Bruce Wainright has (onerule) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2012-09-21 03:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | batman, catwoman, door: dc comics, red hood |
Who: Bats and Jason, featuring Selina
What: Antidote #2 retrieval becomes complicated.
Where: Arkham --> Batcave.
When: Let's go with recently. Post-villain madness, and after Tony's visit.
Warnings/Rating: Angst, tension, etc.
As far as Selina was concerned, and everyone else for that matter, only one dosage of Crane’s antidote was necessary to reverse the effects. The Bat had no intention of mentioning the second dosage until the time came for it to be administered, and even then, he had vague plans of passing it off as something else, a sedative perhaps, or antibiotics, in order to shield her from the truth. The deal with Crane was also something he had no intention of revealing, not unless it became absolutely necessary, and once Selina’s safety was ensured he would be free to remove him from power and put him where he belonged... in a cell, one which not even the shrewdest of minds would be able to escape from or break into.
First, however, he needed that second antidote.
With Selina safely at the cave, the Bat was free to slip away and make the short journey to Arkham. He took the Batpod rather than the Tumbler, choosing swift speed over bulk and power, weaving through back streets and alleys as a silent countdown ticked its way down in the back of his mind. Keeping the vehicle hidden was simple, and he entered the asylum through one of his many usual routes, having such control of the security that he ensured he wouldn’t trip off any alarms or raise suspicions. Even if the had, the staff knew him by now, and he doubted his presence would be viewed with antagonism by those who weren’t corrupt or under Crane’s influence.
The first thing he noticed as he prowled the hallways was the odd sort of quiet which hung heavily over his shoulders, like a second cape. Normally, the inmates here were loud, chaotic, but as the Bat passed row upon row of cells there was little more than whimpers, groans, low sounds which seemed uncharacteristic and caused a cold trickle of dread to slide down his spine. Crane had something to do with this, he knew. Whatever drugs he used, whatever methods he employed, they were for his own sick satisfaction, his benefit, not the patients’. Shaking off his growing anger and disgust, the Bat continued onward, his goal being Crane’s office. Surely, the antidote would be there, even if the man himself was not.
Outside the office was a nurse, young and not-yet jaded, though she began to tremble at the sight of the avenging shadow cutting a path towards her. All of Gotham knew Batman on sight, and she backed up against the door once his approach became too close for comfort, babbling on about how she was supposed to send a message, from Dr. Crane, before letting him pass.
The Bat stopped, tilted his head to the side, and regarded her with a cool stare. “Yes?”
She swallowed, hunched over protectively into herself, and took a shaky step to the side. One, then another, and another. “R-Remember your deal,” she stammered. “He l-left you a reminder with the antidote.”
She moved aside quickly, and the Bat heard her retreating footsteps as he pushed open the door, steeling himself for the worst. The first thing he saw was a small black box, the Bat symbol on the front indicating what it held. He approached, opened the lid, and regarded the antidote with a visible sense of relief. It all took a few seconds, the process, and then he noticed what else the room held, just as a sense of unease began to settle upon him. The unconscious body slumped against the wall between him and the desk was achingly familiar, and he sucked in a sharp breath before approaching, dropping into a crouch in front of the unmoving form as he searched for a pulse with one hand.
“Jason?” The Bat couldn’t understand how, or why, he was here. It made no sense--how would Crane have ever managed to get his hands on him?--but then he thought of the unnamed other party, the one attempting to deal with Crane as well, and his heart sank.
Jason was still wearing his uniform, but his helmet was halfway across the room, rolled partway beneath the desk. Thus, when one eye cracked open, it was visible underneath the spray of shaggy, unwashed brown hair scattered over his eyes. He looked up at the Bat and shut his eyes again, groaning. Nope, nope, waking up with a pounding headache had definitely not been part of the plan. He was supposed to be gone with the antidote before Bruce had a chance to show up, not passed out on the floor.
Everything leading up to coming to the asylum was fairly clear in his mind, but what had transpired after was something of a blur. He’d talked to Crane, he’d...what had he agreed to? Oh, fuck, that was it. The injection. It had knocked him out cold, but Crane had refused to tell him what, if anything, it might do in the long run, just that it was the price of the antidote, if he wanted it.
Jason levered himself up against the wall, setting his jaw against his body’s protests at the move. The room was still spinning a little, but that would hopefully pass soon. His muscles were stiff and aching, but he wasn’t going to show weakness now, not with Bruce here. “Crane invite you over for a tea party?” he asked, voice rough from...he didn’t know what. Had he been screaming before he passed out? There was a fuzzy memory of something, something he couldn’t grasp. He was probably better off not remembering, honestly. And aside from the soreness and the gaps in his memory, his mind all felt intact. Crane might have just been trying to scare him, or freak out the Bat - but that was a thin explanation, even to him. Nevermind. It didn’t matter. He’d sort it out when he had to.
The Bat was too controlled to breathe an audible sigh of relief, but when Jason opened one eye and groaned some of the tension left his shoulders, and he let out a quiet exhale of air as his immediate concern began to fade away, though he was still worried. He stood then, unfolding from his crouch, and watched as he used the wall to support himself. Had Jason not been who he was, he would have offered assistance, but the Bat knew he wouldn’t accept it, so his hands remained at his sides.
“Not exactly,” was his response. He paused then, briefly, and angled himself in order to block the box from the other man's line of vision. The antidote was safely stashed away in his belt, out of sight, but the less questions asked, the better. “Why are you here?” He tilted his head to the side and frowned. “Did something happen?”
