Chapter Three: The Hero
"H…Hello?" a deep voice crackled.
"Cyborg… it's Robin, can you hear me?" the hero called into his repaired communicator, sitting in the front of Bruce's Porsche. The billionaire was speeding in the driver's seat beside him, trying to catch up with the signal before they lost it.
"Rob…" static brushed and crackled before it came through more clearly. "Robin! Is that you?!"
"Cyborg do you read me?!" Robin yelled at the top of his lungs. "I can't believe you're alive! We're trying to find you, but your signal is wavering."
"Rob…in…I… have… to… get… under…ground…" his voice crackled, breaking in between every word.
"No don't do that, we'll lose you!"
"We…? The… team… with… you?"
"No," he couldn't hide his disappointment. "I have back up, look just tell me where you are, keep the signal connection."
"I'm on the…run…ight…now, we'll… ave… meet somewhere." he could hear him say through his pants and the static of the communicator.
"Where are you?"
"I think…am…near…Smoak Avenue… downtown ."
"Look for the overly shiny black Porsche on 3rd Street, it's about a block away." Robin replied, clicking around on the GPS to find his position.
"Alright… got… a van… behind me… now… see…" The signal was lost and there was only static singing into the ears to the young hero.
He clicked it off. "Get all that?" he asked Bruce, who swerved dangerously around another car.
He nodded. "We'll be there in ten minutes."
It was silent for a few moments before the boy wonder heard the quiet whispering of breaking news on the radio. He cranked it up.
"…City Hall has issued the city on Full Alert due to the mysterious recent bombing that killed eleven people and injuring thirty-nine..."
Robin clicked to another station.
"Still no sign of any of the Teen Titans who have been missing since Thursday evening, they were last reported to have been in pursuit of suspect of an armed robbery..."
Again he clicked.
"Investigators have been in pursuit of white masked, cloaked figure, that has reportedly identified itself as the Gatherer. There has been a few sightings, but police are wondering if it has any ties with the current bombings and disappearance..."
He clicked again.
"Damn it, Dick, turn it off." Bruce ordered, taking a sharp turn. "They're not telling us anything we don't already know."
"Eleven people." he murmured quietly to himself. They were dead because of him, because he kept his concerns to himself, because he couldn't see it coming. Five years and he had still learned nothing. "What the hell is this?"
"It's the downside of the life you've chosen." Bruce told him. "Like it or not, you have to focus on keeping your head above water and finding the others… I'm betting whatever is out there is trying to draw you out."
"I can't just..."
"You won't be any good to anyone dead, especially your team, there is nothing you can do right now. Dick." Bruce told him.
He felt his fists clench…. there is nothing you can do… the words hit him like a blow to the stomach.
Bruce pulled over to the side of the road when they reached 3rd Street waiting for Cyborg to find them.
…
A cold wind blew through the streets and Starfire drew the large coat around her tighter. It was growing dark and trailing the failing signal was now becoming hopeless.
"The communicator signal was right here." the thief told her. "Now it's completely gone."
She was beyond depressed at this point and could feel her shoulders slump dramatically. Her heart had grown weary of hoping and worrying. "You don't think it's gone because they… that they were…"
"Can't really tell." he replied when she didn't finish. "Whoever had it could have just turned it off or went out of range."
"But, that is unlikely." she spoke her thoughts quietly.
"Aren't you optimistic." he said sarcastically, inclining his head toward her.
His carefree, sarcastic attitude was not something she needed right now, so she only hugged herself and looked away.
"Hey." she heard him say, before feeling him touch her shoulder, making her flinch. She looked up at him, forcing back tears. "It's going to be okay, princess."
Confused by his comfort and unsure how to react to it, she did the one thing she thought was right and backed away.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked him.
"Well, it seems you need a little pep talk." he said with a shrug.
"That's not what I meant… I can understand why you'd save me, but why are you still helping me?" she asked. "All I have been is trouble for you, fighting you every step of the way… there is absolutely nothing you can gain from this and now you're telling me that everything will be alright… why?" she asked.
"Maybe I like trouble." he said, his tone still sarcastic.
"Enough to get yourself killed?" she asked, unsatisfied.
"Enough to help you, how's that?" he asked. "Look, why are you so confused by this?"
"Because you… you're not..."
