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[ It had been 910 days since Warren McGinnis was murdered in his home. Terry knew because he kept count of the days on calendar hidden in his room. His mom had found it once, questioned him about it. Wanted him to go to therapy. Terry refused and assured her he was okay. Promised her he would get rid of the thing. Instead, he just hid it better.

It had been 903 days since he met Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Terry remembers the first time he saw him, cutting an imposing figure among the guests at Warren's funeral, while he spoke quietly with Mary. They were divorced, amicably, but still very much Not Together. And while Mary appreciated Bruce's generosity, she gently turned down his offers to continuing cutting Warren's check. To help ease the burden. No, Terry remembers her saying, They would be okay.

But they weren't okay. Not even a little.

It was hard adjusting to life with Mary again. And he tried. He really tried. But there were times when she nitpicked a little too much or was a little too harsh and Terry wanted to scream at her. Because he was angry, so very angry and it had nowhere to go. So it stayed bottled up, coiled up tight in his chest and it felt like it would explode at any minute. Instead, he packed a bag and slipped out his bedroom window.

He met Batman that night and that changed his world. Tilted it upright when Warren's murder had so violently tipped it sideways.

Bruce had given him an outlet. Something to focus all of that pain and grief and rage on. And he agreed to help Terry nail the bastard who shot his father. The solution was an easy one, Terry had been home that night, had heard it all. He knew the voice - would always remember it. All he needed was a name.

When he had it, he gave it to Bruce right away. And what did he do with it? From Terry's perspective, nothing. Not a damned thing. And maybe that made him a little bit resentful. Resentful enough that he decided to do something about himself.

It's not the first time he's turned off the tracker in his suit. Just the longest. The radio in his ear cackles to life and he can hear Bruce. Robin, your signal is lost. Status?

Must be out of range, he says. And that's not technically a lie. He should be in the Bowery. That's where Bruce told him to be. But tonight, he's perched on the rooftop across from one of the most expensive restaurants in town. Through the windows, he can see him. Derek Powers, laughing and sipping expensive wine, like everything is normal. Like he didn't kill Warren 910 days ago. Maybe he didn't remember. Terry would remind him.

He hears the radio again. Robin! ]

I'm here, Batman. I'm okay. I'll catch up with you soon.

[ then he flicks the radio off. ]

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[Jason does his own research, which includes some casual tailing, some general stalking, some easygoing checking around.

Jason isn't an easy man to find but Terry is a Bat, and more than that, he's a Bat who knows the old neighborhood, so when he catches wind of him in a way that is actually respectful, as opposed to how the other Bats come looking for him, which usually involves things like dramatic chases and cornering "innocent" drug dealers, etc, etc.

Anyway.

Getting found is not startling. It's another rooftop, of course, because that's where birds hang out, and both are in costume, because Jason doesn't show his face to almost anyone these days.]

So.

Charlie Bigelow, huh?

[Why not start with that.]

Edited 2025-02-10 23:48 (UTC)

[ Getting a moment alone with the computer in the cave turns out to be a little more difficult than Terry imagines it to be. Bruce is almost always there when Terry is and when he's not, his protocols prevent Terry from venturing into files Bruce doesn't want him seeing. So the data he does manage to collect isn't as thorough as he liked. Just notes that Bruce's been on to Derek for a while, even before Warren's murder. Some info on shady dealings. But nothing about a second assailant. It's limited, but it would have to do.

He's not supposed to be out right now. Bruce benched him after that little stunt he pulled the other night. Said clearly he needed to learn discipline. So he really should be in the cave training. But he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to pass along the info like he said he would to Jason.

Until Jason says that and Terry wishes he hadn't bothered to come out at all. ]

Yeah what about him? I don't hang with him anymore if that's what you're asking.

[ mainly cause 1) he's still locked up and 2) Bruce said he had to cut him off for this Robin thing to work. ]

I figured you're not hanging out with him, he's in prison.

[Jason does his research, but he also doesn't care in the same way Bruce does.]

Calm down. I run a crime empire. I don't care that you used to run with a small-time crook.

[Jason, of all people, doesn't judge this kind of thing. He's more interested in other things.]

You ditched that for the cape?

[The truth is - Jason might know some of the broad strokes but he doesn't have a lot of the nitty gritty details. Is Terry wearing his old colors (Grayson's old colors) just because Bruce told him he would be able to get his father's killer? Something else?]

