![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I can locate one for you, unless you'd rather procure one yourself.
( He knows how he is and so can only imagine how the other man is. Still, it's an offer made, like the stick with all the data of this place he's collected over the nearly... year he's been here. Really is coming up to that in a few months.
Again, he takes a look around the place β notices the scarcity of it all and how much it mimics his own living idea. Granted, Wayne Tower came with everything he'd had back in his own Gothamβ well. Almost everything. Alfred hadn't tagged along here. But even so, with all the things littered about the penthouse, so much of his time was spent beneath it in the cave he's made for himself. He wonders what this Bruce's own cave looks like and if it's similar to the one beneath the Manor here. )
Consider it an early birthday present. If you want.
( To which he looks back to the other man, curious about that date and if they share it. )
( He knows how he is and so can only imagine how the other man is. Still, it's an offer made, like the stick with all the data of this place he's collected over the nearly... year he's been here. Really is coming up to that in a few months.
Again, he takes a look around the place β notices the scarcity of it all and how much it mimics his own living idea. Granted, Wayne Tower came with everything he'd had back in his own Gothamβ well. Almost everything. Alfred hadn't tagged along here. But even so, with all the things littered about the penthouse, so much of his time was spent beneath it in the cave he's made for himself. He wonders what this Bruce's own cave looks like and if it's similar to the one beneath the Manor here. )
Consider it an early birthday present. If you want.
( To which he looks back to the other man, curious about that date and if they share it. )
I'll take care of it.
[ Bruce preferred keeping his independence. He wouldn't have others feeling responsible for him. And from the looks of it, this Bruce had his hands full with the other Bats. This one, he wouldn't have to worry himself over.
At the birthday quip, Bruce gets to his feet to put the usb away. He didn't like thinking about his birthday. He couldn't believe it was nearly that time again. 81 years old. ]
Better than the musical.
[ Bruce preferred keeping his independence. He wouldn't have others feeling responsible for him. And from the looks of it, this Bruce had his hands full with the other Bats. This one, he wouldn't have to worry himself over.
At the birthday quip, Bruce gets to his feet to put the usb away. He didn't like thinking about his birthday. He couldn't believe it was nearly that time again. 81 years old. ]
Better than the musical.
( Hm. More or less a confirmation then.
He watches the other man in silence as he moves about β countless things running through his head. It's still difficult to really accept that this is some other version of him, albeit much older and who has had countless years of experience wearing the cape and cowl. He's never encountered anything like this before, here or back in his own Gotham. It has him wonder just how mundane his own Gotham must be to him or even the other bats around. Granted, maybe like him, his own Gotham is in its infancy and there's still a great deal to come. For both it and him. )
Clark was here. For a bit.
( A namedrop he's curious to see the other man's reaction to. )
He watches the other man in silence as he moves about β countless things running through his head. It's still difficult to really accept that this is some other version of him, albeit much older and who has had countless years of experience wearing the cape and cowl. He's never encountered anything like this before, here or back in his own Gotham. It has him wonder just how mundane his own Gotham must be to him or even the other bats around. Granted, maybe like him, his own Gotham is in its infancy and there's still a great deal to come. For both it and him. )
Clark was here. For a bit.
( A namedrop he's curious to see the other man's reaction to. )
[ If he ever gave voice to that thought, Bruce would tell him that there was nothing mundane about Gotham. Especially not at her quietest, as he imagines this Batman's Gotham must be like. She was just biding her time.
There's no visible reaction to the mention of Clark. He hadn't spoken to Clark in years - shocking. ]
Did you have a contingency for him?
There's no visible reaction to the mention of Clark. He hadn't spoken to Clark in years - shocking. ]
Did you have a contingency for him?
Edited 2025-02-16 21:29 (UTC)
No.
( He hadn't had much to work with in making one for him. Gaze dropping, he stares to the floor. Quiet. )
He was young, from what I gathered, yet he recognized Batman, though I was considered young to him.
( Despite his reservations regarding the Kryptonian, they shared that in common: being new and inexperienced to the weight that came with the legacy their other selves carried. The legacy they might eventually come to carry themselves. )
He's been gone for about one hundred and eighty-four days.
