singularityderp | FORCED HONESTY

[Terry sighs a little, scrubs a hand through his hair and then jumps enough that he can get his hands on the edges of the opening and haul himself up and through. It's an easy motion. Effortless. He's not quite as good as Grayson, but it's close.

Instead of getting immediately into any kind of action, he just. stays there a moment and looks at Damian.

No worries about the darkness. Night vision, well. It runs in the family. Sort of.]

For the record? I think your mom's standards are ridiculous. Damian, you're ten. You've got a lot of learning and growing up left to do, and that's fine. No one's perfect. The fact that she expects you to be is-- frankly? Kinda cruel. No parent should put that kind of pressure on their kid. I don't care who they're raising. I'm amazed that you've been able to work through it even a little, and I really have a lot of respect for your decision to stay Robin.

[A little bit of a smile.]

You're a pretty good kid. Don't let anybody tell you different, got it?

[Tha-at. Is sort of lick a punch in the gut. Except slower, sucking the breath out of Damian and he hunches, arms crossed tightly. When he finally manages to breathe in enough to answer, it's still quiet.]

That's what she said... when I asked her if she couldn't love me the way I am. That she's too much of a perfectionist. And I don't even know what she'll do to the clone... if what she did this far wasn't enough for me to turn out her way.

[oops. did that come out?]

I made one right decision. Maybe two, if you count the promise I made to Father.

That doesn't make me good. And I'm not sure anything can make me a kid. Sorry.

[There's a clone? His jaw tightens in anger and he just.

seriously.

TALIA X-(]

So you're calling me a liar then, huh?

[He's. Only addressing the last bit. Because he can't handle the first part. UGH PRECIOUS TINY BABY.

also his tone is just so completely casual.]

[Clone. Inna jar. The only way Damian could have gotten him out of there would have been lethal, and, yeah, no. Doesn't mean he's not thinking about that.]

... how about 'still operating on incomplete data' instead of 'liar'?

[Look. He's even trying not to antagonize you too much. That should count for something, even by the side of having given up on himself, right?]

Twip.

[yep you're getting thwapped again.]

If you're so convinced you're a terrible person that's going to be a disappointment to everyone around you, why do you keep trying? Why not just give up? [a beat.] Because you're wrong. You're only looking at yourself from one angle out of a million. Trust me, not an ideal way to catch a glimpse of the bigger picture.

[He just knows these things, okay.]

You've never let me down. And I'm kind of too busy being amazed at everything you can do to have any room for disappointment. Now c'mon, start climbing.

[That got a hiss. Which came out pretty loud, where they are.]

You have no idea, McGinnis. You have no idea what kind of a fight it is, and how easy it is to give in. To what I've been trained to both want and be superb at. No idea. Nor the prices I've paid to become what I was, and then discarding them all. This? This is not what a good person wants. Or thinks, or dreams, or whatever. All the time. It is a nightmare who can meet a murderer in a blood frenzy on his own level and come on top.

Father showed me that it was the inferior way. If I give in to it, I become another complete failure. Another of the freaks that deserve no better than being kept at Arkham to spare them their own misery. That's why I keep on trying. Because the alternative sucks even more.

[And. Up he is along the cable. Like a cat. Who is not this close to sniffling at all.]

[Whoa wait just a damn minute.

Terry's reflexes in the suit? On par with some of the best metas out there. But he's no slouch without it, either. So this is the story of how he reaches up and grabs Damian by the ankle before he can get out of reach.

... with his other hand ready to block any (probably well deserved) kicks he might incur.]

Okay, no. You're not allowed to say all that and then run away. Get back down here.

Gerroffme!

[That catch? Just well-timed enough to pull Damian off-balance and send him as close to sprawling on the roof of the elevator box as he would allow himself to get - he still catches himself with both hands, absorbing the impact, and no, his voice isn't shaky. It's angry. No, really.]

You told me to climb, so I did!

