metalogs | ( closed ) twisted steel beneath my knees

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?

And you think I'm one of them?

( there's disappointment there in his voice before he turns to keep walking into the darkness. )

Stay away from me then. If you're all so worried.

( jesus christ.

see, this would be a good point to argue that no, he doesn't, but there's always the risk and they've already given bruce damn near everything on them. that despite all the years of training jason has on bruce, he wouldn't be able to take him down. not because he's stronger, or better, but because despite him not being their bruce, he's still - bruce. that bruce himself keeps contingencies on contingencies on all of them. that he's trying to get information for yet another contingency. that, if bruce already knew what he's after, he'd be disappointed in the rest of them for spilling it to any other bruce. and that's not - jason comparing them. that's just going off of shit he's learned from this one.

he thinks about walking away. of just turning around and letting them go their separate ways. they're both capable of handling themselves, they'd be fine in here alone. it's what bruce is asking for, and even if jason came all the way in here for him - fuck him if this is how he's going to be when he's getting bitchy over clark.

instead, he opens his mouth, )

I was telling Rayner about--a child trafficking ring Talia sent me to for training. To relearn to fight, since I'd learned how to with restraint so I didn't kill anyone. I was telling him that I'd. . . gotten most of 'em out, but who the hell knows how many kids suffered because I didn't get them out fast enough. You know what he said?

He said I deserved to be saved. That I can hate what they did, and what they chose to do. But I deserved to be saved. An' I freaked out. I thought he knew. I haven't talked about it, not with anyone.

( it'd be easier if they went their separate ways, wouldn't it?

jason can handle himself as much as bruce can— well. provided another shadow joker doesn't pop up. he's not too sure how jason would react to that, but. they're still both capable. and maybe it's for the best they part ways. here. if they ever get out. this is already the longest either of them have spent in each other's company and it's clearly taking a toll on the both of them. this is why bruce wonders why jason even bothered to come in after him. wishes that he hadn't because of course they've ended up here. almost as if it's inevitable.

he expects jason to just leave, but. then again. since when does jason ever do what he asks or tells him to? so it's really no surprise when he doesn't. when he goes and starts talking again and bruce is ready to simply ignore it. leave it behind him because he's fed up, disappointed, and a myriad of other things he doesn't want to feel or deal with right now. but the more he listens to what jason says, the more he finds himself unable to ignore it.

once again, his steps slow and he stops. standing there in silence within the darkness. within their darkness. )

( bruce is bitching about trust. jason doesn't know how else to - express it to him. he should have left. should have turned around and stomped off. left him on his own, because bruce asked for it. but he doesn't. jason talks instead, and bruce stops. listens, but doesn't say a word. jason's not sure if that makes it easier or harder, just that - he's not hearing pity or disappointment or anything else coming from bruce that'd make him shut up.

so he doesn't. )

When B "died" the first time around, he left all of us messages. He said I was broken, that we shouldn't've kept secrets, that he should've fucking repaired me instead of making me Robin. I know that's not how he meant it. He's shit with words. But hell - that's the kind of shit that just--sticks with you, you know?

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