Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

SSNHSSNHSSNH

Robin sighed and glared at the copious amounts of homework spread out before him on the counter of mount Justice’s kitchen. In a perfect world, the small mountain of uncompleted work would have spontaneously combusted, granting him freedom from busywork hell! Alas, the object of his ire stayed insultingly intact, mocking him with the general unfairness of the situation.

Hs friends were all out enjoying the last few days of their winter break, long sleeves and winter gear obscuring the more obvious injuries they’d all received during their battle with the Mind-controlled Justice League. While he was trapped in the kitchen enduring the cruel and unusual punishment that had once again accompanied his scholastic overachievement.

It simply was not fair.

No Patrols or Missions until his homework was completed.

That was the Bat-family rule.

Pronounced by Batman and ruthlessly enforced by Alfred. Anything below an A-, inevitably garnered Bruce’s typical, dreaded, and overly familiar “Vigilantism-is-a-privilege- not-a-right” speech or the far more horrifying “Saving-the-world-is-no-excuse-for-scholastic-underachevivenent” speech. Since his one B- had resulted in his being literally grounded for 6 weeks, he couldn’t even half ass this horrendous assault on the last days of his Christmas break.

This seriously was not fair!

He’d worked ahead, like always. Gotten all of his freshman assignments completed in the first few weeks of the semester, he should have been free to enjoy time with his friends before school restarted and he had to deal with the boring inevitability of class work. But no, rather than being outside enjoying the snow he was stuck inside playing Academic Catchup.

“It sucks to be me!” he groused melodramatically to wrapped up in his Academic misery to notice the rest of his team making their way quietly into his own personal corner of Hell.

“AP Chemistry,” Wally read, picking up one of the many books currently tormenting him. “Dude! Did you skip a grade again?!”

“Yes,” he moaned piteously and slumped over the counter covering his head with his arms.

SSNHSSNHSSNH

Zatanna yawned as she made her way to the kitchen for a late night snack. It wasn’t something she usually did, but after everything that had happened in the last few months she seriously needed some dark chocolate. Dark chocolate wasn’t some magical Cure-all … but sometimes it sure as hell felt like it. She stretched slightly as she padded down the hall in nothing but her fuzzy Christmas socks – a gag gift from Wally.

She wasn’t Robin to move silently down the halls but the socks sure helped keep the noise of her crossing to an absolute minimum. An absolute necessity when one lived with someone with super hearing, and a ninja with the tendency to pull pranks in retaliation for being awoken unexpectedly.

She blinked at the soft glow of light as she drew closer to her destination. None of the lights were on in the kitchen. The glow was entirely too soft for that, more like a nightlight or possibly an oddly colored book light. The soft blueish purple light flickered like a candle in a gale, and Zatanna couldn’t help wondering how the little light was even serviceable.

She doubted it was bright enough to read by.

The incessant flickering reminded her of her own first days as a magical practitioner, back when she’d had to concentrate and focus to keep even the simplest of spells going. Odd given the fact that she and Kaldur where the only to magic users on the team and both of them where well past the stage were a nightlight would have been difficult to maintain.

“Ksam eht sdnuos fo ym ginassp[i]” she muttered inching forward to see who was in the kitchen. She doubted it was an intruder. The Cave’s alarm system was formidable and Robin and Batman regularly tested the system. Still given what had happened just two days ago it was better to be safe than sorry.

Robin sat perched precariously upon a stool at the kitchen counter, slumped forward over his copious homework in obvious exhaustion, a small flickering ball of deep blue flame dancing just above his slim shoulder. She gasped in surprise at the sight.

All hell broke loose at the sound.

A deafening pop filled the cave, the little ball of flame exploded outwards in a blinding flash, disappearing so suddenly it plunged the room into a horrible void. Robin’s stool clattered to the floor, as the boy swiftly vacated it.

She shook her head, blinking and rubbing vainly at her eyes in an attempt to restore her vision. A gust of wind heralded the arrival of a pajama clad Wally, even as Kaldur, Conner and M’gann pounded into the kitchen behind him. She never knew who hit the lights, but when her vision cleared, her mouth dropped open in shock at the sight before her.

Robin crouched in the impossibly small space between the cabinets and the ceiling. His impossibly blue eyes briefly glowed a demonic blue before the boy blinked and the odd bioluminescence was gone. It was gone so quickly she wasn’t even sure she’d seen it. He moved with liquid grace, all but slithering out of his hiding spot he, twisted in midair sprang off the counter in a one handed back hand spring, snatched up and put on his customary sunglasses before twisting nimbly around in the air, and vaulting over Conner to land lightly behind them. Before disappearing down the corridor without as much as a backwards glance.

She gaped after him, still trying to process what had just happened. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Wally clapped her on the shoulder. “You got off easy,” He informed her with a wicked grin. “Last time I surprised him, I ended up pinned to his bedroom wall with by three Ninja Stars.”

“Jeez Kid Idiot, I knew you were a bad influence, but don’t you think he’s a bit young for that sort of thing?” Artemis enquired before turning on her heel and exiting the room. Her startled boyfriend trailing after her.

Zatanna rested her hand lightly on Kaldur’s arm to hold him back as the rest of the team filed out of the room. They waited in companionable silence until they could be relatively sure Superboy wouldn’t overhear them without actively trying.

“What is on your mind?” Kaldur enquired as soon as they could be sure of at least some privacy.

Zatanna ran a hand through her hair and considered the boy she’d kissed for the first time just a few days ago. “Can Robin use magic?” she asked after a second.

Kaldur blinked, his inner eyelid slipping closed across his lovely silvery green eyes. “Not to my knowledge,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

Zatanna sighed, unsure of what to do. Robin was her friend and the last thing she wanted to do was betray one of his secrets. “I- could have sworn he was using a mage light to read by.” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “Didn’t look like he had much control over it either.” She added at his raised eyebrow. “It exploded when I startled him.”

Kaldur rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand. “Batman’s stance on Meta- Human’s in Gotham is infamous.” He replied after a bit of contemplation.

“What’s he going to do? Run Robin and his family out of the city?” she retorted, “Even Batman doesn’t have that kind of power.”

Kaldur sighed, “Aquaman is my mentor, my King and a good friend of my mother’s, but he has no power over me beyond those roles.” He explained in a mild tone. “Over time I noted, that does not seem to be the case for Gotham’s protectors.”

She paused, digesting that thought. “You think the rumors are true?” she enquired after a second. “Robin is Batman’s son.”

Kaldur nodded, “I think it is a distinct possibility.” He responded in a decisive tone.

“That’s neither here, nor there.” She replied after a moment’s consideration. “The relationship between the two changes nothing. If I am right, Robin will become a danger to himself, and soon.”

They fell silent as Kaldur considered her words. “You are certain you saw him use Magic, and not merely some gadget we have not seen before?”

“It was flickering like a candle in a gale, Kaldur.” She retorted sharply. “He had little control over that conjuration.”

Kaldur groaned, “Confronting Robin about it is out of the question.” He replied in a mild tone. “However, I feel I may have a solution. Give me a few days.”

SSNHSSNHSSNH

A week had passed since he’d almost been caught using the gift he technically wasn’t supposed to have. He’d been careful since, trying desperately not to do anything else to give himself away. It wasn’t just Batman he was worried about either. Human’s tended to react badly to things they couldn’t understand, his own extended family had been a testament to that fact. He shuddered remembering the altercation that had happened when his maternal grandmother and aunt had found out what he was. He’d been lucky for his mother’s timely intervention. Still he was well aware of the fact that he caught in a trap of his own making.

He glanced at the book Zatanna had ‘forgotten’ on the counter and wondered if he could justify reading it. In the end he scooped up the manuscript Kaldur had left on the side table and made his way over to the older boy. He had a sneaking suspicion of what the manuscript contained, and a good idea of how to get around any suspicion that would have been raised by his borrowing it.

“Kaldur?” He enquired, settling himself down on the couch beside the older boy. “Teach me how to read?”

Kaldur looked momentarily startled, “I thought surface children are required to learn Atlantian.”

Robin shook his head, “We are required to take a second language.” He remarked, “It doesn’t have to be Atlantian. Will you teach me?”

SSNHSSNHSSNH

Kaldur sat back in his customary seat in the Bio-ship contemplating the mission ahead of them. Klarion was up to something. In the past week, he’d stolen several large diamonds from various collections across the world. As of yet the League had no idea what he had planned, but one thing was certain. Where Klarion went Chaos followed.

He turned his head and took in his team. They sat silently around him, each one completely comfortable with themselves and each other. They’d come a long way in the few short months they’d been a team. His gaze fell on Robin, the boy who would one day take over from him as the team’s leader, and he found himself wondering how the boy would ever manage it. If he could not be honest with himself.

Robin was highly skilled and a natural born leader. However, the gift he was potentially hiding from everyone was dangerous. There was an old song that every Atlantian child knew, that summed up the dangers of an untrained gift. “A boy who plays with Magic powers, brings danger home to dwell. He does not have the discipline to tame his errant spell.[ii]” He shuddered as he thought about the two boys in the song, one slain by accident at his friend’s magical hand. The other slain by his own hand due to his overwhelming guilt.

Sighing he resolved to keep an eye on the younger boy. Robin was young yet perhaps, given time, he would be secure enough in himself to step out of the bat’s formidable shadow and be who he was born to be, not who he thought his mentor wanted. Still he was worried, the other boy seemed to be having trouble relaxing around them. Zatanna in particular seemed to alarm him, though Robin kept throwing him furtive glances. Kaldur knew the other boy well enough by now to know when he was being judged.

It was clear Robin was ready to fight or flee, and had yet to decide on the proper course.

He muttered one of the few spells he could actually cast under his breath, his tattoos briefly pulsing with bioluminescent light, and flicked two fingers towards Robin placing the spell as unobtrusively as possible. Robin’s mask quirked up at him slightly. He shrugged, amused and a little alarmed that the young bat could sense his spell. Robin turned his head away and exchanged a few childish quips with Wally as they flew trusting he had a good reason for his actions.

And didn’t that just made him feel horrible.

They flew over the Louisiana Bayou, the Bioship camouflaged to give them the cover needed to gather information before they moved into confront the Young Lord of Chaos. From what they could tell Klarion had set up shop among the twisting turning back trails and dangerous waterways a few weeks ago. Placing a network of large crystal focus stones in strategic places atop the area’s lay lines. Linking the magical rivers and little streams into a network that would be alarmingly easy for any magical user keyed into the stones to tap into. Kaldur knew what he was looking at the second he’d laid eyes on it, and from the grim set of Zatanna’s mouth and shoulders so did she.

“It’s forbidden,” she whispered in shock.

Kaldur nodded, “We have outlawed the practice as well.” He commented eyeing the construct below them with a critical eye. “We cannot let him finish this Construct.” He informed his team his voice tight with the strain of suppressing his emotions.

“He is creating a Magical Dam.” Zatanna added.

“And that’s bad, why?” Wally enquired

“Once he is finished, he can and will bind the magical energy in this area to himself, locking out other magic users and destroying the Natural ecology.”

Zatanna gritted her teeth. “Kaldur,” she said softly her voice sharp with anger. “If he raises those shields. He could do far worse than simply destroying the natural ecology. I don’t even want to think about with a Chaos Lord would do with that much magical energy at his beck and call. If he wanted to he could channel the Forbidden Arts.”

Kaldur blanched, there were several branches of Magic that had been universally forbidden to All Magical Practitioners. From the Halls if his own beloved Atlantis, to the vaulted and secluded schools of the Homo Magi, to the rolling Forests of Underhill, and the Nine Courts of the Fox Kin, all had signed the accords. “He wouldn’t,” he gasped.

It took him a moment to realize that the strange noise he was hearing was coming from Robin. The Boy grinned, and not in a good way, an eerie glow emanating from behind his mask. “He would,” the boy snarled. His voice dropping with a dangerous rumbling timber, so unlike his usual sarcastic and a cheeky tone, it sent a shiver of alarm down Kaldur’s spine. Robin’s hair was actually standing on end. “He’s used Necromancy before. It’s not a big leap from that to any of the other forbidden arts.”

Kaldur glanced at Zatanna, Robin had no reason to know anything about the forbidden arts, let alone the fact that necromancy was one of them. The girl looked just as stunned as he was. There was something else though. Kaldur had grown up under the sea. Enough predators swam in the ocean that he knew one when he saw one. He’d become adept at sensing them. He’d had to in order to survive. Robin didn’t look like one but every nerve in his body sat up and screamed Shark!

Artemis, Kid Flash flank to the left. Kaldur ordered as soon as the mindlink was up between them. Zatanna, Miss Martian the Right, Super Boy work your way around back, Cover each other but do not engage until we have provided a distraction. Robin with me. We will flank him and launch our attack from the swamps themselves.

M’Gann banked the ship hard right and set a course for Kaldur and Robin’s drop point. A small port in the floor opened up as the ship leveled out. Robin dove head first through the hole in the floor, arms tucked close to his side, back arched gracefully as he sailed through the air in a graceful free fall. At the last moment he shifted, twisting gracefully around in the air, caught nearby tree branch, reversed his grip, flipped around twice and propelled himself up into the high branches. Where he faded seamlessly into the shadows. Kaldur took in the sight of his friend’s areal prowess with a slight smile before flinging himself after the smaller boy. He twisted around in the air arched his back and brought his arms together over his head, breaking the surface of the water with a small splash. His nictitating membranes slamming shot over his eyes as he plunged into the water. He arched his back, the stones and debris of the swamp floor brushing his chest and belly as he glided effortlessly through the irregular obstacle course that lurked below the surface. Perfectly at home in the aquatic environment most would consider a death trap.

In Position M’Gann spoke calmly into his mind.

As are we. He replied, acutely aware of Robin lurking in the shadows above him thanks to the tracking spell he’d placed on him just a short while ago. The spell was one of the few he’d learned to cast during his two semesters at the Conservatory of Sorcery. It was easy to cast and required absolutely no effort on his part to maintain unless he was actively tracking someone. However it was also very distracting.

At least the one linked to Robin was.

In a few weeks he wouldn’t notice it any more unless Robin gave him a reason to suddenly notice it. Assuming he kept it up that long. He still wasn’t entirely sure what had possessed him to place that spell on his friend in the first place. Sure he had one on Garth and Tula. That was different however he had their permission and they also had one on him. It was a part of an old pact they had made with each other years ago. Those bonds were old, they buzzed in the back of his mind like the soft hum of magical lighting or the familiar hum of Mt. Justices electronics. Imperceptible until they were needed or suddenly ceased.

He’d forgotten just how loud it had been at first.

He ignored the persistent buzzing as the rest of his team reported in.

Go! Aqualad commanded and flung himself forward rising up out of the water like an avenging demon.

SSNHSSNHSSNH

Zatanna threw herself to the side, conjuring a shield as she hit the ground and rolled out of the path Of Klarion’s spell. The spell collided with a bolder sending shards of rock flying in all directions. Kaldur swore vehemently in his native tongue as the implications of that fact hit home. He could feel the power of the nearby Lay lines yet he could not tap into them, bound as they were to Klarion’s control.

Be careful, he warned. That spell was meant to kill

Damned Cat! Robin yelped as he back flipped out of the saber-toothed menace’s reach, narrowly avoiding a raking blow that would have split him open from collar to hip. He swore colorfully as the feline lunged for him again. One massive paw reaching out to bat him out of the air.

Robin howled in pain as claws the size of steak knives tore through his body armor and into flesh.

Klarion giggled as the cat lunged for its downed pray. Robin threw one arm up in a futile defensive gesture a Birdarang flying from his other hand.  

Wally surged forward, grabbed the creature by the tail and yanked. Teekl stumbled, his claws connecting with open air, as Robin threw himself to the side.

Look Out! Kaldur shouted across their mental link as the cat spun around and batted Kid Flash across the clearing.

