( closed ) twisted steel beneath my knees

[reneger]

Who: bruce wayne batsymbol & jason todd reneger
What: a fun family trip
When: late january into early february
Where: excelsior, the shadow realm
Content Warnings: shadowbugs, joker, head trauma, discussion of child trafficking and sexual assault, comic book violence

Comments

» dirty my hands, steady my feet

[reneger]

( the world goes to shit. or at least - moreso than it usually does. everything's a mess, and jason's exhausted. tired after the bullshit he pulled with bruce, earlier. tired after getting kidnapped and spending a shitton of time looking out for all the kids who'd ended up there along with him. tired after pulling himself together for yet another battle after they'd gotten back to the chaos.

tired still, with bruce pulling a page straight out of his book (well, bruce's book, jason's just borrowing pages) and fucking off because he's being an asshole. jason doesn't have the advantage of being able to teleport himself wherever the hell he wants to anymore, but he uses the teleporters the guilds have opened up between arcadia and everywhere else to assist in their aid efforts. pulls his bike straight on through to washington, and heads right on through bruce's chosen city.

jason's not being coy about it; there's a red hood pulled up over his head, red lacing his arms, the red half-mask on under the hood, and he's intentionally gaining the attention of nearby ruffians. his efforts don't go unnoticed: jason's in an alleyway, bike turned away from the dead-end to instead face the small gathering of gangsters who had been out breaking into unguarded cars before jason'd pissed off a few cops into chasing him straight through to their area. they'd all scattered; these guys just happened to scatter in the same direction jason had - and 'cornered' him. a few are wielding tire irons, a couple others some nice, shiny knives.

and jason's sitting on his bike still, head tipped back to look up towards the rooftops of the two office buildings he's between. )

You gonna lend a hand, B, or are you just gonna watch?

( batman's stealthy, but jason knows his tells well enough. )

[batsymbol]

( since coming back to excelsior, he's kept to himself mostly — busied himself with work and things so as not to let his own anger and frustration overwhelm him any more than it already has when he's out and about like this. one step forward, two steps back. it's something bruce is known for.

something he and jason have in common.

he'd spotted jason zipping in on his bike earlier and while he hasn't gone out of his way to speak to the other — he hasn't gone out of his way to speak to any of them — he's been keeping an eye on him. right now, that is. in the darkness of the streets, from the rooftops he hides upon. perched. like a gargoyle.

jason calls him out like he does and he's not surprised. if he really wanted to, he could have remained completely invisible. but he'd allowed for very fine tells of his presence nearby from the moment he'd zipped into excelsior. yet even as jason offers the olive branch to take part, bruce denies it as bruce often does.

with silence. making it seem as if jason is merely talking to himself and the shadows of darkness around. )

[reneger]

( no response from bats, but the idiots who're surrounding him keep coming closer, even if some of them had opted to look up too, just in case someone was up there. given the lack of response to jason and lack of movement - well, they're pretty sure he is just talking to himself. maybe he is.

the sigh jason gives is purposefully audible, even though the mask he's got over his mouth. )

Ah, well, I needed the warm-up anyway.

( his thigh swings over the bike to get himself off of it, and jason moves his fists out in front of him, cracking his knuckles first, and then his neck. )

A'right. You'd better all come at once, I'd hate to finish you off too quickly.

( thug number one swings in a tire iron, spitting something out about his ego - and jason grabs onto his wrist, yanking him forward so the metal slams into thug number two's skull. thug number two's knife misses entirely and clatters to the ground, and jason's twisting thug number one's wrist to loosen his grip on the tire iron, just as he's twisting around so thug number three's choice of weapon slams into thug number one's back. )

[batsymbol]

( initially, he leaves it. he knows jason can handle himself — knows he's more than capable of taking down a group of thugs even with weapons on them. but judging how their little exposure therapy went recently, he doesn't slip away further into the shadows. doesn't head back to his place and leave jason to it all on his own. even if some part of him wants to.

he figures jason knows there's another coming for him from behind, but. without really thinking twice, bruce— batman drops down from the shadows behind the thug and is slow in the way he rises from his crouched stance. dark. intimidating. the shadow of bat bleeding across the brick behind him as he rises, a trick of the darkness he's capable of manipulating to instill fear and intimidation into the very hearts of others.

when the thug swings at him, bruce evades it. effortlessly. a sharp elbow to the nose of the thug, he's grabbed and brutally thrown to the side, narrowly avoiding the armored fist that comes for his face, hitting brick instead. )

[reneger]

( jason can handle it just fine, even if he had been after bruce's attention. he drops the thug he's been dragging around, lets him fall to the floor. there's thug number four, who jason knew was behind him but given the distance between them, figured - hell, he can worry about that in a minute.

a minute that never comes, because bruce has it handled. so jason's attention turns back to thug number three, who's coming in for round two. he could take his time, but instead jason's raising one a gun, aims and fires it at the guy's gut where he knows it'll bleed plenty to stop him, but won't kill him as long as he gets it tended to within a reasonable amount of time.

and once he's keeling over, arms wrapped around his gut, jason turns his attention back to bruce.

rests the barrel of the gun against his shoulder. )

Three an' one. You'll have to jump in sooner next time if you wanna win.

