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[ that first part might be true, but the second part is not. he gives his twin a long, distrusting look. this shit was all so much easier when he was surrounded by mercenaries that he was paying, and never had to justify himself to. he'd legitimately never given a shit what they thought. ]

I was away from Gotham from a long time, after... after. I was a fucked up mess. In no shape to kill the Joker or confront Batman. I left so I could make myself stronger, build up a power base.

And I needed to be away from him. Both of them. I was so fucking mad I could hardly think straight some days. It was all I could do not to walk into Wayne Tower and just--

[ well, you know. his fingers twitch with the remembered impulse of pulling a trigger, and he clenches his hands into fists. ]

I couldn't trust myself. I had to leave.

[Jason nods. That part he's aware of. Not because no one told him, but because he's lived it himself. Even after Talia, even after he begun to find his own way away from everyone else's plans he still couldn't face Bruce right away. Still couldn't take care of the Joker of his own. So he trained, got ready, made the contacts needed for the plan in his head until he was ready to make his move.

He figured Twin would have done something similar.]

And during that time Joker died and B got infected?

[ w e l p

that jerks his head up. ]

...who told you. Loki? Did he fucking-- of course he did. After all that bullshit he spouted to me about how it was so impossible for the infection to be active here.

Loki's a meddling little fucker that needs to back the hell of, but no. B himself told me. And for the record it's not bullshit, it goes against everything the Eudites stand for- but I'm not trying to convince you. We'll find a way to make sure he's not infected.

But I need the whole story for that.

You'd have to ask Drake for that. I was halfway around the world when I heard Joker was dead, I didn't know there there was any kind of infection until I came back to Gotham and discovered a lab full of Joker clones that Batman had been keeping locked up. He had Drake busy running experiments on them.

Well that must have been a party. [He mentions Drake, not 'replacement'. That's something to pay attention to. He wonders if he was ok with someone else taking his job, or if he just grew to like Tim.]

D'ya know what the infection is, exactly?

[ he's definitely not, but he'd known tim before he'd ever been made robin. bruce hadn't picked him out, batgirl had. ]

It really wasn't.

I took a glance at the notes from the experiments, but I didn't have a lot of time. I know it attacks the brain, rewrites the personality. The copies were starting to show outward physical characteristics before the end.

[ he shuts his eyes briefly, remembering. ]

...his eyes were green. He had started to see things. Fight enemies that didn't exist. Hallucinations.

[Well, fuck. At least when Bruce died Jason wasn't there, wasn't even made aware until weeks later. He didn't have to witness his falling. He wants to say he's sorry, but if someone told him that he'd punch them. He figures Twin's the same.]

Is it viral? bacterial? How do you even get infected?

[ clipped, ]

It's a variation of Bane's Venom compound. Far as I know it's blood-born. Joker sent it out to the hospitals, but B caught most of them in time before anyone was given the infected blood.

[ most of them. ]

He missed four. And he was the fifth victim. Joker got him during their last fight-- and he didn't tell anyone. For a whole fucking year, he didn't tell anyone.

Edited 2016-01-28 00:35 (UTC)

[He reaches to rub his forehead. He isn't even surprised.]

Yeah. That sounds like something he'd do. And why do you think he's still infected?

Because there's no cure. And because one of the victims seemed to be completely immune, seemed to still be himself, right up until he murdered the others.

[ his shoulders hunch up unconsciously. ]

It hid. Joker hid inside him, under his skin, and then jumped out like a punchline. I saw the footage. The guy put a gun to his own head and blew his brains out after he'd killed the others. He wanted there to be only one. A worthy copy.

[ it's possible some of this is pure speculation, honestly, as jason's voice gets increasingly upset and unsteady the longer he talks. he bursts into motion to pace, raking a hand through his hair like a nervous tic. ]

You get it, right? There's only one left. Only one surviving copy. And nobody wants to believe it, nobody wants to think it could be possible but I saw it. I didn't know what it was at first, I thought it was just the fear toxin affecting him, but I saw his eyes. I didn't want it to be true.

[ he sucks in a breath, facing away from jason and staring at the wall. ]

I didn't want it.

[ and after a moment of silence, ]

I saw him throw Drake in a containment cell. He put Robin in a cell and then Scarecrow found him, trapped, and took him.