( Not that he's been counting or anything. )
( He hadn't had much to work with in making one for him. Gaze dropping, he stares to the floor. Quiet. )
He was young, from what I gathered, yet he recognized Batman, though I was considered young to him.
( Despite his reservations regarding the Kryptonian, they shared that in common: being new and inexperienced to the weight that came with the legacy their other selves carried. The legacy they might eventually come to carry themselves. )
He's been gone for about one hundred and eighty-four days.
( Not that he's been counting or anything. )
Get one. Clark is a good man, but he's a dangerous one.
[ He doesn't scold. Doesn't condemn. Clark is a good man deep down. And before Bruce had closed himself off, he had considered Clark one of his dearest friends. But he's powerful and despite all of that power, in Bruce's experience, he was easily susceptible to mind control and could be turned in an instant.
He doesn't want to tarnish this young man's view of Clark however, so keeps the little tidbit about Justice Lord Superman to himself. ]
[ He doesn't scold. Doesn't condemn. Clark is a good man deep down. And before Bruce had closed himself off, he had considered Clark one of his dearest friends. But he's powerful and despite all of that power, in Bruce's experience, he was easily susceptible to mind control and could be turned in an instant.
He doesn't want to tarnish this young man's view of Clark however, so keeps the little tidbit about Justice Lord Superman to himself. ]
( Lifting his gaze for only a brief moment, he stares back to the floor there. Falls quiet again. To perhaps no one's surprise, he doesn't exactly go out of his way to make friends, but. Clark had begun to be that for him... the first in a very long time. Losing him still hurts every now and then, but Bruce has never been one to handle loss of any kind well. )
There's a Superman here. Though he's not Clark. If he's just as dangerous as Clark is capable of being, might be best to keep an eye on him.
There's a Superman here. Though he's not Clark. If he's just as dangerous as Clark is capable of being, might be best to keep an eye on him.
I've seen him on the network. I don't trust him.
[ Which isn't exactly a shocking revelation. Bruce didn't trust anyone. Not even his own children. It was partly why each one of his relationships broke down. But there was an undercurrent of hostility from this Superman. A flippant attitude that does little to put him at ease. ]
If you have kryptonite, keep it within reach.
[ Which isn't exactly a shocking revelation. Bruce didn't trust anyone. Not even his own children. It was partly why each one of his relationships broke down. But there was an undercurrent of hostility from this Superman. A flippant attitude that does little to put him at ease. ]
If you have kryptonite, keep it within reach.
( Things he would have done differently. Two years into it himself and he doesn't think he has any of those regrets just yet. There are moments he knows Alfred wishes he would do differently β where he would be Bruce Wayne more than The Batman. Where he wasn't filled with such a vengeance so raw and palpable that he takes it out on those he ends up crossing paths with in Gotham's darkest corners. Maybe one day he'll have that regret of putting on the cape and cowl. For now, he sometimes feels it's pointless. That he's not doing enough. That maybe he's only making things worse.
Standing there in silence, he turns some β looks as if he's about to walk away, but. He doesn't. Instead, he stares down to the floor and, despite his back slightly turned, there's an expression there on his face that can almost be felt. One that's filled with a bitter hope. )
Did you find out who killed our parents? ( A beat. ) Did you catch them?
( Do we catch them? Because every criminal he comes across β every one he beats down to the cold, hard cement, he hopes is them. )
Standing there in silence, he turns some β looks as if he's about to walk away, but. He doesn't. Instead, he stares down to the floor and, despite his back slightly turned, there's an expression there on his face that can almost be felt. One that's filled with a bitter hope. )
Did you find out who killed our parents? ( A beat. ) Did you catch them?
( Do we catch them? Because every criminal he comes across β every one he beats down to the cold, hard cement, he hopes is them. )
[ What he doesn't tell this young man is that it's a feeling that persists. That's he's not doing enough. That he's somehow failing to keep the promise he made. It hasn't gone away just because he had to stop. It just lives vicariously through Terry now. He doesn't think it would go away for the man in front of him either. ]
Eventually. He didn't remember me at first. But by the end, I made sure he'd never forget.
