Inescapable

Inescapable

1

It was an unusual night for Gotham City. It was too quiet. Besides the traffic and general city noises in the background it wasn’t much of an exciting night for Tim Drake aka Robin. Bruce was out of town on some sort of business trip. He barely ever did this because of his role as Batman, but he trusted both Dick and Barbra to watch over Tim and patrol the city. Tim hated the thought of having to be babysat. He was seventeen now and didn’t think he needed much supervision. After all, Tim managed to pull off being Robin as well as remain the top of his class. He was in college now. He had been for three years. He was something of a prodigy. Bruce told him that there was definitely a spot for him at Wayne enterprises, but he had to complete the schooling first. He was very intelligent, tactful, serious, and resourceful.

These were traits that only made him a better student as well as a better Robin. Dick was much more laid back and humorous. Jason was much more spiteful and angry. Tim always envied the two of them, mostly Dick. Who wouldn’t want to be Dick Grayson? As for Jason, Bruce did not like talking about Jason. Alfred told Tim what had happened and how Jason had died and come back. It wasn’t anyone’s favorite subject matter. Tim hadn’t really known much about him other than some old footage of him training as a young Robin in the Bat cave and his old red, green, and yellow suit that was torn partly burned. Tim’s modifications to the suit proved to be most worthwhile. He never understood why the previous Robins liked to go pants less. Tim removed the green and yellow color scheme and replaced it with red and black. It was much more comfortable as well as protective. Tim was wearing it proudly as he swung through the city, flipping and jumping off buildings. He was proud to be Robin.

Tim’s point of view

“I wonder if Barbra will notice that I’m gone?” I said out loud as the wind whooshed through my dark brown hair while I continued to swing through the night. I always loved the city lights at night from above. I also loved the thrill of falling and then shooting the grappling hook last minute. Though, I show great acrobatics I was nothing compared to how graceful Dick was. I knew that I shouldn’t be too reckless. He was on patrol and I wasn’t exactly supposed to be out. I hated being treated like a baby. I mean, I am more than capable of watching over the city for a couple of nights without it burning to the ground. I hated going against orders from Bruce or any of them for that matter. Barbra and Dick will have a shitfit if she realized that I snuck out by myself, but I see it more of an opportunity to prove myself to Bruce. Plus, if I can save the life of someone then isn’t it worth it? Isn’t that the whole point? I didn’t need to worry about that tonight, anyway. I couldn’t find any action anywhere. The darkest allies were free of drug dealers and muggers tonight. What the hell? I know Nightwing is good, but this is ridiculous. He’s probably just as bored as I am.

I finally landed the rooftop of a nearby building. I gracefully stuck the landing, but I almost tripped with my next few steps. I laughed a little and continued to the edge of the rooftop and looked down. Even the traffic in Gotham wasn’t as hostile as usual. This was yet another one of the FML moments of my life. I quickly slapped my gloved hand up to my face and sighed with immense boredom. Great. I snuck out for nothing. That’ll be the story to tell everyone when I get back to the manor. I bet that they’d all be waiting for me to sneak back in through my window, and I would put on a dumb, innocent grin on my face and say something stupid like ‘I needed to run to the store’

Then Dick will lecture me on how dangerous it is for me to go out alone and what Bruce would do. He and Barbra will probably hold it against me and blackmail me later. Assholes. I mean, it’s not like I was expecting the Joker. Even I know not to try and take him on alone. I had been gone for approximately fifty three minutes when my com link buzzed and Barbra’s voice busted through my poor eardrum.

“Tim! Where the hell are you?!” She shouted numerous times. I began to think she would never stop. I was in trouble now and I knew it. Busted.

“Oh, hi Babs.” I said nervously, trying to be slightly comedic. I could tell she wasn’t going to let this go. I would have to return to the mansion as soon as possible.

“Don’t ‘hi Babs’ me! You snuck out! I already radioed Nightwing and told him you weren’t in your room. Where are you?” She said angrily. I hated how she talked down to me like she was my parent. She was only four years older than me. I was tired of being treated like a kid.

“Ugh, don’t worry about it. I’m about to be on my way back now okay. Jeesh.” I said with a undermining tone.

“Hey Tim, what the hell?” said a familiar deep voice in my ear. I could recognize Dick’s voice anywhere and I have to say that he was pissed. I could tell by his tone.

“Look, I’m sorry. I was just extremely bored and-” My voice cracked. I knew that was the absolute wrong thing to say. How could I be so stupid?

“You were bored?! That’s a good enough reason to sneak off?” He shouted.

“Come on, Dick. It’s not like you ever snuck out on patrol when you were my age.” I threw back at him sarcastically. This was true. Bruce told me about plenty of times when Dick used to sneak out. He was even younger than me, though in his picture he looks older.

“We aren’t talking about me, Tim. You are so much smarter than I was. You should know better. Now, get back to the mansion. You think you can handle that?” He said, trying to piss me off even more.

