( closed )

[beknight]

Who: bruce wayne (beknight) & some pals.
What: various quests.
When: various times.
Where: around olympia.
Warning(s): violence! more will be added if needed.

Comments

STEVE + PEGGY.

[beknight]

[ He finds the house without trouble. Early, because it's always nice to know the neighbours, the noise levels, the mill of people at this hour. It's almost lunch, so there's a crowd. He's not disguised, and won't loiter. ]

[ Just enough to get an idea what he's dealing with. He and Peggy have an understanding, where that goes. He's well-dressed enough, the utility belt under his clothes. No knives, no collapsible staff, his preferred brass knuckles will take a while for the smith. ]

[ Bruce approaches the door and knocks, sharply, twice. ]

I'm looking for Miss Carter, [ he says, half-turned away, his attention on a group of children on the street. He turns, and raises his eyebrows at the man who answers the door. ]

literally 84 years later

[america]

Hi.

[ Yes.

Hello, Alan.

It's Steve answering the door.

No, this isn't awkward at all.

He gives present company a brief glance of surprise before he remembers his manners and steps aside. ]

Come in. I'll find her.

it's been seventy years cap

[beknight]

[ It's Steve answering the door. Bruce does look briefly surprised, but after a moment shrugs. The rooming is random. ]

[ Just going to hang around the door, here, after he closes it behind him. ]

[america]

You - uh. Thirsty?

[ Steve glances over his shoulder. ]

I can get you something to drink. Though I'm afraid I'm not really good at making tea.

[ That's a task he leaves to the Brits in the household. ]

[beknight]

[ He shakes his head slightly. ]

Just water, please.

[ He empathises. Life is hard without Alfred. ]

[america]

Water, I can do.

[ And it's with some small relief that Steve walks the two steps necessary to get into their kitchen-area to grab a glass for water.

If he'd asked for tea, they'd both be in trouble.

Conversationally: ]

You been doing okay?

[ When he's got a glass full, he heads back over to offer it to the other man. Ah, the joys of living in a space where one step will take you in and out of different rooms.

Feel free to have a seat wherever you can perch, Bruce. ]

CHARLES.

[beknight]

[ He's there early, browsing his phone, with instructions for the waitstaff to bring Charles right to the table once he's arrived. Bruce has taken the liberty of a private booth at the corner, and while he's lounging easily, he's as vigilant as ever, his mind calm and sharp. ]

Charles.

[axiomed]

[ For a moment, Charles nearly slips, the word Erik close on his tongue before he abruptly reigns it in with a smile. He politely gestures to the seat opposite him and slides the menu over. ]

Thank you for making time for me.

[beknight]

Of course.

[ Charles isn't just tolerated — Bruce likes him. He taps something on the menu. ]

I think these are petit fours. They're popular.

[axiomed]

You have good taste.

[ When the waitress arrives, Charles opts for tea and buttered scones. He waits until Bruce has finished giving his order before speaking. ]

How have you been settling in?

[beknight]

As well as anyone.

[ He misses Gotham, but the imbalance is mental. Bruce's calibration to Olympia has been effortless. He has training sessions with others, he knows what's going on the city, it's only a matter of time before he has money and equipment to get to where he wants to be. Atsushi is a reasonable roommate. ]

But I'm guessing you're not here for small talk.

[axiomed]

[ Charles merely smiles. ]

There's nothing wrong with a little small talk.

Actually I'm here about an . . . initiative that might come to pass.

[beknight]

[ Alfred might say that, but with far more sarcasm. ]

[ Bruce clasps his hands on the table, looking at Charles. ]

What kind of initiative?

[axiomed]

[ Charles may be all loose smiles and careless posture, but there's no mistaking the steel in his eyes. ]

One to help make sure this place doesn't slip into anarchy. I'm sure you've kept a close eye on people. A few of us are thinking of taking it a step further.

[beknight]

[ There's no mistaking Bruce's interest, either, although nothing happens physically, his mind clears of other distractions immediately. He raises an eyebrow. ]

They have the Royal Guard for that.

[ He's playing devil's advocate — this has to be outside the Guard. ]

[axiomed]

The Royal Guard is not adequately prepared for the kind of people that have arrived and we both know it.

[ Charles folds his hands over his lap. ]

We, on the other hand, are.

DIANA.

