Time for a new story, I guess. I couldn't continue 'Villains' sadly. I lost every file on it, and I don't remember anything I had written on the chapter I was working on. It really blows, but now I'm starting this story. I hope you like this. It's been on my mind for a while now, so it's about time that I get it down. So here you go. Oh, and this includes an OC. Hope you don't mind.
Disclaimer: Well, dear readers, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I do not, and never will in any way own the Teen Titans. They belong to DC Comics and of course those jerk-offs who thought, "Hey, let's be terrible and cancel the show!" Yeah, jerk-offs, you guys suck. Enjoi(:
Silence Is Golden
By:Table for Two
Off of the Pacific Coastline, about twenty or so miles out into the San Francisco Bay, there's a small cluster of five moderately populated islands, all around ¾ the size of New York City. Each island is home to a single city; all different and all with it's own reputation. There's Gotham City – famous for crime rates and home of the 'Bat'. Next in line is Tech City – barely any crime with technology being the main export (obviously. I mean, that's kind of self-explanatory). Steel City – covered in steel manufacturing factories (again, self-explanatory) with high crime rates. Although, not as bad as Gotham. Metro City – the most advanced city out of them all. Then right next to Gotham, completing the 'sort of' circle of islands, is Jump City – the main source for all entertainment in every aspect. But, like Gotham, it's full of crime, and last I heard, the Bat's ward, y'know the Boy Wonder, scampered off there.
However, each of the cities has, without a doubt, the best, most outstanding, economy.
Which is where I come in: Silence Jameson. A sixteen-year-old (who's the daughter of two American history fanatics – both deceased – especially when it comes to Benjamin Franklin. Hence the name Silence) with an overwhelming interest and knack for theft with very acute senses and reflexes, sitting on one of the many building roof tops in Jump City, and mapping out the streets and alley ways below.
Jump was honestly the perfect target for me: not a staggering amount of citizens, high crime rates, but, unlike Gotham, no crazies, with banks and jewelry stores everywhere. Not to mention the occasional taco stand.
For this being my first time in Jump though, I'm doing pretty well for myself. Of course, I've only been here for about twenty-four hours, but I never really stay in the same place for too long anyways. Gets too familiar for my tastes, I guess. Speaking of time and familiarity I thought I better get started.
I stood up, grabbed my backpack(just a simple messenger bag), and walked swiftly to the edge of the building. Down below, only two stores over was Whitworth's Jewelers. A pretty good jewelry store chain. Not too famous, but it was pricey and had a great selection. Or so I've heard. Now, the only question was, how do I get down?
The building next to this one had a sturdy looking fire escape that I could land on and continue from if I took a running start and leapt just right. Nodding to myself, I threw my bag as hard as possible to the next roof over, took twenty paces backwards, planted my feet firmly, breathed in deeply, (the air smelt amazing. Crisp and slightly damp. Weather signaling the oncoming spring) held it for ten seconds, and broke into a dead sprint.
Reaching the ending recount of my twenty paces, I started to feel the adrenaline kick in as I jumped up onto the edge of the building's wall for just a split second before jumping again, but with much more power behind it. I leaned backwards slightly with my knees bent at an angle resembling a crouching position ready to absorb the force of my landing.
The wind whipped through my hair while I plummeted downward. I felt the familiar sensation of my stomach jerking up into my throat as if it were attached to some cord that was hooked to the sky, and the sound of my thundering heart rate matched with the blood pounding through the veins in my head. My eyes locked on the fire escape landings, and time seemed to slow momentarily.
1…2…3…
The balls of my feet made precise contact with the metal fire escape. But, I could already feel the pain make its way up towards and through my ankles. I leapt forward and rolled to landing's rails. As I came out of the roll, I gripped the top rail, and pushed myself up onto it; balancing again on the balls of my feet. Without wasting any time, something that I had very little of these days, I jumped up with my arms stretched towards the sky. Not even a second passed before my calloused fingertips felt the cool of concrete and my hands had curled themselves around the edge.
