I feel so far from where I've been, so I go, and I will not be back here again [W4, Tues Afternoon]

[hydrokinetics]

[Of course he worried. He heard by now about what happened to Jason and Shinnosuke and he worried about what this meant and if they would be able to fully recover. He's seen his fair share of injuries but nothing like that, nothing so permanent.

He doesn't know what to do.

Tuesday morning is spent away from the hotel, but it's early afternoon when he heads upstairs with Mrs. O'Leary slowly hobbling along down the hall with him. They're about to their room when a door across the hall opens and Percy snaps his head up, spotting Jason Todd slowly making his way out of his room.

He watches briefly, interested in where Jason is going before lifting both eyebrows.]

I'm pretty sure Dr. Lecter would tell you to stay in bed, dude.

Comments

[hydrokinetics]

[And this time he narrows his eyes, folding his arms across his chest and letting Mrs. O'Leary sit at his feet.]

I get it. It sucks. Trust me, as somebody who's been knocked out or injured in battle plenty of times, I get it. You want to keep being useful and doing something. But you can't if you're not giving yourself enough time to heal so please trust me on this?

[A pause though.] ...besides, there are some things I want to tell you. And I'm not doing it in this hallway. It's kind of important. [A frown.] I bet I could find some paper or something...like how Chane does it.

[impulsiveness]

[Well. This, too, is incredibly unfair. Habit is a nasty thing, because he can feel the words bubbling up in his throat. The urge to speak is strong, but he knows it's ultimately futile. Without a tongue, all he can do is babble uselessly at people. No hope of being understood. Just an acute pressure in his chest and lingering pain in his mouth.

The tenseness in his shoulders is telling. He's frustrated and angry and he wants to scream — but he doesn't. Instead, Jason exhales sharply through his nose, glaring at him and turning away to face his room. He turns the knob none too gently, and all but stomps back inside.

Percy is free to follow him, of course. Jason will be on his bed if he does, a crumpled up rulebook in his hand and a pen in the other. He'll even give them a little shake like, yes. He's already covered. Now get to the point.

Someone is coping well.]

[hydrokinetics]

[Poor guy. He doesn't let Jason's appearance bother him and instead he follows at a decent pace, whistling for Mrs. O'Leary to also follow. She moves to try and jump on Jason's bed as Percy decides he doesn't give a shit and sits across from him on Chane's bed. Sorry Chane.]

I didn't bring this up on Sunday for obvious reasons. I take it Damian told you everything he said he was going to. About the Bounty role he has. Is that true?

[impulsiveness]

[Mrs. O'Leary is always welcome to hop on Jason's bed, and Jason will listen to Percy speak while gently scratching her on the head. The mention of Damian's name gives him a pause, however, and his face pinches as he begins to write something on the rulebook.

A few seconds later, he nods — that's a yes. And on the rulebook, he's written for Percy to see:]

He did.
It's a load of fucking shit.

[Damian is 10-years-old and in some messed up way his family, and Jason Todd still feels sick to his stomach over everything he's learned so far.]

[hydrokinetics]

[It's fine. Mrs. O'Leary is doing her best to kind of cuddle up to Jason while Percy's busy waiting. Jason might notice that it seems like Percy's reading it twice before he replies, but his own expression seems to match.]

I know. I said the same thing when he told me. [He is Not Thrilled.] There's something you've gotta know, man. Damian told me about this our second week here which I'm sure he told you, too.

There's five of 'em. Bounties, I mean. Damian told me he knew about the Bounties and the Bandits, I didn't know Hal didn't tell him about the rest of the roles so I explained it to him and Papika. Same way we covered it with you guys on Sunday. [...] I accidentally found one of the other Bounties. The one who knows what role Damian's supposed to find, no less.

[impulsiveness]

[That definitely gets him to raise his eyebrows, surprise clear on his face. There are a thousand questions running through his mind right now, and his lips twitch as he automatically tries to fire them off — but. Well. That's not an option anymore.

Pressing the pen almost hard enough to rip the paper, he gets down to his most pressing questions. It's frustrating. He wants to rip the rulebook up. But right now, Damian's safety is more important.]

Who is it? [That's underlined a couple of times.] How the hell did you find them?

[hydrokinetics]

[He holds up his hands in a placating motion to tell Jason to chill for a moment, though his own expression's tight.]

I told you, on accident. Let's just say it was a good thing I said something on Sunday. The other Bounty found me this morning and asked to speak to me because she thought it'd be a good idea to speak to their Leader. Said she knew what role he was supposed to go after but didn't know who the Leader was. That's how the whole game's designed, Jason. None of the Bounties know who the others are.

