Little Bird's Vengeance Chapter 20 A Dirty Job
Tasha stood in the doorway, looking at the teen contemplating the map on the wall. Red Robin was wearing his now-standard mixture of his armed and armoured suit and more normal clothing. His short-sleeved shirt was held in place with the wing harness and small straps, looped around his shoulders rather than round his upper arms due to the much thinner material. Black jeans were matched with the wide belt, and his feet and hands were clad in boots and gloves. The over-all look was a strange mixture of professional; and teenage layabout.
"Red," Tasha said, to catch his attention. He did not stir. "I hear you've been digging into the records of the NYPD. Any particular reason?"
"I don't know enough," he explained, still not looking at her. "Someone has been recruiting small-timers to take out Stark. Who? Where do the people most likely to accept this kind of contract congregate? How could one infiltrate these circles? Back home, in Gotham, I'd know the answers. But not here. I don't have years of experience in manipulating this criminal populace, so I have to go by the records. In the absence of an experienced crimefighter slash superhero, I fall back on the local police. Trying to deduce patterns from the scattered information given isn't the easiest task."
"Would you not have the same data analysis difficulties in your hometown?" Tasha asked. Red seemed to be making excuses; surely the situation wasn't that different from what he was used to.
"We track trends as we go," he answered shortly. "If we need a better idea of the activity in one area or another, we can focus our patrols there. With nothing but police activity to rely on, I can only guess."
Tasha nodded. He was describing the difference between first-hand data, specifically gathered to meet the need at hand, and second-hand information being fitted for a purpose it was not gathered for. "You've been released from medical custody, and Director Fury has given his authorisation if you wish to return to New York," she informed him.
Red turned from his map and blinked. "Okay. Give me ten minutes," he said. "If I leave my files in the computer, can Stark retrieve them for me?" He un-tacked his map and rolled it up.
"Despite what we might wish, yes, Stark can hack pretty much any file," she answered. "And he probably will. In fact, there's a good chance he already has."
"Good, saves me having to move the data," Red muttered. He turned off the computer, drained his coffee cup, and moved past Tasha into the corridor.
She caught up with him halfway to the crew quarters. "You have a plan," she stated.
"Could call it that," he agreed. "More that I'm now able to use a more hands-on approach to obtaining information."
"What approach would that be?" Tasha asked curiously. It would be interesting to compare styles and methods, especially as Red had turned down an official position with SHIELD due to his preference for less permanent ways of dealing with people. She'd been slightly disappointed to get this news; she and Clint had both recommended Fury make the offer when he asked their opinions. As they were both ex-assassins, they really hadn't considered Red's feelings about killing.
"Basically, take on the criminal underside, until they know me, then try an infiltrate when I know where to focus, see what kind of information I can get, and if necessary dismantle the gangs single-handed," he said matter-of-factly. "That's the long term plan. Short term, just get enough of a reputation for my protection to actually mean something."
"If you're known for aggressive action against those who threaten your interests, your interest will be enough protection," Tasha surmised. "Da. Clint and I protect each others' backs like that."
"Exactly that," Red nodded. "It'll take a bit of time to get the necessary reputation, but I know how to make it happen." They reached his room, and he ducked inside to retrieve his bag. The strap hung crookedly across his back, caught on the hub his wings came from, and he was still carrying his rolled-up map. "Hanger?" he asked.
"Hanger," Tasha confirmed.
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"Are you going to give me the scoop on the kid or not? Thought I was your friend, Tony."
Tony surveyed Rhodey for a moment, before deciding to keep mum. "What kid?"
Rhodey raised an eyebrow. "You know what kid. The one who so violently come to your defence last week."
"Oh, that kid," Tony said nonchalantly. "Just someone I met while shopping."
"Tony." Rhodey twisted on the sofa to look more squarely at his friend. "If you don't want to talk about it, at least just say so."
"Fine. I don't want to talk about it. The kid's just a kid. What does it matter?"
"I don't have a problem with you hanging out with your superhero friends- you're sharing your tower with them; I can't very well turn round and start giving you grief over it. But this kid is brutal. He didn't seem to care how much damage he did if it got him what he was after, and he didn't respect the law or the police. If you're protecting him, you're harbouring a disaster in the making." Rhodey was watching Tony carefully, to see and gauge his reaction.
Tony shrugged. "I'll try to remember that, but what makes you say that? Because you don't know him. Never spoken to him. Never even seen him. So, how can you judge him?"
"I can read police reports. Assault, grievous bodily harm, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest. You were there. What did you see?"
