Work Text:
Yellow street lights illuminated the small skatepark.
What was left of Gotham’s usual bustling traffic had officially died down well after the sun had set. Adolescent kids cleared the playground that sat next to the gated pool and many teenagers had begun walking back to their small apartments. The only people left outside were the famed vigilantes and those who partook in Gotham’s nightlife.
And you, of course.
It was getting late.
Ten was late for Gotham. Ten was unsafe for Gotham. Many of the well known super criminals liked to walk around during this time and most people preferred not to take the chance between running into Two-Face or the Joker.
Although, if you had to choose between those two, the ex D.A. would always be the better option. At least you know there's a fifty-fifty chance you’d be able to leave without ever being harmed.
But is that a risk you’re willing to take? To stay out just a while longer to try and perfect a little trick or should you just go home?
You should go home. That's the smartest option.
But just one more try, you tell yourself, I’ll get it down this time if I just try again.
And so you do. You let yourself stay a little while longer. You already missed the nine-fifty train, the next one isn't scheduled until ten-twenty-five.
You have plenty of time.
You don’t but you keep telling yourself you do.
Three failed kickflips and an ollie later you finally give up. You’re tired, your legs are sore; they’re screaming at you for staying out so late, for pushing them so much today.
But it’s not that late, you convince yourself. You have plenty of time to catch the train, only fifteen minutes should have passed. Ten-twenty blinked at you as you took out your phone.
You were going to miss the train if you didn’t leave right now.
A small burst of anxiety shot through you as you quickly panicked-packed your things into your bookbag. You fumbled with your water bottle, your hands shaking as you hurriedly tried to grab everything and race to the nearest subway station.
Something small dropped from your bag as you ran, not even bothered enough to take a second and look back. You needed to catch this train. Staying out any later could cause problems and the problems in Gotham were scarier than any horror movie that existed.
You should’ve already left, you scolded yourself, you shouldn’t have stayed out this long. It's literally Gotham. You could get yourself killed for doing something like that.
You practically flew down the stairs, only slowing down just enough to make sure it was clear to jump the card railings. (The GCPD has started to get on people’s asses for not paying their fare, handing out tickets to literally everyone they see while on patrol).
It took two more flights of stairs and another left turn for you to finally reach your terminal. A loud noise had gone off signaling that the train was already done boarding. The doors were closed and you stood there, the only one on the floor, watching as the transport pushed forward onto its next stop for the night.
No.
No that couldn’t have been.
You checked your phone: Ten-twenty-seven.
“Fuck!” You screamed.
Fuck, you missed it. The next one isn't showing up for another forty minutes.
Fuck.
“Fuck,” you screamed again, falling to hug you knees, not letting anything but your shoes touch the dirty subway floor.
“Goddamnit,” You said aloud, softer than before.
Now you were stuck here until another train was to show up. God that was so stupid. That was so dumb! You shouldn’t have stayed out that long! Oh my god, you spiraled, oh my god what if someone shows up what if Joker is walking around? What if the Scarecrow appears and tries to gas you? What if-?
“Hey.”
A scream shot out your mouth as you fully collapsed to the floor, one hand holding up most of your weight as you looked up at the person behind you.
He wore a costume, one with a black domino mask to hide his identity. He looked like one of the infamous vigilantes that swung around rooftops saving people, but you couldn’t be too sure. There were always look-alikes, or Clayface. You were scared of Clayface.
“Sorry,” He stepped back slightly, putting both hands up in a surrender motion, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine,” You said, flabbergasted and winded as you continued to look up at him.
The costumed man extended his hand to you, beckoning to let him help you up. Hesitantly you took his offer and pulled yourself off the subway floor. For a moment the two of you stared at each other in silence. You were still a little shaken. What if this man attacked you? What if you can’t run away to safety in time before he gets you? What if-?
Your thoughts were cut off as watched him pull out your apartment keys from one of his belt straps. “I saw you drop these when you were running here. Figured they’d be important to you.”
You stared blankly at the man before abruptly checking your pockets and bag itself to ensure those were in fact your keys. And they were. He was holding your keys.
“Oh, my god.” You reached out for them, “Oh, my god. I almost lost my keys.”
