Chapter 13: Decisions, Decisions
Trigger Warning: Mentions of torture
AN: Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday! There is a scene in here that's heavily inspired by Black Widow in the Avengers (the first movie). You'll see what I mean ;)
Robin skids to a halt, slipping a knife out of his pocket as Tony Zucco turns to face him. The pair were now about a block away from the decoy hideout; the smoke billowing from the flames was still visible. They were now in a half lit, narrow alley. The gangster grins down at the bird, smirking, pulling out a gun.
"I should have killed you along with your parents." Zucco mutters, pointing the pistol at the acrobat. "I know better than to leave witnesses. Oh well. I'm here to finish the job now."
"You can try." Robin seethes, charging at the man. Zucco fires at the acrobat, but Robin jumps, kicking off the wall to his left, and launches himself forward and to the right, dodging another bullet. Robin keeps momentum, launching himself off the right wall and towards the gangster this time. He slashes Zucco's wrist, causing the man to drop the gun and stumble back. Before Robin lands, he tries to kick the man in the chest, but Zucco catches the boy's leg and tosses him into the wall. Robin was just barely able to put his hands up in time to protect his face from hitting the wall. He grunts in pain when he lands, his right leg nearly giving out. The bird curses, feeling his old wound tear open yet again.
"What's the matter, Little Bird?" Zucco drawls, whipping off his tie and wraps it around his bleeding wrist. "You don't seem to be quite as agile as you used to be." Robin shoots him a dark glare tossing the knife directly at the man's throat. Zucco ducks, but Robin had jumped while he was distracted, and axe kicks him in the head. The gangster hits the ground with a grunt, but scrambles away as Robin kicks at him again. Zucco quickly rises to his feet, chuckling darkly.
"I still remember your parents' screams. They were so shocked! I still count it as one of my greatest accomplishments." The gangster taunts. Robin cries out in rage, rushing the man again. The bird throws a series of quick punches, however, only lands about half. "Ha! You're getting sloppy!"
"Shut UP!" The bird shouts, kicking the man's kneecap, causing him to collapse. The bird approaches him, shaking with fury. Before he could get too close, however, Zucco's good leg shoots up, connecting with the boy's stomach. Robin stumbles back, coughing. He was about to approach the downed man again, but large arms wrap around him from behind, lifting him several feet off the ground. Robin cries out in shock, thrashing in the hold, but the large thug had his arms pinned. He kicks back, trying to hit something, anything, with no success. His eyes widen in horror, hearing Two-Face cackling from behind Zucco. The villain steps out of the shadows and walks over to the struggling teen. He takes a cloth out of his coat pocket, and grins ferally at the boy, holding it over the bird's mouth and nose. Robin panics, smelling something slightly sweet on the cloth. He vaguely remembered reading something about chloroform smelling sweet. The acrobat redoubles his efforts, but his limbs already started to feel heavy.
"Good Night, Little Birdie." Two-Face drawls. Robin could just make out Dent ordering the goon holding him to empty his pockets before his vision goes black.
Red Hood curses, trying to get up from the rubble of the now collapsed hideout. He grunts in pain, feeling a foot come down hard on his back, holding him down. Red Hood could dimly hear Black Mask ranting about something or other above him, but it was impossible to make out the words through the buzzing in his ears. He was just thankful that going after the villain directly bought the others time to escape before the building collapsed. The teen cringes, feeling a hand yanking him by the hair, forcing his head up. His eyes close in resignation, feeling the barrel of a gun being pressed to his temple. This is it then? It was going to break Dick's heart. He only hoped the Little Demon and the others survived to help the acrobat through his grief.
"Sorry, kid…" Red Hood whispers, hearing the safety on the gun being flicked off.
Suddenly, he feels a rush of air, and the press of the gun was gone. So was the weight of the foot on top of him. His eyes snap open, and his head whips around, seeing a red blur flit from thug to thug, taking them out. Red Hood lets out a rasping laugh. Looks like the brat was right. The 'tights-brigade' was here to save their asses after all.
Black Bat pants, eyeing the goons that had her surrounded. There were too many of them. They already threw several grenades at the building, causing half of it to collapse. Ryan was still getting the kids to safety. She just had to hold them off for a little longer. She blocks one thugs' slash, but she cries out in pain when another goon manages to shallowly slice her back. The room suddenly fills with smoke, causing the goons to cough. She covers her mouth and nose with her sleeve. Black Bat stiffens, suddenly feeling someone standing next to her. Several green arrows shoot out at the goons, taking them down.
