2933/The Night Shift

The Night Shift
Date of Scene:	23 October 2017
Location:	Watchtower
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Wonder Woman

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Batman has posed:
    It is always night time on the Watch Tower, even when the sun gleams distantly on the horizon, the many banks of monitors display the darkness of space with a certain measure of serenity. But for the man in the dark cowl only one time zone usually matters, only one particular night that embraces his city with its broad wings. But it is far from the first evening that the grim man has found himself leaving behind the Bat Cave to make use of the equipment and sensors available to him on the great technological marvel of the satellite.
    The metal doors whisper open before him, his black silhouette stepping through as he lifts his head, gaze sweeping the room before he steps forwards. A few strides, purposeful, precise, that lead him towards the bank of computers and then his stern voice lifts, "Computer. Engage arrays forty-seven through sixty-eight, transfer displays to my station."
    An electronic voice lifts quietly, "Affirmative." Even as various displays spring to life, a cascade of data blurring into life over several monitors on waldo arms that curve to take up a place near the central observation kiosk.
    One gauntleted hand curls around the back of the chair and turns it, then with a sweep of his cape, Batman takes a seat before the array of information.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana used her jet to get here, the alien tech powered jet could land and approach the station without being detected, but she always announced herself to whomever was manning the comms on the station.

Once inside, Diana swept herself through the corridors and made to find where Batman was. She was dressed in her Amazonian armor, but she had a dark blue robe on over top of it, so only glimps of her armor could be seen down the split in the fron to fthe robe as she walked/moved about.

It didn't take her a terribly long amount of time to find him, and Diana was steadily getting better a navigating this place high up here in space.

When the doors to the room he was inside of whispered their way open again, Diana stood there, eyeing him. "High up in his perch... he watches." She said softly as she then started to walk slowly into the room with him.

"Am I disturbing you?" Diana would then ask in her Greek accented English.

Batman has posed:
    The voice is a low rumble that lifts and given to her over his shoulder, "Diana." Of course he knew it was her who had arrived, the systems giving some small acknowledgement to the docking and the like, but it was always a different thing entire to see the woman in person. Most couldn't read him, the body language of a man in an eternal poker game against the rest of the world, cards held close to his chest. But she might see the subtlest lift of his lip at the corner of his mouth.
    "No," The answer at first, given in that gruff tone. But to her credit he appends, "What I'm doing isn't time crucial." He offers that as if it was something better than that first answer. Beneath the cowl he furrows his brow, then touches the monitor and swipes to the side, sending the data to be collated. It all slips off of the displays and allows him the moment to turn towards her.
    And seeing her he gets a slightly more pronounced half-smile and then says, "It's good to see you." There, an admission of positive human contact. Alfred would be proud.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana would stalk up on his left side and come to a quiet halted stance about arms length away. The two of them hadn't seen each other since that day this past summer where he'd dropped a student off with her... without calling ahead or even e-mailing her about helping him take care of her, her being, Cassandra Cain.

"It is good to see you also." She said to him quietly, taking her eyes off of him then and putting them onto the computer displays that he was facing.

"I just got back from an interesting conversation with a man who claims there is a symbiote army secretly in production, somewhere in the Manhattan area..." She said all of this in a dry and soft tone. "He... was reluctant to share with me much more information than that. But if he's telling the truth... I thought you might want to hear it."

Batman has posed:
    Brow furrowing again, she can most likely see the narrowing of those irisless white eyelets as he turns away. The fingers of one gloved hand brush over the display again and he starts to bring up a few displays of anomalous incidents, disappearances, and psychiatric diagnoses. He begins to cross-reference and tells her sidelong, "I would."
    But a few of the displays come up with possible corresponding reports and he frowns, fingertip tapping on the datapad. He grimaces, then tells her. "Who did you hear it from? I'll try to arrange a meet." He pushes the display to the side and gains his feet. Always moving. Always active. It's almost impossible to imagine the man having time to sleep.
    But then he stops and looks to her, then asks. "I'd also like to hear your thoughts on Cassandra." His own opinion he holds to himself for now.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana would watch him as he turned away and replied to her and she just took a brief moment before sharing the name. "Carl Mach, is his name. Though he says his symbiote... which he demonstrated to me to prove it exists... goes by the name of 'Phage'." Diana gently shook he rhead right to left. "He did not seem hostile toward me, but... he also did not seem... to be in good health either. Almost as though he was in constant, consensual, pain."

Diana would then exhale and when Cassandra was brought up, she'd come to turn the other chair at the console to face Bruce's and she sat down on it, sitting straight with the cloak gathering around her, she faced him still.

"I have had to hire and release three tutors since you left her with me. I have asked her to come with me to many social scenarios and I have tried to introduce her to new hobbies... She took a shining to photography, but I am not sure if it has stuck." Diana sighed softly. "She idolizes you, Bruce." She used his name cause they were in the safest place they could be. "She only thinks of you."

