12014/And Then There Were Two

And Then There Were Two
Date of Scene:	17 August 2020
Location:	The Narrows, Burnley
Synopsis:	Batman consults Batgirl for her opinion on an earlier confrontation involving Red Robin and Sparrowhawk.
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Batgirl (Cain)

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Batman has posed:
    The dark figure of a man slices across the city skyline, silhouette barely noticeable in passing save for those small moments when it passes in front of the stars or the gleam of a streetlight. Just a tall black outline that disappears once it slips over the lip of a rooftop and then lights upon the surface, footsteps utterly silent as he walks over it.
    So recently he had been having words with Robin and the new Sparrowhawk, had observed them during their conflict with the Tong, and had taken the measure of the young vigilante that Tim Drake is sponsoring. His words to them had been few and cryptic, but his thoughts were many even as the grapple line whispers quietly as it retracts and he sets it on his belt with a faint click.
    And if from the shadows another silhouette should move to join him, he will not even break stride. Perhaps expecting the presence of another as he stops and leans forwards, resting a boot heavily on the small wall that separates this rooftop from the abyss. An elbow rests on his knee and his eyes narrow as he frowns. "What's your read on her?"

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
The backup had not been available for the Tongs. Thanks to the planning of the Batman. They had not all been in one location, after all. Thus, the dark figure who arrived to join Batman on the rooftop.

This Batgirl was not like the others. Her cowl had no opening to reveal the lower half of her face. Material had been sewn there, covering her skin completely. The stitching was bold and a little haphazard, making it even more frightening in some ways for those she confronted. It also let the criminals know this one didn't care to talk. The others were the ones who might ask questions, interrogate their foes. She would in her own special way, which was a tad more violent and a lot less wordy.

Not that she couldn't talk. She could, but she tended to use very few words when she did. Short, but not really sweet, was her modus operandi.

For the question, she brought up a hand and did a little waggle of it in the air, palm toward the ground. "Pulls strikes to not hurt." She glances over at him. "She's learning. Needs harder training."

Batman has posed:
    The Dark Knight's response is to nod slowly, features tightening as he frowns. In the depths of his thoughts he goes over the benefits and drawbacks to the fact that she did such, weighs them carefully. In some ways it is a good thing, that she held back. Though good in the way that might speak to her perhaps having a better life not on the streets... but helping some other way.
    For most everyone they would just see the man looking out across the Gotham skyline. But Cassandra... she can read him, his manner, and can tell that he is deep in thought, and likely can sense when he reaches a decision.
    The cowl turns slightly toward her, eyes narrowing slightly. "I want you to be one of the first to work with her. Don't coddle her, but don't let her get in over her head."
    Straightening up he turns away from the wall, folding his arms over his broad chest and causing his cape to flare and fall over his forearms. "But move fast, don't cripple yourself. Give her a sample of what the pace of a patrol can really be."
    That said he quirks an eyebrow, silently asking if she understands.

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
It is a very different world for this woman in the cowl. For most people, there is the obvious body language that can be read. A crossing of arms, a look to the side during a conversation. There are even those who can read micro-expressions, as they were called. The shifting of a muscle in a jaw, a tick that is almost invisible.

For Cassandra, there is so much more. Things that are invisible to most humans are like someone screaming for her.

She doesn't shirk from violence. It is part of who she is. What she is. She gives a nod at the direction from Batman. "Cave yet?" Since there are a lot of training things there they have done, timed runs that they have to perform. She still holds the record on most of those.

Batman has posed:
    "No." Batman seems to look past her, brow beetling and causing the mask to wrinkle slightly at his furrowed expression. He looks to the side, frowning as he exhales a steady breath that hints toward some aspect of exasperation for some reason. But not a heavily felt thing.
    He looks back to her, "Use one of the alternate Batcaves out in the field if needs be. Near the Basin."
    There's a pause then he adds, "Not yours." For whatever reason. Not the one that she uses at times as her 'home'.
    One hand lifts to rub at the stubble upon the side of his jaw, then he asks her. "What did you see in Robin's fighting?" Since she likely was able to watch him as well as her. As well as all of the goons at once, such was her skill level.

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
That earns the twisting of her mask, which almost mirrors the small smirk she has underneath it. Batgirl doesn't do the so-so thing with her hand again. She knows Red Robin is very, very good at what he does. He's one she respects. He's earned it in his time, first as Robin and now out on his 'own' so to speak. He was no longer Robin, now a hero in his own right.

Yet...

"Likes her. Watches." He can be distracted if Phoebe gets in trouble, can stop paying attention like he should potentially when they are in the field together. Yet the other side of the coin is he will make sure she can protect herself, handle herself, moreso because he doesn't want her hurt.

Batman has posed:
    "We all have our hurdles to overcome." Which might come the closest for Batman to voicing support in this matter. He looks back across the skyline and digs into his cloak, withdrawing the grapple line again. He lifts it and brings it up, taking aim at the corner of the Bank of Gotham office building, leveling it off, then nodding to her.
    "Such as when you block and counter with your right, you telegraph by raising your left ankle." As he says that in the same steady deadpan tone, anybody else might well think it was a stern admonishment. So grimly delivered.
    But Cassandra... she can see the slight smirk at the corner of his mouth that likely changes the entire tapestry of his meaning. But then before she can be too displeased he says, "Come on. We're behind schedule."
    And with that said there's the crack/hiss of the grapple line firing, the line uncoiling with a whisper of a whine then the clink of it seizing upon the distant building. One moment he nods to her. Then the next he's dropping off over the side and swinging across the way.

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
If she couldn't read him so well, Batgirl would've been very upset. She does not telegraph a thing! But, unlike some others, she can tell he is kidding even before that little uptick at the corner of his mouth.

As he fires, she leaps, free falling a moment as she reaches down to grab her own grapple, firing to the next building and feeling it catch. Her descent is arrested as she swings into an arc, actually passing him in the air. There is that hint of a smirk visible for him to see on her mask as she hits the rooftop, already retracting that first grapple and racing across the gravel covered roof. Just before she leaps, she says two words.

"Keep up."