#damianwaynebloodson

[officialbruciewayne]

Following Cass further into the labyrinth, aware that at any moment Alleytown could come crashing through the ceiling, Bruce continued to contemplate which problems to solve, and the order it would have to be done in, what resources were available.

Could they stop Alleytown's destruction? The League's victory speech suggested that there was no way to evacuate in time. Even if nobody died, and the Lazarus Lake could restore every civilian, there was still the problem of an entire borough of Gotham with Lazarus Fever.

There was Altair to deal with, Tim had reported his presence and that Ra's was not a threat- as Bruce had suspected from JJ's photograph of the man, restrained and vegetative. Another issue. Saving Ra's al Ghul whilst he was in need of life support. Alleytown was the higher priority but it reaffirmed to Bruce that they needed to prevent the cataclysm, and soon.

If Altair had planned the detonation, then Bruce would simply have to break the information out of him. He clenched his fists, rhythmically, reminding himself that his children could take this information. Take it and save Alleytown.

The Lazarus Lake itself was a concern, but it could be handled after- and Bruce couldn't help the sickly urge to wonder if Hal could... if- if that could be undone. If blood could be washed from Steph's hands before it dried.

To Cass, he communicated in silent, clear body language, capture the clone. We need to stop his plan.

@shh-its-cass @redrobinfr @alzhul @joker-junior

[officialbruciewayne]

Of all his children, Bruce would have called Tim his most practical thinker. It was a strength in a crisis. Helped Tim direct his thoughts and plans, triage a situation into manageable approaches, and create a strategy to best fit. Here, Bruce had told Tim that his friend had joined the Court of Owls and killed. And Tim nodded.

And devoted his attention to a plan to save Alleytown.

Bruce was unbearably proud as he double-checked his utility belt was sufficiently equipped to defuse bombs. During this, he made a point of studying Altair- Tim's clone -directly. He had first seen the boy from a surveillance distance, but this close...

"JJ is the priority," Bruce told Cass as he headed for the door. Purposefully trying to position himself between Altair and Tim protectively.

@alzhul @redrobinfr

Brotherly bonding with dad - Bomb Edition

Tim nods with a frown at Bruce's... slightly clumsy code. For some reason, Steph had joined the Court, and apparently had already killed someone, Hal, if he was understanding correctly.

He watches as everyone agrees with his new plan, and as Altair joins him at his shoulder, prepares to follow. All he can hope is that the plan works, that Ra's doesn't wake, and that Altair has their backs, though that part is the least of his worries.

Tim goes ahead and removes his own bo staff from his waist, and returns JJ's gun to him, still loaded and on safety.

"Keep an eye on his wound, the adrenaline shot won't fix it, and the damage went deep, though major arteries were thankfully missed," He says to Cass, and then turns towards the door, ready to go.

No time like the present, after all.

@officialbruciewayne @alzhul (@babsggordon for comms)

[officialbruciewayne]

Under Alleytown

Summary: Bruce's Events of the Last Few Hours of Drama

Please mind these content warnings and stay safe:

Canon-typical violence

Minor Unsafe Medical Procedure

Forced but non-sexual nudity

Intimacy Coercion (Joker)

Gotham, Bruce thought. Holding onto that one, brilliant clear thought in the fugue state Wilson had left his head in. I am still in Gotham.

He couldn't be completely certain. The false Batman he had held his ground against- a barely trained, but Lazarus touched bulk of muscle and rage - but Ra's apparent heir, the meticulously trained and fiercely intelligent, Altair tipped the scales. All too much like Tim, Bruce acknowledged as he was driven down and still and finally, into that smoke-streaked limbo between alert and not conscious anymore.

He tried to count the turns. Restraints blunted through his armor. Pain a throbbing storm that ran down his temples into the ocean of his body. Captured glimpses of where he was being brought. Struggling to name this particular part of the city, but recognizing it.

Gotham, he repeated, as he was brought into a terrace house that would probably fall down in a gust of wind. And then. Shining and clear. Alleytown.

