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dontvotemeout) wrote2010-09-12 11:43 am
dontvotemeout) wrote2010-09-12 11:43 am
Gotham, Nighttime
When Bruce had told Jason to come home this weekend, Jason hadn't been able to find out what was going on. Bruce insisted he'd fill Jason in on everything once he got back to Gotham, which Jason pointed out made it sound like Bruce didn't actually know what was going on yet, at which point Jason was told to just get home as quickly as he could, which meant Jason was probably right. He really liked when that happened.
By the time he got to the manor, it was nighttime in Gotham, and the sight of the Bat-Signal in the sky meant there was just enough time for throwing bags down and getting costumed up before Batman and Robin were up on a rooftop with Commissioner Gordon.
"You got here awfully quickly," Gordon remarked.
"We were already planning on coming to see you," Batman replied. "I have someone I'd like you to meet." He moved aside so Gordon could see Jason.
"We?" Gordon asked, staring at Jason in surprise. "Robin?"
"Robin," Jason said. He was still getting used to hearing that word and having it mean him, and not the first Robin, but the way it made him feel to hear it was worth all the apprehension.
Jason wasn't sure how Gordon would react, too caught up in the thrill of actually getting to meet the commissioner and not having it be because he was on his way to juvie or something, but he wasn't expecting Gordon to pull Batman aside and say, "You swore you'd never pair up with a child again," like he wasn't standing right fucking there. Jason was about to open his mouth to defend himself when, surprisingly, Batman did it for him.
"This child is older than both of us--not to mention tougher," he said, and Jason had to fight to match Batman's stoic look and not grin like crazy. "Now, why the Bat-Signal? So far, it's been a quiet night out there."
As it turned out, Gordon had received a letter addressed to Batman, which he'd taken the liberty of opening first, of course. Two pairs of playing cards, along with a fifth, unpaired card. That, along with two sets of criminal twins being spotted in Gotham, all pointed in the same direction - Two-Face.
"You know, I just realized something," Jason said as they headed off to patrol. "I spent ages looking through all the files you've got on the computer, on every criminal that's ever come through Gotham, but we never went over Two-Face. Why not?"
"Oh, no special reason," Batman said after a moment. "Just an oversight."
Jason was about to point out that oversights weren't exactly Bruce's thing, when something suddenly hit him. "Hey, do you think those playing cards might have something to do with gambling?" he asked. "Two-Face could have sent us pairs of anything to let us know it's him. There's gotta be a reason he used cards."
"That's not a bad idea," Batman said, and Jason filled with pride a little more as they set off for Casino City. Sure enough, Two-Face was there, hitting up the Lucky Dollar Casino with his goons. It was a weird place for him to hit - there wasn't anything two-related about the place - but it was also the biggest casino this side of Vegas, so it made at least a little sense for Two-Face to be there. The rest was a puzzle to be figured out later. For now, they were sticking to Jason's favorite part of fighting crime - the actual fighting part. The first pair of twins were easy enough to take care of, sitting ducks in the armored car that Two-Face apparently planned to use to escape with his stolen money. When Two-Face arrived with the goods, the duo split up, with Batman going after Two-Face, while Jason took out the second set of twins.
God, Jason loved this job.
Everything was going like clockwork, his training with Bruce all kicking in perfectly, until Two-Face pulled out a second gun, and grabbed a little old lady around the neck.
"Now everyone step aside! I'm just looking for an excuse to shoot for a second time tonight!" he said, pulling the woman backwards with him.
"Take me as your hostage, Two-Face. Let her go!" Batman said.
"You make a poor hostage, Batman," Two-Face said. "Too strong, too smart."
After that, what Jason needed to do seemed pretty clear. "Then take me," he said. "I'm just a kid, you can handle me. Besides, think of the power you'd have over Batman. And better still, I'm the second Robin. It's perfect!"
"That's almost too ironic..." Two-Face said, and just as quickly as he'd grabbed her, he let the old woman go, and snatched Jason instead. For a second - right around the time he felt the barrel of the gun pressed against his head - Jason had second thoughts about his decision, but then he saw the look on Batman's face, and he knew he'd be all right. Bruce wouldn't let anything happen to him. He'd never let anything happen to him.
Of course, that didn't mean Jason couldn't have a hand in his own rescue. When they got into Two-Face's car - if the ugly two-toned hunk of junk could even be called a car - Jason was already preparing for a quick escape.
