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Who: Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne
What: Tim takes Bruce up on his invitation to the Batroom and tries to see if he can, in fact, lie to Batman in person.
When: A while after this post
Where: The Batroom
Rating: PG

Tim had taken his time getting a rough idea of the lay out of the castle before heading for Ira Tower - he'd spent a while in the room he'd arrived in, which he guessed he should really start calling his. It was where he was going to live while he was stuck here, he might as well make himself comfortable in it. And it was... disturbingly thoughtful of the castle to put his name on the door, although part of him wasn't too happy about being so easy to find. He'd gotten used to living under the radar and watching his back since Duela was murdered, and his arrival here had put an uncomfortable amount of attention right on him. At least none of the Bats were going to try killing him.

Well, maybe Damian would.

There was only so long he could delay his visit to see Bruce before it became suspicious, so here he was making his way up the stairs - trying not to be nervous. This was Batman, not Owlman, lying to him might be hard but it wouldn't carry so great a cost, so there was nothing to be worried about. Besides, it wasn't even that much of a lie; all he had to do was act like himself, just... a better version of himself. ... Okay, that wasn't as easy as it sounded, but it seemed to be working so far.

He reached the top of the tower and found the right door to knock on - which he did after an awkward pause.

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He'd watched Tim's post carefully, listening to everything he could and trying not to frown when people had the sense to use filters. (As useful as they were to him sometimes, they didn't exactly make observing others an easy task.) It was... interesting. To listen to Tim. He was so different from his own Tim, and even more different than the Tim from Stephanie's universe who had been here before.

And that made him think, and think hard. Everyone was assuming that because it wasn't Bruce's Tim, it had to be Stephanie's Tim. That wasn't necessarily true, though, was it? Carrie hadn't been from either of their universes when she was here. There was a Gotham in Clark's universe, though no Batman yet. Who knew how many universes could be out there, really? But if he was from Stephanie's universe...

Bruce sighed quietly. If he was, something happened to him. Something bad. He couldn't really think of any other reason for a person who seemed relatively upbeat to turn into someone so quiet and brooding. Just one more thing to add to Bruce's long list of, "Reasons Why I'm Going to Punch My Alternate in the Face if He Ever Shows Up."

The knock drew him out of his thoughts and he turned his chair around from the computer. "It's open," he called. A slightly amused look crossed his face and he waited until the door was opening to continue. "For future reference, most of us come through the window so the door stays locked."

"Ah," Tim barely faltered in opening the door, and - smiled a touch sheepishly as he came in, closing the door behind him with his foot. "I don't have my uniform with me, so I thought - a window entrance might be a bit conspicuous in civilian clothes. I still can't get used to the idea that privacy and caution aren't so necessary here." And the only one who hadn't seemed to care about it at least a little was Damian, so he wasn't exactly inclined to follow that example.

He looked around the room, taking in what facilities were available, where the exits were, and any hiding places - not that he thought he'd need them, but because it was automatic on entering any room, a part of his training. "It's... got a better view than the Cave, huh."

The abrupt shift to a displeased look on Bruce's face probably would have been somewhat funny on anyone else. "They're incredibly necessary, especially with some of the people here. An innocent girl was recently kidnapped because she happened to associate with Damian. She was held for two days and the entire thing ended in her being incredibly shaken and Damian getting shot in the knee." And Bruce wasn't still upset about that whole thing, no siree. You must have been imagining things.

But his frustration with that whole case wasn't exactly going to be conducive to anything right then, so he shoved it away to focus on Tim. "It's taken some getting used to. How was your talk with Stephanie?"

That was familiar - and it was almost a relief, being able to switch from the slightly awkward greeting small talk to something serious for a moment. He frowned and held back a remark about how Damian should have learnt more of a lesson from that - it wasn't as if Tim was coming to the castle free of associations with them, unlike whoever the girl was. And it wasn't a helpful remark, especially not with how Bruce was clearly (to anyone who knew Bruce, at least) upset over the incident, understandably.

Hence the change in subject. "Informative. She told me about Jason and Damian, but neglected to fill me in on the fact Dick is - is going to be - Batman. I had to hear that one from Damian," and just imagine how obnoxious Damian was about that one, Bruce, "and he didn't tell me why. Just tried to tell me I couldn't be Robin here."

"Damian has absolutely no say over who gets to be Robin. Your name is whatever you want your name to be." They're familiar phrases. He's had similar discussions with other people enough times that it's no longer startling how he doesn't even have to think of what his reply to Damian being defensive is. Which is something he should probably talk with Damian about at some point, come to think of it.

