Cat and Mouse

Chapter 18

*Robin's P.O.V.*

The light wind brushed across my frozen lips, flurries of snow mingling in the breeze. They clung hopelessly to my hair, dampening the midnight locks and freezing my skull. I shivered slightly as I looked down at the city, glistening under the street lights, the snow reflecting the dim lighting. But i was numb to the evident winter weather, numb to the bluish hue my chapped lips were beginning to take on. I was numb to the bags tugging at my eyes, begging for me to just go home and rest.

Even Bruce had tried to stop me from going out tonight. Even though it was still Christmas break and school was out, even he didn't approve of me spending every night out on the prowl. I couldn't remember the last time I got a decent night's worth of sleep, much less even a short catnap. Every part of me was screaming for me to rest, except for my heart.

It all started five days ago.

It was snowing then too, I remember. The night's been stamped into my mind, a tattoo that I could never get rid of. It had only been two days since I last saw Fox, on New Year's Eve. But a New Year meant new crime, and it seemed the villains were at it worse than before. It started New Year's Day, with a jail break from Arkham Asylum, releasing the psychopaths we had tried so hard just weeks before to keep locked up. Fox didn't show up then, and Batman and I were too overpowered to stop them all. And since then, they'd been doing all they could to make up for the time they lost while incarcerated. All into the second night, it was an endless stream of a plethora of crimes, from theft to arson to murder. I was too busy then to notice as well, but Fox never appeared that time either. Her absence only crossed my mind during a pause in the crime-fighting, when she had still failed to make an appearance. That had struck me as odd, seeing as she would never miss a chance to throw her life away. Back then, I was too blind to realize the gravity of her disappearance.

It was then a new murder popped up. Thinking it was just another escapee on a mad spree, I was a bit careless. While Batman had the same air of seriousness when dealing with the case, I was tired and distracted from all the fighting to focus on the murder. I shadowed Batman to the crime scene, allowing him to take control. The victim was nobody truly special. He was a John Doe, a drop-out fallen victim to a scythe in the back of his neck. That alone hinted at a certain fear-inducing super villain being the culprit. His antics were nothing new to me, just your run-of-the-mill psycho causing mayhem in a crime-ridden city. I almost let Batman handle it on his home, retire early for the night.

Until my eyes landed on something painfully familiar.

When my azure eyes landed on the cloth, I felt my entire body freeze, but this time it wasn't from the biting cold and the flurries of snow. It was as if Mr. Freeze had blasted me with his Ice Ray head on, chilling me straight to the bones. Instantly alert, I sprinted past Batman in a mad dash for the article. Gripping it in gloved hands, I pulled the half-buried item from the snow, examining it meticulously to make sure it was the real deal. 

It was.

The scarf was soaked with blood and wet with melted snow, but I could identify it anywhere. The black and orange stripes of the neck warmer were like the flashing lights of a police vehicle, screaming an announcement that she was here. Fox was here, and from the blood coating the snow and her stray clothing, she was hurt. She was hurt and alone with a notorious, wanton, sociopathic, serial killer. Just that thought alone caused a shudder to traverse up my spine.

I need to help her. I was the only one who could.

And since then, I haven't stopped searching.

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A/N: short chapter because I need to update and I don't really have anything else to put up. Sorry for the wait again, Robin's POV is pretty hard to deal with so I may just quit it after this chapter. Anyways, enjoy this short part and I'm hoping I'll have the next chapter out soon, I've had it planned out for months so it should be good enough to execute.