tushanshu | eleven : everybody's looking for something [BART'S CONSOLE]

[When she ends the feed, Bart is already leaning against the door frame, having poked his head into the room when he heard Hannibal's name. He had agreed to privacy, but she had sounded like she was arguing about her murder. There are limits, and, as a result, he caught the tail end of the show.]

Really.

[You could cut diamonds on his tone.]

You're doing a good impression.

[Hayley turns to look at him, frowning and immediately on the defensive.]

Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?

What's I'm not gonna be a villain supposed to mean? Cause I thought you were arguing with someone on the Network, but you were looking somewhere over - [He crosses the room quickly.] Here-ish.

Which doesn't make sense, because people don't argue at walls. They get all up in people's faces, puff themselves up like hedgehogs. But I'm the only other person here, and I was over in the kitchen. Y'know. The one in the opposite direction.

So now you're trying to make it look like you're arguing with me about you - woah. [Sometimes, the words fly out before the lightbulb goes on.] You're trying to make it look like I'm chewing you out again. When you asked, I was like 'sure, use the console'. What do I care? I'm not using it. But I don't get what the point is. Anyone that knows enough about Lex Luthor's gonna want to know why I'm comparing you two.

[It only takes Hayley a second for her gaze to follow him from the door to across the room. When he starts launching off in speculation, she stands and holds her hands up, flat, with her palms out towards him. Her expression is one of sincere apprehension.]

Slow down, Bart. This has nothing to do with you. I swear, if anyone asks? I'll tell them I wasn't talking to you. Or I'll get back on right now- [She gestures back at the console] -and add something about how I was just.. thinking aloud or whatever.

Yeah, cause that won't look suspicious at all.

[Bart doesn't know if he can believe her. He definitely wants to believe that it has nothing to do with him and that it's all a funny coincidence. Totally prepared to take it on faith. Right. Except.

Except he can't pull it off. His version still makes way more sense than her non-version. All she said was that he wasn't involved.]

What's going on, Hayley? For real.

[Hayley glances at the screen, then looks back to Bart again. With an audible sigh, she falls back to sit in the chair again, watching the guy. She doesn't know how to begin to explain about the Bat Man or what he saw the Dreaming World of Sinbrilee. After everything with Clark, admitting the truth about Aaron and Jeff seems impossible. Some secrets are better left buried.]

It was my way of leaving a message for someone without being obvious that it's a message for them. I mean, they'll get it, but no one else will? That's the point. I used your console because it's safer and I know how much you like me being safe. [She flashes him an exaggerated smirk.]

[There isn't anything wrong with what Hayley's saying. There just isn't anything right with it either. Bart doesn't see the need for all the fuss and subterfuge. If he wanted to tell someone and not have anyone else know about it, he'd just… do that. Tell them face to face, in private. Or leave them a message on their console, if he was too chicken.

But she was defending her reputation. No. He'd do that in person. Loudly and repeatedly until he got an agreement or concession.

The smile and the safety rationale stumps him, though. He's missing something. In his limited experience, that has never worked. No one ever listens when you try and keep them out of harm's way. Especially teenagers. Especially girls. And teenaged girls?? Forget it. He might as well suit up now; he's going to need it.

Bart unconsciously rubs at the back of his right ring finger with his thumb, reassuring himself that his Flash ring is there.]

I - uh. Yeah. I want you safe.

[What is this logic and why is it happening? Why can't he have one friend that isn't confusing?]

Since when do you listen to me?

I do actually have a sense of self preservation. [She smiles up at him. Relief is clear on her expression, worried he would start yelling at her some more or accusing her of other things. Hayley stands from the chair again and moves tentatively over towards him. After the smallest hesitation, she closes the distance between them to give him a light hug.]

I do a lot of dangerous things, but only when I have to, okay? You were there after I died.. Do you really think I want to go through that again? [She gives him a halfhearted smile.] I promise you, I'm only here because it's safer and.. okay, I don't want to sound all sentimental, but you're my only real friend here right now and I trusted you to just.. I don't know.. be there for me, or whatever.