"Now, I must warn you, I'm not a nice man. If you try anything at all, you're a dead bird," Two-Face warned him, his gun still pointed at Jason as they drove.
"I understand," Jason said calmly. "Like you wouldn't want me to hit the brakes or anything." Before Two-Face could respond, Jason did just that, slamming his foot on the brake and jumping out of the car while Two-Face was still caught by surprise. He rolled away and prepared to get shot at, but Two-Face must have thought he wasn't worth it, because he just drove off instead.
So, that had ended better than Jason expected.
He was sitting by the road, contemplating all the ways Two-Face sucked at this whole criminal thing, when Batman finally came along, driving an ugly pink sedan.
"That doesn't look like the Batmobile," he said, trying to stifle his giggling while he looked for a Baby on Board sign. That would really complete the whole image.
"I commandeered a civilian car. If Two-Face had spotted the Batmobile in his rear-view mirror..." Batman trailed off, and looked down at the car like he suddenly realized what a turn for the ridiculous the evening had taken. "Anyway, come along, there's work to do."
Back at the manor, Jason waited patiently for the lecture he knew was coming. He hadn't been wrong to offer himself up to Two-Face, and he was totally ready to defend himself on that point. "Have the state police found Two-Face yet?" he asked, like the police were capable of doing anything right when it came to Gotham's criminals. It was polite to pretend though.
"Not yet," Bruce said. "They're not having any better luck tracking him then we did. When we find him again though...that hostage exchange tonight was foolhardy."
Jason sighed. "Everything worked out fine," he said. "It was the right thing to do."
"I know," Bruce replied, and it took Jason a moment to realize that he hadn't misheard him. "The other Robin would've done the same thing. You really are two of a kind."
Jason had to fight even harder to not grin like an idiot at a compliment like that. "Thanks, Bruce," he said. Remembering something from earlier, he added, "Do you mind if I stay up awhile and do some homework?"
"Go ahead. You're bound to be a little wired after all that. But do get some rest, okay?" Bruce said.
As soon as he was gone, Jason made a beeline for the computer, and went into the criminal histories. There was no way Bruce had forgotten to have him look up Two-Face. There had to be something special in his file, and if they wanted a real chance at catching him, Jason figured he needed to know everything. As he opened the file, Jason tried to imagine what he'd find that Bruce hadn't already told him, that Bruce apparently didn't want him to know, and the answer turned out to be right on the first page.
Oh. So that was what your heart stopping felt like.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay! Dialogue and action adapted from Batman #410. Warnings: comic violence and character death, sort of.]
By the time he got to the manor, it was nighttime in Gotham, and the sight of the Bat-Signal in the sky meant there was just enough time for throwing bags down and getting costumed up before Batman and Robin were up on a rooftop with Commissioner Gordon.
"You got here awfully quickly," Gordon remarked.
"We were already planning on coming to see you," Batman replied. "I have someone I'd like you to meet." He moved aside so Gordon could see Jason.
"We?" Gordon asked, staring at Jason in surprise. "Robin?"
"Robin," Jason said. He was still getting used to hearing that word and having it mean him, and not the first Robin, but the way it made him feel to hear it was worth all the apprehension.
Jason wasn't sure how Gordon would react, too caught up in the thrill of actually getting to meet the commissioner and not having it be because he was on his way to juvie or something, but he wasn't expecting Gordon to pull Batman aside and say, "You swore you'd never pair up with a child again," like he wasn't standing right fucking there. Jason was about to open his mouth to defend himself when, surprisingly, Batman did it for him.
"This child is older than both of us--not to mention tougher," he said, and Jason had to fight to match Batman's stoic look and not grin like crazy. "Now, why the Bat-Signal? So far, it's been a quiet night out there."
As it turned out, Gordon had received a letter addressed to Batman, which he'd taken the liberty of opening first, of course. Two pairs of playing cards, along with a fifth, unpaired card. That, along with two sets of criminal twins being spotted in Gotham, all pointed in the same direction - Two-Face.
"You know, I just realized something," Jason said as they headed off to patrol. "I spent ages looking through all the files you've got on the computer, on every criminal that's ever come through Gotham, but we never went over Two-Face. Why not?"
"Oh, no special reason," Batman said after a moment. "Just an oversight."
Jason was about to point out that oversights weren't exactly Bruce's thing, when something suddenly hit him. "Hey, do you think those playing cards might have something to do with gambling?" he asked. "Two-Face could have sent us pairs of anything to let us know it's him. There's gotta be a reason he used cards."
