gotham born

i leave sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. one always finds one's burden again. but sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. he too concludes that all is well. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. one must imagine sisyphus happy.

[nights-cowl]

@nctmyfears

   bruce weighs every word carefully.  as things go further and further in the direction bruce fears, he knows he has to be extremely careful.  he doesn’t know jessica as well as he knows some of the others, so it’s nearly impossible to figure where her head is at.  and if she firmly believes in clark’s actions, if she stands as firmly beside him as some of the others seem to, then there’s a certain danger to reaching out at all.  “ with everything that’s happened, i wanted you to know that you and your partner are...welcome in gotham. ”  it’s an odd thing to say, especially to someone wearing a ring like hers, but the time for staunch rules may have come to a close.  and the time to offer a hand, the time to suss out his allies, has come.  “ how are you handling this all, jessica ?? ”

[nights-cowl]

demonrobin‌:

      “ Fashion & preparation, all important.” A somber musing, considering the circumstances. There was hesitation & slight displeasure with that, though he could understand, “ Normalcy went out the window for the world when a bomb detonated in Metropolis.” Nothing would be the same, not even a sight of either or both the dynamic duo. “ You lost a friend & someone close to Kent, you have — concerns?” 

bruce settles a hand on damian’s shoulder in what he hopes is some sort of comforting gesture.  “ i have quite a lot of concerns, ” bruce says, like it’s a confession of some sort.  “ i don’t...know how clark is going to handle his loss.  i’m worried about what this will mean for his future. ”  among his worries is what the joker’s death will mean for the lesser criminals of gotham, and what conclusion clark will take all of this too.  ( diana’s words in clark’s ear are concerning, too. )  but all of those worries are too nebulous to put them on damian’s shoulders, too.  “ and what about your concerns ?? ”

[nights-cowl]

@shieldsthcm

     bruce’s eyes are trained on the side of clark’s face.  and he wishes he could say that there wasn’t something about this that feels unbelievably tense.  like bruce is waiting for another shoe to drop, and maybe he is.  but that doesn’t change the years and years that he and clark have known each other, so bruce owes it to him to treat him with more trust than he would nearly anyone in this situation.  “ clark -- ” bruce greets, as natural as always when someone shows up in his home more or less unannounced.  he stands up and hesitates on a further greeting.  frankly, bruce doesn’t know what to expect and that has him off balance already. 

[poison-veined-deactivated201906]

[nights-cowl]

poison-veined‌:

“Don’t waste my time. Do you know where Harley is or not?”

    perhaps it’s a moment of empathy, after all that has happened, that brings bruce to answer the question -- “ of course i know where she is, and she’ll stay there until we can bring her to prison for what she’s done. ”

[nights-cowl]

demonrobin‌:

        “ My parents always taught me to pack light, but bring two-suits. Where — do you need me?”  

    “ that sounds like good advice, ” bruce says, then pauses to consider where he actually needs damian right now.  “ in gotham, ” is his answer, near immediately.  “ with everything -- it wouldn’t hurt if people felt there was some semblance of normalcy. ”  nothing more normal than robin in gotham, after all. 

[nights-cowl]

cobblerofweapons‌: 

    this was – hell, there were no words that could even begin to describe what had occurred. this was a tragedy that hit everyone so deeply. so many people gone, just like that. in a blink of an eye. all because some madman wanted to have a laugh. once the news had reached roy, he had made certain to get lian to a much safer location, far from where he knew villains liked to be. right now wasn’t the time for her to be around, not with everything that had happened. he needed to protect her. 

    “agreed,” he finally managed. words were hard to get out, shock still coursing through him. “i - uhh. i’m able to put my full focus on that right now. we should… assign specific people to those who can help. whatever needs to be done.”

for the first time in a long time, bruce takes a moment to just look at roy harper.  he’s seen roy grow from a boy to a man, and he’s seen the burden of this life settle on his shoulders, heavier and heavier every year.  bruce has never been as close to him as some of the others, but it does make bruce sadder still to see the way grief looks on roy, yet again. 

wordlessly, bruce puts a hand on roy’s shoulder and squeezes once, some sort of comfort, albeit a lackluster one.  “ i know you’re doing what needs to be done, ” bruce says.  “ how are oliver and dinah ?? ”

