A/N thanks to thebats24, Wolfeschatten, Hawk Jensen, Nicnak24, TheRaptor, GreenDrkness, poppypatch2010, BatWingteenavenger Ice Cream Freak, 954yos, Era-Penn, Christinme and Artemis Raven Courtney for favouriting and following this story.
disclaimer: On with the show….story…i meant story. I don't have a show!
"arrrggahhhhhhhhh"
Batman threw a glare at his partner as the boy groaned again. They had been on stakeout for a solid hour and a half and nothing had happened. Robin was currently doing a handstand while making ridiculous faces to try and relieve his boredom. They were both on a rooftop across from where they had tracked down the Alternative's last location.
"Robin stop that. We are suppose to be discreet here."
Robin froze in his position to look at his mentor. One foot pointed in the air while another was on the floor. Both hands were pulling his cheeks out and his eyes crossed. He gave a sigh and uncrossed himself to stand properly. He put his arms out and sent a pointed look to Batman as if to say 'better?'He sent his own look back and turned back around to observe the abandoned building.
Soon enough a few minutes later a dark blue pick up truck drove up to the building. Two men walked out of the vehicle. While one looked around without a care as the other walked up to the building and slowly started opening the door. Quickly ushering in the other man they closed the door behind them without a backwards glance.
Batman motioned towards Robin and jumped towards the building without looking back to see if Robin followed. And sure enough he heard the shwip of a grappling gun behind him. They both made it to the roof and silently removed one of the glass panels on the skylight. Quickly lowering themselves they moved into the shadows and watched.
"Damn him! I can't believe he made us come all the way to Gotham." A male voice called. His companion just snorted.
"Like you could ever say that to his face. Youse just go begging on your knees likes a dog hoping for some sort of promotion." They laughed for a bit when one of the men froze. His companion didn't seem too worried and just walked over to a small table to the side to sit down and watched as the other man fell to his knees. Batman silently signalled to Robin and they jumped down to hide in the shadows of the walls.
Soon enough the other man that fell to his knees got up and looked towards his companion. His mouth opened but the voice seemed distant and weak.
"Have you gotten the items I asked for?"
The other man snorted and gestured vaguely towards the large warehouse doors.
"Yeah. They just waitin out front in the truck. I hope you got the money then." The man paused a bit before continuing. "Also, wouldja mind killing the guy before you do your thing? Cuz he's been a real pain lately and I'm planning on ditching soon."
"The money will be transferred to a private account the password will be provided to you on a later date." The man continued as if the man hadn't spoken.
"OI! I've got somethin' to say too ya know. I want an extra thousand."
"…The money will be transferred to you and I have already given you the first half. It seems too late for a change in our agreement."
"I don't fucking care! I want a goddamn raise in the money. I know you want this stuff and it was goddamn pain to get. Do you know how valuable half the stuff you ordered was? I want some compensation for putting myself in the Bat's domain and I better fucking get it."
The other man paused before keeling over, dead. The remaining man cursing loudly and started pacing before heading towards the exit. Batman quickly slid from where he was hiding and fell in front of the man. He gave a startled yelp before pulling out his gun with surprising speed and aiming it at his head. Before he could shoot Robin positioned himself behind the man and quickly knocked him out.
They both shared a look before Batman went out to the van and Robin began tying the man up. Suddenly he heard a yell from outside and he quickly gave the tied up man a good kick in the head before rushing outside. He saw Batman glaring down at something in front of the truck and he shifted slightly from his position behind the door to get a good look.
It was girl, probably a year or two younger than Robin. She had dark hair that went to just a bit past her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep brown shining with determination and an underling of fear. She wore a ratted brown coat and muddied jeans. She had both her arms on her chest and Robin noted that she was holding something. It was quite large and looked to be a navy blue duffel bag. She was also holding something that looked like a medium sized glass cylinder. About the length of her forearm and glowing a faint purple.
"Let go." Batman's low growl caused the girl to flinch back slightly. She seemed to be looking for a chance to run. Batman must have seen this too and took a step forward. The girl suddenly jumped up and threw a punch at Batman's head. He grabbed her hand easily but she suddenly brought the rest of her body up and tried to kick him with both feet. The gloved hand let go and the girl missed and fell to the ground. Batman took another step forward and went to grab the bag that fell from the girls hand.
"NO! That's mine now!" The girl seemed to whisper as she tried to yank the bag out of Batman's hold. Robin silently slipped around the back of the truck while the girl was busy and slipped underneath the vehicle to grab the cylinder that had rolled unnoticed on the floor. He slipped back out, sure the girl wasn't looking, held the cylinder up for Batman to see before running to the shadows while avoiding the girls sight.
"I need the money! My little sister needs the money now!" Batman's face didn't change but Robin saw his shoulders twitch at those words. Suddenly the gloved hand let go and the girl jerked back, slamming into the door. She winced but she quickly brought the bag up to her chest and ran away again. Once she was just out of sight Robin jumped next to Batman.
"We following?" Batman just pulled out his grapple gun and swung off. Robin gave a short cackle before rushing back into the ware house to tie him up better and throw him in the back of the truck for police to find him half an hour later.
Quickly catching up to Batman he grinned at the holographic screen above his mentor's glove. A blinking red dot made it's way steadily through what appeared to be a map of Gotham.
"Rigged the bag now did you? What are we gonna do with them?" Though he knew his mentor wouldn't answer he asked anyways. He knew the older man would want to assess the situation before making any kind of decision. Soon enough they came to a halt at the top of a run down, abandoned apartment complex. The girl from before slowly down in front of the building and carefully opened the rusted doors. As soon as the doors closed Batman gestured for him to be quiet and they slowly climbed in one of the higher windows and made their way down. They heard quiet talking in one of the rooms they passed and listened in.
