metalogs | ( open ) and what's the worst you take

( bruce has been running on fumes these past few days. going over every single piece of whatever he can get his hands on about this place, a lot of it dating back to over a year. add that to his relentless search for joker here, trying to fix up the spots he's found for himself, and the continued experimental use of these powers of his and he's sure alfred would be upset with him for how much he hasn't been taking care of himself. how much bruce wayne is slipping away into the shadows that he now— that batman now controls. alfred's not here though, so it's no surprise he would just fall into whatever obsession he's currently fixated on as a means to just make it through both the day and night.

he eyes jason warily despite the slow movements he makes in lowering his guns. neither jason have given him much reason to trust them, so he can't afford to let his guard down entirely. )

People were worried about you.

( yeah, he doesn't like that either. but it answers his question without answering it directly: fucking kyle and his big mouth. he can't blame kyle, either. jason disappeared, jason didn't have a way to get ahold of him and tell him what was going on, jason also didn't get into details of what he was digging into in arcadia. bruce is meant to be the world's greatest detective, and he knows their bruce is kyle's--teammate, friend, something. whatever.

it's not on kyle. it doesn't mean it doesn't piss him off still. the guns go back in their holsters, strapped in, safety on. jason doesn't move away from bruce, but he doesn't move to get in another hit either. he didn't come here to fight. or he did, but not like this. it was meant to be a playfight, not a pissed off jason fight. funny how it always turns out that way with bruce, isn't it. )

People can fuck off, I can take care of myself. ( it's stupid to say and he knows it. jason knows he needs people, knows he wouldn't have gotten out of there without help. but fuck bruce specifically. )

( he better not give kyle grief over that. he'd been worried and after hearing what had happened to his girlfriend, bruce felt bad for the guy. to live with that fear... the fear of losing someone you care about... about not being able to make it there in time... he lives with that still. it's why he tries not to.

care.

or at least care from a certain distance.

bringing some of his cape around him, he eyes jason still — eyes the way he doesn't show any signs of looking to go another round and, after a moment, he turns some when jason claims how capable he is of taking care of himself. )

Sure.

( it's not said with disbelief nor disappointment. it's just tired. )

Edited 2023-07-13 23:43 (UTC)

( he's still. doesn't reach for another weapon, doesn't even pull the empty gun so he can switch out clips. there's two of them out here, and if jason needs to reload in a rush, he knows how. they're still close, and jason doesn't intend to back off to give bruce his space himself. he'll make bruce do it instead, if he wants to get some distance between them. )

What're you doing in Central? This's Red Hood's turf. ( not his, but the other red hood. jason hasn't used the moniker in a while, but he's betting that by now, bruce knows who red hood is. either he's stalked him down on the network, or he's had a run in with junior himself. bruce should know by now: this city is occupied by bats, almost all of them. )

( he does want space — jason is exhausting. so he turns after eyeing him for a second longer and slowly begins to walk away, boots heavy as he goes. )

I'm looking for someone.

( these guys on the ground just got in his way. so he did what he always does when someone starts trouble with him: he finished it. )

Looking for who?

( he has a guess in mind, but jason isn't voicing it. he's instead turning to--follow after bruce, just a couple steps behind him to his right. shoves both hands down into his jacket pockets. the pockets that look like they're supposed to be pockets, not any of the multiple ones he has hidden throughout it to hide toys. )

Someone I need to throw back in jail.

( or whatever version of that there might be here.

he doesn't bother to look back to jason — keeps walking with those heavy steps, surveying the area around them as they go. he's tired but he's also frustrated. with a lot of things and the fact that he can't find the one he's going to end up having such a messed up relationship with over the years that he can't even begin to fathom. )

You're not gonna find him like this.

( or maybe he just might. joker does love to make a scene for bruce, and bats showing his face around central is a surefire way to draw him out. )

But if you're gonna keep trying, do it somewhere else. He knows who all of us are, even if you don't. Pulling him out here'll just give him the perfect ammo to use against you, even if you don't think of it like that.

( a hand raises, the one that's closest to bruce, up to his neck. to scratch at an old scar. )

( oh. that reminds him. )

He needs better gear.

