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[VIDEO]

[Hank's looking a little more haggard than usual when he makes this post. He's tired and fucking wore out from a long stretch of just being perpetually pissed and sad. And goddammit, he wants his hope back, but it's been sliding.]

[He's still fuckin' trying, though.]

[He positions the phone so it's showing an old-timeyish looking Detective's office. We're talking he went for the Sam Spade aesthetic. He plants himself in a desk seat.]

So, I know I just fuckin' talked about getting a promotion. But I had some things go wrong with my last case. [Some big things. People kept going missing, for one.] Connor got assaulted by a decorated officer. And while he's getting what's due uh... I don't know. I figured it'd be better if I got him out of there while he was recovering emotionally. And this fuckin' job would require less walking.

[Those are his excuses? Real reason number one? Connor can't understand all those extra languages at the moment. Real reason number two? Being in the middle of the police station when his year runs up doesn't sound like the best plan. And for some people? Seems like it's not taking a year.]

[He sure as shit would like to stop losing fucking friends. Thanks.]

[Hank turns himself in his chair.] This is my new private detective's office. So now I get to take pictures for paranoid fuckin' people looking for reasons for divorce. I'm really goddamn excited about that. [He smears his hand down his face, then scratches his beard.]

But uh. It was time I said good-bye to the job. [He'd always said this was his last chance to be a cop, and here it is. But damn if the heaviness of that loss isn't weighing on him too.]

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[Like fuck he's sorry! But Hank's not mad, and he's immediately serious at the mention of Morbius.]

I was a pretty shit friend. I just... fuckin' fell out of contact for a while. Had a bad feeling but I really should have followed through.

[The helplessness is a bitch. There's nothing he could have done even if he did know.]

Pisses me off that my blood might have somehow contributed to what he made out there. I mean, I hate to say this... I wanna reach him, I wanna try and see if I can help him. That first. But honestly if we can't, we might have to go 'Of Mice and Men' here.

[His friend, the guy he liked, wouldn't want to make a genocidal plague. Hank's pretty sure that's what the Head's going to use him for. But his distaste for the idea weighs on those haggard features, and the tone of his deep voice almost visibly slumps along with his posture.]

Don’t blame yourself, Hank. You didn’t do this to him.

[there’s a tightening of his jaw that might suggest jason’s thoughts are much the same as hank’s, though. he was morbius’ roommate, they were sharing a living space. if anyone should’ve known something was wrong sooner, it should’ve been him.

nothing he can do about it now, except make the machines pay. good thing he’s got some experience with revenge.]

You got any leads about where you can reach him? Or how. I dunno if I can be too much help - I’m not great at the kinda negotiation you’d be looking for - but if you need some muscle, I can at least do that.

I don't know. I don't particularly wanna arrange a meet-up over a network. I'm sure that'd not attract any fucking attention.

[He's gotta think hard on it.]

I don't even know if he'd do any of the stuff that he used to. He seems like an entirely new person and I don't know what the douchey fuckface he turned into likes.

Sorry we didn't get MaMa, though. We'll get her eventually. [But a horrible drug dealer has to take a backseat to all of them dying. If they should happen across her along the way? He'll happily reap all the benefits of having done it.]

I could always try tailing him. I know I don’t look it, but I can be pretty stealthy when I wanna be. And he’s probably gotta leave the hospital sometime.

[probably. jason frowns lightly, rubbing his chin while he ponders possibilities.]

I could just go visit him. Say I’m there to take him up on that offer he made, poof him out when he least expects it. I’m s’posed to be able to take a passenger along with me, unless the tattoo place completely lied about what they were selling me.

[right. mama, the infamous drug pusher of dualis. jason hasn’t been quite as diligent about tracking her down as he could be, but there has been a lot happening in this city. and she doesn’t seem to be going anywhere just yet.]

Hey, I haven’t given up on finding her. It’s just taking me a while to find the right connections. Back in Gotham, I already knew who was running which parts of the drug trade, but I’d also lived there my whole life.

I'd appreciate that. I know the Head's trying to pay attention to us both. You're better at stealth than me.

[Being fucking Batman trained, since he's dealing with people who know Batman because Batman is fucking Batmanning around for real in some goddamn universe.]

Okay, so... Apparently, she had this guy working for her. Used to be with the Malakye. Maybe he went back after she went into hiding. They were the family Vergil led.

This fucker is an information broker and bookkeeper. He has a ton of blackmail material to get his way. Including on people that were working against the Head.

If we find him? We might find a lot more than MaMa.

Sounds exactly like my favorite kinda scumbag, [he says, nodding.] If he’s got all that information, he’s probably got his fingers everywhere - which means he’s probably dipped a few places where he shouldn’t. Guys like that always want more than they can chew.

[which means he’s likely to have enemies, and that’s something jason can use. maybe he can even pull some kind of ruse, pose as someone with information to sell in order to draw the guy out.]

You got a file on this guy? Maybe one of those fancy boards with all your maps and photos taped up that I can look at?

[why yes, jason is a smartass. in other news, water is wet.]

Yeah, but I don't keep it here. And it's not about him. [He jokes idly, even if the statement is true. That bulletin board at Rick's is a labor of insanity.]

He's not worth that much trouble, but-

[Hank opens one of his desk drawers. He pulls out what info he got away with leaving with on MaMa's case, because even with clone oppression? He couldn't let it stand.]

[He gives a file to Jason, complete with a surveillance photo of the man smug and smirking at someone as they speak outside of a building.]

Here's what we got. One of MaMa's assassins filled us in before she went into hiding. Didn't see her up on the execution block, so I'm guessing that she hid pretty well.