I gripped the edge of the building as tight as possible, hoping against hope that I didn't slip. I pushed off from the wall and vaulted over the edge, landing in a crouch on the roof.
4…5…6…
Another deep breath and I was sprinting towards the next building with bag in hand. The repetitive echoing of my shoes smacking against the concrete mixed with my breathing and heartbeat became my soundtrack. It was comforting and adrenaline pumping at the same time. I loved it. I slung the strap of my bag across my torso as I jumped from the edge of the roof again, but this time there weren't any fire escapes. Just brick and cement. Luckily though, these buildings were closer together, so this gave me a better landing and a little moment to have some fun.
I pushed forward through the air as I fell towards building. I flipped over once, landed on the balls of my feet again, sprung upwards and flipped forward to land on my hands. Pushing up off my hands from the concrete in a handspring, I landed on my feet, grabbed my bag, and sprinted towards Whitworth's Jewelers.
7…8…9…
The space between this building and Whitworth's was barely two feet in width. So, jumping was no issue. As soon as I made my landing, I slowed my pace, but just barely. The roof of Whitworth's had those dome sky light windows that made robbing them even more enjoyable.
I crouched next to one of the windows and looked for some sort of latch. Something that wasn't too long or over locked. I scanned the edge of the windows until I found it. At the corner of the first set of windows was a pad lock holding the frame's latch in place. I grinned. This was absolutely perfect. Opening my bag, I searched through the few contents it contained. A large roll of money kept together with a rubber band, a change of clothes that included a pair of ripped jeans and a black t-shirt, deodorant (a thief has gotta smell good when they rob a place you know?) and a small lock-picking kit.
I pulled out the kit, undid the clasp, and set to work. In a matter of seconds, the pad lock fell to the concrete with a low 'thunk'. I grabbed the window frame with practiced hands and raised it up slowly. I stared down through the opening and raised an incredulous eyebrow. The walls were lined with jewelry cases, but there weren't any censors. At least, not out in the open. The only censors, and alarm triggers, were in the actual display cases.
It couldn't be this easy…I grabbed a penny from my pocket, and dropped it from the window opening. The penny landed in the middle of the floor, and I waited…and waited…and waited some more. Nothing. There was literally nothing. So, either the owners were really, really old, or they were just stupid. My grin grew even more at how wrong I was. This was probably going to end up as the easiest theft I've ever performed.
10.
I dropped through the window and landed on the balls of my feet gently. I stood up and whistled lowly. For an easy target, they sure had a lot of great loot. I bent down and snatched up the penny and put it back in my pocket. Can't risk getting caught by the Boy Wonder now can I?
I slipped on a pair of black gloves, started walking around the store, and finally found what I was looking for mounted on the wall behind the customer service counter. An up to date alarm system. This couldn't get any better I thought as I started messing with device. It took me a while, but I finally got it cracked. Hacking never was my strong suit. All the censors deactivated in the jewelry cases though, and I unlocked the cases like I had with the window up on the roof.
After twenty minutes of grabbing what I could from one case to another, and dumping items into my bag I made my way to the cash register. I unlocked the drawer, and found several hundreds, fifties, and twenties stacked and clipped together. I grabbed the first clip of hundreds and dropped it in my bag, then I grabbed another clip, and another. I dropped them one by one into my bag. I grabbed one more clip of hundreds, but it caught on the edge of the drawer and fell from my fingers to the floor then tumbled under the counter.
I rolled my eyes at the inconvenience, and dropped to my hands and knees to fetch the clip of money. I crawled in the hollow space where the money had ended up, snatched it up, and, without thinking, jerked upright smacking my head against the underside of the counter. "Argh!" I blew a stray strand of hair out of my face as I glared up at the place above me that I had accidentally met my head with.
Just then my eyes went wide as I saw what I'd hit.
A security button.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" I almost yelled. I moved out from the hollow space, jumped up, slammed the drawer shut, shoved the money clip into my bag along with the lock-picking kit, and vaulted over the counter and made a dash for the door. Before I could do anything though my ears picked up the wailing police sirens less than a block away, so I stopped and reevaluated my situation.
