HEY ALL! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Yea I know it has long since past... *it's only been like 5 days guys so I'm still gonna say it =P*
SO I'm back at it again! I'm hoping to get more chapters pushed out there since things have slowed down at work. and I want to say a big thank you to all those that stuck around and were excited for when I posted something after like 2 months... yea that was horrible of me.
Again I'M SO SORRY! *bows*
Also want to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to Asilla, who is now my beta reader and editor, and chief of staff and all around awesome chicky for editing my stuff, I've always known I make mistakes, no matter how many times I check through stuffs. SO big round of applause for Asilla ladies and Gents!
As for you my reviewers! I love you guys, you make me want to keep posting! And I do want to see this to the end because A. OMG HEHEHEHE *thinks about the ending* and B. You all seriously deserve to get to that point, I will not abandon this story, even if I vanish for a couple months, I'll come back around.
So ANYWAYS ONWARD WITH THE STORY RIIIGHT!? Ok I'll shut up now...
EDIT 03/30/2022: Fixing typos and adding extra flow. Also moving it to A03
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Robin watched the bandage fall to the floor as he unraveled it from his hands. Like everything else in his life it crumpled to the floor in a weightless heap. He picked them up and tossed them into the garbage, he had a bit more where that came from.
Asif stood silently to the side, watching him, waiting for him to do something perhaps? The boy wasn't to sure about Asif these days, then again he never knew the kid... it was a strange relationship between them. He knew Asif just about as long as he had known Sariel... and yet with the woman, he felt he had known her for years. Asif... well he was a different playing field. One he thought he knew, one he felt somewhat sorry for when he fell into a path of betrayal back in that desert. But now... Robin wasn't too sure on what or how he felt about Asif.
He knew that he wanted to prove his loyalty to Sariel... but would that even be possible at this time? Robin wondered if Asif would ever recover from his mistakes. He guessed that would make two of them. Robin knew he had a lot to make up for.
There couldn't be any more mistakes.
He just hoped that Asif knew that as well.
Robin knew Sariel wouldn't let him off the hook so easily the next time. If he ever thought of betraying them again she would probably put the bullet into his head herself. No, Asif especially couldn't afford to make any mistakes. And he knew it all too well.
"Where is he?" Robin looked to his lone companion.
Asif shrugged. "He said for you to meet him in his quarters."
Robin only nodded before trying to leave his colleague behind. It was then that Asif caught him by his wrist and stopped the young man in his tracks. Not liking the idea of being grabbed, Robin looked to Asif and glared. His blue eyes giving off a warning themselves.
"What?"
Asif only returned the look, his eyes steady, a spark of curiosity.
"Why do you side with him? You had it all. You were the hero..."
Robin pulled his wrist out of Asif's hands. "Why don't you mind your own business."
Robin was about to take his leave but Asif kept inputting his comments. "You could of gone home, back to the Bat, back to your team, back to a home. So why not? I want to know."
"You want to know why I stay?"
"Yes."
"Fine, I stay because we have a dirty traitor in our midst, I stay because I worry that you will put a gun to Sariel's head in her sleep. I stay with Slade because now I realize that the world isn't just heroes and villains playing along in some grand scheme of things. I stay because the world isn't so black and white, someone has to be the grey to get shit done. Slade can give me newer and better opportunities. But most of all I stay because I'm goddamn tired of this filthy world and it's unrealistic expectations. I could go on and on... But I think I made my point."
Asif only nodded in the boy's direction before Robin stormed off down the hall.
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Slade had asked of Asif a simple task, not to anger the boy. Robin tapped on the door and was allowed entry but he could tell the boy was somewhat disgruntled.
"Asif said you wanted to see me?" Robin sneered.
Disgruntled indeed. "Is that any way to speak to your master?"
"Whatever Slade."
The mastermind would have sighed if not for Robin actually being in the same room as him. "Did you two exchange words?"
Robin took the bait. "He just doesn't get it, I don't know why Sariel brought him along with us."
"So you did have a conversation with the young man I assume."
"It was more one sided."
