15043/Probabilities and Causalities

Probabilities and Causalities
Date of Scene:	06 May 2023
Location:	Thompkins' Clinic
Synopsis:	The Batman manifests to Skye in the wake of her heart to heart with-- and huge gamble on-- Rose Wilson.
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Quake

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Batman has posed:
Records are a strange and fungible thing, despite their allegedly intended permanency and completeness. A nebulous thing. A Schrodinger's joke waiting to happen. It all comes down to who's keeping them. In the exchange of the Bats, the Birds, and the Wayward Assassin, well... /SHIELD/ may not have records. Others might.

"One hell of a gamble." A low rumble observes from behind Skye, tucked in a dimly lit corner of the simple clinic's surrounds. This late, there's not much of anyone else around; Leslie sometimes avoids sticking her own beak in. Sometimes. How did the Dark Knight get there? How much did he see, or hear? A magician never reveals his secrets. "Slade's done a thorough job honing that one to be the same kind of weapon he is." The way Batman says it, it's clear that is NOT a compliment; whatever skill either may possess.

On the gamble, though-- the jury's out. It may be easy to read derision or disapproval in the Caped Crusader's immediate notes-- but it is what it is. The cape hangs over his shoulders, largely obscuring his form, but his posture is unthreatening; one click of the dial from actually relaxed, even.

Quake has posed:
It figures. Batman.

Sure SHIELD wouldn't know of it (unless she let Fury know). The hospital wouldn't have any record either. But to hackers - especially ones who knew DarkSky - they might know.

Batman was an odd one. Possibly Babs had given him a head's up. Maybe he was better than she thought. Not as good as she was, but then again, she wasn't worried about these records. The most that people, hackers, would question would be: Why? And possibly Who?

"Well, well, well." Skye turned around. "It's taken you enough time to finally meet me."

Yes, Skye was sassy at the very least. Sarcastic at best.

Batman has posed:
It's a safe bet Barbara didn't learn the code ninjutsu that made her the Oracle at college. Every Robin, be they actual or metaphorical Robins, eventually outshine the Dark Knight in some regard or another; at least, that's the goal. Maybe also an outcome he sometimes resents, depending who and when one asks. Regardless, in such things the best seldom leave fingerprints.

"Less risk to everyone involved." Initially, Batman answers sarcastic deflection with stoic deflection. A beat later, he quietly appends, "Though you've been neck deep long enough." Indicting her lifestyle-- or just acknowledging the danger inherent therein-- seems to be as close as the Dark Knight is going to get to apologizing for anything, just now.

That cowled gaze turns from Skye towards the door beyond, then the emotionless eyes shift back to her, evenly. "Going with your gut, or do you really expect her to shake off the conditioning and do the right thing?" Could go either way, to his eye. It's a tenuous, unpleasant ledge on which to lurk; even for the Bat.

Quake has posed:
Skye shrugs her shoulders as she took in a shaky breath. "It's a gamble. I don't know? She reminds me of who I was when I started out with SHIELD. I was so fucked up. Pushing away everyone. May finally said to me.. 'Go'. She would figure out something to do about my pending prison sentence. I was free.. and it was all that I needed to move that last little bit.."

A furrow marked her brow.

"If I have made a mistake, then I have turned a potential assassin out there. Frankly, this is the first time I made such a decision . Normally I hack. Not too many variables that are unknown." Unlike a human being. "And if I have made a mistake?"

Batman has posed:
"But you didn't go." At least, in so far as survives in the Batman's records on such rifts. That's the secret of prep time-- come prepped as often as one can, by default. "And you've been fighting with people who know the weight of these things a long time now." Just because he isn't hands on with every member of their little network doesn't mean the Dark Knight never hears Things.

"You wouldn't be here if they didn't trust you to make the call." It's another thing that the Bat seems to feel neither positively or negatively about-- it just is. "And she wouldn't have been here if I didn't hope one of you could get through to her." If anyone can... well. This seemed like a safe bet. As opposed to some others-- but it's one he was complicit in, wasn't it?

"It's just a lot harder when the only bet you have involves other people's lives." The Dark Knight's gaze sweeps the room and drops as he pushes smoothly off the wall, and takes several shrouded steps forward.

Quake has posed:
Oh, that made her laugh quietly.

"It's easier to make decisions that only involve you. This one?" Skye shakes her head. "Fury told me I would need to hone this sense of mine. He believes in me. But, damn, the difference between suspecting you might be able to take the chance, and doing it?"

"When does it become easy? I've been contemplating now that she's gone, it never becomes easy. Every time is like the first time, isn't it?"

Skye makes her voice soft then, "No. I stayed. The thought a stranger could put her trust in me, regardless of if I trusted her was so alien to me. And it changed me for the better. I hated her, and Fury, and a whole bunch of people if you asked me. I wasn't really to not hate them. But hate is the opposite side of the coin to love. Or like. Whatever."

"Let's hope?"

Batman has posed:
"If it's an easy call, you're not equipped to be making it." Batman asserts simply. For such a large fellow, in such an expansive cape, he does a remarkably graceful job skirting around Skye towards that fateful door. "The opposite of love is indifference." It's a deceptively simple assertion, as well.

"Hatred is just focused rage. Anger rarely if ever exists in a vacuum; the key is understanding why someone is angry." Maybe they've been abandoned by everyone who was supposed to care for and love them, and any connection is risky and suspect. Maybe they're overwhelmed by grief for the love and connections they've lost, and blinded by wrath on those responsible. It always runs the gamut; and in Gotham more than most.

The door opens quietly, and a sleek, armored black hypercar idles outside; almost as quietly. Contrary to its ominous entrance in his fight with Rose, the batmobile now runs quiet, most of its engine output cut entirely; its afterburning turbofan silent.

"Let's hope." Batman agrees, the cockpit to the car sliding open to admit him as he stalks out of the familiar clinic in a familiar, downtrodden stretch of Gotham City.