Tim Drake-Wayne (redrobin) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2018-05-03 00:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !complete, !completed gdoc, !log, ~2018 may, ~25 points, ~~tim drake-wayne (redrobin), ~~~~ sara lance (thecanary) |
WHO Tim Drake-Wayne & Sara Lance
WHAT Chatting
WHEN Wednesday afternoon
WHERE Verdant
WARNINGS Discussions of the League but fairly low
STATUS Closed | Complete gdoc
Tim was gearing up to open the arcade in another few months and he had some other things he wanted to discuss with Sara, so it seemed like a decent enough reason to drop in on her at the club before opening. He planned his drop in on a day that Bruce wasn't in, partly because he wanted to get Sara's opinion one on one. The other part of it was that he wanted to get to know Sara a little better without Bruce eavesdropping.
"Hey," he greeted when he walked in. "Mind if I pick your brain on something?" Tim figured there was a fifty-fifty chance she'd tell him to get lost, but it was worth the risk to him. She'd been running Verdant for a while now and she had the experience with the League that she had to live with. He'd just been compartmentalizing it and he'd ended up screwing up his relationship with Cassie as a result. He was curious how Sara managed to make it work with Sam.
***
It wasn’t unusual for people to drop by the club before they were officially open and Sara didn’t mind, which was why she didn’t bother locking the door until business hours started. She was a little surprised to see Tim though. He wasn’t a regular around here and, until he spoke, she was assuming he was looking for Bruce. When she realized that he wanted to talk to her, she was even more surprised.
“Pick away,” she said as she continued to dry the rack of glasses that had just come out of the dishwasher so she could put them away. Sara couldn’t imagine what Tim wanted to ask her about and her curiosity was likely evident in her expression.
***
He didn’t think it was an irregular occurrence to have people stop by based on her reaction, but he wasn’t going to waste her time. “I’m opening up an arcade lounge for the under 21 set and I was wondering if you had any tips seeing as you run a successful business yourself?” he asked as he stepped up to the bar.
“I’ve been learning from Bruce, my Bruce anyway, for the past couple of years, but it never hurts to get an outside perspective.” That was what his professors were always saying, but Tim had gone ahead of the syllabus because he’d gotten bored of the slow pace to his classes.
***
“Hire a good business manager,” Sara said, her curiosity shifting to amusement. “You can’t have Bruce though. He’s mine.”
Running a business was not something Sara would have ever seen herself doing. And if Thea hadn’t started the club all those years ago, Verdant likely wouldn’t exist because it never would have occurred to her to open a nightclub. She started bartending because it was an easy way to make some money.
“But seriously, it’s all about having a good staff. With all the shit that goes on here, Verdant wouldn’t have survived if I didn’t have a solid, reliable staff.” Even when half of them were little kids or plagued with nightmares, there were always enough people around to keep things functioning. And when she had her personal issues, they were invaluable for keeping the club going.
***
“Bruce has done enough for me,” Tim replied. There was no chance that he would ask his mentor, and even less so that Bruce would even say yes. Both Wayne men understood the importance of keeping their word. When she said that he needed reliable staff, he immediately thought of his team and just as quickly found himself unsure that hiring them would be a good idea.
“I suppose Ra’s training will come in handy in ways he likely never thought I’d use them,” Tim pointed out. It was a calculated tidbit, meant to see if she would engage or not. He knew she had a friendship with Nyssa al Ghul, but how deep that tie was, he wasn’t sure.
***
Sara’s eyebrows lifted slightly when Tim mentioned Ra’s. She’d seen his reaction to Nyssa on the network and knew that he was strongly anti-al Ghul. “I went through League training twice,” she said. “It has definitely saved my ass more than once.” She wasn’t proud of the things that she’d done as part of the League, but they were part of her and she wasn’t going to pretend they weren’t.
“Although I think in running this business, it’s been more useful for tossing out drunk idiots than actually being successful.” An under 21 club was something the town definitely needed though. “If there’s anything I can do to help you, let me know,” she offered.
***
"Didn't get enough of it the first time around?" Tim asked with an arched eyebrow. Ra's al Ghul didn't teach the same lessons twice so he was curious about what, exactly, had caused Sara to go through training twice over. "He teaches some fairly brutal lessons. If you got out, why go back?" It seemed like there was a story there and he was curious. Maybe she'd toss him out for asking questions he didn't have any business asking, but there was always a chance she'd answer them.
"Strategy was one of the recurring themes. Staying at least a few steps ahead of my opponent was important, but being able to see the whole board was even more important." Tim had been able to cripple Ra's and the League, but it had taken a lot out of him. He'd had to do things no one should have been able to walk back from. "I'm sure I can repurpose some of that when it comes to the arcade."
***
Her story was complicated since it involved time travel, but Sara didn’t have a problem sharing it. “So, the second time around was technically before the first time,” she said. “I got stranded in the 50s. Which, is not a great place to be stranded when you’re an openly bisexual feminist. So I decided to head to Nanda Parbat and join the League.” It probably wasn’t the best decision she ever made though it seemed like a logical choice at the time.
“Luckily, the crew finally came back to rescue us and got me out again,” she said. And, to be fair, she knew things hadn’t been easy for Ray and Kendra during those two years either. Being black in the 50s was even worse than being bisexual.
***
That actually made sense to him. The League was something she knew she could survive and a place where she’d be treated better so long as she knew how to fight. Tim knew without ever seeing her fight that she could. “The devil you know...” he said with a shrug. He got it.
