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[asinisterkid]

Who: Jason Todd and YOU!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: The Marsiva
When: A few hours before the shuffle.

[ The broadcast begins with a close-up of a man's face, brow furrowed, head tossing slightly in the throes of some flavor of bad dream. His mouth shapes words that could be no and Mom. When he starts to move more energetically, the camera zooms out and pans down, giving the audience a good view of the thrashing and -- yep, that's actual fighting, pure muscle memory and surprisingly good technique, given that he's unconscious. Probably a good thing this guy's sleeping alone, because anyone in bed with him would be being beaten pretty badly right about now. By the look on his face, though, the fight he's dreaming about is one he's losing, no matter how good he might be.

There's a sharp indrawn breath when he wakes up, but besides that, the biggest clue is that he goes perfectly still for a moment. Then he takes inventory, eyes still closed, flexing his ankle to test for the feel of the boot knife, stretching and moving in ways that would let him locate weapons by feel, rather than just reaching for what he should have on him and letting anyone watching know just where he hides the goodies.

...Nothing. He opens his eyes, reaches for the ones that would be less obvious -- nope, even the garrote wire's gone. Whoever searched him was thorough.

Though somehow his jacket's back, and in one piece. Huh.

He sits up, looks around for a minute, and then speaks to the empty air. ]

...Hey, Bats, if this was your idea, consider me incredibly unamused.

[ Or, wait, no, that's not right, there's something... he knows something... ]

Wait, I'm in space?

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[whereivebeen]

[ Oh, okay. That's definitely some combat moves he was dreaming about doing, and she has done that "casual flex" thing before, she knows exactly what you're up to, buddy. ]

They took 'em all. Atroma, the jackasses who brought us here? Took my guns and knives when I got here, too. They do it to everyone, it's bullshit.

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[asinisterkid]

[ Well, hello there, communicator he suddenly knows how to use. ]

Well, that's just plain inhospitable of them. ...Probably useful in case some idiot tries to blow a hole in the hull, but they could at least have left us our knives. [ tsk tsk ] No respect for objects of sentimental value.

So what else can you tell me about these jackasses?

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[whereivebeen]

Tell me about it. I managed to get a few knives the last place we stopped, but I miss my kimber. And my butterfly knife, that was a Christmas present.

[ if Tay Barnam pouted, she'd be pouting now. ]

And man, not really. We can't get at 'em, and they've kidnapped us to put us on reality tv. That's about it.

[asinisterkid]

Reality TV? This... They kidnapped me to put me on reality TV? [ He's just gonna break down laughing for a moment. Can't help it. ]

I'm guessing keeping it family-friendly isn't one of their biggest priorities. How many of us are there?

[video]

[mysunnydisposition]

[ Steph doesn't know this guy. But the way he woke up, and his very first words when he did...

She turns on the camera, and then pauses before she actually says anything, biting her lip. Should she ask Tim if he knows this guy, or...? Well. Tim'll notice soon enough, and answering a question can't hurt. ]

You're in space. He's not here.

[ He, capital H, only one person she could be talking about. None of their identities are really a secret here, but Batman still rarely gets mentioned - by any name. ]

[video]

[asinisterkid]

[ And oh, he hears that capital H, and when he looks to see how it is... Well then. It's Dead Robin Day here in space. ]

But you are. Which is interesting, because last I heard, you were dead, Stephanie.

Can I call you Stephanie?

Wouldn't be the first time one of us came back, [ he gestures at himself ] case in point, but it does raise some fascinating questions.

[ This? This is Jason's suspicious face. ]

[video]

[mysunnydisposition]

[ She jumps a little, pulling back from the camera a bit. Well that was creepy. ]

How did you know-- Steph's fine. Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

...apparently. [ So she's been told, anyway, and she trusts Tim on that. She still feels like she died.

And she's not stupid. He could have meant heroes when he said one of us, but as familiar as he apparently is with Batman... she doubts it. ]

No one ever told me your name. You feel like sharing, or do I just have to call you Robin #2?

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[hellofist]

[That wake up he has, it's ugly and painful and Cass doesn't like the fact that the entire fleet can see it, this man's - this boy's? - first moments in public steeped in fear and violence. She almost turns her communicator off so she won't have to watch, to be another person adding to his ratings, but then he says that name.

He says Bats and it could be nothing but his body language tells her it means everything.]

You know Batman?

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[asinisterkid]

[ And this must be Batgirl. Jason doesn't let himself be fooled by how tiny and cute she looks: if half of what he's heard about her is true, she's terrifying in a fight. Maybe he'll get a chance to spar with her sometime... ]

Yeah. I know Batman. [ Underneath the carefully neutral face he puts on that statement, there's a chaotic mix of love, anger, betrayal... too many emotions to process, better to just shove them back and deal with them some other time. Can't make a bad impression when meeting the rest of the family, now can we? ]

Cass, right? Steph mentioned you.

...I'm Jason Todd. Please tell me he [ and there's only one 'he' Jason could mean here ] didn't leave you out of the loop, too.

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[hellofist]

[Truthfully, now that she knows who he is she'd spar with him at the drop of a hat. For so long when Bruce looked at her, his body language told her Jason, Jason, Jason and she'd always wondered where the similarities stopped and started.

How comparable were they? Would they get along, would she like him, would he want to know that for a short time her suit was hung beside his when Bruce had relieved her from duty. She's always had these questions, always wanted to know everything there was to know about Jason, but the chance to find out never came. Jason brought too much pain to too many people when he was brought up.]

No. I know you. He compared us, sometimes. I never thought... I'd get to see you.

