"Kinda an odd place to park?" Richard asks as his small group enters into the now mostly empty outdoor parking lot belonging to Wayne Enterprises, most of the guests parked in the basement under the building, it was safer.
So far he is the only sober member of the group; that had him eventually warm to them, in a flat sort of way, while he is still on his guard. Kristin however seems to be a little too clingy for his usual tastes, reminds him of Starfire and Kitten and the whole Prom Night debacle. Internally, he is thinking about fronts and about reestablishing himself as the guy he was before he left, in that case, this group of people would serve well. In the parking lot there are four cars parked next to each other, a convertible and three sports cars. The convertible is in a creamy white, while two of the sports cars are in different shades of green and the last one is in a deep blue.
"Easier to get out of and no… annoying people to say you shouldn't." Tony says as he leans on Andre.
"Surely you aren't going to drive like this?" Richard asks carefully.
"Oh, don't call me Shirley!" Steve roars with laughter, getting the girls to laugh along as they get over to the cars, while Kristin pulls Richard over to her convertible before fumbling for the keys.
"Want me to drive?" Richard asks.
"Naaa… I'll do just *hurp* fine." Kristin says as she squeezes one eye shut while trying to hit the keyhole, with a key. The others seem to have similar amounts of difficulties with their keys, with Eva at least having stumbled over to a drain in the middle of the driveway to relieve herself.
While Kristin curses when she realizes she is trying with the wrong key, Richard picks up the roar of another engine, a custom job he guesses by the sound. At first he dismisses it, but it seems to be coming closer to them, Eva even throws a few slurred curses the racket that starts bouncing off the concrete walls lining the parking lot before a seemingly pitch black car races into view, through the only entrance. With wheels screeching, it swings around the corner and begins racing past the vacant spots to the end of the enclosed lot, before making another screeching swing, this time a 180 and races down very close to the lots they are parked in, forcing Eva to jump for her life as the car races past them, swinging around at the bottom of the row to catch them all in its headlights.
"Hey what the fuck's the matter with you?!" Tony shouts as he walks towards the car, obviously furious that his friend was nearly injured.
"Yeah, don't you know who the fuck we are?!" Shasha continues as she follows him.
"Step out so we can mess up your ugly mug!" Alec roars as he beats his chest, Richard rolls his eyes at them, if the driver decided to, the three would be spending several weeks in the hospital, as the least. But for some reason he still follows when Kristin pulls on his sleeve.
The driver however seems to be insisting on provoking the group, by continuously flashing the lights in their faces while gunning the engine. Richard has a strange feeling about it all just before the car starts moving, accelerating quickly it starts burning rubber by spinning around the group while keeping them in its front lights, the action is enough to quell the men and have the group huddle together in a small clump. The car revolves around them several times, coming closer and closer each time, Kristin clings onto Richard for dear life . The girls startle when the car honks at them before speeding past them, getting most of them to fall over. The car swings around for one final time, parking it neatly next to the other cars.
Richard is quickly back on his feet as he had been pulled down by Kristin and runs over to the car and pulls open the door to the passenger seat.
"What the hell is your pro… Rae?!" Richard almost shouts the last part in confusion before recognizing the person inside, wearing a pair of skintight pair of jeans and a black leather jacket.
"Better get in Richard, unless you want to spend the rest of the night with Killer Moths daughter and Roland Daggets spoiled son?"
"Kitten?… Kristin?!" Richard almost shouts before looking out behind him spotting the others getting up before turning back to Raven.
"Hence the Arkham Brigade. So what's it gonna be?" Raven asks gunning the engine for emphasis. Richard casts one look over his shoulder again, before jumping in and slams the door shut, Raven smirks before she races out of the parking lot leaving the group behind.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asks as he fastens his seat belt. "And how the hell did she get into Bruce's fundraiser?"
"Kristin 'Kitten' van Cleer, seems to have at least one happy memory of the father she practically abandoned at the age of 18; a very sizeable trust fund. One she continues to squander away on self-indulgence. Ever since serving her juvie-sentence for the events in Jump City, she has remained on the right side, most just figure it was her father's bad influence, so Bruce hasn't got a good reason to throw her out. Same with André, while Roland may be bankrupt, his son keeps on living as if money is endless to him. And how would Richard Grayson react to the knowledge, since it's been almost a decade since Moth has been seen in Gotham? Trust me, I have read up on your cover." She says.