Kid Flash! Robin’s mental voice was horrified and frantic as his friend smashed into the trunk of a tree with enough force to send it careening to the ground.

He didn’t get back up.

Superboy, Get Kid Flash to safety. Kaldur commanded. Artemis cover them.

Artemis took aim at Teekl. Laying down cover fire and distracting Klarion at the same time. Foam erupted from one of her arrows, encasing the enormous feline in fast hardening foam. It didn’t hold for long. But it bought them enough time to get Wally to safety.

Kaldur brought his water-bearers up shaping water into twin hammers, further harassing their mammoth sized saber-toothed opponent. Together the team dodge spell after spell, and swipe after swipe from Teekl’s claws. Zatanna went low and Robin went high, both nimbly avoiding another deadly blast of spell fire.

The tactic wasn’t working. Teekl was doing a better Job of distracting them from their mission, then they were of driving the Chaos Lord off this plane of existence. To make matters worse he could feel his own magical fatigue building with every breath he took. Across the mental link he could feel Zatanna’s exhaustion. Despite their best efforts, the walls of Klarion’s shield climbed steadily higher.

If the Chaos Lord managed to complete his construct, they would have an even bigger problem on their hands. He could feel the energy draining out of the earth around him. The color slowly draining out of the grass beneath the magically constructed bastion, even as the local flora wilted under the strain of supporting Klarion’s presence in the mortal realm.

You guys focus on taking down that shield, before he gets it all the way up. Robin called through the melee, his mental voice backed by a harsh growl more appropriate to the Dark Knight’s persona then the more upbeat bird’s. I’ll distract Klarion by making Teekl’s life miserable.

The New strategy seemed to be working. As Robin set out to make himself VERY irritating, Klarion grew more and more focused on keeping the little ninja off of his familiar. Spearing them and his shields even less attention the more annoying Robin got. One by one the ethereal tethers supporting the construct fell before their combined might. But at a high price. M’Gann fell first, the victim of a backlash of Magical fire as they brought one of the pillars down. Artemis fell soon after taken out of the fight by a failsafe mechanisms built into one of the pillars.

Aqualad spared them only enough attention to ensure that they were alive and relatively safe, before returning to the task at hand. An enraged roar announced Superboy’s return, as the Half Kriptonion flung himself into battle, desperately trying to protect his friends.

“Wolf,” Robin yelled flinging himself out of Teekl’s reach, as explosives discharged all around the feline menace “Guard the others boy.”

The colossal Wolf skidded to a halt, paws sending up clods of soft marshy earth. He turned at the command, bolted over to M’Gann’s prone form and took hold of her cape, dragging her over to Artemis’s side. Robin’s amused cackle turned into a startled yelp as Teekl’s claws caught his thigh, throwing him off course. Smoke bombs exploded on impact with the floor as the enraged cat bated the small boy around like catnip toy.

Superboy screamed and flung himself at the cat, in an attempt to rescue their fallen comrade. The Cat whipped around and lashed out with one paw, sending the clone flying, a giggling Klarion smashed him to the floor with a spell that would have killed the rest of them had it connected. Superboy slumped to the floor, dazed and unable to regain his feet but otherwise unharmed. Wolf lunged forward, clamped his jaws into the back of his shirt and dragged the struggling teen over to the others.

Aqualad turned at the sound of pain in Robin’s voice. The boy was down, blood streaming from the gash in his thigh, as Teekl advanced on him. The cat flung itself forward in a deadly pounce, jaws wide. Robin brought his hands up in a futile gesture of defense. Kaldur lashed out at the cat with a whip of water, trying to drive it off course. Zatanna flung up a spell, but they were both exhausted magically and their combined attack did little to drive the feline off course.

“Robin!” he yelled in horror as Robin scrambled frantically away from the advancing feline, Teekl lunged, jaws open at Robin’s exposed throat.

Blue fire exploded from Robin’s fingertips driving the animal back even as the boy staggered to his feet with an almost feral growl. “Take down that damned shield, before Klarion starts killing more than plants to power the damn thing.” He instructed, his attention instantly back on the mission as he prepared to face down his foe.

Without thinking about it they both turned to the task at hand, ignoring Teekl’s cry of rage as his pray took to the trees, flipped around a branch and flung himself back at his feline target. Kaldur tuned out the fight between boy and Cat. Trusting Robin to handle his opponent while he focused on his own. Zatanna and he moved in unison, Zatanna bringing down the last of the shield’s supports while he provided cover and a second layer of distraction for Klarion.

It took another ten excruciatingly long minutes but they finally got the last of the supports down causing the magical construct to collapse under its own ethereal weight. He caught Zatanna as she succumbed to exhaustion. Deftly he checked her vitals ensuring she was ok before turning back to the rest of the clearing. He needed to check on Robin, Klarion had clipped him with some form of spell a few minutes ago. Robin had made a noise he’d never heard before, a sort of strange high-pitched screech. Seconds before the battle with Teekl erupted into what sounded like a particularly fierce brawl.

Teekl stood at Klarion’s feet, back arched, hissing defiance, his whiskers singed and great clumps of fur hanging from his pelt. Claw marks gouged his sides, and one ear torn and bleeding. All in all the great saber-tooth, turned harmless house cat, looked like he’d clashed with a particularly aggressive tomcat over territory. The creature that stood directly between Aqualad and their opponents was not one he’d ever laid eyes on before. For a moment he could only stare at it in abject shock.

He knew what it was, though he’d never seen one, his Queen had made sure his education included other magic using species. He’d seen plenty of illustrations. Still it took his exhausted mind a moment to put the pieces together. He knew each of the Nine courts were unique and that most species of Fox Spirit had only one tail. However every illustration he’d seen of a member of those courts depicted a human sized anthropomorphized Fox.

That description did not fit the boy standing before him at all.

There were nine distinct species of Foxkin, but he couldn’t place this one.

The fact that he knew this one could look entirely human suggested one thing while the form he was currently gaping at suggested something else entirely.

He stood tall, and looked deceptively human despite the long fluffy tail, fox ears, and the wickedly curved claws protruding from his friend’s gloves. Blood ran freely from wounds on his thigh, side and arms. His lips were pulled back to reveal a formidable set of fangs that Kaldur could only just make out from his angle. It was undoubtedly Robin, he recognized his friend even with the Advent of non-human features. The boy stood between the team and Klarion, messy black hair all but standing on end. His black tipped silver ears rising up out of messy black hair, positioned high and forward. The long black tipped, silver tail held stiffly out behind him like a furry battle standard. Blood dripped from Robin’s claws, his chest heaved with each breath, a low guttural growl emanating from deep in his throat[iii]. Body language screaming challenge.

Klarion laughed, a strangely joyous and cruel sound. “At least we got to cause a little Chaos.” He smirked as Teekl lept from the ground to his shoulder; and gestured sharply at the rest of the team, a spell flying from his fingertips. “I wonder how your friends will react. Little Trickster.”

A strange sizzling noise filled the air, and a loud crack rang out as the world around them fell silent. Then someone groaned. One of Robin’s ears swiveled towards the sound, but he stayed focused on Klarion. Kaldur turned his head briefly, assessing the threat to their team mates and took in the sight of the other’s slowly regaining their feet. Obviously dazed but unharmed. Wally, who just seconds ago had been safely ensconced in the Bioship groaned and shook his head before climbing unsteadily to his feet.

“Dude! You look like a Furry!” Kid Flash gasped after a moment, devolving into gales of laughter.

Robin’s head snapped around so quickly, Kaldur was surprised he didn’t hurt himself. The boy took a step back taking in the sight of his assembled teammates with obvious shock and growing alarm. “Amria[iv]!” He spat, ears flattening in clear distress. He hunched in on himself, his tail tucked against the back of his knees. Impressive considering the length of the appendage.

Klarion’s grin was positively malicious. “I leave you to the results of your lies,” he crowed as he and Teekl vanished into a portal to Neptune only knew where.

“Robin?” Artemis asked her voice sharp. “Seriously, What the Hell?!”

Robin cringed at their friend’s tone, abruptly reminding Kaldur of how young the boy was. Barely fourteen, yet in that moment, he looked impossibly younger. Aqualad sighed, and took a step towards his young friend, only to freeze when Robin shifted his stance slightly, rising up onto the balls of his feet. His tail lashed the air in agitation. Kaldur had only a second to grasp the seriousness of the situation, before Wally moved behind him. Robin chose that second to highlight his youth, pivoting lightly on the balls of his feet and bolting into the bayou. The black tip of his tail the last thing they saw before the boy vanished like the ninja he was.

“Robin!” Kid Flash yelled, voice distorting as he tore off into the Bayou after his friend. “Dude, come back, no one cares if you look like a character in a bad Anime.”

Aqualad groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. What the he supposed to do with a freaked out fox kit, and a hyperactive speedster. Why did these things, always happen to him? Seriously, just once he’d like to see King Orin thrown into one of these idiotic situations.

[i] Mask the sounds of my passing”

[ii] A line from Mercedes Lackey’s song Hawk Brother, the story behind the song can be found referenced in Her book Magic’s Price

[iii] In case anyone is interested while all of my research says foxes don’t growl, I have seen and heard gray foxes do so.

[iv] (am-Ree-ah) - an all-purpose oath or curse.

Chapter Text

Chapter two:

Kaldur did his level best to ignore the sharp buzzing in the back of his mind. Fighting the insistent need to follow it to Robin’s location. If anyone could talk Robin down, it was Wally. The two had been best friends for years. The difference in their ages had been too large of a gap to bridge when they’d first met, and culture shock had prevented him from falling into the “older brother” category like Roy had. So for now he contented himself to wait. Much as he preferred to track down his friend, Wally was better suited to this particular mission.

Zatanna nudged him, and he turned his attention to her. “Was that what I thought it was?” She whispered.

He inclined his head slightly, “Fox Spirit, though I have no idea what kind.”

She groaned. “How much do you know of the species?”

“I know they are not Fae, nor neither are they Demons.” He replied softly.

She nodded, “I think they are technically more closely related to Daemons then to the Fae or Demons.”

“Aren’t they elementals of some kind?” He enquired.

Zatanna shrugged, “I think that depends on the species of Foxkin.”

“Fox Spirits are not a subject I know a lot about.” He confessed softly. “do you know if they all live about 900 years, or if that’s only the one species?”

Zatanna blinked. “Oh Merlin,” she cursed softly. “I have no idea. Either way it begs the question, how old is Robin?”

Kaldur rubbed the bridge of his nose and looked over at the rest of his team feeling obscenely grateful Rocket and her Mentor were currently off world together somewhere, so at least only the original team had witnessed Robin’s transformation and subsequent breakdown. Maybe breakdown was too strong a word, but Robin was Batman’s protégée, and he’d just turned tail on then and fled.

M’Gann, and Artemis seemed to be having some sort of silent argument which included a lot of excessive gesturing. Conner just looked annoyed. Wolf sat calmly at the half Kriptonion’s side, head cocked as he watched the girls debate.

“He only just turned fourteen, weather that is Robin’s actual age or the equivalent I do not know. Either way he is young.” He replied then jerked his head sharply at the others. Zatanna nodded and they began to make their way over to the rest of the team. “M’Gann,” Kaldur called and instantly felt his mind be drawn into the link.

I’m telling you, there is no way Klarion did that to Robin. Artemis said firmly into their minds. Did you not here what he said before he disappeared.

I heard what he said. M’Gann countered, but it’s Klarion. Chaos Lord who enjoys nothing more than sowing the seeds of Discord. All I’m saying is that he could have lied to drive a wedge between us. Why else would he make Robin look like a villain? I mean come on he looked a bit like Catwoman, or maybe Cheetah, just with a puffy tail.

Firstly, I’m not sure Klarion did anything to Robin. Zatanna said slowly. It sounded like he’d simply revealed something Robin would rather keep hidden. Secondly, Catwoman is human nothing more. Thirdly, what we just saw flee into the woods is a recognizable species of supernatural. I’m not saying this can’t be an elaborate trick of Klarion’s. But we should prepare for the possibility.

“You’re telling me you think Robin is Fae and Batman conveniently never noticed?” Kid Flash demanded, suddenly appearing at Artemis’s side, in a rush of displaced air and flying dirt.

Artemis squawked in indignation and wiped the peaty swampy slime off her face glaring at her boyfriend for the unexpected mud bath.

What’s a Fae? Conner enquired curiously, ignoring the mud coughing his chest and shoulders.

It’s a derogatory term for someone who Dates their own gender. Miss Martian replied promptly.

As one the team turned and looked at her mouths hanging open in astonishment.

That’s gay, Artemis informed them all mildly

Actually Fay is an old fashioned way of insulting someone who’s gay, Kid Flash supplied absently. Never mind. The Fae, in this case, are a species native to earth.

It’s an old reference used to mean any of the Children of Underhill. Zatanna cut in when Wally trailed off. They are a species that existed long before humans. Most have the ability to appear human, wielders of Magic and the Elements. Although most are allergic to Iron. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of them. The Gray Lords brought them out of hiding years ago in a spectacularly public manner. They have reservations in several large cities now. Father used to say the Reservations were most likely doorways into Underhill.

“Does any of this Matter?!” Conner interjected sharply. “Robin is our friend! He’s missing, we find him. End of discussion!”

Aqualad sighed, and glanced at Zatanna wondering just how much information he should give the others. Conner is right. He said at last, Robin is our friend. The Swamp is a dangerous place, and he is not only scared but injured as well. We need to find him. The rest can be sorted out later.

Kid Flash visibly wilted. I looked everywhere I could think of. He said softly. He did the Ninja thing and vanished. Man I hate it when he does the Ninja thing.

Neptune’s beard sometimes being leader sucked.

“I can find him.” Kaldur confessed aloud in a deceptively mild tone. “Zatanna Can you make a cloak?”

“Easily, Why?”

“Because regardless of whether the form we saw was the result of nature or Klarion’s meddling, Robin seemed uncomfortable with the idea of being seen like that. He may be more willing to come out of hiding, if he has another method of concealment at his disposal.”

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSH

Robin shifted slightly hunching in on himself as the weight of despair settled on his shoulders like an oppressive cloak. His tail twitched, curling around him in an instinctive huddle he couldn’t escape. He sniffled and buried his face in his knees, shifting further into the comforting darkness around him. The Mangrove forest was a trove of nooks, crannies and impressive heights all shrouded in the comforting grasp of an almost eternal darkness. He couldn’t even begin to determine if he was cradled in the crook of a branch, a particularly large root, a small horizontal trunk or even the entangle mess of several trees. It was the way of Mangroves. Still he could feel the Forest’s welcome. A strange, and persistent thrum in the back of his mind. The branches and roots around his hiding place draw closer, obscuring him in comforting, welcoming shadows.

The World has always loved our family little kit. His maternal great grandfather had told him the one time they’d met.

He felt the tears prickle at the back of his eyes as his Great Grandfather’s voice rang across his mind. He flung his head back and opened his mouth, giving vent to an inhuman cry of pain and loss, before tucking himself deeper into the forest’s embrace. He buried his face in his knees again and forced back the desire to cry. He hadn’t cried since he was eight.

He knew better.

Crying was a weakness he would not, could not allow himself.

Justin had taught him what happened to “crybabies” his first night in Gotham’s Youth Penitentiary. Just as the sixteen year old had shown him what happened to “Freaks” when he’d thrown caution to the wind and transformed in a desperate bid to escape his sixteen year old abuser. He had nightmares about his time in that hell hole about it to this day.

Justin was a charismatic bully. A juvenile delinquent well on his way to becoming a hardened career criminal. Young though he’d been at the time, he’d run that prison. Dick knew the other boy had hurt people before and liked it, just as he knew Justin would likely never remember everyone he’d hurt, but Justin would remember him. He’d made sure of it when he’d raked his claws across the older boy’s face.

