pickpockets | stolen phones || contact haven

[ he goes with audio, knowing his photo will pop up on her screen ( and because he does not dare use video. he doesn't know what will happen. he doesn't know if she will know him. he doesn't know if she will want nothing to do with him.

he doesn't understand the way his stomach clenches at the thought. ) ]

Selina?

[ that was her name. selina. bruce digs his fingers into his sweater. ]

[His name and photo collide with her presence here and it almost makes it more real. Grounds her in that moment. For a split second she considers not answering at all, but she knows she can't do that. She doesn't just give up on people.]

Yeah. It's me.

[ he lets out the breath he had been holding. ]

That's —

[ not good. not right. bruce bites the inside of his lip. ]

Where are you? A-a general description is fine. I'll find you.

[She glances around.]

It's -- [Insert random area in the city that's on her way to the apartment she's been "assigned" to.] -- does that sound familiar?

Yeah. [ in the background, the sounds of hurrying. ] Don't move, please.

Alright, fine.

[Her head tips to the side, weight shifting on her heels as she hesitates for a moment, but then opts to get over at the very least to the side of the building. She's not going to be the idiot standing out in the open.]

[ he doesn’t hang up.

bruce doesn’t know why — he isn’t talking to her — but he doesn’t hang up. ( too worried that if he does it'll be like it was — she won’t even realize he’s there. )

the boy that comes running a few minutes later is a far cry from the boy she had left in the hospital room. he’s very far from the boy who had broken his classmate’s nose. months without regular meals have made him grow thinner, his face more angular. daily exercise has contributed, but it has also left him fitter, stronger than he was. the clothes he wears were all found for him: jeans, a t-shirt, a brown sweater a size too big. the shoes are his, but they’re scuffed, something alfred would never have allowed in the manor.

perhaps the most obvious difference is what he carries with him — a quiver with a dozen arrows and a bow — and the easy confidence with which he bears them.

said confidence doesn't extend to the present situation.

bruce tries to catch his breath. yet he isn't winded. his stomach has been churning with nerves the entire way here. when he spots her, they don't abate. bruce fishes for something clever, something reassuring to say. ]

Hi, [ is all he can manage. ]

[By the time he arrives, she's shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, keeping an eye on everyone that seems to slow as they approach her. She nods at his remark, taking note of the physical differences that she can see immediately. It makes her unsure, to see him looking more like a street kid than a Wayne. Her lips purse for a moment, calculating what to say, but really she doesn't have anything other than:]

What the hell is this place?

It's called Haven. [ the simple answer first. he hesitates to say the rest. ]

Maybe it'll be better if we find somewhere to sit. Have you spoken with anyone else?

[We'll pretend that all of her intro-run-ins happened before she met up with Bruce.]

A few people. No one I knew. [Vague list of names would go here... etc etc.]

[ some names are familiar to him. but it wasn't all that long ago that he was in her shoes in an unfamiliar place with no one he knew. he resolves to make the adjustment as easy for her as he can. ]

It was the same for me. I've been here four months. [ it seems like nothing out loud. four months. yet the time feels like so much longer. ]

Come on. [ he moves to one of the ruined buildings, and points up. ] We'll have a little more privacy on the roof. I'll tell you everything I know.

Edited 2015-03-26 20:18 (UTC)

[When he says four months she stares at him. It's a hardened look, trying to see if he's lying to her, because she just saw him earlier. He doesn't seem to be wavering on his statement though and when he suggests a rooftop she nods. At the very least she'll feel more comfortable higher up. She'll have a better view of the city, too.]

Alright, lead the way.

[ for some reason, he was expecting an argument. bruce assents mutely, and moves toward the building. it's not too tall — bruce finds himself missing gotham's skyscrapers — and he scales it with relative ease.

at the top, he waits for selina to join him before sitting cross-legged on the roof. the unstrung bow he lays across his lap so it doesn't bother him. he studies her for a moment before exhaling a nervous chuckle. ]

I don't know where to begin. Do you — What's the last thing you remember? Before this morning?

[Selina makes the climb easily, finding her way up to the rooftop to join Bruce. She moves to the ledge of the roof, leaning over and looking out as he starts to talk to her.

She glances over her shoulder, looking back at him.]

I left the hospital. I saw you, stopped by a few more uneaten trays of food, headed out. Then I woke up here.

[ bruce frowns. ]

Why were you in the hospital?

[Selina steps away from the edge of the roof and crosses over to Bruce. If he's really been here for four months... maybe he doesn't know about Alfred. It doesn't make any sense. She'd seen him. It had really been him ... so maybe this isn't Bruce.]

Most people in hospitals don't eat all their food or the tray gets left in the room and they're asleep. Easy pickings.

…I see.

[ to think that, once upon a time, that would have been enough for censure. funny what nights spent with a not full enough stomach can change. ]

I guess I should start. [ he takes in a deep breath, releases it. ] This is Haven. It — isn't a haven. It's sort of like an experiment. Except we're the ones being experimented on.

[ he stops there to gauge how she takes it. ]

[She's doesn't know how anyone is meant to react to this. It's weird and he's missing memories (or has been replaced ie: part of this just mentioned experiment.]

What sort of experiments?

