How to Lose a Bird

Chapter 9

    "Please Robin! Why don't you want to try some of my homemade pasta?" the Martian girl whined as she floated over to the ebony lounging on the couch, holding a large metal bowl filled with what she called 'pasta'. 
    Robin recoiled as the bowl was shoved in his face, the bright yellow and red sauce mixed with a doughy solution stinging his nostrils.
    "No offense M'gann, but I don't even think Wolf would want to try that." he tried to play off nonchalantly, but failed seeing the teens dissapointed face.
    "Is my cooking really that bad?" she asked softly, and Robin couldn't help but pity her.
    "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. Homemade pasta is pretty tricky to nail, even for some professionals. All you need to do is practice a bit more."
    At this advice, M'gann practically beamed with happiness. It brought a pleased smile to the Boy Wonder face.
    "Yeah, I'll just have to practice! In the meantime, do either of you want to help make some cookies?" she suggested.
    Robin politely shook his head, while the clone who had been watching static slowly got up from his position on the chair with a slight shrug.
    M'gann squealed a bit as she flew back over to the kitchen, Connor following behind with a small smile forming on his face.
'God, just go out already you two' Robin thought and he watched them get supplies from the many cupboards.
    He turned back to the static filled TV and promptly reached for the remote to watch something that was an actual channel. The teen promptly turned it to the news, and sat watching while the two in the kitchen started to idly talk about their civilian life.
    Overhearing their conversations, he couldn't help but yearn for what they had. They didn't have to hide who they are to the Team. All of them could talk freely, if they so desired, about their civilian lives. All but Robin and Artemis, of course. (Although, the archers hero identity and civilian identity are the same, so it wasn't the same situation as the ebony's).
    He could obviously understand why the blonde wanted to keep her identity a secret, due to her relations, but why did he? Sure, knowing his identity also meant revealing Batman's as well, but he was surrounded by allies, not enemies. He believed with all his heart that none of his team would ever betray him to that extent, but of course, Batman didn't agree.
    What was it with that man and his paranoia and secrets? Did he ever think for a second that telling the truth could be beneficial? Both to trust, and mental health? It is sometimes, after all, emotionally and mentally taxing to keep some secrets. 
    All Robin wanted to do was reveal who he was to the team. But he knew Batman would be  beyond furious with him.
    It was getting tiring, honestly. How many secrets he had to keep because Batman either told him to or it could put innocents in danger. The weight of all those hidden messages bore a heavy weight, one the teen was getting pretty tired of carrying.
    He wished he could do what his teammates could. They could talk freely, while he had to watch what he said almost everytime he opened his mouth. In all honesty, it just wasn't fair.  
    Before Robin could dwell on his dilemma anymore, he could hear the monotonous voice of the zeta beam come to life.
    "Recognized, Speedy, B06."
    "That's not my name anymore you stupid machine!"
    Robin outwardly sighed as word of the archers arrival rang throughout the cave. He could hear him angrily stomping over towards him, and faintly heard a low grunt for Superboy in the kitchen.
    Robin paid Roy no attention as he came to a stop in front of the TV, effectively blocking his view. He tried to ignore the ginger, but was only met with the stone faced figure of the archer.
    "Roy, would you move? The TV's right there..." he trailed, finally making eye contact with the older teen. Who looked too pissed off to even try to describe. 
    "Where is she?" he ground out, crossing his arms and giving a stern glare. Robin only raised an inquisitive eyebrow. 
    "Where is who?" Roy slightly growled at this, throwing his hands up in frustration.
    "Artemis! Where is she!?" he exclaimed. 
    "Why do you want to know where she is?" Robin asked, not about to let the fuming ginger near his other friend without a reasonable explanation.
    "She shot you with an arrow, and I was only informed of this today! Now, tell me where she is so I can kick her-"
    "Roy, it wasn't her fault!" Robin refuted even before he finished his sentence. He got a steely and angered glare in return.
    "How wasn't it her fault!? She shot you, and got little to no repercussions! She was testing her boundaries, and obviously she saw where she stood. And apparently, that spot is pretty high up on the chain of command."
"Roy, that mission was nearly a month ago and the two missions we had since then have been a breeze! Seriously, take a chill pill!" Robin exclaimed back, rolling his eyes in frustration. This only seemed to make Roy's face even more scarlett than it was already getting from rage.