"I… Er…" Richard says before thinking, he would actually have been trapped, since Robin knew Kitten and Moth, Richard however had never heard of either or forgotten them. So if he didn't know them, he couldn't just shrug her off in public. Since in his old days never turned down a party, even been to a few of the Penguins. "Well, thanks." He sighs. "Guess that must have been a load of laughs for you?"
"It was, especially since you didn't recognize her." Raven replies.
"You know that last stunt was reckless?" He continues.
"People claim I am a good driver, and they be the street racers I once had to infiltrate. But yeah, maybe I shouldn't do that when people are drunk, but Eva did ruin my dress." She grumbles the last part. "Cow tripped me when I was leaving you at the buffet."
"Ok, now I am surprised you didn't just come back and beat her up?" Richard says. "Where are we going by the way?" He continues, noting they are heading downtown, and not out towards the Palisades where Wayne Manor is.
"Promised Bruce that I would be nice, and it would be a new low for me if I had to go into a fist fight inside a ballroom." Raven replies as they make a turn down a street. "Well, Bruce said I should go home and change then come save you from Kitten. After that we are free to go, and I know a band is in town that I am dying to see live. Want to tag along?" She asks, throwing him a quick glance.
"Er, sure? Since I'm here?" Richard says nervously, not knowing what to expect from Raven this time. "Aren't I a bit underdressed for this? Assuming I am guessing correctly at the kind of music?"
"Na, unless you are attached to it? So how much have you been poking around my room since I was away?" She asks.
"I haven't." Richard replies while crossing his arms over his chest and looks out the window, knowing he was giving away the truth.
"Ah, denial. Well, I guess you saw enough in the box, since you left the magazines in the bottom. And Malchior in the sun." Richard sighs at this looking into his lap. "That bad?"
"Well, it started with that sucker punch of a letter I left behind, the newspaper clippings reminded me of what I was doing when I first started. But the real blow came with the team photo. When you aired the idea I got really hooked on it, you know? Like passing the torch. But then everything went south. And now there was this picture of a team with a name I once used, with my old friends and my own kid brother on it. And I just felt like I should have been there, out of any other teams that may follow, I should have been there to pass the torch on to that one. It may be my ego talking, but it really felt like it was my team back in Jump. And now there's a similar team on the field, and I have nothing to do with it." He explains.
"Well, most of us would have loved you being there as well. And I think we can manage to get you into the rotation, unless Victor still wants to murder you?"
"I am not sure if I should, this team has been mentored by you and the others for two years now, and I think it might be too late to wheel me into it now." Richard sighs. "And I am not sure I could resist falling into the leader role again."
"It's natural to you, but I have to agree, a team has to have a single clear leader, and that's Tim. But Cyborg has found out that they won't follow you in the field unless they agree to be led by you before you leave the tower. We are advisors to them Richard, in the field we follow their lead and pull their butts out of the fire if needed. But anything else is left till we get home and even there we have the burden of proof and explanation."
"Well Vic has cameras. And you have that memory of yours." Richard counters.
"True, but they have thick skulls and considerable ego's." Raven shrugs as they head down a smaller road Richard is unfamiliar with. "Besides, I am sure you can teach them something useful, like how to be obsessive." He chuckles at this.
"No, I think that is best no one obsesses over the stuff I have, it's unhealthy."
"Actually some of those files you left behind were scary reading." Raven notes, getting him to look at her for clarification. "There were some of them where we busted some ordinaries people like Control Freak and you added small notes about the possibilities of Slade being involved."
"Ah, those. Yeah it was like that, looking back now it was silly; all it took was some kind of double layer of material that reminded me of his mask. But back then he really could have made those kinds of trails for me."
"He could yes, but it was still scary to note many times you made these observations. Even once where you found two pieces of paper in different shades of gray in some thugs pocket." Raven continues.
"Guess you'd have me see a shrink if it had gotten worse?"
"Vic joked he had Arkham on speed dial for you once." Raven smirks.
"Good to have friends." Richard mumbles as the buildings around them gradually take on a more industrialized appearance before Raven swings into a crammed parking lot.
