Title: Robin's REward (not a slash! I'm just really bad with names)
Rating: PG-13 (no teenager can do what he does without saying anything!)
Spoilers: Maybe for Nightiwng, written prior knowledge of #38
Summary: Robin patrols for nightwing.

oh well, get the flame throwers ready....


Robin's Reward
by Dafnap


It was a normal night for me. I mean if your Robin, what’s a few drug busts and a stick up compared to the likes of Joker and Two-Face? I thought so, nothing. So there I was swinging across the skyscrapers of East Bludhaven when I came across the quite street of Donly and Alluvial. Well it’s Bludhaven so it wasn’t really quite. It wasn’t really quite at two in the morning. Gunfire rang out between two rival gangs in the middle of a shoot out. The police stood to the side watching, I think I even noticed bets being placed. A shoot out wasn’t really a big deal in Bludhaven. But tonight was different, in the middle of it was girl, no older then me, huddled behind the overturned wreckage of what once was presumably her car.


Since Dick was off helping Bats and Oracle with the earthquake ridden Gotham, he sent me to Bludhaven to keep things clean until he came back. Of course I didn’t object cause Dick had the coolest apartment anyway. The coolest thing was Dick’s TV, the thing was huge! And man, his computer wasn’t bad either. But the best part out of the deal was his sweet little convertible. That baby was sweet. Smooth and it got the girls. Oh yeah, it got the girls.


The remnants of the car were smoldering and the girl looked singed herself. Her brown hair was cut short and her face was slightly red from the effects of the fire. She was crouched behind the remains, clutching her bag and coughing from the amount of black smoke. Her face was tear stained and she was muttering something under her breath. Or at least I thought so seeing that I was about a block away and I was witnessing the scene atop a derelict warehouse. I shot out a line and glided to a building closer to the action. She hadn’t moved. Well couldn’t really, any where she moved a bullet would find a place, and that would hurt. A lot. She was glaring at the police officers who just stood there placing bets not more then twenty feet away. I noticed the motion she made with her free hand. Whoa, that girl had guts. I glided to the closest building possible, and skimmed down the wall. I crouched below an overturned dumpster, watching the scene with night vision visor. The girl was still in the same spot, six feet away.


“Hey!” I hissed, trying to get her attention. Above the gunfire and confusion, it was hard to hear a frantic whisper. I called out again, a little bit louder, “Hey! Girl.” She seemed to pick up the sound, scanning with her eyes where it could have come from. I waved slightly, just so she could see me. She glared at me and whispered back.


“About damn time.” She began to scoot towards me planning to make a run for it, too join me below the dumpster. I quickly shook my head no. She glowered at me and settled down, ducking quickly, barely missing a bullet that tore through the car. She cursed something under her breath and looked at me, her eyes asking me, “Well, now what?”


That was a problem. How do you rescue a damsel in distress when more the forty guns are firing both ways at a rate of over two hundred bullets in ten seconds? Hmm? I thought so. I look around to see if any of the gangs noticed me. Nope, they were solely aimed at each other. I pulled my cape over my head to protect myself against the rain of bullets and made a running dive to the car. I landed quickly after with only a minor scrape. I landed on top of the girl. We were safely behind the car, and crawled away from her.


She brushed her self off and ducked as another bullet flew by. “Damn, you had to land on me didn’t you?” She shook her head as she slid closer to me, avoiding the bullets, “What took you so long? Hmmm?” I grimaced at her, rubbing a bruised elbow.


“You’re welcome.” I took a glance around me. The car was a smoldering wreck, it probably exploded during the fight. I looked back at the girl noticing the burns on her arm and face. Her hair was singed and she was bleeding from her temple. Damn.


“This is what’s going to happen, you’re going to crawl under my cowl, and on the count of three we’ll dive back to the dumpster, from there I’ll take you to the hospital, ok?” She smiled.


“Boy, you are quick aren’t you?” She shook her head in mock despair, “Sure, fine, whatever, just get me out of here.” She clutched her bag and crawled under my cape, and I couldn’t help but notice how close we where. I shook myself mentally under control. Down hormones, down.


I counted to three out loud. Then we leaped. We crossed the six foot breach easily and landed behind the dumpster. We quickly scrambled to get to the brick wall of the building. She leant against the break wall, breathing heavily.


