly soft. Somewhere in his brain, he thinks he has to ask what hand cream he uses. Because it can't possibly be natural. His fingerless gloves are gone, just like his mask. I wonder why? What happens to them? How much does Crossborn try to be emo? As his thoughts drift along, his body moves according to Crossborn's pull and direction. He stuttered his way to "Wherreeee" and then no more. A mild blush has spread across Crossborn's cheeks, but he doesn't say a peep. He just pulls Lance behind him towards the supposed light. A couple of times he changes direction and once he stops completely. There he tilts his head, looking like someone who is about to faint. He sways and Lance rushes forward to grab him. But a pale hand was raised towards him and Lance stopped confused. Crossborn stopped swaying, and he ventured forward as if nothing had happened. Lance watched in confusion but followed. They walked for some time. Finally, Crossborn stops. "The light is right in front of us," he whispers. The hand that Lance is holding starts to shake slightly. Lance takes it with both hands and shakes it a little. "What are we waiting for?" he says provocatively. He knows it works, as Crossborn takes a sharp breath. He raises one hand and lets it stop in the air. Lance watches curiously. Crossborn's body tenses up and he gasps for breath. "What?" Lance tries startled. Crossborn does not answer, but raises his hand towards nothingness again. Lance watches his face. His brows are curled up and his lips are tightly pursed. His hands scratch violently against his arm and Lance quickly realizes the problem. He hurries to get a pencil out of his belt. He puts it in Crossborn's hand and clenches his fingers around it. He then grabs Crossborn's shoulder and brings him down to the ground. Crossborn starts drawing quietly without any problems. "Hmm," Lance says wonderingly. It shouldn't be so easy to help him. The times he has heard about, the others have had to fight to get him to do different things. And now he's doing exactly what Lance wants? "Weird" he mumbles to himself. He sits in a cross-legged position in front of Crossborn and rests his elbows against his knees. Then he puts his chin down in his hands, and begins to watch Crossborn's drawing take shape.

No more than 15 minutes can have passed, maximum 20. But Lance notices a change in Crossborn's attitude. Before, the body was completely limp and just followed the silent order to draw. Now a tension is starting to come. "Cross?" whispers Lance. A move comes from Crossborn. Can he hear me? Lance asks again. And yes, there is definitely something different about him. "Can you hear me?" he says with a little more strength in his voice. A hopeful smile spreads on his lips. He waits 30 seconds. 1 minute. 3 minutes. No reaction. Okay, stupid to hope for so much. Lance beats himself mentally. An almost inaudible sound comes from Crossborn. Lance leans closer and listens carefully, hoping for the sound to come again. "Frost?" comes whispering from the pursed lips. Lance smiles with relief. "Yeah, I'm still here." he chuckles."Frost?" he whispers again. Lance pulls his face together in confusion. Can he still not hear him? Lance continues to sit close to Crossborn. "Frost." Crossborn's voice becomes more and more desperate. Lance has no idea what he can do. He puts one of his hands on Cross's knee and makes small circles with his thumb. He starts talking loudly about everything and nothing. Anything just to try to give Crossborn some help. This is not part of their rivalry, Lance chooses. They are still huge rivals, Frostbite and Crossborn, neck and neck. But right now, Crossborn needs some kind of support, and Lance is willing to do it. Of course, he's going to be boastful about it, that's clear. "There's another lion," Crossborn mumbles a little later. He has rambled here and there but nothing that has made sense. Lance has laid down next to him instead and had until now been lying and counting the minutes. "Is there?" he says, interested. He looks over at the drawings and sees a forest or maybe a rainforest? There are plants and a kind of stream, maybe? A lion is hidden behind a huge hill consisting of rose plants, it looks like. Lance proudly pats Crossborn's knee and lies back down. Soon the brushes from the pencil begin to fill the silence again. Maybe half an hour later, Crossborn is talking again. However, Lance has started to write stories himself. He has taken out another pencil from his belt, and has lain like another teenage girl with fluttering legs on his stomach, sketching his characters while he writes stories talking loudly into the darkness. "Watch out!" shouts Crossborn loudly. Lance flinches, and looks around in horror. He turns his attention to Crossborn afterwards. "What?" he shouts. Crossborn draws more frantic and panicked. Lance watches with concern as the sight of a lion, this time, larger than both the blue and the other, getting attacked by missiles. "Oh," Lance says in an exhale. He places a hand on Crossborn's shoulder and gives it a squeeze. He can't do any more, and he lies down again. He half-heartedly continues to write, but keeps an eye on Cross.

Still Lances POV

The silence is about to kill Lance. Crossborn hasn't said anything since the big lion, but still draws loose. Lance has been keeping an eye on the drawings and progress, but they are becoming more and more indistinct. As if they disappear in the dark. "Why am I the one here, hmm?" exclaims Lance will he lies on his back with his legs high in the air and swings them like he's riding a bike. Of course, he doesn't get an answer, but that doesn't stop him from continuing to talk. "Well, I'm thinking, now that you don't like me, and I don't like you at all, it's strange, isn't it?" no answer. Anyway. It's not because he's about to go out of his good skin of boredom. The darkness seems to be getting denser, and the heat is getting even worse. But Lance notices that Crossborn squirms and curls up more over his drawing, shivering. "Mr. Aladdin, sir. What will your pleasure be? Let me take your order. Lalala. You ain't never had a friend like me." sings Lance out loud in the silence. The song or chorus has been running on repeat in his head for 5 minutes. He whistles a little of the melody and then starts over.

"Can't you keep your mouth shut?" a hoarse, female voice abruptly interrupts Lance's music. He rushes up and stands guard at Crossborn. "Who's there?!" He shouts out into the darkness, while his hands begin to glow faintly pale blue. He welcomes the well-known chill and lets ice vapor spread from his body. "Calm down, blue paladin," the voice chuckles. A figure begins to form in the darkness. Flowing cape with hood over head. A curved body bent together. Two clammy, pale, thin hands that are placed on their backs. "Who are you?" asks Lance again with more power in his voice. "I am everything and I am nothing. But most of all, I am the creator," she replies cryptically. Lance doesn't understand anything, but understands that this lady is dangerous, and he changes his position for better defense. "I'm not going to do anything to you. At least not yet." She smiles grimly and a couple of withered teeth become visible under the edge of the hood. "He should be out of it by now," she says, turning her attention to Crossborn, who is still sitting on the floor, defenseless. "You just leave him alone, understood?" snarls Lance angrily. Sure, it's his rival, but 1. you don't attack defenseless people and 2. especially not under Lance's guard. Lance lets the magic buzz and his trusty weapon forms in his hand. He points the gun at her and smiles grimly. "Don't worry, I can easily wait more." she replies and blends in with the shadows. Lance slowly spins around himself and Crossborn. And it's only pure luck that he discovers the shadows forming and he confidently sends a shot off. He hits something because a deep dunk sounds in the dark. Lance's smile was cold. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to turn around completely and he is pushed hard from behind. Lance falls forward, but just manages to grab himself with one hand. He drops to his knees and spins around to keep his eyes on the lady and Crossborn. "Fuck." he mumbles bitterly. The lady stands right in front of Crossborn, and puts a hand to his hair, gently patting it. "Leave him alone." shouts Lance loudly. The lady looks calmly towards Lance and smiles provocatively. She runs her hand down to Crossborn's cheek and maintains eye contact as her nails drill into his cheek. "Cross!" Lance gets to his feet, but stops abruptly when the lady looks up at him trying. "Now it's time to listen. I don't have the greatest patience and neither does my master. So stay away from those lions and everything will be fine. Understood?" She smiles sweetly and loosens her grip. However, she still rests her hand on his cheek. Lance nods mutely. The lady smiles contentedly and waves Lance over to her. He does it with restrained movements, and is ready for battle. Crossborn's cheek is broken open and blood is dripping from the nail marks. When he is a meter away from both of them, he stops. "Can you get him out?" he asks angrily. At no time does he let his attention escape from her. Her smile widens, and she looks away from Lance and down at Crossborn. She presses her palms against Crossborn's temples. "Sasantasi merit adoelsios. Vrepit sa." she says confidently. Crossborn's whole body tenses up. His hand releases the convulsive grip on the pencil. Lance catches his fall before it happens. Crossborn collapses in his arms, and Lance falls to his knees to keep his guard. Crossborn is shivering and his breathing is uneven. Environments in the dark begin to take shape, and Lance realizes that they are about to return. Lance can hear Hunk's panicked voice and Pidge's analytical voice. A strange smell spreads if Lance can't immediately place it. Crossborn mumbles something into Lance's ear, and the last thing he notices is his warm body against his.

