I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2006-05-06 16:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | bruce wayne, dick grayson, maxine gibbons, terry mcginnis |
i_crusade Fall Out [Open to Dick, Helena, Max, and Terry]
After the mostly-lighthearted banter and casual conversation at dinner, and once Alfred and Babs had distracted Jake and Oy by showing them the 'back yard', Bruce quietly explained the situation to Terry and Max, Dick and Helena.
"I cannot remember you."
The looks were incredulous. He held up a hand to forestall the anger and disbelief he saw there in those pairs of eyes across from him. "I know you. Some of you. Barbara Gordon - though not as she is now. Dick, of course, though..." He shook his head once at Dick. Something was different. Like static discharging between them in wide, vicious arches. Like the promise of blood on the boxing ring floor. "--Though there are some who I have no recollection of. Max, we met before I understand, but I do not recall it. Terry, you live in this place, but I cannot remember when I took you into my confidence. In fact, I remember nothing about what has happened since I arrived in the City, though I understand intimately what the City is -- at least, as well as anyone can -- and feel as if I have been here for some time."
This part was much harder. He did not admit easily to this sort of thing. But if he did not know, if he did not ask them, then danger increased for all of them. What villains lay in wait outside the Wayne Manor, ready to use the information that he did not have? No. He had to ask.
"I need your help. Tell me what I should know."
OOC: Backdated to the dinner
From: i_amsofired Date: 05/06/2006 15:55:26
Terry was honestly astounded at Bruce's plea for help. It took him a moment to convince himself that this wasn't some kind of test.
"I think Barbara can help you out best with what's going on in the city," he began, "but as for me, you hired me on as a personal assistant when you were an old man. Will be. Damn time travel," he muttered to himself. "Anyway, it was kind of an accident, me finding out who you were, and deciding to pick up the torch again. I don't know exactly why you *let* me pick it up, or why you put it down in the first place, but ... as long as I can go out there and do some good, I don't need to know.
"My reason, if you want to know, is absolution. I just want to feel like I've paid back to society what I took when I was younger."
From: i_crusade Date: 05/06/2006 19:30:57
He nodded when Terry mentioned how Barbara could help him - indeed, he had to admit that if it weren't for Barbara, he would have been completely lost. But this was interesting - Terry was some sort of young criminal, and yet had been allowed to take up the mantle of the Caped Crusader? Interesting indeed.
There was something that came through in Terry's voice, though. Something... Bruce narrowed his eyes in thought. Something like purity. While he would not question him openly about his past - not before everyone here - Bruce wanted to know just what it was that Terry had done that made him feel like he needed absolution. It spoke of a soul delicate enough to know right from wrong and to suffer from it. Was it enough for the work they did?
Terry was still alive. Whether by luck or by skill, Bruce couldn't say as of yet. Nevertheless, his initial negative impression of the boy was fading. Perhaps Terry wasn't so bad after all.
"How long have you been doing it?" he asked.
From: i_amsofired Date: 05/08/2006 14:33:51
"A little over a year. I know I still have a lot to work on, but when I was running with a street gang before I became Bat-" He stopped himself.
Bruce was Batman now. The old man he knew wasn't out in the streets wearing the cowl, so he had let Terry use the name. This Bruce was still fighting, so Terry would have to find a different name. He'd thought of a few, but nothing stuck.
"...before I started this gig, I got to know more about the underworld, and learned how to hold my own in a fight."
He began to beam, "I beat up the Joker, you know. Twice."
From: i_crusade Date: 05/08/2006 17:20:06
Bruce was so caught off-guard by the boy's immediate pleasure, that it was a fight to restrain the smile that came. He managed. Somewhat. Maybe.
The glass in front of him was a good mask for the smile. He took a drink, then set it down again.
"Mm," he finally managed. "A good beginning. Are you and Dick well-acquainted?"
Bruce looked over to the man who had come to him as a reedy green boy, much like Terry now. Dick... Though Bruce had a difficult time expressing it, Dick was as much a son to him as anyone would ever be. As anyone could ever be. The thought of family - the always-supressed desire for that type of connection - swiveled those keen blue eyes toward Helena, and turned them troubled. Almost immediately, he looked back to Terry again.