[It's a slight manipulation. She's trying to distract him from digging too deep into the subject. At the same time, even as she attempts to use the words as a ploy, Hayley realizes that she actually believes everything she's saying. Bruce's place would have been easier because he never asks questions, but she's at Bart's instead. The girl makes a mental note to later think more about why that might be.]

Oh. [Bart hugs her back out of habit; it's what you do when someone hugs you. He's confused, but he's getting used to her being a genuinely confusing person. She needs to take up archery or something, if she's gonna be so hell-bent on doing dangerous things 'when she has to.] No, I don't think you wanna...

[He tries to interrupt. Started to, in fact, but the argument falls apart when she says he's her only friend. That she needs him to be there for her. Ugh, that's unfair. That is completely unfair when he is trying to be there for her here. It's not his fault that she has this stupid version of 'be there for me' that basically means 'back me up on what I do, because I'm gonna do what I want anyway' and -

Dammit, that's his version of be there for me. Most of the time, anyway. Bart sighs.] OK, OK. But next time you have to do something dangerous, I get a heads up. And only a little argument if I say I'm coming with.

[She breaks their contact, taking a step back again.]

Uh, no. Not happening. [Hayley gives him a teasing smile, one meant to show just how lighthearted the situation is. Only, the words that accompany the smile suggest a deeper truth to the idea. No, she's not going to tell him what she's up to and, no, she doesn't want to be accompanied.]

[Grinning at her refusal, which he took at the superficial level of playfulness, Bart shakes his head, nonplussed.]

I'm gonna wear you down on that, y'know.

[Atom by atom, if he has to. There are few things that Bart can focus and stick with forever, and he knows that, that after a few hours, the need to constantly push this button will evaporate. It will crop up every so often, though, and he will wear down her resolve like a river bed in the desert. The ground gives up after enough floods, and this - doing what he should do as her friend - just got all the more important after her listing her Google circle of one. Well. Two. They force you to have Google on there, too.]

[She gives something between a sincere smile and a coy smirk.]

You can try.

[Because, for all her reticence to trust him and all the secrets she loves keeping, Hayley does like having Bart around. And the fact that he constantly seems concerned for her safety while at times annoying is also surprisingly reassuring.

Time for a change of subject.] I have to be to work in like, twenty minutes. Do you want to come with me for a quick lunch or not?

Edited 2014-03-20 19:47 (UTC)

OK. I like a challenge.

[Bart winks at her impishly. He doesn't expect her to succeed in the long run.]

I could eat. [When couldn't he eat? There was always room for a sandwich in his hollow leg. Bart starts walking backwards towards the door.] You got someplace in mind? How're you going to eat and get there in 20 minutes? You eat slow.

[Hayley smirks at the wink. It's oddly endearing. Then she's following him out the room, still smiling.]

Not that slow and I can be a little late if I have to be. I was kind of thinking that noodle place you took me to that time? It's kinda on the way. And I was thinking maybe you could give me a ride?

Geez, you're demanding. [It's lightly teasing. She's so quiet and intense sometimes that he can't let an opportunity to wind her up pass him by.

Bart, let me use your computer. Bart, let's go to lunch. Bart, carry meeeeee. But DON'T pick me up without warning.

[He's so distracted by this that he backs right into the door.]. You're kinda bossy.

I'm not bossy. I asked if you wanted to come and if you don't want to carry me, then nothing's stopping you from saying no. [She plays right into it. While not too upset about it, it definitely riles her enough to cause her to defend herself. She's still smiling though.]

[It's because he's teasing her that she doesn't warn him of the door's approach. She laughs when he backs right into it, stopping just shy of bumping into him.]

Bart, there's a door behind you. [She flashes a grin.]

Yeah. I- I got that one.

[The doorknob that was persistently trying to have its way with his kidney helpfully made that clear, despite his inability to focus on anything but how very, very close Hayley is. So close he's afraid of breathing too deeply.

Her eyes are pretty though, a rich, warm brown that's not too dark to see all the flecks and swirls in them.

