The Next is never like the First

tinyterbear:

“Yeah, mycity,” Terry retorted. “You think you’re the only person who cares enough about it to fight for it? Team as big as Batman’s, I’d thought you’d know better.” All the cracks about this city not being his were seriously wearing on Terry’s patience. He could either brush it off with some humor, or start breaking things. Humor took up less energy. 

Terry listened patiently as the young man in the cowl put it together. He wasn’t attacking, like Cassandra and Damian, and he wasn’t interrogating him, like Dick. Whoever this guy was, he was smart, and seemed less impulsive then the rest of the family Terry had met. But the reference to time travel… that surprised Terry a bit.

“Word gets around,” he said. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of you, though.”

“I don’t believe I said that. If this is a team you’re a part of, in any way, at any point, then yes. I will agree with you. It’s your city too.” But he was protective of this city in any way. He refused to even allow anyone to lay verbal claim to it until he knew that they, too, wished to be a protector of it. So he shrugged a soldier, coming to an easier conclusion that this man, though still a bit odd in his opinion, was on their side. He would not let his guard down completely, he never did, but he would be a little less tense at the very least.

A slight smirk of an odd amusement came after he had mentioned the understanding of time travel. “It’s not so fun, is it?” After all, he’d had his experiences with it too. It hadn’t been too pleasant. In fact, it had been rather painful in its own way, but had proven to be valuable despite the complications.

“It does within our group, yes. We at least attempt to keep each other informed.” He found a bit of surfaced curiosity upon hearing that he had been unheard of. Was that so? Well, he supposed he didn’t mind too much. Maybe this wasn’t the same thread of history that they were dealing with when it came to the comparison of each other’s timeline. So maybe things were different. He wondered what path he’d chosen in this person’s future, or if he was even still alive. It might have been considered a dark curiosity, but wasn’t that normal? At least a little? At least for them?

“Hm. That so? Well then, I suppose that’s a bit interesting at least..” He also had a growing curiosity of just how deep the man’s involvement was with their group in the future. But if he had taken on the mantle of Batman, the ties had to be deep, didn’t they? Bringing attention back to his task at hand, it seemed that the group below was still waiting. Keeping his eyes trained on the sight, he decided to keep the low conversation going. “So, how many of the others have you met yet?”