He dropped them into your palm and you immediately went to hook it back up to your lanyard that hung off the side of your bag. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Thank you,” you spoke.
“There’s no need to apologize, and you’re welcome.” He said. “It’s no big deal.”
“I know…I know, I Just-”
“‘Just’ what? Are you apologizing because you think I’m going to turn you in for jumping over those railings?” He laughed.
Your mouth opened but no words came out. No way he saw that.
“I’m not, I don’t care about that. It’d be hypocritical of me anyway, I do it too.”
“Oh, I-...Thanks. I’m just a little shaken I guess.”
He shrugged sheepishly. “Yeah, that’s my fault. Sorry. I’m Red Robin by the way.” The caped crusader extended his hand.
You shook it, giving your name in return. “So you’re like…an actual vigilante?”
He nodded. “Been doing it since I was thirteen. Are you a skater?” He gestured to the board hooked up to your backpack.
“Um,” you started, “Yeah? I guess. I’m still learning. I can stay on the board well enough and push myself around, but doing tricks and stuff is what I’m struggling at.”
“We all start out like that. Just don’t beat yourself down for messing up. The only thing you're messing up is your footing, but that’s easy to correct.”
A puzzled expression washed over your face. “Whaddya mean?”
The whites of his mask widened as he gestured two thumbs over his shoulder, “Oh, I mean by…like, when you were at the skatepark. I just happened to be patrolling when I saw you fall off your board.”
“Oh my god,” you whispered to yourself, embarrassment showing on your face. “You saw that?”
Holding your head in your hands, Red Robin softly grabbed onto your arms. “No, no, no. No look, that wasn't bad. You’re not bad. I was worse, trust me. I was way worse.”
“You skate?”
“Yeah,” He let go of your arms as you took your hands from off your face. “I don’t do it as much anymore–no free time ever, but yeah I know a couple tricks. I can help you if you want? How much longer do you have until your train comes?”
Looking down you unlocked your phone. The time said ten-thirty-two. You had until eleven to wait for the next available train.
You sighed, placing your phone back in your pocket and set your bag down to unbuckle the board. “Can you help me?”
A big grin spread across his face as he pulled you to the middle of the large terminal. Board on the ground, his hands holding your arms, he instructed you to step on it, placing your feet at both ends. His foot was positioned between both wheels to stop it from moving too much as you two practiced.
“Okay, when I tell you to jump, I’m going to flip the board for you to land on it.” Red Robin said. “Got it?”
A nervous chuckle escaped your lips, “Yeah… Got it.”
“Have some faith in yourself.” He smiled. “Jump.”
And you did.
And you lost your balance landing, falling backwards, pulling him with you.
He stumbled just a bit before regaining his footing, pulling you into him so neither of you touch the subway floor. You both laughed at the first failed attempt. It was terrible. You grabbed the board and set yourselves up the same way before. Trying again.
And again.
And again.
And eventually after the nth time you finally landed it. You did it. You landed a trick.
Jumping off the board and almost into his arms, you hopped up and down in nearly a childish excitement. “I did it!” you gleamed, “I finally did it!”
He shot the same enthusiasm right back at you. “Yeah all you gotta do is just keep practicing like that and soon you’ll be able to do every trick in the book.”
You laughed breathlessly, checking the time on your phone. “Nah, this is just a hobby. I’m okay with only having one trick in my belt.”
He followed you as you went to pack up your belongings. “If you say so,” he chuckled, “If you ever happen to see me in the area again and you need a teacher, just give me a shout.”
“You’re offering to be my skating instructor?”
“If I’m in the area,” he repeated.
“Well, I hope you’re in the area a lot more. Could you use a guy like you to help with my late night kickflips.”
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “I guess I’ll try to patrol this block a little more… just to help you out, of course.”
A loud horn could be heard for a moment, signaling that your train would be appearing anytime soon.
“Well it is your duty as a caped crusader to help out those in need.” You nodded to him.
“Yeah, it’s my duty to make sure I don’t have to watch another person fall on their ass over and over.”
“Hey!” You shouted and he laughed. Stepping on board you yelled out over the loud noise of the doors. “I really hope I get to see you again, Red.”
As they began to shut he responded. You couldn’t hear exactly what it was but you were almost certain he mouthed “Yeah, me too”.