Bart is suddenly hyper aware of the meaning of 'too close for comfort'. It's when someone is so close that the urge to move or laugh or touch is almost impossible to resist, and it's getting worse by the femtosecond. Enough already. Reaching over to grab her hand, he took a step back where there wasn't one, vibrating through it and pulling her after him, until her back was on the outside of the door.

There was marginally more space between them.]

There's a door behind you now.

[Hayley's heartbeat picks up with her own sudden realization how close they are. When Bart grabs her hand and pulls her forward, the last thing she expects is to move through the door. She's steeling herself for the kiss that's bound to come- only then it doesn't.

She lifts her free hand as if to shelter herself from hitting the door before she passes through it. Then she stares at him, eyes wide.] How did you..?

[Hayley glances back at the still closed door, then looks to Bart again, forgetting that she's still holding his hand.] I think you forgot to mention that you can move through doors.

[There. All that weird tension that was making his body itch with awkward has evaporated. Even if not much has changed - they're blowing the American concept of 'personal space' out of the water - surprising her feels like defusing a bomb.

Bart, too, looks to the door, pleased to see that he didn't screw it up and get the molecules all warped. That would have been the worst timing, since he'd been unintentionally showing off. With a small smile, his eyes flick back to her.]

Sorry. Hey girl. I can move through doors. We cool now?

[Hayley's look of shock shifts to a wide smile. She's genuinely impressed and, in rare form, doesn't bother to temper or hide her expression. Her eyes search his for only a second before that strange sense of anticipation returns and she finds herself wanting to squash it immediately.]

Yeah, but I really do have to get to work eventually. [She brushes against him as she slips from beside the door out into the hall. Hayley doesn't let go of his hand at first, tugging him along with her. It's only once they're already walking towards his front door that she lets go and glances back at him.]

Any other amazing powers you forgot to tell me about that you feel like sharing? [The last words she adds intentionally, to give him an out if he wants one. Bart likes lying by telling the truth, after all, and part of her doesn't want to push him any further today.]

[When slides past him like that, Bart actually looks around while he's being lead down the hall, half-expecting the little sparks of energy to be following him around again, like they did the last time he made a habit of entertaining ideas about kissing girls. Generally, those ideas happened after he kissed them, but maybe it still counts. Mercifully, there's no signs of excess energy, and that's possibly the very first good to have come out of dying. No more shiny/sparkly, hard-to-ignore attraction. That will make high school easier to deal with. Not to mention this.]

Uh. No. Not at the moment. [Since apparently he has gotten the whole twinkly thing under control and time travel isn't to be done unaided, that just left the scouts, and they're too risky to play with often (and, if he thinks that, wow, are they ever a last resort).] That's pretty much it.

[Hayley gives another smile, letting her gaze linger another excess second before tearing it away. Bart's attractive and all, but this isn't the place for middle school crushes, as if she'd even entertain one anyway. She needs to be better than that. She needs to focus on important things and not the awkwardness of those intimate moments.]

Then let's go eat. [She opens his door for him and steps out into onto the street, ignoring both how strange and how natural it feels to be leaving his house with him like this. The girl stops to give him time to join her. Then they can be on their way.]

[No such heavy and determined thoughts burden his step as he follows her out blithely. The more complicated their relationship gets, the more uncomplicated he thinks that it is. Disagreements and stubborn people butting heads and spontaneous chemistry and upending world views... this is normal.

And really, stopping to let him catch up was silly; she can have as much of a head start as she wants.]

C'mon. If you don't want al dente, shake a leg. Things that I can't do: make things cook faster.

Edited 2014-03-22 05:27 (UTC)

[There's a very precise map attached to this message, with only one location in colour. It's not the warehouse she's been to before, but it is one of the small, empty safe-houses that Bruce has cultivated for a variety of reasons.]

[Hayley has to finish arguing with Bart and then kill a little time at her place before she can finally depart for the location marked on the map. For once, she doesn't take anything with her except the taser in her back pocket as a safety measure getting to and from the place. There's no point to bring anything else. The Bat Man is more experienced, stronger, and probably smarter too.

She arrives on the porch and tests the front door. When she finds it locked, she leans back on the wall beside the door, waiting. While normally she might look for another way in, she's pretty sure he's already waiting for her and the breaking and entering would be unnecessary.]

