3354/Strong Words, Stronger Bonds

Strong Words, Stronger Bonds
Date of Scene:	13 September 2020
Location:	Main Room - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	Robin vs. Beast Boy. 'Nuff said!
Cast of Characters:	Gar Logan, Damian Wayne

---

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar was back for no more than about a day, but things were looking up. He learned some good news, and while the message was cryptic as all hell, Cassie and Kate had something from the Oracle at Themyscira. All they had to do was decipher it.

After a nap, Gar parked himself in the main room, close to the massive TV and large sofa in front of it. He was flipping through channels, passing over some news, some sports, and a few other things, when his T-Comm gave him an alert. A comment on a group chat related to the prophecy. Reading it, it was from Robin:

'I will leave my comments brief. Do not put faith in snake oil, soothsayers, and the like.

If we get a message from them, then I will believe they are alive. Actual proof of life. Not the rambling vague riddles of someone in a drug induced state.'

"What the hell, man? Not cool." Gar frowned. Robin was difficult to figure out so far, often so distant to him, and Terry for that matter. The green Titan liked to think he was pretty good at reading people, but so far he'd drawn nothing but a blank on the guy from Gotham. Guy, kid, whatever. Shaking his head, he tapped out a response:

'All due respect, whatever that's worth, you can believe what you want and the rest of us can believe what we want. As long as there's a chance, I'm going to hold out hope after what I found out. I'm not giving up on my friends. Do you even /have/ any?'

The last part, he almost deleted, but right now he wasn't feeling too diplomatic. "So there." He went back to channel surfing.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     The response had been read, and Robin had had enough of this. He'd been trying to keep things going for the Titans. To not wallow in the stupor that once had Titans Tower a mausoleum.

  But Gar's last words regarding friends. 'Do you even /have/ any?' The words eroded at him like xenomorph blood on the hull of a spaceship.

  He began to run from his room, all the way down the T to the main room. He didn't need his sword, but apart from that, he was in his whole kit. He used his assassin skills along with his gear, making the sounds of his approach very hard to hear over the sounds of the ridiculously large TV in the Titans main room.

  He balled up his fist, while leaping towards Gar, reaching out with his right hand to strike Beast Boy on the cheek, avoiding the ears and other places where he'd cause major damage.

Gar Logan has posed:
No costume for the other Titan, one whose public identity goes hand in hand with his costumed one. Among the group, he is someone least able to separate the two, so he's leaned right into it instead.

"All these channels, and there's noth--OW!"

Right at that moment, Robin's silent attack lands. Gar might have caught a glimpse of what he thought was motion out of the corner of an eye, but he might not have. It's too late to react to, and fist meets cheek squarely. It's enough to send him tumbling off-balance, and the shock sees him scrambling back to his feet with a surprised look on his face, hand coming up to the spot. It's going to bruise.

"Dude, what the fuck was that?!" he blurts, and without waiting for an answer he vaults over the sofa, leaping toward Robin in a pounce, intent on getting his hands on him somewhere, anywhere.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "You sonuvabitch!" He says, grasping Gar back as he vaults over the couch.

  Robin's cape catches on the ground, pulling the boy back from the collar. "I had a friend." obviously the spot to hit him back was around the face, the only spot on him that wasn't armored or covered in some sort of advanced weave. "She's out in the galaxy, who the hell knows how far. Or even if she's still alive."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's got a few inches on Robin, a good deal of weight on his side as well. Robin is one of the few around here Gar could claim such an advantage over, but Robin has grown up knowing how to use his lack of size to his benefit. To underestimate that spells disaster for anyone.

That's all out the window right now.

Gar's hands grip at Robin's shoulders, one curling into the fabric of his cape near the neck, and his eyes flash with anger as he draws back to return a punch at the side of his face. "That was a cheap shot!" he practically growls. Maybe it is one deep in there.

But who dealt the first one? Cheap shots aren't always physical.

"And I'm not buying it! Since you've been here, I've never seen you warm up to anyone!" he accuses. Suddenly the blood is starting to boil. "You act like we're all idiots!"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Robin wanted to launch Gar with his legs, but he had a firm grip on his cape. With himself in a supine position, Robin puts a thumb underneath Gar's left armpit, jamming it in to aggravate the pressure point. "Most of you are. But that doesn't matter."

