AN: WOOOOOO!
LET'S DO THIS!
I think I forgot to mention in the last story that this takes place after Trouble in Tokyo.
Disclaimer: I will never own the teen titans.
STORYTIME!
The door opened. He looked up.
"Hey, Timmy!" Annabel came in with a big smile on her face. A big 'get well soon!' balloon was wrapped around her hand.
Tim laughed. "Annie, I never thought of you as the sentimental kind."
She shrugged as she tied the balloon to the bed frame. "The hospital people were looking at me funny, I didn't want to raise suspicion. Besides, what kind of sister would I be if I didn't get you a balloon?" She said with a smile. She sat on the edge of the hospital bed. "So, how do you feel?"
He glared at her. "I am fine. The better question is, how do YOU feel? Kyle told me about the costume change and the speech. Are you okay? Annie? Don't try and lie to me, I know you better than you know yourself."
Annabel looked away. "No. No I'm not. My best friend is dead, my brother's in the hospital-"
"With a broken leg! No big deal!" Tim interjected.
"Open wound fracture. You know what that means? The bone was protruding. That's not good, Timmy. What if we hadn't gotten here sooner?"
"Then, at worst, my leg would have been amputated. Annie, you need to calm down."
She sighed. "Yeah, sure. It's just been difficult. I can't take time to grieve because everyone is still looking at me to lead and god forbid if this happens again to one of the JT or the Titans, I'd never forgive myself." Her brother smiled at her sadly and held her hand.
"I have enough blood on my hands."
Robin wondered why the librarian wasn't more bothered by a random superhero in the building. All he'd had to do was walk in, in full costume, and asked where the newspaper archives were. The woman didn't even bat an eye, she just pointed to the far left corner of the building.
Odd.
He rifled through the boxes. Jim had told him, a week ago, that the Kingdom attacks had started about seventeen years ago, give or take.
He wandered the maze of shelves and stacks of files until he found a pile of boxes labeled '1995-2000'. Bingo.
He pulled the lid off the top box, coughing at the cloud of dust and trying not to inhale.
He flipped through the files until he found what he was looking for.
'June 2, 1995...a mysterious string of arsons and robberies committed by criminals wearing various types of masks have been reported throughout Sherwood. Witnesses say this new gang calls themselves "the Kingdom". More on page 26...'
Robin flipped through the newspaper to find that page 26 had been ripped out. Of kept looking through.
'April 2, 1996... known Kingdom member Roberto Castillo and his wife Clara were killed yesterday in a gruesome accident, and the police suspect foul play. The police report says that a larger vehicle drove the car off the road, where it crashed into a tree. They suspect that the impact did not kill Mrs Castillo, as bullet holes seemingly from outside the car had broken through the passenger seat window. When the police received the tip, they found the car aflame. Miraculously, the couple's one year old daughter, Annabel Lee Castillo, had survived the crash and her carseat was found, half melted, by the side of the road. The child sustained absolutely no injuries or burns from the fire. The girl was returned to her elderly aunt on the Navajo reservation. In other incidents, the Kingdom attacked...'
Robin stopped reading. Was this the same Annabel as the leader of the Justice Teens? It would make sense: same name (though she hasn't told them her middle or last names), same ethnicity, same age, and it explained her desire for justice-or revenge. He wasn't sure yet.
He put the paper back and flipped through the rest of the newspapers, trying to find that name again. One headline caught his eye.
'New vigilante for Sherwood.'
He grabbed the paper and began reading.
'April 14, 1996. Police reports say that a new hero has been appearing in Sherwood City for about four months, and the Kingdom's crime rate is lower than ever. Citizens have dubbed our new hero "Robin Hood" for his mysterious nature and his weapon of choice, a bow and arrows. More to come.'
Well, he thought, Robin Hood had mentioned a predecessor.
He kept looking. No other reports mentioned the vigilante or the little girl. He read over the articles about Kingdom attacks, but found nothing of importance.
Robin moved to the next stack of boxes. '2001-2010.' Hopefully he'd have some luck with these.
He went through boxes for what felt like hours. Actually, he glanced at the clock on the wall, he had been reading for two and a half hours. Good thing he was a fast reader.
He opened the next box, labeled '2007'. One headline soon caught his eye.
'Local family murdered in Kingdom attack.' Followed by a picture of a man in his twenties with a familiar-looking girl at his side. He quickly began reading.
'January 16, 2007. Sherwood residents Daniel Rowe, age 26, and his ten year old cousin, Annabel Castillo, have been reported dead and missing. Police found the pair's apartment building aflame, and report that the fire seems to have started from their apartment. The charred and beaten body of Daniel, known to friends as Danny, was found inside. Arson is a likely cause of the fire. No trace of his cousin has been found.
A police officer told our reporter, "It is possible that the girl was kidnapped, or maybe she simply wasn't at home when the crime was committed. When she heard what happened, it's possible she ran away. Or maybe she doesn't want to be found. Not all arsons are the Kingdom's fault, ya know?
Sadly, we must also face the- overwhelmingly large-possibility that the girl is dead and her body was moved somewhere else." A missing persons report on the child has been filed, but there are no leads yet.'
Robin studied the paper. Was this what she was hiding? Did she start the fire? He knew that there was a chance that this Annabel wasn't Robin Hood, and that this girl was dead, but looking at the picture again erased nearly all doubt.
Add a few years, longer hair, and add a silver streak in the left side of her hair, and this kid was the spitting image of Robin Hood.
He heard a window slide open behind him. He quickly grabbed the paper and retreated to a shadowy corner where he could still observe.
Robin Hood herself slipped through the window, dressed entirely in black, with a thin black hoodie pulled down to hide her face. She quietly closed the window and walked softly across the floor. If he wasn't so well trained, he wouldn't have heard her at all.
She looked around, her gaze stopping on the open box of newspapers still sitting on the ground.
"Were you looking for something?" She said darkly, aiming her question at the dark corner he was hiding in.
Robin stepped out. "Sorry. There was a dark corner, I couldn't help myself." (AN: yes, I totally borrowed that from agents of Shield. Coulson rocks)
She continued to glare at him.
Robin held out the article. "Mind explaining?"
AN: so by now I'm sure you have a pretty good idea what Annabel's past is like, but I still have a few surprises up my sleeve.
I originally was going to have Tim's leg amputated, but I didn't want to be an even crueler author than I already am.
Stay tooned for the next chapter! Review! Go on an adventure today! Review! I already said that! I don't care! Now go out and be awesome, random reader!
