"Talk about deja vu," Robin stated when he got to the meetup spot. Why was this deja vu? Well because in place of where the ship was supposed to be, there was nothing which left him stranded in the desert far from Gotham wearing an outfit that wasn't exactly desert heat friendly. He huffed to himself as he looked at the marks in the sand that suggested there had once been a heavy ship there. At least this time his memory had remained intact this time so he didn't need to struggle through scrambled thoughts as to how exactly he got into this mess in the first place. At first, he thought they couldn't have gotten very far without him on the ship. He was on time for the meet up so they had to have set off early which meant there had been an emergency. He debated back and forth about whether he should interrupt the flight but he decided to at least let them know they left him behind. Only when he went to call them, they were all out of range. He was in the desert without any way to call. If things couldn't possibly get worse, he wasn't the only one stranded in the desert because he'd been on a team with Connor. Two team members were stranded in the desert meant they were in for one hell of a lecture when they got back. "Well Supes, it's just you and I until they realize we're missing," he announced, putting on a smile. There was admittedly some humour in the situation given that both he and Connor had the habit of fading into the background. Himself because he was trained by Batman and Connor simply because he was so quiet. It was inevitable that at one point they'd be forgotten on a trip but he'd rather it be anywhere other than the desert. He already had a headache and he doubted it would get much better with the sun beating down on him. Right now though, he decided to concentrate on the very grumpy clone who took great offence in being left behind. "It's okay," he assured the taller.

"It's not okay. We got abandoned," Connor huffed. "You always tell me not to run ahead but they ran off!"

"And they'll have to deal with Bats whilst we get guilt presents from Canary. I see this as a win," he said, keeping to the positives. It wasn't greatly acknowledged but Connor wasn't going off the handle so he supposed it did something to calm him down. The heat wouldn't be very good for him either. Sure the Superman DNA would come in handy but he still had skin and could still overheat. They needed shade. "Can you see any sort of shade Supes?" Connor looked around before pointing at a mound in the distance. It looked like a cave which was basically Robin's territory. He would very much like a cave. He just wished it was a little closer. "I'll turn on my tracker so they can find us there."

"It's far." There was a silent question there that Robin heard loud and clear.

"I'll be fine. Hopefully, they won't take too long."

So they began their walk in silence. It was thankfully a comfortable silence. Neither really spoke much. Well, Robin tended to ramble when he was with Wally or Batman but he was quieter around those new heroes on the team. He guessed it was because he was still sussing everyone out and making sure they could definitely be trusted with knowing about him. He wanted to trust them, he really did, but training always held him back from plunging himself into fully trusting them. Preventing himself from rambling prevented anything too private from being let out. They still didn't know the significance of the circus mission they'd gone on with him. Connor on the other hand was quiet out of simply being unused to talking and being more comfortable with watching the ebbs and flows of a conversation. He didn't talk at the beginning of his life although he knew how to. It wasn't required then and the habit formed from there to only listen rather than put his two cents in. He had plenty to say but just preferred to remain quiet and watch, waiting for his moment to step in or an invitation. He'd gotten better at interaction and moving in on the conversation without the explicit invite but the comfort of silence would always be there. When put together, the pair basked in the silence and were content with the company rather than conversation. The sun beat down on them as they walked, sweat dripped down their foreheads and Robin had to take his cape off in favour of holding it. He was mindful of his neck though and kept pulling the back of his collar up to close the gap between his hair and the fabric. Upon pulling it up for the third time, he thought about Connor's neck. He narrowed his eyes at the taller and found he was taking the heat much better. He looked like he'd been on a light jog. Robin stopped, making him stop with a look of curiosity, and wrapped his cape around his neck. It didn't fit very well but it was better than getting burnt. "Thanks," Connor said. 

"No worries. Gotta look after my baby bro," he joked, lightly hitting him on the arm before continuing their march for shelter. 

"Baby bro?" the clone repeated.

"Yeah, you're like a baby brother. Sure you're taller than me, your body is biologically meant to be older than me but you're barely a year old now. When we met, you were only a few months and you woke up that day," he explained clearly. Connor always appreciated clarity. Nuance was a tricky thing to learn but he was definitely getting better at it. 

