Day 43: Game Room, Third Shift

[piggy_king]

Peh. "Graduates." Who were they trying to fool? It's not like anyone here believed them, and no one ever visited the institute. What was the point in keeping up this sad little charade? To add to the realism of it? Well, whatever. If they wanted to continue this exercise in futility, that was fine with Porky. All it meant was that they spent more

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[scarletspeedstr]

"I know it's not that easy," Wally answered, "but it's just that... innocent people are getting hurt and no one's willing to do anything about it. Do you expect me to just say that because I can't put people in prison or find some way to stop them from hurting others without harming them, that it's okay to just let it go? Look the other way or pretend it isn't happening? What about people who get hurt by this? Don't they have any rights?"

He followed Grell's finger with his eyes, taking in the extensive bruising on the other man's neck with a sick feeling weighing heavy in his stomach. "But don't you wish there was some way you could be sure you weren't going to be attacked again?"

Something about Grell's smile was off, but Wally wasn't paying as much attention to that at the moment. "It just doesn't seem fair to say it has to be one or the other," he said stubbornly. "I don't want revenge, I want to know what really happened, if things are as clear-cut as that or if it's more complicated. I mean, maybe whoever it really was won't go after anyone else. Maybe there was some reason they did this to Clark, and that was it."

He sighed and leaned back in his chair again, still fiddling with the chess piece. "I'm not saying that makes things better, but it does make how people would react different to if they were just some psycho killer."

[deadlyjuliet]

"Oh, people are willing to do things about it, it's merely that such 'things' are rather unsightly in and of themselves," Grell argued, the smile slipping back into something pleasant as he twirled a strand of hair about his finger. Brainy, especially, was being rather adamant about protecting his little Waffle Knight, but it was already too late. A lady kept her word, and a death god never missed his mark. And since it seemed Luxord was willing to play along? Well, there was no harm to anyone but the Waffle Twit if Grell kept his word only so long as it took to kill him. Pulling his finger free, Grell sighed and checked his nails before returning his attention to the conversation.

"Of course they have rights, love, but look at where we are. There's not a good lot we can do, is there? It's difficult enough to keep ourselves alive without having to worry about saving those who cannot look after themselves." Oh, but that was bordering on his real personality, wasn't it? Grell stopped and started fiddling with his hair again, dropping his gaze as if ashamed of what he'd just said. "...I do understand though. It's a terrible thing, all these people getting hurt. I wish I could say there was some way to stop those blood-thirsty vigilantes from coming after me or my companions, but unless I stop them first - and honestly, me? stop them? hardly - I don't believe they'll ever leave me in peace."

Especially not once the truth came out. Sitting forward, Grell reached out and grabbed Wally's hands gently as they fidgeted with the chess piece and he smiled. "Not everyone has a heart like yours, love. It's a sad fact of this place."

And yet...perhaps? Would Wally judge him? Would he understand the reasons why Clark had to die? Not only had it been the boy's time, but...well, to be frank, Brainiac 5 had ticked him off and broken his word. Was Grell not entirely in the right then, when he followed up on his own promise to kill someone close to the little rustbucket should he talk too much? Of course he was. Pulling his hand back, Grell studied the black king for a moment before tilting it to the side with one finger, almost to the point of it toppling over. "And if it isn't a psycho killer? What do you intend to do?"

[scarletspeedstr]

Wally glanced up sharply as Grell took his hands, his green eyes searching the other's intently. What the other man had said just now... It didn't sound exactly right. Why would he talk about not worrying about those who couldn't protect themselves if Grell himself had been attacked and injured while he couldn't defend himself?

"I guess," he said slowly, tugging his hands free from Grell's. "I just wish it didn't feel like I was the only one who felt this way." The last time he'd mentioned it on the bulletin board as well it had been painfully obvious that most people didn't agree with the idea that it was better to at least try to get along.

Wally's brow furrowed a little, drawing a faint line on his forehead as he watched the chess piece and Grell's hand. "I guess it depends on why they did it," he mused quietly. "I mean, if Brainiac's involved..."

