Gar Logan (
greentigerboy) wrote in
zandroid2025-08-18 09:21 pm
001 - Traveling the Red to You
You are meant to fight alone. To be alone.
The words still haunted him. Even more now that he'd spent so much time in the Red. He had some of his answers and other he thought would take him a lifetime to learn. But the immediate crisis had passed and he had some time to himself. Only...he didn't want to be by himself. He followed a familiar loneliness out of the Red and into...an apartment?
"Jason," he said before it really registered in his brain whose voice he'd been following to get here. Well. That made sense. Dick was never short of friends and it never seemed like a little alone time would bother Kory. Tim and Rachel were close enough and Rachel was in school anyway. Where Tim was, Bernard was probably close by. And Conner was off with Superman.
It made sense that the echo of his own solitude would be found here. In Jason's lair. That probably had traps. Crap.
"I come in peace!" he called, knowing that the place couldn't be empty. The Red brought him to people, not to abandoned places. "It's Gar. I, uh..." How to explain how he'd appeared in a flash of light? "Thought I'd see how you were doing?"
That'd fly, right? Had to.
The words still haunted him. Even more now that he'd spent so much time in the Red. He had some of his answers and other he thought would take him a lifetime to learn. But the immediate crisis had passed and he had some time to himself. Only...he didn't want to be by himself. He followed a familiar loneliness out of the Red and into...an apartment?
"Jason," he said before it really registered in his brain whose voice he'd been following to get here. Well. That made sense. Dick was never short of friends and it never seemed like a little alone time would bother Kory. Tim and Rachel were close enough and Rachel was in school anyway. Where Tim was, Bernard was probably close by. And Conner was off with Superman.
It made sense that the echo of his own solitude would be found here. In Jason's lair. That probably had traps. Crap.
"I come in peace!" he called, knowing that the place couldn't be empty. The Red brought him to people, not to abandoned places. "It's Gar. I, uh..." How to explain how he'd appeared in a flash of light? "Thought I'd see how you were doing?"
That'd fly, right? Had to.

no subject
"So you what ... teleported in?" Jason asked, eyebrows lifting. "What's wrong?" Because why would Gar be here unless he needed Jason for something, same way that's the only time he heard from Dick.
no subject
Of course, his timing was off. It hadn't been a couple of months. It'd been a year. Time didn't always work quite the same way there. Or maybe he'd just been busier than he thought he had.
"Anyway, I'm not here because of trouble. I just...wanted to see you." Which was true, even if it hadn't known what he was walking to until he got there.
no subject
"Come on then. Let me reset the alarm," Jason said. He was still looking at Gar warily, but trusted he wouldn't just try to jump Jason out of no where. Jason walked past Gar, resetting the perimeter alert and then gesturing him to follow.
Jason led him into a large room with clearly worn out furniture Jason had probably found on curbs. Jason dropped onto a sofa, looking up at Gar. "So what do you need?"
no subject
He shrugged. "I don't really 'want' anything? Just came to say hello. See what's up." And yeah, maybe he'd been a villain for a little while, but if there was anyone who'd understand being made to do something against your will, it was Gar.
"You still doing, uh... I think Dick said it was independent contracting?"
no subject
Jason tilted his head, skepticism fading to surprise. "You want to hang out with me? I thought I was still Titans persona non grata?"
He laughed at that, a genuine little spark of amusement. "I guess you could call it that. I mostly try to fuck with the operations of the Gotham big drug players.
no subject
He shrugged a little. He was used to things trying to kill him. It had pretty much been his life since he'd met Rachel.
"Yeah, that's me. Hippie. Have a joint you want to smoke?" He flashed a grin.
"But I guess you do have contacts if you're messing with the gangs." Though his grin faded a little remembering how Jason had gotten himself all but killed. "Need any help?" he asked in a spur of the moment decision.
no subject
"You're not nearly laid back enough for hippie life," Jason laughed. "I've got edibles, but no smoke." A guy he'd helped out a while back ran a store and would give Jason some for free now and then.
Jason's head tilted. "I can handle it. But if you want to hang out and help a while, you can. Not sure why you'd want to, after ... everything."
no subject
He pretended to be affronted at the idea that he wasn't laid back. "I'll have you know that before I joined the Titans, my life was pretty much spent on video games and Cheetos. I was very laid back." Which was true. But that's what his life had been. He'd changed a lot since his days back with Niles Caulder and the gang.
"After everything? Dude, you know I ate a person once, right? You were being used and manipulated. Why am I going to hold that against you?"
no subject
"You worry about everything, I bet you still weren't that laid back. Intense gaming sessions that end in yelling never happened?" Jason teased.
His eyes searched Gar's face, surprised by the reply. "Not exactly the same, I went into it willing." And then it had just always seemed to make more sense to stay. The things he'd done felt less and less real, which almost made them forgivable until he finally started to come to his senses. He's still paying penance on that one. "I'm sorry, for what it's worth."
no subject
"A--" He started to say 'soda' and then realized that Rachel wasn't here and he didn't have to worry about being a bad influence. "A beer, sure," he said and stood up so he could walk with Jason and continue the teasing conversation. Except then it turned serious.
"Yeah, but did you go with both eyes wide open?" With the Scarecrow, he doubted it. Instead of answering the sorry, he simply offered Jason an arm up.
no subject
Jason took the offered arm up and then headed for what constituted a kitchen - a beat up fridge, a sink, and plug in electric burners. He dug in the fridge and came up with a couple of cheap beers, handing one to Gar.
He cocked his head at the question, teeth tugging on his lip for a second. "I thought I did," he said. "But I was desperate, and he played me."
no subject
"I knew there was something wrong. It was like you just flipped a switch one day. I guess you had your sore spots. We all do. But you always had a soul. You wouldn't have become Robin for the hell of it." And if he had, he was pretty sure Bruce would have spotted it. Emotional damage that he did? He was pretty blind to that. But he seemed to be pretty spot-on when it came to enjoying inflicting pain for the hell of it.
He took a swig from his bottle.
no subject
Jason looked uneasy but then offered, because Gar at least deserved the truth. "I kept getting episodes. Panic attacks, I guess, about dropping off the roof, or Slade. Bruce benched me for it, and I was left with fuck all. So it felt like I had to do anything to get rid of the fear. It was a stupid move, but I do fucked things when I'm backed in a corner."
Jason had genuinely wanted to help people as Robin - people from Crime Alley, who had no where else to go the way Jason hadn't. He'd just let other things, his own ego included, get in the way.
He took a swig of his own drink, hip braced against the wall. "So why back here? Just to see little old me?"
no subject
"You weren't wondering how you go from asking Molly for help to a meeting with Dick?"
He didn't mention that there'd been people who were willing to do what was necessary when it came to Jason. He also didn't mention that he'd been the only one of the Titans rooting for him. Even Dick had made it seem like it was more about getting Crane than saving Jason.
"Things got a little weird for me after that, so I couldn't really follow it up, but." He shrugged.