Once upon a time I could take anything, anything. [Closed]

[crossestheline]

Characters:Dick Grayson & Jason Todd.
Date: Backdated to 1/16/2013
Location: Fire District.
Situation: Dick wants to know what happened to Bab's in Jason's world. Jason is curious about how the Gotham in Dick's world compares to his own.
Warnings/Rating: Some talk of violent crimes, blood shed, guns, drug use, and possible reference towards child neglect. PG-13ish, Jason'll keep it nondiscript because of Dick's age.



Jason wasn't entirely sure why he was doing this. Did he seriously think Dick would listen to him? He still remembered what it was like to wear that mask. Back then, he had desperately wanted Bruce's approval. Sure, he acted out and didn't always follow him, but that was because he couldn't control his impulses, not because he wanted to be defiant towards Bruce. It wasn't until Gloria's death that he was finally able to start creating his own code.

Okay, they got him killed in the end, but hey, he was trying to save his mother and the universe decided he still had more work to do. Scratch that, the whole damn multiverse decided he had more work to do. Maybe he could open Dick's eyes and make him realize that Bruce's code of honor protected criminals, not the innocent. Sometimes hard choices had to be made in order for the greater good to prevail. It wasn't a crazy concept, he was far from the first person to think of it. Sacrifices and hard choices were as old as man was. And yet, Bruce and company refused to relent and do what was necessary. Luckily his world had him, maybe Dick could be that person for his world.

Jason searched the roof top to see if he could spot Dick. He wasn't planning on revealing everything to the teen. He wanted to open his mind, not tear apart his innocence. Dick was too young to have the kind of blood he had on his hand. That being said, he wasn't so young that he couldn't start to look at the world differently.

Comments

[hackingyoursensors]

Meeting with Jason was probably reckless. No, it was definitely reckless and Bruce was going to kill him for going against orders again. But it had changed when Jason had brought up Barbara. It gave him this aching worry and set his imagination off in every direction, each possibility worse than the last.

Of course, he's nowhere near the truth.

It was a risk, but he came in civvies. Damian had said that the last Jason had gone unstable just at the sight of a Robin uniform. Dick didn't know if this Jason would, but he decided not to risk it. Still, he has smoke bombs in his pocket and a pair of eskrima strapped to his left calf, hidden by his long pants. The one impression that stuck was that Jason was dangerous. He wasn't going in unarmed, but he couldn't be caught with a utility belt.

It was a compromise.

He sees Jason on the roof out of the corner of his eye as he enters the building they'd decided upon, a small mostly-abandoned textile mill.

Upon entering, Dick turns and faces the door, keeps his senses focused, and waits.

[crossestheline]

A grin found it's way on Jason's face when he spotted Dick. Good, he had decided to come after all. From what he could tell, they were the only two here. Part of him was expecting to catch the slightest of movements in the shadows, indicating one of the other Bats had trailed along after them.

Around a minute or so later, he lowered himself down using the rafters, and landed on the ground with an easy back flip.

"Hey, kiddo." Jason held out his hands in front of him and wiggled his fingers, allowing Dick to see he didn't have anything hidden in his sleeves or fingerless gloves.

"Don't worry, I promise to play nice."

[hackingyoursensors]

You'll have to forgive him if he doesn't entirely trust you, Jason. But his posture relaxes slightly.

"So. What happened?"

Right to the point. He's clearly anxious about this, though he's doing his best to hide it.

[crossestheline]

"I need you to answer a couple of questions or me first." Jason leaned against a steel beamed and folded his arms across his chest. Since it was only the two of them, he had removed his mask on the way down. Arching over his brow was a tuft of white hair.

"What's your Gotham like? More importantly, what's your Crime Alley like?"

[hackingyoursensors]

Dick raises an eyebrow. This was not the arrangement. But Jason is holding all the cards here, so he obliges.

"Gotham is one of the most crime-ridden places I've ever been. There's everything from petty theft to gangs to the big names like the Joker, the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Clayface.

As for Crime Alley, it's right there in the name. Boarded up buildings, a crime rate that makes the rest of the city look peaceful, a lot of people living hard lives."

[crossestheline]

"Did Bruce or any of them ever tell you that I grew up there?" Jason doubted they did, though it was still possible.

"Both of my parents were dead by the time I was ten. I lived on the streets by myself and did what I could to get by. I was one of the lucky ones because my mind's quick and my feet were even quicker."

He shook his head as he thought back to what happened to some of the other kids he ran with.

"Half the drug sellers there didn't care if you a woman, kid, old, or whatever. If they had a use for you, they'd use you. If they didn't have a use for you? You better stay out of their way."

[hackingyoursensors]

"No. They don't tell me much."

It's a shock to hear, though. It manifests as mild surprise, and there's a slight sense of sympathy for Jason. Losing your parents was hard. Losing your parents and having no one to take care of you? He couldn't imagine. If Bruce hadn't been there, he might still be that fragmented shell of himself.