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[transferedfate]

[huh... Someone looks grumpy. She watches this broadcast before chiming in]

Sorry, no bats were involved in this kidnapping.

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[asinisterkid]

Good to know. You never can tell, sometimes.

[ He shrugs, grins. If she doesn't know the Batman, he's not going to share details. Best if she just thinks he's eccentric. ]

Let me guess, you got dragged here without warning too?

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[transferedfate]

[She's 9999% sure that there's more to that statement, but whatever. Maybe she'll ask him later someday]

Yep, and that's the case with everyone here. We don't get the privileged of chatting with our captors.

So... sorry in advance. You're going to get more questions than answers in this place.

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[theboogieman]

[some wild text appears on the screen...!]

Bats?

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[asinisterkid]

Someone from back home. Seems like he's not involved, though.

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[theboogieman]

this another superhero?

[tothefly]

[Natasha's made it a point of watching her comm closely the last few days on board. Better to know who she's stuck here with, even if it won't be for long. Mostly, they seem confused and harmless, and she's happy to keep to herself. But this one, she watches. He moves like he knows what he's doing, like he's looking for weapons she knows aren't there. That's enough to keep her interested. Have a text message beeping at you from your comm:]

Not much point in blaming anyone, bat or otherwise. Guess you could blame god, if you're the sort who believes in fairytales.

Right down the hallway, first left, then straight down to the end. See for yourself.

text > action

[asinisterkid]

Why hello there, mysterious atheist.

You've piqued my interest. Though if there's an ambush waiting for me when I get there, I'm going to be very upset. ;)

[ Yeah, Jason can do passive-aggressive smilies with the best of them. There's no reason for this new person to ambush him, but then that implies there's a reason for anything else about this situation.

When he gets up to follow Natasha's directions, he keeps his pace slow and easy. The body language says underestimate me, which would probably be more effective if his nightmare-fighting hadn't just been broadcast fleetwide. ]

pardon as I create geography willy-nilly

[tothefly]

[The reply, when it comes, carries enough amusement to make it evident, even through text.]

You're a big boy, I'm sure you can handle yourself.

Natasha herself is waiting to see if he follows the trail she's laid out, perched in her preferred corner of the viewing room. Back left of the entrance, the wall curving back and away from the door just slightly, but enough to provide her some measure of invisibility in those first seconds of anyone entering the room. It's as good a vantage point as she can find, and the giant window showing backness and stars provides most people with as much distraction as she needs to get their measure. She doesn't look like much, she knows, but that's intentional, too; just a youngish redhead lounging in a chair, looking pretty at ease for someone who's only been here a couple days herself.

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[detectivewonder]

You know, I wouldn't have called that I'm the only one in the family with a sense for the dramatic reveal.

Welcome to the fleet.

[His voice is clipped, irate, unenthused, even as the words are a token gesture at banter, the closest he assumes the two of them can come to diplomacy at this point.]

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[asinisterkid]

Aaand it's the replacement. Hi, replacement.

[ His tone practically drips malice. There's something about his body language, though, something that Tim should find very familiar if he's paying attention: Jason's never worked with Tim, but they've both worked with Bruce, and it's Bruce he's using as a point of reference, all the little nearly-invisible tells that add up to just follow my lead. It's the kind of thing you'd have to know Bruce (or be inhumanly good at reading people) to pick up on.

Seeing Tim's face still feels like a knife twisting in his chest... But Tim's proven himself. Like it or not, he earned the right to be Robin, and right now, Robins (and Batgirl, probably) are all he can count on. So: misdirection time. Build the existing enmity up into something big and flashy and entertaining, and they both get a secret ally in case things take a turn for the unspeakably horrible.

And let's be real, here: they're Batkids. The turn for the unspeakably horrible will happen, because WHAT ARE THEIR LIVES. ]

So, you look different from the last time I saw you. Don't tell me... the Puberty Fairy finally figured out how to get to your house? Congratulations. [ His grin is all teeth, and far from friendly. ]

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[detectivewonder]

[For just a moment his face says, all too clearly, you have got to be kidding me. For Dick, falling in line would have been automatic reflex, the same way that defiance and resistance is here. But he catches on quick, brain moving at the speed of Tim, and squares his shoulders, moving into a solid, combative, but natural-looking stance. It's shizen no kamae, jiu jitsu, the stance of someone who's about to serve as uke for another's technique. It looks like he's readying himself for a fight - but to another practitioner, it also says come at me and show me what you've got. Jason will get the message; he's sure of that.]

You really think this is the best time and place to be working on your oneupmanship, Jason? I'm eighteen; the puberty jokes stopped being funny about the same time the eartquake hit.

[Around the time that Gotham was cut off from everywhere else by martial law. Jason was dead at the time, but he's sure the reference should be clear enough to carry the message. No way to reach home yet.]

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[balancetheblood]

[ Lucky's just poking her head into rooms looking for something not another room with a bed (or a kitchen), and she sees Jason and almost pulls out and moves on ]

Oh, sorry--

[ Wait. Waaaaait, she recognizes that face ]

Jason?

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[asinisterkid]

[ And that gets Jason on his feet instantly, not even bothering to hide how he's assessing the new threat. Strange woman who knows his name WHAT? ]

...I don't recall us meeting. Wanna explain how you know that name?

[ He hasn't dropped into a combat stance just yet, but there's a certain readiness to his posture that suggests that could change at any moment. ]

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[balancetheblood]

[ Lucky raises her hands - look, ma, no threatening! ]

Okay, clearly not the one I was...

I knew you. Will know you? [ muttered ] Oak and ash, could this be any weirder to explain?

The place I was before I ended up here, I knew a kid named Jason, he looked like you. Have you ever heard of a place called Aather?