Gotham's New Bird | T. Drake

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Robyn didn't know how long she was in a compromised state of mind. All she knew was that she was constanly scared and her thoughts were always foggy, and she never remembered what happened whenever the feelings passed.

It felt as if days passed, weeks, maybe. It could have even been a few hours. She always woke up in her original room, lying on the floor, body sore and mouth dry. And she would drink the water given to her before she would fall asleep again. She would then wake up on that god awful table, a Scarecrow smiling over her. He usually had some type of pill, syringe, or contained gas at the ready.

Robyn was fully aware that she was a lab rat. Merely an expendible specimen for experiments. She didn't really have the energy to fight or care. She barely had energy to hope that Red Robin or Batman or anyone, really, would come and save her from this... this thing. And the longer Robyn waited, the more her hope diminished and the more her anger grew.

This anger quickly began to fuel her. She fought through the fear toxin tests. She fought fear and became angier and angrier with each test.

Had Batman forgotten about Robyn? What was taking so goddamned long? Where the hell was he? Did Red Robin still care about this mission? About Robyn? Did Tim still care about her? Or was she just another mission, another damsel in distress?

Eventually, she became numb to the fear toxin. She remembered each session, each test. She told Scarecrow in hopes of being relieved of these sessions, but he only increased the dosages. Her anger rose like the dosage of the toxins.

Whenever she was left alone in her empty, lifeless room, she would scream and throw that goddamned chair around. She threw it and pounded it into the ground and stomped at it until it broke.

She cried when that happened. And she always looked down at her filthy, tattered dress and cried some more. She had already ripped it so it came up to her scarred knees. Robyn would cry until she had no tears left. And when she was done, she would be even angrier.

For days, weeks, maybe, she would sit and boil in her own anger. She had no tell of time.

Then one day she heard yelling. It sounded like a fight was going on. She didn't bother getting up. She knew who it was, and she wanted them to know she was disappointed. Disappointed for not finding her earlier. Disappointed for not knowing Scarecrow was at the gala all that time ago. The sound of the fight faded. Then there were gunshots. This scared Robyn. The shooter could barge in and kill her at any time; use her as leverage. She withered and crawled under the table, curling into a ball.

Suddenly, a vent cover in the room fell and clashed loudly to the floor. Robyn screamed. But then she saw the familiar yellow, red, and green outfit and relaxed some.

"Come on, Robyn," Robin grumbled, almost as if he felt obligated to save her. She knew he'd rather be out in the action.

"The fuck took you guys so long?" She seethed and stood from under the table. Robin was almost as tall as her.

"You could say we were compromised." Robin said matter-of-factly. Robin reached behind him, under his cape, to produce a backpack. He tossed it to her. "Ready to kick some ass? I was told not to fight, but you know how I am with following rules."

Robyn laughed and unzipped the pack. Her suit was neatly folded in there. Robin went to the door to pick the lock as she changed into her suit. By the time Robyn slipped the mask over her face, Robin had the door flung open and disappeared down the hall. She followed, glad to have changed out of the nasty dress. She reached into one of the pockets and felt the comforting feel of her old throwing knives. She grabbed one and rounded the corner, where Robin had paused to take a guy out. He looked at her and smiled triumphantly.

"Where's everyone else?" She asked, hearing more gunshots.

"Obviously, Red Hood is here, so go find him." Robin declared, "I'm going the other way." So Robyn followed the sounds of the gunshots. She rounded a corner when, all of a sudden, she felt the air escape her lungs and she found herself on the ground. There was a familiar face above her.

"Sh-Sherlock?" She blurted when she caught her breath. The man smirked, the right side of his mouth tipping up. Rage filled Robyn with the confirmed identity. She swung her legs into his feet, causing him to fall. Robyn climbed over him and threw an uppercut under his jaw, cracking his head into the cement floor.

"You nearly killed my friend!" She yelled and punched him again and again, "Don't you ever go near him again! Never!" She screamed the last few words and delivered a punch to his temple, successfully knocking him unconscious. She panted and stood up, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She shook with rage as she ran to the Red Hood. She saw the familiar red helmet and ran up to stand beside him. She heard him grumble as he clipped new mags into his guns.

"Little shit isn't listening again, is he," he said, more of a statement than a question.

"So, what's the game plan?" She quipped.

"Beat up the bad guys, don't kill the Scarecrow. Bats and Red Robin are taking care of the rest." And with that Red Hood and Robyn took off down the hall in search for more baddies. It didn't take long. Scarecrow was shielded behind a large group of men, one of which was Gerimone. Scarecrow threw a small can between the two groups and took off running. The men pulled masks over their faces. Red Hood pressed a button on his helmet and hoisted up his guns. The men snarled and held up their array of weapons.

Robyn was the only one without protection against the gas when it started spraying. The familiar stench made her gag a little. She stumbled to grab her batarangs. Once the foggy gas cleared, gunshots went off and men shouted. But Robyn did nothing. She felt... different somehow. And then everything blurred. Her ears rang and her fists ached.

And then she was panting over a bloody mess. Gerimone's head lay between her feet where she stood. Something came over her like she was posessed. Words and actions slipped out of her like it was nothing.

"I've been waiting for this day, Gerimone," Robyn leered. She crouched and held a sharp batarang to his jugular, "I'm glad it's me that gets to kill you. After what you did to me...." Robyn dug deep and sliced hard. She watched him gurgle and struggle as he bled out, "Good riddance, I say," she grumbled and felt her rage ebb into nothingness.

Ξ

Cool, two updates within a month :)

At this point I'm just winging it and seeing where my imagination is taking me. Call it literary improv if you will

I just want to get this story done so I can edit and start a new one that's been brewing and rewrite another from 2013 (cringe)

Happy 4th of July, fellow Americans! Freedom! Fuck yeah!

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