metalogs | [Closed] More BatGym antics

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[Closed] More BatGym antics

Who: Jason Todd

robintohood, BatFamily members, and friends of BatFamily members who've been trusted with their secret identities
What: Various shenanigans taking place in the BatGym during October
When: Throughout October
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: None for now. Will edit if something comes up.

[After some drama that happened in August, Jason thought about abandoning the warehouse gym. It was supposed to be his own safehouse. Four (or five as it's likely Tim or Kon would've also told Bart) people knowing about it means it's much less secure than Jason would've liked.

On the other hand, he hasn't found another abandoned property with a fully equipped gym. The warehouse is still more private than a normal civilian gym. There's less of a need to be on guard and no concerns about sticking out too much. Jason and the rest of the BatFamily could use the space. It's large enough to possibly do other things too. As far as Jason knows, none of them have a BatCave in Central City.

On October 1st, he sends a message out to every BatFamily member that says if they want to use the place then they should help renovate it and they're free to make additions if they want. The message also says that they should use their best judgment about who else to invite.

Jason already cleaned up the equipment, rearranged the mats and set up blackout curtains on almost all the windows except for the skylight.

If you walk in on Jason, he might be working out or trying to do more renovations like cleaning up the backrooms.

Or Jason's not around and the BatGym is being used by other people. Have fun!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ They’re both extremely committed to using no certain terms. ]

No, you’re right. That sort of business needs a very specific type of person running it, who maybe doesn’t have the same “line” as the rest of us, but a clearly defined line nonetheless. You know: lawful neutral. Someone who’ll ignore or skim the gambling, but maintain an angel shot policy, keep the worst messes out of the business, and not let any kids get hurt.

I don't know about "lawful" but someone neutral-ish could work. Don't suppose an experienced businessman like the old man would have some thoughts about this? Like I said, this could be messy to deal with. Frankly, I'm surprised you're the one bringing up something like this.

[Jason knows having a bar for a front would come very useful. He remains wary though as getting any family involved could complicated his personal endeavors and cross paths with his own gang]

Lawful in the tabletop meaning. It means that you have a code that you'll adhere to religiously. Not the government's or B's.

[ Jason does have an inner creed. It's a bit of a Frankensteined onion, but it exists. ]

You're not a true neutral - you have hard limits, so your choices are chaotic good or lawful neutral in my opinion. And I appreciate you thinking that this is somehow a step too far for me.

[ Tim's seen enough alternate futures to know that this is really nothing in the scheme of what he might do. ]

This is the prudent thing to do to keep the access that I had. I'm not going to do anything but work the bar for you. I'll listen, and I'll run anything I hear past you before I action it unless there's an active threat to someone. You're going to have to trust my judgment on it. If you're nice, I'll wire up whatever security you want.

[ Tim raises his voice and tips his head towards where he thinks Batman would bug the room. Call it a 64% chance. ]

And B should keep Matches Malone out of it. We've got this.

[Jason snorts from the rather pointed comment. He too knows there's a good chance the place has probably been bugged by Bruce]

You're really taking the initiative. What makes you think I got just enough of the right resources for this?

[Because the last time any family knew about his business, it didn't end well]

Should I sit home in my ankle booties and wait for B to invite me to get to work?

[ Tim will start work on the next chair - he'd like to get this done before they're done discussing it, so he's not left alone completing the chairs. ]

We're sitting a gym that you acquired and are fixing up. Even in a rough area, that takes money. If you were worried about falling out of shape, a gym membership is so much cheaper. I haven't seen you go to that garage in awhile, and the timing between the gym and garage is questionable. If you want to prop up your pretense, I can spend the next couple of days focused on you and only you so that we can have this conversation for real, or you can accept that, counting the reset of my universe, this is the third time I've been Robin when you were newly Red Hood. I know what you're doing, Jay. So does B.

[ Ah, another chair done. Just a few more to go. ]

[Welp. Seems like it's time to drop the act, especially now that he doesn't have a day job as a cover. Jason has been doing his best to hide his activities but since they were all given the same type of training, something was bound to slip]

Eventually you're all going to try and stop me.

[The amused banter has been dropped and his voice is colder]

[ Tim’s head snaps up at the change in tone, and he considers Red Hood for quite a long time. How he’s acted, the amount of tolerance he’s shown Tim, the almost brotherly relationship. They will never best friends, but Tim has several.

When Tim replies, he’s calm and measured. ]

You’re not going to try to kill me. I don’t know what I’m going to do in a world where I can say that from the start, so how can you know what I’ll do?

[Jason sees the way Tim snaps at attention from his tonal change. He remains where he is to show he won't lunge at Tim for now.]

Because you still work with him and a damn good idea of the shit I've done before. I know the lines you both have and the lines I have. They're not the same.