[batsymbol]

( the second the gun goes off, bruce turns and catches what's happened. jason hasn't killed the guy, no. but he still doesn't approve of the methods done in taking him down and it shows in the scowl on his face and the sharp way eyes pierce jason through the smeared paint across his eyes. )

Don't.

( the word is harsh, like his gaze on jason and he grabs the one closest to him by the collar to throw down to the ground. )

[reneger]

Your car carries more ammo than I've got on me. Your goddamn batarangs do more damage. You know that, right?

( he's rolling his eyes, but whatever. jason holds up the gun, flicks on the safety, and puts it back in its holster. drops his hand down onto his hip instead, and sidesteps when another thug tries to come at him from behind. lets him stumble forward towards bruce instead. )

[batsymbol]

( it doesn't matter. he doesn't like guns.

when the thug comes stumbling into him, he grabs him by the collar, stares him down sharply, then throws him to the ground with his buddy. the way the shadows grow and stretch behind him, it doesn't take him needing to say anything for them to get to their feet to take off and it's just as well, bruce figures.

of course, that leaves him almost glaring back to jason before he begins to turn. )

What do you want?

( why are you here? )

[reneger]

( he almost, almost starts going on a tangent akin to: your parents got shot to death, so what? but manages to stop his mouth long enough to run through how that'd go: the comparison between bruce's tragic backstory to jason's parents and how jason responds to people doing the same shit that got his killed and decides - you know what, it's not worth it. especially when bruce is out here trying to be scary with the local thugs. and it's not as if it's been so long that jason doesn't remember why he'd gone for dual pistols. partially because - he's got great aim, but also because he knew it'd piss off his bruce. )

Just checking in. Since you took off again.

( as the resident ghoster, it's very rude of bruce to be trying to take jason's thing. )

» crawl through the ashes

[reneger]

( bruce doesn't answer, and jason doesn't wait around for long before deciding something was off. he rang in the crew with no luck, opted to instead call kyle over to bring him gear so he could jump in after bruce.

didn't know where the hell he was aiming, aside from nowhere here. not having a destination while going in--feels wrong. like jumping into the void - which doesn't feel all too-far off, when he realizes he's falling. the bright green rope wrapped around his waist snaps, breaks off and dissipates entirely as jason tumbles down through the air. it's dark, too dark, and he realizes a few moments too late he probably should have left his mask on before lurching through the hole in the ground. luckily, there's - nothing, no one, just him endlessly tumbling down up until he isn't anymore.

he lands in something black and tarry, cursing as his hand flails for the edge of whatever the hell this bullshit puddle is. the backpack's heavy, but not so much he's tempted to drop it to make squirming his way out of this mess easier. especially not given he's landed - somewhere, even if it's dark as hell and he can't see where that somewhere is yet. )

[batsymbol]

( within the darkness jason's found himself within, there doesn't seem to be any sign of bruce.

the darkness seems to stretch endlessly all around. makes sense when one slips through a shadow and both have done just that before. but this is different. they've only ever seemed to pass through the darkness, from one spot to the next. regardless of talent with their similar powerset here. this is somewhere else entirely. not excelsior. not central. not even the world itself they'd found themselves falling from the sky into. it's both somewhere and something else.

there's flickers of something within the darkness. not light, but. something similar to what's been around bruce when he's moved through the shadows. that sort of dark sheen that almost seems iridescent. it's a little ways from jason. flickers. then stops. flickers. then stops. not exactly set to a particular rhythm, but. enough for it to obviously be something. or someone.

bruce.

batman.

laying on the dark ground. on his back. unconscious. the flickers emitting off him as a homing signal beacon might. )

[reneger]

( and once again, fuck thank you, tony stark.

jason's hood had tech in it, but his domino masks have always been the plain, stuck straight onto his face with spirit gum kind that didn't do jack shit for him. the one he has on now? adjusts to the lack of light so jason can see as he grips onto the edge of the pool. squints, as he notes the - movement. not just by where something shaped suspiciously like bruce lays, but the movement in the other direction, too. he presses a forearm down against the ground outside the pool, uses it to pull himself out and up onto his knees.

