Chapter Title: Thievery in Gotham

Thank you very much to KaliAnn, koryandrs, Unturned and Nightwing Lady for reviewing the last chapter!

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I NEED TO GIVE UP MY GOONS?!" Black Mask's reverberating shout shocked Robin out of his sleep. Blinking tiredly, still completely groggy, but also wanting to know what was going on, Robin silently slid off of the cot.

"THEY'RE MINE! I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE THE GODDAMN JOKER, YOU'RE NOT TAKING –"

"Borrowing," Slade's voice wasn't raised, but it was sharp and dangerous all the same. Robin winced despite himself, knowing that pain usually came after that tone. Black Mask, apparently, didn't know this, because he kept on yelling. Robin thought it was very lucky the walls were soundproof.

"I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOUR STUPID LITTLE SERVANT BOY –"

Apparently that was the last straw, because Black Mask was down on the ground and pinned underneath of Slade before Robin could even blink. Slade's whole body spelled anger as he pinned his heavily-armored arm over Black Mask's throat. Even though Slade had his helmet on, you could practically see the snarl on his face.

"Don't you ever talk about my apprentice that way again," he hissed, and Black Mask bared his teeth at him. "And if I do?"

If Robin thought Black Mask was stupid before, he had literally just crawled into the 'less intelligent than a caterpillar' area at that moment. Slade threw his arm back and punched Black Mask hard across the face, eliciting a groan of pain from the man beneath of him. "That was barely touching a warning. You have no right to speak about my apprentice that way. If I find out by Robin that you have, or hear it with my own ears, this here… this will be a vacation. Got it?"

Black Mask nodded violently, having lost the ability to speak since Slade was practically crushing his windpipe. Robin was touched by his mentor's words, though he would never show it. Perhaps Slade did care about him after all. Or at least a little. "I'm glad we've come to an agreement then," said Slade, but he didn't get off of Black Mask, though the pressure on the man's throat had lessened.

"You will temporarily give up your thugs while we allow Robin access to their usual hangouts and…activities. Or else…" he didn't need to complete the sentence. Black Mask looked as though he'd just found out Christmas was canceled, but he nodded again. "Understood."

Giving a sharp nod, Slade jumped off of the man as though he were contaminated with a dangerous disease. Black Mask dragged himself off of the floor and collapsed against one of the walls, breathing heavily. For a moment there was silence, and then Slade turned to leave… exactly where Robin was hiding. "I know you're there Robin, you can come out now."

Angry at himself, Robin stepped back into the light to face his master.

"I apologize on Mask's behalf. That must have hurt you."

Robin scoffed, "I do not care about the opinions of common mobsters such as Black Mask," he sniffed, and Slade chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "That's my soldier."

Robin felt his mouth twitch upwards in pride, but he managed to hide it behind a pokerface. "I try, Master."

"Trying makes a man," Slade conceded, "but winning makes a person much more than man could ever dream of being."

Robin dipped his head in acknowledgement, "You are correct, Master. I will train harder."

"Good."

There was silence for another moment, before Slade spoke again. "Aren't you going to ask me?"

I've been wanting to, I just wasn't sure how you'd react. "What were you two arguing about?"

"As you know, we've been planning on using you to draw out Batman's attention."

Robin nodded – he knew all of this already. It was nothing new to him, he wanted to know about the argument. "We – being Black Mask and I – have decided that before going up against Batman, you will need a taste of what crime in Gotham is like."

"You have already shown me, Master," Robin reminded him, thinking of the first day they arrived there.

"Yes, but you have never been a part of the action. I have arranged for you to take part in a few…petty…crimes –"

"What!?"

"I know you believe this is beneath you," Slade cut in, voice sharp, "but this is the only way to fully gain Batman's attention."

"How?"

"If you were to work on something bigger, say… robbing a bank, you would only have gained the Batman's attention for that. If, however, he discovers you had a criminal record before the robbery, he will look into you, and we will take him down."