Batman has posed:
    The Dark Knight Detective watches Diana, his gaze on her levelly. She can trust he instantly memorizes and stores the name for action and inquiry. If what the man has said to her, then it has to be addressed and dealt with. Another ball added into the juggling act of the man's multi-tasking mind. A small nod is given as he frowns marginally. "From what I understand of the process the melding of two psyches can be a hazardous situation."
    But then as Diana takes a seat he shifts gears and she can see the slight turn of the tension in his stance. Not quite the same 'work' focus, something else as his eyes remain steadily on her.
    The woman before him is one of the few people he takes such strong counsel from and pays it heed. The tendons in his jaw tense briefly, but he gives her a nod as he accepts her words. "She has had a difficult and narrow life. I wanted to... expose her to options. To the breadth of life in the world."
    Turning his head to the side he looks away, but then back to her and adds, "Thank you, Diana. I know it was an imposition upon you. Presumption. It is only due to the trust I hold in you that I asked this of you." That said he paces to the side, the cape faintly flaring as he moves. "She is a grown woman, however. I can only do the duty I owe her in showing her these things. Ultimately the decision is her own."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana would remain seated there with her back straight and her hands still beneath her robe on her knees where the armor of her boots were holding the robe up off of her thighs just a little.

"Bruce." She said to him. "Cassandra is eighteen years old on paper, but mentally... she's developed with a severe handicap. Not being able to read or write, and refusing to allow herself to feel comfortable enough to even openly communicate with spoken word... Its left her, in a poor state. I hired the best tutors that money could buy, and they were stonewalled by her iron will."

Diana gently shook her head side to side. "I have not given up on the young woman, I love her very much, but truly... I have come to the point where I think the only person on our planet that can get her to learn is you. She does everything you tell her to."

Batman has posed:
    It's rare that the Batman allows another to see puzzlement on his features. But she is allowed that brief glimpse, the normally unassailable manner of the man making the very small glimmer of confusion all the more profound. But it's rapidly replaced with resolve, resolution, even as a course of action declares itself to him.
    To her his response is a firm nod. "Alright. I'll make sure to play a stronger role in her life." He stops pacing before her, hands upon his hips as he meets her gaze. There's a moment where he takes in a breath and holds it, then shakes his head and looks away. "Thank you, Diana." He lifts a hand, then adds. "I just wanted to give her the chance to not be drawn into..." A look back around the room, "All of this."
    That said he turns back to the monitor as the data display blinks several times, one of his queries completing and offering up the notification. He touches the key with a fingertip and then begins to peruse the data. A sweep to the side and he sends it back collating. Turning back to her, "And you? How are you doing?"

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana showed a look of compassionate understanding when he said the 'all of this part' and she softly sighed. "I completely understand that too. But... I have come to think, that if she similar to anyone in this world... it is you, the same way you were when you were her age. Or at least, very similar." Diana would then show Batman a smile, if he were to make a larger effort with Cassandra, then that was all she wanted.

A momentary pause was had then before Diana would dip her chin a soft single nod. "I am well, otherwise. Now that the attacks have been thwarted and the damage the cities has begun its repairs... I am a lot better than I was a month ago. It has been... a strange month though."

Diana glanced then to the terminals once more before speaking again. "Which brings up another subject... though this one is more loosely a concern for you." She looked back to Batman then. "I met a... man... who was wearing a costume very similar to that of Kal's. But, his face and body were contorted, distorted... as though he'd gone through horrible surgical proceedures. He spoke in broken English as well. I told him to come to the Hall in Metropolis, soon, to meet with msyelf and Kal... But I am uncertain if he understood me clearly. He seemed, friendly, however. Exclaiming that he wanted to be a 'hero' repeatedly."

Batman has posed:
    His answer to her first words is a slow nod as he looks to the side, but then back to her. It is ever the challenge, taking these people under his wing, who sought him as some kind of authority. The Batman is the final authority in his city, that is how he must be perceived. But on some level he is still just a man. But at the remark on how similar they are he can't help but let a small sliver of a smirk show.
    "There is still alien ordinance in various cities. It will take some effort to deal with them. We should arrange something." He begins to turn back towards the monitor for a moment, but then stops himself. "A strange month, you mean something other than the alien invasion and barrage of inter-dimensional visitors." His lip twists again, the closest thing he comes to a joke, but there it is.
    Yet it's the tale of this strange Superman equivalent that gains his full attention. "Another Kryptonian?" He asks of her as he turns the chair back around to face her and retakes his seat, leaning forwards with his forearms upon his knees and the fingers of his gauntlets interlaced. "Or something else? Did he possess Kal's abilities?"

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana would evenly nod her head at the alien ordinance part. "Containment, removal, clean disposal..." She softly said in regards to it. "Eager to help with any and all of that." She'd add before she heard him move on to the subject of the estranged doppleganger.

