"To conquer fear, you must become fear." Ra's al Ghul.

"So.. why a robin?"

The question seemed to drop out of nowhere, causing everybody in the lounge to stop whatever they were doing. Kaldur looked up from his book, M'gann stopped her cooking, Conner and Wally looked away from the game they were playing and Robin looked up from his laptop. All looking at Artemis who where looking at Robin.

"Sorry, what was that?" the Boy Wonder asked, eyebrows raised.

"Your name. Why a bird?" she asked again.

"I like robins." he answered with a lift of his shoulders, turning his attention back to his computer.

"Uh huh sure. Why, exactly? I mean, as far as birds go, robins aren't exactly known for their killer attacks or vicious minds. As far as I know the worst they can do is to take a dump on you. Or wake you with their song."

Wally snorted, earning a glare from Robin, shutting him up. Robin turned his attention back to Artemis, a smile on his face.

"Why the sudden interest in my name? Am I that interesting?" he asked with mirth in his voice.

"Just thinking out loud. Everybody here is named with inspiration from their powers.."

"Says the human sharing name with a goddess." Robin shot in.

Artemis ignored him. ".. except you. And, FIY Boy Wonder, as Artemis is the goddess of hunt, her name matches me perfectly. So, why?"

Robin didn't answer right away. He looked at the team members who were all looking at him with interest in their eyes.

"You really want to know? It's not that glamorous or anything." he warned, turning his attention back to Artemis.

They all nodded, their curiosity spiked. He signed, rubbing his neck.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you.."

"Does it have to do with your secret identity?" Kaldur asked kindly. Artemis bit her lip, she hadn't thought about that.

"You could say.. oh, what the hell." Robin smiled, looking at Artemis.

"My mother called me Robin when I was a little kid. Her little Robin. That, and combined with my mostly red outfit, is the reason behind my name."

"But.. does she know you are Robin? Like Robin Robin?" asked Artemis, slightly disappointed by the answer. So much for drama and suspense.

"She's dead, so no she wouldn't know." Robin answered returning his attention to the computer now that he'd answered her question.

The team shared uneasy looks. This was news to them.

"I am sorry Robin, I did not know that your mother was deceased." Kaldur condoled, bowing his head. M'gann left the kitchen and went to sit down by Robin.

"Are you al right?" she asked carefully, not being able to detect any emotions from the youngest member of the team.
Robin smiled at her "Yeah.. it happened a long time ago. Don't worry miss M, I'm fine."

Artemis watched him with a new found interest in her eyes. Her curiosity hadn't been satisfied with the explanation. There had to be more, that couldn't be it.

"So, you took your name because of your mother and her love of Robins?" Conner asked, seemingly confused. Then again, he didn't have the big experiences with mothers so he wouldn't really understand.

"Of course! It's kinda a way of keeping her alive, of honouring her. It kinda comforts me, knowing I use something she made up for me. I bet she'd be really proud of me if she knew about all the awesome stuff I'm able to do. And of course ground me for life for doing it." Robin explained, grinning. He did like to think that his parents would be proud of him for helping out other people. But he was also pretty sure that they wouldn't agree on the whole taking-down-bad-guys thing.

Artemis tapped her cheek. "So, you really like robins? And that is why you named yourself that?"

Robin nodded.

"Okay, I guess that is a acceptable answer. Not quite what I'd hoped for, but acceptable."

Robin grinned. "What'd you thought off, that I was once saved by a giant robin and then decided to become just like that? Or that I was raised by robins?"

Artemis coloured slightly. It sounded silly when he put it that way. She sunk back into her seat.

"Would've been more interesting." she murmured.

"Sorry to disappoint. I know my life is a big adventure and that you are all very jealous off it but I can't make up weird stories just to satisfy you." he paused, frowning slightly as a thought crossed his mind. "Actually, I could.."

"Don't!" Artemis said, throwing a pillow after him. "I don't wanna know kind of messed up stories you could build up just to shake me off."

Robin grinned, avoiding the pillow and returned to his work. Mission accomplished without sharing too much!

Wally, however, wasn't done with the subject.

"So dude.. if you picked your name because you like robins, does that mean that Batman is, well Batman, because he likes bats?" he asked, wondering.

"Of course not, he's afraid of bats." the boy wonder answered, not looking up from his work.

When no reactions sounded he did however raise his head, looking questioningly at the others who gaped at him. "What?" Damn it!

Wally had dropped the remote, Artemis had stopped in the middle of raising herself from the couch. Conners eyes were narrowed and M'gann's mouth was slightly open in a 'o'. Kaldur looked calm as ever, but confusion was evident in his eyes.

I probably shouldn't have told them that.

"Batman.. Batman is afraid of bats!" squeaked Wally, not believing his eyes. Robin rolled his eyes.

Yeup, shouldn't have said that.

"I can't believe this! How can you be afraid of bats, they are tiny and very NOT dangerous!" Wally laughed, mirth spreading all over his face at this new revalation. Even Artemis and Conner was smirking. The image of Batman running away from a bunch of bats.. it was rather hilarious to think about. Robin shaked his head, returning to his work. He was in deep waters already, no need to swim further.

Kaldur and M'gann however looked thoughtful. "I think you are misunderstanding Wally." Kaldur finally said, breaking off the laughing Wally.

"How?" the redhead snickered, the image of Batman running around in circles being chased by bats just wouldn't leave his inner eye.

"Fear is a very strong emotion, especially amongst humans." M'gann explained, turning her gaze to Robin.

"If Batman is truly afraid of bats, that would explain why he is so intimidating. Is that not correct my friend?" asked Kaldur, his voice filled with interest.

Robin looked up, an uneasy look on his face. "Look guys, I'm not sure if I should've told you that. Actually, I know I shouldn't have. It is rather private, and Batman would kill me if he knew I told you.."

"Why is he afraid of bats?" asked Artemis, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. This was more what she'd in mind when she asked Robin about his bird obsession.

Robin shrugged. "Bad experience?" he said, and shot Wally a glare when the speedster snickered and repeated "Bat experience!". The Boy Wonder rubbed his temples.

"Okay, listen up. Batman is not afraid of bats like a child is afraid of the dark, or Wally is of a empty fridge." he explained, feeling they wouldn't be able to drop the subject until some answers had been giving.
"Hey!" the speedster protested, sounding highly offended. He was ignored.

"It's deeper. And controlled." Robin explained. "He uses that fear to make the bad guys afraid. He wants them to know his fear, to feel it. He knows why he is afraid. But his enemies don't. Everybody fears what they don't understand or cannot see, and Batman takes full advantaged of that. He is in control of everything."

Robin looked at them all, his face serious. "Don't talk about what I just told you. It's not common knowledge and it shouldn't be. Keep it to yourself, okay?"

They nodded, and then all turned their gaze to Wally.

"What?" he said, standing up, a mock hurt expression on his face. "Don't you trust me to keep a secret?"

"Oh, we trust you all right Kid Mouth." Artemis said, smirking. "Just not your brain."

"HEY!"

Just a sweet little something. I like these short bonding fics between the original team.

I'm working on a longer story, but I have no idea when I'll being to post chapters as I would like to have the entire story planned out beforehand. I also have work and a social life to take care off, which don't leave much room for writing. But hey, Christmas (called Jul (Yule) in Denmark, FYI) is coming up so I plan on getting a lot done there.

Not to mention that the Dark Knight Rises is soon to be released on DVD. If that isn't inspiring I don't know what is.