She turned to me, smiling, “Thanks.” She brushed off her clothes. She picked up her bag. And began to head down the alley, waving good bye.


“Wait!” I called out, “You have to go to the hospital, those burns are going to flake badly.”


She thought for a moment, then shook her head, “The hospital is the last thing I want right now, I just want to go home, I have a first aid at home I’ll just use some crème.” She began to walk away.


“Wait!” I called out again, “I can drive you home, just give me an address and I’ll get you there.” She smiled and nodded.


“Alright, where’s your car?”


I smiled, this was the best part. I grabbed her around the waist and sent a line to the sky. “This is a little cliché, so hold on.” I raised my eyes to the sky, “Up, up, and away!” We glided into the sky, she holding on for dear life.


She gulped as she felt the ground leave her feet. She held onto my waist tightly, but looked around wide eyed as we scaled the five story building in just a few seconds.


As we landed on the roof, she relaxed a little, berating me, “Next time warn me-AAAH!!!” As I sent another line flying out and we were in the air again. This time as we swung between the buildings she looked around in wonder.


“Wooo Hoooo!!!!” She shouted as we swept between buildings, she sounded like she was having the time of her life. Finally after a few minutes we landed on the ground in front of Dick’s car. She gulped in air and disentangled herself from me.


She looked at me, catching her breath, her eyebrow up, questioning, “You really are fast aren’t you?” She shook her head laughing, “Jesus H. Christ, wait till Jamie hears about this.” She straightened again and asked, “So are you going to take me home or are we going for another ride?”


I smiled, “No, come on,” I motioned to the car. She looked at it admiringly, noting the smooth lines and the black sheen, “Now where do you live?” I asked as we headed to the car.


Minutes later we were cruising down the free way in Dick’s convertible, the air whipping our hair around. I looked at her. She was silent, rubbing her face painfully. The skin was redder, probably from the agitation the wind was causing.


I forgot how much burns could hurt. I pulled the car over to the side of the road. I reached over her, she looked at me curiously, and pulled out the first aid box. Dick always kept the medical kit on hand, because he always seemed to need it.


I pulled out a white tube, unlabeled. Everything in the car was unlabeled, as to deter anyone snooping around trying to find the identity of Bludhaven’s masked vigilante. She looked at me, “What’s that for?” pointing to the tube.


I motioned for her to come closer, and she leaned in her face inches away from me. I twisted the cap off, pouring some of the white burn salve into my hand. Bruce had taught me how to dress wounds because with this job, you needed all the knowledge you could get. I gently rubbed it on her cheek, until it covered the burn, “It’s salve to reduce the agitation and help healing, this way you wont have to visit the doctor anytime soon.” I pulled out some gauze and cut to size, applying it to her face with some tape, I pulled her hand on my lap.


I rubbed a dollop of the white crème up her arm. She looked at me. “I changed my mind,” she grinned, “You’re not just fast, you beat the Flash.” I grinned as wrapped some gauze around her arm. Making sure it was tightly secured, I was going to have to thank Dick for this, first night on patrol and I already was rubbing the cheek of a hot girl. I’m good.


“Hand me your leg,” She set her leg on my lap. Bruises dotted her leg, most of them turning black and blue. They were in such a shape and position that they had to have been from fists. I didn’t say anything as I applied the salve and gauze. Soon I was done.


I keyed the ignition and we were off. As I watched the road I asked, “What where you doing in the middle of that crossfire?”


She smiled grimly, “Nothing.” She looked worn, “Nothing at all.” She was silent. The girl lived on the outskirts of Bludhaven, thirty minutes from where we started.


I looked at her. Her brown hair was swept up by the wind and I noticed bruises dotting her jaw.


“How did you get those bruises?” I asked. She looked at me.


“Why do you keep asking me questions?” She sounded angry. Was she sounding off at me? After I pulled her from the middle of a crossfire that the police where placing bets on?


“I risk life and limb, and a very fine cloak to get you out of a potentially dangerous situation, and then drive you home, and your complaining that I’m asking too many questions?” I laughed softly. “So tell me,” I turned to her as we reached a red light. “What were you doing in the middle of the night in a part of Bludhaven that puts Gotham’s worst to shame,” I revved the again as the light turned to green, “In the middle of a gang crossfire?”