Keith's POV

The first thing Keith notices is that he is cold. Which is something he always is after a drawing trip. However, the abnormal thing is that the cold usually leaves his body shortly after. It doesn't here. The next thing he notices is that he is leaning on another person. Or rather, one person holds him while he's leaning against the other's chest. Sounds slowly come back to him "What's going on with him?" "What happened?" "Are you okay?" "God, he's bleeding!" All the voices flow together, and Keith can feel an incipient headache. It is in such a situation that he wishes he got his body back immediately. His body is trapped while he is fully present. "Step back a little guys." A deep hum vibrates from the chest, which Keith has been leaning on, indicating that it is the person talking. Keith tries to squint his eyes, but of course can't. As if someone has read his wishes, a hand is placed gently over his eyes, shielding from the light that Keith can glimpse behind his eyelids. A small sigh escapes from his lips. "Cross?" His name is asked as a question, and everyone else keeps their mouths shut. He tries to answer, but only a faint murmur comes out. "This didn't happen last time," Keith can hear Stoneheart muttering worriedly. "What do you mean?" a new voice mixes in, one Keith can't quite place it. "The last time, when he took the plane, he was just a little wobbly on his feet, but he could fly a plane and everything," says Technician, in her calm voice. Keith gets the feeling back in his fingers, and his hands start to twitch. "What's wrong with his hands?" asks a voice that Keith recognizes as Zatanna. Keith can barely concentrate as his whole body starts to twitch. A half-choked gasp finally escapes and he now pinches his lips together to say no more. "Crossborn." That humming voice sounds again, and a pair of hands settle over his twitching body.
"Away," Keith croaks desperately. No one seems to hear about it, as the hands stay there and Keith gathers all his energy and shouts loudly,
"Get AWAY!" he screams with all his strength. He writhes and struggles against the grip of his body. He opens his eyes and jumps away from the cold body behind him. His eyes can't focus on anything and he falls straight towards the floor. Relax, a gentle and calm voice interrupts his panicked mind. He is stopped in the middle of falling. His body hits hot metal and a gentle hum comes from it. He looks up and is greeted with the blue lion's vivid yellow eyes. It will be fine. Keith realizes that the voice must belong to her. Go back to my blue. The gentle voice almost purrs. The lion gives Keith a gentle push back, and he follows without any problems. He falls back towards the cold body, and a pair of strong arms meet him and hold him up. Halfway through, Keith realizes that by, my blue, the lion means Frostbite. But Frostbite doesn't say anything and just keeps a close eye on Keith. He's almost giving in and letting himself relax, but his body won't let him. "Are you alright.?" asks Zatanna cautiously. Keith looks up and is greeted with a whole lot of worried looks. Technician, Stoneheart, Zatanna and then the voice that Keith didn't recognize. It comes from a man, with blond hair and clothes made out of scales. Keith has no idea who he is. He doesn't know what to say, so he just nods mutely. He faintly notices that he is being led down to the floor again and pulled into his cold chest again. "Why am I being hugged by Frostbite?" is the first thing Keith's brain chooses to want answers to. Zatanna coughs awkwardly, but is saved by Stoneheart. "You wouldn't wake up. Frost woke up a few minutes ago and then we thought you would come along. But you wouldn't react to anything. It wasn't until Frost came up to you that you started to seem more present. It was as if you were dead." The latter is mumbled and Technician places a soothing hand on the big boy's shoulder. "So I thought the most effective thing was to hold on to you. And it seems to work." hums Frostbite proudly behind him. Normally, Keith would have said something clever back, but he had no energy. "Did you tell them what happened?" asks Keith neutrally. He feels Frostbite nod behind him. Keith nods to himself. "I know where to find the other lions," he says loudly with a lifted gaze. The gaze of the others changes. Technician looks excited, Stoneheart worried and Zatanna thoughtful. "Who are you?" asks Keith the stranger, "I'm Aquaman. The others wanted to make sure that you could get water without being moved at all, and then I am the best solution." Aquaman looks awkwardly over at Keith and shrugs. "I will inform the others that you are awake and that you will all join us soon." With that, Aquaman gets up and gets out of the plane. "We'll keep up." mutters Zatanna and stands up as well. She's waiting for Technician and Stoneheart. "You'll have a few minutes," she says with a gentle glance down at them. Keith can feel the nausea deep in his stomach. "What happened?" whispers Keith after the others have left. Frostbite takes a deep breath and begins to tell

Chapter Text

Keith leaves the plane, with Frostbites in front of him. They didn't exchange any words, and Keith is happy about that. His thoughts are racing in his head, loud and obnoxious. He has no idea what to do. He now knows that the woman is officially the reason for the trance, but now the others also know about her. It was just the last thing that was going to happen. He staggers down the ramp and then sets off after Frostbite, who walks around the hangar homely. They continue through the mountain in silence, ending at the large meeting area with zeta tubes. Only a few Young Justice members are present, including Nightwing, Robin, and Red Robin. Dick has a completely wrong look on his face. His face lacks the light smile and calm attitude. His whole body is tense and his lips are tightly pursed. Keith shrinks inside. But he holds his head high and walks over to the others. Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, and Zatanna are also present. Frostbite heads straight for Technician and Stoneheart, leaving Keith a little out in the open. It is so quiet that a pin could be heard if it was dropped. And then chaos breaks loose. "What on earth were you thinking about!?" "Are you completely out of your mind!?" "What's your plan?!" All voices mix, but the loudest is Dick's. His voice is louder and angrier than Keith has ever heard it. Wonder Woman raises a hand and everyone stops talking. "What were you going to do, Crossborn?" her voice is neutral, but approaches the slightly cool side. Keith sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "During the first trance on the plane, I caught a glimpse of Batman in a cave. I don't know why, but I just knew that the cave was at the mountain range like me and Flash ran past earlier." Keith is not allowed to continue. "So you left, because of a FEELING?!" Dick steps forward and looks down at Keith angrily. Keith backs back two steps backwards, frightened. "Nightwing." Zatanna comes forward and puts a hand on his shoulder. For a brief second, Keith thinks he's going to shake it off, but he just looks down at it annoyed and looks forward to Keith again.

"I saw Batman," Keith says quietly. He turns his head to the ground and clenches his fists tightly. "But he wasn't there. Instead, we found her there," Keith says, pointing towards the lion that has laid down in front of Frostbite. At the same time, everyone is looking down at the lion, which is lying calmly in front of Frostbite. "Whhaaa." screams Flash loudly and jumps decidedly high into the air. Wonder Woman and Superman stills defensively, and Green Arrow has immediately turned an arrow at the lion's chest. She growls softly, but doesn't do anything more, as with Zatanna. "What the fuc...?" begins Red Robin and Nightwing clears himself loudly. "What on earth?" Red Robin directs his brother with an annoyed look. "Hadn't you seen her?" asks Stoneheart, confused. The lion had wandered after Frostbite and followed him all the time. Superman shakes his head tensely. "She doesn't do anything," Frostbite says calmly, gently placing a hand on the lion's head. The lion doesn't turn her attention away from Superman or Wonder Woman. "What is she?" asks Flash curiously. "We don't know," Keith says, and the others focus on him again. "But there are others like her. One yellow, and one green." "How do you know...?" Flash asks, confused. "I saw it in the shared trance with Frostbite. And when we find the others, we find Batman," Keith says neutrally. "How can you be sure of that.? You have already claimed that we would find him if we went to the mountain range. And we didn't," Green Arrow says harshly. "And what makes you think that?" asks Keith, as his temper and patience begin to wear off. He continues before Green Arrow can answer. "We found the lion in the mountain range. We need her and the others' help if we are to find Batman. Ergo, we have to find the other lions to find Batman. And I know where," Keith says with a raised eyebrow as a challenge. Green Arrow snorts, but clearly can't find an answer. Keith rejoices. However, he can feel the adrenaline starting to take off and he knows that he is about to crash and damn if he does it in front of everyone. "I know we all have a lot of questions. But right now, we need to focus on what we know. Bats, go home. Relax and get some sleep, and we'll meet again tomorrow morning." Wonder Woman shakes her head in annoyance and makes a "dismissed" motion with her hand. "I want to talk to the Justice League members privately." She starts walking without answers. The others are watching gloomily. Left are Nightwing, Robin, Red Robin, Technician, Stoneheart and Frostbite. "Relax a bit, guys" Nightwing smiles at the last three and turns to Keith. "You come with us." The tone is completely different. Technician and Stoneheart begin to move on towards the bedrooms and kitchen. However, Frostbite remains. "What am I going to do with her?" he asks. Not Nightwing. But Keith. He shakes his head slightly and sighs so loudly. "I don't want to think that she needs food.?" He says it as a kind of question and the lion makes a sound like yes. "Hold her close to you. Maybe try to bond with her a little," he says with a shrug. Frostbite nods seriously. Keith nods himself in response and turns to the angry Nightwing. "Shall we.?" he asks provocatively. He trudges past a stunned Nighwing, a worried Red Robin, and a Robin with a sly smile. He walks towards the zeta tubes and stops in front of you. "I actually don't know how they worked," he shouts over his shoulder. A snort sounds behind him, followed by light steps. Keith nods to Damien as he comes up next to him. "Tsk, tsk, you're in big trouble," Damien just says, tapping a screen in front of him. "Yep." says Keith calmly. Inside, he is bursting with nervousness, and he is about to vomit. "Good." says Damien and takes a step back. He looks demonstratively towards Keith and Keith steps into the glowing blue light of the zeta tube.

