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Tweak says, "Daddy I Want A Golden Moose"

John Blake is angry in his bones. (comingback) wrote in valarlogs,
@ 2012-12-26 15:09:00

Entry tags:

bruce wayne (batman), john blake

WHO: John Blake & Bruce Wayne.
WHAT: Catching Up.
WHEN: Tuesday Night.
WHERE: The Cave.
WARNINGS: Mentions of violence, cursing.

John was early, as per usual. Bruce had been distant over the holidays, and it wasn't like he didn't understand why. If he had to make a guess, his mentor was getting ready, preparing to become the Batman again.

Anything to keep from thinking about that first Christmas without his family.

The shoes still fit wrong. John had been surprised at how much he had to adjust to losing two little toes on his left foot, but the limp was no longer noticeable. Still, standing still he was so much more aware of his feet than normal. Guess it was a new normal. Either way, it bugged him that it bugged him. Two toes couldn't get in the way of... everything.

Death Valley had changed a lot for everyone. And now that he knew where the dreams had led, he had to tell Bruce. So John waited, on eight toes and tenterhooks.

He'd never been very patient.

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notbatty
2012-12-27 12:37 am UTC (link)

Things had been awful for months, and Bruce had been trying to find the way forward. He knew that he was not emotionally healthy, that it was in his nature to brood, but he also couldn't just sit still. Blake was right; events of the recent months had changed things, and Bruce was realizing that there was no such place as 'out of the game.'

Not if you had any conscience at all. Not if you still had more to give.

And so, unsurprisingly, the Batsuit was still in its place in the Cave. Bruce hadn't destroyed it or put it away. The man himself was punctual, but when he arrived it was in the leather riding jacket and helmet of a motorcyclist. He took off the headgear and tucked it under his arm, nodding his hello to Blake.

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	comingback 2012-12-27 12:40 am UTC (link)
	John nodded back, his face the same impassive mask he usually wore. It was handy, really. Didn't much look like one but hid his emotions all the same. The problem had never been that John Blake didn't care, even as a kid. The problem was he'd never admit it. "Bruce." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	notbatty 2012-12-27 01:02 am UTC (link)
	"John," Bruce greeted. He set the helmet down on the nearest surface in a single, decisive motion and then turned to face the other vigilante. "I'm putting on the suit." No explanation, no preamble, just an announcement. 'I'm putting on the suit,' like it was no big deal, like he'd never taken it off or left Blake to handle things on his own. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

comingback
2012-12-27 01:13 am UTC (link)

The briefest relaxing of John's shoulders told Bruce all he needed to know. John was struggling; Los Angeles was too big for one man, let alone all of Orange County. He spent most nights on patrol now, and his body was protesting.

Sure, at 31 it wasn't bad. But by 40 he'd be dead, if he tried to keep this pace up.

"Glad to hear it." The truth is though, John knew as well as Bruce did that neither of them were dealing with the real issue. While he was glad Bruce was suiting up, it was a selfish sort of glad.

"Now?" He wasn't sure if he'd been called here for a patrol, and he obviously had a base of his own.

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notbatty
2012-12-27 01:26 am UTC (link)

"Tonight, but not this instant," Bruce clarified. "You've been wearing the suit. You know more about the situation out there than I, at this moment." Which was as close as Wayne could come to 'and so I want to coordinate.' It was only good planning - coordinating efforts, sharing information and strategy - but getting an admission of weakness out of Batman was like pulling teeth.

"I've been abroad. Business, officially." Unofficially? Training. Testing himself. Again, as close as Bruce could skirt to an explanation for his absence without crossing into 'apology' territory.

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comingback
2012-12-27 01:33 am UTC (link)

John could read between the lines. Unofficially he'd likely been getting ready. It was physically demanding, and taking a few months off would require getting back in shape.

The apology part John didn't bother dealing with. It wasn't his place.

"I do. There's a lot of territory. I was... approached by someone else too. Dick Grayson." He assumed Bruce knew the kid; his mentor seemed pretty sangfroid about the fact everyone had different dreams involving him. But as far as he knew, Nightwing hadn't started patrols yet.

"I had more dreams, too." That part was more difficult.

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notbatty
2012-12-27 02:02 am UTC (link)

Bruce didn't play off the connection, which was a testament to his trust for John. "The name is familiar," he admitted. And, as much as he'd tried to protect Dick's privacy, if the young man was going to wander around revealing his identity to other vigilantes? There was nothing Bruce could do to stop him.

Hey, at least it wasn't the whole of Valarnet.

"He works for me, and in the dreams we were partners before he went his own way."

Because Bruce had broken his trust, but it wasn't the time for that story.