She glared at me, “Fine, you want to know?” She crossed her arms, her voice lowered as she began, “I was at a party,” She looked at me as I drove, “You are about sixteen right? You probably go to school, you know, parties?” She emphasized the word parties.


I nodded, “Booze, drugs, dancing, yeah, I know, so you were at this party and?” I waited for her to continue. She was staring out into space, looking tired.


“Booze, drugs, sleazy guys with roaming hands.” She shook her head sadly, “And my date was one of them. He was drunk, I was smart, I hadn’t touched any of the spiked punch, deciding only to drink water, making sure to keep my cup with me at all times. I had heard the stories of what happens when you leave your drink unattended for even a minute.” She shifted in her seat, rubbing her neck.


“Unfortunately, I left my drink for two seconds, I just turned around to slap a guy who was pawing me and turned back a second later. The drink looked unchanged.” She sighed and looked at me, “They spiked my drink. I don’t know what is was but I got groggy, fast.” She laughed slightly, sardonically, “I thought I was drunk, now that I think about it, how can you be drunk on water?”


My brain scanned through all the drugs that could cause that effect. Most likely her drink was spiked with the common date rape drug. People like that ruined parties for everyone else, sometimes criminals don’t get caught. I turned to her. She had been silent for a minute, “Were you…” I left it open ended as she shook her head.


“No. I never fell asleep. I asked my boyfriend to drive me home, I passed out as soon as my head hit the seat. He didn’t take me home, instead he took me to his apartment and tried to…” She shrugged, as if trying to find the right word, but I already knew what she meant. I felt sorry for her, what she had gone through.


“Did he succeed?” I asked, prying for more information. I planned to get his name and address. I decided to make a little detour on the way back from patrol tonight.


“No, I sobered up enough to figure out his intentions. I tried to push him away, but when you have Bludhaven High’s prime quarterback trying to get his hand down your pants, all six feet and two hundred pounds of him, you figure out quickly that it’s not as easy as it looks.”


Helpless and unable to move, I shuddered, unable to think of how that would feel.


“I kneed him,” she continued, “And dashed to the door.” She pointed to the bruises on her temple and running down her neck and back, and down her leg, “I didn’t get very far.” Nothing needed to be said.


“Luckily he fell asleep, it seemed like he had been on drugs, I smelled weed on his breath and clothes.” She pulled out the keys from the wrecked car, out of her pocket. “I was able to find my keys and get out of there. Unfortunately I drove right into the middle of a gang war. A bullet hit the gas, I jumped out just in time. The car went up in flames.” She smiled at me, “The rest you know.”


I turned to her, “I just want to reassure you that not all guys are like that.” We drove a bit further when I asked her, “Do you remember his address?”


She looked at me, she must have saw the evil glint in my eye, because she smiled, and quickly wrote down the address on a piece of paper I gave her. I smiled at her, “Don’t worry, I don’t think he’ll do something like that for a long while.”


She laughed, a merry sound compared to the story she had related, “You are,” she looked at me, “By far, one of the coolest people I’ve met.” She leaned in closer, “Just tell him Lesley sent you, I’m sure he’s in for a surprise.” She gave me a description and wished me good luck.


“I won't need it,” I winked at her, “You’re speaking to a guy who does this for a living.”


She laughed, “All high and mighty aren’t we? Well, what do you do on your spare time?”


We talked a while, about school, movies, nothing really. But it put a light spin on the night.


We pulled into a neighborhood, she pointed to the house at the end of the street. It was a normal house, nothing big, but nothing small, quaint really, with brick and white inlaid windows. “Well here you go, I hope that you wont experience something like this again.” She was about to open the door when I called out, “Wait!” I pulled out a bullet that had been imbedded in my cloak and a silver R that came in handy, I handed it to her, “This will help explain the car.” She smiled at me and leaned in, whispering in my ear, “Thank you.”


She turned to leave when she quickly grabbed my chin and gave me kiss. On the lips, for a long time. Finally she pulled back, smiling, “Thanks for being the only great guy I’ve met in a long time.” She winked and ran up the steps to her house, pulled out a key and dashed in before I could say a word.


My mouth was hanging open and I was staring into space. Wow. Now that was a kiss. I started the car and drove back to the inner streets of Bludhaven. I smiled to myself as I drove, I was going to have to thank Dick, cause it’s the car, it’s got to be the car.


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