Hi.

Anyway this time the team discover Robin's lovely collection of scars.

The song is called 'Battle Scars' by Lupe Fiasco & Guy Sebastian (which I recommend listening to).

I don't own anything as much as I wish I did.

Hope you enjoy.

Robyn

The wound heals but it never does

That's cause you're at war with love

You're at war with love, yeah

These battle scars, don't look like they're fading

Don't look like they're ever going away

They ain't never gonna change

These battle...

It was an unusually hot day at the cave and of course the air conditioning was broken. Kaldur and M'gann were suffering the most but no one was enjoying the heat. Everyone was trying their hardest to stay cool; they all wore short sleeve tops and shorts, and had enjoyed the nice cold ice cream from the kitchen. The only person still wearing their normal clothes and looking completely unprepared for the weather was Robin, who wore his normal sunglasses, jeans, top and jacket, hiding most of his skin.

Of course everyone was curious but they knew better than to question Robin, it wasn't likely he would give them a straight answer.

Currently the whole team was relaxing outside on the beach as they had decided it was cooler out by the sea then in the Mountain itself. Kaldur was standing in the water trying to keep cool, M'gann was sitting on the sea edge, dipping her feet in the waves under an umbrella. Conner sat next to her running his hands through the sand, enjoying the texture and occasionally trying to shape it into something. Wally and Artemis were deeper out in the sea having a splash fight after Wally insulted her.

Robin was sitting on the sand his back to the mountain as he watched his friends. He wanted to join his friends and take off his jacket, maybe dive into the water to cool down but he knew if he did, his friends would be shocked by all the scars that littered his body. It wasn't like he thought they didn't have their own scars, he knew they did, it's just he had a lot (especially for his age) and he was still a bit self conscious about them.

"Hey, Wonder Boy. Are you going to join us or just sulk? You look like you are boiling alive." Artemis shouted from the sea before Wally tripped her over. She fell over below the waves, but she quickly jumped back up and splashed the unsuspecting Wally in the face.

"Are you okay Robin? You sure you don't want to join us? The water is nice and cool!" M'gann asked concerned.

"I'm fine, just not that hot. You guys enjoy!" Robin shouted back with a fake grin on his face. That was an absolute lie, he was boiling.

Out in the water, Artemis scoffed - how could anyone not be dying in this heat?

Robin went back to his mental argument. He honestly did want to join them but he was unsure about their reaction. He went back deep in thought, not paying attention to his surroundings, thinking that the rest of the team was still playing around further down on the beach. He was right, mostly.

While he had been thinking and consequently not paying attention, Artemis had snuck up behind him. She quickly grabbed and lifted up the Boy Wonder in a bridal hold with little effort, gaining a gasp of shock from said boy as he was unexpectedly lifted into the air. Robin desperately struggled to get out of Artemis' arms as he could guess what she was going to do. But as much as he struggled he couldn't escape as he was too tired and sweaty from the heat, and honestly? Artemis was strong, which he already vaguely knew and should have expected.

"Let go of me!" Robin screamed as he got closer to the water edge. "Don't you dare drop m- umghm!" Robin's voice was cut off by Artemis dropping him in the water, she was up to her chest in it.

He swiftly brought his head up out of the water, spluttering and rubbing the salt out of his eyes. Turning to glare at the laughing archer.

"Artemis, that was irresponsible and mean. Robin said that he did not wish to join us in the water and you went against his wishes." Kaldur glared at her disapproving of her choice. He was wading his way out to the group to help Robin, who was still fully clothed.

"Yeah Arty, that's not nice. Rob didn't want to join us for his own reasons." Wally glared at the frowning green archer, he was also moving towards the pair.

"Sorry Robin." She said feeling a little guilty before going back to splashing Wally.

"Robin, if you didn't want to be in the water in the first place why aren't you getting out?" Connor called from the shore with his head tilted to the side in confusion.

He had been watching the exchange and noticed that instead of rushing out of the water, Robin had crouched down in the waist high water, so that it was up to his neck. Somehow he had managed to keep his sunglasses on through everything.

"Emmm, I'm in now I may as well stay in." The Boy Wonder replied nervously trying to come up with a good excuse and coming up empty.

"Is something wrong Robin? Are you hurt?" M'gann asked concerned, she had given up on sitting in the sand and had wadded into the water up to her knees.

