Fawkes

Birds of a Feather Reluctantly Flock Together

A/N: when an asterisk (*) replaces quotations (" ") it means it's being spoken through the mind links.
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*Hey guys,* I said into the mind link, *what do you get when you cross Robin with a food processor?*

There was silence, but I finished my joke anyway.

*Robin, the Boy Blender.*

I chuckled at my punchline, and although Wally was the only other person who laughed, I didn't miss Robin's sigh of frustration beside me.

*This is not what the mind link is supposed to be used for,* An angry Superboy grumbled, and I chuckled.

*What's the difference between Batman and a burglar? Batman can go into a store without robin'.*

I heard Bird Boy mutter obscenities under his breath, so I decided to keep going.

*Why did Batman stop taking Robin fishing? Because he kept eating all the worms.*

*Okay that was a bad one,* I apologized with a grin on my face as Robin, an amused Artemis and I made our way through the warehouse, *How about this: Why did Robin have to rush to the batcave? Cause he had to go to the batroom. At what time of the year does Robi—*

"Do you mind?" Robin stopped abruptly and turned to me, face inches from mine as he didn't even bother to speak through the mind link. I cursed my height and plastered a grin on my face.

"Not at all."

"Would you two shut up," Artemis whisper shouted at us, and I turned to follow her through the empty, dark hallway. "Someone could hear you."

"Gumby says it's all clear up in the sky and Quick Nick checked the top floors and found nothing." I stepped over a rusty pipe and dust rose up from beneath my feet, "Bats probably just gave us a false mission."

I didn't really think that. I wasn't gonna tell anyone, but I was super excited about being on my first mission as an official 'hero'. I was having a blast. Things were actually looking up in my life. It was such a weird feeling that sometimes I had to stop so my brain could process it again. I knew school was an absurd change, but I would get used to it. I was so unfamiliar with the freedom of living without a butler breathing down my back or the Joker threatening me every time I toed the line. Taunting Robin was an activity I forgot I loved, and it brought me great joy knowing that I could do all that once again. I hadn't been on a mission in two years, and it felt good and new being on the right side. I was so used to being perched atop a building with my sniper, or squat behind a computer hacking into some system, or sneaking through a bank. I was not used to looking for the people causing the problems and taking them in. Usually I was those people.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice where I was stepping. My foot hit a brick and I stumbled forward, almost plummeting down a hole that looked like an elevator shaft. Someone caught me by the hood and yanked me back before I could fall to my death.

"Nice one," Robin mumbled, aggressively letting go of me.

I rolled my eyes, "I was just checking that you wouldn't let me go flying to my death if given the opportunity to make it look like an accident."

"I may despise you with every bone in my body, but I'm not a bloodthirsty villain." He threw me a pointed look.

"Okay, I feel personally attacked by that." I fell to the back of the group, "But I'll have you know that—"

*Shhhhhhh.*

"Don't shush me I'm trying to prove a poin—"

*Shut up.*