Except. Here was the thing.

When exactly had there been a Lazarus lake beneath Gotham's Eastern Boroughs?

Not a pit. A chasm. The seething green being fed and fattened with green-rusting pipes. An underground, cavernous lake. Dread gnawed in his gut as he was shoved past the lake- usually such primordial places, not this... this industrialism?

But he remembered it. Acknowledged the immensity of the cavern, hollowed below Alleytown. Ready to make his report when he got loose-

And he would get loose. He had to get loose. His kids were out there. Dickie was out there. Facing down Slade Wilson who had been both obsession and obsessed. Nemeses were tricky things. And Ra's was involved, Ra's was involved in this.

He was needed. His city needed him, his children, the boy in the concrete box who had done nothing wrong except be a Robin in another universe.

This intel was crucial, but Bruce couldn't stay here. He would tear himself to pieces to escape.

Ra's was a cautious opponent, a few centuries of your own machinations built a healthy suspicion, so Bruce was unsurprised to be stripped. His belt (and pockets, and hidden pockets, and hidden batarangs, and the collapsible sword) had been removed from his person as soon as he'd been contained. What surprised him was that he was not being offered an ostentatious robe, and possibly even Arak, before Ra's deigned to speak with him.

Instead, Bruce was showered down in a tiled room that was stark. Freezing water making his teeth grit, and thoroughly inspected for sub-epidermal trackers- which were removed to confirm their deactivation. A process he 'enjoyed' without anesthetic.

And Ra's never showed himself.

The Joker did, freshly sane from the Lazarus pools- Bruce was beginning to suspect the large one was being fed by a number of sources, though again... questions. He'd been brought by a hooded figure- but one Bruce could now place as Altair -and left with Bruce in the tiled room.

The Joker was not a pleasant companion. All smiles and taunts and guilt peeking through now and then, frustration. Sanity didn't really endear him to Bruce, but he could at least understand. And with little left to hope for, he'd asked, voice raw and honest:

"Help me and let me go," asking with all he had, pride eating a hole inside him, "work with me, Joker."

Jaybird. Jaybird. He was working with the Joker.

"Why should I?"

"...because it's me asking."

Don't think about what that means. Don't think-

"Can I get a kiss?"

Nausea erupted bright and scalding in Bruce's stomach. The drop in his gut. Disgust folded itself away with the shock, and Bruce weighted his options.

Jaybird. The Joker's harassing him in laughs, echoes, a shadow of himself burying a fist in Bruce's gut mid-fight. Jay.

"...yes."

He had to get to the boy in the concrete box, Jay's son. To Dick, suspended like a bird on a string. Tim with his dangerous and potentially obsessive alter-ego. The League's long claws reaching for Damian. The Joker shooting darling Babs, beating Bruce's son to death. The wide breadth of the Lazarus waters he had seen.

He had to.

"Eh, your lips are kinda crusty… No thanks."

Bruce loathed the deep disappointment that bubbled up. The noxious seethe of it. He was still trapped here.

[officialbruciewayne]

Time to Go

As he suspected, they had been keeping him in the decontamination units. It made sense; depriving him of resources was the surest way to ensure he stayed put. That and the concussion. What the League had paid Wilson for a strongly debilitating injury without brain bleed was...

Probably in his budget, if Bruce was that sort of man.

The reminder only pushed Bruce to work quicker. Dick had been locked in combat with Deathstroke, and... Deathstroke had a way of rattling Dick's marbles. JJ was alive, at the least, Bruce had been unexpectedly rescued by the lad's lockpicks.

Resource assessment.

Joker's jacket, functionally not useful wrapped around Bruce's hips, but better than facing a ninja with everything- well hanging out. He really could not reiterate how little he liked fighting naked.

A set of lockpicks. Useful, simplistic. Partially destroyed by having to use them to break out.

Handcuffs, no key, but functional.