"That's not a bad idea," Batman said, and Jason filled with pride a little more as they set off for Casino City. Sure enough, Two-Face was there, hitting up the Lucky Dollar Casino with his goons. It was a weird place for him to hit - there wasn't anything two-related about the place - but it was also the biggest casino this side of Vegas, so it made at least a little sense for Two-Face to be there. The rest was a puzzle to be figured out later. For now, they were sticking to Jason's favorite part of fighting crime - the actual fighting part. The first pair of twins were easy enough to take care of, sitting ducks in the armored car that Two-Face apparently planned to use to escape with his stolen money. When Two-Face arrived with the goods, the duo split up, with Batman going after Two-Face, while Jason took out the second set of twins.
God, Jason loved this job.
Everything was going like clockwork, his training with Bruce all kicking in perfectly, until Two-Face pulled out a second gun, and grabbed a little old lady around the neck.
"Now everyone step aside! I'm just looking for an excuse to shoot for a second time tonight!" he said, pulling the woman backwards with him.
"Take me as your hostage, Two-Face. Let her go!" Batman said.
"You make a poor hostage, Batman," Two-Face said. "Too strong, too smart."
After that, what Jason needed to do seemed pretty clear. "Then take me," he said. "I'm just a kid, you can handle me. Besides, think of the power you'd have over Batman. And better still, I'm the second Robin. It's perfect!"
"That's almost too ironic..." Two-Face said, and just as quickly as he'd grabbed her, he let the old woman go, and snatched Jason instead. For a second - right around the time he felt the barrel of the gun pressed against his head - Jason had second thoughts about his decision, but then he saw the look on Batman's face, and he knew he'd be all right. Bruce wouldn't let anything happen to him. He'd never let anything happen to him.
Of course, that didn't mean Jason couldn't have a hand in his own rescue. When they got into Two-Face's car - if the ugly two-toned hunk of junk could even be called a car - Jason was already preparing for a quick escape.
"Now, I must warn you, I'm not a nice man. If you try anything at all, you're a dead bird," Two-Face warned him, his gun still pointed at Jason as they drove.
"I understand," Jason said calmly. "Like you wouldn't want me to hit the brakes or anything." Before Two-Face could respond, Jason did just that, slamming his foot on the brake and jumping out of the car while Two-Face was still caught by surprise. He rolled away and prepared to get shot at, but Two-Face must have thought he wasn't worth it, because he just drove off instead.
So, that had ended better than Jason expected.
He was sitting by the road, contemplating all the ways Two-Face sucked at this whole criminal thing, when Batman finally came along, driving an ugly pink sedan.
"That doesn't look like the Batmobile," he said, trying to stifle his giggling while he looked for a Baby on Board sign. That would really complete the whole image.
"I commandeered a civilian car. If Two-Face had spotted the Batmobile in his rear-view mirror..." Batman trailed off, and looked down at the car like he suddenly realized what a turn for the ridiculous the evening had taken. "Anyway, come along, there's work to do."
Back at the manor, Jason waited patiently for the lecture he knew was coming. He hadn't been wrong to offer himself up to Two-Face, and he was totally ready to defend himself on that point. "Have the state police found Two-Face yet?" he asked, like the police were capable of doing anything right when it came to Gotham's criminals. It was polite to pretend though.
"Not yet," Bruce said. "They're not having any better luck tracking him then we did. When we find him again though...that hostage exchange tonight was foolhardy."
Jason sighed. "Everything worked out fine," he said. "It was the right thing to do."
"I know," Bruce replied, and it took Jason a moment to realize that he hadn't misheard him. "The other Robin would've done the same thing. You really are two of a kind."
Jason had to fight even harder to not grin like an idiot at a compliment like that. "Thanks, Bruce," he said. Remembering something from earlier, he added, "Do you mind if I stay up awhile and do some homework?"
"Go ahead. You're bound to be a little wired after all that. But do get some rest, okay?" Bruce said.
As soon as he was gone, Jason made a beeline for the computer, and went into the criminal histories. There was no way Bruce had forgotten to have him look up Two-Face. There had to be something special in his file, and if they wanted a real chance at catching him, Jason figured he needed to know everything. As he opened the file, Jason tried to imagine what he'd find that Bruce hadn't already told him, that Bruce apparently didn't want him to know, and the answer turned out to be right on the first page.
Oh. So that was what your heart stopping felt like.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay! Dialogue and action adapted from Batman #410. Warnings: comic violence and character death, sort of.]
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