Jason stretched out an arm and rolled his helmet close enough to pick up. It made him feel a little better once he examined it and made sure it was undamaged. It was just a mask, in the end, but it was his mask. Once upon a time, it had been the Joker's, but like so many other things he intended to take from him, now it was Jason's. "Yeah, something happened," he said. He looked up at Bruce. He could sit for another moment before getting up. That wasn't too much weakness. "I made a bargain with Crane. Saw you were trying to do the same and I figured I better jump in. You never did know how to haggle.” Jason sighed. “He said he'd get me the antidote for Selina, but the bastard made his price of admission for it some injection that knocked me out. Is he even still here? Did he leave it?" It was dawning on him how profoundly stupid this was all going to sound to Bruce, and the lecture he was in for, and he hardened himself to it. Nevermind, he'd get up from the floor now. He wanted to look Bruce squarely in the eye if he was going to get a talking to. He put a hand on the wall and stood, using it for support. His legs tingled with returning circulation, and he rolled the stiffness out of his neck. "I won't even let my feelings get hurt if you tell me you beat the crap out of him before I got the chance."
This was a truth that the Bat was already aware of, even without Jason’s explicit confirmation of his suspicions, but he wanted to hear it nonetheless, to be certain of Crane’s deception. He remained where he was, unmoving, and waited, only glancing down at the helmet briefly before returning his gaze upward. He inhaled sharply when Jason said he’d made a deal with Crane, and he cursed himself for being so foolish, for not pursuing his concerns sooner. He should have asked, should have done more to find out whether or not another bargain had been struck in addition to his own. Anger turned his gaze hard and dark, nearly black behind the cowl, and he vowed that Crane would pay. Their deal was now null and void. He had the second dose, after all, and so in his lies the doctor had only condemned himself. Arkham was, from that moment onward, no longer his, and he would ensure that every living being in the asylum was aware of that. Let him try to return, only to find that he was being hunted as the criminal he truly was. And, if the Bat happened to be there when that occurred, all the worse for him.
“No, he is not here,” the Bat said, after a too-long pause. His voice was sharp, though his anger was not directed at Jason himself. “He left the antidote, but not for you.” He stepped back, giving the other man space, and turned away for a moment in an attempt to corral his frustration. “You jumped in too late, Jason. I had already made a deal with him. I received the first dosage, a temporary one, and I came here for the second, which would be permanent.” He left out the specifics of their arrangement; it hardly mattered now. “Do you have any idea what he might have injected you with? How long ago was it administered?”
Jason gave the Bat the eye when he heard that blistering anger, and it took him a long moment to work out it was for Crane, not for him. There was a real surprise. Bruce caring enough to be angry about this on his behalf didn’t fit into his idea of this Bat. It didn’t mesh. “Yeah, I wasn’t bargaining for me,” he said. He hadn’t expected an antidote. He’d just taken the injection, expecting to just swallow whatever effects came with it as payment for getting Selina back up on her feet. This wasn’t about him, after all. If somebody was going to be crazy, or messed up, it was going to be him. He was far gone enough at this point that it didn’t much matter what happened to him anymore. It mattered if it happened to Bruce, and it mattered if it happened to Selina.
Finally, the Bat got around to being frustrated. Jason knew it was just a matter of time. “I got here around seven,” he said, curtly. “Don’t know what time it is now, but he hit me with it not long after that, and I was out in about a half hour.” Jason flicked the clasp inside the helmet, loosening it, and began to move slowly toward the door. “Well, sorry for trying to do my part.” He would never admit it, that half his motive had been to save Bruce from doing something really stupid, like get himself killed. Because honestly, that was seriously pathetic.
The Bat shook his head, the cowl making it a slow, heavy movement. “The antidote for Selina was never meant for you. Of course Crane wouldn’t give you one for yourself. He made bargains with both of us because we were willing, and as a result he would get twice what he was rightfully owed, while neither of us were the wiser.” Control of Arkham was something he could understand, but injecting Jason... what did he gain from that? Perhaps it had some unknown effect that had yet to manifest itself, and that possibility worried him. “He left you here for me to find. He knew I would come,” he murmured, more to himself than to Jason, and quite frankly, that bothered him as well.
The other man’s curt tone caught his attention, and his gaze was slow as it turned towards him, revealing nothing, though his jaw tensed. “An hour or so, then.” The Bat didn’t like the fact that it had taken half an hour for unconsciousness to settle in either. “I had the situation under control,” he snapped, frustration and concern making for an unfortunate combination. “Crane would have been dealt with once Selina had been injected with both doses of the antidote, Jason. There was no need for you to offer him anything.” For some reason, Jason’s movement towards the door only seemed to infuriate him further, or perhaps it was pure frustration just then, and he moved swiftly to block his path. “Where are you going? Crane could have injected you with anything, perhaps one of his experimental drugs,” he told him. “We need to know what, if anything, it does.”
Jason bristled. “I said, I wasn’t bargaining for me. I didn’t expect him to give me an antidote. That would kind of defeat the purpose of it being a bargain. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed. I didn’t just say yes and assume he’d make it all better like an idiot. I do know Crane.” He seethed with frustration. This Bruce hadn’t even known him growing up, and he was still treating him like a dull-minded, wayward kid.
