dreamsanddisasters | Gotham AU (For Asher)

[ There may be a half-a-billion dollar bounty on his head, but Damian doesn't let small things like assassins put him off doing his job. Pennyworth has tried and failed to keep him at home, at bay, especially with his father on a quick international trip for business and the Batman on hiatus for a few days, but Damian is Robin.

There's been word of a new force in Gotham shaking up the underworld, and his father had just started in on the case when he'd been called away. Damian's here to pick up the slack and find out more information. If there's someone looking to upstage one of the big bads, they have to know about it. Especially in the wake of the entire Joker affair.

He's on the case. Nightwing and Red Robin aren't any help - they just nag him about the bounty, how he shouldn't be seen in the field, even though he can see the assassins coming from miles away. So he's on his own for this one.

Good. Just the way Li'l Matches likes it.

The club is distasteful, as are most clubs. Lewd, sleazy, but a favorite gathering point for different members of the criminal sections here in Gotham. He bluffs his way past the doorman (the name Matches Malone can carry him far), and navigates his way through the press of bodies. Damian doesn't even have to work to get the sharks circling; he just claims a VIP booth in the back, settles into the cushions with a glass of iced water, crosses one pin-striped leg over the other, and waits.

Everybody wants their piece, and the dogs will lick his heels if they think they can get an in with Matches through his son. Too stupid to see how he's leading the conversation, digging into questions about the new threat in town under the guise of defending Matches' territory. Idiots.

It's all going perfectly according to plan until a mid-level punk from one of the other families shows up and decides that this is the night to pick a fight with the lone boy.

Sixteen to one isn't bad odds for Robin, but it's less than good for Li'l Matches, who's quickly scruffed and dragged into the back alley kicking and sneering the entire way, even when he's bent double from a fist to the gut or smacked against the slick brick wall with a heavy backhand against his cheek. He's spitting blood at the feet of his aggressors, lip curling.

Can't. Break. Cover. ]

My father will see you pay for this, you Falcone lackey.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[And Peko's grip loosens. Unarmed combat is not her forte, and while she manages to avoid the brunt of the blow, it's still enough to hurt.

But that brief moment, even if it isn't much to disrupt his momentum, is still enough for someone to get a sniper bead on the little bird. The laser designator hovers over the center of his chest, barely wavering.]

Better not move.

[It's Kuzuryuu who says it, though he's still not quite caught up. He slows from a run to a walk, unwilling to pant in front of an unknown like Robin.]

She doesn't fucking miss. The hell were you after?

[ He freezes at the steady red dot hovering over his sternum, though he looks frustrated and pissed rather than scared at being at the wrong end of a sniper's line of sight. Of all the days to be dressed down without kevlar--

(There is still a terse pause, as if he is carefully calculating whether or not he might survive if he does make a move, but ultimately the odds don't fall in his favor.)

His head turns marginally to watch Kuzuryuu approach, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses but the impudent twist to his mouth speaking loud and clear in their stead. ]

Information.

[ This snarky little asshole of a kid. Hey, here's an answer, but hey, it's vague enough to be absolutely useless, because fuck you, he's Robin, that's why. ]

You really want to get on Batman's bad side this early on?

[It's a good thing for Kuzuryuu he doesn't try. Koizumi doesn't miss any shot she decides to take, but despite everything she's been through, she's still a normal girl at heart, not a gangland sniper. He's pretty sure she wouldn't shoot a kid. Not even for Peko.

Peko, of course, has no such compunctions. She stands again, blank-faced, with her sword in her hand.]

If I did, you'd be a head shorter right now, Robin.

[Kuzuryuu's glare goes from irritated to thoughtfully doubtful.]

I kinda thought you'd be older. The Bat make a habit of throwing little kids to the jackals? Little kids with bounties on their heads?

[ His face just grows more sour with every word Kuzuryuu speaks, bristling at the age commentary.

Wow, pot should not speak on matters of the kettle. ]

A little kid that can kick your ass.

[ Charming to see that the threat of a sniper and a sword-wielding hitman aren't enough to get him to watch his mouth. ]

That bounty was put on me by my mother, if that gives you a clue about why Batman has me as his partner.

[ Not exactly classified information, that he's League bred, but still an impetuous, prideful, thoughtless snap back all the same. ]

[Kuzuryuu almost snarls something back--could kick his ass, his fucking ass!--but Peko shifts slightly. It's a meaningless movement, just a redistribution of weight, but it's enough to get Kuzuryuu to hold his tongue. There is more at stake here than an argument with a bratty ten-year-old. The boy isn't afraid, and they have no idea when backup might arrive.]

I don't give a shit who thought your head was worth money. I'm not interested in the League. Or in the Batman's little costume club, long as you keep your noses out of our business.

[Not that he has any illusions that they will. Still, he knows Batman and Co. have nothing on him or his associates yet. They can't touch him. That's not how they operate.]

But tell me, kid, you make it a regular habit to impersonate Matches Malone's brat? Or--[And he is sharp, this dragon boy, for all he can't read Damian like Peko can.]--does he even exist?

Gotham AU (For Asher)

YEAH ACTUALLY

giggles 'titty typhoon' gdi

I'm so happy they kept that in the localization

its loss would have been a damn tragedy

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