batfakes | (no subject)

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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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[ Despite all of the pain, Bruce had never thought of taking in any of his boys as a mistake. Each and every one of them had made his worldview a little less narrow. Had made him feel a little bit more alive. Made his tragedy feel a little less bleak. They'd made his life infinitely better in ways he couldn't describe. All of them, including the new one, Terry McGinnis. It had been tragic what happened to Warren and Bruce had thought bringing the kid in would stop him from becoming another statistic. It would give him something to focus on instead of the grief and the anger he felt because justice wasn't moving fast enough.

He was right about it. Being Robin had been good for Terry. It got him away from the juvie bound delinquents he'd been hanging out with. The training helped him stay focused and sharp. It improved his grades and made him a better young man than the one Bruce had found robbing a convenience store with his buddies.

But he was wrong about it too because now Terry was keeping secrets and he thought - foolishly maybe - that Bruce wouldn't notice. But he did, the very first time he turned the tracker off. And when the one in his phone stopped working. Eventually Bruce made the one he carried in his belt tamper proof. He didn't have a reason to turn it off. So what if there were others in the suit? That's when he started leaving it in the closet of his bedroom at his mother's apartment. Like Bruce wouldn't figure that out either. He'd hoped maybe Terry would have been honest enough to talk to him about it, given how long they'd been together at this point. But he hadn't and when Bruce questioned him, he never had an answer.

Taking him on as Robin hadn't been the mistake. Allowing this to go on, however, very much had been.

Derek Powers was dead and Bruce had a feeling Terry knew the hows and the whys of it. He never accused him, but when they found the body Bruce took one look at Terry and knew. He said nothing when Bruce questioned him. Except one thing: I'm not broken up about it.

That's why he's here tonight, in the safehouse Terry's been frequenting lately. When Jason returns to it, he'll find Batman standing in what passes for the kitchen, arms folded. ]

We need to talk.

[Jason wasn’t a fool; he anticipated Bruce coming by eventually. He’s not hard to find on a good day, so he figured it was only a matter of when Bruce got the nerve up.

Still, seeing him in his safe house kitchen is irritating. His food lives in that kitchen.

He still has his hood on, but he slings his coat off so he’s only in his base layer of armor. His guns are still on his body, and he doesn’t seem embarrassed by it.]

My secretary takes my appointments so you’ll have to talk to him.

[Jason tips his head, down just a little.]

You know how it is, when you’re popular.

[ Jason wasn't a fool; He'd know why Bruce is here. Why, out of all of his boys, Jason would be the one he'd approach about a dead Wayne Enterprise executive. He really just wants to know how involved Terry was.

He doesn't want to fight about it. But Jason's not disarming himself. So Bruce's is prepared for the possibility. Or the inevitability. ]

Robin comes here quite frequently. I want to know why.

Sorry old man, did you hit your head? You took Robin away from me when you accused me of killing someone who committed sexual assault.

[Jason, for the record, did not kill Garzonas and he went to the grave saying so, so.

But this isn't about them and they both know it; Jason is just being an ass. He brushes past Bruce to the fridge and pulls out a bottle of an electrolyte water he makes himself and takes a swig. It's nasty but it does the job.]

So you know, shoo, before I call animal control.

I took Robin from you because you were not ready for it. You needed time to grieve and work out your anger.

[ he stops himself from continuing. Bruce didn’t come here to relitigate the past. ]

This isn’t a game, Jason. A man is dead.

Whatever you’ve been doing, how ever you’ve convinced Robin to lie to me, I want it to stop. Is that understood?

[He'll leave their disagreements (and for the record Bruce is Wrong) about Robin behind for now. He takes another drink.]

How I convinced Robin to lie to you?

You think a teenager needs convincing to do that?

[He shakes his head a bit.]

A man is dead. A lot of men are dead, Batman. A lot of men die in this city every day, usually in gruesome and disgusting ways. Robin is lying to you.

All of these sound like you problems.

[ Bruce can see history repeating itself. He sees a lot of Jason in Terry too. It's not hard to spot. Sometimes, he wonders if Terry's some kind of chance to fix the mistakes he made with Jason. It's not a train of thought he entertains for long. ]

Not just any man. A Wayne Enterprises executive. A man Robin believed killed his father. He starts lying to me, he makes a safehouse of yours a frequent stop, and Derek Powers turns up dead. These are all my problems, but you've seemed to inserted yourself into them.