Being snapped at and cut off did it for Jason. He took a short step toward the Bat, closing the space between them after he had the audacity to block his path. “Well I didn’t know what your plans were, Bruce, because you left me out of the loop. As usual. I’m going home. I don’t care what the injection did. It’s russian roulette, isn’t it? Could be anything, could be nothing. I’m not dead again yet, and if something’s going to happen, it’ll happen. Crane wouldn’t have been so much of an idiot that he would leave you something in my bloodstream you could analyze.” He stared him down, dark eyes burning. “Now, you can get the hell out of my way.”
With Crane absent, the source of the Bat’s anger was out of reach as well, which--in combination with the unresolved tension between himself and Jason--made the situation all the more volatile. “What exactly is it that you were bargaining for, if not an antidote? Empty promises? The word of a madman, perhaps, in exchange for Selina’s safety?” Maybe it was hypocritical of him. No, it was, as he would undoubtedly sacrifice himself for another if such a choice became necessary, but he had always been blind to such inconsistencies, even if he now had people in his life to make him aware of them. “You agreed to let Crane inject an unknown substance into you, with nothing guaranteed in return. While I would prefer not to make deals with men like him, at the very least I recieved what I bargained for.” There was a pause, then, as he realized Jason had never explicitly stated the terms of his deal with Crane. “Was the injection all you offered him, or was there more?” His eyes narrowed behind the cowl, as though he could discern the truth through sight alone.
Backing down was not in his repertoire, and the Bat had an unfortunate tendency to respond to an infringement of his personal space, whether intentional or not, with a straightening of his spine and shoulders that brought him to his full height. The instinct was to intimidate, even if it was unconsciously done and not necessarily willful intent. “You didn’t ask. You never ask, Jason, nor do you show any inclination towards being in the loop, as you put it, despite my efforts.” His expression darkened, and yes, maybe he should have backed down. Maybe he should have stepped aside, let Jason go, and checked in on him once they’d both had a chance to cool down. “Crane was fool enough to break our terms,” he said sharply. “Regardless, there is no way to know if he left something behind unless you let me analyze a sample. Don’t make this difficult. Once I give Selina the final antidote, I can run your tests."
Jason stared back at the Bat. He truly wasn't listening. He didn't hear what a hypocrite he was, as usual - he never did. So Jason said nothing in response to his questions. He had made a second deal with Crane, but that was moot now. He'd agreed only to get into the same room with Crane and secure the antidote. He wasn't quite stupid enough to work for Crane to secure Selina's safety. She was a big girl, and she could take care of herself. Finding a cure for the poison in her veins and fearfully toeing the line for a psychotic just in case of future transgressions were two very different things. He didn't owe the Bat any answers. He wanted to be self-righteous and rub his success in Jason's face? Fine. But he wasn't going to humor him. His eyes were flat as stones, and he said nothing at all for a long moment.
The drawing up didn't impress Jason, nor did it scare him. It just made Jason angrier. It made him want to punch through the Bat like an obstacle in his way. But what made the gall all the more bitter was the fact that he was right about whatever Crane had injected him with. He didn't have the tools to test it, or the knowledge to analyze it, and the nasty voice of his conscience said he had an obligation to let Bruce at least take a sample, lest he turn into a danger like Selina had. "Fine," he said. He slid the helmet back on, and felt immediately better for it. The more separation between them, the better. He was going to need the distance if he was going to keep himself from just out and out brawling with Bruce at this point. "Take your sample. After that, unless you have something to say about it, I don't want to hear from you." His voice, echoing out from behind the red mask, was sharp, cold, and hollow as an echo. He could hardly believe he'd actually been thinking about getting back in with these people a couple weeks ago. Had he really been that naive? Nothing was ever going to change.
The Bat did not like having his questions ignored. His anger was primarily fuelled by concern, but he had no understanding of how to properly portray that, to articulate it into words, and this sharp chastisement was the result. He would always be willing to sacrifice himself in exchange for another life, while being unable to accept that trait in others. The worth of his own life was tied directly to the good of Gotham; he lived to serve his city, to protect it, however that goal could be achieved. He returned Jason’s stare with his own, both mirror images of hard, unflinching stone, and the silence stretched on. The space between them had widened, become more treacherous, and he was beginning to wonder if could be crossed at all. He considered pushing for answers, demanding truth, but in the end decided that he could simply attain them on his own. Time was ticking, after all, and he needed to give Selina the antidote before she became too suspicious about the slow change in her condition.
He shook his head, a near imperceptible movement which represented as much of a concession as someone like him could manage. Even he could sense that they were treading upon dangerous ground, and the last thing the Bat wanted was for the situation to escalate into a physical altercation. For a moment, despite the fact that Jason’s helmet only served to solidify the distance between them, he thought his agreement to giving a sample might have been some sort of progress. The ultimatum which followed, however, was as cold and swiftly delivered as the fall of a blade, and his jaw tightened in response. If a severing of ties which had never truly existed to begin with was what Jason wanted, then so be it.
“Very well,” he said, his voice flat and emotionless, despite Luke’s quiet protests of no and he doesn’t mean that. “It won’t take long. I only ask that you refrain from mentioning any of this to Selina.” The Bat wasn’t actually asking so much as he was masking an order as a request, and he let the words hang between them for a moment before turning for the door.