Tony thought for a minute. Red Robin had deeply unsettled him. The sweet, smart, controlled teen had turned around and shown a mile-wide streak of viciousness and whipsharp, harsh competency. It had been scary. There was no sense of companionship, no impression that Red saw anything other than impersonal factors to be taken into consideration for that brief period of time. And it had worked. They had gotten out safe (other than that hiccup with the agent) and the would-be assassins were taken out.
"What I saw was someone doing a dirty job, and doing it well," he answered at last. "You say he's brutal; well, those assassins certainly weren't planning a tea party. Maybe you're right; maybe he is too violent. Maybe we're not in a position to judge him."
Rhodey frowned; but apparently chose to keep his own council. "Where is he now?"
Tony shrugged. "Haven't seen him since. Not sure I will." He felt a pang of regret; he would have liked to continue their discussion on paranoia and watchfulness. While the Quinjet had been on route to dropping him off at the Tower before proceeding to the Helicarrier, Red's only comment on the subject had been "ask Natasha Romanov; I dare say she can explain it just as well". And now, there was a fair chance SHIELD wouldn't be letting Red go.
Rhodey hmm'ed. "Not necessarily a bad thing," he mused. "He's not someone I'd want to meet in combat."
"Don't think you could take him?" Tony asked, amused.
Rhodey chuckled. "Oh, with that armour, I sure could take him. But I don't think he'd give me much choice in terms of lethal force, and I doubt it would sit well if I was forced to take him out permanently."
They were silent for a moment. The drone of an approaching Quinjet echoed through the room, and Tony glanced at the landing pad. It was somewhat early for Natasha and Clint to be returning; maybe they'd been given the afternoon off. "Well, if it sets your mind at ease, my superhero ninja assassin friends, more commonly known as Black Widow and Hawkeye, specialize in taking down people like him non-permanently. Not that I think the kid would need it."
"So glad to hear you say that, Tony."
The two twisted round. Red Robin stood in the doorway, his satchel on one hip and a large bit of rolled up paper in his hand. Behind him stood Natasha and Clint themselves, looking slightly bemused at being talked about.
"Red Robin, you're back!" Tony exclaimed. "Hang on, does this mean you're now an agent of SHIELD? Do we now get to know your name, or are you Agent Robin?"
Red stared at him. "Please don't make that joke again. No, I am not an agent of SHIELD. No, you do not now get to know my name. And no, I do not need taking down."
"Your word for it, kid," Rhodey said, standing and walking over to him.
"Colonel James Rhodes, codename War Machine, nickname Rhodey, military liaison to Stark Industries and long-time friend of Tony Stark," Red listed off. Tony felt a brief flicker of surprise, before remembering he'd told the teen most of that himself, and it wouldn't have been too hard for him to get the rest elsewhere.
"That would be me," Rhodey said. "And you?"
"Red Robin. Vigilante crimefighter and associate of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, also known as SHIELD. I'm currently working on taking out the people targeting your friend, so I don't advise interfering." He looked more than a little unimpressed, and completely at ease with being talked down to by an older, much more militant fighter.
"Again, your word for it," Rhodey said, equally unimpressed. "I've seen your work. You're a vicious little guy, aren't you?"
"Believe me, compared to some, it's a real kid gloves approach," Red drawled. "It doesn't matter to me what you want to believe, but I'd rather stay on Tony's good side, which would be difficult if you insist on treating me like a hostile. If all you're going on is one incident, this really wouldn't be very pleasant for either of us. May I suggest you reserve judgement until I have a few more actions to my name? Now, if you don't mind, I have a patrol to plan. Tony, can I borrow one of your offices?"
"Sure, if you want," Tony shrugged. "Need anything, ask Jarvis."
"Thank you. If you'll excuse me?" Without waiting for permission, he left. Clint and Natasha followed moments later.
"Guess he'll be around a bit more," Tony said, smirking slightly. "If you're that suspicious, why don't you hang around and keep an eye on him?"
Rhodey looked back at Tony. "If you're offering to put me up here for a while…"
"Why not? I can see about doing some work on your suit; can't have it failing on you."
Rhodey shrugged. "I'll see about clearing it with my superiors."
"You do that." Tony grinned, leapt up and clasped Rhodey on the shoulder. "You'll love it here."
AN: Hey. Bit late; sorry. So, we have a new guy possibly or possibly not moving into the Tower. I'm not sure I quite got Rhodey right, so this chapter may be revised.
Elsewhere in the land of my fics, Family Ties got another update, and next week Black and Red has a new chapter. So no more LBV for a fortnight or so.
See you then.
Katara