#rin lore

She was currently sitting in a hallway, just after the service, most people apologising and sympathising with her and her brother's loss.

Most of it was a blur to her—the service, the prayers—everything had passed by way too quickly.

Then there was the burial. Most of the GCPD were there to pay their respects, giving some speeches on how brave Rin's father was in the line of duty.

Rain poured during all of it—like the weather knew how she actually felt without showing it. It was expected, really. The grieving.

A parent's death was never easy for anyone. But it hit Rin like a million bricks, the burden of losing someone so important to her weighing down on her, not letting her breathe.

Then the arguing started. The screaming and bitter words between her and Chen.

"You're not the only one hurting, okay?! I know it's hard, but you've got to listen to me! God, how can you be so self-centred?"

One argument led to another, and Chen just ended up leaving, and she ended up alone.

She was alone and she had no one to rely on. Rin couldn't bring herself to reply to any of her friends' texts, ignoring them or just saying she's been busy, when all she really did was rot in her bed and eat ramen.

It felt like it was her fault. That she could've prevented it if she had just listened to her dad and stayed put.

She didn't even know how she got into that situation.

One minute she was walking home late from the lab, and the next she had a cloth over her mouth, somebody grabbing her from behind and abducting her.

The state she was in was hazy when she woke up at an abandoned factory. Though, she wasn't alone— there were about twenty other people there with her, their hands and feet tied up just like hers.

There were mostly women in the room, with two men—one bulky with a scar on his cheek, while the other had a tattoo sleeve on his right arm. They were both holding guns, conversing within themselves.

Rin was sure this was a human trafficking shtick. She's heard and seen the missing reports from both Babs, and her father.

It was dark out, she was sure of it by the missing roof panels of the old building.

Grunting and sitting up softly, one of the men noticed, moving towards her.

"Oi, stop squirming around– unless you wanna end up like the other two gals who tried to get away."

He nodded his head towards the further corner where two women—no, two girls—were sitting, one having a bruised cheek while the other had a bleeding, busted lip.

The sight made something churn in her stomach. Those two girls weren't any older than fifteen—she was sure of that.

So, against her better judgment, she spat at the kidnapper, a disgusted noise coming out of him before Rin got hit with the butt of the assault rifle the man was holding.

The pain throbbed on her cheek as the man grabbed her hair, pulling it back as she grunted.

"You fucking bitch—"

"That's enough," the bulkier guy barked out. "Boss wouldn't like us destroying any of the goods."

The tattooed man backed off, letting go of Rin's hair before walking back to his post. She scoffed and grinned, trying to provoke the guy again while the bruise started to bloom on her cheek.

"You hit like a sissy bitch."

She muttered out with a grin, the other women were slightly panicked and concerned about what she was doing.

The man, clearly agitated by her behaviour, proceeded towards her aggressively, grabbing Rin by the throat.

"What did you say, you piece of shit?"

"That.. that you hit like— like a sissy... bitch," she choked out, still holding her grin. The man, clearly having a fragile ego, slapped her before grabbing her by the collar.

"You want to say that again? Huh?"

Another slap. And another.

Rin was heaving, her lip dribbling with spit and blood before the bulky man intervened again, grabbing his comrade by the shoulder whilst shaking his head.

"Enough. You're going to get yourself in trouble with the Boss if you continue this. Just put her into the corner with the other two."

The night continued to drag on, Rin knowing for sure that her being missing would not be overlooked by her brother, let alone her father. She stuck to a routine, never breaking it, so her not being home by now would cause alarm.

"Why... why would you provoke that guy like that?" One of the girls asked quietly, as if scared that she'd draw attention to herself again.

"Just in case one of them tries to do something to you two," Rin mumbled, coughing gently spitting out the mix of blood and saliva pooling in her mouth, groaning softly at the pain.

Her father would come. She was sure of it. She was sure that Babs—or Oracle in this case—would've found out where she was.

Rin knew Barbara would know her location, because the stupid bastards didn't even bother to check or take her necklace off. Obviously, the pendant had a tracking chip, and this was one of the reasons why there had to be one.

She only hoped that they'd get there before it was too late. The sounds of two vans parking were heard not too far away, jolting panic through the women as the two men started to drag them one by one out.

Everything after that came too quickly—gunshots were suddenly heard, heavy footsteps echoing while the mobs shouted and barked orders to keep the "goods" intact.

Throughout the confusion, Rin managed to get herself out of the flimsy rope ties. Amateurs.