"You think of me as a brother?" he asked. Robin stopped. Oh. Brothers. Family. This is why he shouldn't be allowed to ramble. Who was he kidding, he hadn't even gotten into a real conversation before tripping himself up. He sighed to himself. It would only make the younger feel bad if he didn't fess up and the last thing he needed was an angsty super. So what if he knew he cared about his teammates? That didn't mean he wasn't following the rule of not trusting people you didn't know very well. It just meant he cared. Besides, they'd known one another for almost a whole year now so that had to mean something. 

"Yeah. I do," he answered honestly. Connor nodded slowly and kept walking, happy with the answer he'd gotten. Robin followed. "Don't tell anyone. Please."

"Why?"

"You know how Batman is. I'm not supposed to get too close." Connor hummed.

"Okay."

"Thanks, Con. Hey, once we're there you can get the first pick of the protein bars." He smiled slightly.

"I'd like that."

The cave didn't run very deep but it offered somewhere out of the heat which was better than nothing. Robin was extra grateful to be out of the heat as the headache was getting worse and his stomach was beginning to warn him he was in for a bad time. This was the exact reason he told them the mission had to end before midday. Even in the cool of the shade, there was heat radiating around them and heat plus a teen whose last drink of water was by opening his mouth in the water by accident and lived off a known dehydrator that was coffee meant heat-related illnesses. It wouldn't kill him, he'd make sure of it, but damn was it going to be annoying to deal with. At least he had Connor to concentrate on. He plopped himself down as soon as he was in the shade and pulled off his gloves and boots. He rolled up his leggings and unclasped the top of his tunic. Hopefully, this would cool him down before his body temperature grew too high. Heatstroke was the very last thing he needed. "Alright Supes, pick your poison," he announced, pulling out the protein bars. Connor cocked his head to the side before smiling when he got the joke. He showed the choices and Connor picked out the cherry Bakewell flavoured one. He hated how they tempted him with nice flavours because they never tasted as good as the names. It should be a bland chewy ice puck. Maybe he should say that out loud so Robin thought he was funny. "Actually, you should probably have them all," Robin said suddenly. "You've got a high metabolism and you've been fighting."

"What if they don't come back?" he suggested.

"They'll come back if they don't want Bats to leave them on the moon or something. Eat up okay?" The taller tentatively took them from his hand. "I'm not hungry either," he added to warm the super up to the idea of eating all their food supplies. Robin was sure that they'd be picked up before they needed to worry about food. Their main issue was water right now. He had a small supply but he was sweating a lot. He was losing water. They needed to share the water equally amongst themselves and whatever he did, he could not throw up because then he'd lose even more water. 

"Why did you mess with your clothes?" Connor asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. He stared at him for a little too long before he remembered stripping off layers as best he could.

"I'm trying to bring my temperature down. If I get too warm, I'll get sick and it becomes a whole thing," he answered. 

"Do you feel sick now?" 

"A little. Don't worry about it. I've got plenty of experience to get me through a tiny headache and sweaty armpits," he said reassuringly. Connor scowled at his protein bar but didn't speak up about what he thought. Luckily, Robin had dealt with Batman for the last five years or so. The two were overwhelmingly similar sometimes that it made him want to laugh but that would only gain funny looks. "Tell me what's on your mind. We've got nothing better to do and I'm getting bored of the silence," Robin said. He received a sceptical look from the clone and for a moment he thought that he'd be met with silence but word soon came into fruition. 

"If I was like Superman, I could fly us out of here," he said quietly. His eyes drifted to the sand that surrounded them and stretched for miles upon miles. They were so far from everything. They'd gone to the desert for a mission but now that was completed, aimlessness came for them. All they could do was wait and waiting was annoying when you shouldn't be waiting in the first place. If he could fly, then they wouldn't need to wait right? They could fly back home.

