Out of the all the weird, uncomfortable, awkward, bizarre things that have happened in my life nothing compared to this. There I was standing outside my apartment complex with not only Comissioner Gordon, but FOUR legendary crime fighting, heroes... Plus Red Hood. And we were facing a minor situation.
"Tst, I told you we should've taken the Batmobile," the sassy, young Robin rebuked his brooding partner in crime. The problem we were up against was that Batman, Robin and Red Robin all rode some type of high tech motorcycle/bike thingy here.
Red Hood, who was standing next to me, leaned down and whispered near my ear, "You do know I'm not just gonna let you get away with that little stunt you pulled back there, right?" I shivered at the dark tone to his voice, he noticed this and chuckled "Payback's a bitch, babe. I can't let you get off the hook like that. You owe me quite a bit."
I scoffed and stepped away from him to Batman and the others. Batman spoke up amongst the others present.
"The girl will go with-" Batman started.
"I'll take her," Red Hood interrupted the dark night, snaking an arm around my waist. I squirmed out of his hold and nearer the others.
"The girl will ride with Commissioner Gordon," Batman continued, annoyance in his voice, "We will meet up at the station. Red Robin, you go with them to make sure nothing happens to them. Nightwing, take his bike."
What? Why did he have to come. We were only driving 7 miles to the police station. What could have happened between here and there? I didn't see the problem.
I followed Commissioner Gordon to his police cruiser, with Red Robin on my heels. I got in the back with him right behind me. I was scared and confused at what would happen to my family of two, obviously dad wasn't getting outta this one. So what did this mean for our little family?
The entire drive was in complete silence. Let me just say, it was really awkward. I thought about Oscar, who I left in the apartment. They had said he'd be fine there. We pulled up to the station and so far so good. That is, until we got out of the car.
As soon as my foot hit the ground, a loud bang was heard, and all hell broke loose. I was pressed up against the side of the car by Red Robin as gun shot after gun shot was heard. Broken glass rained down on us but Red Robin's body was hovered over mine. I held my arms over my head, as to protect myself.
I heard a gun shot a little ways from where we were and turned my head to see Commissioner Gordon with his back against the side of the car as well, but he twisted to shoot towards the area of which the attackers were.
I didn't expect the pair of arms that lifted me up off the ground and carried me elsewhere. My eyes were shut, but I opened them and looked up at the person holding me. Red Robin hurried in the building avoiding attention from the shooters. How he got us inside without a scratch, I have no idea.
He put us down in some room with a long mirror on one wall, I quickly deduced that we were in an interrogation room of sorts.
"You okay?" Red Robin asked, I nodded. I looked at his face and noticed how his masked eyes were on me. I expected him to turn away when I caught his gaze, but instead his eyes continued to stare at me. Almost as if he were trying to figure something out.
Was there something wrong with the way I looked or something? I was getting a little self conscious. "What?" I snapped, yet still he kept on looking at me the same way.
Finally after several more seconds, he turned his head and looked away, "Nothing" he mumbled.
An hour or two later, Batman entered the room. Commissioner Gordon, Robin, and Red Hood had gotten in a little while before them and we were all waiting. I was seated in one of the metal chairs by the heavy table, which was bolted to the concrete floor.
Batman walked straight towards me and stood on the opposite side of the small table. He towered over my seated form, well then again even if I were standing he would still tower over me.
"I want you to tell me all you know about Robert Conboy," he demanded.
'Well he's right to the point' I thought to myself.
I sighed deeply, "My dad doesn't tell me much about his job or what he does or where he goes most the time, all I know is what I've seen and heard. My parents always fought about anything and everything. Mostly how my dad's work called for us to move around a lot. Mom didn't like that, especially the times he was in jail for some stupid reasons. She hated how much we had to pay to bail him out.
"As time went by mom's pay checks weren't enough to pay the bills and we needed more to just get food on the table," I laughed slightly as I remembered something. "Heh, I remember my mom taught me how to sew and cook. She even taught me how to-"
I shook my head to get back on track.
"Anyways, there was always a group of men that were my dad's so called 'business partners'. They would met up at least once a month and have these meetings with dad. When they would come over my mom would always make sure we were out of the house, take me out for a girls' day out or something of the sort.
"That is until she got sick and dad began acting stranger." I furrowed my eyebrows at the memory.
"Strange how?" Batman's deep baritone voice asked.
Man! This guys voice alone would make anyone shit their pants.
I stared at him for a moment then stuttered, "Uh, he uh- he would leave for f-full days and nights on end. A-And he would have business partners over a lot more often. He would have them over and they would sit around drinking and talking. My mom tried her, she would be the one to make sure I was out of their way. She was like that, always keeping us safe and healthy." I smiled gently, just the thought made me smile. I shook my head from the memory and breathed deeply, "After she was gone things just sorta went down hill. Without the income from her job, we only had what dad would make."
Batman stood silently for a few moments, taking in every word I had said. He then leaned forward and glared down at me, "Did he ever make you do anything to get money? Any 'jobs'?"
Job? What the hell does that mean? Like-ohhhhh. What the fuck, was he implying what I think he's implying?