He has completely forgotten the feeling. His entire body is torn apart, sent over several kilometers and then reassembled. He tumbles out and lands on his knees with a loud gasp. "Keith." Jason's voice faintly escapes through the ringing tone in his ears. He feels hands on his shoulders and he jerks violently. "Shit. What's going on!!?" the hands disappear immediately. Keith breathes a little hard, but gets up. He shakes his head as all he sees are flashing circles and he can feel how he swings. A hand grabs his biceps and holds him steady. "M fine" he gasps out. However, the hand stays in place. Behind him he can hear a buzzing and then a voice. "Jason.! Wait, what's going on?" Tim's voice becomes worried, and he walks towards Keith and Jason. "He just fell out of the tube. What the fuck is going on?" Jason's voices are loud and shrill. Keith unconsciously wrinkles his face. Tim sighs loudly, though"It's a long story that I want to know too." Tim turns his attention to Keith and his gaze changes to something harder. Keith looks back awkward. The buzzing sounds again and Damien's voice joins them. "Todd, good. We were just about to see Grayson cross-examine our dear guest, Kogane." Damien joins them and stands next to Jason. Keith looks down at the boy in annoyance, who just looks back calmly."I don't want to be a part of that at all," Keith says and starts walking. "You can bite the bullet that you are." Dick's voice is frightening and Keith slowly turns around. Dick strolls angrily through the room as he removes his mask, with hard movements. Keith remains stubbornly standing, and it takes everything in him not to take a step back. "What on earth were you thinking.?!" Dick reaches right up to him and sticks a hard finger into Keith's chest. "You don't just steal a Justice League plane. You also FLEW it several miles, along with three kidnapped members of Young Justice. You say nothing, you only act. What would you have done if your trance began while flying, hmm.? You had crashed with several passengers, Keith. What the fuck were you actualy thinking?!" the others are completely silent. Even Jason. And there. Right there, Keith chooses to explode. All the fear, adrenaline and anger gather into an ugly ball in his chest. "What I was thinking?" His voice is ominous and Keith can hear Tim take a sharp breath."I wasn't thinking anything like FUCKING anything, Dick. I wake up after falling into a trance, where I draw this godforsaken shitty place, which I don't even remember knowing what is. And not only that, we didn't find anything the first time. And then, another trance occurs. I get trapped in my own body and see things that you can't imagine, while I have to scratch my own arms to blood. I see Batman and I can't choose not to take the chance." Keith stops to catch his breath and Dick stutters to answer. But Keith has talked himself warm and he is taking a step forward, the threatening one now. "I wake up with two strangers and a boy who hates me. I have to knock them unconscious so I can move on. We find the fucking cave, but guess what. Batman isn't there fucking. Instead, we find a giant mechanical lion imprinting itself on Frostbite and telling us to find its kind. We return to the shod plane and I am attacked as soon as we get in for radio length. I fall into a trance again again, and here I pull in the boy who hates me like the plague. He sees me in my most defenseless state and meets the frightening woman who is apparently to blame for all this. Yada, yada, she's evil and she happens to be in control of me too. So I wasnt fucking thinking!." Keith's voice is completely hoarse and he doesn't notice the warm tears that fall down his cheeks in a steady stream. He just turns around and runs away. After a few seconds, loud shouting and thundering steps are heard after him. Keith gathers all his strength and flees from his brothers.

Keith rushes up the stairs. Tears roll down his cheeks and he holds his breath so as not to sob. Fear drills into him. Everything he has held back the last few days, floods and he can't swim. When he finally reaches the door in to Bruce's house, he almost throws himself on it. He doesn't stop running and continues through the hallway. He turns a corner. And SLAM.!! Keith lies stunned on the floor, gasping for breath. Next to him is a tray of scattered, broken cookies and coffee all over the floor. Opposite Keith, Alfred is leaning against the wall. How he didn't fall down like Keith amazes him. "My goodness, are you okay Mr. Kogane?" Keith nods quickly and wipes his cheeks in his sleeves. He shakily gets up, and he stands awkwardly with Alfred. A tired sigh comes from Alfred and Keith looks down at the floor in shame. At least you won't cry anymore, you prick. Keith snarls to himself. "Come with me, lad" says Alfred, and starts to walk back the way he came from. Keith waits and looks down at the big mess he's made. He's about to say something, "Just leave it at that." Alfred has gotten very close to him without Keith noticing, and he flinches when a hand lands on his shoulder. He continues to look down at the floor with his fists clenched tightly. Together they walk down the hallway and end up in the kitchen. Alfred directs Keith towards the kitchen chairs, forcing Keith into one. He doesn't say anything, and Keith can feel his nervousness growing. A strange panic begins to make his heart pound in his chest. Keith breathes a little more breathlessly. "Earl Grey, or Forest Berry?" Keith looks up confused. Alfred is standing with a steaming teapot and two cups on a tray. "Sorry?" whispers Keith confused. He's afraid of being scolded, but Alfred just smiles and puts the tray in front of him on the table. "Do the best people like Earl Grey or forest berries?" says Alfred, pouring himself a cup of tea. Keith shrugs his shoulders quietly. "I don't know?" His brain is completely mushy. All his walls have broken down and he doesn't feel like himself at all. "I'm thinking you can try forest berries today, and then maybe Earl Grey another day.?" says Alfred questioningly. Keith nods silently. Alfred gives a satisfied smile and hands Keith a cup. The heat immediately settles in his fingers and Keith nearly collapses. He curls his fingers closer around the cup and places it against his chest. The heat spreads and Keith lets out a small sigh. "Is it good?" says Alfred, with his eyebrows raised and his cup to his lips. Keith carefully takes a small sip of the tea. The taste is mild and the tea is nice and warm, so he nods quietly. "It's nice." he mumbles. Alfred continues to drink his tea. As the heat spreads through Keith's body, he can feel the last of the adrenaline disappear. His smallest strength disappears and he kind of collapses in the chair. Alfred walks towards him and sits down next to Keith. There they sit in silence, as Keith becomes more and more sleepy. When the tea is gone, Keith can hardly bring himself to lift his heavy eyelids. He is leaning on something soft and warm and he feels strangely safe. There are thunderous steps, but Keith can't bring himself to do anything. The steps quickly descend into small steps that he can barely hear. "Is he okay?" Jason's voice is weak and Keith closes his eyes completely. A few steps sound and Keith can sense someone next to him. "Hey, Keith", Jason's voice is soft and nice and Keith leans in against the hand that strokes his bangs away. The last thing he really senses is being lifted up and in towards a warm body.

Jason POV.

They had immediately set after Keith. Jason, the fastest. He had followed the stairs up and he could hear Dick's thunderous steps behind him. Together they all ran through the hall, but stopped when they met the tray with the broken cookies and coffee all over the floor. "What?" Tim had bent down in confusion and looked up at Dick and Jason in confusion, with a broken cookie in his hand. His Red Robin robe swung dangerously close to the coffee. None of them managed to get their uniforms off. Neither did Keith. So if someone looked in, they would see Jason, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Robin all without a mask. "I'll clean it up, get going." said Tim with a sigh and started already. Dick and Jason made eye contact, started to hurry on, but stopped when they realized Damien was coming with them. "Little D?" Dick looked at the boy confused, "Tsk tsk, how many times do I have to say no to that nickname?" Damien wrinkled his nose insulted. "I'll stay with Drake." Jason was about to protest, but Damien had raised his hand. "He doesn't need to be overwhelmend. I'm staying." Damien had a sad look in his eyes and he bent down to help Tim with the cleanup. Jason and Dick had made eye contact and they shared a small proud smile. Keith had been given the little devil's heart, whether Damien wanted it or not. They started running after Keith again. When they arrived at the kitchen, however, they both quickly stopped. Alfred sat on one of the kitchen chairs, sipping tea, with a tired Keith leaning against him. Keith's cup was on the table in front of him and he seemed to struggle to keep his eyes open. Jason walked all the way to the doorway, "Is he okay?" he whispered gently. Alfred looks up at him with a neutral expression, but Jason could see the worry simmering behind his old eyes. Jason nodded to himself and walked quietly into the room. Keith had closed his eyes completely and was almost asleep on Alfred. Jason slowly moved towards him, sliding a hand over his forehead and through Keith's bangs. The boy leaned in against the touch and sighed softly. "Hey, Keith," Jason whispered softly. Jason strokes his hair a little and decides to carry him up to bed. And that's how Jason happened to carry Keith sleeping up to his room. Keith was completely gone and didn't seem to notice that he was being moved at all. He almost curled up against Jason's chest to be close to the body heat. Keith is ice cold. His fingers shake faintly, even after tea. Jason frowns worriedly as he carries his brother towards the living room instead. Dick stands in the doorway, looking guilty and worried. Together they walk in silence towards the living room. On the way, they meet Tim and Damien, who bring the broken things and the tray.. "Thank you, I'll take it from here." Alfred has joined them, just as quietly. His voice is completely calm and he takes the tray from Tim's hands. "I would advise you to change your clothes and then come down to the living room. I'll fix a few new cookies and make another round of tea." Alfred smiles sadly and heads back into the kitchen. "Is he okay?" whispers Tim with the worry beaming out of him. "I don't know," Jason whispers back. He starts walking again when Keith's in his arms start to get a little heavy. Jason gently lays Keith down on the couch, where the boy immediately curls up and begins to shake slightly. Jason sucks in his lower lip with his teeth. "Can't you guys go up and change and bring some blankets back?" he asks the others. Tim and Damien nod without question and get on with it together. Dick stayed still, though. "This is my fault," he mumbles, placing a hand on Keith's head. "I pushed too hard and he shut completely cown." "Yes, you did," Jason says. Dick looks up at him surprised and hurt. "But..." Jason continues. "You were worried and hurt that he didn't say anything. I would have done the same, maybe harder even. Just try to think that it could have been Bruce." They both laugh a little. "But we'll get it fixed. We'll help him, and we'll find Bruce." He looks over at Dick, who smiles sadly. Jason puts a hand on his shoulder and gives it a soothing squeeze. "Go up and change." says Jason, pushing Dick towards the door. Dick half laughs and starts walking.

