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[ Adjusting to life in the past wasn't the hardest part about any of this. For the most part, Terry could live without the automation and the other conveniences future living brought to Neo Gotham. Of course, he had to learn how to work a coffee maker that wasn't voice activated and use a manual elevator and remember to use cash because he was pretty sure if he tried to swipe his cash card, he'd be arrested. But it wasn't all bad. Not ideal, but not bad.

So if anyone asked, he'd be quick to tell them. It wasn't hard living retro. It was hard living with Bruce friggin Wayne. He'd always thought the old man was a hard ass, no question about it. But he also got a break from him. He got to go to his own home and sleep in his own bed and maybe sometimes have a social life if his own little merry band of misfits decided they'd behave long enough he could see the inside of a night club.

He thought - stupidly, foolishly he knows - that maybe a younger version of Bruce would be. He didn't know. Mellow? Chill? Not so tightly wound? But he was none of those things. If anything, he was more intense than ever. He'd spent hours interrogating Terry, vetting his story, confirmed what he could of it, looking at the suit and checking the tech in it. And at the end of it all, he still suspicious.

Terry supposed he should have been grateful Bruce hadn't just kicked his ass and tossed him into Arkham the second he popped into existence and claimed he was Batman from the future. And he was! He was even more grateful when Bruce agreed to help him get back to where he belonged. But that meant sitting tight. And it also meant no more Batman of the Future.

He tried. Terry really did and for a while, he was kind of glad to have the time off. There was time to catch up on sleep. To see movies and hang out with the other Bats, when they had the chance. He learned how to boil water and make tea from Alfred, instead of relying on a electric kettle to do it for him. It was nice seeing Bruce's life when it had people other than himself in it. But after a while? It got old. Really old and he found himself itching to get back out there again. When Bruce said no, it made Terry feel like he was going to lose it. He didn't have to be Batman, but Bruce couldn't keep him locked up in the manor forever.

But that was exactly what Bruce intended and that's how Terry found himself on the doorstep of Dick Grayson, after his latest clash with Bruce. It'd been a particularly nasty one and he just needed a few days to cool off. So he packed his shit (he didn't have much) and left. He's leaning against the frame of the door when it opens. ]

Got room for one more?

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[ Terry never had the opportunity to meet Dick back home. The old man never spoke to him and Dick never stopped by to visit. He's asked why once or twice and was always given the brush off. Same with Tim and Barbara. Everyone talked endlessly about their partnership, but never what ended it. Now that he has met Dick - or at least a version of him - he can see why Bruce liked him so much. It was hard not to like him.

It's why Dick's the first person he thinks of when he leaves the Manor. He didn't really have anywhere to go. His parents were here, technically (he'd even seen Warren from afar once), but that was best left untouched. Dick was the closest option and Terry didn't want to go wandering off . He knew Neo Gotham, but Old Gotham was still a bit of a maze.

He steps in and toes his shoes off so he's not tracking dirt into Dick's space. ]

A little of both. He said if I didn't like the rules, I could leave. I don't think he expected me to really do it. Thanks for letting me in.

You should be thanking me for not immediately selling you out like Tim would.

[ Dick says it lightly though, chuckling a bit. It's true enough, Tim would be the first one to tell Bruce, and where else could the kid go? Jason is... Jason, he'd identify with rebelling against Bruce but he can be prickly about new people. Otherwise he'd be loose on the streets of Gotham, and that's definitely worse, even if he's good there's too much potential for him attracting more attention than he can handle. There are a few big names that Dick doesn't want anywhere near any of this.

While he's getting the coffee going and digging out a mug— ]

You want some coffee?

[ All things considered he thinks that Terry is handling things as well as anybody could. He's not even sure he'd be taking it well if he was thrown back into the past, or to a different future, or anywhere away from home, he'd be stressed and frustrated and worried, probably eventually to the point of getting way too reckless to distract himself. And Terry's here, not out there kicking in doors looking for trouble. Yet. ]

Yeah, thanks for that too. Bruce already wants to slag me. Thanks for not making it worse.

[ That was a risk he was taking running off to someone who probably had more loyalty to the original Batman than to this newcomer who hadn't even proven himself. Mainly because Bruce wouldn't let him, but that wasn't the point. For all they knew? Terry was a liability. Dick didn't have any reason not to tell Bruce he was here.

But Terry's grateful he's not going to. He didn't think he could sit through another lecture. ]

Sure I'll have some.

[ Two mugs then.

He passes one steaming cup over to Terry before turning to dump sugar and cream into his own as he mulls over how to phrase what he's thinking. It's not that he isn't loyal to Bruce, he is, to a fault, but that same loyalty doesn't blind him to Bruce's biases, as much of a force of nature the man is he's not invincible or above reproach. It's why they work so well together, they tend to counter each others' weak spots.

