Gray Lines
Summary: It's supposed to be simple the Titans fight criminals, but Robin uncovers a criminal plot to take over the low levels of Jump City's criminal underworld, and the mastermind that has ties to him.
Author's Note: Dedicated to Browniesarethebest, another big Robin/Dick Grayson nerd just like me!
Game Set
"You are cordially invited to the opening of Maroni's Italian Restaurant." Starfire read the words.
"We get a lot of these, Starfire," Raven smiled. Restaurants were always trying to get the Titans to eat at their establishment, to boost business.
"Oh, what is it Star?" Beast Boy came over. "Oh, another one."
"It does sound nice though," Starfire said. "I do like Italian food."
"Not me, all that meat," Beast Boy grumbled.
"We should totally go to this one, I've been wanting Italian," Cyborg encouraged.
Robin walked in, he examined the invitation.
Maroni, that's not good, we'll have to look into this, he thought. Robin smiled, "We should go, we deserve a night out."
"All right y'all!" Cyborg pumped his fist. They headed out to the restaurant. It's filled with rich people, nice cloths and champagne, Starfire wondered if the Titans could even afford to pay for the dinner, most restaurants usually gave them discounts, being Jump City's celebrated heroes.
The Titans sat down and ordered their food. When the waiter left, Robin turned to Cyborg.
"Run a scan on everyone in this room," he whispered.
"Why?" Cyborg inquired.
"The family that owns this restaurant, they're the Maroni family, formerly one of Gotham's most powerful crime families before Batman and I took them down."
"Gottcha," Cyborg quickly scanned the room, he began running background checks on various people, so far, nothing suspicious had come up.
"So this wasn't just a fun night out," Beast Boy sighed. "Does this mean it's wrong to eat the food?"
"This restaurant is completely legit," a friendly female voice spoke up.
"Hi, my name's Jana, I'm just here waiting for the owner, he's my boyfriend—" she saw Robin. "Oh my God, it's you!"
"Jana?" Robin asked, surprised, he hasn't seen her in years, but she's still just as cheerful and friendly as he remembers.
"Yeah, you do remember me, I knew it was you the moment I saw you on the Gotham news, beating up soldiers with Batman, wow! Must be nice though, still the hero with half the crazy psychos, this must be a cakewalk, no Joker, poisoned water, bomb threats and laughing gas, ugh!"
Robin smiled, "I don't miss Gotham City one bit."
"These are my friends, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy and my girlfriend, Starfire."
Jana smiled, "It's nice to meet you." She shook their hands and smiled at them.
They shook her hand politely.
"How do you know Robin?" Starfire asked, curious.
"I knew him before he ever became Robin, he saved my life, and I haven't forgotten that."
"So you…know his secret identity?" Beast Boy gaped.
"Yeah, but I won't tell, after all, I owe him my life."
"How are Josh and CJ?" Robin inquired.
"They're fine, we all just moved here a few months ago, finally got out of that crapsack that is Gotham City."
Jana looked over across the room. "I've gotta go, but it was very nice to see you again."
She left and the Titans returned to their meals. Suddenly, a little girl tapped Beast Boy on the shoulder. "Picture please, Mr. Beast Boy?"
"Of course!" The Titans, well most of them, would happily take pictures with citizens. A few more asked for pictures and the Titans obliged.
They were finished with the food and the waiter came up to them.
"The owner would appreciate it if you'd stay until closing."
"I see," Robin glanced at his friends, "Keep your guard up."
"Always, Robin," Starfire replied. She saw a young teen their age walk into the restaurant and he was smiling.
"Oh, so nice of you to come here!" the teen began to clap. "Jump City's heroes, ladies and gentlemen!"
The patrons began to clap, the Titans smile, keeping an eye on the young man. Robin recognized him, but said nothing.
The customers left the building, leaving them alone, Robin noticed a group of men in suits enter and stand next to the young man.
"Hello Robin, it's very nice to see you again. Don't worry about the tab, it's on the house!"
"CJ Maroni, it doesn't surprise me, what are you doing here in Jump City?" Robin demanded.
"I'm here to revive Maroni Imports; Gotham City is not the place for someone like me," CJ smiled.
"It's a front for your criminal activities; you'd do anything to revive your father Salvatore Maroni's empire."
"What makes you say that? I haven't done anything illegal," he was at ease, Robin was ready to fight. It had been some time since he'd taken out mafia goons, this would be interesting.
"Yet, CJ, you haven't done anything illegal yet!" Robin snarled.
"You're angry, because I bring back memories, not of something I've done to you, but because of your parents. You despise organized crime, because it's what killed your parents."
Robin glared at him, "You're all the same."
"I'm not Robin; we were friends, long before you ever put on that costume. We have history, you and I. I have no intention of killing you guys, no direct confrontations. I'd appreciate it if you'd stay out of my way."
"That's not how this works!" Robin snarled.
Starfire saw the man gesture; the men in the room all pointed their guns at Robin so he was covered in red dots.
"You're still the same, completely undisturbed at the notion that my men are pointing their weapons at you, your friends are ready to fight, I see. They won't move without your order, and neither will mine."