“Whatever.” I said coldly as I aimed my grappling gun, about to shoot it. Suddenly I heard a woman scream. I ran to the other side of the rooftop and glanced down at a woman with red hair and a purple coat on that looked expensive. She was in an alley being mugged by some goon in a trench coat with a gun.

“That’s going to have to wait Nightwing. I got trouble.” I declared before taking the com link out of my ear and dropping it on the roof top. I’d be back to get it after I dealt with this bad guy. I needed to blow off some steam and I didn’t need Dick yelling in my ear while fighting. I could hear his voice coming out of the discarded earpiece on the ground. I didn’t care. I’d answer for it later. Right now this woman needed my help. I quickly jumped off the side of the roof top, flipped and slid down the side of the building will great ease. As I made my way down to the ground, I noticed that the mugger had red hair too, just not as red as the woman’s. His old hat covered most of it, but it seemed familiar. I landed behind him and he turn around. I immediately kicked the gun out of his hand and then delivered another kick to his face. After he fell to the ground I saw his face. I know that I had seen this guy before. I looked up and saw that the woman was fleeing in the corner of the seemingly narrow ally.

“It’s okay, now. I’m not going to hurt you.” I said calmly while offering my hand to her. She didn’t respond at all. Was I that scary?

“No shit.” A deep voice said from behind me as an unknown figure grabs me and shoves a cloth into my face. The cloth smelled like alcohol. I struggled and screamed, but the guy was stronger than me. My hearing was beginning to go faint and distorted. I knew that it had to be chloroform. Suddenly standing up was proving to be too much of a challenge. My legs gave out. I went limp, but I could feel the mystery bad guy holding me up. After that everything went black.

When I began to wake up I kept hearing voices. I was fading in and out of consciousness. When I finally did wake up I remembered what happened and my whole body jumped. I was on the floor in a dark room. There was a bed and a door that lead to a bathroom from what I could tell. There was another door that was partially opened. Light beamed through and I could hear unrecognizable voices in the next room. I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. I peeked through the small opening and saw three people. The first was a tall, red haired woman in a short purple dress. The woman was digging through the fridge. She pulled out a huge can of beans and a jar of peanut butter. I must have been in some hotel or something. She had some bulk to her figure and she looked like she just got a spray tan.

“Yeah, I vote we get take out.” Said a male voice. This wasn’t the voice I heard before I was kidnapped. The second person was a slender, yet somewhat muscular guy with that oh so familiar orange hair. His hair was cut pretty short and clean cut, but he had some stubble on his face. He was sitting at a table and leaning back in his chair.

“Nonsense!” said the woman. The third person was a tall muscular man with black hair. He had a little white streak of hair in the front. He was wearing a brown leather jacket with a white t-shirt underneath, and black pants.

“I’m going to have to side with Roy on this one. Sorry, Kory.” The man said. I knew that was it. That was the voice I heard before I was knocked out. What the hell did these guys want with me? I hadn’t ever seen them before. Then I realized that I wasn’t wearing anything except a pair of blue boxers and a white t-shirt. Even my mask was gone. That means that these guys knew my identity now. How could I have been so stupid? Why did I have to be so reckless? Maybe I could still sneak out of the hotel room. I thought about how I could do it. They thought that I was still passed out. There weren’t any windows in the dark room I was in so I knew I’d have to go through front door. These guys hadn’t tied me up or anything.

So, maybe they weren’t as smart as I thought. As I spied on them through the bedroom door all they seemed to do was argue over what kind of food they were going to get. I could also see another door, past the table and couch. That had to be the entrance. I could see that the lock was turned. So, I needed to be prepared to quickly unlock it. Maybe, if I just move quickly, then I might make it. If they wanted to kill me they had the perfect opportunity to do so while I was unconscious. Despite what the motive may have been, I was not prepared to be someone’s captive. I waited until they were all looking away when I bolted out of the bedroom and headed straight for the door. I was a few inches from it when they noticed me and the red haired guy jumped me.

“Relax, kid. You ain’t going anywhere.” He said while trying to hold me down on the floor with my hands behind my back, but I quickly reacted with another kick to the face, this time much harder than before.

“We’ll see.” I said. Then I quickly unlocked the bolt on the door and opened it a little only to have it slammed shut by the other man with the white hair streak. That really pissed me off. I launched a barrage of punches and kicks at the guy, but he blocked every one of my attacks without much effort.

“I told you we should have tied him up.” muttered the red haired guy while holding his face.

“Who the hell are you?! I hissed while glaring at into his blue eyes.

“How insulting. I figured the new Robin would know my identity. Shows what the old man learned after all this time. Think about it, Replacement.” He said coldly. My eyes widened and my voice cracked as I began to speak.

“You’re Jason.” I can’t say that my reaction wasn’t completely abnormal.