[ It's not exactly a comfortable topic. Terry would rather not have to think about it. But since Jason asked. ]

Yeah. My parents got divorced and I didn't handle it well. So my mom kinda shipped me off to live with my dad. Didn't help. That's how I met Big Time - Charlie.

[ Made him feel like he was the kid she didn't want, considering she kept Matt. ]

I was a pretty bad kid when I ran with Charlie's old crew. Bruce gave me a chance.

I thought after the second Robin he would have only picked kids up from Bristol.

[He says it with a shrug; it almost stings, to know he was replaced by someone who could have been him. Jason was a good kid, all he wanted to do was love his mom and go to school, and after Bruce picked him up, for a while school and Robin was his whole life. It got complicated when he became a teenager, but-

-but he wasn't supposed to be replaced.

He'll examine that later. He'll blame Bruce for that later.]

Show me what you brought me.

[ He doesn't really have anything to say to that. Bruce never talked much about the second Robin. Terry knew what happened and also knew not to ask too many questions about it.

He offers Jason a data drive, complete with everything he could get his hands on. ]

He's been looking into Derek for a while. Apparently suspects him of some other things. Cooperate espionage, sabotage, that sort of thing. There's something else but couldn't get to it. He doesn't want me to see it, whatever it is.

[Jason will do a full dive on this back at his safe house.]

Keeping shit on the high shelves.

[There are layers of security that it takes time to crack, even for one of the Robins. Jason figures if Terry is being a good boy to get his prize he won’t risk it, not yet.

Maybe later.

He twists his mouth a little, but it’s not displeasure, and Terry can’t see it anyway. He’s thinking, so there’s silence a moment.]

I kept an eye on him. He lives like an executive, so boring as hell. His driver is clean as a whistle, one of my girls approached him and he gave her a twenty and told her to get herself a coffee and a sweater.

[So:]

He doesn’t hire a maid, though. No housekeepers of any kind.

[ He didn't know how much Bruce liked his secrets until Terry had been pulled into his orbit. He didn't know how much he'd hate it until it personally affected him. ]

Maybe he doesn't want a maid dusting his dirty little secrets?

That’s the most logical explanation. A maid is another person whose silence needs to be managed.

[He considers this a moment.]

What do you want the outcome of this to be?

[Kill him? Hand him to Gordon? One is definitely in Jason’s wheelhouse and the other isn’t, not quite.]

[ He had time to think about it. If he's done other things, maybe things worse than murder, Terry couldn't understand why Bruce had let it go on for so long. He's never wanted anyone dead before. Not before any of this. He couldn't even say he wanted the man dead now. Terry just wanted him to pay. ]

I don't think he deserves the chance to do this to anyone else. Putting him in jail isn't going to stop him.

[Jason watches him for a long time, or what feels like a long time.

God.

Bruce doesn't deserve this Robin. He's going to destroy him, like he destroyed Jason, break his heart the same way.]

Okay.

[The word comes out a little tinny, but confident.]

Do you think you could kill him?

[ Killing someone is such a leap from the petty thievery he did while he was with Charlie. And part of him - stupidly, desperately - did not want to fail Bruce. But it was what Derek deserved, that he believed. Because men like Derek never stopped. Jail would only slow him down. If he went at all.

Terry just wasn't sure if he could be the one to do it. ]

I want to. [ he sighs deeply. ] But I don't know if I can.

[He considers that.]

Come on.

[He tips his head a little, over to indicate the side of the building, and he casually takes a run and a grapple. He figures that Terry can keep up; they're going to a safehouse that is more an office than it is a place that Jason's ever slept in his whole life.

Which is to say that when he crawls in through the window, all there is is a laptop and a phone, and some boxes that Jason's been using to sit down at, as well as store some guns.

He looks up when Terry comes in.]

Is it because you're a bat at heart?

[He says it as if he didn't interrupt a conversation with a twenty minute run.]

[ Grappling is easy. He got the hang of that faster than any of the fighting moves Bruce taught him. So keeping up with Jason isn't really that big of an ask. And it gives him space to think about all this.

He slips in after Jason and finds himself a place to sit before he answers Jason's question. ]

That's part of it, yeah. But then I think about. What if Bruce hadn't given me a second chance?