I stared up at the open window in the ceiling. "Time to get creative, Silence. Gotta work fast." I pushed myself back up on the counter, which was just a few feet away from the opening. I could probably make it. Maybe.
Outside, two cop cars were pulled up, and occupants of said cop cars were making their way for the doors. Biting my lip in concentration, I crouched down and jumped upwards and took a hold of the open window frame. Yes!
The door crashed open, and I winced. God, cops were freaking loud. "FREEZE!" The leading officer pointed his gun at my heart, and I did my best not to roll my eyes.
"Listen, dude," I lessened my grip on the frame and dropped to the floor as I spoke, "I've kind of got a tight schedule to keep to. Places to go, people to see, y'know?" I crossed my arms and leaned against the counter. "So let's make this quick, alright?" Tossing my bag full of money and priceless jewels to the floor, I put my hands behind my head and began to walk forward slowly hiding my little smirk.
A second cop walked in and picked up my bag, while the first cop grabbed my wrist and twisted it behind my back as he reached for his handcuffs while he forced me out into the cool night air. "You have the right to remain silent-"
"Anything you say can and will be used against you." I mimicked in an obnoxious imitation of the first cop's voice. "Yeah, yeah I know the drill." I expected his annoyance, but I didn't expect the force. I felt my face pressed against the cool brick of the building's wall. "I don't need your comments." He growled out. I raised an eyebrow.
"Well, then I guess my nights ruined." I smirked and kicked backwards hitting him just below the gut. His grasp slackened greatly and I twisted away from him "But, then again. There's always something else to do in a town like this." The second cop ran out of the store with my bag in his hand. "Hey, what do you think you're do-" His sentence cut off as I connected one of the soles of my Converse clad feet with his temple.
The cop dropped like a fly and I snagged my bag as he fell. Three more cops had arrived by then, and the first cop stood up with his gun out again. The other three cops took their guns out of their holsters and followed suit with the first cop.
"Drop. The. Bag." The first cop muttered as he cocked his gun. My eyes narrowed and I growled out in reply, "Make me."
In a flash the cop pulled the trigger and I dropped to the ground instinctively. I felt the air move when the bullet passed over my back and imbedded itself in the wall behind me. I got up to my feet quickly and smiled; ready for some kind of challenge.
"Twelve years of gymnastics, five years of karate, and one miserable year of cheerleading. Show me what you've got, boys." I slung my bag across my torso again and made a mad dash for the alleyway. I grabbed a ladder leading down from a fire escape and scrambled my way up and away from the pursuing cops.
As I reached the third or fourth fire escape landing I caught the clanging of metal on metal coming from down below. My heart sped up and I ended up taking two steps at a time. When I reached the roof I could still hear the cops yelling and I could feel the vibrations from the fire escape moving through the cement of the building.
I began to sprint, but this time in escape. Something, like time, that was very scarce for me. I pumped my legs as hard as I could and I made a daring leap from roof to roof without taking time to observe my surroundings or decisions. The bag was heavy, and it was slowing me down, but this was my money for the next month so I didn't dare let it go.
My lungs were burning and so were my calf muscles. The cops were way behind me now, but I didn't stop. I didn't want to stop. At least not yet. It was too much of a risk. I jumped to another roof and did my best to speed up even more.
Now it was worse. I was scared. I was frazzled. Which wasn't good. Sure I'd been chased by cops before, but for some reason it was different this time. I looked over my shoulder and I could see the officers two buildings behind me. They weren't pursuing me anymore. Four of the cops were staring in my direction while the fifth cop talked into some hand held device. I raised an eyebrow, and slowed my pace as I felt a familiar chill rise up the back of my neck.
For the second time that night, my eyes widened in shock as I heard something slice through the air towards me. I stopped running immediately and flipped backwards just in time to avoid a sharp, red and yellow, tool of some sort. I landed in a crouch and stared with confused eyes at the object sticking out of the cement. I straightened up and walked tentatively towards it. Out of sheer curiosity, I bent down and plucked up the tool from its landing place.