Jason looks wearily over at the trembling, sleeping boy. He carefully removes the mask from Keith's face, and takes a deep breath as it comes off. The dark circles under Keith's eyes look like leeches and Jason has rarely seen anything like it. "Keith, what the fuck is going on?" he mumbles to himself. Jason sits down and pulls the sleeping boy towards him. Keith curls up close to Jason and tucks his hands under his shirt. Jason must do everything he can not to gasp when Keith's icy hands meet his stomach. He puts a hand over Keith's shoulders to hold him in place and puts one of the many blankets over their shape. He begins to stroke Keith across his back, with calm, gentle movements. Keith's breathing becomes more stable and his trembling descends slightly. The others come down shortly after, each with their arms filled with blankets. They don't exchange words, but put three blankets over Keith's and Jason's bodies and sit down with their own. Damien takes the remote control and starts a series. The sound is low and soothing. Alfred comes out with a small tray of tea and cookies and gives Jason a squeeze on the shoulder as he goes out again. A pleasant silence descends over the Batbrothers. They haven't been able to relax since Bruce's disappearance and even if they don't quite do it here, it's better than nothing. Damien has been lying on the other side of Jason, and he lets an arm slide around the smallest boy's shoulders. Damien looks over at him annoyed, but still sneaks closer. Dick and Tim are sitting together, having divided the blankets between them, and are half-heartedly munching on their own cookies. Jason lets a sigh leave his lips, and settles down better.

Keith's POV.
He's really hot. Not in a bad way, but extremely hot. His body is heavy and slow from sleep, and he stretches it comfortably. He is leaning on something warm, which holds him securely in place. Keith is about to panic when he notices the calm breathing coming from things. Keith opens his eyes tiredly and rubs the sleep away with slow movement. He should not rule out if there is a small gap. He is lying in the living room, on one of the sofas. Some series are playing on the television, but it doesn't really seem like anyone is watching it. He looks around at the others. Dick and Tim are sleeping on top of each other, while an uneven rhythm of snoring sounds from both of them. Keith half-looks up at the figure, which he is lying close to. Jason's breathing is calm, and his heart beats smoothly against Keith's head. Keith can hear another minor breathing on the other side and assumes that Damien is laying up by Jason on the other side. Keith slowly curls up. It takes a few tries and he stops several times, for fear of waking some. But eventually he comes out of Jason's iron grip and he even gets one of the blankets with him. He wraps it around himself and starts sneaking towards the doorway, "Where're you going?" A slurred voice sounds, and Keith stops dead in his tracks. He turns around carefully and is greeted by the tired eyes of tDamien and his head resting against the back of the sofa. "I just need to get up and change clothes." whispers Keith and shrinks over his hoarse voice. "Do you promise to come back?" whispers Damien. Keith sighs quietly, "Yeah, I promise," he says with a small smile at the boy. Damien seems satisfied, because he lets himself fall off the back of the couch again, and Keith can hear a deep sigh followed by a calm breath. Keith sneaks on and up the stairs. His blanket drags behind him and lets one of his hands rest against the wall when he reaches the very top. He walks through the dark hallway and towards his room. Inside, however, he looks straight out the window and sees Gotham illuminated in the dark. The night is clear, with almost no clouds, and Keith can clearly see the light of the full moon. Inside the room, he lets the blanket fall on the floor and immediately starts shaking. He hurries to remove the suit and grimaces as his whole arm stings in pain. A sticky mass is stuck to his sleeve and his arm, and it smells unpleasantly metallic. Keith staggers into the bathroom and looks at himself. His hair is a wild mess and it stands out greasy on all sides. The dark circles under his eyes don't do anything for his self-image either. Keith decides that a bath is needed. He finds a pair of sweatpants, boxer shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. He slips into a quick shower and turns up the heat almost to boiling. The warm water is nice to his tired muscles, and Keith scrubs the blood away from his arm. The scratch marks are evident, and Keith looks away in nausea. He hurries to finish the bath and puts on some warm clothes. Keith steps out into the room again and is greeted with Alfred in the dark. "Should I fix the suit.?" he asks calmly. Keith hesitates, but then nods gently. He gets a satisfied smile back and Alfred starts walking. "Oh, and you should probably check out the batcave sometime. There's a certain Flash that has set some things for you." Keith furrows his brows in confusion. "What.?" he whispers hoarsely. "I'll inform the others if they wake up." That's all Keith is told before Alfred disappears down the hall. Confused, Keith heads down to the bathcave after he has just dried his hair. However, it is with a little pressure on his chest when he thinks about the promise to Damien.

Chapter Text

Keith moves quietly down the stairs. It's much longer than when he went up and the uncomfortable tightness in his chest increases. When he finally reaches the bottom, he breathes a little heavier than he loves. The cave is dim, but the light turns on as he moves a few steps further in. Keith hadn't realized how much he wanted them to turn on. The last time he went there, it didn't exactly end well. He walks past the locker room and the infirmary. Further on, the Bat Computer lights up. Next to the table are three cardboard boxes, which Keith immediately recognizes. He slows down a bit as he approaches. "Okay," he exclaims in a hoarse exhalation. He grabs the first cardboard box and lifts the lid. Inside are notebooks and notepaper. Keith doesn't quite know if he's relieved or disappointed that the hippo plushy wasn't at the top. He takes the cardboard box down to the floor and sits down next to it. Then he starts to unpack it, always putting the things neatly in front of him. However, there isn't really anything he hasn't seen, it's mostly the things that he and Flash looked at earlier. After Keith has emptied it, he gets up from the cold stone floor and picks up the two boxes, and places them next to each other. There he opens the next one and looks directly into a pair of eyes. The hippo lies nicely and looks back at him. Its little smile brings tears to his eyes, without Keith knowing why. He gently picks it up and places it close to his left leg. "Then you can watch too." he whispers. Talk to the plush, that's completely normal. Keith furrows his brows. Shut up. He begins to unpack the other cardboard box. Like the other one, it is filled with notes and notebooks, but this time also the big map of the canyon. The very last box contains the least. A few more notes, and the drawings of the lions in their respective colors. Blue, green, yellow, red. When it's all laid out on the floor, Keith quickly looks through the notes. They are still in the different language and Keith can feel the frustration spreading like poison in his blood.

Keith sits on the floor for a long time. So long that his ass has become completely numb and his back creaks every time he moves. He has checked through every single paper and flipped through all the notebooks. Nothing makes sense! "Arghh." Keith shouts loudly and angrily throw the notebook he had in his hand. It whizzes through the cave and hits a rock wall. Hard. It falls to the floor with a sad thump. Keith breathes in frantic breaths and shivers a little. He sits for a while and sends angry glances at the book. He closes his eyes and takes a deep, calm breath. Then he gets up and starts walking towards the book to pick it up like a normal person. Or, a normal person wouldn't have thrown it in the first place, but well. The book lies with the front page open and mocks him in the face. Keith snorts but picks it up anyway. When he lifts it, a piece of paper floats free. Keith frowns and reaches for the paper. There wasn't a paper before. Oh no, had he ruined it.?! Panic began to spread, and he frantically flipped through the book to put the page back. But there was nothing missing. "What?" Keith opened the front cover of the book again and noticed a small tear in the leather. The paper could have come from there. Keith shakes the book a little, but nothing more falls out. Confused and curious, Keith walks over to his seat and sits down again. He carefully places the book beside him, by the hippo. (Keith had quickly raised it and muttered an apology. How weird was he?) He takes out the paper and opens it up. It's different from the others. It's a kind of letter. The language is still different, but the handwriting is the same. However, Keith's gaze catches something. At the very bottom there is a handprint from a baby next to a name. Yorak. Both the handprint and the name are purple, what wonders Keith. "Who were you?" Keith asks the letter, as if it can answer him. Sadness spreads. The person who wrote this letter had a baby and maybe even a family. He carefully places the letter next to the hippo. It has gotten darker down in the cave, which Keith only notices now. The bats above him began to wake up a little. Keith stands up again and stretches his whole body. It says crack in several places, and he shakes his body after, a little more comfortable. He moves to the locker room to get a drink. But he doesn't get far. The zeta tubes start buzzing and Keith turns around in fright. Keith runs to the locker room and quickly grabs one of the domino masks in a small basket. He returns just in time to see the blue light flicker. Keith gets his knife ready for battle. Jason hadn't removed it before he was laid on the sofa. But there wasn't time to think about that. Keith creeps over and stands next to the zeta tubes. That way, he can immediately attack whoever comes and thus gains the upper hand. A small figure tumbles out, and Keith jumps forward and throws them to the floor. A half-choked scream sounds from the figure who clearly did not expect anything. Keith sits on their backs, with his legs holding his arms captive, and puts the knife to their throat. "Who are you?" Keith snarls angrily. "Hey, let her go." Keith just manages to turn around and sees another figure before he is pushed away hard. Someone wrestles him and Keith kicks himself away and gets up in a defensive position. The one that crashed into him is about his size, but a little taller and thinner. The figure that Keith attacked is small and looks a bit like a child. "Okay, don't worry." a third figure appears and Keith sighs angrily. The figure holds its hands out in the universal, "we don't do anything" position. He is much bigger than the others, and wider. He is the biggest threat. "Who the fuck are you?!" hisses Keith angrily. "Nope, it doesn't work like that, who are you and what on earth are you doing in the Batcave?" The tall figure walks forward and Keith threateningly raises the knife. Something about the voice is recognizable, but Keith doesn't quite know why. "Let's take it easy." The great figure tries again. "Since you can be here, I assume you know Batman.?" He pauses and Keith nods his head tensely. The figure smiles. Or at least that's what Keith thinks. "Luckily, we do too. So, if we just introduce ourselves. My name is Stoneheart." Stoneheart puts a hand on his chest. Keith corrects himself with a twitch and stands dumbly relaxed. "Stoneheart?" he tilts his head in confusion. "Crossborn?" The tall figure quickly emerges, and its Frostbite. However, he is wearing some completely different clothes. Gone is the uniform and instead he's wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a green, slightly military-like jacket. However, he still has his mask on. His hair is messy and slightly curly. Stoneheart also comes forward. He's dressed in brown trousers, a yellow half-length shirt, with a green vest. He is still wearing his mask, but around his head there is an orange bandana. What Keith assumes to be Technician emerges. She is wearing grey shorts, and a green and white long-sleeved shirt. She too has her mask on. "What are you doing here?" she asks curiously. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" says Keith angrily. He crosses his arms and looks at them annoyed. "Um, we actually tried to find you?" says Stoneheart a little awkwardly. Keith frowns in confusion