And trust has always been a big ask. ]

It could be worse. If you showed up maybe a decade ago even I couldn't have helped you. [ He chuckles dryly, leaning back against the counter. ] You're a problem he doesn't understand and can't fix yet, it's got him in a bad mood, and it takes him a while to warm up to new people anyway.

[ He doubts that ever changes much, no matter what dimension Bruce is in. ]

You used to doing patrols every night?

[ That, Terry gets. Even with his own Bruce, trust was not something given freely. It took months to build something close to it. It didn't help that their relationship had a rather rocky beginning. Stumbling into the Batcave uninvited, discovering his secret identity, and swiping the suit hadn't exactly endeared the two of them to each other. But it was the start. And starting over had proven a lot more challenging than Terry had imagined it to be. Sometimes, it felt like all that progress they'd made hadn't meant a thing. To this Bruce, Terry supposed it didn't. ]

I get it. I'm not asking to be his best friend. Just for a chance. He did train me.

[ He sips his coffee. ]

Yeah. There's a radio and a vid-link in the cowl. Everything I heard and saw, the old man did too.

[ At least he doesn't have to explain that nothing is ever easy with Bruce. That's got to be another constant no matter which Bruce they're talking about. And he's really suspecting that Terry reminds Bruce a little too much of Jason moreso than the rest of them, which wouldn't make things any easier either. But that's just speculation. ]

He'd be just as suspicious of his older counterpart. That would be kind of funny to watch.

[ Maybe it would be a little too much like Bruce having a dad around though. ]

Right. Do you have the suit with you?

[ It won't be the most popular idea he's ever had, but Terry needs something to do, something important that isn't just basically taking an extended vacation, he understands that, and who else would be better qualified to keep an eye on him? He can (mostly) manage Damian after all, and that's a tall order. Terry seems pretty reasonable, all things considered. ]

[ Terry cracks a smile at that. It's true if the roles were reversed, suspicions would run just as high. That part, he did not miss. Not even a little. ]

Next time I go dimension hopping, I'll bring the old man with me.

[ you know, for the laughs.

Dick's getting his hopes up as he looks at Dick over the lip of his mug. A careful sip and then he's setting it aside and glancing at the bag his suit's tucked away in. It's technically twice stolen property. Bruce's been tinkering with it, trying to understand the tech behind it. Terry swiped it on his way out. He didn't have a choice if he wanted to get the thing back home in one piece. ]

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

I'm thinking that I can either find a way to patch in to your mask or fit it with something that will interface with the tech I've got.

[ Babs will help. Probably.

Dick can tell that Terry's trying to play it cool, act like it's no big deal, and of course he would. Bruce had set down a hard 'no' when it came to letting him go out in the suit, and that tended to be the end of things around here unless it was a really dire situation. This isn't dire, but Dick's still decided that he's going to do this, and handle the responsibility if anything goes sideways. What's the point in turning down help, when it's important to Terry too?

It's not just some side hobby for him, that's pretty clear. ]

You won't stand out that much, and as long as you're not going out alone... [ He's already pouring himself another cup of coffee, and rummaging to see if he has any bagels left. ] You've never worked the city with a partner, have you?

[ Yeah, he's used to Bruce watching, no doubt obsessively keeping tabs on him, it's a little different with someone out there. ]

[ It's something he tried to explain to Bruce when they had their Joker situation. Batman made him feel like a worthwhile human being. It was a chance to help people who were trouble - to pull them out of bad situations. It's a chance to be the kind of person he needed when he was breaking his parents' hearts.

It wasn't a hobby. It was everything. ]

Bruce's been messing with it. He may have saved us some time.

[ It's just a few short strides and Terry's scooping up the bag and finding the cowl hidden in the false bottom. He offers it to Dick so he can look it over. Terry didn't know much about Bruce's tech here. It's familiar enough that he doesn't break anything, but when Bruce benched him, it meant he didn't get to spend a whole lot of time in the Cave either. Not if Bruce wasn't there to supervise. Guess he wanted to make sure he didn't swipe another suit. Joke's on him, to be honest. ]

No. Not unless you count the mutt.

Edited 2025-02-28 06:07 (UTC)

[ It's too bad that he can't call Bruce, he'd be the best one to ask about setting this up, but it's fine, they'll manage just fine. Babs will do it, and she'll keep an eye on the kid too, if just for his sake. And she won't immediately rat them out, though it's not like Bruce won't catch on pretty quick as it is.

Maybe not as quick if he asks Tim not to be an immediate sell-out. ]

That reminds me, you're gonna have to meet Haley when Babs gets back with her. But yeah, it's not the same as having a human partner. Honestly I'm impressed at what you've managed to do when you basically took the 'sink or swim' approach to all of this, most of us started out as the side-kick first and worked our way up.