"See? I got tons of money here and I'm sure this other stuff will be worth fortune."
The reply was muffled and Robin leaned slightly closer but the floor seemed to have weakened and he barely suppressed the shriek of surprise as he foot fell through the floor. Batman quickly grabbed his hand and helped pull him out, staring at the bloody gashes formed by the splintered wood. Just as the younger boy was almost free the door swung open. Robin yelped in pain as he noticed the door swung outward, stopped by the foot still wedged in the wooden planks.
In front of them was the same girl and hidden behind her was a younger girl with dirty blonde hair and dull blue eyes. She looked slightly pale and her cheeks were flushed, indicating that she probably had a fever. Noticing that neither side seemed inclined to do anything Robin tugged himself free and waved at the two girls in the doorway.
"Lovely place you have here. I absolutely love what you've done with the place. Should I introduce myself? I think I shall. Hello m'ladies, my name is Robin. The pleasure is all mine."
He said all this in a snobby British accent and as he introduced himself he did an elegant, if over-exaggerated, bow. The younger girl giggled and tried to do the same bow but was tugged back behind the older as she glared at the two males. Robin frowned slightly and looked up at Batman who stayed silent throughout the exchange.
"Well? We can't just leave them here. I'm pretty sure their sick and I don't think can just hand them over to foster care." Considering what happened to me went unsaid. Batman only cocked an unseen eyebrow at his ward silently saying whatever you're planning is not happening.
"C'mon. We can give them some medicine and heal'em up a bit and be on our merry way. We've finished patrol fifteen minutes ago."
Batman gave a sigh and left in what Robin assumed to be the direction of a Batcave entrance. He took the silent order his mentor gave him and gave a grin to the girls. He brushed past them with ease and walked over to an old looking mattress in a corner of the room. He plopped down with a muffled fwomp and glanced around the room. The walls were a pukey green colour that was faded and peeling. A small kitchenette sat on the other side of the room and seemed to take up half the room. Black countertops and a broken sink and fridge as well as a small island that seemed to separate the two sides of the room. The duffel bag the girl stole was on the floor next to the bed along with a few wallets, a broken touchscreen phone and a plastic bag filled with, what he assumed to be, stolen canned food.
The older girl was still glaring at him but the younger girl seemed curious. She slowly walked towards him, despite her friends warnings, and sat next to him. The other girl huffed before pushing the other girl to the other side of the small mattress and placing herself between Robin and the girl. She stared straight ahead with crossed arms and seemed to ignore the other girl standing up and leaning on her shoulder to get a better look at Robin.
"You have a funny name." Robin grinned as the younger girl finally spoke. She seemed genuinely curious as she stared at Robin and his costume. She gave a sudden sneeze and shivered slightly and the older girl jumped up and went to grab the tattered blanket on top the countertop. Before she got more then a step or two away Robin unclasped his cape and draped it over the little girls shoulders, who immediately wrapped it closer to herself.
"My name's Sally Sparrow. Hey, we both sound like birdies!" She giggled to herself and was joined by Robin soon after. The older girl walked back with the blanket and wrapped it securely around the younger girl.
"What's your name then?" The other girl looked at him with untrusting eyes, but at least she had stopped glaring. She seemed to be looking at him in a new light as well. She seemed hesitant.
"Cassy can't talk good. But she's real good at protecting me. She fights really cool." The younger girl said.
"Cassandra Cain." She whispered. She then pointed a finger at herself and held up six fingers then pointed at Sally and held up four then added another finger afterwards.
"You're six." Cassandra nodded. "And she's four turning five." Cassandra nodded again and Robin grinned. "You're the same age as me!" Both girl looked at him unbelieving both soon Sally started giggling again and Robin joined in, barely noticing the quiet laugh from Cassandra.
And that was the sight Batman came in to see. He held up a small black bag and walked towards the girls cautiously as both stopped laughing when they noticed his presence. He knelt in front of Cassandra and reached out to grab her arm, which Robin only just noticed there to be a small patch of blood that must've come from when she fell to the ground. The girl flinched and Robin put a gentle hand on her shoulder to calm her down as Batman cleaned and wrapped the wound. He gave her a brief once over for any other wounds before turning to Sally.
Batman quickly placed a gloved hand on her forehead. The glove taking her temperature and sending it to Batman's mask. He reached into the bag and pulled out a small grey bottle and a medicine spoon. He turned to Cassandra and held up the two items for her to see.
"Fill the spoon up to here" He indicated one of the lines. "and give it to her twice a day for the rest of the week." He pulled out a medium sized light blue rectangle out of the bag next. "Blue is cold, red is hot. If you hear the crack when you bend it that means it turned on. Place the blue one on your sisters head until her fever goes, it'll know when that is." The girl nodded meaning she understood and glanced at the bag by Batman's feet again.
The older man placed the items back into the bag and got up. He then walked over to the side of the bed and grabbed the duffel bag from the floor. Both girls started to get up but Robin gave them a well meaning don't worry glance as he watched his mentor open the bag up. He pulled out a few wads of cash from the bag and placed it onto the bed before zipping the bag back up and leaving the room. Robin gave a grin and quickly left as well. Today was a good day.
A/N Sorry. I just really had a total blank for a while. I put a DW reference in here because I just recently got into it. Seriously I couldn't think of anything… No excuse. ANYWAYS you should know that any named character will be showing importance at some point so Sally and Cassandra will be showing up again for sure. PEACE.