theknightshift | open post (nsfw)

open post (nsfw)

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CODE BY TESSISAMESS

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[He purses his lips, considers it.]

It makes the girls more amenable. That's why I was looking into it. Pimps have been giving it to the girls.

[He doesn't like it. He takes another bite of his breakfast.]

[ Makes the girls more amenable. Did it make Jason more amenable to what they'd done? It's a thought he doesn't allow himself to sit with.

His coffee's gone cold. When the waitress stops by to check on them, he smiles up at her and asks if she can leave them a fresh pot. Offers a 50 as a meager bribe. ]

Then we'll start with the pimps.

[ Yes, Bruce will casually butt into Jason's case. Thank you. ]

We?

[He looks at him, his eyebrows up and confused.]

It's not your case.

It is now.

[ He pours himself a fresh cup of coffee without a second thought. ]

Like it or not, our cases are connected.

Bruce.

[He says it with an emphasis.]

You don't get to take over my case. The girls don't trust Batman. They trust me.

I don't need to speak to them to find out who their pimps are.

[ He finally takes a sip of coffee. Ugh, it's burnt. ]

I'm only looking for the supply chain. I doubt whoever is producing this is just using it to make the girls compliant. I'm going to put an end to it.

I swear to god if you ruin their lives, I will ruin yours.

[He says it without any real malice.]

Not the pimps, I don't care about them.

You won't.

[ Though he will gladly ruin the pimps lives. ]

[He's quiet for a moment, takes a long sip of his coffee.]

I'll give you a few of my leads.

[He has some that Bruce definitely doesn't.]

But you can't tell them you got their names from me.

[Jason is behaving, it's...weird.]

[ It's a gesture Bruce isn't wholly expecting and he looks at Jason over the lip of his mug for a minute, brows raised. It is weird. ]

I would appreciate that.

[ He sips his coffee. ]

I hope this new found cooperation isn't because of what happened last night.

[ Or this morning. He's not talking about that though. ]

What happened last night, Bruce?

[He tips his head just a little, over his coffee cup, like he's trying to figure out a puzzle.]

You called me to pick you up.

[ A pause and then ]

You laughed at my car.

Where did you even get that car?

[He asks without any mercy.]

Even I couldn't sell those tires.

[A pause.]

Anyway, no, I don't owe you for the single decent act of picking me up when I was high.

From a guy in the Bowery. Cheddar I think his name was.

[ He had to offload the car fast and Bruce needed something less flashy to drive while he's undercover. It was a win/win. Was it stolen? Probably! Bruce didn't ask. ]

I would have come for you regardless, Jason. I just wanted to make sure you weren't still under the influence.

[ He's cooperating because he wants to. That's new. Bruce kind of likes it. ]

I hope you got rid of it already.

[Because if not Jason will absolutely make fun of it forever.]

I'm not under the influence. It wears off in a couple of hours.

[So he can also stop thinking that it was the drug that made Jason want him so badly that morning.]

[ Nope. Somewhere in that fleet of cars, there's on 2005 Honda Accord with a souped up interior parked.

And yeah that quietly kills any nagging doubts Bruce might have had about that morning. But he won't address is outright. ]

Good. I didn't think you were, but I also didn't have the chance to examine you this morning.

[ At least not like that. ]

[He laughs at that, and it's honest. It's the most honest laugh he's had in front of Bruce in a long time.]

Okay, sure.

Now you give me something.

[ Bruce steals another piece of bacon to keep himself busy. ]

You could have brought it up yourself.

[ Not that Bruce would have wanted to talk about it either way. ]

Brought what up?

[He thinks about it for moment.]

Brought up the drugs?

I'm not doing this here.

[ Bruce isn't in the mood for it. ]

[He takes a drink, and one eyebrow goes up.]

Fine. You want to cover breakfast? I have shit to do.

[Apparently Bruce has decided that he's going to be doing this.]

Fine. Give me my keys.

[ He smiles and once he has her attention, he lifts a hand for the waitress to bring their check. ]

[He tips his head a little.]

Nah.

You can call Al.

[He gets up, easy.]

I'll see you later, Brucie.

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