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Jul. 28th, 2016 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runningredEncryption level one…
Initiating…
Complete.
Encryption level two…
Initiating…
Complete.
Encryption level three…
Initiating…
Beryl drummed her fingers in her laptop as she waited. Damn Red Robin and his paranoia. All she wanted to do was chat but everything had to be routed through layers and layers of security.
Complete.
Squire enters chat –
S: About damn time, Tim! Why does everything have to be so complicated with you guys?
Red Robin enters chat –
RR: You used my name in the first line of text and you need to ask me that. Why do you think?
RR: Is there a reason you’re messaging me in the middle of the night?
RR: Contrary to popular belief, I do sleep.
S: I’m worried about Jay.
RR: Oh?
S: Something isn’t right.
S: Something about him was off.
RR: I read the witness statements.
None of which had been released to the public but Beryl knew that didn’t matter to the Bats.
RR: Other than killing those two guards, he seems to have done an exemplary job on this mission.
Beryl snorted, she could hear the cold calculation of Bruce’s tone in Tim’s words. Even if it lacked the level of judgement over the two guards. And no mention of the three executed prisoners. The autopsies had shown that the strokes that killed them, neat severing of their spinal cords from behind, had been a mercy.
RR: The evidence gleaned from the patrons he trapped in the building has implicated Vandal Savage in the testing of chemical weapons.
RR: The League are following it up now.
RR: And he got you both out alive.
S: That’s part of what’s bothering me.
S: I shouldn’t have survived.
S: I don’t know how I did.
RR: How so? All indications are that Red Hood avoided being dosed with the toxin and was able to evacuate you both from the building before the SWAT team arrived.
S: That’s the thing, Tim. He was dosed.
S: I saw.
S: When they opened the pit doors I saw him.
S: His eyes were green. He was fighting it but he was losing.
S: He has the recessive genes. You’ve seen his medical files.
S: He should have become a berserker and killed me.
S: And I was okay with that.
S: I was two fights down and in no state to take a third.
S: Not against Jay. Not even on a normal day.
S: At least it was a friend who was going to kill me.
She felt the breath catch in the back of his throat. The acceptance of death that still hovered at the back of her mind like a shadow. She had been at peace with that. Even a little relieved.
RR: Go on.
S: When he stepped through the door he… changed.
S: I can’t tell you how. It wasn’t really anything physical.
S: Except it was.
S: His eyes were blue again.
S: He moved differently. I could have sworn his ribs were broken but he didn’t move like it.
S: And he was calm. So deadly calm.
S: How does someone go from murderous rage to dead calm like that.
RR: Jason did undergo extensive training under the All Caste.
S: it wasn’t like that, Tim!
S: I’ve seen training. This wasn’t that.
S: It was like he wasn’t the same person.
S: He was-
There was a pause as Beryl’s fingers hovered over the keyboards, looking for the words that won’t come.
S: He kissed me. When he got me back to my safehouse.
RR: Is that a problem? Jason is an attractive man. Objectively.
S: Fuck you, Tim. You find him just as attractive as I do.
S: Don’t objectively me!
S: But it wasn’t like that. It was… protective. Tender. Weird.
S: Red Hood is a hard arse, not someone I expected to tuck me into bed and kiss me good night.
RR: Oh?
S: Not like that, you arse.
There was another long pause, this time on Tim’s end.
RR: It’s my observation that Jason Todd is a very… complex individual.
S: You’re in love with him too.
Stoney silence.
S: Don’t worry, I won’t tell if you won’t.
S: But I’m serious. Something happened that night that I can’t explain.
S: Something shift in reality that changed him from a drugged monster to calm, controlled fighter.
S: Tim, I need to know why I’m not dead.
S: This matters to me.
RR: What makes you think I can help?
RR: You know I’ve only spoke to the man twice?
S: You’re the same breed – genus Chiroptera.
S: I was hoping you have some insight.
S: And yet you’re following his every move.
When he didn’t answer, she added-
S: You know where he is, don’t you?
Another long pause. Of course he did but he wasn’t going to admit that to her.
S: Tim, I need to know what really happened that night.
S: My broken ankle is going to take months to heal.
S: I can’t leave the country till the media attention around the Gladiator Scandal dies down.
S: I need you to find out for me.
S: You own me that.
S: Please, Tim.
She stared at the blinking cursor for a long time, almost hearing Tim’s teeth grind from the other side of the planet.
R: I’ll do what I can.
Beryl felt the pent up tension go out of her.
S: Thank you, Tim. That means a lot to me.
But her message didn’t go through as Red Robin abruptly exited chat.
She knew she was asking a lot. That Tim’s interest in Jay was a weakness Red Robin hated in himself. Any normal kid would just deal with having a crush but Tim had never been a normal kid. His intensity made everything more complicated than it should have been. And the way he seemed to ache for some connection with Jason was no different. Especially seeing, as far as Beryl could tell, Tim was a virgin, aromantic and predominantly asexual. Except for the fact that something about Jay got under his skin.
She couldn’t help Tim with that. He would have to work it out for himself. Perhaps they would both get the answers they needed.