Jason nodded, once, curt but agreeing. There was no reason to freak Selina out unnecessarily,. Plus, the idea of her finding out he’d done this for her rankled him. Better she just not find out about it. He didn’t bother sticking close to the Bat on their way out, just picked up his bike from the side alley where he’d hidden it and rode for the cave, making an appearance behind the Batpod so the Bat knew he was following along. Then he sped through the streets, making his way toward the cave as quickly as he knew how, burning internally all the while. As he came close, he seriously considered turning right back around again, before reminding himself that he could do just that as soon as it was over. He fired over the short ledge and through the falls, ducking his head against the weight of the water and turning the bike sharply sideways to stop.
The problem with not telling Selina was obvious, at least to Selina. She was sitting up in the medical bed that had been her home for the past few days, and she was biding her time. She already knew Bruce had lied to her about having Crane, and she already knew that meant he'd lied to her about how he got the antidote. That, combined with the fact that she was feeling worse with every passing minute, meant Selina already knew something was up. Oh, and the problem with not telling her? Was finding any explanation that the kitty cat would believe for why Jaybird and Bruce would be arriving together at the Batcave. Maybe things had gone well with the Joker, and maybe Jaybird hadn't gone homicidal, but there was no way she would believe that they were on a friendly ride together, not these two.
It took some work to sit forward on the medical bed, the muscles in Selina's arms trembling with the effort and the practical (if oversized) grey shirt she wore slipping down to mid-thigh. Alfred had done a good job of getting her to eat, and Tony's visit had confirmed what she already suspected about the antidote, and she just waited for the engines to cut off, instead of expending the effort to be heard above them. "So, boys, which of you is going to tell me the truth, or are you both going to lie to me?" she asked, pale, green eyes nowhere near as bright as they normally were. She looked small and young in the too-big shirt, vulnerable in a way she hated, her black hair falling across her forehead. "Don't make me guess. The kitty cat isn't feeling too well," she added, a purred comment, an afterthought that hid a fairly heavy dosage of truth.
The Bat did not linger in Arkham, as there was no reason to do so. He gave his message to the same nurse who had passed on Crane’s to him, and while she was still shaking and fearful, he left with a fair amount of confidence that the mad doctor would meet resistance, should he return, which he would. He had no doubt of that. But his concerns laid elsewhere for now, and as Jason’s bike appeared through the falls, skidding to a stop on the hard stone of the cave’s floor, the Bat was already there, the Batpod silent and motionless off to one side where the lights were dimmed. As for the man himself, he was still in the Batsuit, though he’d pulled off the cowl and set it aside, as there was no need for pretense here. Both Jason and Selina knew his true identity, after all.
Selina being awake posed a problem, but nothing he could not handle. Bruce did not look at Jason, though he was aware of his presence nonetheless, and he wisely kept the antidote out of sight for the time being. He intended to administer it under the pretense of a sedative, which required the right moment; he still had time. Not much of it, but enough that a few more minutes would hardly make a difference. Obtaining a blood sample from the other man might be trickier, at least without Selina asking questions, but he was certain he could come up with a believable explanation if it came to that. Right then, Bruce’s strategy was to say as little as possible, to remain vague, though he did realize the situation was strange enough to warrant suspicion. It was no secret that he and Jason were not on the best of terms, and he knew her condition had worsened since the first dose of the antidote.
Bruce regarded her for a long moment when she spoke, silent and motionless, before responding. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He was not particularly fond of dishonesty, but he was keeping the truth from her with the best intentions, and should she eventually discover it herself, he would bear the brunt of her anger without question. “Jason and I have something to take care of, and then he’ll be leaving,” he continued, giving a swift glance back to the man in question before moving towards her, a concerned frown furrowing his brow. “You’ll be fine. You just need to rest, that’s all, which you’re not doing right now.”
Jason pulled off the scarlet mask and rested it on the handle of the bike, sliding off after kicking the stand securely into place. He studied Selina, briefly. She didn’t look well. If the deal he’d made with Crane had actually meant anything for her, it would have made him feel better to know he’d been able to get her the help she needed, but he hadn’t been able to manage even that, as Bruce had so helpfully rubbed in. Well, at least she was getting it somehow. He hadn’t realized Bruce had lied to her that there would need to be a second antidote dose, but he picked up on that swiftly, from Bruce’s meaningful look and Selina’s clear lack of knowledge about what was actually happening.
“Got in a fight with Crane,” Jason said. “He got me with something. The Bat’s keen to get a blood sample, so he can test it and make sure I’m not going to start slaughtering townspeople, or turn into Mr. Hyde.” Lying about Crane was easy enough. It was a half lie after all, just in the sense that he’d willingly submitted to the injection. But the tightness in his jaw when he looked at Bruce, there was no faking that, no covering that up. He walked across the floor, closer to Selina, where he knew Bruce had his medical equipment stashed. The faster they did this, the faster he could get out of here.
Selina watched Bruce approach with a look that said she knew he was lying, but she stared a little longer than she needed to, a greedy sweep of green; she seldom saw him without the cowl. In the end, it was Jaybird who got her attention, and her green-gaze swiveled over to him when he spoke. Ah, there it was, something that tasted more like truth on the kitty cat's tongue. "What were you doing around Crane, Jaybird?" she asked, her gaze turning to the Bat when she asked the question. It was like she'd discussed with the baby bird; Crane didn't go looking for fights - he was too much of a coward. And for Crane to have actually managed to put a needle in Jaybird without earning a bullet between the eyes? Well, it meant Crane had caught Jason, or Jason was there willingly. She was still looking right at Bruce, because she knew whatever this lie was, it originated with him. She didn't actually expect an answer, but her gaze said she knew something was going on. The kitty cat wasn't as stupid as all that.
