14978/Spoilery Discussion

Spoilery Discussion
Date of Scene:	23 April 2023
Location:	China Basin, Old Gotham
Synopsis:	Steph and Dick meet to talk about Current Events
Cast of Characters:	Nightwing, Spoiler

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Nightwing has posed:

When the clouds hang low Gotham is like no other city in the world.

It's the skyline wrapped in fog and the wisps of vapor that lend that eerie feeling to the world when one is walking along the streets far below it in those valleys between the skyscrapers. Tonight there's a hint of rain, more like mist in the air that lights upon the surfaces of windows and vehicles, giving a diamond-like sheen to night in the halo of those street lights.

But high above upon the rooftops and the towers of the city? It's like a whole other world. Just the jutting spines of the skyscrapers, the rooftop gardens and platforms that seem to float in the air on a pillow of clouds, something surreal about it all.

Then you add a man in black perched on the edge of the roof, balanced on the balls of his feet with his arms resting on his knees and it seems so very picturesque. It's a tableau meant for introspection and thought. Which is why the young man settled there, blue irises hidden behind his domino mask, seems a bit lost in thought.

He swipes two fingers across the data display on his wrist, the digital time displayed with a slight flicker of light.

Spoiler has posed:
Nightwing isn't the only one out on patrol. The Spoiler is too. Not that this should be any kind of surprise. She was also asked to meet Nightwing up here, and she's late. She hates being late, but muggers are jerks.

The sound of a grapple gun hitting and catching rings out, and moments later, the Spoiler ascends, landing on her feet on the roof. Before she even says hi, she disentangles the grapple and spools it back in before she moves to stand next to the crouching Nightwing. She pulls her cape around herself tight, looking down at the crouching man.

"Sorry I'm late. You know how it is. Muggers."

Nightwing has posed:

It wasn't that late. Just a tick of the clock beyond the designated time. Yet the young man who had been raised in part by the Bat couldn't help but hear the voice of the elder vigilante in his head in that moment. It made him smirk slightly. At himself? Or perhaps the situation.

He looked up, the mask covering his eyes turning the beauty of that moment on the rooftop to just pure data. A thermographic display, a running datafeed of the police channel, and a few sub-windows that show a few of the cameras he had set up for a stakeout. After a moment he lifts a fingertip to the side of that mask and all of the enhanced measures wink off as the power goes down. He turns his head...

There she is in that moment. She'll see his smile. Just a ghost of a thing as he lifts a hand in a hint of a greeting. "Hey. Yeah, inconsiderate jerks that they are."

He eases off that wall that circles the rooftop, dropping with a faint thip-thap of his boots upon the tar-paper and gravel. He meets her gaze, irisless eyes holding her attention.

"Did some thinking. About what we last spoke about. Took a read on the temperature of some of the others."

Spoiler has posed:
Steph is quiet. She doesn't have all the direct mask feed like Dick does. Just the way she chose to design her costume. No big deal, it's all wrist mounted. Behind her mask, she smiles back at Dick, the expression lighting up her eyes, but otherwise hidden away.

"Can't live with 'em, would be out of a job without 'em," she says with a shrug re: muggers. She goes quiet again as he gets up and comes closer, her smile fading to an unreadable expression under her hood and mask.

"I'm guessing, hoping, they feel as we do?"

Nightwing has posed:

A single nod is given in answer to her question. No words at first. His head turns away, then he looks back and takes a breath, holds it. Then he says, "Whatever the meat of the matter is. However it turns out. We need to prepare for..." Nightwing rolls a shoulder slowly, exhaling that breath with a hint of tension that one can almost feel in the subtle inflection he places in the words.

"The worst. Then hopefully be glad if we don't need those preparations." His eyes meet hers again. "None of this is your responsibility. At most I might ask you to take an extra shift if it comes to it. But, we're taking steps. If there's a possibly cataclysmic security leak. You have to nullify the impact it can have."

He chews on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully, and she can likely tell that in his thoughts he's likely having another conversation, some monologue that she's only being given bits and pieces of. "That means insulating the damage that it can do. Moving resources around. Making sure that no matter what happens..."

He stops then, brow furrowing behind that mask and she'll see him frown as he shakes his head slightly. "That whatever happens, the war continues."