"Me. Why?" They have moved closer together and Keith can now see the backpacks that adorn their back. "Because she," Frostbite says, pointing down at the lion that is suddenly there. Keith jumps back, with a startled gasp. "What on earth..." He gasps and looks at the others. Frostbite and Technician smile mischievously, and Stoneheart scratches his neck with a slightly awkward smile. "When?" says Keith, making eye contact with Frostbite. "It doesn't matter," he says with a wave of his hand. "She's kept me awake all night and sent pictures of the other lions." "Which she's also done to the rest of us." interrupts Technician with a raised finger. "Why?" Keith looks around confused but is met with equally confused looks. Because we need YOU. The lioness's voice reverberates in his head and Keith flinches in shock. The others gasp and look at him worriedly. "Why me.?" Keith looks at the lion. But she doesn't give an answer. "Why do you ask her?" Frostbite sounds offended and maybe a bit jealous. But before Keith can answer, Frostbite turns his attention to the lion and nods to something. He waves his hand in an indifferent gesture to Keith. "You know where the others are, don't you?" says Technician with an intense look. "Not quite," Keith says quietly. "I have a picture of where they are, but not a specific place." He looks over at Frostbite for help. He should also know something from the pictures he saw Keith drawing. "The green lion is surrounded by plants, in a kind of rainforest." Frostbite nods in agreement. "But it wasn't really a rainforest, because it was almost a mixture of trees and then rainforest trees, if you understand," says Frostbite with an apologetic shrug and sheepish grin. "The yellow one is trapped by some kind of mine, or at least a mountain pass, with few machines and some kind of yellow dust," Keith says, and Frostbite nods. "It is being guarded, I think. At least the drawings show missiles that were fired at it." Technician nods and sits down on the floor. She takes off her backpack and starts to find her computer. The others don't look affected beyond that. Keith looks curiously over her shoulder. Her fingers whizz over the keyboard, and the screen switches from one to the other in record time. "Wow" he whispers breathlessly. "Have you never seen one use a computer?" sneers Frostbite. Keith doesn't look up but shakes his head in response, "No," he also replies, his focus fully fixed on the computer. Because of that, he misses Frostbite's surprised and guilty facial expression. Keith can hear steps moving away and he looks up annoyed. And good thing he did! Frostbite is on its way to the cardboard boxes, or rather plushy lying around. "Leave it alone!" shouts Keith loudly and rushes forward. Frostbite stiffens in the air with fingers hovering a few centimeters above the plushy's head. Keith tears the hippo away and hugs it to his chest. He looks up at Frostbite angrily. However, Frostbite surprises him. He takes a big step back with his hands raised. "Sorry." he says in a gentle voice and sounds like he means it. "It's fine," he says with a small smile, while looking at the hippo. Keith just hugs the hippo closer to his chest. "Don't touch anything that isn't yours," he snarls. Normally, Frostbite would respond with something cheeky, but he just nods in understanding. "I'm sorry." he says again, and Keith is now deeply confused. What the fuck is going on?! Since when has Frostbite been understanding? Keith keeps an eye on Frostbite as he goes back to the others. He only started walking when Frostbite returned to his friends, and there Keith walked behind him, with a watchful look. "I've found them!" Technician suddenly shouts, breaking the silence. They had all sat down in a kind of circle and waited. Keith had sat down next to her to watch but had quickly lost interest and was sitting with some of the papers from the cardboard boxes. Stoneheart also sat with a couple after he saw Keith with them, and they sat and tried to sort them out. Frostbite didn't get any. He didn't deserve it. However, he sat close to Stoneheart and used his leg as a pillow. They all gathered behind Technician's computer and looked at the screen. Nothing made sense to Keith. "Where are they?" "How did you do it?" he asks impatiently at the same time as Stoneheart asks. They make eye contact and Stoneheart smiles awkwardly. "To answer both of your questions. I took the radio sequence from the blue lion and "sent" it out to all places with some rainforest "not rainforest" like and the same with the mines/mountain pass, and it worked.! I've found one in the Amazon jungle and the other in the Himalayas." She smiles proudly and folds the computer, "And I've got the coordinates."

"Do you know how to do it?" says Keith nervously, while Technician fiddles with the zeta tube's tablet. She nods concentratedly. She immediately stood up and turned her attention to finding their destination. Keith hadn't understood much but got a little worried when she started typing a lot and fiddling with some wires. Stoneheart and Frostbite stood by his side and chatted lively. Keith didn't have time to find a backpack or anything to take with him. "You'll just get a little food from all of us, you'll be fine." Stoneheart had said smiling, while Frostbite sighed loudly. He had found their things and was loading some in Technician's bag. She and Keith were going to the rainforest and Frostbite and Stoneheart to the Himalayas. Stoneheart had been given some coordinates and a kind of mini rada that the Technician had made. "Are you ready?" Technician turns around with a smile and zeta tubes hum in response. Keith swallows a lump but nods. "Yep, super ready," Frostbite says confidently, stepping forward to go first. He pushes Keith's shoulder, and Keith sends an angry look at his mocking grin. Frostbite smiles and moves through the light. Stoneheart follows. Then only Keith and Technician remain. "I'll go last, as I have to erase their tracks," she says casually and turns her back to him. Keith stands in front of the light and takes a deep breath. Then he moves through the unpleasant journey.