Robin nodded with reluctance, it did make sense. "What kind of crimes are we talking?"

"Well, the argument started when I suggested you take the place of some of Black Mask's goons. He's very touchy about his work."

"I noticed," Robin said dryly.

Slade ignored him, "so you will be stationed at the East End of Gotham, which is closest to us. You have no need for your own safehouse," Slade said firmly. "You will associate with Black Mask's other thugs, try to sink to their level. It may be hard, but I have faith in you."

Freaking terrific. "Anything else I should know?"

"You will start in a couple of hours, I will drive you. Black Mask shall accompany us. You will do as the other thugs tell you, understand?"

"But Mas –"

"Understand?" it was everything but a growl, and Robin felt the rebelliousness inside of him slip away. "Yes, Master. I understand."

"Good. I suggest you go and get ready, after that we're going to give rope tying some more tries."

Robin nodded and darted off to his 'bedroom', going through the duffel bag on his floor and pulling out the civilian clothes he had brought. He would change his outfit, but keep the mask on his face. Dick Grayson was, after all, supposed to be dead. Even the low-lifes knew that. Alright, he thought to himself as he dressed, let's do this.

The air was not only awkward and tense, but freaking freezing as well. All Robin was wearing was an orange hoodie with pale blue denim ripped jeans. The thugs that were hanging around next to him were rubbing their hands together, trying to keep the circulation in their fingers. There was seven of them, and they were all wearing the same types of clothing that Robin was. One of them kept complaining about being hungry, but after a few glares from the others (including Robin himself) he shut up. Three of the men were carrying wooden bats, while the others either adorned themselves with brass knuckles or their guns.

Before Slade left Robin alone with these thugs (Kevin, Declan, Luke, Chase, Logan, Vince and Jordan) the little bird had been worried about wearing his mask – how would the others react? So he was extremely relieved and a tad happy when he noticed the other thugs were all wearing masks as well (each of them were wearing masks that resembled Black Mask's, making it very easy to decipher just who they worked for and therefore making Robin a target… terrific).

"When do you think Black Mask is gonna give us something to work with, man?" asked Jordan, sounding frustrated.

"Yeah, we haven't had a good looting for a week now," Chase agreed, narrowing his eyes. Out of the seven of them, Chase and Vince seemed to be the most dangerous of the bunch. None of the others seemed to realize it, but Chase was carrying a sharp dagger in his belt along with his gun, and Vince had a flask of beer which he kept tucked in his coat pocket.

Luke shot a look at Robin, crossing his arms. "'nd what about you, eh?"

"What about me?" drawled Robin in a bored tone. He really, really, really didn't want to be here. There was no action, nothing going on, just a bunch of cahoots complaining.

"What're you doing here, with us?" Luke asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Yeah, aren't you that Deathstroke guy's nephew or somethin'?" asked Vince suddenly, as though he had just remembered this. Before Robin could open his mouth, Chase cut in. "Of course he's not Deathstroke's nephew. Have you not been listening to word on the street?" he cut in, acting like Robin wasn't even there. "He's his apprentice."

"Word on the street?" Robin's voice had Chase backing down, this time seeming to realize his presence.

"Yeah, we aint the only ones who've heard of ya," said Jordan, as though this were no big deal. "Ya've got some of Poison Ivy's crew, I even heard somethin' about the Joker's crew talkin' about you. You're getting mighty popular, you are."

Robin didn't so much as blink at the information, but his mind was reeling.

How did they find out so soon? Dick Grayson fretted. Robin's echo mentally shrugged, probably when Master talked to them in prison. Maybe a couple of the guards blabbed.

That seemed the most likely, and it shut up the voice of Dick Grayson, so Robin went along with it. "Good to know."

"Not around here it aint," said Declan, shooting a strange look at Robin, as though he were the stupid one.

