4799/When the Bat's Away

When the Bat's Away
Date of Scene:	03 July 2018
Location:	Batcave, Gotham City
Synopsis:	Casssandra's slacking on her times. Nightwing helps her figure out what's in her head that is throwing her off.
Cast of Characters:	Nightwing, Batgirl (Cain)

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Nightwing has posed:
    The Batman is a harsh taskmaster and his training regimen is legendary. It is a climbing pyramid of night unto insurmountable times that demand the entirety of the focus of whomever is attempting to ascend them. It doesn't help that the waypoints and the obstacles often changed, flashing up on the HUD of the Bat family when they're running it.
    Last week it was an elaborate series of grapple line shots and swinging movement into new positions. This week it's a mix of that with some parkour across the generator housings, gliding over the lake far below, and then overcoming a quartet of whirling defense bots that are programmed to simulate attackers similar to those of several prominent ninja clans.
    All told it is almost impossible for most of the bat clan. But when Cassandra Cain darts across the finish line of the last waypoint, that happens to end near the Batcomputer where Dick Grayson sits on the edge of the railing, his feet dangling and a stop watch in his hand... it clicks and he shakes his head.
    "Still three tenths of a second down from your last time. I know you can get that back down."

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    As she skids to a stop, Batgirl frowns behind her mask. A second later, she is reaching up and detaching the cowl, pulling it all off and the frown remains there on her expressive face. She doesn't like not being able to match her time.
    Most of the Bat Crew wouldn't be able to do the course in that time. Many would find it impossible. Perhaps one or two could match her. So the fact her times are down from her usual?
    She runs a hand through her dark hair, pushing the mass of black back from her face as her forehead furrows up, showing her concentration. What is wrong with her? Nothing strange of late. Same things they always deal with and face. Then she thinks back to a recent encounter. An interrupted mugging. She'd filed a report on it, of course. But something about the entire incident didn't make sense still for her brain. The movements of the opponent had been strange. She had given a blood sample to Batman to analyze but it had no match to any of the known criminal elements. Yet, there had been some sort of animal DNA that it was similar to.
    Did that still have her rattled? That brief moment in her life and patrols? The guy could've attacked but he managed to stop himself and left the scene.
    She tosses her cowl on the edge of the Batcomputer, freeing her hands so she could sign a single word. <Again.>

Nightwing has posed:
    Dick Grayson, however, his score is just a few places up there above hers on this particular run. Flashing a bit on the LED that hovers over the bat computer. It glows with a curious green light that if she squinted at it just so and stared long enough she might well imagine it's mocking her. But Nightwing smiles a little at her as he looks at her now visible eyes, trying to plumb their depths even as she goes over her own mental inventory.
    "I know some people are a strong advocate of throwing yourself repeatedly into work until you get the result you like. But I sometimes think it's a good idea to sort of take a second, distance yourself, and come at it from another angle."
    He hops off that railing, his sneakers squeaking a little as he lands and he walks over to the computer to key off the practice sequence, the heads up display in her mask going dark as he does that. "How have you been doing? Things still going well? Any rough fights or strange encounters?" His lip twitches at that last, since for Cass a rough fight would be something to talk about.

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    If she were one of those people to flail in frustration, she would be doing it right now. Cassandra tends to be more like Batman. She will do the task over and over and over until she gets it perfect. She will fall, but each time she gets back up and goes at it again until she has conquered her demon. When Dick shuts off the display, her eyes widen which is her version of a flail. Or maybe a stomped foot.
    The question has her frowning again and she motions to the computer then signs. <Last week.> There is video she had submitted to Oracle from her HUD, having recorded the entire incident. Her on patrol, cry for help. She responded to find an old man being mugged by a group of thugs. She didn't notice a figure above the dropped into the fight, grabbed the old man by the head, then the man went limp. The huge brute of a man who had picked him up let him fall to the ground then turned on the attackers. She entered the fight via grabple line and all hell broke loose on the video.
    The brutish stranger had done the same head grab and drop to one of the attackers. Seemed he might be a metahuman. But he was getting increasingly violent and she saw him leap, knowing he would kill the guy if he made contact. She tackled the mugger, shoving him out of the way and putting her right in the line of the attack. Somehow the man managed to stop just above her, inches away as he crouched over her. Then he was gone, up and over the building. She quickly sought the roofs herself but he was already making his escape.
    Further information would show the two men were still in comas at the hospital. The blood sample she took from the scene showed animal DNA. She signed a word. <Monkey.> In reality, it was gorilla DNA but not a normal animal one would find in the wild.