It had two collapsible blades attached to a narrow casing. I felt like I'd seen it somewhere before…I turned it over in my hands and gazed at it…it was bent and rounded like a boom-a-rang…sharp like a knife…Running my finger along edge of the blade absentmindedly I sliced the tip of the finger accidentally. I gasped and dropped the offending object.
I shook my hand to try and rid it of the feeling it had just experienced. That's about when I finally got a really good look at it, and I realized what it reminded me of.
A Bat-A-Rang. From the Bat's belt of wonders. But, not a bat. No. It resembled a bird. Or more specifically. A robin. Oh great.
The chill made itself known again on the back of my neck I rolled to the side as a young male in his later teens landed with a yell where I'd just been. I came out of the roll and stumbled slightly.
There he was. For a moment I had actually forgotten that I had to worry about him. I crouched down slightly and looked at him with wide eyes.
"You should look into a different hobby. Theft isn't really working out for you." He smirked. I raised an eyebrow at his petty banter. Really? Cheesy banter? C'mon at least my banter isn't that bad!
That's when I got an actual look at him. Black spiky hair. Simple black and white mask. Red, and yellow vest over a green fitted material shirt, a yellow utility belt, green gloves, and, oh no, oh God is he serious? Green tights. Green tights. It was too much. Way too much.
My eyes started to water as I began to laugh. I could barely breath I was laughing too hard. The Boy Wonder just stared at me as if I'd gone mad. That made it even better, and I doubled over in fits of laughter. Finally I managed to gasp out, "What…? Were," more laughing, "pants too," gasps and even more laughing, "good enough for you?" I laughed even harder as I dropped to my knees and grabbed my sides. They were beginning to ache from all my laughing.
"No, I just- well, I-" Heat flared across his cheeks and he glared down at me from behind his mask. "It doesn't matter!"
"Robin, why is this girl laughing at your choice in uniform?"
My laughing stopped, and I snapped my head up. Others had joined him now. They all watched me confusedly. The one who just spoke was floating a few feet from the roof. Her skin was incredibly tan. She looked…orange, and her hair was a deep red. This girl's strange appearance caught me off guard even more as I saw her eyes. Her completely green eyes. I rose from my knees slowly, and they all tensed.
There were three others. One boy who seemed to be in his late teens. Maybe around eighteen or nineteen. But, he wasn't just a normal teen. He was half-robot. The boy behind him looked about fifteen, and was all green in a black and purple uniform. Then next to that boy was a girl floating above the ground also. She had on a royal blue cloak with the hood up shrouding her facial features in shadows, but her eyes stood out amongst the black. They were a deep violet. Close to a sort of midnight blue.
I raised an eyebrow and cleared my throat. "Heh, well Boy Wonder it seems you've made a few friends when you came here, huh? The Bat must me proud." I crossed my arms and leaned backwards on my heels a bit.
He clenched his fists and ground out between his teeth. "It's Robin. I don't care if he's proud or not. He isn't my father."
"Oh is that resentment I hear?" I smirked and slowly backed away to the edge of the building preparing to make a run for it. Robin bared his teeth and growled out. "No. Now, we can either do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. Your choice."
I rolled my eyes. "Man, what is it with you heroes and clichés?"
The green kid shrugged. "I dunno. I've tried to give him some new material, but he just says, 'it's not about the banter, it's about putting the bad guys where they belong'. Honestly, I think it's about both." He crossed his arms proudly.
Robin groaned and face palmed. "Beast Boy, could you try for once to not talk to the villain?"
Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Heh, sorry dude…" The girl next to him rolled her eyes in annoyance. The Boy Wonder shook his head, and turned back to me. "You've left us no choice." He crouched down in a simple combat position. "TEEN TITANS, GO!"