It was the first and last time he’d ever fought as anything other than a simple human. Until today that is. He knew he was not stronger than a normal human, though he was faster and more agile. Even among other circus performers. He’d always been more agile. He honestly had no clue what he was though the tail suggested he was some sort of fox. He also knew he wasn’t a Were. Werewolves were not born.

They were made, and he’d been born like this.

Sifting his shape came as naturally to him as breathing water did to Kaldur. His mother had found a fox kit in his bassinet for the first time just days after his birth. Not that it had mattered to the Circus if he happened to have a tail from time to time. Still the one time he’d visited his mother’s family he’d learned the hard way that not all humans weren’t as accepting as circus folk. He’d acquired full control over the change a year later, at the tender age of seven.

Which was part of the reason his current situation scared the hell out of him. During the frenzy of combat he hadn’t stopped to consider the fact that Klarion had somehow forced him to transform. He’d simply been thankful he’d somehow ended up in the form that was the easiest for him to fight in. No matter what form he wore he was still growing, and having remained stubbornly human for almost half of his life, he had no idea what his conformation would have been like in either of his two fox forms. So he’d simply shoved the concerns out of his mind and been grateful that his center of balance hadn’t changed in this form. He’d spent enough time in this form as a young child that he’d compensated for the slight differences effortlessly. Rising up onto the balls of his feet, as his Achilles tendons shortened, using his tail as both a signal and a counter balance.

It hadn’t been until after the battle was over that he’d discovered the horrible truth. He was stuck, he couldn’t transform.

To make matters worse the others had seen him like this. They knew he wasn’t human. They’d never trust him again. He curled tighter into himself trying to ignore the very real terror coursing through his veins.

Just as he couldn’t ignore call of the world around him, the shadows sang to him, a soft soothing lullaby soothing the aches and pains that threatened to engulf his very soul. Part of him wondered just how he’d managed to give all of this up. How he’d been able to force himself to ignore the constant comforting thrum of the earth under his feet, the energizing pulse of the air pressing in around him from all sides as he sailed through the air. He marveled at the scents his human nose had missed, the sights his sun dazzled human eyes were blind to.

Another part of him was extremely confused. Earth, wind, fire, and water had always sung to him. Fire and Air had always been the loudest, the one’s he’d had the hardest time tuning out. But now something else called to him, its soft pulsing presence almost overlooked beneath the loud songs of the others. Yet it was stronger, drawing him irreparably nearer. Offering more comfort, more protection, than the others. Somehow resonating with his soul in a deep harmonic he could not ignore.

Alarmingly he recognized it. Recognized it from his nights at Batman’s side. Recognized it from countless hours, shrouded in darkness, skulking after a target. Recognized the thrum of certainty that allowed him to fire a grapple line with absolute confidence into the dead of night even when the night vision and sensors in his mask failed. He’d somehow given up the others only to cloak himself in this softer, subtler, element.

Once a long time ago, he’d been something else entirely, but now as he felt the shadows draw closer, obscuring him in comfortingly cool arms. He found he didn’t really care. After the deaths of his family, and the events that had followed he’d sworn never to be anything more than human. He pushed himself every day to be the best human he could be.

Yet at night he’d learned to embrace the shadows, and felt them welcome him exultingly into their inky void. Wrapping around him as comfortingly and protectively as Batman’s cape on a stormy night. He was probably the only person to ever take shelter under the Bat’s inky cape.

A long time ago he’d overheard his mother’s conversation with her Grandfather. Heard her desperately trying to figure out what her son was. He still remembered the old man’s words, and they rang through his mind now. “Only time will tell if he truly possesses the Lady’s gifts or if he has simply inherited as small measure of it. We are the very soul of adaptability. If he is the Lady’s child only time will tell and his actions, what and who he draws closest to will define him. He will become the instrument of his own making. In his case it will be Wind, like it would have been for you. I wish it were Water or Fire like most of our family, but we are all individuals. Our choices define us and the Clan is diverse because of it. How he presents will be a work of time, choice and adaptation.”

He looked up, rubbing at his eyes as the world around him sang out in warning.

He was no longer alone.

Frantic he reached for his discarded mask, but it was too late. He locked eyes with Kaldur as the Atlantian rose up on a platform of water and crawled into his shelter.

Kaldur blinked eerie silvery green eyes at him, his third eyelid sliding across his eyes in a manner reminiscent of a crocodile. As the shadows around him drew still closer, offering him what little comfort and protection they could in the bright light of day, he suddenly understood his great grandfather’s words.

He knew what he was.

He was the night.

He would have laughed if the realization hadn’t hurt so much.

Chapter Text

Kaldur huffed slightly as he scrambled into Robin’s bolt hole. He knew his friend well enough that it really should not have surprised him that his friend would chose a hidey-hole that was both dangerously high up and difficult to get into, while at the same time providing ample cover, plenty of room to move and an abundance of potential escape roots. He watched in silent amazement as the shadows drew closer further obscuring Robin from his view.

He shoved down his surprise at the sight of his unmasked friend, and did his level best to ignore the way Robin’s eyes glowed an icy blue in the darkness. Idly he wondered if Robin’s eyes were always that brilliant, intense blue, or if it was a result of the form he currently wore. He figured the glowing was a combination of the form he wore, his emotional state and the darkness that gathered around him like a shroud.

“Hello, my friend.” He said softly ignoring the shiver that ran up his spine as Robin’s vertical slit eyes narrowed at him. Again he felt like he was dangerously close to a predator.

“Kaldur’ahm,” Robin acknowledged, fangs flashing in the strangely muted light.

Kaldur settled himself down on the tree limb beside his friend, noting the gashes in his gloves where apparently retractile claws had sprang through the fabric, and the soft sheen of light silver fur reaching up to Robin’s elbows above the cuff of his gloves. He filed that bit of information away hopeful he’d be able to identify his friend later. Given proper resources.

Robin’s black tipped tail twitched at his scrutiny, and the smaller boy stiffened slightly before relaxing. Not in an “I feel safe way.” He knew Robin well enough to tell the boy was preparing for a confrontation, his body relaxed and ready to move in any direction at need.

Robin was deceptive that way.

Appearing perfectly calm, relaxed and harmless, before lashing out with amazing ferocity.

“I mean you no harm, my friend.” He said gently and watched Robin shift into a more open, less defendable position, slim arms wrapping around his knees as he curled in on himself. Abruptly reminded of how young Robin was he reached out and gently placed a hand on the boy’s back, idly rubbing small circles. His father had done the same when he was young and distressed. It had always struck him as an odd gesture, but Robin seemed to respond well to it. Leaning into the soft touch.

It took a few minutes, but Robin shifted and slumped against him. It was not a situation he had any experience with. Usually when the team rescued little kids it was Robin or, surprisingly, Superboy who handled them. Both seeming to possess an instinctive way with them. He’d never expected to have Robin cuddled up against him like a small child seeking comfort and safety with his elders. Robin always seemed so strong, fearless, a born leader.

Yet right now he was a scared little boy.

For some reason, it drove home the other boy’s youth more cruelly then watching him runaway had.

Kaldur waited in silence for Robin to talk. His friend would talk when he was ready and not a second before. He’d seen Robin nimbly avoid interrogation, and dance around a verbal confrontation with an easy grace. Robin was a Bat, and like Batman himself was fully capable of lying through his teeth by the simple expedient of telling them the exact truth in a manner that would give them exactly no information what so ever.

It was endlessly amusing to watch and entirely frustrating to experience.

So he waited.

“How angry is the team?” Robin enquired in an almost inaudible tone a few more minutes later.

Kaldur raised a brow at the question. “They are confused and worried for you.” He replied softly, “but they are not angry.”

Robin snorted, “I have a tail and I never told them.” He rubbed his eyes with the back of his wrist. Kaldur had seen him do it countless times before, and never thought much about it. Now it made sense, Robin had claws, retractile or not, it was probably not a good idea to become too comfortable with having his nails close to his eyes.

“That has always been your choice,” he replied. Taking Robin’s statement as confirmation that he was not human. “We all have secrets my friend, your decision to hide your species is understandable given the attitude of most surface dwellers towards those who are different.” He paused briefly before enquiring, “You are obviously uncomfortable. Why have you not shifted back?”

“I’ve tried,” Robin whispered, ears all but disappearing into his hair. “I don’t know what Klarion did, but until I figure out how to reverse it, I’m stuck this way.”

“I see,” Kaldur replied in as soothing a tone as he could manage. “Perhaps Dr. Fate or another member of the League could be enlisted to undo the spell.”

He didn’t know what he had been expecting but the reaction to that simple statement was most defiantly not it!

“No!” Robin Shrieked voice high with youth and raw terror. He sat bolt upright before curling into an impossibly tight ball. Tail curled protectively around his body, ears flat against his skull in a blatant display of distress. “No, No, no, no!” The boy rambled in a high pitched panic. “No one can know. As soon as anyone finds out, Batman will find out. He can’t! He can’t find out! He’ll send me back. It wouldn’t be hard, I’m not even properly adopted, not like Jaybird is. He doesn’t need me. He has Jay. I’m just the charity case. Everyone says so. He’ll send me back. He can get - I can’t - I can’t do that again. I gave up everything so he’d never find out. Everything I was, I gave it up. I won’t do Juvie again! I CAN’T!” His tone changed abruptly going from young, and terrified; to something and more than a little desperate and flatly resigned, “I won’t,” he snarled. “I won’t go back. I swore they’d never take me back. I’d rather die than live through that again!”

Something in his tone screamed with deadly and tragically familiar promise.

Kaldur reacted to that promise without thinking as Robin moved with a fluid and deadly grace, claws ripping free of his already tattered glove tips.

Thank Neptune!

Even with surprise on his side he almost wasn’t strong enough. He caught Robin against his chest, tackling him to the floor of the strange den of twisting tree limbs they currently occupied. Mere seconds before those wickedly sharp claws would have connected with their target. Robin stiffened in his grasp as he caught hold of his friend’s wrists and dragged them up over his head.

Robin struggled violently against him, bucking his hips, tail thrashing, and claws scrabbling at the ground. His eyes were almost jet black with terror. He opened his mouth and made a high pitched, inhuman noise that tore through Kaldur’s very soul. He swore colorfully, and fought to keep the smaller boy under control. Shifting his position in a desperate bid to steal Robin’s leverage. He wasn’t sure how he managed it but he shifted sharply, rolling up off the floor in a move that was less grace and more desperate attempt to keep the other boy pinned, without crushing him or allowing him to do either of them harm. Somehow he caught both of Robin’s legs between his own as the smaller boy thrashed, and dragged the smaller body into his lap and against his chest.

He held on for all he was worth as his friend thrashed and uttered profanities in several languages. All while clawing at him with wickedly curved and deadly sharp nails. It took every ounce of his strength but he held on while the smaller boy wore himself out against him. Held on until angry curses subsided to half panicked sobbing, and eventually waned into the exhausted hiccups of one who has well and truly worn themselves out. He relaxed his grip on Robin’s legs and shifted his friend around in his arms so that he lay cradled against his chest like a baby, but refused to let go of his friend’s wrists.

He was not about to give up control over his friend’s hands until he was certain the danger had passed.

He shifted his position slightly and locked eyes with Robin. “Don’t you dare hurt yourself.” He said firmly, eyes on the deadly sharp, wickedly hooked claws that had at one point been a mere inch from the soft flesh under Robin’s jaw.

Robin blinked at him eyes wide. Then looked down at his claws, carefully he rotated his wrist, until the small bone lined up with Kaldur’s thumb, a slight rotation and a deft tug was all it took for him to slip the larger boy’s grasp. Kaldur winched at the slight sting of friction against the delicate membranes between his fingers.

The other boy flushed, chest heaving. “I’m okay now.” He mumbled.

Kaldur seriously doubted that, but refrained from commenting. Noting absently that while Robin had deliberately freed his wrists, he hadn’t moved to get out of his lap. He was not sure how to handle the situation he’d just found himself in. Robin had just tried to hurt himself. Part of him screamed in terror at the idea of losing Robin. The way they’d lost poor Xyleo.

None of us took that seriously and we lost a friend because of it. I will not lose another friend not like that.

He closed his eyes briefly. For now this whole debacle would stay between them, but if he thought for a second that Robin was a further danger to himself, he would tell the team and Batman. Robin would hate him for it, but at least he would be alive to hate him.

“I may not know Batman as well as you do my friend, but I think you underestimate his affection for you.” He paused briefly. “Is Batman your father?” he enquired after a moment, carefully shifting his friend into a slightly more comfortable position across his lap. Hard to do considering the fact that his friend currently had a tail.

Robin shook his head, then sighed. “It’s complicated.” He finally confessed.

“Explain it to me then.” Kaldur ordered softly, “Know that what you tell me goes no further.”

Robin looked at him, searchingly, out of vibrantly intense blue eyes. It took a minute but he evidently found what he was looking for because he sighed, slid sideways out of Kaldur’s lap and – for lack of a better term – cuddled into his side. His tail curling protectively around him. “What do you know?” he asked after a minute.

“That you are barely fourteen. Terrified of Batman discovering what you really are, which suggests that whatever else he may be, a Fox Spirit is not among them. He’s defiantly not a Vampire, despite what certain tendencies may suggest. He’s been seen in daylight to many times for that theory to hold water. Batman is not your father, yet he seems to represent a large power in your life. You mentioned adoption, and someone called Jaybird. As such I judge your relationship to be closer to the one between Flash and Kid Flash, then to the relationship between Artemis and Green Arrow.”

He paused and realized with abject shock that he was absently scratching his friend’s ears. He flushed and removed his hand. “I also know this fourteen is very young for any of the nine courts. A fact that makes you either extraordinarily young to have manifested on this plain alone, or the chronological equivalent of fourteen. I can also ascertain from your previous statements that you apparently have a criminal record.”

Robin sighed and looked away. “I do not have a criminal record.” The boy told him firmly.

Kaldur raised an eyebrow at that bit of information. “Could you clarify please?”

Robin rubbed the bridge of his nose with exaggerated care, mindful of his claws. “How much do you know about” he paused looking for the right word, and ended up muttering to himself for a moment in a language Kaldur had never heard before. “The Prejudices of surface dwellers?” he finally settled on.

Kaldur found himself wondering for the umpteenth time if English was Robin’s first language. “Enough,” he commented mild annoyance at the issue rearing its head.

Robin nodded decisively. “My cultural practices are… frowned up.” He informed him tone laden with disdain. Kaldur listened in silence as Robin outlined his life before being taken in as Batman’s ward. The death of his entire family at the tender age of eight, being thrown into a ‘boys correction program’ for three months following their deaths, because his social worker believed he came from ‘a culture of thieves and lay-a-bouts’ and thought the ridged disciplinary structure would ‘help him to shed the criminal behavior he had been brought up with.’ The smaller boy was careful to omit anything that could identify him. He left out exactly what culture he had grown up in, and how his family had died, but Kaldur got the picture.

Thinking about the boy he’d met a few years ago in that situation made him physically ill. Robin had been ten when they’d first met. Happy, energetic, and full of life. But also Tiny. He’d flitted easily from shadow to shadow behind the Dark Knight, before using his forbidding mentor as a human Jungle Gym – as soon as he’d been assured it was safe to come out of the shadows.

He remembered his horror at the child’s irreverence, when the little slip of a thing had bounced off of Batman, wrapped a leg around his king’s neck and shoulders and proceeded to dangle himself off of the man, in a twisted parody of a necklace. He’d followed up by, reaching out to wrap a slim arm around Batman’s hips, before dropping off of Aquaman, twisting around Batman in a show of boneless grace, and somehow perching himself on Kaldur’s own shoulders with a soft “Hi.”