As expected, Bruce could not find his cowl, suit or belt. Not one batarang was in evidence, but the decontamination unit did have cupboards filled with... he held it out with a squint. Essentially a bathrobe ending near his knees. He grimaced, but pulled it on and tied in, only briefly glancing at the League's crest on its breast.

I look like I've had a one night stand at the world's least edifying spa, Bruce grunted as he considered the jacket...

Useless. And yet- after everything he had been through, his knuckles were still clenched in the fabric. What had been the purpose of dunking the Joker? Ordering the hit just to revive him?

He broke even. Reaching into the inner lining to withdraw the trademark card he just knew would be there. That he slipped in the pocket of the robe, along with the picks. The cuffs he looped over the soft fabric belt tied at his waist.

Okay. Time to go.

@shh-its-cass @jokerwithcrowbar (unsure if you're coming with, but here's what he's up to)

[officialbruciewayne]

Does anyone remember last year's halloween party? I was pretty late, but I made it in the end!

[officialbruciewayne]

Looking for a captor to treat a playboy not-so-nicely ;)

[officialbruciewayne]

Stay Safe out there Gothamites! I need better practice at parkour.

[officialbruciewayne]

Status:

Currently Bruce Wayne has been captured by Ra's al Ghul, and is being held under Alleytown in Gotham. He has seen a VERY big Lazarus Lake under there which did not get planning permissions from the city.

His trackers were deactivated and removed.

At present, nobody knows his location, though happy to plot a rescue / escape down the line, but since I'm busy ooc today, for now he can sit there and think about what he did and gather intel on Ra's.

He's with @jokerwithcrowbar and having... a time of it.

[officialbruciewayne]

ooc. And he's getting rescued! Though they run into him midway through his escape, courtesy of @joker-junior, @shh-its-cass and @redrobinfr. He's batman.

ooc. rescue... escape... what's the feeling?

So at some point Bruce is definitely getting out of his kidnapped status, and I'm torn on what we're all thinking. I love a Batman escaping because he's batman but I also love when the family saves Batman because that's what batfam is about, you are not alone!

I love both tropes, so wondering if people have a preference?

[officialbruciewayne]

There was disruption happening beyond the hallway, and Bruce took a moment to listen to it. He still felt naked without a cowl, bare foot, and head ringing, but he fought to listen, to pick out a moment to slip into the hallway without being seen by the League's Shadows.

As light-footed as he could be, he jogged along the corridor. Stopping every few moments to avoid the thickened Shadows. So he had been heavily guarded.

There was the instinct to stay put and find out more information, but it battled against the knowledge he couldn't safely do so, that he already had information he needed to pass on. His injuries were manageable, but the strategy of remaining here.

Maybe to find Ra's al Ghul.

That wasn't- sensible. Bruce set his jaw and continued exploring an exit from the League's hold. If he could get back to the core antechamber, the oversized Lazarus Lake, then he could navigate to the surface from there.

@shh-its-cass

Time to Go

As he suspected, they had been keeping him in the decontamination units. It made sense; depriving him of resources was the surest way to ensure he stayed put. That and the concussion. What the League had paid Wilson for a strongly debilitating injury without brain bleed was...

Probably in his budget, if Bruce was that sort of man.

The reminder only pushed Bruce to work quicker. Dick had been locked in combat with Deathstroke, and... Deathstroke had a way of rattling Dick's marbles. JJ was alive, at the least, Bruce had been unexpectedly rescued by the lad's lockpicks.

Resource assessment.

Joker's jacket, functionally not useful wrapped around Bruce's hips, but better than facing a ninja with everything- well hanging out. He really could not reiterate how little he liked fighting naked.

A set of lockpicks. Useful, simplistic. Partially destroyed by having to use them to break out.

Handcuffs, no key, but functional.

As expected, Bruce could not find his cowl, suit or belt. Not one batarang was in evidence, but the decontamination unit did have cupboards filled with... he held it out with a squint. Essentially a bathrobe ending near his knees. He grimaced, but pulled it on and tied in, only briefly glancing at the League's crest on its breast.

