InsaneJournal

Tweak says, ""The stupid - it burns!""

Terry McGinnis (futurebat) wrote in silverage,
@ 2011-06-01 18:37:00

Entry tags:

!log, cameron, terry mcginnis

Who: Terry McGinnis and Cameron
When: Wednesday, late night/early morning.
Where: A random street in the middle of NYC.
What: Terry arrives from Gotham, batsuit and all.
Rating/Status: PG / Complete!

As he glided through Gotham City's night skies, Terry felt lucky that his suit hadn't sustained much damage during his confrontation with Inque. Every time he thought she would be down - or put away - for good, she always managed to come back. And every time she did, Terry was left bruised, if not worse. He remembered with a cringe how he had once even had the lovely experience of vomiting her all over the batcave. At least she had stayed out of his body this time.

Not that she was defeated. She had escaped from him this time, though he supposed she had technically escaped every time. He really had to work on a quick and easy way of subduing her. Something more effective than water. And ice. And electricity. He'd think about that later. He was exhausted and would only manage to catch a couple of hours of sleep before morning as it was.

Terry was nearly to Wayne Manner when all of a sudden, he was jerked downward. He let out a small, surprised grunt, at which Bruce, through the communicator, called, "Everything okay out there?" Terry didn't have a chance to respond, because immediately thereafter, he hit the ground.

It wasn't his night, that was for sure. With a groan, he pushed himself up and back on his feet, readying himself for Inque or whomever was messing with him this time. It was quiet, dark, but something was off. He looked around. No Inque, but it seemed like he wasn't in Gotham anymore.

"Can you hear me?" he whispered to Bruce. Apparently not. There was no response.

Terry turned around, eying the street. These buildings were not Gotham's buildings. These streets were not Gotham's streets. Something was very wrong. He tried to call the batmobile, but, as expected, nothing happened.

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cameront888
2011-06-02 11:46 am UTC (link)

Cameron nodded when the man told her he hadn't been there long. "I was just passing through myself. I have an apartment almost right in the center of Queens." Irrelevent information that might draw more in return.

"1964" She went to a full passive scan at the man's question. Apparently an unmodified human. Temporal energy residue. Communications and other hardware in the costume - she couldn't do a full analysis without an active scan and he might notice the blue light from her eyes. But the only form of temporal displacement she knew about sent the person but not the clothes. She needed more data before she decided how to react. This person might be an innocent time traveler or some part of her new mission - whatever that might be.

"Did you hit your head when you fell? Do you need medical attention? "I have some first aid training, but I am not a doctor. Do you need help?"

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futurebat
2011-06-02 12:41 pm UTC (link)

1964. So his hunch was correct. He was somehow in the past. And probably not Gotham's past, judging by the street name and Queens. What did he know about 1964? Terry tried to remember something - anything - from history class, but his mind surfaced nothing. He had slept through too many lessons. And 1964 was so long ago. Figures that he'd actually need history, now.

At the offer of medical attention, Terry finally softened and regarded the woman without any suspicion for the first time. As Batman, he was used to being subject to tricks to try to gain his trust, but her offer seemed genuine, kind. He shook his head.

"I'm okay. Thanks," he said. True, he had fallen from fairly high up, but the suit had absorbed much of the impact. And his fight with Inque had left him bruised, but that was the norm and it was nothing that required first aid. Not that he would allow the woman to help if he were hurt, as he wouldn't want to risk his identity being discovered, but it was a kind offer nevertheless.

Terry couldn't remember much about 1964, but surely even back then it wasn't safe for people to just walk around so late at night. Or maybe it was. Terry couldn't be sure, with the gap in his brain that was his history knowledge, but he himself was accustomed to the night being filled with things that people would be better off avoiding. "Is it safe for you to be out so late at night?" he asked. With luck, she'd give him some insight on the climate or at least some inkling as to what he should expect as he tried to find a way back to Gotham.

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cameront888
2011-06-02 02:10 pm UTC (link)

"Are you sure everything is OK? After all, you didn't know what year it is." Is he a voluntary time traveler with indifferent aim? Cameron wondered.

"Sometimes there are bad people out at night," she agreed. "I just don't let them bother me. I haven't been in New York that long, and I want to learn more about the city. My name is Allison Young. I'm from Palmdale, California. What's your name and where are you from?"

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futurebat
2011-06-02 02:47 pm UTC (link)

"I'm sure," Terry replied. Had someone asked him what year it was, back in Gotham, Terry would have been equally concerned.

The way Allison introduced herself surprised Terry, and he took a brief moment to study her before responding. She was so forthcoming with information, despite the fact that he was wearing a "costume" and wandering around asking about the year. It wasn't very safe for her to share her personal information, nor did it seem very safe for her to be unconcerned about dangerous people. But, he thought to himself, maybe that was the way people worked in the 1960s. Maybe they walked around without fear and gave away personal information to anyone. In that case, he was not going to fit in very well.

"I'm Batman," Terry said. He figured that she hadn't heard of him, being as displaced as he was, but just because he was in a new time and place did not mean he was going to slacken his discretion. "I'm from the year 2041."

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cameront888
2011-06-02 03:03 pm UTC (link)

"Batman from 2041? Are you here on some sort of mission?" Must be an alternate timeline, Cameron thought to herself. Perhaps this odd man would know something of why she herself was here. "I don't have a mission, so I'm a dancer with the New York Civic Ballet. What do you do when you don't have a mission?"

She looked the costumed man up and down. "I saw in the newspapers about costumed criminals and vigilantes, a lot of them have unusual names. Are you one of those? Which are you?"