His knees land on the ground and he can immediately feel the moisture creeping in. His wool sweater makes the sweat accumulate quickly. He stands up with wobbly knees. There is green everywhere him. The trees are meters tall, with green treetops and moss and vines high up in their trunks. Keith turns around and sees the twinkling light, and he just manages to see Technician come out before the light flickers away. "Oh no, that wasn't supposed to be." her voice rises a little to panic and she runs around in a kind of circle where the light was. Then she turns to Keith with an awkward smile, "At least we're not in a hurry." Keith sighs and closes his eyes challenged. "Where are we going?" he says as he presses his fingers against the bridge of his nose. "This way," she says, pulling out a kind of rada. It immediately starts beeping and a small map shoots out with an arrow. "It's like a GPS," she says proudly and starts walking. Keith has no idea what a GPS is, but it looks neat. He follows her through the jungle. They exchange no words but walk in a pleasant silence. The jungle tongues out a bit, and they arrive at a kind of river. Technician lets out a little hum and sits down and looks at her map in wonder. Keith looks around a bit. "I wonder if that's for us?" he says, pointing to a primitive boat. At the top, a roaring lion's head has been carved into it. Technician looks up annoyed, but her eyes light up again, when she spots the boat. "Good idea." They both rush to it but stop when a huge animal emerges from a bush. It looks like an overgrown sloth. They both let out a scream, and Technician jumps onto Keith's back. "What...?" He staggers a little but grabs her knee and holds her steady. The sloth makes a sound and tilts its head. It doesn't appear to be aggressive but calmly extends a claw towards them. Keith steps back while snarling a little. "Go away." The sloth seems content and starts to head down towards the boat. "No, stop it, we need that!" shouts Technician from Keith's back. She shouts it directly into his ear and he shrinks. "Sorry." she says sheepishly. She presses her knees against his side, "yeehaw," she says, and Keith throws her to the ground. She falls with a dump but fortunately smiles. She gets up and dust herself off. The sloth stops and looks back at them. It beckons them closer. Cautiously, Keith follows it towards the boat. Behind him, he can hear her following. "Do you think it wants to help us?" she whispers. Keith just shrugs. "We'll find out." They both get on the boat, and the sloth begin to sail them calmly down the river. Technician lets out a little laugh, from her seat in front. They sail towards a kind of cave. At the entrance there is an engraving of a lion with runes around it, "This must be the right way," she whispers as they sail further into the cave. Keith quietly agrees with her. He knows that they are on the right track, he can feel it. "I wonder if Stoneheart and Frostbite have as good a trip as us.?" she says and turns to Keith, with a smile. "I don't kno... Look.!" Keith points towards the big pyramid-shaped thing. It is a huge ball of thorn bushes, and at the bottom of the stairs there are giant statues of roaring lions. "Wow." says Technician speechlessly. They dock long, and they both get out of the boat. The sloth stays on the boat and waves to them as they start to move on. "Thank you very much for the trip!" she shouts back at it. The sloth slowly sails back again. Keith turns around and looks up at the big knot of thorns. As they move closer, a plate of a lion's head begins to glow, and hidden runes glow green all the way up. Technician moves forward as if in a trance and Keith follows her but stays at a distance. It is her lion, not his. She immediately starts walking up the stairs and Keith stops. When she has reached a few steps up, she discovers that he is not with her and turns to him with a questioning look. "Go, be great." he says with a small smile, and her face lights up in anticipation. She runs up the stairs and climbs over and under the vines as if it were a game. When she finally reaches the peak, she is only a small dot. Keith can see her turning around as if she's looking for something. And then she jumps into the middle of the slinging plants. Keith gasps and steps up a few steps but stops himself. "Stop, she's got it under control." he says to reassure himself. Or he hopes she has. He waits for a few tense seconds, and then a huge roar sounds, followed by a huge green light. "That's it, Tech." he says smiling.

Lance's POV.

Lance screams. In his defense, both he and Hunk scream loudly and shrilly. They run through the mountain pass, dodging only the shots that are fired at them. "I thought this was supposed to be peaceful!" shouts Hunk after him. Lance just nods, gasping and speeds up. The lion at his side stays close to him, and she growls angrily at them. Lance knows that it means "hurry up." but he does his best. Everything went according to plan; he came out of the zeta tubes to the sight of mountains and the cold air that pressed into his lungs. Hunk had come right after and together they had moved on, talking with ease. The lion had followed them quietly, though more exploratory. The radar was shining as it should, and the cool little map showed the way perfectly. This was the easiest mission ever. Until it went wrong. Out of the blue, shots came from behind and Lance and Hunk turned around screaming. Three types on giant motorcycles came towards them, and that's where Lance and Hunk started running. They zigzagged and strode through the mountain pass. When a mine finally appeared further ahead, Lance began to laugh with relief. The relief quickly disappeared, however, when he discovered all the guards with their big guns and cannons. "Um, Lance." The panic was evident in Hunk's voice. "I know, buddy," he replied tensely. They were still running towards the mine, and Lance turned to Hunk. "Here's the plan, you move in and find that fucking lion and I'm distracting them, understood?!" shouted Lance, he just managed to see Hunk nod violently as he rushed forward. The lion at his side followed him, and she looked up at him encouragingly. "Protect Hunk until he's inside," he gasped. The lion slowed down and joined Hunk. Together they run on. He gathers his power and makes a slide out of ice. He rushes towards the men, and they start shooting at him. He skates around them and attacks them easily. All the men's attention is on Lance, and they don't notice Hunk, who sneaks forward with the lion by his side. He sneaks into the mines, and his lion rejoins Lance. Her tail turned and she started shooting out blue lightning. "Your tail is a shooter!" laughs Lance in surprise, and together they attack and protect the mine's entrance to give Hunk time.

Hunks POV.

Lance sent the lion to him, which he is quite happy about. She sneaks silently and gets Hunk safely into the mine. He runs to a kind of platform that faces further down the mine. He opens the control panel "Great, oh well, just throw me in alone, that's cool man, it's not because there are men who want to kill me or anything." says Hunk to himself as he fumbles with some wires, "Just ignore them, and go connect with the big yellow mechanical cat, Easy Peasy." The wires fly sparks, and the platform starts to run down. Glowing runes on the ceiling begin to glow yellow. "Cool," Hunk mumbles to himself, with a small smile. When he comes down, there are large machines connected to the cave. There are engravings of the lion and some suns on the walls. Hunk goes out and runs all the way forward. Everything suddenly shakes and dust falls from the ceiling. "Okay," Hunk says with a big exhale. A glowing circle appears on his right side. "Uh pretty." Hunk smiles and runs towards the circle "But how am I supposed to get in there." Hunk turns around and spots a drill. Hunk smiles and begins the fight.

Lance's POV.¨

Lance and Blue work perfectly together. She has his back and he hers. However, they still can't prevent some missiles from escaping from them and hitting the sides of the mountain. They have been pushed into a corner, and they are fighting a brave battle. Blue roars and Lance turn to her. She looks at a missile that is heading directly into the mine. "HUNKKKK!!" Lance screams loudly and tries to get closer. He doesn't have time to take a shot, and Blue jumps in front of him. "No." she falls hard to the ground. Lance runs towards her and falls to his knees. She gets up halfway, but sparks come from her and her yellow eyes flicker. Lance is cut on the shoulder and falls to the ground. He looks up and sees two shots directly at him. He can't stop them. Lance closes his eyes and waits. A roar so loud that the ground shakes instead and Lance opens his eyes in shock. The yellow lion jumped directly in front of him and easily stopped the shots. Hunk stands next to him, with a huge smile. "Are you okay, Lance?" "Hunk," Lance smiles broadly at his friend. "I thought you died. You jumped right in front.!"
"Technically, I wasn't the one who jumped in front of you." Hunk laughs and looks at his lion. The lion looks back. They have some kind of conversation, the lion roars loudly and attacks the men. Its roar shakes the ground again, this time harder and the men fall to the ground on shaky legs. The lion jumps around and knocks them all unconscious. Lance laughs out loud. "That's it!" They gather together, and Lance looks Blue. "Are you okay, girl.?" Blue gets up, shakes and seems to be fine. Lance sighs with relief. Together with the yellow lion, they move back to the zeta tubes instead. "Wait, do we even know where we're going?" asks Hunk suddenly. Lance stops smiling and looks over at him. "Um, no." they both looked at each other panicked.

Chapter Text

They trudge wearily through the jungle. Keith can feel the sweat running down his back and he pulls on the neck of the wool sweater every minute. He can feel his fuse thin with every step he takes. Technician is also annoyed, Keith can see it in the way she drags herself after him and the way she mumbles to herself. The Green Lion walks nicely next to Tech, occasionally stopping to look back from the path they are taking. This makes Keith a little uneasy and every time he speeds up. She is much smaller than the blue lion, but strong, nonetheless. "I don't want to do this anymore!" exclaims Technician, giving Keith the biggest shock. He looks back at her in horror and sees her standing quivering with clenched fists. "What do you want me to do about it?" snarls Keith angrily and crosses his arms. Technician stomps with one foot on the ground and looks like a small child, in the middle of a temper tantrum. "I'm tired, and I don't want to anymore.!" she angrily kicks a stone and sits down on the ground. The green lion looks at her calmly and lies down close to her. Keith can feel the frustration like a snake, but he chokes it and takes a few deep breaths. Then he sits down in front of her. Technician's breathing is furious, and she trembles with anger. They sit in silence for a while, while Keith can feel the humidity around him getting worse. The surroundings on the edge of his vision have begun to turn black and he can feel how he sways slightly. "I'm sorry." mumbles Technician so softly that Keith is unsure if he heard correctly. "Hmm.?" he just says mumbling. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get mad at you." She scratches the ground a little with her fingernail. She doesn't look up at Keith, but he can see the redness in her cheeks that isn't from the humidity. "S, fine," he mumbles. She looks up at him worriedly. She must see how hot he is and her eyes widened. "God, take off your shirt!" she gets up on her knees and pulls on Keith's shirt. He tumbles back hard to get away from her hands. He growls a little and she stops immediately. "I'm sorry," she says with her hands out." But it has to come off before you get heat stroke." Keith can see what she means, but he really doesn't want to go without a shirt. He squints his eyes a little stubbornly. But he can feel how he becomes increasingly dizzy and nauseous. He nods reluctantly. Tech gently and slowly extends her hands, and Keith watches them all the way. As they approach his abdominal region, a tremor goes through him. Technician gives an encouraging nod and pulls his shirt off. "Hmmm." sounds monotonously from his lips in a sigh of relief as the woolen sweater comes off him and he is hit by the open air, on his burning chest and back. Tech lets out a small gasp, and Keith opens his eyes and remembers his own body. Scar after scar, wounds and scratches all over his body. The most recent wounds are from the explosion with Dick, while others are really old. The worst part is that some are too straight and deep to be from other people. They are the ones Keith looks at the least. Tech extends a trembling hand towards a particularly bad scar across his chest and Keith flinches back. She gathers her hand again and sends him a sad smile. Keith can't handle all that pity. He abruptly stands up and sends a shock through Tech and the lion. He immediately begins to march through the jungle with new energy. Behind him, he can hear Tech fumbling to get up.