Eventually. He didn't remember me at first. But by the end, I made sure he'd never forget.
( The way he turns back to face him is both slow and hopeful somehow at the same time. That to think, some day, he may actually catch the man who'd murdered his mother and father and left him with so much trauma, so much anger, so much pain and misery over the years. At least... this version of himself has. Whether or not he will is still uncertain, much as the events that may or may not happen for him and his Gotham upon his return.
But he stares to him with those blue eyes through the grease paint beneath the cowl and he's left feeling a hundred different things all in the span of a few mere seconds. )
Then there's a possibility.
But he stares to him with those blue eyes through the grease paint beneath the cowl and he's left feeling a hundred different things all in the span of a few mere seconds. )
Then there's a possibility.
It could be either for you. For me? He was just a man with a gun in a dark alley.
[ He wishes he had more to offer. He spent a long time trying to put more meaning behind their deaths than reality permitted. In the end, it wasn't a grand conspiracy, no matter the angle Bruce looked at it from. In the end, it was just human cruelty in its purest form. ]
[ He wishes he had more to offer. He spent a long time trying to put more meaning behind their deaths than reality permitted. In the end, it wasn't a grand conspiracy, no matter the angle Bruce looked at it from. In the end, it was just human cruelty in its purest form. ]
( His gaze drops. All this time he thought there might be a connection and maybe there is for him... or maybe there isn't. Maybe that's simply another thing they have in common to some extent across their Gothams. Across their lives. )
I go out every night... hoping that maybe, this time, it'll be the one.
( That it will be the murderer of his parents he's throwing up against a wall or beating down into the ground. )
I go out every night... hoping that maybe, this time, it'll be the one.
( That it will be the murderer of his parents he's throwing up against a wall or beating down into the ground. )
So did I. When my suit was nothing but a ski mask and dark clothes.
[ No body armor. No gadgets. No cape or cowl. Just a young man with too much and too much anger. When he was still learning how to be Batman. ]
If you catch him? It won't be enough. You won't stop.
[ No body armor. No gadgets. No cape or cowl. Just a young man with too much and too much anger. When he was still learning how to be Batman. ]
If you catch him? It won't be enough. You won't stop.
I canβt stop.
( Words that are soft and tired, yet still hold such conviction behind them. )
Jokerβs in Arkham. Penguin is around. The Riddler is who Iβm dealing with now when itβs not corrupt cops and the mob.
( Another day in Gotham, in other words. )
( Words that are soft and tired, yet still hold such conviction behind them. )
Jokerβs in Arkham. Penguin is around. The Riddler is who Iβm dealing with now when itβs not corrupt cops and the mob.
( Another day in Gotham, in other words. )
[ Bruce gets it. He gets it. ]
You never will.
[ Because there's always a crisis. There's always a fire to put out. Batman is always needed. That's why Bruce finally accepted the need for a new one.
The crisis he's left behind in his own Gotham has Bruce wanting to warn him. To tell him Arkham would never contain the Joker. That his reach his long and he'd use it to warp his life maybe beyond recognition.
He wants to. But he doesn't. He just looks away instead. ]
You never will.
[ Because there's always a crisis. There's always a fire to put out. Batman is always needed. That's why Bruce finally accepted the need for a new one.
The crisis he's left behind in his own Gotham has Bruce wanting to warn him. To tell him Arkham would never contain the Joker. That his reach his long and he'd use it to warp his life maybe beyond recognition.
He wants to. But he doesn't. He just looks away instead. ]
( From the sounds of it, he never will and, despite it only being two years for him now, he canβt ever see himself stopping. All this, everything heβs doingβ¦ itβs his familyβs legacy, isnβt it? Doing what he can to help and protect Gotham. To make a difference. To change things. Thatβs all that matters. Because someone has to. Someone who isnβt corrupt.
Glancing up, he looks over to him and sees the way he looks away. )
What is it?
Glancing up, he looks over to him and sees the way he looks away. )
What is it?
Page 4 of 8