[nights-cowl]

nvghtwxng‌:

   with the number of years between them, dick hoped bruce knew by now just how suspicious it was for the screens to turn off at his arrival. by his experience, it usually meant - 1. something embarrassing, 2. something ‘not his business’, or 3. something that would anger him. dick sorely hoped it was the first of the three, as the pat still sent him standing up that much straighter. “ yeah, I– was actually hoping I could catch you around for some advice. ” a hand rubs at his nape, it always felt slightly awkward coming for such a thing like this, especially when he knows just how much bruce regularly has on his plate. “ but that can wait. how’re you handling? anything you want me to take off your hands? ”

     “ i’m handling, ” bruce confirms.  not that he isn’t shaken, to his very core, but there’s no time not to handle it right now.  batman is busy, and so is bruce -- funneling as much of the wayne money as possible into relocating people in metropolis’ fallout zone.  “ you’ve got enough on your hands, too, ” bruce reminds dick.  “ i can give advice -- it just might not be good. ”

[nights-cowl]

   it’s easier, to stay in costume and to stay focused, so that the full gravity of what has happened can’t settle over him.  he can’t think about it yet, can’t think about clark -- or metropolis.  or all the people, millions of people.  or of lois.  for the first time in a long time, bruce feels a genuine sort of panic settling over him, but he pushes it back down.  what now? he wants to ask.  but -- pretentious as it sounds -- batman doesn’t get to ask that question, and especially not now.  

    “ we need -- ” a pause.  what do they need?  where’s the plan?  “ priority has to be on...finding out where everyone is. ”  the unspoken hangs in the air.  some of them -- their teams, their families -- were in metropolis.  it’s a matter of finding out who now. 

[nights-cowl]

plot drops mean new threads for me, hmu if you want something personalized from bruce.  otherwise, i’ll post an open starter for anyone to respond to.

[nights-cowl]

@nctmyfears​

   maybe it’s that jessica caught bruce on a particularly good day, or maybe it’s just a natural reaction whenever he ends up working a job with someone significantly younger than he is.  or maybe bruce just likes jessica.  in actuality, it’s probably a combination of all three that makes him curious to watch jessica take lead on this particular case.  once in a while, batman is willing to follow, so long as the information never makes it back to hal jordan.  

“ where next ?? ”  a simple, but loaded question given the setting. 

[nights-cowl]

@nvghtwxng​

   the cave is quieter than usual tonight, with robin run off on patrol on his own.  a dot pulses slowly on the computer screen that bruce watches, tracking damian’s location.  it’s not that bruce is spying, but it’s hard to give up control.  this is just assurance that his youngest is alive and well.  when he notices dick’s approach, bruce switches off the monitor so his paranoia remains a secret.  “ alfred mentioned you’d be coming by -- ”  bruce rises from his chair and pats dick’s shoulder as he passes, the bat equivalent of an affectionate hair-ruffle.  “ did you need something tonight ?? ”

[nights-cowl]

    batdad && i are out for the night, but if you want a personalized starter from him, just like or comment on this lil post. 

[nights-cowl]

dianathcmyscira‌:

@nights-cowl

“Ah- too slow.” Even in this relaxed sparring session, without pushing herself like she would in battle, his punch is telegraphed enough for her to grab him and twist, using his momentum to throw him to the mat. To the best of her ability, she tempered her strength and speed with Bruce- and her other human allies- on principle so as to not seriously injure anyone, but never her strategy or cunning. Everyone else needed to learn to properly fight somehow, after all. It was her duty to show them. When she speaks her tone veers on biting, but there’s an edge of playfulness buried beneath for such a close friend. “I could almost call that sloppy. Overladen with food from the festivities?”

     pride and ass hit the mat at the same time, and bruce groans just a little -- in a way he never would in front of a less trusted friend.  maybe he has been eating too much, or maybe bruce is just getting old.  without an impressive alien physiology or gifts of the gods, bruce will age and his joints will get creaky and every beating will feel a little bit worse than the one before it.  but that’s no excuse for getting sloppy, so he gets to his feet and rolls his shoulders until he gets a pleasant popping from them.  “ again, ” is all he says, perhaps not as close to lighthearted as diana.  

