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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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[ Dick's been expecting the whole Terry situation to implode one way or another, it was pretty much inevitable when Bruce is being Bruce and Terry is in a situation that he personally finds intensely relatable. It wasn't that long ago that he was gaining independence and Bruce was deeply disapproving of it, but long enough that he now recognizes where they were both being unreasonable while still having valid points, and though they've both learned from that he can only imagine what Bruce must be feeling when confronted with someone like this new, very young Batman. If absolutely nothing else it represents a complete upheaval of Bruce's plans, and he's never taken well to that.

He doesn't know all the details yet, but he knows enough.

Plus Alfred called him not long after Terry stormed out, no one's surprised that he's taken to the young man and is doing his best to help guide him along, however much time he has here with them. But there's not much he can do to solve the impasse between Terry and Bruce's stubborn refusal to let him help.

Maybe he can. He's at least going to try. ]

Hey, man. Come on in.

[ He's just pulled on a shirt, his hair tousled from where he just rolled out of bed, but he's sharp, they're all too used to waking up ready for anything. But some coffee won't hurt, so he's headed toward the kitchen after closing the door behind them. ]

So did he kick you out or am I helping to cover up a prison break?

[ 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.

[ Dick is not pleased.

It's bad enough that he's been running in circles, basically chasing his own tail, trying to pin these guys down, trying to figure out exactly where these weapons have been getting into town and exactly who's behind it. That's par for the course, one of the endless struggles the city's thrown at him, and he wasn't going to tell Terry that he couldn't help, as if he wasn't good enough to tackle anything worse than the average mugger or attempted bodega robbery. And he couldn't expect Terry not to follow a lead either, even though he did say not to dig into it without backup on hand— it doesn't matter. What matters is that Terry is in one piece, and after Dick gets him out then he'll work on making the most out of this break in the case.

They're probably expecting a full on assault, not just a rescue mission. Dick's going for a more subtle approach that may or may not turn into a full on fight. He doesn't really want to dive into an all-out brawl here and now, leaving this place intact will make it easier to track down to the source later, but it all depends on how hard it is to get Terry out of here. If he's gotta do more than knock out a few strategically placed lookouts? He will.

No obvious alarms have gone off by the time he makes it to the cramped space where Terry's tracker is transmitting. After dropping the two guards at the front, with a slightly louder scuffle than he would have liked, he stops to analyze the door itself, checking for any potential tripwires. ]

You done in there, pal?

[ He'll stay vague, just in case Terry is actually somewhere else. ]

[ Terry could admit this had been reckless.

They'd been tracking these guys for weeks and there had been hardly any movement and after too many nights of listening and doing nothing, Terry had decided it was time to force them into some action. It was reckless. It was rash. Maybe even a little boneheaded. And it had worked. Anything to get the job done is what he would have told Bruce. And for the most part, it worked for him. But there were a few times it decidedly didn't. He'd put this little mishap somewhere in the middle.

He knew where the smuggling operation was operating out of it. But only because they'd chucked him into something he could only describe as a utility closet. It's a trap and they couldn't have broadcasted it any louder, considering they hadn't bothered to even restrain Terry or jam his ability to call for help.

They expected Batman - the real one or whatever. Who they were getting would be less inclined to yell at him for being reckless.

He can hear the scuffle outside and when it's quiet, he steps back from the door, half expecting it to swing open wide. But he hears Dick's voice instead and it's honestly the most beautiful sound in the world. ]

My hero.

[ It's way too soon to be relieved that he's found Terry, that he's in one piece and Dick won't catch hell about this later despite the fact that, all teasing aside, he's not actually a kid and he's not a side-kick on his first day. They still have to get out of this place, and then figure out how to dismantle it, unless they're forced into some kind of direct confrontation and they can't risk letting all of this slip through their fingers. Dick didn't plan for that, and while he's not at all averse to improvising this isn't his first rodeo and he knows it's always better to get some recon under his belt before he tries anything drastic.

If possible. Sometimes it's not.

He did kind of manage to put the other conversation they had tonight, before all of this went downhill, aside, focusing instead on the immediate situation, but he definitely hasn't forgotten about it, and hearing Terry's voice, actually seeing him once he's pried the door open, brings that right back into focus. He's... honestly not completely convinced that it wasn't some kind of misunderstanding, maybe some kind of joke? As unrealistic as that would have been. Occam's razor would suggest otherwise.

First things first— ]

Are you alright?

[ Thankfully, Terry isn't a stranger to Kobra and how they operated. This version seemed to be in its infancy, all things considered so dismantling it might not be the daunting task it is for him back home. It may not be all the same, but there seemed to be enough overlap that they could at least slow them down until they figured out how to bring their operation down for good. Aside from that, he's not doing it alone. Most times he prefers the solo act. Right now? When it's Dick? He doesn't mind the company at all.

He grins as the door is pried open and there's Nightwing standing in the glow of the hallway. Terry's only ever seen the suit in the display case back home. Seeing it in action does make his stomach drop somewhere in the vicinity of his knees. He doesn't mean to stare, but god, he didn't expect it to look this nice on him. If Dick thought their previous conversation was a joke, maybe the way he stares now helps put that theory to rest.