"You alright?" The green clad figure asks, facing the lackeys back to back with the girl. She nods, her shoulders sagging in relief. The remaining goons would be no trouble for two of them.
Rook digs his sword into the ground, using it to help haul himself up. He glares up at the retreating back of the armor-clad man.
"W-Wait you bastard! We're not done here!" Rook hisses, finally making it to his feet. He sways slightly before holding his sword up again. The man turns his head back towards the boy, shaking his head in amusement.
"You're finished, child. You can barely stand. I will hand it to you; you are well trained. But you still lack the experience to be able to defeat me." With that, the man vanishes, causing the teenager to curse. His eyes narrow, hearing more footsteps approaching from behind. He spins around unsteadily, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"Bring it on, shitheads!" He growls, seeing three more thugs running up to him. Before they could get too close, two of them suddenly fall, having been clotheslined by two figures. One clad in purple and one in red. The purple figure elbows the remaining thug in the solar plexus, causing him to fall to the ground, gasping for breath. The one in red kicks the man in the head, knocking him out. Rook blinks at them, shaking his head, trying to clear the fogginess. He frowns, seeing a girl in a royal purple hoodie and matching ski mask, with fiery red hair sticking out from underneath. The other was a teenage boy wearing a red hoodie and matching domino mask. The boy had dark hair and blue eyes. The teenage girl spins to face Rook, placing her hands on her hips triumphantly.
"You're welcome." The familiar female voice drawls. Rook rolls his eyes, crossing his arms.
"Tt. I didn't need your help."
"Sure as hell looked like it. You look like shit." The girl mutters, stuffing her hands into her pockets.
"You can call her Oracle and I'm Red Robin." The red-clad boy states, ignoring Rook's scowl.
"I didn't ask for your idiotic names. I already know who you are." Rook snaps, looking around for any other threats. He freezes as a large black shadow suddenly looms over him. Rook spins around, swinging his sword, only for it to be blocked by a familiar gauntlet. The boy sighs heavily, sheathing his sword. "Batman." Rook states blandly, taking a step away from the shadow, not entirely trusting that he wouldn't be arrested by the vigilante.
"The rest of the lackeys have been taken care of." The Dark Knight declares, glancing around the area. "Is Robin not with you?" Rook frowns.
"No. We got separated when the bastards shot at us with the RPG." Rook mutters, wiping at a cut on his cheek. Another boy rounds the corner, holding something in his arms, looking frantic. Rook staggers over to the boy, eyes narrowing when he sees the walkie talkie the boy was holding along with several throwing knives that Robin preferred. "Jax…" Rook states slowly, picking up one of the knives to inspect it. "Why do you have Robin's radio and weapons?" The boy looks up at Rook anxiously, his eyes watering.
"I found this in an alley! I was with Robin when this man showed up! The man seemed to know Robin, and they took off! I tried to follow them, but they were too fast. By the time I got there, I found this on the ground along with blood splattered everywhere." Jax rushes out. The teens and Bat freeze at the news.
"Take me to where you found this." The Bat growls. Jax whimpers, cowering back slightly. Rook steps in front of the boy, glaring up at the Dark Knight before focusing back on Jax, shielding the teen from the man's towering presence.
"Jax, we need to see where this happened." Rook presses, only slightly less intimidating than the Bat. Jax nods, his face set in determination. Rook takes the walkie talkie and tosses it over to Oracle, who easily catches it. "Harpy. Tell the others what happened." With that, he rushes off with Jax and Batman. Oracle fumes, flipping off Rook's retreating back.
"Asshole." She grumbles before calling the others.
Batman's shoulders sag in relief slightly at the sight of the alley. Yes, it was disconcerting, but there wasn't enough blood to indicate a fatal injury. The detective crouches down, looking at the footprints. There appeared to be a struggle. The largest set of footprints seemed to leave carrying something heavy, since they were more indented as they left the alley. The Bat continues to scour the alley for evidence while he hears Rook shift around the space as well. They both pause, hearing rapid footsteps approaching. The pair turn to face the intruder, both crouching into a fighting stance. Rook instantly relaxes, tutting in annoyance at the familiar red hoodie.
"What is it now, stalker?" Rook asks, crossing his arms. Red Robin shoots the young teen a glare before focusing his attention on the Dark Knight.
"I forgot to tell you. We planted a tracker on Robin earlier to keep tabs on him in case he needed help." Red Robin reaches into his pocket, and hands the Bat a small black device. "Here's the transmission signal." Batman takes the device and nods to Red Robin before disappearing into the shadows. Rook scowls at the red-clad teen.
