Work Text:
It was nearing midnight. Far from the quietest time in a city such as Gotham, but it wasn't quite as loud as the hustle and bustle you'd get during the day. Most people out and about would be on their way home, or changing venues with the intention of partying it up for just a bit longer. 'It's Friday!' would be their excuse.
But if you listened hard enough, one could just barely pick up the faint echos of strings being plucked. For up on the rooftop of an apartment building, there sat a girl and her guitar.
"Hold on to me as we go."
She kept away from the ledge, instead sitting on a cheap metal stool that must have been brought up by someone else, most likely so they could sit and smoke. The cushion could barely be called that anymore.
"As we roll down this unfamiliar road."
The girl's long, dark brown hair was tied up out of her face in a bun, but a few strands had come loose over the course of the day.
"And although this wave is stringing us along."
The building was high enough that her only source of light on this cloudy night was from the faint glow of the amber bulb sitting above the entry door.
"Just know you're not alone,
'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home."
The song choice was on purpose, as the girl had finally finished unpacking all of her things into her new space. After a week of nothing but getting aquainted at work and organizing her apartment, it was time for her to indulge in her favourite hobby.
"Settle down, it'll all be clear.
Don't pay no mind to the demons, they fill you with fear."
And what better way to introduce yourself to a new city than by doing something absolutely no one else would do.
"The trouble it might drag you down.
If you get lost, you can always be found."
Because everyone in Gotham knew The Bats roamed the night.
"Just know you're not alone,"
And a common mode of travel was by rooftop.
"'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home."
Nothing much was happening that night. Well, in terms of crime, that is. There had yet to be a distress signal, nor had anyone on patrol stumbled upon anything, even in the Narrows; which that in itself was more unnerving than relaxing.
While sometimes no news was good news, a certain birdie was hoping for some action of some kind. At this point, he'd take petty theft. It's been a couple of weeks of nothing major happening, and even Batman had agreed that that meant something sinister was brewing.
Robin didn't like it.
It wasn't until a few blocks later that he picked up on a strange noise. Upon closer inspection, he figured it was a voice. Now voices weren't exactly a rare occurrence, but it was what accompanied it, and where it was coming from, that attracted his attention.
Buskers could be heard occasionally in the city, but never had it come from above. Usually they'd be on the street, which was below.
Using his grapling gun, Robin took flight. He had time to investigate, plus it was something to do.
What he didn't expect was to find...well, exactly what he heard. To be fair, most things in Gotham tend to be more complicated than they first appear to be.
There, in the dim lighting on the roof of an apartment building, was a girl playing guitar and singing along. Even when the night air was chilly, she was only dressed in a t-shirt, but at least had the decency to wear jeans and shoes.
Her back was to him, so Robin took a moment to really take in the last little bit of the song she was playing.
...it was a lot of 'oh's, sung in a melodic pattern. It was okay, in his opinion. She sang it well, but he would have preferred something with more words to it. The weirdest part was the feeling it gave him, like he was back at the manor.
"You are a strange woman."
The last chord was abruptly cut short, followed by the panicked turning of the body. This action caused the girl to fall out of her seat, landing on the hard cement roof with a small 'oof'. Thankfully, the guitar didn't suffer any injuries.
She did make quite a racket during her little freak out, though.
"Holy crap!" The girl cried out, eyes slowly coming to focus on the figure that had been a few feet behind her. "Don't do that!" She leaned to the side, rubbing one side of her now aching bottom. Cement wasn't exactly a soft thing to land on!
Robin tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms, "Don't do what? I wasn't exactly sneaky."
That was a total lie. Robin made a point to enter this specific situation undetected.
"You were a little pitchy."
The girl, now slowly standing up, frowned. She could just barely make out the figure in this lighting, but his clothes where bright enough to recognize him. Even to someone not native to Gotham, not even native to the US, she knew who this was.
The realization did nothing to calm her rapidly beating heart. One simply does not just get over a scare such as that!
"I wasn't exactly playing for you," she huffed, gripping the neck of the guitar in her left hand just a little tighter.
"What are you doing up here, anyways?" the boy asked, disregarding her comment.
"Didn't want to wake the neighbours, don't really care for playing in public." Her response was short, but did little to cover up her frustration. She had chosen the roof for privacy, obviously! And here was a member of the one group of people who could have heard her.
