Magpie stumbled backwards away from his mom. "W-what?"

Catwoman clenched her fists, keeping with her resolve. "You are getting too reckless. But besides that, I never should've gotten you involved in this life in the first place." She gave Magpie a steely look. "Once we get back to the house, you are to hand over your Magpie gear. Understand?"

Shaking his head, the teenage thief backed away from his once mentor. "No, no, no! You can't - you can't do this to me!"

"I'm sorry, but I am." Catwoman pushed down the guilt at seeing her son near hysterics, knowing she had to stay strong. 

Magpie scoffed, reaching the edge of the roof. He glanced over the ledge then back to Catwoman. "You'll have to pry Magpie from my cold, dead hands." 

Dread filled the woman as she saw her son step towards the edge of the roof. "Jason, wa - " 

She was too late. 

Magpie flung himself off the side of the roof, pulling a scream from Catwoman's throat as she ran to the ledge, fearing the worst. They were at least two dozen stories in the air, after all. 

Peering over the edge of the roof, Catwoman felt her heart sink when she couldn't see her son anymore. "No, no, no! Jason! Don't do this to me!"

Panic filled every fiber of her being as she raced to the entrance of the building, not even caring about getting caught as she ran down the stairs to the street below, her head only concerned with making sure her worst fear wasn't coming true. 

While Catwoman was sprinting down the stairs, Magpie was clinging to the bottom edge of the ledge, waiting for his mom to go inside before making his way back up to the roof. He brushed himself off, clenching his jaw as he thought about his next move. 

He had to prove himself to Catwoman, prove that he was a worthy ally. And the only way to do that was to pull off a successful heist. 

Magpie remembered seeing a rejected offer from Gwen on the coffee table, something about a job on Wayne Tech. 

Smirking, the teen set off in the direction of the company building, a plan formulating in his head as he went. 

He reached his destination sooner than he expected, having been closer than he thought. 

The young thief made his way to the roof of Wayne Tech, crouching on the edge as he went over his plan one more time before putting it into action. 

The object of Gwen's buyer's affection was only three floors below him, in a highly secured room. There was two security guards always on duty, but if he managed to take them out quickly enough, he could - 

"What are you doing here?"  Magpie spun around to see Robin standing on the far side of the roof, hands on his hips. Not responding, the thief turned back around but stood up from his crouched position. "Hey, I asked you a question."

"Doesn't mean I'm obliged to respond."

Robin dropped his fists to his side, squeezing them slightly. "Do you have any idea how worried Catwoman is right now?! She even called Batman to look for you!" Magpie didn't respond, he just adjusted his body so he was facing Robin. "Just what the hell did you do?"

"She tried to take Magpie away from me." Came the mumbled response. 

"So you throw yourself over the edge of a roof and make your mom think you tried to kill yourself?" Robin grunted. "Real mature."

"Hey, I don't expect you to understand. After all, you have everything! Money, status, power, looks, and not one family, but you had two that loved or love you!" Magpie's voice cracked as he shouted at the boy wonder. "I had to fight for everything I have and now the one person in the world I trusted turned their back on me. How else would you expect me to respond?"

Robin didn't know how to respond to that, so he elected to ignore it, changing the topic slightly. "You know, now that I found you I have to bring you back to Catwoman, right?"

Magpie snorted. "I'd like to see you try, bird brain."

Sighing, the vigilante rushed the thief with his bo staff, aiming a blow to his midsection. 

Magpie ducked and rolled out of the way, using the claws that are apart of his suit to slash at Robin's calves. T

Hissing, the teen hero stumbled away from his opponent. Robin narrowed his eyes at Magpie, dodging his punch and hitting him with the end of his staff. 

Grunting, the thief grabbed the staff and yanked it from Robin's grip, tossing it to the far side of the roof before tackling the hero. 

Robin laid on his stomach, Magpie on his back as the thief held his arms behind his back. Magpie reached into Robin's belt and pulled out the grappling gun, tugging out the wire and securing the hero's wrists behind his back tightly and slightly painfully. 

Thinking it over, the teen reached down and yanked off Robin's mask, causing the hero to scowl up at him. Magpie just smirked down at the face of Tim Drake, patting his cheek. "I always knew it was you under this mask. Just like you always knew it was me under this one." Magpie pulled off his hood and goggles, a cocky expression plastered on his face which was only fueled more by the look of defeat on Tim's. "What's the matter? Upset that I was the one to beat you to the punch?"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Jason." Tim drawled, glaring at his friend. "Mind getting off my back? I already alerted Batman the moment I saw you, there is no point in dragging this out further."

Jason thought about it for a moment, the feelings from earlier coming back like a sucker punch to the heart. "You lot can chase me to the end of the Earth, I am not giving Magpie up." He grinned, an idea forming in his head. "But, if you are to chase me to the end of the Earth, I'm going to need some fuel."

"What are you babbling abo - " Tim was cut off by Jason pecking him on the lips, pulling away after a moment. The hero flushed, staring up at the thief. "W-what was that for?"

"Like I said, I'll need fuel. And I won't see you for awhile. Indulge me." Jason shrugged, hopping off of Tim's back. "Oh, and please forgive me as well."

Tim furrowed his brow. "For wh - "

Instead of a kiss this time, Jason cut Tim off with a swift punch to his head, knocking the hero out. 

Sighing, the thief stood up with a stretch. "Well, now this job is ruined. Time to go find a better one."

A plan formulated in his head and he grinned, unwrapping Tim's hands and taking the grappling gun. He ran to the edge of the roof, hopping off and free falling for a moment before firing the gun and swinging to another roof. This continued on until Magpie was in an even less savory part of Gotham. 

Magpie noticed a potential job in the making in the lit up warehouse at the end of the road. 

Making his way over there, the young thief looked in through the skylight, eyes widening when he saw Black Mask walking through a factory full of weapons. 

Deciding that he better not steal from a heavily armed man, Jason still stuck around to find out what he was doing with the weapons, eavesdropping as the man spoke with his men.

It was mostly boring, mundane gang plans that nearly made Jason fall asleep. 

Until he heard something that woke him right up. 

"And how is the progress on finding a way to separate the little birdy from his master?" Black Mask mused, running a hand over a crate full of ammo.

"Coming along nicely, sir. We have discovered his weakness and plan to exploit that to the fullest extent." One of the top goons answered. 

"Good, good. Inform me right away when you have captured the boy. I want to be the one to put a bullet through the birdy's head." Black Mask grinned maliciously, dismissing his subordinate. 

Jason stumbled away from the skylight, his heart hammering in his chest. 

Black Mask was planning killing Robin, wasn't he? 

Of course he was! What other birdy could he be talking about?

Shaking his head, the thief knew he had to put aside his fight with his mom to inform her about what he overheard. 

After all, Tim's life was on the line. 

That was more important than keeping Magpie.

all i can say is....i am deeply sorry. things are getting complicated...