"No, I'm fine Miss M." Robin replied with a fake grin.

"Oh no Wonder Boy, you're not getting out of it this time." Artemis stopped splashing Wally and crossed her arms as she watched the younger hero.

"Hey dude, are you sure you're okay?" Wally asked concerned for his friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine dude. Seriously, there is nothing wrong with me." Robin protested, but no one believed him and it showed on the almost matching expressions splashed across their faces. In a second Wally had managed to sprint up behind his friend and lifted him back out of the water and onto the beach.

Robin's clothes were soaked and sticking to his skin. Without thinking Robin pulled his jacket off to try and dry it, revealing faint lines all across his arms. The team knew instantly what the lines were and briefly looked at each other before nodding to Wally, as if to give him permission.

Wally sent an apologetic look at his friend than sprinted forward and pulled of his t-shirt top, almost making him loose his sunglasses in the process. The rest of the team crowded closer, back onto the shore and surrounded the boy to prevent escape attempts.

What was revealed shocked the whole team. Dozens, maybe hundreds of scars littered his upper body. Long ones, short ones, ones in horrible patterns. Their eyes were particularly drawn to a 'J' cut into the flesh over his heart.

"What happened? You're 13! How do you have so many scars?" M'gann whispered shocked and concerned for the person she considers her little brother.

"I live and fight in Gotham. The villains there are insane. Plus I've been doing this since I was six, that's more than half my life. Of course I'm going to have scars." Robin gave a half grin then shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant.

"Yeah, but I've not got that many scars. I live in Gotham too." Artemis narrowed her eyes, arms crossed.

"You don't go out and fight villains like Scarecrow, Penguin, Poison Ivy and Joker. There is a reason I got the nickname Boy Hostage. Even the minor crooks are creeps." Robin explained.

"Is that who gave you the scar over your heart. The Joker, I mean." Conner asked.

"Yeah, he gave me a lot of them but that's one that he was really proud of. Trust me the Joker is insane, hope you never have to meet him." Robin shuddered.

"What about that one?" Artemis asked pointing to a long one with occasional jagged edges. Like a razer rose.

"Poison Ivy, one of her vines went wild, of course it was the one with thorns." Robin smiled grimly.

"What about the one on your shoulder?" Kaldur asked as politely as he could, trying to understand his friend's pain.

The scar he pointed to was particularly nasty, it looked to be about two years old and was extremely ruff, it wrapped all around his shoulder and partially down his arm.

"On Halloween, about two years ago Scarecrow released a version of his fear gas. It affected half the city, most of those affected were children. It drove a couple of people mad. I was on patrol with Bats and I got affected. I accidentally ran into Scarecrow, he cut me with a weird curved knife as I flipped over him, how he did it I don't know, but he almost cut of half my arm off" Robin sat down, now that the sun was setting it was starting to feel a lot cooler. His drenched clothes didn't help. He couldn't supress a shiver, which didn't go unnoticed by the team.

"Oh Robin. I'm sorry we keep questioning you but you must be cold. Come on let's get you inside." M'gann led the shivering Boy Wonder back into the Mountain. The rest of the team following.

"Go get some fresh clothes on, then we continue this talk." Kaldur ordered as the two split off from he group. He and the rest of the remaining members of the team settled down in the lounge.

Five minutes later Robin came back in a similar outfit but it was dry this time, M'gann at his side.

As Robin walked over to the team, he stopped and hesitated before sitting down. "Guys, do you mind if ... you know... you don't ask anymore questions? My scars have happened and they will be there for the rest of my life, nothing changes that. I would prefer though if you don't ask anymore questions, a lot of them are kinda personal." Robin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Of course, we understand." Kaldur nodded as an answer for the team and then elbowed Artemis when she looked ready to protest.

"Thanks guys. Hey, now that it has finally cooled down - let's watch a movie."

The team settled down and watched Night at the Museum, which amused everyone including Wally, Artemis and Robin who had already seen it. Though Robin was mostly glad for the distraction.

No questions were asked about Robin's scars again, but they learnt that he was a lot stronger then be seemed, which in truth they should have learnt ages ago.

These battle scars, don't look like they're fading

Don't look like they're ever going away

They ain't never gonna change

These battle...

Scars.