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[Wow, way to ruin Kon's amazing sacrifice there, Robin.]

Give us time. I'm sure the mass hysteria is coming.

[In the time it takes Kon to return Robin's call, the acoustics have changed. It now sounds echo-y and there is a dripping sound in the background.]

I'm fine. I didn't lose a year of time.

[Year of time and one girlfriend.]

It's you we're all worried about.

[ sorry, bro. brooding and hiding are much more 'bat' traits than they are supers.

that acoustic change is just a little worrisome, you know. but rob's not going to comment. if anything, it just makes him miss the cave. it's been over a year (two years?) since he's been back, after all. ]

I'll be fine- just needing a little bit to bring the aster back, you know? [ ha ha yeah okay that was not nearly as convincing as it could have been, but it's been a long day. ]

You guys don't need to worry about me.

[And for good reason. All this hiding is boring as shit.]

Of course we're gonna worry. You're our friend -- Zee and Conner's team-mate. And you just lost a year of time. I was out for a month once, had no idea. That was pretty awful. But a year--

[A lot can happen in a year.]

A year can't change the fact that we all care about you and that we want to help. So don't wait until you've found the aster, okay? We've all -- had to lean on each other pretty hard here in Haven. And we've all been alone with Haven's bullshit at some point, so we can imagine what it's like for you right now, so -- none of us want to see you alone right now, Robin.

[ exactly why you should just leave it alone. not your style.

but this whole speech just sort of has robin pausing. it's not that he doesn't know everything kon is telling him, because he does, it's just that he doesn't expect it to come this heavy, this all at once, and from kon. ]

Dude. [ that's when you know it's serious, kon. that's how you know. ] I'm okay, seriously. I might have lost a year, but it doesn't feel like a year.

[ he lets out a breath, here, feeling himself not necessarily relax, but lose some of the tension he's been holding onto, using to push him forward. ]

I'm not trying to block you out, or be alone, or any of that. [ he's not batman. not yet. ] I just don't like being so far behind, and I guess I've just been trying to get myself updated? [ there's another him here, kon. another him. in panties.

that's a lot easier to focus on than his own stupid feelings. ]

Pretty sure I couldn't go off and brood even if I wanted to. Too many people I have to check-in with, aster or no aster. [ he pauses here, worrying at his lower lip. ] I'm not gonna disappear again, if that's what you're worried about.

[Robin sounds a lot more together than Kon was expecting, honestly. He frowns as he listens although he smiles faintly as Robin finishes --I'm not gonna disappear again, if that's what you're worried about.]

Yeah. I guess I am. [How typical is that? Even when Kon is trying to think of others, he's really just selfish.] It was -- pretty bad after you left.

Can we help with the updating?

[ of course he's put together. that's what he does. ]

I've heard. You wanna give your take on all of it? [ because he's heard from zee, he's heard from conner, heard from jason. he needs more. ]

I'm just adding up the bullet points. A little of this, a little of that.

Right. You vanished after those weird challenges, right? The one's that ended with the tattoos on our hearts?

[Kon settles back on his bunk bed. Home sweet home. He really prefers this to the fugitive life.]

You were here after that, did they tell you? Only it was a you who didn't remember Haven, who had only just met the team.

Yeah- it must have been the day or so after.

[ rob is really much better suited for the fugitive life, after all. ]

Yeah, heard it was me minus the memories. But that doesn't make a lot of sense if I came black plus memories, you know?

So--

There was a month when I disappeared. I think I told you. I didn't tell you is that time while I was gone, I had a weird dream. Just that I woke up and I was in a pod -- kind of like that one scene in the matrix? There were tons of these people sized pods. Then next thing I knew, I was waking up one month later.

I mentioned my dream to someone -- don't remember who now, it's been so long -- and they said that a Yao employee had mentioned something about storage and that's probably where I was. And you were. And -- probably everyone who has ever been in Haven.

[ he listens, filing the information back as much as he can. especially when kon starts to go off about the pods and rob thinks back to when they found their own supey.

but the more he talks the more it doesn't make sense. ]

So you're saying when anyone disappears they end up in those things? How come you remember it? [ and i don't doesn't really need to be added, does it? ]

I woke up at the right time. Or maybe the wrong time. I don't know.

I only really remember those few seconds that my eyes were open. If it wasn't for what the guy told me when I told him about my 'dream,' I'd probably have written it off entirely.

Guessing we should start dream journaling, then, huh?

[ he worries at his lower lip. ]

Did he mention what they do storage-wise? Is it actual storage or is it more like 'lets do some expirementy crap while you're out'?

Bad news on the journal front, Rob.

I -- didn't think to ask. I just assumed they meant storage-storage. See -- I was kind of a rush job, and I don't think I'm as well made as Conner is -- I was attempt thirteen, right? When I was about a year old, we found attempts one through twelve. They're -- none of them can survive outside the tank, so they're just there, waiting, until we have the science to fix them. So ... this all just seems so normal to me, I guess I didn't question it.

[ womp. ]

How bad are we talking?

[ he listens to kon talk and quiets during the explanation, frowning a bit. thirteen? thirteen? his head spins a little at the thought, trying to remember back to when they found supey. the other clones they'd met. ]

Do you remember when you were originally in your pod? Back when you were being made? [ he's not so much concerned with if kon questioned it or not - there's too much of a time gap between them that rob can't even begin to know what he's gone through, what's happened. ] Was it the same kind of technology?

Were you here when Red Hood decided to test out what happened when you wrote live on camera? Because -- yeah.

I do. It's a bit fuzzy, and I don't remember all of it -- Westfield telling me I was gonna be the next Superman. A few snippets of Looney Tunes cartoons. The knowledge the scientists fed me. The room my tank was in, a couple of the faces of the scientists who worked on me ...

It's not exactly the same, but I can't say it's not the same 'cause the second time I was just awake a short time. I have to say that in my tank I was surrounded by fluid, and so I had to have an oxygen mask on. I don't remember that, or being hooked up to the computer interface.

[ he goes quiet for a moment, then. ]

Yeah, I remember. [ he remembers the joker's laugh, remembers everything. he shakes himself out of those memories, though, when kon keeps going. ]

Okay, so we don't have to worry about Luthor Tech hanging around. [ because that's where his brain had gone. ] And you know, the Looney Tunes makes a whole lot of sense. [ is he grinning? probably. ] Thanks for the update, though, that's actually really helpful.

I am so glad you waited until you'd ruled it out to share that theory with me. Ugh. [Kon is still not over Luthor.]

Age appropriate knowledge, okay? They were age appropriate for ... whatever age I was.

Hey, it doesn't happen often, but occasionally I produce something useful. A pleasure.

[ no one is over luthor. ]

I just needed to make sure, dude. You never know. [ it would be luthor. it would. but so far, none of his bald head, so they're safe for now. ]

Next time you think you've got something, you know where to find me. [ a pause, because suddenly things are getting really awkward. ] I'm guessing the other Robins know too?

I think it's more 'next time I've got something, alert you so that you can find me.' I stand out a lot more in the shadows that you do.

[Pause.]

That is a surprisingly good question. I assumed yes, because you guys know everything, but that might not necessarily be the case.

Point taken.

[ he takes pride in his hiding abilities thank you!!! ]

Are we going to need to start up on the weekly meetings again, because I don't think I want to start calling them all individually. Pretty sure one of them still hates me.