Red Robin had learned about the Triangle through trial and error during his time in Star City. He'd brought Robin down here once to show her what Gotham could be like if she and Batman couldn't pull together. He now came here as a matter of course, especially since he was aware the Haitian Zopounders ran a drug ring down in this area.

In the back of his mind, he thought about his meeting with Carol Ferris on Monday morning to discuss his recent acquisition of shares in her company. She was a hard woman to get in touch with, though Tim knew she was mixed up with another hero in the city someway or other.

Red Robin now pulls out a set of mini-binoculars and takes a look down at the courtyard of the building, watching as the gangsters gathered under the moonlight to discuss payment and terms. Tim can follow the conversations easily enough, as he speaks both Russian and French, and can hear that they're discussing the time they can land a shipment. Among the men on the ground, he can see clean-cut Nikolai Karloff, head of the Russian Mafia out of Chechnya.

The man is bad news, especially if he wants to go war with Donovan Edge, leader of Star City's crime syndicate. Readying himself for action, Red Robin puts away the binoculars and stands, momentarily exposed to another rooftop watcher in the area.

Then he leaps off of his own rooftop and opens his paracape to glide down and drop-kick the Haitian gangster right into Karloff as the other men start drawing their weapons.

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Zoe held the bit of brick loosely as she shifted out from behind the shed to take a non-lethal shot at the figure who'd invaded her space. He leaped before she could, off the side facing away from her.

She ran to get a better vantage point and spotted the groups of men and moonlight glinting off weapons. She HATED people in her territory, but as long as they were here...

A sharp ping sound echoed when a projectile hit a gun. A second projectile struck the shooter and he went down. More rained down, finding easy targets.

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The sound of gunfire was expected, but the direction it came from wasn't. How had he missed the shooter on the roof? No matter that now. He needed to save his own ass first and then deal with his attacker.

His metallic bo staff appeared in his hands, and he quickly whipped it forward, back, left and right, hitting criminals in each direction. A booted foot found connected with another man's stomach, even as he took a bunch from a burly brawler-type who'd stepped up to challenge him.

Red Robin draws two smoke gas pellets from his belt and tosses them down, hoping to obscure the vision of both his attackers and his other trigger-happy assailant, while he puts these guys down.

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Zoe pulled more small pebbles from her pockets and continued firing them down where she could find openings. Her aim was enough to disrupt the proceedings, and she took care not to kill anybody. Forbes hated that.

The smoke was a lighter gray blanketing on the ground and floating up. She moved away from the possible updraft and lost what visibility she had. Instead she had to settle for brief glimpses and metallic glints, tossing her rocks with precise aim.

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The gunfire from the gangsters had slowed, though they were taking shots wherever they could. He had to end this /now/ or there was a good chance they'd get him by the time the smoke dispersed.

He punches out two men, then backflips twice away from a third, coming up and loosing a disk as the man tries to draw his gun. The gun is knocked out of his hand even as another small projectile hits the man in the head and knocks him unconscious. Red Robin knows that he threw the first item, but he didn't throw the second.

Soon enough, the fight is over and he calls the cops with his location, before cuffing the men together. When that is done, he fires a line back up toward the rooftop he leaped from and goes in search of his mystery helper.

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Zoe retreated when the fight was over, finding a better place to watch what happened next. She guessed it would be the cops and scowled into the dark at more of them in the Triangle. They were useless. If the caped figure wanted to do a real favor, taking them off and disposing of them in more permanent ways was a better option all around.

The sounds of a zip line shooting through the air sent her hurrying back the way she'd come, digging her in her pockets for more rock ammo as she ran.

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Red Robin lands on the rooftop and begins searching for whoever his backup is.

"I know you're here." he says, his voice gravelly as he calls out to her.

"Come on out and let's talk. I'm not going to hurt you." he says.

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A rock hit the ground just in front of his feet warning him not to come any closer.

