batmanschmatman | 124 [voice/spam]

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124 [voice/spam]

[Warden Filter]

[Dick's gone back and forth on saying something public about this, because while he's still kind of freaking out about this and knows this isn't his Bruce, he still feels weird basically siding with the other wardens/the good of the Barge instead of him. This wasn't exactly the father/son reunion he was expecting. :c] That isn't the Bruce Wayne from our world. If he says anything to anyone that gives you reason to be concerned, I want to know about it immediately.

[This is legitimate, okay, he's already talking about staging an escape attempt. B(]

[Filtered to the DC Cast]

I need you to tell me everything he told you. [This is an order, not a suggestion. :|]

[Private to Dean]

...

[Private to Sara]

...

[He was going to message you both, but he really doesn't know what he wants to say, and there's a pressing issue he needs to deal with right now.]

[Spam for Tim]

[Dick isn't honestly sure how he's processing all of this. He's angry, he's frustrated, he feels like he's running on adrenaline but doesn't have anything to do with it, which means he's been pacing and kind of shaky the entire time he's been talking to Bruce. It's stupid, he knows it's stupid to get this worked up over the Barge throwing something like this at him, and really, with all the different realities out there, he probably should have been anticipating it. But that doesn't make it any easier to deal with, and it doesn't change the fact that he's seen what that kind of psychotic break does to someone like them, and he's never really actually... dealt with the fact that he'd been killed by someone with a pretty similar mindset.

At least this time, the crazy murderous Batman apparently wasn't planning on holding a gun on him any time soon.

Which is actually the more pressing issue he needs to deal with right now, so, message composed and posted, Dick tosses his comm down and head out of his room down the hallway and knocks at Tim's door impatiently.]

It's me.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[And they're in luck because Dean managed to lay his paws on a box of granola. ...what, Dick doesn't seem to enjoy the junk food snacking Dean does and his only other frame of reference for alternate diets is Sam. So you get California health food, Dick, and you will like it.

Dean tosses it to him when the door opens, popping a characteristic smirk at the same time and inviting himself in like he usually does. It's not a conscious instinct that's making Dean respond by being close by - not yet - but he's following it nonetheless.]

Hey yourself - glad to see you changed outta the hotpants. Pretty sure that's how speedos started and man, that ain't a good look for anyone.

[Besides, even if they don't talk about this Bruce thing, Dean remembers how relieved he'd been to have other people to fill his attention with so he didn't have to think about the monster wearing his dad's face. The hunter is very, very good at filling attention.]

[Dick catches the granola and manages a sort of laugh at the short pants comment, but that's as much of a positive reaction as you're getting out of him right now. He closes the door behind Dean and starts heading towards the coffee.

Anddd he is bringing up the Bruce thing, sorry. :c]

Did you talk to him?

[He's okay with it, but ever the proponent of denial, likes to leave the avenue open in case whoever he's talking - or not!talking - to decides to take it.

Dean himself, perhaps surprisingly, is doing much better than he might have otherwise been; it's either ironic or intentional that when everyone else is heading for some kind of meltdown, Dean manages to stay steady. Now, he beelines for the coffee as well and shrugs at Dick.]

Who, my charming new neighbor? [That's just a heads up, Dick, in case you hadn't noticed yet. Unlikely, but.] Nah. I don't talk to strangers. I'm gonna guess you have, though.

[Dick doesn't take any coffee himself and he doesn't go to sit down, instead just leaning against one of the counters in the kitchen, watching Dean for want of anything better to do.]

Yeah. I can think of about a hundred ways it could have gone better.

Yeah, I'm gettin' that.

[By now Dean has no qualms, either, with locating his own mug and pouring his own coffee. Instead of drinking it, though, he just hangs onto it for now and tips first a sideways, then a full on look back at Dick.

Dick contacted him, first. Dean isn't normally a talker, but he feels justified in pushing a little bit.]

So what's the deal?

He's from an alternate universe where he never met Tim, and basically went crazy after Jason died. He's apparently killed most of the major villains we've fought and pretty much anyone else who's gotten in his way. [He's keeping his voice pretty flat, because by now he's kind of burnt out on a lot of the initial anger, but it should still be pretty obvious that he's not exactly doing so hot.]

