3570/The Rescue

The Rescue
Date of Scene:	05 January 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Zinda and Spoiler meet in a Gotham alley
Cast of Characters:	Lady Blackhawk, Spoiler

---

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
    Having more latitude as Director of Blackhawk Freight means that Zinda can pretty much fly whatever she wants to wherever she wants to fly it. However, being the sort of person that she is, Zinda also helps out with the routine pilot duties as well.

    Having landed a loaded cargo plane at a small airport in New Jersey, she follows her pilot's instinct to seek good food and drink. Apparently her instincts are a bit rusty, because the woman finds herself in Gotham City after dark. The bar is good and the food is decent, however. So it's quite late when the blonde steps outside.

    Zinda is wearing her hair loose with a vintage leather flight jacket over a white tee. Jeans are tucked into black knee boots. Pausing out on the street, she looks around to get her bearings and debates calling a cab.

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown knows this is the kind of neighborhood where bad things happen. Okay, most neighborhoods in Gotham qualify that way. But Steph knows this one particularly well. Her father's gang used to frequent that very bar and Steph would sometimes have to try and drag him out late at night, soused to the gills and muttering under his breath. Not the most pleasant way to spend a school night when you're an eighth grader.

She's older now, more experienced and certainly a lot more dangerous as she crouches on a nearby rooftop, watching the blonde woman as she exits the bar. The vigilante girl narrows her eyes as she sees a pack of young men detach from the wall and start meandering Zinda's way.

"Hey, gold, you leavin' already? Night just gettin' started!" the leader calls, his arms smeared in low-grade tattoos that scream prison ink.

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Now Zinda may be... buzzed... but she's not drunk. At least not too drunk to recognize trouble when she sees it. The woman pulls out a cigarette, flicking a brass lighter to get it started while she checks out the pack of young toughs. Once she puffs a couple of times she takes a drag and exhales slowly.

"Honey, I -know- you ain't meanin' to start any -trouble- when you say the night's just gettin' started." the blonde drawls, her accent thick from the deep South. Reaching into her jacket, she puts the lighter and cigarette pack away. And when she pulls her hand out again she's gripping a black .45 automatic. Thumbing the safety, she smiles and adds. "Now why don't y'all just meander back across the street and give a lady some space?"

Spoiler has posed:
The men had been pushing forward, spreading out a bit in a menacing crescent, not quite encircling her properly but certainly presenting a formidable front. The leader raises his hands at the sight of the gun, making a placating gesture, "Whoa, whoa, it's not like that, we ain't lookin' to hurt nobody," he says.

"Just figured maybe you might be in the mood to party. I know me and the boys got ourselves awful worked up and you can't blame a buncha dudes for seein' a pretty face like yours and thinki--URK!"

He clutches at his throat as Spoiler leaps from the shadows and lands on the roof of a nearby car, the disc she threw into the punk's throat ricocheting off the ground. "Pretty sure the lady was clear. Move along, buttheads," she says, putting herself in a combat-ready stance that she -may- have copied from a video game.

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Zinda Blake's combat stance was learned in actual combat. Drawing the twin to the .45 she's holding, the blonde ducks into a shooter's crouch with both guns aimed. "Sugah, I *might* take you up on that if I thought you might stand a chance of keepin' up." Pause. "And if any of y'all were even old enough to get served."

"So consider this your last chance before we turn this street into the O.K. Corral. Move. Along." The appearance of the masked vigilante from the shadows certainly gets her attention. As well as a nod and a grin. Zinda hasn't fired yet, but she definitely looks both capable and willing.

Spoiler has posed:
The men certainly consider it. Hard men in Gotham don't make a habit of backing down and, were it just Spoiler alone, they might make a go of it. But the sight of the gun makes them wary enough to start slowly turning away.

"You girls be careful out there. Gotham's a rough kinda town," the leader says with a wink. "Maybe we'll be seein you again sometime," he says.

Spoiler hops down off the car, her hooded face giving away nothing. "If I see you again, jackhole, you'll be spitting out teeth pretty soon after," she says. YEAH.

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Zinda Blake slowly relaxes, keeping both guns out as the gang begins to back away. In response to his taunt she calls out. "If I wasn't a LADY I'd shoot you right in the arse!" And for a moment it looks like she's considering doing it anyway. As Spoiler hops down from the car, however, the blonde holsters both guns. Plucking the cigarette from her lips, she flicks the ash and exhales a stream of smoke.

"If you don't smoke, honey, then don't start. It's a nasty habit." she admits. "Zinda Blake. And you must be one of Gotham's good-guys. Or gals, if I heard the voice a-right."

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown watches warily as the men withdraw, slowly turning her attention back to the blonde as it seems the threat has finally abated.

"I don't make a habit of it," she says, although, in truth, she's probably smoked more than a few in her time. She kinds of goes back and forth with it, but she's currently trying to stay in shape a little better, "It's definitely bad for my cardio," she says.

"Spoiler," she says, by way of introduction, "I'm...well, I guess it's pretty obvious what I am."

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Zinda Blake smirks at that, nodding. "Yeah, I sorta guessed. Ordinarly I'd offer to buy you a drink, but I'm guessin' that's a bit of a problem with the mask." Evidently she has no issues with vigilantes, or at least with talking. "Much obliged for the help, all the same. I really would've hated to have to shoot one of those punks."

Taking the cigarette between her thumb and forefinger, she draws again and then flicks the ash while exhaling. "So how does that work, the whole 'cape by night' thing? Do y'all just lurk in the shadows waitin' for bad guys to be bad?"

