Prison break anyone?
The moment he asked her to follow him, he had misgivings about it. He didn't trust her when she was like this. For that matter, he wouldn't trust anyone who had punched something until they bled, especially in a fight. But she was already out the door, and as he followed, Robin thought that there was no way this could end well. Their communicators were signaling a disturbance at the city jail. Robin felt a jolt of trepidation that had nothing to do with Raven. They only ever got calls when high security prisoners were becoming an issue, and that was never a good sign. Raven beat them all there, but gave Robin a slightly apologetic glance as he pulled up, motorcycle screeching against the pavement. She seemed embarrassed. He gave her a 'we'll talk later' look that he hoped didn't seem harsh. She responded with a brief nod. He couldn't help noticing that she did not extend her consciousness, as she normally did when they were about to enter battle. He guessed that she did not want to let him sense the color of her emotional climate.
Cyborg's car pulled up with a harsh squeal just then, and as they entered the prison together, they were greeted by a panicked guard. He was as grey as the rest of this place, Raven thought grimly. Brick walls, painted a not-quite-white color, extended all the way down the hall, which branched in two directions after the security desk. Their feet echoed on the linoleum floors, especially those of the small, sweaty man with the gun. He greeted them with a lot of gesturing.
"We've got a break-in."
Raven raised an eyebrow, and Robin frowned.
"Break…in?"
Starfire folded her arms across her chest.
"Do humans ordinarily break into prisons? Surely they want to escape, yes?"
Robin was scowling.
"Not if they need something…or someone. Come on."
He led the way through the labyrinthine halls, ignoring inmates who spat at their feet and guards who looked at them sullenly, resentful of the necessity of their interference. As they got closer to the east wing, ominous noises began to echo, shouts bouncing dizzyingly off the walls. Raven felt rather than heard guards being smashed into the concrete floor and winced as she sped up. The rest of the team followed suit so that when they got to the source of the disturbance, it was at a sprint. Cyborg, who had been furthest ahead, ducked as a guard went sailing past them and hit the opposite wall with a nasty crunch. Raven hastily placed one glowing hand against the man's temple to prevent the life from being sucked out of him and looked at Robin for orders.
He had shot his grappling hook into the ceiling the moment he knew what they were looking at and was now suspended over the scene like some strange bird of prey. The guards that were still standing lined the hallway on either side, shooting useless bullets at the stream of robots that had broken through the walls and were throwing people mercilessly around. Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were already fighting them while Raven tended to the injured guards as best she could. Rubble and dust clouded the air, lending a dream-like quality to the scene. He shook his head slightly, puzzled, and Raven sent him a questioning glance as she blasted a robot out of the way. That was what was puzzling him. The robots weren't made well – they were bulky and inelegant, their makeshift weaponry lacking in force and accuracy.
He dropped to the ground beside a guard, who whipped around to face him, gun drawn. He lifted his hands to chest height.
"Woah, hey, here to help."
She lowered her weapon, but her face, high cheek-boned and cold, did not change.
"What can I do for you? We're kind of in the middle of something here."
He frowned slightly.
"Right. Got that. What are they after?"
She shrugged.
"They're trying to get into the high security area. My guess, some guy flew over the cuckoo's nest again. Wants a mass breakout, to destroy the superheroes, gain control over the city, same story."
Robin ran a hand over his forehead, struggling to see from her perspective.
"You've had a lot of these lately, huh?"
He couldn't read her expression, but her body language radiated anger.
"The city gives most of our funding to your fancy gadgets. Bad guys know we don't have a prison they can't get into."
He bit the inside of his lip, feeling guilt bubble up in his chest again.
"Sorry."
She shrugged again, and he pulled a frustrated fist through his hair.
"Look, seriously, I'm trying to fix it, but can you just help me for a second? Can you tell me about any new inmates around here? The non-high security kind?"
Her eyes fixed at a point just over his shoulder, and before he could react, she had fired two shots into the metal arm that had been reaching for him.
"There are a couple on drug possession, some super hacker type, and a thug with a gun in for robbing convenience stores. They're still in holding cells up front."
Robin, heart still beating far too hard in his chest, gripped her shoulder briefly.
"Thanks. You and your guys should probably get out of here."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Just because you do my job better doesn't mean I don't still have to do it."
He shook his head, half in frustration, half in admiration, then took off at a run, pulling out his communicator.
"I don't think this is the main event, team. Starfire, come with me. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, see what you can do about the robots."
He heard their assent in his ear, along with the unmistakable sounds of battle. Starfire caught up with him quickly. Her leggings were ripped and her hair singed, but she was otherwise unhurt.
"Robin, what is going on?"
He winced as the sound of an explosion followed them down the narrow hallway and the floor under his feet shook.
"Those robots are pathetic. Nobody thought they could stage a mass breakout with them. They're after better technology…or someone who can make it."
"So someone is breaking out of jail?"
"My guess is the inmate doesn't have anything to do with it. Somebody wants to recruit him, and it can't be for anything good if they're breaking into a jail to do it."
They rounded a corner and found themselves at the front of the prison again, where the smell of fresh paint was overwhelming and the same panicked guard as before was looking at security footage. Robin grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the wall.
"Who paid you and where are they?"
The man looked at him defiantly, rather like an eight year old who was refusing to admit stealing from a grocery store.
"Nobody had to pay me for anything. But if you're looking for the guy who was after Hugh, you're too late. He's long gone."
Robin swore, but Starfire had hopped over the counter and was looking at the security footage.
"He is lying, Robin. They are in cell 365."
It was the little guard's turn to swear, and Robin recoiled as the man spit in his face.
"Fuck you too."
He dumped the guy on the floor and followed Starfire down the hall. When they burst into the cell, it was to find a weedy looking man in glasses sitting on his cot. There was no sign of another soul.
"Wow, I'm a popular guy today."
Robin ignored this.
"Starfire, go after him. He can't have gone far."
He heard her take to the air behind him. Once she was out of the room, he turned to the hacker, who was apparently called Hugh.
"Why didn't you go with him?"
The guy rolled his eyes.
"I steal money. I care about money. This guy wasn't offering me any. Just gave some pseudo-inspirational speech about cleansing souls and gaining vengeance."
"What did he want?"
"Weaponry. Heavy-duty stuff. He showed me some electric thing he got from another new prisoner. It was advanced fuckery, but he didn't understand it for shit. Wanted me to duplicate the design and add to it. Said it was for the boss."
Robin scowled. This was more complicated than he liked. Complicated meant smart. Smart meant dangerous, and probably ambitious.
"What other prisoner?"
He examined his fingernails.
"Don't suppose you have any money."
"No."
"How come superheroes never carry cash on them? It's like you all are used to everybody just giving you everything."
Robin gave an exaggerated sigh.
"Right. Yeah. We have it so fucking easy with our government money. We just sit up in our tower with our feet up, and don't in any way risk our lives every fucking day. I'm so tired of this shit."
He received a grin in return for his diatribe.
"Dude was looking to collect from all the prisoners. He wasn't the only one either."
"How many were there?"
"I don't know. At least two dudes, plus some chick who was in charge. All of them kept talking about their boss."
"Which prisoners did he contact?"
"I don't know. My guy got his device from the crazy dude down the hall. Kinda old. Looks like a librarian…or like a handyman or something. He's still here, but he was happy to hand over all the tech he had."
The silence that fell was like broken glass, and Robin felt his blood go cold, as if he was back in the warehouse again, watching Raven's blood pool on the floor.
Thanks for reading! R&Rs always helpful. x