He also doesn't think he should be here, my Bruce is a naive moron and I'm pretty sure he's not thrilled about the idea of there being Robins after what happened to Jason.

[Which basically means Dick is trying to smother the urge to just mother hen the hell out of Tim and keep Bruce away from him. :|]

[Dean turns the coffee mug in his hand a bit, not paying much attention to it as he listens; the cool, detached voice in the back of his head muses on how ridiculous it is that he doesn't even react to things like "alternate universe" anymore and how much fun Sam would make of him for that.

The rest of his thoughts, though, are already tracking what this means; the way Dean's shoulders tense and draw even with one another out of his previously casual slouch is distinctive, a muscle in his jaw tightening ever so slightly before he's speaking seriously.]

We gonna have a problem with him?

[We.]

[Dick lets out a short bark of a laugh, tempted to make a joke about if Dean has any serial killer tendencies he's been quiet about until now, but he doesn't.]

Probably. I seriously doubt he's going to spend his days twiddling his thumbs while he's stuck in close quarters with a bunch of murderers and assassins and God knows what else.

[Dean smirks at the laugh, though he doesn't really relax; ironically, it depends on who one asks whether or not Dean has serial killer tendencies. Then there's the fact he's a wanted serial killer in St. Louis, but that's neither here nor there.

He loosens one hand long enough to wave dismissively.]

Not that. I expect that. Every new inmate and warden here, and some of the old ones, goes on my To Watch list until they don't kill someone. [It's all very un-American, but whatever.] I mean how likely is this... Is he gonna give you bunch any trouble, you think?

[Mostly, it's the part about multiple Robins that sticks out to Dean - it doesn't fit with the rest of the information Dick was giving. Those are the bits Dean's learned to watch even if they didn't play so close to things near and dear to Dean's heart on a daily basis.]

[That's really just another reason Dick's come to appreciate Dean, he keeps an eye on people just as much as Dick does, and he doesn't look at him funny if he mentions he's picking up on something most normal people probably would have overlooked about someone.

And suddenly he gets the way Dean meant "we", and honestly, it's a good feeling. He does miss being part of a larger team, and as much as there are lots of people from back home here now, Dick doesn't really feel very connected with most of them, even if he knows they'd have his back in a crisis.]

I don't know. I'd like to think he's not going to do anything too drastic, but if I'm really being honest? [And he knows Dean will get it, because Dean has Sam and he's never questioned Dick's borderline smothering overprotectiveness before.] I really want to keep him away from Tim. I'm not worried he'll hurt him or anything - physically, anyway - but. [And here he chickens out a little, not sure if he wants to tell him what happened on the other Barge.] I don't know. He's taking it pretty hard.

[Dean has never really had cause to work with more than two other people at any given time, but he's tailor built to work as part of a team; Dick and Tim have been good to him, and he'll repay that however he can until they part ways.

Dean had Sam. Will have Sam again. Until then...

The hunter raises an eyebrow, not so much as blinking at any of the rest of it. He'd feel the exact same way. Had Sam and Blake been here at the same time, Dean would've spent every waking moment doing his damndest to make sure they stayed on opposite ends of the Barge from each other.]

Tim is? They talked?

Yeah. [Dick shifts a little uncomfortably before finally pulling himself up onto the counter instead of just leaning against it, weighing how much he wants to tell him about the whole situation.]

In our universe, Bruce did start slipping pretty badly after Jason died, but Tim realized it and basically talked him down. This Bruce didn't have that. [So basically, Tim's blaming himself and this Bruce is weird and it's very upsetting and uncomfortable for so many fucking reasons. :|]

[Dean gives him the time to consider it, finally sipping at his coffee, fairly uncharacteristically patient just now; it's the kind of focus he's capable of on a job, combined with the fact that he's just... There's been a lot going on lately. He doesn't have a lot of energy leftover for snark, and this isn't the place for it. Yet.