Tell me how else am I supposed to put this puzzle together?

Edited 2025-04-16 12:37 (UTC)

A Wayne Enterprises executive.

[He says it thoughtfully, as if he's trying to piece it together. He knows he's annoying Bruce, but, well.

He doesn't really care.]

Derek Powers.

Did he kill Robin's father?

[ Yes. Derek Powers absolutely killed Warren McGinnis. And if Jason wasn’t insisting on being a little shit, Bruce would have said as much. What neither he nor Terry seemed to understand was that murder wasn’t his only crime. And time was needed for evidence gathering. ]

Stay away from him.

From Derek Powers? Sure. Hard to cozy up to a dead man.

[Pause.]

Most dead men, anyway.

[He moves from one side the kitchen to the other, and opens a drawer. Inside is a big fat file labeled Powers.]

A gift for you.

[ he flicks his gaze down at the file but doesn’t move to take it. ]

You know exactly who I mean, Jason. Robin isn’t a toy or a pawn. If you have a problem with me, then bring it to me. Stop using him.

I don’t give a shit about Robin.

[He cares about Terry; it’s very different.]

Here’s a problem. Derek Powers used your company’s resources to develop a bioengineered virus that he tested on people in my side of town.

[He nods to the file.]

He was in the process of selling that weapon on the black market to terrorists when he hocus pocused a bullet through his skull.

[Jason knows that Bruce is no fool, they both know how he died. So.]

So why, Bruce, have you been sitting on this? How could you not know? How could you let that happen under your goddamned nose?

[Now Jason’s getting angry, and it’s clear even though his voice is still modulated for calm.]

I knew exactly what Derek was up to.

[ he flips open the file and scans the documents to see if there’s anything new to be learned from them ]

But he’s already sold it to someone. Right here in Gotham. I’ve been trying to track it down. Now that Derek is dead, that’s made doing so twice as difficult.

Edited 2025-04-16 15:23 (UTC)

[Shockingly, that doesn't appease Jason at all.]

You knew what he was doing, you knew, and you let it go this far?

[He has photos from that night, from that first time that Terry met up with him and told him what was going on.]

You knew and you let my people get hurt? What, the poor and the wretched don't rank highly enough for you? Didn't he kill your Robin's father?

[Jason's punch is not telegraphed, but he knows it doesn't have to be. He's fast - almost as fast as Dick - but he's also angry. If the punch doesn't land, he doesn't aim again.]

What is wrong with you?

[ not at first. Bruce hadn’t been paying attention to the company like he should have. That much was true. Derek had already ran his experiments before it was even a blip on Bruce’s radar. All he could do was make those people as comfortable as possible and work out an antidote.

Warren’s murder had only been one part of the larger conspiracy. Bruce was piecing it all together before his best lead was taken out of the equation. ]

There is a bio weapon in Gotham.

[ whatever else he was going to say reaches an abrupt end as he takes a moment to block Jason’s swing ]

You wanted to help Terry? Fine. There was someone else with Derek when Warren was murdered. Did you ever figure out who that was?

[He reaches for his file, tries to snatch it.]

You think I’m going to share that with you now?

[Jason is no fool; Bruce fucked this up and he won’t work for him.]

You are so goddamned predictable. If you had handled this even a year ago-

[There is a bioweapon in Gotham.]

This wasn’t just your ball to drop, it was your fucking game to run into the ground.

[ bruce lets him have it; whatever new intel he could have gained from it is recorded so it’s not like he needed the file. ]

I’m not here to fight with you about Derek Powers. But you will stay away from Terry. This is your only warning. I don’t need another you in this city.

[Jason can’t help it; a part of his is and always will be fourteen years old, and that part of him will always think of Bruce as dad. Disappointing fathers is not new for Jason but-

He still feels it just as sharply as a slice through the ribs and right to the heart. I don’t need another you.

Fuck you too.]

Oh, what are you going to do? Arrest me? Waste more time with me? Lock me in the cave to watch me slowly rot? Maybe you can give a few more actual insane people who are killing hundreds a free pass while you deal with me. How is the Joker, anyway? Heard he got out of Arkham again.

