DICK;

[crashout]

Comments

[unpredicktable]

You didn't... see that?

[ dick frowns, putting a hand on the barrier again. henlo. knock knock ]

... I think... that was you. Or-- I mean, that was yours. I was in an incinerator, and I saw those people you talked about. Seven, Lotus-- well. You know. [ theory? time? ] Something about that item must've triggered it.

[crashout]

[Pokeprod. Apparently that wasn't all our mystery barrier wanted, but he's busy trying to think of what the fuck Dick saw. As he begins to describe it though, everything becomes very clear. He's frozen for a moment, staring at Dick with the same kind of unreadable expression he's given him before in rare moments before he frowns again.]

...sudoku. [He sounds tired.] Fifteen minutes left. [...there's a beat.] Did you hear her?

[unpredicktable]

[ there's a beat of silence. ]

... Yeah. Yeah, I think so. That girl... she wasn't in the room, was she?

[ it's not so much that it's fleeting as it wasn't his memories, and so it's a bit hard to parse them. was that... the morphogenetic field? ]

[crashout]

[There's a nod.]

She wasn't even in that year. Or that timeline. She was nine years in the past. [So yes, the field.] She...connected to me. She was connected the whole time to plan everything the way it needed to go, but it was only then I heard her to help save her.

Nine years before, she had 15 minutes left before the incinerator would turn on. She had to solve the puzzle, but could only do it with my help. [And that's why sudoku.]

[unpredicktable]

[ ... geez. he puts a hand over his mouth, shaking his head ]

That's... [ a lot? ] I think that goes a little beyond sink or swim on the power front. [ dick knocks on the barrier again ] I-- I'm sorry this thing let me see into your mind. Invasion of privacy much?

[ LIGHTENING THE MOOD AFTER THIS IS HARD ]

[crashout]

[He just...shrugs? Poking the barrier again, no longer meeting Dick's eyes.]

You're not the first. That's what happens with the field. We're connected like that. [Pokepokeprod.] Anyway it could be worse. At least I already kind of told you about that, but what in the hell is this ship doing to us? That's gotta be it, right? Another ship thing.

[Like horny disease, and those tattoos.]

[unpredicktable]

If it is, then what's going to let us out...?

[ thank you for asking, dick! in your case, it will specifically be junpei witnessing this fun yelling session, which ends at 33:06. at least it's quick! not that dick knows that, because he's just trying to push on the barrier while that happens. ]

[crashout]

[Oh there's a significant amount of yelling going on here. Okay. Who the fuck is this? What the fuck is this. Somebody who's a friend, obviously, because he calls him Dick instead of Nightwing. Who's Artemis? Or Kaldur. What lengths did Dick go to to get what he was after?

So yeah Dick's busy pressing on the barrier while Junpei's staring off into space witnessing this guy yelling in "his" face.]

...[Should he say something? He should maybe say something, but he's not sure what to say first.] ...was that flashdrive worth it in the end?

[unpredicktable]

... Flashdrive?

[ dick-- pauses, and the barrier goes with it because they've shared their memory. that's really what clues him in to what junpei might be talking about, more than anything, and he turns with a frown ]

You... saw something, didn't you?

[crashout]

Yes, obviously. [He has so many questions, but...] That guy seemed pretty pissed.

["Wally" is the name his brain supplies, but he's not mentioning it. They're just going to dance around names right now.]

[unpredicktable]

[ dick... looks away ]

You're gonna have to be more specific than that. A lot of people have been mad at me recently.

[crashout]

Wally. Because you didn't tell anyone else the plan. [Sounds familiar enough.]

[unpredicktable]

[ dick looks shocked, first, but then-- then he looks a little bit heartbroken. ]

... That was... when we blew up the cave. [ god. it feels like a lifetime ago. ]

[crashout]

...yeah. There was a cave mentioned in there somewhere. [He's tentative in the conversation, especially since he actually doesn't like that look in the slightest.] It cut off after the suspicion was cast against--Kaldur? I think. About being a triple agent.

[unpredicktable]

Wally was just-- [ and maybe his voice chokes a bit on the name but he presses on ] Worried. I-- I'd brought his girlfriend out of retirement to help on a deep undercover mission, helped fake her death-- [ he shakes his head, switches course a bit; ] Kaldur-- Aqualad-- wasn't a traitor. He'd never be. But Wally was... was having a rough time dealing with things.