I look like I've had a one night stand at the world's least edifying spa, Bruce grunted as he considered the jacket...

Useless. And yet- after everything he had been through, his knuckles were still clenched in the fabric. What had been the purpose of dunking the Joker? Ordering the hit just to revive him?

He broke even. Reaching into the inner lining to withdraw the trademark card he just knew would be there. That he slipped in the pocket of the robe, along with the picks. The cuffs he looped over the soft fabric belt tied at his waist.

Okay. Time to go.

@shh-its-cass @jokerwithcrowbar (unsure if you're coming with, but here's what he's up to)

[officialbruciewayne]

Despite his orders, Cass had stopped, watching, as Bruce did, Tim holding his clone to him in a tight hug. His hand running soothingly up and down his back. For a moment, Bruce had almost felt rage white his vision, seeing the tight way Altair's hands dug into Tim, JJ bloodied on the floor, mistaking the scene for violence when...

This was just another young man, clinging for comfort in a dark, underground cave. JJ patched together between Tim and Altair.

Almost like Damian, Bruce thought, even as he remembered clutching Tim to him when Tim's world had ended. Holding him. Telling him he was not alone. I've got you. Remembered gathering Dick up in his arms and promising him the world was not over. Jay's body broken in his arms. Cass' crying out, an act of bravery and courage he hadn't fully appreciated the night they met.

By the time Altair and Tim had separated, Altair's surprise and- even warmth -for Cass, and Tim putting himself steadily, determinedly between Bruce and Altair... by that point, Bruce recalled that no matter how deeply one plans, analyzes and anticipates a situation, it can always be wrong.

Seemed like Altair was learning something about that too...

I really don't need another one, Bruce lied to himself. He reached out a hand, squeezing Tim's shoulder and nodding. "Alright, my boy. I trust your judgment."

He crouched down, hand touching to take JJ's pulse first, and smiled reassuringly, "you're right, Jayjaylad. No time to fight, we've got Alleytown to save."

@shh-its-cass @alzhul @redrobinfr @joker-junior

Following Cass further into the labyrinth, aware that at any moment Alleytown could come crashing through the ceiling, Bruce continued to contemplate which problems to solve, and the order it would have to be done in, what resources were available.

Could they stop Alleytown's destruction? The League's victory speech suggested that there was no way to evacuate in time. Even if nobody died, and the Lazarus Lake could restore every civilian, there was still the problem of an entire borough of Gotham with Lazarus Fever.

There was Altair to deal with, Tim had reported his presence and that Ra's was not a threat- as Bruce had suspected from JJ's photograph of the man, restrained and vegetative. Another issue. Saving Ra's al Ghul whilst he was in need of life support. Alleytown was the higher priority but it reaffirmed to Bruce that they needed to prevent the cataclysm, and soon.

If Altair had planned the detonation, then Bruce would simply have to break the information out of him. He clenched his fists, rhythmically, reminding himself that his children could take this information. Take it and save Alleytown.

The Lazarus Lake itself was a concern, but it could be handled after- and Bruce couldn't help the sickly urge to wonder if Hal could... if- if that could be undone. If blood could be washed from Steph's hands before it dried.

To Cass, he communicated in silent, clear body language, capture the clone. We need to stop his plan.

@shh-its-cass @redrobinfr @alzhul @joker-junior

[officialbruciewayne]

How else does one enjoy Gotham, Hal? And thanks, I know you're watching my back XX

Stay Safe out there Gothamites! I need better practice at parkour.

[officialbruciewayne]

Bruce reacted to Altair's jolt with a confused, parental mixture of withdrawal- moving away to give space from someone who looked so achingly like an echo of Timmy. And tensing for a fight, reading the slightest hints of Ra's features. The knowledge that Altair had threatened his city, his children, locked Bruce in a cage with his nemesis.

He stilled himself, nodding. "Good." The low batgrowl. Strange, someone with League training who claimed to have never killed anyone. He glanced at Tim, wanting to ask how true that might or might not be.