Time seemed to slow down as I watched each of the 'teen titans' spring into action. Beast Boy morphed into a green and black tiger, the other boy transformed his right arm into some kind of canon that began to glow a soft blue, the tan girl brought her hands up and charged them up with bright green energy, and the quiet girl at the back murmured something then encased her hands in a black aura.
I was in trouble. Big time.
I dropped the bag as time sped back up.
Bird-a-rangs flew past my head as I ran forward. I jumped up and brought my foot down towards Robin's chest. He blocked it effortlessly, but I saw that coming. He was Batman's ward after all. I dropped back to ground and threw a punch to his jaw, then with the other hand, aimed a jab to the side. Neither attempts connected. Instead Robin brought his fist up in what would have been a solid hit, but I ducked in time. Just barely though.
As I stood back up, the chill on the back of my neck intensified. I flipped backwards over a bright blue sonic blast. I spun around to find the half-robot thundering towards me with his fist pulled back, ready to deliver a bone-shattering punch to my face.
His fist flew forward, and I bent backward under his arm, dropped to the ground and swept his legs out from under him with my leg. He made one of the loudest crashes I've ever heard when he smacked down onto the concrete. Without even a second to breath, Beast Boy pounced towards me with a low growl. I rolled to the side and began to ran for the edge of the building where my bag was. It was time to go. There was no way I would win this.
I reached my bag and ducked when I felt a bolt of green energy (matched with a loud war cry) fly to where my head had just been. Slinging the strap of my bag across my shoulder I began to run for the edge. The tan girl was aiming another star bolt in my direction, and I began to sprint out of pure fear. But right when I was within ten feet of the roof's end I was blasted off my feet from a different source that I hadn't even noticed and off the roof towards the next building.
I couldn't hear anything. It was as if I'd gone deaf and the roof kept coming closer and closer. My heart was racing. This wasn't good. Not good at all, and I was falling hard. I held tight onto my bag and wrenched my eyes shut. For some reason I thought that if I closed my eyes the pain of my impact wouldn't be as bad.
I was wrong.
My back slammed into the cement roof, and the force of landing was so strong that I was flipped off my back and tumbled forward onto my hands while all the wind flew out of my lungs.
I laid on the roof gasping and struggling against the tight pressure in my chest from lack of oxygen. Tears pricked my eyes at the intense tightening in my chest. Shockwaves of pain traveled up my spine. I tried to breathe, but it seemed impossible. The pain was so immense that I could barely move. Then all of a sudden a large shadow formed about five feet from my head. Out of the shadow came the girl with the blue cloak. She bent down and picked up my bag that had flown off my shoulder when I fell. Black dots started to cloud my vision. The pressure in my chest lessened, but the pain stayed the same.
I suddenly felt exhausted and weak. As if just breathing was becoming a difficult chore. With a great amount of effort, I pushed myself onto my back and stared up at the sky as the rest of the titans surrounded me.
My hearing returned and I could hear cars passing by below, I could hear the wind, and I could hear my shallow breathing. Thoughts were swimming around in my head, I felt dizzy, and sick, and tired. Everything was fuzzy and I couldn't make anything out.
I blacked out.
When I finally came to, I was sitting across from Robin in a dimly lit room. My arms were handcuffed to the table in front of me, and the Boy Wonder himself was glaring at me with his arms crossed. I yawned and blinked a couple of times waiting for him to say something. Literally anything. But, he stayed quiet. For quite some time. Thirty minutes had passed, and he had still not said a word. This was probably the most intense game of 'quiet mouse' ever. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
"So do I get my one phone call?"
Ignoring my comment, Robin tossed my bag onto the table between us. "Who are you? Who do you work for?" I raised an eyebrow at his questioning. Great. Another interrogation lover.
"I don't answer questions when I'm restrained." I said stubbornly.
"Then I guess you better get used to being handcuffed to a table because I'm not releasing your restraints until you answer my questions."
"Then I guess you better learn to read minds."
A moment of tension filled silence passed before Robin sighed and reached over to the handcuffs holding my wrists against the table. In a few seconds, the cuffs were unlocked and I was free. However, although I am a thief, I like to keep my word.
