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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All Zoe had was the anger to keep her going. That, or she joined the wave of crime that flowed through Triangle to carve out a life for herself. She wasn't her mother. Michelle Torres could defend the little people all she wanted in court, but the bad guys could afford better lawyers to throw small sums of money at the scrabblers and make problems go away.

"You think I don't know that one person can't do it alone? We don't have choices down here. People are scared to get involved, and you heroes don't do shit for us. Dead happens."

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"Murder is a choice and there is always a choice. The only people who say there isn't one are the ones who've already chosen." Red Robin says.

"I'm new here, so don't lump me in with anyone you've already met. You'll just have to trust me when I say I'll be back." Red Robin says. She clearly wants to do something, but if she's not properly handled, he /will/ have to come back in here to stop her.

Maybe it's because he misses Robin, or because Bruce taught him who to take a chance on and who not to. Maybe it's even because he feels guilty that she might be right about people avoiding the Triangle. Batman would never have avoided any neighborhood in Gotham. In fact, he'd have concentrated his efforts in the worst ones because that was where the difference could be made.

"Suppose I can show you a way to make more of a difference around here, and put you in touch with some people who want to do the same? It isn't gonna be easy or free; you're gonna have to make some compromises, but if you can, we can clean up the Triangle together and then the rest of Star City." Tim says.

"You think you can do that, or do you wanna stay in the shadows and hope you'll catch a big break somehow?" he asks.

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Only a hero from a cushy section would think there was a choice. When people ended up here, they were already resigned to it.

But she wasn't so selfish that she wouldn't try something to bring a little bit of security to their lives. If it could be had.

"Suppose you do. What's in it for the people around here?"

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"Safe places for their kids to play. More money for more cops, and getting taking the streets back from the drug deals and gangbangers. When people see they've got things here worth fighting for, they're not going to let others take it from them without a fight." Red Robin says.

"Jobs, businesses will start coming back and putting money into the Triangle. It can be done, but someone's gotta stand up for these people. You live here, you know the people who live in and lead this community. They may not hear me, or my backers out, but they might be willing to listen to one of their own." he says.

"All it takes is one person standing up." he rasps. "Then another person will, and another and another.

Do you go to school?" he asks.

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She stared at him, weighing his words carefully. "These people were supposed to have help. Green Arrow was supposed to patrol here after Deadshot cleaned it up. He's as useless at the cops. There's a lawyer here that tries, but she doesn't get the back up she needs and people still have to survive the best they can. They listen to her. I just try to make sure they don't get murdered or raped in their beds."

Her hands went into her jacket pockets to clench around her bits of rocks and brick. They gave her an odd sort of confidence. She wasn't helpless.

"I did. Graduated. Now I do this."

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Red Robin absorbs the information she gives him, knowing he's going to need an introduction to this lawyer, both now and as Tim Drake. He could tell this girl had a hard time trusting people, but if she trusted him, he would make good on what he was talking about.

"Look, I get that your back is to the wall; it probably always is. But help is never gonna come out this way if you look for ways to push it away. You get me a meeting with this lawyer, I'll put her in touch with my backers. You, too. You don't have to do this anymore, kid, not if you don't want to.

But if you /do/...I can help with that." he says. The mention of Deadshot is troubling, especially when he knows what kind of person the guy was.

"What do your parents think of what you're doing out here? They've got to be worried." he says.

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"The lawyer's name is Michelle Torres. She's got an office a couple of streets over." Tiny hole in the wall office, sharing a space with a laundermat, but Michelle always said she didn't need much. At least it was warm in the winter with the dryers going.

"I don't push help away. I just don't trust it when it comes with a mask. You make good with the lawyer and maybe we'll see."

The mention of her parents got a cross between a snort and a scowl. "My dad's dead. Mom works. Worry don't make it safer here."

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"Fair enough." Red Robin says. "You will hear from me tomorrow night and we'll pay her a visit together. If she checks out, then she'll hear from my backers within forty-eight hours and they'll start getting stuff figured out." he says.

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"She checks out," Zoe said, perhaps a bit too harshly. The implication that her mother was less than honest made her angry. "You don't need me to see her at her office, or to have her checked out."

The second she said that, she knew it was useless. Any background check on Michelle Torres would turn up a daughter.

"She's clean and separate from what I'm doing. Your backers will love her. She's the success story from the Triangle."

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"I have very stringent standards for people I work with and Miss Torres' goes through the same vetting process." Red Robin says simply, noting the vehemence with which she comes to Michelle Torres' defense. Is she this girl's caretaker?

He remembers the way he used to defend Bruce against people who bad-mouthed him.

"Wait. She doesn't know what you do with your evenings, does she?" he asks, betting on a hunch.

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Zoe stubbornly didn't respond to the question. "You're the one with stringent standards, and you're wearing the mask. That's a little hypocritical, don't you think?"

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He refusal to answer is really all the answer he requires.

"The mask isn't for /my/ protection. It's for the protection of all the people I've ever worked with and will work with." Red Robin says.

"I've got without one, but those days are behind me now."

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Yeah. Just the sort of answer she'd expect from a mask.

She heard the cops arrive down below to take the cuffed men into custody. She could've said it would take them this long. The cops didn't like coming into the area for legitimate reasons.

"If you got nothing else, it's past my bedtime. If your people are serious about getting help into the area, Michelle Torres is the place to start. She's honest and hardworking. Ask around, people will tell you. Don't mention me. It won't help."

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"Noted." Red Robin says. The kid has way too much attitude for her own good and she doesn't trust anybody. Maybe he's wrong about offering to teach other.

Then again, Marissa was the same way when she arrived; full of piss and fire, ready to fight at the drop of a hat.

"I'll see you tomorrow night." he says, turning toward the edge of the roof. He leaps over the side and glides down to the street, waiting in the shadows.

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Zoe went to the edge of the roof to see he was already gone from sight.

She didn't trust him; she had no reason to yet. If he was looking for a cheap thrill, he was going about it all wrong. She could've directed him to some very accommodating business girls.

The possibility that things could get better in the Triangle without a mass clean up was a chance she had to take.

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