10045/Coventry Murders: We've Got Her

Coventry Murders: We've Got Her
Date of Scene:	15 November 2019
Location:	Barbara Gordon's Apartment, Clocktower
Synopsis:	Jason comes to the Clocktower with news about 'Mom'. Babs and Jason talk about their night jobs, family, relationships and Disney+ (it's only $6.99 for full access)
Cast of Characters:	Oracle, Red Hood
Tinyplot:	Coventry Murders

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Oracle has posed:
Babs is off tonight, which means she's just on her computer directing traffic instead of working the streets. It also means she's dressed more comfortable than usual, there are no work out pants or cargos, there is no armor plates or masks.. There is only bunny slippers, a colorful t-shirt with a rainbow and a middle finger, and Fraggle Rock pajama pants.

Music is playing quietly on hidden speakers and the clock face window is open to let in light from the Gotham moon, otherwise it's dark. Disney+ is playing Star Wars though... so that's a thing. Only $6.99 a month for unlimited access to all of your favorite shows and cartoons?

Babs should be sponsored.

There is no bra on the door.

Red Hood has posed:
It's definitely not a night off for the Red Hood, but then when is it ever? The guy barely slept and most of his waking hours were spent on the job.

As his 2026 Honda zooms into the garage it sets off the usual warnings as he brings the electric bike to a stop, and waved at one of the nearby cameras before pulling off his helmet and heading to the elevator.

A few moments later Jason's limping through the braless door (but he did think to check) and waving to Babs. "Catch you on a night off?" he asks checking out the PJ bottoms and slippers with a grin.

Oracle has posed:
Babs glances over at the proximity alarm and flips off the security on the elevator once she sees that it's Jason, smiling down from her perch on the loft when he enters the apartment proper, "Kind of. What happened to your leg?" Pointing down at his limp with the eraser end of a pencil she's been chewing on.

"I never actually get a night off.. I just get a night out of armor, which is relaxing, but you can bet your ass that if I can be in pajamas, I'm definitely going to be in pajamas." After one last check of monitors, she transfers everything to automation and routes it to her phone which she grabs on her way down the stairs.

The bunny ears floppity flop flop with each step.

Red Hood has posed:
"The benefits of working from home," Jason grins. "I'd try PJs in the Red Cave, but it's cold as fuck down there this time of year, that's what I get for picking an old subway station as a base because it looked cool." Of course more went into the choice than that, it was spacious, and thanks to caved in entrances and a crap ton of booby traps, relatively secure.

He leans up against a wall when he finds one with a bit of open space and looks down at the leg, "One of those demons was quicker than I thought. Good news though, those cops aren't demons just dirty, Lucifer put me onto the demon that was paying them. We had a little chat it was fun when the guy wasn't flinging me around by my leg."

Despite the pain, Jason can't help but smile at the floppity bunny ears as Babs comes down the steps. "We need to get Bruce a pair of those."

Oracle has posed:
"Yeah, should have got a multi million dollar Clocktower with a translucent clock face window overlooking the South harbor." Babs says with a glance in the direction of said big ass window and said great ass view. She's teasing, though. Hoping up and over the couch to drop down in a cushion with her legs crossed beneath her.

"Huh.. well, tell me you took backup?" Wondering after Jason's inclination to rush headlong into a thing and hit it with his helmet, if the bullets don't work. "Because that's all we need is one of those Demons possessing you... then what? How would we even /know the difference/?!"

This is all to cover real concern for his limping despite his grinning at her slippers or off handed comment about getting some from Bruce. "I think that train left the station when he started walking again. What we /do/ is get Diana some.. and tell her to give them to him-" She claps and opens her hands, "Bobs your uncle, Bruce is wearing Bunny slippers."

Red Hood has posed:
"I looked but apparently apparently some jerk bought the only one in town," Jason says with a grin to Babs and a glance out the window at that view, which was indeed pretty kick ass. "Oh well, 'Markovia Station' sounds all European and classy, so I've got that," he offers a shrug and a chuckle.

