A/N: I got sick of Slade again, so I'm back on this fic. Actually, I wanted to update some of the more outdated stories to bring them back into the current fold, and I do like this one. I got some great reviews off the first chapter, and I thank all of you who contributed. Hopefully I'll have some return readers, despite the long absence from this story.
In this chapter, Robin might seem a little off-his-rocker, but ever have one of those days where you just feel like punching your hand through the wall - or someone's face? Multiply that times 10 and you'll see how he feels.
Anyway, let's get on with this. Please read and review.
Disclaimer: I only own this story, nothing more, nothing less.
Dark Days
By: Sarah Shima
Chapter 2: Murder for Money
Danny McManohan, the third boss in the family crime syndicate had decided to make a change.
When his grandfather Daffyd arrived in America from Ireland, he moved to Gotham. The city reeked with crime and disuse, and Daffyd liked it that way. Working his way up in a small Irish mob, he learned the all he could, including that it was not run as well as it could. So Daffyd killed the boss, turning it into the McManohan mob, his very own 'family business.'
Under Daffyd's leadership, the syndicate expanded, and enjoyed a lucrative business. By taking control of the docks, the McManohan's forced low wages, and kept their employees in fear of death. As labor laws went into effect and times changed, the mob generally found themselves operating in illegal drug dealing instead.
When Daffyd passed it on to his son, Patrick, the syndicate owned the East Side, and enjoyed free reign and immunity wherever they went. By the time Danny became mob boss, Batman started cleaning up Gotham. The McManohan's were careful to avoid working with some of Gotham's more flamboyant criminals – Joker, the Riddler, etc, since they always seemed to be getting caught by the winged rat.
However, Batman began breaking up the local mobs, destroying their power and getting them jailed. Danny had come close to the Bat on one too many occasions. He always managed to evade capture himself, and easily destroyed evidence of his crimes, putting the blame on various cousins instead. The real insult came when Danny, and his best bodyguards were all taken out by Batman's brat sidekick – Robin. Danny managed to escape before the cops arrived, but he hated that kid ever since.
So, after watching his grandfather's legacy crumble almost completely, Danny made a difficult decision. He and the mobsters moved their syndicate from Gotham City to Jump City. Life was good there for a while, until someone erected a building in the shape of a giant T and that vigilante brat, Robin, started showing up, busting up his drug deals and causing trouble for him all around.
It was time to get rid of that kid. And he would do it in a way that was public, in a way that warned the other vigilantes about crossing him. He was actually looking forward to this. All he needed was for the bird to take the bait, and then he would take him out.
The first few incidents took place the day after the letter arrived. When Starfire realized Robin never left his room to get dinner the night before, she began to worry. Compounded with his absence at breakfast and lunch, the alien became quite concerned. She knocked insistently on his door, requesting to know if he was all right. After too much silence, she began shouting and pounding louder. Finally the door slid open, and an enraged Robin yelled at her to leave him alone and go bother someone else. So Raven spent the rest of the day awkwardly comforting Starfire.
Robin appeared in the Main Room at dinner time and apologized to Starfire. After that, he made a conscious effort to remain in the Main Room. However, Robin was distracted, and lost in his thoughts.
A bank robbery caught the Titans' attention in the evening. As usual, they departed from the Tower immediately to stop the crime in progress.
A half hour before the establishment was to close, a man dressed in typical robbery garb – black clothes and ski mask – had entered with a .45 semi-automatic pistol. When he announced his plans of robbery to the occupants of the bank the customers had screamed in fright, dropping to their knees. The robber ordered the teller to fill bags with all of the money there, and he had complied. The man had his money, and his path out was clear. The only problem was that he needed an insurance policy. So he grabbed one of the customers – a woman with dark hair and blue eyes, and held her at gunpoint.
Just as he stepped out of the door, he fired a single shot into the woman's head, allowing her body to drop. Civilians stood stunned at the sudden murder, and that gave him the distraction he needed to make his getaway.
Or so he thought.
A high tensile line wrapped around the arm holding the stolen cash. On the other end of the line, Robin jerked it from his perch on the ledge of the building next door, pulling the man face-first into the sidewalk. The man leapt to his feet, aiming his gun at the impetuous young vigilante as Robin somersaulted to the ground before him. Robin showed no regard for the danger that could be imposed by a gun, and began savagely attacking the man. Fists and feet flew, and as Robin knocked the man to the pavement, he fumbled with the safety on his gun and opened fire.
Robin dodged the first two, laughing just to incur the man's anger, but the third bullet grazed Robin's arm, releasing quite a bit of blood with it. Starfire screamed from behind him as she approached the scene. Robin ignored the injury and nearly snapped the man's wrist as he wrenched the gun from him.
"You killed that woman!" Robin screamed as he smashed his bo staff into the man's chest. "And for what? For money! Is money worth more than her life! You bastard!" He hit the man with his staff again and again, reducing him to a quivering mass on the pavement. But still Robin would not stop. All of the anger he still held inside about his parent's murder was suddenly being released upon this murdering bank robber.
"Robin! Robin, stop!" Starfire shouted, the crowd around them growing larger. Uncertain as to what to do, Starfire lunged forward and grabbed Robin, one arm around his shoulders, the other holding his right arm against his torso. She felt his body shaking, but with rage or something else she could not discern.