( a beat, in case jason hasn't clocked who he's referring to yet. )

I caught him running around in sunglasses and a hoodie trying to help. He needs to be protected if he's going to be out like that.

( dick, he means. )

( well that's--not at all where he expected this to go. he'd scold dick, but that's a bruce move and jason isn't bruce. dick can do what he wants. he's got several years of crime fighting under his belt, he's smart, he won't be stupid. he could have gotten hurt. the idiot. )

I'm working on it. ( building up new robin gear from scratch, or - whatever dick decides to go by now with how many of them are wandering around. robin was his, it'd be a dick move to take it when he's still. . robin. )

Not that it's any of your business.

Edited 2023-07-14 20:32 (UTC)

( it's that last part there that has bruce stop mid-step and turn to face jason. when he does, jason's met with the full brutal scope of how intimidating batman can be as he stares him down in such a harsh way, you'd think he was seconds away from bursting a vein. )

If he gets hurt because he's not protected, it's going to be my business.

( voice low in a way that nearly shakes with authority, he keeps staring down jason. )

He trusts you. Don't make him regret it.

( what a way to make jason go from walking beside bruce, to ready to shoot him in the face. he's used to that voice. he's heard it directed at him many times, in numerous contexts. he turns in towards bruce, too. takes a step closer even, gets right into his space so when he opens his mouth, when he does his best batman growl, it's being shoved right into bruce's face. )

I ain't you. Not this you, not the you I know. I don't take in sad little kids with dead mommies and daddies, or ones who never cared about 'em, give 'em a place to belong, then send them out in bright colors to play distraction while I fuck over idiots on the streets of Gotham. If it were up to me, he wouldn't be out there at all. But it's not, is it? I can't tell him no, 'cause then he's going to go and do it behind my back. I can't police the shit he does, 'cause then he isn't going to trust me when shit comes up. I'd know, 'cause that's how I died.

( a step closer, and he juts his chin out. manages a look that fits between petulant child and bruce's signature batman scowl. )

Go to hell.

( for as much as jason doesn't budge, neither does bruce and he hardly seems fazed by jason's own attempt at pushing back against him. emotionally, that is. )

You can make sure he's not running around on the streets in a hoodie for a costume.

( pulling away then, he turns to continue walking. frustrated, but. jason seems good at making him feel that way, he's noticed. )

( one day, he'll be able to have a conversation with bruce that doesn't end in jason getting pissed off enough to really fight him. today is not one of those days. bruce pulls away, and jason's immediately taking a step forward into him with a fist raised.

half of bruce's face is visible, clearly that's a great place to hit him. )

( sadly for jason, this has become predictable for him and so bruce is anticipating this. when he hears the step being taken, he twists — raises an arm to block the punch against his gauntlet and shoves at jason to push him back. )

I don't have time for your temper tantrums, Jason.

( bruce pushes, and jason pushes back. shoves a good bit of his weight behind the arm he's got up against bruce's gauntlet. doesn't move in for another hit, not yet, he'll get there.

first, )

If you've got time to fuck around Central looking for Joker, you've got time for me.

Not when you start acting out like a child.

( no wonder he got caught.

the weight he shoves towards him, bruce shoves back. hard. meaning to push jason away from him. a growl of frustration there on his lips as he does. )

( it's always bruce that drags out this side of him. always bruce, that makes jason forget everything he's learned, makes him forget how to control himself, makes him want to hit and kick and scream until he's burned himself out and then some. it's his stupid voice, the stupid cowl, the way he always seems like he's disappointed in jason for something--he'd told kyle that bruce being younger was better, he wasn't jason's bruce, he hasn't made those mistakes yet. and yet--here he is, finding just the right way to wheedle his way under jason's skin in just the wrong way.

just like he is now, calling jason a child. bruce shoves him back, and jason's sneering as he takes that step back that bruce is trying to force him into. and then he's raising a leg to throw a wide kick at bruce's gut. it isn't the kick he's hoping to land, it's the shadow that follows his leg as it swings towards bruce--a second hard hit, moving at him with just as much force as is behind jason's leg. )