"And here we are." She says as she kills the engine after finding a vacant lot. "Welcome to the Ironworks, Gotham's premier underground music venue." She introduces before they get out.
"It's a dingy warehouse?" Richard asks, playing dumb while looking at the building he can see a small group of people loitering around the front, laughing and smoking by the looks of it. While the entrance has a graffiti tag as the sign while light streams out of the doorway.
"Whole area here is pretty much abandoned, and till new neighbors move in, the Ironworks won't have to sound-proof its walls."
"I take it the actual owners know nothing about this?" Richard asks as they begin making their way over.
"They do, building was bought and paid for by a large group of people who wanted a place for themselves and not be dictated by anyone or anything. You haven't been here before?" Raven asks as she stuffs her hands into her pockets.
"No? Ain't this a newly opened place?"
"Five years running, guess it must have fallen below your radar. The ones who run it just prefer it the way it looks now."
"Well I guess I won't be recognized by a bunch of journalists here?" He asks.
"Well, not the ones from the big name gossip magazines since they rarely come down here, but they might take notice if one of the smaller prints notices you." Raven replies as they get closer to the group of young men at the front. "Personality change." Raven whispers to him before turning her attion to the group. "Hey guys, what's up?!"
One of the guys, a big blonde with shoulder length hair and a short beard, wearing a black band T-shirt of some sort and army green pants almost ends up pouring his beer into his face as he is interrupted by her. "RACH! Thought you'd miss it!" He bellows before slapping her on the shoulder before noticing Richard. "Who's the suit? And why's he dressed up like that?"
"Thomas, this is the freshly returned Richard Grayson whom I have just saved from a night of supporting Kristin van Cleer and her posse, who latched onto him during the fundraiser over at Wayne Tower." Raven says as the two shake hands, Richard looks more baffled than anything.
"Lucky man, that bunch is a group of parasites from what I hear. Give them a chance and you will be paying their drinks for weeks before getting shunned. Anyways, call me Tom and welcome to my little establishment." The man says.
"Dick. You started this place?"
"Yup along with some buds of mine of course, but here we are, loud and proud." Tom replies. "Well, most of the time, had the period a year ago where we almost had to shut down, some guy called Smiling Tommy decided to make some of us 'smile' some more, if you get what I mean?"
"A Joker copycat?" Richard asks.
"Yeah, we found out later he frequented here and followed those who he deemed 'posers' when they left. The bat chick got the drop on him fortunately. Unfortunately, for him, he got moved to Arkham before it burned down, where Joker made him smile. Lost five of the regulars though." He sighs. "But I know they'd want us to rock on."
"Good thing too, Gotham would be boring without you." Raven adds. "So when are they starting?"
Tom replies after consulting his watch. "Few moments, got time to get yourself a beer."
"Thanks, think we will. Coming Dick?" Raven asks before heading inside, Richard nods at Tom before following. Raven deposits her jacket in the back of the unmanned wardrobe, revealing her to be wearing a black tank top and long leather wrist bands.
"I take it you are covering something." Richard asks quietly, tapping her arm once with a finger.
"Can't hide them in my usual fashion." Raven replies quietly before they walk into the dimly lit main area of the venue.
Immediately to their left is the bar area, where a guy and a girl is busy handing drinks, mostly beer, over the counter, Richard quickly notes the wall where the door is plastered with photos. To the far left, they can see a group of tables, long since filled, looking mostly to be stuff collected from a junkyard. The greatest part of the building however is taking up by the central floor, currently crowded with people. Mostly men of different ages, but there are also a small number of women. All of them dressed in band shirts, or otherwise dark clothing of the style Raven is also sporting and many of them with long hair. The stage at the back looks out of place however, in the center is what appears to be the bow of a Viking ship, complete with a wooden dragon head on top and a few round shields off to either side of the stage.
"Hey Alex!" Raven waves at the bar, the girl looks up in surprise and moves over to them.
"Shit Rach, you brought a guy along tonight? Hey what's with the hair?" She asks.
"He's Richard Grayson and I just pulled him out of the Wayne Foundation Ball, where I also had to go." Raven replies.