[ He's holding the mask up and peering through it, assessing, and also wondering a little about how Terry's Bruce back home would feel about all of this. And speaking of... ]

So you really don't know much about why your Bruce doesn't talk to the rest of us? Or why they don't try to talk to him?

[ That's been a tough one to wrap his head around, even if it's not necessarily relevant for their current situation with Terry. ]

[ For how much he complains about Ace, it would be easy to think Terry didn't like dogs. That wasn't the case at all. He loved Ace a lot - the mutt's saved his ass more times than he'd like to admit. They just had a rocky start to the friendship. Haley, he suspects will give him a much nicer reception. So he's looking forward to it. ]

Bruce was already retired by the time I ah acquired the suit. So I had to do some on the job training. Now he makes me run his training sims for at least an hour before patrol.

[ While Dick inspects the mask, Terry continues to sip at his coffee, finishing it up and pouring himself another cup. ]

With Tim, I heard the story back when we had our Joker situation. But with you - or I guess the other Dick? Not a clue. Nobody really wants to talk about it.

[ Dick shakes his head a little, suppressing a frown. They've gone through some rough times, sure, and they still butt heads on plenty of things now, but he can't imagine what could happen that would divide them like that, for so long. Just like he can't grasp what series of events would lead Bruce to a situation where he would find himself depending on a new kid like this— which is nothing against Terry, it just has him questioning everything else about the situation.

If he ever gets to meet anyone else from Terry's Gotham maybe he can figure it out, but until or unless that happens he's just got to put that aside. He might have to try to get their Bruce to talk about this though, after he's done being annoyed at him for taking Terry out with him. ]

I'm sure it's not an easy conversation to have.

[ When are they ever easy? ]

But what about you? What got you into all this?

[ He's heard some of the story, but not from Terry directly. ]

[ Terry’s asked. More than once and Bruce brushed him off every time. He would have reached out to Dick if he knew how. Look him up was about all the direction Barbara had been willing to offer.

There’s a beat of silence after Dick’s question. The circumstances had been fraught at the time. Difficult. He thought it would get easier to think about as time went on, but it still feels like it’s only just happened. ]

An executive at Bruce’s company was into some shady things behind his back. My dad was…murdered by him. I went to Bruce with it but he refused to help and told me to take it to the police.

[ another pause ]

So once I figure out he was Batman, I swiped the suit [ gestures to the cowl ] to solve it myself.

[ It always starts with at least one dead parent, doesn't it? It's hard to imagine how something like that could have gone on to the extent where someone was murdered before Bruce caught on, but it's impossible to know what the circumstances were, let alone the fact that this Bruce isn't the one he knows so well. For as much as they have in common there's still a lot that could be very different.

He's taken the cowl and his coffee with him to the table, pushing aside a stack of old police files so that he has some elbow room, angling himself so that he can still see Terry. He'd have to admit that part of this is easy because he has exactly the right kind of look to fit right in with the rest of them, handsome and broad-shouldered with the dark hair and blue eyes, a shade or two lighter than his own. ]

I'm sorry about your dad. That's how most of us ended up here, but it doesn't really get easier. [ Or safer to be around them. ] Was he just saying that to try to get you to leave it alone?

[ Bruce wouldn't have just brushed it off, would he? Even if his age had caught up with him, and he wasn't physically able to keep up anymore. ]

Or to get me to leave him alone. Before me, it was just him and Ace in the manor. For, like, twenty years.

[ For all the ways Bruce annoyed him, Terry did feel sorry for the old man. He'd pushed everyone away and was spending all of that time alone. He hadn't embraced Terry at first - not that he could be blamed for that. Terry did steal from him. But he really hadn't needed much convincing once Derek Powers was exposed for the murderer he was. As much as Terry liked being here, meeting the others, spending time with them, he knew he had to get back to his own Gotham. If only to keep Bruce from being alone. ]

He was lonely in that house. I think he appreciated the company. He'd ever admit it though.

[ This is really going to drive him crazy. He just doesn't get it, and despite the fact that it shouldn't matter, he already knows of several places where Terry's dimension has diverged from their own, it's hard not to want to get to the bottom of it. To try to help, for one, but also just to understand.

It's definitely not going to happen unless he somehow gets to talk to at least one other person, so he also knows he has to be realistic about it. ]

Yeah, I can see how he would do that.

[ Without anyone around to barge in on his isolation? Without Alfred? Of course he'd be alone. And he wouldn't dream of admitting it was lonely. That he missed anyone.]

A lot of this doesn't make much sense without the context, but I'm gonna do what I can. Not just to get you home, but I'd like to help you help him, if you know what I mean. Whatever happened to them, there has to be a better way to deal with it.

[ Bruce isn't immortal after all. Eventually he would be gone and Terry was going to need his people, and doing it all alone clearly isn't the way. ]

We can talk about that. For now you can help me unravel this smuggling operation and wrap up some rowdy local gangs while we're at it.

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