Keith doesn't say anything, and the atmosphere is filled with tension. Tech stays behind him, and Keith can feel her eyes on his back, where he knows there are more scars. At least he can't remember what or who gave them to him. "Cross, I'm sorry, it's rude to glare." Tech small hand lands on his biceps and slows him to a halt. Her eyes are watery and she's looking really guilty. Keith scrunches her hand of his shoulders, but keep the eye contact. "It's okay, I know have I look." He mumbles. "No, that's not...Look!" Technician shouts loudly and jumps up on Keith's side. She points excitedly towards the incipient blue light that begins to appear further ahead. They quickly look at each other and start running forward. It may well be enemies, but they take the chance they get. "It's Zeta tube light." gasps Tech relieved as they approach. They stop in front and gasp for breath. "Are we taking the chance?" Tech looks up at Keith, and he is overwhelmed by the youth and insecurity he sees. Right now, he is the leader and that's Keith's calling, that counts. Keith looks down at the lion, who is only watching Tech. "I don't really think we have a choice," Keith says as he takes a closer look at the light. "But I'll go first," he says firmly, and Tech nods without protest. Keith steps forward and lets himself glide through the light.

He rushes through, and he is thrown down against the ground, which meets his knees hard and rough. Keith is quickly up, and he immediately puts himself in danger mode, with the knife ready. Behind him, he can hear the Zeta tubes making noise and he can hear Tech tumbling out behind him, followed by a gentle growl. "You okay?" he whispers to her. "Yes." she whispers back, and he can hear her step a little closer to him. Keith straightens up from his position, and Tech comes up close to him. Keith lets her do it. It must be her first solo mission. Keith steps further into the place they are now. It looks like a kind of warehouse. There are a lot of large containers stacked high to the ceiling. "Stay close to me, understood?" says Keith quietly and firmly. "Yes." says Tech quietly and soldier-like. Keith walks over to a container and squats. Tech follows his example, and the lion sticks close to her. "Here's the plan. We first find out where we are and then we find a way out. Simple as fuck" whispers Keith and Tech snorts. "that's a bad word." She rolls her eyes while she says it. "I'm going to the right and you're going to the left." Keith says ignoring her. Tech frowns in disagreement. "Isn't it smartest if we stay together?" she mumbles gently. Keith agrees with her to some extent, but splitting is faster and more efficient. "Normally, yes, but we don't have time, and plus you have your lion. She'll protect you," Keith says, turning his attention to the lion at the last. She looks back with a steely gaze and Keith knows that she will protect Tech with her life. Can a metal lion actually die? Tech nods uncertainly, and they get up quietly. "I'll take the left and you will take the right." Keith is about to leave before a slender hand lands around his wrist. Keith does everything he can not to attract it. "Here," Tech says as she reaches into her backpack. She pulls out an earpiece and smiles contentedly at Keith. She also hands him his shirt. "You may still be warm, but it can get chilly quickly." Keith nods and ties his shirt around his waist and begins to move through the place.

Keith sneaks through the hall, straining his ears to the limit. Still, he doesn't notice anything. Is there anything? Tech's voice sounds in his ear again and Keith rolls his eyes, "Still nothing." he says back. Okay, I was just checking. The answer comes back. Keith smiles to himself and continues. A click sounds further ahead, and Keith freezes where he stands. He holds his breath and peeks out from the cover of the container. Further ahead are three men, heavily armed and holding two figures to the ground. Keith recognizes that jacket right away and he holds back strong oaths. He sneaks back and squats. "Tech, they've found Frost and Stone." He waits anxiously for an answer and tries again after a few seconds. "Tech.?" "Let me go, you vile creeps!" The voice is undoubtedly Tech's and Keith crawls over to peek out again. She is carried onto her back by a fourth man and Keith can feel his blood running cold. Her lion is nowhere to be seen. Neither are Stonehearts and Frostbites, now that Keith is looking. "What do you want with us?!" shouts Frostbite loudly and looks around confused. Keith notices the blindfold that adorns his face. "Nothing, if you tell us where the lions are," says one of the soldiers, taking a step forward. He is big and broad, with clear muscles. His voice is deep, and his beard is well-groomed and long. "What lions.?" says Stoneheart. Okay, so they're playing dumb. That doesn't seem to work and Stoneheart's head crashes to the left when a singing slap hits his cheek. Keith can barely hear the slap because of Tech and Frost's screams. Keith looks around for a way out. His eyes connect with the containers handles, and he gets an idea. He loosens the sweater from his waist and as quietly as possible takes it on. Then he starts to climb onto the container, and it goes amazingly easy. He crawls forward and gets a much better view. There are four men, two guarding Frostbite and Stoneheart, one holding Tech down to earth, and then the man questioning Stoneheart. It's a lot, but Keith thinks he can take them. You can't do that without Red's help. Keith recognizes the blue lion's voice, and he looks around confused. She must have somehow caught his confusion before her voice sounds again. Red is here; we can all feel it. Find her and you can save our Paladins. Yeah and that's supposed to be super easy, huh? Keith looks down at the others, and he can feel his confusion, mixing with his reason. He closes his eyes and tries to breathe calmly, all the way down into his stomach. An overwhelming feeling spreads through his body and he squints his eyes but keeps them firmly closed. It feels like a burning fire, deep inside his chest, clear as day, and Keith gasps silently. This must be how the others were feeling when they feel their lion. Keith opens his eyes and chases the feeling again. It's still there, and Keith tries to turn his body in different directions. In this way, he gets a sense of which way he is going. "Gotcha." whispers Keith and opens his eyes. He sneaks down from the container and sneaks off before finding his lion.

Keith sneaks through the warehouse and follows the feeling in his chest. It gets stronger, but every now and then it flickers, and he has to spend precious seconds trying to find it again. His steps are soft against the metal floor, and his breathing completely in control. Something tells him that stealth missions are something he has tried before. And that he is good at it. He has run through the warehouse and stops when he meets a lone container. And the feeling increases tenfold and Keith takes a hand to his chest over the overwhelming pressure. He steps closer to the door of the container and carefully opens the locks. Fortunately, there is no padlock on, otherwise Keith would have been in trouble. The door opens creaking and Keith looks over his shoulder in panic. When no one comes running towards him, he steps in and carefully closes the container door behind him. Once he has secured it, he turns around and is greeted with an enchanting sight. The red lion is surrounded by the forcefield, with dead eyes. It has shrunk, just like the green lion was when Tech came out with it, and not like the blue lion when they found it. However, in its current form, Keith can immediately see that it is built differently. It's small, a little bit bigger than the green lion, and clearly built for speed rather than resistance. It's beautiful, in a terrifying way, and Keith takes a step forward with his hand resting on the forcefield. When Frostbite put his hand on it, it disappeared and the lion woke up. Nothing happens now. Keith takes a step back with a confused frown. "Um, it's me?" he says confused, and knocks on the field gently. The lion doesn't react at all, and Keith steps back in annoyance. "Keeeeith." he says slowly and insistently. "Your... I am your paladin.!?" He makes a hand gesture towards himself and looks up at the lion in frustration, who is just staring back dead. Keith snorts and starts to turn around. He opens the door and looks back at the lion. Then he points with both hands towards out.