he's careful, not to make a sound. doesn't want to alert anything else of his presence, especially given he doesn't know where the hell he is to begin with. as soon as his knees hit dirt, he reaches into his jacket. pulls out the mask that fits under his domino and over his mouth, just in case. fits it onto his face, then slowly, slowly climbs up to his feet.

it's too dark. unnaturally so, but it's not the first nor will it be the last time he finds himself somewhere that doesn't feel right. boots are careful to hit the dirt just right to not make a sound, careful where he distributes his weight just in case - up until he reaches bruce's side and drops down to his knees, fingers moving towards bruce's jawline to check for a pulse. )

[batsymbol]

( the stillness of bruce there on the ground is concerning. i killed that sonuvabitch the thug had proudly proclaimed and, for all intents and purposes, it looks as if he might have.

there's no sign of life that seems to come from bruce. but there also isn't any blood or visible wounds to his face. he just lays there. with the flickering iridescence around him. still. cold. something jason might feel upon touching his jawline.

yet within the darkness that surrounds them, from behind, suddenly... movement. )

Jason! Get away from it!

( and the second bruce shouts that from behind, footsteps hurried as he runs through the darkness for him, the thing that had been impersonating the batman twists into something more sinister — more demonic and hungry for jason as it abruptly lunges up. teeth jagged and sharp. intending to take a bite out of him. )

[reneger]

( a thing not many of those he keeps around him know, is that this isn't the first time he's come across bruce wayne's body.

sure, good old dad has died a few times. some times more realistic than others, but none of them stick in jason's hard head as much as the time he'd stumbled across a bruce who had killed joker for him. a bruce who jason fought hard to get back out to help kyle and donna. the same bruce, who fought beside him, who jason watched a clark kent punch the brains out of. there's a lot of shit he never talks about, with anyone. and that just - happens to be one of the traumatic incidents closer to the top of the pile. he doesn't panic, because his panic response has been near-trained out of him. he heard i killed that sonuvabitch, and while a body wasn't what he was hoping to find, it's not something he's surprised to come across.

lips press together hard, fingers settling along bruce's jawline. he opens his mouth, as if he's about to say something, but instead - flinches abruptly when he hears his name being yelled out from behind. heels press down against the ground under him to push him away from the body that's suddenly shifting in shape, which isn't his dead father, thank fuck, but shit.

his arm raises to block teeth, and it's on instinct that the ring reacts: bright green light erupts from it, forming a shield that blocks teeth from digging into him. it's shock from that which keeps jason from moving for the next few moments, eyes widening under the mask. )

[batsymbol]

( the sudden flare of green is a little surprising and he wonders, for a moment, if kyle is here with him somewhere.

he doesn't wait to see if that's the case — the creature mutating and chomping for jason who remains shielded by the green lantern's light. he's there at jason's side, compact baton pulled from his suit, and he slams the weapon across the creature's face, knocking it away from jason and the shield. the creature skitters across the ground, grows and mutates into something large and snake-like, and bruce roughly grasps jason's arm. yanking him away. )

Move.

( it's more a sharp order than anything else — a growl — and he shoves jason ahead of him into the darkness, bruce keeping behind him. )

Run twenty paces straight, then ten to the left. Go.

[reneger]

( he doesn't like orders, but never let it be said that jason doesn't know how to follow them. because bruce gives them, deep growled words reverberating through him, and jason - doesn't give bruce any snark, not yet. instead he's jumping up to his feet, as the light dissipates and leaves them in the dark. it makes it harder to see bruce as he looks back over his shoulder towards him, but as far as he can tell he's still in fighting shape, which jason takes as a good enough sign as any to listen.

twenty paces straight, and ten to the left. there's no point in keeping quiet with the noise at his heels, so he doesn't bother putting in any extra effort into keeping himself quiet. trusts bruce to follow behind him soon as he's gotten that thing thrown off their asses. )

[batsymbol]

( he's behind jason in the darkness — can just barely make him out as he goes the twenty paces, then the ten to the left as he'd told him to. at the end of the ten paces, there's a cave, the entrance itself being just large enough for them to fit through.

when they're at the entrance, bruce skids to a halt. turns around. baton gripped tightly in hand and smacks it across the face of the creature hot on their heels. one. two. three strikes and the creature's out, hitting the ground hard before it staggers to get itself back up. bruce lets it. baton twirling in his hand and when he swings at the thing, he misses. but it seems intentional. because when the creature lunges for him, he grabs it at the neck and shocks it with the tasers located within gloved fingers. bruce grits his teeth as he does — growls even before he finally shoves the thing off him and turns quickly, shoving jason into the cave along with him as he does. the creature is likely to get back up, but it obviously can't fit through the entrance.

it's obvious bruce has found this safe haven of sorts for him when he'd found himself unexpectedly in here, hence the knowing how many steps to take in the dark to it. because what else is he supposed to do when he's lost in a place he doesn't know? figure out the lay of the land best he can. which meant counting steps from where he'd fallen from.

taking a flashlight from his belt, he turns it out. the light fluorescent. )

What're you doing here?

