13456/Back in the Saddle

Back in the Saddle
Date of Scene:	07 June 2021
Location:	Barbara Gordon's Apartment, Clocktower
Synopsis:	June drops by to see Babs now that she's recovered, and asks a favor.
Cast of Characters:	Oracle, June Connor

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Oracle has posed:
Monday at mid day finds Barbara sitting in her command center hive. Myriad screens surround her chair and keyboard, most being large traditional LED displays while a few smaller ones are actually holographic and look quite cobbled together. The future has to begin with baby steps after all. Staring at the display in front of her, she types with the absent fury of a coder, fingers flying over a non-QWERTY style keyboard. She pauses only to adjust her glasses and sip at a glass of iced tea that sits well away from any electronics.

June Connor has posed:
    The front entry opens, no doubt alerting Babs within that someone entered. Showing about as much skin as usual, June's thin, almost scrawny looking frame comes into view on the camera. She wears an Insane Clown Posse halter top ending at her ribs. Her bare shoulders show off the Footprint tattoo on the left, and midriff and back showing off the winding dragon tattoo around her torso.
    The shredded blue denim shorts don't show any modesty, either, revealing the unsettling tattoo on her thigh of a demonic looking hand that appears to be tearing her skin open from the inside.
    Her knapsack dangles from her hand, and she tosses it carelessly onto the couch.
    "Babs, you here?" she calls out as she walks in, and true to form, heads straight for the fridge to check to see if anyone has stocked it with beer.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon doesn't look up, the alert tone having been that of a friendly, known, visitor. Once June is in the apartment Barbara finishes the string of code she was writing, gesturing to save and auto run a debugging script. Turning in her chair while adjusting her glasses again, she stands, "I'm here June." Taking her glass of tea she walks out to the living area. "How are you feeling?"

June Connor has posed:
    June is bent over, looking through the fridge as Babs comes in. There's the clinking of glass as she locates her quarry, and she pulls the bottle back out, shutting the door. She pulls her keys, which consist of just the keys for her access to the Birds resources, from her pocket, of course she has a bottle opener, and she cracks the seal with a hiss. "Eh, about the usual, considering I had to call Drake to rescue me this last time. Which means I had to hear him pine after why we should get back together and all that shit. He guilted me into it, I broke up with him..." she gives a tilt of her pierced right eyebrow. "Again." The skunkish musk of marijuana hits the air, most likely coming from her. "Other than that, just trying to not get evicted. Hard to make a living when you can't go mug criminals."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon doesn't protest the raiding of her drink supply as June gets one for herself. Listening as June recounts things, Barbara moves over to take a seat. "It doesn't sound like a healthy relationship, no. I'm proud of you for stying firm on it. It isn't an easy thing to do." A reassuring smile is offered then she tilts her head, "Not get evicted? June, if you need stability, I can get you a safe reliable place to stay. I haven't pushed it, but it can happen. Just let me know."

June Connor has posed:
    June shrugs. "It's more for his safety than mine," she says. "He's way too good for me, dumbass thinks he's gonna rescue me or something. Anyway, I think I pissed him off for good this time." She takes the bottle cap by its edges and thumps it at the trash can. It's very precise, but not hard enough top actually push open the top. It wedges in the crack for a moment, and then falls to the floor outside of it.
    "I didn't know if you were still gettin' dick from Dick," she comments crassly. "Didn't wanna ruin the romance," she comments. "I could always crash at the HQ, I guess, too."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon tilts her head, "I don't know that I'd agree with your perspective on him, but it is really your decision" she offers supportively. Or tries to be. She watches the bottle cap fail to disappear into the trash bin and sighs inwardly. Standing up, she sips her tea before walking over to pick the wayward cap up and properly dispose of it. Then the record scratch moment happens and June is shot a sharp, annoyed, look. Her tone is neutral as she replies, "I believe he is busy giving it elsewhere these days." She pauses to wash her hands then returns to her seat and drink. "So what happened? The fight you had to get Drake to help you with?"