She found a shard of glass not too far away, grabbed it and freeing the rest of the women and girls who were still in the room.

Freezing when she heard hurried footsteps, Rin looked at the entrance—sighing in relief when she saw her father.

"Dad–!" She ran up to him after freeing most of the women from their binds. "We need to get them somewhere safe—"

"I know, I know, sweetheart. Come on, I have a safer place from here, where my men can get you to safety."

While being led towards the spot where Rin and the other abductees were supposed to get picked up from, her father got radioed by one of the officers, needing him there.

"Rin, head to the designated area, and. Stay. There. Understood?"

The man held his daughter's shoulders, making sure she got the message. Rin nodded all while being given a handgun.

"You know how to use this, use it when you have to. I'll be back, okay?" He kissed her forehead before running back towards where he was needed.

Ten minutes. Ten minutes passed, and Rin was antsy. She looked around her, the women keeping close to each other as they waited for help.

A beat. Another.

"Fuck this—" she muttered to herself as she walked towards one of the women. "Safety button, use both hands, cock it, aim, shoot. Got it?"

The woman nodded, taking the gun from her before she headed out to scope for any officers who were supposed to come and save them.

Carefully treading through the area, Rin found herself by one of the entrances to the factory. Trying to check for any danger in the area she suddenly froze when hearing someone cock their gun behind her.

"S–stay where you are-! Don't move!" A shaky voice shouted, making her tense up. Not good.

She made sure to keep her movements slow as she turned around to face the man aiming his gun at her. He was standing about seven feet away from Rin, give or take, and he seemed frantic.

She was either going to die tonight or—

"Rin–!" A voice called out from her right, not too far off—her dad.

"Dad, no—!" she called out as the man hurried towards her, one of the metal beams covering his view of the shooter.

Two gunshots. A scream. Multiple heavy footsteps were rushing towards the area she was in.

The man was tackled by one of the officers as Rin caught her father, her expression pale.

Blood.

Blood was soaking her fingers as she hugged her dad, his back having been shot.

"No, no, no, no—dad, no–" Rin cried out, trying to put pressure into the wounds, but her father grabbed her hands into one of his instead, shaking his head and shushing her weakly, as if to tell her that it was going to be okay.

Tears pricked her eyes, her vision distorted and blurry, unable to stop them from running down her face.

"You're... you're safe. It's going to be alright, sweetheart.. your safety is what matters to me most." He coughed weakly, wiping a few stray tears away with his thumb, all while smiling at her.

"Dad–" she choked out, her throat feeling tight as the realisation of everything came crashing down faster than a tidal wave. "Dad—"

"I'm always going to be here." He pointed at her heart, a few tears seeping down the corners of his eyes. "I love you.. it's not your fault."

He murmured out, his tone going soft and his breath slowing as Rin tried to keep him conscious.

"No– no, no, no-! Dad, stay with me-! I love you too, no- no, no—" she cried harder as finally one of the officers pried her away from him.

"Let me go-! Dad—!" She kicked, punched, and screamed but she got held back as the paramedics put her father into the stretcher, placing a white cloth over him, confirming his death on the spot.

It's been... a while. A while Rin hadn't expected. She met new people, found herself in a situation with the Red Hood—which was still a huge question mark, but she'd deal with that on a later note.

Right now, however, the problem was her brother. After months of radio silence... he'd just. Come back like nothing happened.

It was an asshole move, she thought. Obviously, it was. He could've called, answered her texts, but no. Nothing.

She's been focused on her studies for the past month mostly, aside from the occasional hangout with Harlan and Dai—or a random pop-up of Damian at her place.

Rin didn't find it hard, and she didn't complain. It was easier to distract herself to cope with her dad, even if she missed him a whole lot. Hell, she even went back to therapy, knowing it'd do her good.

The situation with Jason was a tad more.. complicated. In a way. Things had happened, but they were still friends. She liked him that was certain.

But there was always that question mark that she wouldn't be able to erase. Rin knew Jason cared—in his own way at least. But it was obvious he cared.

She also knew how hard it was for him, so she tried to keep her distance for a bit, but not enough to seem like she was distancing herself. She cared too much for that.

That's also maybe why she stuck around, trying and make sure Jason was fine.

Her brother finding out about it was a whole other story, and she didn't want to talk to him at all after what had happened months ago. Even if the anger simmered down to sadness, Rin couldn't bring herself to talk to him.

It was the pain of having to deal with their father's death alone, when all she needed was her older brother to be there for her like he always was when she needed comfort.