"Back... up? I know what those words mean but when you put them together like that they make no sense," Jason says as he pushes off the wall and makes his way over to the couch dropping down beside Babs with a groan. "I dunno, the demon would probably be nicer," he jokes. "Anyhow I'm fine guy just got the drop on me, yanked me off a landing by my leg before I blew out his knee and I put sixty-thousand volts into his face." He says it all like it was no big deal, which would be more convincing without the thread of tension from the pain in his voice.

There's still a grin for that plan, "Damn Babs, you're a scary woman," he chuckles. "That's sort of brilliant." Then there's a pause as the implications sink in. "They're not? Are they?" Jason had been all about the job when he was up in the mansion and while he knew Diana was around he hadn't had time to observe her and Bruce together to get any sort of vibe from them.

Oracle has posed:
Babs rolls her eyes, first at being called a jerk, then Jason's inability to link two words together and make another word!

A very important word, far as she's concerned.

"It's your leg." She muses playfully, nudging at his side with her elbow when he drops down beside her. "They sure do hate the fuck out of electricity... but I'm almost done with my EMP device. If it works, we wont have much problems from Moms horde when we go crashing her get together."

The last part... Babs shrugs, hands up, "I've seen them together a lot." Probably on cameras she's hacked and is watching like a weird watching Disney+ for original content viewable only through the streaming service. $6.99 gets you unlimited access. "Whatever, I hope so. He's... doing things.. that aren't in armor or spandex. I think this is a good move for him."

Red Hood has posed:
There's a laugh for that eyeroll, "What it's got a whole two syllables way too hard for a guy like me," says the guy with more than ten languages under his belt and survived the academic side of Bruce's training regimen.

Jason puts Bruce and Diana ahead of the demons for a moment, "You do? I mean if it's true, first, ew, second, it kind of pisses me off, I mean on one hand we're all making sacrifices and living this life 24/7 trying to cover for him and he's off macking on Wonder Woman?" he lets out a snort. "Let him make personal progress on his time, not while Dick is basically riding around in Bruce's skin trying to be him."

He sighs pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Anyhow, good you've got the EMP almost done, the guy gave up Mom's current location, she's been moving a lot so it won't be current for long, but she's at one of those corpse clearing houses for one of the big funeral home companies, Greenwood Inc. Pretty much the perfect stronghold for someone who can jump bodies."

Oracle has posed:
Babs tilts her head to the side and turns a little to look at Jason, "You realize that there's absolutely nothing Bruce could do that you'd agree with.. He keeps wearing the cowl, argh, Bruce is over baring, he takes the cowl off and tries to get a little trim? Bruce is making us do all his work for him while he's getting trim." There is definitely a mocking attempt to duplicate Jason's voice going on here, but she's no Mimic master like Damian.

"Dick is doing a good job and honestly, someone has to.. I certainly couldn't. I tried, you saw it..." She motions down at her boobs, "Everytime I showed up in the suit, people immediately looked at the bat signal with sausage eyes. It wasn't working as intended.. You could have, but wouldn't, Damian...." She just holds her hand straight out, which is surprisingly short while sitting on a couch.

Hand drops down to her knee when he explains where Mom is hiding out. "Why does that bother me more than anything she's done?" Super strange, "Ugh, we need to stop this thing before it gets completely out of hand."

Red Hood has posed:
Jason snorts at the mimicry. "I really don't sound like that do I?" he asks her, before he shakes his head. "And I'm really not /that/ bad, I can't help it if everything he does should be pissing you guys off more than it does." He huffs out a breath. "We'd all love to have some sort actual life, but that's not in the cards with our mission. Tried it, it doesn't work."

Though there's plenty of subtext there mostly it hadn't worked for /him/ and so why the hell should Bruce, the focus of all of Jason's anger, get to be happy?

"And I get it has to be Dick, though with this latest bullshit I'm halfway tempted to take up the cowl just to make Bruce get his ass in gear and take it from me."

There is a nod for the unsettling nature of the news, "Yeah creeps me out too, guess it's the idea of people sending their people out to be burried and them ending up being a demon's Uber." Another firmer nod follows, "Yeah, time to end this thing for sure, how long until the EMP is working?"