The police raced in to arrest the bank robber, regarding Robin with concern. As they dragged the man away, Robin muscles finally loosened, and his staff clattered to the ground. The other Titans, who had been in the bank and had not realized that Robin found the robber, watched wordlessly as Starfire turned Robin's trembling form to her and enveloped him in her arms. Robin looked at the woman's dead form, her blue eyes open and staring at him. He squeezed his own eyes shut as the memory of his mother's dead expression entered his mind, and pressed himself closer against Star.
After the crowds had dissipated, Robin regained his composure and pulled away from the alien. "Sorry," he muttered, retrieving his bo staff.
"Robin, your arm!" Beast Boy shouted, noticing that crimson blood had trailed all the way down his left arm. He reached out for Robin on impulse, but Robin just shrugged away from his touch.
"It's fine. I'll meet you back at the Tower," he announced, stalking away towards his R-cycle.
His teammates watched him go, dumbstruck and unsure as to what they should do.
Titan's Tower
Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire sat around in the Main Room waiting for Robin to come back. The sky outside had turned dark, rain pouring down. The great windows displayed the city in the distance; just as gloomy as their moods.
"He completely lost it back there," Cyborg said. "I don't get it, what's going on with him anyway."
"Something must have triggered his anger. He's only ever behaved that way twice, and both times involved Slade," Raven pointed out, leaning backwards on the couch and pulling her cape around her.
"Do you think Slade had something to do with this?" Starfire asked fearfully, sitting forward, her hands clasped. Perhaps Robin had been infected with some kind of mind-altering drug again, or maybe he had seen Slade or been reminded of Slade…?
"I don't think so," Raven responded. "I think this was about something different entirely." She remembered the look on Robin's face as he stared at that woman's corpse, and her eyes that still stared out at everyone, even when dead, and shuddered.
"So then what was his problem?" Beast Boy questioned, slamming his hands on his knees in aggravation. "He almost kills some dude, and over what? I mean that lady did get killed, and it was bad, but… Robin's seen worse stuff than that, you know? So why did he lose it tonight?"
"I think these are all questions we're just gonna have to sit on for now, and ask him," Cyborg sighed. " Maybe he's in some sort of trouble or something, who knows? Something has been wrong with him for a few days now, we just don't know what. There ain't much we can do until we talk to Rob ourselves and find out what's going on."
"Yeah well where is he? It's been an hour since he left and he hasn't made it back yet," Raven said, annoyed.
"Hopefully calming down, I hate talking to him when he's flipping out," Beast Boy said. "Maybe when he comes in he'll calmly explain everything and then be calm about being calm."
So the Titans proceeded about their usual activities: Beast Boy and Cyborg playing video games, Raven meditating, and Starfire reading a fashion magazine. However, all remained in the Main Room awaiting Robin's return.
An hour later, the Teen Titans all heard the sound of Robin's motorcycle entering the garage. And it did not take an empath to notice that he was in a bad mood. Tension built up in the Tower even before he made it over the threshold to the living areas.
He wandered into the Main Room, the sleeve of his uniform torn off and wrapped around his wound. He scowled behind the mask as he stared around at them. "Robin!" Starfire announced. The corner of his mouth twitched as he turned his attention to Starfire, remembering what happened earlier – how he had nearly broken down with her standing right there.
"Robin, come sit down, we need to talk," Raven said, switching off Cy and BB's game. For once they did not seem angry about that, just tossed the controllers and turned to face their leader.
"Well sorry Raven, but I'm not in the mood for any 'heart to hearts'," Robin responded angrily.
"We need to know what's been going on with you. Is it something from your past? The anniversary of something unpleasant?" Raven pressed, hoping to at the very least get a rise out of him; at most to receive the answers they were all waiting for.
"Raven, the way I see it, until you feel like opening up to us about yourself and every bad memory you have, I think I'll keep this to myself," he voice sounded calm, but his expression told another story entirely. He turned away from them for a moment, and said, "Anyway, sorry about losing it earlier, there's no excuse for that." With that he deliberately walked past them and into his room.
Once inside the safe confines of his four walls, Robin activated the lock on the door and ripped his mask off. Furious, he needed to release more energy and anger than the two hour long bike ride. Popping in one of his Rammstein CDs, Robin removed his cape and began an angry kata.
The more he practiced, the more violent it became, and before he knew it, he had begun to trash his own room. He ripped what little was on the wall off, broke the desk, and threw his lamp. He broke off from his kata for a moment and focused more on destroying whatever he could. Entering the closet, he yanked his Robin suits out and ended up having them strewn around the room. He kicked his closet door loose and splintered its wooden pieces. He punched the walls and slammed whatever he could get his hands on. He ripped up the loose floorboard under which he hid his Dick Grayson stuff, and yanked the boxes out; scattering their contents across the floor. He finally collided with his CD player, knocking it down and inadvertently stopping the music.
Surprised by the sudden silence, he was left leaning against the wall catching his breath, and surveying the needless damage he had wreaked. He felt small and childish as he surveyed his room. But once again he felt a familiar panic rise in his chest. The need to get out of the Tower overwhelmed him; he felt it suffocating him.
Quickly changing into some 'normal clothes' and reaffixing his mask, Robin exited the Tower through a back emergency exit, intent on running as far away from the Titans as he possibly could.
A/N: A little short, I know, but this story was never meant to be really long. Anyhow, how do you all like the second installment? More crazy Robin in chapter 3. Please review!
Thank you,
Sarah Shima