"I take it you didn't just hand him the only way to track down Robin." Rook mutters.
"Of course not. We're going after him too, aren't we?" Rook scoffs, heading back towards the remnants of the decoy hideout.
"We aren't doing anything. Red Hood and I will be the ones to retrieve Robin. You will stay out of the way, where you belong."
"Ungrateful little demon." Red Robin mutters, following after the young teen.
The hulking thug unceremoniously tosses Robin into a wooden chair placed in the center of a crumbling storage facility. There was a single light on above the chair, leaving the rest of the room in darkness. Another lackey grabs a rope, securing the still unconscious bird to the chair. The same thug flings a bucket of ice water at the bird, drenching him. Robin sputters awake, instantly struggling in his bindings.
"Looks like sleeping beauty is finally up." The man mutters, tossing the now empty bucket aside. Robin shoots him a dark look but doesn't retort. He was too busy gathering his bearings and looking for any possible exits. "I was talking to you, ya little shit!" The man growls, gripping the boy's hair, forcing the bird to look at him. Robin's eyes narrow. He bashes his head into the thug's face, causing the man to yelp, stumbling back, and clutches at his now bleeding nose. Another goon approaches the bird, and backhands him in the face.
"The boss just said not to kill you. Anything else is free game." The second goon cackles, going to punch the boy in the face this time. Robin tilts his head just in time, avoiding the blow, before spitting in the man's face. The lackey bristles in rage, wiping at his face, and takes out a knife.
"That's quite enough of that." A third voice states from the shadows. Two-Face steps out of the darkness, grinning over at the bird manically. "You've got spirit kid; I'll give you that. But it's all for naught." Dent nods to someone in the shadows, who pushes a cart with a car battery and wires next to the bird. Robin eyes it, then glares up at the villain. "All I need is for you to tell me where the rest of your little friends are hiding. You see; your little 'operation' has cost me a lot of money. You've disturbed my distribution route. I can't stand for that. It's bad for business. I'm sure you understand." The villain snaps his fingers, and one of his lackeys starts hooking the bird up to the car battery. "The amount of pain you suffer is completely up to you. Give me what I want, and the pain stops." Robin thrashes in his restraints, glaring up at Dent.
"Go fuck yourself." Robin hisses hatefully. Two-Face nods, taking out his signature coin, and starts flipping it between the fingers of his right hand.
"I knew you wouldn't give in so easily. That just means more fun for me." The former lawyer nods to one of his underlings, who flicks on the battery. Two-Face cackles as the bird screams in agony.
Batman curses, finding the discarded tracker several blocks away from where the bird had initially been taken. It seems he didn't give Two-Face enough credit. Looks like he was going to have to search the old-fashioned way. The Dark Knight presses a button on his gauntlet, calling the Batmobile to his location. Flash and Green Arrow would look after the rest of the Outsiders in his absence.
Red Hood waves off Leslie, who had been retrieved by Flash to assist with injuries. The doctor frowns at him, crossing her arms, but he shakes his head.
"Treat the others first. They're worse off." Red Hood growls, limping over to sit on a piece of debris from the hideout. He glances up, hearing someone approaching. Hood was about to utter another excuse to the doctor, when he freezes, seeing Rook and another teenager in a red hoodie and domino mask. He raises an eyebrow, but Rook seems to ignore the red-clad teenager's presence.
"We have a problem." Rook hisses when he was close enough. Red Hood gestures to the destroyed building around them.
"No shit."
"Did you not get Oracle's message?" The red-clad teen asks. Red Hood shrugs, gesturing to the debris behind him.
"The radio's in there somewhere. Who the hell is Oracle?"
"Robin was taken." Rook cuts in, interrupting the red-clad teenager's response. Hood jumps to his feet, hissing slightly from his sprained ankle.
"What?! By who?" Hood seethes, his hands clenching into fists.
"We think it was Two-Face." The red-clad teenager states, ignoring a death-glare from Rook. "I had a tracker on him, but the signal died not too far from where he was taken. They must have noticed the device and removed it." Hood raises an eyebrow finally recognizing the familiar voice.
"Drake?" Hood asks, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "The hell are you doing here?"
"Yes, just announce it to the world!" The hacker growls, throwing his arms up in frustration. "And I'm here to save your asses, obviously."
"We don't need your help!" Red Hood and Rook shout simultaneously.
