So Jason died and Bruce mourned, falling into a depressive state and overall not doing well. Then Tim came into the picture to help him like he did and eventually became Robin. Then Jason was resurrected.
But imagine if Bruce was finally getting better, Tim has been taking over the role of robin and Bruce wasn’t as depressed as he was at the beginning, it wasn’t great but it was manageable, and then Bruce gets a phone call,
“Hey Bruce, I-I don’t know what’s happening and I’m scared, can you come get me?” To which Bruce asks who it is, getting the response “It’s Jason, Bruce. I don’t know where I am or how I got here, and everything hurts. I just want to go home.” And Bruce hangs up. His son is dead, he can’t be calling.
Jason calls again, more insist and desperate, leaving voicemails when Bruce stopped picking up. Bruce tells Tim, who thinks it is a prank caller, a messed up one at that, so Bruce blocks the number.
Jason, confused and scared, gets convinced if he can just find Bruce, get to him, everything will be ok. He gets to Gotham, only to find quite a bit of time has passed. How did that happen? Bruce probably thought he went missing! He has to find him. But as he is roaming the streets of Gotham, he comes across tvs showing the news, Batman and Robin arrested a criminal last night, but how could that be? He was Robin! Then it dawns on him, he had been replaced. Bruce wanted nothing to do with him. He had blocked his calls and he had gotten a new robin, how much clearer does he need to get? Something in him broke, and suddenly his vision was as white as the streak that had formed in his hair, he lost control, didn’t come to until he was at the boy’s throat, Tim, his replacement
He had to get out. Eventually he formed the outlaws, he got away. Slowly but surely the severed ties started to mend, trust started to get rebuilt, and sure there were still sore spots (i.e. killing the joker) but it was getting better between Jason and Bruce.
Then Jason is hurt, in trouble. Bruce went into a desperate panic searching for him, he couldn’t lose Jason, not again. Finally the Justice league tracked them, and Bruce was the first ready to go. The justice league was gonna have him stay behind because he hadn’t slept well in days and he was hardly in a good enough place to be out in the field, but this was his kid, he demanded to be part of the ground crew. When he finally reached Jason, he was livid, cradling his 6’4” hurt child, trying not to get upset when he asked “Jason, why didn’t you call me?” It wasn’t so much a real question as a plea, ‘Jason, all I wanted was for you to call me, I wish you called me, I wish you let me protect you.’
And Jason, probably slightly delirious, whimpers out “I called you, I called you so many times, but you kept hanging up. I needed your help and you just kept hanging up. Why don’t you love me anymore? I promise I’m the same. I know you think the pit changed me, that I’m broken now, but I promise it’s still me, so why did you have to hang up? I know you have Tim now, but I still need you. You’re still supposed to protect me.” And bruce is so confused, until for the first time in years he thinks about that prank caller, but it wasn’t a prank caller, was it?
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Orange sunsets for Jo & Egan? 💚
Friend, this prompt would not exist without you and your Gale senses, @mercurygray's military vehicle expertise, and @junojelli, because I have never driven stick in my entire life, much less a 1940s jeep. Prompt list here.
Bucky Egan/War correspondent OC, also on Ao3!
Somewhere between writing up her latest story and the blue censor’s slashes that render it half as long, she runs out of typewriter ribbon.
She thought she’d been careful — both in the writing and in the paying close attention to her supplies. Jo — reporter Jo, Your Trusty Correspondent Jo, she figures out her own shit. Doesn’t ask for even so much as a pencil.
She’d thought it was a good piece, too.
The things she does have to ask about — meals, jeep rides up to Norwich to report on the bombing runs there, woven through with conversations with the civil defense men, almost all of them veterans of the last war — those are careful things, done in uniform and with something in her voice that approximates flattery. Apologies without apologizing. It’s a relief when a Red Cross girl or two offers to go with her, the way they can talk without minding themselves.
Longhand’ll be fine, for a bit.
It’s warm enough to sit outside, in the grass, in the shadow of a Nissen hut. Overcast, as usual, an early summer day. The air smells like pollen, half like the promise of rain.
“Hey, I know we’re short a few things up here but I think a chair might not be too big an ask.”
She squints up at him in the brightness from behind the clouds. “Major.”
“Seriously, you need a chair?”
“I’m alright, thank you.” It’s not the mud of spring anymore, at least. “Ground’s nice, on a day like this.”
The look that crosses his face seems to be considering a joke. “Where’s the machine?” He means her typewriter, the Underwood portable. Sitting inside.
She makes a noncommittal wave.
“I’m sure we could figure you one of those too,” he says, even though they both know full well that hot commodities like typewriters aren’t just growing out in the grass. “Sticky keys? Bad spring? Screw loose? Space bar not doing its job? I mean, I’d still read it, but-”
“Nah, just the ribbon.”
“You need a ribbon?”