“I went to them to find Bruce,” Tim admitted. He didn’t talk about that, not to anyone, but he thought Sara might understand the lengths he’d go to protect Bruce. To prove that he’d been right, that Bruce was alive. “It takes a certain kind of person to hold onto themselves after that.” Tim wasn’t so sure he was doing a good job of it.
He flashed her a grin that was as fake as the day was long. “Never thought I’d find someone else who willingly went into that viper nest.”
***
Sara recognized immediately that his grin was fake, though she did understand his reasons for going there. She knew he considered Bruce a father and there wasn’t much she wouldn’t do for her own dad.
“How long before you got here did that happen?” she asked, wondering just how well he was doing at holding on to himself. “And were you successful?” She knew that the Bruce here wasn’t from the same Earth as Tim. There were so many versions of their Earth present in this town that it was kind of crazy. Some of the elements remained the same though.
***
“I was headed back to Gotham when I ended up here,” Tim replied. He’d done a 180 in the blink of an eye. There was a reason he wasn’t sleeping well at night, why he pushed Cassie away, why he was focusing on the arcade instead of getting too close to this Bruce. This Bruce wasn’t his Bruce and that meant his Bruce was still out there somewhere.
“I crippled the League before I left, but Gotham is still at risk and Bruce is still out there somewhere.” So, not very successful, all things considered. Tim shrugged. “I’ve been working through it.” Regardless of whether or not he remembered things when he was returned to his timeline, he would be more prepared. He had to succeed, had to think moves ahead of the most skilled strategists in the world. It forced him to strip away the things that held him back, from personal attachments to the doubt in the back of his mind.
“If I ever get sent home and come back, I’ll let you know.”
***
That seemed like a lot and Sara wondered if Bruce or Diana knew the burdens that Tim was carrying. She wouldn’t tell them, since that wasn’t her place, but she could at least offer an ear. Or distractions. “If there’s anything I can do, all you need to do is ask,” she said. “You want to talk things through? Come up with strategies? Go a couple of rounds? I’m here.”
She was impressed that he managed to cripple the League. That took some serious effort and skills and she had no doubt that he’d succeed in his mission to find Bruce and get him back where he belonged.
***
No one knew about what he'd been through. Sara knew more than anyone else, but maybe it was time to open up to Bruce a bit more, too. He did appreciate the offer and maybe he'd take her up on it. There was one more question he had for her about her time in her world. "Did you ever come across Widower and the Council of Spiders?"
Sara wasn't Dinah, but that wasn't a bad thing. They didn't have the same history together and Tim was beginning to enjoy that fact that she didn't know anything about him other than what he told her. He couldn't even use what he knew about Dinah to predict Sara's reactions because she was different. It was just another reminder that Madison Valley was very different.
***
“No, don’t recognize those names,” Sara said, assuming they were villains that he fought. “So I haven’t run into them yet.” Which didn’t mean she wouldn’t at some point in the future… or past, given that time wasn’t exactly linear for the Legends.
Sara was definitely different from her sister in any universe and she wasn’t even sure if she existed in Tim’s. It seemed like in some versions of their world, Laurel always carried the Canary mantle and she didn’t exist.
***
Tim nodded. "That's probably a good thing," he said, "although you would be able to hold your own against them." They were just very difficult opponents and he hadn't exactly been thrilled to face them on top of all the other crap he'd been dealing with. He gave her a tired kind of smile because that was all he had left in him these days anyway.
"Anyway. Thanks for letting me chat your ear off," he added. It meant a lot considering she had no reason to give him the time of day. "I promise I won't try to steal Bruce away from you."
***
Sara believed she could hold her own against anyone. “Any time,” she said. They may not know each other well, but they were from similar worlds and there weren’t too many people who survived League training. “And if you ever want to go a few rounds, just say the word.” It was nice to spar with well trained people and she was curious about if she could pinpoint any differences in their training.
Now that she knew some of what Tim went through, she’d be keeping a closer eye on him in case he needed some extra support.
***
Tim inclined his head at the offer. “I may just,” he replied. His weapon of choice was the bo staff and if memory served, she favored something similar. He could probably use it sooner rather than later, too.
“Same goes for you,” he added, since that was only fair. Tim believed her when she said if he asked, she’d be there to back him up. That kind of thing was important to him because he also trusted she wouldn’t try to kill him. There were still too many people in Madison who had the ability to kill the people he cared about and he didn’t trust them not to.
***
Killing wasn’t on Sara’s agenda these days.
“You want something to drink?” she offered. They might not be officially open yet, but if he was thirsty, she’d serve him. Even if he wanted booze. She just wouldn’t tell Bruce.
***
Honestly, he really, really did. "Don't think you've got anything strong enough back there to make a difference," Tim replied. "And even if you did, I know it doesn't really help." He'd never been one to run from his problems, but he was getting fairly deft at ignoring them. The irrational jealousy he felt toward the hacker guy who'd woken up with Cassie after the latest round of weirdness, plus toward Jay because he'd asked Cassie out, it wasn't helping things.
"Thank you, though. Maybe some other time."
***
A lot of people knew it didn’t help, but the fact that they didn’t care and still wanted the brief escape from their problems was Sara’s livelihood here.
“Sure thing. Long as Bruce isn’t here,” she said, smirking a little. “Have a good evening, Tim.”
***