We all have a weakness; closed

[copsormasks]

WHO: Jason Todd (copsormasks) and Clark Kent (newsbeat)
WHEN: Post-mission by a few days
WHERE: Wayne Tower
WHAT: Leaving food for Bruce and meeting for the first time
NOTES\WARNINGS: Possible mentions of violence and abandonment issues.


[It's day four of Jason masking up to bring soup to Wayne Tower. He knows Bruce won't cook for himself, but Jason is determined to care in at least a small way. He packs up the large tupperware of chicken noodle soup into a cardboard box, labels the box as 'soup' and then leaves the apartment he'd been squatting in behind. He won't be back, doesn't want his tracks traced while he's trying to figure out his life all over again.

After so many months of living in the Tower, Jason knows the route by heart. With his hood up and mask covering most of his face, he doubts he'll be recognized by anyone other than the belfry. Still, as he approaches the main entrance and sees that his other boxes of soup have gone nowhere, he might just have to admit that he's permanently fucked up his relationship with Bruce. Now he truly is no one's son, and it's his own fucking fault.

Just as he's setting down the box, he hears someone else approaching and Jason spins on the spot to see... someone else carrying something? The fuck? Jason doesn't greet the man, just steps back and away from the view of the security camera he knows must be there.]

Comments

[copsormasks]

[Jason abruptly stands up straight and takes a firm step back, leaving the soup in the pile of other boxes of soup.]

No.

[There is a part of him that wants to make contact so he can do his version if apologizing, but not with this other weirdo here. His eyes flick down to what appear to be casserole dishes in the man’s hands and realizes that he’s not the only one aware of Bruce’s inability to cook for himself. If he’s even there.]

[newsbeat]

[Clark's not sure he believes that, but it would also be pretty rude to call the boy a liar. He spots the glance at his dishes, though, so maybe that's a better shift in topic.]

He's been holing up, I think. Figured I'd bring him some decent food that's not just snacks prepared by bots, or whatever he's been subsisting on.

[copsormasks]

He doesn't really cook. [Jason unhelpfully provides, proving that maybe he knows just a bit about Bruce. He regards Clark for a moment or two longer before he starts to turn to walk away.

He's still trying to think of the best way to apologize and has yet to find a solution that doesn't involve surrendering his gun.]

[newsbeat]

I'm not surprised. I haven't known him that long, but...that seems like him.

[He waits a moment, not sure if he should say anything. If this guy doesn't want company, fair enough. Something tells him not to just shrug and fly away, though.]

I'm Clark, by the way.

[copsormasks]

[Jason pauses halfway through the turn to leave, hands in his pockets. Clark. Probably The Super himself. Great. Great. Now he's gotten tangled in the Supers. Conner is nice, but Jason's experience doesn't lend well to any of the others in the family.]

Clark Kent, I bet. Wholesome as apple fucking pie.

[newsbeat]

I don't know about that.

[Nothing wrong with wholesome, but that makes it sound like he's never had a negative or dirty thought in his life, and that's certainly not the case.]

Do I get to hear your name or should I just imagine something?

[copsormasks]

[Jason presses his lips into a thin line before he sighs and then offers.]

Jason.

[He doesn't say any more than that, as he doesn't know how much Bruce said about him.

If Bruce called him son.]

[newsbeat]

[Oh. He knows that name, and the flicker of recognition probably shows on his face, if not the attached emotion. My son died. Their talk on the roof.

His son. Damian's brother, right? He mentioned you.

[It hadn't been a time to ask for details.]

I know Chrissy, too. We work together at NYX.

[copsormasks]

[His son. Oh that hurts. That hurts a lot more than Jason expected. His expression can't be seen under the mask pulled up over his lower face, but his eyes do flick away.]

I'm not his son. [Jason replies quietly, his voice aching.] Not any more.

[He nods at the mention of Chrissy, but doesn't remark on it. He's knee-deep in his own regret and guilt.]

[newsbeat]

[He's quiet for a moment.]

That's not what he thinks.

[copsormasks]

[Jason pushes his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket as he grows more uncomfortable with the topic.]

I fucked up too much. [He admits quietly. There's something about a Super that makes one trust them.] Can't go back.

[Which is why he's delivering soup and not apologizing in person. He's too far gone, the damage too deep. There's no possibility of forgiveness.]

[newsbeat]

[Well, that is very silly.]

Nah. He doesn't think that either.

[Bruce hasn't come out and said that to Clark, to be fair, but — he's still absolutely sure.]

[copsormasks]

[That makes Jason pause and look up at Clark from under the mask.]

You talked to him? [His voice is quiet, vulnerable.]

[newsbeat]

Yeah.

[He shifts a little, not knowing how much he should say. How sensitive Jason might be (and justifiably so.)]

He told me — not in great detail — he told me what happened to you, back where you come from. He was pretty wrecked over it.

[copsormasks]

[Oh. Bruce told Clark about his death at the hands of the Joker. The topic stirs up some anger as he remembers their argument not long after. How neither of the Bruces are willing to kill the Joker and how, when the younger Bruce found out Jason has a gun, he tried to force Jason to give it up.

The gun that will only ever be used to kill the Joker if he shows up.

And that argument broke everything. Jason's still riddled with guilt for telling his father figure he would never come back, hence the soup.]

Not wrecked enough to promise to kill the Joker. Or to let me do the job.

[newsbeat]

That's not how grief works.

[Clark's not going to cast judgment on a situation that he only understands the basic shape of, but he knows he wouldn't do any different in Bruce's shoes. And that has absolutely nothing to do with how it would make him feel.]

Or love.

[copsormasks]

[Jason shakes his head at Clark. Love? What does love have to do with anything.

Whatever. What the fuck do you know.

[Jason crosses his arms against the chill and shakes his head.]

It doesn't matter anyway. I fucked up. That's it.

[His Bruce would have already grounded him, probably fired him for good measure too. Replace him with someone else.]