Initiating…
Complete.
Encryption level two…
Initiating…
Complete.
Encryption level three…
Initiating…
Beryl drummed her fingers in her laptop as she waited. Damn Red Robin and his paranoia. All she wanted to do was chat but everything had to be routed through layers and layers of security.
Complete.
Squire enters chat –
S: About damn time, Tim! Why does everything have to be so complicated with you guys?
Red Robin enters chat –
RR: You used my name in the first line of text and you need to ask me that. Why do you think?
RR: Is there a reason you’re messaging me in the middle of the night?
RR: Contrary to popular belief, I do sleep.
S: I’m worried about Jay.
RR: Oh?
S: Something isn’t right.
S: Something about him was off.
RR: I read the witness statements.
None of which had been released to the public but Beryl knew that didn’t matter to the Bats.
RR: Other than killing those two guards, he seems to have done an exemplary job on this mission.
Beryl snorted, she could hear the cold calculation of Bruce’s tone in Tim’s words. Even if it lacked the level of judgement over the two guards. And no mention of the three executed prisoners. The autopsies had shown that the strokes that killed them, neat severing of their spinal cords from behind, had been a mercy.
RR: The evidence gleaned from the patrons he trapped in the building has implicated Vandal Savage in the testing of chemical weapons.
RR: The League are following it up now.
RR: And he got you both out alive.
S: That’s part of what’s bothering me.
S: I shouldn’t have survived.
S: I don’t know how I did.
RR: How so? All indications are that Red Hood avoided being dosed with the toxin and was able to evacuate you both from the building before the SWAT team arrived.
S: That’s the thing, Tim. He was dosed.
S: I saw.
S: When they opened the pit doors I saw him.
S: His eyes were green. He was fighting it but he was losing.
S: He has the recessive genes. You’ve seen his medical files.
S: He should have become a berserker and killed me.
S: And I was okay with that.
S: I was two fights down and in no state to take a third.
S: Not against Jay. Not even on a normal day.
S: At least it was a friend who was going to kill me.
She felt the breath catch in the back of his throat. The acceptance of death that still hovered at the back of her mind like a shadow. She had been at peace with that. Even a little relieved.
RR: Go on.
S: When he stepped through the door he… changed.
S: I can’t tell you how. It wasn’t really anything physical.
S: Except it was.
S: His eyes were blue again.
S: He moved differently. I could have sworn his ribs were broken but he didn’t move like it.
S: And he was calm. So deadly calm.
S: How does someone go from murderous rage to dead calm like that.
RR: Jason did undergo extensive training under the All Caste.
S: it wasn’t like that, Tim!
S: I’ve seen training. This wasn’t that.
S: It was like he wasn’t the same person.
S: He was-
There was a pause as Beryl’s fingers hovered over the keyboards, looking for the words that won’t come.
S: He kissed me. When he got me back to my safehouse.
RR: Is that a problem? Jason is an attractive man. Objectively.
S: Fuck you, Tim. You find him just as attractive as I do.
S: Don’t objectively me!
S: But it wasn’t like that. It was… protective. Tender. Weird.
S: Red Hood is a hard arse, not someone I expected to tuck me into bed and kiss me good night.
RR: Oh?
S: Not like that, you arse.
There was another long pause, this time on Tim’s end.
RR: It’s my observation that Jason Todd is a very… complex individual.
S: You’re in love with him too.
Stoney silence.
S: Don’t worry, I won’t tell if you won’t.
S: But I’m serious. Something happened that night that I can’t explain.
S: Something shift in reality that changed him from a drugged monster to calm, controlled fighter.
S: Tim, I need to know why I’m not dead.
S: This matters to me.
RR: What makes you think I can help?
RR: You know I’ve only spoke to the man twice?
S: You’re the same breed – genus Chiroptera.
S: I was hoping you have some insight.
S: And yet you’re following his every move.
When he didn’t answer, she added-
S: You know where he is, don’t you?
Another long pause. Of course he did but he wasn’t going to admit that to her.
S: Tim, I need to know what really happened that night.
S: My broken ankle is going to take months to heal.
S: I can’t leave the country till the media attention around the Gladiator Scandal dies down.
S: I need you to find out for me.
S: You own me that.
S: Please, Tim.
She stared at the blinking cursor for a long time, almost hearing Tim’s teeth grind from the other side of the planet.
R: I’ll do what I can.
Beryl felt the pent up tension go out of her.
S: Thank you, Tim. That means a lot to me.
But her message didn’t go through as Red Robin abruptly exited chat.
She knew she was asking a lot. That Tim’s interest in Jay was a weakness Red Robin hated in himself. Any normal kid would just deal with having a crush but Tim had never been a normal kid. His intensity made everything more complicated than it should have been. And the way he seemed to ache for some connection with Jason was no different. Especially seeing, as far as Beryl could tell, Tim was a virgin, aromantic and predominantly asexual. Except for the fact that something about Jay got under his skin.
She couldn’t help Tim with that. He would have to work it out for himself. Perhaps they would both get the answers they needed.
