damned_institute | Night 45: Decontamination Room

[from here]

So this was where the crazy bastards scrubbed down after playing doctor with the stiffs or whatever else they could get their hands on. The shapes of a locker and several benches were faintly visible in the dark and Jason carefully navigated his way around them to the door at the other end of the room.

Two-Face's idea wasn't bad. It would at least make little Timmy sweat, though he'd have to try and make sure there was nothing to link him to Dent. For it to work though he'd have to reveal Drake's identity or enough that Two-Face could find the fake on his own. It was something he'd known from the start - if they went ahead with the plan to use Robin to get at Batman then Two-Face would have to find out who was under the mask was. Going after either of them here - without any masks to hide behind - it was unavoidable. He knew that.

Then it shouldn't feel like something to big, to open his mouth and reveal Robin's identity to someone who was an enemy, who'd tried to kill Robin - not just the fake but all of them at different times. It hadn't been this Two-Face but the possibility was still there. It shouldn't matter at all. But it did.

But Jason pushed on. "His name's Tim Drake." Just that easy, it was out there. No taking it back. He stopped, almost expecting..... something, he didn't know what. Because this should be important. He didn't know why - it wasn't like he and the fake were brothers - they sure as hell weren't family just because Bruce had fallen head over heels for the little ass-kisser - it wasn't any sort of betrayal to do this.

He had no intentions of killing the kid. He was just making his next move. It was nothing.

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Not having to be the one to break the door down for once was nice, and Harvey didn't mind standing back and watching as Jason did his work. He followed in after him and was surprised by how large the room was. Most of the areas he'd been to weren't quite this extensive, and as he inspected the room with his flashlight he started to piece together what this was all for.

"This isn't a normal shower room," he remarked more to himself as he explored. It was probably meant for surgeons to clean up after doing some particularly dirty work -- possibly even something involving those mutated animals that ran around so frequently in this place. Wasn't the kennel nearby? Harvey frowned.

Completely unaware of the internal struggle Jason was dealing with, Harvey merely glanced over at his partner when the kid ended up mentioning what had to be Robin's real name. While Harvey was curious as to why Jason hadn't just mentioned that in the first place, at least he was saying it now.

"Tim Drake," he repeated, even though the name meant nothing to him. "Does that mean you know Batman's real name, too?" he pressed, even though he was almost certain that Jason wouldn't be giving up such information no matter what. Robin was probably some small fry, but Batman...

If anyone knew his identity, they had obviously all been sworn to secrecy. And yet he was still left to wonder: just how did Jason know so much?

For once Two-Face's voice was a welcome distraction. It jerked Jason's attention away from his thoughts, from the stupid little part of him that was thinking about what Alfred would say if he knew what Jason was doing and picturing Bruce's fucking disappointed look all too easily. He drummed his fingers against the door frame, staring thoughtlessly into the adjoining room, shoulders tensing up as he heard Two-Face say his replacement's real name. He clearly didn't recognise it - maybe Prince Timmy didn't even exist in this Dent's Gotham. It was possible if Bruce hadn't recognised him. Two-Face didn't know the name. It didn't matter if he knew who was Robin these days.

And then came the obvious next question.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Jason smirked at Two-Face over his shoulder. "Even if I do, you don't think I'd give it up that easy do you? Back in Gotham I could name my price for information like. Do you really think just because we're here I'd start handing it out free?"

If Dent decided Jason did know who Batman really was and that he wasn't all talk it could get messy. Two-Face might not take well to him withholding information.

Harvey let out a half-amused sigh as he crossed his arms over his chest, still holding his flashlight tight in one hand and the lead pipe in the other. "I never asked you to tell me," he pointed out. "I was just curious if you knew at all."

With such a vague answer, Harvey was pretty sure that Jason did know something. If the kid could pick out Batman from a crowd even when the vigilante didn't have his mask to hide behind, then it would figure that he knew his name as well. Shaking his head (more to himself), the burned man continued to peer around the area. There wasn't much to see, though he did move over to the lockers to open them out of curiosity.

"So," he continued as he opened one and was only greeted with more ugly clothing, "how is it that you know so much, anyway?" Figuring that he might get a better answer out of Jason if he wasn't staring him dead in the eye with his half-dead face eerily illuminated by his flashlight, he waited for the kid's answer as he acted interested in the locker's contents.

Truth be told, he didn't see much of interest in this place, but now he knew that it was here, which was better than nothing.

Huh. OK, he'd misread Dent. That wasn't the response he'd expected at all. He wasn't anything like the Two-Face he'd met years ago. Whether that was a matter of time or different worlds Jason couldn't say.

He turned back to watch Dent look through the locker, leaning casually in the doorway as he waited. There probably wouldn't be anything worth taking here but it didn't hurt to look and without a flashlight he wasn't going to be able to see much in there.

"I got lucky," he replied simply. That was the easiest explanation for how he knew the fake's name. Accidents happened and Two-Face didn't know what Robin was like and what precautions there were to protect him. It was a believable lie.

"I found out Robin's identity by accident. But I got dragged here before I got a chance to do much with the information. Lucky for me the 'doc' decided I wasn't the only guy in need of some therapy."

And maybe this Harvey was different from the one Jason had known. He hadn't been at it as long, and wasn't as much of a criminal as he'd fashioned himself to be. He had the blood of three people on his hands, and he had the resolve, but it wasn't as easy for him to turn on people who hadn't specifically done something to harm him.

That, and he remembered what it was like to be an attorney still. Sometimes demanding things from people just made them that more eager to keep it to themselves. In any case, he was fairly certain he couldn't beat the answer out of Jason, so he wasn't going to waste his time.

The story about finding out on a fluke seemed shoddy and made-up. Harvey narrowed his eyes as he forced the locker door closed and then turned to face Jason again. He didn't keep any of the suspicion off of his face, but he said nothing about that issue.

"Any reason you wanted to check out this place, or should we keep moving?" Harvey didn't think it was the time for a shower, and unless Jason wanted a new set of clothes or some towels, this room seemed pretty pointless.

Two-Face hadn't bought that. Too fucking bad, he wouldn't have been any less suspicious if Jason had told him he'd somehow worked out Robin's identity on his own. And while telling him the truth would be entertaining it wouldn't end well. Two-Face wasn't saying anything so Jason was happy to let it drop.

He shook his head, replying "Not this place. I'm not that desperate for a shower." Jason stalked through into the next room, footsteps echoing hollowly in the emptiness. From what he could make out it looked to be the wash-up area, where they could clean off all the blood from whatever they did up here. Not worth his time either.

He slowed as he entered the third room, hand brushing over the surface of the table in the centre as he guided himself around it. It was hard to see but there looked to be the outline of a door on his right and when he tried it he found this one was open.

"Let's hope no one but the head doc works nightshift 'round here."

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/768374.html)]

Night 45: Decontamination Room

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