"Why not?" Robin played along, trying to seem innocent to the ways of Gotham, though Slade had made him study its history before dumping him off here with these losers.

"The Batman," snorted Chase.

"The who?"

Any qualms he had about playing dumb completely disappeared when he saw the scandalized looks on their faces. It was priceless. "Aw man, this kid aint even knowin' about Batman," whispered Kevin frantically to Logan, "how can he help us?"

"Tell me about Batman," Robin cut in, leaning forward. The other seven lackeys looked slightly worried, but they all leaned forward as well. "Well, you see here, Batman is a… a crime-fighter," started off Logan, frowning slightly as he tried finding the correct wording.

"Some say he's a myth," said Jordan mysteriously, and Declan smirked from next to him. "Others say he's a demon."

"And yet others say that he is indeed a real man dressed as a bat, who just has problems with crime and carries around gadgets that make him more mysterious then he really is. You guys are pathetic," snarled Chase, and the others frowned.

"I'd like to see you go up against the Bats, Chasey!"

Chase twitched and shot a scorching glare at Logan, who had been the one to call him 'Chasey'. Apparently, he wasn't too fond of his nicknames while strangers were around. Just as well, Robin hated it when people tried shorting his name to "Rob" or "Robbie".

"Hopefully it won't come to that, now come on boys, we're not sittin' around here all night."

"Well, what do you wanna do, Chase?" asked Logan, tilting his head. Chase glanced over at Robin, "Hey kid, ever rob any stores?"

Ugh. You have got to be kidding me.

"Yes."

"So, you know the protocol?"

"You don't just break into a store on a whim, Chase," said Robin, giving the older boy an odd look. Chase nodded, looking pleased. "Alright then, looks like it's time to move out!"

Robin had to hand it to them, the seven boys knew their way around Gotham. It took around only nine minutes of whooping and running to find the nearest, dingiest jewelry store. "You sure you want to rob that, Chase?" asked Robin with a raised eyebrow. Chase ignored him.

"Alright boys, first things first. Logan, Luke and Vinny, you flank the right side. Declan, Jordan and Kevin, you guys go around the left. I'll go around the back and –"

Robin cut him off, "I'll go through the roof."

There was complete silence at this.

"…right, the roof. Anyway, Robin will go –"

"Through the roof. I've done this before," Robin snarled, and Chase blinked at him. "If you screw this up kid…"

"You mean if you screw this up. I don't fail," Robin informed him, balling his fists. Chase gave him an appraising look before nodding once, "Fine. You go through the roof. Kevin, change of plans, you're gonna come around back with me. Everyone got it?"

They all exchanged glances before nodding, each looking determined. Robin and Chase held back as Vince and Logan casually walked by the jewelry store, not even sparing it a glance. After a few moments, they doubled back and hid in the shadows of the trees on the right side of the building. Declan and Jordan didn't bother walking out in the open, instead, they hid in the shadows and raced towards the left side of the building. Robin had to admit, they had a pretty good setup so far.

Chase gave a look at Kevin, who nodded and walked out calmly, pulling out a cell phone. He put it to his ear and pretended to talk into it, "Hey man, you almost here? I'm waiting here for you, my grandma's gonna pick us up and she should be here any minute."

"Harold!" Chase called, racing out of his hiding place from next to Robin. "Hey man, whatsup?"

"I was just leaving you a voice message man," said Kevin, putting the phone back in his pocket. "C'mon, my grandma should be picking us up over by 10th avenue."

Chase nodded and the two walked off towards the back of the store. Robin felt a thrill of adrenaline despite the fact that he hadn't been in the mood to rob something as low as a jewelry store in a while. It was his turn now.

He took a moment to glance around, before dropping to the ground and creeping along the shadows, his heart beating faster and faster as he approached the outside wall of the store. Shadows still covered his body as he pulled himself onto his knees and grabbed the paneling of the walls. There were plenty of chips in it – so many chips he could put his hands through to climb on.

