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[forceforlight]

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[forceforlight]

I'm aware.

[Without Wally or some other speedster, Dick's not certain how well they can get back if things go wrong. He's not certain if the goddess who is sending them back will retrieve them.]

But they could lose me by me not paying attention crossing the street. Or some thug getting in a lucky punch. Or having a gun or a knife I don't see. If my only concern were them not losing me, I'd never leave the apartment.

And even that wouldn't be a guarantee because I HAVE had two buildings blown up by people who were mad at him.

[batsymbol]

This is different and you know it.

( the sort of vigilante life always comes with risks but this is just so much bigger. )

[forceforlight]

It's not that much different. Not really.

They are my siblings and I love all of them. I'm proud of them. Which is why I know they can handle things with me being gone. And can handle things if, God forbid, I don't come back.

But right now, in the past? There's a young woman with too much power and too much heartache, only wanting to change things so that her life would be different. And a disaster waiting to happen. And maybe we can change both of those things. Talk Chaos Gate down, give her the understanding she needs right now. She wouldn't be the first one I've talked to and talked down, after all.

[batsymbol]

( it's clear that he still doesn't seem to like this all that much, but. )

If you're planning on going through with this, then I need you to be on the same page with me. We're going to the past where we have no idea what the consequences of any our actions will be that are made there. Talking her down or otherwise. I didn't want Tim going because of his feeling he's expendable being too much of a risk for recklessness. I need to know you're not going to be reckless, Dick.

[forceforlight]

I have every intention of returning.

[Which is the absolute truth.]

I'm not like Tim. I'm all too aware of how much people here are depending on me. Which is another reason I'm going back.

[He walks over to one of the drawers, puts a hand on the pull and waits a moment before opening it. Then he takes out a stack of mixed $10s and $20s, wrapped with a note in Dick's handwriting with a handful of letters on each line.]

It's not a lot. About $500 in pre-1985 bills. But the right stocks might make all the difference for us.

[batsymbol]

( coming over, he looks down to the stack of bills dick takes out. thoughtful. )

Smart.

( he says, softly. )

So long as you invest in ones that won't draw too much attention.

[forceforlight]

Apple, Best Buy, Bath and Body Works, Coke and Oracle.

[And if he huffs a slight laugh at that last one? Well, that's up to Bruce to ask about.]

If I spread around where I'm investing from, it shouldn't be a problem. Apple and Oracle can be done at the same time. That shouldn't raise any eyebrows. Best Buy and Bath and Body Works can probably be done at the same time as well. Coke could go either way. All of them were really just getting started at the time. So it's not a long shot that somebody would invest in them for being cheap.

[batsymbol]

Just be smart about it.

( though he'd more or less had the same idea with bringing back bills dated prior to the year they're jumping into. which. )

Who else from our side of the universe is going?

( and wow, that was weird to say. )

[forceforlight]

As far as I know? Roy Harper, Diana of Themyscira, you and me. Diana will probably use the name Diana Prince while we're there. It's her usual alias. The only ones I know of from our side of the universe that I don't have an absolute idea of where they're at are Duke and Damian.

[batsymbol]

Not surprised.

( damian he's only seen the one time and duke he... has no idea who that is, so. granted, he doesn't even know who roy harper is either, so. hands slipping into his pockets, he drags his teeth over his bottom lip. thinking. )

Kyle will stay behind. If anything goes bad here, at least they have him for a heavy hitter.

[forceforlight]

Both Jasons are good fighters. And I believe some of the others are also pretty big hitters. Just not ones we know very well.

[Sunset Falls had a Norse god for a mayor, after all.]

But yeah. Kyle's currently in Ireland, but it doesn't take him long to get anywhere.

[batsymbol]

I was thinking more the others having him there.

( to keep an eye on them and make sure they were safe if it came down to it.

licking over his lips some, he sighs, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose for a moment before he drops it down at his side. )

We do this, I don't want any surprises. We stick together. Best we can.

[forceforlight]

I know.

[But still good to remind Bruce that there are others there that they don't know that will help as well.]

