It was clear that Jason had shut Bruce out and planned on keeping him out until the bitter end. He’d have been lying if he said that the fact wasn’t incredibly frustrating. After all, Jason was like a son to him. Was a son to him. There were a thousand things he wanted to say to defend his position on the matter, but he knew that it would all be making excuses. Now that he could think with the clarity that people expected of him, he could reflect on all that he’d done and realized.. He’d ruined things completely.
The one chance he had at being at being the parental figure Jason deserved. To be the man who saved him from his dangerous lifestyle. He failed that task utterly. And he doubted he’d ever have another chance to be let in past those tightly shut doors.
“I have nothing, save for my batsuit. It doesn’t look like it’s been tampered with in any way, so it should offer me some protection while I rebuild.. And hopefully find out some of the secrets our captors are keeping from us.”
It wouldn’t be easy. Batman was without any of his assets, including his wealth. He would have to start everything from the ground up, but.. It wasn’t impossible. Once he’d set up a base of operations, he could try and make it all work in his favor. Giving up was not an option.
Bruce offered this to him before; the chance to talk and make things right. No, that wasn’t right, he probably wanted to do things his way, Batman’s way, and Jason wouldn’t put up with that, not any more. He was dead because of him, that’s what he would say to himself when they would argue, when part of him, that part of his mind that was unaffected by his dive in the Lazarus Pit would insist that Batman did his best to save him. He didn’t fancy another trip there so his stubbornness and unwillingness to listen to anything that Bruce had to say was of course winning for now.
He wasn’t going to let his guard now; even with Kori and Roy around now, it took a long to get him where he was, including a mindwipe of his own brain. With Joker, Batgirl and now Batman around, things were bound to get complicated.
“Good luck with that”, Jason snorted. “I had a guy check my helmet but seems to be untouched too. Lucky for them, I’m not planning to blow this place up with it.”, he added, tapping a gloved finger on the helmet that concealed his identity; not that Batman didn’t know exactly how he looked like. “So you’re going on with that detective work of yours, even here. They don’t seem to particularly like the cape and mask type of guys here, by the way.”
“Please, don’t make this any more difficult than it has to be. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it for a while, but we both know everything that’s happened didn’t give us much of a chance.”
This was no act. Bruce wanted to make amends. He knew that he’d ruined something that could have potentially mended all the past wounds left behind by the boy’s unfortunate death. No matter how he looked at it, Jason was like a son to him. Just as much of a son as Damian was. Al of them were.. He’d just been blind to that fact during the period of grieving.
“People like them always hold back more information than they give out. I need to know as much about them and the way this city works as possible. But if you don’t know any more than what you were told, then I guess we won’t be getting anywhere in that regard.”
“Because it’s so damn easy to solve things like that, right? We’ll talk everything out and all will be dandy, just like real families do or whatever? Don’t make me laugh, we both know that this can’t happen, whenever you like it or not. You made your decisions, I made mine.”
To admit that he was hurt was impossible; they had the talk before, or as much of a talk as they could, but Jason was disappointed, hurt even. Maybe he expected more, maybe a complete different reaction and solution. That’s what he wanted to think, that Bruce suffered just as much as he did when he died, and even if he could see that, his mind was rejecting him, just because he didn’t act like he wanted him to be. To get rid of the clown once and for all.
“This city is full of thugs and smartasses, a real heaven for me and you”, he laughed, holding out his hands. “I’ve never seen the scum that run this town, but trust me, if I find out where they live, I’ll have a word or two with them. They took my guns. What about your toys?”
Sneering imperialist, that Starfire, but damned if those svelte solar-powered melons weren’t some of the finest he’d seen. And he’d seen enough to fill the rough distance between Jupiter and its sun. Smug in the reminiscence, he expelled a dark cloud of cigar smoke in the other’s direction. “Why, ‘cause I beat ‘im t’ th’ punch?” A thick chuckle. “Boo-fraggin’-hoo. I’ve been ‘m ta the punch on half th’ population o’ th’ galaxy. Female population, that is.”
“… Who th’ frag’s Harper, anyway? ‘Fact, who the frag’re you?”
Jason pulled a face of disgust; such guys, smoking large cigars, drinking and bragging about women were exactly the type of people that he loved beating up. He was doing the world a favour, getting rid of such disgusting individuals, but Kori wasn’t there at the moment, so she was safe. Not that she would sit around and have Lobo talk like that, Jason saw her throwing a punch boy, she was good. Maybe a bit too good, but then again, there was a reason why she was his..friend. Yeah, she would call her that.
"They call me the Red Hood. I have a little.. let’s call it a team. The Outlaws, has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
So, he hadn’t been the only one brought here from his world. He’d guessed as much, but to find himself confronted by Jason of all people. There was an awkwardness lingering about them before Bruce finally decided to choose his words.
“Red Hood.. I know how you must feel. And I plan on talking things out with you at some point. But for now, you need to fill me in on the situation. Is there any information you have that those scientists haven’t decided to make public?”
His eyes narrowed behind the red helmet that covered his face. In a way, he was thankful for that; if Bruce would wear his cowl, he wouldn’t take off his helmet. A proper mask to hide any sort of emotions that could give Bruce anything to work with. Ever since he got in that city with Roy, he stumbled upon the new Bat-Girl and the Joker, both meetings weren’t pretty, and he doubted that this one would be any different.
“You better drop the act, Bruce. I have nothing to discuss with you or sit through any of your lectures anymore. The great detective is asking for my help? I thought that you would know all about this place straight when you woke up.”