Raven noticed Robin's calm expression as the would-be criminal removed a 9mm handgun from his belt and pressed the muzzle against Robin's forehead.
"People of the criminal underworld, they tell lots of stories about the Teen Titans, but you especially, because of your partner. The myths about the two of you are similar. Some say, you're one man, other say, you are an army. That you can't be hurt, that you can't die."
"So what's the point of this little show and tell, CJ? To show off how powerful you are, to show that you can boss people around?"
"No Robin, just making conversation."
"Yeah, conversation with a gun in his face, this is such a nice chat!" Beast Boy smirked.
"If you think you can shoot him, you are mistaken!" Starfire snarled.
"We can take out all y'all!" Cyborg shouted.
"You people shouldn't test me," Raven said gravely.
"Like I said, I don't want to fight you guys. No, I've come to you with information, something you'd be really interested in."
"What's that CJ? And what's in it for you?"
"Nothing's "in it" for me, I'm just freaked out by it, that's all, and it does have to do with you."
"And what sort of information is it, and why should I listen to you?" Robin crossed his arms. "This is a very one sided conversation."
"Stand down boys," CJ ordered, the lasers disappeared.
"Josh, hand him the manifest," CJ said.
Another young man stepped forward with dark hair.
"You work for him Josh?" Robin asked.
"I know you're disappointed, but he is my best friend."
"And Jana, is she involved?" Robin glared at them.
"No, don't want my girlfriend involved with this business, I want her to stay legit, prove that at least one of us came out of Hell okay," CJ replied.
Josh handed him the manifest. "It's a list of items to be auctioned off by a guy calling himself The Dealer. He sells stuff, items from crime scenes, as creepy souvenirs. Among the items are Joker Teeth, one of Mr. Freeze's guns, a Slade Minion mask, and a baseball bat…a very interesting baseball bat, supposedly used by Two-Face to beat Robin the Boy Wonder within an inch of his life…They say it has your blood on it."
Robin glared at him.
"Don't think some nut won't buy it and try to get your DNA."
"If they did, they wouldn't be able to trace it to me."
"Don't be so sure, people with money can do stuff," CJ frowned, "But that's not the only interesting thing on that list, a circus costume, belonging to the late John Grayson is up for grabs. If anyone has a right to that costume, it's you."
"What make this dealer so special?" Robin demanded.
"They worship evil, they love to be evil, they believe that humanity is evil, and that's just freakin' creepy, man. I may be bad, but I'm not insane. I'm not going near a freaky cult."
"And where do I find this Dealer?"
"He's mobile, but my sources say he sells his wares in his Mirror House, and by the way, the only way you get in is if you're rich."
"I'm not turning a blind eye to your activities, CJ, but thanks for the info," Robin began walking away towards the door.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I've found him."
Robin stopped, "You found who, CJ?"
"Anthony Zucco, the man who murdered your parents."
Robin didn't move.
"I have something to show you," CJ showed him an iPhone. "This is a live feed, I have an assassin tailing him. With a single word, I can kill the man who took your parents from you, and so I'm offering…to kill Tony Zucco."
"I can't accept that offer, it's wrong and you know it."
"I was friends with your parents too; they treated me just like they treated you. Your mother wouldn't take crap from me either. I still remember when she slapped me for mouthing off to her."
CJ clenched his fist. "The Flying Graysons were good people, and you don't get a lot of good people in a place like Gotham City. Zucco always was a piece of crap. My family, we have better standards than the Falcones or the other families, we don't kill the target's families. We know what happens when you do."
"Oh really?" Robin asked sarcastically. "What happens?"
"We get people like you."
"Cute, CJ, really cute," Robin smirked. "But don't think this information will get you into our good graces. It's been a long time since I took on the mafia. This'll be fun."
"Thought you'd say something like that, but Jump City will be mine, but I'm not like Slade or any of your supervillains, I will own this city, just not in the way that they think."
"Don't think I won't dig up something on you," Robin growled.
"I'd expect nothing less of Batman's former partner. After all, you gained your reputation by kicking the mafia's ass."
CJ Maroni turned and left.
"Well, what are we going to do?" Cyborg asked.
"Dude, I cannot believe you were friends with that guy," Beast Boy added.
"We'll check out this mirror house, Raven, I want you to sneak into CJ's house and bug him, and Josh, and Jana's. Have the JCPD tail their known soldiers and associates."
"But what is in it for CJ? What advantage could he have in directing us to the Mirror House?" Starfire asked. She was trying to think of all the angles.
"I'm not sure, Star, but we'll find out," Robin slammed his fist into his palm. "It doesn't matter that he used to be my friend, he's still a bad guy and we have to stop him."
CJ continued walking towards his car, "It was fun to see him again, wasn't it Josh?"
"Yeah, but with him trying to stop us, this is gonna be bad. We know how determined he gets, he wouldn't leave me behind even after you ran off because of Amygdala."
"I remember, but the Titans always view the big shots, Slade, Red-X, Doctor Light, Mumbo, Warp as the major threats. They ignore people like me because the others make a big deal about controlling the city, ruling it like a king. There's many ways to take a city, my father knew that. This is just the beginning. Veni, vidi, vici."