Which, honestly, was something she had written off. Vigilantes didn't care for women singing on rooftops, they go out fighting crime! Or at least, Gotham vigilantes did. She was the furthest away from crime there was!
'Well,' she thought, 'unless my performance really was that good, that it was a crime.' She snorted at her thoughts, gaining an odd look from Robin as he uncrossed his arms.
"I shall say it again: you are a weird woman."
"Don't you have a robbery or assault to stop or something?"
"Just the assault to my ears."
He didn't really think that, but this random stranger didn't need to know that he quite enjoyed her singing. But he took her increasing anger as his cue to leave, so with a flick of his cape, Robin jumped off the building and vanished into the night.
"...show-off..." the girl mumbled.
The sound of sirens had become a common sound in the girl's life over the next couple of days. According to the news, various famous Gotham villains had broken out of the asylum and were reaping havoc in the city (Batman's intuition was right).
"When the days are cold,
And the cards all fold,"
It was stressful, wondering and worrying if your place of work would be a target next, especially when one lived only a few turns away from the most crime-ridden place in the city and worked walking distance away at a retail store.
"And the saints we see are all made of gold."
Though her thoughts were somewhat quelled at one specific thought: 'who the fuck would rob a music store?"
"When your dreams all fail,
And the ones we hail,"
Is her workplace a little on the nose for the theme of this story? Yes. Why? Because follow your dreams! Work at a music store in Gotham to pay for schooling! (Not that many people have that specific dream)
"Are the worst of all,
And the blood's run stale."
Oh yeah, forgot to mention our little talented friend here is attending Gotham University for their music program. Not for guitar or vocals, but for flute!
"I wanna hide the truth,
I wanna shelter you,"
Again, who the fuck would rob a music store? One named "Sacred Melodies" at that. And the one where little Miss Laura Price worked.
"But with the beast inside,
There's nothing we can hide."
But now it was the end of a particularly rough day, caused by a lack of customers, who were afraid when the next Big Hit would be. Everyone knew something bigger was going to happen. These small events were just warm-ups, after all.
"No matter what we breed,
We still are made of greed."
Even so, Laura needed a space to vent out her emotions. Like the rooftop.
"This is my kingdom come."
At midnight.
"This is my kingdom come."
The girl, once again, found herself playing along to a song she loved, letting the notes of the chords she was strumming, as well as her voice, flow and fade off into the night.
"When you feel my heat,
Look into my eyes.
It's where my demons hide,
It's where my demons hide."
Coincidentally, at the same time, another "friend" was on patrol. While he usually took to the streets, today he was travelling a little higher.
"Don't get too close,
it's dark inside."
Okay, it wasn't really a coincidence. He had actually overheard his brother talking to someone the other night over the comms, and Damien refused to shed light on who he was talking to, and what it was about.
"It's where my demons hide,"
Jason had just assumed that the little birdie was embarrassed that he didn't turn his earpiece off when he had that conversation.
"It's where my demons hide."
But still, he was curious.
"At the curtain's call,
It's the last of all.
When the lights fade out,
All the sinners crawl."
Laura was back in the dim lighting the area around the roof access door provided, but that barely bothered her.
"So they dug your grave,
and the masquerade
Will come calling out
at the mess you've made."
The man with the red helmet picked up on a rather lovely noise. From what little context he had, he assumed this was the right spot. Robin mentioned someone being "pitchy", which meant the person he was talking to was singing.
"Don't wanna let you down,
But I am hell-bound."
The girl briefly closed her eyes, slightly relieved that she's past the verse again. While she can do the low notes, some of them got a little breathy as she tried to hit them.
"Though this is all for you,
Don't wanna hide the truth."
Red Hood made his way to the top of the building that the music was coming from. He was surprised to find a woman, and found the particular song she was performing to be a little...not quite ironic, but hit close to home. He was reminded of his own demons that lay beneath his surface.
"No matter what we breed,
We still are made of greed,
This is my kingdom come,
This is my kingdom come."
Laura took a deep breath, opening her eyes.
"When you feel my—"
She then noticed the figure standing ten feet in front of her.
"AHH!"