He considered everything Robin had told him, and the things he hadn’t mentioned and noticed that while Robin admitted to having been raised in an unconventional manner. It seemed as if he was still raised … well… Human. He considered how to broch the subject he truly needed information on at this point. Because if Robin was what he suspected, then the boy was beyond dangerous. He needed to know the extent, of the potential danger. “Your family,” he asked after a moment. “Where they…” he trailed off unsure of how to ask his question.

“Freaks like me?” Robin enquired, with deceptive cheerfulness.

“I was going to say Foxkin.” Kaldur replied, with careful neutrality, internally he was debating bringing the lack of self-esteem that reply represented up with either Batman or Black Canary. After a moment he dismissed the idea resolving to keep an eye on his friend. For now. If it became an issue later he would bring it to someone’s attention. “It would be intolerably rude to call you Ch’amak Alux[i] for example if you were actually Kumiho[ii] for example.”

The look Robin was giving him was utterly incredulous, and spoke volumes without Robin even having to speak. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and alarm. “You have no idea what I’m talking about do you?”

Robin shook his head.

Kaldur groaned. “Your parents?”

“Human,” Robin replied promptly. He flushed and added. “Dya[iii] said she found a fox kit in my bassinet for the first time a few hours after I was born.” He looked down, “Dadro[iv] thought I might have gotten the gift from Puridaia’s[v] side of the family and promised to investigate the next time we were in India. As far as I know they ruled out that possibility. Dya thought it may have been a latent gift from her side of the family. She called it, Gaia’s blessing upon her Great Grandfather’s family. She said her Grandfather used to tell stories of family members who could turn into foxes, but the gift had supposedly faded into legend in our family by my great grandfather’s great grandfather’s time.” Robin flushed, “Grandma and Grandpa never approved of ‘the old man’ filling her head with fanciful stories. My aunt hit me with a frying pan once, when I accidently shifted shape in front of her.” He shuddered, “Mother told me what she could remember of the stories, just in case. We visited her grandfather once, she asked him about if after they sent me to bed. He told her it was too early to tell. We never were able to find out if I got the gift from her family or not. They died before I was old enough.”

Kaldur suppressed the urge to groan. Fourteen, he had a fourteen year old Fox Spirit Kit on his hands. This was going to be bad. The Foxkin were notoriously difficult to deal with, and viciously protective of their kits. The fact that Robin had been born to humans was alarming for several reasons, the first being that they had absolutely no way of knowing exactly what he was and thus no way of figuring out the powers he was likely to develop. They needed to know what the hell Robin was before he accidently hurt someone. He remembered Zatanna’s belief that she’d seen Robin using a mage light, and while that was a possibility, there was another more likely explanation.

One that was far more alarming.

Robin had in a moment of crisis thrown fire at Teekl. The action had likely saved his life. Still it was an alarming occurrence. Certain species of Foxkin had certain gifts. Fire was a specialty favored by more than one species, but it was also decidedly dangerous. Then there was the fact that every time they’d seen Robin demonstrate his gift, it had been blue. Varying shades of blue, but blue none the less. He wasn’t sure if that was simply because of the admittedly limited sample or if it was just something unique to Robin. Either way, if Robin ever lost control they were going to have a problem on their hands. His friend had been successfully suppressing his nature for several years. A situation that had to stop. He needed to learn to control his gift, or it would control him. That was one of the first things he’d learned at the conservatory of sorcery. First they had to fix what Klarion had broken.

That Robin was terrified of this getting back to Batman only complicated the task further. They would need to find a way to fix this without involving the league. He sat beside his friend for a while in silence and considered the problem. After a while he thought he had a solution. Turning his head he looked at his emotionally exhausted friend and smiled. “Here is what we are going to do.” He said softly, rubbing Robin’s shoulder in a comforting manner.

[i] Ch’amak is One of the Ancient Mayan words for Fox, Alux is a Mayan spirit of Mischief.

I am using it in this case as a representation of the Native American Fox Spirit In a generic fashion and no offense is meant to anyone, let alone my own People.

[ii] This is the Korian Fox Spirit.

[iii] mother (according to the Romani to English online dictionary) I have found several spellings of this word.

[iv] Ramany word for dad (again according to google) Pronounced DAH-dro

[v] (poor-ee-DIE-uh) Romany word for Grandmother. Literally translates to (old mother) Since Richard is at best half Romany and possibly only a quarter if conflicting sources are to be believed I am going to differentiate between his grand Parents by simply having him use a different language for them.

Chapter Text

Wally looked up at the snap of a twig. Grinning at the distinctive sound of cursing, regardless of his inability to comprehend the language. He assumed the vehement utterances were Atlantian, based on the subtle similarities to Greek Robin had once pointed out. He shifted his weight and considered his friend and fearless leader, wondering if the older boy would ever break down and invest in footwear.

Kaldur maintained that his dense Atlantian skin, coupled with the delicate membrane between his toes rendered footwear unnecessary at best and painfully restricting at worst. Still it might be beneficial to at least consider the possibility of sandals. The membrane that assisted his mobility in water were, as previously noted delicate, and stepping on something sharp was annoying, regardless of how dense your skin is.

Kaldur emerged from the forest a few minutes later.

Wally stared at his friend, the other boy’s movements were awkward and somewhat stilted, as if he walked with a heavy limp. Wally stepped forward greatly alarmed. Desperate to make some semblance of sense out of the scene in front him.

He must have dozed off, because there was no way in hell this was actually happening.

Why the hell didn’t he have a camera?

Kaldur had Robin, partner of The God Damned Batman perched on his hip, like a small child. Robin’s head rested against Kaldur’s shoulder, ears twitching slightly in what looked like exhausted sleep. The smaller boy’s fluffy tail dragging upon the ground as Kaldur carefully maneuvered them both out of the forest.

It was a genuinely adorable sight.

The tiny fourteen year old being carried by their much bigger seventeen year old friend as he slept. Robin’s size and their general pose lent Robin a much younger air. Their friend had always been small for his age, but he also appeared to be a bit of a late bloomer, having yet to actually hit his growth spurt. Though any baby fat he may have once possessed had melted away under the brutal physical exertion vigilantism required of them all. That at least kept people from assuming he was too much younger then he actually was. Robin hated it when people assumed he was ten. Their current assumption of twelve drove him up the wall, but at least it was closer to the truth.

The team moved as one, closing in on their two friends. Conner carefully lifting Robin out of Kaldur’s somewhat precarious grasp and cradling him to his chest. An act, which succeeded in making the boy look even younger. The fact that his tail curled up to his chest only to be caught and held like a stuffed toy did not help the image.

At all

“I so wish I had a camera.” Wally said absently, flinching slightly under the combined might of Conner and Kaldur’s glares.

Kaldur locked eyes with him before turning to take in every member of the team. “I will not order you to do this.” He said in a tone that was soft and oddly final. “No one will look down on you should you chose to avoid the wrath of the Justice League by returning to base now. If need be Robin and I will handle this alone.”

Artemis crossed her arms. “Because that worked so well the last time we tried to handle things on our own rather than as a team.” She said derisively.

Conner and M’Gann both flinched at the reminder of the situation had all found themselves in a few months ago.

“She’s Right,” Conner commented, “We are a team, we stick together. The Justice League can get on board or get out of the way.”

Kaldur relaxed slightly. “Whatever Klarion did, Robin is stuck like that.” he said softly gesturing to the exhausted boy in Conner’s arms.

Looking at his best friend, Wally noticed the dried tear tracks on his cheeks for the first time.

Kaldur sighed, “Robin is… uncomfortable with anyone seeing him like this, particularly Batman. The Dark Knight’s feelings towards Meta humans in his city is well known and Robin is alarmed by the idea of how he will react to seeing him in that state.” He gestured at their physically altered friend as he spoke. “Zatanna?”

“I won’t say a word.” She replied firmly. Then followed the apparent non sequitur by adding. “I do not know if I can reversed Klarion’s spell, but I can sure as hell try.”

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH

“You alright dude?” Wally enquired, glancing over at Robin. The Fox boy sat huddled in his seat, somehow managing to hide in the cloak Zatanna had conjured for him. All around him the shadows seemed to draw out and envelop him. Obscuring him from sight in the otherwise bright cabin of the Bioship.

The effect was rather creepy.

“Been better.” Robin replied shortly, his words perfectly enunciated despite the recent edition of fangs.

Wally couldn’t help smiling at that. The situation was completely absurd. Yet, Wally couldn’t help being impressed with how little time it had taken Robin to adjust to having elongated canines. He’d been a werewolf for Halloween once, complete with Hollywood style fangs. It had taken him almost a week to learn how to talk normally with the dammed things in.

Yet Robin already sounded as if he’d had elongated upper and lower incisors his entire life.

Were they sure Robin wasn’t a Meta Human? Because his ability to fly by the seat of his pant and adapt to any situation was downright freaky at times.

Seriously did the boy even have the capacity to be alarmed?

Wally glanced over at Kaldur. Their fearless leader currently occupied the pilot station, a look of concentration and mild alarm on his face as he directed the alien machine. M’Gann was currently otherwise occupied, her eyes glowing softly as she focused all of her attention on cloaking them from any and all forms of detection. Most notably, her own uncle.

Kaldur’s plan was simple enough. Pretend they were still on assignment dealing with Klarion, and avoid detection by the Justice League until Robin had been returned to his proper anatomical form. Easier in theory then in practice. The League was headquarters for a man who could chase down any lead in the time it would take a normal man to sneeze, various telepaths, several ridiculously powerful magic users and various other aliens and Meta-humans. To say nothing of The God Damned Batman, greatest detective on Earth and overprotective father of one of their team mates.

Batman would be on their trail by dinner time, if he wasn’t already.

Personally, Wally thought this whole venture was a lost cause, the league was bound to find them and discipline them for going rogue. He’d said as much, but none of them were willing to back down. Young Justice was their team, and they would do what they could to protect each other. If that meant trying to evade Batman until they reversed Klarion’s spell.

So be it.

Despite his decision to play Devil’s advocate Wally was pleased with the outcome.

They were a team, a family

They looked out for their own.

Still he was not looking forward to facing Batman and the rest of their irate mentors when this was all over. He was sooooo grounded when his uncle got his hands on him, but that was nothing compared to the hell Bruce was likely to put Dick through for this one. Bruce was somewhat found of extra training and manual labor as punishment. Robin had once confessed to having to wash and wax the Batmobile with a three inch long star-shaped art sponge after sufficiently annoying his adoptive father.

It was not an experience Wally was looking forward to, but for his friend he’d run the gauntlet at normal speed. Being grounded was hardly going to stop him now. Particularly not with the memory of the profound relief on Robin’s face when they’d woken him up to let him know that they had his back.

It had taken the combined efforts of Robin, Zatanna, M’Gann and himself to find, remove, and or hack all of the tracking devices Batman had in the team’s equipment. Before he and Robin had set about ensuring the damned things were transmitting false telemetry. In the end, the decision to abandon their uniforms had had less to do with stealth and more to do with practicality.

Robin’s uniform and various parts of his gear were bugged. A safety precaution of Batman’s that Robin understood and accepted. However it was damned inconvenient in this instance. Since none of them had any idea if Batman had applied this same precaution to their costumes, they had been forced to abandon their hero personas in favor of relative civilian anonymity.

They’d pooled their resources and Wally had run to nearest source of cheap clothing. A small hole in the wall thrift store. Several sets of cheap second hand pants and t-shirts later. They bore only a passing resemblance to their civilian selves. Instead they looked like a rag tag group of teenaged runaways. Or possibly a very small, very scruffy, inner city gang.

Relative anonymity accomplished they’d set out in search of a place to disappear. A difficult prospect when one needed to vanish off Justice League Radar. It would have been simpler if they’d split up. As Robin had reminded them, if you wanted to disappear you had to change your habits. So familiar Haunts were out. In the end, they’d decided that it might be a good idea to pick a state away from any of their home turfs and try to find a poorer district of a medium to large sized city.

They’d picked a direction, North West, in an attempt to further evade their elders, but didn’t really have a set destination in mind. They were currently flying over Montana and Conner was busy scanning for a place they could set down that would shield them from the prying eyes of superman. If this worked the team would have their own secret base, in case they ever had to execute a dooms day scenario where the Justice League went rouge …again.

Or in case of the Zombie apocalypse.

Hopefully the Zombie apocalypse.

That scenario would be easier to handle.

“There,” Conner informed them all sharply pointing at an old but fairly well maintained building. “Infrared vision shows the paint is lead based, my brother won’t be able to see through it.”

“M’Gann?” Kaldur enquired.

Their friend turned her head towards the building, eyes glowing briefly. “It’s clean, no one’s inside.”

Robin turned towards the window and scrutinized the building. “It’s for sale,” he commented mildly. “So as long as we don’t stay to long, and are mindful of the noise, we shouldn’t run into any problems.”

Wally couldn’t help wondering how Robin had come to that conclusion.

SSNHSSNHSSNH

Zatanna sighed and crossed another spell off the list of the ones she’d come up with in an effort to free Robin from the form he currently wore. That last one had been disastrous. She crouched down beside the little creature at her feet. “Can you shift back or did I just manage to trap you in an even more inconvenient form?” she asked softly.

The little creature sighed and looked up at her. It blurred briefly, before snapping back into the form of a small fox kit with a pained yelp and a sound like a rubber band snapping.

She groaned. “Don’t worry I’ll fix this.” She said softly.

Robin yipped at her, and rose slowly to his oversized paws. He promptly tripped and landed snout first upon the ground. He growled as she scooped him up and set him on his feet. With a sigh she sank into a meditative pose and tried to figure out how to undue her magical mishap.

An hour later she was drenched in sweat and Robin was a lovely shade of lavender with deep almost royal purple points. Oddly enough the tip of his tail remained stubbornly black. She groaned. “I’m so sorry Robin.” She said after a moment, her stomach roared at her reminding her in no uncertain terms that using her magical gift consumed calories just like anything else. “Let’s get lunch and then I’ll see if I can at least get you back into the other form you were stuck in.

“It’s okay. I’ve wanted to bite Wally for a few days now, this just gives me an excuse”. There was an odd tone to Robin’s voice, in fact it sounded strangely musical despite the words being in no way lyrical. It took her a moment to work out why. The little fox was talking to her, but his mouth was not moving. She was hearing his voice as if he’d spoken aloud, so she didn’t think it was telepathy, more like he was wearing an invisible speaker. She filed that information away for later.

It took a moment but her friend managed to follow her to the door, still a bit unsteady on his paws. She held the door out for him letting the hilariously colored fox kit proceed her out the door. Wally predictably started laughing the second he laid eyes on Robin.

Zatanna rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Why do you put up with him again?” she enquired in a bland tone. However when she looked down the brightly colored animal had disappeared.

She sighed and made her way over to their makeshift kitchen. It wasn’t much just a bunch of battered odds and ends. Consisting of an old folding table, a badly dented pot, a pan that had seen better days, assorted mismatched flatware and a single burner propane backpacking stove. The stove was the only thing that was actually new. Wally had procured it from the East Coast with Robin’s Debit Card their first night in their new abode.

Artemis and M’Gann had cooking duty for the simple reason that they actually knew how to cook. Technically so did She and Kaldur, but she was embroiled in the hunt for a cure for Robin’s current magical ailment, and Kaldur could only manage Atlantian fare. Which they’d soon discovered was ridiculously difficult to make on the surface. Not that it mattered, since they’d also discovered Robin was the only one able to stomach the pseudo Atlantian food Kaldur had been able to cobble together out of the ingredients they were able to acquire in the city. Apparently Robin could also cook, but seeing as their friend currently had fur, they weren’t about to let him.