Nightwing has posed:
    It takes time with Cassandra. Time to figure out parts of what she is saying, and the rest of the time in this case was perhaps bringing up the data to be displayed. It gave a first person view of her efforts on that night, the clash with the person, the curious ability of their movement. As it goes on, Nightwing will take a seat at the batcomputer, examining it... advancing the video, rewinding, freezing. His features darken a little as it slips his understanding. At least for now.
    "Alright, that does seem pretty strange." He had no idea how right he was. But then he looked back at her, "But what..." He frowns as he glances back at the display, then back to her. "What gave you the bad feeling?" He looks down at her hands, expecting her to sign the answer even as he turns the chair around fully to face her.

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    She gave a bit of a shrug. She didn't know why she'd had a bad feeling. She just had. But then it hit her and her eyes widened a little.
    <Moved wrong.> Being that he might be part gorilla, that would explain it. <Power.> She still isn't supposed to face metas but she couldn't just walk away when he was grabbing a guy by the head and dropping him on the ground. She knew by his body language he had meant harm to the others, even if the langage for her was off because it was corrupted from a non-human source.
    But the real problem is right there in front of her now. She should've seen the guy on the roof before he had a chance to attack. She should've acted faster. She should've done the things she is expected to do by Batman and the rest of the family who counted on her.
    She drops her gaze, dark eyes focused on the tips of her boots as that frown returns. Her hands pause in the air, about to sign something. It's like she can't get the words out, as a person might have problems admitting to something difficult.
    <I failed.>

Nightwing has posed:
    Lips parting at first as a silent 'ah' is seen, he nods as he considers how it must have looked from her point of view. To see a being that moved like that, with the semblance and hints of similar body language but not quite reaching there fully. It must have been like a mote of sand in the corner of her eye, irritating and distracting.
    But then she goes on and he looks at her with a quirked eyebrow. He's younger than the Bat, and definitely has a different manner. But aspects of him are so similar, such as this moment now when he's looking a her and trying to gauge what words will suit best the moment.
    "Hm," He starts off, then murmurs, "Say you did." He advances that, not accepting that she failed but accepting the premise to conjecture off ot. "You learned something new about how things work for you. What do you plan to do about it now?"

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    She doesn't look up, still keeping her gaze down at her shoes but her mind is taking off with the question he asked.
    She learned what it is to face a meta. She learned why Batman doesn't want her dealing with them yet. She doesn't have the grasp of the things they might be able to do. This time, she had gotten through it. Yet, she had no read, no way to extrapolate what they might be able to do in a fight. It put her at a disadvantage.
    But she couldn't just be protected from them either. After all, they were out there. She couldn't avoid them always if she was going to protect others. She couldn't just walk away or wait for backup in this situation.
    <Learn metas.> Cassandra lifted her gaze to focus on the man in front of her, her dark eyes focused directly on his blue. <Catch monkey.> Two people were in a coma. He needed to be found.

Nightwing has posed:
    "Alright," Nightwing rises from the seat and turns back around to lean over the keyboard. He looks down and then his fingers glide over the console, a query being sent to the databanks and then the display begins to fill steadily. "First I want you to do something for me." Dick says as he slips to the side, then gestures to the monitor.
    "This is going to show you various fighting styles from non human creatures, warriors. Alright?"
    He hesitates for a moment to make sure she follows along. "I want you to study them, use the arrow keys to rewind and fast forward. Hit this when you feel you've seen enough and it'll run the next." He indicates the enter key then straightens up, folding his arms over his broad chest. "In the mean time I'll see what I can track don about this guy."

Batgirl (Cain) has posed:
    Video of non human fighting? That would be very helpful. Since as she watches, she will learn it. Cassandra's heritage has given her a great gift, between her bloodline and her training. Despite the darkness of her youth.
    She moves closer to the computer, glancing down to the keyboard as he explains what each button does. As he finishes explaining, she settles down in the chair which seems huge compared to her smaller size. She pushes the play button and watches the screen come to life. A blink then she pushes the fast foward. Then the rewind. Playing to get a feel for the controls and what they do.
    She looks back over her should at him, giving one of those bright smiles that takes the severity away and turns her into something different from Batgirl. Then she is looking at the screen and rewinds to start the first video over again. Her concentration on the images is complete.