Chapter Text
You are a former prisoner in Gotham.
Well, you're actually on parole. That's what happens when there are too many people in jail and they need to get rid of the idiots to get more dangerous people in there.
You committed dumb crimes when you were young, your mom and dad gave up on you after a few years and just let the system take you away. Without any family support, you were welcomed by your friends and because of their fault, you were arrested.
Not at all original or fun.
But that's the truth, you're just one of the many in Gotham that has no future or past. Just a face in the crowd.
Your parole officer is swamped with work, so he can't take care of you, he just tells you to get a job and leaves you in a small rented room. You have a little money with you, because your mother sent you a letter with some money. That's enough to buy some food and survive for a few weeks.
Your life sucks, but at least you're not in prison anymore.
You wake up and, like every other day, go looking for a job. Granted, the system is supposed to help inmates adjust to their new lives, but this is Gotham we're talking about, here the system doesn't help anyone. The system is not made to help anyone.
You decide to go on foot, delivering your resume to the stores that open, saving money on the ticket to last another day. Yeah, the internet can help you, but you didn't want to stay home anymore. He spent so much time locked up that now he wanted to see people.
You walk for hours all day, going to different stores, getting lost in the cold, damp streets of Gotham. Eating the sandwich when you're hungry. As you hand in your resume, you know you won't be asked, somehe has kind enough to say they don't take it without experience, others just look at the paper and ignore you as soon as they know you're a parole inmate looking for a job.
This scene repeats itself for days and you are almost losing hope.
You stop to eat the sandwich in the park, it's getting dark so there's no one there. You just want to enjoy the great outdoors while the exhaustion isn't there yet.
“meow”
You hear a kitten meow. it had black fur and yellow eyes and it was too thin.
“Hi little buddy” You smiled at the cat and offers it a piece of your ham. Which is immediately accepted by the feline. “Are you having a bad day too?”
The cat looks happy eating the piece of ham, when the cat finishes its meal it approaches you and starts rubbing your leg. A loud, happy purr was emitted. You stroke it's surprisingly soft fur.
“Do you want to go home with me?”
You recklessly took the cat home. The first thing it did when it entered your house was hide, as you never had a cat he was very confused, but you assumed that the little feline was just scared.
“Yeah, I would be scared too if a weirdo took me to his house too” you laughed as you saw the cat hiding behind the foot of the table.
The next day you wake up and the cat is sleeping next to you, maybe it's a sign of good luck.
“I have to give you a name, don't I?” you say to the little cat who continues to sleep peacefully in your bed. “I'm going to try to get a job again today, when I get back I'll bring you food. Wish me luck"
The cat doesn't respond, it just looks at you and goes back to sleep. At least it'll be a nicer roommate than the one you had in prison.
Nothing different happened that day.
You delivered the CVs to the stores you found, some said they would call you, others just looked at you suspiciously. Nothing new, just empty promises. You think about calling your parole officer, asking him if there's anything new about your situation.
Or maybe call your family, an uncle of yours was a mechanic, maybe he'd take you in if you asked him to please. Many thoughts float through your mind. As usual, that wasn't a good day and now you had a cat to feed.
Quickly counting the coins in your pocket, you enter a small pet shop and buy some cat food for the kitten, unfortunately you don't have enough money to buy those expensive vitamin food.
On your way back home you meet someone you didn't want, an old friend of the gang you were part of, he wasn't happy to see you on the streets so he pushed you into the alley closest to where his friends were waiting for you.
“You made a deal to get out of jail so soon, didn't you?” your old friend asks irritably, you feel his henchmen gripping your arms. Shit, you're going to take a beating.
“No” you try to answer, but he punches you in the stomach. No one wants to talk, just be right.
Soon they start hitting you, the punches and kicks become more and more painful, you're sure you'll just bleed to death if no one shows up soon. In the end who would show up to help a former prisoner ? The police? The Batman?