He just barely managed to avoid flinching too obviously. He hadn't meant to let slip how much he knew about Clark or the name Brainiac; the whole point was to try and see if Grell had anything to do with what had happened, which was what Bruce suspected. But Wally couldn't forget the other name that kept popping up and... well he just didn't trust anyone who went around calling themselves that. Even if you tacked a number on the end, a world-destroying robot was a world-destroying robot.

[deadlyjuliet]

"It is difficult to be against the majority," Grell said with a sigh, tipping the king back and forth, always just barely keeping it from falling over. Grell knew that well enough. Even for a death god, he was a little odd. And for a woman? Well, he wasn't one. That was the biggest problem of all. Even he recognized that God had created him as a man, but he also knew he'd been given the heart of a lady. And he wished for nothing more than to be one in body and soul, not just by heart and deed alone. It was painful, living one life and looking like another. Especially when people didn't understand or tried to force him into the male pigeonhole.

And there it was. The king froze in place and Grell shot Wally a curious look. Brainiac. Not Brainiac 5. Something about the boy hating that name, insisting upon the 5, insisting he was...different. Yes... That was just what he needed. Push it off on the brat, make it his fault (since it rightfully was) and then? Then he could sit back and enjoy the chaos that would follow. "Brainy?" he asked, forcing a little bit of concern into his voice. "...why should it hinge upon him?"

[scarletspeedstr]

"Uh, well," Wally floundered, trying to think of an explanation as to why that name should mean anything at all to him. Unfortunately being able to think really fast didn't mean he could actually think better, and his mind just kept drawing blanks in this area.

He sighed, wincing and pressing his palm to his forehead. Maybe if he was careful, he wouldn't let on too much about the League or who Clark really was? "I've kinda... heard the name before back home," he said carefully. "Some kind of robot that went around destroying worlds. But if this one's a kid?" He shrugged. "I dunno, that's different from the one I heard about. Maybe it's nothing."

[deadlyjuliet]

Oh, but this was rich! So that was what Brainy had been wailing about when Clark died. A secret he had to tell him, something about how he was sorry - Grell hadn't paid attention at the time, but now? How he regretted missing this tidbit!

A robot that went about destroying worlds. Brainiac. No wonder the boy hated that name so much. No wonder he insisted upon the 5 so much. But Grell knew little on how robots worked and that made connecting little Brainy to his big bad ancestor something of an issue. Putting a hand to his head as well, the fingertips just lightly pressing against his temple, Grell sighed. "And this is the person people are believing over me? A boy who destroys worlds? I'm lucky he didn't go insane and kill me already then."

[scarletspeedstr]

[sorry for the slow, I had an essay due. Dx]

"Well we don't know that they're the same, they could be different. I mean, it's not like I've met the guy. Maybe I'm wrong," Wally said, though even he had to admit it was pretty hard to imagine a Brainiac that wasn't going around trying to digitise everything and kill Superman. It was like trying to imagine a Lex Luthor who wasn't willing to do everything and anything to get at Supes. You'd really like it if they did stop and got a hobby or something, but it just wasn't likely to happen any time soon.

The intercom sounded overhead with another really weird and kind of creepy announcement by the I.R.I.S. thing and Wally shot a look up at the ceiling, a little relieved that the shift was finally over, but also not sure if he would have preferred a little more time. He still hadn't managed to find out anything concrete about what was going on, just that everything was an even bigger mess than he'd imagined.

But on the other hand, he'd nearly given way too much away about himself, Bats, and Clark. So maybe he should just count his blessings that he could get out before he managed to screw up again or something.

Besides, he wasn't really sure how he could find out anything more on his own, other than just coming out with 'hey, did you happen to kill Clark?' and hoping it threw Grell off enough to answer it truthfully.

Somehow he didn't think that would work though.

"Man, is shift over already?" he said, directing a quick smile at the other man. "Seems like you never have enough time to do anything around here, right?"