But he's avoiding the direction this conversation inevitably has to take. It's a slightly uncomfortable thing to talk about - his other self - for any number of reasons. Mostly because he just doesn't know much of anything about him. Outside of the bad things, that is. No one tells him anything, and he's only gotten so much out of the people her. "Dick became Batman after his version of me died. Before you ask, no I don't know what happened. From what I've heard, he came back from the dead and is working in Gotham again, but Dick's still working as Batman in addition to the other Bruce."

He pauses. "... I'm not exactly sure how that works either." But he has his suspicions that part of the reason Dick is still Batman has to do with one small, stabbity Bat.

Tim can't help the momentary hungry, opportunistic glint in his eye when Bruce says his name is whatever he wants it to be - that's more open of an invitation than he was expecting to get, and he intends to take full advantage of it, even if the sentiment was directed to his alternate rather than him. Being able to be Robin - to be able to say Bruce told him he could be - it's just about perfect, the very thing he's been looking for.

It's only a little hollow that he hasn't really earned it himself. Not yet, and promises to himself that he'll keep to the heroic path he and Duela left their world for, and work until he feels like he has. Even if they find out who he really is and kick him out like the Titans... he didn't quit after that, and he's not about to now.

There are (arguably) more important things to focus on, and Tim frowns, all serious thought and careful emotional control. "I thought as much - the dying part, I mean. The fact Steph kept it from me meant it had to be something significant she wanted to protect me from. And I'm... just glad it wasn't permanent." Slight, wry smile.

Bruce watches Tim's expression carefully and can't help but feel a little bit puzzled. Even if it was something he'd suspected, Tim just found out that Batman was going to die in his future. Everything he knew about Red Robin Tim said that he was really pretty close to his Bruce. The frown is expected but Bruce can't help but think that it's a bit of an under-reaction to the news. It's the first off thing he's noticed, though, so he files it away in his head and keeps talking.

"I think it's safe to say you're not the only one that's glad about that." Stephanie has seemed happy talking about what had happened on her trip home, even if she had slapped her Bruce. Something that never failed to make Bruce feel just a little proud of her.

He leans back in his chair and gestures to the one he keeps nearby. Enough conversations happen up here that it's just made sense to have a place for someone else to sit and work at the desk type thing that came out from the giant Bat-computer. "Do you have any pressing questions Stephanie didn't answer?"

Tim takes the offered seat, and thinks about it - what does he need to know that won't be suspicious to ask about? He's fairly sure Steph covered the basics, at least, but the fact her run-down of events wasn't comprehensive has already been made annoyingly clear by Damian.

Ah - Damian. That's right, he still doesn't know much about him, or what his problem with alternate Tim is.

"I don't suppose you know why Damian seems to hate me? Did I do something, or is he just that charming with everyone?"

"He's like that with almost everyone," he says, and never was there a drier tone of voice.

Bruce leans back in his chair and thinks for a moment because there is a little bit more to it than just Damian's dislike for almost anyone he's ever come across. He's really only this terrible around Tims and Jason.

"I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the hostility is jealousy as well. Because of Robin and because of your relationship with me." It's a little frustrating and a lot sad now that he thinks of it. They don't really talk about feelings ever. They're Bats, they function almost entirely on the phrase How does I shot emotions? But there was one thing Damian had said once that made Bruce think that maybe, just maybe, that envy was a big part of it.

"That's -" ridiculous, he wants to say. Damian is Robin now, and he's Bruce's son, isn't he? So what is there to be jealous of? But he thinks about it for a second - he's never met his world's Damian, and the fact Steph felt the need to tell him about his existence means his alternate probably didn't meet him until later in the timeline as well (little does he realise that, at the point he went to Earth-1, Damian had turned up at the Batcave; it's an inconsistency between worlds that no-one has picked him up on yet, fortunately). That means that Tim has had more time with Bruce than Damian... yeah, he can see how that would rankle. The Robin part would just add to it.

But none of that is Tim's fault.

"... I don't know how to resolve that," he finishes, frowning as if he's approaching a particularly difficult puzzle. One made of knives, considering it's Damian.

"There's nothing you can do about it." Which is really unfortunate, because Damian's surly attitude towards the rest of the Batfamily (except Steph) is getting old. "He'll learn to deal with it eventually, and in the meantime I'm watching-" as best he can, anyways, "- to make sure it doesn't get too out of hand."

Bruce gives Tim a somewhat wry, humorless half-smile. "Believe it or not, he's actually better about being less antagonistic towards other people than he used to be. You're less likely to have him out-right attack you or put a horse's head in your bed now than a few months ago." He pauses and then realizes how bad that sounds. Even if it was framed as what passes for a joke with Bruce's twisted sense of humor, there's a bit of truth to it which, if Tim didn't know who Damian was, he would probably be confused by.

"How much did Stephanie tell you about Damian?"