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futurebat
2011-06-02 03:52 pm UTC (link)

"No, I'm here by accident," Terry replied with a small frown. It was entirely possible that it wasn't an accident, and rather the act of a disgruntled enemy, but he certainly had no mission.

So she was familiar with masked heroes. Terry wasn't sure how that made him feel. If criminals and vigilantes were running around this city, then maybe he had been pulled there on purpose. Maybe someone needed help. He wondered if he'd recognize any of the vigilantes in the paper - he'd have to get his hands on a copy. Terry was running through the possibilities when Allison asked him yet another question.

"I'm a hero," Terry replied. Sure, she didn't know that, but the idea that he could be a criminal still offended him a little. Not that he necessarily had a completely clean past. Or maybe because he didn't have a completely clean past. "I catch the bad guys."

As for what he did when he wasn't being Batman - or wasn't on a "mission" as Allison called it - Terry couldn't answer. Maybe if he happened to meet her again out of costume, they could talk about ballet and high school and other such normal topics, but Batman's personal life needed to stay shrouded in mystery, whether it was 1964 or 2041.

But since she was so forthcoming about herself, he asked, "Do you usually have missions?" The way she phrased it made it seem as though she might.

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cameront888
2011-06-02 04:29 pm UTC (link)

"Is it good being a hero?" Cameron asked. "I've never been good at being a hero, so now I'm just a ballerina."

At the Batman's next question, she ran through the recording of John Connon briefing her in 2027. "Never tell a lie if you can possibly avoid it," he had told her. Sooner or later every lie gets found out."

"I've never had a mission before now," Cameron replied - with perfect truth because her earliest mission had been in 1999, starting in 2027, and ending up in 2007 and going on for two years. "But I do wonder why I'm here, is there something I'm supposed to be doing, is dancing all there is?" She let a small frown cross her face. "I think I know what I need to do as the years pass by, but I'm never sure."

"I've never met a costumed vigilante before," she went on. "Is it a fun job? Are you any good at it? If that was your landing a little while ago, that didn't sound too good. Did you think I was a bad guy you needed to catch? Are you planning on attacking me? That wouldn't be a heroic thing."

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futurebat
2011-06-02 05:18 pm UTC (link)

The flurry of words that came from Allison made her seem almost childish - all those questions, one after another, sounded enthusiastically curious, if only as a result of their number. He supposed he couldn't blame her for being so curious. He was beginning to feel that way about her and her odd approach to interaction.

"No, I'm not going to attack you," he replied with a hint of exasperation. Hadn't he just explained he was a hero? Of course he'd never attack her. "And no I didn't think you were a bad guy. Something malfunctioned or grabbed me, or I don't know, I just fell out of the sky from 2041." He certainly did not know which of those was the true reason for his fall. "It's a fine job, yes I am good at it, and let's talk about something else," he rattled off, hoping that his answers would satiate her curiosity enough so that they could focus on the more pressing issue at hand.

"Are you from this time? 1964?" he asked. Maybe she was displaced, too, and that's why she was so strange. Maybe he wasn't the only one.

He was curious, too, about what she meant by never having been good at being a hero. "Did you used to be a hero?" The way she phrased her words was so unusual that Terry had trouble determined what exactly was in between the lines.

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cameront888
2011-06-02 06:42 pm UTC (link)

Cameron smiled again. "Most men would rather they talk and I listen. Is that what you prefer?"

"My driver's licence says I'm 22, so I suppose you could say I am not from this time but am here now."

She shook her head. "I tried being a hero once but it didn't go well. I ended up all bloody and it hurt a lot."

"What would you like to talk about or should we go somewhere else?"

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futurebat
2011-06-02 07:10 pm UTC (link)

At this point, Terry was ready to resign himself to the fact that he wouldn't be getting much out of Allison. Twenty-two, so not from this time, he mentally repeated, resisting the urge to shake his head. Under different circumstances, he would have been able to appreciate the humor in that remark, but he was exhausted and lost in time. Such factors tended to damper one's sense of humor.

And the way she smiled and asked him if he'd rather talk...maybe she was mocking him after all. Whatever, he thought dismissively. I shouldn't just hang around here like this anyway. He needed to find a way back to 2041. Or at least to Gotham.

"I should go," he said, glancing upward and mentally preparing himself for a thorough search of the city. He wasn't sure what exactly he'd be looking for, but he figured something would turn up eventually. "Nice talking to you," he said, mostly because he didn't know how else to end the odd conversation they had.

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	cameront888 2011-06-02 09:23 pm UTC (link)
	"I hope I'm not keeping you from something important," Cameron replied. "It was nice talking with you, too." "If you want to talk again, remember Allison Young, with the Civic Ballet. I'm in the cast of Harlequinade. You probably ought to wear somethind different to the ballet, though. Do try and be more careful with your landings." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

futurebat
2011-06-02 11:12 pm UTC (link)

"Thanks," Terry replied dryly. Better landings. Different outfits. Of course.

Still, he made a mental note of her name and where he'd be able to find her. Depending on how things worked out, it might be good for him to have someone he knew. Or at least could get to know when not wearing the suit. Maybe meeting her without the Batman ensemble would make their next meeting a little less strange.

But if Terry was going to have his way, he'd never have the opportunity to meet her again, because he'd be back in Gotham by morning. He disappeared into the shadow of the buildings before scaling one up to the roof. It was time to find a way back, or at least find whatever was responsible for his arrival in the past.

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