But A Number Part 5

Robin was awestruck at the sight of Chuck E. Cheese. Kids were playing and running around as lights and sounds came from the different games. He was barely able to wait as the man at the door stamped his hand.

Wally looked in disgust at the kids that were screaming and yelling as they ran around. The team walked up to the counter.

"Welcome to Chuck E. Cheese's." The young woman cheerily welcomed. Wally bought tokens and handed one of the cups of tokens to Rob.

"Have a fun time with your, brother." The woman said brother hesitantly at the odd group.

The team watched as Robin was almost jumping in anticipation. Wally knelt down by the boy.

"What do you wanna do first buddy?" He asked while the toddler's eyes moved to every different game.

"Uh, um," Rob looked at all the games he wanted to play. Wally could see the boy being torn by the decision of what game to play.

"Do you wanna go play the basketball game?" Wally asked, pointing to the shoe-shaped basketball hoop for toddlers. Robin clapped his hands as he nodded eagerly. Wally grabbed his hand and walked him over to the game. Wally handed him a token that he eagerly put in the slot. The fence holding the basketballs back went down and Robin tried to grab the ball. Wally picked the boy up and Robin grabbed the first basketball and shot. The ball swished in the net while Robin grabbed another ball. The minute passed and Robin made almost every shot he threw. Wally put Robin back down and grabbed the large amount of tickets Robin had won.


Wally left Robin in the hands of Conner while he had to go order the pizzas and find a table for the team. Climbed into the seat of a driving game. Conner sat next to him, knowing the kid's legs would not be long enough to reach the pedals. Robin put a token in the slot and hopped on Conner's lap so he could reach the wheel better. Conner chuckled as Robin made car noises as he turned the wheel. By the end of the race, Robin had gotten 2nd place. He cheered as the silver trophy revolved on the screen. Conner was tapped on his shoulder. When he turned to see M'gann, Artemis grabbed Robin off his lap.

"It's our turn to play games with Robin." Artemis hugged Robin close to her as she and M'gann walked around the arcade, waiting for Robin to point out a game he wanted to play. The boy pointed excitedly at the ski ball game. Artemis stuck a token in and let the boy grab one of the ski balls. He rolled the ball down the lane. The ball landed in the ten-point ring and the boy frowned. Seeing the frown, both girls knelt down and took turns grabbing the ski balls. Artemis put the ball in Robin's hand and she held his arm as she wound back and tossed the ball, landing it perfectly in the 50-point ring. Robin smiled as sounds and lights flickered. M'gann grabbed the next ball and let Robin roll it. As soon as she saw it head out of the point rings, she guided the ball towards the 30 point ring. Robin jumped up and down as he smiled and laughed. Once the game was over, Artemis grabbed the tickets their team member won.

"What do you want to do next?" M'gann asked. Robin looked around before his eyes landed on the ball pit. The girls grabbed each hand of their young team member and lifted him up to the ball pit. He jumped in and popped up like he was in a pool. The girls threw the balls around as Robin jumped around. Robin threw a ball at Artemis and one at M'gann. The girls laughed as they threw the balls back at him, starting a ball pit war. The war didn't last long, as Kaldur walked over and grabbed Rob out of the pit.

"Pizza is ready." Kaldur informed them. Robin sat down at the table and smiled as a woman brought over their pizzas.

"Hi everyone. Have you been enjoying your day with your," The woman hesitated, not knowing whether or not to call them a family.

Wally could tell the worker couldn't tell if they were family or not.


Wally pointed to Robin and M'gann. "This is my little brother, this is my sister," He pointed to Conner and Kaldur "My cousins," Wally pulled Artemis closer to him. "And my girlfriend."


The woman nodded as she put a shaker of salt and a shaker of pepper on the table.

"I hope you all have a great time today!" She walked off as the team stared at Wally.

"What? We need a cover. It's not exactly normal for a bunch of teenagers to be hanging around with a baby."

Robin hit Wally and glared at the speedster, taking offense at being called a baby. Wally just ruffled his hair.

"Sorry buddy." Wally dished out a slice and set it on a plate in front of Rob. As they ate, music started playing and a curtain pulled back to reveal an automated mouse singing. Robin gasped in joy as he listened and watched the mouse. Artemis grabbed her camera out of her purse and took a picture of the eager boy's face. Robin soon finished his pizza slice once the curtain covered the small stage.

"Can I go play again?" Robin asked Wally. The boy was literally bouncing in his seat in anticipation. Wally looked at the team. No one was even close to being done yet.

"Why don't you eat another slice before you play?" Wally tried to get the boy to eat more and stay at the table for a while longer.

"But I'm full. Can I go in da tunnels?" Robin pointed to the tunnels running across the top of the building. Wally looked at the tunnels. No one from the team would even be able to fit in there to keep a close eye on the boy, but Wally had a full view of the tunnels from where he sat.

"Okay buddy, but be careful." Wally let the boy run and climb into the tunnels. Wally grabbed another slice of pizza as the team relaxed. Artemis and M'gann left the table to go to the bathroom when Wally realized he had to go as well.