"...what dreams have you had?"

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comingback
2012-12-27 02:14 am UTC (link)

John nodded. "I figured as much. He doesn't factor into mine."

Something shifted in John's expression. He closed himself off, telling the stories. He always did. Like they had happened to someone else, and therefore couldn't really get to him. And even Maria hadn't heard the end of this one yet; her own memories of Mandripoor and the wounds that had shown up on her back took a lot more importance than his own damn memories of Gotham City.

"Bane took over the city. I mean it pretty damn literally; we couldn't get in or out because he had us under a bomb threat." His arms crossed over his chest. "It lasted half a year. The cops were trapped in the tunnels, and those of us on the surface had to hide. Survive, the best we could."

It was implied that he had been one of those above ground.

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notbatty
2012-12-27 02:26 am UTC (link)

"You protected the city." It wasn't a question. If Blake was anything like himself in the dreams, he'd have protected the city. The real question was something else entirely. "...where was I?"

Because, if he were not involved, something truly terrible must have happened. It was one thing to 'retire' when problems could be handled by others. It was another to turn one's back on an entire city that needed your help.

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comingback
2012-12-27 02:45 am UTC (link)

John's posture didn't waver, and if his eyes got a little sad it couldn't be helped.

"We thought you had been killed. Bane got his hands on you." He swallowed nervously. "Kyle didn't know if you'd been killed, but you vanished until the end. Just showed up. Saved my life."

Very directly. He'd woken up from that dream about the gun to his head shaking, still stunned that it had been so close.

"In the end, our plan to disarm the bomb failed. You flew it out over the harbor, presumed dead." John had his own suspicions about that. His latest dream had been in the Cave, with a note he hadn't gotten to read. But he was willing to bet it had been written after the Siege.

"And you left me the Cave."

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notbatty
2012-12-27 04:17 pm UTC (link)

Of course he would. Of course he'd leave the Cave to someone capable, someone who'd want (and would wear) the mantle well. Hadn't he tried to do something similar in the real world, when he'd 'retired' to focus on the trial?

"Gotham survived?"

It was a fictional city. Bruce didn't know why he was so worried about its fate - it wasn't really his home, and it didn't exist to be protected. He ought to have been more worried about California, but the truth was that he felt a tie to that awful, imaginary place. He cared about what happened to Gotham and its people.

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comingback
2012-12-28 12:11 am UTC (link)

John understood. Gotham was his city too, deep down. Not Brooklyn, not Irvine, a fictional, messed up city that he apparently rose to be its protector after the man in front of him gave everything.

He nodded.

"Gotham survived, because of the Batman. And everyone knew it."

What else he remembered from that dream, John didn't go into. The crushing down that settled on his shoulders as the platform rose. As he realized what Bruce intended for him to do. The funny thing was how the doubt had crossed over here, to the waking world. Up until now he never had thought he'd have an issue.

But now it was. Like he said. Funny.

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notbatty
2012-12-28 01:21 am UTC (link)

"Are you alright?" Months ago, when they were just starting out, it would have been a wary test. Was Blake strong enough? Could Bruce trust him? Now it was something else entirely - real concern, without the edge of judgment. Bruce felt responsible for John. He wasn't one for touchy-feely moments, but he could do emotion.

He waited for the response, his eyes alert.

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comingback
2012-12-28 01:28 am UTC (link)

It would be easy to lie. To act like it was all right, like he wasn't worried. But he didn't want to. John didn't think he was cut out for being alone, any more than Bruce had been operating solo in Gotham. He had Alfred, Fox, even Gordon, unknowingly.

"Honestly? I think so. But it's a lot of territory. I'll burn out at this pace, and I know it. I'm not glad for the reasons behind it, but I am glad you're putting the suit back on. I know it's selfish, but I need you out there."

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notbatty
2012-12-28 01:59 am UTC (link)

"In the dreams, I have a team. Two of them, in fact - one in Gotham, and one I support when I'm not in Gotham. It's too big for any one person. I don't like that, but--"

But it was true. Bruce might wish he could do it alone, if only to protect the other people who'd take up the fight beside him, but he needed them. Needed their help. He didn't say anything about being part of a team in Orange County, but he assumed that it was understood.

"If you're ready, I'm going out to patrol. I've been gone for too long."

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	comingback 2012-12-28 02:18 am UTC (link)
	John's shoulders relaxed slightly. He wasn't alone. That made things a lot easier to deal with. Maybe he could take on the Cowl after all. "I'll head home. Get suited up." He put a hand on Bruce's shoulder, for just a brief moment. "Good having you back, Bruce." (Reply to this) (Parent)