“That’s right, kid. You should really learn some respect.” He said, before forcefully punching me in the stomach. I could tell that he wasn’t holding back. The pain was excruciating. I slide down to the floor as I held my abdominal area. I thought I was going to black out due to the pain. Then I coughed up some blood. It was dripping down my chin. I wiped it off with my arm. Jason kneeled down and began to whisper in my ear.

“That’s better. Now, if you try to escape again I’ll break your fucking leg.” His voice tickled my ear. It was deep and scary. As a result it made my whole body tingle. I was beginning to get goose bumps. This man was scary. I was trying my best not to cry, but I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes. This guy wasn’t kidding. I could feel the tears slowly streaming down my face. I felt worse than pathetic. What kind of Robin am I? Dick would have taken this guy out the first chance he had.

“W-What do you want with me?” I whimpered and the taste of blood still lingering in my mouth, still struggling to catch my breath.

“That’s a good question, kid. What do we want with him?” The red haired guy asked while looking at Jason with one brow raised. Who was this guy? I swear he looked familiar. I knew that I had seen him somewhere before. Even his voice sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it.

“It doesn’t concern you, Harper. Just drop it. The kid stays with us now. End of story.” Jason said with a glare at the other guy. That is when I finally put two and two together. This was Roy Harper, the Arsenal. He used to be called Speedy and was Green Arrow’s sidekick before he started doing drugs or something. Batman and I had worked a case with the two of them once. I couldn’t recognize him because he wasn’t wearing a mask.

“Whatever, but I ain’t babysitting.” He said while glancing over at me while rubbing where my foot had hit his cheek. Asshole. I know he was just being a smart ass, but I wasn’t a baby and I certainly didn’t need to be under supervision. I just pouted.

“Hold him down, Roy.” Jason said as he went into the dark room from which I had emerged. Roy then went over to me and pulled me to my feet. He held my hands behind my back again. I could easily get out of his hold, but what was the point? By the time I could free myself Jason will have been back and I didn’t feel like having my leg broken.

“Look kid, just do what he says and he won’t hurt you. I know Jason’s an ass, but he isn’t evil. Trust me. He’s actually a really good guy.” Roy said quietly. What the hell did he mean? Jason kidnapped me and he and his little minions are holding me captive in some unknown hotel for some unknown reason. And I am just supposed to believe that deep down Jason’s really nice? I don’t think so. Was this guy for real?!

“He kidnapped me and just threatened to break my leg if I tried to escape.” I said flatly glaring behind me at Roy with a look that said die.

“I’m only trying to make it easier on you, kid. Get pissed if you want to. Just do me a solid and don’t kick me in the face anymore. That’d be nice.” Roy said, countering my death stare. I kind of felt bad for kicking his face, but then I thought about my current situation and quickly reconsidered. At least he had a sense of humor, unlike Jason.

“By the way, this is Kory. If you think Jason punches hard, you should see her.” Roy said as the woman began to casually walk toward me. Her eyes seemed to be glowing green. She was pretty muscular for a woman. She was almost as tall as Jason. Her hair was a fiery red.

“Aren’t you a cutie? Pleased to meet you.” She said sweetly with a smile. Her hand made its way to my cheek and gave it a pinch. She was acting as though nothing bad were going on in front of her eyes. Like this kind of thing was completely normal. Who the hell were these people? Among all of this crap I nearly forgot that I was in nothing but boxers and a white t-shirt. As if I weren’t humiliated enough yet. I began to blush a little.

“Wish I could say the same.” I mouthed while jerking my head away from her orange hand. She seemed nice, but they all played a part in my kidnapping. I wasn’t going to let them off easy and be their perfect little pet prisoner. I am Robin after all. She laughed a little and then proceeded to go get a bottle of water from the fridge. That’s when I heard a jiggling sound and saw Jason return from the room with a long pair of hand cuffs. Prick.

“Wait a minute! Get away from me! ” I cried as I began to struggle and resist the hold that Roy me in. Jason came closer with the restraints and I started to panic.

“Hold him, Roy!” Jason shouted while coming closer. Immediately and almost instinctively I delivered a back kick to Roy’s knee and flipped over behind him as he yelled in pain. I didn’t even kick him that hard.

“Damn it, Kid!” Roy screeched as he held his knee and bounced on one leg. Jason dropped the shackles and came at me. I would have been mad to try and take him on like that. I took to the defensive. The guy was like two feet taller than me and apparently, he was much stronger. I don’t know why I so surprised at first. After all, Bruce did train him, but he trained me too. He basically trashed the place trying to catch me. All I could do was dodge and keep my distance. His fighting style was that of close range and his technique was similar to street fighting. Kory just sat there watching like it was some sort of movie or something. All she did was laugh at the outrageous antics of Jason and Roy. Finally, Roy managed to tackle me. This gave Jason the opportunity he needed. He quickly reared his fist back and it connected with my face. I blacked out.