Slade looked to his apprentice and could see Robin in his mind yelling at Asif, punching him perhaps? Letting his temper get the better of him. He vaguely wondered what exactly happened between the two to make Robin be in such a foul mood. "I see." was all the man said before strolling over to the duffel bag that had been seemingly tossed on the bed.
"So what's up? You wanted to see me?" Robin had his arms crossed as he watched Slade's movements.
"I did, although I'm still ensure as to how you will react."
"React?" Robin became highly curious at that point, trying to see what exactly Slade was now pulling out of the duffel bag. From the looks of it, it just seemed to be the mastermind's uniform. Mask and all.
But what Slade pulled out last... "What... is that?"
Slade looked at him, not even missing a beat. His monotone voice slithered through Robin's memories of his first apprenticeship under the criminal. "Your own uniform."
"Ok..."
Slade passed it to the boy and Robin surprisingly took it without a hint of regret. "Try it on, I need to see if it fits, although it should. I had it specifically made for you." Robin only nodded before taking the uniform and heading towards the room's private bathroom.
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Sariel was in the tactical room, her eyes never leaving the screens before her. She had to make sure everything ran smooth as bloody silk. Therefore she really shouldn't be drinking. But she was stressed. And a few rum and cokes wouldn't hurt.
Once again she found herself delving into the files she had stolen. Information, The Legacy... was it just money? Or was it something more?
The legend and the stories and whatever else she could find on the Legacy always spoke of it as simply being a fortune. Untold treasures from empires of old. Many even said it contained long lost artifacts.
She did know they had a huge... no, massive sum of wealth. That sole reason was how they could continue on in the fashion in which they had been doing. But for how long? "Too long." she muttered to herself.
Something nagged at her however. If the legacy was just money and they being the top of the top people of the world. Why not just take the money back? Steal it back? Hack the banks blind?
It didn't make any sense.
The money wasn't important, it was a commodity easily obtained. There was something else.
She had Gus go through the files a million and a thousand times, and everything looked to be in order. It was just basic files. History files. Nothing specific. Lots of information, sure... but all old information. Nothing that she nor Gus could see that they could use against them.
But there had to be something.
They wanted the Legacy back, they wanted Sariel herself to deliver it.
She frowned. Something told her that the Legacy wasn't just a large lost trove of gold.
Information was always key to anything and everything. And here she was staring into files upon files of information on the Ben Elohim. So what was it? Surely they had back up files... So what was so important in this small piece of the Legacy?
Sariel closed her eyes only to open them again after a few moments. She sighed and picked herself up again. Slowly she contemplated everything over in her mind again and again as she walked to the mini fridge and pulled out a two liter bottle of coke, filled her glass half full, then opened the bottle of Rum that sat on top of the small table next to the fridge and filled the remaining bit of the glass with Rum.
Walking back to her laptop she placed the glass next to her work area and sat back down. There was something missing to the puzzle, and she would find it.
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To be honest, Robin was expecting this eventually.
He sat there in the bathroom and looked at the uniform. It was mostly black, but it was seemingly missing the metal neck guard, which he was thankful for. He hated that thing the last time around, it annoyed him how heavy it was.
The uniform was a once piece suit, much like his old red and green uniform. The collar was high but not unusually so. However, this time it sported a zipper in the front which lead down his middle to a bit passed his chest. Slade had only given him metal shoulder and arm guards. From the looks of it Slade didn't want to bog him down with to much metal. Unlike the last time.
The utility belt was empty but it was pretty much the same as the last one he had. The uniform itself was almost all black. The only two things that were much akin to his last apprentice uniform was the one side being orange, this time the color ran halfway down his leg and ended before his knee, and the other being the metal 'S' that would be placed over his heart while wearing it. Robin briefly wondered if this was just a Slade thing or if the metal on his chest actually had any tactical advantage or protection.
Sighing, Robin put the uniform on not wanting to keep the mastermind waiting. Once done he tugged on his steel toed boots, which actually reminded him of the ones he had while he was a Titan, then he tugged on the gloves. The armaments went on next, the belt last.