[He frowns lightly.] It's Milla. [He knows Jason won't say anything, and he hopes that when Damian finds out he'll at least say something himself. Truthfully, the only reason he's telling Jason at all is because he knows Jason's just as worried about Damian's safety as he is.] She doesn't know it's Damian yet. I agreed that I'd let her meet with him, but on certain conditions.

[impulsiveness]

[It's hard to chill when the life of someone related to the man who raised you is on the line. Jason's stare might be a tad bit too intense as Percy explains, jaw clenched and fingers digging into his rulebook. He seems to relax slightly as Milla's name is brought up, but not by much. He's furrowing his eyebrows as he jots down his next message.]

WHAT conditions?
He might be their "leader" but he's still TEN.

[If he could speak, his voice would be laced with concerned urgency. But as it is, all he can do is hope his expression conveys the message. Even if it's Milla, this could all go horribly wrong. He can't take another dead Wayne after yesterday.]

[hydrokinetics]

[He lets Jason express himself and patiently waits, knowing almost exactly how he must feel. He'd be the same with Annabeth. He has been the same with Annabeth, and it stings a little, but this is what he can do now. He can still help. He can still be a hero. He can still do good.]

I know, Jason. The conditions are that I go with her to see him and we meet somewhere very far away from everyone else. I like Milla just fine, but someone should be there as a barrier and...I think Damian might trust me a little enough to be okay if I'm there, too. You know him much better than I do for obvious reasons, but even I know that he's a kid. He needs something familiar and if you find it agreeable, I'm going to make it be me.

[He's. Kind of asking Jason for permission, but he's also making it clear he's definitely doing this.] I'm worried about him being the leader, but if we can get him and Milla to work together he might be safer.

[impulsiveness]

[He feels sick and nauseated at all of this. It's not fair. A 10-year-old shouldn't be given a responsibility so big. None of them should, really. Percy will be able to see the exact same moment Jason's tough guy act crumples down, as he taps-taps-taps his pen against an empty space on his rulebook. He's at a loss without Bruce. He's not good enough to help Damian on his own. He's not sure he'll succeed at anything in this messed up, second chance at life he's been given.

So he nods, writing something for Percy to see.]

Please go with him. I'll trust you and Milla.

[It's not like he has much of a choice, honestly. They have to keep playing this game, even when all Jason wants to do is go home to Bruce and Alfred, curl up in his bed where he is safe and warm, and pretend this is all a bad dream.

Oh, well.]

[hydrokinetics]

[First of all, it sort of breaks him in a way he's not sure how to handle. He's barely older than Jason but he's had enough friends look the same way, people who life's beaten down, people dejected and sick and tired and he hates it, he hates that this is where life has taken them right now. He hates that Jason looks this way, hates that he can't think of a single way to help. All he has are words. What good will words do for them?

So...he slowly gets up to move, sitting at the foot of Jason's bed if he'll let him and also patting Mrs. O'Leary first. It's something, even if he's not sure how well Jason will respond to it.]

Thank you. For trusting me. I...[He pauses.] Where I'm from, kids start training to fight at a pretty young age. I wasn't much older than Damian when I started. Annabeth was seven. It's never fair.

[It pisses him off, actually, that the Sheriff gave this much responsibility to someone so young.] But Hal told me that he was the best choice, or the game wouldn't work. Whatever that means. [He. Might have yelled at the robot earlier about Damian as well.] I learned some other information about the Bounties when I spoke to Milla though. I think it's something you should know, and maybe Damian will get mad that I told you but remember what I said about checking in with each other? That's still important.

[So. Where to start.] Milla told me there's five Bounties. Did Damian ever say that to you?

[impulsiveness]

[He watches Percy sit down on the foot of his bed, but doesn't do anything to stop him or tell him to buzz off. If anything, he shifts more towards the other side, as if to give him more space. Even if he would never, ever admit it — having company at a time like this is nice. And he's beginning to trust Percy with his life.

He's a little slower now. Tired. Where to start, indeed.]

Damian's been trained by the best. I can see why the Sheriff would say that.

[Though his expression makes it clear he's not happy about that at all. He might have even joined Percy in yelling at him about Damian, if given the chance. That said... He shakes his head. That's a no, this is his first time hearing about the other five Bounties.]

He didn't.
And I didn't think to ask if he was working alone.

[hydrokinetics]

[He nods a little at that.]

Batman, right? He told me. [That's such a bizarre sentence, but it's out there. He has to just pretend Batman is a real person.] Damian's been arguing on and off with me about what he is and isn't capable of. I'm not sure he believes he's actually ten.

[He'll yell enough for both of them, buddy.] I should have thought to ask, too, but even so I don't know if he would have known about it. Like I said, Milla told me that the Bounties have to find each other in the game based on talking to people and figuring it out. I'm guessing he doesn't quite know the number or anything. [A soft exhale.] Milla also told me one of the Bounties has already been killed.