"Remember Ben 10, Rob?" Wally asked. It had been one of the many things he'd asked if Robin remembered and each time Robin would reply with no or that he'd never seen it. Each time, Wally and Artemis would scoff and prattle on about yet another thing that Robin didn't remember or know about. Those not from Earth or those who had only been born recently listened intently to every pop culture moment they unintentionally missed. They asked questions and M'gann was especially happy about finally getting context to the references made in her show. Meanwhile, Robin was anything but happy. To say he didn't have your average childhood would be an understatement. Neither did Artemis but even she seemed to have found the time to get caught up on pop culture. Recognition lit up in her eyes every time Wally blurted out a name yet there was nothing of the sort behind his own white lenses. Every now and then he'd think he knew what they were talking about only to realise he only knew the name superficially and never engaged with it. "Seriously? You don't know Ben 10."

"I didn't find the time to watch it," he replied. He hid his bitterness in a blaze tone and concentrated his efforts on writing up a report. Something he'd been doing since he was ten. Whilst Wally was watching his favourite cartoons, he was doing his first mission reports. They were littered with inaccuracies and run-on sentences but he'd somehow convinced himself that they were fun. MIssion reports meant that he was moving onto the next stage of being a hero and that was his dream. It still was. He was living it now which was amazing but it wouldn't be reality if there weren't cons to every pro. He just didn't think about them too often. Always wrapped up in impressing his mentor to get to that next stage and now he was slowly realizing what he was leaving behind with each step towards being the Robin he was today.

"Why?" M'gann asked.

"I've been working," he answered.

"Working?" she repeated. 

"He's been in the business since he was nine," Wally explained on his friend's behalf. 

"But what about before then?" she pressed on. She was in her right to ask. It didn't make much sense that if he started the job at nine that he wouldn't have had any exposure beforehand. Yet, that was the truth. Cultures tended to blend together when you travelled the world and small details had left thanks to trauma. Not to mention, he didn't have the means to engage with anything on TV and any music he listened to had been heard on the radio without a clear understanding of the song name or singer. 

"I don't talk about before then," he answered without any malice.  She thankfully dropped the subject.

"Still though, did Bats really work you that hard?" Artemis inquired.

"Well, I was on night patrol after a month which meant I needed naps and then there's training. When I wasn't training, I was doing homework and B never thought I could concentrate with the TV on. We only really watched TV for the news for obvious reasons. Even when I was benched for recovery I was usually too high on pain meds to understand what was happening." He'd never said it all out loud before but saying it did make him gain some perspective. His childhood, the moments he hadn't spent mourning which he'd pointedly left out, had been filled with work. All the things he'd missed as a result had never come to mind aside from missing a field trip or two. Bruce would make it all up with something or other and he guessed that always made him feel vindicated in the loss. 

"Didn't have much time to be a child then?" Kaldur asked. No. He didn't. The sweet parts of his memory were now covered in blood. 

"Not as much as some would like," he answered. 

"But I introduced him to games, didn't I Rob?" Wally said to ease the tension building in his friend's shoulders. The younger smiled and nodded. 

"Yeah, you and Roy are the only reasons I know what Mortal Kombat is." There was something a bit sad about that. He'd asked for gaming systems at Christmas but he was usually far too busy or far too tired to play them. Most of his exposure to things age-appropriate was from the combined efforts of Roy, Wally and Barbara. Even then, he didn't speak up if he failed to understand a reference and they didn't really ask when he didn't laugh appropriately.

"Hey, thrift shops are full of stuff from our childhood. We could take you guys out and we could get some classic movies," the ginger suggested. 

"Oh, that would be fun!" M'gann agreed excitedly. They all knew once she had her heart set on something, they were doing it so they decided not to mention that they now had the internet and could just watch the movies there. Then again, most of their methods were technically illegal and no one wanted to spend an hour explaining the grey area in morals and ethics regarding the law. So it was settled that they'd all get dressed in civilian clothing and head out into town on the hunt for discarded copies of Avatar the Last Airbender and Kim Possible. 