"You obviously do! Otherwise Robin wouldn't have been taken!" Red Robin seethes. Hood and Rook flinch, looking away. "Now, get your heads out of your asses so we can find him. Batman is probably already way ahead of us."
"Fine. Just this once." Red Hood mutters, crossing his arms. "For Robin." The hacker nods in agreement.
"For Robin."
It had been a full 24 hours. At least Robin thinks it was 24 hours. It was difficult to tell with all the windows boarded up. He coughs, spluttering water as the thugs straighten his chair from its tilt, and place the bucket of water they had been using on the ground. They remove the cloth from the boy's face, who coughs more, gasping for air. Two-Face tisks, gripping the bird's chin, forcing the boy to look at him.
"I really thought you would break by now. I have to say, your pain tolerance is higher than I anticipated." Robin glares up at the villain defiantly; one eye was still swollen shut from his earlier beatings, but the message was still clear.
"My answer is still the same." The bird rasps, shivering from the cold hair hitting his wet skin. "Go fuck yourself." Robin hisses spitting in the former lawyer's face. Two-Face's eye twitches in annoyance. He takes out a handkerchief, wiping his face in disgust.
"Then I have no more use for you." The former lawyer straightens, nodding to one of his lackeys has he leaves the room. "Get rid of him." The hulking goon follows Two-Face out of the room as the remaining four encircle the bird. One lackey approaches Robin, going to slit the boy's throat.
"You know…You really should secure someone's legs if they primarily fight with kicks. Just a heads up." Robin mutters, waiting until the thug was right in front of him. The bird's leg shoots out, kicking the man in the right kneecap. The man collapses, and Robin headbutts him, knocking him out. The other three men shout in alarm, pulling out their knives. Robin stands up, still tied to the chair, and ducks under a punch from one of the men behind him. The bird spins, slamming the butt of the chair into the man's hip. The goon grunts in pain stumbling back and drops his knife. Another pulls out a gun. Robin rushes the man, kicking the weapon out of his hand. The bird jumps, flips into the air, and lands chair-first onto the second man, sending him to the ground, and breaking the chair from the force. Robin grabs a piece of the broken chair leg and uses it to hit the third thug in the head, knocking him out. The remaining goon rushes at the bird slashing at him with his knife. Robin manages to dodge most of the swipes, only getting nicked in the arm once. The man jabs the knife straight at acrobat, but Robin, knocks his arm away with the chair leg, then kicks him in the groin, followed by a smack to the head with his makeshift weapon. Robin curses, hearing more goons approaching. The bird quickly picks up the gangster's discarded weapons, dropping the wooden chair leg. He stares at the gun for a moment before shrugging and picking it up. The acrobat shoves the weapons into his hoodie pocket before slipping out the back door to the room he cataloged earlier.
He runs into two more thugs on the way out. The first one, he manages to catch from behind. He jumps springing off the wall, then gets the man in a sleeper-hold. The man struggles, managing to punch the acrobat in the head a couple of times, but Robin holds strong. The man collapses shortly after. The second thug, the bird came across close to the exit. Robin runs at the man, zig zagging to avoid the gunfire. The bird tosses one of the knifes into the man's stomach, and another into the man's thigh, taking him down quickly.
Robin finally bursts through the door, taking a gulp of fresh air, starting to tremble from shock from all his injuries. He stiffens, hearing a gun click right next to his head. Robin whips out his only remaining weapon, the gun, and points it at the newcomer. He pauses, seeing a man in orange, silver, and black armor. The man was wearing a mask with the right half black and the left half orange. Robin frowns, his eyebrows knitting in confusion.
"Who are you? You don't seem like one of Two-Face's cronies." Robin mutters. The man merely tilts his head at the bird.
"You may want to lower your weapon. You don't know how to use that."
"Don't try me!" Robin hisses, frowning at his trembling hand. The man sighs, reaching out, and lower's the bird's arm with the gun, taking the weapon from the teen.
"It won't work with the safety on." Robin takes a step back, raising his fists as the man lowers his weapon as well. "I'm not hear to harm you, Dick." Robin's eyes widen, his fists lowering slightly.
"What-" Before he could finish, the man removes his mask, revealing the familiar one-eyed, grey haired man. Robin blinks up at him in confusion, his fists lowering completely.
"Slade?"
"Yes. I've seen great potential in you. I've come to offer you a proposition." Slade states, holstering his gun, and tossing the remaining gun away. "Come with me. I'll train you. You're skilled, but you could be outstanding with some guidance." Robin snorts, rolling his eyes.
"What, and you'll do this all out of the kindness of your heart."