God, he’s worse than the boys at the office. She laughs, just a little. “Has anyone ever told you you’d make a great copyboy?”
If he were chewing gum right now, it’d be a lazy clack on his back teeth. “Well, not too different than what they’ve got me doing now, if I’m honest.”
“If you’re honest.”
“Jeep’s right there,” he says, even though it’s not. “I mean-”
She weighs her options. Jeep ride. Typewriter ribbon. Maybe even one for Kay or to squirrel away for later. She wonders about ration books and cigarettes, not that she bothers much with anything besides Luckies these days. Small bars of wartime soap, small, pretty tins of hard candy, boiled sweets, they call them here.
On the other hand. No ride. No ribbon. No sweets. The air’s gotten thicker as she’s been sitting here. It sounds nice — careening through the greenery with the wind on her arms.
And he’d talk the whole time, she knows he will.
“What’s your afternoon look like?”
“Wide open.”
She highly suspects it’s not.
“Just the ribbon,” she says.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She’s glad she’s wearing trousers in the passenger seat, the open vehicle, the way she has to hold on to stay in. He’s used to the thing by now, he says, the way it handles, the good noises, the bad ones, the bite of the clutch. The road to Norwich is a straight line, and long, and he shouts over the wind, “oldest Roman road around! ‘S what I heard, at least.”
“And here we are, driving on it!”
“Yeah!”
The fields run by, the rows of trees, wagons, the Queen Anne’s lace, cow parsley, clusters of daisies.
“So, what’re you working on?”
She tells him, out here where it feels like they’re the only ones around, in the middle of the afternoon, even if they’re not. And he knows, of course, exactly what she’s talking about, the major who drinks among locals, the ones who tell stories and the ones who don’t.
He waits outside while she makes her purchase, and then ducks into another store to buy that tin of candy, slipped into her pocket. A magazine too, a small, short thing printed on rough paper. She ought to get him something, for the favor. A beer or a meal would be the real thing, if this wasn’t just an errand.
They walk back around the corner to where the jeep is parked, and he makes to toss her the keys. “Spin for the lady?”
She looks at him, unable to hide the confusion on her face.
Even if they let her have a jeep, she couldn’t drive it.
“Would if I could,” she says. “Though I hate to make you take the wheel all the way back, too.”
“Hey, it’s fine, I like this thing. But seriously, you never-?”
She looks at him, maybe a little too long, trying to figure out who he thinks she is. “City girls don’t get a lot of lessons in motoring.” Like it’s 1922 and she’s got a parasol and a skirt that doesn’t let her move. Steelworkers who drink away good wages don’t usually go for nice cars, either. William’s family had cars, plural. The two of them went for drives sometimes, out to the quieter, greener spots around the city. She always felt like she was going to do something wrong, smudge something that had just been polished or cleaned.
“Why don’t you hop in, I’ll show you.”
She looks at him again. “I’m sure the last thing anyone needs is an accident that puts a major out of commission.” And she’s pretty sure her on a ship home would be a welcome relief for at least as many people as she can count on her hands.
He makes a noise of dismissal, good-humored. Kind of a snort. “You’ll be fine.”
“You can tell that to the MPs.”
“Hey, would I tell you that if I didn’t think it was true?”
No, you wouldn’t.
“If I can park a plane, you can drive a jeep.”
She gets in the driver’s seat.
“So right here’s the steering wheel-”
She’s quick enough to bite it back. You know I got to England all by myself, right?
He sees the look on her face, puts his hand up. “Just covering all the bases, Brandt.”
“Steering wheel, roger.”
“Steering wheel-” he points, “shifter. This thing-” he points to the long handle protruding from the dashboard, “parking brake. Don’t worry about that one yet.”
He reaches an arm over, down to the well where her legs are. “Left is the clutch. That’s important. Right foot’s the brake. Also important. Long pedal’s the gas, you guessed it, important, if you wanna get back to base before chow or there’s someone chasin’ you.”
“Who’s chasing me?”
“I don’t know, somebody.”
“I’ll think something up.”
“You’re the writer, right? Now, you’re gonna start this baby up.” He hands her the keys, fingertips brushing her palm. "First turn that ignition, press the starter-” she does as she’s told, “and give it a little gas.”
It starts, mercifully, with a noise that he doesn’t wince at. “Now, if you wanna go faster than a farm wagon you’re gonna need to switch to second. But, can’t do that without gettin’ to first first.”
She’s fairly certain every window along the lane has someone looking at them, but she can’t worry about that right now.
“So, shifter’s in neutral, keep your foot on that brake- and the clutch, yep- just like dancin’-” he sees her face, “ok, maybe harder than dancin’, unless it’s a fast song playin’-” The clasp of her watch digs into her wrist against the wheel. “Doin’ great- now, I shoulda had you look at these before we started so I’ll just tell you- you’re gonna push down good on that clutch pedal, take the shifter, like this-”
She does, rewarded by an ungodly metallic noise and a corresponding smell. Her stomach wobbles. Nothing about his manner changes, except a handwave to get the smell away from his nose. This must be what’s he’s like up there. She’s surprised there hasn’t been a baseball metaphor yet. “You’re fine, just didn’t press hard enough is all. Need to get you some good boots like mine-”
She tries again, and the whole vehicle seems to take a cue from her stomach. “I hope you didn’t have anywhere you needed to be this afternoon.”