( bruce can't keep this up because one, he doesn't want to and two, he's tired. from the hours of researching, to the hours of searching on the streets. trying to find some reason— some purpose for being here in a place with so many things stacked against him. if not joker, then what?

so when that kick— those kicks come, he lets himself take them. lets them hit him and knock him down to the ground with a resounding thud, to which he simply lays there on his back. breath slow but steady.

there's a thought that touches him in that moment — a thought he typically doesn't let himself think nor feel because he can't, but. he thinks it. he thinks it and he closes his eyes as he does... and he lets himself sink slowly into the shadows that pool underneath him, devouring him. not a single care in where they may take him. )

Edited 2023-07-14 21:48 (UTC)

( bruce falls, and jason doesn't expect it. he expects the first block, which is why he pulled in with a second hit. but there was no block, and bruce is taking two hits before he's falling down onto the ground and--

--what, trying to escape? he's still for a moment, but then jason sees those shadows licking up his sides, and it pisses him off even more. he's quickly taking a few steps forward, dropping down to shove a knee against bruce's chest with a hand fisting in whatever fabric he can find to grab onto. leans into him, into the shadows, because if bruce is going to fade back into them, jason is coming with him. )

No, asshole, you don't get to just run away from this.

( for a moment, he thinks he's sinking into the center of his bed back home. back in gotham. countless mornings have felt like this sometimes. where he simply sinks into the darkness that wraps around him when he closes his eyes and drifts. if only it were that.

when he feels the sudden weight there against his chest, his eyes just barely flicker open before he's letting them fall shut again. he can't even find it within him right now to be even more frustrated with jason. so, instead, he lets out a breath and his words are nothing but sincere as he continues to sink. )

Let me go. It's better you do.

( for him. for them. but mostly for jason. )

You can't tell me what to do, Bats.

( how's that for acting out like a child? bruce doesn't move to shove him off, he just lays there, eyes closed, and jason hates that too. hates how he just--fuck if jason knows. it's not him giving up, bruce never gives up. it's him underestimating jason, isn't it? fuck him. jason doesn't let go, but he does reach up with the hand that isn't holding onto bruce. reaches for the cowl, so he can take it off. he wants to see bruce's face, wants to look him dead in the eye without the cowl between them. )

( ordinarily, he'd snap awake at the feel of someone trying to remove his mask. what was it? having assaulted three police officers for trying to do so before gordon got him to cooperate?

regardless, the cowl comes off and bruce is left unmasked there in the pool of shadows beneath him, lapping at his arms and shoulders, wanting to pull him under further.

for a moment, he's still. eerily so. until, finally, he slowly flickers those eyes just barely open again through the smeared greasepaint across them, and his eyes are so blue. like jason's. )

( better. bruce looks up at him, and jason tears off his mask so he can look down at him, blues to blues. his gaze is steady, lacking the heat it would have held if this had happen just moments prior. jason sucks in a breath through his nose, lets it out through his mouth. )

You're not him. ( it's quiet. voiced just loud enough for it to sit between them, not meant for anyone else's ears. not that there's anyone here, but. ) And I'm not either. You hear me?

( even if the words are starting--to sound like jason's escalating, he's still keeping his voice steady. quiet. )

You've got all of us here. All of the kids he's raised, trained, taught everything he knew an' then some. Learn from his mistakes. Pick shit up from us. Stop being an asshole. Stop being an idiot. The Joker here ain't yours, he's got years of fucking with B under his belt whereas you're just a rookie.

Edited 2023-07-14 23:32 (UTC)

( though the shadowy pool still remains there underneath him — underneath them, it doesn't seek to pull him under as it had been before. rather, it gently sways back and forth beneath them, as if waiting — as if considering, much like bruce himself is as jason speaks.

and, much like jason, his own voice remains quiet when he finally finds it. )

I saw what Joker did to Robin here.

( he swallows. jaw tight. dissociating for just a moment before he comes back. breath on his lips. )

He didn't even do anything for him. Didn't hunt Joker down and make him answer for what he did to him. What he did to you.

( he being the bruce— the batman they all know. the one before him. yeah. that's also something he's been dealing with on top of everything else. )

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