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At exactly 10:03 pm, a teenage girl threw herself off a roof before a crowd of dozens. Shouts erupted for exactly thirty eight seconds before she caught herself, a grapple line extending out as she soared mere inches above their heads, orange hair and a yellow cape flying behind her. Robin was back. For the first time in fourteen years, there was a Robin, and she soared like they hadn’t seen in over two decades.
Silhouetted by the light of a street lamp, Batman stood, an undying monolith of everything Gotham was. Batman was Gotham, but Robin was what it wanted to be. Robin was hope for a better day. And Gotham had just got her hope back.
Robin threw herself across the city, catching herself in the nick of time with each swing, the rhythm of fire, swing, release, moving like the heartbeat pounding in her ears. Everything she’d ever wanted, resting in the palm of her hand as she sailed through the skies. She was Robin. She was Robin. And nothing was stopping her.
………
Her name was Carrie Kelly. She was thirteen years old and had everything she could ever ask for. A title that was so much more than she was, so much more than she ever would be. Before her, five of the greatest warriors had taken the title. They’d shaped it, made it something different and something she was hardly worthy of. And yet, she was about to make it her own. The name had meant so many different things over the years, but there was one in particular that stayed the same.
Robin was Batman’s light.
Batman had been in the dark for far too long and now it was her turn to turn the lights back on.
Because she was Robin now.
And standing on the roof of Wayne Tower, above the entire city, wind at her back and surrounded by lights, with the only thing keeping her in reality Batman’s hand on her shoulder, she’d never felt as powerful. She’d ascended, from a nobody theater kid with a knack for martial arts to a god. An angel. And she’d only just begun.
Huntress rolled onto the rooftop to soften her landing, her form just as imposing as the Batman’s as she took her place beside her father. She was the only bat who’d stayed by his side, all these years. Until her. Batman wasn’t alone anymore.
J.T. had been the first to leave, he’d cut contact before Helena had even been born. D.G. and T.D. didn’t stick around for all that long after either. S.B. and D.T. left together, to Bludhaven. C.C. had gone with them a year later.
Damian Wayne had been the last to disappear. Batman didn’t know where he’d gone. Maybe he was dead, maybe he’d gone off to travel the world. No one knew for sure, but she could see the pain in Batman’s eyes every time someone mentioned his youngest son.
Bruce Wayne had always been a lonely man. But he’d never truly been alone. When his parents died, he had Alfred Pennyworth. Then he had D.G. and when D.G. left, he had J.T.. When J.T. had died, T.D. had stepped up. And after that, he was never really alone. Until everyone left. Leaving Bruce Wayne alone with a toddler Helena Wayne and no one else.
Now, he had a Robin again. Because Batman needed a Robin.
Huntress put a hand on her shoulder, mirroring her father. Helena gave Carrie a grin, pulling her in for a side hug and tapping her fingers against her father.
“Welcome to the team, Robin,” she seemed to say, a silent statement that she could just feel. She was Robin now. And that meant she was family. She liked the sound of that.
……
In Crime Alley, at exactly 12:34 am, another teen girl threw herself off a rooftop. But she didn’t do so before a crowd, and she sure as hell didn’t catch herself. Instead she slammed herself down, toppling a goon as she landed on him. She rebounded faster than the others in the circle, throwing herself into the fight and pressing her back against the Red Hood as she notched an arrow, letting it fly as he pulled the trigger of his gun.
Red Hood’s laugh came through her communicator, as he let more bullets fly. They weren’t Batman and Robin, but they were pretty damn close.
Hood threw himself to the side, pushing her in the other direction as a grenade passed between them, hitting the goon she was brawling with square in the chest.
She may not be the real Robin, but she was the next best thing. And why would you work for an old guy whose kids hated him when you could work with the one and only scourge of Crime Alley?
……
Her name was Gan. She was fourteen years old and she’d broken a crime lord out of jail to convince him to make her his sidekick. And then she’d punched a cop. And sure, she may have gotten pretty beat up on her first night as Robin. But she got back up. That’s what Robin did. And now she was back.
She was Robin . She fought beside the Red Hood . No one did that. No one was crazy or stupid enough to do that. Except for her.
Jason had been Robin, twenty some years ago. Then, he died. But he got better. Got stronger. Got braver and ten times more ballsy. Apparently, she wasn’t his first sidekick. Some girl named Sasha who’d come and gone fifteen years ago was his first. She didn’t have shit on Gan.
“So, kid, how’s your first day feeling?” Jason asked her, handing her one of the two chili dogs he’d just gotten from the stand on the corner of Kane and 12th. He’d taken his helmet off, resting it on his knee and tossing an arm over her shoulder.
“You mean my second day?” she joked, swiping a french fry from the cardboard boat thing in Jason’s hand.
“You’re right, you got me there, kid.” He ruffled her hair with a gloved hand. “How was your second day on the job?”
“Pretty good, it’s my first day back and we already took down part of a gang!” she beamed up at Jason, “We’re Red Hood and Robin, Crime Alley’s a safe place when we’re around.”
“Hell yeah it is–” he raced to put his helmet back on, a weird look on his face, “–hold on a second, Gan.” He looked tense, a ring of green around his eyes glowing through the white lenses of his helmet. “That bastard- okay, we’re heading home.”
“What happened?”
“ Batman has a new Robin. Some little red haired girl. And I seriously thought that after Damian jumped ship to god knows where he wouldn’t do this again.”
“Well, you have a Robin, so what does it matter that he does too? Maybe he’s learned by this point.”
“Yeah, but you are armed to the teeth and covered head to toe with armor. Meanwhile, she has a slingshot and roller blades. So yeah, he hasn’t learned.”
……
Jason may have told her to go home and stay away from the new, much more official Robin, but what was being Robin if not outright refusing to listen to your mentor’s instructions? And she was Robin.
It wasn’t like Jason could talk, he disobeyed Batman so hard he became a crime boss. All she was doing was going to formally introduce herself to the other kid running around in Robin colors. And if she had to do some light stalking and sneaking to do so, that was all part of the job description anyway.
“Robin,” she said, touching down on the rooftop behind the other sidekick.
“Who the fuck are you?” Robin asked, moving into a fighting stance.
“I’m Robin. I’m just not Batman’s Robin,” Gan explained, taking a generous step forwards and extending a hand.
“Then who do you work for? Everyone knows Robin doesn’t just work by themself,” Robin took a cautious step backwards, reaching behind her back for something that Gan couldn’t see.
“Red Hood. You better not say anything about that to Batman, Hood specifically told me not to talk to you, so if Batman suddenly knows that I exist after he told me to avoid you guys, he’s gonna know that I didn’t listen to him,” she raised her hands placatingly, hoping that her words would be enough to keep Robin quiet.
“You work for the Hood ? Are you crazy? He’s a murderer, you shouldn’t be working with him, do you need help?” she asked, frantic.
“No no no, I sought him out first. If he had it his way, I’d be safe at home and nowhere near the murders. But it’s not like I let him stop me, so here we are. And I thought that Robin was an open position. It looks like I was wrong.” She took another few steps forward, trying to close the wide gap between them.
“What do you want from me?” Robin said, backing up even further.
“Nothing. I just wanted to introduce myself, that’s all. If you want me to leave, I’ll leave.” she backed up, all the way to the edge of the roof. “See you around, Robin.”
Gan gave a salute and dropped off the back of the roof. Robin ran over to the edge of the roof and looked over the raised wall. There was no one there. She couldn’t see a single sign of the other Robin.
Around the corner, making her way down the block, Gan shoved her hands into the pockets of the hoodie she’d thrown on over her armor and smirked. All part of the job.