He grabbed on to the nearest chip and pulled himself all the way up, feeling his way to the next chip. Behind him, he heard Declan whisper, "Dude, that kid is a ninja!"

Smirking, Robin crawled up the side of the wall like a lizard, keeping silent the whole time and blending perfectly into the shadows. Once he reached the rooftop, he kicked in a bit of dry wood, making an opening small enough to seem innocent, yet large enough to fit his body through. After staring at the hole silently for a moment, considering it, he raced to the end of the roof, looking down at Chase.

Spotting him, Chase gave a thumbs up, and at the signal Kevin let out a howl. Robin jumped through the hole in the roof, falling directly on his feet behind the store clerk, who was completely unaware he was even there. Declan, Jordan, Vince and Luke all came running through the door, brandishing their bats and guns respectively.

There were only two civilians in the whole place, though whether this was due to the time of night, or the fact that the jewelry store was placed in possibly the worst area ever, Robin had no idea.

"Put your hands up and get down," shouted Luke, pointing his gun at the store clerk, who automatically obeyed him. A woman in the back screamed, and Jordan raised his bat at her. "Make one more sound and this is bashing your pretty face in, got it sister?"

The woman nodded frantically, tears falling down her face. The sound of glass breaking reverberated through the store as Declan bashed the glass counters with his bat to get to the jewels inside. As the rest of the group raced over to grab some of the jewels, the store clerk slowly reached for a shotgun under his desk. Robin almost shook his head at the stupidity of the man, who had yet to realize Robin was even there. The man barely had time to skim his hand along the side of the shotgun when Robin brought him down with a sharp nerve jab. The man went limp and tumbled to the ground on his stomach, mouth hanging slightly open. Robin flipped him over and searched through his pockets, trying to find a wallet. A nametag was on the man's chest, which read 'Hello, my name is Steve!' in red ink.

Bingo.

Robin smirked as he felt the wallet, pulling it out of the man's jean pocket and examining it. It was fake brown leather, and the ends were peeling. It was obviously very old. He flipped it open, and a picture of a little blonde girl fell out and landed on the ground next to the man. She resembled him greatly, and Robin assumed it was his daughter. He almost felt bad. Almost.

There was a credit card in there, which was useless to him (they could easily be traced), but there was also a spot of green that made Robin very pleased when he pulled it out. "I've got fifty over here," he called out, standing up and showing Chase, who was nearest to him. Chase grinned down at the money, then up at Robin. "You keep that, you found it. Finders keepers, right?"

"Right," said Robin, pleased despite himself. Chase jumped over Steve and raced to the cash register, ripping it open. Money and coins flew everywhere as he tilted it on its side and shook it hard. The ones who were finished grabbing the jewelry lunged towards the falling money, laughing loudly and catcalling. "Oh man, what are we gonna do with this money?" Declan asked, his face and eyes bright at the sight of the money in his hands.

They all froze at the sound of sirens, and the blinding red and blue lights that flew through the open window.

"I have an idea, we can run away from the cops!" Jordan yelled, sounding panicked. Robin looked around the store room rapidly, mentally cursing himself as he spotted the security camera hanging innocently from the very ceiling he'd jumped from. If he'd kicked in the wood just feet away, he could have easily kicked out the security camera, but of course not, because his luck sucks. "RUN!" Chase yelled, and they all fled for the back door (except for Robin, who scrambled on top of the counter and made a mighty leap for the hole in the roof). As he raced across the rooftop and jumped back down on the other side, Chase and the others were already laughing and running with either jewelry or money in their hands. Robin rolled his eyes, though he couldn't help but to feel pleased at the extra weight of money in his pocket. The sirens faded as the cop cars drove in the wrong direction, and they slowed to a stop to allow themselves to catch their breaths. Kevin and Declan were panting hard, and the others looked very winded, but only Chase and Robin seemed unaffected by the long running spree.