Safer.
From: i_amsofired Date: 05/08/2006 18:20:18
"We've met," Terry replied. He turned to Dick, supressing an impish grin, and asked, "how many times have *you* beat up the Joker?"
He couldn't resist.
From: i_flybynight Date: 05/09/2006 19:24:04
Dick raised an eyebrow, and gave Terry his best 'grown up looking at a kid' expression, even if next to Tim, his own demeanor was like that of a teenager's. It seemed like even as time wore on, Bruce's choice in sidekick-types hadn't changed.
"I've lost count," he replied dryly, which was close enough to the truth for him, and then added with a small, almost smug smile, "Terry had some trouble getting into the Cave."
From: i_crusade Date: 05/09/2006 19:33:31
It was wholly inappropriate for him to laugh. Hell, if he wasn't choking on it, though. The smile did come this time, whether he willed it or no.
"Is that so?" he asked rhetorically. "I trust the issue was remedied?" His mirth was ill-covered.
From: i_amsofired Date: 05/12/2006 13:36:25
Terry dug at the ground with his foot. "Yeah, well, I guess it's a good thing you guys change the codes..." He wracked his brain for a way to change the subject.
"So I hear the District Attorney is one of your old rogues?"
From: i_crusade Date: 05/13/2006 10:09:23
"Yes," Bruce said, sensing the boy's discomfort and willingly moving into a topic that was uncomfortable in its own right. He shifted in his chair. "Yes. Harvey Dent was a... Is. A good friend of mine."
He spared a glance to Robin, wondering if he knew of Harvey Dent and his descent into madness. In his own world, his Robin knew it, and knew it well. Here... Here was rife with uncertainty. It would be right and just to warn those at the table about Harvey. But at the same time, there was something that held him back. Something that begged to give Harvey just one chance more. Could a man change? Defy fate?
In the City, possibilities stretched the horizon until one could rightly fear the bursting of the sky.
And if Harvey was successful.. If he avoided his turn to Two-Face this time around, what else could happen? Those intense blue orbs turned briefly to Helena, and the shudder of longing passed over them for a second. Family. A wife.
It seemed impossible, even under the City sky. But there was hope now, where there was none before. He wasn't sure if he was happy about that...... But it was what it was.
He compromised.
"I would have you watch him carefully," Bruce said, without elaborating. The good thing about being Bruce Wayne was that people rarely questioned him.
Well.
Except Dick.
From: i_assist Date: 05/13/2006 17:01:47
"Babs is," Max piped up. She hadn't been talking, just listening and eating. Mostly because it was a little surreal for her to think that Bruce just didn't remember anything. And, well, she didn't want awkwardness. Which, in a situation like this, was very possible.
At least with this she could speak with some sort of authority, because she did know for sure that Babs was watching the man. It was just fact. Nothing personal. "She told me."
Max turned to Terry then. "You could've asked me for the codes," she said with a smirk. They weren't hard to figure out really, since it was all based on early century technology.
From: i_flybynight Date: 05/14/2006 14:10:17
Dick was of the opinion that if Babs was keeping an eye on Two-Face, Terry didn't need to. It wasn't as if the boy would accomplish any more than she would, after all. This didn't seem quite the thing to mention at the dinner table, though, particularly because the spin that Dick was sure to put on it would make it seem like an insult.
Which it wasn't. At all.
Really.
"If he hasn't tried anything yet, do you still think he needs more surveillance than that?" was a more neutral thing to say.
From: i_crusade Date: 05/14/2006 20:02:49
"Mm," Bruce replied, templing his fingers on the table. If Barbara indeed had her eye on Harvey - and Bruce had no doubt that she did, if Maxine had said - then the involvement of the others would not be as necessary. "Be vigilant. But more surveillance seems superfluous."
Nodding at Dick, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the centerpiece of the table. Harvey Dent. The City was a marvelous place at times, half blessing, half torture. He wondered if there would be redemption for Harvey, after all.