This is the first Teen Titans fanfiction I would ever post, so please be nice! But constructive criticism is appreciated. No beta, my friends don't like DCU as much as I do. :(
I'm madly obsessed with the "going out in civilian-ego" trope. I've already read all the good fanfiction and IT ISN'T ENOUGH! This is my way of saying "if I can't find 'em, I'll make 'em".
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or DC... I wish I did though.
Every once in a while, Robin would stop being Robin, the Boy Wonder, the former partner of Batman, and the leader of the Teen Titans, so that he could walk around the streets of Jump City as Richard Grayson. The Titans didn't know about that, of course.
And today was one of those days. Unlike Robin with his hair spiked up with gel 24/7, Dick had his hair down. In place of his Robin costume, he had on a black polo shirt, hidden by an oversized, gray hoodie and black jeans, and he had sneakers on instead. He was wearing some stylish sunglasses, hiding his baby blues almost as much as the mask did.
He was on his way to withdraw money at Jump City's Central Bank. While he and Bruce were not in contact right now due to their fallout, the man would still send cash once a month to keep him alive and help fund the Titan tower. It was something he was both frustrated and grateful for, but no one needed to know about that.
The trip was to be quick and easy, just as it always had been.
But things never go his way. As if the universe decided to hate him today of all days, a massive hole was created and the Hive Five was there to rob the bank. He sighed inwardly but did not take action. He went down on his knees and lowered his head to avoid eye contact with them.
He was Richard "Dick" Grayson right now, not Robin. He couldn't take them on without causing a scene and revealing his alternative identity. That was why he was trusting his friends that they would get there as soon as possible and stop the Hive.
"Alright, you low-lives, put all of your valuables on the floor and we might spare you," Gizmo said, holding out a laser gun and pointing it in any direction he wanted. Meanwhile, Mammoth and Billy were already breaking through the giant vault in the bank.
Once again, Dick sighed internally as he resisted the urge to say a remark at the small villain's insufferable voice. He watched the rest of the civilians follow Gizmo's orders, but Dick stayed firm and didn't do what Gizmo said, which he quickly noticed and sneered.
"Didn't you hear what I said, stink-brain?" He said walking closer to the boy. Dick narrowed his eyes, from behind his sunglasses, at the inventor. He silently hoped that his team would get here sooner. He didn't want to get his hands dirty.
"I don't have anything on me," he lied smoothly. He had his credit card and phone on him, but there was no way he'd ever give it to the guy.
Gizmo's sneer grew wider as he held a fistful of Dick's hoodie and looked him straight in the inventor's eyes. "You know, it's been a while since a civilian was brave enough to stand up against me," he drawled out. He raised his fist and got ready. "And like last time, they regretted doing that. I'll make sure you get the same feeling."
Dick closed his eyes shut, ready for Gizmo's fist to collide with his face. Fortunately, that's when the Titans decided to show up. He heard Cyborg shout orders to the team and they followed suit. Gizmo let go of him, pushing him with enough force that he lost his balance and fell on his back. It took him less than a second to stand back up and he saw his team fighting off the Hive.
He took it upon himself to help the rest of the civilians. He began to walk around discretely and escort the few innocents that did not know how to get out.
As the last victim thanked him and left the bank, four duplicate-arms captured him before he could get out himself. Then Gizmo shouted,
"Move and the freak-brat gets it!" Gizmo had the laser gun pointed at his chest and he froze in his place.
Years of training told him that he could dodge any of the shots and shove the gun away from him, but he wasn't Robin right now. He was Dick. He was supposed to act like his alter-ego, and in this case, an innocent, cowardly civilian.
The Titans stopped moving as well, watching with bated breaths as Billy Numerous moved Dick closer to the others. His eyes twitched in annoyance. As if the attack wasn't enough, he was being held as a hostage now, too. This is great, absolutely fantastic.
His eyes landed on the great Goliath beside him. Mammoth seemed to notice that eyes were on him, and he snarled. "What? Do you want me to crack your skull open?" he threatened, a fist smacking to his open hand and making a sound.
The threat did not scare him by any means. He knew that the Hive was all bark and no bite so long as it wasn't the Titans they were threatening. He drifted his gaze away from Mammoth when he heard Starfire speak.
"You unhand him at once! It is us who you wish to battle," her eyes were glowing green and his heart skipped a beat. He furrowed his eyebrows as he fought the redness that was soon overtaking his face. But to the others, it looked like he was uncomfortable in his situation.
"No way, Jose!" one of the Billy Numerous holding Dick yelled out, tightening his hold on the secret hero. Then he added with a bit of thought, "Maybe if you let us get away with the money, then we might."
Both sides were waiting for the other to strike as the rebuttals continue. Dick didn't like where this was going and the gears started to turn in his head as he came up with a plan.
"And where's your creepy leader anyway? Did he finally quit or something?"
