Death Wish

Day Off

"Can I, Bruce?" I almost begged. I had just come back from a weekend at the mountain, and after being a boy the whole time with no breaks, I needed to go out and do something as a girl.

"No, Rachelle, it would be too risky," He replied. 

"Please, I promise I won't stay out long, and I'll even look into a case for you if you want. " 

"Rachelle, you know I can't exactly have you walking around Gotham-"

"Yeah, I know. It would threaten my identity as Richard Grayson. But, Bruce, I could bring up one of my old aliases," I played my desperate card. If this didn't sway his decision, nothing would. Sure, it would require a little bit of acting, but not as much compared to pretending to be a boy.

"An old alias, huh?" He pondered and after some thought responded. "Fine, you can go." I cheered and headed to the door. 

"But," He conditioned and I turned on my heel to make eye contact. "You have to bring back Mia Woods."

I internally groaned. Not because I hated the alias of Mia, in fact she was one of the aliases that was most natural to play. There were a lot of people at school who acted just like she would if she were real,  so I could play the part without a second thought. I groaned because the clothes I had to wear were too- Pinteresty. Not that I'd let Bruce know.

"Sure thing, Bruce," I laughed as I headed to my room to get changed. 

I didn't have many girly clothes aside from the ones I used when I was playing an alias for under cover missions. The ones that I did have, were carelessly thrown into wherever I had space. After rummaging through my closet, I found the outfit I used for the role of Mia Woods. It wasn't all that fancy, but that was the point. Bruce figured that the best way to hide my identity was to dress differently than I was accustomed to when in public. More specifically, as a person of the middle class.

Once I was dressed, I had to deal with putting my contacts on. Since my eyes were such a unique color, whenever I went out as an alias, I had to wear colored contacts. The alias of Mia Woods, had deep brown eyes, in contrast to my ultramarine blue. After struggling to put them in, I thought I was ready and started to head out. 

 As I was passing a mirror in the hallway that lead to the main door, I quickly glanced at my reflection to get a final look at what I was wearing before I left, but I noticed that I still had my Robin wig on. 

"Aww, snap," I scolded myself and pulled the wig off of my head. Like almost every other time I took it off, my natural hair fell past my shoulders in a tangled, knotted mess. 

"Ugh," I groaned as I was forced to go back to my room to get a brush. With a practiced ease, I combed through my hair, and putting it into a side part. To be honest, aside from pinning my hair up under my wig, that was all I knew how to do with my hair.  Alfred offered to teach me to do more, I just hadn't seized that opportunity yet. 

Once I was finally ready, I had Alfred drop me off at a small cafe at the edge of town. I only knew of the place because I passed it every night on patrol. The cafe was almost empty when I got there, aside from the owner and the few people that worked there.

"Hello," The elderly lady behind the counter greeted as I entered the cafe. 

"Hi," I smiled back and giving here a little wave. The cafe was smaller inside than I had thought, but it wasn't cramped. It even gave off the stereotypical cafe feel that made you want to listen to acoustic music while sipping a cup of coffee. 

I ordered a cup of coffee and a small breakfast sandwich that looked pretty good. Bruce wouldn't be that happy that I had eaten something that wasn't prepared by Alfred, but I could care less. I didn't plan on telling him. 

When I got my order, I retreated to a table by the window, which would allow me to see everything that was going on outside. I had to be able to leave on a moment's notice if there was trouble. 

The elderly lady, who I assumed was the owner, came over to me a few minutes later and asked if I was all right.

"Oh, yes," I replied. "I'm fine."

"Okay, that's good, you know. Most girls like you that come here are either depressed or anorexic. You though, just look lonely," Her grandmother like tone was genuine and here eyes showed decades of experience with what she spoke about. 

"No, I'm not lonely. I just came here to think," I answered back to her comment. I had come here to relax, but with the way she seemed so excited that a youth wanted to talk to her, I couldn't tell her to buzz off. 

"Thinking is something your generation doesn't seem to do," she commented as the smile melted from her face. "running off with their lovers and doing drugs. How disappointing, if I were their mother I would be ashamed."

I nodded my head in agreement. A lot of kids in my school were completely into that kind of stuff, and it was gross. 

"It's nice to see that you have the sensibility to take time for yourself and think," She said warmly, the beginnings of a new smile forming on her face. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be the smartest person of your generation." 

I blushed, and it wasn't fake. I had been called many things on account of my intelligence: geek, nerd, smart, genius. It all made me feel smart, but hearing it this way, from an elderly woman who had never seen me in school or my report card, I couldn't help it that I felt a little embarrassed. 

She winked at me before heading back to her spot behind the counter as a group of joggers came into the cafe. 

Shortly after, I finished my sandwich and coffee and headed out again. I walked a few blocks, enjoying the ability to see Gotham in the day as a citizen. From this point of view, I could tell why people didn't move away because of the crime.

Of course, the perfect start I had to my day couldn't last. I was still on the outskirts of the city, but I somehow got caught up in crime. There was a suspicious noise behind me, and I turned to investigate, but I was met with a punch to my temple and I blacked out. 

When I came back to consciousnesses, I was lying on the floor of a room with at least a half dozen other girls. The lights were dimly lit, but my eyes quickly adjusted. The girls weren't all my age as several were younger and a few appeared to be  a few years older. 

However, all of them were still asleep and when I tried rousing them from their slumber, they merely groaned and stayed asleep. Looking around the room once more, I recognized it. It was from a distant memory I couldn't quite remember, but I knew it was bad. 

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my distress beacon. With a click of a button, I turned it on and hoped for the best. I had my utility belt, but my Holo-glove was still at home so I couldn't hack into the security system remotely and none of the other abilities I had could get me out of the room without possibly hurting the other girls. If I wanted to get out, I needed someone to open the door.  

I sat back against one of the walls and groaned. This was not how I wanted to spend my day off.