Robin was out on the streets again the next night. Mask on, gloves pulled up to the elbows, and his cape falling around his shoulders and covering up the bright red and green of his shirt. The black exterior made it easier for him to blend in with the shadows of the night. Bruce would be proud, Robin thought bitterly. Even as the words ran through his mind, he doubted they would be true.
He sat high up on the top of a five story building, crouched down on the brick ledge and listening to the soft drone of the giant air conditioners, their blades lazily spinning. Below, the people thronged in the streets and sidewalks, but no one cared to look up. No one ever did look up.
If there was any place that you could hide from someone and be confident that you would never be seen, it was above them.
But of course, other people knew this secret as well.
Robin was positive that he would run into Red X tonight...Jason. All he had to do was wait and be patient. He'd show up, he always did. A petty thief like him didn't need to go into hiding, because he knew that the Titans always had worse problems than him. But crime had been down lately. Even with the team currently shorthanded, Robin could wait for him. He knew it wouldn't be long. His communicator was in his hand, gripped tightly, with him waiting to feel it vibrating and hear it shrill sound of alert and see it flash red on top.
Just wait, Robin thought.
His patience was already worn thin. Cyborg had kicked him out of the computer room after Robin had nearly ripped his hair out as he waited and waited for him to fix the flash drive. Cyborg had said he needed to relax, and told him to get out. Robin had put up a fight, shouted some angry words, and it ended with Cyborg almost literally throwing him out of the room. He'd stomped around and paced in front of the locked door for nearly an hour after that, before he thought of getting out and searching for Red X once more.
Four hours my ass, Robin thought.
It'd been a day and a half.
So now, here he was. Crouched down in hiding, on the roof of a jewelry store with polished gems and cut diamonds and precious metals locked up inside. No thief could resist the glint and glimmer…
It seemed almost like a game of cat and mouse to him, with Robin as the cat, waiting for the mouse to try to come out of his hole in the wall so he could devour it. But, Robin thought as time went on with no word from Cyborg or the police reports, maybe he was the mouse in this case. And Jason the cat.
A sigh threatened to be torn from his lungs. One that wouldn't relieve his stress, so there was no point in it. But it escaped him nonetheless.
"You're still not fooling anyone," came a voice from behind him.
Son of a…
Robin whipped around, angrily meeting the figure of Red X, a good ten yards away from him on the opposite side of the building. His jaw clenched as he looked at him, for even though he knew it was Jason, he still hated the sight of his Red X suit being paraded around in.
How Jason had stolen it from him…well, it became a bit clearer now. Someone that knew him so well, as well as studied Bruce's stealth abilities, and some of his own hacking abilities… Yeah, it was easy to see now.
"Good to see you, again," Robin said, though they both knew he didn't mean it.
"You too, chuckles," Red X told him back.
They still stood their ten yards apart, both of them keeping their distance, as if the other one would suddenly strike out and wound them. Spit and fire and claws. So they circled around each other on the roof like there was a force field around their opponent that neither could break.
"Jason…" Robin said after a while. He thought maybe he could break through that skull mask of his, and see him for who he really was once more. He remembered, when he'd first pulled off his mask, that all his drive had gone out of him and he didn't want to fight anymore. Only understand.
What the hell had happened? Why is Jason here? Why is he alive?
"Dick," Jason returned, his voice robotic underneath the mask.
"Why are you here?" Robin asked, as if that somehow summed up every question he had burning within him. His voice wasn't cruel or accusing, but rather pleading. He wanted so badly to know.
"Thought about stealing some jewels," Red X replied, the eye slits in the mask narrowing. "But more than that, I couldn't end the night without seeing you. I just know how disappointed you would be if you didn't see me at all tonight." He was outright mocking him, but Dick didn't seem to care.
Something unusual for him. But this was Jason. His brother.
Not by blood, but still his brother.
"I must say, Dickie, I'm touched," Red X said, putting a hand to his chest, the gray glove covering the X slashed across the black suit.
"Don't call me that!" Robin spat at him, all his anger and fire returning to him then. Red X. Red X. Another criminal, the person he hated–
No, he didn't hate him. Not anymore.