[Terry is completely immune to your anger, kid. Entirely.]

Shut up and come here.

[Because screw propriety, this kid is getting a goddamned hug.]

Why.

[Fine, he can't free his ankle by struggling, so he just turns around and still, looking at Terry suspiciously.

And, after a moment, tries to scramble away. Never has he let anyone anywhere near that deep. So, naturally, his reaction is flight. Immediate. Still.]

[okay, fine. Terry releases him but keeps both his hands poised for defense just in case.]

You think I can't relate? I was a criminal, Damian. I think about it every day. How easy it would have been for me to fall back into it after my dad died. I wasn't much older than you when I started getting mixed up in gangs, and believe me when I say I've got a rap sheet a mile long. Sometimes I think that being Batman, having a name and an ideal to uphold is the only thing that keeps me from going back to that life. And me? I didn't even have the excuse of being raised by assassins. I was just me. A stupid punk kid who thought the world owed him something for nothing. I never killed anybody, but I sure put plenty of people in the hospital.

You say Bruce 'showed' you the alternative. But that's only half the battle. You chose it. You chose this life. Do you think it would be worth doing if it was easy? You think it was easy for me to let the guy who murdered my old man go? You think it was easy to let any of the criminals I've come up against walk? We fight against the worst the world has to offer, total dregs. We are always on the edge. And if anyone in this line of work says otherwise they're lying through their slaggin' teeth.

[His tone is hard and flat. And maybe his Gothamite accent is just a little more prominent than usual, but maybe not.]

Being Batman-- being Robin doesn't make you immune to all the darkness the human mind has to offer. It brings you closer to it. But we're here because we choose to be. Because we can stand against it. You belong with us. That will never change, as long as you're willing to try. Do you understand?

Edited 2012-06-12 09:50 (UTC)

[Oh, good. Damian will finish scrambling backwards to the edge of the roof, and curl up, putting his bent legs between him and Terry, arms wrapped around them. He shouldn't be shaking, but he is, and his whole throat seems to be burning, and so do his eyes. But the first part...]

It's not the same, McGinnis. [Anger's drained from his voice, and it's back to quiet.] Kids like that... [rows of beds in the stinky cold warehouse where Humpty had taken those stolen toys... the wave of nausea is from the memory. Probably.] Kids like that are who I protect of the people who've become what I barely am not. There's being a criminal, and there is being whatever Grandfather and the Joker and Szazs and the rest are. And if you can't see the difference...

I know that I'm choosing the right thing. I know what I'm choosing, and I know why, at least my reasons why. But that doesn't take away the rest. Not what I've done before, not what I came this close to doing - and enjoying - to become Robin, and not what I want to do and know that I can.

That's why I'm not good. And why I'm not a kid. It's in my blood, and my mind, and my heart, and there's no leaving it behind.

[Happy? Are you beginning to see where it will be very, very difficult to even approach the vicinity of that?]

Being Robin, and then Batman, those were objectives. Now they are something different. But they don't come anywhere near the kind of symbols they are for... the rest. I'm always the person inside, with or without the mask.

Always.

[His expression flickers, too quick to really catch. Anger, then something like sadness, and then a species of neutrality. Then he just heads over to Damian and drops down beside him.

And he gets out of his jacket so he can drape it around Damian's shoulders before he wraps an arm around him. Because shush.]

You wanna know what the difference is? You aren't going to give in. Not now, not ever. And if I have to be there to remind you of why, I'll do it. Isn't that what family is all about?

[He's. Getting the hang of this adoptive batfam thing. It's still not easy to say aloud, though.]

[Damian tenses, but he's not really left himself space to retreat to, and his eyes, in what light comes up from the elevator box, are almost burning.]

'm not cold...

[But he doesn't shrug it off. Either the coat or the arm. Just folds in tighter on himself. To hide as much of the shivering as he can. This is shameful. This... he shouldn't have let go of his temper like this. Ever. But the words... at least some of them, they soothe something that feels inside his stomach but isn't.]

