batmanschmatman | 015 [audio]

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015 [audio]

[Filtered away from Roman, but otherwise Public.]

Okay, so, a flood turned hostile takeover attempt, another sinister plot, a port... now do you think we'll get a little bit of downtime?

I know people had their issues with port, but seriously, at least for the most part, barring a misadventure here or there, most of us got out pretty unscathed. That's got to be worth something on the scale of boring to traumatic.

... And it was kind of fun, being a cop again. Even if there wasn't exactly much chasing down bad guys involved.

I mean, not that I'm saying "sign me up for a universe transfer", but I guess all I'm trying to say is I'll take what I can get.

[Private to Port Family: Olivia, Wally, Seven, Tim, Shego, Isaac]

Seriously, as far as fake families went, you guys were pretty cool.

[Private to Tim]

Were you ever going to get around to telling me my best friend survived the Crisis?

[Private to Ariadne]

Did you and Jensen get to say your tearful good byes, or are you now parted from your one true love forever?

And hey, I think this port's the first time we've ever gotten to hang out that hasn't been interrupted by the Barge trying to collapse around us or something. Clearly a celebration is in order.

[Private to Bourne]

So... How's your shoulder?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She tapped her chin with the flower, trying to figure out the best way to describe it.]

I was originally supposed to just design a few things. An experimental city layout and a fortress of some kind. And I saw the hotel I'd designed be built. It was pretty neat.

[And the construction crew had been one man. Arthur, the dreamer.]

That's pretty cool. Was the city supposed to be like, a test or something? Or were you working on a movie or what?

[He's not an idiot, and he's starting to suspect that the two activities are linked, but he'll play along with the 'I don't know anything' game for as long as it seems to make sense.]

[Ariadne nodded quietly, again trying to figure out how to best explain this.]

It was meant to be a test to see if I was a practical designer, rather than an abstract one. Everything has to bind to the laws of physics.

[However, she was completely unaware that Dick was suspecting a few things and believed herself to be in the clear thus far.]

Well, obviously. Can't be much of an architect if you're not familiar with the laws of gravity and stuff, unless you're trying to get things to collapse.

[He was quiet for a moment.] You know, with all the cops and ex-military and Starfleet we've got around here, you're definitely different. What makes a successful young architect decide she'd rather spend time here then designing experimental cities and watching her hotels get built?

[And there was the hitch. Ariadne stared at Dick quietly for a few moments, as if trying to read the right answer from his face. How could she explain Cobb? Or why she'd given so much for him?]

I became friends with some of the construction workers on the site. And one of them fell from pretty high up, right before the end of the project.

[She took a breath. She had come because she couldn't let Cobb lose himself. He had to remember in Limbo. He had to. Pulling her gaze away, she looked at the flower in her fingers.]

I couldn't let him die. His wife killed herself a few years back and his kids wouldn't have anyone without him.

[Dick's expression became more serious as she explained, listening sympathetically. Before he could stop himself, he inquired further. Just because he was a slightly more socially adept Gotham vigilante didn't change the fact that he was a detective, and he liked having all the facts, just to keep things clear.]

This is Mal's husband?

[Ariadne was startled by the quick jump in Dick's logic, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. Her fingers went still and she felt a very critical moment of panic deep in her chest. Breathe.]

No.

[It was incredibly difficult and tough on her sensibilities to lie to Dick.]

No, she wouldn't know him.

Hm. [He wasn't sure if he believed her, or, now that she was having this reaction, he wasn't even sure if she remembered most of the conversation they'd had after the Aztec invasion. Regardless, he knew what it was like to have people rooting through your secrets or trying to push you to tell them something, so he backed off.]

I'm sorry about your friend.

[Ariadne paused, wondering if it would be worse now if she simply retracted the lie. She didn't enjoy keeping secrets, but if she spoke, then there was the possibility that Arthur's life here could be disturbed.]

I'm not supposed to tell others about it. A few members of the team I worked with are here. And they have every right to want secrecy.

[She looked over at Dick again, apologetically.]

[And yet again, here was a moment where it was kind of too bad in some ways that he couldn't just flash his credentials and say hey, don't worry about it, I know what it's like to need secrecy and discretion. Of course, that would sort of defeat the purpose of having a secret identity, if he just blabbed it to everyone he met to prove a point, but still. So he just smiled.]

I understand. Don't worry, I know how to keep a secret.

[Which... didn't really mean anything, but he said it sincerely, and obviously meant it.]