"My name's Silence. I don't work for anyone but myself. It's a dog eat dog world out there, y'know? Gotta keep moving. I don't have time for petty thieving jobs. I do what I want." I leaned back and crossed my arms.
Robin leaned forward on his elbows as he narrowed his gaze at me. "Your name is Silence?" The corner of his mask rose up as he raised an eyebrow incredulously.
I nodded, and he scoffed.
"I'm stubborn; not stupid."
"That's good. I was beginning to get worried."
"You're already on thin ice. Don't push it."
"I've been pushing it for a while now, Boy Wonder."
"It's Robin!"
"I don't care!"
We were both glaring at each other, neither one of us about to back down. I clenched my fists tightly, and sat back in my chair still glaring daggers into his mask. "Look, whether you want to believe it or not, my name is Silence, and if you reuse to believe well then fine. But, I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince you."
He sat back also and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Fine. So you don't work for anyone?"
"Nope."
"Then why are you in Jump City?"
I shrugged. "I dunno. Seemed like the place to be at the moment."
Another tension filled moment passed as Robin stood up and began to pace the room.
"How old are you?" That question caught me off guard a bit. I mean, it wasn't exactly professional.
"What does it matter?"
"Just answer the question."
"Fine. I'm sixteen. I'll be seventeen in a couple of months."
"And your family?"
"Don't have one."
"You're on your own?"
"Yep."
He seemed to mull over that one for a bit as he continued to pace. I watched him move to and fro across the room and I started to get sleepy watching him.
"The judge thinks you should be under our care." That snapped me out of my minor-trance. "What?"
Robin continued as though I hadn't said anything at all. "He believes it'd be best for you to assist the team for the next month as an act of 'community service' almost."
My jaw dropped. No. No way. I would not be a hero. Never. It's just not me. "Don't I get a choice?" He shrugged.
"Sure. You either work with the Teen Titans for the next month, or you go to the juvenile hall for however long the court feels necessary. Your choice."
I chewed on my lower lip for a few minutes. I could fight with these guys for four weeks with actual food, heating, and possibly a nice warm bed. Or I could go to juvey for God knows how long and share a cell with my roommate 'Mad Dog' who's a self-taught tattoo artist. I shuddered.
"I guess…fighting against crime couldn't be too bad…" I muttered.
Robin smirked. "That's what I thought. Come on." He turned around and opened a door that I hadn't noticed until just now. His team must have really done a number on me. My senses were really starting to dull.
I grabbed my bag off the table and followed him out of the small room into a much larger room full of display cases holding different objects; all labeled with a metal plate that had the objects name, date it was a acquired, and who it was acquired from.
We exited the room and he led us down a series of dull, gray hallways until we finally stopped in front of some random door. Robin slid the door open and flicked on the light.
It was a simple room. Twin bed, nightstand, dresser, closet, and bathroom with one window across from the door. The walls were a soft blue, the carpet with black, and the bed sheets and comforter were black and gray. "You'll be staying in here for the rest of the month. Get to sleep. Training starts in the morning." Robin left without another word, and the door slid shut after him.
I stood in the middle of the room more than just a little aggravated at my current situation. I didn't want to help heroes. I wanted to steal. To feel the adrenaline course through my veins as I leapt from rooftop to rooftop. I liked having to outsmart cops, and having to hack security systems. It was how I distracted myself from everything that I'd lost in the past.
I dropped my bag on the floor, and fell back onto the bed. This was terrible. For the first time in months, no years, I had been caught, and I was being forced to become something I despised. I wasn't a hero. Not in the slightest. I was Silence Jameson; thief extraordinaire. Not Silence Jameson; Teen Titan.
Kind of rough for a start out I think, but it's on its way. I really hope you enjoyed this. I've been working on it all day, and I'm sorry if the ending sucked. I'm a little sick at the moment and it's affecting my writing performance. Oh well. Anyways, review please, and make my day(:
Arrive Alive,
Table for Two