"Uh hello?" Richard says as the girl nods at him. "You sounded surprised?"
"That's only because the only other person she's ever brought along was a raven-headed bombshell that almost got herself stabbed by Tommy, scared her off sadly. Hold on." Alex says before she is drawn away by a customer.
"Guess who." Raven says as she picks a particular photo off the wall and hands it to Richard.
"You're kidding me." Richard says as he looks at the portrait picture, immediately recognizing Diana behind the make-up and wild hair. She's been painted like Silver Banshee, mimicking the skull design of the villainess. Diana's face expresses surprise on the picture as she is drinking some kind of drink through a straw that's in the corner of her mouth while her pupils have turned to tiny black spots from the flash.
"Nope, I'll tell you about it later." Raven says as Alex returns and waves the photo over, taking a look at it before pinning it on the wall again.
"You should have seen the rest of her." She says with a smirk. "Beers?" She asks, getting a nod and two fingers from Raven and dives under the bar desk and pulls out two from a fridge hidden from sight. "Here you go, enjoy the show."
"Ohh, you can be a poet yet." Raven says while receiving the two beers after putting the money on the counter while Alex pulls a face.
"In your dreams Rach, and my nightmares." She replies before smirking and returns to her customers while Raven turns to Richard and hands him one.
"Well, cheers and welcome back." Raven says before downing a part of her hers, Richard follows a moment after.
"Thanks Rae, good to be back." Richard replies as five, mostly shirtless men walk up onto the stage, with the one with a large beard grabbing the microphone.
"GOOD EVENNG GOTHAM!" The man roars, getting a roar from the crowd.
"I am going to get closer." Raven quickly says to Richard, getting a nod from him before she pushes her way into the crowd, leaving him at the bar.
"Well, this will be interesting." Richard muses to himself, taking another sip of his beverage as the music begins without further introduction.
Three hours later, Wayne Manor driveway.
"Well my ears are still ringing." Richard complains again, still smiling. "But it really was an experience."
"Good, the ringing will be gone by tomorrow afternoon." Raven replies while smiling, still running high on adrenaline. "Unlike what Punk Rocket got." She adds as an afterthought.
Two hours into the concert, right after a song, the front man of the band had been forced to dive aside from a sonic blast, fired by Punk Rocket that was standing in a window near the ceiling at the opposite end of the hall. The usual rant from the guy had commenced shortly afterwards, along with the threat of playing 'real' music. Just as the guy was about to strike his guitar, someone had planted an empty beer bottle on his left knee, causing him to first drop to the floor at least two and a half meters below him, then getting swarmed by a group of less than pleased fans before getting thrown out into the parking lot. Alex had the misfortune of having to tell the police about it, missing out on the last part of the concert that continued after Rocket got picked up by an ambulance. Nothing was damaged that wouldn't heal, in time. No one was arrested for the beating Rocket got, police cited it was self defense against an above average felon and that no one knew exactly who threw punches or bottles.
"Thought that this would have been his kind of music." Richard shrugs.
"Obviously not. Well maybe he will think twice about interrupting another concert." Raven replies as they head down the garage.
"I have to ask, was the bottle yours?"
"Nope, but I did spot a few others about to throw theirs as well. You?" She asks.
"Nope." Richard replies. "So why was Diana in war-paint?"
"To bait out Tommy, Bruce wanted both her and me to frequent those kinds of haunts, for safety reasons we went in pairs. Tommy had stabbed two standing in a crowd by the time we were sent in. We were undercover like that for a week before he tried stabbing Diana in an alleyway, promptly getting the stupid beat out of him before I arrived."
"How'd she take to that kind of nightlife?" Richard continues as she parks.
"She thought it was a lot of fun actually." Raven says as they get out. "Because of the makeup, no one recognized her. The anonymity is something she does enjoy having from time to time, so she feels like a part of the society we protect instead of being above it. Also it gave her a chance to see men act like most Amazons think all men act."
"Which is how?"
"Like drunken lunatics." Raven replies with a smile. "But it did amuse her."
"And you got to socialize I guess?" Richard says as they make it up to the garage door.
"Well yes, but I wasn't out of work mode."
"Unlike tonight." Richard notes, remembering spotting her wind milling her head around at a furious rate at one point.
