metalogs | ( closed ) twisted steel beneath my knees

( 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.

( 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.

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.

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. )

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. )

( 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.

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?

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. )

Edited 2024-02-02 22:00 (UTC)

( so, dick putting his foot down and bruce being a whiny baby about it. not too far off the mark. )

What information?

What do you care? You didn't give it to me either.

( back when he'd first spoken about it to jason some... months ago. )

( quiet, for - a while. jason has to think back on things he's told and not told to bruce to try and pick apart what he might have gone to dick for. )

What, Superman's weakness? You realize Dick's that guy's biggest fan, right? He's been working with his kid. I got his autograph when I was Robin.

Good for you.

( it's thrown sarcastically at jason as he keeps walking. teetering on the brink of losing his temper. )

( at least he guessed right. jason keeps following after him, just one step behind and to his right. a learned habit. )

I traveled the multiverse, back when there were fifty-two different worlds. With Rayner and Troy. It was a mess, shit went South an' fell apart. I was - younger. But we'd met several different versions of Batman and Superman throughout them. Several.

( see, communicating. )

( all jason gets in response is silence from bruce. whether it be his attempt at trying to control his emotions — rein in his frustration that's slowly bubbling to the surface or the fact that he just has nothing to say to that is... anyone's guess. maybe a bit of both. it's bruce after all. )

Edited 2024-02-02 22:15 (UTC)

I met a Batman who was me, sometime in the future. Kicked my ass. Can't even think of what must've happened to put him in the cowl--of all the choices we've got, I'd put myself near the bottom of the list.

( idle talk, building up to what he's really getting to. )

I met a Batman who'd lost his second Robin, an' never recovered from it. There was no third; he decided enough was enough and killed the Joker after his Jason keeled over. Killed the rest of Arkham's frequent visitors, too. Had all their gear up as trophies in his cave. None of the Leagers wanted anything to do with him, 'cause they all thought he went too far.

Edited 2024-02-02 22:21 (UTC)

( there's a part of him that reads between the lines with what he's saying. but there's the other part of bruce— the batman part of him that has him pivoting to face jason and when he stares to him, it's sharp and purely the dark knight he is. )

He came to me and put his trust in me to do something about it. Not Kyle, not Diana, not Dick, not you. Me, and if something happens, that's on me and I have to live with that. Just like I have to live with what Riddler did to Alfred because he was one step ahead of me.

( it's a look he's plenty familiar with, and jason's mirroring it back to bruce even if most of it is covered by his own mask. doesn't go for the tone, because it's unnecessary. )

It doesn't matter if I tell you while you're here. You get that, don't you? You fuck off from here an' go home, and whatever you learned is just - gone. It's not gonna help you against your Superman. All it's gonna do is make you get obsessive over trying to find a way to weaken him here. Then you'll obsess over trying to retain that, even if it's fucking pointless.

( jaw tight, he doesn't do anything but shake his head at jason. )

He shows up here and anything happens, I'm holding all of you responsible for any deaths by his hands.

( turning, his cape flows behind him as he starts to walk again. )

Including my own.

( bruce starts walking, but jason stays right where he's at. doesn't move an inch. takes a breath in, and lets it out. )

The Batman who killed Joker, the one I thought I wanted all along - I watched him get his skull punched in by a Superman. Not ours. I saw his brains splatter across the cement.

( another nightmare. kyle was there too, as was donna. they - get it. but he's not bringing them into this part of the conversation. )

I know the risks, and the costs if I do tell you. So you're just gonna have to trust me here.

( he keeps walking, steps slow so as to be able to hear jason and for jason to hear him. hearing that a superman kills a version of him only confirms his suspicions that he's capable of doing just that. that the warning he'd been given was to be taken as seriously as bruce has felt it was.

jason asking for his trust just gets bruce to huff a soft sound of... something under his breath. it's not entirely amusement. it's a little too disappointed to be. )

Trust's a two-way street. You're asking me to trust all of you, when none of you trust me. Because you keep comparing me to the him you know. ( their bruce. )

( he was about to talk to bruce. tell him something he hasn't told his own bruce. talk it through with him, before bruce interrupted with what sounded like a snide side comment. that's more trust than anyone else has gotten out of him. he hasn't talked to anyone about it.

and yet here is bruce, bitching about them not telling him shit. )

Fine. Tell me that if I tell you, you're not gonna spend the next who the hell knows how long obsessively finding a way you can take advantage of it. That you're not going to make plans to take him out.

( a huff. he stops. )

Sure. I won't come up with a way to stop him in the event that a Superman shows up looking to slaughter everyone. I'll just sit on that and do nothing to be prepared for it.

( that's sarcasm. )

You want me to trust you enough to tell you, but you're saying you're gonna do the thing I'm telling you we're all concerned you're gonna do. Which you're bitching about 'cause it's us comparing you to him, but you're planning the same thing.

( do you see the problem here, bruce. )

I'm insulted by all of you that you wouldn't think I would try to get a feel for whatever version of him shows up here as all of you did with me.

( a beat. )

Or do you just think you're the only ones who do that?

( he's a detective you know. )

Edited 2024-02-02 23:15 (UTC)

B.

( eyes narrowing under his mask, visible in the way his brow furrows above it. )

That Batman had one bad day, one bad incident and he went off the rails. Do you know how many other Batmans're out there who have one bad day an' turn that into everyone else's living nightmare?

» cut through the static

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