I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2006-07-26 11:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | bruce wayne, dick grayson, terry mcginnis |
i_crusade Several stories high [Tag: Dick / Open to the Batfamily (currently in Wayne Manor)]
After running into Tim and sending him on his way to Barbara, downstairs, Bruce headed upstairs himself. The knock on Dick's door went unanswered. But there was a rustling...Bruce knocked again, and then opened the door slowly. Carefully. The bedroom was empty. But the window was opened. Papers from the table in the corner had caught in the influx of wind, and were blowing across the room sporadically. That was what he had heard.
The door closed behind him as he walked through Dick's room and stopped at the open window. He listened a few seconds, heard nothing troubling, and then leaned carefully out the window. Checked swiftly for trouble. And found the tip of Dick's boot jutting from the rooftop ledge overhead. This is what came of letting him have a bedroom on the highest floor of the manor, he though to himself. Shedding his suit coat, he ducked out of the window, then followed the boy's path up to the roof. When he pulled himself up onto the roof and sat down nearby, Bruce took the time to stare out over the City.
It was not his home. There were parts of it that looked familiar -- Arkham, for example -- but this place was not Gotham. The thought occurred to him that it might be useless, what he was doing (what they all were doing). What was the point of fighting crime in a place where, by all reckonning, the city itself created the criminals? He scowled, and turned to Dick.
"Plans tonight?"
From: i_flybynight Date: 07/26/2006 13:36:34
Dick had not been avoiding Bruce, not really. Of course, he hadn't been looking for him, either, but there hadn't really been a reason to (other than the small part about them being from different places in their timelines and therefore probably having some things they should discuss). He'd figured they'd end up in the same place at some point, and whenever that time came, well, then they could talk.
No, not avoiding that time at all. In all fairness, Nightwing had been busy. This was, as had been pointed out already, a city that seemed to leak criminals from its drainpipes.
"The usual," he said, and shrugged, the movement a slight twitching of his shoulders. He glanced sideways, and then down at the roof. "You'd think that with the entire Bat clan here, there'd be less for everyone to do."
From: i_crusade Date: 07/26/2006 16:03:02
"Indeed," Bruce agreed, nodding as he turned away from his partner and toward the City again. "Suspicious."
So Bruce was not the only one who had noticed the spike. Barbara had. Dick had. It was more than suspicious. It was downright telling. But what did it tell, specifically? The idea floated in his head, sinuously shifting and settling into possibilities that he analyzed coldly, then dissected and rearranged and analyzed. Time. He needed time.
The thought that their work meant nothing was not a pleasant one. But it was there. Before he could allow himself to think further on it, he interjected through the doubt and anger, "Come to Arkham with me tonight."
From: i_amsofired Date: 07/27/2006 14:19:30
"Arkham?" asked Terry, passing by, his eyes popping open with fear at the mention of the name.
He could maybe take the Joker one-on-one. He'd done it twice, now, and considered himself lucky to have escaped with his life. But in Arkham the Joker had the home field advantage. There was also a good chance he was harboring more dangerous criminals, if he was following Bruce's thinking correctly. A real funhouse ... he figured.
"This is reconnaissance, right? You're not seriously gonna go in there looking for a fight?"
From: i_flybynight Date: 08/01/2006 14:32:44
The Joker had done a lot of damage, not here, specifically, but in the lines of all of their histories. He'd ended Robin's - the first Robin, of course - career, and brought to the surface tensions that neither Dick nor Bruce had wanted to address, with a single shot.
Dick almost smiled. Reconnaissance, in his head, didn't call for three people. Bruce had to have something more in mind than just that - unless he was planning on dragging in a paternal conversation at the same time. That would take slightly more skill.
"I'm up for anything."
From: i_crusade Date: 08/01/2006 14:40:59
Was the rooftop the new meeting place for all his partners? He did not expect less from the acrobat at his side, but had not expected Terry to be up here, too. A twitch of annoyance tugged on the corner of his mouth. He hadn't wanted anyone to go with him but just Dick alone. He trusted Dick. He knew Dick. These others... Barbara listed them as trustworthy, listed them as good. He trusted her judgement. But he had not seen with his own eyes. And going against the Joker meant trusting your companions with your life. For that was exactly what you were about to do.
Bruce smirked once at Dick, something that his partner would recognise as both amusement and approval, then glanced over his shoulder at Terry.
"I wouldn't ask you to fight the Joker," he said obliquely. "Currently, the docks are in an uproar. Crime is rampant." With another exchanged glance to Dick, he added, "I think we can handle the visit to Arkham tonight. But Barbara was looking for assistance downstairs with the rest of the night. Perhaps you could join her."
From: i_amsofired Date: 08/01/2006 14:55:16
Terry was still getting used to Bruce's tendency to specifically ask him *not* to go on assignment. It used to be a fight to even get him in the costume, and now the old man was telling him to stay home.
"What?" he cried, voice breaking into an upper register. "I'm not just gonna sit around and do nothing while you guys are after the Joker! I've fought him before, remember?" He knew at this point that he shouldn't be saying these things, but he couldn't just stop now. "And besides, I'm the one who uses the high-tech suit, 'cause I've trained with it. All you guys have are batarangs and that old-fashioned, wimpy fiber armor."
He looked at both of them, half expecting one to throw a punch.
From: i_flybynight Date: 08/01/2006 15:44:43
Oh, Dick was sorely tempted to, but he'd caught Bruce's glances and was not about to take an opportunity to be a peer (rather than little Robin all over again) and ruin it by acting like a teenager with a point to prove.
He still couldn't help the smile that curled up, even if it didn't have much humor in it. "Oh, and how well do you think you'd do without the fancy suit?" It had taken him a decade of training to get him to this point; he was pretty sure Terry hadn't had (or needed, if his outfit really was All That) that amount of time. "Old-fashioned's worked pretty well."
Dick stood up, stepping back from the edge of the roof. "You'll get your chance, kid."
From: i_crusade Date: 08/01/2006 15:56:41
Following suit, Bruce stood as well and dusted himself off - a cursory slap at the rooftop dirt to which he'd become so accustomed. The kid had spark. Bruce would give him that. And determination. Also a good mark. But he did not yet have Bruce's trust. That would be built only by hard work and time.
Bruce should have Terry's suit dismantled and studied, then replicated. Soon. But now was not the time for that.
"There is plenty of work to be done with Barbara tonight. And at the docks. Because there are so many of us - a new Robin just arrived, if I understand correctly - a widespread, concerted effort is a better plan." This time, Bruce turned his suggestion into a command. "Go see Barbara. She will tell you where you are needed most, tonight. Dick and I will go to Arkham." He paused. His voice lowered. "Alone."
The thread of a previous thought wound itself up in his mind again. Just what amount of good could they do, when the City itself imported villian after villian? And in Gotham, who watched over the citizens there, now? Later. He would consider it later, for now was a time of action. The fate of Gotham would wait. The fate of the City was now at hand.
"Come, Dick."
He started toward the service stairwell on the roof.
From: i_amsofired Date: 08/03/2006 13:47:15
Terry considered baiting Dick further by following Bruce's request with, "yeah. Heel, boy," but thought better of it. Instead, he climbed onto a higher gable and perched, looking out at the City.
"Fine," he said sulkily.
Old Bruce had once told him about Nightwing - how he had learned from the master and gone off to establish himself as a hero in his own right. Why he had come back to take orders from Bruce was beyond him. Terry knew there was much more to learn about being a superhero, but for now the confusing corners of the shape dug into him unpleasantly.