"I – can't – run – any – more –" Kevin sputtered between heavy breaths, and Luke scoffed. "Well, why don't we just get a ride then?"

"Get a ride?" asked Declan curiously, straightening as his panting slowly came to a start. "Wad'ya mean?"

Luke gave him a shit-eating grin before nodding his head to the left. When Robin spotted the object that Luke was nodding to, he felt his heart sink. No… oh no… please no…

It was an old SUV, one that could easily be hotwired, and they did need someplace to store the jewelry and money… but still… no class.

"You want to steal that?" asked Robin flatly, giving the SUV an unimpressed look. Luke shot him a scathing look, and didn't deem it with a reply. "Come on guys, we need some place to stash this stuff, ya follow me? Let's go already!" he added loudly as sirens started up again. Robin growled in frustration as a few of the others cursed – very colorful choice words that Slade would slap him for using.

"C'mon, man!" someone, Robin didn't see who because of the blinding red and blue lights, grabbed Robin's arm and shoved him into the SUV. A couple of seconds later, he was being smushed up against the window as all seven tried to fit into the car at once, with Luke being in the driver's seat. Jordan and Declan were arguing over who should get shotgun, but eventually both of them were thrown forward into said seat as Luke hotwired the car and slammed on the gas. Kevin landed heavily on Robin, causing the younger boy to see stars for a moment, before Logan pulled Kevin off of him. Trying to regain control of his breathing, Robin managed to hull himself up into a proper sitting position as the SUV went flying, the cop cars right on their tails. Robin wasn't sure if the trees and houses were jumping out of the raging car's way, or if Kevin was just that good at driving a car doing 120 mph, because even though the car lifted in the air a few times from going so fast, they didn't hit anything other than some branches. Kevin was letting out whoops as he twirled the car around suddenly, causing everyone – including Robin – to slide on top of each other due to the momentum. Robin was barely lucky enough to miss being squished completely by Logan, who had almost gone flying out of his seat. Despite the fact that Luke was probably going to kill them all, each of the boys had smiles on their faces, and Robin found his own lips twitching as the adrenaline pumped through his system.

"WAHOO!" Declan called out of the window, laughing as the sirens all but disappeared and the flashing lights got farther and farther away. Robin leaned his head back on the seat, mentally sighing in relief. He wasn't so worried about the cops getting to them – he could easily slip away. But he had been a bit scared for his life when Luke first started driving (if you could call that driving) the SUV. He would never admit that to anybody.

"Alright, let's look at what we've got here," said Chase eventually, grabbing a large sack that had the jewels and money the boys had collected inside of it. Robin was half-surprised it was still intact after the ride from hell. "Whadda we got in here?" Jordan and Declan were practically crawling on top of each other to peek into the bag, and Robin found himself being pushed full-on into it. He winced as a gold embroidered earring scratched his cheek, but Kevin was quick to pull him out of the bag in favor of grabbing the jewels. Dick didn't care much for the jewels (especially since he could feel a drop of blood on his cheek from that sharp-ass earring. Ouch.) but he found himself very interested in the money. Sure, he had found fifty (and he was planning on keeping this information for himself and apparently Chase) but he couldn't deny the longing he had for the green bucks inside of the bag, hiding among the jewelry. "Alright, we're gonna let the newbie pick out the first thing," Chase nodded at Robin, who scowled and being called 'newbie', but curiously glanced inside of the sack all the same. "I don't want any jewels."

"Nothing?" Chase asked, a smirk on his face. "Not even to please your mentor?"

