Bruce Wayne (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
master_bruce) wrote2013-05-13 07:36 pm
master_bruce) wrote2013-05-13 07:36 pm
Entry tags:
- oom,
- wayne manor,
- x
OOM: After Robin
Bruce hadn't said much after he escorted Robin off the premises. He just wanted to go and work out. He's mad at the kid, mad at himself. And doesn't want to think about parallel worlds; alternate versions of himself that might be doing all this better.
It's a hard workout. Running, weights, the heavy bag. Weapons, and then sparring. X is a great training partner, and she's got no qualms about beating the crap out of him when he asks it. It's only when he hits the deck for the twentieth time, and finds he can't physically make it back up again, does he hold a hand in the air.
'Think I'm done.'
His mind's more clear than it was. It can only concentrate on the physical pain he's in. He's glad of it.
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She just drops down to crouch next to Bruce, one knee (and hand) within easy reaching distance.
Then she looks over at him.
"We do not have to stop."
You know. If he wants to reach a state of unconsciousness without half-trying.
Or if he is still --
Not okay.
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He stares up at the ceiling, chest rising and falling hard.
'I can't get up.'
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X absorbs that for a moment.
Silently.
"That will be problematic."
Beat.
"Later."
Like when it's time to eat. Or sleep.
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There's little actual evidence to back that up, as his legs feel like jelly and his abs quiver with fatigue when he just thinks about moving. But he'll deal with that when he has his breath back.
'Thanks for the workout.'
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This is the truth.
Then she hesitates for a moment, eventually reaching out to rest her fingertips against his shoulder.
"Sometimes."
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'Thanks for...you know. With the kid, too.'
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It is always true.
"It was unexpected."
Beat.
"And confusing."
Understatement.
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He turns his head away, and stays silent for a long time.
'What do you know about his family?'
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The only reason X does not look more bewildered is because her home universe is Marvel.
"He is younger. Thy do not smell the same."
That is the most convincing part for X. It takes a moment to remember that for other people it is usually different.
"And he does not look the same. Except when he moves."
She pauses again, considering.
"I saw him perform. The younger Dick. With his parents. I did not talk to them."
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He doesn't know how to explain why it feels so weird. Technically, a parallel version of him is a completely different person. But that's the third alternate Bruce he's heard about, and they all share something. The same influence, the business, the money. Batman. The same dead parents.
'I don't understand why I'd have a partner,' he says, eventually.
Or what's wrong with him, that he can't have one.
'Especially a kid.'
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Eventually --
"You are not alone. In your mission."
It sounds so simple.
"There is me. Even if I do not work in Gotham."
Except if Bruce ever asks.
She falls silent again, just for a second.
"It is different. To be alone. All of the time."
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'It seems normal to me.'
Apart from the obvious.
'Before you, anyway. But with Batman-' and wow, it's weird to say the name. He's really real, now. '-I can't imagine doing that with anyone else. Even a kid who lost his parents too.'
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"I do not know. I have not trained anyone to be like me, either. Even people who could."
This, too, is the truth.
"But there is you. And Elle. And Logan. And Milliways."
She does not frown. Much.
"I do not have to hide. All the time. It is -- "
What is the right word?
" -- good. I would miss it."
Here X resists biting her lip.
"Maybe he did, too. The you from Robin's world."
She doesn't really know. But maybe, if she had been alone long enough, X would have done the same thing.
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He turns on to his front as he says this, resting his chin on folded arms. Contemplative more than stressed.
He turns his head to look at her.
'Would you trust that boy with this kind of secret?'
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But as for the other --
She studies Bruce's face carefully for a few moments, weighing her own words. Well, she tries.
"I trust Tomas. With my secrets. I know he keeps them."
She trusts Tomas' mother, too. But still.
"I kept many, too. When I was small."
This is also the truth, though maybe a less pleasant one.
"I do not know Robin."
X does not shrug this time, but what she says next feels like it is worth something. To her.
"But he did not talk. Until he knew about Batman. Here."