"True, but I was allowed to. I hope that's not a problem for you?" Raven says as they walk through the kitchen.
"No, of course not. Actually I am relieved you were enjoying yourself. During my journey, I did fear from time to time you would turn into the Bruce I once knew, all work, no fun or worse." He says as they begin to head up the stairs.
"Like I said, Timid's time as the generally dominant emotion is over, hopefully not coming back anytime soon." She says as they reach the corridor leading down to Richard room. "Anyways, it was nice with some company tonight, good night Richard."
"Night Rae." Richard says before he heads down to his room, as Raven walks down to hers.
"So when did you two get back?" Bruce asks over breakfast, this morning being held inside due to the downpour outside accompanying the distant thunder.
"Two, I'd say, didn't check the time." Raven replies while sipping her morning tea. "You went on patrol?"
"A short round, nothing exceptional." Bruce replies.
"A pity." Diana shrugs. "Heard you had visitors?"
"Punk Rocket thought it was a good idea to antagonize a crowd of extreme metal fans." Richard shrugs. "Anything new on him?"
"Predicted to stay in a hospital bed for at least two months before he can be charged with assaulting the lead singer." Bruce shrugs with indifference. "Thankfully the police didn't add either of you on their list of suspects."
"Didn't have anything to do with it." Raven shrugs, getting a small smirk out of Bruce.
"But we did get to see a photo of Diana with makeup." Richard adds, getting a smile out of the Princess.
"The flash blinded me and the photographer was gone when I could see again." She says. "But someone here did take a few before we headed out each evening." She continues, fixing Tim with a friendly stare.
"Goth Wonder Woman, had to be archived." Tim replies smirking at the thought. "And I did ask."
"After I told you to." Bruce adds, still refusing to raise his eyes from his food.
"It was 'interesting' selections, to say the least." Alfred adds.
"My mother would have fainted if she had seen it." Diana continues.
"She has her pool, so she might have." Raven counters. "But I guess only you would know if she has criticized your choice of 'man's world' clothing."
"True. But she knows me well enough not to bother. Anyways, my shift a monitor duty begins in a few hours, I need to get going. I will see you all later." Diana says as she gets up and leaves the kitchen to few farewell's.
"Just so you know, I need you both to look after the city this weekend." Bruce says after a comfortable minute of silence. "There's a business conference in New York I have to attend to. And Tim has that school field trip starting the same weekend."
"To San Francisco of all places." Tim grumbles, having already worried about encountering one of the Titans while in civilian and knowing the memorial park was on the tour program.
"We got it covered." Raven replies flatly. "Right Richard?"
"Of course."
"I guess I am fortunate Diana only resorted to cursing my name yesterday." Richard says as he and Raven are going through their morning workouts, which still seems odd to Richard as he is straining with the barbell while Raven was pushing three times the weight without strain, but then again she did need to go to the League to get a proper workout.
"She would have been all over you three months after it happened, after that everyone who knew began calming down around the subject." Raven says while she Is doing a handstand before going into a complex gymnastics routine on the horse, ending it in a back spin that has her land on her feet.
"Nice moves."
"Thanks, thought I would never get the hang of that thing when I first tried, remember?" She says.
"That you showed a brief spark of over confidence and did a handstand right over it? How could we forget?" He replies with a smirk, it had been one of the first group workouts the Titans had done together and Cyborg, the athlete, had said it was easy. The ensuring thundercloud over Raven's head was almost visible as Cyborg and Beastboy laughed as she left the room.
"And that was so long ago now." Raven sighs. "Who'd have thought we get this far?"
"Yeah pretty amazing we managed it all." Richard agrees. "But we have had good teachers."
"That we have." Raven nods before she takes a swing of her water. "Oh and just so you don't forget, I still risk getting called away to Themyscira."
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten, Amazon." Richard adds with a smirk.
The rest of the week passes slowly, with nothing overly worrying happening in the city and the world surrounding it. Letting Richard have the time to return and visit Hayley's Circus, where he used to live and work before his parents passed away, taking Raven with him. The visit was very emotional to Richard, though he wouldn't show it, as he met many of his old colleagues. Raven had to endure a prank on his part as he had managed to drop a few peanuts into her back pocket before leading her over to see Charlie, the biggest of the circus' three elephants, who immediately began searching her for the treats, much to Richards's amusement and Raven's dread as the six ton animal advanced on her. For him it was worth it, even if it earned him a slap on the back of the head. At night that next day, since the visit had dragged out to include watching the evening performance, Richard found his pillows covered in dog hair.
