Tinkering with the Battech
Chapter 11
Three sets of eyes met one another from across the table flickering back and forth before Bruce finally set his fork aside. Swallowing the last of his food and using a cloth napkin to clean away any possible food that might be left, the Wayne Patriarch set his hands on the table. "Time travel is supposed to be impossible. Even after we have dealt with the most common theories there are still a few things we need to work out."
Terry flicked a glare at the younger version of his boss. Old Man Wayne had been three times harder to deal with, he was sure of it. This version of his boss and biological father left Terry half amused when he was frustrated with the man. "I'm not inclined to sit around doing nothing, Wayne. I need to get home and you claimed to have the means of helping me make that happen. So, where do we start?"
Listening, Dick Grayson leaned back in his chair as the two glared at each other over the sides of the table. Clenching his left hand into a fist, Dick tossed a few ideas around in his head. He really didn't have anything to say about this situation. Yet. Terry had claimed he knew what was going to happen, but there was an uncertainty about the way he carried on. He was defensive. Antagonistic as if he was used to fighting to keep his ground. With anyone else, he'd win on sheer intimidation of will. With Bruce, it was like a bull locking horns with a stag.
Or so it seemed. It was similar to what the lion tamers did in the ring when faced with two different breeds of big cats. A tiger or a lion, though the comparison fell dramatically short. The two bats continued to banter back and forth, exchanging insults veiled between references of a connection the younger refused to acknowledge and the older kept insisting on. Having heard more than enough, Dick decided to throw his own opinion in.
"It's one thing or another with you both, isn't it? Terry, you fell out the sky and made all sorts of ridiculous claims and yet when you're told something that should be the truth you fail to take advantage of that. Bruce, come on, we both know you're never going to take Terry at his word and will continue to think that what we've discovered is the only fact there is. So, let's settle this now before the new kid gets here. Jason Todd and Al don't need to come home into a situation where you're at each other's throats."
There was a blank stare from both blue eyed males in the room as Dick shoved himself away from the table and stormed back upstairs to finish a little something he'd wanted to do for a couple of weeks.
While Terry was still just a teenager, Bruce found himself feeling just as young when Dick departed from the table. The young man had been initially invested in keeping peace with their unknown guest, however, it now seemed that the tension between the supposed time traveler and himself had bled over.
Terry, on the other hand, quirked a brow at the departing older teenager. While Dick was considered an adult by the law, he knew he didn't really come into his own until he started flying under his own colors. He had a front and center ticket to the destruction of the partnership these two had spent years building. So, Terry decided to open his mouth.
"He needs space." Terry stated, "What I told you upstairs… Dick needs to discover why he's even doing this kind of thing. It's different for all of us Wayne. So, I'll suggest that you keep that in mind when you deal with future partners or foes."
With that, he shoved another spoon of cereal into his mouth and clamped up while Bruce gave him a once over.
"I thought you said you didn't want to get involved." He responded. "Why now?"
Swallowing his food, the young Batman slipped a hand over to Dick's own cereal bowl and brought it to the space between the two Bats. "This is my reality." He said, pointing at the bowl in front of him. "This is another reality, while similar is different in its context." He added, pointing at Dicks. Finally, he pointed at Bruce's food. "That is this current reality, where there is a Jason Todd. He didn't exist in my past. A kid named Tim Drake did and he came to a very bad end as Robin. So, I'll let you absorb that while we finish breakfast because there is one thing that doesn't make sense."
"If you are from a different reality, how am I your biological father?" Bruce answered his tone of voice a person would describe as steel covered in silk.
((Break))
Jason sank into the back seat of the car with a weary sigh. Around and around they had gone that morning starting with doctors, dentist, the shopping spree that was thankfully shortened by a visit to a tailor where they took his measurements and then he was given a tablet to browse through and make his selections. They'd had a late breakfast right there in the store while the Butler Alfred Pennyworth went over a series of things that would be expected of him in the coming weeks. Wayne had taken the chance to enroll him in a private school founded by his family, though he'd be tutored a month or so before he was actually required to attend. He still couldn't get the Commissioner's daughter out of his head either.
"Your family knows the Commissioner's kid." He said, watching the Butler's shoulders and neck since he was driving them to the posh palace of the Wayne's.
"We have a passing familiarity with them," Pennyworth responded, his tone as dry as it had been almost since he'd been picked up. "Miss Gordon is dating Master Dick. Do you want to know anything else?"
"Why are you taking me in? Hundreds of kids get stopped by Batman a day and sent to Juvie. Want's the difference with me?" Jason suddenly demanded, his green eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror to assess what the Butler might try to hide.