Oracle has posed:
"Speak for yourself, loser." Babs says with a snort, "I'm getting mine." She laughs at herself and rolls her eyes, scratching at the back of her neck into the mess of her red hair pulled into an even messier bun, "A lot that Bruce does pisses me off, sure.. but I'll start getting indignant when he starts being wrong.. I mean excess is one thing, sure, I get it, but..." She motions around.

"You think Gotham fixes itself? My dad is the Comissioner and I didn' go join the police academy, ya know what I'm saying?" She still nudges him. Of all the batlings, she gets along with Jason probably the best. Even when whole heartedly disagreeing with him!

"Well, if you ever want to fuck up date night, just grab the cowl and go prancing around the Narrows. Bruce will be back on the job so fast you'd think he developed time travel, but this isn't just about him... think about Diana? If they /are/ doing the dating thing, which I don't know... this is /good/.. and we're doing the work."

She's not ready to think about demon uber. That is burned into her brain all the same though. "EMP works /now/, it's just about the delivery system. I guess I could mount one in a van, but I'd have to directly access the power grid and it might cause a brownout.. unless I can miniturize the power source enough to make it portable too, that's really the part that's giving me a headache."

Red Hood has posed:
Babs gets a brotherly punch to the shoulder for calling him loser, nothing more than a weaponized fist bump, but the teasing does bring a smile to his face. "You are, /finally/," he teases back. "Did swing by Lux with Kate the other night, ask her to tell you about the floor show if she hasn't already," he says grinning. That's one name for what they'd witnessed through the window of Lucifer's private rooms anyhow.

"I know he's right about somethings, Gotham doesn't work without Batman, or without us, I'm just it would nice for the things that Bruce is wrong about to be us, all the time." Us being the Batlings though Jason would sooner die than refer to himself by that.

The bit about ruining date night earns a snort and a little bit of distant thoughtful look as if he was seriously considering it, "Don't really know her to think about her," he says of Diana, before he brings himself back to the moment instead of plans for cowls and chaos. "Anyhow agree to disagee? Except about the work, we are killing that for sure."

"We've got a relatively short window, so we may have to chance the brownout, that said, anything you need to get the power source working or is less a 'with what' issue than a 'how' issue?"

Oracle has posed:
Babs swats at the weaponized bro-tap of her shoulder with a smirk, "Bitch please, I was with Supergirl before Kate... Let me give you advise on how to score the ladies, son." She is not a gangster, but she gangster points at herself with both hands and smug faces for a half a second. "I got game like ESPN." She does not. She's got red hair and works out a lot.

"... no, she didn't, but she's going to because now I'm curious." Rubbing the back of her neck and looking a little embarassed at the mention of Kate telling her things.. it's kind of cute. Babs doesn't do cutesy either. Always been the strong woman for her own sake sort. "I'll ask."

Her hand flips her hair up off her neck, "Well we all know he's wrong about us, but that's besides the point.. or the /actual/ point. We're strong and we didn't get that way watching television and reading karate magazines.." She nudges at his side again, "You might not like his methods, but they clearly work. If we're killing the work, it's because he taught us how."

The final part, she leans her head back and nods. "I could get it hooked up fairly quickly, but it'll be obvious that we're hooking something up to the power grid. If they're watching, it'll draw them in to stop it like moths to flame..."

Red Hood has posed:
Jason turns and blinks, "Wait you and Supergirl were a thing?" he asks with a laugh and a shake of his head before he raises his hands and bows down. "You've definitely got more game than I do," he says though as with the earlier teasing it does actually seem to pull him out his funk. "And balls, not sure I'd date someone who could punch me to the moon."

Embarassed Babs, he almost wants to get out his phone and snap a picture, it's cute and good to see given the subject that caused it. See? Jason doesn't hate everyone's happiness, just Bruce's. He smirks at the expression, and nods, "Do," he says of asking her. "And how's it going with you two anyhow? Us guys with no game need to live vicariously through our friends that do."

"Yeah, yeah," he says of the nudge. "Bruce made us who we are," which definitely had lot of double meaning when it came to Jason. "And we're all awesome so what's the issue right?" he says giving way on the point though clearly not fully convinced of it.

