4014/Spiders are gross.

Spiders are gross.
Date of Scene:	05 March 2018
Location:	Atlanta, Georgia
Synopsis:	Backscene: This scene takes place after the events on Superbowl Sunday. Batman and the Black Widow consult about the case while judging one another.
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Black Widow (Romanoff)

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Batman has posed:
    The Super Bowl had been saved. The stadium in Atlanta continued on, the people roaring and the crowd oblivious even as a wisp of greenish smoke rose from the cracked window that hides the closed off VIP boxed seats. Far below the football players were straining against each other as each team tried to inflict its will on its opponents. The steady roar and rumble of the crowd was reduced to a muted and distant hum when one was within the bowels of the stadium itself. Tall concrete walls stood a grey testament to man's ingenuity in architecture in creating these gigantic arenas. So large and sweeping that they put the ones in Rome to shame.
    But save for that ambient white noise of the crowd, that hallway was quiet. Only moments ago the Serpent Society had tried to commit their caper only to be put down in short order by the security forces that were present. Yet they had come dangerously close to their principal target. Close enough that one of those that had fought against them found himself distracted from the festivities and his attention entirely on the elevator that had carried the villainous crew... but also the long train of cargo carts that had served to hide most of them from view.
    The Dark Knight of Gotham City was there. One of his rare appearances outside of his chosen domain. Yet here the security forces, the police, they still knew enough to give him a wide berth even as the SHIELD response team kept a watchful eye from a respectable distance. They didn't stop him from investigating the crime scene. Nor did they bat an eye when he knelt beside one of those carts. But, to be fair, a few of them looked curious when he withdrew the small data pad that seemingly shone a bright blue light upon the cart itself as he takes some readings.
    Yet even now the Batman keeps his thoughts to himself. To most of them he is just a black silhouette, a long cape obscuring the figure of the man, distant and disconcerting.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    As promised, Natasha had escorted the winged woman out of the arena and into the parking lot, allowing the woman to leave unharmed. Then she returned to the scene up in the skybox and got to work.
    It took a little longer for the Black Widow to extricate herself from the VIP room. She was still in her assumed persona while there. No need to let the people within see. It had been hidden for a reason. Yet now as she traveled further into the complex, she quickly reached up and peeled off the high tech mask that had turned her into someone else. A moment later the wig follows. They are passed off to one of the SHIELD agents in the hall as she continued to the stairwell. The man was holding the wig like it was a living thing that might attack him as Natasha disappeared into the stairwell.
    A quick call on the radio let her know what she wanted.
    A few moments later, she arrived at the location where the Batman was being watched by the wary agents. Some were nervous. Others curious. At least two looked like they wanted to ask him for an autograph but were too scared to do so. A glance at the cowled figure and Natasha couldn't blame them. Unlike Captain America or Superman, there was something about him that just screamed to keep their distance.
    Natasha walked toward the dark figure, coming to a stop a few feet from him. She had rolled up the sleeves on that white shirt, allowing her wristbands to be visible now. She hadn't bothered to change though. To what purpose?
    "May I ask what you found?"

Batman has posed:
    "You can ask." The answer is given to her over his shoulder without his head turning. That rumble of a voice that seems to promise violence with a casual disregard to it has caused a double take by no few numbers of people, yet there is no sharpness to it. Not yet at least.
    He's still kneeling beside one of the carts, but then gains his full height with a smooth silent rise of stance. Then his head turns. Not enough to look at her, but perhaps to consider her reflection in the windshield of one of those vehicles. Those irisless white eyes narrow a touch, then the datapad closes with a click, the blue light fading instantly.
    He turns towards her, broad of shoulder, tall, but not as tall as some she's known. His arms are hidden beneath the lay of the cape, and the long shadows in this part of the hall so close to the elevator do nothing to reveal him further.
    He takes long enough before speaking again that she might imagine he has no intention of saying anything further. But whatever way he has of gauging her must have rendered something positive as he then murmurs. "They had inside accomplices. I'd say four. Men most likely. Graveyard shift security." He says this with a steady pacing, perhaps informing her because he thinks she might be able to take action on the information.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    At his response, which addresses her question but doesn't really answer it, Natasha's lips shift up into an amused smile. With this one, she is going to have to play it literal. He will use any and ever nuance against her. Technically, he answered her question. She may ask. Points for him.
    As he lets the time stretch out, she waits patiently. No rush. No hurry. No fidgeting or urging him to answer since he certainly knew what she meant with her question. That is one virtue she does have is patience. She can wait hours if necessary.
    As he stands, quite tall compared to her height, she looks him directly into this irisless lenses, letting him know he has her full attention even if she can't see the eyes behind there. Her body language is relaxed. She isn't intimidated by him, unlike some. Very few people do intimidate her, even when perhaps they should.
    At his revelation, she gives a terse nod. "I don't see how they could've gotten this far inside the security measures without it. You say graveyard? They waited a while for their attack then. Which is interesting because Luthor wsan't planned on coming to the Superbowl until last minute from my understanding. So that may mean he has a leak in his circle as well, who provided the information so they had time to setup."

