Clothed in our grief

Chapter Thirty Five

 
"She's just going to be angry with you." Bruce said, taking the glass filled maybe an inch or so of scotch and lifting it to his lips. Sitting in the dark black large chair in the cave that Tim was sitting in no more than a couple hours ago. Narrowed eyes, fixated on the blonde man before him. It's not often he lets someone into the batcave, but when he saw this man in Gotham? Yeah, it raised a bunch of questions. Even Bruce knows that where this man goes, only darkness follows. And That's a lot to admit, coming from Bruce.

"Nah. She's right, mate. Last time I saw her she was still a tiny thing. Up to my knees, it seemed. I'm no good." He replied, the bright orange hot flame lighting up the stubble on his face. Closing his eyes as he leaned towards the small flame from his silver zippo lighter, cigarette in his teeth.

Bruce only crinkled his eyes in annoyance, it's bad enough that Jason used to smoke in here. Thankfully, that's stopped. Only probably because Jason hasn't been to the cave in over a year.

"I don't believe that, John. I look at you and I see a man trying to do the right thing." His voice in return to his questionable friends statement was a mix between truthful and convincing. As if he was just trying to convince John  Constantine that abandoning his daughter was the right thing to do. That's definitely not what Bruce is trying to say, but under the circumstances? All he's saying is that he understands why John left his family. He doesn't approve of it, what he approves of? John trying to get back into his daughter's life. Now that the cost has dwindled down a bit, but it's to a point where  he's going to need to step in.

"Of course you do. That's what I want you to see." Inhaling the burning smoke past his lips, giving Bruce a side glance with dull and grey toned blue eyes before tirelessly exhaling. As if he was scoffing at Bruce's words, and personal opinions on his view of himself. John arched his back, a couple popping sounds echoed off of the cave. And John thought him being holed up in some motel or apartment was pretty lonely, or just dark.

"I'm not easily so manipulated." Bruce retorted in a warning tone, raising a thick eyebrow over crinkled and unamused blue eyes. It's one thing for Bruce to see John Constantine, in general. But it's another to see a woman covered in religious jewelry to be literally shoving him out of the door of a bookstore with a broom.

"Uh huh," John paused in his mumbling, took a look over to the edge of the cave where Bruce's biological test-tube-ninja-baby son was walking down the large steps. He knows all about Talia, he knew about Damian before Bruce even had the slightest clue. In all honesty? John thinks Talia's just a load of bull. He didn't think she was being serious about making a child in floor to ceiling sized test tube. 'Artificial womb', she called it. Bullshit, that's blurring the lines between science and playing god. And for John? He deals with things like that.

"Yeah, tell me about how it's not so easy to manipulate you," He mumbled, dragging out the cigarette as Damian walked on closer, Robin suit handing from one of his arms. He wore a long sleeve black shirt with the collar rising a little over his collar bones. Plain black pants, John couldn't tell if he was wearing black jeans or something else. He might have been wearing slacks. He seemed to roughly exhale through his nose as the living embodiment of how easily Bruce can be manipulated.

"Hey, despite the hard time I give you? You're a hero, A real one." John started, watching as Damian eyed him as he walked on past. God, that boy really did have Bruce's glare. Even worse? He has Talia's eyes. Bruce's glare with Talia's eyes? Yeah, he wishes he could unsee that.

"Not riddled with mistakes and wrongs, and shades of grey. I know ye've probably saved the world a bunch of times. Hell, I was with you for one of those times. What a thrill, gotta do it again sometime. I know I may not be standing here if it weren't for you or any of your friends up there on that rock. You know, the one orbiting our earth that the government doesn't know about?" As if by complimenting Bruce, he has to back it up with a jabbing question that could be taken as an insult.