Their collective resources were rather slim at the moment, but M’Gann and Artemis had managed to make something vaguely edible between the two of them. She stepped on the impulse to groan at the plate her friend handed her. There was only so much a person could take when it came to beans and rice. The chunks of what was probably Spam floating in the mix felt like a luxury. Still it was better than school lunchroom fair, and after her earlier mishap, she was thankful today’s lunch was so bland. At least Robin could eat this without them having to worry about rushing him to the nearest vet.

Behind her Wally shrieked in alarm.

She spun around and smiled at the sight of Robin, clinging to his best friend’s back with his ear lightly clamped in his jaws. He growled and tugged, playful as a puppy then let go and bounced off disappearing into the shadows again.

“Jeez, how the fuck does he do that!” Wally yelled rubbing his much abused ear. “There aren’t even that many shadows in here right now, and how the hell did he even get into the rafters? He’s like a foot tall and purple. Why is he purple?”

Kaldur rolled his eyes at the scene Wally was making, and made his way over to their improvised kitchen, bending his knees slightly to absorb the impact of Robin landing on his shoulder. He winced at the sight of their lunch, but smoothed his expression out quickly enough that she almost didn’t notice. She wondered how Kaldur who had been raised on an all seafood diet was coping with their rather pathetic food selection.

“Do you want your meal on a plate or in a bowl?” he asked the small fox riding his shoulder.

“Whichever you feel would work best.” Robin replied.

Artemis grabbed a small, much abused camp mug and ladled a small helping of lunch into it while M’Gann served up a portion for Kaldur. Their leader took both the servings with a murmur of thanks and retreated to the makeshift dining area.

“Um, can you just put my portion on the ground please?” Robin asked, hopping down from his perch and settling himself down on the floor at Kaldur’s feet. The expression on his fuzzy little face, coupled with the big ears made him look like a puppy begging for a treat. Kaldur obliged him before digging in to his own portion, Zatanna settled herself down beside her friends and applied herself to her lunch. Trying desperately not to laugh at the expression on her Leader’s face at his first taste of spam.

He paused, swallowed and then began carefully eating around the dubious chunks of meat. Handfeeding them to Wolf and dumping a few more chunks of meat into Robin’s cup. Robin ate them with the same gusto as Wolf.

SSNHSSNHSSNH

Wally sighed as he wandered through the streets of Southern California. He technically shouldn’t have been out in the open since Batman had proven adept at hacking street cameras and he knew what Wally looked like without the cowl and goggles. Still he was a speedster, he needed to get outside.

Needed to move.

He wasn’t sure when, but sometime during his walk he’d found himself walking along a long stretch of HWY 101 which wound through the edge of several towns along the coast. There was sand on either side of him, the ocean on one side of the road and small lagoons on the other. It was a beautiful sight, if entirely too warm for his tastes. He stopped and watched the civilians play in the surf, pulled off his boots and made his way onto the burning sands.

He walked for about a mile, shoes dangling over his shoulder by their laces, and simply enjoyed the feeling of the sun on his back and the sand between his toes. Around him the various beach goers, frolicked and generally enjoyed their day. The sight that met his eyes as he rounded a rocky outcropping made him smile and for some inane reason reminded him of Robin.

It seemed he had wondered onto a Dog Beach. Around him dogs frolicked in the sand and surf. He pause on the banks of a relatively slow flowing river that emptied out into the sea just a few feet away. A trio of Golden Retrievers were embroiled in a fracas in the middle of the river over a particularly long stick. Two large dogs had the ends of the stick. Between them a half grown pup clung to the stick, front legs beating the air in an amusing parody of swimming. On the other side of the bank a brindle colored Boxer pursued a gaily colored fabric and rope Frisbee. Not far away a Chihuahua chased a ball across the sand, leaping over the legs of a young woman who sat on a towel. All around him happy people played with their dogs.

Idly he wondered how Robin was holding up.

Robin was generally hyperactive on a good day, it was he thought a side effect of spending his early childhood in the constant motion of the circus. The boy had even more energy now that he’d been transformed into a juvenile American Gray Fox. His best friend had to be bored. Consequently, they kept finding him curled up in strange places.

Not that finding Robin curled up in strange places was in anyway new.

Still many of the places they’d found him were truly bazar. So far they’d found him curled up in a crawlspace between floors, and inside an air duct for a dryer, judging by the cupreous amount of lint.

It hadn’t taken him long to identify what species of Fox Zatanna had turned Robin into, at least not once whatever spell had turned him purple finally worn off. Robin’s coloring was unusual in that form regardless. American Gray foxes were in fact not actually gray, being more salt and pepper then anything approaching true gray. Robin’s coat was a beautiful metallic silver, offset by a darker gun metal gray on his legs. Oddly enough his eyes were outlined by a slim, almost eloquent mask of the same color. In truth the only thing that had allowed him to identify their friend had been his long bushy tail, with its trade mark black stripe and tip.

Wally had been highly amused once they’d recognized the species their friend had been turned into. Trust Robin to get himself trapped in the body of one of only two arboreal canine species. He’d seen a few of the little things playing in the woods a long time ago; and remembered thinking they looked graceful scampering through the trees, leaping from branch to branch on nimble paws.

Robin already seemed to have mastered the form. They’d found him asleep in the rafters this morning, curled up in the crook of two beams, nose tucked under his tail. Still he couldn’t help feeling sorry for his friend. Robin seemed to be taking the mess Klarion had made of his life in relative stride.

True to form he’d simply adapted.

But his youth was really beginning to show.

Robin didn’t seem to mind but Wally couldn’t help feeling humiliated for him.

As a fox Robin was full of boundless energy, like a puppy. Until he suddenly wasn’t. Then he slept. Usually where he dropped. They’d had to scrub beans out of his fur this morning after he’d fallen asleep while eating. He’d looked adorable cradled in Artemis’s arms like an exhausted puppy and watching him try to chew on Conner’s fingers had been cute as hell. Ability to talk or not, Robin was currently a fox.

A very young one.

And he seemed to react like an odd mixture of fully functioning, thinking human and fox kit.

To make matters worse. He was board and they all knew it. Robin was used to a training schedule that had always been more rigorous then theirs. His friend’s days had always started before dawn. Around 4am if he remembered correctly.

It was starting to show.

This morning, Robin had somehow managed to cajole Artemis into sparring with him. It had largely consisted of her shooting and Robin dodging. It had horrified their friends and exhilarated Robin. Still it was a mark of how adaptable Robin was that he was able to dodge, and defend in that form despite having claimed it for less than 24 hours.

Idly Wally wondered if he’d be able to get away with taking Robin for a walk. Surly it wouldn’t seem so strange here of all places. Exotic pets were fairly common in the Hollywood area. Weren’t they? He could run there with Robin in his arms if he had to.

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH

Kaldur sighed as he watched the half-grown fox kit play with the odd little ball Wally had picked up at a local 99 Cents Store. The ball wasn’t very big. Soft, baby blue downy fabric covered it and extended out into a ridiculous striped tail. So that it bore a passing resemblance to a cartoon caricature of a toddler’s depiction of a lemur. The damn thing, produced a high pitched wailing noise whenever the tail tip was pressed. Neptune grant him patients, the actual ball itself was worse. The world must have hated him, because his currently four-legged, troll of a friend was engaged in an attempt to make the damned thing squeak out Beethoven’s fifth simony. He wasn’t sure if he should be glad Robin had found a way to entertain himself or ring his neck for inflicting such torture upon the rest of them.

He still had no Idea what type of Foxkin the boy was. Robin was a bundle of contradictions. His ability to be completely human for example. All Foxkin could Look human. But very few could be human. That was a high court ability. They could assume three forms a many tailed fox, a human, and something somewhere in between.

Robin it seemed was determined to be different even in this.

He clearly had an in between form, but it was wrong. Everything he knew about the high court suggested that they were a lot more humanoid. Another problem with the assumption that Robin was High Court Foxkin, was his ability with fire.

All Foxkin played with, manipulated, and fought with fire, but as far as he knew none of them did it the same way Robin had. Teekl’s Fur and whiskers had truly been scorched. If he remembered his lessons right, when High Court Foxes fought with fire. Their victims died without a mark on them. Their mind experiencing the agony of being burned alive, while their bodies remained untouched. That was the power of High Court Spirits.

Illusions were their bread and butter.

Then there was, as Wally put it, the “Nightly Light Show.” He had no idea what to think about that one. When Darkness fell Robin’s tail produced a small, single colored, indoor Aroura Borealis that swept across the walls, following the path of his tail.

That suggested another species of Foxkin entirely, but they were huge, about the same size as a fully grown man. He’d be very shocked if Robin currently weighed 3 pounds. Additionally, they tended to be white.

He really wished he’d closer attention to them in his lessons.

Wally’s laughter brought him out of his thoughts.

“Ever hear of a little thing called cruel and unusual punishment?” Artemis enquired, voice thick with annoyance.

Robin responded by squeaking out I’m sorry on the dog toy.

“That’s it!” Artemis shouted lunging to her feet. “I’m damned sure the Geneva Accords don’t apply to the fay.”

Robin snagged the dog toy between teeth and his sprang to his feet. He lept sideways neatly evading the advancing archer and bounded off, happily squeaking out an improvised and surprisingly accurate rendition of Monty Python’s ‘Run Away’ as he went.

“You little Troll!” Artemis screeched, chasing him across the room.

Kaldur rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics. The squeaky ball was a highly aggravating musical instrument, but at least Robin had kept his sense of humor. He was fairly certain that if someone had somehow managed to turn him into a fish, he would not have handled it nearly as well.

Eventually the archer gave up trying to catch her fleet footed advisory and simply flopped down on the ground next to Zatanna. Robin trotted up to her and dropped the ball at her feet, an imploring expression on his furry little face.

Artemis groaned, but gave in and threw the toy.

Robin chased after it, with a happy yip. He growled playfully, holding his prey by the tail and shaking it enthusiastically, before tossing it away again. He lept after it, in bounding side leaps.

Kaldur groaned and considered his options.

He needed to find a way to bring a more experienced sorcerer to help him without breaking his promise to Robin. Or maybe just find out more about what they were dealing with. Because if they hadn’t figured out how to reverse this damned spell in a week. They weren’t going to without some outside help. Maybe he could find something in the conservatory Library.

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH

Robin lay sprawled at Kaldur’s side as his friend absently ran his fingers through the thick fur at his neck and tugged lightly at one of his ears. In the days since Zatanna had accidently bound him in fox form, he gotten more physical contact then he’d had since before his family died. Bruce was great, but he wasn’t very demonstrative.

Dick shifted slightly snuggling closer to his friend’s side.

He needed touch.

He always had.

His family had always indulged him. Alfred was a bit more demonstrative then Bruce, but he still longed for touch. For physical contact. He didn’t know why. He should have grown out of it by now. When he was younger, after his time in Juvie, he hadn’t wanted to be touched. He hadn’t felt safe, yet he’d still craved physical contact.

Needed it, like a junkie needed his next hit.

As time passed he’d begun to realize he was safe. The safer he’d felt, the more he’d craved physical contact. Until one night, he’d swallowed his fears and climbed into bed with Bruce, seeking the comfort of another living creature. Bruce had held him that night, kept him safe from his nightmares.

He was fourteen, he should have outgrown it.

But he never had.

It was his addiction.

The safer he felt with people. The closer they became. The more he needed it. For the most part he stepped on the urge to cuddle and ground it ruthlessly into the dust.

But he still craved it. So much, that at times it almost physically hurt.

His transformation into a first his in between form and then his fox form had utterly obliterated any desire he had to keep his distance. It also seemed to have resulted in his friends losing whatever basic teenaged instinct kept them from being “clingy” or “Touchy Feely.” As a result, there were hands on him almost constantly. Fingers carding through his fur, fingers scratching at the base of his ears. He’d arched his back and leaned shamelessly into their touch.

He’d always known a lot about his friends. That came part and parcel with being a Bat. They were detectives and he’d always been “an incorrigible snoop.” He may have been fully capable of being human, but for all he’d been born to a human family… he didn’t think he really was one.

At the circus it hadn’t mattered, no one would look twice at something abnormal in the circus, and they never stayed in one city long enough for it to become a problem. Now however, he was Bruce Wayne’s ward, under nearly constant public scrutiny and so the battle against his instincts had begun.

Still even without Batman’s lessons he knew things about his friends. Things no human could know without very particular training. He could distinguish their individual footsteps, and almost always knew where they were in relation to his position. That was largely, as Wally Put it “Bat-Training.” However, over the course of the last few days he’d learned things he’d determinedly ignored before.

He knew them all by scent for example, and he didn’t think he would ever forget them.

Kaldur smelt of saltwater, brine and something, oddly spicy yet floral. It made him hungry yet it also made him feel safe. Conner smelt of heather, rye and vast open places with just a hint of something he couldn’t identify. His scent also co-mingled strongly with Wolf’s. Wally’s scent reminded him of an autumn wind, vibrant and complex with the scents it had picked up along the way. Artemis like Red and Green Arrow smelt of leather, wood, lacquer, sinew and an oddly potent mix of gunpowder and whatever chemicals were in her various trick arrows. M’Gann smelt of iron, magnesium, aluminum, and potassium. Somehow it didn’t surprise him at all that the Martian would smell so strongly of Volcanic Rock. Zatanna, like all magic users had a sweet almost floral scent. She smelt of magic, herbs and something (he suspected it was her shampoo) that made him want to sneeze.

He’d also found he knew them by touch.

Wally vibrated gently as he restrained the power that pulsed through his very being. His fingers left a tingly feeling in their wake that gently warmed his skin and sent shivers down his spine. M’Gann’s touch was entirely gentle, and in many ways reminded him of his mother. A gentle caring embrace he could fall into. She brought with her a feeling of safety. Artemis’s hands were strong, and deliberate, nails filed sort so they didn’t interfere with her archery. Superboy seemed afraid to break him, and his touch resonated with that fear, yet he knew his friend was more comfortable with animals then he was with people. Zatanna’s touch crackled with restrained power. Like pins and needles beneath the skin, and Kaldur… Kaldur’s touch, oddly enough, felt the most natural. He was calm and in control, his fingers clever and gentle, the soft webbing between his fingers distinct.

He shouldn’t take advantage of the situation.

He knew that

But he just couldn’t help himself.

He needed physical contact. It was an almost physical need, something he craved day in and day out. It tugged at his soul and left him raw, empty and so, so alone. He needed touch like he needed his next breath of blessed air. Yet he restrained himself. Boys his age were not supposed to crave touch the way he did. So he reveled in the freely give contact, though he had growled when someone was rude enough to manhandle his tail. He wasn’t sure why, but his tail was… intimate. He didn’t want his friends touching it.

He put his head down on his paws and listened to his friends talk, trying vainly to stay awake when all he wanted to do was melt into sleep at his friend’s side. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to just feel his friends. Not their hands on his fur, but something else.

Something deeper.

He knew Wally was tired of beans and rice, but in no danger of running out of energy. Zatanna, Artemis and Conner were content, and Wolf could care less as long as he was with the others. He knew a little something about each of his friends, though he couldn’t have said how he knew.

He felt them all as he had felt no one since his family died. Not since he’d slammed that particular door, blocked out and actively ignored everything his strange gifts told him and stayed stubbornly human. Now, he reveled in it, addicted to the feeling of kinship and safety. The bond he could feel forming between him and his team soothed something he hadn’t realized was raw. Filled a deep, cavernous void he hadn’t known he even possessed. He basked in the bond’s warm low and wished he could share it with Bruce. Forcing that thought out of his mind he closed his eyes and resolved to enjoy it while it lasted.

He was more than half asleep when an odd sensation dragged him into wakefulness and he sat bolt upright, nearly tripping over his own tail in alarmed confusion as wrongness flooded his awareness.

It took him a minute to work through the jumble of scents, random sounds and strange sensations. Finally, with agonizing slowness he figured out what the headache inducing barrage was. His rapidly forming bond to Wolf was flooding him with information he was struggling to decipher. For the first time in his life he wished his gift came with an instruction manual.

