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It was so fast, Kaldur was pretty sure even Wally and Conner missed it.
One moment, Robin was standing on his feet. The next, he was thrown across the room. He slammed into the opposite wall with a resounding crack. By then, Conner was on the man who’d thrown him. It didn’t matter. Robin staggered to his feet. He stumbled once, caught himself. One hand flew to his chest, he tilted his head to the side…
Kaldur was already running by the time he realized Robin was crumpling. His feet moved without him meaning them to. Still, Wally got there first. Before Robin had even really tipped over, Wally was there, supporting him. One hand flew to Robin’s neck, feeling his pulse point and supporting his head because Robin’s head had dropped back and he was—
He was too still.
Conner threw a man through a window and hurried over just as Kaldur dropped to his knees by Wally and Robin’s side. He gasped, softly. “I don’t hear a heartbeat. Where’s his heartbeat?” He asked.
“Belay that. Superboy, continue fighting. Everyone else, do the same. Kid, run as fast as you can to the evac position and let them know we need immediate medical aid.” Kaldur ordered. Nodding, Wally glanced down at Robin once. Then, he was gone in a blur of red hair and black stealth tech.
Settling his hands in the proper places, Kaldur started compressions.
He could hear Zatanna, Rocket, and Artemis all adding their own force into the fight, M’gann was hopefully retreating as soon as she could. She was meant to be destroying some sort of computer that they had. Leaving hadn’t been an option. They had been found out. Not a mole, not quite, but—
Well, something had gone wrong.
He could admit that much.
Under his hands, Robin’s chest sank. One of his ribs broke. He hadn’t expected it to happen so soon, knew that those with sharper hearing could hear it all too well. I am sorry, my friend. But this is unavailable. He thought. Turning away from Robin’s face, from those closed eyes and the blood running from his lips, Kaldur fell back into the rhythm. He was Aqualad. Being Aqualad meant knowing how to save people. How to save drowning victims, shark bite victims, electrocution victims who had fallen prey to the tides or Black Manta’s electric weapons. They helped whatever way they could, and sometimes that meant Kaldur had to break their ribs and their sternum.
He hadn’t had to do it to a team member.
Ironically, Aquaman had. To Batman. Something had happened on a League mission, throwing Batman into water and knocking him out. It had been just long enough for him to drown, just long enough for him to need it. Aquaman had saved him, leaving Batman with quite a few broken ribs but leaving him alive.
It was better than how Robin was, in this moment.
“Robin. You need to breathe.” Kaldur said, though there was…no reason for him to say that. It didn’t help anything. It could actually hinder him, technically. Focus. Keep on compressions. You need to focus. You need to work on this right now, focus on this right now. “Robin.”
He felt another of Robin’s ribs crack.
I am sorry, my friend. He thought. He wasn’t sure if he was apologizing to Robin, or to Connor, or to anyone else—please. Start breathing.
He didn’t know how long he did compressions for. Focusing on the mission was more important. As he leaned over Robin, he could hear people approaching. Footsteps on the floor. He didn’t pull his gaze away. Instead, he heard—just footsteps. Only footsteps. “Kaldur’ahm.” His king said, arriving at his side. Kaldur didn’t dare stop what he was doing. He felt a hand land on his shoulders. “You are tiring. Switch out with me on the next round.”
“Understood, my king.” Kaldur replied. He felt another of Robin’s ribs crack-snap. Wincing, he counted to thirty, pulled back. His king ducked down, forced air into Robin’s lungs. Kaldur could only watch, frozen to his spot, as Robin’s chest rose and fell once, twice, three times. Then, King Orim was doing compressions. He was the one saving Robin’s life.
The stress was no longer on Kaldur’s shoulders.
He sank down on his heels, watching with wide eyes. His king kept working. The Batman hurried over, mouth drawn oddly with lines that Kaldur had never seen before. His shoulders had an odd hunch to them, he knelt beside the king. It was a strange manner in general.
Right.
The Batman and Robin were close.
Closer, perhaps, than Kaldur had ever considered.
Robin returned to the Cave a few days later, looking exhausted but happy.
“Robin!” M’gann dropped the tray of cookies she was holding, leaving Wally to catch them all.
Artemis and Zatanna hurried over as well, the former immediately socking Robin in the shoulder. “That’s for dying on us, you—jerk!” She snapped, crossing her arms.
Laughing, rubbing his arm, Robin shrugged. “Sure, Artemis. I’ll keep that in mind.” Shaking his head, he looked back at Kaldur and smiled.
Kaldur returned the smile.
Adjusting his glasses, Robin turned and then said, “So, I’m off of patrol for the next couple of weeks. Who wants to watch Princess and the Frog?”
Gasping in delight, M’gann soared up. “Absolutely!”
Running over, Wally slung an arm over Robin’s shoulders. He had one of M’gann’s cookies in hand. “You want to watch a movie about a girl kissing a frog? Kind of weird?” Taking a bite, he winced. “Agh! Hot.”
“One of you has to be.” Artemis fired back, swiping the cookie from his hand and shoving it in her mouth. Pouting at her, Wally grinned when she turned her back on him. Artemis rolled her eyes and glanced over at Zatanna, who hid a laugh in her hand.
“I don’t understand Wally’s obsession with movies.” Connor said, though he sat at the couch anyways. With a shrug of his own, Kaldur turned on the TV.
“I have found people on the surface enjoy spending time with another, just as much as Atlanteans do. Sometimes, in unexpected ways.” He replied. Running over, Wally practically crashed into the chair Artemis was about to sit in. She sat down on his back anyways, snickering. Floating over, M’gann sat next to Connor, on the chair arm so she could lean against him. Robin, meanwhile, jumped over the back of the couch—a move he immediately regretted, seeing as he grabbed his ribs.
“Still. Who wants to watch two frogs fall in love for the next hour and a half?” Wally asked in a way that clearly meant “I’m excited about this movie” and not “I’m ridiculing you for this movie choice”.
Smiling, Kaldur settled in.