"Because I'm not the boy wonder or on your team, hell I am not even someone you can trust, I'm just the guy who stole your boyfriend's suit and you just can't figure out why I would risk my life for you, right?"
He grinned at the surprised look on her face.
He nailed it.
"God, I must drive you crazy." he finished.
She frowned about to protest, but instead gasped in surprise. There, standing at the corner was the girl with the french braids as if she had always been there, eyes fixated on the both of them, glowing white like something out of a nightmare.
"Great." the thief whispered as they instinctively drew closer to one another. "Looks like Annabelle found us."
The girl remained still a long while, as they waited anxiously, before her head tilted and she reached out a small pale hand, her shadow stretching long across the pavement. From out of the ground a familiar figure emerged, it's white mask gleaming in the moonlight. Red unblinking eyes
"I am the Gatherer."
"You've got to be kidding me." X muttered in inexplicable agitation.
"I have to come gather." It finished, revealing a scythe beneath its tattered robes, charged with the black electricity from before.
"Run." he told her, the moment the red eyes landed on Starfire. "Fly."
Before either of them could flee, the Gather fazed out and re-manifested in front of the thief, swinging the scythe, the thief leapt back, but the blade grazed his side, digging deep, before the creature vanished once more to dodge Starfire's rapid fire in retaliation. The thief yelled in pain before hitting the ground, holding a hand over his wound. The blow had amazingly pierced through the suit and dug deep into his skin.
Is that even possible? he thought.
The wound flared painfully as if he had been tazed, the dark energy traveling through the surrounding veins into his core painfully.
Starfire's eyes widened in shock and was immediately kneeling by his side.
"I am the Gatherer." the creature appeared again, coming through the walls before them, scythe still in hand, the little girl behind it, her hand clenching tightly, eyes seeming to surge with a power greater than before, and the Gatherer moved forward toward them.
Starfire gasped and quickly tried to lift Red X from the ground to make a quick escape.
He grabbed her wrist sharply."Don't even try it... there is no time, get out of here now." he said, his voice sharp with pain.
She stared at him in disbelief. "No…"
"Look, I'll be fine, they want you… just go!" he told her, his voice dangerously and uncharacteristically echo of Robin that caught her off guard.
"Don't be stupid, Princess." he told her. "Don't be a hero." Her face the last thing he remembered before he fell unconscious
…
Cyborg was in the back of the car in an instant. "Quick!" he exclaimed in relief. Bruce pulled out quickly and took off back to the hotel, while Robin just stared at his team mate in surprise.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Been better, boy it has never been so good to see you… I am nearly out of power and starving." he replied with a smile. "Nice look you got going on there, man."
"Likewise." Robin replied. Cyborg was donning an outfit similar to the one he wore when he first met him.
Cyborg's eyes then turned toward the driver with curiosity.
"Cyborg, Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Cyborg." Robin introduced.
"The Bruce Wayne, of Wayne Enterprises?" Cyborg asked surprised.
"No, the other Bruce Wayne." Bruce spoke up, his eyes focused on the road.
"Have you seen any of the others?" Robin asked eagerly, ignoring his mentor.
The half robot's face fell quickly. "No… after the explosion Raven, Beastboy and I were attacked by that thing, the Gatherer or whatever it called itself, I was separated from the both of them in the fight. Beastboy had been hurt pretty bad. I managed to lose it, but when it touched me it somehow shutdown my system and disconnected all the communicators. I've been trying to fix it since yesterday and the only signal I got was yours and one I couldn't identify."
"Another signal?" Robin asked, exchanging a look with Bruce.
"I thought it must have been an enemy signal… what about you, heard anything from anyone? I thought the worse for you after the explosion."
"I wasn't in the building." he replied guiltily.
"But, I saw you and Starfire go in." Cyborg replied.
"We did, we split up, she went to the second floor and I left to search the docking bay. A few moments after I walked out the door, the whole building went up in flames. It blew me straight into the water, with the storm and the waves… I should have drowned, but luckily a boat was coming in and pulled me aboard. By the time I got to the warehouse everyone was gone, and I could tell I was being hunted." Robin replied, his head bowed in shame.
"Then Starfire…" Cyborg's voice became quiet.
"We don't know anything yet." Bruce interrupted. "So don't even make speculations… as soon as we get back to my place, were going to get to the bottom of this and until then both of you keep your head in the game."