A shot sounds, and Keith flinches. He turns his attention and sees two of the men running with guns ready. Piss.! He closes one of the container doors and hides behind them with clenched teeth. "I'm bonding with you!!" shouts Keith angrily back at the lion. When it does nothing, he grittes his teeth even more and pulls out his knife. He takes a deep breath and throws himself out from the container's shelter. He immediately throws himself to the right and begins to rush down the ranks, with the men right on his heels. Keith makes sure to run in a zigzag and just barely dodges the shoots that sound like rain against the metal. He throws himself to the left at the first opportunity and grabs one of the metal supports so he doesn't have to slow down. He rushes on while the men start shouting. "Hold, stop.!" Keith laughs to himself, and speeds up. As if. "Sendak!" one of the men shouts loudly and Keith doesn't have time to dodge the large upper arm that grabs him from a corner. He is thrown directly into a hard chest and falls to the ground with a hard dump. However, he does not stay on the ground much. He puts a solid kick forward towards the man's knee and quickly gets to his feet. The man grunts when Keith's kick hits him, but he doesn't even bend forward in pain. He just grabs Keith's neck and lifts him up high. "Hey.!" exclaims Keith, struggling against the hands that are holding on tightly. He twitches and tears, and even tries to bite. Nothing works and he is pushed towards the others. "Let go of me!" he hisses angrily and throws himself around in his grip. "You're a feisty one, huh?" the man laughs evilly and grabs Keith's neck harder. They approach the place with the others, and Keith can make out the soldiers standing close to the Young Justice members. Keith squirms and bites the man's forearms hard. He puts all his strength into the bite and the man loses his grip a little. But that's all Keith needs. He kicks backwards and hits the man right in the crouch. He collapses and Keith rushes forward and runs towards the others. "After him!" The man shouts furiously and Keith can hear heavy boots behind him. The two soldiers next to the others, have noticed him now and they run forward to stop him. Keith grittes his teeth and concentrates. He slides down on his knees and swings one leg to take balance away from them. He succeeds and a ruckus of metal reverberates in the warehouse. "What's going on?" Stoneheart's panicked voice is clear and Keith looks over at them. They are all on their knees close together, blindfolded. Keith comes up and tries to run forward. But he is held back by a pair of strong hands and thrown back into the ground. "Arghh." he just manages to say before all the air clears out of his lungs. "Cross!?" Tech yells at him. Keith is just gasping for breath. A heavy foot is pressed down against his back and catches him against the cold metal floor. "Let them go." Keith hisses, writhing unsuccessfully. Something cool is pressed against his neck and Keith lies completely still for the first time. "Try something, and your little friend will get the bud shot off." The man holding Keith presses the barrel of the gun a little harder against Keith's neck and he can feel the fear spreading like ice, for the first time. "Who are you?" says Tech quietly and neutrally. "It's none of your business, little lady," says the deep voice. "But you can call me Sendak," he laughs hoarsely and disgustingly. Keith is pressed on his legs, with the gun pointed at his neck. He remains completely still. The timing needs to be perfect. "What do you want with us?" he asks provocatively. "A bunch of young teens out playing.?" he laughs and hopes it will work. The pressure rises and Sendak takes a hard intake of air. "You are not some normal teenager. How else would you explain the masks? Do you really think we're that stupid.?" he laughs mockingly and Keith joins in. Sendak pauses in confusion and Keith smiles bigger. "You really believe that WE..." Keith points to himself and the others. "... can be a threat to you." Keith giggles "We're playing. It's a concept that children use, I don't know if you know it." says Ketih and looks around. Panic is everywhere in his body, but his voice is completely calm, just the way he wants it. "Kenny, stop. Be careful," Tech says out loud, and Keith is happy that she catches his idea. "It'll be fine," he says cautiously, deliberately letting his voice waver a little. Sendak's pressure with the gun is very soft, and Keith can feel that he needs the final push. Keith grabs the name, which Tech hurls at him and writes on. "My name is Kenny Montana, and the girl over there is my little sister Debra. We often play here. We're very sorry, we didn't know we weren't allowed to." he says with a lot of charm. "Idiot, don't give your name." Frostbite snarls hard, and Keith is happy for the idiot who gets his idea. No matter how thick his head is. "Oops." says Keith and looks over at Sendak in fright. Sendak has not changed the expression of his face at all, but he can see from the other soldiers that they are beginning to doubt. "If that's true, where are we right now?" says Sendak harshly and Keith sinks. "I'm not the best with geography. But our house is relatively close." he tries with a trembling voice. Fuck, let there be a house, please. "The yellow.?" asks Sendak, and Keith nods eagerly. "Liar." whispers Sendak and presses the gun hard against his throat and Keith instinctively closes his eyes. A shot reverberates through the warehouse, along with screams of horror from Tech, Frostbite and Stoneheart.

A flash of red and then a hard push in the side, sends Keith down hard towards the floor and he rolls helplessly on. The pain explodes throughout Keith's right side as he stops against the cool side of a container. All sounds merge, but Frostbite's scream cuts through the ringing in his ears. Dazed, Keith looks up and sees the red lion. Or at least a blurred giant blob of red. A set of jaws closes tightly around Sendak's arm and a painful roar escapes from him as he struggles to get free. The lion straightens up and Sendak follows with his arm up in the air, with indistinct words of pain, his legs dangle and his toes just barely reaching the ground. The lion snorts and throws Sendak far away from him. The lion chases after the other men and Keith keeps his eyes on the ground, to the sound of anxious screams and heavy bumps on the floor. Keith can feel the force of the blow hit him more clearly now and he lets his tired head fall to the floor in a small sigh. A lot of things are happening around him, but Keith can't bring himself to open his eyes. "Crossborn.!" Frostbite's voice annoyingly cuts through again and Keith frowns, but otherwise doesn't move. "Come on, Cross, please.!" a panicked sound has enveloped his voice and it confuses Keith. Is he worried about me? "Cross, you have to get up." Tech's voice joins in, and she, too, sounds worried. Some cool press softly against Keith's forehead. It's nice and he leans carefree further into it. The chill pushes him a little, and Keith can feel his head shaking against the floor. It reminds him a bit of the movement a cat would make to wake up its owner. At that thought, he is pushed a little harder. Keith struggles to open his eyes and succeeds after four attempts. Blurred red fills his entire vision, and he lets out a small gasp in surprise. A gentle hum comes from the lion and Keith slowly realizes that it is purring for him. It gently pushes him again. "Cross." a half-choked croak sounds from Frostbite and Keith forces his head towards them. They are still sitting on the floor, or Frost has gotten up on his knees, and is looking around in confusion with the blindfold over his eyes. None of them have freed themselves and they are left helpless. Keith now understands what the lion wants him to do. He has to help the others. It pushes him again as if to say yes. Keith closes his eyes and gathers all his strength. He supports himself with his hands against the floor and lifts himself up with a much-needed groan. The lion is purring and sticks its head under Keith's stomach and holds him up. "Thank you," Keith whispers. Together with the lion's help, he gets up and staggers towards the others. "Frost," Keith croaks as he gets a little closer. Frostbite looks directly over at him and his whole posture falls in relief. "Cross." he sighs and sounds completely beside himself. "Are you okay?" Keith is about to say he is fine, but the lion takes away some of the support, as a challenge. Keith chooses the support. "Not quite," he gasps and falls to his knees up against Frost. Frost gasps in surprise and leans back slightly to hold Keith's sudden weight. "What's going on?" asks Tech stubbornly and looks around. It looks pretty crazy, especially because she's blindfolded. The lion obediently waits at Keith's left side and leans its head back down towards them. Keith can feel Frost tensing up in his body and Keith pats his biceps with a heavy hand. "It's just the lion," he says lightly. Keith takes a deep breath and pushes himself up from Frostbite. The whole room spins around and he leans heavily against the lion's side. It lets him. "I need you to turn around," Keith says tiredly. Frostbite immediately obeys and turns around so that his bound hands are visible. Keith looks at them for a long time. So long that Frostbite clears his throat and Keith gets a little shock. "Yep." Keith mutters to himself and raises his heavy arms. He fumbles with the rope, and finally, after 5 embarrassing minutes, the rope loosens around Frostbite's body, and he can shake it off. Keith flattens back at the lion's cool body with a small smile. Frostbite tears the blindfold away from his face and quickly turns to Keith. Frostbite smiles with relief and surprisingly gives Keith a hug. His arms are firm around Keith and Frostbite's body is almost colder than the lion's. Keith sinks in against it and closes his eyes. "Hey, nope, you're staying awake." Frostbite shakes him, and Keith opens his eyes again, annoyed. On the contrary, he looks at Frostbite, who gives a worried smile back. He leads Keith back towards the lion's body. "Stay there." He points very demonstratively at the floor. As if I was going to move.

"Talk to me, Cross," Frostbite says as he moves towards Tech and Stoneheart. Keith moistens his lips. "We found the green lion." His voice is hoarse, and cracked."It was hidden in a giant thorn bush, on top of a pyramid. We were sailing through the river, by a kind of sloththingy," he mumbles on, and Frostbite nods energetically, as a sign to keep going."When we tried to get back to the portal, it was gone. We went further into the jungle and Tech started acting like a little kid." Technician interrupts with an offended, "Hey!". Keith looks over at her and is greeted by a pair of troubled eyes. She smiles gently at him and Keith smiles back. "Just as we were about to argue, a portal opened and we went through it. Then we came here. We split up to find a way out, and Tech was obviously taken under my nose." Keith frowns at himself, and unconsciously clenches his fists. Tech opens his mouth to say something, but Keith continues."I was just about to help you all when the blue lion talked to me again. She told me to find Red. So I did. I followed the sensation and found it in one of the last containers. It didn't open up and I was shot after. I tried to escape, but as you can see, I didn't get that far." Frostbite has freed everyone and they are rallying around Keith. "Where are your lions?" asks Keith when he remembers the green lion that should be by Tech's side. "They did something to them. They turned off completely and their eyes went out," says Stoneheart worriedly. The red lion growls by Keith's side. He raises a hand and strokes it at his side. "Can you find them?" he asks the lion quietly. It snorts and pushes him gently. "Help me get up." Keith holds out his hands and is helped up by Frostbite and Stoneheart. As he stands teetering between them, he can seriously feel the lion's push, and all the other things that have gone beyond his body. Stoneheart has let go of his arm, but Frostbite's hands remain as a support against the other. The lion lowers itself and lies close to his legs. "I think it wants you to get on its back," Stoneheart suggested gently, and the lion let out a growl in response. Keith can't possibly get on the lion's back, and he's about to protest when a pair of hands grab his hips and gently lift him onto the lion's back. Keith looks down in surprise and sees Frostbite's hands moving towards one of his hips. "You can ask for help." It's not that hard," he says with a fixed gaze and gives Keith a squeeze before letting go. When the lion has made sure that he does not fall down, it sets off, with the others by its side.