Pájaro de la Noche

By: RavenHeart101

Disclaimer: n. the act of disclaiming; the renouncing, repudiating, or denying of a claim; disavowal.

Summary: It's when Richard Grayson starts working for Slade that Robin starts acting strangely. The weirdest part of it all is that Red is the only one who notices, and the only one who cares enough to figure out why.

A: N- To all of those who read La Mort De Robin, fell in love, and asked me to write another one. No these two stories aren't related in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter One

Darren Bryne became Red-X after his father kicked him out. Not many people expected that now did they? People expected him to be Red-X and be rich and famous and have all the money in the world and just want to steal because he was bored. Well he wasn't some kind of entertainment. And he had actually managed to make some sort of humble living thanks to the things he stole (and the people he stole those things for). He was eighteen and he was living high on the riches he accumulated from stealing. So he wasn't expecting himself to go out and steal more things. The problem was that the Titans wouldn't get off his ass. If he just stopped they would probably get worried (or at least Robin would. After all, the two of them did have some sort of weird relationship.). And then they'd search for him and he would be found out. Darren couldn't afford to have that happen.

With a sigh he tiredly threw off the suit and fell onto his bed. He was exhausted. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop wasn't nearly as much as fun as it used to be. Darren couldn't figure out why that was. He rolled onto his back, staring up at the roof before him. Something was off with the Titans tonight. Something was definitely off. He couldn't figure out what though.

Starfire was acting like her immature and perky self, Raven was acting like her melodramatic, dark, and emotional self. Beast Boy was still hyperactive and coming up with horrible jokes. Cyborg was still partially made out of metal. And Robin was still... wait. There was the problem.

Darren shot up in his bed, staring at the wall in front of him in realization. It was Robin! Robin was what was different with the Titans! He was more violent, more angry, more... likely to take his bull shit with a smile. He was ruthless and he showed no mercy. The boy winced as he was reminded of the harsh bruises that he received from Robin that night. He never got this many bruises from Robin before. Robin used to be gentle and aggressive at the same time. He used to be a nice balance between crime fighter and human. This Robin? Well this Robin didn't seem to know that there was a balance.

He leaned back against the pillows, thoughts invading his mind. When did this new Robin appear? Darren wasn't sure he knew. For all he could give anyone this ruthless Robin showed his face tonight - for the first time. And, if he was honest, he was hoping against hope that he would never see this Robin ever again. Because this was not the Robin that he had grown to respect. This was not the Robin that he had formed some sort of relationship with. This was not the Robin that – dare he say it – he was friends with and, most importantly, this was not the Robin that he had learned to trust.

He stood up from his bed and made his way over to the window. It was getting lighter outside in Jump, meaning that more and more people were making their way through the city. Barely anyone went out at night, and Darren had a job to get to. He sighed, resigning himself to a day full of no sleep and even less entertainment and stared as the people walked by. A woman in a bright red hat stopped outside his apartment, looking down at the drain at her feet. He wondered, briefly, if she had dropped something until she sneered and stomped away. Darren shrugged, he had gotten quite used to the everyday crazies in Jump.

Shrugging on a light blue t-shirt as he grabbed his keys off the bedside table Darren realized something else that was off with this Robin that he had encountered late last night. He was shorter than he used to be. Now that was all speculation, and Darren had no proof, but he was beginning to wonder if instead of something changing in Robin, that someone had changed Robins. He remembered reading somewhere that there was a Robin in Gotham that was working with Batman so... maybe they switched? Darren frowned, locking the door to his apartment behind him as he left. No. That would make no sense. Why would the Robins switch? Last he had checked the crime rate in Jump had dropped considerably, the only two main villains being Red-X and Slade Wilson. He wasn't even sure if Red-X should be considered a villain. And, no, that wasn't just because he was Red-X and was getting pretty tired of being followed around by the Titans. If anything Batman should have been proud of the way Robin was taking care of the city, not angry with him.

"Good morning, Darren!" Nancy, the owner of Nanna's Coffee House, welcomed him with a customary warm hug. He smiled gently at her, greeting her granddaughter with a kiss to her cheek. Nancy was the only person out of Jump to suspect what Darren did in his free time (as far he knew), and she didn't seem to care one bit. That was something that he loved about her. Nancy cared only that he was safe, and that he wasn't having any bad business with people like Slade Wilson. But, she didn't have to worry when it came to that, Darren refused to work for the man. He was creepy and he was insane.

"Hola!" Anita, Nancy's adopted granddaughter, greeted him with a large, wet kiss to his cheek. Anita was eight years old, and she was the cutest little girl that Darren had ever laid eyes on. Her mother had died a few years ago, and Darren had helped Nancy with her as much as he could. These two girls were his family ever since he had lost contact with his own.

"Oh darling can you lend me a helping hand with the rush before you go into work?" Nancy asked him with a hint of desperation to her voice. The morning rush had began not two minutes before Darren came in and they were very close to overtaking the small shop.