June Connor has posed:
    June shrugs, not even offering a thank you for the disposal of the cap. Of course, a look at her place would indicate it might have stayed their for years if left up to her.
    "Oh, sorry," she offers in genuine apology as she hears about Dick. "We can hit the bar and get you a hook up later if you want." In June world, that's actually a gesture of caring, even if it may not be the most responsible of actions. "Well, I ran into a Foot Assassin," she explains the situation with another shrug and a sip of the beer. "Honestly, I think he might end up leaving them some day," she comments. "I got a death mark, This one thought he'd be better and bring me in to try to re-educate me. He's really drinkin' the kool-aid, though. He was chasin' me down, I thought I had the out, but asshole was better than me, no two ways about it. Drake had left me with an emergency 'if shit hits the fan' thing, I got the guy to press it as he lectured me about leaving the family," she says. "Of course Drake showed up with his Avengers' level entrance and all his bullshit, forced the assassin to retreat." In other words, she was hella lucky that the assassin didn't just do his job and finish her off.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon lets the topic of relationships drop as the topic shifts to June's encounter with the Foot Clan again. She listens with interest to the details of the attack. "Then we're going to have to get the death mark lifted from you. By force if not otherwise." She offers a thin smile to her attempt at humor." She sips her tea, "I'm glad to know that you were able to get backup. But you're also a Bird. Don't forget that. You can call for backup from our team at any time too." She looks to June meaningfully at that. It isn't just lipservice.

June Connor has posed:
    "Oh, I definitely would have," June says, "Just that, kinda in that situation, I was hogtied, couldn't do much, and the Foot guy decided to screw with the emergency beacon, so it was kinda what I had to work with, 'y'know? But you know, I'm sure Karai will be happy to talk it over with us. I'm sure she's not still pissed about you cucking her in her own home." She gives a wry grin around the bottleneck in appreciation of the joke. "So, you ain't with Dick anymore, so what you been doin' with all your free time? Child pedo busting? Drug busting? Bein' Batman's earpiece?"

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon looks amused at the reply. "The idea of calling for help is to do it before you actually need it, June. When possible." She then nods, "I'm sure Karai will see if my way. Eventually. So will Shredder. If not, they're going to be a lot poorer and without shoes for those tender feet."

She rolls her eyes at the attempt to bring up relationships again but lets it pass. "I've been helping upgrade the Gotham Library servers and network. Pet project. Got myself kidnapped by Deadpool and talked into helping him stop a serial killer chasing down redheads with green eyes. So. That was a thing."

June Connor has posed:
    It's no secret that there are few things that June is admittedly afraid of. Karai genuinely intimidates her, as her former boss, so to speak. But the Shredder? To her he may as well be an evil deity. "Yeah, don't get killed by the Shredder," June says, "I got enough dead friends on my hands because of him. Wait, Deadpool, the funny as shit nutcase Deadpool?" she asks, laughing. "I would have paid money to see that! If I woulda known I would have gotten green contacts. Fuck! You gotta tell me this shit sooner!" Of course, she's not a natural redhead, and at the moment, the half shaved head is streaked a red and blonde mix that screams for attention.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon smiles thinly, "I don't plan on dying any time soon. There are many ways I can get to Karai and Shredder without coming into contact with them. They just take time but everyone. You. Me, even though I'm good at hiding it. Everyone has a digital footprint. I will find them and they will come to regret trying to harm my friends and allies." A nod, "That Deadpool yes. It wasn't an ideal situation but he had cobbled together enough tech that I could send smoke signals back to my gear and use it for the heavy lifting. It would have taken months otherwise. He's certainly certifiable but he does appear to have a good heart. Most of the time."

June Connor has posed:
    "I don't give a damn about his heart," June says, "I would just wanna hear him say crazy shit," she admits. "And...save people of course. Speaking of digital footprint," she says, as if there was an ulterior purpose for her visit. "I been thinkin. I know it's like, not kosher and all. But you and Natasha, and Skye, and everybody talk about me goin' legit and stuff. I was wondering...how far would you go to help me do that?" A nice ambiguous set up.

Oracle has posed:
A very skeptical brow raise is offered in response to the question.