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He has zero experience with kids. He was hardly a normal one himself. He can't tell, with any certainty, whether Robin is the norm. Maybe he shouldn't even be worrying about trusting him.
'I guess other people in the bar have known about Batman before I said anything. Dinah, for one. But she never came and broke into my house.'
There was a need in Robin that disturbs him.
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"I do not know," X says at last. Does she sound a little helpless? Maybe.
Except --
"You are worried? That other people will try. If they know."
That could be problematic.
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He feels a bit helpless too. And also bad that he might be talking nonsense to her.
'I'll have to fix security anyway, if a thirteen year old can break in. It's not that, though.'
He can't put his finger on what it is.
'I guess - how would you feel if someone like you used to be showed up out of nowhere? Or, in the same situation you were once in?'
She probably knows. There have been other clones, and he knows they bother her.
'His parents were killed, and I just feel mad at him for invading my space.'
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The reverse is true, too, of course. If that ever becomes an issue.
She shifts position a little, enough to brush her fingertips against the nape of his neck, pressing down just slightly.
Just enough to make sure that they are both here.
(It helps her, at least.)
"I think it would be different. Now. For me."
This time she does bite her lip.
"I know I am a person. I think it is bad when people do not know that. About themselves."
She pauses again.
"But I think it is different. For you. And for Robin. You know you are people already."
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He smiles at the touch of her fingers.
It helps him too.
'I didn't want to be a person for a long time, you know? I guess it's good that the kid found a channel early on, otherwise it - I don't know. So that he didn't do what I was going to do.'
It seems so weird now, thinking of himself with a gun.
'It's early to commit to a life like this, though.'
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There is Robin, for one. And Dick, who is committed to the circus. There is Ingress, who has been a Herald-to-be almost her entire life. There are all the other teenaged superheroes that X has known.
And, of course --
"Some people are better with purpose. Like you."
She exhales. Carefully. Quietly.
"Like me."
If they can do it --
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'...yeah. I guess so.'
He smiles, genuinely. 'Wow, I must be old. Not understanding kids is how you know you're past your sell-by date.'
It does seem different though. He obviously doesn't trust that other kids could have the same commitment he has - and he came to his pretty late. Maybe it's all about mentoring.
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And maybe it will be less fraught. And upsetting.
For Bruce.
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'Really!?'
Youch.
'Because, honestly, I think facing down Falcone's entire army of goons would be less terrifying.'
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In case he was wondering.
One thing X does not reassure him of is that her Little Leaguers are not combat-trained.
Those whose parents allow it, that is.
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He sounds dubious.
Of course, it is. But that doesn't make it any less scary.
'OK. Well - maybe. After I've upgrading the cave's security systems. I'll have to psych myself up to Little League.'
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Very, very dubious.
It passes.
"Okay."
Speaking of okay --
"You will want help? With the cave. I am adequate at soldering."
Beat.
"And my hands are smaller."
Wiring has got to be involved somewhere. It always is.
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'Yes,' he says, without hesitation.
'That would be great.'
Seriously, what would he do without her?
'But not today. I don't know if I can even turn my head.'
He's kidding. It's not that bad.
But no way is he going to attempt anything physical for the rest of the day.
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"You managed to shift position. Before."
And recently, too.
"Maybe bed will be better."
Plus, you know, the walk to the bed.
Even if X does not need a cooldown, working with Rachel and Ingress has demonstrated that humans usually do.
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Then sighs, and rolls on to his back.
'OK, OK. I can move.'
And he knows he should have already, because tomorrow's stiffness will only be worse, the longer he stays here. So he forces himself up to sitting, with a groan.
'Remind me never to ask you to spar the day before I go out as Batman. I'll be useless.'
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It is a promise.
"I will not let you forget, either."
She might even tell Alfred.
Just for the additional assistance.
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But it doesn't stop him grinning, and pulling her in for a light kiss.
'I trust you.'
To remind him. And with everything else.
'Come on.'
He takes her hand, and walks them out into the rest of the day.