"Didn't you remove the tires from the batmobile?" Alfred replied, giving the kid a lifted eyebrow for his questions. "You seem to have an intelligent mind. While I do not approve of your former life, I can understand the reasons for it. Perhaps, that is the only reason."
Jason turned his head to look out the window at the passing scenery of upper crust Gotham and trees. The slums and crime alley didn't have things like this. If it did, it was weeds, dead trees, and trash. Crossing his arms over his chest, the young teenager sunk deeper into the leather seat. He was a tough kid from a rough side of town. "Some reason, if ya' ask me," he whispered.
(Break)
Leaning against her door, Barbara looked down at the cell phone in her hand as she debated over calling Dick about the strange kid she'd met in town. Letting it go for the moment, the redhead turned to look at her bedroom. The missing touches of teenage female lace and ribbons had been replaced almost six months ago. The only things she had left from her growing years were a teddy bear and her first hidden away bat suit.
The pale purple of her bedspread was inviting enough that she abandoned her bedroom door for the comfort of her mattress and her thoughts. As she made the short distance to the bed, her phone gave three short trills she vaguely recognized. Without even thinking about it, she lifted the device to her ear and replied;
"Hello." The sound of static and breathing caught up to her senses before she realized she could barely make out the sound of someone talking on the other side. "I'm sorry, I can't really hear you."
A heartbeat later and the signal cleared. "Barbara, my name is Maxine Gibson. I need you to pay attention to everything I'm about to tell you."
(Break)
Max looked up from the computer display at the wheelchair bound version of her Commissioner. When she'd first crossed over into this dimension to seek help in finding her best friend, she'd thought she'd be getting aid from the League or that the very least Batman. Turned out the man in charge had died and the only thing left was his ashes. Discovering a Robin fully intent on slice and dicing her before she could explain had certainly been the cake.
Finding a young Dick Grayson as the Batman gave her a bit of hope. Then there was the young man who called himself Tim Drake that had encountered Dana Tan back home. The man had tried to explain he was from some kind of parallel world where Terry had died on his new Earth, after the one that had made him who he became unreachable to him. He'd explained that though he'd done a stint as Robin, taken the name Red Robin, eventually put on the Batsuit, he'd been unable to settle down. They'd explained what had happened in their world to their young Batman and Tim Drake had offered a set of explanations.
For one reason or another, Terry McGinnis just kept falling out of his home dimension and into others. Whether it was for missions, on accident, or someone else's design he'd started tracking those cases down. Their Terry was simply the most recent one to catch his attention and only because he'd been staking out the Batcomputer and learned of their computer program. Letting out a breath when Barbara answered her, she had to smile at the genius of the bearded inventor.
He was nothing like the Joker-possessed Tim of her world. Boy, did that get the man's goat when he'd discovered the difference. He'd pulled out some kind of tech that had left their Tim reeling at all the questions. Seriously, how did someone so smart turn out to be so…. Grizzled? The new Tim Drake had become a bartender, though he'd slipped into Wayne-Powers and upended anything the Powers men had done during their days of control. Now that they had the full might of Wayne Inc back where it belonged and someone who knew a bit of what he was doing at the helm, the rest of them were able to focus on finding Terry.
Hello. The response finally came again. There was a slight echo, however, Max expected that and Oracle compensate by changing a few of the signal settings. They'd had this exact same conversation with other Barbaras'.
"Barbara, my name is Maxine Gibson. I need you to pay attention to everything I'm about to tell you."
Alright. The woman on the other end of the conversation responded.
"We're looking for a teenager named Terry. He's from another dimension and while we'd really love to give you more details, we need you to look for him." Max stated. "I can only make this call a couple of more times before we loose the signal on your dimension. Please, I can only spare so long."
That shouldn't be a problem. I'll just contact my boyfriend and ask if his new house guest is the guy you're looking for, alright?
(break)
Barbara lifted a brow at the odd request. Like hell was she going to phone Dick and expect him to have that Terry kid they were asking for. Whomever this person was, they had to be on a one track ticket straight to Arkham.
"Thank you for your help. I know it's a lot to just trust a voice out of thin air. I'll call again at this time tomorrow, alright?" This so-called Maxine Gibson replied.
"Sure. It's no problem." Barbara answered. She'd have to get the phone back to Bruce and Dick to analyze it. Mobile devices weren't very common to start with and if someone got the secured number from hacking her, well, then she was just going to have to do something about that. After the boys made sure the phone was clean.