But he doesn't offer sympathy or condolences. Jason is the sort of person who wouldn't want it.

"Until you became Robin."

[crossestheline]

"Until I became Robin."

Jason repeated Dick's words while he took a knife out of his pocket. He brought the tip of the blade to his nails and dug out some dirt from one, eyes trained on his finger tips.

"You're not much older than I was when I came across a situation, so I wanna hear your thoughts on it." He decided to alter the story because he didn't want to traumatize Dick the way he had been traumatized.

"Say you love being Robin, say your time wearing that mask was the best damn time of your life because it gave you purpose. You're not some street punk no one gives a shit about, you're someone with purpose. You're the guy who helps save the day and people respect you."

He rubbed his fingers together, eyeing a nail.

"Say one day Batman and you bust through a door and find this monster attacking a defenseless woman. Let's go ahead and call this woman Gloria. Gloria might be the prettiest woman you've ever seen in your entire life, if it wasn't for the nasty bruise on her right eye. When you look at you, she gives you this desperate look. Like she's expecting you to save her from this monster and help her save all her dreams."

He finished with his knife and slid it back into his pocket.

"The monster's thrown into jail and you think that'll be that. Except then you find out that the monster has some kind of fancy diplomatic immunity. Batman tells you the best you can hope for is this dirtbag being sent back home in shame. While the two of you are arguing, he makes a phone call to Gloria. He lets her know that he's the one with all the power and not even Batman and Robin can save her from him. Let's just say you never get a chance to save the day and she never gets to live out her dreams."

His eyes flashed over to Dick and Jason stared straight into his eyes, searching for an answer.

"Say you found that guy dangling from a balcony. You know that Gloria isn't the first woman he's bullied and she won't be the last. All I want to know is...if you saw him begin to slip, would you hesitate to help him? Not asking if you would or wouldn't, I want to know if you'd hesitate?"

[hackingyoursensors]

Dick watches Jason carefully. Potential hostile wielding a knife. Charming.

But he listens carefully, seriously giving the story some thought. He knows which option Jason would pick-- he'd not only hesitate, but he'd let the man fall. Maybe even make him fall. His MO was taking out scumbags, and it would be poetic justice for him to die terrified the way Gloria had lived in terror. Dick isn't an expert, but he is starting to understand how Jason's mind works.

Which is why he knows this is a test, and that lying isn't an option.

Dick looks off into the distance as he thinks, trying to put himself into the situation. An abuser with diplomatic immunity, seconds away from slipping and falling to his death. What would he do? He'd pull him up, of course. That's a no-brainer.

But that wasn't Jason's question. Would he hesitate?

No, not on purpose. He wouldn't stand over the helpless man and watch his fingers slip slowly off the railing. It just wasn't in him to do it.

But maybe, for a split second, he'd hesitate subconsciously. A small, very small, part of him would balk at saving this monster. But his ideals ran deep. He couldn't play God. He couldn't decide not to help, to let this man die. Dick would never forgive himself. It wouldn't be killing outright, but it'd be close enough for him.

After a long, thoughtful silence, he finally answers Jason's question.

"Subconsciously, for a split second."

[crossestheline]

Jason's expression twisted into a sneer. Of course Dick would come racing here when it was someone he cared about who had been hurt by the Joker. If it was someone else he didn't know personally? She wasn't worth the same effort.

"You know, Dick. Gloria was someone's friend, someone's daughter, and could have been someone's mother one day. I bet you'd answer differently if he had done all of those things to someone you cared about."

That was why Gotham needed someone like him. He wouldn't sweep the vulnerable under the rugs and forget about their problems. After living on the streets, he knew first hand what it was really like for people to have a hard life. As long as he could fight, he would never turn his back on the desperate and helpless.

Jason began to open his mouth, about to tell Dick he didn't deserve to hear the story because it would be wasted on him. However, at that exact moment the ground shifted beneath him and the walls of the warehouse shook. The tremor wasn't strong enough to throw him off his feet, or send the roof collapsing down on him, but it was strong enough to distract him.

"What the hell?"

[hackingyoursensors]

Dick looks irritated. Way to assume he'd do anything different for anyone else. Maybe if you told him what happens, Jason, he can stop it. Then again, Jason had to be the savior, right? Uncompromising morals-- just the other way around from his.

"I gave you an honest--"

The ground shakes. That's... startling, to say the least.

"Since when do turtles have earthquakes?"

[crossestheline]

"They don't."

His eyes quickly searched the building. The tremors were still relatively mild, but he wasn't sure how long that would last. A smirk was directed at Dick.

"Looks like we'll have to continue this conversation for some other time, kiddo."

He waved at him and then took off. He figured Dick would follow him, but he's got way more stamina training than Dick. Even if the kid was faster than him, eventually he'd run out of gas.

[hackingyoursensors]

"What? Hey!"

Dick dashes out behind Jason. He's fast, really fast. But, as Jason surmised, doesn't have the same stamina he does. Still, he pushes it as long as he can.