I’m not Batman. I’m Robin, and, yes, that means I try to follow his rules. Just like you and Dick. God, you were so much better at it than me. Dick made it look easy; you made it look fun. I had to work so hard for this. I had to fight and lie for this. I’m trying to help us both right now, and you think I’m too sanctimonious to keep snooping around a shady bar? I’ve been doing just that for four months, Hood. Do you see Batman benching me for anything other than the Joker? Who knows who I am and what I look like and, boy howdy, does he fucking hate us.

[ He surprises himself, by going there. He hasn’t made much mention of the Joker, to anyone, but it’s a constant weight and he’s so, so tired. ]

I need a job, and I want to know I’ve got backup while I’m there because he’s out there. I want to know you’ve got backup, because I’m better than whatever goons you dredged up. You keep me out of your crack empire and stick to your rules about kids and sex trafficking, and we can watch each other’s backs.

[ He flips the lenses down on his mask, because he can hear it in his voice how upset he’s getting. ]

I know what it’s like. I know - Captain Boomerang killed my dad. Because I’m Robin. I almost killed him. I wouldn’t -

[ Stop you. ]

Edited 2022-10-18 02:33 (UTC)

[Silence. For a long moment, Jason's silent. It's a lot to process. The admiration Tim had for him as Robin he's heard before but the way he said it just now is hard to fake.

Then there's the mention of the Joker. Neither of them have talked much about Tim's kidnapping. Unhealthily suppressing emotions is a common trait in the family. Jason knew he couldn't force Tim to talk so he didn't press the issue and instead, ramped up his efforts in searching and killing the Joker. It has to pay off eventually.

In the meantime, Jason knows Tim is afraid but is surprised the third Robin is admitting it like this. It's a much deeper fear than what most Gothamites have. It's so much more personal. Jason understands fear all too well. Most nights he still hears in his head that monster's sick maniacal laughter. No one knows all the ways the monster haunts him every night. It's a very difficult thing to admit. It's to admit weakness and to leave him vulnerable to other people's judgement and questioning his actions.

Jason knows Tim flipping the lenses down wasn't just a random action when he admitted to the damage the Joker has left on him.

Jason had shunned getting proper backup because of a lack of trust. Tim is choosing to do things different.

And then there's the Code. The one that Bruce has held above all else, even above his son. Again, Jason realizes he's wrong about Tim. Tim is more different from Bruce than he thought]

What stopped you?

[Jason's voice is quiet and missing the defensive and suspicious cold tone he was using before. It's sympathetic and empathetic]

[ He’s concentrating on breathing. In and out. Normal respiration. Tim’s willing himself back to calm because it’s done the apparently necessary sharing to get Jason to stop seeing him so much as an annoying potential threat and maybe start seeing him as a person with similar feelings and experiences.

Tim hates that he had to share this much with no guarantee of success. He’s showed Jason at least four buttons to press in that monologue.

The question isn’t surprising, but the answer hurts, because Tim still isn’t sure he’s not lying to himself. ]

I set it up so Freeze would kill Harkness. I calculated over a thousand pathways that didn’t end in that confrontation, but he’s a scumbag so it went the one bad route. I had a failsafe, but I didn’t use it. When it came down to it… I didn’t want anyone else to kill him.

[ He’s tight and emotionless in his delivery. It’s all Robin, like he’s giving report. ]

I took out Freeze and fought Boomerang myself. I hit him with his own boomerang, and he stumbled backwards off the roof. I didn’t want him to kill himself. I caught him with my line, and he looked right at me and goes “You don’t have the stones, mate.”

[ And he slips from the imitation Aussie accent back into just Tim. He tells himself it’s all the code switching. It’s not. ]

I wanted him to be afraid of me. I wanted to drop him, but all I could think about was my dad. He knew Captain Boomerang was after him. He called me, but I -

[ Got there too late. Raced through a dead silent house to find Jack Drake and Digger Harkness dead in wide pools of blood. His dad’s eyes were open. The blood got all over Tim. It’s not something that can forgotten, just buried and ignored.

Breathe. Nice and even. Normal respiration. ]

Dropping him would’ve been too easy.

[ That’s not piety. That’s cold-blooded malice from someone who is more than capable of making sure Digger Harkness never has anything nice in his life. ]

Edited 2022-10-18 04:31 (UTC)

[Seeing Tim forcing himself to breathe normally is enough of a sign for Jason to recognize just how much Tim wanted Harkness suffering and dead. Trying to switch to the Robin tone like he's giving a brief to Bruce is just a defense from admitting just how close he was to crossing the line. One doesn't recall fighting a loved one's murderer without getting emotional.

Jason recognizes all of that from himself. When Black Mask freed the Joker and then Jason successfully grabbed the lunatic, Jason could've just shot him several times over after that. But no. Jason needed the Joker to get a taste of what he went through first. An eye for an eye. A crowbar beating for a crowbar beating. Cold-blooded torture to the one who tortured. As far as Jason's concerned, that's true justice.