"That's none of ya' business, is it?" Beast Boy yelled. In truth, the Titans do not know where their leader was. Robin only told them that he was going to take care of something and left. They had hoped that he noticed the crime taking place in the city the moment the alarm went off, but it seemed he was nowhere in sight.
No one knew the truth but Raven, of course. The mental bond they shared makes it hard for Raven not to know who or where the boy behind the mask was. The moment she saw Dick inside the area, she realized that it was him and that he was acting like a hopeless victim to keep his alter-ego a secret. She hadn't said anything to not make things more difficult for him.
After a couple more minutes of the heroes and villains bantering, that's when Dick took his plan into action. "Titans!" he cried out, a tone of desperation in his voice, capturing both the heroes' and the villains' attention. "Don't worry about me- I'll be fine, please beat them up!"
None of the villains had taken that lightly. Gizmo pulled a fistful of his hair. The action stung a bit, but he made sure not to show the tension on his face. He had had injuries far worse than this, it was fine.
"Quiet, you!" Gizmo shouted, pulling harder.
Three out of four of the Titans were about to tell the young inventor to stop, but Raven cut them off, "Let's get the Hive. Don't worry about the civilian, I'll take care of him." She didn't turn to face them, keeping her eyes only on Dick. He knew that she knew, and he gave her a small nod.
The rest looked at her in confusion, but they agreed quickly and had finally gone for the attack. The fight between the heroes and the villains continued. The Billies that were still holding on to Dick began to run away with him. He didn't put up much of a fight with them until they were several feet away from the rest and out of sight.
When he couldn't see his friends and the other Hive members anymore, he did a backflip to free himself from both the clones' grip, surprising the two Billies. He started running in the opposite direction and they followed him. When he reached a dark alley, Dick took off his hoodie to blend in with the shadows. The duplicates soon arrived and look around. They spotted the clothing on the ground but were uncertain of where to go when they lost him.
One Billy smacked the other on the head, "Great job, Billy! We lost him."
"Hey! It ain't my fault!"
"Is too!"
The clones continued to argue with each other, and Dick stayed silent as he watched them carefully. Just then, a dark, magical fist grabbed both Billies and they screamed in shock. A warp appeared in the ground and the duplicates were gone.
Dick took a few seconds to make sure that they were gone. When he was sure, he jumped down from where he hid. He took off his sunglasses to wipe them and dusted himself off. He could feel a pair of eyes staring at him, and he said without turning, "Raven."
Silence greeted him for a moment before a figure stepped out of the shadows. He wore the lenses once again and turned to face her. Raven watched him with calculated eyes.
"Robin-"
"Dick."
Raven sent him a bewildered look, so he explained quickly, "I'm not wearing my mask right now, just these sunglasses. Outside the mask, I'm Dick."
She nodded in understanding. No words were needed for both of them. They already knew what the other was thinking. They walked back to the bank in comfortable silence.
When they got back, police cars were already there to send the Hive back to jail. Cyborg was the one debriefing the police about the situation, while Beast Boy and Starfire were behind him, waiting patiently.
The first to notice their return was Beast Boy, who practically yelled Raven's name when he saw her. He then turned to Dick, and from the looks of it, was awkwardly trying to figure out what to say to him.
Dick saved him from the awkwardness by offering him a hand. "Hi, I'm Richard, but you can call me Dick," he said with a smile. Beast Boy took his hand and shook it, a grin forming on his face.
"Dude, what you did back there was a very risky, y'know?" Cyborg said to Dick as he and Starfire walked toward the other three.
Dick shrugged, the smile unwavering. "I don't really know how risky "risky" is. It's part of living in Gotham," he answered with a playful tone.
Beast Boy's eyes practically grew. "No way! You're from Gotham?" he said in excitement before mumbling to Cyborg, "No wonder he's wearing sunglasses. I'm pretty sure Gothamites are vampires in disguise."
Dick couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity in Beast Boy's comment, which made the green teen yelp out an "Oh, you heard that!?" before Cyborg clamped a hand on Beast Boy's mouth before he could say anything else, chuckling a bit.
Starfire walked closer to Dick and his laughing stopped. He tried not to squirm at how close she was. "Are you the alright? You have been taken by Billy Numerous just a few moments earlier," she inquired with worry.
Dick scratched the back of his neck just so that his arm could do something and not look awkward. "Oh. Yeah, um, Raven saved me before anything bad could happen. I'm fine," he said.
Her shoulders relaxed and she sighed in relief. The frown on her face quickly replaced with a smile. "Glorious! That is good to know."
Before anyone else could speak, Raven started, "I think it's time we head out. We still need to tell Robin about what happened."
Three heads nodded collectively. They told Dick to stay safe and get out of harm's way before leaving.
His smile grew at their comments and made a playful remark, "No promises here!"
A/N: Hey! Glad to see you made it this far. I can't say when the next chapter will be (or if there will ever be a next chapter, I tend to be the kind of author who doesn't finish their work HAHA), but I hope you enjoyed this one! Thank you for reading!