Robin's Shadow (Batman OC)

Chapter 2: Street Rats

Jason and I did manage to survive through infancy, though at times it was just barely. Catherine wasn't always high, she would sometimes go several months without a relapse. During those sober times, she would remember to go to work and buy groceries, though she never could afford to feed us all enough. 

One of the neighbors would watch all of the kids in the building while the parents were at work, which was a mad house because it was usually one stressed out middle aged or older woman yelling at over a dozen toddlers to behave all day. Jason and I kept to ourselves usually when we were babysat, otherwise we got blamed on the trouble that the group of kids would get into, especially during the times when we were the oldest before we started school.

We never really ventured outside of our apartment complex, which was probably for the best with the neighborhood we were in, but it still caused us to grow up almost entirely indoors. Catherine would occasionally take us out on walks, though never very far, just to the local park. It took me a few of our random walks to realize, but the park trips were where she would meet her dealer, and start the cycle over again.

When Jason and I were three, we finally met our father. He was a low level thug for Two-Face, and we met him once he was released from prison.

"Who are the kids?" A man asks Catherine, walking into our apartment while Jason and I were playing cops and robbers in the living room. I always played the robber. Jason even at a young age wanted to fight crime, so I let him catch me often.

"Your kids." Catherine says angrily to him in reply, before turning to ignore him and watching TV. "You would have known that if you were ever around."

They begin to argue with each other, and it is getting loud fast. I took Jason's hand and lead him to our room, closing the door behind us. It doesn't have a lock at all, but Jason instinctually starts to pile what toys and furniture we have in the room at the door. He's a smart kid, and he's good at reading situations. He learned this technique when there was a break in once while we were at the neighbor ladies house. 

Jason still loves our mother a lot, but he knows she's sick and unwell. I have still never formed a loving bond with her, though I can tolerate her just fine when she's sober since I don't have much choice. She still hasn't really tried to form bonds with us, me in particular, but she does at least remember to buy a little extra food for us when she gets groceries, and at least doesn't do her drugs where Jason and I can see.

"Is that our dad?" Jason asks me quietly as the adults continue to argue in the living room. Occasional sounds of something being thrown against the walls can be heard. "I don't like him." He adds stubbornly.

"I don't like him either." I agree in a whisper. "Let's keep our distance, he seems dangerous." I warn him, and then pull him under the covers of our bed. We only have one twin bed that we share, but it's fine, we both sleep better being close to one another. Gotham is a very dangerous place, and we can hear the crime outside every night below our window.

Our father, Willis Todd, doesn't stay around for long. He's a member of the Two-Face gang, and reported for duty within the next month of his release. He was caught during a gang fight by Batman not too long after and sent back to prison again. After their initial fight on the first night, Catherine had seemed happy he was there. They did get along, though they were both junkies together.

During that month or so he was there, Willis had sort of tried to get to know us, his kids, but it didn't last long. As soon as Jason got too mouthy or one of us was too loud, he would send us to our room. That was fine with me, I didn't like being around him, but Jason doesn't like being told what to do.