The Gotham train yard was a damp muddy place, smelling of coal and crude oil and rust. Shadows of old out of commission tankards loomed in the near dark, leaking their filth into the soiling ground.
"I bet Ivy'd really hate this place," Robin thought to himself as he and his mentor crouched in wait. Penguin was supposed to get a weapons shipment from Blüdhaven. Batman had other ideas.
Eventually the distant rattle of the train they were waiting for could be felt through the rails, the screeching of the brakes heard. Cobblepot's men came out from their trucks as Batman alerted Gordon.
They intervened before anything could be unloaded.
In the midst of gunfire a child's cry rang out, loud as any explosive. It made the last few of Penguin's men pause in surprise, giving the duo the opening they needed to take the rest of them down before the GCPD showed up.
"Robin, investigate that noise while I tie them up," Batman ordered, and the boy wonder flipped up onto a boxcar to see if he could locate the source of the ongoing noise. It wasn't particularly difficult, but it surprised him. Hell, hearing a child crying in the train yard of all places was surprising, but he didn't let it show. Below and across from him, a row of cars away from the fight, was a girl about his age with long golden hair, sitting in an open car with her legs dangling above the ground. She was layered like an onion. Black top with an unbuttoned red and green plaid shirt that looked too long, covered by a worn black leather jacket. Her jeans were ripped in the knees, and her gym shoes looked like they were falling apart. Across her she had a blanket tied. Near it, the culprit of the noise: a two year old mess of dirty skin and black hair, momentarily unbundled as the girl bounced it on her knee and muttered things. Sitting next to them was a large brown backpack. It was clear they had been on the road for a while.
Robin had not made a sound at his discovery, but her eyes shot up and met his regardless. They were sapphires in silver setting, rimmed by long dark eyelashes and brows. The breath caught in his throat. Her eyes looked like his mother's.
The child stopped crying, lolling it's head around to look at him as well.
"R!" it shouted, pointing vaguely at him. The girl's gaze dropped from him to the child in her lap, then went back to him.
"Yes, he does have a letter R on him doesn't he? Good job kid," she said softly, and he read her lips. She met his eyes again with a challenging stare, tucking the toddler back into the sling across her front before putting the backpack on her shoulders. Robin felt the metal of the rail car give behind him, and the way her eyes flicked past him he knew his mentor was there.
Good.
He wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation. If he followed what little he had by Bruce's example he'd have another sibling.
"The train yard isn't the safest place to be," Batman advised, looking down at the girl. She scowled.
"I had no intention of staying."
With that, they watched her leave.