After a few long seconds of holding Bruce's gaze, she looked away. She gave Jason a long look, one that turned thoughtful as the muscles in her forearms trembled as they helped her to remain upright. She gave up that fight a second later, and she scooted back onto the bed, but those intelligent green eyes were still focused on Jason, as if she was trying to figure out the last piece of a complicated puzzle. In the end, she didn't manage it, and she blinked and looked back at Bruce, her tone more serious than before when she spoke. "Who's telling the antihero his babysitter might become homicidal at any minute?" she asked. "If you find something in Jaybird's blood, that is," which they all knew he was going to. Crane hadn't injected Jason for fun - that wasn't his style. She brushed droplets of sweat off her forehead, a sure sign of a fever, and she waited for one of them to either lie, or to fess up to the truth. She could just tell Bruce that Tony had been there to take samples, but she refrained. If the Bat wanted his secrets, then she could keep hers.
There were some who might have caved under Selina’s green gaze and the knowledge held there, but Bruce was not among that number. His own gaze betrayed nothing, a film of cool blankness stretched over guilt and truth, and he remained silent when she asked what Jason was doing around Crane in the first place. The question was directed towards the other man, after all, and so he purposely ignored the fact that she was looking at him all the while. He checked her vitals, ensured the IV keeping her hydrated was secure, and then moved on, rifling through his stash of medical equipment for a syringe, disinfectant for the area to be injected, and other such tools. The sooner he took the blood sample, the sooner he could analyze it, and subsequently find an antidote if necessary. There would be no deals with Crane this time; he had learned his lesson, one he should not have forgotten to begin with.
His anger was cold and taut, visible in the sharp lines of his shoulders, the way his jaw clenched, and an overall air of being wound up tightly enough to snap. He never did snap, though, not where anyone could see, and with the armor still on it was more difficult to discern, since his expression was hardly an open book. What bothered him the most, aside from Crane’s dishonesty, and the fact that they had been injected with an unknown substance, was that both Selina and Jason seemed to believe all he cared about was the danger they posed to society. To say it was not a concern would be a lie, but it was far from his only concern. Still, Bruce realized he should have expected as much. Of course he wasn’t worried about them as individuals-- about what the injections might to do them, about the harm it could cause to them. His movements were too controlled, too calm, even as he turned to face the pair. “Luke will be informed of the risk,” he said. “If I find something, then it will be taken care of. For everything Crane creates, there is an antidote.” He would make one himself if he had to.
The truth, he knew, was bound to come out eventually. All things did. They could have their secrets, but at best they were temporary. Bruce had no intention of delving into the tale now, however; once the second antidote was administered and she had made a full recovery, perhaps. He turned his attention to Jason. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Selina's long stare earned her a hard look back, but Jason couldn't hide his concern. Her limbs were shaking with exhaustion, and she looked like she was getting sick. Whatever Crane had given her, it looked like the effects weren't just psychological. Bruce's coveted antidote sure as hell better work. "I thought I'd take care of him myself, after what he did to you and those kids," Jason said. "He caught me off guard. I won't make the same mistake again." Better to pretend he'd fallen due to stupid misjudgement in a fight than stupid misjudgement of the situation.
Jason hadn't thought about Jack, or the effect all this might have on the people on the other side of the door. They rarely spoke, and even more rarely did Jason consider how his own actions might affect them. He worried about things on his own side, and let Jack do the same for his. It had worked alright so far. This, though, if it could cross over might actually be a problem, and he resisted the urge to scowl at the unconsidered collateral damage. Well, they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. "The babysitter will tell him," Jason said, feigning a lack of concern. And it was true - Jack would undoubtedly tell Luke, and possibly remove himself from the situation at that apartment if there was a real sense of risk.
Jason unzipped his leather jacket, dropping it to the floor and rolling up his sleeve. He was lean and well-muscled - he'd never been as acrobatic as the other Robins, but he made up for it in strength, and anger to push him. "Knock yourself out."
Jason's lie was a good one, and it was better than anything in Bruce's stoic expression. Going after Scarecrow was the kind of thing Jaybird would do, and he wouldn't think about it. Selina didn't believe Crane caught Jason off-guard, but she believed his reason for being around the good doctor. It was easier to focus on that than on Bruce's cold, taut anger, especially with the way her eyes kept losing focus every so often, an indication she was having more and more trouble concentrating. And if there was one thing the kitty cat didn't want to focus on, it was the antihero and the backlash from all this, because the last thing she needed was more reasons not to be allowed back to Gotham. She was thinking about that as Jaybird unzipped his jacket, but her gaze wavered again, unfocused, back to Bruce, who was close enough to touch as he checked the IV fluid and her vitals. She slid one hand to his wrist, fingers closing around it, cool and ill-sweat damp. She only held the grip for a second, vulnerability in the grasp, and then she let go.
She didn't stop watching him, though; she watched Bruce longer than she would have otherwise, if she wasn't having so much trouble keeping things hidden and off her face. After a few seconds, she grabbed the blanket and tugged it up to her throat, the move a vulnerable one that wouldn't happen otherwise, either. "Tony was here," she said, eyes drifting shut. "Took some samples. Talked to the butler." She wasn't asleep, not by a longshot, which was evident in her breathing, which was nothing like the calm inhale-exhale of sleep. Her vitals did nothing but reiterate the fact that time was getting short, which she knew; she was just waiting for someone to tell her what they intended to do about it.