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown adjusts her cape for a moment, her homemade costume perhaps not quite as slick looking up close as some of the more well-funded vigilante types, "I mean...yeah, kinda. Sometimes I have clues or tips on what's going down or know about something. But it's Gotham. There's usually something bad going on, somewhere, if you know where to look. And I know where to look," she says.

She doesn't add that she's technically not legally old enough to drink, in part because she doesn't really think that's even fair. Not all laws are created equal. "And yeah, shooting people in town tends to cause a bit of a ruckus. Even when you shoot at bad guys."

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Zinda nods to that, flashing a wide grin. "Not even in Gotham." she replies, on the subject of shooting people. "Tell you what, then. You do much flyin'? I work with a little aircraft company. You ever need a ride someplace, give me a call. It's on the house."

Reaching into her jacket again, Zinda pulls out a silver business card case and slides out a card. It has the WWII Blackhawk logo in the upper left with the words 'Blackhawk Freight - Zinda Blake, CEO' on the card. Below that is a New York address, a website, and a phone number.

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown takes the card and tries not to gawk at it too much, "Blackhawk? Wow, that's pretty cool. Did you get permission to license that? You might get some old veteran guys mad if you didn't. BUt that's awesome! I haven't, um, done much flying, but if I ever can, I'll definitely take you up on that, for sure!" she says.

In her enthusiasm, she probably sounds as young as she is, forgetting the mode of being the forbidden, mysterious vigilante and just being the eighteen year old that she is underneath.

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Zinda Blake flashes that grin again, and even chuckles softly. "Honey, you're *LOOKIN'* at the last surviving member of Blackhawk Squadron. I've even got the empty whiskey bottle to prove it." As if THAT would make sense. "I made ace in a stolen, repainted BF-109. Don't ask me to explain the wacky time-loop what futzed my personal timeline."

"As for the logo, thanks to some recent legal wrangling I now own exclusive rights to both the Blackhawk name and logo." Zinda shrugs, and that's when Steph might notice how *really* authentic some of the patches on her jacket look. "I own a few airplanes, too."

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown blinks for a moment behind her hood, "You're certainly in awfully good shape for someone who fought in World War II," she says. "You don't look like anybody's grandma, that's for darn sure," she adds.

She puts the card away in her costume and says, "I'm not sure when I'll need to fly anywhere, but that's definitely pretty neat. I'm not quite as, um...I'm pretty sure some of the other heroes around here have, like, money and stuff. They sure have really nice stuff, that's for sure. I'm kinda...on a shoestring budget," she says.

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Zinda Blake looks her over more closely, now, noting the costume. "Well my body ain't as old as it really should be. And no, I ain't gonna tell you how old I really am. Because I'm a Lady and that's my perogative." Wink. "Keep the card all the same. I won't say I'm exactly *loaded*, but money isn't high on my list of concerns. Might be able to expand your budget a tad."

"For that matter, what DO you spend your money on? Those fancy throwing-thingies you used to hit that guy with? Seems to me that once you get the mask and cape, it's all pretty much downhill from there."

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown sighs, "You'd be surprised. The...weapons are definitely a thing. Some people have, like, cars and stuff. I'm kind of saving up to get maybe a moped or, like, one of those Japanese speedbikes, but even those are more expensive than you'd think and I have to, y'know, eat and stuff. This doesn't actually pay anything and I'm not so low as to, like, rip off crooks. Because then I'm not really much better, y'know?"

"I make do, though."

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Zinda Blake definitely understands, having spent more than a few years as a poor, starving pilot scrimping by. "Honey, I've eaten plenty of Spam right outta' the can with a plastic spoon and washed it down with cheap beer." And yes, there's empathy in the blonde's expression.

"You've got plenty of moxie and your heart's in the right place. I like that about you. Tell you what. Take inventory, and you text me a shopping list. Won't promise I'll get EVERYTHING, especially a Japanese speedbike. I'll give you... two weeks. If I don't hear back from you by then, I may just come have to visit Gotham again. And start shootin' until somebody shows up to stop me."

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown is taken aback by the offer, "Well, I...gosh, that would be kind of amazing, um...well...sure, why not?" she says. She knows she should probably be wary of good things falling out of the sky, so to speak, but she's had plenty of bad in her time, so she figures maybe she's due a little good luck.

"I...do you...would you want anything from...me?" she says, "I mean, I would definitely, like, owe you super big time."

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Zinda Blake crushes out the cigarette against a steel lamp post, then field-strips it while they talk. Old habits. "Well I don't know anybody in Gotham, so that's a start. I like to know people in a lotta places, because ya' never know. And most of the folks I used to know just aren't around anymore."

Zinda looks thoughtful, then, and the smile becomes more knowing. "But yeah, you're a bright kid alright. I've been contacted by someone who goes by 'Oracle'. Now this Oracle-person sent a big blonde the size of Texas in a red cape to vouch for them, so I ain't gonna argue with credentials. But they're interested in me, so I gotta wonder why. You know more of the caped-crowd than I do. Any help, there?"

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie Brown nods, "Oracle's good people. I mean, I think? I don't really know them well, but they definitely...seem to know what they're doing," she says. "Better them than me, my computer skills don't go much farther than being able to check Instagram," she mutters.

"Operating in Gotham means Batman. I've mostly kind of, um, avoided the worst of that. I'm pretty sure he knows I exist, but I haven't gotten the shakedown, so to speak. Most of the people here work for him one way or another, I think."

Lady Blackhawk has posed:
Zinda Blake folds her arms and leans a shoulder against the lamp post, chuckling softly. "Honey, I consider it a good day when I can check e-mail on this here smartphone they gave me." she drawls. "But thanks for the tip on Oracle. I'll consider that a check mark on the 'favorable' side of the ledger. I ain't worried about Batman, personally. Don't really 'work' Gotham. I just fly planes."