"Yes." She said. "He apparently possessed all of Kal's abilities, to what measure? I am not sure. I met him when there was a rogue Parademon still hiding in a drainage pipe next to the big pond in Central Park. He helped me fight the beast and thusly showed me the powers in-use. But..." Diana softly sighed and shook her head. "I do not think that he was a Kryptonian, it felt... like he was something else. Maybe I am wrong though. Hopefully he shows himself to us again. Soon."

Batman has posed:
    Turning his head to the side, she can tell when he accepts the weight of things upon his shoulders, the tension seeming to grow heavy upon him as his features twist slightly beneath that cowl, strong jawline growing all the more stern. He shakes his head and then looks back towards her, "You do realize what they used to do to messengers with bad tidings?"
    It's a light chiding, but she of most people has probably gained a grip on what passes for a sense of humor from the Dark Knight. It tends to, like most things about him, curve towards the dark. But as quick as that small rejoinder was offered he straightens up, taking a deep breath and frowning as he touches thumb and forefinger to the curve of his nose beneath the mask. A momentary sign of fatigue but little more. Then he turns back towards the monitor.
    "Have you spoken to Kal about this being? Perhaps he has some insight, or some..."
    There's a pause then, his words faltering as do the few keystrokes he had been putting into the computer system. Something occurring to him... but then dismissed as he shakes his head and finishes the data string.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana got his humor about as well as anyone could and she afforded him a small and brief smile/smirk before she lifted a hand up out from beneath her robe and set it down on the console's edge on her left side. "I am not trying to drown you in bad tidings, Bruce." She said. "I simply have trouble getting ahold of you... and Superman, so I am trying to keep you in the loop."

She'd glance at the monitors then and continue. "And along those same lines... No, I have not had a chance to tell Kal because... he has been completely unreachable. I am not certain if the fighting last month has caused him to fall into one of his seperation moods or not, perhaps he is simply too busy trying to live his life in a place of peace... but..."

Diana's eyes returned to Batman then. "I had hoped that if you knew, then if you saw him before me, you could relay the information. I feel it should be something that intrigued him enough to look into it. I know that if it were a copy of me... I would certainly be looking into it." Which had already happened, in the form of Donna Troy, her mirror-twin sister she had reunited with.

Batman has posed:
    Fingertips tap on the data pad and he frowns. But then he nods and looks aside towards Diana. "I'll try and contact him." A small shake of his head is given as he takes another deep breath, then closes the monitor display with a flick of another button. He looks towards her for a time, then he says levelly, "Diana. I am aware of your efforts. To keep things going, to keep an eye on everything, and to keep this group of like-minded individuals together. I know that both Kal and myself have fallen at times into our own small corners of the world when we can. But it has been yourself that has kept us vigilant."
    So he then tells her, "Thank you." He seems on the edge of adding a few more words, but then seems to feel that those two offers enough of what he should say.
    He looks to the side, but then back to her. "In Gotham things are progressing. I'm handling much of it, but the more I learn, the more I realize that I miss that much more. Nightwing..."
    He grimaces slightly, but the last thing that is needed her is a laundry list of what he is dealing with. So instead he just says, "In any case. It is appreciated."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana would listen to him as he said these things and when they were out there, they earned a large warm smile across her red painted lips. The words he said were far nicer than some he'd said to her earlier this year, she knew that Batman was under a constant level of stress and that it made his mood wildly shift directions from one meeting to the next.

"Bruce." She started. "When I left my home so long ago, I set out to help the world... every corner of it that I could possibly reach. I wanted to fix all the wrongs, I wanted to save all the people and make their lives... Better." She'd gently lower her pointed chin in a singular nod. "Seeing the positive effects of this are all the thanks I need. The smiles that are on the faces of those who I help and those who simply, enjoy what I am trying to do."

Diana would then lean forward toward him just a litlte and her voice grew a touch softer. "But, hearing you say it something I will never turn down." She teased him, emphasizing the tease with a quick flashed grin.

When she straightened up again she returned her hand to her lap and her robe fell over her leg on that side again. "You are one of the most remarkable human beings I have ever seen in my entire lifetime - and it has been a long life time, Bruce - but I want you to know that I am here for you, to help you as much as anyone else. The same is for Kal and all of our League members."

Diana would nod softly once, firmly. "We are a team. We are a family." Her confidence was as strong as it ever was.

Batman has posed:
    It is always hard to read a man behind a mask. No insight into his soul through those irisless eyes. No easy way to gauge the tension in his features. And that jaw is firm, with the lips a thin line as he listens to her. But when she offers those words of solidarity and shared acceptance of this great burden that they, all of them in the League, share... then he lowers his head slightly.
    No word comes easily bidden. Nothing is offered even to that gentle teasing, though he is aware of it and the tone. But at the last he will look up at her. Inscrutable. Unassailable. The Batman before her gives her no emotional key to work off of. But then he gains his feet. A step carries him away from her, but then he pauses and she'll feel his hand upon her shoulder. Just a faint pressure and acknowledgement of the burden they all share.
    Then he finally says, "I have to go to work." And that is all he offers in response to her words. But chances are... he heard them and he carries with them. Even as the doors close behind him. And a long way after that.