Robin looked at himself in the mirror.
It was odd. The last time he was dressed up like this he would have done anything to rip off the damn uniform and toss it in the fire. But now... now he was just amazed at how comfortable it was and rather how odd it was being back in this sort of get up after he had been wearing some sort of standard military issued clothing for so long.
Opening the door Robin walked out and found a very pleased Slade. "Looks like it fits?"
"Yea... But..."
"But what?"
Robin shrugged. "I dunno how I'm gonna get used to the whole Kevlar thing again."
Slade chuckled at the boy. "In time it will feel like home all over again."
The boy wanted to flinch, but didn't. "I suppose." He still wasn't used to this side of Slade. The one that chuckled and made snide non threatening remarks. Although he was sure that this newer side of Slade was just another layer of the man, and that he would find more and more layers the longer he stayed with him. Slade may have been more 'friendlier' with him, but that in no way made him less dangerous.
The mastermind turned his back to the boy before grabbing one last item from the duffel bag and handing it to him.
Robin looked down on what Slade had put into his hands and saw that it was his mask. No, not his usual domino mask, it was the same one from his first apprenticeship. So much like his own, yet the the sharp tips on each end were definitely not part of his original mask. Robin mentally noted that he still had his mask from his hero days, it was folded up and placed in a drawer with a few other unmentionables. And while the old mask was still sentimental to him he knew he'd never wear it again.
Robin placed the newer mask over his eyes and he suddenly felt safe again. The domino mask always did that. He looked up to Slade. "So does it make it look complete?"
The mastermind looked on at the boy before replying, "Very much so Apprentice." Robin only smirked in response.
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Gus had gotten in, maybe gotten in too deep. Maybe he was too good at this damn job. Should have gotten Asif to do it. Not him, no, he didn't want to do this anymore.
"She owes us a lot of money. Gus you listening to me?"
"Yea yea." He replied.
"Good." The larger more muscular man handed him a gun. "Kill her for me will ya?" Gus nearly gulped, he nearly backed out completely, went back to Sariel and told her to go fuck herself.
But this was for taking down the biggest, largest, society of them all that basically controlled it all as far as they knew. So he took the gun.
"Why you putting all this work on me?" Gus feigned annoyance.
It wasn't like Gus hadn't killed someone before. But, people that only owed money... people that were basically innocent. That he didn't do. He didn't want to... "Fuck." he thought. Sariel was counting on him.
He had to pull through.
He had to earn some sort of loyalty points with these assholes.
"How much she owe anyways?"
The other man grinned. "Oh about a thousand."
Gus cringed. "Death for a thousand dollars?" he mentally scolded these men.
"Fine whatever..." He sighed and acted uninterested. Gus walked right up to the woman who must have been in her early thirties, maybe late twenties, and he looked right at her. "I'm sorry, it's nothing personal."
BANG.
Her body slumped to the floor and Gus felt disgusted with himself.
The older man patted him on the back and told him "good job" and "great aim". Similar remarks were made from a couple of the others that were in the room.
Gus just looked at her slumped form. The blood slowly seeping from the wound that took her life. He frowned, there was nothing to be done about it. "Gus my man." a pat on the back. "Let's go for a beer, ja?"
Gus then smiled at the older man. "A bar you say?' the others laughed. "Yea, one of the best in town, and it's owned by us."
Now this was getting somewhere. A bar was Sariel's favored location for the drop off, he was supposed to get them to a place where they could do the swap. "Sounds great, I could use a cold one." Gus smiled at the others. One way or another he would get this set up in the way it needed to be done.
He took one last look at the body before leaving with his new formed 'friends'.
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Alright! That's it for tonight!
Please please leave me a review and let me know what you think. I'll give ya cookies if ya dooo... *waves around a plate of cookies* They are fresh from the oven to!
Also let me know what you think of Robins new uniform? I always loved the original aprentice uniform... so I didn't want to stray to far from the original design.
Anyways you guys have a good night, be safe, and be good out there!
-Fangy