He considers the options for the EMP. "Thaaat might be perfect," he says. "Kate and I learned from Lucifer that they can only jump to bodies that are nearby. If we start setting up the EMP outside where Mom's at, then we can draw them out and away from their cache of bodies."

Oracle has posed:
"We weren't a thing long." Babs says, looking down at her hands folded together in her lap, "But yeah.. kind of.. I think? I don't know man, I'm bad at this shit. I still don't know if Kate and me are a thing or a... I don't know." She shrugs sheepishly and gets embarassed all over again, but she seems to know that he's thinking crazy thoughts like whipping out a phone and points a dangerous warning finger in his direction.

"I'll publish your browser history on social media... try me. I've ruined peoples online reputation for out bidding me on Pajama pants.. I'll /end/ you - online." That last part is an important point for her joke not to sound like a legitimate threat. She's happy, which Babs... rarely is. Usually she's jaded and generally just over it all.

"No, I didn't say that. We made us who we are, he gave us the tools and training to use who we are as weapons.." Another nudge, while she rubs the red off her cheeks and slides fingers back into her hair. "You want to be mad at him, be mad at him, but at least give him credit where it's due, ya know? You don't want to be a hypocrite, Jacina... it looks bad on you." All teasing aside, "You're the one who keeps him on his toes, though.. so don't pull TOO many punches."

As for the body snatchers, Babs frowns. "Or we can burn the damn place down. Hard to body snatch a charred corpse."

Red Hood has posed:
Jason reaches out for Bab's shoulder again this time to clasp it, "Her loss," he assures her of the short time with Kara. He gives the shoulder a squeeze and lets go, "And ah, in that 'are we or aren't we' phase, yeah that's rough, but I dunno, now that I know you guys are a thing, definitely got a vibe off you two that this was more than bumping bits. And hey I think we're all really bad at this shit, so, you're in good company..."

He laughs when the threat is given "Wow, going nuclear off the bat," he says holding up his hands. "I surrender," he says before lowering them again. "What I was going to say while plotting to take your picture is you look happy Babs, like for real happy, it's a good look on you, enjoy the shit out of what you and Kate have, whatever it ends up being."

There's a warm chuckle at being called Jasina, "Alright, fiiine, he has done some good in our lives. There? Happy now? Still hate him but giving him his due props." There's a smile for the last bit though, "And don't worry, I won't."

"That works too, though we have to be careful who sees us do it, it's still a working business and 'Bats Burn Down Funeral Home' is a bad look for us."

Jason caring about PR? Maybe the demon really did get him.

Oracle has posed:
"Ehh.." Babs doesn't say it dismissive of what Jason is trying to say, clearly she appreciates it and smiles as much in response, but she shakes her head just once, "It was a mutual decision. It was nobodies loss.. and look at what came of it, right? I'm over here looking at silver linings and all that." Her hand lays atop his laying on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. "I like Kate. Hopefully it's not just bumping bits, but whatever it is, I dig it. And I am happy, for as long as I get to be happy.. You'd think that after all I'd been through, I'd try to do so more." That, too, is part of who they are.

There's a smirk at his surrender, "Wise decision, sir. I go directly for the throat in a war of internet footprints... Don't start none wont be none." Her hand falls back into her lap, accepting his relent with a nod. Fragile though it is! She'll take her victories where they come.

"Happy now." She says with a beaming smile and a sparkle to her jade green eyes behind those red framed glasses.

... a grin that fades. "Yeah, I guess... I can make it look like wiring, but people will probably get hurt, even if they are possessed by demons when it happens. Either way, we're about to crack some eggs to make an omelet.. it's going to be a messy kitchen when we're done."

Red Hood has posed:
"Ah," Jason says of the situation about Supergirl before blinking at Babs when she talks about seeing silver linings, he gives her hand a squeeze back and then moves his hand from her shoulder to her forehead. "You feeling okay?" he asks her with a grin.

The bit about seeking out happiness gets a nod, "We'd probably kick you out of the family if you did," he says with a smile. "That shit's just weird." Though there's a moment of consideration for her point.