Dean mentally shuffles the words around - Bruce is Dad to them, Jason was... actually Dean's not entirely sure who Jason is or was beyond apparently a Robin at some point, and he'll need to find that out if he's going to help with this; Tim is brother and precious and everything - and, not paying much attention to the kind of intuitive leaps he's making because he's not overthinking where Dick is leading him, makes it to what his friend isn't saying.]

He blames himself for it happening to this version of Bruce, even though he can't possibly have known, let alone done anything about it.

[Dick nodded, again, not really surprised that Dean gets it. It's another thing that boosts him up on the Team roster - he doesn't always need to explicitly outline every last detail of what he's thinking for Dean to get it, and it's the kind of easy communication he has back home with someone like Roy.

(It's kind of weird, actually, how he sort of seems to end up paling around with people similar to his friends and acquaintances back home, especially considering it definitely wasn't a conscious decision.)]

Yep.

Idiot. [Dean snorts with the kind of easy exasperated affection he knows all too well himself - there are a lot of details he still doesn't understand, but in order to get the big picture he doesn't really need them. He's got the basics and if he had to move on from here, they'd be enough.

But he doesn't have to. Dean hedges by taking another long sip of his coffee, draining it enough to reach for the pot again and a warmup. It's a throat-scaldingly hot coffee kind of night.]

Alright. What else do I need to know about this clusterfuck?

[There's a lot more background they could get into - what happened to Jason, how Tim showed up in their lives in the first place, why the idea of a murderous Batman on board made Dick feel like he was going to throw up and rattled Tim badly enough to kind of freak Dick out - but he's still not sure he wants to get into it, despite knowing Dean would get it. He'd told Sara, and he wasn't as opposed to telling Dean as say, Steph or a stranger, but it was still hard to talk about.

So he settles on something safer.]

Babs wants to send Steph, Cass and Tim after him to try and get more information. I told her over my dead body was Tim getting involved, and she got pissed because I'm "acting too much like Batman and not a brother", but seriously, I don't care if I'm being overprotective, until I figure out more about him, I don't want him anywhere near Tim. [Can you see why they broke up? Because Dick can. :v]

[Dean can roll with safer, and both eyebrows go up when he hears about Barbara's plan.]

And Cass has been through e-fucking-nough without another father figure being shot to hell for her. [This slightly more heated than he intended, originally, but that's him all over. He shakes his head.]

I don't see h- she wants to use your family like spies with a guy they're disadvantaged to face. [Tra la la apparently Dick doesn't go in the same category of disadvantaged; double standards, what double standards?] I don't see how not wanting to do that is not acting like a brother. And I don't...

What information does she want? Do you want? I can keep an ear to the wall.

She seems to think we'll be able to get more information on how to stop him, how he thinks and acts and be able to use all that against him at some point because they're all freakishly observant. She thinks it'll give us the advantage.

Personally, I'd rather just do that myself instead of coordinating some spy network he's going to immediately find out about, because he's Bruce, which also sticks people I care about into a position I frankly am really uncomfortable with them being in in the first place.

Yeah, uh, how're you gonna spy on a clone of the dude who taught you how to spy without him knowing about it?

[Dean is catching up to himself now, trying to imagine getting one over on John in the field and coming up fairly blank. As kids, Sam and Dean had managed it a few times between them but as hunters? None better.

Dean shakes his head, transfers his coffee cup from hand to hand again.]

And he'll expect it.

[Dick just laughs, somewhere between amused because again, Dean gets it without him having to explain the whole thing, but also this situation is just so incredibly fucked up, and he doesn't really know what to do with it, yet, beyond being what most people would probably call overprotective when it came to Tim.]

Exactly. Besides, I wouldn't be shocked if he already knows I'm asking people to give me information on him, between expecting it in the first place and Selina ratting me out.

[Laughing, in Dean's experience, is rarely the wrong response; it's not always the right one, but sometimes it can lead to the right one. Then again sometimes it gets him punched, so.

The hunter raises an eyebrow, leaning back on the counter behind him as he gets comfortable.]

Who's Selina? And while we're at it, you better fill me in on "Jason" as much as you're gonna. [Free pass, dude - they are already painfully deep into each other's personal shit.]