[crashout]

[...bad. He won't press the Wally subject because that's a visible hot topic he shouldn't touch yet. Granted, helping someone fake their death is a little extreme and he's quiet as he thinks of what to touch first.]

...was there a reason you couldn't explain it to him before?

[unpredicktable]

He knew. He-- Artemis wouldn't have done it without telling him. He was in on that much. But... the cave was... [ dick runs a hand through his hair ] The flashdrive was information, but it was also to explain the attack. I-- Aqualad couldn't exactly call out a warning. I learned why he'd done it... after.

[ he-- repeats what he'd said, back then: ]

It was necessary. He'd already spent months undercover, and we'd gone as far as to have him-- we'd agreed, both of us, that we'd do whatever it took. We-- we hit a few snags, but if we hadn't done it, there's no way we could've ever stopped the Invasion.

[crashout]

...but you did stop it, didn't you? In the end. Things worked out the way they needed to, even with your cave blown up or whatever.

[The end justifies the means.]

[unpredicktable]

Yes. We stopped the invasion, and we dealt a critical blow to the Light. The mission was a success.

[ it sounds like there's something more to that, but. dick stops it there. ]

[crashout]

Okay. [It's what he says first, because he thinks that's appropriate. He's not a moron, he can read the tone, but...pushing seems like it's a delicate matter.]

...having been on Wally's end of things, I think I get it. Akane used to do the same. [Still does, actually, but he's sidestepping that.] You do what you have to to get results, but...I dunno.

[An awkward pause.] Sorry for seeing that. But I guess we're even? [A joke that falls flat, because now he's just watching Dick carefully to try and read him.]

[unpredicktable]

It's not... something I enjoy doing. [ the opposite, really. he remembers being thirteen and never wanting to become that person. and yet. ] I don't-- I'd never blame Wally for being the one to, to call me out like that.

[ not just because he's dead, but because for a while that was practically his job. what best friends do, really. still, dick shakes his head, looking morose. ]

... You didn't exactly ask to see it. We're fine.

[crashout]

[He's lost in thought on that, thinking of something Dick won't actually see and choosing not to say it. But Dick says "we're fine" and he gives him another considering look.]

Are we...? [A roundabout way of asking if he's okay, because Dick can take care of himself just fine but sometimes it's worth asking.] Can't say that would be the memory I'd pick for myself if I had a choice.

[unpredicktable]

The memory isn't a problem. [ it's a bit stilted, but-- ] We made up afterwards. We-- He'd been my best friend since I was like, eleven. It wasn't the first time we fought over things. His girlfriend was fine. The mission was a success. I just...

[ he gives out a sigh, because it's hard to talk around it, and the past tense pretty much gave him away anyway, and he doesn't want to have junpei stare him like that over the next few days, so: ]

Wally died. About a month and a half ago. Sacrificed himself to save the world.

[crashout]

[He knows that. It's fine. He's just letting Dick talk at his own pace and he leans against the bookcase he pulled the funyarinpa from, watching him impassively as he explains.

It also occurs to him that he's maybe a huge asshole because he remembers one of their first conversations. He remembers how Dick responded, and he now realizes why. Not that he could have known, but...hah. He doesn't think to say "I'm sorry" because those are still hollow words, but...that's rough.]

...heroes have never had an easy job. [It's what he says next, careful and very uncertain if this is even worth saying.] Not everyone can lay their own life down on the line for the rest of the world. And not everyone can be brave enough to go in knowing that and still do it anyway.

[He thinks about Carlos and himself, mostly, the difference between them and how Junpei will do what he can but he could never dedicate his life solely to others just like that. Not in the same way. It's not a mystery why Dick is the way he is, or how he continues to function here.]

Doesn't make it any easier later when the world's safe again.

[unpredicktable]

[ there's a sigh from dick as he heads back to his work bench to hide a flash of irritation. he knows it's irrational-- junpei isn't at fault for anything that happened here, and he's obviously trying to offer sympathy in his own way, but it's.

dick knows all that. maybe more than most. and-- and he hadn't wanted to talk (think) about Wally or heroism or anything relating to that, especially today. not after--
he just sighs again and smiles, a bit wry. ]

It's not about that. Even if he'd died any other way... [ he shakes his head ] He's not the first to make that choice. But I miss my best friend. That's it.

[ it's a combination of other things, too, but in the purest sense, right now, hearing his name just feels like a raw, open wound. ]