X

Chapter 4 -Xtraction-

Kid Flash and Aqualad watched the boy dejectedly walk along with them, wide-eyed and confused. They had no idea what just happened, the kid had poured his water on the ground (which; what?) then got sad enough to not teleport around like everything was interesting. It was like all the spirit had faded from the kid and it was rather concerning. They didn't know how to make the foreign boy feel better, they didn't even know how to react to him using his water for the dirt. Weird kid, but that didn't mean they wanted to see him sad.

"Hey, X," Kid Flash prompted, then lightly brushed the boy's shoulder to get his attention. X flinched slightly but looked up, face scrunched in confusion and Kid Flash suddenly felt a twinge of regret for interrupting whatever the kid was mourning. Instead of showing that he gave him a gentle smile, wanting to lighten the mood. "I promise we'll get out of here, you will see the sun."

Aqualad smiled briefly next to him, "And if it is night, we can promise the moon."

Then Kid Flash's smile got that quirk that screamed 'mischief', "Not sure we can promise Superman a second time but hey, who knows, maybe Batman will show up."

"Bat...man?" His voice was cautious, these boys seemed to have a lot more contact with the outside world than Dick did. How did Bossman allow that? Was Batman another experiment? Was Superman? They must be adults, they had 'man' in their names while the rest of them had 'kid' and 'boy'. Kid Flash had also mentioned Superman before. The adults must have escaped first, and now the boy's were escaping. But why did they bring Dick? He didn't even know they existed!

"He's a big Bat guy," Kid Flash explained, then his face twisted in a grimace. "Honestly he's probably the scariest dude, but I think deep down he cares a lot. He wouldn't be in the Justice League if he didn't."

Dick was confused again, this time feeling tense for some reason. "Jus...Justice League?"

Kid Flash's eyes widened and he spoke quickly. "Oh uh, just a group of people who... like to help... other people?" His explanation was more of a question and he paused at weird times. He was also glancing at Aqualad a lot but the water boy just stared at him.

Dick just shrugged and rubbed his arms with each other because his skin was itching again. Whatever the 'Justice League' was was clearly a group made of Cadmus escapees. That was a good thing, they were helping Dick escape and that was a good thing. He needed to focus on good things even if he was sad, Mami and Tati would have wanted that. Aqualad and Kid Flash promised the sun and moon, he was going to see the sky again.

Dick was so busy thinking he nearly ran into Superboy, he stumbled back and teleported to the other side of Aqualad and Kid Flash who had caught up as well. He wrapped his arms around his middle, feeling a little cold and ...empty? Oh, he was hungry. And for some reason his eyes were wet.

"What took you so long." Superboy growled, arms folded as he stood in front of the elevator. Dick flinched at his harsh tone, forgetting that was how the bigger boy expressed worry. He ducked his head and felt the super kid's eyes on him, but then he looked away and Dick saw his shoulders slump a little.

"X desired a water break." Is what Aqualad gave him as an explanation, a soft look directed at the defensive boy. Then he straightened and Kid Flash untangled their arms because apparently the water guy could stand on his own now. "Is the elevator operational?"

Superboy frowned again, this time without hostility. "No, it's completely shot."

Dick tucked his bottom lip into his mouth as he tried again to rub his arms together to make the itchy feeling go away. It never really worked when he was in his pod but this time it was also because his arms felt so light without the cuffs and the skin was tender where it had been protected.