Currently, she was in her lab, typing on her laptop when one of her colleagues called out to her about leaving.

"Yeah–! I'll leave in a sec.." she murmured in response, not even looking up from the screen, a hint of concern in her colleague's eyes was evident.

"Okay, then... see you tomorrow, Rin."

The door to the lab room closes, leaving her alone. A sigh left her lips as a silent sob left her.

God, she felt.. pathetic. If that was the right word for it. Burying herself in work, not letting herself have fun even as a college sophomore, it was almost baffling.

She could be in her apartment by now, sipping on her favourite tea whilst reading a book and petting one of her babies. But god, even going home was a hassle at this point. How many times has she passed out on the workbench in the lab?

Taking a couple more hours (it was already 3 AM at that point), she decided she'd done work enough for the night, and started packing her stuff.

The way home was boring to say the least. As boring as it could get at least. A few tried to mug her, but by the time they could she either already had her pepper spray on hand or they recognised her as someone Red Hood hung around often.

Unlocking the door to her apartment, she was greeted by a few meows and headbutts on her shins, her cats happy to see their beloved owner home.

"Hi Smokey-poo," she cooed to her fluffy grey kitty, picking her up and coddling her and closing the door before the menace™ aka Salsa could escape the apartment again.

She turned on the lights, sighing in slight relief that there were no vigilantes sitting in the dark, brooding in her apartment while waiting for her. It happened one too many times, and she didn't feel like dealing with them right now. Them—mostly being the Bats.

As much as she loved having guests, the past few weeks have been a nightmare. Essays due, covering sudden shifts at the library, and her social life was a small mess. It was overwhelming to say the least.

Another sigh left her lips when she placed Smoke down on the scratch tower so she could prepare herself some tea.

It seemed to be obvious that Rin was upset about something but the cats weren't sure about what. Soft meowing came from Salsa, looking up at her while rubbing his forehead against her leg.

"I'm fine, Sal.." she murmured, a soft smile forming on her lips. God, it was odd that even her cats noticed that she wasn't okay.

Once the water boiled in the kettle, she brewed her usual favourite tea before feeling her phone buzz. She saw the caller ID... Chen.

Rin clenched her jaw, a sharp inhale coming in through her nose as she placed her phone down and let it buzz until it stopped.

He's been calling three times a day, and it was getting annoying.

She knew it was stupid—ignoring his calls. It was Chen for goodness' sake. Her big brother. Not some ex-boyfriend. But she couldn't bring herself to answer after the argument.

While she ignored Chen's calls she's also gotten a few texts from Harlan, asking if she was fine, but she'd reply in short "yeah I'm good ^^" or just act like her usual self when all she wanted to do was sleep and ignore the world.

But at least she had some plans. Big ones.

She was going to open a bakery.

It was just a silly idea at first—a thought she'd placed in the corner of her head since she was a freshman. Just an afterthought, in case the journalism thing or science thing didn't work out.

But now? The bakery was happening. It was happening due to a donation from Dick Grayson. Not her Dick at least—a different one. The multiverse thing was odd.

Her tiny dream was going to happen, even if everything was working out with her research at the lab and her journalism classes. It was insane. How was she going to juggle all of it?

But Rin could handle it. She'd take it slow. Right now, she needed to find a building or a spot in a popular, crowded area.

'Okay. Maybe not—' she thought as she scrolled through the units being sold in the Upper East Side.

Checking the Crime Alley area instead, there were a lot of units being sold for cheap. Clicking on one of them, she hummed softly to herself. It was close by, and she knew one of the owners. It was a good start.

Rin made a call through the number, talked to Mary, and it was planned. She'd meet the lady on Thursday afternoon. That was a week from now. She'd manage to get ready before then.

Thursday came faster than Rin expected. She kept flattening the material of her skirt, a small, nervous smile on her lips as she saw the older woman walking up to her.

"Rin-! Hello, dear.. you've grown up so nicely since I've seen you. It was so unexpected to hear your voice over the phone, asking about this unit."

The woman smiled sweetly at Rin, clearing her nerves a bit while she cleared her throat to speak.

"Well, uh, I've been thinking on opening a bakery."

"Oh, that's lovely, honey! Though.. why here? There are so many other places to—" she got cut off by Rin shaking her head gently with a smile.

"I think Crime Alley having a proper bakery would be nice. I know the risks, but I'll manage."

Rin had a determined look on her face, and Mary's earlier surprise turned into a small excited guise.

