It Comes With the Cape

Rich Boy's Retreat

For my convenience, Dick is seventeenish, and Tim is Red Robin. They both live with Bruce at present. That's all that's important, and I dunno if that ever actually happens canonically. Dunno about Jason, he's not in this. I think.

Also, people get punched. This is less fluff than I had originally planned. Oh well. People don't want fluff when they're reading 'kidnapped Robin' stories. Usually. At least, that's my experience. Either way, not a ton of fluff.

This is in two parts. The second is already mostly done, but SUSPENSE.

xXx

Dick strolled casually down the street, doing his best to blend in. Merely existing as a millionaire tended to draw media attention. He was wearing his usual civies: hoodie, tan cargo pants, sneakers, and, of course, sunglasses, along with a knapsack full of notebooks and a laptop. His watch read 10:30. Time to start patrol soon.

He heard a somewhat familiar clattering originating from an alley to his right as a shadow passed over. That would be Red Robin. Must've dropped one of his birdarangs.

Shrugging, he went to the alley to fetch it for Tim. Saved him the trouble of replacing it.

As he stuffed it in his satchel, he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, there. You're Richard Grayson, right?" He whirled around. The man leaned against the wall, just enough in the shadows to hide his face.

"Who's asking?"

"A friend. One with a proposition." He stepped out of the shadows, smiling and holding out his arms in what was supposed to be a friendly and comforting gesture. He had something of a scruffy three-day beard. There wasn't much particularly noteworthy about him, other than he seemed to smoke some (he smelled a bit of cigarette smoke). "I have a boat, a big one. I'm putting on a cruise for rich boys, like yourself, to enjoy themselves without the... attention of the media."

The young millionaire crossed his arms and eyed the man suspiciously. "How come I haven't heard of this before?"

"If you had, the press would be all over it. I've just been personally tracking down some young men who I thought might be interested."

"I'm assuming this would be, in no way, free?"

"A man's gotta make a living! But I'm sure it would be hardly a dent in your savings."

Something still smelled fishy. He decided to play it safe. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm pretty busy here." He started to walk away.

He was intensely aware of the man's arm now around his shoulder. "Ah, but that's why you need to go! It helps you dodge responsibility!"

That was the final nail in the coffin. He pulled the arm off. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't dodge."

Something hard smashed into the back of his head. Before he lost consciousness, he heard the man say, "Apparently not."

xXx

He woke up with his wrists tied to the arms of a metal chair... somewhere. The muffled sound of a huge engine was all he could hear. When he opened his eyes and the light permitted his headache settle, all he could see was the cold steel that made up the room.

Behind him, a heavy-sounding metal door opened. The roar of the engine grew painfully loud, but died down again as the door was shut.

Dick turned slightly to see who it was, expecting to see the man he'd met in the alley. But it wasn't him. It was a man with a much fuller and redder beard.

"Ah, the rebel awakens." He gave Dick a once-over. "Better go tell Cap." He left as suddenly as he'd come.

The rebel? Haven't heard that one before. He looked down at the floor and found that the chair was bolted down. Apparently SOMEBODY has a clue how to keep people prisoner.

If he had to guess, he would say that he was on a ship. A big one, based on the way that he could barely tell they were rocking. Probably that "big boat" that the man in the alley had bragged about having.

A few minutes after the red-headed man's departure, the door opened again. This time, three men came in. In the lead was the man from the alley.

"Hello there, Richard. I see you're awake."

"Why am I here?"

"Straight to the point, eh? Well, long story short, I actually did have a cruise planned. It's where you are now. But I wanted to have as much profit from this as possible, and I couldn't have anyone telling the media about it. So I decided, ahead of time, if anyone said no, I would drag them along and get a ransom." The man got right in his face. "You're the only one who said no, you know that? The only one. Why is that?"

Dick leaned back slightly. "I was taught not to trust strangers when they tell you to ride their cruise ship."

The man, presumably the captain, chuckled and stood up straight. "You've got sass, I'll give you that."

"It isn't yours to give."

The response was a fist in his gut. He let out an oomph, not regulating his response as he would have dressed as Nightwing. To these men, he was a spoiled rich kid. And spoiled rich kids had a low pain tolerance.

"Now, you're going to be here for a while. You can be a good boy and get along all right. Or you can go on like this, and your time here will be pretty much miserable. What'll it be?"

Dick just laughed. "I can't take a hint. Am I supposed to say something to show that I'll go along with this?"

This time, the punch was aimed at his nose. Having seen it coming, he moved to the side enough so it caught the tender flesh of his cheek rather than breaking his schnozz. It still stung, but he didn't have a bloody or broken nose to worry about.

He felt around the inside of his mouth with his tounge, tasting blood. No displaced teeth. That was good.

The man glared at him. "You little--"

Another man suddenly swung the door open. "Captain, it's time for your lunch with Mister Todd."

As the captain reluctantly left, telling his men to keep watch over the door, Dick wondered, Todd? As in, our Todd? Jason, if that's you, you're an idiot. I hope you know that.

To be continued! (Dun dun DUN!)