Streets of Misfortune
AN: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the prologue. It was a very encouraging response to such a short starting chapter! Also, props to you Tea for recognizing the inspiration for the title :D Anyway, without further ado, here is chapter one :)
Chapter 1: Streets of Inquiry
Gotham City was notorious for it's high, bordering on ridiculous, crime rates, and that was before super villains began popping out of the woodwork. It seemed that for every thug, petty criminal, or mob boss that was taken off the streets two more were there to replace them the night after. On the ground it was easy to see the moral degradation that plagued Gotham. It was an entirely different story from the sky.
Jumping between rooftops and swinging high above the streets on his grapnel line it was easy for Robin to forget about all of the bad. Up here he was just a kid in a costume living out every boy's hero fantasy, but soon that fantasy was going to have to come to an end. He had a job to do after all.
Dropping down to a rooftop a little closer to the ground, Robin took a moment to pause and tap the button on his earpiece communicator. "It's me, O. What's the latest on Batman?" Oracle's reply was practically instantaneous and Robin walked slowly to the edge of the rooftop as he listened to her update.
"All the major players are out of the game but he's insisting there's more work he has to do. Always Gotham's dark knight..."
"I know what you mean," Robin replied, eyes searching Gotham's skyline until they came to rest on the still burning husk of Wonder Tower a couple of blocks away. He hadn't seen the actual explosion but Oracle had filled him in on all the glorious details. If Batman didn't end up killing himself tonight Robin was sure to do so when he finally found him. Sometimes he had to wonder who was looking after whom in their weird father/son, mentor/student relationship. "Look, I'm almost back at Arkham. I'll talk to him once I'm there."
Oracle's relief was almost palpable over the comm as Robin shot off the grapnel gun once again. "Thank you. I swear, that man just does not know how to listen to reason some times."
"That's the Batman for you," Robin said, swinging across to the fire escape of a nearby building. There was once a time, long ago, where conversing with their communications queen and traveling through the city at dangerous heights was a challenge. These days it was practically second nature. "Though I do wonder if he sometimes turns the comm link off without telling us. It would help explain his clear disregard for all our concern."
Oracle's laugh in his ear made Robin smile. "Do we have another contender for the world's greatest detective? I think you might be on to something with that."
"Alright, O, I'm on location," Robin said, perching on the corner of an old apartment building just outside Arkham City's main entrance. "It wouldn't have gotten any easier to get inside since the last time I was here by any chance?"
"Sorry Boy Wonder, looks like you've lucked out."
"O-kay. I'll just head back to the tunnel, make my way..." Robin trailed off as he became aware of the sounds of an argument on the street below. Curious, he focused in on the source of the commotion that appeared to stem from a Tyger guard and young auburn haired woman.
"Robin? You still there?"
"I'm here Oracle. Just... there's something going on down at the main gate."
"What kind of something?"
"I'm not sure yet," Robin replied, shifting position to try and get a better view of the situation. Neither of the two arguing parties seemed very happy, and as he continued to listen in Robin soon became privy as to why.
"Look, ma'am," the Tyger guard said, sounding quite exasperated, "there's nothing we can do to help so why don't you head home."
"I don't think you're listening to me," the young woman replied, sounding equally tired of the conversation. "My boss- my friend- could quite possibly be stuck inside this so called 'prison'," here she used air quotes to emphasize her skepticism, "and you're just going to stand there and do nothing?"
"Ma'am, it's my job to 'stand here and do nothing'," the guard replied, eyes fixed in a vacant stare at something over the young woman's head. Robin got the feeling that had this guard not been so stuck on protocol he would have been using some air quotations of his own.
"And you can't, perhaps, call someone else and get them to check for me? They funneled millions of dollars into this place, I'd like to think they spared at least a few bucks for a communications system." Despite the menacing glare being directed his way the Tyger guard seemed unfazed.
"Ma'am, Arkham City is full of criminals. Everyone who's in there deserves to be."