[nights-cowl]

shieldthcm‌:

   of course clark catches it. arguably, he expects it - this familiarity, this ease that they have, took years to cultivate. clark doesn’t take it for granted. he hopes if bruce had any doubts of that before, they’ll be quelled after tonight. “ bruce - ” he can’t stop his dopey grin, more clark kent than superman, as he floats a few inches off the ledge, “ lois is pregnant. i didn’t even realize what i was hearing at first, until i did, but - i can hear the heartbeat, b. just there under lois’. ” he knows there’s things to be done, conversations with the people at STAR labs, and so much that they won’t know until it happens; but none of that matters to clark right now, in this small moment above gotham city, where he’s nothing but a soon to be father telling his best friend the news. 

bruce may have suspected, but there’s something flooring to hear it come from clark nonetheless.  the awe in clark’s voice awes bruce, and he’s glad that he didn’t beat clark to the reveal.  bruce thinks he can feel his own heart stutter for a moment -- there are no two people on the planet who deserve this more than clark and lois.  clark will make a fine father, an exemplary father.  as bruce fixes his eyes on the horizon, a smile creeps across his face.  “ that’s incredible, clark.  congratulations, to both of you. ”  he’ll send flowers or something for lois first thing in the morning.  bruce is no romantic, but he thinks this may be the kind of news that rearranges the stars, changes a world.  clark and lois, two of the very best people this world has to offer, will have the perfect legacy. 

[nights-cowl]

rcdvenant‌:

                    ❝ Not a very SANITARY habit. ❞ He retorts, but of course, he knows there is no way he’s able to wriggle out of this with another comment. But, Jason sticks to his guns - his metaphorical guns, at least. ❝ Yes, I smoke. I’ve smoked since before I bit the dust. ❞   

“ i chalked that up to teenage rebellion. ”  barely teenage rebellion, but bruce can’t dwell on that for long.  “ you should quit -- ” bruce says it emphatically, then searches for a good reason.  “ try running a mile after you’ve been smoking for ten years.  do you want to end up like constantine? ”

[nights-cowl]

divincdfuture‌:

   she bites down an exasperated huff. polite it may be, barbara is particular about what she can do being questioned, but it’s water under a bridge anyway. they’re gearing up for a long one now and she takes a quick second to pull her hair up and clear her desk space before she responds, “ i’m accessing controls now. sixty-five percent and counting. i’ll have full control in less than a minute. ” she pulls up the blue prints again, lips pursed as she considers them, “ there’s two emergency exits around back. one leads to an alley, poor lit. no camera coverage. if they try to take off, my bet is they’ll use that. ”

   praise like you’re a genius dies on bruce’s lips before it’s ever known.  it goes without saying.  but bruce is reminded, starkly, of a time before he had sage advice in his ear.  when all the work and research had to be done painstakingly, personally.  not that what babs does isn’t painstaking in its own way, and bruce would never admit it outloud, but it is comforting to shoulder the burden with others.  gotham feels less like an albatross or a death sentence, more like a home.  it’s no wonder that bruce’s step is lighter now as the minute passes in relative-silence.  

     as much as bruce hates to prioritize information over apprehensions today, it’s a necessity.  so he moves quick to lock down the exit that babs mentioned.  “ i’m going to try to force them out a door with cameras; i’ll need your help with facial recognition on their way out. ”  with the door barred, bruce scrambles back up the fire escape and prepares to bash the nearest window in when the alarm has created enough confusion.  “ ready when you are, oracle. ”

[nights-cowl]

ORACLE.

     she’s as quick on the keyboard as ever as she blinks away the last traces of sleep. blueprints take up two screens to her left and on the right are the security feeds from the cameras in the building. “ initial headcount looks to be roughly 15. with the blind spots near the bathrooms, i’d estimate another 5 to that. sounding a fire alarm would clear them within ten, but may alert the wrong people too. ” 

bruce grunts an assent.  a bit more difficult than he had planned for what should have been a quick drug-bust.  it’s looking more and more like something bigger.  which raises its own concerns -- especially with the alert from star labs recently.  which means bruce needs to handle this in a way that may actually get him some clues worth tracking.  which means his chances of sleep tonight are dwindling quickly.  as are barbara’s, unfortunately.  “ can you trip the alarm remotely ?? ” he knows the answer, but it’s polite to ask.