…
Fast as she could manage, she shot through the sky, carrying the unconscious thief in her arms with no way of knowing where the child and her creature would appear next. No where else to go, she located the shelter of a storm cellar near a rundown subway where she was able to lock the doors on the inside. She could only pray that the girl wouldn't find them, she needed to tend to his wound.
There was a single light bulb hanging above that she pulled on with a pitiful click to see packages of supplies and tools and parts for the subway train. She exhaled, laying the thief on the floor against sacks of cement mix and immediately ran in search for any First Aid that she could find.
Robin made the suit impenetrable… he couldn't even destroy it… she thought as she hurriedly looked through the shelves. What kind of weapon could penetrate it? What was more powerful than xenothium.
Something not of this earth. Perhaps not of this universe.
Soon as she was able to find some gauze and ointment, she returned to the side of the wounded man who was breathing only shallowly. The wound was strange, like a burn inflaming his rib cage where it had been bleeding. As if the weapon used had been scalding hot.
She flinched as she inspected it.
She was never much for healing, not like Raven, however she managed to treat his wound and bandage him without having too much trouble. After a little while, his breathing seemed to find a normal rhythm. She could only hope that it would be enough.
As the world settled a little, her gaze then shifted over to his masked face and she studied it for a while… She was utterly tempted to simply reach her hand over and remove it, it would be so easy. All the questions, all the theories over the years, over in an instant. It might be her and the other titans only chance to ever know or find out who he really was. Her mind went to war on the matter for a while. As a titan, it was her job to find out who he was so he could never commit another crime against the city… but really, could she call herself a titan right now? Could she call herself a hero at all? She was now just someone who needed saving… and he was the one who had saved her, putting his life on the line for her.
She pulled her hand, that had been stretching out over his face, back to herself.
No, she owed him… she couldn't do it.
It wouldn't be right.
Who are you? she thought to herself. Not a villain, not a hero… not her friend, not her enemy… a blank slate, a shadow, a silhouette. Still, there was a good person buried under his alias, arrogance and criminal activity. Someone who had more than once saved the day, but chose not to be a hero.
Chose to be alone.
She wondered how he even knew about the Red X suit and knew that it was Robin who possessed it. More than that… she wondered how he managed to be smart enough to steal it.
After a while, she gave up puzzling over him and turned away, deciding that it didn't matter.
She knew he was his only chance.
…
He groaned as he slowly returned to consciousness, quickly becoming concerned as to where he was before he saw Starfire curled up nearby.
She turned over to look at him, relief on her face.
It took him a few moments for everything to come back to him and figure out what had taken place.
"My hero." he managed to say with a weak voice as he began to sit up, feeling the pain in his side.
"I am just returning the favor you have given me." she told him quietly. "You shouldn't force yourself."
"I like that you worry." he said with a smirk, wincing. "However, I remember telling you to get out of dodge."
"It was never established that I had to listen to you." she replied, looking away. "Besides, I'm the hero, I at least have a reason to save you."
"Well, you still owe me twice then, sweetheart." he replied before groaning in pain, clutching his side. "Looks like this suit isn't as indestructible as bird boy made it out to be."
"You really shouldn't force yourself, that burn is serious." she told him, coming to his side and touching his shoulder in order to get him to lay back down. He perked at her attention and reached over to brush a stray hair out of her face, feeling warmth beneath the material of his glove. "I don't think it was ever established that I had to listen to you either."
She felt the blood rush to her cheeks from his touch, glad that the room was dimly lit so he couldn't see. "It seems that the girl knows you are assisting me, and that you are a target as well."
"Yeah… and Casper has no problem penetrating my suit." he agreed, focusing back on his bandaged wound.
"What should we do?" she asked. "How do we fight them?"
"Not a clue… I'll have to sleep on it." he replied as he resettled, sitting up a bit higher with a groan. It grew quiet before he turned to face her. "...So did you take advantage of me while I was out and take a peek?"
"I considered it." she replied honestly. "But, it would have been unfair of me."
"Yeah, well… if I am a target now and this suit does nothing for me, then…"
She looked at him wide eyed when she realized what he was saying. They both met each others gaze for a long time and she realized he was about to trust her with everything. He leaned closer to her and looked her directly in the eyes. "Care to do the honors?"
She stared at him for a full ten seconds in pure disbelief before she, with trembling hands, began to lift up his mask.
Heh?