[He opens the door. The small house, worn down as it is, has a surplus of shadows that seem to pour in from its edges, enveloping everything. Bruce himself is swathed in it, nearly invisible but for the slight glint of his cowl's lenses. He holds the door in such a way that it blocks view of him from the street, and waits for her to step inside without comment.]

[Hayley's not entirely surprised by the gesture and the shadows contained within. That makes it no less unsettling as she slides inside and moves the few feet deeper into the hallway to give him plenty of room to close the door behind her. She turns to face him. Obedient, waiting for orders.

It's a calculated move, of course. Really she wants him to set the tone for the meeting. She knows the Bat Man's always ahead of her and she wants to learn, even if it means always playing catch up and taking the blows to her ego. Recent events have made how much she needs training abundantly clear.]

I was never going to kill him.

[It's ambiguous as to whether she's talking about Hannibal or Superman. She suspects he'll know. Superman claimed the Bat Man as his best friend; it seems impossible that the two wouldn't have spoken, especially since Kon and Barry and others knew. She knows bringing it up likely means she'll have to explain, but it seems an inevitability to her and better to be brought up on her own terms.]

[He says nothing for the moment, merely turns away from her and steps to where he knows there's a table in the dark, and upon it a lamp. He lights it, giving them just enough of its warm orange glow to see by. He doesn't need to remain in the shadows, and there's no particular need to intimidate her.

The room, now that it's no longer dark, has a cot in one corner and several hard-backed chairs. It's dusty, but not dank with disuse, but it is obviously a place in which he doesn't spend much time.]

Yet you had no idea of the damage you could do with the Kryptonite.

[He doesn't sound angry. It's a statement, mildly said.]

[Hayley's posture immediately stiffens with the accusation, more so because it's true. Well, at least now she knows he knows, even if she's not sure how much. She crosses her arms loosely, an unconscious defensive act but not entirely cutting her off. For as uncomfortable as she is here with him, she's strangely not particularly afraid.]

I had some idea. [She waits a pause. When he doesn't immediately reply, she continues.] I mean, no, I didn't really know how bad it was. Nobody told me and it's not like I could just ask.

[She drops her hands to her sides, a subtle display of rebellion. Hayley will fight him if she has to, but it's clear from the twitches of her posture and expression that she's not keen on the idea. Someone as observant as Batman might even notice genuine remorse and guilt buried beneath the aggression.]

I thought I would just hurt him, teach him a lesson, and- ..I thought he'd wake up and be fine. I didn't find out until later about everything else, okay?

And?

[Right now, all she's doing is making excuses. And he has no patience for those. His tolerance for mistakes is near to match it, but those at least can be made up for. He knows that Clark won't hold it against her, at least. Not in the long term. It's one of his best and worst traits, his ability to forgive.]

People's lives aren't a game. No matter what they've done, or what you perceive them to have done.

And.. I screwed up. I know. I get it.

[The response is, at a shallow level, nearly flippant. It's clear that sincerity nests just below, the same guilt and embarrassment bleeding through as she turns away from him and moves deeper into the room. It's an excuse both to avoid the intensity of his cowled stare and to look around, eyes passing over the walls and the items contained within.

At the latter, she shakes her head, still not looking at him.]

I know they're not a game. It's not like I woke up one morning and thought 'hey, I should totally attack Superman today.' I planned. I kept it in a lead box. [A comment on her carefulness in some ways.] I get that what I did was wrong, but it wasn't an accident or a whim- or a game. I knew what I was doing.

No, you didn't. The problem is that you thought you did. You're arrogant, narcissistic, and you think that because you've been smarter than a few criminals you're smarter than everyone. You aren't. There are people in Keeliai, much less the rest of all possible universes, that have intelligence and skill beyond your reckoning.

[Not that it's ever stopped him. But that's not the point he's trying to make.]

You could do better. You could be better. But I have no reason to trust you. If you want me to, it's something you have to earn, and I won't tell you how.

[Hayley's half-tempted to bite back that she knows how much smarter some others can be, people like Lex and the Bat man himself. But if she's honest, she can't deny her arrogance. It's something that she accepts about herself and that's never bothered her all that much before. So, instead, she thinks better of any comeback and keeps her mouth shut.

