Tim Drake was not happy.
He had been crouching, absolutely motionless, in his dirty, sweaty, heavy, uncomfortable red robin suit, for the last two hours while the rain dripped down his cowl. The rain was so heavy that he was now sitting in a foot-deep puddle. None of these facts was good news for the lower half of his body.
He had been tracking Victor Zsasz for the last two months and had finally got a tip about where he might be meeting penguin to strike a deal. Penguin and Zsasz, two birds with one stone, a perfect opportunity. In all honesty, the sitting alone in the rain wasn't unheard of for most members of the bat-family. However, the straw that broke the camel's back was the date. It was the 19th of July, Tim's birthday and to make things worse, Tim's girlfriend Stephanie was away on some secret mission from Bruce. Tim didn't believe in God, but at that moment, it certainly seemed like there was some divine power that was trying to make his day suck.
After another hour of waiting, Tim gave up. He just couldn't be bothered to wait, he was going home. For once, he didn't care if Bruce yelled at him, he was sure he could get another lead on Zsasz. He just wanted a bath and one of Alfred's delicious meals.
It took him another hour and a half to reach the manor on his bike. He parked in the cave and stormed through the mansion, taking off various items of his costume as he did so, he vaguely noticed some people standing around looking towards the doorway he was walking past while they were smiling and shouting something.
As he passed through his bedroom to get to the en suite bathroom, he dumped his costume on his bed and started to run a bath. After the bath was full, he climbed in and almost immediately fell asleep. He was woken after about an hour by his mouth slipping below the water line. He sat up abruptly coughing and spluttering. Then there was a knock on the door and Dick Grayson's voice filled the small bathroom. "Hey Tim, are you ok?"
"Yeah, fine," Tim croaked back.
"Well are you coming downstairs soon? Bruce cooked us dinner."
"Sure, I'll be down soon."
"See you in a minute then little bro." With that, Dick left.
"Bruce cooked?" Tim said to himself. "Why did Bruce cook, he never cooks, it's always Alfred." Tim got out of the bath slowly, wanting to remain in the warm water for as long as possible. He dried himself rather quickly, got and walked back into his bedroom. He glanced at his Red Robin costume. While it was thrilling and fun, he sometimes didn't really care for the vigilante life. "But hey," Tim remarked to himself, "someone has to do it."
After pulling on some jeans and one of his favoured red shirts, his tarted to make his way downstairs. Suddenly he heard a crash and a child-like shriek. He ran towards the source of the noise. It had come from the living room. He learned round the door and spotted a number of armed criminals aiming their guns at the bat-family.
Then he saw him. The short legs. The round stomach. The umbrella. The Penguin.
"Cobblepot." Tim growled under his breath. Neither penguin, nor any of his men had spotted Tim, who dashed away from the scene. He sprinted up to his bedroom and pulled on his Red Robin suit. Before rushing back down. He, once again, peered through a crack in the door. Five armed thugs, one boss, five hostages (Bruce, Dick, Damien, Jason and Alfred.), should be easy.
"Brucie, Brucie, Brucie." Penguin cackled.
"Cobblepot." Bruce growled in reply.
"I would shut up if you don't want a bullet in the head! Nobody talks to the boss unless he tells you to!" The thug covering Bruce screamed. Penguin smiled at this outburst, a sign of loyalty to him.
"If we could finish this mothers' meeting, I would like to get on with some good old fashioned revenge." Penguin grinned.
"Yeah, I still haven't forgiven you for the time you shot me," He Tim called as he burst through the door. The stunned guards turned and blindly fired at Tim. This kind of una curate shooting was perfect, form Tim's point of view. He took the nearest guard down with a simple punch to the face, the next took a kick to the groin, the third; a bo staff to the right temple, another; a Batarang to the face, and a slightly too tight sleeper hold for the last.
STOP RIGHT BLOODY THERE!." The Penguin yelled in anger, pointing his umbrella at Tim. Tim simply snatched it from his hands and broke it. Then proceeded to punch Penguin. "I. Am. Really. Not. In. The. Bloody. Mood. Today!" He shouted. After this onslaught, Penguin quickly faded into unconsciousness.
"Bruce, I got the cake!" A cheerful voice called as the door swung open to reveal Stephanie Brown. "What happened here?" She quickly inquired after surveying the room.
"The usual. Penguin blaming me for my family 'destroying' his, a few armed guards and some heroics from Tim."
"OK, so a fairly normal day then." Steph joked. "Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM." She called displaying a huge cake.
"Oh my God, thanks!" Tim stuttered. "I thought you had all forgotten. And I thought you were on an important mission or something."
"What could be more important than my boyfriend's birthday?" Stephanie replied.
"Anyway, how could we forget about your birthday?" Bruce added.
It's actually quite easy." Jason and Damien chorused. This earned them a stern look each from Bruce.
"Now, if you don't mind, I will finish Tim's birthday dinner." Bruce smiled.
"I'll call the police to dispose of these criminals." Alfred added.
"We'll try and care." Damien and Jason joked in unison.
"Why don't I see if I can cheer Tim up." Stephanie offered.
"I will, um, see if Babs has arrived yet?" Dick offered.
"Sounds great." Tim grinned happily. They all went their separate ways and Tim mused to himself, "maybe the vigilante life isn't so bad after all."