video;

[crossestheline]

I remember not too long after I came here, someone rambled on and on about "lifers". Since then, not only have the two lifers graduated, but this guy right here has as well.

[Grins. He's finally been delivered his one way ticket out of here.]

Sorry, kiddos. There's no sticking around to play nice for me. There's a lot of work that I want to do in the place I'm going to, that I don't want to leave at the hands of some cosmic being who not only loses control of its ship, but dumps us off in a hellhole.

Graduating here is like drawing straws. Sometimes you luck out like me, find people who actually give a damn about you when you arrive, and get paired up with someone who sees you as a person, not a means to an end. Other people, get yanked around and screwed with constantly. This place needs a serious overhaul. I'd stick around to try and do just that, but I'd also risk losing a literal once in a life time opportunity.

[He can't risk suddenly disappearing or getting reverted back to an Inmate, which would prevent him from leaving with Bruce.]

I'll be around for a few more hours to say my goodbyes. After that, I'm out of here.

[Private to Jean]

Tell your friend I said hey.

[Private to Bruce]

I'm heading to your room.

Comments

[crossestheline]

[Silent hill was one of the most difficult situations he's ever encountered. Which is saying something given how he died the first time around in his world. Still, he'd be able to fight his way through the mental, emotional, and physical hell to get to this point.]

Hey.

[Frowns. Even with the suit, he can tell something's wrong. Then again, who came out of that port "okay"?

Moves over to his side.]

Heh, not too bad, huh? I got to give death the bird twice and you got to give it to death once.

[theonlyresponse]

[He returns the greeting, wearily.]

Hey.

[His posture shifts, becomes less tense, palms facing Jason. This boy, he could never lie to, even when he was a child. Jason knew him. Jason understood his anger too well.

He is tempted, to put the veneer back up, to say it was survivable, but even he has been beaten down, exhausted, and talking to Barbara did not make it any better. There was no longer any point pretending everything was fine. He'd done for so many years after his son died, and he was trying to break out of it, at least to his nearest and dearest.]

I don't know what I would have done, if you hadn't come back from there.

[There is a deep, lasting grief beneath the moderated, controlled tone he employs.]

[crossestheline]

[Jason can see everything that is going on with Bruce without his father having to say anything to him. This is what Jason is afraid of happening. The Barge will force him into a situation that almost breaks him. Then what?

There's not enough time to puzzle over the ifs and whats. He needs to cut right to it. ]

I'm okay. I'm leaving this place and things are only going to get better.

[Reaches over to rest his hand on Bruce's shoulder. ]

Are you going to be okay here?

[theonlyresponse]

I should leave as well. [He looks at Jason, his expression heavy.] We can do more good in Gotham. [But I cannot abandon Lisbeth, and that, he lets go unsaid, clenching his fist tightly.]

[crossestheline]

[Jason levels his gaze, thinking about the unspoken. What if Bruce sticks it out for awhile longer and then snaps like Tosh? Lis sure as hell won't be graduating and Bruce will be an inmate. ]

How much does she trust you?

[That's the big thing for Jason. He knows what it is like first hand to feel abandoned by someone you deeply trust. Someone you kind of trust leaving because they are burned out in another situation all together. ]

[theonlyresponse]

More than I expected. [That much, he was very certain of. She was like him, she was suspicious and paranoid. It had taken Alex a truth flood and a month to get Bruce used to him. He wasn't sure if Lisbeth fully trusted him, but she was definitely used to him, and after that port...] I do not want to entertain the possibility that she could be paired with someone who will not help her.

[crossestheline]

Do you think you are gonna be able to help her, or will this place get to you first?

[Another reason why he hates this place. It forces choices like this. Someone may or may not get the help they need and guilt runs thick. ]

[theonlyresponse]

[He is silent for a long time, considering. His fists clench and unclench, he looks at the suit, at the guns, what he changed it to mean.

He knows that without his family, without someone to keep him steady, he will snap within seconds. No matter how much they believed in him, he knows his demons best of all.]

This place will break me again.

[He can put himself back together, he's proved that, but he does not want to take that risk.]

[crossestheline]

[Fuck, there's no easy answer to this situation. Closes his eyes over, playing out different outcomes in his head.

A large part of the reason the two of them graduated is because they had each other. How many fights did Bruce stop him from getting into? Bruce was like a father and a Warden to him until Jean came. Having someone to be responsible for, having that someone be him, had been healing for Bruce.

If he leaves while Bruce is in this state, he can see Bruce starting to backslide. When Bruce breaks, he'll convince himself it's okay because Jason is gone. With his son "safe and sound", he doesn't have to worry about his own safety.

Then there's Lis. If Bruce sticks it out and they continue to bond, she'll trust him more and more. Then when he snaps and becomes an Inmate, it will be that much harder for her to graduate.]

I'll wait for you to pack up and we 'll leave together.

[theonlyresponse]

I'll ask her first, make sure there's someone she feels comfortable with looking out for her.

[A large part of him still doesn't want to abandon her, doesn't want to take the risk of the person he trusts with Lisbeth disappearing or breaking too. But he needs Jason, and Jason needs him. They keep each other steady. That, more than anything, that had propelled him towards graduating and staying a warden.]

Then I'll tie up some other loose ends, and we'll go home.

[He flexes his fingers, looks up at the suit again.]

You think I should wear that, or become something else?

[crossestheline]

Okay.

[Jason stares at Bruce in disbelief for a few seconds. This is actually happening. The two of them are actually going to go back to Gotham together, alive, healthy, and ready to restore the city.]

We can work on resdesigning our suits together.

[theonlyresponse]

We will.

[He turns to face his son.]

There's a lot of work to be done. We have to... talk to Alfred. [And to Dick, but he has no idea how to do that.] I promised Cassandra I would look for her.