Wally smiled at me when I came out of the changing room. "It looks great!"

"I feel stupid," I said blantly.

Wally shrugged. "Come on. You love it."

I shrugged. "It feels weird."

Batman had insisted that I needed a costume since I was finally cleared to go on missions with everyone else. I tried to convinced him that I didn't mind staying in the mountain, but he said I needed training outside the walls. Now I was wearing a costume with a black cape, red shirt with a Robin symbol or a simple R on it, a utility belt, black kevlar pants and boots. I was armed with a grappling hook, some of Batman's Batarangs, smoke pellets, and a hologlove for hacking. Wally handed me a mask. "Come on, Dickie," he said. "You're gonna be out on the field! Isn't this gonna be fun?"

I took the mask, not hiding my distaste for it. "I guess, but why do I have to wear this? It feels like I'm going to be doing a ballet number."

Wally chuckled and ruffled my too-long hair. "So no one will know who you are, Rob."

I swatted his hand away. Reminder: ask Miss Martian to give me a haircut. "What's with you and nicknames?"

Wally shrugged. "I guess it's just my thing." He pulled on his mask and I put on mine. I didn't like the way it felt. It reminded me too much of when I was Renegade.

"Hurry it up, team," Batman called. I sighed and followed Wally to the debriefing room. Miss Martian's face lit up in a smile. "Dick, you look great!"

"When he's in costume," Batman said. "Call him Robin."

Miss Martian smiled sheepishly. "Yes Batman."

"Alright, team. This is the man you must catch," Batman said. A picture that made me gasp filled the space in front of me.

No one but Wally and Artemis seemed to notice.

"But Batman," Aqualad tried to reason. "Are we not strictly used covert missions only?

"You would be," Batman said. "But not this time. This man is named Tony Zucco. He escaped from prison last night and is hiding in an abandon warehouse in Metropolis. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Rob?" Wally said, concern etching his voice. "D-do you need to sit down."

I hadn't noticed, but I was swaying like I was going to pass out. I tried to answer him, but I could only manage a squeaky noise from the back of my throat.

"Robin," Wally said again. My knees failed me and a crashed to the ground. The team was suddenly surrounding me, asking what was wrong.

"Give him some space," Wally said. "He can't breath with all you surrounding him like that!" He tapped my shoulder. I looked up at him. "Dick? Can you hear me?" I nodded a tiny bit, not trusting my voice. "I think you should sit this mission out. I don't think-"

"He can't," Batman said. "He needs to face Tony."

My lip was quivering and I quickly shook my head. "Please..." I whispered. "I...I can't."

"Why?" Artemis asked, trying to be nice about it. I simply shook my head.

"This was the man that murdered his parents," Batman said simply.

Just like that, it was like a dam had broken. A sob escaped from my throat and I buried my face into my hands.

"I do not think-" Aqualad started

"He has to," Batman interrupted. "If he doesn't face Tony, he'll regret it later. I don't care if he's just a kid. This will haunt him for the rest of his life if he doesn't put Tony Zucco into custody."

I shook my head. "I-I can't face him. H-he'll kill me!"

Batman sent a batglare my way and I averted my eyes from him. "Leave us," Batman said to the others.

"But-" Wally protested.

"Now!" Batman yelled. Everyone rushed out of the room to get away from Batman's rage. I sunk closer to the floor, tears still running down my cheeks. Batman leaned down so he was close to eye level with me. "I know you're scared," he said quietly. "But you have to trust me. All our training, it's lead up to this moment, alright?"

I sniffed and shook my head. "I-I can't...I'll want to kill him..."

"No you won't," Batman said softly. "I know you won't. I'll tell you from experience; the best way to dampen the nightmares is to defeat the cause."

I swallowed. "Y-you mean..."

"My parents were murdered when I was a child and I watched it happen. I swore I would kill him. When I finally did catch him, I almost broke my no kill rule, but I stopped myself."

I wiped the tears away. "But y-you're not a trained assassin."

"Don't worry," Batman said. "The team won't let you go too far, alright?"

I sniffed again and nodded. "A-are you sure you want me to go?"

"Positive," Batman said.

I swallowed and nodded. "Okay," I said taking a shaky breath. I took off my mask and scrubbed the tears away fully before putting it back on. "Thanks, Batman."

Batman helped me up and let the rest of the team in. We were give instruction to not use our radios, so Miss Martian would have to set up a mind link. And with that, we were sent on our way.

