Work Text:
When the bright lights finally dimmed, none of them immediately realized what exactly had happened to them. The villain also seemed confused, looking over all of them with growing annoyance as none of them appeared different or changed at all. His device was useless, it seemed, as all of them remained as they were, completely untouched.
Robin, Superboy noticed, seemed to tense a little bit. Like he was surprised. Superboy couldn't tell what, exactly, had surprised him, and so immediately felt an entirely justifiable amount of dread.
All the same, damage or no, the intent to hurt them was there, so they beat the guy up. Robin very carefully caught his device before it could go shattering against the rocks. He sighed slightly in relief. Superboy was all the more concerned, and translated this into punching the guy harder.
Strange guy dealt with and handed over for the proper authorities (Red Tornado) to deal with, Superboy immediately turned to face Robin with a suspicious look.
"Okay, spill," he insisted. "What's wrong with you?"
Robin stared at him for a moment. There was something different about him, though Superboy couldn't tell exactly what it was. Impulse joined him in considering Robin, apparently also noticing that something was different.
"Robin! We did it!" a new, distinctly masculine voice exclaimed.
Robin was tackled in a hug by what appeared to be Secret, but also couldn't be at the same time. For one, it was a boy, no matter that his face and hair and even outfit were all entirely the same as or at least very similar to Secret's, even down to his dust-cloud appearance. He was beaming at Robin like they'd witnessed their own Secret do before, behind Robin's back. His voice even had the same almost unearthly, unexplainable quality of other that their Secret's had.
He looked over and shrunk back a little, tilting so he was hiding slightly behind Robin.
"Why do you look so much like Supergirl and Impulse?" he asked, seemingly earnestly.
"We seem to have been struck by something that switched us places with alternative versions of ourselves," Robin answered him without skipping a beat, and his voice was unusually feminine.
"You mean you're a different Robin?" Impulse questioned. "What's different about you?"
Secret and Robin exchanged a look. Impulse and Superboy both gasped in perfect unison.
"Robin!" Superboy exclaimed. "You're a girl?"
"You have a ponytail!" Impulse said at the same moment.
Robin sighed, slightly.
The male version of Secret refused to be separated from Robin's side. He seemed to be only centimeters away from phasing into her body entirely. Robin didn't seem to notice. Superboy and Impulse wondered, just for a moment, if their Secret was just as clingy and found that she might have been. It was just strange to see the very male version of Secret acting similarly next to a still very masculine-presenting Robin.
The moment they got back to headquarters, Robin got straight to work. She started typing on the computer and comparing various files she pulled from who knew where to the device she'd snagged from their villain du jour.
"You don't act very much like a girl," Impulse commented, watching her intently.
"What do I act like?" Robin asked.
"Like Robin," Impulse said, then realized. "Oh."
"Tracks that Robin's a nerd in every dimension," Superboy commented, rolling his eyes.
"I like that you're a nerd, Robin," Secret said.
"Thank you," Robin replied, clearly not paying much attention. "I can't find any files on reversing the effects of this device. We may need to call on Batman for this."
"Do we have to?" Secret cringed slightly. "He kind of... scares me..."
"Don't you want to get back to our universe?" Robin asked pointedly.
"Yes, I do, but-"
"If Robin's a girl and Secret's a boy," Impulse cut in. "Does that mean Wonder Girl and Arrowette are also boys?"
"Wonder Boy and Arrowet," Robin agreed. "Now I wonder why the device only affected Secret and myself..."
"We were closest, in our dimension," Secret commented.
"Then it really didn't do anything, in this dimension?" Impulse realized.
"It's more like that the two devices synced up, with one acting as a transmitter and the other as a receiver," Robin said thoughtfully.
"How do we get them to sync up again?" Superboy asked.
Robin looked at the device for a long moment.
"I have no idea," she answered.
"Maybe we could just leave it on and see if it picks up on the other one eventually?" Impulse suggested.
"That may be our only option," Robin sighed.
She turned to face Impulse and Superboy. She cupped her chin in a very familiar fashion as she looked them both over.
"What is it?" Superboy questioned, sensing more than seeing her gaze.
"I'm still less endowed than Supergirl, even when she's a boy," Robin mused.
Superboy blushed and covered his chest, scandalized. Robin laughed at him.
"What's wrong with you?" Superboy snapped.
"Would you believe me if I told you that you were the one who first brought up this subject?" Robin asked.