As they got ready to go, Connor and Robin were the first ones prepared so they waited by the Zetatubes. The clone had been quiet for most of the day which wasn't entirely unlike him but he had this pensive look on his face as though he wanted to say something but wasn't sure. Robin had gotten very good at reading him in their time together as a team and he found some humour in how closely he mirrored his mentor. They both preferred to remain quiet and both required a little more social training to learn how to make off-handed comments sound like just that instead of digs at someone. When Robin first met the League, he noticed that they weren't all well versed in speaking Batman so he began translating for them. He supposed now he was beginning to translate for Connor too. So when he noticed this expression adorning his friend's face, he decided it was better to ask now and get it over with rather than do so in public with the rest of the team who might not understand. 

"What's up, big guy?" he asked the clone. Connor opened his mouth before closing it again with a pondering look. "You know I won't get offended if you tell me. Even if you say it wrong."

"Why don't you talk about the time before you met Batman? Everyone else has spoken about what happened before they met their mentors, even Artemis after we figured out who the mole really was. Why haven't you?" The question was innocent but it didn't fail to make the smaller of the pair let out a sigh. He knew he should've gone with something more nonchalant when he responded to M'ganns question. He hadn't expected her to drop the subject so he was a little surprised hearing it from Connor since he was the less curious of the two. He thought about the question and then settled on a well-measured answer that wouldn't give too much away.

"The thing is Supes, it's not very nice to talk about. I don't want to talk about something that makes me upset," he explained politely.

"But why is it upsetting? You never talk about yourself. It's always Robin. Why do you get special treatment whilst Canary tells me I need to be Connor and Superboy?"

"Canary isn't my guardian. Batman is."

"Why does that make a difference? He's the same person who made you miss all that stuff Artemis and Wally were talking about." Robin went to great lengths to maintain his temper with Connor because he knew that he wasn't doing it to push buttons. The questions were out of curiosity, an urge to understand why there were exceptions not because he wanted a reaction out of him. 

"He isn't the person who made me miss it. I am. Being a hero was more than myself, I knew that even when I was nine so I spent my childhood looking out for others. You guys have limits today because of the work I did before you. You guys get more of a childhood than I had."

"Do you regret becoming Robin then?"

"Connor, don't ask me that," he answered instead of giving a real one because he didn't have one. He was only still realising how much he'd missed and he didn't want to face that he might regret what got him in this position. Being Robin has saved his life, hadn't it? It was the thing that motivated him and he saved so many people. If he didn't have Robin then he didn't know where he'd be. Maybe better off.

"Did I upset you?" Connor asked, getting his attention.

"No, it's my fault Supes. Here's the general rule for me in future: if I don't do or say something, there's a good reason for it."

"And I'm not allowed to know the reason?" He nodded.

"Just trust me."

It's in the thrift shop that Robin is once again faced with what he's missed out on. His teammates flood to the DVD section and gravitate around the toys from the late 2000s. Robin found himself unable to concentrate on the conversation which is mostly just Wally and Artemis yelling out names of things whilst the other inquire about them. He just stood there quietly. Luckily, silence is kind of his thing so no one questioned why he's not contributing to the conversation. He simply stands by a random rack of DVDs, some stained yellow with age and some dirty with God knows what. Well, he does know what because he's a detective and he can never turn that off. It's cigarette ash most likely or sun ageing. "Excuse me," a small voice called out. He looked down to find it had come from a little girl, half his size, wearing a brightly coloured dress. Her hair was braided with beads on the end in red, green and yellow. She looked up at him with wide brown eyes and she was smiling, showing that she's missing a few teeth. Something about the little girl is familiar but as Robin, he saw tonnes of little girls who need help either finding their parents or escaping another villain's attack so he didn't think much of it. "Can you lift me up so I can see?" He smiled at her and nodded, carefully wrapping his arms around her before lifting her up. She was quite light but then again he was weightlifting every night after school. "My name's Kara. What's yours?"

