Here's the next one.
It's MEA weekend here, so I hope to get lots done.
3rd POV
Jason sets his helmet on the simple bed of his apartment. He peels off the green mask underneath and changes into what Bruce would call 'civilian clothes.'
He puts the hood of his gray jacket over his head and walks out the door. Without his get up, he blends into the crowd. Jason stops at a pay phone. It's impulsive, reckless, and even selfish to not focus on his mission. But he can't get her out of his head.
'Besides, Bats will find out soon anyway. I gave him just enough to figure it out,' Jason reasons.
He pays for the call and dials the number.
As it rings, Jason has a fleeting, terrifying thought, 'What if Alfred picks up?'
Lucy is casually reading when the phone rings. She waits a moment, but nothing happens. She looks around. 'Hmm, Alfred must be busy.'
She stands up and jogs to the phone in the hall. But before she can take it off the receiver, it stops.
'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' Jason tells himself. He had hung up before the butler could answer. 'He'd probably think I'm a ghost. ..Though, he isn't far off.'
He stares at the phone.
'Well.. what's the chance he is the one to pick up?' He asks himself. After thinking about it, Jason sighs, "ninety-nine out of one hundred.."
Lucy looks at the phone a moment, then turns away. She takes five steps.
Bring! Bring!
She stops and looks back.
Bring! Bring!
Lucy walks back over and picks up the phone. The ringing stops as it connects.
She puts it to her ear. "Hello?"
Jason holds his breath.
"..This is the Wayne residence, who am I speaking to?"
It's her. She answered. But the moment he needs it, Jason's tongue gets caught in his throat.
"..Hello?" Lucy asks, annoyed.
Jason fidgets in his spot. 'Come on coward, spit it out!'
"Okay, look," Lucy decides, "I'm going to hang up if-"
"Lucy," Jason quietly blurts.
Lucy pauses. "I'm sorry.. Do I know you?"
"..Yes," Jason says. He looks at his shoes, "Yes you do.." When Lucy doesn't reply, he continues, "I'm sorry I'm late. But I fulfilled my promise, Lucy.."
"I came home."
Lucy thinks over his words. 'The voice.. It sounds familiar-'
"I promise, Lucy.. No matter how long it takes me."
Lucy almost drops the phone.
"-and I know it's been three years," he says, rambling even if she isn't fully listening, "But I-"
"Jason..?" Lucy asks. She's barely breathing.
"Yeah, Lucy. It's Jason."
Lucy's shock melts as she furrows her eyebrows. "Liar! Jason's dead!"
"Lucy, I'm not-"
"Yes he is! He's dead. We buried him! Just leave me alone!" She slams the phone back onto the receiver. She still grips the phone in her hand, squeezing it like a viper. Fresh tears form around her eyes.
Lucy takes a few deep breaths and stands straight. She lets go of the phone and wipes her eyes.
'Calm down.. It's just a prank.' She turns away to go back to her book, but then looks at the phone longingly. 'But it sounded just like him. Only.. older.'
Jason stares at the phone, the tone at a constant hum after disconnection. His anger of being hung up on -by his girlfriend no less- simmer down when reality hits him.
'What did I expect? She's right, they think they buried me..' He puts the phone back and walks back to his apartment.
Meanwhile, Bruce is looking over the video from his cowl visor. Red Hood runs along one of the many ledges.
"He's got some moves, huh?" Nightwing asks. He's currently sitting on a cot as Alfred wraps his leg. "And as much as I hate to belabor a point-"
"And that is often exactly what you do," Alfred cuts in.
"I'm chatty, it's part of my charm," Nightwing argues casually, "I'm saying that our boy here has some skills. He's been trained and trained well. Like right there!" He points out as Red Hood cuts the cable. "That! He sliced that cable off his ankle before it went taut. You don't just do that. It has to be practiced," Nightwing leans back on the cot, "learned."
"And then there's the knife," Bruce adds.
"What about it?"
"You know many knives that can cut my lines?"
Nightwing understands, "Not many."
"No," Bruce looks back at the video, "Not many."
"Well look," Nightwing carefully swings his injured leg over to his other, "we obviously got ourselves a player, we- ow!" He clutches the leg, still in pain.
"Alfred, take him home," Bruce says.
"Bruce, I can still help," he argues.
Bruce turns to him, "You already have, thank you." Bruce then turns back to the batcomputer. "Go rest up."
"..Okay. But, you know where to find me when you need me," Nightwing relents as he stands up. Alfred hands Nightwing a pair of crutches. Nightwing looks over his shoulder at Bruce. "He did just.. thank me, right?"
"Indeed he did, sir," Alfred agrees.
Nightwing turns back and starts to walk away with the aid of the crutches. "Weird."
Bruce brings up another video. "You haven't lost your touc-" The train blocks out the rest of the sound. He rewinds it again and listens. "You haven't lost your touch-"
He centers in on a bit of the video. He plays it back again.
"-Haven't lost your touch, B-"
He tries again, focusing more on that bit.
"-Your touch Br-"
Bruce narrows his gaze and tries one last time.
"You haven't lost your touch, Bruce," comes through clearly.
Bruce stands up, knocking his chair over in the process. He stares at the picture of Red Hood. 'Could it be...?'
Was Jason calling a little OOC? Maybe. But again, who knows?
And now Batman knows. And we are almost halfway through the movie.
How many more chapters do you think there will be?
~CtW