"Not that much," Tim admits, raising an eyebrow. He's a little confused, to say the least - and here he thought that being Robin was supposed to be a thing reserved for those who didn't put horse's heads in people's beds. He wasn't expecting everything to be rainbows and unicorns just because these versions of the people he knows are heroic, he's had time to get used to how things work on Steph's Earth in comparison to his own, but still... that's pushing it. "Just that he's your son and uh, that talking to him was like shaking a beehive. Not an... inaccurate assessment. I can only imagine what he used to be like if this is an improvement."

Oh, it just figures that she left Bruce to explain the really strange parts. It may have been unintentional, but still. Figures. "His mother is Talia al Ghul. He's spent most of his life living with and being trained by her and the League of Assassins." Which is still really weird to think about and not just because he's used to them being the Society of Shadows. "Which explains the attitude and hostility." You can't exactly have that sort of upbringing go away with a snap of the fingers.

"... Oh."

What else is there to say to... that. Talia. Really, Bruce? Well, there were worse people... although Tim isn't sure how exactly their versions of Talia match up. Thinking about multidimensional differences in personality was going to give him a million stress headaches, he could just tell. The name, the League of Assassins was a new one on him, too, but there were similar groups at home. The CSA more or less fit the description, though their grasp of the underworld and control of America went beyond assassinations.

"It's difficult to be sympathetic when he's determined to hate me, but - yeah, it explains a lot."

Again with the slightly understated reactions. Maybe it's just an other-Tim thing? Or it could be a lack of anything to say since, well. Talia. Bruce himself would love to know the explanation for that one. She was an undeniably attractive woman but there's that whole issue of, well, morality that he can't help but think would hinder any attempts at ... copulation.

"Think of it this way," he says, shoving all those nasty and disturbing thoughts out of his head, "If there was nothing sympathetic in him at all, Dick wouldn't have taken to him like he did and I wouldn't be attempting to work with him now."

"Sure, but it's not like he's jealous of you or Dick," Tim points out. He's guessing Damian's jealousy doesn't extend to Dick, anyway, seeing as the older Robin is an ex-Robin, and - if his relstionship with Bruce follows his own world's Dick's relationship with Owlman once he graduated from being Talon, fairly separate, if not completely distant. Besides, if Damian was jealous of Dick, Tim is guessing he wouldn't be working with him (for him?) as Robin.

He sighs, slightly resigned sounding. "I'll deal with him as sympathetically as I can. It's not like I'm not used to death threats. Speaking of - what's the situation regarding non-Gotham villains here?"

"There's a number of them, though they don't tend to strike all that often. One of the ones to watch out for, especially right now is a man named Legato. He's an incredibly powerful telepath who's been kidnapping people in town and can control them using his mind." Which has been absolute hell for the Bats because it's next to impossible to figure out a way to take him down with what little info they have. "There's a report with all we've got so far on the computer that I can show you."

He pauses and gives Tim a thoughtful look. "How's your mental training?"

"I'd say it's pretty good, although there's only so far training can go against telepathic control." Tim frowns right back - his training under Owlman had included a few harrowing sessions with Martian Manhunter's counterpart that he'd rather not think about, as useful as they had been. He's fairly certain he can weather psychic attacks, thanks to that, and resist control, but if this Legato is such a powerful telepath, it's better not to underestimate him.

"I get the feeling I'm going to be spending a while reading reports."

Bruce nods. "More than likely, yes. Either writing or reading. There's only a few comprehensive reports so far - Lois Lane's report on the land of Paradisa and the World Beyond the castle, one in relation to a series of events involving a creature named Slenderman a few months ago and one relating to a series of kidnappings that happened in November, though that case is still unsolved. There's more loose ends and unknowns here than I've ever seen." And it can get really kind of frustrating.

"Ugh," Tim makes a face. He's used to writing reports, but they're not exactly the most thrilling part of his day, and the idea of having to leave loose ends and incomplete sections is just - frustrating. "I miss Gotham already. I guess I'd better start by reading Lois Lane's report, to get familiar with the surrounding area, before going over the case reports." It will be interesting to see how Bruce's style of investigation and report writing varies from Owlman's - Tim is guessing it won't be too different in methodology, except where it comes to dealing with the targets, and the reasons for going after them; to solve crime rather than to keep power or manipulate other criminals.

Bruce turns partially in his chair and pulls up a few things on the giant Bat-puter behind him. "These are the digital copies of the reports. I'm running a chemical tests I shouldn't leave for too much longer if you want to get a start on the reading now. I can give you a tour later." A tour which would most likely include a view of the town from the rooftops.

He stands and looks back at Tim for a moment, a little fondly. Definitely not anything like his Tim, but... well. He's quickly discovering that it doesn't matter what universe they're from or if he's never met them before - he's got a giant soft spot for Gotham kids. "It's good to have you back," he says quietly, going in for a Manly Shoulder Pat™, which is pretty much the only sign of physical affection he ever lets himself give, outside of the occasional hair ruffle around Damian. (He's too short for the Shoulder Pat.)