The surrender is given with a laugh and a nod, "Yeah, fighting you on the net is like starting a land war in Asia, one of the classic blunders," he says sagely before laughing again. "And good, glad we got that cleared up," he says of the business with Bruce et al.

"Yeah, definitely going to be messy, I say we mix approaches her, we fit the equipment Dick found to pump vaporized holy water to the building's air suppy, while we set up the EMP and if we rig the building to burn incase it looks like the badguys are winning."

He looks to Babs to see what she thinks.

Oracle has posed:
Babs just grins and rolls her eyes after adjusting her glasses. Being happy feels strange to her, as it would any of them, but it hardly clouds her judgement. She's a weapon as much as any of them... maybe not as much so as Damian, but STILL... who is?

"Sounds good. Plan A, try to disconnect them from their hosts.. Plan B. burn their fucking hosts." She nods slowly, once, and glances at Jason pointedly. "Legit? We're fighting Demons in Gotham with holy water and fire... This is taking the Crusade to a whole literal level I never even considered considering."

There's a joke in there, but it's so laced in with seriousness that it may as well not be. This is well outside their wheelhouse... maybe not Dick's, anyways. Titans and all that, but still!

"Fifty bucks says Tim has a better plan."

Red Hood has posed:
Yeah, even Jason 'trained to be the better Batman' Todd can't touch Damian's singular focus on the job and honestly he wouldn't want to, he was fucked up enough as it was.

He smiles at that thought before he laughs darkly at the crusade business, "Yeah, this is /not/ what I thought I'd be doing when I got called back here, I thought we left this stuff for the teams with Gothy witch girls and alien princesses," and normally they would but it was happening in Gotham, their city, which made it a Batfamily problem. "Oh for the days when nut jobs playing dress up were our biggest problem."

Jason punches Bab's shoulder again. "Low blow Barbie, low blow," he chuckles and lifts himself off the couch, still favouring his left leg a bit. "I should probably get this taken care of back at base, and crash, think patrol is off the menu for the rest of the night. But it was good to talk, even if you were right entirely too much," a beat and a smile. "As always."

Oracle has posed:
Babs smirks and rubs her upper arm where Jason punched her shoulder, "Just because it's a low blow doesn't make it wrong!" Smirking all self rightiously at the compliments, even if sideways, and pushes up from her seat to wrap her arms around Jason. "If you need a place to stay, you know you can always crash here. I've got plenty of room and Alfred makes sure there's enough food to keep Charlie plump."

Her phone chirps and she bends down to scoop it, "Speak of nut jobs playing dress up and they shall appear..." Wiggling the device, she steps back over the cushions on her way towards the loft. "Need to get one of the Birds out to take a look into something... if you need beauty sleep, don't hesitate to pass out like the little Princess on my couch... but forewarning, I will put a wig on you."

She wont.

Just make up.

Red Hood has posed:
"I'm good shacking up with Kate," Jason says with a grin, since she'd offered first and all. "But maybe for tonight? My leg is rebelling at the thought of getting on my bike again."

There's a nod as Babs gets a call from one of the Birds, "Sure no problem," he says with an eye turned towards the couch, "I may just take that chance," he says as he flops back down gets comfortable searching for the remote.

"Hey you get Disney+ yet?" he asks as he searches with ideas of watching a little Star Wars before passing out and having whatever trick Babs had in mind inflicted on him. "Only $6.99 for full access," he adds.

Maybe the whole family should get in on that sponsorship.

Oracle has posed:
"Mind the bra on the door." Babs jokes down at Jason as he flops back on the couch. Besides the glow from the television, it's dark in the living area.... well, the television and the light pouring in through the window, but that adds it own long shadows. When Jason asks about Disney+, "Uhh yeah.." She says as if that's a given, "I've had it for years." 2027 and whatever. "But I've just started accessing the full catelog of available cartoons... including the archieved films like Little Mermaid and Dumbo. The best part is it's bundled with National Giographic, ESPN, and HULU... the all access package is just a wonderfully great savings."

Spokesperson for Disney+ over here.

"Also they have the unedited version of the Star Wars original trilogy, so..." Hands up, big shrug, "I may really like, Kate, but I'm in love with that streaming service." Pause, "I think she'll understand."