"I'm not talking about a prisoner, I'm talking about Vicki Vale!" the young woman exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. Robin could relate, he felt the same way when talking to Batman sometimes. "Award winning journalist, host of a nighttime talk show, that Vicki Vale! Last anyone heard from her she was in a helicopter over Arkham City. All I'm asking is that you send someone out to make sure she's okay."
"I don't have the authority to do that."
"Of course you don't! Why am I not surprised?"
"What's going on over here?" a third voice rang out, that of a second guard. Despite facing down two heavily harmed Tyger guards now, the young woman held her ground. Not that she should have had anything to worry about. As far as Robin could tell she appeared to be just your regular law abiding citizen making some inquiries. "Look, little girl," the second Tyger guard said when he reached the pair, "it's not our job to stand here a listen to you complain all night."
"I can handle this, Terry," the first guard said.
Terry rolled his eyes at the first guard and turned back to the young woman. "This ain't no place for a gal like you to be hanging around so why don't you just be on your way, huh?"
"I'm not leaving-" the young woman was cut off abruptly by Terry, who appeared to lack both patience and manners.
"Oh, and if you don't leave of your own accord we have the authority to forcibly remove you from the vicinity of Arkham City's wall. Security reasons and all that."
For the first time since arriving Robin saw the young woman's demeanor falter slightly. The two Tyger guards noticed it also, if the smug grin on Terry's face was any indication.
"Fine," the young woman said. Turning on her heel she walked briskly away, only to stop suddenly and turn back to the two guards. "Don't be surprised if there's a scathing review in the Gazette tomorrow about Arkham's new security force."
"I'll cut it out and pin it up in the break room," Terry replied with a laugh. He slapped the first guard heartily on the back, like they were sharing some sort of hilarious joke. "I'm sure the rest of the boys will enjoy it. Run along now, I'm sure you're missing out on some much needed beauty sleep."
With a huff of indignation the young woman continued on her way down the street and away from the Arkham City main gates, leaving behind the two Tyger guards; one sniggering and one ever stoic.
"...Ro-bin," Oracle called over the comm, drawing out each syllable of his name as she tried to regain his attention.
"Sorry, Oracle," Robin replied, eyes following the young woman as she disappeared from sight round a building at the end of the street.
"What was so important that you had to shush me?"
"There was this gir- young woman," Oracle wouldn't have been too pleased with him for calling someone that age a girl, "at the Arkham City gates. She was arguing with two of the guards, something about Vicki Vale being in Arkham City?"
"Batman rescued her from her helicopter about an hour ago. Joker shot it down as a distraction. As far as I could tell Vicki got out okay. The pilot wasn't so lucky."
"Well that's more than the guards out here know. That or they're not willing to share. She looked like she been trying to find out what happened since the helicopter went down." Robin stole a glance back to the end of the street where he had last seen the young woman in question. Surely Batman would be fine without him for another five minutes. "I'm going to try to catch her, let her know Vicki Vale is okay and find out more about her."
"Want me to run a background check?" Robin could practically hear Oracle's fingers itching to move across the keyboard of her main computer.
"Don't have a name," Robin replied as he jogged along the rooftop, increasing to a run as he neared the edge of the building before jumping the alley and landing on the building next door. From the rooftops he'd be able to catch up with the young woman in no time, give her the good news and then head back into Arkham City.
"I can hack into the security feeds and try facial recognition?"
"Don't worry about it," Robin replied as he leapt towards the fire escape of the corner building, grabbing onto the railing and swinging himself up onto the platform. "I'll get her name when I speak to her."
"I always thought you were hopeless when it came to women."
"Not helping, Oracle."
On the roof the building on the corner, Robin surveyed the next street. Searching for a flash of pale skin in the dark, he was surprised when he couldn't find her. It wasn't everyday someone could escape from Robin's watchful eyes.
He was about to give up when he happened to look down. "Well, what do ya know?" he chuckled. While the young woman had left the 'general vicinity' of Arkham City she apparently hadn't given up on her little endeavor. Out of sight of the guards she stood behind the corner of the building, peering back at the main gates from her vantage point.
