April Yang and Dick Grayson share deep-rooted connections to Gotham, even if they prefer not to give them much thought and keep their emotions to themselves. When Dick turns up in Devon City, where April works towards becoming a surgeon, she inevita...
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On May 5th, after months of indulging the freezing cold, the insufferable storms and pouring rain, the citizens of Devon were graced with a warm day. It wasn't all that surprising—each year, at the beginning of May, the weather would take a turn. Suddenly, there would be no more violent winds, and somehow the sun would tear its way from behind the dense clouds.
It was Cinco de Mayo, and Devon was proud to celebrate the occasion by throwing parades and all-night dancing on the main square, all due to the Mexican diaspora being quite large in Devon specifically. The general feeling was that this night was the thing that people needed after the long near-mourning period. The city had been struggling with higher and higher crime rates, and every day was marked with the fear of yet another mass shooting happening.
The police had stopped being the symbol for peace and security, that position instead being taken by Robin himself. What was left of the detectives' department couldn't figure why the vigilante had ended up in Devon out of all places, but some silently agreed it was probably for the best. Their opinions didn't matter—at the end of the day, hunting Robin down became the Mayor's personal vendetta, which he used to boost his political position. He was despicably elusive to everyone, really, becoming the number one worry for the local gangs.
There were mostly rumours about him being passed around—either that he had busted a hundred drug operations in one night or that he was actually not the real Robin. Both were wrong, for obvious reasons. Robin's agenda, the reason why he was even active in the first place, were the human trafficking rings. They were intangible at best, and the fact that he was taking on the entire city's crime didn't help his lack of time.
Tonight was no different. He was watching the busy streets from atop of a building in the southern district, which's construction was rather unreliable and, frankly, crumbling before his eyes. Robin knew that exactly because of these traits the building posed a great promise for a hideout, and also that a certain group of criminals were looking for a new home.
He could hear the lively music from afar. It helped a little to know that some of Devon's citizens were experiencing some happiness today, as the city had gone through a lot of problems and the innocents were at no fault. Because of the city center being so generously lit up with hues of pink and orange, it almost felt as if all the life transferred there, leaving none behind. For a fleeing moment, Robin felt completely alone in this world.
That was before he heard the commotion on the street. Blood rushed into his fists and head, turning him into a machine rather than a human.
The three gang members were throwing over dumpster bins, making noise by hitting the fence with their baseball bats, and throwing empty beer bottles around. It was nothing new, really, and yet it could anger even the most average passerby. They had entered the building, shouting mercilessly. Robin made his way inside and then down, slowly as to not make a noise. He knew he could get it over faster if he startled them, but also that it wouldn't be difficult at all because they were quite drunk. These ones were from the Sun Gang, which was easy to deduct because of their not-so-subtle tattoos of a circle right on their forehead.