Superboy was tempted to say he wouldn't, but then recalled several occasions of post-fight showers that ended in him bugging Robin to compare parts of themselves. He remained silent. Robin smiled knowingly.
"What about me?" Impulse asked. "What am I like as a girl?"
Robin very obligingly thought about it for a moment.
"You're probably pretty much the same," Robin said.
"Tracks," Impulse sighed, seemingly slightly disappointed.
"Do you think girls are inherently much different from boys?" Robin asked.
"No, it's not that," Impulse said. "I just thought, what's even the point of being a girl then?"
"Prompts," Secret said cheerfully.
"What does that mean?" Superboy asked Robin.
Robin shrugged.
"Wait," Impulse said. "Did you call him "Batman"? Wouldn't Batman also be a woman?"
"Of course he's a woman," Robin agreed. "Just, not in the suit. In the suit, he's Batman."
"You mean to tell me Batman's been a woman this whole time?" Secret questioned.
"You didn't know?" Robin asked, surprised.
"How would I possibly have figured that out?" Secret asked. "You know what he's like."
Robin considered it for a moment.
"I suppose I see your point," she allowed.
"I'm so embarrassed," Secret muttered, covering his face with his hands. "I'm pretty sure I've called him "sir" before..."
"Batman likes when people call him "sir,"" Robin stated. "He likes when people don't know his gender. If anything, you probably made him happy."
"I'm glad your mentor is a woman," Secret said. "I was kind of worried..."
"About what?" Robin asked, and she sounded split between offended and amused.
"Batman has had like three girl sidekicks," Secret stated. "Isn't it kind of weird for an old man to have so many young girls around him constantly?"
Robin laughed. Secret looked slightly annoyed.
"Don't laugh," he insisted. "I'm right, right, Impulse?"
"Huh?" Impulse asked. "Um, yeah."
"Where do you go when you zone out?" Superboy asked him.
"I was just thinking about Batman surrounding himself with young girls-"
"Never mind," Superboy said. "I don't want to know."
"I wasn't thinking about anything weird," Impulse claimed.
"Okay," Superboy agreed, clearly unconvinced.
"I wonder," Robin mused quietly, fiddling with the machine. "If I can call to the other device."
"Are you changing the subject?" Secret asked.
"It has a little light on it," Robin commented. "Maybe there's a call button. Do you think so?"
Secret looked at her for a moment.
"Sure," he said.
Robin smiled and Secret smiled back. Superboy and Impulse exchanged a look. Secret frowned at them.
"Isn't it weird for you guys to suddenly find yourselves in a world where your genders are swapped?" Superboy asked. "Don't you feel weird at all?"
"Do you feel weird?" Robin asked.
"I mean, kind of," Superboy admitted.
"It's pretty well known that there are multiple universes," Impulse stated. "I'm not surprised."
"Am I at least a hot girl?" Superboy asked.
Robin huffed out a laugh.
"Sure," she agreed. "Your fashion taste isn't any better though."
"Hey," he argued immediately.
"Oh!" Robin exclaimed, beaming. "Look! It's flashing!"
She gestured for Secret to come closer, which he obligingly did.
"I hope this works," he said, slightly concerned.
"Bye," Robin said to Impulse and Superboy. "Hopefully."
There was another bright flash of light. When it faded, Robin and Secret were in the same position, but Secret was obviously a girl again.
Superboy and Impulse both leaned over, trying to see the hair on the back of Robin's head. He glanced at them, then obligingly turned his head to the side to show a distinct lack of ponytail. They both sighed in relief.
"How was it?" Superboy asked, excited. "Did you see everyone?"
"I'm assuming you met a girl version of me and a boy version of Secret, then," Robin said.
"Are you okay?" Impulse wondered.
"It was very surprising when I suddenly appeared by Robin," Secret commented. "I wasn't with you guys in the first place. I couldn't really get my bearings for a moment."
"That sounds rough," Impulse offered.
"And then we saw Arrowette and Wonder Girl as boys," she sighed. "I wish I saw a girl version of Robin."
"I'm glad we got the device to work again," Robin said, ignoring Secret's comment like he usually did when Secret showed any sign of attraction towards him. "I was worried."
"What were the guy versions of Arrowette and Wonder Girl like?" Impulse asked.
Robin thought about it.