Tim tenses up the moment he feels Bruce's hand approaching his shoulder. It's not really a flinch, just sudden tension going through him, like the remnants of having the reflex to flinch trained out of him - it's a reaction he wouldn't have had to anyone else, but because it's Bruce, Batman, because of where they are - and within seconds he knows it was the wrong reaction to have, and there's no way Bruce missed it. Still, he steps away, brushing Bruce's hand off like breaking contact quickly will somehow stop Bruce from processing his reaction.

"I, um - I'll go do some reading, then."

The second Tim starts to tense like that, Bruce backs off, moving his hand back as if he was burned. He's startled by the reaction and suddenly very concerned. He knows what that tension means. He's seen it in victims before. But this is Tim and he shouldn't be almost flinching like that. But, then again, this is just another thing that doesn't add up. "Wait." He pauses, deliberately softens his voice just a little, "Tim..."

If he's honest with himself, he's not sure he wants to know what happened to this Tim. This Tim because he can't be Stephanie's Tim. But he needs to know, and needs to know why he's trying to make everyone think he's someone he's not. "Who are you, really?" Who did this to you, and can I break their face?

Oh, damn it. So the gig is up. And he was so close to pulling this off, to making everyone believe he really was the Tim they thought he was - it's always been a long shot, and not something he would have tried if not for the weird multidimensional melting pot that the castle is, but it almost, almost worked. And then he had to go and screw it up. At least Bruce doesn't seem angry - yet - but it's a little worse, in a way, to see him react like that instead.

"You got me," Tim answers wryly, and sighs. "I'm not from Steph's world, originally, and I was never Robin, so, you know. You're going to want to throw me out of your clubhouse. Which is a shame, it really is cool up here." And it was nice being invited, but there's no reason to think Batman is going to be nicer about his origins than the Teen Titans - so he might as well get it over with. "I'm Talon, and I used to work with Owlman and the Crime Society of America."

It's just a little difficult to keep the stern look off his face when Tim says 'Crime Society.' It's not a name he's familiar with, neither is 'Owlman,' but he can guess what they're like. And the Justice Lords flashbacks start and make his stomach twist. (How long was that alternate universe going to haunt him? Were they ever going to escape it?) But there's something that makes him pause and think.

"Used to." Past tense. If this Crime Society of America is anything like the Justice Lords, Bruce really doubts that they'd just let someone let Tim walk away from their cause. "Explain."

The change from conversational to stern monosyllables is stark, if expected, and Tim bites the inside of his cheek as he decides how to answer - how much to give away to someone who, at best, will likely want nothing more to do with him.

"I quit." Not that it was that easy, but he hadn't exactly handed in a letter of resignation, or even given Owlman any notice that he was leaving. "I went to the heroes in my world, but they weren't happy to have me around, so me and Duela - my girlfriend, she had powers that let us run away to a different Earth. Steph's Earth. I tried to join the Teen Titans but they kicked me out when they learnt the truth about where I was from."

That's not at all what he was expecting, especially the comment about the Titans. It doesn't seem like he's lying, though. "That's why you pretended to be Stephanie's Tim. Because you thought we would do the same thing." It all makes a horrible sort of sense.

Bruce doesn't say anything else for a long moment, and instead studies this other Tim. He has absolutely no reason to believe him other than the fact that this is the second reaction that doesn't seem off in any way. And the other one was completely involuntary. There's a few ways he could react to this, really, but there's really only one that seems smart. "Get to reading. When you're done, I want you type up a record of how you got involved with this Owlman and what drove you to leave. Then we'll talk."

To the first part, Tim just nods - of course he's expecting Bruce and the other Bats to kick him out. He still is, really; he's just a pretender, and a villain at that. He can't say he's a good person, just that he's trying to be, and that doesn't carry much weight compared to the years spent as a criminal enforcer.

To be honest, he's expecting Bruce to all but haul him out the door on the spot, but - that's not what happens, and he stands still in surprise for a second. Is this... is he really being given a chance, or is Bruce just using him to get information on how his Earth works, in case Owlman ever shows up here? It's not like he has much choice, either way. "I... okay. Sure."

It would be a bit of a moot point to kick him out when he's already seen the Tower and learned enough about it. This way, at least, he can find some things out and set some ground rules. Make sure Tim knows he's going to be watching, and watching carefully.

"We'll talk more later. And I expect the truth this time." He raises an eyebrow and his body language gives off that 'or else,' feeling. Give him the cowl and he'd be looming menacingly. "For now, get to work."

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I FEEL SO BAD RUINING THIS TOUCHING MOMENT FOR BRUCE

kjalsdk NO DON'T

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