bakerstreet | The TV Tropes Meme

"Well, you've got an advantage that I didn't in knowing what it feels like to live without any speed," Bart said, hoping she's able to focus on him and stay at his pace. "It's a bit like learning to estimate speed in driving without looking at the dash. Don't tap in unless you have something to do at speed."

Which was always harder to do than it sounded, since the Speed Force was in constant flux, wanting to be used.

She's focusing. It feels a little like the world's running just a touch too slow, but she can understand him. That's the important part.

(The finger tapping against her leg is going a little too fast to be normal, but hey, still progress.)

"Max had you meditate, right? What did he have you do?"

Bart took her hand and placed it against his wrist over the pulse. "He had me focus on stuff outside myself to find the pace it was going at. It's really easy to go faster, but you have to choose when to allow it. Not all of the energy you're burning is coming from the Speed Force."

If she didn't learn to take care of herself, she would have more problems. "It's like learning to eat. You'll be starving all the time, but you need to make sure you get enough protein and electrolytes. Carbs, of course, but that's really only if you know you're going to be at it a while. There's a method behind the pizza."

Focusing on things outside of herself is definitely something she can do. Tim suspects that all her practice in meditation is going to become even more useful.

She sighs. Eating correctly for a normal (albeit heavily athletic) human hasn't been her forte recently. This isn't going to be easy. "Right." Maybe she should be taking notes. It would give her hand something to do aside from rapid-tapping.

"I think Alfred was sharpening his IV needles," Bart said, trying to make a joke. She needs to think about that. "And I found out when I wasn't using my speed at all, I could eat like a normal teenager."

Which he realizes was still a lot of a food. "Carry workout bars or something if it's too hard to get a real meal in. But getting you to be able to stay slow is the first lesson. The one I hated Max for at the time. I almost never saw him use his speed except when he was out with me."

It is easier to focus on what he's saying when she's feeling his pulse. Of course, that's variable. It would probably be easier to just wear a watch.

"At least it worked," she says, with a rueful little twist to her smile. She remembers only too well what it was like to try to herd Bart back in his Impulse days.

"Eventually," Bart agreed. "I didn't really appreciate all he tried to show me until he was gone."

And unless he got his connection back, he'll never be able to see the old fossil again. Which hurt more than he wanted to admit right now.

"I think the big problem is not using the speed, more than using it. You get used to some things pretty quickly, but remember that speed-learning doesn't stick." He's an exception, but he doubts Tim will be.

Tim laces their fingers together and squeezes his hand. She has no desire to keep his connection to the Speed Force; it would feel like stealing from him, for one thing, although the current situation isn't really either of their faults. For another - well. Is she actually even welcome in Gotham like this?

"Why is that?" It doesn't seem like the speed at which you learn something ought to affect your memory of it.

Bart shrugged a little, but was glad the contact was helping her stay normal-speed. "It's just one of those things. Drives Iris crazy, because she keeps trying to cram for school."

He considered it, and hazarded a guess. "Maybe it's more that the time the initial connections are made just seems longer, and you can't really reinforce it enough. The brain is pretty weird, and the real difference between normal-speed and us is that we can act at the speed of conduction instead of waiting for every little bit to form the right chains. Maybe."

File that under theories to test before they go back to normal. It wouldn't have to be anything terribly elaborate. Something like reading a book and seeing how long the information is retained would work. (Would sleeping afterwards help? Hm. Something else to consider.)

Anyway.

"How are you feeling?"

"Wishing I at least got some of those mad ninja skills of yours in trade," Bart said, trying to make a joke of it. He would be fine, and he felt it was slightly more important to look after Tim than worry about his own issues.

"I just have to remember that I can't shift into high gear and make time stop. It's not like I use my speed for everything I do these days. Mostly I don't use more than I need."

Telling her it was like having a piece of himself missing was totally not on the agenda. They'd fix things soon enough, regardless.

"I could try teaching you."

After a second, she adds, with a slightly mischievous smirk: "Or I could ask B if he would." For the full experience, of course.

"Don't I have to steal the Robin suit for that?" Bart deadpanned.

"You don't get the Robin suit until after the training."

Obviously.

"Powers or not, I don't think B's going to reconsider his opinion of me any time soon."

"You're still easier to get along with than the current Robin."

Not that it's difficult.

"Yeah, well, apparently blood is more important than any of us thought," Bart said, shrugging a little. "And without my powers, there's not a chance in hell I could get the drop on the little shit."

"It's not trial by combat."

Well.

"Usually."

"I've seen far too many of your injuries, remember?" Bart said, but he was smiling.

"I'm not going out like this, and neither should you. It's compromising all our training."

"Those were from having the job, not getting it. The Demon Child would force it into trial by combat, though."

And did, basically. He's a charming little brother. "I hadn't planned on going out, anyway."

"Didn't Jason do that, too?" Bart had to ask. He did remember that time Tim nearly had her throat slit. "You and Dick are like the only ones who aren't terrifying."

Well, to him. The rest of the world could think whatever they wanted.

She winces. "That was... different." Less trial by combat, more... psychotically crazed vengeance.

And she might be a little too eager to adjust the direction of the conversation there. "I'm not terrifying?"

"Only sometimes. You haven't really been pulling the creepy for years, except when you forget and sneak up without meaning to. Or find the one shadow large enough to hide in." They'd become a team. It wasn't about scaring them anymore.

"You're just...Tim."

"Clearly, I need to work on my image."

Preferably, when she stops getting super-fast jitters.

"I prefer you when you're acting like a human being," Bart said, teasing. "Calm down, though. You need to stay with me."

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