One awkward cough later Terry nods to answer his question. ]

Fine. Roughed me up a little, but nothing I'm not used to. Let's get out of here before more of them show up.

[ Dick does plan on following up on the fact that Terry's dealt with these people before, whatever differences they probably have been dimensions and decades it's hard to believe that it would be a coincidence that they would be here after Terry was dropped into their Gotham. And if nothing else they're causing plenty of trouble with or without intentionally yanking people into the wrong dimension, he doesn't intend to let them dig in here. It's already hard to throw a rock in this town without hitting an assassin, they definitely don't need another entire faction of them setting up shop, whether or not the League would take kindly to it. Bad guys fighting bad guys sounds good in theory, it always turns out messy, and gets a lot of innocent people hurt in the crossfire.

It's... a good thing that Terry has his own version of the suit. They all evolve over the years, some more drastically than others, so it makes sense, though it's still hard to imagine Bruce wearing it. In any case Terry's made it his own, it reminds Dick more of Jason than anything else, which makes this less awkward than it would have been if he kept glancing and thinking that it was Bruce at the corner of his eye.

But no, it's definitely Terry under that mask, staring, though not in a way that makes him uncomfortable. It feels complicated, yeah, but he doesn't not like it.

Maybe he likes it more than he should. ]

Right, and I'd rather not spook them into clearing out and relocating.

[ Back out the way he got in then, through the narrowest, dustiest corridors and access panels that he could navigate without getting himself cornered into some dead end. He could call back up if he needed to, but he'd get teased relentlessly for that kind of rookie move. ]

How did they get the drop on you anyway?

[ Kobra and the League of Assassins will clash eventually. In Terry's Gotham, the League had lost much of its influence as Ra's' body had deteriorated and he took over Talia's. So Kobra was essentially an unchallenged presence, outside of Batman of course. They won't find that to be the case here. League aside, there were far more Bats here than in the Gotham they'd come from. They weren't going to have an easy time with whatever they were planning on either side of the coin.

He's grateful Dick doesn't say anything about his staring. It's embarrassing enough to do it while they're out in the field. He'd really rather they didn't talk about it just then. Maybe later when they were back in Dick's apartment. He keeps up with Dick easily enough, the way he moves hallmarks of Bruce's training. He knew Dick's question was coming. You didn't have to be a detective to figure that out. So he's not thrown by it at all. ]

They had a laptop they were hovering over and I assumed it had information on it. Wanted to get a look at it myself. One of the goons wasn't as knocked out as I thought.

[ Beaned him right in the back of the head. He still doesn't know what they hit him with, but he did remember waking up with a massive headache. ]

Still got the intel though.

[ It's a little challenging to carry on a conversation while they're prying themselves through the winding path that Dick took to break in, especially since he's particularly talented at exactly this kind of thing strong and flexible and almost unnaturally good at knowing exactly where the best handholds are, and exactly how to balance his weight to land both silently and steadily. It would have been a challenge to try to navigate someone else through it, but Terry's right behind him and watching his every move, so it works. He's not intentionally showing off, just... doing his usual thing. Which does tend to be pretty indistinct from a performance at times, admittedly. He can't help it.

He's not going at a break-neck pace though, especially not now that he knows Terry's taken a good solid hit of some kind, for all he knows he could have been drugged with something too, it's hard to say what they would do to keep a Bat down for the count. God knows he's had plenty of experience with concussions himself, it's probably a miracle that his brain still seems to be in fairly good condition after how many times it's been severely rattled. ]

We can go over that back at my place.

[ He won't really breathe a sigh of relief until they're back out in the cool night air, and even then it's still cautious. They'll have to make sure that they're not being followed, which is a definite likelihood if their escape has been noticed. He's absolutely not going to lead anyone to his apartment, though that's almost certainly nowhere near as exciting a locale as they would be wanting. ]

... I didn't distract you, did I?

[ Is he actually worried that he was indirectly responsible for this? No. Mostly no. More so he's wondering if they're even going to talk about that, or if it was... a fluke? Somehow? ]

[ A challenge but not impossible. When it was quiet and safe to do so, Bruce and Terry would have debriefs over the comm line, discuss different angles of the case, argue when they disagreed, or if things were personal? Talk through it. It's different having Dick here with him instead of in his ear, but it's familiar enough that it doesn't throw Terry too badly. He can still keep up. He's not as graceful as Dick in how he moves; he lacks the same finesse and ease and fluidity. But he's clearly not an amateur. He's always taken being Batman seriously and kept up his acrobatic training, even after being totally displaced.

What is a challenge, is not stopping to admire Dick. It's not a performance and they're not in a place for it. Terry's gotta keep the quips to himself.

It helps that Dick isn't going so fast that keeping up is impossible. He can follow Dick's lead and wiggle his way through each tight passage until they're out in the open air again. Terry waits until they've cleared the building before he even begins to offer an answer. ]

No. It wasn't you. [ not in a way that Terry could blame him for anything. He should have stayed focused. He knew better and still got caught out. That would never be Dick's fault. ]

I've just had a lot of time to think about this. About us. I mean if there is an us. [ ahem ] Which way we heading?

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