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[bodilesswarrior]

Canon Timeline

Last Voyages Timeline

Mask or Menace Timeline

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[bodilesswarrior]

...Of course. [WHY NOT.]

Cass is still telling me things. There's...a lot.

So Damian is...?

[batburgers]

Bruce's kid. With Talia. Who she somehow never let me meet even when she was shipping me off to every nook and cranny of the world. You'd think I was a bad influence or something.

[cassassin]

[blahblah scene... transition...

cass doesn't come to the door, but the lock audibly clicks open after barbara approaches. there's the sound of a tv in a nearby room, though. a ballet production she's barely paying attention to.]

[cassassin]

M'twenty. [is she really doing this again? yep.]

And... thanks. We could... use your help, though. On the League. If you're, um, interested?

[bodilesswarrior]

Bruce has - Talia - ? [And she didn't know?

Give her a moment, Jason. Dear lord.]

Okay. ...How old is he? How long were you with Talia? [NO SHE DOES NOT APPROVE.]

[bodilesswarrior]

[Barbara manoeuvres as quickly as she can, but she slows down as she actually enters the room.]

Cass?

[bodilesswarrior]

Right, sorry. [She has to laugh, a little.] Perfect memory, and I keep forgetting. [Or maybe she just wants to forget all the time Cass has been without her, in their world an this one.]

...I'm still Unsettled. Would that be an issue?

[cassassin]

[cass is on the couch, knees pulled up to her chest. phone in hand, one earbud in. not looking at that either now, really.]

Here. [she doesn't move. just... sort of sits there.]

[bodilesswarrior]

[She's seen Cass like this before, but that doesn't make it any easier now. She considers and discards several different approaches as she wheels closer.]

Do you want to talk about her?

[cassassin]

I, um. Don't know... where to... [ she reaches out towards barbara, just. not knowing what to do. ]

[bodilesswarrior]

[Barbara leans forward immediately, clasping Cass's hands and pulling her in.]

I've got you. [Almost desperately firm. She wasn't there before, but she damn well will be now.]

[batburgers]

[Through the fog and lack of inhibitions, Jason finally gets the message that Barbara doesn't know anything.]

How many times have I blown your mind in the span of...ten minutes?

[Has it been ten minutes? He snorts.]

Good thing we aren't supposed to remember shit when we go back so I didn't fuck over your whole timeline. The demon brat is the least of your problems coming.

[bodilesswarrior]

Don't remind me. Maybe I can write myself some notes and sew them into all my clothes. [Forgetting by itself is not something she's okay with. Forgetting all of this - ]

But our timelines aren't the same, regardless.

[cassassin]

[ cass holds on firmly, arms looping around barbara's waist, face pressing to her shoulder. she's crying again, she realizes after a moment. she doesn't know what to say, where to begin. she doesn't know how much of any explanation she could give would even be her story to tell. so, with a deep breath, she changes angles. ]

I... so there was... this girl. In Bludhaven.

[batburgers]

I'd ask if they were different in all the right ways. [Which if this Babs is anything like his own, she knows exactly what he means.]

But then I'd be jealous and why would I do that to myself?

[bodilesswarrior]

[There's a moment of silence, and then strained, soft laughter.]

Not on your life, boy wonder. [Her voice almost cracks.]

[batburgers]

[Wow, being called that and it not sounding like an insult from Babs is kind of nice. Considering he wasn't really close to the Babs of his world even before he died.

So he teases back]

Well I've already died once.

[bodilesswarrior]

[Her breath hitches before she can stop it.

There's complete silence, for a moment, as she sets her phone down and breathes.

Her voice is steady when she replies.]

Yeah, don't do that again.

[bodilesswarrior]

[Barbara waits, stroking Cass's hair and rubbing circles in her back. She'd sit here in silence, if that's what she needed.

When Cass does talk, she's taken aback for a second, and then her heart plummets.

Quietly, gently - ]

What was her name?

[batburgers]

Oh right, I'm still dead. To you. I didn't stay dead that long. But you thought I was dead, right? Cass did, too. But the Red Hood is around, so I'm not dead.

[bodilesswarrior]

You didn't -

[Her voice starts to shake for an entirely different reason. Almost.] I went to your funeral, Jason. First time I left the house since I was shot. I have a copy of your fucking autopsy.

[batburgers]

Yeah but it didn't last long. A dip in the pool and I was peachy keen and ready to burn down the patriarchy.

[You know. Bruce.]

[bodilesswarrior]

Well maybe in the meantime you could have fucking called. [Okay now she's actually going to process those words - ]

...Is Bruce the patriarchy in this scenario? [Damn, her anger is cooling under baffled amusement.] And what kind of -

[Wait.] Talia dunked you in a Lazarus Pit?

im stalking the jason thread and a lazarus pit is a rite of passage ok babs

[cassassin]

[ there's another pause. ]

Brenda. She, um... owned a cafe, in Fort Joseph. Close to my house. She... liked me, I could tell, but I... still didn't understand.

[batburgers]

You know it feels so weird having to explain things, since everyone knows because Bruce tells everyone my business like a disapproving gossipy mom.

[One of the most frustrating things about him.]

And maybe that would work if people didn't replace you with a twinky copy in less than six months when you weren't even in the ground long enough to be worm food. Not feeling the love there.