Early Saturday Evening
"I am heading out." Nightwing announces as he pops his head into the kitchen, while Raven is busy enjoying her sandwich, while Alfred is dusting off a room somewhere.
"Already?" Raven asks as she looks up.
"Yup, in time to get some of the early dealers." He says.
"Ok, I will be heading out in an hour or two, Bruce asked me to run inventory on a number of things."
"Well, till we meet out there." He says, getting a nod from her before he heads out.
"Is everything all right down there Miss Raven?" Alfred asks over the computer as Raven is typing in the stuff they are growing short on, grumbling a little as she is into the third hour running, but it was her own fault for not doing it earlier.
"Fine, we are just growing short on a lot of stuff, placing the orders now." Raven replies as she has changed into her costume, but has left the mask off.
"Very well." Alfred says before turning off. Leaving her to place the orders, but she is distracted by an incoming transmission, making a small light blink. "Better not be another Bart-prank." She mutters as she pulls up her cowl before receiving the transmission that starts with a toot like someone was blowing into an imaginary trumpet.
Do-det-do-dee. "Greetings oh silent one!" Raven's eyes go wide at the Jokers voice. "Or is that you Batsy?" She forces herself to keep quiet, it had been too much to ask that the Harlequin of Hate had burnt down with Arkham. "Ah, it's you 'Batgurl', isn't it? I can hear you breathing!" Considering she has to activate the microphone to speak, she doubts he can. "Anywho me and some of the boys have been meaning to give you a proper welcome to this charming city of ours, but between all of our busy schedules and occasional homicidal rampages, we have been unable to pick a certain date to make you a cake. But tonight the cake came to us. Go on sonny, let her know." There is silence and a growing sense of dread in Raven as the fizzle of electricity is heard followed by a scream.
"Nrg… don't come… too many…" All emotions flee her as Richard groans again before she begins tracing the call.
"Now you know I have my favorite Robin, now all you have to do is come find us at….say where are we? Oh well, guess you will just have to find out. Be seeing ya HAHAHAHAHAH!" Raven simply kills the signal after realizing he was using Nightwings transmitter.
"Alfred, the Joker is back, he's got Nightwing." She says after opening the link to the computer Alfred was at earlier. "I am going out, I know where he is."
"Do be careful miss, I will alert the Master." Alfred replies before Raven rushes down to the car park and jumps onto her bike, favoring it over the bulky tank, that would be ill suited for the area she was heading into, the warehouse district near the Ironworks. The Joker is the only one Bruce insisted on being notified about when he was out of town and she knows that he will head back with all haste when he hears about it.
Throwing caution to the wind, driving faster than she usually does, she blasts down the streets of Gotham in an effort to get there as fast as possible. Arriving in the district some twenty minutes later, where she dismounts and scales the walls of a building before making her way across the dark attics as silently as possible, letting herself be guided by Nightwings signal before the infrared scanner begins picking up a large group of people. Silently she creeps over to peek over a dismantled door that serves as a very short railing between two support columns, spotting a group of ten gruff looking men standing around Nightwing who sits slumped on a chair between them tied to it with rope, while they loudly joke and chat amongst themselves. The ten wouldn't be a problem for either of them Raven knows, but she is looking for Gotham's most infamous madman, he is the one she has to locate. It brings up a scary thought that he is not here at all and has the place rigged to blow when she appears. Scanning the area she can't see beyond the cone of light the men are in, she has a hard time seeing anything due to a busted pipe that leaks steam into the air from the other side of the light.
"BOO!" Raven is caught completely off guard as something heavy crashes into her skull, making her tumble forwards, proving the door to be rotted through as she falls through it to land on her back on the ground below. As her eyes blur and go dark, she is certain she spots and red and black shape with an oversized mallet in her hands while the men close in around her.
Author's Note's: Sorry for the wait, things have been a little busy at this end. And things will now get worse here :)