Caving In | Titans

Chapter 1 - Titans Tower

Sam Carter didn't have what she would consider a horrible childhood. In the grand scheme of things, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. She had a mom who loved her and did her absolute best to provide for her. They rarely ever fought and her mom took care of her. Sam had a few friends, none that really stuck around when shit hit the fan, but she doesn't blame them. So, she had some friends and that was cool while it lasted. Her dad was ad deadbeat meth addict she only remembers seeing once and the way she sees it, good riddance. She had her mom.

Had.

However, that was then and this is now where she's standing on the street, using a car window breaker to break into a car late at night in the middle of Gotham City. Gotham has a habit of breeding some real fucked up psychos. Sam's almost positive it has got be the water and it's only a matter of time before everyone in the city either turns into Batman and Robin or The Joker and The Riddler. The psycho doesn't care who you are and if you have a family, they take and take and laugh in the face of everyone else's agony. So, here she is breaking into a car as she's done for last few months since the Joker decided to do what he does best. Kill.

Whenever she breaks into a car, which is almost nightly now, she remembers judging those who did before because this is someone else's property. They probably worked hard for it and who is she to take it from them. But, no one ever said surviving was easy. She gets it now, a little guilty about it but not guilty enough to stop.

"Sweet." Sam huffs to herself, smile on her face as she finds a hundred dollars in teh center console. "Idiot." She mumbles as she stuffs it in her pocket.

She rummages around the car some more, hoping to find more. If the person was dumb enough to leave a hundred dollars, maybe there's something she could sell. She pushes around a few unimportant things like papers and a pair of old shoes, not finding much. With the shrug of a shoulder, she considers this car a win and backs out of the car only for the flashing of red and blue tocatch her attention from her peripheral.

"Ah, fuck me." She groans, turning on her heels and sprinting as fast as her legs will let her down a close alleyway.

The sirens sound behind her. There's still a smile plastered across her face with the lights behind her and her feet smacking puddles. The city lights guide her in and out of other alleys and down side streets. It's a bit of a thrill. The air is wet on Sam's skin, thick with moisture from the previous storm. The city streets have that smell of wet pavement and fresh rain, something that lives in her bones. Running through the streets of Gotham is a regular activity but she finds it fun, adrenaline in her blood and city lights guiding the way.

This is not the first time GCPD has found her breaking into a car but they didn't catch her then and she doesn't think they'll catch her now. The only one really competent at catching anyone committing a crime is Gotham is Batman and Robin but they don't normally go after kids robbing cars. It's not exactly hot radar here.

Her chest heaves with every step but she's having a blast. The burning almost doesn't bother her with every stride, lungs feeling like they could collapse at any moment. That's part of the thrill, how far can she run before they catch her or her lungs explode. Well, normally, but tonight the pavement is a little too slick. She goes to run around a corner, shoes slipping on the pavement, sending her right into the pavement.

"Shit!" She screams out, feeling the road rash on her arms and her legs, knowing she ripped her clothes from the fall.

"Hands up." One of the cops says as they catch up, getting out of his car.

She rolls her eyes, racking her brain in hopes she can come up with a big bad escape plan. She does not want to go into the system. "Can't you see I'm little hurt here, asshole?"