I caught on to what he was implying, I was shocked, "If your asking me if he made me sell illegal drugs or 'merchandise' to his little buddies, than you are dead wrong." I sat up straighter and gave him a hard look. "My father may have done bad things, but he is a good man. He made sure we were safe around his partners. The many times one of his buddies tried to make a grab at me, he stepped in immediately. He never-"
Red Hood suddenly stepped forward and cut me short, "Did you know that he was in great debt for years, but recently he suddenly was able to pay all that off. Why's that? He doesn't work and he moved around a lot. Would he maybe be running from something? Someone?" He began walking towards me, "Could he have sold something of mass value, or did someone else's dirty work to pay off that debt for him?"
He finally reached the table and stood next to my seated form, towering over me. "What could be worth so much, for a lifetime of debt to be paid off, just like that?" He snapped to add effect to his words.
What was he talking about? Was he trying to say my dad killed for money? Impossible!
"That's enough, Red Hood," Batman snapped.
"No it's not, she ought to know! She has a right to know!" Red Hood barked at the caped man. He turned back to me and leaned forward putting a hand on the back of my chair so I was trapped down. "You think he cares about you? Well I hate to say this, but he doesn't give a shit about you. He never did!"
My head snapped towards him, almost giving me whiplash, "You're lying. He loves us!"
"Does a loving father sell his daughter to one of his wealthier 'buddies' for money? If he loved you he would keep you outta this shitty life of crime!"
I was frozen, mouth agape eyes wide. I couldn't believe what I just heard.
"What are you saying, Red Hood?" Batman growled.
He stepped back and looked to him, "Exactly what he said this evening in his apartment. As soon as I got a location on his safe house, I sent one of my men, with a piece. And there I was listening to their most recent meeting when I heard his deal." He looked me in the eyes, or I think, I could only see the white eyes of his mask. "If we hadn't gotten them when we did, then who knows where you would be right now. Possibly getting raped or beaten to death, they will use you as a means to their end. Maybe send you to school with a backpack full of drugs, they would've snuck you in right under my nose. I wouldn't even think twice about you dealing to other kids."
I was appalled by this accusation, that couldn't be true. I shook my head violently as tears leaked out the corners of my eyes. I screamed, "Shut up!" My shoulder slumped and I buried my face in the palms of my hands. "You're lying," I whispered "He loves me. He would never do that to me."
"Sorry, sweetheart, but it's the truth. If you want the evidence I can show you the recording."
I shook my head, "No, If what you say is true, then I don't need to hear it from him. I can't take it. Please..."
At that moment I broke, I slumped in exhaustion and shut everything out. I faintly heard the others discussing something. I tuned them out and fell into my own little world of despair. Suddenly all the events of the night rushed to me and I fell limp in my chair, everything going black.
My head throbbed painfully when I came to. My vision was blurred but I could make out different shapes. I could tell it was dark where I was. But my surroundings were foreign
'What happened to me?... Oh yeah' I thought sadly to myself my father sold me to some random goon. Heck I didn't even know whether he was one of my dad's partners or not.
My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I saw I was in a bed. And it wasn't mine.
"The fuck?!" I screeched jumping, which made me fall off the bed. Not but two seconds later someone caning barging in, slamming open the door. Before me stood the most... Intriguing thing ever. A young man stood in the door way, gun in hand ready to shoot at any possible threats. From what I could see, he was tall with broad shoulders, he also had dark hair yet there was something off about it but I couldn't tell what it could be.
When he realized there was no threat he lowered his gun and ran a hand through his hair. I was temporarily blinded when he reached over and turned on the light switch, flooding the room with sudden brightness. I rubbed my eyes and blinked my sight back, what I saw was a very nice view if I do say so myself. In the doorway the man stood shirtless with low hanging sweatpants. His chest and abdomen were very defined along with his large arms. I was quite impressed by the hunk of man standing before me.
My gaze traveled up further to his head. I was right about his hair there was something strange about it, it was all jet black except one chunk of white in the front. I continued to take in his stubbly squared jaw and frowning lips until my blue grey eyes met his own bright blue ones. I have to say, he was gorgeous! But then again I didn't know who the hell he was.
Wait why was I here? And why is he here? Who is he?
"W-who are you?" I stumbled up off the floor and stood tall, tying to mask my fear.
The man stared a me for a few seconds then spoke, by the way completely ignoring my question, "Damn it, Amber!"
He knew my name?
"I thought someone broke in. You're lucky I didn't blow your brains out," he shook his head and placed the gun down on the dresser. Despite my confused expression he continued, "I didn't know what to do about your clothes so I left them alone and just let you deal with it yourself when you woke up. You can go ahead and wash up, shower's down the hall to the right. You can grab what ever you want from my drawers I don't care." With that he left me to my own devices.
The fuck just happened? Who the hell was that guy? And why did he sound vaguely familiar? Where did I hear that voice from? That deep, smooth, sexy-
Wait, what?
I shoved those thoughts away and walked to the dresser. On the way my foot hit something, I looked down and saw a red metal helmet.
Wait, red?
"Aw fuck," I groaned.