[He pauses a moment, then nods.]

In that case, there's one other thing I should tell you. I don't keep this money in a drawer in my kitchen. I keep it in what I can best describe as a pocket dimension I can access via bags or things like drawers that can be opened and closed completely.

[batsymbol]

( there's a somewhat incredulous look on his face for a moment. )

You can carry anything?

[forceforlight]

Not anything. There's a limit and I kinda have a feel for it?

[It's instinctual that he doesn't go over the limit.]

I'm pretty sure that, in a pinch, I could empty it out and sneak the older Jason and older Tim in somewhere. We'd have to use rebreathers, but we could manage it. But it's useful, keeping weapons and the like close by. Or groceries.

[He makes a motion to the messenger bag that he's rarely found without these days.]

As long as I can get it through the opening, it's not an issue.

[batsymbol]

( bruce sort of just... stares. )

Is that part of your skillset here?

[forceforlight]

[Dick gives him a nod.]

That and some healing. Nothing too major, but I only seem to bruise badly for about a day before they're gone.

[batsymbol]

Good to know.

( a glance down, there's a faint sigh on his lips. )

I don't entirely agree with your going. But I'm not going to stop you. I just want you to know that.

[forceforlight]

I know you don't.

[He can at least acknowledge that.]

But I'm also an adult, Bruce, and I get to make my own decisions. And right now, I think I can do more good coming with you than waiting around here.

[batsymbol]

If I knew for sure we were coming back, I might agree.

( but since he doesn't know, he doesn't feel comfortable thinking that dick might be lost in the past and away from his family. from his brothers. especially when he seems so capable of leading them. )

[forceforlight]

[Dick smiles. It's not entirely a nice smile. More of a determined one.]

If we get stuck, I'll find a way to get us back. I'll find a way to break time if I have to.

[batsymbol]

( bruce, on the other hand, does not smile. )

I'd rather you didn't.

just some father-son time in the 80s.

[batsymbol]

( in the time that they've spent here in the past, bruce hasn't done much in the way of getting to know dick — in spending time with him that hasn't been tracking, stalking, skulking, or working. they didn't come here as some sort of vacation, he says. they're here to do a job, to find what they can, and do what they can with that. despite that, he's had a couple moments with diana, sure. ones which, should they get back to the present, he'll overthink and dissect the absolute hell out of. but with dick, he's kept it mostly about work. about all this. and he wonders if maybe he shouldn't have. if he should have... done something different.

so he's here. coming into dick's room, paper bag in hand that tells of food being brought what with the familiar smell of fast food wafting from inside it. )

Thought you might be hungry.

( never mind that it's a little late. who doesn't like burgers and fries when they're so ridiculously cheap? )

[forceforlight]

[Dick's only just made his way back to the hotel. Most of his day has been spent on stakeout by Neil Perkins' office. Not to follow him. He seems fairly normal. But his assistant is interesting.]

[And annoying. Which is why Dick looks a bit put out as he comes out of the bathroom, having been in the shower. An expression that eases when he sees Bruce and he puts the towel back over his head to dry his hair.] Yeah, I am. Thanks.

[The room is basically a mirror of the one that Bruce is sharing with Diana. So there's a table and a couple chairs by the window. And two bags by the closet that Dick and Roy have obviously been living out of.]

[batsymbol]

( bruce doesn't exactly cook and with living out of motels and the like in their time here, takeout has been their go-to in terms of food, if not eating out. plus, when a cheeseburger is something like seventy cents or so in this time, how can one resist?

on the table there, he sets the bag down, the contents being fries and some cheeseburgers. enough for two but also if dick wanted them all, he wouldn't stop him.

a glance around the room, knowing it well enough with it being so similar to the one he and diana have, he looks back over to dick, standing there with hands gently slipping into his pockets. this is when small talk happens. something he's not good at it. something he doesn't particularly like. work is always so much easier for him to talk about, but. that's not what this visit is about. at least he's trying to not make it be. )

Roy's out, I take it?