In her hands she held a small notebook, scribbling away furiously words that Robin couldn't make out from his height. If he were to hazard a guess, whatever she was writing down was probably the beginning of the article she had threatened the two Tyger guards with.
Remembering that he really did need to get this dealt with quickly and get back into Arkham City, Robin swung down from the roof. Using various piping and window ledges he was able scale down the side of the building and drop silently to the ground behind the young woman.
"Those Tyger guards could have been a little more helpfu- whoa!"
There were two things that happened very quickly then. The first was that the young woman whipped around to face him, pulling a small taser out of her bagand thrusting it towards his stomach. The second was Robin deftly grabbing a hold of her wrist before she could actually shock him.
"Hey, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you," Robin said, loosening his hold on wrist enough to let her know he wasn't a threat but not enough to allow her to move the taser any closer. In retrospect he realized sneaking up on her, or on anyone in Gotham really, wasn't the best of ideas. But some habits were hard to shake, and whilst out as Robin sneaking up on people was usually preferable if you didn't want to get shot.
It took the other woman a moment to clam down, subtle emotions flashing across her face that were easily picked up by Robin's observant eyes: fear and shock, followed by realization and, finally, embarrassment.
"I almost tasered you," she gaped.
"But you didn't," Robin reassured her. He gave her what he hoped was a encouraging smile, though it was mostly hidden in the shadows cast onto his face by his hooded cape. "If I let you go you're not going to try and taser me again though, right?"
The young woman seemed almost affronted by the idea. "No, of course not."
"Good." He let go of her wrist completely and watched with wry amusement as she hurriedly shoved the taser back into her bag. "You've got quick reflexes," he said when she finally looked back up at him.
"I guess we're both lucky yours are quicker," she replied, "Tasering one of Gotham's vigilante heroes definitely wouldn't have been one of my proudest moments."
"To be honest, I probably wouldn't have felt much through the suit."
"Really?"
Robin realized his mistake as soon as he saw her eyes light up with that look every journalist gets when they score a piece of information they weren't expecting. It was for this reason exactly that Batman encouraged as little interaction with civilians as possible. If you weren't careful you let things slip. Let too many things slip and they might as well kiss their secret identities goodbye.
"And that's off the record," he quickly added. In true journalistic flair his statement didn't appear to faze her all that much.
"While we're off the record then, care to tell me what exactly that suit is made out of that makes it render tasers useless? You've got me curious."
"No," he answered, deciding to take a leaf out of Batman's book and get straight to the point. "I'm just here to let you know that Vicki Vale is alive and well."
"She is?" The abrupt change in conversation seemed to catch the young woman off guard but her relief at the news was clearly visible. "Wait, how-"
"She was lucky and Batman was nearby. But I have work to do, so if you'll excuse me." He pulled out his grapnel gun and was about to fire it off when he paused, looking back at the young woman. She was watching him curiously, eyes still a little wide it what he assumed was lingering shock. He couldn't help but get the feeling the moment he disappeared she be pulling out that little notebook again. "Who are you exactly? Why the interest in Vicki Vale?"
She answered quickly, like it was a question she was often asked. "I'm Vicki's assistant- protégé, sort of. Tyler, Tyler Morring."
"Tyler Morring," Robin repeated before shooting off the grapnel line at a nearby building, "I'll let Miss Vale know you're waiting for her." Then, in true Batman taught style, he activated the motorized grapnel line and pulled himself up to the rooftops. Now he just had to hope this Tyler Morring would be able to stay out of trouble for the rest of the night. Though, when he thought about it, she'd been pretty quick with that taser. "Only in Gotham," he sighed to himself, swinging across onto another rooftop.
"Well, that was interesting."
"You heard all that I take it." He realized too late he should have muted the comm link.
"Every word. So... Tyler Morring. Want me do that background check or set up a date for next Friday?"
"Shut up."
