[Thread] Operation: Find Out What's Wrong With Tim

[notarrowette]

Characters: OU: Cissie King-Jones, OU: Bruce Wayne/Batman, AU: Quatre Winner
Where: An empty classroom
When: An hour after sunset, late in the third stage of the modplot, after these conversations
Summary: Tim has been acting very strangely since before the modplot, but now it's worse. The three people who have noticed it the most get together to

Comments

[gonnaloveme]

It wasn't very long after Quatre arrived that suddenly the Batman was just there. It wasn't apparent how he arrived, or if maybe he had actually been there the entire time without either of them noticing, but he might or might not have gotten in through one of the windows lining the far wall of the classroom though there was no evidence of it. It didn't matter because they would never know and he most definitely would never tell.

He had appeared from nowhere just before Quatre had finished his sentence and moved forward in a manner that suggested Cissie not bother to answer the question. His presence was already bordering purposefully intimidating and he hadn't even said a word or gotten into a verbal spar with anyone yet. Not a good sign.

"Business," he intoned firmly in a quiet tone that left no leeway in the matter.

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Cissie squeezed Quatre's hand in return, though her answer was cut off by Batman's arrival. She pushed down the irritation she felt at him for arriving in such an intimidating and dictatorial manner--did he think they weren't all there for the same reason? Would they accomplish more this way? She doubted it, but she took a breath. She was worried and on-edge--and possibly Batman's command had the intended result of focusing her anyway. "When Tim was on patrol a while ago, Quatre says someone messed with his mind," she told Batman, and then looked at Quatre. "And Batman had an encounter with him the other day. I've been watching him--he is acting strangely. I think we need to tell each other what we know so that we can figure out what to do."

[gonnaloveme]

Batman didn't even blink as Quatre interposed himself between him and Cissie. The gesture was useless on the pilot's part, although it probably made him feel better to pretend he was protecting the girl. First, Batman wouldn't ever hurt Cissie. Quatre knew this, and Batman knew he knew this, and it was all pointless from there. Second though, no matter what Quatre implied, and Batman most definitely understood what was being implied, Batman would always do the same thing. He would always be the same, always talk in the same manner

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Cissie tugged Quatre's hand briefly to pull him back against the desk. She appreciated the gesture, but she didn't think it was necessary--she knew Batman wouldn't hurt her. She might be intimidated and uncomfortable, but her concern for Tim overrode all of that.

Cissie had witnessed--and experienced--far too much magic and supernatural happenings to doubt Quatre. She pushed her hair back, sighing in frustration. She didn't have the abilities necessary to do anything to Tim's mind, except maybe yell at him until he snapped.

"It would," she agreed. "But this is Tim. Even if it is just him blocking things in--or out... He's stubborn." She looked up, intending to make eye contact with Batman. "He's very private. He must hate that someone got in his mind in the first place. I don't know that we can do anything without his permission."

And she was not entirely sure it wasn't too late for that already.

[gonnaloveme]

Bruce didn't so much consider Quatre a freak as he just plain didn't want to believe in all sorts of things considered paranormal--psychic abilities, magic, and supernatural powers all included. And despite the fact that Bruce had no psychic abilities or anything else of the sort, his thoughts were so locked up and guarded in his own mind that most of his immediate feelings, emotions, and general thoughts weren't really that easily read. Not to say that Quatre couldn't pick up on these things, but some of them would have required a more active role on Quatre's part rather than the inactive one the young psychic usually chose to follow

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Cissie listened quietly to what they both had to say. By the time Batman finished speaking, she was staring at an indistinct floor tile somewhere near his feet, frowning thoughtfully. As for what Quatre had said, she was hoping that the block wasn't magical. She didn't trust magic. She trusted Tim's mind and their ability to help him fix it a lot more.

Batman, though... Cissie wasn't sure what to make of the story, even though she had managed to extract pieces of it from him before. It was different, hearing it this way, and she took a moment to consider it. It wasn't unreasonable for Tim to react badly to being pushed away by Bruce, especially considering what had just happened. She knew how much worry Tim was carrying about his Bruce, who was still missing back home, and seeing this Bruce killed--even if he wasn't the same, there was no way it hadn't shaken Tim. Some of the things Bruce had mentioned in their earlier conversation made a bit more sense now

[gonnaloveme]

Batman was silent as his steely gaze settled firmly on Quatre when the pilot spoke at the end. What Cissie had explained either meant Tim was lying to hide one thing or another, or that his mind was fractured and truly didn't remember. Neither boded well in the Bat's mind. But what Quatre said

[notarrowette]

Before Batman spoke, Cissie had been about to tell them that Tim hadn't been lying or hiding anything. They had known each other for years, and she knew him well enough by now to almost always be able to tell when he was hiding things or telling only half of a story. Which was part of why Bruce's story had surprised her so much--Bruce had no reason to lie about what happened, and she hadn't doubted Tim's account of things for a moment.

And then Batman spoke, and Cissie saw red. Batman was terrifying and intimidating, but Cissie didn't care. She cared about Tim. She had been a hero; she had fought a goddess, been to the planet Apokalips, watched her friends die, yelled at Superman... Back home, two of her best friends were dead, another was so angry she was unstable and Tim certainly hadn't been himself in a long time. But this--this was something different, and the implication that she wasn't trying to help him was more than enough to make her forget who she was about to snap at.

"Excuse me?" she demanded, jumping off the

[gonnaloveme]

((Batman is facing the wrong way for Quat to look in his eyes. However, his cowl does not have obstructions in front of his eyes so if he was you could see his dark brown, almost black irises. ^_~))Batman paused briefly before continuing but this time he didn't bother to turn his head around as he spoke to them. "You say you're here to help him but you keep doubting there's anything wrong. You're running in circles talking like that. What's the point? If you wanted to help you'd make decisions; find out what it is then figure out the best way to fix the problem

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"We never said we doubted anything was wrong!" Cissie shouted after him. "Damn it!" She turned and kicked the desk hard enough to make it move several inches. She would have been surprised if Batman had even stuck around long enough to hear her. She shoved her hands roughly through her hair, making a noise of frustration.

"What does he think?" she snarled. "You can't make a decision unless you know what's going on! We have a better chance of fixing this working together but he's such a--" she cut herself off with another angry snarl, lashing out at the desk again. "Does he even want to help Tim?"