“Wake up pup, someone comes.” Wolf’s warning was more sensation then actual words, as a few feet away Wolf rose to his feet with far more grace then he had managed. Robin closed his eyes and tried to understand what he was smelling. Trying to decipher what threat wolf’s nose had picked up that his own had missed. The great white wolf’s sense of smell may not have been much keener then his own, but he had more experience with it. It took him a minute to work out what had alarmed Wolf. A stranger was in their makeshift Den. Whoever or whatever was coming smelled of exhaustion, desperation, hunger and something he couldn’t place. It also carried with it the scent of brimstone.

He sneezed instinctively hacking from ruff to rump. Brimstone was never a good smell. That he knew instinctively.

Somehow he knew, whoever had come into their makeshift den, didn’t know they were there yet.

SSNHSSNHSSNH  

“M’Gann,” Robin whispered. His voice soft but clearly alarmed. “M’Gann, the link, hurry.”

She reached for their minds with her own, each familiar presence snapping easily into place. Wolf entered the link with a familiar tingly feeling along her spine. A dangerous, if friendly, predator stalking confidently into her mind. She didn’t get words from him just images and feelings. He’d been a part of their group for long enough that she was prepared for the inherent differences in the feel of his mind.

She wasn’t prepared for Robin.

She shuddered violently at his presence. His mind was as hard to read as ever, but somehow it was brighter, stronger than before. Through him she could feel an odd echo of everyone else, herself included.  

They were all bound to him in a way she could not understand. Those bonds screamed to her. Alive with possessiveness, protectiveness and a sense of shelter and belonging. It was a truly odd feeling. One she didn’t think she would ever truly understand.

“Someone is here.” Robin informed her mildly, the message was not in words. At least not the way it always had been. She heard his voice, but she also got a wave of other information. Robin’s vision was better in the dark then hers, thought the vantage point left much to be desired. She felt him revel in the shadows, exult in their song. She also knew what he smelled, though it took a lot of effort for her to straighten out what his senses were telling him.

“We are all in Civvies,” Kaldur said softly. “Do not engage.”

At his command they scattered, behaving as a group of homeless teenagers rather than seasoned heroes. M’Gann shifted slightly becoming Megan, or at least a version of herself that was down on her luck and sleeping in an old drafty building.

She could feel her team mates around her, Robin had vanished into the shadows and felt …high, as if there was a vast empty space beneath his little paws. The others had all found different places to sequester themselves. She considered her options, but the door was opening, so she simply camouflaged herself, rather than risk moving.

What entered the room was not what she was expecting. The girl was tall, and clad in a mismatched assortment of dark clothing. Her short black hair was stringy, but looked as though it was usually well cared for. She looked around, vividly violet eyes taking in everything and made a beeline for the little pot of beans and rice, they were keeping heated for Wally to sack on. She didn’t look dangerous.

Curious she allowed herself to float off the ground and moved closer to the strange girl. That proved to be a mistake. She never was sure what alerted the other girl to her presence, but she spun around, and launched herself into the air. Before M’Gann – quite – understood the situation she was pinned to a nearby wall a strange black mist.

M’Gann let out a half strangled yelp of surprise and felt her friend’s react through their mental link. They were all coming. She could feel them collectively move to defend her. But this was different. They didn’t need to defend her. Something wasn’t right here. The girl in front of her was hungry, afraid, and oddly trying to suppress her emotions. But she meant them no harm.

She reached for her team, prepared to tell them to stand down and let her talk to the terrified young woman who had stumbled upon them.

A small form barreled down out of the rafters before she got the chance.

Claws slashing, and snarling defiance the three and a half pound ball of fluff, hit her attacker squarely in the chest. Knocking her back and a few steps.[i]

Robin twisted in midair to land delicately on all four tiny paws, absurdly attempting to shield her with his own much smaller form. The team surged into the room as the girl stepped forward radiating confusion and alarm. The tip of Robin’s tail lit with soft blue glow, as he took a menacing step forward. The link between them flooded with protective possessiveness.

MINE she clearly heard him snarl.

He opened his mouth, emitting a high-pitched inhuman shriek. Around them the shadows moved drawing closer until the small form was shrouded in darkness so thick it was impossible to see through. The small spot of darkness condensed and then exploded outwards in dancing ribbons of indigo flame.

[i] For any of you who think that can’t happen, it can with enough distance, I went away for a few weeks and when I came back my Chihuahua launched herself off the top of a staircase, not only did she knock the wind out of me, but I went down under five pounds of licking squirming puppy.

Chapter Text

1. Sorry about the delay the “Real World” decided to get in the way of my life.

SSNHSSNHSSNH

Kaldur froze, ethereal terror digging icy claws into his soul. The shadows slithered down the walls, and oozed across the floor to gather at his friend’s feet like a horde of obedient hounds. A fraction of a second elapsed before some unseen, unheard signal, sent them surging forward to ooze over and around the smaller boy enveloping him in an inky, dark void. Leaving behind a curiously oppressive void. As if Robin and everything touching him had simply ceased.

“Kitsune,” he breathed, shock and alarm filling his breast. A few feet away Zatanna shook her head in horrified denial. “Worse.” She whispered, voice tinged with palatable terror. “Nogitsune.”

Dismay washed over Kaldur, a tidal wave crashing against a breakwater, tossing his worldview violently asunder. All fox spirits were tricksters, but Kitsune were among the most dangerous of the Nine Courts. Not Malevolent by nature like the Kumiho, but powerful, cunning and vicious when slighted. Kitsune had a very strong moral code and they took extreme offense when people deviated from their moral worldview. The problem lay in the fact that what a Kitsune found to be morally acceptable rarely followed the same thought patterns as those of any other species.

Kaldur didn’t know enough about Kitsune to tell them apart though he knew they were divided along clan lines. He wasn’t sure if Nogitsune were a subspecies or a clan. All he knew about Nogitsune could be summed up in a singingly sentence: Across the seas of time where Nogitsune trod chaos followed.

Robin was a formidable advisory when his temper was aroused. He was also a friend and one he trusted with his life, but he was also impossibly young. Too young to have any real control over his formidable powers. Kaldur was not looking forward to placing himself between a Kitsune and its prey.

Power flared outwards, bathing the room in an aurora of blue light, icy lightning crackled and an artic wind flashed across the confines of their small refuge as dancing tendrils of vibrant blue light exploded from the void. Twirling wildly, a raging blue inferno caught in a gale. Snow erupted across the ground at feet of the monster that had just appeared in their mists.

Infinitely more intimidating then a fox had any right to be.

The creature that appeared in their mist was about the size of a German Shepard. 95 pounds of whipcord and lean muscle Robin’s Silver coat shown in the darkness as if light by internal fire. The tip of his tail awash with vibrant blue flame. A symphony of blues danced behind him, an Arora Borealis kicked up by the soft, subtle movements of his tail. Blue fire twined around his limbs and wreathed his neck. Eerie blue white light flared at his nostrils, liquid fire welling up behind his teeth to spill from parted jaws in a visible deadly miasma.

The girl threw her hands out and a stray shadow struggled to free itself from its brethren. Screaming defiance as it rose up from the floor between them twisting and bucking wildly as it fought to forge itself into a new shape.

Kaldur swore and forced himself to move between the giant spectral corvid, and the ethereally terrifying yet far more physical threat of his enraged teammate. Stomping down on the primal aspect of his own nature that sat up and took notice of the deadly predator in their mists as it never had before. He knew two things with absolute certainty. One what he was about to do was by definition suicidal and two, whatever Robin was he was not a Kitsune! Kitsune didn’t appear in ice, snow, fire and shadow.

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Kaldur rubbed his temples as he sank to the floor with a grimace. He was physically and emotionally exhausted. It had taken the better part of an hour to defuse the situation. Robin’s transformation proved taxing, though Kaldur wasn’t sure if that was a result of his as yet unidentifiable species, age or inexperience. Regardless Robin’s transformation left him ravenous and stuck in yet another physical form. He’d bolted down three cans of Spam in a few neat bites, and collapsed upon the strangely persistent indoor snowdrift. Their guest sat a few feet away floating slightly above the ground working her way steadily through the food they had given her.

Kaldur shifted slightly, he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep, but he was the leader and he had one more job left to do. “I am Aqualad.” He informed their guest mildly. “These are my teammates. Miss. Martian, Superboy, Artemis, Zatanna and Kid Flash.” He gestured to each as he spoke their names. “That is Wolf,” he added when the mammoth Lupine made an indignant noise. He glanced over at Robin who sprawled belly up upon a patch of snow that grew alarmingly with each swipe of his flaming tail. Suppressing the urge to groan when Wally sprinted over to stand over his friend, hopefully the two wouldn’t get into too much trouble. Wally dropped down beside the boy turned canine and indulged himself by scratching the thick, still faintly glowing fur around Robin’s jaw. Robin’s tail wagged frantically at the attention, inundating them with more snow and creating a small but extremely obvious, indoor aroura borealis.

Kaldur pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned in annoyance at their display of reckless abandon. “That is Robin,” he admitted mildly, “My second in command… when he’s not…” he trailed off and gestured at the great silver and gray fox in a sweeping inclusive gesture.

“A dog?” she responded in an utterly unimpressed tone.

“I’m a Fox!” Robin’s snapped indignantly.

Kaldur resisted the urge to roll his eyes “Yes.”

“Raven.”

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Wally couldn’t help the slight smile that spread across his face at the sight before him. Raven sat cross-legged and floating in midst of Robin and Wolf who were currently engaged in a game of tug-of-war against Connor. The clone holding one end of a makeshift rope toy Raven had mystically braided together out of rags. They hadn’t been able to get much information out of the darkly mysterious girl, and what they had been able to gather didn’t paint a good picture of her life.

Wally didn’t even want to consider what would make a girl hardly Robin’s age flee her father. Still the girl was calm and controlled, bordering on unemotional actually.

It was weird.

Disturbing actually.

She just floated there, a still, dark, presence in the middle of the natural chaos produced by several raucous teenagers. Softly chanting three repeating nonsensical words.

They weren’t really sure what to do with her at this point but had decided that they were going to keep her with them for now. They’d let the League determine the best course of action when they finally returned to base.

An eventuality that was looking further and further away with every passing moment. They hadn’t made any headway in undoing whatever the hell Klarion and Zatanna had done to Robin. Artemis, was insisting that they needed to figure out exactly what the fuck Robin had been transformed into, in order reverse the effects of the combined spells. For his part Wally was having trouble handling this. There had to be a scientific explanation for this!

Science had never failed him.

There was a scientific explanation for everything.

So there had to be a rational explanations for the Arora Borealis Robin seemed to create every time he wagged his tail.

Some sort of bioluminescence maybe?

He groaned and tried to banish his chaotic thoughts. They would only distract him, and he had a job to do. Still he was worried about leaving Robin alone. He stepped on his apprehension and reminded himself that even trapped in the body of an enormous, Shadow loving, fire breathing, flaming fox Robin could take care of himself. Regardless he wouldn’t be entirely alone, Wolf was staying behind as well. Though Robin had argued that the great Canine’s absence would be noticed. He’d been over ruled.

Kaldur needed to gain access to the Royal Atlantean Library and he needed to do it without tipping off Aquaman or Queen Mira.

Hence there plan to distract the League.

Robin had advised them that there were too many variables involved in their plan. He’d offered to help but no one was really interested in letting him participate at least not until he’d learned some control over his powers.

Hopefully they’d have him back to normal long before that became a necessity

In the end it had been Raven who’d helped them to solve the problem. Like whatever the hell Robin had been turned into she had an affinity for Shadows and the ability to travel through them. Unlike Robin, she could control them. For the sake of this mission she would be taking Robin’s place.

For a team that had trained together, the prospect of having someone new filling the shoes of a trusted and respected friend, leader and teammate, it was a daunting prospect.

SSNHSSNHSNHSSNH

Superman glared at the screens in the watchtower. The expression on his face more easily associated with Batman’s forbidding continence then his own. Still he couldn’t help it. Conner and his team were missing. If someone had told him he’d ever be this worried for his clone when Dick, Wally and Kaldur had first liberated the boy, he’d have had them rushed to a medical bay for a CAT scan. Yet, here he was worrying over the teenager who he had finally accepted as a little brother after the horrible events of New Year’s Eve…. And the worst lecture he’d ever endured from his royally disappointed mother. He still couldn’t believe Robin – of all people – had set his mother on him. Though he was glad Conner had such a good friend there to watch his back.

Conner

His half Kryptonian little brother.

Conner who’d vanished on a mission for the League.

Conner who’d never seen the Fortress of Solitude or even the ship Clark had originally landed in. Conner who knew nothing of his history. Conner who he’d been secretly calling Con El for the past few weeks. Conner who he was worried sick about. If he was this terrified for his brother, what must Bruce or Barry be feeling? Dick was Bruce’s SON. His fourteen year old son.

For all Wally was older, he was still Barry’s nephew.

He turned his attention back to the monitors, and tried to find any sign of the missing team. Wind tore through the watchtower along with familiar laughter. “Kid – kid Flash, B03. “The computer chimed in belatedly interrupting itself scant seconds later as Wally exited the Watch tower at top speed.

Clark lunged for the controls desperate to figure out where the hyperactive little hooligan had gone.

Wind kicked up across the watch tower as Flash, bolted into the monitor room, fingers flying across the keyboards at supper speed as he tried to locate his nephew.

Maps bloomed across various screens, as the team’s various designations rang out in time with the rapidly flashing points of light that flashed across the various maps at random Zeta points and equally random intervals. They appeared and disappeared, lighting up the screens in a frenetic, chaotic lightshow.

“What the Hell?” Barry demanded.

“Clearly, they do not wish to be found.” Martian Manhunter stated from somewhere above them and to the left.

“Aquaman, A-0-6” the computer chimed in.

Batman shifted, eyes narrowing as he took in the myriad of flashing lights. “The question is why.” He commented mildly. One eyebrow lifted, beneath his cowl. “And where are Robin and Aqualad in all of this?”

SSNHSSNHSNHSSN

Aqualad stood on the sandy shoreline of a Californian beach, gill caps clamped shut against the heat. Gazing down at the small timepiece in his hand, and silently counted down the seconds to the exact time the plan dictated. “Now,” he said softly to the darkly clad girl floating cross-legged at his side.

“Azarath Metrion Zinthos,” she intoned. Before the great black wings of a spectral raven enfolded them. They reappeared standing above the Atlantic Ocean, just out of reach of the ebbing and flowing waves. A storm as imminent, he could tell by how fiercely the waves churned the water’s surface, could gage the incoming fury in the splattering, aggressive mist that assaulted the thin shield upon which he stood. He gazed down into the inky black water, before turning his attention back to the girl floating silently at his side. “My thanks,” he said simply and dove into the waters below. It was a long swim across the Old Roman Trench, which Surface-dwellers called the Romanche Trench and into the very outskirts of the great city of Poseidonis. If he swam fast and true, he would reach his goal by midnight.

Chapter Text

Kaldur paused as a pair of guardsmen swam past. Tonight was going to be the ultimate test of all the skills he had gained since the Team was formed. Under normal circumstances he’d have swum openly into the Royal Conservatory. No one would challenge his right to be there. Tonight however his goal was to get in, gather the supplies he needed and get back out without anyone knowing he’d ever been here. Especially his king.
Robin had advised him to act normally. Pretend this was just a visit home. The best way to ensure people remembered his passing was to act unusual. Kaldur agreed with Robin in theory, and under any other circumstance he would have followed the younger boy’s advice, without question. Robin was infinitely more capable of stealth then he was. But he could not risk his king returning early and being alerted to his presence.

With that in mind he kept to the shadows, and prayed he’d learned enough from Robin over the years to succeed.