"Even so, that's not the point! She shot you!" he yelled once again, steam practically flowing from his ears like a steady train.
Robin paused for a moment, studying the archers face curiously. Then, after a tense moment of silence where the only noise was M'gann silently stirring the cookie dough, a knowing smirk enveloped the Boy Wonders face. He let out a cackle, and the archers rage simmered, being replaced with slight curiosity.
"Careful, Roy, your overprotectiveness is showing just a bit." said gingers cheeks once again became a scarlett red, but from embarrassment. He started sputtering random excuses that had nothing to do with that, but the only response he got was the smug look that now adorned Robins face. Once catching the expression, Roy stopped trying to explain his actions and simply crossed his arms with a huff.
"Shut up, kid." he grumbled, now getting a triumphant look from the Boy Wonder.
"Nice to know you still care, Speedy." with that comment, Roy threw his arms in the air out of exasperation and stomped towards the Zeta Beams. All along the way the occupants of the cave could hear multiple grumbles of 'why do I even try' and 'he's going to be the death of me'.
Robin cackled once more as he heard the archers angered shout at the feminine voice once again used his outdated name.
A moment passed where no one spoke, the only sounds being the television and the clang of cooking supplies from the kitchen. The air seemed almost akward, but the martian soon went to work dispelling those feelings.
"I didn't know you and Roy were so close." she said simply, gaining the ebony's attention away from the screen. To her delight, she saw a broad grin in response.
"Yeah, Wally, Roy and I are basically brothers. Being the first partners, we hung out a lot, both with and without our mentors. And, sure, Aqualad came soon after, but nothing can compare to the originals, am I right?" Superboy gave him a very dark glare at that comment, and Robin quickly had to rectify it. "Not that there's anything wrong with seconds." the teen gave a nervous chuckle as Connors gaze was directed away from him, but still had a very dark look lingering.
Before anyone could say anymore, a bright light was cast into the room.
"Recognized, Batman, 01." the Zeta Beams called, and everyone was immediately at attention. Robins grin widened and he flipped over the couch with ease, jogging over to his mentor excitedly.
As usual, the Dark Knight wore an emotionless mask, completing the look that almost every criminal shivered at. The man quickly strode into the room, a definite purpose in his mind.
Robin ran up to him, falling into stride with his elongated steps, and looked up at him eagerly. Batman, in turn, glanced down at his protègès hopeful expression. He took one long stare, and they continued to communicate through what most of the League dubbed very early on 'Bat Speak.' The ebony gestured briefly to a small, metal disc in the Dark Knights grip. That seems to be the end of the conversation, as Batman let loose a small sighed and dejectedly nodded his head.
Robin gave a small whoop, but also noticed Batman's hesitance. Although, some speculation on the Dark Knights part was to be expected. He was still getting used to dealing actual missions to a team of skilled and super-powered teenagers. One can only take so much, after all.
    But something in the ebony's gut told him this was different. His mentor didn't seem just hesitant to let the team go on another mission (although some people were still suspicious over the whole Artemis incident). Batman was always paranoid, but this seemed different.
    Robin shook all of his doubts out of his mind with a near undetectable shake of his head. They seemed to be a bit ridiculous. If his mentor was really worried about the team and how they work together, they wouldn't be going on another mission at all.
    Still, Robin took all of his thoughts with a grain of salt, mentally reminding himself to look for any other suspicious behavior-from both Batman and his teammates-while they were being debriefed.
Batman walked stoically to the center of the mission room with Robin still by his side, bringing up the holo-computer. He quickly typed a sequence of digits, and multiple pictures of a strange, glowing red metal appeared.
    Despite probably being very dangerous and possibly even deadly, Robin found himself being drawn to the red substance. Something about it seemed special, and the bird was more than eager to see what kind of element it was. And, if it wasn't too dangerous, maybe even snag a piece of it for himself.
"Team, return to the Cave and report to the mission room immediately for a debrief."

Yeah, not the most ideal place to leave off, but I couldn't find a way to continue this chapter without it being incredibly long, so I'm settling with a shorter chapter than normal.

Basically nothing of real importance (except more bonding) happened this chapter, it is just mostly setting up the next couple chapters.

Well, with that, I'll see you all later! Once again, sorry for the shorter chapter!

~BluePinetree