There was a reason Bruce had chosen to remain silent, allowing Jason to respond instead. The best lies were half-truths, after all, and the prospect of the young man impulsively going after Crane and being caught off guard was believable enough. With a man like him, who used toxins and serums to play dirty, the unexpected became the norm. He glanced up briefly, a silent acknowledgement of his words as truth, and only added a few words of his own. “I found him afterward.” There. It didn’t explain Selina’s condition, or the antidote, but she hadn’t come right out and asked about that. Yet.
He did worry about the effect the serum might have on Jack through the door, a feeling shared by Luke, who lingered in the back of his mind, as always, but he didn’t want to get ahead of himself before he even had a chance to test his sample. If action needed to be taken through the door as well, then it would be taken. He did, at least, have faith in the fact that Jack would distance himself from those he cared about if he thought he might pose a threat to any of them. The feel of cold, sweat-damp fingers closing around his wrist came as a surprise, and he paused, looking down at Selina with a strange sort of expression which crossed his features with too much speed to allow it to be studied for any real length of time. Once the hold loosened, he moved away, just catching the pull of the blanket up to her throat out of the corner of his eye.
Selina’s vitals made him impatient to administer the antidote, but he clung to his facade of steady calm and approached Jason instead, gesturing for him to sit on one of the nearby stools, where he could lay his arm out for easier access. Bruce worked with efficient swiftness; he already wore gloves, and from there he wrapped a band around his upper arm, instructed him to make a fist, and inserted the syringe once he’d found the right spot and swiped it with some rubbing alcohol. In the midst of withdrawing blood, the news that Tony Stark had been in his cave was unwelcome, but he gave no outward sign of reaction to the blatant infringement of his property. “I see,” he said gravely, a quick flash of his gaze from the slowly-filling syringe to Selina an indication that he was speaking to her. “I assume he came on your invitation, as I don’t recall giving him permission to be here, and certainly not in my absence.” He was silent for a few moments, until the syringe was filled and he slowly eased the needle out, allowing Jason to apply his own pressure instead of doing so himself. “It wasn’t necessary for him to take samples,” he told her. “There’s nothing he will find that I won’t.”
What Bruce said made sense on the surface, and Selina was starting to be too unfocused to realize none of it explained how he'd come by the antidote in the first place. He lucked out, but chances are that wouldn't last very long. For that moment, she just watched him press the needle to Jaybird's skin, alternating between that and letting her eyes drift closed. If she'd known what was waiting, that another dose of that excruciating antidote needed to be administered, she might have found the strength to run. But her mind didn't lead her down that path, and she just listened to the sounds in the cave. She'd missed that unfathomable look on Bruce's features, too. It seemed the kitty cat was missing a lot just then.
She murmured an agreement to the question about inviting Stark. "We needed a scientist who could synthesize an antidote for the next time this happened, and we both know there's still something in my blood, don't we? My other option was Ivy, and I can't control Ivy. But the driver? He'll do it because of Blondie. He'll make the tin man do it, and we'll be able to have new versions made in the future. Crane isn't going to stop, Bruce." She paused to catch her breath, rolling onto her back and kicking at the blankets that she'd just hiked up moments earlier. "The butler said someone named Fox made you the original antidote. He gave some of that to Tony, so if the butler approves, you have to," she informed him, though she fully expected him to be unhappy about the whole thing.
Her voice softened slightly, picked up something like a grin, one that didn't sound precisely as teasing as it normally did. "Relax, Bat. You aren't a scientist. You can't be everything all at once, and the kitty cat won't hold it against you. Neither will Jaybird." She paused. "What does the sample say?"
Bruce hadn’t forgotten about how painful the last antidote had been, and while he couldn’t explain away a second dosage with those side effects, he was hoping that a sedative would soothe much of the sting, and subsequently ensure that she slept for a couple of hours before he was required to explain himself. By that time, Jason would be gone, since he had no particular desire to deal with the other man’s reaction when he saw how the antidote would affect Selina. Once the sample was extracted, he removed the vial from the syringe and circled around the bed to the opposite side, where the necessary equipment sat, so that his back faced them on an angle, enough for him to still look over his shoulder.
While Tony Stark was everything Bruce Wayne pretended to be, and subsequently everything he viewed with a certain amount of disapproval, he had to admit that the man had the resources and skill to synthesize an antidote, whereas he had primarily relied upon Lucius for similar things. Regardless, he was not particularly fond of being told what he needed, nor was he fond of strangers in his cave while he was elsewhere. “Ivy would be a poor choice,” he agreed. “She’s too unpredictable. I know Crane won’t stop, but next time I would appreciate prior notice before you invite someone down here, Selina,” he said, and while he wasn’t necessarily angry, he wasn’t joking either. He was very territorial. Hearing that Alfred had given Fox’s antidote to Tony came as a surprise, and he frowned, though he assumed he’d simply thought it was best; perhaps it was. “Hm,” was all he said on that matter.
He bristled at the implication that his shortcomings as a scientist would be held against him. “I’m aware of that. Tony’s help will be useful, but there is a reason this cave is not easily accessible, and I don’t want him thinking he has permission to visit whenever he likes.” Bruce, quite simply, didn’t do friends. As for the sample, he shook his head, glancing back at Jason. “It’s too soon to tell. As soon as I have the results, Jason, I’ll contact you. Until then...” He hesitated, recalling the young man’s anger, and the declaration that he wanted no further communication after this. “Be careful.”