[Ariadne swallowed and tried to offer a smile in return. But, to her, he looked just like a former cop who'd retired. Sure, he'd likely know how to keep secrets, but something of this magnitude? She'd seen enough cops, both good and bad at their jobs. However, she did indeed feel the sincerity in his words and the foundation of trust was there.]

Do you remember what I said about dream sharing?

Yeah, of course. Kinda hard to forget about.

... You're not gonna like, try to erase my memories or something now, are you? [He said it jokingly, but back where he was from? That was actually a legitimate concern when dealing with certain people. Not that he thought Ariadne was planning on anything - at least, he'd like to think she wasn't, since he liked her and it would be sort of depressing to have her just knife him in the back or something - but he'd been trained to be paranoid.]

[Ariadne shook her head with a quiet smile. Even if she could, she wouldn't; it was nice to confide in someone other than Eames and Arthur, to be open, rather than act like Kay, Cooper, and Narvin. She took a few more breaths, choosing her words carefully, in case she detected something.]

Normally, if you die in a dream, you wake up. But with heavy sedation, you could fall into Limbo, unadulterated, unstructured subconscious. You could lose yourself down there, forget your name, your life, your kids. Your brain simply turns into... [how had Eames put it?] scrambled egg.

So... why use such heavy sedation? That seems like a really horrible thing to risk.

[He was honestly curious. It didn't seem safe, and considering his training had been pretty focused on "keep the situation under your control, because when you lose it, that's when stuff starts falling apart", the idea that someone could just walk over and put a gun to your head in a situation where you'd usually be fine and instead scramble your brain was a little... concerning.]

[Ariadne paused again, watching him for any signs of deception, before continuing.]

To build three dream levels on top of each other. A dream within a dream within a dream. Dreams are unstable. In order to make them stable enough to build three levels, heavy sedation is needed.

[But she did decide that she wouldn't tell him about how she'd gone down into limbo. Between that and the Aztec flood, she was sure it wouldn't set a very good precedent with him about how little she cared for her own safety.]

Okay, I understand that. So, what does that have to do with what we were talking about?

[He didn't want to jump to conclusions, and really, what the hell would you need a dream within a dream for anyway? It sounded either like an elaborate escapist experience - which was unlikely if it was that dangerous - or honestly, something a little less kosher. Or maybe that was just the paranoia.

And really, he was just starting to hope the Mad Hatter never got his hands on a PASIV or whatever it was she had said the device was called.]

Cobb, Mal's husband, went into limbo.

[Ariadne just hoped that things were mostly clear, despite the fact that her previous lies were incredibly transparent.]

I made my deal for him.

[Tim might have gotten all the credit as being the detective Boy Wonder, with Dick just labeled as the acrobat, but he wasn't a dummy. He understood what she had told him and more or less understood why she hadn't elaborated before, because again, he was definitely familiar with keeping secrets.

He nodded, and paused for a minute to show her understood, but then asked another question, honestly curious.] So, if you're not supposed to tell other people about it, why tell me?

[Ariadne swallowed, scratching the side of her neck. That was an excellent question.]

I didn't know before, but after that port...

[She quietly laid back down, trying to feel comfortable again.]

I had three spies in my "family." Everything was about keeping secrets. And, I don't know, maybe I want to trust you.

You can. Don't worry, I know how to keep a secret. [And he meant it, too.

He was quiet for a moment, going back to looking at the mountains. It was kind of nice, just sitting here, sort of outside, without all that much to be worried about or knowing he needed to get something accomplished. And Ariadne was easy to talk to, even if she didn't know about his real job or anything, which was kind of a big deal. Those kinds of people were pretty few and far between in his life before coming here, especially after what had happened with Bludhaven.]

This was a nice idea.

[Ariadne smiled quietly, grateful for the reassurance from Dick. She went back to thinking about about the mountains. But her mind drifted further, to thoughts about spending more time with him, opening up further. She quickly dismissed them.]

Do you want to look around? I'm sure the wine will keep.

[He shrugged, a small grin tweaking the corners of his mouth up before looking at her playfully.]

You coming? You look pretty comfortable where you are.

[Just to prove her point, Ariadne slowly got to her feet and pocketed one of her hands.]

Now we're waiting on you.

[The grin widened and he pushed himself to his feet, pushing the sleeves of his shirt back up over his elbows, scratching idly at one of the newer scars before slowly starting to wander off in no particular direction.]

It's almost too bad this place can't do cities or something.

[Ariadne watched as he scratched at one of his scars, making a mental note to ask about it later.]

I didn't know it couldn't show cities.

[She moved beside him, working to match his stride.]

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