"Well—let's get to the tour don't we?"

The small building's condition wasn't the best. There were leaking pipes, the floor was a bit messed up and the walls were stained with the dirty water from the pipes.

"Er— I know it's not in the best condition but a little fixing here and there and it'll be as good as—"

"I'll take it." Rin looked at her, the older woman looking baffled at her.

"A– are you sure? Rin, dear, there are more different buildings around the Alley—are you a hundred per cent sure you want this building?"

A nod was all Rin did before shaking Mary's hand on the deal. She did all the paperwork, asking the right questions and before she knew it, the building was going to be hers.

After it got renovated, of course. But she had the funds for that, thanks to Dick's donation.

She chose that building because it was just across from one of Jason's safe houses, one he frequented often. Plus, her apartment was a fifteen-minute walk from the building, so it was perfect.

And of course, it was a more crowded area of Crime Alley, so that meant more people would see it and check it out. But that also meant more criminals, so she'd have to install some safety devices and alarms.

People would talk, and that was good. The Alley was on the smaller end of the districts but that was a perk of it. People knew each other. And so, the bakery was going to be popular even before it opened.

i apologize for the spelling mistakes from the start, i wont care about them rn

so yeah, lets start with my parents

mom: she grew up in a toxic abusive religious household where my grandpa was rarely home, she was the middle child of 4 siblings (the smallest ones are twins) and was literally the 'only good child of the pack'. my big aunt cant even take care of herself and she has 2 chlidren, she recently divorced her husband and is on the way of becoming an alcoholic. my uncle was praised by my grandma his entire life because he is 'the only son' and is nothing but a spoiled brat whos children are also problematic af. my little aunt is the only one i love and she has a daughter (deniz, my fav cousin) and an adopted daughter from her husbands ex-marriage, shes sweet and i dont believe how she survived in that family.

grandma, shes the worst. one day mom and her sibling were all in my big aunts house and i was sitting with them, they talked about how grandma beat them up daily because of the smallest things, the clothes she hang up to dry didnt dry on time? she beat up one of her kids (not my uncle, if i may add) i was terrified when i heard that about her and im not seeing her the same anymore. mom got married at 21 just to escape from that house and she ended up being the only child thats living in the same city as grandma. grandma also manipulated me my whole childhood, telling me i should be a good muslim and get hijabed at 12 when i first got my period, teaching me things most muslim people didnt even know their whole life when i was only 7, telling me men are always right and i should just obey what they say yada yada ya, she still treats me like her personal servant and keeps telling thing like "you look like a whore in that shorts" and shit, idc anymore but growing up with it is not very helpful tbh

so, mom beating me up when shes angry is not because shes abusive, its the only way she learned and shes not strong enough to break the cycle, so dont get angry at her its not her fault

dad: tbh i dont know if dad had gone throught anything like mom but his family is full of relative marriages and his uncle (whos 64) has a child as my age, she went to a mental asylum because of her father and just got out a few days ago, if i may add, his uncles suck but my grandma is the only normal one (and the only, oldest girl) among 5 siblings so i think thats pretty lucky, but growing up in a neighbourhood full of those kind of people definitely affected him and it shows over the years

yea well now its my time i guess

i was a bad child. i did some bad things. i swear i did it all for fun and it meant nothing

OKAY sorry sorry this is not it im not jojo siwa in a disguise (or i am?)

so, i had a pretty good childhood, if you ignore all of these things;

my family went in a hella dept because of my uncle (i told you hes a piece of shit) and we were always very careful with money, my parents tried to make it up to me and my sis with a lot of things but it did affected us

i dont know how we ended up in that debt but we sold our house and coffe shop so we could pay it, i was 8 when it all happened and i dont really remember most of it

my voice thingy and all of those health problems, i lose my hearing from time to time, have a genetical heart disease thingy, yada yada ya i am not gonna list all of them, lets just say after i was 6 i knew everyone in that hospital i was going practically 3 times a week

also i was the top student in primary school, the first one to learn how to read in my class and was practically a gifted child before i burn out but i dont care about that shit anymore im already a pretty big failure

then, we moved to my current city

4th grade was shit, my teacher didnt even care about her students, it was so easy to eb the top of my class but that school was really shitty, a pedophile teacher, who tried to rape and would do if i didnt kick his balls, a psycho kid in my sis's class that was sent to kids jail in 2nd grade, basically, shithole.

then i won a scholarship from my current school and i've been there for 5 years now, gonna start my 2nd year of highschool in a few weeks