18:01 PDT
November 29th
Jump City, California
In retrospect, he acted like a total idiot. He wasn't arrogant enough not to know that the decision he made was a stupid one. But maybe, at the same time, it would be best the plan of action.
It had been almost three hours since Robin ran out of the Tower with no intention of coming back. After all, he was planning on leaving anyway, and the less people who knew where he was going, the less chance they had at getting hurt, whether by his hand or the Court's.
But at the same time, he promised Roy and Wally an explanation, and he had promised to meet Bruce at the Watchtower on his birthday. So, should he keep running or go back? That question bothered him deeply.
He still had two days before he was expected at the League's headquarters, three days before the Court came looking for him when he doesn't show up in Gotham. Then the countdown would really start.
I should go back. They're my team. I can't just leave them high and dry again.
Robin leaned against the wall of a building, the shadows of the alleyway hiding him from the street's occupants. He still felt awful for what happened with Cyborg. He didn't understand why he had panicked or where the sudden rush of strength had come from. The teen wonder ran a stressed, gloved hand over his face.
"Nngh, why can't anything ever be simple?"
"Beast Boy to Robin come in. Beast Boy to Robin," his communicator called. Robin was swift to answer.
"Robin here."
"Dude! Where are you? Everybody's out on the town looking for you, and it'd make it a lot easier if you'd tell us where you're at."
"Right. Sorry," he agreed, giving the younger Titan an apologetic half-smile, "I'm a few blocks from the pizza place on 4th. I'm heading back to the Tower now, so just tell everyone to meet me there. Is Cyborg okay?"
The small video screen divided to reveal said Titan, "I'm fine, Rob. My arm needed an upgrade anyway. The better question is, are you okay?"
"I've been better," he answered honestly, "I'll meet you guys at the Tower—"
"Hold on a second!" Cyborg interrupted before Robin could sign off, "You're like, crazy sick, man. Send us your coordinates, and we'll give you a lift home."
"Yeah!" Beast Boy piped up, "Don't want ya getting mugged or kidnapped or something."
Robin grit his teeth. How dare they think he was incapable of getting home on his own! They lived in a giant T-shaped tower for crying out loud! It was kinda hard to miss. And he was Robin, leader of the Teen Titans. Sick or not, he'd take on anybody that got in his way, especially in the mood he was in right now.
"I'll find my own way back. Robin out," he quipped and snapped his communicator shut.
.....
Cyborg halfway wanted to strangle the shapeshifter beside him, his human eye twitching in irritation.
"Why'd you go and say that, grass stain?!" he yelled. Beast Boy shrunk back.
"What? What'd I say?" he asked innocently.
"You made Rob sound like he couldn't handle himself! Do you have any idea how insulting that was?!"
"I didn't mean to!" BB whined, "But he's sick, and what I said was true!"
"The guy put a dent in my arm! I think he can take care of himself. I was just offering, so he wouldn't have to."
"Aw, man. I messed up real bad, didn't I?" Beast Boy asked with his ears folded. Cyborg's eyes narrowed down at him.
"Yeah. Ya did. Now, come on before he accidentally decapitates someone."
"You don't think he'd actually do that? Do you?"
"The dude was running on pure autopilot when he woke up. With that kind of force, imagine what would happen if somebody surprised him. Whether he admits it or not, Robin needs us to watch out for him just as much as he does for us."
........
Robin grumbled to himself as he more or less stomped back towards the Tower, his footsteps still eerily silent. He remained in the shadows of the city, which were growing longer by the minute. He still couldn't believe Beast Boy of all people was treating him like a helpless child, and the anger inside him grew hotter with every step he took.
"Hey! Get away from us!" someone yelled. Robin's attention peaked, and he melded deeper into the shadows as he approached a dead end alley.
There was a ring of men pushing two kids into a corner. The boy was maybe ten, at most, and he shielded a much younger girl behind him. Robin's eyes narrowed as he watched.
How many? Six? Maybe seven? Good, he thought darkly, I need something to hit.