~

Prepare to depart, Miss Martian's voice said in my head. It was so weird!

The door on the bottom of the bio ship opened and one by one we landed on the roof in stealth mode.

Robin, Aqualad said. Shut down all security.

I hacked into the system and disabled it. Done.

Miss Martian and Superboy, look to see if there are any immediate threats and locate Zucco. They nodded and set to work, Superboy using his see-through-walls vision and Miss Martian going invisible.

A couple of guards but nothing much, Superboy said.

Tony Zucco is in a room in the Southwest corner of the warehouse.

I brought up a map of the warehouse on my hologlove and found the room Miss Marian pointed out. We're going to have to go through the entire warehouse, I said. Are you sure it's not that heavily guarded, Supes?

Why would I lie?" Superboy growled.

I put up my hands. Just asking.

But, don't you this that someone who escaped from jail for murder would try to put as many men as he could between potential threats and himself? Kid Flash asked.

I shook my head. Tony knows how to fight. And he won't hesitate, so don't underestimate him. I checked over the security again. We should get going.

The team nodded, slipping silently into the warehouse.

~

We took down the guards easily, but with every one that went down, the uneasy feeling in my gut grew. He's not this stupid. He has to be planning something...

We stood outside the door that Tony was in. Am I really ready to face him? He could kill me. He could kill all of us. I-I could kill him...

Kid Flash put a hand on my shoulder. It's gonna be fine, Rob. Just take a deep breath. I did so and turned back to the door. I checked it over for any alarms, but found none. I nodded to the rest of the team and we kicked the door open.

"What the-" Tony was surprised to see us. "W-who are you?" His words slurred together. He's drunk.

Good, Kid Flash said. That'll make him much easier to beat!

I'm not too sure about that...

Just to test my theory,I threw a batarang right at his head. He caught it and threw it back. I dropped to the ground as the weapon went over me and got stuck in a wall.

This might be harder than Batman said it would be, Kid Flash said.

Superboy, throwing all caution into the wind, as usual, ran at Tony with a yell. His momentum allowed his to tackle Tony to the ground and pin him there.I walked to where he was pinned.

"Who are you?" Tony asked again. "You seem familiar."

I felt anger flare up inside of me. I stomped as hard as I could on his face, breaking his nose. He cried in pain, but I didn't want to be done. I wanted to make him pay for what he did!

I shoved Superboy off and pinned Tony down myself. "I'll make you pay for what you did!" I threw a punch at him, breaking his jaw.

"Robin!" Someone shouted. "Stop!"

I didn't. I grabbed Tony by the hair and smashed his head into the concrete floor below. I was about to bring down my fist again, this time on his throat, when someone grabbed my arm. I was pulled back into reality. I blinked and looked up at Kid Flash. My eyes widened when I realized what I had almost done. I shook my head and felt tears threatening to fall. "I-I'm s-so so-sorry." I said. "D-don't hurt me..."

"Why would I hurt you?" Kid Flash asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the rest of the team taking care of Tony.

"B-Because I fa-failed." I sobbed. I closed my eyes and waited for Kid Flash to strike me.

"Robin," Kid Flash said softly. "When have I ever beat you for failing?"

"B-but this w-was a mission. I f-failed. I-If I don't l-learn from t-this mistake-"

Kid Flash pulled me into a hug. I blinked in surprise. "Y-you're not mad at me?"

I felt Kid Flash shake his head. "Batman shouldn't have forced you to come on this mission. I'm so sorry, Robin."

I swallowed. "I-it's okay. I-it might help with m-my nightmares..." I took a deep breath and untangled myself from Kid Flash's arms. "T-thanks for stopping me."

Someone ruffled my hair from behind. "Any one of us would have done it, Bird Boy," Artemis said. She smiled at me. "You got him good."

I smiled slightly. "Thanks."

"I believe that the main reason Batman forced you onto this mission was so we did not underestimate Tony," Aqualad said.

I nodded. My gaze slipped to Tony's unconscious body. "D-did I knock him off?" The team nodded.

"You don't know your own strength," Artemis said. "But don't worry. We'll fix that in our next training session."

I took a deep breath and let it out, nodding. "Okay."

"Come on," Kid Flash said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Let's go home. I know you want to get that awful costume off."

"Well...it's not that bad..." I admitted.

Kid Flash smirked. "Race you to the Bio ship!" He zipped off.

"Hey!" I called. "That's not fair!" And I ran after him.