"Oh, come on, birdie boy. I used to call you Dickie all the time. At least, I'm fairly certain I did. My memory isn't...complete...you see." A harsh laugh cracked through the mechanical voice filter. Robin nearly flinched at the sound, but he wouldn't allow himself to show any emotion other than willpower to the criminal before him.
"What do you mean it isn't complete?" Robin forced himself to ask.
The eyes of the skull mask widened. "You don't know?!" Red X asked, sickly amused at Robin's ignorance. "I would have thought that the prodigy of the world's greatest detective would've figured it out by now." There was a tightening in Red X's…Jason's…voice as he spoke.
A tightness that Robin knew. Still, he didn't let his resolve break. Red X. Red X.
"Guess I was wrong," Red X said, continuing on with his taunting. But this time, as the words left his lips and filtered through the voice altering machine, Robin could still pick up the somber tone that he now used.
"Guess you were," Robin agreed, his voice quiet. It was hardly carried on the wind, but rather died a few paces from his place on the roof. His lips seemed dull and his throat suddenly ached. Again, he felt the sting of tears in his eyes. He blinked them away behind the mask.
"Don't get sentimental on me, Bird Boy!" Red X called out. His voice was back to his normal tone. Cocky and snide, completely vacant of any emotions that may have given away his mental state, his personal demons.
Robin hardened immediately. His tears dried instantly.
"Well, catch you later," Red X said, and pressed the button upon his silver belt, making him transport in the air, his molecules vanishing and leaving Robin standing on the roof alone once more.
He thought of what just transpired. He'd almost duped himself into believing that Red X had left him, when the realization hit him like a boulder. With a grunt, Robin ran over to the edge of the building once more, shooting out the grappling hook, and swinging down further towards the windows. Sure enough, inside of the jewelry store, he saw the quick flash of a cape rounding the corner.
"God damn it," Dick muttered, and went in after him. Back up to the roof, and then in through the ventilation system, kicking out the vent cover from the wall and dropping down onto his feet in the jewelry store.
This place had to be rigged. Laser systems on the store floor and in the air, sensors trained to pick up movement. Or heat sensors, or monitors that would let them know if someone had just broken in through their vent system. But everything was suspiciously quiet.
Robin ran in the direction he'd seen the flash of the black cape, thinking that if Jason hadn't tripped the sensors, why should he?
He rounded the corner quickly, only to see the same small flash of a black and gray cloak darting away from him. He kept following until Red X concluded the chase by smashing the glass cases that were in the next room. Sharp, deadly shards of glass sprayed all over the room, and on Robin. He put his hands up to defend himself.
The alarms sounded then, a shrill siren that drilled into his ears and made his vision hazy. Red lights flashed. Robin pushed through all of this, and still went after Red X. He fought him, trying to land a punch, but Red X darted out of the way just as he scooped up jewelry made of pure diamonds and platinum.
Robin's fist drove into the wall, crushing the plaster. With an angry shout, Robin ran forward again, taking out the metal staff that he had hidden away. The metal snapped out, and Robin meant to strike Red X, but only ended up shattering yet another glass case. The shards were almost embedded within his eyes, had it not been for the mask to catch them and shield them.
"Thanks, Dick," Red X said in a low voice as he scooped up necklaces of garnets and emeralds, all strung together on platinum and pure gold. "Saves me the work of having to do it myself."
"Cut the crap, Jason!" Robin shouted back, and threw the staff at him. It landed straight into Red X's chest, near the solar plexus, and it sent him reeling, desperately clutching his chest as he waited for the pain to ebb and catch his breath.
"I don't think so," Red X snarled, and kicked his feet up just as Robin ran forward, handcuffs at the ready.
Right in the gut. Robin doubled over, and Red X took this as an opportunity to kick him in the head. He brought his leg up to the side, striking Robin and making his ears ring, and he was knocked to the floor. Black flooded his vision as the world spun around him, the ringing in his ears sharp, and every other sound dimming into nothing.
A groan escaped him as he tried to get up off the ground. He saw Red X give him a wave goodbye, heard him mumble something (no doubt one of his sarcastic remarks), and then turn tail and materialize away with the press of a button.
That was the last thing Robin remembered.