Robin extended his bo staff and swung it in a deadly arc before leaping into the ring. He stood in an offensive stance between the kids and the men, teeth bared in a furious snarl.
"Hey! It's Robin! Awesome!" the boy behind him gawked.
"You picked the wrong day to cause trouble," Robin told the attackers, not sparing a glance behind him, "I'm giving you to the count of three to surrender."
The men looked between themselves in confusion and then busted out laughing. Robin, on the other hand, was dead serious.
"I don't know if you knew this, boy blunder, but there's only one o' you and seven o' us."
So it is seven. More targets. "One."
One man brandished a pocket knife, and another pulled out a crowbar. Two others pulled out guns. The other three raised their fists in sloppy fighting stances.
"Two."
One of the weaponless ones started to sweat. Robin could almost smell the anxiety and fear rising in the air. They knew he wasn't one to mess with, but were they dumb enough to try anyway? Robin smirked as his adrenaline rose. Time to find out.
"Three."
Time slowed down as Robin charged forward, his body a blur of precise attacks and lethal onslaughts. He easily disabled the gunmen first before knocking out the knife wielder. One of them broke out into a run, almost making it into the streetlight before Robin's grappling hook caught his ankle and dragged him flailing and screaming back into the darkness.
He swung his bo staff, and it connected harshly with a man's skull—a sickening thwack! echoing in the alleyway.
One man retrieved his gun and fired. Robin's instincts jerked into motion, hand retrieving a bird-a-rang and lifting it up so the blade side was facing the bullet's path. Time seemed to slow down to a null as he watched the projectile make contact with the sharpened edge of his weapon, splicing the bullet in two. The separate halves rocketed into the brick on either side of his head, and time resumed as he kicked the man's arm upward and moved in to disable the gun.
The fight was over too soon, and the gun was still in Robin's hands, safety off and aimed at the forehead of the only conscious member remaining. His finger hesitated on the trigger.
"Please," the man weeped, hands raised in submission, "please don't kill me."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," he growled back. His adrenaline was still pumping hard, and his darker instincts were reluctant to be buried away so easily. This was going too far, but his body didn't seem to want to listen.
The man before him was unintelligible, blubbering mess. If he was truly giving some half-baked excuse to let him live, Robin wouldn't have been able to decipher it. The teen looked down at the piece in his hands before bringing the butt of it down on the man's temple, effectively knocking him unconscious.
Robin clicked the safety back on and haphazardly tossed the gun away. He felt disgusted with himself. He had been ruthless, unmerciful, and out for blood. The seven men laying before him wouldn't be waking anytime soon, and he couldn't remember the last time he ever gave anything but a Slade-bot such a brutal beat down.
Tt, Slade would be proud, he thought, hating himself even more because of it.
The boy wonder collapsed on his knees, using his bo staff to remain upright. His breathing came out labored, and as the thrill decreased, his exhaustion increased. He slowly cocked his head to the side as he heard shuffled movement and began to recall why he had come to the alleyway in the first place.
"Woah!" the little boy breathed, "That was so cool!"
That caught him by surprise. He had been expecting the two kids to be huddled in the corner, eyes wide with fear. But instead they were staring up at him with the same amount of gratitude and wonder as any other civilian he had saved. That couldn't be normal. He had been so vicious and cruel to their would-be attackers. Robin ducked his head, trying to regain his breath as well as his restraint.
"Mr. Robin, sir? Are you okay?" the petite little girl asked. The teen struggled not to gasp. She couldn't be any older than six, and now that she had come out from the boy's shadow, he could get a better look at her. A better look at them both actually.
Roughed up and dirty, the boy sported more scrapes and bruises than the girl, but he didn't miss how both seemed branded with purple, hand-shaped marks on their cheeks. Signs of malnutrition were obvious, and he suspected the little girl was sick. He could feel his heart bleeding for them, and his anger was stoked against whoever would dare do this. It reminded him too much of what Wally used to go through in his own home. But he needed to calm his composure and be strong for them both.
"I should be asking you guys that question," he panted with a tiny half-smile, "Are either of you hurt? Did any of them get to you?"