"It's Robin," he answered smoothly without hesitation. Kara's eyes light up at the answer and she threw her arms around him once she's retrieved her desired DVD. He laughs softly, not entirely understanding the gesture but appreciating it.

"Oh look, Rob made a friend," Artemis teases as M'gann coos at the scene. He stuck his tongue out at the archer and he was prepared to go over to give her a shove but there was a small hand clinging onto his and pulling on his arm. He glanced down to find Kara is trying to take him somewhere.

"Daddy! Daddy come here, I found Robin!" A man chuckles from behind a clothing rack and shuffles over. He's on crutches, his leg in a thick cast and there's a bandage on his cheek. He smiles at the little girl and then at the teen she held hostage. "Look, Daddy! Now you can say thank you."

"Say thank you?" Robin questioned. 

"Robin saved my life. Kara's too," the man explained. "Sorry about my Kara, she's a big fan of Robin."

"You said Robin saved your life?" Kaldur asked. 

"Indeed he did. I was in a burning building trapped with my daughter. I thought we'd never get out and here he comes swooping in. He came back even after I told him to just save her. Risked his life for me and now here I stand." Robin looked down at the girl, now finally recognising her, and he remembered her terrified cries when she knew her dad was still in the building. Batman had told him not to go back in but he refused to listen. He could never leave a man to die without trying to save him and he could never leave a child wondering that if someone had done something, would their parent still be alive. "I hope she isn't bothering you kids."

"Of course not," Robin said quickly. He decided to play into the girl's beliefs, seeing no harm in it. He knelt down and put on a very serious expression, having his hand on her shoulder. Something about the position made him feel like Batman when he was a young Robin who would wander off when he saw pretty colours. "I'm glad to see your father is doing better but in future, if you see me outside of work clothes you gotta keep it to yourself. I've got a secret identity to keep."

"Sorry," she replied but he knows she doesn't mean it. He softened his expression and handed her a lollipop he kept stored in his utility belt. He kept them both for patrols and for snack breaks but he thought he could afford to spare one for a kid that wasn't in traumatising amounts of danger.

"It can be our secret. I hope you like your movie."

"Thanks!" She hugged him again before returning to her father who gives him an appreciative smile for indulging his daughter.

As they walk away, he found that he suddenly knows the answer to the question does he regret becoming Robin. The answer is no. He may have given up his childhood for this job but he's out there ensuring others have them. If he hadn't been there, that girl would've lost her father and she wouldn't be here buying a movie to watch with him. He saved countless lives every day and it didn't matter if he was saving someone who wasn't a parent. He was saving someone from the pain of loss. The same loss that destroyed the innocence both he and Batman once had. He won't ever get that time back but he's making sure someone out there doesn't have to wish for their innocence back. That's worth the sacrifice. "Nice work Rob," Wally said, putting a hand on his shoulder that breaks his focus on the pair walking away. 

"I helped her get a DVD," he deadpanned.

"Not that, you saved her and her dad? On your own?" M'gann asked. Her voice was hushed but there was no need for it.

"Yeah?"

"That's so cool. You've been doing that since nine?"

"Yes- what do you think I was doing before we met?"

"She's just impressed. We all are," Kaldur clarified. "I hope we can all have the legacy you have one day."

"Where did you keep the lollipop?" Connor asked. 

"In my utility belt. I gotta be prepared for everything."

"Rob, do you have weapons on you right now?" Kaldur asked very seriously. He nodded. "I've told you about the weapons."

"I gotta be prepared for everything," he repeated. The older rolled his eyes at him, as did the rest of the team. That was alright though. They got to enjoy their civilian time and he was okay with being the one to stay on high alert. They could have their childhoods. He'd figure out a way to make up for lost time later.