[ and that definitely doesn't resonate horrifically to jason nope not at all. ]

Edited 2016-01-28 03:51 (UTC)

[This is a mess. But that's okay, that's- that's fine, Jason had been expecting a mess when he started talked to Twin. He just wishes he'd had more time to get ready for this, to read and figure out the best course of action.]

The Eudites are different though. They do have a cure. They can move us through space and time, they can alter reality. I've seen people stripped of their powers in here. Do you really think a cure for an illness is going to be impossible for them?

That's what everyone says. Trust the reality warpers. Trust their magic.

What would it take for you to trust it? Just tell me. We'll figure out a way.

[ that earns an incredulous bark of laughter. ]

You want me to trust that they wouldn't let a psycho in? They invited me.

And me, yes. Let's not play that angle.

How long would it take for you to be convinced he has no symptoms?

How long? He and Henry Adams both went without symptoms for a year.

[ he turns a distrustful look on jason ]

I haven't been sitting on my ass, you know. I went to him. Played it up like I was surrendering, wanting to see my old pal the Joker again. I even gave him an injury he could fuss over. God knows that pasty fucking clown would never pass up an opportunity to watch me bleed all over his floor.

I made it clear [ to jason's mind, anyway ] that I was through running away. I wanted to stay. And you know what he did? He shut down and ran off, made sure I wouldn't be there to see any slips. He shut me out because he knows I'm the one that can see through his bullshit.

[Ah, yes. Where's the bucket he'd mentioned he needed when talking with Bruce? He could make use of it now because this entire situation is pretty disgusting and he doesn't even know where o start. The more he talks to Twin the more he keeps losing himself on him, making it as personal as it gets.]

Or maybe he ran away because he didn't feel like seeing you break your own arm to try to get to him.

[ wow it was a great plan ok he doesn't know why everyone looks so squeamish about him trying to coax the joker out by acting like he wants to see him again ]

I'm the only one doing anything about it. I'm the only one even trying to find out if he's infected and hiding it.

That's because it's impossible for him to be infected in here. I'm trying to help you because I know it's important to you but I'm not going to pretend like I believe it. He can't be. If he were- well, you said so yourself.

The Joker wouldn't have been able to resist.

[ and there's the thing. he'd put himself in bruce's power for over eight hours and failed to get a reaction, and it's unlikely the joker would've been able to control his urges-- unless bruce's explanation that the joker never gave a shit about him at all happens to be true. in which case, jason isn't good enough bait when the joker already has what he wants.

he grits his teeth. ]

B told me that the Joker never gave a shit about me. Forgot about me the moment something distracted him, that everything was always about Batman. It's possible that what I did just wasn't enough to interest him.

[ it's horrible, but that had actually hurt to hear. that he's so worthless even the supervillain that kidnapped and conditioned him had eventually just lost interest. ]

[Jason pauses, unsure on how to reply to that. Because Bruce wasn't wrong: the Joker never really cared about Jason Todd. No one really does. It's always all about Batman.]

Even if that were true... [Which it is, and if he asks him directly he will say so.] you were still right there, easy for him to take. Maybe he gets distracted easily but you served it to him in a silver platter.

I'm sure he Joker has forgotten me but if someone were to throw me at his feet with a crowbar do you think he'd hesitate?

No. No, he wouldn't. But if I'm wrong, if I trust that he's not infected...

[ it's an irrational fear. the arkham knight is dangerous and paranoid and perfectly capable of defending himself with deadly force. but he's still afraid of some moment, some hypothetical scenario where he needs bruce to be bruce, and he sees bruce's eyes turn green and his mouth stretch into that awful fucking grin.

his gaze finds the floor, and softly, ]

I can't do it again. He's depending on me to be able to pull the trigger if the time comes, but if he gets the drop on me?

Then I'll do it.

[Because it feels like the right thing to do. The right answer to give. He doesn't want to kill Bruce, not anymore. He's still angry but he's accepted he doesn't want to take Bruce's life, that doing so would provide him no satisfaction and he told Talia that much.

But if he was turning into the Joker? Hell yeah he would. Right on the head.]

Do you think I'd let that happen?

[ and he immediately flashes back to angry defensiveness. ]

Do you think you could really stop him? I thought I could. I failed.

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