Jason let the Bat draw his blood, and listened to Selina half-consciously conversing with him. He didn't know the Stark they were talking about, but from the way he was getting Bruce's hackles up, he had to be some special kind of threat. Bruce Wayne, jealous. Now that was a rare thing.
When it was done, Jason picked up his jacket and shrugged it back on, fully intending to leave without saying anything else to Bruce. The goodbye was on the surprising side, but he nodded to him, curt and terse. He hadn't forgotten the things Bruce had said, the way he'd made him feel worthless and foolish for the thousandth time. There was no reason, none at all, to keep submitting himself to that. He'd been right when he'd realized things would never change.
"Get mended, kitty cat," Jason advised, and slid his helmet on. Then he climbed back on the bike, kicked it free, and rode out of the cave with a noisy burst of speed.
Selina took Bruce's chastisement to mean he didn't like people in his cave, territorial Bat that he was, and nothing more. Therefore, the chastisement was summarily ignored. A scientist they could trust was more important than a little slip, and the old butler hadn't kicked Tony out. That was as good as a blessing, as far as the kitty cat was concerned. "Take his key away," she told him, as if the problem had been the key, not her invitation. She was fairly sure Bruce wouldn't do any such thing, just like she knew Tony could be vital to keeping everyone sane in the coming months. She realized that Bruce knew it too, and so she just watched Jason shrug the jacket back on, eyes drifting shut enough times that she kept thinking she'd fallen asleep. But, no, it wouldn't take that long to slip a jacket on, right?
She groaned, and it had nothing to do with pain, and everything to do with her own annoyance at the confusion that she was having increasing trouble muddling through. Jason got a smile, though, a genuine one. "Be good, Jaybird," she said, watching him go in silence.
A second later, she turned heavy lidded eyes to Bruce. She had a million questions she wanted to ask, mainly about how Jason managed to fall into Crane's clutches, and how Bruce had gotten the antidote in the first place. Confusion or not, she knew there was something she was missing there. But she didn't ask anything at all, she just looked at him for a long time, mainly because she could. The Bat wasn't going to tell her she couldn't, not when she was sick. Oh, and about that. "Quit delaying the inevitable. Tell me what happened, or fix it," she said knowingly. She wasn't sure what had gone wrong, but something had, or she wouldn't be getting worse with every passing minute. It said something about the trust she had in him, that she was willing to wait for him to fill in the blanks, rather than finding her own way to fix whatever was wrong with her.
Bruce said nothing else, and he simply watched in silence as Jason climbed atop his bike and left the cave in a roar of speed and sound. He wondered, not for the first time, how he could be so capable of pushing people away even when it was not his intention to do so. Selina may have had a way with him, but mending that which was broken between the two of them was something he doubted he was ever going to accomplish. No, he would only ever make things worse, not just with Jason, but the others as well. It was inevitable. Perhaps he was simply meant to be alone.
Such thoughts were shaken off for a later time, however, and with Jason gone Bruce turned his attention to Selina. She likely knew as well as he did that he was not going to take away Tony’s key, though Luke jumped at the chance to confront Silver and take it by force if need be. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had it coming, the boy protested, for going after his girlfriend, but Bruce dismissed him with a slight frown. Perhaps Tony would be useful, as long as he refrained from overstepping his boundaries. They were not very alike, the two of them, and while there was potential for a sort of partnership in some things, there was also the potential for tension depending on the circumstances. He sighed when she told him to either fix what was wrong or come clean, and he knew he could delay no longer. Once he administered the antidote, she would know. Not how he obtained it, or how Jason had fallen victim to Crane, but that a second dosage was required; it would be enough.
“I will tell you,” Bruce said, coming to stand at the side of the bed, where he could look down at her properly. “But for now, Selina, I need you to trust me. Close your eyes and try to relax. You will be fine.” Bruce was not the sort of person one went to for reassurance, but in this, he told the truth; she would be fine. All she needed was the antidote.
Selina watched him approach the bed with a knowing expression. She'd notice the way he'd looked after Jaybird and, in normal circumstances, she would have chased that look like a kitten with a ball of yarn, trying to get Bruce to talk about whatever was bothering him. But a combination of ache and foreboding kept her from being able to focus on anything other than whatever he was hiding from her.
She relaxed when he said he would tell her, but the offer was followed by a request to trust him, which didn't actually do anything for her flagging calm. She tried to push herself up on the medical bed, only half succeeding, the muscles in her arms trembling visibly beneath the grey fabric of the shirt. "I trust you, but I don't like going into things with my eyes closed, Bruce." It was an old reaction, one belonging to the little girl she had been, the one who went from hell in a foster home, to hell in a brothel, and who had faced it all with her eyes wide open. "Closing my eyes won't make me feel any better about whatever you're going to do," she said and, as the words left her mouth, she tipped her head. Slow, maybe, but her green eyes focused as she looked up at him. "Is it supposed to make you feel better?" she asked and, for once, she was really panicked that he was going to have to do something permanent, something lethal.
She shook her head, a hard, hard shake, one that wasn't at all sane or normal. No, he wouldn't. He didn't even kill the Joker. He wouldn't kill her, no matter what Crane had injected her with. She might spend the rest of her life in a straightjacket, but he wouldn't kill her, right? She could feel the fear rearing up, surging, even through the fever and weakness, and she managed to sit up enough to grab at the unyielding kevlar that covered his chest. It gave nothing, the hard fabric, and so her fingers closed around his wrist instead. "Do it. Whatever it is. Now. Get it over with." A pause, then a plea, soft and young. "Please, Bruce."