[beknight]

[ He's already in the room, but that's not the point. Bruce heads straight back to the transport pads and goes back down. He could lurk, wait for her to show up and then approach her. It's an instinct, he follows it insofar as staying out of sight of anyone else going back up to the station. ]

[ But the moment she's spotted, he's there waiting, ready to step on together with her. ]

[wondie]

( as promised, she doesn't come immediately, but it does not surprise her that when she arrives Bruce is already there. it went without saying that he has already been to the station before they'd even spoken. because how else would he know?

she joins him without much in the way of words, taking his arm with a soft breath. she's ready to face what neither of them would ever be willing to ignore. )

[beknight]

[ The gesture is natural. Every gesture can be, for him, but the Diana of the future does not offer this outside of when it's purposeful. He doesn't comment. She doesn't mean it as comfort, and standing together is something he's had to remember how to do. ]

[ But it is there, stretching, blinking, adjusting to the sunlight. They walk quietly together to the stasis room. ]

[wondie]

( it's true, she is quicker to reach out now than she would be in their future. after centuries of learning, Diana found ways to guard herself beyond her shield. in that respect she is less impervious than the woman she would become.

she has yet to be given a reason to regret reaching out, though. she appreciates having his presence, when they are both facing something they do not want to see.

she glances at other faces as they pass them, though none of them take her breath away like Clark manages to. the last she'd seen of him, he'd been strong. healthy. what had happened to send him back here? the breath stalls in her lungs, and her grip on Bruce's arm is a little tighter. )

Oh, Clark. ( how could this have happened to you? she doesn't say it, but she wonders. it makes no sense, even seeing it with her own eyes. ) When did you find him here?

[beknight]

[ It is as valuable offered to him now as it would be were she from any other time. Bruce doesn't want to take things from her. ]

[ They walk quietly — they walk together — through the station. He's had time to school his emotions into something manageable. Loss and Bruce Wayne always existed in the same sentence — it is his oldest companion. ]

[ Clark's not lying dead at their feet, but this too feels like robbery. ]

This morning. I couldn't get through to his phone.

[wondie]

( her hand presses a little harder, as with all her strength she can simply reach past the obstruction and draw their friend back. both hands land at the pod's face, and her shoulders paint a miserable line as she looks at Clark's sleeping face.

what darkness could have found him? was it on the face of the planet? if only she could ask him; he'd want to warn anyone else from treading where he had.

finally she forces her hands to drop, before she turns back to Bruce. it's rare that Diana doesn't seem to know what to do with herself, though at the moment? even she seems uncertain. Amazons were not an overly affectionate people, beyond her mother. humans were a different sort, though Bruce has never struck her as a particularly conventional human.

in the end, simply putting a hand on his arm doesn't feel enough. not for the comfort she wants to give him, nor for the comfort she herself seeks. she puts her arms around him, face securely at his shoulder, instead of the blank expression that still manages to linger in her thoughts. )

He'll wake again. He will. Whoever hides behind this darkness, we will find them. ( her promise isn't as fervent as usual, facing a loss she could not have expected. even if she has to believe it's temporary. )

[beknight]

We will.

[ He wasn't expecting it. Should have — given that he woke in the outpost to find a friend on either side of him, like they were both his comfort and his shields. He had wondered then whose idea it had been — either one of them could be the culprit. ]

[ He wraps his arms around her firmly. She has a generous heart — which is deep, still — but more sparingly given. The Diana of the future has never touched him outside of combat training, usually for appearances. What warmth there is between them lies in words, in subtleties. It grows, but slowly. They're warriors — vulnerabilities aren't offered up. ]

We're still here.

[wondie]

( it'd been hers, if only because Clark was too much of a gentleman and likely would have slept on the floor if she hadn't said anything. it is a night so long past, now it feels as if it were a dream. waking up with the company she trusted most beside her was not a feeling to last, and it makes her determined to hold on to the only link she has left while Clark sleeps — while her family and her friends remain in stasis.

she thinks little of the touch, even though affection tends to be something she offers with purpose, even now. her heart is less hindered by disappointment and distrust, yet bold affection was not the norm for an Amazon. Diana gives it anyway, when she wants to. when it feels right.

and even in her sadness, it feels right now.

she lingers a moment, before pulling back just enough to take a proper look at Bruce, over the face beyond them that is not like to change. she can tell that this is even more difficult for him than it is for her, though it takes a moment to remember why. words said months ago, not easily connected to something she has yet to live. ) He is the one we lost, fighting this Doomsday.

( it was never said implicitly, but now it seems very clear. )

[beknight]

[ He lets go when she does, hands tucking into his pockets. ]

Yes.

[ More than that — his fault. If he'd scrutinised Luthor as stringently as he had Clark, if he hadn't used up the kryptonite bullets, if he had realised the man in the red suit could have meant any him, they'd be sitting in a different world. The weight of failure and guilt are nothing but burdens for those who keep living. ]

[ Every second with Clark here had felt stolen, but snatched rightly. His life ended too soon, and memory can barely hold a torch to the legacy he left behind. ]

You saved my life then, but he saved all of us.