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Honestly, Robin had no idea how they kept getting into these kinds of situations, but it became just embarrassing when it happened in his own city. His entire team had been captured by Black Mask, a crime-lord and arms dealer. At least Robin could rest in the fact that it wasn't his fault they got caught, but he would still be getting an earful when he got home.
A loud groan from Kid Flash snapped him out of his musings, reminding him that he needed to get everyone out. This was Gotham. The villains didn't play nice. Well, actually, that wasn't entirely true, but he wasn't about to say that out loud.
Robin had been trying to quietly observe the warehouse they were trapped in without alerting Black Mask, but it was clear no one taught his teammates the definition of subtle, which was weird, now that he thought about, seeing as they were supposed to be a covert ops team.
"Ah! Good! You're awake!" Black Mask grinned and cocked the pistol in his hand. He strode confidently into the center ring of restrained and semi-awake heroes and tapped Kid Flash's forehead with the barrel of his gun.
"Now, which one of you brats wants to tell me why the Bat sent me his little Junior League?"
"Buzz off, Black Mask!" Robin chirped, "None of us are talking."
The crime lord snapped his attention to the Boy Wonder, as though he just realized who had spoken. With an ugly sneer, the mob boss turned and aimed his gun directly at Robin's forehead.
"Well, then maybe I should just let you go first, bat brat, and give these wimps some incentive to start talking."
"You really don't want to be doing that," Robin drawled, his masked gaze looking behind the crime lord.
Black Mask growled, "What are you going to do, brat? Stop me?"
"Nope," he chirped, and a cheeky grin spread across his face, "He will."
"Sup, losers!" someone yelled, and all eyes trailed up to an older teen chilling on the warehouse catwalk with a loaded AK-47 aimed directly at Black Mask.
He was dressed in a gray Kevlar bodysuit covered with a brown leather jacket, a red bat emblazoned on his chest and a red helmet hiding his entire face. A utility belt was wrapped around his waist, equipped with several holsters, and a small collection of throwing knives was looped around one of his legs. Every villain and vigilante in Gotham knew him. He was the infamous Red Hood.
The crime lord's eyes widened, and he searched the room to find all of his men on the ground and not getting back up. There was no way he was going to make it out alive should he attempt anything, but he wasn't going to act like he was afraid.
He nonchalantly pulled his gun away from Robin's face with an exaggerated eye roll and held his hands behind his head.
"Step away from the kids, Blackie!" Red Hood called, "No sudden moves or your next meeting will be with the undertaker!"
Black Mask did as he was ordered, but inwardly he was waiting for the right moment to book it. The Red Hood turned his gaze down to the ring of now fully-awake heroes, his gun still lazily aimed in the criminal's direction.
"You all right, twerp?!"
To the surprise of teammates, Robin genuinely beamed a smile at the anti-hero, "I'm okay!"
Black Mask took their exchange as his chance to run, falling into a sprint for the open door. Red Hood noticed instantly.
"Hang on, squirt, gotta take care of this," he said casually and shot the criminal in the back.
"Hood!" Robin yelled, this time in shock as he watched Black Mask go down. The vigilante waved his hand dismissively as he put his gun on safety and strapped to his back.
"Red. Hood!" Robin glared again.
"Tranq bullets, kid. Chill out!" he shouted back and used a grappling gun to lower himself to the ground, landing directly in front of the Boy Wonder.
"Y'know, using these baby bullets is gonna really start damaging my street cred."
Robin rolled his eyes behind his domino in reply before turning to his side, exposing the binders locking his wrists together. They were solid metal with no give and no chain, and they completely covered his fingers so he couldn't use his glove's built-in lock pick.
"They're starting step on your restraints already, ain't they, baby bird? How did you even get into that position?"
"Shut up and free me already," he snapped childishly in response.
Red Hood chuckled at the teen's predicament and pressed the "unlock" sequence. Once his hands were free, Robin bent down and unlocked the metal chain binding his ankles together.
"Thanks for the save, by the way," he muttered as he allowed the older teen to hoist him to his feet.
"Figured you could use my expertise. Wanna help me take these goons back to Arkham?"
"Wish I could, but I gotta get the team back to base," he replied and jabbed a thumb at his, for once, silent comrades. That is, until Artemis realized who Robin was actually talking to.
"Red Hood. You're the Red Hood!" she exclaimed.
Beneath his helmet, Jason Todd smirked as he gave an extravagant bow, "The one and only, hot stuff."
"Hey, watch it!" Wally snapped, to everyone's confusion.
"Who are you? And how do you know Robin?" Kaldur asked politely as the teen wonder started working on Superboy's inhibitor collar.
"For your first question, I'm the Red Hood, local anti-hero that helps clean the streets of Gotham."
"But I thought only Batman and Robin defended Gotham," M'gann interrupted.
"Wow, you're new here, aren't you?" he drawled. Robin sent him a batglare that was ignored.
"I was Robin's predecessor. I fly solo now. And as for your second question fishboy—"
"He's my older brother," Robin cut him off, and all eyes turned to the youngest of the group. The teen looked up and shrugged, "What?"
"That...wasn't what I was expecting," Artemis stated, "and I thought Red Hood was a villain!"
"I prefer the term antihero. You take over a crime ring one time, and everyone automatically labels you as the bad guy!"
"Hood just...has a different method to handling crime that Batman does," Robin piped up, trying to stick up for his brother in front of his teammates. At this point, most of them were free from their bindings and were acting like they wanted to shield their youngest member from a potential villain.
"You see this bat on my chest, lady? It means I'm with the good guys. Bats in this city are a good thing."
"Okay. Okay. Sheesh!"
Robin watched as the tension grew between his friends and his brother. This was not how he wanted his new team meeting his family.
"Everybody, chill out!" he ordered and step between them, "If Bats didn't trust him, he wouldn't be working in Gotham. And second, he just saved out skins, so let's be a little grateful, all right? See you at supper tonight, bro?"
"I dunno kid. B already thinks I'm corrupting you," he replied slowly. Family get-togethers weren't really his style. Robin, either blind or uncaring to personal boundaries, grabbed Red Hood's arm.
"Please, bro? Agent A is making cookies and crème brûlée for dessert, and we can patrol together afterwards," he begged. He flat-out whined in a way only the youngest sibling in a family could do.
"You know B doesn't let me take you after what happened on Easter."
"But he's not the boss of you," he shot back. Red Hood turned his head to avoid the full effect of "kicked puppy" eyes that circus kid had mastered, but he could feel his will slipping.
"This is a trap. This is a trap. This is a trap," he repeated to himself.
"Please?"
"Fine! See you in a few hours!" he gave up and stormed out of the warehouse, leaving everyone but the young bat in confusion. Robin only waved at the antihero's back.
"Asterous! Bye, Hood!"
"Manipulative little half-pint," Red Hood grumbled in response with a halfhearted wave without turning around.
Robin turned to his friends with a smirk that spoke of mischief, "He loves me. I just gotta remind him sometimes."