"That's close enough," she called back as quietly as possible. There were always ears listening in the Triangle, but no one wanted to get involved. Zoe liked to keep her dealings quiet.

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The rock hits the ground in front of his feet and he tries to figure out which direction it came from, even as he puts together his response.

"All right. Look, that's for the back-up tonight, but I can't have untrained people following me. I understand you're helping and maybe you want to make a difference, but these people are dangerous, and rocks aren't going to stop them if they want to kill you." he says aloud.

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"Don't flatter yourself. I could've killed any of you but we don't need that kind of grief. You're in my territory and I don't appreciate you bringing trouble here. You capes only show up when it's convenient for you."

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"Now who's flattering themselves?" Red Robin asks simply. A few things become apparent to him from her speaking.

One, female. Most likely young, but he can't pull an age just from a few words. Two, if she thinks she can kill him, she's either crazy or she's right. If she thinks she's right, she probably has enough training to handle herself in a fight. She also mentioned that this is "her" territory.

He's heard stories of the people that hang out in the Triangle. Deadshot used to work this place, didn't he? Green Arrow doesn't even come down here, from what he noticed and Mia never mentioned it in their talks, except to say the place is a hellhole.

Maybe she had a point about that.

"Look, we don't have to be friends, but we also don't have to work against each other, necessarily. Star City is my beat now and that includes the Triangle. Also, there's more people than just us involved. Sure, you might have killed one or two people tonight, but there's a war brewing, and it's going to spill beyond the Triangle.

You gonna stay in here when your enemies spill beyond your borders?" he asks.

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"You can beat Star City all you want." The insult was intended. Everywhere else had capes patrolling and protecting people. The Triangle had nobody but the cops and her, and the cops were a joke. "It has nothing to do with us. Don't talk to me about war. We have trouble on the streets every day and you capes don't show up to help unless you're chasing one of your problems over my borders."

Zoe's matte black guns didn't gleam in the moonlight; that was left for the dislike in her eyes when she made her appearance. She'd show him she wasn't playing around. "The question is, are you gonna stay out there when they don't spill over my borders?"

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Several of his suspicions were confirmed upon seeing her, but Tim hadn't been prepared for the sheer anger that she seemed to wear like body armor. He didn't need a gleam to see the guns she kept on her. She looked like she might be able to handle herself in a fight.

His hand moves fractionally closer to his utility belt.

"I admit, I didn't know how bad it was down here, but I've seen places just as bad, if not worse. One person can't do it alone down here, no matter how much you'd like to believe otherwise." Red Robin says.

"And I came here tonight because I knew something was going down around here. Now that I know where the Zopounders like to do their dirt, I'll be back. Especially if people start turning up dead." he tells her.

"I don't kill and I don't stand for it, either." he says.

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After spending most of the next day on Michelle Torres' background search, followed by getting things in order to go and visit the woman the following day.

She checked out, just like her daughter, Zoe, had said.

Late that evening, Red Robin waits on the rooftop of the building Zoe lives in. He'll wait until her mother is asleep or away and then leave a note somewhere she can see.

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Zoe waited until Mom was settled in for the night and slipped out, climbing the fire escape from her bedroom window to the roof.

She loved her mother very much, and believed in what Michelle was doing by representing the people in the Triangle in legal issues. As far as heroes went, Michelle Torres was at the top of the list. A prostitute and drug addict, she cleaned up and turned her life around to have a daughter, and then worked as a waitress to support Zoe and get her GED. Then college and law school.

Zoe saw her mother work hard to make a difference, and knew that it was the right way, but it wasn't enough. People were still terrorized by the gangs. No one expected a girl to take a stand and drive them off when the violence grew too much. They blamed each other and Zoe took advantage.

She made it to the roof, dressed in matte black and armed with her usual weapons. The look around from the roof of her building was first; and the note found quickly. Her blood turned to ice in her veins that she'd been so foolhardy as to give Maskman a name to trace.