She gripped a hand to her chest, thankful she didn't fall off the stool again. "What is it with you people and just appearing on rooftops!" She gasped out, gaze focused on the familiar stranger before her. She knew this one, Red Hood, wasn't opposed to killing, like other vigilantes. With the media split on whether he was a hero or not, Laura felt more skeptical around him than the Robin that visited last week.
"Am I not allowed to enjoy good music?" he shrugged, leaning against the half-wall lining the edge of the rooftop.
"Am I not allowed to play music in peace?" the girl shot back, free arm waving around as she spoke. "I get it, it's "your city", or whatever, but why do you have to bother the girl just casually playing music?"
She definitely wasn't upset because she was embarrassed to be caught singing...twice. Nope. Not at all.
Red Hood gave out a low chuckle, holding out his hands, "Alright, alright. I'll leave you alone." He was smirking behind his helmet, even Laura could hear it. "But just know you've got an audience."
With a two-fingered salute, the stranger lept up onto the wall, and fell off backwards. Laura rushed to that same ledge, peering over just in time to see him land on a motorcycle. With two revs of the engine, Red Hood took off into the night.
"You'd think this was a circus..."
Seriously what was with vigilantes and their need to make a flashy/mysterious exit?
...
"Wait...what audience?"
There was a small pause as the boy took in what his brother was telling him, thinking back to the audio clip he had played just minutes earlier.
"Damien was right, she was a little pitchy. Specifically that last note." Tim smirked, referring to the girl's cry of terror from when she first noticed Red Hood. He didn't actually believe she was a bad singer, he just found it funny how Jason scared the shit out of her. The boy turned back to the bat computer, where the elder had uploaded the sound, and played it again. The faint notes of the song getting louder as Red Hood had made his way closer to the source.
Were they allowed to use the bat computer for such trivial things? Not really, but it was the best way to extract the data Jason had collected .
But it was also in a some-what public location, as they soon realized when a new presence appeared.
"Is that that singing woman? Why would you torture yourself with her music?" Damien made his presence known, scoffing at the two hovering by the main screen. "She could at least take some lessons."
Jason and Tim shared a look, before the latter swivelled around in the chair.
"Why don't you teach her, then?"
The youngest stopped short in his path. He was ready to just simply walk by them, but was now frozen.
"Wh—why would you propose such a preposterous thing?!" His face scrunched up, feigning a look of disgust. In truth, Damien couldn't think of how that would even work. He had a duty as Robin, which did not involve training those inadequate in music, and his civilian self would have no reason to approach the girl. It was simply a silly, impossible idea.
...not to mention a part of him deep down admitted she didn't need the lessons.
Tim chuckled, "just a thought." He turned back around to face the computer. "But you're right, Jason, even through a recording, I can sense it too."
Over the next few days, Red Robin had started to come up with a plan. The clip Jason had showed him included their entire interaction, and his last statement gave him am idea. 'An audience'.
"When the tears are rolling down
Like a river
to the ocean,"
But there was just one little wrinkle he needed to smooth out, and that was meeting this strange girl who sang atop an apartment rooftop.
"And there's no one else around,
You won't question
My devotion."
Laura was hoping she could go one night without an interruption, and so far, so good. She was on her third song of the night, one she felt brought her a sense of peace and love. Of the comfort that came from knowing there are people out there who will pick you up when you fall, or need help.
"Everybody
Needs somebody.
And you've got me.
You know that I know that you know that,"
Red Robin could hear it, the strumming of a guitar and a feminine voice calling out into the night. It was almost hypnotizing, like the emotions she sang about seeped into his soul. He stood on the edge of the neighbouring building behind her, watching definitely not like a creep.
"I'll be there for the highs and lows,
Give you mine when your heart get broke,
By your side and you're all alone,
I will be there."
The girl had struggled with one of the chords she played in this song in the past, but was proud at how confident she had become with it.
"When you're down and down on your luck,
No way home and you've got too drunk,
2am imma pick you up,
I will be there."
Tim was filled with a sense of belonging, something similar to when he thought about his family. Maybe that was just the power of this particular song, or was it the girl singing it?
"I'll be there, I'll be there, I'll be there, I'll be there
For you.
I'll be there, I'll be there, I'll be there, I'll be there
For you.
When you're down and down on your luck..."
The girl trailed off, cutting the song short and ending the spell.
"Shit, what was the lyric again?"
"I don't think I've heard that one before," Red Robin called out, climbing over the roof ledge.