Bruce blinked down at her, honestly surprised by her reaction. His suggestion that she close her eyes was simply meant to ease the burn of the antidote, as he thought it might be dulled by her sleepy state, and he brought a hand to her shoulder when she struggled to sit up. Perhaps he should have chosen his words more carefully. “No, it isn’t,” he told her. Nothing was going to make him feel better about what Crane had done to her, about what he had done to secure the antidotes, and what would come next as a result. Whatever the consequences were, they would be on his hands.
The way she shook her head made him wonder what, exactly, Selina thought he was going to do to her. “I thought it might be easier,” he began, an attempt to explain, but then her hand closed around his wrist and he paused mid-sentence. He was silent throughout her pleas, which likely didn’t help calm her fears of extreme measures, not when it was paired with that empty sort of expression he was so very good at. It only lasted a moment, however, before he flexed the fingers of the wrist she held and gave the flicker of a smile. “Selina. It’s going to be painful for a few moments, nothing more. Closing your eyes was meant to help. You can keep them open, if you prefer.” He did take her words to heart, however, and decided that further stalling was unnecessary. After gingerly sliding his hand free, he slipped the antidote out from his belt and uncapped the syringe, all done out of sight, and when the needle pierced her skin and the vein beneath, it was almost as though he had pulled it out of thin air.
Telling her what was about to happen didn't make it any easier, but it gave her a chance to steel herself for it as best she could. His smile helped more than his words, because he didn't smile often, and the kitty cat almost wondered if it was part of the confusion. She didn't let go of his wrist, even after the needle pierced her skin, and for a second she thought the burn of the antidote would be all there was. She had just started to let go of him - embarrassed that she had shown that vulnerability now, with the beginnings of clarity - when the first wave of pain hit; she doubled over with enough force to shake the entire medical bed. It was excruciating, and she knew that the sound she heard was her own screaming, but she couldn't stop it, couldn't do anything but try to scramble off the bed, as if that would somehow make the agony stop. Her screams ricocheted off the walls like wailing bullets, and tears streamed down her face. She couldn't get off the bed, not with his presence there, and she resorted to curling up in a fetal position, all while grabbing at the kevlar he wore, trying to get to his hands, to anything she could hold onto, not wanting to lose herself in the torture that was screaming through her body.
All-in-all, it took about five minutes, but she was so weak by the time her screams turned into groans that all she could do was slowly unclench her fingers from whatever part of him she'd managed to grab. Her breath was coming in sharp, uneven gasps, but the fever was breaking, and the color was returning to her skin, even if she was too weakened to uncurl herself from the protective position on the bed. The sheets had been kicked away, the bandage at her side was freshly dotted with blood, and the IV had come out of her arm during her thrashing, but none of that mattered. She could barely keep her eyes open, but the world didn't feel like it was hazy anymore, and that alone told her it was going to be alright. She managed, with significant effort, to drag her eyes open once, and she looked over at him, her gaze a knowing green. "I'm fine," she assured him, as if that was more important than how utterly wrecked she felt just then. "Some sleep, and I'll be fine." Which probably went without saying, since the words were already becoming thick with exhaustion. "Not your fault," she added without thinking, fingers reaching for him as she sighed and gave up the battle to keep her eyes open.
Based upon her reaction to the first antidote, Bruce felt that he had an adequate idea of what the second dosage would be like. This time, however, it was worse, and his expression lit up with concern and the briefest flash of something akin to fear when her screams began and she doubled over on the bed. Then, however, he managed to get a hold of himself and became more Bat than Bruce, with his calm efficiency and stoicism which made him thrive under pressure and in times of crisis. He knew there was nothing he could do to ease the pain; the antidote would have to run its course, however long it took, but he could keep her as still as possible until her agony came to an end. Due to her erratic movements, he ended up with one knee on the bed, the other leg straight and supporting his weight, while his hands on her shoulders were strong and sure. He let her grab at him, claw at his kevlar, and never once did he falter. This sort of disconnect, at least on the surface, came all too easily for him.
Five minutes felt more like five hours, five hours of screams, of watching her tears and knowing that Crane had intended it to be like this. His anger was equal to his guilt in those moments, but as her screams faded away to groans and the antidote began to take effect, it became stronger, a cold, steely sort of rage, and Bruce vowed that Crane would pay for what he had done. This time, he would do it right, create a prison in which he could not escape, and ensure the madman was locked away for the remainder of his days. His hold on her shoulders loosened as she calmed, and his gaze swept over the bloodied bandage at her side, and the IV which had been ripped free, but he made no move to rectify either. Not yet. “Yes,” he agreed when she looked at him, though it was entirely for her sake; a kind lie. “You’ll be fine. Rest, Selina.” He could not agree that it wasn’t his fault, because it was. Luke blamed himself as well; Alexander’s obsession with Wren had fed into this, into Crane’s obsession on this side, and neither of them had been able to stop it.
Until now, of course. Crane had gone too far when he’d injected Selina, and going after Jason afterward had only sealed his fate. “Rest,” Bruce repeated, quieter, and he waited until her eyes had closed and she slipped into sleep before hooking the IV back up and focusing his attention on the bloodied bandages and whatever lay beneath.