The children shook their heads.
"No, sir. You beat 'em all up before they could!" the little girl chirped and shuffled up to him, "You look really tired, Mr. Robin."
"Yeah," the boy added, "Where are the rest of the Teen Titans anyway?"
Robin couldn't suppress the chuckle that escaped his throat, "Out looking for someone. Now come on, we need to get out of here before these guys wake up. I'll walk ya home."
He didn't miss how the boy stiffened or how the girl seemed to latch on to who he assumed to be her brother's arm.
"Do we have to go home, Mr. Robin?" the girl pleaded.
"Hush, Lily! Of course we gotta go!" the boy reprimanded.
"But I don't want to, Wesley! Please, Mr. Robin, can we stay at the Tower with you?"
Yep, Robin's heart was in pieces. He could feel every ounce of his cold will chipping away. But he knew they couldn't stay at the Tower. Beast Boy and Cyborg's stankball contest alone was reason not to bring anyone under the age of thirteen inside. And he himself didn't want to accidentally hurt them.
The boy wonder looked up from his position on the ground apologetically, "I'm sorry guys, but I can't take you back to the Tower with me. But if you don't want to go home just yet, I know this really good pizza place a few blocks from here. We go there, and then I'll take you two to see a good friend of mine down at the station. He'll make sure you're both well taken care of."
Their eyes brightened at his words, and Robin stood up. After making a quick call to the Jump City Police Department about the band of men now zip-tied and cuffed to a lamppost, he lead the two kids to the Titans' favorite pizza joint.
.....
21:07 PDT
November 29th
Titans Tower, California
Robin staggered into the main room, using his staff to keep him upright. That impromptu fight took more out of him then he let the kids, named Lily and Wesley Hughs he learned, know about. As expected, the lights were on, and everyone was present for his less than graceful entrance.
"Took you long enough," Speedy scoffed. Cyborg whistled.
"Man, Rob, you look terrible. What happened?"
"Fight," he answered curtly and shifted towards the kitchen fridge for a water bottle. He definitely wasn't hydrated or well rested enough to deal with anything.
"Fight against who?"
"Some guys were messing with a couple of kids in an alleyway. I took care of it."
"Dude, how many bad guys were there?"
"Seven," Robin gave another clipped reply. Everyone's eyes widened.
Raven quirked her eyebrow, "And you didn't think to call for backup?"
"Like I said, I took care of it," he gritted out, "I needed something to vent on anyway."
Beast Boy approached his leader with his head hung low, "Look, man, I'm sorry for what I said. You're awesome and a way better fighter than I am. I had no right to say what did."
The fridge was closed a little less than gently, "We're good, BB. I didn't exactly give any of you a reason not to worry about me," Robin replied seriously. It wasn't much of an acceptance of his apology, but it could have been worse.
"What happened to the kids?" Kid Flash asked. Robin paused, and then anger briefly flitted across his face.
"They're okay now, but—" the last part was whispered into the speedster's ear, and KF froze.
The temperature in the room seemed to be steadily reaching freezing point. Raven noted how her leader's aura seemed to darken before her eyes.
The two heroes nodded at each other and shared a look with Speedy. Kid Flash subconsciously rubbed his arm, as if reminded of a painful memory. Robin hated reminding his normally upbeat best friend about his past, but he knew Wally would want to know. It didn't make it any easier though.
"I'm going to bed," he announced and paced away, "Night, everyone."
"Good night, Robin!" Starfire called, " May your dreams be of happiness and rainbows and chocolate chip cookies!"
"What?" the other redheads jinxed, but the remaining Titans dismissed it as normal and went their separate ways.
.....
Robin released a large sigh and leaned his head on the back of his door. He was beyond tired, but he was also hot, sweaty, and dirty feeling. Basically, he could really use a warm shower.
After taking off his metal combat boots, he entered his personal bathroom and turned on the hot water. Peeling off his mask, he rubbed a hand over his face and looked up into his mirror only to choke out a gasp. His eyes were not the normal electrical blue he was used to. No.
They were gold.