Title: Take a Dive
Author: RedK_addict (Rags)
Series: Legacy of Robin
Rating: T
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama
Warnings: X-over, Violence, Illegal gambling
Summary: Companion piece to Carryin' the Banner. After Kid Blink's first encounter with the Joker, Racetrack seeks a way to cope with everything going on. Between his trust issues with Bruce and Blink being in the hospital, it's almost too much to take. But all the same, getting involved with an underworld gambling ring probably wasn't the best idea. This tells the story of how and why Tim Drake came home every week beaten and bruised. Blink and Spot thought they knew, but they didn't know the half of it...
Author's Note: Okay, can you say fail? I can. I was going to wait until I had finished the next chapter of this story, or at the very least the next chapter of On the Rise, before I posted this. But then my muse went catatonic on me again. So I decided not to wait after all. Anyways, here we are! Starting off once again. To all of my new readers, this is the second part in my Legacy of Robin series. The first part is Carryin' the Banner, a Newsies/Batman Begins crossover. However, you do not need any knowledge of Batman to enjoy this story, and it is my goal to make it so that you don't even have to have read the first part to get this one. Most of the important bits of info are in this first chapter. And to my loyal readers of CtB, I just want to say thank you for sticking it out with me for so long! This one's for you! Also, I want to apologize for Death in the Family. There was a discrepancy in the continuity (aka Spot wasn't actually there for the argument, and in DitF it was implied that he was...), and I haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. Who knows, I may never actually do anything about it... But that's what I get for writing stuff ahead of time. Anyhow, that's enough from me. Here we go! Let's get this train rolling...

Take a Dive

Chapter 1: Murder Alley

To most outside eyes, Timothy Drake was a very respectable boy from a mostly respectable home. After all, Bruce Wayne was only known for those scandals which were to be expected of a man with so much money at his disposal. The little Italian orphan had been recently adopted by Bruce, along with two other very respectable boys – Richard Grayson, an authoritative twig of a boy who favored a gold-tipped cane, and Jason Todd, a little blonde with one green eye.

Well, actually, the one-eyed orphan was currently undergoing surgery on both his eyes after some kind of "accident" following – and possibly connected to – the near-death of Barbara Gordon. But he was in good hands with Thomas Elliot, possibly the best surgeon in Gotham City, maybe even anywhere else. So really, his foster brothers had nothing to worry about.

But worry they did. And what the rich socialites didn't know – the ones who thought that dear Timothy was such a respectable young man – was that the real boy behind the mask, one Racetrack Higgins, was a completely different story altogether.

A game of cards or a round of dice was not unheard of in the streets of New York City. In fact, it was quite the common occurrence. Even Jack Kelly himself was known to go a few rounds with Race on occasion. And of course, the boys always "made it interesting" to keep each other playing. It was the thrill of the bet that kept them entertained, even more so than the game itself. But for some it went a little deeper than merely passing the time. For some it was an adventure. It was a need.

It was an addiction that refused to be denied.

Race never thought of it like that before he moved to Gotham. He was a compulsive gambler, sure, but it had never gotten him into any kind of real trouble. So he owed Spot a buck or two after a game of craps. Spot was just as likely to owe him the same after a game of poker the next day, so the boys would call it even. Or maybe Mush would owe him, and he'd just have him pay Spot instead. No big deal. Most of the time he beat the younger kids out of weeks worth of money, but he always let it slide, saving it up for some time later when he knew he'd need a favor. He owned the gambling scene in the alleys of New York.

As soon as he moved to Gotham with Jack, Spot, and Kid Blink, everything had changed. For one thing, Jack wasn't who he'd said he was, which was really no great surprise, but he wasn't even who the law had said he was. He was a completely different person with heaps of money who had just been using those years with the newsies as a means to understand life on the streets. A curious richie who had played an elaborate charade to satisfy his need to know. This news alone had thrown Race way off balance, and the others could tell. He didn't make jokes anymore, and he and Blink seemed to constantly be at each other's throats, even though they'd spent the majority of their lives as best friends.

That was quite possibly why his best friend was now lying in a hospital bed awaiting surgery. If he hadn't been so off his game, he might've been able to stop Blink from going out that night. Blink wouldn't have been anywhere near the Gordon residence when the shot went off, he wouldn't have seen the Joker fleeing the scene, and he most certainly wouldn't have tried to stop the clown on his own with nothing but a pocketful of borrowed equipment that he didn't even know how to use.

To some degree, then, Race blamed himself. Not to the extent where he was beating himself up over it, because there were other factors involved – one of the chief ones being Blink's own stupidity and the fact that they had promised Bruce they wouldn't get involved. But the fact still remained that Racetrack needed some way to cope with all of this. And it was only natural that he fall back on old, familiar habits to do so.

In his wanderings around the city, he'd managed to hear rumors about a gambling ring on a street commonly referred to – and with a certain amount of fear – as Murder Alley. It ran, interestingly enough, off of Park Row in the Narrows, and was said to be home to some of the worst dealings imaginable. Now, Park Row, as Race well knew, had earned enough of a reputation as it was, what with everyone calling it Crime Alley now. But to hear people talk about Murder Alley, which stemmed right off of it, made Crime Alley sound like a stroll through Central Park in springtime.

And, oh, the stories they told. Dog fights, knife fights, fist fights, card games and dice, automobile races through the Gotham underground, and of course the hushed whispers of the dreaded Death Ring match on the docks. If you could put money on it, you could find an event for it in Murder Alley. And it was all run by a man known only in rumors as Rhino, the biggest, toughest, meanest thug in all of Gotham City. None who crossed him were ever heard from again, and only a select few were lucky enough to be called his friends.

There was another gang that claimed the Lower East End as their territory, led by a man infinitely more ruthless and mean, if that was even possible. Demon was known for having a wicked temper and a short fuse, and was incredibly protective of his sister, Angel. The East End gang would come to Murder Alley on occasion to challenge Rhino and his boys, and there was a raging rivalry between the two groups. Getting caught between Rhino and Demon was like finding yourself between Queens and the Bronx during a territory dispute. You just didn't, if you valued your life to any degree.

This was the world where Racetrack inevitably found himself. Driven by a sense of betrayal, abandonment, and guilt, he sought out this place of thrills and adventure so familiar to him and yet so much more dangerous than he ever could have imagined. Even if he had known how much trouble it would ultimately cause, odds are he still would have gone that night. But it's a safe assumption that perhaps he may not have allowed himself to get nearly as involved as he did. As it stands, that fateful night – as Kid Blink lay in the hospital awaiting surgery, as Spot Conlon sat alone in the mansion awaiting news of his condition, as Jack Kelly searched the night for the man responsible – Racetrack Higgins was out searching for a way to cope.

A/N: Portions of this series brought to you by the Racetrack muse, the popular instrumental Requiem for a Dream, and your continued reviews and support!