Second Chances
"You can't do this to us!"
"I am sorry about what had happened, Ms Cotta. But changes had already been made."
"Please..I need this job..."
No answer was said as the call had already been disconnected. Her grip on the phone tightened while she held back any tears from spilling.
Things weren't looking too good for Terra Cotta. Recently, she and her girlfriend wanted to take their relationship to a new level and decided to find a place to move in together. Their parents were against the idea, saying that it was a huge risk and that they should wait till they were both financially stable. But being the stubborn young women they were, the warnings by the Cotta and Arc parents fell on deaf ears.
While she and Saphron had applied and interviewed for various jobs around Remnant, their only success was her getting a position for a low-paying IT job. Unfortunately, it was in the kingdom of Atlas. That forced them to move to a small run-down apartment in the slums of Mantle because they lacked the funds to afford a place in Atlas. Saphron was at least able to get a couple odd jobs waiting tables and some assistant work to help pay the bills. However, even with all their efforts, they still weren't able to make ends meet.
It only got worse when the company Terra was working for filed for bankruptcy which caused a massive lay off of various workforces. She was one of them. Now with no job and a recent notice to vacate their apartment within the next week, Terra could only cry as she wondered how to tell Saphron the bad news. Her partner was already far too busy with the stress of working multiple jobs. This would surely be the straw that might put a strain on their relationship.
During the walk back to her apartment, Terra noticed a couple rugged people tailing behind her. She didn't initially think they were following her until they continued their pursuit even after various turns. Her anxiety only grew when the gap between them was far too close before immediately turning into a panic attack when someone bumped into her and forced her to a nearby alley.
"Look what we got here boys!" One of them said as he pushed Terra against the wall.
The rest of the thugs only whistled and laughed at their victim's struggle. Her thrashing soon stopped as they held her limbs down. Terra tried to scream out, but one of their hands covered her mouth. She struggled and cried when one of them pulled out a knife and brought it close to her face. Her eyes immediately shut before waiting for the inevitable.
But nothing happened.
She then felt the thug's grip on her loosen as they backed away from her. Terra fell to the ground in exhaustion.
"Oh crap! Scatter!"
What quickly followed were sounds of something swinging, bodies dropping, and bones cracking. Before long, only the groans of the fallen and beaten were only heard in that alley.
"Are you hurt, Miss?"
Hearing a new voice, Terra opened her eyes and was greeted by a gloved hand. Taking the hand to help her get up, she was finally able to fully take in who saved her.
It was a young girl, not older than 11 years old. She wore a dark green leotard with armored plates sewed into the mesh alongside a black hood and cape. While her hood may be down to show her black hair, the girl's identity was hidden behind a domino mask with white lenses. Terra had been in Atlas long enough to recognize who she was.
"Thank you for saving me." replied Terra as she tried to catch her breath.
Robin nodded. "All in a day's work, ma'am. Contact MPD and they'll get you home safely."
At the mention of 'home', dread returned back into Terra's mind. "Oh gods, what am I going to do?"
"Is everything alright?"
The woman hadn't realized she said that aloud and now had the attention of the vigilante. She attempted to avert the topic. "I-It's n-nothing, really."
But Robin stayed persistent. "I don't mean to intrude, but it's a hero's job to help everybody with their problem, even those that don't involve punching someone in the face."
Terra chuckled at the Girl Wonder's humor. She didn't see any harm with sharing her problem and frustrations with the vigilante. That, and the stress of everything probably had a strong influence on her decision. So, what the hell.
"I'm sorry, it's just...the lives of me and my girlfriend have been going pretty downhill lately. I lost my job, she's overworked, and we're about to get kicked out of our crappy apartment. Everything we tried building is falling apart right before our eyes and there is nothing we could do to stop it. Our parents tried to warn us, but we were too stubborn."
The dam finally broke within Terra as a steady stream of tears fell.
"I'm...I'm scared. I'm scared that this would strain my relationship with Saphron. I really don't want to lose her. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me and I failed her."
She wasn't sure when she wrapped her arms around the Girl Wonder, but the vigilante didn't seem to mind. In fact, she was actually hugging back to comfort her.
They stayed like that for a couple minutes until her tears dried up. Once free and in a slightly better mood, Terra apologized. "I'm sorry you had to see that. To you, I must be just some lady babbling about her poor life to some kid."
"No need to apologize, ma'am." Robin assured. "I'm not sure if my input would help, but you really shouldn't think that you failed your partner like that. If she really does love you, then just being with you is already enough for her. It doesn't matter how many setbacks either of you face, so long both of you are in it together."
Hearing such words come out of a 12 year old's mouth, Terra couldn't help but laugh at her current situation. She was getting advice from a kid. But that didn't mean what she said was wrong.
Terra gave a hopeful smile to Robin. "Thank you."
"I hope your life gets better, Miss." Before grappling away, Robin looked deeply at the woman. "Just remember that the night is always darkest before dawn. You just gotta wait for the dawn to come."
After the police arrived and helped her back to her apartment, Saphron was initially shocked to see the police and how disheveled her partner was. Taking the Girl Wonder's advice to heart, Terra was upfront to Saphron about everything; from their new issues to her own internal worries. Suffice to say that their relationship only got stronger from that night.
Nothing significant would happen until the very next day.
While Terra and Saphron were packing up everything in the apartment, someone knocked on their front door. There stood a well-dressed man who was looking for Terra. After welcoming him in and sitting him at their dining table, they got right into business.
Saffron started. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but who exactly are you?"
"Ah, forgive my lack of introduction Ms. Arc. I'm a representative of Wayne Enterprises sent here by Mr. Wayne himself. You see, he had recently heard of the short-comings of the company Ms. Cotta worked for and saw an opportunity."
"I'm sorry, but how does this involve us?" asked Terra.
"Well, Wayne Enterprises had recently built a CCTS relay tower off the coast of Argus. This is where you come in, Ms. Cotta. We would like to hire you, along with other co-workers of yours, to help run the new relay tower and keep it operational. We'd offer you a significant increase in your salary and even help you and other employees in relocation to the city."
The Arc and Cotta duo were practically speechless at the offer. But they hadn't even heard the whole of it.
"If you have any issue with residence and/or financial issues, the Wayne Foundation would gladly offer temporary housing and necessities until both of you are capable of financially supporting yourselves."
Saphron and Terra couldn't believe what they were hearing. It was as if the gods had finally taken pity on them and rewarded their hard work. It was all too good to be true.
Seeing their shocked faces, the man jokingly asked. "Do I take that response as a 'yes'?"
They took that deal in a heartbeat. With a quick signature and a final handshake to close the deal, Terra and Saphron immediately celebrated and cheered for their future.
The dawn had finally arrived at their darkest time.
Sorry for the long wait. I have re-edited almost the entire story (Omakes included) by fixing some errors, rewrote some scenes, and even adding more scenes to enhance aspects of the story. Volume 1 of the story is almost about to wrap up so I hope ya'll enjoy this in the mean time. I would like to thank you all for the support, please leave a review or a comment on the story, and I hope you enjoy.
I do not own any of the characters. All characters and names used are owned by either Rooster Teeth and Detective Comics (DC).