Spoiler has posed:
Steph is silent. Pensive as Dick starts to lay it out. This whole situation is terrifying and infuriating, and which is more prevalent changes by the day. She hates it, missing the days when Bruce was ... Bruce and not whatever, whoever he is now.

"I'm on your team in this, Dick. You know I'll do what needs to be done. I'll go above and beyond to make sure everything is put to right. Whatever that may be," she says gravely, glancing out over the city. "Whatever's going on ... Whatever it is, we need to fix it. Whether it's finding whatever hold that clown has over him, or...if he's really this broken...."

She looks up, meeting Dick's eyes. Hers do not waver. "Replacing him."

Nightwing has posed:

Those white eyelets give nothing back. Yet the unwavering gaze says enough. She can see the tension in the tendons of his jaw as his teeth grind slightly. "It's too early to talk about that."

He starts to step toward her, then past her, his shoulders turning just enough. He moves across the surface of that rooftop, boots almost silent with each step. There's a moment where he rolls his shoulder again, his jaw tightening before he turns and looks to her sidelong over that shoulder.

"Some are working on the big picture, aiming to unravel what needs to be unraveled. The rest of us..." He turns and looks past Spoiler, then lets his gaze fall back upon her heavily. "Are going to keep putting one foot in front of the other. We need to maintain. The criminal element can't get a whiff of this blood in the water."

There's a pause, then he exhales again and says. "We've got a run up being drawn. What vulnerabilities we have. What we'd have to change. Get our ducks in a row, and if it comes to it we flip the switch and turn it over. Might mean changes in our lives. But..."

He doesn't finish that sentence. She likely can herself.

Spoiler has posed:
"Nothing in this life is simple. We were taught, all of us, to be ready for anything. To prepare for any eventuality," she says with a shake of her head. "Never this. Never, ever this." Stephanie sighs, her eyes not leaving Nightwing as he moves and speaks. She knows what all of this is about, what it potentially means. How it could change everything.

She still thinks that will be better than what is.

"I can handle it. I'll work with Jason. He's not the type for the wheels within wheels plans like you are. Like Babs is. We'll pick up a lot more of the day to day while you two do the ...at this moment more important work."

Nightwing has posed:

A short nod is given, though Nightwing doesn't repeat their names, likely due to his thoughts on what it would already mean if the situation was 'the worst'. Yet he doesn't challenge her either. Instead he says, "I thought you should know, however. We're working on it."

Then there's a hint of a smile, just a ghost of one at the corner of his mouth. "I'm still hoping that maybe..." He shakes his head slightly, gaze slipping slightly to the side, then returning back to her, "This is a gambit of some kind. And we'll be there for the big reveal when it's all..."

Yet even he doesn't seem to entirely believe it as his words trail off. Instead he gives a nod. "Anyways. Gonna swing back by the Bowery. Got a few live feeds there monitoring that I need to catch up on and then once around the city before the morning."

He lifts a finger to the side of his mask and she can likely see the slight way it illuminates just a little more, the light at the edges of the mask brightening the skin tone faintly. Then he takes a moment and murmurs, "And you, how're you holding up?"

Spoiler has posed:
Steph is quiet. She knows all of these hopes. That this is a giant plan. A really dumb plan, but a plan. A part of her still wishes it, but her gut says otherwise. That something is truly wrong. That Bruce is damaged or compromised.It's a terrible thought to have, and yet...so much evidence.

At the question, Steph is quiet for a moment. "As well as I can be, given everything. I'm still doing my job. Still fighting the fight."

Nightwing has posed:
"That's all we can do."

Nightwing steps toward her and rests a hand on her shoulder, that black gauntlet giving a gentle squeeze as he meets her gaze. A slight smile is seen there, if only for a moment as if trying to let her know that she's not in it alone. Then a single firm nod is given. "We'll talk more later. Or maybe text me. I hear it's the cool thing kids are into these days." His lip twists up a little, that small attempt of humor given...
Then he's moving to the edge of the rooftop, planting a boot on the edge as he snaps the grapple-line to the wrist of his gauntlet. There's the SNAP-hiss of the line firing. He gives a small wave with his free hand, and then in the next moment he drops off into the foggy abyss beneath the clouds.