9768/Knightfall: A Surprise Visit

Knightfall: A Surprise Visit
Date of Scene:	26 October 2019
Location:	Interior - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Jason checks on Bruce while staying at the mansion, they talk about the past and the future and what needs to happen before the next crises come.
Cast of Characters:	Red Hood, Batman
Tinyplot:	Knightfall

---

Red Hood has posed:
By the time Jason had finished logging the details of the fight with the Maniax and the Fl4yers in China Basin last night, the sun had been up for an hour. Too tired to stomach the idea of riding his bike back to the Red Cave, Jason reluctantly decided to stay at the manor. Though, he did manage to argue his way out of using his old room and took a guest room instead, it was a symbolic gesture, but one that he felt stubborn enough about to make a stand about.

Still even though it wasn't his own room, the familiar smells and sounds of the manor did their work and Jason drifted into a much more restful sleep than he'd had in all his nights in the Red Cave since returning to the city. When he woke the following evening, the place held a different feeling to him. He couldn't shake the image of Bruce from his head, or the fact the object of anger was so close at hand. To say nothing of the dark thoughts the things he and Babs discovered brought up. Deciding it was inevitable, Jason pulled on a set of his old clothes, jeans and Metallica shirt, and made his way to Bruce's door, hesitating just a moment before he knocks.

"You awake?" he calls through the rich wood even as he tries the door handle.

Batman has posed:
"For the last seven hours," Bruce answers, voice muffled by the heavy door, "Haven't shaken my old sleeping habits yet.

Over a decade of sleeping during the day and patrolling the city by night will do that. There is likely not a member of the Family who truly feels comfortable sleeping when its dark outside. Truly they are possessed of the most unique cycadean rhythms on the planet.

Inside, the master bedroom of Wayne Manor looks more akin to a hospital ward. It is plunged into near-complete darkness by the blackout curtains over the window, the only illumination coming from monitors and machines that have been set up to keep track of his condition. He's barely visible, laying on the bed in the pale blue glow cast by his heart monitor. The room quiet save for beeps and the churning hiss of a breathing machine.

Bruce himself is heavily bandaged about his middle with both legs in casts. His neck and head are held immobile in what looks like a hi-tech neck brace - probably of his own design, given the lack of branding upon it.

Red Hood has posed:
Pushing open the door, Jason breezes into the room, wearing the sarcastic mask he liked to put on when he was troubled, the smirk just a little bit forced, the wry amusement in his eyes not quite as convincing as it could be. It was very him, which stood in contrast, to the rest of what his body language gave away, before he'd left, he'd been at greater ease, happier, edging closer to something like a normal life, now, it was like looking into the past, he was all coiled anger under a brittle sheen of normalcy.

"Glad to see somethings don't change around here," he says, the quip part in parcel with that sarcastic mask of his.

His eyes survey the equipment, more than Bruce, guaging his conditions by checking illuminated read outs rather than the man himself.

"How've you been?" he asks, like he hand't seen the info he and Carrie had delivered to Strange.

Batman has posed:
Bruce cannot turn his head completely, the brace looking him in such a way that he would need to turn his whole body and the pain of broken ribs and legs makes that an unlikely proposition. Instead, he shifts almost imperceptibly and glances at Jason through the side of his eye.

"Better," he answers flatly, his own emotions not so much thinly veiled as buried beneath thousands of pounds of raw earth, "Your mission with Kestrel. How did it go?"

He takes a moment, reaching to the bedside to draw a clear plastic breathing mask up to his mouth. He inhales deeply of the oxygen it provides before letting it drop back to its place next to him on the bed.

Red Hood has posed:
The subtle shift is noticed, and Jason shifts himself a little to the left to bring himself into Bruce's eyeline.

"You look it," Jason answers wryly, eyes fixed on the wall above Bruce's headboard. The image of a broken Batman was still one that left him feeling lost.

"My mission with Kestrel?" Jason asks eyes darting down to look at Bruce for a moment. "Carrie, Bruce, call her Carrie, the girl who was willing to risk her mind being shredded to save you deserves to be called by her name."

The eyes shift off of Bruce as Jason begins to pace and gets to the meat of the issue. "It didn't go well exactly, the Doc said his hands weren't up to the challenge, Carrie offered to step in as his hands, hence the mind shredding danger, some sort of possession thing... I didn't really follow the magic crap. Anyhow, long and short of it is Doc's looking into options and both him and Carrie seem to be willing to throw down hard to get you out of this bed."

Batman has posed:
"That is her name," Bruce says, "The one she earned. The one she's given everything to bear."

But he lets go of the thread of argument almost as quickly as he latched onto it. There's a fatigue him that's obvious. Even breathing doesn't come easily. Though his arms can move, each action seems clumsy and weak. As though the only part of him he still has any semblance of control over is his mind.

"Strange is a good man. Whatever happened to him after his accident humbled him. I feel the same about his magic, but regardless there's no finer neurosurgeon on the planet. Whatever he has to offer, I need to hear it soon."

A faint sigh, he once more fumbles the oxygen mask into place to take a few deep breaths.

"X-rays say it's swelling, but it isn't going down. The corticosteroid dose isn't helping, and Doctor Thompkins doesn't feel comfortable upping it any further. It needs surgery. But a full review of my health would be unwise. Need someone discrete."

Years of broken bones, bullet and blade wounds, exposure to all manner of chemical agents. Bruce's medical records would not tell the story of an idle playboy.

Red Hood has posed:
Jason's brows raise at Bruce's reply. He clearly hadn't thought of that, but can remember how much it had meant to hear Batman call him Robin. "Okay fair point, but you can't lay there and tell me that you're okay with good people risking that sort of hell for you."

He takes a breath and lets it go, like they taught him in Arkham.