Batman has posed:
    "Target of opportunity might be too much of a coincidence." He offers as a possibility even as he looks at the elevator. The Bat then looks back to her and then lifts his eyes as if looking past her. "The target could have been one of the other business tycoons present. Luthor as a late edition could have been viewed as an upgrade to their plan. Worth the risk."
    A small shake of his head is given as he turns and starts to walk away from the abandoned train of carts, moving towards the depths of the shattered elevator shaft and then down to where the elevator car itself fell. He lifts a fingertip to brush it along the side of the inner doors, a small tinge of rust falling dust-like from the metal.
    "This isn't high enough profile for the Avengers." He doesn't look at her as he speaks. "SHIELD already in place and countered." He then turns back to her, "Could be you're on Luthor's payroll." He floats that out there, perhaps to assuage some suspicions...
    Or perhaps just to see how she'll react.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    "Now you are just being rude," Natasha says with a soft laugh, not offended because she knows how the game is played. She's played it longer than this man has presumably been alive. "Fishing does not become you. It doesn't go with the outfit either." She trails along with him, as though they are old friends just having a chat.
    "I am pretty sure Luthor was the target all along. Not 100 percent but about 99. Simply because I was brought in by SHIELD to trail him while he was in Atlanta. They had received intel that he was the intended target of kidnappers or killers, but there was no information to determine who it was targetting him. So I was placed on surveillance duty with a SHIELD team on call here in the city should anything happen."
    She gives a bit of a shrug as she looks down the shaft to the remains of the elevator far below. Then she steps back and looks to him again. Being awfully forthcoming with information on her part.

Batman has posed:
    She's able to conjure forth from him a half-smirk, perhaps hidden in the lie of the shadows around them but conveyed as well through the subtle narrowing of his eyes. He steps past her and starts to walk down the hallway, though turns his head to the side to speak to her as he moves. Perhaps he assumes she is going to walk with him, but he speaks all the same as he moves. "Then it looks like you have things well in hand and I should just leave it to you." A small upturn is heard at the end of those words as if he might be asking a subtle question, or perhaps even making light of her.
    "Usually when I deal with your people it's through several degrees removed." He pauses to look across the way towards the wrecked VIP box, then back to her as he resumes his footsteps down the hall. "Interesting to see the work first hand."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    "You could," she murmurs in response to his query that isn't a query. She takes it as humor on his part. He may be making fun of SHIELD but she doesn't take it personally. She knows her particular skills are not the same as his. He is called a detective by many, perhaps one of the best if the rumors were true. She had read up, studied a bit, watched the footage of the Justice League from time to time in order to piece together her own thoughts on each of the members. This man she felt she understood more than the others. It was likely ego on her part to assume as much.
    "But I don't see why you should. By all means, I wouldn't mind the assisance with the case." Not we. This isn't her talking for her organization.
    "If you were willing to work with someone outside of your usual circles, that is." That sounds a little like a challenge by her tone as she flicks her emerald gaze back over at him, that smirk back.

Batman has posed:
    "Some of us don't have time to waste on flights of fancy." The Bat says that as he moves down the hallway even as he brings up a gauntlet to touch thumb and forefinger to two particular points on the small display screen. There's a faint glow and a flicker of motion before the light fades then he turns to look at her. "But I'll be curious to see what you dig up."
    Now that could be taken several different ways, those eyelets meeting her gaze as he gives a nod to her. "Have Agent May send the report and I'll review it." He's giving her orders now? The jerk.
    But then that ghost of a smirk reappears and he adds, "If your chops match your reputation then we'll see." He reaches the emergency stairwell entrance and pushes open the door with one hand, moving into the dark of that tall flight of steps. He reaches a hand to his hip revealing the belt around his narrow waist, a black device disconnecting from there with a click and a twist of his wrist.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    Agent May, huh? THere is a little tidbit of information she didn't have previously. Natasha doesn't show a reaction at all as she tucks it away for later.
    Shots fired on both sides. She challenged him. He fired right back at her with his own comments about the flights of fancy and to see what Natasha can dig up, as though her own skills are lacking. He is far more amusing than anyone gives him credit for. They always implied he was always somber and had no sense of humor. At. All. Natasha was finding him to be quite the opposite.
    As he removes the device, she glances at it openly, trying to determine what he is up to. Although she is speaking as she does so. "Actually, my reputation doesn't even begin to scratch the surface." She flicks her gaze to his eyes. "Much like your own."

Batman has posed:
    If she were able to see a little closer or were, peraps, taller... she might see the small readout displaying at first a simple word stating 'Standby' in red text only for that message to disappear and be replaced with green text declaring, 'ETA 1:12' and the numbers beginning to tick down. Then that arm is lowered to his side even as he brings the grapple gun up. A step back is taken, then there's a snap-hiss of compressed air as the line fires upwards, snaring around a support bar at one of the higher flights.
    "I'll be waiting for the intel, Agent Romanov." He says pointedly, meeting her gaze, and then the line snaps taut and yanks him upwards and into motion. The cape flares as he climbs upwards, silhouette disappearing into the dark above.