But then something happens. You see a small shadow moving, the shadow approaches quickly and knocks your friend down with incredible ease. The little shadow then becomes a little child, then you recognize it after a few seconds.
It was the new Robin.
You heard rumors about him while you were in prison. The youngest Robin was much faster, more agile and a little more violente than the others. Some even joked that the youngest Robin was the son of RedHood that Batman created, they said this not only because of the violence that both were capable of causing, but because of their fighting style.
The position of the feet, the way to dodge the blows, the same style of counter attacking their opponents. RedHood and Robin fighting in the same way! The big difference was that this Robin used a sword instead of guns. If this Robin was RedHood's younger brother or son, you didn't want to know or think. As long as it doesn't fight you then it wasn't your problem.
But then you're just standing there, watching that little kid take down guys bigger than him. It was incredible and terrifying to witness. It all ended too quickly. But then you remembered who you were and what you were doing.
Was that Robin going to punish you too? You were a former criminal, regardless of the sin you had committed, Batman and Robin are the symbol of justice and revenge, the hope for the wronged to get justice.
You close your eyes for a moment, waiting for your punishment that you never see. Then you open your eyes again and standing in the middle of those passed out men you see that boy reading your resume.
Then you realize that when you were attacked, everything that was in your hand fell to the ground and only a worry hits you.
"Oh no! What is the little guy going to eat now?” You look for the cat food in the alley, unfortunately the bag opened and all the cat food spread on the ground, and now it was wet due to the humidity on the alley floor.
Robin is looking at you, still with the wet and dirty paper in his hand, he just watches you trying to save the kitten food without doing anything. It was weird, at some point he lowered that hood and walked over to you.
Damn! That Robin was just a small child! Slightly tanned skin and dark black hair can be seen, but you were more interested in saving some kibble for the little kitty.
“Kitty food”
Immediately you freeze in the same place. Did that Robin speak? His voice carried a slight accent that you couldn't place, but you were pretty sure that Robin wasn't American or Latino.
“Yes, that little guy is counting on me” You reply hesitantly, not knowing how to behave around a Robin. Should you be grateful for being saved? Should you look the other way? Should he ignore everything and go on with his life as if nothing had happened? Whatever it is, the boy doesn't answer. For you are alone now.
Yep, Robin left you talking to yourself.
You gather what little kibble you can and go home defeated and sore. Wondering when your luck will turn good. You are having a bad day.
When you return home, you find your cat sleeping in the same place and in the same position. You then begin to understand why they just call cats lazy.
The next day, you wake up to your cell phone ringing. It was his parole officer.
“Good news, I got you a job! It's at a car repair shop, I know it's not a big deal, but a vacancy opened up and your resume was picked, even I didn't know they could do that!" your parole officer's happy voice was infectious, “Meet me at that cafe by the park at lunchtime today, I'll go over everything for you there. Do not be late!"
The man didn't even let you answer, naturally he was running around with other paperwork again. That wouldn't surprise you, that man was known among the prisoners to be hardworking and overworked, always swamped with papers.
Excited by the news, you get up in bed looking for the one you could share the good things that happen to you, your cat.
“Hey, lill boss, you won't believe this…” your words die in your mouth, because not only is the living room window open, but in the corner of living room there is a cat litter box with hygienic cat litter , plus an open pack of kitty food.
"What the hell is that? Did the cat Santa stop by? We're in July!” you look at the kitten happily eating the food out of a new bowl, you definitely didn't buy that bowl and stuff. Damn that ration is one of the premiun food for kitties. You definitely didn't have the money to buy something like that.
Still not understanding what happened, you approach the kitten who purrs loudly.
“My friend, I don't know what you did, but Robin saved my life yesterday, I got a job, you got food and new things, I think you are a symbol of good luck” you play with the words while lifting the cat on the floor, “that will be your name now, how about that? Good luck"
Good luck is a good name for a black cat, isn't it?