The full details of the prognosis was another thing that he wasn't prepared for. Though he does nod about it being unwise to let another doctor take a look at him, "No argument there," he says before he gets to what's really on his mind. "And if the swelling doesn't stop?"

Batman has posed:
"I'm not okay with it," Bruce responds in that same flat tone, "There's a reason I planned it so they couldn't be in Metropolis when I faced him. Kestrel shouldn't take any unnecessary risks, even those that might heal this injury. Neither should you, nor anyone else."

The question prompts a slight frown from him, and he uses the pregnant silence that follows to take another deep breath of oxygen from the mask. There's no denying that the simple act of holding a conversation is draining for him now, though the look on his face would never even hint at it.

"Permanent injury. Incomplete quadriplegia. It's early - too early to know for certain. But this?" he lifts a hand to gesture at himself, the movement like he barely has control of it - clumsy and slow, "Could be the rest of my life."

Red Hood has posed:
The answer smoothes some of the former Robin's ruffled feathers, the anger was still in him but the grip had loosend some, "Well don't worry about me taking risks to get you better, my hands are the last ones Strange will want to use, remember when Alfred tried to teach me stitches?" he asks wry smirking mask back in place. "Total disaster."

Though the forced mirth dies young as Bruce takes another assisted breath and makes a titanic effort to simply move his arm. Jason had fought Killer Croc, Two-Face, Ivy and been beaten to death by the Joker, but seeing Bruce struggle to make the barest gesture, that was one of the scariest things he'd seen in his life.

"Jesus," he breathes, the magnitude of it really taking hold leaving him a little pale and withdrawn. "I'll go light a fire under Doc's ass, see what he can come up with to fix all this, and not rip anyone's mind to shreds."

Batman has posed:
"I have the zig-zag shaped scar to prove it," Bruce says of Jason's suturing abilities, glancing down at the thin and jagged white line almost like a lightning bolt in the flesh of his shoulder, "But I appreciate the point. I think we can hold off on christening you as a surgeon."

Jason's reaction is not lost on him, and though he seems like he wants to take another draught from the oxygen mask he holds off on doing it. Instead, the plastic masks rests under one hand and he shifts himself bodily to lie half on his side. It's a colossal effort, achieved through sheer force of will.

"He's afraid. I don't doubt this all reminds him of who he was before he became a sorcerer - not knowing me at all probably isn't helping the matter. But we need his help. If I have to come see him myself, I will."

Red Hood has posed:
Jason actually smiles there, "Your fault for letting me practice on you," he teases before nodding to Bruce's assessment, "Yeah, I think it's best I stick to the surgical removal of hubcaps."

When Bruce moves onto his side, it's all Jason can do not to reach out and try and stop him, "Doc said you should be careful moving, that even getting you on the table to fix you might make things worse," he warns holding his hands out. Even so, there's a part of him touched by the gesture.

"If so he does scared by way of crotchety," Jason observes but nods his agreement all the same. "For what it's worth he sounded willing even not knowing who you are, just a guy in need of saving, and he was willing to go all out."

He figured that news made the decision to go with Strange easier, because there was no way forward that didn't put the family secret squarely in the doctor's hands.

Batman has posed:
"I'm being careful," Bruce answers perhaps a little touchily, especially considering he is pushing himself to the limits of what he can currently endure, "But this isn't going to solve itself. I need that surgery. I need to get back out there."

But then the wave of fatigue hits him, an insurmountable weight that pushes him back into the bed. He fumbles for the oxygen mask once more, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes - a look of frustration momentarily coloring his otherwise blank expression.

"If he knows about us, he knows," he says with a sigh, "Tony Stark worked it out. They're both intelligent enough men to respect what we are doing here and keep it to themselves. I don't have time to waste on precaution."

Red Hood has posed:
Jason steps backs hands raised, "Hey, trust me I want you out of this bed as quick as anyone, you think I want to be in Gotham right now? I've got my own problems. So, listen to whatever the doc has to say, and we can both get what we want, okay."

When Bruce fumbles with the mask, Jason's first impulse is to reach out and help but seeing Bruce's frustration he holds back knowing if it was him on that bed instead of Bruce, he'd want to do it his damn self.

Jason's brows raise at Tony figuring out the secret, "Wow, I mean I know he's like a tech genius but didn't think he had it in him. Huh," he says with a shrug. "But you'd know if he was the sort to tell the world who we were, for what it's worth, my sense is you're right about Doc too. He doesn't look like a talker."

"But seriously? Don't have time for precautions? I wish I could have recorded that and sent it to past me, he'd get a kick out of that given all the times you told me not to rush into things."

It wasn't a real challenge, he knew things were dicey and risks had to be taken but there was a part of him that couldn't help but needle.

Batman has posed:
"Times change," is all Bruce can say to that. Precautions and preparations have always been the very foundation of what he does, but every day feels as though time and his own strength is slipping away. He is no stranger to racing against the clock, but the stakes hadn't felt like this.

"Stark was always going to figure it out," he says of Tony, "For all flip attitude, he is one of the sharpest minds on the planet. He didn't quite see through the cover story Oracle laid down, but he put the pieces together enough when he saw me in person. He's agreed to keep it to himself."

He takes another deep breath through the mask: "If you can get Strange here to meet with me, I'll convince him. Or, if he has a plan like you said, I want to hear it."

Red Hood has posed:
"They do, and like I said, as eager as anyone to get you back to your old self, Bruce, but try not to give away the store in the store, okay?" Jason says willing to leave the matter at that.

"Well, he hides it well," Jason says with the faintest hint of a smirk. "But if you trust him it's good enough for me. As for Doc, Kes and I'll see what he's got for us, and we'll bring him by for a visit," Jason promises. "Hopefully before three or four more crises land on our collective plate."