Wally was opening the bathroom door when he heard a loud thud and a scream come from the play area. Wally walked over and saw a little boy crying and holding his arm while two bigger kids looked around frantically, not knowing what to do. Wally was walking over when he noticed the dark hair and familiar sweatshirt. He ran his way over to Robin as Conner and Kaldur did the same.

"Robin, Are you okay? What happened?" Wally asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the older boys turn pale and the other try to sneak away. Conner noticed as well and stopped the boys.

"What happened?" Conner asked, his voice deep with anger. The boys frantically tried to come up with a story.

"Uh, well, Jake and me were playing, and, uh, the kid ran in front of us! I couldn't stop him and, uh, he fell over my foot." The boy stuttered. Wally picked Robin up carefully.

"Is that true Rob?" Wally asked. Robin shook his head as his crying started to slow down.

"The truth?" Conner questioned the boys again. Jake answered.

"Alex was trying to crawl in the tunnels, but the kid was in front of him. A-and Alex wanted to go faster, s-so he pushed him a little, and th-the kid slipped and fell." Wally carried Rob away as Kaldur told the parents of the two kids what happened.

" What hurts Rob?" Robin pointed to his arm and his hip.

"And my head hurts too." Robin choked out between breaths. Wally held the boy close, careful not to touch his injured side.

"Shh, it's okay Rob. It'll be okay. You wanna take something for the pain?" Wally felt Rob's head nod on his shoulder. He sat down and looked through the messenger bag, grabbing out the small bottle of children's aspirin. He read the instructions before taking a pill out and handing it to the boy, who in turn chewed it.

Wally rubbed Robin's back as he felt the boy relax as the medication took effect.

"You ready to go home buddy?" Wally looked at Robin. He shook his head.

"I still wanna play more." Robin forced a little smile on his face. Wally stood up, still holding Robin, and walked around the play area. Robin played some games while Wally helped him, earning the boy more tickets.

"Excuse me sir." A worker approached Wally and Robin.

"Yes?" Wally answered, making sure Robin was tight in his arms.

"We heard about what happened earlier, and on the behalf of the staff, I would like to give the little guy our sincerest apologies." The man bent down to be eye level with Robin. "What's your name?"

The team started walking up by the worker. Robin held on tight to Wally's shirt. "R-Rob."

"Well hey there, Rob. There's someone special here who wants to say hello." Around the corner, Robin saw Chuck E. walking over to him. Robin's face lit up as the costumed man walked over to them. The mouse waved to Robin as Wally put him down. Chuck held his arms out and Robin walked into the hug.

"Robby!" Robin turned to see Artemis holding a camera. Robin smiled as she took the picture.

"Why don't you all get in for a family picture? Here, I'll take that for you." The worker grabbed the camera as the group huddled around the mouse.

"Looks great! Oh, and one more thing for Rob." He grabbed into his pocket and pulled out a small roll of tickets.

"Here you go." He handed off the tickets to Robin before walking off. After a few more rides and games, Robin was ready to go. Robin went towards the door until Artemis lightly pulled him back.

"Where are you going Rob?" She asked jokingly.

"We're going, right?"

"Yeah, but first you need to get your prizes." Robin looked at Artemis oddly. She laughed as she picked him up.

"With all the tickets you won, you get to use those tickets to get prizes over there." She carried him over to the prize counter. Robin looked at all the little prizes. Artem9is and Wally got the tickets counted as Robin picked out a yo-yo, a mini Frisbee, and a Chuck E. doll.

Wally picked Robin up as they walked out to the ship, the group reflecting on the day they had with the baby of their team.

…

When the team walked into the base, Robin was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Wally tried laying him down on the couch to sleep, but he was not ready to give up to the sandman.

"I'm not tired." Robin rubbed his eyes as Kaldur brought him a pillow, blanket, and his Robin doll.

"Sure you're not." Wally sarcastically said. He put the pillow down at the edge of the couch by the kid's head and wrapped the blanket around him, giving his arms enough room to hold his stuffed animal.

"I'm not ready to sleep yet." Robin yawned as he hugged his toy.

"Well why don't we watch one of your new movies then." M'gann offered, holding up the movies they bought earlier that day. Robin sat up and looked at the titles.

"I want Tarzan." Robin pointed to the cover with the jungle theme on the front. M'gann put the movie in the player and sat down. The team sat around the room, glancing over at the boy every few minutes. Within the first ten minutes of the movie, the boy was knocked out, breathing lightly and clinging to his soft toy.

Right after the movie ended, Batman walked into the room. Being the first to see, Wally went into the hall to return the cards and report on what they did.

"How was he?" Batman sounded less intense than usual.

"He had a lot of fun. We bought him some games, toys, movies, and a kid's basketball net."

"Did anything go wrong?"

"He got knocked down by another kid, but he's fine."

Batman just gave a small nod. He loaded the bags of toys and games for the toddler as Wally carefully carried the slumbering boy into the car.

Wally watched as the Batmobile backed away and down the road. He knew Dick would last in the state he was in, but how long was the poor kid going to have to stay that way.