Selina Kyle is Catwoman - where I'm from, she's basically a vigilante, green eyes, short black hair, kinda snarky but well meaning. She and Bruce have been a will they won't they on again off again thing forever. Here, she's blonde and apparently knows a different Bruce who also kills people, and I wouldn't be shocked if the two of them kind of bond while the rest of us are tearing out hair out.

Jason was- [He has to stop, sighing and running a hand through his hair because Jason's a little harder to get into for a number of reasons - he still doesn't know how he feels about him, because it's so hard to reconcile the kid he knew to the adult who'd apparently tried to kill Tim on more than one occasion, not to mention Bruce - but he gives it a shot anyway.] A while after I quit being Robin, [More correctly, after Bruce fired me and kicked me out of the house when I was seventeen, but that's a whole other can of worms he doesn't really feel like getting into right now.] Bruce took in this other kid and basically handed him the job to keep him from growing up to be a criminal. There was an incident and basically long story short, Jason was beaten within an inch of his life by the Joker and then killed in an explosion before Bruce could get there in time to save him. He was sixteen.

[He says it in a way that's almost but not quite clinical, like he's knowingly distancing himself from thoughts and emotions from years ago because it's easier, and it is.] Bruce took his death really hard and basically started crossing the line between "masked vigilante" and "grieving psychopath". Tim realized what was happening and tried to get me to go back to being Robin in hopes it would calm Bruce down, I said I'd help however I could but not as Robin, and Tim basically took the job to stop Bruce from totally losing his mind.

About a year ago in our world, Jason showed up again and tried to goad Bruce into killing him or the Joker, because he was mad Bruce didn't kill him in revenge after what he'd done to him. Ever since then, he's been operating as basically an executioner or enforcer, and he's tried to kill Tim a few times. Apparently our Jason met this Bruce and decided to take up the torch when Bruce died, which makes no sense because Jason came back to our world.

[It's complicated doesn't even begin to cover it. B(]

[Dean had been ready for some messy backstory - it always is, especially when someone ends up this upset by it - but he has to engage more of his obvious attention than he normally bothers with to keep up. The coffee in his hand is mostly forgotten, eyebrows pulling steadily together as he tries to organize it all so it makes sense with what context he has.]

Dude, I have never been so glad that I just have the one brother. [He shakes his head as if to clear it, then remembers his coffee long enough to drink some of it.] I'm getting the whole "sometimes things just don't make sense" thing. Either way he's here now - you can probably use what you know. Somehow.

[He wholeheartedly agrees. Jason was complicated, Damian sounded like a bit of a nightmare, and really anyone who got dragged into this life style was probably going to be at least a little unstable and weird.

Sisters, though, he was doing okay on. Cass and Steph were pretty well put together, all things considered. Not that Bruce needed another daughter or anything. Four Robins, a Batgirl and a Spoirobgirl was a lot.]

Yeah. I just never wanted to use it for something like this.

[Being a vigilante and being a hunter seems to have that in common; no one comes in whole. No one gets out whole. Dean nods, simple and silent agreement, because he can't say it any better than that - he gets it. He really, really gets it, and more.

Dick has worked himself into a unique position in Dean's life without the hunter realizing it; Dean operates, normally, on the Eye for an Eye policy and that means outside of violence, too. It means Dean knows about Dick's parents, Dick knows about Sam, they're even; it means Dean helped out in Gotham, Dick helped with Kon, it's fair. It means they don't talk about May 2nd and now here they are again, deeper than they would otherwise be if not for...

And to be honest, Dean doesn't have to check the calendar to know where the year is headed; he always knows when November is near. There's a familiar heaviness in his gut, a nameless, wary dread waiting for trouble; it's building strength now and it makes him think of Dad and he hates that a little bit it's true. Eye for an eye. Father for a father, and if Dean knows he would still never come out with it if Blake were still around, well; he's not looking at that either.]

Look, I know this is a shitty situation; I do. More than...

It's not exactly the same. I know that. I would probably set the whole damn ship on fire if I was in your currently civilian and not bulletproof at all shoes. But I do...

You know how sometimes, people show up? Who look exactly like other people? Like me and that nutball kid.

124 [voice/spam]

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