He had found himself in the same position in a similar sewer, but with a weird woman in front of him instead of a weird man. It was slightly shocking, but he let the two boys with him defeat her and caught the device before it hit the ground.
"What's wrong with you?" a boy who strongly resembled Arrowette asked. "Why'd you suddenly freeze up?"
He didn't know exactly what was going on, and so didn't say anything. The boy who looked like Wonder Girl looked increasingly worried.
"Robin!" a familiar voice called, tackling him.
Secret was perfectly normal, at least. She smiled at him.
"Where are we?" Secret asked, then caught sight of the two boys. She positioned herself slightly in front of him. "Who are you two? Why do you look like Wonder Girl and Arrowette?"
"We seem to have been struck by something that switched us places with alternative versions of ourselves," he theorized, because he couldn't think of any other reason why the two boys would be staring at them like they were aliens.
"Is that Secret?" the boy who looked like Arrowette asked.
"Secret's not a girl," the one who looked like Wonder Girl stated. "And Robin's normal."
Secret looked down at Robin, who looked up at her in return. The two boys gasped in unison.
"Robin!" Wonder Girl-esque exclaimed. "You're a boy?"
"You don't have a ponytail!" Arrowette-akin said with surprise.
Robin sighed, slightly.
The moment they got back to headquarters, he got straight to work, pulling up various files and comparing them to the device.
Secret, in her nerves, refused to leave his side. Robin wouldn't admit it outloud, but he slightly appreciated her company. He wasn't sure how he would respond to this if he was by himself, but her obvious unease distracted him from his own discomfort.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Arrowet commented.
"By what?" Secret asked.
"That Robin's the same whether she's a girl or not," Arrowet said.
"Robin as a girl," Secret mused, zoning out.
"Since you're a boy and Secret's a girl," Wonder Boy began, "does that mean Supergirl and Impulse are boys?"
"Superboy and Impulse," Robin agreed. "Now, I wonder why the device only affected Secret and myself..."
"You and Secret were closest," Arrowet stated.
"So did the device just drag you two here?" Wonder Boy asked.
"The two devices probably synced up," Robin said thoughtfully. "One acted as a transmitter and the other as a receiver."
"How do we get them to sync up again?" Wonder Boy asked.
Robin looked at the device for a long moment.
"I don't know," he answered. "And I can't find any information on the device in any of these files. We might have to call in Batman for this."
"Do we have to?" Secret asked, wincing. "He kind of... scares me..."
"Don't you want to get back to our universe?"
"I do, but-"
"What if we just leave it on and see if it syncs up?" Wonder Boy suggested.
"That might be all we can do," Robin sighed.
He turned to face the two of them. They both straightened, and Robin frowned.
"Wow," Secret said. "You're both pretty tall."
"Probably as tall as Superboy," Robin mused, and his lips quirked up in the idea of a smile.
"It's weird to see you as a girl," Arrowet told Secret.
"It isn't strange to see Robin as a boy?" Secret asked.
"She's basically the same no matter what," Wonder Boy said.
"Are they even going to recognize you've been replaced, Robin?" Secret asked, sounding slightly concerned.
"I'm sure they'll be able to tell," he said. "They said she has a ponytail, after all."
"It's kind of adorable," Arrowet confided. "It barely sticks out at all. Robin's hair barely goes to her chin."
"Robin as a girl," Secret mused again, and once again got lost in her own thoughts.
"So are we girls, too?" Wonder Boy asked, curious.
"You are," Robin confirmed.
There was a moment of silence.
"Well?" Arrowet prompted.
"What?" Robin asked.
"What are we like as girls?" Arrowet interrogated.
Robin thought about it for a moment.
"Probably pretty much the same," he said eventually. "At the end of the day, the core of you will still be you."
"That's such a Robin answer," Arrowet sighed.
"Wait," Wonder Boy said. "You mentioned Batman. Isn't he a girl in your universe?"
Robin tilted his head to the side, much like the bird he was named after.
"No?" he said. "He's a man."
"Does that mean Batman is a woman in our universe?" Wonder Boy questioned, holding her head in her hands. She muttered, quietly and to herself, "I thought Wonder Man was just gay."
"Could Batman just be the exception?" Arrowet suggested. "Like, the only one who's a man in both universes?"
"It seems much more likely that he's a woman in this universe," Robin stated. "Crossdressing an entire secret identity is exactly something he'd do, after all."
"Do you ever, Robin?" Secret asked.