"Even if you could fly, it wouldn't be much use," Robin offered. He scoffed at the notion. Of course, it would be of use. Everything that Superman did was of use that's why he was Superman. That's why he was cloned. "We had to finish the mission before the sun was at its highest point. The desert gets incredibly hot, and flying over it with my added weight would likely lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Neither of which are nice to have." He opened his mouth to protest but Robin continued. "I think you're better than Superman." 

"You do?"

"Yeah, I do. Supes is being a deadbeat dad and as someone with daddy issues that ish annoys me. I understand it's hard when you're supposed to live up to someone too," he offered. 

"Who do you have to live up to?" he asked hotly. "You are Robin. I'm supposed to live up to both you and Superman which is impossible because you've done the job for five years. That's longer than I've been alive!" They all had to be as good as Robin because he was the exemplar of proteges but who could be Robin other than Robin? He could never get to his standard because he would always be five years away.

"I have to live up to Batman."

"Oh." There was some quiet between them as the guilt of jumping to a conclusion hung over the clone. 

"We all have that fear we're never going to amount to our mentors. We're expected to take the world off their hands when they can't do the job so we have to be able to do it all, right?" Robin continued. 

"Right."

"Wrong! You don't have to be Superman to save the world. I don't have to be Batman to save the world. If all you focus on is the stuff you can't do then what about all the stuff you can do? We're saving the world right now as Superboy and Robin so why would that change once we're older?" The taller nodded and started on his second protein bar. "You know, Superman isn't even as good as Superman. I'm never as good as Robin."

"I don't understand," Connor stated, taking a pondering bite. Robin smiled softly.

"Behind Superman is a guy. Sure he's a super buff alien in human cosplay but he's still a guy. He makes mistakes. You don't save everyone but people focus on all the good you do until they get bored of hope and look at the mistakes. He's hurt people, he's failed people including you and he doesn't save everyone. I've made mistakes. Big ones. Yet when you think of Robin you think of a kid who did what other kids couldn't." Connor paused his chewing and thought about it before a small smile appeared on his face. He liked that. He liked knowing the perfection he was meant to be wasn't even real. That meant the perfection he was after didn't exist. He didn't have to be the perfection, he could play the perfection which was much easier. "Besides Connor, you shouldn't spend your time focusing on Superman and how you should be Superman. I like Connor and I like Superboy. They're both pretty cool. I like that they're imperfect because being perfect is boring as all hell."

"I think you're better than Batman. I like Robin. If I knew who you were behind the mask, I think I'd like them too."

"I'll tell you one day. I promise." The clone nodded and continued to eat.

Eventually, a ship appeared not far from them and Connor moved across to protect Robin from the sand whirling into the cave they'd taken solace in. "Connor? Robin?" Black Canary called out before spotting the back of Connor's black shirt. She sighed in relief and raced over to them. She'd taken the role of den mother rather seriously which meant that they were immediately being inspected by her as soon as they were close enough. It didn't help that Batman was there too, studying them far too closely. 

"Careful Bats, people might think you care," Robin taunted. He huffed at the suggestion but still took the time to check him over.

"Are you two okay?" he asked.

"Robin gave me protein bars," Connor answered. Black Canary dusted the sand from his hair with a smile.

"I knew he'd take good care of you. You make a good brother figure Rob." The teen chuckled nervously at the compliment and fiddled with his gloves. "You look sunburnt. Let's get you boys back."

"Hey, how come we were left in the first place?" Robin asked out of curiosity. He hoped they were all okay.

"They thought M'gann had appendicitis so they raced back home. When I told them she didn't have an appendix, they said she must because she was so sick. When I asked what her symptoms were, they described a sunburn and being dehydrated. Then I asked where you two were and at that moment they realised you two were gone," Black Canary explained in an exasperated tone. He couldn't help but laugh at the story and Connor let a small smirk pull at his lips. They had to admit it was funny even if it had left them thirsty and overheated. "They'll make it up to you two."

"It wasn't so bad," Connor stated.

"Yeah?" Robin asked. He nodded confidently. "We should hang out more. I'll show you around Gotham." He hummed. 

"I'd like that."