Laura was proud to say she didn't jump this time. As they say, third time's the charm. That didn't stop her from rounding on the poor kid from her seat.
"The fuck are you doing here?" The girl's harsh words made Red Robin stop short.
"...to hear you sing?" He shrugged, not quite sure how else to put it. Laura frowned, placing her instrument into her case before standing up.
"Look, I know what I'm doing is strange, but does it really warrant a visit from every single vigilante in Gotham?" She placed a hand on her waist, leaning to one side. The wind chose this moment to pick up, blowing the stray hairs that had fallen out of her ponytail.
"There's more than three of us."
"That's not my point!" Laura was mildly loosing it. She had chosen the rooftop as a nice place to unwind, not an area to add more stress to her life. "What do you want? You know know what? Never mind." She threw her arms up in defeat. "Might as well have the whole ensemble show up at once," she turned around, pacing away from Red Robin, "make a concert out of it!" She sarcastically made jazz hands, before dropping her arms to her side.
"You know," Red Robin started, hand to his chin, "that's not a bad idea."
"What?!"
But when she turned around, Laura found herself alone.
It had been a month, and Laura avoided even glancing towards the stairs that would take her to the roof. She childishly refused to unwillingly invite more vigilantes to her sessions. They were supposed to be a private ordeal, not a show!
Unfortunately, that's just what will happen when she does eventually go up. She knows this. Her neighbour had excitedly chatted at her about an increase in vigilante sightings by their building over the last few days. Mrs. Frankel had hoped they had finally discovered the guy making drugs in the basement a few houses down. There was no guy making drugs.
Back on track, this particular day ended very badly for poor Laura: the place she worked at had a major budget cut, and so she was let go. She really needed that emotional release, so she begrudgingly grabbed her guitar and made her way to the rooftop.
Before she even opened her guitar case on the ground, she had a visitor. This time, they didn't even try to hide themselves.
"Nightwing." Said hero was sitting on the half-wall, leg hanging off the side that led to a seven-story drop. He grinned when Laura called out his name.
"You must be Laura." She shouldn't have surprised that they knew her name by now. "We thought Red Robin scared you away."
"Please, not even Red Hood could scare me away," Laura smirked, crossing her arms. She carefully watched Nightwing get up from his spot, hop down properly onto the rooftop, and take a few steps towards her.
"Good, because he's going to be there."
"Be where–" Her question turned into a scream as Nightwing scooped her up, urged her to hold on tight, and took off with his grappling gun.
This was why Laura avoided the rooftop for a month.
Laura wasn't let down until she found herself, oddly, on another rooftop. Only this one was decked out with lights and plants, and she even spotted a few balloons. She could also make out a small stage with a stool on it.
"Do you like it?" Nightwing asked, gesturing around them. Laura took a few steps forward, more wary and confused than awed. She turned around to glare at her kidnapper.
"Why am I here?"
"Is this her?!" An excited voice broke out, popping up from behind a potted plant. Now Laura was more confused. This was definitely another vigilante she didn't think she would ever meet.
"Again...why am I here?"
Ten minutes of literally every vigilante in Gothem other than the bat himself showing up one-by-one later, and the rooftop was packed. Laura figured that this was it, this is how she died: death by confusion. All she knew was that there was a stage, many people dressed in costumes, and her. No one would explain what was going on, not until Red Hood showed up last with her guitar case.
"Oh," she deadpanned, taking the offered instrument into her hands. This was exactly what she had said offhandedly to Red Robin a month ago.
A concert in front of the hero's of Gothem. Great.
Nightwing guided her to the stool on the stage, which appearantly was the signal for people to quiet down. Laura was sort of glad that Batman wasn't here, because he was super intimidating–
Oh.
He just showed up.
Laura was not at all ready for this.
Nope.
Nope.
What did she even play?
Her first step was to take the guitar out of the case. Shakey hands undid metal clasps, lifting the top then grabbing the instrument. So many men and woman in masks stared at her, waiting for her to begin her impromptu show.
She ended up playing five songs that night, earning loud cheers after each one.
She woke up in her bed the next morning, a note left by her nightstand.
'I know someone who would love to hear you play. Please consider it.'
Here was no signature on the note, but the paper attached to it had Laura pinching herself:
An invitation for a private performance for the Wayne family. Did they even do that?