Darren shrugged on an apron and made his way behind the counter, waiting on whomever made their way over to his open station. He had seen every one of these people before. He didn't know their names, but he knew their orders. French vanilla with three sugars and no cream. Blueberry caramel with everything under the sun. Non-fat mocha. And then there was one person that he hadn't seen before.

Darren wasn't about to lie to anyone who asked him. He was gay. He was into guys. He had been into guys for as long as he could remember. And, well, this guy was gorgeous. Black hair that looked oh-so-silky and fell into his bright blue eyes. He was perfectly built, almost like a performer, and he had this gait about him. He took fast and even steps, they were elegant and they held an air that made him want to stop and listen to whatever this guy said. And the guy only looked around sixteen. Which shocked him even more than he would care to admit. "Medium decaf, two sugars, three cream. Mocha latte with the works, and a hot chocolate please." Darren had stop himself from drooling when he heard the kid's voice. He was silky and it held this tinge to it that demanded respect. He almost dropped the coffee he was handing over to Nancy when he heard it. Frantically he set about making the order, trying hard to figure out just what part of the order was for the young beauty when he heard a voice that made him tense.

"Hurry up now, Richard. We have business to attend to." Slade Wilson. Darren forced himself to swallow and he forced his brown eyes to harden in defense. His muscles were ready to spring board into action if need be. For as long as Darren could remember Slade had never taken a step into Nanna's Coffee House. Nancy pulled Anita closer to her for protection as everyone in the shop huddled (unconsciously) closer to one another.

Darren's eyes met that of the blue eyed boy and it struck him. Slade Wilson was talking to him. His hand shook as he handed over the decaf coffee with two sugars and three creams and set about making the mocha latte. He didn't tear his eyes away from Richard (he tried to ignore the little squeal that almost overcame him at the thought that he now had a name for this kid) as he made it, and he had this inkling that Richard knew that he didn't, even as he handed off the coffee to the one eyed man standing to the side of him. Slade wasn't standing protectively, no Darren wouldn't go as far as to say that. Slade was standing off to the side and staring at Richard as though he owned him.

An uneasy feeling crept up his spine as the blue eyes met his again. A small, barely there, shake of the head was sent in his direction and... oh God this Richard knew that he knew. He knew that he thought something was strange about the whole ordeal. And he was telling him not to get involved? That didn't make any sense. He didn't nod back, simply handing over the mocha and then starting the hot chocolate. "What is a child doing with something like Slade Wilson?" Nancy asked him in a hushed voice as the two of them worked at the hot chocolate station. Darren shrugged, looking back over to the boy in line.

Slade wasn't there anymore. Darren didn't have any clue where the one eyed man went, but the blue eyed boy was now joined by a blonde girl. Darren had seen her around more than once, and he was pretty sure that she was that Terra girl the Titans had mentioned a while back. But he had heard that she had dramatically switched sides and died saving them, so it couldn't possibly be her now could it? Then again, Darren could say that he had seen weirder things. The two were arguing in hushed voices, the blue eyed boy getting more than one stern and pissed off look. Darren swallowed and paused before handing the boy over the hot chocolate.

"Thank you." Richard really did have an amazing voice, Darren decided as the boy handed over a twenty. Something crawled up his back, telling him to pay attention because he had seen this boy before. Confusion came through his veins. How could it have been that he had seen this Richard before?

"Your sister?" Nancy pipped up from behind the cash register with a smile in Richard's direction. The boy smiled back at her (oh my did he have a wonderful smile!).

"She wishes." He said evenly, a teasing edge to her voice as he waited for the change. Nancy handed it over with another smile.

"Watch your back, darling." She warned as the boy started to turn away. He turned back, his eyes guarded. "Mister Wilson isn't the type of person many have fun working with." A tight smile and he was gone. Darren watched for a moment as the blonde girl grabbed the mocha latte greedily and trotted off down the street, following a tall Slade Wilson. The black haired boy followed at a leisurely pace, pausing to slide an apprehensive look back into the small coffee house. Their eyes met through the window and Darren, for some reason, found himself blushing. Richard waved at him before following the other two with a grimace over his breathtaking features.

"Oh my god, that was Richard Grayson!" A woman in the corner squealed. It hit Darren like a bus. Richard Grayson, the wonder child of Bruce Wayne from Gotham City was in Jump. Working with Slade. Working for Slade.

"Darren, doll." Nancy's voice was shaking as she stared at a piece of paper in her hands.

She looked scared. She looked downright terrified, and that was something that Darren had never seen on her face before. She handed over the paper wordlessly. He's after you next, Red. Get out. Was written in neat, tiny writing. Darren's face was one of shock. "How'd you get this, Nancy?" He asked frantically. It seemed almost like a threat. And, moreover, someone knew who he was. He hadn't slipped up! Darren knew that he hadn't slipped up-!

"That boy. The one with the gorgeous eyes that you were swooning over slipped it in with his money-." Darren didn't wait to hear anything else, already flying out the door and following the path that he saw the boy go down. Get out. It seemed more like a warning now. And it was one he was willing to take to heart.