[Jason knows that Bruce can’t see his face, but he bares his teeth anyway.]

That’s what you do, isn’t it? You create monsters so you can play the hero but never do anything of real consequence.

Well. Happy to help you mold your newest toy into the same crooked shape as your old one. I’d hate for him to feel left out.

[The pain in Jason’s voice just barely leaks through his modulator, but he’s planting his feet with the certainty violence is heading his way.]

[ Violence seems like the only language they can speak to each other in at this point. Bruce hadn’t wanted things to be like this, all wrong and broken. But it’s the hand he’s been dealt. It’s the one he has to play. If Jason wasn’t going to do this one very simple ask, what other choice did he have? He couldn’t have him turning Terry against him. Bruce couldn’t bear the thought of losing someone else. Without the chance of ever getting him back again. ]

The only person treating Terry like a toy is you. He was grieving and you used him. I will not give you the opportunity to use him again.

[ he doesn’t telegraph his swing either, but he doesn’t have to. Jason already seems to be ready for it. ]

[Jason almost yells you had two years to help him but he doesn’t. Instead he moves enough that the the punch glances off his chest; in a normal person this would be enough to send them flying.

Jason reaches for his fist instead, snake-fast, and tries an aikido move to get Bruce to keep his momentum, to make Bruce stumble at the same time he moves a foot to catch Bruce’s to properly trip him. It’s almost textbook except for the speed and precision; an assassin’s motion.]

Fuck off-

[His hands go to his pockets and he’s going to throw a smoke bomb, the kind that burns the lungs. Jason’s mask can filter it, but Bruce always did have that weakness, if only a a few seconds before he gets his filter on.

A few seconds might as well be a lifetime for them.]

[ He'd spent those two years trying to help Terry work through his grief and his anger. Teaching him how to turn that into something positive so he wouldn't end up in prison. Or worse. That didn't make catching Derek any less a priority. But Terry wasn't going to make rational decisions so long as the pain was controlling him. And while Bruce had put him off the case, clearly it hadn't mattered. Because Derek is dead and this kid now had blood on his hands.

He doesn't expect the fight with Jason to be easy. He'd been well trained. But then so had Bruce. So it's brutal and ugly and you'd be forgiven for forgetting that these two are father and son. When his hand breaks (three of the metacarpals), it takes the power out of his blows, though it doesn't do much to deflate his sense of indignation. He tries to shove Jason away so he can have space to access how badly he's been injured.

He's fought with broken limbs before. He could manage.

He uses his good hand to wipe the blood from his mouth and nose. ]

What is your end goal here?

[ Derek is dead and Terry is being turned against him. What else is there to do now? ]

Edited 2025-04-17 22:48 (UTC)

[Jason isn't bleeding but it's not because Bruce didn't get good hits in. As it is, he's going to have bruises that spread across his torso like a map of the continents. He can feel the tenderness on his nose and he wonders if it's broken.

He touches it gently, curious, and the sharp pain lets him know - yes. Broken. He snaps it back into place.]

God, you have to think that this is about me? I don't have an ulterior motive! I took someone off the streets who you failed to notice. He was right under your goddamned nose!

You think I didn't notice him because I didn't point him at Derek the second he learned how to throw a punch?

[ Bruce exhales, a long quiet hiss. His hand throbs. ]

I met him while he was knocking over a convenience store with his friends. He was the one with the bat that smashed the window. I caught them while he was trying to pry open the safe. His mother was ready to send him to a military school. Did you know any of that, Jason? Before you decided you knew better?

[He snarls.]

Not Terry, you fucking myopic asshole.

Derek. I took Derek off the streets. Derek Powers. Money. Influence. The backing of your last name.

This is on you, man. You're slow, and you're ineffective, and you're about as useful as a beat cop. You had Robin for two years. Were you ever going to do anything about it? About Powers?

Or maybe you thought that if you held back Powers would get rid of another pesky bird who just wanted justice? More dead Robins.

[He's more than happy to throw that in Bruce's face, like a salt water wash on an open wound.]

[ And god does that wound burn. His expression is grim. ]

Don't put this on me. Powers was being handled. I don't care if you don't like how I work. I'm not subject to your whims.

I had Robin for two years and pulled him back from something dark. Until you decided you knew better and threw him right back into it.

That isn't on me.