[He doesn't reply right away; he's too busy downloading the data onto his laptop. It's not connected to anything; it doesn't even have that capability, because Jason is paranoid. This might be what it looks like - Terry being honest, and wanting to kill his dad's murderer.

It could also be a trap, and Jason doesn't take chances. That's why he's not going to his actual safehouses. Still.]

He gives multiple chances to people who don't deserve it. Why is this town still buying bottled water? Why does everyone carry gas masks? Why do the kids in Park Row walk in packs if they go anywhere after eight at night?

You want to lump yourself in with shitheads like Derek Powers? You held up some places because you were a stupid kid who needed help. He's a business executive who's never faced a consequence he couldn't money away.

[ Like most kids, Terry had built up a pretty idealized version of Batman in his head, before meeting the man himself. Someone who'd swoop in and solve all your problems, who can save you from anything. The reality is sobering. He knows Bruce is just one man and he couldn't be everywhere at once, even though he tries. So Terry tries to manage his expectations.

He just sort of hoped being Bruce's partner would have given him a little more priority. Especially when he was willing to do the legwork. ]

No. No. I know I don't really compare to Derek. It's just that...[ He doesn't want Bruce to see him differently? ] How am I any different from him if I kill him?

[Bats. Bats.]

Do you want to kill him because he hurt you, or do you want to kill him because you don't anyone else to deal with what you went through? Because you think he'll hurt someone else?

[He rubs the top of his helmet. But.]

What do you really know about me?

[ It's better to say both. And on some level it is how Terry feels. But it's more honest to say he's selfish. That Derek made this personal and he needs to pay for it. ]

Not much. I got the cliffsnotes version. But nobody wants to talk about the details.

[ He asked Bruce once. Never plans to ask again. ]

[He shakes his head.]

I'm not a murder machine. If that's what they told you, they're grossly misrepresenting what I do.

[Jason, you did stuff a number of heads into a duffel bag. But the point remains.]

But this is what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to look into this, and if I think this guy is actually someone who needs to be taken off the streets, I'll let you know.

[But:]

You're going to have to make the call. At the end.

[ Terry's aware he's not really supposed to be here with Jason. He knows if Bruce finds out, he might lose it. But he's not going to pretend he's not feeling pulled in Jay's direction. He's not going to pretend he doesn't relate to Jason in a way he never can with Bruce. He knows Bruce cares.

But right now, it feels like Jason cares a little (or a lot) more. ]

It's more than Bruce is doing.

[ he takes a moment to consider. Then a resolute nod. ]

Alright. I can live with that.

[He takes a moment as he looks through the data, now.]

And while I don't care if you tell B, if you do he's going to lose his shit, so if you want this to work, you can't let him, RR, or Nightwing know that you're hanging out with me.

[He tips his head a little.]

There's a burner phone in that box behind you.

[ He doesn't say anything at first. Just finds the phone and puts it away. He'll have to hide it from Bruce. He's already decided where. It's a minute before he turns around again and when he does, the domino mask is off. So Jason doesn't question his sincerity. He toys with it as he speaks. ]

I know you don't know me or owe me any help, but I just wanted you to know that I appreciate this.

[He looks up, and every single intellectual instinct is telling him that he needs to move. To run. To not trust this kid.

But his gut is smarter than that. He looks at Terry’s face and he opens the front of his helmet. He doesn’t know what Terry knows, but he knows that his face probably isn’t on any documents he can access.

So.

He twists his mouth a little.]

He let me down, too.

[The other Robins didn’t have that. They were loved and supported and Bruce didn’t betray them.]

[ Jason's right. Any file that Terry could see that mentions Red Hood either did not have pictures or were only of him in the helmet. So to see his face now kind of feels like he's being let in on a secret. And he's okay with keeping it from Bruce. ]

I'm not mad at him. [ Frustrated? Sure. Disillusioned? A bit. But not mad. Maybe he should be. ] I want this to matter to him. Guess you know what that feels like.

You should be.

[He says it without any mercy, but without any judgement, either.]

You're supposed to be his. You're not a soldier, you're a kid. And you deserve to have some kind of justice for the person who ruined your life.

[Jason is getting a little heated, but he sounds perfectly even and absolutely in control. Maybe this is just as much not about Terry as it is not about Jason.]

You're supposed to be his, and he's so focused on everyone else-

You should be mad.

perfect!!

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