» cut through the static

[reneger]

( they've been here a couple weeks.

and it's been at least a couple days since jason's opened his mouth to say a word. he hasn't needed to: jason knows how to read bruce well enough without words, and filling space with snark and banter only gets them so far. eventually, jason runs out of snarky bullshit to throw bruce's way while they wander, looking for an exit. he runs out of stupid shit to throw at him, runs out of things to bitch over. it's just them and getting out left behind.

luckily, the trauma to his head wasn't too bad. his balance came back after a few days, and the ringing in his ear subsided. and here he is: walking one step behind bruce with his hood drawn up over his head as they make their way through the nothing that fills this place when they're not being attacked by whatever got left behind here. it's quiet, too quiet. and when it's quiet, all jason's left with is the bullshit that's constantly running through his head, every what if and i should have.

he opens his mouth, but closes it before taking another step. pauses in place for a moment, before he reaches for words, )

I freaked out on Rayner, a few nights before we ended up in this shithole. I had a nightmare and he asked me about it. Probably 'cause I threw a knife before I even knew what the hell was out there.

[batsymbol]

( two weeks, give or take. he's been trying to keep count of the days as they pass, but. it's difficult to do when you're wandering a place submerged in perpetual darkness it seems. not entirely so. flickers or flashes of lights linger here and there and sometimes, the darkness itself seems lighter at times, but. they're still within a never ending darkness it feels like. ironic that it's the two of them walking through it, given their personalities and baggage they both carry.

when jason pauses — when he finally goes to say something, bruce lets his steps slow and turns his head back some to jason. for a moment, he's quiet. as if in disbelief that jason's actually said something. only after a heartbeat or two does he look down to his utility belt and pull out the timer he carries with him. it's nearly dead. )

As long as you didn't hit him with it.

[reneger]

Not this time. ( though while he's thinking about it now, ) Took me a while to readjust to not trying to kill everything that moved in the same space I'm in when I'm sleeping. Luckily it'd happened before Rayner came 'round. Asshole might be a light sleeper, but he's also an idiot who leaves his guard down too much.

( trusts too easily, despite jason giving him every reason not to. hell, he'd played at betraying him and donna way before any of this even happened, and kyle'd hated him for it back then. it'd been an act, meant to buy them time, but jason had been young, newly back in the semi-heroing gig, and there weren't a lot of people who knew what to do with him yet. not like jason could blame them. )

Grayson'd given me a whole spiel earlier, y'know. About communicating with people. Figured talking through a stupid nightmare was an alright place to start. But he opened his mouth, trying to be nice, an' I thought maybe he--knew something he shouldn't.

[batsymbol]

Is that what you're doing now?

( attempting to communicate with him. it's said a little dryly and he only half meant for it to come out that way, but. glancing down to the dying timer there held in his gloved hand, he slowly lets his arm drop down to his side. )

[reneger]

No.

( not anymore, at least. he was. less about kyle, more about what freaked jason out when he thought kyle knew something he shouldn't have. but he drops it now - lets the subject fall away. grabs onto the lower half of his mask instead, and re-straps it onto his face to cover his mouth. )

[batsymbol]

( he doesn't have to be looking to jason to know what he's doing. somehow, he can feel it there beneath the suit. it was an attempt on jason's part, he knows. but he's been so lost in his head and trying to figure out how he can get them out of there that he just... hasn't been talking. hasn't been letting him get close. not necessarily because of what had happened with that shadow joker and the fear it had instilled in him but... well. maybe partially that has something to do with it. but other reasons, too. )

Last I spoke to Dick, I ended it poorly. ( he says then, pocketing the timer as he goes. ) I went to Excelsior to get away from all of you.

[reneger]

Not surprising.

( the getting away from them, and the it ended poorly with dick. jason knows his brother - maybe not as well as some, but he knows what to expect out of him. dick plays the role of mediator well, but he's also a born leader, a skill he has. . . over bruce, sometimes. and he knows when to put his foot down with his boundaries, when he can't let others feel like they're getting leeway with him. they never really are because dick only ever gives as much as he's intending on putting out there, but it doesn't stop him from making others think they're getting shit out of him.

he's soft on the outside. analytical enough to know how to use that to his advantage. a performer through and through. and this bruce - hasn't gotten used to dick yet. he's betting bruce was pushing boundaries, and dick told him off for it.

rolls his shoulders, and starts walking again. )

What'd you do? Or what'd we do?

[batsymbol]

I asked him for some information and he wouldn't give it to me.

( and so, of course, that had frustrated bruce. as expected, really. )