AN: So...this one was a bitch to make XD bUt It WaS wOrTh It, DaMn It!!! I actually had to delete a lot of the opening few paragraphs and rewrite.
Roy woke up and yawned, feeling stiff. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his neck. Then he froze. What time was it? He looked out the window, being careful not to press his hands or fingers against the splintery wood. It was just now sunrise, but he couldn't be late to school, and he was walking (running like a bat out of Hell) there today.
Damn it, I knew I should've nabbed Papa's watch! He groaned in irritation and slung his backpack on, then pocketed the room key and ran out of the building after unlocking the front door. He'd already mapped out where the school was, so getting there would be easy. Assuming that all criminals suddenly had an automatic off switch during the day. It was weird, but true as far as he'd seen. The crime rate in Gotham was surprisingly low after sunrise.
But he needed to figure out what time it was, exactly. He didn't want to find his school only to be an hour early by mistake. Or an hour late. He didn't want to have to deal with that today. So he started walking in the direction of his school, hoping he could find someone that looked approachable enough to ask the time.
Tim could guess that Elroy was going to school pretty easily. He probably wanted any possible sense of normalcy that he could get. Tim glanced at the time on the computer monitor out of reflex, though he already knew the time. 7:13.
Tim needed to watch Elroy, figure out what about him made him a meta human. The tracker could only do so much.
He could hack into the security cameras at Elroy's school, see if anything conclusive was recorded. It was a longshot, but it was as good a lead as any. Besides, he'd be visiting the kid tonight anyway. Kid. Right. Elroy was barely younger than him.Tim sure as Hell felt a lot older than he was. Came with the territory. Now, Tim needed to get back to work. He had enough to deal with at Wayne Enterprises without letting his work as Red Robin bleed into it. For now, all he could do was hope that he found Elroy before the wrong people did first.
Okay, he was too paranoid to take that chance. So he made a call to the first person he could think of.
By 7:15, Roy had finally learned the time from a nice looking possibly-pregnant woman he'd passed on the street. He'd passed plenty of people that seemed friendly enough before that, but...
He felt better when people weren't around. And it was his experience that women were generally kinder than men. After all, his Mama didn't abuse him. Physically, at any rate.
I still have about forty-five minutes until school begins, but getting there early isn't so bad. There will probably be other students, and it'll still take you a little while to get there on foot. Ugh, he hated walking. And most other forms of exercise.
But he started walking to school anyway. This was going to be a long day.
When he finally got to school, he felt relieved. Nobody was giving him weird looks, so his parents probably hadn't reported him missing yet, or as a runaway. Hopefully it'd all be smooth sailing today. He got to the front doors, looked through the glass, and went still. Two GCPD officers were talking to the principal. They couldn't see him. Slowly and carefully, he opened the door and listened.
"If you see him, call us immediately. His parents reported him as a possible runaway this morning." One of them said to the principal, who nodded.
"Of course. I'll notify you the minute I see him." She replied. Roy backed away, easing the door closed, then turned and left. He had a blank, calm expression, but inside he was anything but. Before he knew it, he was approaching his parent's house.
He wasn't going back. He never would. But if he was going to be chased by the cops, he was going to make sure it was for a good reason. To him, running away from an abusive household didn't cut it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A young voice said behind him. Roy cried out in surprise and whirled around. A boy of about twelve or thirteen was standing a few feet away, his arms crossed over his chest and his expression stern of all things. It also seemed to be just a bit condescending, which pissed Roy off more than he cared to admit.
"If I were you," Roy replied acidly, "I wouldn't walk around this place with my nose turned up like that. Also, the nice guy in the van doesn't really have candy." The boy scoffed. Scoffed.
"Empty threats and tired cliches aside, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And it isn't worth it." Roy narrowed his eyes, taking in the kid's physical features. He had dark hair and blue eyes, and was tall for his (approximate) age, as well as built. He looked sort of familiar...but he was annoying.
Roy did know why this wasn't worth it, but somehow this boy saying it to him in such a tone ground on his last nerve. "And why would that be?" The boy rolled his eyes, and Roy felt his anger spike.
This was working like a charm. Drake had some good ideas, Damian had to admit. All he had to do was keep pushing the meta-human and he would undoubtedly do something. Basically, Damian just acted like himself. Strangely, his personality irked most people. And it was showing in the meta-human.The green irises of his eyes were slowly tinting red, and the roots of his hair were the color of blood.
The little cac was smirking at him, like he knew Roy was mad and was enjoying it.
"Beyond being incredibly foolish, for one thing? Irresponsible, and it will only make things worse."
"You don't even fucking know me! Or my situation!" Roy growled. Then he walked (pushed) past the boy and headed towards the apartment. "Go and piss somebody else off!" The kid was not going to make him start yelling. Sadistic little creep probably just wanted to get a big reaction from him.
When the meta-human was out of hearing range, Damian called Drake.
"I managed to have his hair color red as well as his eyes, but he left before I could push him further." He said as soon as Drake picked up. A deep sigh on the other end.
"Thanks anyway, Damian." Drake hung up. Damian walked back to the manor silently. Bruce and Alfred would be a little angry that he skipped school today, but it was business related after all.
Of the (admittedly few) things Roy had expected to find in the apartment after the hour or so he'd been gone, an elderly homeless woman wasn't one of them. Roy had seen her sitting in a corner, jumped, and dropped his key. Her head jolted up, and they stared each other down.
She had long, frizzy iron-gray hair that reached her mid-back, and slightly wrinkly pale skin. Her eyes were dark, her clothes in surprisingly good condition for how long she had probably been without a home. She kind of reminded Roy of the grandmother from the Addams Family movie. When she finally spoke, it was with a soft and slightly raspy voice.
"Hello." That was it. Roy waited for a follow-up question or statement. None came.
"...Hello." He replied. He picked his key up off of the floor and walked towards his room. "Take whichever room you like, ma'am." He opened his room door and walked in, closing and locking it without a backward glance.
Another neighbor. Fun. But her poor old heart probably wouldn't be able to handle the shock of a similar illusion. Not fun. But she was friendly enough, and seemed harmless. But looks could be deceiving, after all...best keep an eye on her.
That night, Roy woke up for seemingly no reason. He sat up in bed and looked around. Nothing and nobody. Ditto when he peered through the window between the board gaps. So he unlocked and opened his room door, walking out into the lobby. The old lady was gone, and so was another room key. But he only registered that because Red Robin was beside the front desk.
"Hey, Elroy."