I'm-- [He needs to swallow to loosen his throat.] I'm not the expert on families, really.

[No. It's not easy. None of this is easy. He says the next bit, anyway.]

But it helps.

Good.

[And for now? He'll just stay where he is until Damian wants to move. No pressure, bittybat.]

>Tt.<

[But that is barely audible.

It takes a little while, but he speaks before he moves, slow and hesitant until he finds the right tone.]

I'm-- That was-- I was out of line.

[He quirks an eyebrow. That almost sounds like an apology, though Terry can't think of why. So he'll just. Give Damian a bit of a bump with his arm.]

Yeah? I'm sorry I tossed you around.

[It is. He lost his temper. Said thing that he shouldn't have. That weren't necessary. Out of anger. Out of not wanting McGinnis to think the wrong thing, as if he can explain. As if it wasn't in his favor to leave things be. As if it wasn't better for McGinnis to not know.

However, that? Makes me blink over his shoulder with a faint 'huh?' expression.]

... oh. 's nothing.

[Deep breath.]

Let's get out of here. Before whoever stuck us here decides we're not putting on enough of a show, or something.

Yeah, sure. No interference this time, I promise. Bat's honour.

[He extricates himself with a faint salute, though he doesn't reclaim his jacket just yet.]

[That is, in fact, funny. And Damian graces it with a puff of a snort as he rises himself, carefully shrugs the jacket off, shakes if from whatever dust it's brushed off, and passes it over.]

Good thing I didn't actually kick you in the face, or I'd be getting even mroe daggers glared at me. [He didn't try, but that's irrelevant. They both know he might have.]

Let me know if you have trouble keeping up.

[And back up he goes. It's not the kind of fluid grace that Grayson does - it's not for show. In fact, it is for hiding. Sticking closer to the rope, chasing the thickening shadows, efficient motions which leave his hands and feet leeway to ward off an attack. But possibly just as unselfconscious as Grayson.

Up, until he reaches an elevator door which might be possible to open.]

[Terry hides a smile as he slings his jacket over one shoulder and watches Damian's progress briefly. Ninjas. Right.

Then he pulls the jacket back on (easiest way to carry it) and follows. Damian isn't exactly the only one who's good at this, and whenever they get to an openable door Terry frowns at it speculatively. He's got the better upper body strength, so he steps away from the cable and balances on one of the narrow brackets. Too bad this elevator doesn't have a maintenance ladder, not that the height bothers him. While we're making comparisons to Grayson, Terry might not be an acrobat but he's fearless, and that helps.]

You know, I actually can't think of the last time I was trapped in an elevator shaft without my suit.

Edited 2012-06-12 17:45 (UTC)

[Blink, blink. His arm isn't out to brace McGinnis's back... but he's in perfect readiness, legs locked around the cable and attention fixed on the older man, to do so if necessary.]

I... think that might be something Father would have said. From what I've read and heard.

[The absence of the Batman had been noted almost immediately, after all. The absence of Bruce Wayne... well, with Hush in the equation, most people never found out.]

Are you kidding? It's way too close to a joke.

[He gestures. Go ahead and brace him, he could use the leverage as he tries to pry the door open.]

[Bracing it is. Little hand, but he chooses where to place it on the man's back so as not both support and not hurt on pressure - and he mixes muscle bracing, his body weight, and the tension of the elevator cable to help.]

Joke?

Bruce Wayne doesn't have a sense of humour. At all. About anything.

[... he pauses, both speaking and in trying to pry the doors open.]

Okay, there was that one time he very sadistically told me I needed to bring milk home while I was in the middle of getting my butt kicked. I guess that sort of counts.

[-- annnnd bingo. there we go. He gets the doors a few inches apart and from there it's all downhill. Easy.]

MAGICAL ELEVATOR OF FORCED HONESTY

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