A difference between Jason and Tim is that Jason's emotions are usually more visible compared to Tim's. But it seems they have more in common than Jason thought]

You came close. Hell of a thing to do.

[There's no judgement in his tone. It's only a statement of fact]

The old man ever found out about what you did? Or tried to do?

[ Just because he hides them doesn’t mean they’re not there: Tim’s not a sociopath. It’s be everything he needs to be and spend a healthy amount of time with his emotions. Instead it has to be bled out like steam from an over pressurized boiler. ]

I don’t think I’ve seen him that furious before. No - disappointed. It didn’t matter that I’d saved him. B knows how I think; he understood what I did. He knew that I knew that Harkness would only ever choose wrong.

[ There wasn’t any evidence. He was Moriarty, nothing more, but that’s an ugly brag. ]

I don’t know what he would’ve done. The short explanation is someone messed around with the universe and caused it to hit refresh. When it reloaded the previous save, no one remembered the past 3 or 4 years, and we lived through them again. Zatanna unlocked my memories, and most people got at least some memories back. He hasn’t mentioned it. I haven’t asked him.

[ Tim hasn’t done anything that out of order since then. Maybe Bruce doesn’t remember. Maybe Tim’s re-proven himself. He forgave Jason for shooting the Penguin. Tim’s not about to bring it up. ]

I can’t make you not throw it in his face.

[Jason shakes his head. Christ the multiverse is a mess. He's not sure if he wants to know what Tim's Jason went through.

Jason pulls his thoughts back to more pressing matters]

For now I won't say anything.

[As tempting as it would be to angrily lash out at Bruce over the his damn code again, it's Tim's story to tell, not his]

As for the bar, fine. We'll do this together and have clear boundaries in place.

[After everything Tim has said so far and how genuine he seems to be, Jason's willing to give his idea a chance now. The benefits to having a bar as a front were already tempting]

It'll be neutral territory as far as anyone else is concerned, not Red Hood's. It'll better attract the other gangs.

Thanks.

[ Rim won’t go on about how grateful he is, how much he heated letting Bruce down. This isn’t the right audience for that.

He considers asking what Jason needs from him, but no. He’s thrown this at Jason. Give him a day to work it out. He knows he can ask Tim if need be. ]

Is it too soon to ask for a raise, boss?

[Jason lightly snorts in amusement]

Got expenses to pay and people to bribe first. You know how it is. It's just business. Don't suppose you're thinking about getting the others involved? And I don't mean the old man.

[Jason might as well consider that possibility since it was Tim's idea to have a bar in the first place]

That’s your call. Eighteen’s the legal serving age, so we’re all legal to work at a bar, even if we’re unregistered. It depends how clean you want the place to be. And how crazy.

[ If Steph and Cass sign on, it’s going to be to extremely hard to cause trouble in the bar itself. ]

The BGs would kill it on tips. I don’t know if the other guy would agree to it.

[ He deliberately leaves Superboy and Kid Flash off the list. He can’t see either working in a seedy bar. ]

If they have attitudes like yours about working at a seedy bar and me being involved, then we might as well ask them if they want in. That way it's not just us two keeping an eye on things. Easier to gather intel.

[It feels so strange to have this now to be a family project but they might as well go all in if they want it to succeed]

If you convince one, you'll convince both. One is more pragmatic than I am.

[ Understatement, but Jason should know what he's in for with Cass. Tim thinks she's the one to direct Jason to. If Jason's got anything up his sleeve with this offer and it's gotten by Tim, Cass will catch it. ]

The other, you'd have to negotiate with more.

[Too bad Jason's last conversation with Cass didn't end well]

Who's more pragmatic?

[Jason has some idea who Tim means but he wants to be sure. He's... not looking forward to talking to Cass but he knows he has to eventually, even if Tim hadn't bought up the idea of having a bar]

[ Having no idea how casual either Steph or Cass have been with their identities and this Jason, Tim has to differentiate in other ways. ]

The one who tazed me, of course. Not the one who hit me in the face with a brick.

[Jason chuckles]

Got it. I had a good first meeting with the one who hit you in the face with a brick. She's been fun.

Edited 2022-10-31 22:44 (UTC)

She's the best.

[ It's the sort of easy, automatic compliment and open smile that he reserves for the most deserving people in his life: Dick, Alfred, Kon, Steph. Bart and Cassie too, but it's a very short list. Even Bruce isn't on it. ]

I don't think I have to warn you to not mess with her.

I'm aware. I know enough details to get the general picture at least. She also bought up her time being in the traffic light colors.

[As shocking as it was to learn about Steph being a Robin, he likes her enough to not begrudge her for being one]

Edited 2022-11-05 02:28 (UTC)

I did warn you the tally was up to five.

[ He's going to assume Jason knows all that needs telling, or will soon, and not try to guide them into friendship. Tim will keep a hand on the rudder to course correct, obviously, but they'll likely know what he's doing if he interferes. ]

[Closed] More BatGym antics

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