“Nope.” It’s clear she doesn’t quite believe that. A beat passes. “...you let me worry about that. Now-”
She reaches for the shifter again, just as he does the same, the tiniest spark of static. How, in this weather? If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear she heard something in his throat. “So I’ll handle this part now, you just focus on the clutch.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll tell you when.”
She nods, tries to look decisive about it.
“Alright- right- now-”
It bites, just like he said it would.
“BEAUTIFUL!”
It’s almost a laugh, the breath that escape her.
“Now, we’ll try second.”
She doesn’t get too excited, because it stalls out again. But she gets it going out of neutral, to first. He looks proud.
And second gear- the second time- it works.
“Hey, see, you’ve got this!”
“I think steering might also come in handy.”
“You may be right.”
She’s not very graceful about it, but she doesn’t land them in a ditch as she slowly maneuvers onto the main road. “I think you ought to take us back if you want to get there before dark.”
He looks like he’s thinking about it. “Ah, alright. But this ain’t over.”
“Part two?”
“Third gear. On the strip. When we get back.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Kind of a requirement.”
She gets it back down from second, stops it, hands him the keys. She’s shivering a little, back in the passenger seat, from the nerves, energy. He looks over at her and smiles. “Passed part one.”
“How do I stack up?”
“Well, Buck still has me drivin’ him around so, I’d say you’re the top of the class.”
She laughs, from relief, from the fact that it’s still not raining, from the fact that she’s forgotten the typewriter ribbon in the little box in her pocket, from his smile.
“I expect you to keep this thing running while I’m up there,” he says.
She wants to laugh, but the unspoken if hangs heavy, like clouds pregnant with rain.
“I don’t think that’s allowed,” she says.
He glances over at her, East Anglia passing them on both sides once again. “Well, I’ll get you permission.”
It’s not even your jeep, she wants to say. It puckers on her tongue, like the cherry-flavored sweets in her other pocket. None of this belongs to us.
By the time they make it back to Thorpe Abbotts, the sky has miraculously cleared, soft and blue, the other side of the afternoon.
“Now, we can just call this practice,” he says. “For the gear shifts.”
Gamely she gets in the driver’s seat again, bolstered by his confidence.
Another stall, again, this time from first to second, but she handles it. No one’s ever accused me of having a bad memory. Quite the opposite, sometimes.
The sensation of it runs through her arms, her legs. Something new, something she’d learned, something that might actually serve her, and not just what lipsticks to wear and how to dress for the season. Something he’d shared with her.
“I’m glad we’re not in Pittsburgh,” she says. “All the hills.”
“Hey, you’d handle them too. You’re a pro now. More practice than some of us got.” She’s a little afraid of what this looks like, although it’s not like discipline’s been the letter of the day at Thorpe Abbotts. Hardly something she’d write home about, aside from the swagger, the boldness. It meant something to her, though. Professionalism. William never thinks about any of it, she’s sure. “How about trying that third gear?”
“I hope whatever you’re missing right now isn’t too important.”
“Thought I told you to let me worry about that.”
“After dinner,” she says, unsure if she means it.
The next voice belonging to neither of them, low and a little amused, approaching. “Thought we’d have to send out a search party.”
“Just taking Josephine here for a little spin. Driving lesson.”
She shoots him a look. “An errand. I ran out of ribbon.”
“How was it?” Gale still looks faintly amused. “The lesson.”
“I told her if I can park a plane, she can drive a jeep.”
“Your ability to park a plane is questionable at best.” He smiles, just a little, before his expression is measured again. “John, Huglin wants to see you.” He can’t say what about in front of her, obviously. Jo hopes it isn’t about this. Something about what she knows of the colonel might tell her it’s not. Still, she feels guilty.
He leans over conspiratorially. “Jo, I won’t mind too much if you run him over.”
“Nice thing to say about your best friend,” Gale says.
“You’d be walking everywhere if it weren’t for me. Jeeps, bikes-”
“Sure, sure.”
“I’ll let you bring this back where you got it,” she says. “Better than me taking an hour to do the same.”
“After dinner, though?” Her mouth twitches a little.
“Come on, you’ll be thankin’ me one day.”
“He likes to say that,” says Gale.
If the sky stays clear, it’ll be beautiful. Clear blue until late, and then pink, orange, lemon yellow. Red streaks like the sweets in her pocket, dusted with powdered sugar.
How many sunsets like that could you hope for?
“Alright,” she says. “Keep the keys ready.”
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