A heady mixture of relief and terror washed over him at the sight of the Dean’s door. Relief because the ancient tomes he required were somewhere in the extensive library that rested just beyond the heavy door. Terror, because he was about to break into the Queen’s office and pilfer her private, restricted library.

The Wards on Mira’s door were not lethal, and nowhere near what they could have been. She was a teacher as well as Queen and foolish youngsters occasionally snuck into her office in an idiotic attempt to prove their courage. He’d never partaken of that particular brand of idiocy. He and his friends had other priorities. It was part of what brought them together as friends in the first place.

The Irony was not lost on him.

Kaldur closed his eyes and brushed the mother of pearl inlay work with tentative fingers. His webbing tingled as the magic brushed his personal energies. The magic around this room lay in wait, protective spells designed to shelter the priceless scrolls, tomes and ancient tablets in times of crisis. Set to activate with a terrible force if the wards surrounding the conservatory or palace were ever breached. He shook out his hand and rubbed gently at the delicate membranes. Trying to message the feeling back into his fingers.

Mages could test for spells without having to make physical contact. It was infantry safer and required less effort, concentration and magic, but he’d never advanced past the most basic of spells and didn’t have the training necessary to manage it.

He swam back slightly and examined the door frame post and lintel. The absence of the soft glow of a mage light assured him the office was unoccupied.

Feeling restored to his fingers he took a deep breath and tried the door. It was locked, because of course it was, the universe didn’t like him that much. He sighed, and reached into his uniform for the lock picks Robin had given him and set about unlocking the door, praying he didn’t set off a magical alarm or trap keyed to the lock. Thankfully the lock was neither booby trapped nor too complicated for his meager skillset.

He took a deep breath and pushed gently against the door, and bit back a yelp of surprise and elation when it open under his hand. Tentatively he reached out with his other senses, running his fingers along the door frame in an effort to determine if he’d set off an alarm or ward. Finding nothing, he took a deep breath of the salty oxygen rich water and slid effortlessly trough the gloomy waters and into the office. He took a moment to gather his bearings, and made straight for the shelves of restricted Academic texts.

He probed the shelves with all the gentle finesse he could muster. Finding nothing magically out of place he quickly scanned the shelves, desperately seeking anything that would help him identify his friend’s species and undue, whatever spell Klarion had placed on him.

Every time he thought he knew what the boy was; he did something that proved his theory wrong. It was damned frustrating, but it was also dangerous, they needed to know what Robin’s gifts were.

At this point Robin had become a truly dangerous mystery.

By Neptune, he’d never heard of a situation like the one they’d found themselves in. Two humans simply didn’t give birth to a member of the Foxkin. Which meant either Robin didn’t know his own past and he’d been stolen from someone – a frighteningly dangerous prospect he didn’t even want to think about; or something had changed.

Kaldur sighed in relief as he found the heavy tome of restricted spells that he hoped would have what he needed to reverse Klarion’s mischief. Now the hard part was over, all he had to do was collect this last tome and make his way back to the pickup point. He shifted the various scrolls, books and a few pages of hand scribbled notes into the crook of one arm and cautiously pulled the huge tome free of its spot on the shelf.

A soft click and a watery grating noise was his only warning as the window opened.

He cried out in shock, dropping his precious cargo, as the magical snare yanked him off his feet before he had time to react, tangling around his limbs as he thrashed reflexively.

The intruder …Ok… the other intruder, shrieked in alarm and pain. Her voice cutting off as the spell silenced her.

Cursing a blue streak around his own gag he forced himself to relax, and drew upon his magic. Feeling it flare across his tattoos he extended his senses as he’d been taught and felt for the spell ensnaring him. Praying it was something he could cut through with his water bearers.

It wasn’t.

Typical

He blew air out of his nose in annoyance and glanced over at the intruder who’d foiled his neatly planned …loan …of the necessary materials and tried not to glare.

The scrawny waif, looked particularly pathetic at the moment. She couldn’t have been older than nine. Like him she was bound head to toe in a tight cord of magical rope and dangling, upside down several feet off the floor. Swaying slightly in the room’s current.

The effect was rather nauseating.

Tears streamed down the child’s face as she tried frantically to free herself. Small hands gesturing frantically where they poked out of the bindings. By her gestures he assumed she was trying to use magic, though she was admittedly young for such things.

Kaldur shifted slightly and made an inarticulate noise in an attempt to gain her attention. He would have liked to say something to calm her down, if only he could. The rope in his mouth prevented him from talking, though it didn’t impede his breathing. He softened his expression and tried to let her know everything would be alright.

She seemed utterly unmoved by his – admittedly lousy - attempt at comfort.

Which was frankly typical, whenever they encountered traumatized children Robin usually handled the situation.

Not for the first time he wished this was all a warped dream brought on by too much scorpionfish pâté. The appearance of his Quean and several armed guardsmen dashed that hope entirely and he shrank back in his restraints. Absolutely humiliated by his horrific betrayal of her trust. For the first time since he’d first swum through the Royal Conservatory’s doors as a new prospective mage he found himself intimidated by the mere sight of his friend and teacher. He gulped and prayed for her tolerance, despite never before being given reason to fear her. Shame washed over him and he braced himself for the fall out of this night’s escapade, as her green gaze swept over him.

She arched an eyebrow at him, and he felt color fill his cheeks in response. A sharp gesture dispelled his bindings and he twisted slightly, righting himself in the water. Eyes down cast as he waited for the justly earned reprimand that was surely to come.

For a moment absolute silence filled the room, when she spoke Mera’s voice was a study in controlled calm. “Kaldur’ahm” She said with a slight jerk of her head to indicate the two hard backed seats before her massive desk. “Take a seat, I will deal with you in a minute.”

“Yes, My Queen.” He replied in as mild a tone as he could manage, and bent to pick up his … purloined reading material. He set them on her desk with the exaggerated care normally afforded unstable explosives and settled himself gingerly upon the edge of the indicated chair.

It was going to be a long night.

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH
Mera sighed and resisted the urge to rub her temples. The last few weeks had been a study in frustration. Entering her office every morning to find valuable manuscripts that dated back before the very founding of their great nation, strewn about like forgotten toys had been wearing her patience to a thread. The progressing symptoms of her pregnancy, Kaldur’ahm’s disappearance and Orin’s subsequent atypical hysterics had not improved her temper.

Having caught the two most prominent sources of her current duress, provided her with a sense of almost giddy relief. Yet at the same time it raised several fundamental questions and created a slew of new problems. She glanced down at the small child who had been invading her study at night for the last few weeks. At least her small visitor would be relatively straight forward to deal with. Being returned to one’s parents by the Guard tended to result in swift changes to the amount of supervision one received.

She fixed the child with a stern glare and tried not to let her expression soften at the sheer terror on the child’s face. The cold truth of the matter was that by Neptune’s grace the child had chosen the one room in the Palace and conservatory where the wards were not likely to do her serious injury for her first forays into trespassing. She could not be allowed to continue on this path.

“Where are your parents?” she enquired her tone level and calm.

The child looked up at her in silence, pain and sorrow filling her silvery yellow eyes. “Dead.” She whispered softly.

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Mera rubbed her temples as she sank into her desk chair as the guards escorted her newest student to the room that would be hers until she either graduated or left to pursue another path. She would dispatch a swift messenger in the morning to send word to the waif’s elder brother. The young man deserved to know both of his parent’s death and of his sister’s safe placement within the Conservatory’s dorms. Idly she wondered if the child’s brother had as much potential as his sister, she made a mental note to see if his talents ran parallel to his sister’s if so, should the boy be amendable to the change she may be tempted to snatch the boy out from under the collective noses of the royal military academy trainers and not return him until he was old enough to sit officer’s training.

A brief discussion with the guards had ensured their silence concerning the young idiot, currently cowering across the desk from her.

She waited long enough for the door to shut behind the guards before turning her gaze to her former student. Kaldur’ahm, Aqualad, her husband’s protégé, the pride of Atlantis, met her gaze with a level look of his own. To the untrained eye the boy looked calm. Her eye was not untrained, and she could easily read the signs of stress in his body language. The boy’s gills clamped shut and fluttered open spasmodically, as though he fought the urge to hold his breath, and his eel tattoos glowed faintly with nervous energy.

In short he looked very much like he was about to soil himself.

The bravado of young men annoyed her but this once she found it endearing rather than off putting. She cared deeply for Kaldur, like her husband she saw him as something akin to a much loved younger relative and she wanted nothing more than for him to prosper and meet his full potential. Be it as a mage or as a hero. That being said he had been well and truly caught misbehaving, something he did so rarely that his blatant over reaction to the situation was frankly amusing.

When she’d set a trap for her small visitor she had not expected to catch Kaldur of all people, in her metaphorical net. The Protection spells on her office recognized him as one of four people allowed access to her office and private library. A fact that he would have known had he bothered to ask for permission. Still such behavior could not be allowed to continue unchecked. She reached over and picked up one of the Scrolls Kaldur’ahm had intended to purloin. Kaldur stiffened as she examined the old scroll, and she raised an eyebrow at him in response. The boy shifted slightly, his back taking on a military stiffness he rarely possessed in her presence. She knew Kaldur well enough to know that something was going on. It wasn’t like him to defy his king, go rogue, steal or break in to anything, unless he was under Crown or League orders. Yet in the past week and a half his entire team had absconded to parts unknown, and every attempt –magical or otherwise- to discover their whereabouts had ended in failure.

She debated her options as she investigated the boy’s choice in illicit reading material.

The first scroll was a copy of the eons old treaty they had with the Nine Fox Courts. The second was a basic bestiary of sorts comprised before their people had learned the Foxkin were anything more than magical beasts. The next was an old and frankly priceless bunch of loose sheets with the hand scribbled notes of some long ago dignitary detailing what little they knew of Foxkin magic, and the last was a heavy manuscript detailing several dangerous spells and their reversal. All of which were well beyond Kaldur’s current level of magical aptitude.

She sighed and held up the second scroll, “The accuracy of this, leaves much to be desired”. She informed him mildly. “An explanation is required at this juncture Kaldur’aham.”

He looked up at her then, his eyes flicking to the two silent guards lurking against the wall. She followed his gaze and sensing that he would not talk in their presence dismissed them to wait in that corridor with a wave of her hand. She waited until the door closed softly behind them before turning her attention back to the distressed young man.

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH
Robin paced the confines of his hideout and tried not to fret. His friends had been gone far too long and he was not accustomed to waiting on the sidelines while others took risks in his stead. Frustrated he growled and paced, trying desperately to get some control over his current form. He was having trouble controlling his instincts, and by extension his … powers? Gifts? Curse?

He wasn’t sure what to call it.

Darkness followed in his paw steps, transforming the floor into a churning inky void. He needed to get control of himself. Or no one would be able to set foot inside of his current prison. Wolf had tried to offer him comfort and sank into the floor up to his belly fur. It had taken the better part of an hour to work out how to free the enormous canine. Robin tugging vainly at his scruff in an attempt to free him from the floor while the other canine’s legs swam through the ceiling above their heads.

He didn’t think the great wolf would ever forgive him for the indignity.

A soft noise caught his attention and he turned towards the door, ears perked to catch subtle sounds. It took a few minutes for him to place, a phenomenon he ascribed to how damned long it had been since the last time he had allowed himself to just be. That and the minor practicality of having only heard the Bioship once while wearing this form.

He yipped happily, tail doing ... something… of its own accord and trotted over to the door. Banishing the void at his feet as he did so. He made it to the large room they were using as a hanger just as the ship touched down. Prancing in place with barley suppressed pleasure as his team’s familiar scents washed over him. He waited for them to disembark, Wolf, weary after his unintended swim through the floor, stood a few feet away. Ready to bolt should he unintentionally warp reality again.

Robin couldn’t blame him, though it hurt his heart to see the great canine eyeing him like that.

He paused eyes snapping back to the Bioship, ears cocking forward, hackles rising along his neck in a shower of light blue false sparks.

Something was wrong.

He couldn’t quite place what, but it set his skin ablaze with barely suppressed energy. He sniffed the air trying to find the subtle wrong. False sparks danced across his rough and down his back to the tip of his tail. Apprehension – literally - sparking across his fur. Shadows shifted, slithering forward to collect at his heels like an army of eager hounds. He knew every scent on that ship, even the newer scent with the overtones of brimstone. Nostrils flared he drew in breath trying to pinpoint the problem. There was no blood, no pain in the air. Though Kaldur’s scent was clogged with emotions too complex for him to decipher. He cocked his head and tried anyway.

Embarrassment, worry, frustration, relief and a hint of shame mingled with something he simply could not pinpoint. Now that he was trying he noticed the worry commingling with his friends’ scents. The air was thick with it. Blue fire flared to life as his ruff and the tip of his brush ignited. His breath felt hot in his own mouth, warming his nostrils as he breathed. Jaws parted he yawned in a mostly futile attempt to calm himself.

Then Mira stepped lightly out of the bioship.

Pain, anger and betrayal flowed over him and he stepped back locking gazes with Kaldur as the other boy followed at the Atlantean Queen’s heal, like a well-trained dog.

His ears twisted back and slightly out reflexively, a high-pitched whine emanating from his throat at the sight. He tilted his head, tail curling up and around to his left so that it tucked itself around him in an instinctive gesture of fear. The fire bathing his fur dimmed, whiskers pinning he arched his back. Silently pleading for this not to be what it looked like.

“Calm yourself Robin,” Mira soothed “I mean you no harm.”

He heard nothing beyond his name leaving her lips. His eyes lighted on Auqualad and his stance shifted slightly; ears pinning themselves flat to his skull, whiskers bristling he kept his back arched and his tail tucked to his side. Jaws parted he barred his teeth in silent fury, pain and fear. The shadows surged forward enveloping him and he allowed himself to simply sink into their cold embrace.

His life was officially over.

Mira knew

She would tell Orin

Who would tell Bruce.

He shuddered, and curled tightly into himself. Tucking himself closer to the beams of the rafters he’d suddenly appeared in. Bruce’s stance on Meta-humans in his Territory was legendary he wouldn’t let any member of the league with powers set foot in his city. A high-pitched whimpering filled the room as he thought about the hell his life had been in the space between his parent’s death and Bruce taking him in. He could not go back. That child welfare bitch would just throw him straight back into his cell at the Gotham Youth Correctional Facility. He couldn’t do it again. He’d rather die than live through that again. He’d have to run.

The streets would be better, even in Gotham.

Heart breaking, he curled tightly into himself and whished he was the size of a normal fox then at least he could make a decent life for himself in the woods somewhere. Though the thought of eating rodents did not appeal to him even slightly. A strange “ar ar ar ar ar” sound interspersed with his high pitched whines like the sobbing of a small broken child drew his attention and it took him a moment to realize they were coming from his own throat. So deep was his sorrow he couldn’t bring himself to care that he was going to give away his position. He simply curled as tightly into himself as possible and tried to ignore the people gathering underneath his perch.

Ssnhssnhssnh

Mira resisted the urge to swear as the fox kit disappeared. Her eyes adapted to water, not air, burned in response to the painful flash of cerulean light the kit emitted before he dissolved into the void. The experience left her dazed and disorientated. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision; and raised an eyebrow at the sound of Kaldur muttering obscenities beside her. She turned her head and took in the sight of her former student knuckling his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision. The boy had the grace to blush, though he kept up his incoherent muttering.

“I hate it when he does the Ninja thing!” Kid Flash yelped.

“Could be worse.” Superboy deadpanned.

Kaldur’ahm glanced over at his friend. “How so?” he enquired after a moment’s hesitation.

“The shadows haven’t attacked.” One of the girls commented floating cross-legged above the ground.

Kaldur’s expression clearly summed up what he thought of the day’s events.
Mira sighed finding the boy was going to be difficult. This kit might not know how to use his gifts but by their very nature Foxkin were good at remaining unseen, blending into their surroundings and throwing up illusions. The fact that this one had been trained in stealth by Batman …

Well it was not going to help the situation.