"I wonder," Robin mused suddenly, fiddling with the machine. "If I can call to the other device."
"Are you changing the subject?" Secret asked.
"It has a little light on it," Robin commented. "Maybe there's a call button. Do you think so?"
Secret looked at him for a moment.
"Sure," she said.
Robin smiled, and Secret smiled back. Arrowet and Wonder Boy exchanged a look. Secret frowned at them.
"Is Secret always this obvious?" Wonder Boy muttered.
"He really is," Arrowet sighed.
"What do you mean by that?" Secret questioned.
"Maybe you'll get it when you're older," Arrowet offered.
"What does that even mean?" Secret huffed.
"Is it weird for you two to be in a universe where everyone's genders are swapped?" Wonder Boy asked. "Don't you feel a bit weird?"
"Do you feel a bit weird?" Robin asked.
"Yeah, kind of," he admitted.
"There are infinite universes," Secret said. She frowned. "Infinite."
Neither Arrowet nor Wonder Boy wanted to ask her to expand on that thought. They both had the thought that their Secret wasn't as scary as this one, but they couldn't actually say that for certain. Secret had said some pretty interesting things before, after all...
"Oh!" Robin exclaimed, brightening. "Look, it's flashing."
He gestured for Secret to come closer, which she obligingly did.
"I hope this works," she said, slightly concerned.
"Bye," Robin said to Arrowet and Wonder Boy. "Hopefully."
There was another bright flash of light, and the pair found themselves in front of Impulse and Superboy.
"I can't even imagine Wonder Girl as a boy," Superboy commented.
"Imagine shorter hair," Robin advised.
"He was pretty tall," Secret said. "Probably taller than you."
Superboy thought for a long moment about a Wonder Girl who was taller than him.
"She won't grow taller than me, right?" he asked.
Robin smiled. Secret looked away. Impulse looked considering.
"She won't, right?" Superboy insisted. "Guys? Come on, say she won't."
"What are you talking about?" Wonder Girl asked, wandering in. "How did the fight go?"
Robin and Secret exchanged a look. Impulse suddenly smiled, disappearing then reappearing with a gust of wind.
"I'm so glad the cameras still work in this place," he said.
"They do," Robin sighed.
"They do!" Secret chirped. "Let's go look at Robin as a girl!"
"Will you quit it?" Robin muttered, and looked slightly embarrassed.
"I mean, sure," Secret said. "I can just look at it tonight after you leave. That's fine with me."
Robin looked briefly pained, then utterly resigned. Wonder Girl had no idea what was going on or what they were talking about. Watching Superboy and Impulse both cough into their fists to disguise their laughter made her think that maybe she didn't want to know what they were talking about.
The moment Robin and Secret reappeared, Secret very obviously male, Arrowet and Wonder Boy set upon her.
"Why didn't you tell me Batman was a woman?" Wonder Boy questioned.
Robin stared at him. Secret looked a bit pleased.
"So it wasn't just me," he said.
"I honestly assumed you all knew," Robin stated. "I wasn't purposefully hiding it from you. Besides, in the suit, he's Batman, so it doesn't really matter."
"It does too matter!" Wonder Boy insisted.
Secret sidled over to Arrowet. The latter boy looked suddenly wary.
"So you two met a different version of Robin, right?" he suggested. "A boy Robin?"
"We did," Arrowet confirmed.
Secret hummed, closing his eyes and thinking for a moment. He was smiling. Arrowet mostly just felt kind of tired.
"I can't even imagine," Secret said, even though he'd definitely been imagining.
"Rob, don't the cameras work in this place?" Arrowet asked.
"They do," Robin confirmed.
"I can see Robin as a boy?" Secret seemed very excited.
Robin looked at him for a long moment in silence.
"Maybe I should delete them," she mused.
"That's not nice," Secret told her. "You could've just said you don't want me to see. I'll wait for you to leave tonight, then-"
Robin sighed, heavily, but seemed pretty resigned. She looked over at the computer.
"I guess I'm a little curious, too," she eventually admitted.
"Let's go see Robin as a boy!" Secret cheered.
Supergirl, walking past the room, stopped and looked inside in confusion. Robin was watching Secret with a slight indulgent smile. Secret seemed inordinately excited. Supergirl ultimately decided, seeing Wonder Girl's and Arrowet's matching long suffering expressions, that maybe she didn't want to know.