[ she's being too agreeable. bruce presses his lips together. by this time his first day he was implying everyone was a liar or a fool. at best, a weird dream; at worst, he had begun hallucinating.

but while she's willing to listen, he'll explain what he can. despite promising to say everything, there's a lot he's keeping quiet: some parts are simply too unbelievable. ]

Some aren't dangerous; they're more annoying than anything else. Others can be. About two months ago, we were bombed. So there's no electricity here and you can only get water from the lake at the bottom of the sinkhole.

[ he points in that direction. ]

That's where the houses are. Food is another problem; you've got to look for it. In the church, they have a collection. They'll give you enough for a few days if you ask.

[Maybe if her life had been different she might be more skeptical. She might think this is insane or ridiculous living conditions, but everything he's giving her ample warning about is what her experience has been for most of her life. Well, the water is a bit extreme.]

What's the last thing you remember? [She still eyes him cautiously, keeping distance between them. She's not sure if he's who he says he is. It doesn't make sense, but nothing really does.]

[ in his time in haven, bruce has gotten better at lying. but when asked he tells the unfortunate truth.

he gives her a date — the day before detective gordon dropped her off at his doorstep. one day before meeting her. ]

[She takes a step back.]

How -- how did you even know me, then?

[ this is the part where he comes as crazy. in case he hadn't before. he starts as if he were to stand, but stays where he is. ]

Because I saw you. [ he hurries on, half-stumbling over his words in his attempt to get the explanation right. ] One of those experiments I mentioned, it created projections of real people. But they weren't real. You were one of them. When I saw your picture in the phone this morning, I thought it was another trick.

[ he sounds so crazy. he feels crazy. ]

One of my friends is from Gotham. He gave me your name.

[ unable to stop himself anymore, he gets up then. ]

I'm sorry. I know this is a lot to take in —

[As he stands up, she takes another movement backwards. She's hyper aware of where he is, right now. The things he's saying make it seem as if he's a trap of some sort.

A plant.

Someone that's been given enough information to make her feel easy. It's how they always do it. You look cold. Come in. We'll get you something to eat.]

Stay right there. [She offers that warning.]

Who told you my name?

[ he freezes where he is. ]

Robin.

[She shakes her head and rests her hands on the straps of her backpack.]

You're lying. I don't know anyone named Robin.

I'm not. I haven't told you any lies.

[ before he would have argued that he wasn't a liar. that was before thomas. ]

[She still shakes her head. She doesn't care if he claims to be telling her the truth. She doesn't believe him. She doesn't have to believe him. She thought -- she thought that this was someone familiar here. That now that they might be on the same ground, that maybe they could try again.

He doesn't even remember what he said to her, what he nearly demanded she do. Why she lied to him about his parents and what she saw.]

It doesn't matter. I don't know Robin and you apparently don't know me.

[ shamed, bruce ducks his head. ]

No, [ he agrees quietly. ] I don't. I would like to, though. If-if that's okay with you.

[ despite finding it easier to stare at the cracked roof, he forces himself to raise his head. ]

My picture's in the phone. You can call me whenever you want. Or I live in 20 if you want to come by. Just ask for Thomas. My guardian insisted on my using an alias for safety.

[ he opens his mouth again as if to add something else. but he can't think of anything so he clicks it shut. ]

[She's far more on the defense than she had been in the beginning. All the things he'd said about experiments and how bad things are -- it rings a bit truer as she faces the fact that the one familiar face she might have here belongs to a stranger.]

Your dad's name. Right. [She doesn't say he can get to know her though, that might take some time.]

[ it isn't often her has the reminder thrown in his face. not ever, in fact. his eyes drop to the tops of his shoes.

bruce hadn't known what to expect, and certainly not leaving the conversation feeling as confused or foolish or childish as he does. ]

If you have any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

[She had done it on purpose. Used the name, referenced it that way. It's putting that wall back up, the one she had shoved in front of him before. The one he doesn't know exists.]

I'm fine. I know how to reach you.

[ digging his thumbnail against the grain of the bow, bruce nods mutely. ]

[She knows that he's lingering because he isn't sure what to do.]

What's wrong?

[ his eyes flick toward her face, then away. bruce feels more stupid by the minute. ]

Nothing.

Will-will you be all right by yourself?

Yeah. I'll be fine. [She pauses.]

I know you don't know me, but this is something I know I can do.

[ not here. gotham, maybe, but haven is different, whispers the cynical voice in his head. bruce ignores it. she's right; he admitted it himself; he doesn't know her. bruce tries to believe her.

regardless, he's done his part. he called her, gave her the most pertinent warnings. told her of the ways he could be found and assured her he wouldn't mind. anything more is hovering. bruce is abruptly reminded again of his first day. tim had tried the same at first, and bruce had rejected him.

only now does he understand some of the desperation to be believed that had must have driven tim. guilt pinches his belly again at the memory of his reaction. but he knows he wouldn't have believed anything he was told then. he can't expect selina to believe him now. patience, he thinks, but patience is hard. ]

You have a lot to think about. I'll leave, unless you'd like me to stay.

— Hey. It's-it's me.

[ a suggestion to "be cool" would be fitting here except he has never once in his life been cool so. ]

I was— I-I hadn't heard from you, and I wanted to check on you. I mean, check how you're doing.

[ case in point. ]

I'm going North tomorrow. I don't know if you have been there yet, but you can find some more supplies there. I'll be at the subway around nine in case you'd like to go with me.

That's it, I guess. Bye.

[ #nailed it. ]

stolen phones || contact haven

audio.

audio.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

voicemail. backdated to about a week after she showed up shh it's not late