  It's no secret that you have to be mentally sharp to work with Batman. None of the Robins has powers, they were trained up harder than any other sidekicks in the heroing world. Training the mind and body hard to become the top percentile of fighters and detectives in the world.

  And this was not the way they fought.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar's face contorts into a mask of discomfort when the finger finds that spot underneath his armpit, causing him to twist away from it and shake his arm out. He's in a crouch, adding to the animalistic side he often favors, but usually out of fun or for some need. "See, that's where you're..hrrff..wrong. We're not just dumb little..huff..toy soldiers for you to boss around. We're human. Do you even know what that means?"

He's back into the fray, throwing an elbow at Robin's stomach only to find the armor there blunts it, so he strikes with a backhand to the jaw while leaving Robin an opening somewhere, anywhere. The latest Boy Wonder could fight fair, or he could fight dirty. This is not a sparring session, which they've all partaken in. This is raw emotion bursting forth.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     As Beast Boy works out the pressure point, Damian kips up, removing his cape from a vertical base.

  The elbow to the midsection is felt, dulled by the armor, but there had been some feeling there. Then it came, a backhand to the jaw, which he fought from turning his head, Gar could actively feel his head pushing back.

  "You" Robin struck back, a knee to the side of the midsection, actively avoiding the breadbasket. "Are myopic if you think that is what I think of you all anymore."

  The last blow has Robin stepping back, breathing hard, only a reaction to the activity. "You weren't the only one to lose someone you..." Loved, the word he can't bear himself to say is loved.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan tries to turn himself enough to blunt the impact of the knee, but it still strikes in enough of a spot so as to force him back.

Then, he pauses. He knows how capable a fighter Robin is. Something about his attacks..so targeted, as to cause discomfort but no lasting damage. Why? It causes him to hesitate, but only long enough for him to hear the words before rushing in again to grab Robin by the shoulders and send him up against the nearest wall, forearm across his chest. He's close enough that he can feel the hot, rapid breaths leaving Gar's mouth as the older Titan struggles with instinct vs. intellect.

Of course, he's fighting an actual kid, but that's never stopped Robin before.

"Yeah, you sure aren't afraid to let us know how big a failure we are whenever we don't live up to your bullshit standards," he challenges. The arm presses against his body but is in no danger of cutting off any air supply.

However, he hesitates at the words Robin's unable to finish saying. "..what? You don't even feel anything!"

Then what is all this?

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Pressed up against the wall, Damian's olive skin tone blushes as Gar accuses him of not feeling. He practically screams.

"I FEEL EVERYTHING GODDAMMIT!"

Damian isn't fighting anymore, his eyelets close, and underneath his mask, tears well on the edges. "I lost Techno, the one I loved. My only human friend, Troia, lost in the stars at best, atoms unmade in a wormhole at worst. I'm trying to keep everyone focused on things here instead of feeding more and more emotions into a miracle that the odds of happening are worse than winning the lottery."

Gar Logan has posed:
At the outburst, Robin's eyes may have squeezed shut but he will feel the pressure from Gar trying to loom over him suddenly go away.

The green Titan grimaces from the shout, taking a few shaky steps back. The adrenaline is flowing something fierce, but as short as the fight was, the emotional toll it's already taken has him wobbly on his feet. "Dude, you didn't have to yell," he says mutedly, his hands lifting in a gesture of surrender, or peace, or something.

A period of silence feels like it's dragging on for much longer before he swallows, going back to rubbing his cheek. "I didn't know you..and him.." More silence.

"Damn."

He approaches the wall, turning to rest his back to it before he slumps to a seated position, an arm draped across a knee. He's no more than a couple feet from Robin, but no longer is he at his throat.

"You..man, you can't think that way. Even if the odds are bad, you have to believe you're gonna see her again. And I'm gonna see them again. Vic, Donna, Cait. Vorpal, Terry. I've lost too many people to accept..to accept losing any more."