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"Good evening, Miss Torres'." Red Robins says. "I'm Red Robin. Your mother checked out, just like you said. My backers will be contacting her soon."

He's not looking at her in the moment, but he's very aware of where she is in relation to him.

"You're going to need help to do this, Zoe. You've had some success thus far, but how long do you think it'll be before someone sees your face, before they stop fighting each other and I.D. you?" he asks.

"And who do you think they'll go after first if they can't get to you?"

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She turned toward the voice, but didn't move any closer. She needed the room between them for a shot if it became necessary.

"You might as well ask me if I think I'm gonna live forever," she said with a scowl. "Somebody had to something. Nobody else was standing up to drive off the rapists and dealers. They don't see my face up here and I move around too quick. Don't do more than make 'em stop so the people can get away. When they catch me on the ground, they think I'm another stupid piece of ass."

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"Like I said, you've had success thus far, but to really make a dent around here, you're going to need a lot more to work with." Red Robin says.

"I could help you, if you wanted. Show you some things, like how to make yourself invisible, rather than just hide. You could learn to hit them where it hurts, rather than just taking down the two-bit guys night after night." he tells her.

"The dealers get shut down first, followed by their suppliers. It goes up the chain until we cut the head off of the organizations. Prison time all around. We bring down the dirty cops that are protecting them, too, and we get your mother's message heard."

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"You're gonna stick around that long? No offense," heavy on the sarcasm, "but our experience is that you people don't stay long enough to see it through and then we're right back where we started. What kind of guarantee you got for it?"

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She wanted a guarantee of his intentions to help, did she? He thought offering to help her mother might work, but it seemed that that wouldn't be enough.

He considers this as he looks at her. Even Marissa wasn't this demanding.

"We'll patrol together. A few nights here, a few nights out in Star City, so you can understand how the Triangle and the rest of the town interact with each other." Red Robin says.

"I'm not quite sure what you're asking for, so it might help if you come out with it." he says.

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"If you looked up my mom, then you'll know what happened here fifteen years ago. Deadshot cleaned it up. It was safe for kids to play in the park. Old people could get their groceries without worrying some gang would ambush them. Then he left and Green Arrow was supposed to help out. Couple years later, we were back to being scared behind our doors and hoping the cops would get off their asses and do their jobs."

She knew she sounded like a demanding bitch and he was probably two seconds from leaving them to their fate, but she nothing left to lose. The Triangle had nothing left to lose. Some fatalistic part of her believed she and the Triangle were inextricably linked. "I want a guarantee that no matter what happens, the Triangle won't be forgotten this time."

"In return, I'll patrol with you or anybody else, as long as part of the time is here."

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He could tell she wasn't used to trusting people in general, not just masks. Both Red Robin and Tim Drake were going to have to work overtime to win her over, as well as Michelle Torres.

"The Triangle won't be forgotten this time, Zoe. I can promise you that. I'm here to help all of Star City, not just the parts they show people on the news." Red Robin says.

"However, I do have one more compromise. I can show you how to stop an enemy without killing them. I won't work with someone who uses lethal force. I'm gonna ask that you either use mercy bullets or you don't use guns at all. I've even got throwing weapons you can use, but no killing. That's my one rule. You can't follow it, I can't work with you, but my offer to help out around here stands." he says.

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She shrugged. "I don't need to kill, just make them leave. I can hit anything I aim at, and if I wanted somebody dead, they'd be dead. It brings trouble here, so I don't do it."

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"You don't kill and we can work together." Red Robin says.

"We start tonight. I'd rather much see how you handle yourself in a fight, but I suppose a live-fire exercise would be best, no pun intended." Red Robin says.

"First, though, you need to learn to use swinglines." he says.

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"Like you were doing last night?" She spent a lot of time on roofs because it was the best view, but she didn't fly. "Where do I get this equipment?"

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