With bombs and the devil, and the kids keep comin'

[guardiandevil]

WHO: Matt Murdock & You!
WHERE: NOHoPE
WHEN: December 27th-31st during visiting hours.
WARNINGS: Insanity?
SUMMARY: Matt's been locked up and is awaiting his trial. He's able to take visitors.
FORMAT: Your choice.

[He doesn't actually feel up to taking visitors yet, but who is he to argue with the professionals? He's surrendered, he deserved whatever torture they dished out, including uncomfortable conversations with his former friends. It wasn't like they'd understand anyways. They hadn't been through what he had. They hadn't touched true power, had the ability to to fix the world right in their palms, had such divinity slip away.

If they had, they'd probably be called crazy, too.]

Comments

[gevurah]

She goes to the dojo for self-defense! It's not about complacency, it's about knowing where the lines are drawn! Kids are not part of that world. Is that what you want for Terezi?

No, as far as I understand you've chosen the wrong side, Matt.

[guardiandevil]

The kids have always been part of this world, Nill especially. She's helpless with you. I've taught her strength and discipline, I've given her tools to protect and defend herself and wage her own war against those who would violate her rights. She came to me for guidance, Kate, and I gave it to her.

[No word about Terezi, though. He's disappointed in where that's headed now that she's mellowed and he's become the fanatic.

His expression hardens as he sits back in his chair.]

You come from a world where children don costumes and fight against injustice. Your hometown worships a man who has fought this same fight and used the same methods I have. You have no right to tell me I'm wrong when you model yourself after him.

[gevurah]

[ She nearly bolts from the chair, though through sheer will she manages to keep herself glued to it. Her teeth grind in her mouth, listening intently to each word that falls from Matt's mouth.

Because deep down, she feels Matt's right. She couldn't protect Nill properly no matter how hard she tried. She's failing her even if that girl can't see it. ]

I'm not him. [ She almost whispers, still conscious of watching eyes. ] I don't do that. [ Bette wants back in and she's been apprehensive since. ]

[guardiandevil]

No, none of you are, though you all seem to wish you were.

[Strange, the shadow the Gothamites and others seemed to live under. A man so revered, feared, loved, despised, such an unwavering symbol in the ultimate battle for justice, it's no wonder he's such a touchy subject to the people of that world. Having never met the man, having only hearsay to go on, the figure is practically fiction in Matt's mind, but he is nonetheless useful. And his cause is a worthy one, a noble one, with lessons that could be applied to Matt's own war with the Hand as his army. The only difference, in Matt's mind, was perhaps the scales on which they operated.

However, none of this changes the fact that he's made Kate angry and he knows it. Some friend he is. But to be honest, he'd assumed they were always on the same page. How could she be a soldier for justice without considering the tactics of the war or the figurehead she'd been emulating?]

[gevurah]

[ She pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration as her head sinks. Had they not been separated by a firm glass wall she knows her fist would have gone flying into his face, determined to break something. ]

You don't know me. [ She says with utter disappointment. She never wanted to be Batman-- she thought maybe he understood that.

This isn't Matt. This isn't someone she can call a friend anymore. ]

God, I trusted you.

[guardiandevil]

And I trusted you. I trusted you would trust me and let me do my job.

[The disappointment is heavy in his voice, mingling vaguely with the hurt. Their battle was the same, why couldn't she recognize that and help him?]

[gevurah]

Somebody was going to get hurt. I had to stop it.

[ A beat, because now she wants to lace her words with venom. Hurt him the way he's hurt her and made her feel insecure about Nill. ]

I'm not sorry that guy shot your leg.

[guardiandevil]

Someone was always going to get hurt, Kate. We've all been wounded in this war, and because of you this war won't be over any time soon. Sometimes blood must be spilled to stop the blood from spilling.

[He frowns, still disappointed, but no longer as surprised. Jason's been gunning for him for months now, it's not a shock that he finally pulled the trigger. Matt's leg aches, worse than Kate can even imagine, but it's trivial when compared to being kept away from the battlefield, to losing his troops, to losing every ally in his war because of their own refusal to change with the times. No one understands the need to adjust methods, that's the one conclusion Matt can draw.

No one, except perhaps Harvey.]

Where is Harvey, Kate? Why isn't he in here with me?

[gevurah]

Do you even hear yourself? [ She frowns, although the concern is hard to mask in her voice as angry as she is. ]

You know the answer to that.

[guardiandevil]

Stop making excuses. [He sits forward, teeth clenching slighting.] You've had months to find him. Why isn't he here?

[gevurah]

I don't know where he is. [ It's driving her crazy. Dent's gotten a lot smarter about laying low, keeping his whereabouts near impossible to trace. ]

[guardiandevil]

[Flatly:] What kind of backwards world is this.

[gevurah]

[ Her patience has run out. She stands abruptly, the chair scratching against the floor as it slides back from the sudden movement. ]

Maybe if you hadn't been recruiting kids, you could have found him yourself.

[ She turns sharply on her heel and starts to walk away. ]

I'm done with this. It's over, Matt.

[guardiandevil]

[He doesn't react, not outwardly. This isn't the time or place. Maybe when he's alone, in the privacy of his own room. Maybe then.]

You're wrong, Kate. This isn't ever going to be over.

[gevurah]

[ She tries to block out his voice and fails, so she storms away as quickly as she can. She bites her lip to refrain from saying anything in return. It's hard. Her heart feels heavy and a lump snags itself in her throat.

She's not a failure. She's not screwing up with Nill. Kate knows what she's doing.

A less than certain part of herself begins to question that, however. ]