He wipes at his own eyes with the back of his hand, a quick swipe across the face.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian's feet touch the ground, his eyelets still shut after Gar sits down, soon, Robin joins him against the wall, knees pulled up to his chest.

  He tugs on his green mask, putting it aside. The red Robin tunic's collar brought up to dab the tears from his eyes, like a kid would.

  "You and the rest hold out enough hope for everyone, even me." The boy turns his head to look at Gar, it was a face that had been on tabloids and gossip columns as much as Gar himself. Damian Wayne was the boy who looked back at the green Titan. "I do not share a normal person's fear of death." The sad truth. "I was trained to bring the world to its knees. To lay waste to whomever stood in my way."

  A sharp sniffle before continuing. "Until I came to Gotham. Still, some habits die hard."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan looks straight ahead, affecting a thousand yard stare that leaves him from having to focus on any one thing in particular. "Dude, I have to. Everyone's used to funny, witty, silly Beast Boy, but.." A sniff of his own, rubbing at his nose, then that same cheek from before. "..every time I lose someone, it kills a part of me inside. I already ran away once, and I was doing it again after.." He gestures with the hand. Robin knows what he's talking about.

"And with Terry, I started feeling things I wasn't ready for, and then he ended up being so much more and I didn't know at first, and then I didn't really understand, but one thing led to another and it's like one day I'm flying higher than ever and the next it's all ripped out. So I saw his cousin and his mom and because of what I know about his powers I'm sure he's out there, and if he is they've got to be with him, and I can't give up on that and.."

By this point, he's turning to look at Robin after the mention of not fearing death like most registers, and him summing up what it is to be an assassin.

"Holy../Damian?/ Damian Wayne?" His voice is barely above a whisper. No concern about that being heard by the Tower at large.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "You're only the third Titan to know. Nightwing doesn't count." Damian's green eyes still find a way to catch enough light to almost glow in the darkness. The al Ghul family trait. "I...know you've seen your fair share of death. But to me...it's almost better for people to die. When Sam left...it wrenched at me, it still does." The thinking was backwards, but Damian was the assassin equivalent of a child soldier. His mother and grandfather did a number on him, and the scars of it all were both mental and physical.

  "So, now you know everything."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan rubs his eyes firmly enough to cause him to see white for a few seconds, then he turns them back on Robin. Yep, still Damian Wayne. Who would have thought?

"Well, I'm not gonna tell anybody. That's your thing to decide, not mine. But, uh, thanks for that, and I'm sorry about what I said. That was kind of below the belt and I guess I deserved that." He fishes out his T-Comm, which had been in a pocket the whole time, and taps something into the chat.

'Okay, so that was wrong for me to say. Sorry, man. I take it back.'

"I think there's a lot of stuff we're not gonna agree on, but that's okay. I can work together with you. We're teammates now. That's what we do, right?" He grimaces as he hauls himself up to his feet, hunching over for a few seconds before he turns toward Robin, toward Damian. A hand is extended to help him up, should he want it.

"I'd give you a hug but part of me still thinks you'd kill me over that, especially if anyone walked in, so how about the next best thing? Want to go have some ice cream?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's mask is placed back on his face. The white eyelets lighting back up with the HUD that appears to who wears it.

  A green gauntlet reaches up to take the hand, and pulls to help himself up.

  A small smile reaches Damian's face, just a little upturn of the corners of his mouth. "I'll have tea. Ice cream has too much sugar." Yeah, not a good mix a sugar rush feels awful to the youngest Robin.

  Before Gar can move too far off, Damian wraps his arms around Beast Boy, it was the smallest hug. And over as soon as it began. But it was the first time he'd hugged anyone since Sam. Not even his own family. "Never...tell...anyone that happened."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's head tilts. "Tea? That's a lot healthier, sure. I guess I'll just have twice as much. There's chocolate chip cookie dough, mint chip, rocky road, orange sherbet, Neapolitan, fudge brownie..." It's like Bubba reeling off all the different ways to have shrimp.

Once Robin's back on his feet, Gar starts to turn away before he freezes, staring straight ahead. The embrace is over even before he can think about returning it, and he just stares at Robin for a few seconds before a brief smile is returned.

"Tell anyone about what?" Someone understood.