"Hn," a crisp nod at Tim's instruction and he turned expectantly towards Altair for the direction to the next detonator.

@alzhul @redrobinfr

Brotherly bonding with dad - Bomb Edition

Tim nods with a frown at Bruce's... slightly clumsy code. For some reason, Steph had joined the Court, and apparently had already killed someone, Hal, if he was understanding correctly.

He watches as everyone agrees with his new plan, and as Altair joins him at his shoulder, prepares to follow. All he can hope is that the plan works, that Ra's doesn't wake, and that Altair has their backs, though that part is the least of his worries.

Tim goes ahead and removes his own bo staff from his waist, and returns JJ's gun to him, still loaded and on safety.

"Keep an eye on his wound, the adrenaline shot won't fix it, and the damage went deep, though major arteries were thankfully missed," He says to Cass, and then turns towards the door, ready to go.

No time like the present, after all.

@officialbruciewayne @alzhul (@babsggordon for comms)

[officialbruciewayne]

Bruce grunted in pain and surprise- this Shadow had completely escaped his attention and taken him unaware - yanking him back into the darkness of the hallway. Head throbbing, shocked, he twisted in its grasp to fight. Aiming to use the hard point of his elbows in backwards, precision jabs to incapacitate his attacker.

A fight then. He could fight.

He had only a partial glimpse of the black-cloaked opponent, and he was unarmed. Fighting in a bathrobe. But he was the Batman of Gotham City, and it would take more than any ordinary shadow to bring him down.

@shh-its-cass

Time to Go

As he suspected, they had been keeping him in the decontamination units. It made sense; depriving him of resources was the surest way to ensure he stayed put. That and the concussion. What the League had paid Wilson for a strongly debilitating injury without brain bleed was...

Probably in his budget, if Bruce was that sort of man.

The reminder only pushed Bruce to work quicker. Dick had been locked in combat with Deathstroke, and... Deathstroke had a way of rattling Dick's marbles. JJ was alive, at the least, Bruce had been unexpectedly rescued by the lad's lockpicks.

Resource assessment.

Joker's jacket, functionally not useful wrapped around Bruce's hips, but better than facing a ninja with everything- well hanging out. He really could not reiterate how little he liked fighting naked.

A set of lockpicks. Useful, simplistic. Partially destroyed by having to use them to break out.

Handcuffs, no key, but functional.

As expected, Bruce could not find his cowl, suit or belt. Not one batarang was in evidence, but the decontamination unit did have cupboards filled with... he held it out with a squint. Essentially a bathrobe ending near his knees. He grimaced, but pulled it on and tied in, only briefly glancing at the League's crest on its breast.

I look like I've had a one night stand at the world's least edifying spa, Bruce grunted as he considered the jacket...

Useless. And yet- after everything he had been through, his knuckles were still clenched in the fabric. What had been the purpose of dunking the Joker? Ordering the hit just to revive him?

He broke even. Reaching into the inner lining to withdraw the trademark card he just knew would be there. That he slipped in the pocket of the robe, along with the picks. The cuffs he looped over the soft fabric belt tied at his waist.

Okay. Time to go.

@shh-its-cass @jokerwithcrowbar (unsure if you're coming with, but here's what he's up to)

[officialbruciewayne]

"I'm not sure you're ready to be standing yet," Bruce said quietly, gently as he helped support JJ with a hand. Eyebrows furrowing over his domino- unused to that part of his face feeling so exposed. It left the vivid temple bruise in mottled red and purple where he'd been shot on display.

His gaze- hidden at least by the domino -drifted over Ra's al Ghul's slackened form. Absorbing Tim's complete report and current strategy. They needed to save Ra's al Ghul, but after that, Bruce was unsure what would be best. The last thing Damian needed was this man, even vegetative, in his life...