Surprisingly it only took a few minutes to find Robin. The boy was crying, his distress audible to anyone who cared to listen. She considered the problems at hand and tried to decide which issue needed her immediate attention. She turned her head away from the enormous fox and addressed her former student. “You are sure that is Robin?” she enquired.

“Positive my queen.” Kaldur responded promptly.

Mira sighed, and looked up at the boy in the rafters. She needed to get the child down so she could examine him. More critically, she needed him to stop making that noise, before a horde of angry Fox Spirits descended on them. She knew Foxkits could call out to the adults for help and be heard regardless of where, or even when, they were. She didn’t know if the distressed noises Robin was making would call an adult. She didn’t even know if Fox Kin would answer the call of a strange kit, but she really didn’t want to find out.

Foxkin could warp time and reality.

Having one simply appear in answer to this kit’s distress was beyond dangerous.

Desperate to gain control of the situation before they had to face an overprotective force of nature, she reached out with her magic. The boy’s cries cut off immediately as she doused him with an icy blast of water. The silver and gray creature sneezed sharply and turned broken blue eyes upon her. He shifted slightly and lept to the ground, muscles rippling beneath his sodden coat.

At 90 pounds he was the smallest Fox Spirit she had ever laid eyes on. Understandable given her lack of familiarity with adolescents of the species. Blue light pulsed across his drenched form and his fur fluffed. Lightning sparked across his fur as blue fire collected in his jaws, ringed his neck and flared to life at the end of his black tipped brush. All around them inky shadows detached themselves from their rightful places to slither and pool at his feet.
She shuddered, as the very air took on a harsh heavy quality.

The temperature dropped significantly around them, the heat bleeding away as frost collected on the glass and their breath fogged the air.

“Robin,” She snapped trying to get the boy’s attention. “I need you to calm down, so we can get you out of that form.”

Robin cocked his head to the side and looked at her, ears flattening sideways as his tail tucked up against his flank in a clear sign of distress.

“Robin, you have to trust us. We wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.” Miss Martian’s imploring tone seemed to cut through the boy’s defenses. He turned his head and met her gaze before stalking forward and settling himself at her feet.

Kaldur went to him then, kneeling down to caress the boy’s ears. Like a child attempting to comfort a scared family pet. “Apologies my friend, I was not up to the task.”

Robin inclined his head and Kaldur looked surprised for a moment before laughing aloud. “That we will my friend. That we will.” Robin flicked the tip of his tail and arch of blue light filtering up behind him.

“My Queen, can you identify him?” Kaldur implored in Atlantean. “If we know what he is we can work on controlling these suppressed abilities.”

Mira sighed Kaldur had explained the boy’s desire to keep his true nature secrete from his friends and loved ones. She disagreed, but had consented to allowing the child his privacy at least in this. Though she believed the boy was not giving his guardian enough credit. But Kaldur feared for his friends continued safety and freedom and the child would be an adult in a few short years. So against her better judgment - she had agreed to Kaldur’s terms. Better to face Batman’s wrath, then take the risk this boy represented if they could not restore his ability to shift to and maintain his human form. “I will speak with the two of you alone.” She replied before switching to English. “It will take a few hours to undo Klarian’s spell. Is there somewhere where Robin, Kaldur, Zatanna and I can have some privacy?”

“This way my Queen.” Kaldur’s reply was prompt and mild.
SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH
Robin sat silently upon the floor, silently observing the Atlantean Queen’s every move as she examined him. He felt like a bug under glass and hardly suppressed the annoyed growl he longed to make.

“Kaldur says you were the size of a normal fox before you had your run in with Raven.” She commented.

Robin inclined his head aware that it was not a question.

Mira continued scrutinizing him, in a manner that made him feel like a horse at a sale. His tail flicked of its own accord and he wrapped it around his paws, aware of the fact that the act made him look like a disgruntled feline.

“Is this your natural coloring?” She enquired still looking at him in a manner that raised the hair at his ruff and left him feeling like she was looking for stains on his soul.

“Yes” he replied after a second, taking almost perverse pleasure when she jumped in surprise.

She circled him, occasionally requesting he lift a foot or move in a particular way so she could get a better look at him, though she refrained from touching. After a few minutes of this she nodded and enquired, “You shifted into this form of your own accord?”

Robin cocked his head, ears swiveling of their own accord as he contemplated her question. “After a fashion.” He replied slowly. “I was … smaller… and purple, before.”

Mira inclined her head, “can you shift back to you other form on your own?”

His ears twitched the closest he could come to a flush in his current form and shook his head, “I’ve tried.” He responded softly.

“That’s alright,” Mira soothed. The Atlantean queen gazed at him in silence for a few more minutes before sighing. “What we have here are three unrelated, overlaid and entangled spells. Before we can undo Zatanna’s incorrectly cast transmutation spell and what I guess is a color changing spell, we have to get Robin back into the form he wore before this one.”

“So I get to be purple again?” Robin inquired, head tilted and ears perked. Despite himself he was mildly amused by the prospect.

Mira snorted softly, “What do you know of Fox magic child?”

Robin shifted his weight and slid to the floor, in an effort to restrain the… urge to pace. “Not much,” he finally replied. “I can create fire, but I can’t touch fire I didn’t create without getting burned. If I’m not careful shadows fallow me… like puppies. I can be a fox, I can be a human or I can be something in between.”

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH
Mira sat back on her heels with a groan, it had taken the better part of four hours to unravel the tangled web of spells surrounding Robin. The boy sat before her in a classic meditative pose his tail curled around him so that the tip rested in his lap, in a pose that looked habitual. Closing her eyes she wondered again at the training the Bat gave his sons. The boy had been sitting like that without moving since she’d managed to get him back into this form almost two hours ago. Only the slight rise and fall of his chest gave away the fact that he yet lived.

Breaking Zatanna’s spells, returning him to his natural coloring and his semi human form had taken approximately 30 minutes. The rest of the time had been taken up with helping Robin find his way back into the form of an amusingly colored fox kit. It was a testament to the power held by the Foxkin that it had taken her almost as long to reverse Robin’s accidental changes as it had to reverse Klarion’s spell.

“Alright,” she said softly, ignoring the shiver that ran down her spine when the boy opened vertical slit eyes and met her gaze. “Try to shift back now.”

Blue eyes slid closed, the boy took one breath, and held it, letting it out after a few heartbeats. Then, between one breath and the next his body blurred like softened clay and a small boy sat before her. Completely human, until he opened intense blue eyes that glowed softly in the gloom. She doubted anyone but another fully trained Atlantean sorcerer would have noticed. Provided that sorcerer was used to dealing with the Foxkin. As Queen she’d had multiple dealings with these notoriously prickly people and her eyes were adapted to a different light then surface dwellers. It made the soft glow visible where it wouldn’t otherwise be.

“Thank you.” He said after a moment the eerie glow fading away the longer he spent in his human form.

“A moment Foxchild,” she said when it seemed the boy would get up. “We should ensure you are not merely trapped in another form.”

The boy sighed “I wouldn’t mind being trapped in this form.” He lamented, but obliged her by shifting rapidly into a small silver and black fox, before shifting back into the colossal creature she’d first encountered and finally into the in between form she was by now the most familiar with. A pulse of soft hardly visible, cerulean light and the oppressive pull of the gathering shadows the only indication he was about to shift.

“The self-depreciation in that statement alarms me, my friend.” Kaldur commented as Robin slid easily back into his human form. “Do not lament being who and what you are. By doing so you sell yourself short.”

Robin sighed, “When I was little I used to play in my other forms.” He said softly. “I spent as much time as a fox or with a tail as I did in my human skin. Dya encouraged me to do so, and the rest of our… family never made me feel there was anything amiss with the gift. I didn’t learn how much of a freak I was until after the death of my immediate family. After the government tore me away from the only home, and people I’d ever known because none of those who remained were blood related.”

A growl tore itself free of the boy’s throat and he slipped into another language. “They threw me in a cell!” he ranted, coming abruptly back to English, before losing his grip on the language entirely so that “that racist bint” ,“Bruce”, “Alfie” “Jaybird” and “Cost me everything I hold dear?” were all that could be understood of his rant. At the end Robin trailed off his mouth opening so he emitted an ear-piercing cry that vibrated through her soul.

Mira reacted without thinking, clamping a hand over the kit’s mouth, and pinching his nose briefly. The boy jerked and sputtered, pushing her away, but fell silent. Mira waited a long moment as silence fell around them, awaiting the inevitable.

When no furious Foxkin responded to the kit’s cry of distress she relaxed. Tsunami the Foxkin envoy to Atlantis had once told her there was nothing on, above or below this earth more protective and possessive of their young then the Foxkin and that they were truly dangerous when roused to their protection.

Kaldur gave her an odd look before clasping his hand on the younger boy’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort and solidarity. “You are not alone, my friend,” the young warrior told his friend gently. “We will work through this, together”

“Kaldur,” Robin replied, voice thick with sorrow, pain and confusion. “I don’t even know what I am.” The boy paused closing his eyes briefly at the confession. “I’ll never know what I am, and I have made peace with that. I can’t find my mother’s Grandfather, he’s probably dead by now, I can’t even find my Grandma or aunts. I’m okay with that. I’ve found my own way, found a family. All I want now is to protect my new family. Continue the legacy of my new family, be Robin, be a hero, protect people, so no one ever has to go through what I went through again.”

Mira, closed her eyes briefly at the raw emotion the boy attempted to hide behind brave words. She didn’t know what he was, not exactly. Foxkin were diverse and varied even within a single court.

“I am not an expert on the Foxkin” Mira said gently, “However, if I had to guess, I’d suppose you were a hybrid of some sort.” She paused and considered her next move, and exactly how much to tell the boy. “What little I know of your kind, I learned over the course of my decades long friendship with the Foxkin envoy to Atlantis, Tsunami. That information is yours, should you wish it.”

The boy’s ear twitched, flicking briefly in her direction. “I – I would appreciate that.” the boy replied, settling himself back on his heals with a boneless grace that would have been the envy of any dancer.

“Like the Fae,” she began gently. “The Foxkin are an extremely long lived race, living upwards of a thousand years.”

“Great,” the boy muttered. “I’m doomed to outlive everyone.”

Mira suppressed the urge to sigh at the interruption, but the boy was looking at her with such earnest interest that she couldn’t find it in herself to be annoyed. “I admit, I’m unfamiliar with how Foxkin age, or even if all nine courts age the same way. I do know that at one point long, long ago, the Foxkin tried interbreeding with humans in a desperate attempt to increase their numbers. To my knowledge, they had about as much success with this as the Fae.”

“Do, do you… I mean, do you… have any idea what I am?” Robin enquired softly.

“I cannot say for certain. Had I to go only upon what you looked like when I first arrived. I’d have said you closely resembled a Tulikettu, with your general size, thick pelt and glowing tail. Despite your coloring being all wrong for the species. However, the ability to manipulate shadows is unique to the Kitsune and Nagetsune. I’m sorry I can tell you no more child.”

SSNHSSNHSSNHSSNH

“Tsunami,” Mira stated with as much dignity as she could muster. Keeping a close eye on the Envoy’s aid Devilsleaf. The old OnChu had never much cared for her presence, or well anyone really, though he got along well enough with Tsunami, and had a mind like a steal trap and a phenomenal attention to detail. Or Tsunami had once told her. “My old friend, might I have a word with you in private?”

Her old friend lounged in a lose coil on the bench a waterproof scroll clasped lightly in one stubby talon hand. A sea shell writing implement in the other. “A moment if you please.” He replied, in a deceptively mild tone over the edge of his scroll.

For all he had been named after a destructive force of nature, Tsunami was always mild. Right up until the moment he tore your throat out with an expression of mild distaste.

It was not a sight she ever wished to revisit.

The Nguruvile shifted slightly, set his writing utensils aside and rose up from his coil. Twenty-eight feet of decidedly serpentine fox slithering out of his chair to swim by her side. She knew from experience that the creature only came up to her mid-thigh when he stood upon all fours and towered above her when he chose to rest upon two. His scales, a deep emerald green with blotchy black markings faded into the natural lighting outside better they ever could under the mage lamps of the palace itself. She’d seen soldiers scream when the ambassador suddenly chose to make his presence known. Gliding in out of the shadows to bask in the full light of the throne room. When he chose he could appear as one of them. He seldom chose to do so when inside his own quarters.

“Come, child” he beckoned, “let us enjoy the terrace. The squid are out tonight. The bioluminescent displays are marvelous this time of year.”

Despite herself, she laughed. He’d been fascinated by the many bioluminescent creatures that roamed the sea when he’d first come to the court when she was a child.

They stood for a while beneath the multi colored mating display taking place miles above their fair city. Her leaning against the ornamental terrace, while he coiled his sinuous form about the rail in a manner reminiscent of the tree boa she’d once seen on a trip to the surface. Long association had taught her this conversation would go at his pace and no other.

“You had need of my services?” he enquired when the silence had grown comfortable between them.
“Tell me about the children born when the Foxkin tried to interbreed with the other races.” She blurted.

The look he leveled upon her was vaguely offended and she worried she’d overstepped herself. She’d been friends with Tsunami for years and all she knew of his race was bits and pieces gleaned over decades. Through him she’d learned more about his people then any person in Atlantis had ever known. With his permission she’d passed most of that knowledge on to the children in the form of various scrolls. Now she was reminded of just how insular the Foxkin could be.

Tsunami snarled soundlessly, lips pulling back along his thin pointed muzzle to reveal hundreds of thin backwards curved teeth. “That is not a topic we speak of lightly.” He replied after a moment. “Pray tell, why do you wish to pursue this line of questioning?”

Mira held her tongue, considering her answer carefully. “IF your people interbreed with humans and I’m assuming the Fae, could there be any Foxkin kits out there?”

Tsunami rubbed the top of his muzzle with one stubby claw, a gesture he’d picked up from his time amid her people. “No.” he replied with finality. “Our magic is too different from the Fae. Our attempts at interbreeding bore fruit. Poisonous fruit. By treaty, such unions are forbidden. Participants prosecuted and offspring eliminated for the safety of the Skulk. There are no Fae who bare Foxkin blood, nor Foxkin who bare the taint of Fae blood. They are too dangerous.”

Mira winced, wondering what could be so horrible that these proud people, people she knew cherished and protected their offspring above all else would put them down. “And Humans?” she inquired after a moment.

Tsunami flinched. “All of our offspring with humans were powerless or short lived, frequently both, some were … malformed. Among the lesser courts most lived a mortal fox’s lifespan. A few like the Kitsune produced beautiful, human children, with a human’s short life and narrow views. There may be a few humans in the world with Foxkin blood running through their veins, but they are few and far between. Few Foxkin bother to lay with humans preferring to stick to our own courts, even fewer keep track of any unintended …offspring. Generally, it is considered too painful to outlive your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and even great great grandchildren.”

I know of a kit,” Mira replied when silence had stretched between them for too long. “Born to Human parents.”

“What?!” Tsunami yelped, falling from his perch to land in a coiled heap upon the floor. He shot to his hind feet, towering above her. “You are sure?”

“A fox’s tail and ears, the ability to be human or a fox. And the ability to control fire, shadows and possibly snow.” She replied, blinking in surprise when her friend shot off the terrace and streaked towards open water in a sinuous serpentine motion. His patterned scales vanishing into the gloom before he’d measured twice his length. Light flared before her eyes at the very edge of her vision. Flaring and dyeing in the space of a breath as Tsunami left their realm behind.

Mira winced, and hoped Kaldur would forgive her, but she could not risk war for his friend. Batman, she was sure would fight for his kit. If he failed to do so then the kit was better off in the hands of those who would value him.