Robin tilted his head at this – he honestly hadn't taken Slade into consideration. Slade may be a mercenary, but he wouldn't deny something shiny if it was put in front of him. A thorough search through the sack bought Robin another 20 bucks and a sleek-chained necklace with a small silver oval-shaped locket attached to it. He wasn't sure why, but it reminded him of something. Something from his past…

He was broken out of his musings as Logan pushed him aside to grab his share of the loot. Slowly but surely, the sack became thinner and thinner until all of the money and jewels were gone. Noticing a twenty dollar bill sitting on the seat next to Kevin, Robin quickly snatched it and put it with his share, acting as though he had picked it out while rummaging through the bag. 90 bucks in total. Not too bad, though that necklace was probably worth a pretty penny. Still, Robin had the strangest urge to hold on to the trinket, and his hand clasped protectively over it, as though worried someone were going to take it then and there.

"I think it's time to head back," said Luke, jumping out of the SUV and stretching his joints. "The cops probably have the SOS on this car anyway."

Robin shook his head. These guys had the stupidest words. He wasn't even sure Luke knew what SOS meant.

"We're only about a mile from where we started off," said Declan, as the rest of them piled out of the van. "We can walk that. Do they know what we look like?"

"There was a surveillance camera," Robin remembered, and the others scowled. "Did they see us?"

He knew the hidden question. 'Did they see you?'

"No," he snapped. "They didn't."

"Oh, good," sighed Declan, relieved. "That would have been the end for us if we got caught."

"'For us'?" Robin questioned, raising an eyebrow. Jordan grinned and threw an arm around Declan, "Well sure, for 'us', we're brothers. I'm older," Jordan added instantly, and Declan scowled at him. "Yeah, but I'm better lookin'."

As the two began to bicker, Robin watched, a weird feeling inside of him. He never had brothers or sisters before, he didn't even watch them interact. The first time… something brotherly happened, and it was between two crooks who he'd just got done robbing a jewelry store with.

"Would you guys shut up?" Kevin finally snarled, and the two brothers quieted. "Yo, you good here, Robin?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Robin mumbled, crossing his arms and shivering against the cold. "You can go now."

"You sure?" asked Chase, glancing around at the shady looking area, and Robin shrugged. "Yeah, I'm sure. You guys better get back to your spots, Deathstroke should be –"

Robin was cut off as he spotted a black vehicle, his mentor obviously behind the wheel. "And there's my ride. See ya, I guess."

The other seven didn't say anything, just watched as he jumped into the car with Slade. Once they were sure that mentor and apprentice had left, Logan turned to Vince with a huge grin. "I told you he'd help us out. You owe me 20 bucks."

"You're getting better," Slade praised, rubbing his wrists as Robin untied him. "Much better. I'm pleased with your progress, however there is always room for improvement."

Robin yanked the rest of the ropes (that he'd wrapped around Slade) off of his master's arms and took a step back. "Thank you Master, I'll continue working."

"Good. Have you been keeping up with your other skills?" Slade questioned, and Robin nodded, letting the ropes fall to the floor. "Yes Master, I have read through the numerous books you brought me, and I have also taken those tests online you asked me to do."

"And?"

"I passed every one," Robin said, trying to hide any pride he felt at that statement. Slade was silent for a moment as he watched Robin, before nodding. "I'm glad to hear it. Keep practicing."

Robin nodded, turning back to the ropes on the ground, trying to unknot them. As Slade passed Black Mask, he grabbed him on the arm, making the mobster pause. "Keep an eye on Robin," he said, glancing back at his apprentice. "I will be gone from the city for a few days."

At the leer on Black Mask's face, Slade quickly added, "If there is so much as a cut on Robin when I return, this deal will be off."

Black Mask gave a sharp nod, "Where are you going?"

"I have some business to take care of in Jump City," Slade said, as the two adults turned to watch Robin tie and untie the numerous ropes Slade had brought him. "Keep him busy until I return."

Aaaand that concludes chapter 6. Hope you enjoyed it, it was kind of boring to write but… well, can't complain too much. We're going to get our first Batman/Robin meeting in about 3 chapters, so stay tuned for those of you who can't wait to see them together. The meeting will be… interesting. And Slade will not be pleased by it. The chapters in between will be interesting, however, and next chapter we'll meet the HIVE.