"Of course not. You work for me, become my apprentice, and I'll help you find the man who murdered your parents. It's his doing that you wound up in this situation. If he never showed up that night five years ago, you would still be preforming with your parents. You would be happy." Robin pauses, dropping his gaze to the ground.
"What kind of work?"
"It varies. Nothing you're not ready for, however." The acrobat hesitates, looking up at the man, unsure.
"What would happen to Zucco once we find him?" Slade shrugs casually.
"That is completely up to you. He's your prey. I'm merely offering assistance to locate him."
"Why me?" Robin asks, meeting the mercenary's gaze.
"You don't give yourself enough credit. You're a survivor. A leader. The world needs more people like you. I've been searching for an apprentice for a long time, and none of the candidates even held a candle to you." Robin snorts from the man's words but then exhales shakily.
"Can you guarantee my friends' safety? You'll take care of Two-Face?"
"Consider it done." The acrobat nods slowly as Slade holds a hand out to him.
"Stop!" A third voice suddenly shouts. A dark shadow descends on them, causing the pair to tense. Batman appears on one side of the bird, while Slade remained on the other. Slade glares at the Bat, reaching for one of the swords on his back. "You can't go with him." Batman growls, causing Robin to turn to him, crossing his arm.
"I can do what I damn well please."
"It's a trap. He's not trustworthy." The Dark Knight urges. Robin rolls his eyes, laughing bitterly.
"In case you haven't noticed, Bats, no one is trustworthy in this damn city."
"He's just using you! He's a mercenary hired by the League of Shadows to murder people."
"Everyone uses other people to get what they want. That's just the world we live in." Robin states. "At least he was transparent about that. And you're not offering me any options. All you've done is try to arrest me."
"I'm not going to arrest you."
"Oh? The mighty Batman not upholding the law? Don't tell me you're playing favorites now." The bird sneers, causing the Bat to growl in frustration.
"Please. Just come with me. I can help you."
"Help how? A lot of people have been offering to 'help' me recently. What, are you going to throw me back into the orphanage? Some good that shithole did me!"
"Dick, please!" The Dark Knight urges. Robin's eyes widen at the use of his first name and he drops his crossed arms. "He doesn't care about your friends. He's just manipulating you!"
"And you do care? How would you help them? Throw them in Blackgate to get them off the streets? They're just children!"
"Of course not! The orphanage is being re-made. It can be a safe place for them. You made sure of that. Come with me, and we can see this through, together." Robin gasps, his eyes widening further in recognition.
"B?"
"Please. Just come with me." The acrobat's eyes water as he takes another step back.
"You lied to me! Just like all the others! I was just starting to trust you. You named the new orphanage after my fucking parents! Was that just a ploy? To manipulate me?" The Bat's eyes widen at the bird's distress. "I should have fucking known. You were only being nice to me in order to catch me. There's always strings attached."
"That's not-"
"Then what the fuck was it, B?" Robin demands, his fists clenched at his sides, seething. "What do you want from me?"
"I don't want anything!"
"Everyone wants something." The bird mutters, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "At least he's up-front with that. At least I know that I'm being manipulated. He's going to help me get the bastard who murdered my parents; the one who started all of this."
"I can help you get justice! You shouldn't seek vengeance. It will destroy you in the end." Batman tries, taking a step towards the bird.
"Justice? What good has justice done me? He was only in prison for five years for murder. The same shit with Ray. Justice has failed. It's time to try something different." With that, Robin turns to face Slade, limping towards him. "Let's go." Slade smirks up at Batman and wraps an arm around the boy's shoulders, then they pair disappear into the shadows. The Bat hisses, seeing a black stealth helicopter soar overhead, just barely clearing the buildings. He tries to shoot a tracker at the helicopter, but it was already out of range. The Bat runs a hand over his face, cringing when he hears the crackle of his comm link.
"Sir, were you able to find the Young Master?" Alfred asks over the link.
"Yes, but he's gone." There was a pause.
"Gone, Sir?"
"Deathstroke got to him."
"Then you merely need to rescue him."
"Robin left with him willingly." Batman exhales heavily, calling for the Batmobile with his gauntlet.
"That doesn't sound like him, Sir."
"Robin was just tortured for over 24 hours by Two-Face. I doubt he's thinking logically right now." The Batmobile arrives, and he hops into the driver's seat. "I'm headed back to the cave. Contact GCPD and give them this location. They have some of Two-Face's henchmen to pick up." The Dark Knight cuts the comm link, and heads back to the cave. He wasn't about to give up on the little bird.