Barbara responds carefully, "That depends, June. To what level of assistance are you about to ask me, ask the Birds to go?" She thoughtfully swirls the ice in her nearly empty glass around as she regards June and waits for an answer she seems certain comes with some very long strings attatched.

June Connor has posed:
    "Well," there's a wrinkle of her nose that she has when she is about to ask for something she knows she really shouldn't. "So, you remember when I tried to get that job on the ocean a couple of years ago, the one where we were like, monitoring some weird ocean shit?" Yeah, the one where everyone but her died in an undersea explosion. She came back a little more rattled than normal from that.
    "I was thinkin', you know, that lady, she gave me a shot at like, legit stuff, even though I had a record. I guess because she couldn't find anyone else who was crazy enough that could do the job. But with the record and all, it's hard to get like...real work." She gives an eyebrow arch, as if she expects Babs knows where she's going with this. "If I had a clean record, it might be easier." Well, that and if she could /keep/ the clean record.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon listens and nods through the build up and the delivery pitch at the end. She teases the last swallow of tea from her glass before setting it down, the ice rattling lighty. "I thought you were going to ask me to put a hit out on someone for you. Or sell my soul to the devil - I can't, by the way. It's already been done" she quips. She looks to June, "I have no trouble at all building you a new life and record. But there are complications. There always are." She studies June for a moment in silence, "The biggest one is going to be whether or not you can keep that record clean or if you're going to keep getting into legal troubles. I can't give you an Infinite-Do-Over card. If we make this happen, you have to put in the work to make it succeed. If you aren't ready to commit to that, then it is probably going to be a waste of effort and time for everyone involved." She pauses for that to sink in. "Think it over. When you've decideed, let me know. I believe in second chances or you wouldn't be sitting here to begin with" she says with a smile.

June Connor has posed:
    "Wow," June says, a little surprised. "That was...surprisingly easier than I thought it would be," she confesses. "I thought you'd go all goodie two shoes and lecture me about how your dad is the commissioner, and all that shit. Yeah, I'm ready!" See how much she thought it over?

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon arches a brow. "June? I'm a vigilante. I try not to violate foundational laws. But we all break and enter. We all tamper with evidence. I'm a hacker with a number of targets on my back already for breaching any number of corporate and governmental systems. We do what Law Enforcement cannot. But we don't do it for our own gain. We do it to help. Never lose sight of that distinction. If we cross that line, we're truly criminals too."

June Connor has posed:
    It's always been a rather foggy line for June. She wasn't a 'good guy' with questionable motives when she joined the team. She was a bad guy with a desperate situation. In a lot of ways, she still is. She's no mastermind, and nobody with a plan to accomplish anything significant. She's not a leader, she's just a rebel. "Yeah, yeah," she acknowledges as if rote. "I know, we wanna get the real bad guys," she says. "I mean, how many crime rings have we taken down together, a lot, right? I get it. we're tryin' to be the good guys."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon nods cautiously. "We are the good guys. But we're not the examples we want others to follow. We get our hands dirtier because of the red tape that ties up many legal processes. Again, we do it with purpose." She sits back. "So if you really understand this. We can do it. Do you want a new name and identity or just your records expunged? The later won't stop a death mark as simply as the former, might."

June Connor has posed:
    "Yeah, well, I've had so many fake IDs, so it's one of those 'in plain sight things.'" June turns to show the reminder of the Foot tattoo on her shoulder that she never had removed. "Foot won't look for June Connor. They'd never expect me to actually go about with my real name. They usually will look for the aliases. Besides, I mean, my name has shit for teeth, but summer is the shit, and following May hasn't failed me yet."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon nods, almost smiling at the rationale. "Alright. I'll start working on it and will update you in a few days. I have little doubt there will be some deep scouring of the darker sides of the Internet to retrieve the last bits of data about you..." she says with a tease. "But it will be done." This time her tone is ironclad confident.

June Connor has posed:
    June smirks, "Okay," she says. "I know you know I've done some shit, so... uh, don't freak out. She finishes off the beer. "Anyway, if it's okay with you, I gotta crash here tonight. I think one of the pissants I stopped the other day saw my apartment. Nobody's in my old room, right?" she asks, heading up the stairs.