His challenge finally inspires her to turn to face him, more than a silhouette but less than a fully fleshed out man in the dim light. He reminds her of the idea of a boogeyman, a monster in the dark, all knowing and always waiting. It almost makes her shiver, even if the figure himself isn't too ominous. If only because she's confident he won't kill her.]

Okay. [She agrees, not really sure what to say beyond that. She wants to be better and she doesn't blame him for not trusting her. Hayley only trusts him in so far as he's offering to help her and little more than that; if he stops being useful, then maybe she'll ask for trust too, but that's a long way off.

The idea of how to inspire trust in someone that already knows her secrets is a mystery at best. Maybe she can ask Jason about it. Definitely not Clark and she prefers Bart not know about all of this. That means figuring out what a smart, calculating lunatic wants from a teenage girl.]

Edited (words) 2014-02-18 01:43 (UTC)

[Bruce gives her a very faint nod. It's not much, but it's a beginning. Hayley is someone he needs to keep an eye on regardless of her alliances. She's too much like Jason.]

What should you have done differently?

I shouldn't have done it at all.

[The answer is automatic. Hayley knows what she should be saying to anyone who asks, without knowing if she really means it or not. Her tone, as she says it, is that of a typical teenage, one tired of rehashing the same damn apologies and stupid mistake.

Giving it a little more thought, she answers herself. She should have gotten better information from Lex when he was around, should have tried to find someone who could tell her more about the K. Part of her says she should have figured out that Clark and Superman were the same person, but she kind of doubts she would have ever found out if not for the attack.]

[Wrong answer.]

Assuming you felt it was necessary.

[It's a very slight correction, and he folds his arms over his chest as he speaks.]

What other ways should you have proceeded?

[Hayley frowns at him, waiting a beat. She knows all of this is part of some grand test and she hates losing, but she's not sure whether she should be sticking to her guns or amending her answer with the new information. It's unclear what he's looking for and that makes it impossible to know how to be what he wants.

So much of her life is spent being a reaction to the people around her that sometimes she forgets how to be when there's no one to play off of. She takes a deep breath and answers honestly, if not completely.]

I should have taken my time. I got impatient.. and nervous, that he'd find out before I was ready. I was more careful before. [Her gaze flickers over to him and then away again. It's a reference to the man he already saw in Sinbrilee.] There had to be ways to learn more about the rock without asking too. Someone even said something about it being dangerous before, but I didn't listen. I forgot until someone reminded me. Or maybe there's some other way I could have gotten to him without it. I don't know.

Better.

[And it gives her a more significant gauge of her. How carefully he has to treat her. As much as her method of dealing with people mirrors Jason's, her attention to detail and her ability to plan echoes Tim's.]

But you were motivated by a personal desire for revenge. It blinded you to the risks and the possibilities. You didn't have all the answers, so you acted without them. Don't do that. Ever. You're intelligent enough that you often consider yourself the smartest person in the room you're in. Don't rely on that assumption. Everything you can ever think of, someone else has thought of it first. Everything you could ever do, someone's done it better. Treat it as an advantage.

[Hayley has to literally bite her tongue to avoid snapping back at him. She has to continually remind herself that this is her choice, that he can be good for her, that she doesn't want to be a villain. Some part of her wants to go back to Jason's method of teaching though, learning how to get away with things and being told it's okay to kill.]

It's an advantage that someone's always better than me? [Her tone is mostly level, but he can probably detect a hint of skepticism. Hayley isn't sure if he means to treat her intelligence as an advantage or that she's never the best. The first seems contrary to his other words, but the second just seems ridiculous.]

Hayley, what is this about?

Just, uh.. finishing an argument with someone I was having a couple months ago?

eleven : everybody's looking for something [BART'S CONSOLE]

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action; omg we're so close to wrapped on this one!!

action; shhhh don't jinx it

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action; and then they went and had noodles and he took her to work. The end.

[anon text]

[action] let me know if you'd like me to edit!

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

action;

Voice

Voice