He shook his head, "We're not leaving yet, lad," he told Tim. "As far as Batgirl and I can determine, Alleytown could come crashing down any moment and we do not have time to evacuate. We will lose an entire section of the city to Lazarus Fever- some of its most vulnerable and impoverished members -at a time when we have owls circling the Pit."

A code for Tim's ears, but probably distinctive enough to anyone with League training.

Bruce's ears pricked at Tim's own code- the tapping- he answered it back. Repeating Tim's code - L-O-L - then tagging it - 2-U-2. He wasn't sure why Tim was still signalling, but that was the answer.

"Ra's' condition- and... specifics -only confirm this to me, that leaving is not an option," Bruce continued firmly. He shot a glance towards Altair, and thought about how best to signal this to Tim and Cass without letting Altair in...

There wasn't any clean, quick way to do so.

He spoke quickly, and bluntly, "how can we stop Alleytown from falling." And then turned his head towards Altair. "How do we stop the League?"

@shh-its-cass @alzhul @redrobinfr @joker-junior

Following Cass further into the labyrinth, aware that at any moment Alleytown could come crashing through the ceiling, Bruce continued to contemplate which problems to solve, and the order it would have to be done in, what resources were available.

Could they stop Alleytown's destruction? The League's victory speech suggested that there was no way to evacuate in time. Even if nobody died, and the Lazarus Lake could restore every civilian, there was still the problem of an entire borough of Gotham with Lazarus Fever.

There was Altair to deal with, Tim had reported his presence and that Ra's was not a threat- as Bruce had suspected from JJ's photograph of the man, restrained and vegetative. Another issue. Saving Ra's al Ghul whilst he was in need of life support. Alleytown was the higher priority but it reaffirmed to Bruce that they needed to prevent the cataclysm, and soon.

If Altair had planned the detonation, then Bruce would simply have to break the information out of him. He clenched his fists, rhythmically, reminding himself that his children could take this information. Take it and save Alleytown.

The Lazarus Lake itself was a concern, but it could be handled after- and Bruce couldn't help the sickly urge to wonder if Hal could... if- if that could be undone. If blood could be washed from Steph's hands before it dried.

To Cass, he communicated in silent, clear body language, capture the clone. We need to stop his plan.

@shh-its-cass @redrobinfr @alzhul @joker-junior

[officialbruciewayne]

Bruce exchanged a look with Cass, sympathy weighing in his eyes. "Spoiler has... joined the ornithological society." Understandable if clumsy. "But she... shot a green jordan." Not a species of bird.

He reached out to squeeze Cass' arm briefly. Before looking at Tim more steadily, frowning, "you and Robin tried to warn me. I'm sorry, my boy."

Taking the plan in, Bruce nodded. Focused. "The right call is to split up."

@shh-its-cass @alzhul @redrobinfr @joker-junior

Following Cass further into the labyrinth, aware that at any moment Alleytown could come crashing through the ceiling, Bruce continued to contemplate which problems to solve, and the order it would have to be done in, what resources were available.

Could they stop Alleytown's destruction? The League's victory speech suggested that there was no way to evacuate in time. Even if nobody died, and the Lazarus Lake could restore every civilian, there was still the problem of an entire borough of Gotham with Lazarus Fever.

There was Altair to deal with, Tim had reported his presence and that Ra's was not a threat- as Bruce had suspected from JJ's photograph of the man, restrained and vegetative. Another issue. Saving Ra's al Ghul whilst he was in need of life support. Alleytown was the higher priority but it reaffirmed to Bruce that they needed to prevent the cataclysm, and soon.

If Altair had planned the detonation, then Bruce would simply have to break the information out of him. He clenched his fists, rhythmically, reminding himself that his children could take this information. Take it and save Alleytown.

The Lazarus Lake itself was a concern, but it could be handled after- and Bruce couldn't help the sickly urge to wonder if Hal could... if- if that could be undone. If blood could be washed from Steph's hands before it dried.

To Cass, he communicated in silent, clear body language, capture the clone. We need to stop his plan.

@shh-its-cass @redrobinfr @alzhul @joker-junior