9862/Clearing the Air

Clearing the Air
Date of Scene:	01 November 2019
Location:	Batcave - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Jason and Stephanie clear the air before talking about Ivy, horror movies, and the sound of music.
Cast of Characters:	Spoiler, Red Hood
Tinyplot:	Ivy Island

---

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie's first mission back onto South Channel Island after Ivy's takeover had its positives. A few dozen people saved, six men armed with assault rifles arrested and in Coast Guard custody now. Intelligence from the police precinct on the situation was useful, especially since the area with the most hostages is hidden beneath a canopy of vegetation, making it difficult to tell what's going on from the air.

She's also tired. Despite the people she helped, Stephanie couldn't help coming away feeling like a failure. She pounds a fist on a flat spot on the console before looking back at the screen. The bleary state of her eyes suggests she's been up all night.

Stephanie pulls up another map of the island and then rises, moving over to fill her coffee mug.

Red Hood has posed:
The roar of a motorcycle engine announces the arrival of Red Hood. He's in his full costume, though when he parks the bike he takes off his helmet and lays it on the seat, leaving him with just the domino mask.

Halloween was one of those weird nights in Gotham, it was either totally insane, or it was quiet, tonight was tending towards quiet, except for well, Ivy and her whole mess.

And speaking of Ivy, Jason spots Steph camped out by the computer, going for coffee, she looked like hell and he flinches inwardly, calling out. "One for me too, you can even poison it."

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie casts a baleful eye towards Jason as she realizes who it is. She pulls out a paper from a small stack on the desk, folding it a few times rather than reading it or writing on it. By the time that Jason has his helmet off and is making his way over to where she's at the coffee station near the Batcomputer, Stephanie has finished her task.

She turns towards Jason and tosses a finely folded paper airplane at him.

"Harrumph," she says. It isn't a sound. She actually says the word Harrumph like she were reading it from a book. She does pour him a cup of coffee though, setting it on the console but letting him come the rest of the way to get it as she retakes her seat. Falling into it a bit wearily rather than sitting normally.

"Go ahead," she say. "I tried to keep the peace, and look at what resulted,' she says, kicking at something under the desk. She stops kicking after a moment's thought. Probably something to do with the computers. Babs might kill her.

Red Hood has posed:
At first Jason was curious as to what Steph was doing, but when she hefts the paper airplane and hucks it at him, he laughs what is close to his first real laugh in a couple of days. The damn thing flies straight and he has to snatch it out of the way or duck, he chooses the former.

He trades the airplane for the coffee mug and takes a long pull from it, drinking in the sweet ambrosia. Then, and only then does he shoot a glance at Steph. There certain things you only see a few times in your life, eclipses, Halley's comet and in the case of the Bat Family, actual regret on the face of Jason Todd for saying something mean.

"Nah. I took my shot," he says with a shrug, "No need for the 'I'm very dissapointed in you' speech." which he knows they both got their share of in the past.

He takes a breath, "I shouldn't have made it public, that was bitch move on my part."

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie waves a hand dismissively at the final comment. "Nah, it was fine," she says. She has a frown, but it's directed at the screens showing various views of the island. Some are live camera feeds, others are various maps or other depictions which Stephanie has been updating where she's able.

She sighs and swivels the chair towards Jason, one leg crossing over the other as she takes a sip from the mug. "So how is the rest of Gotham faring? I was reading about the sorority stuff, but then... ah, I had my attention taken by other matters," she says with a sigh and a roll of her blue peepers.

Stephanie is out of her Batgirl armor at present. Her hair is still damp, suggesting a recent shower. Likely a long and thorough one given the water she was swimming in during her approach to the island. She's wearing some blue jeans and a t-shirt with Batman's logo on it.

Red Hood has posed:
Let off the hook, Jason just nods, "Anyhow, glad we're cool," he says. "Aerial sneak attacks aside," he adds with a glance towards the paper airplane with the hint of a smile.

He takes another long sip as he looks up at the screens taking in the data as its presented. "Was going to ask if you had any intel for us on Ivy Island, but seems like you got that covered already, what was it like over there, only been checking it out through gun scopes thus far." Well that and the feeds here in the cave.

"Oh, just ten different types of crazy, I think I've said wizard more in the last couple of days than Tim at one of his D&D games," Jason says with a bit of a snort. "Turns out the zombies are demons, the demons are led by a she demon we've nicknamed mom and we're looking for supernatural types to back us up with her, just in case our other ally who calls himself Lucifer Morningstar, isn't reliable."

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie's lips move to silently repeat the name, "Lucifer Morningstar". She looks over at Jason, one eyebrow rising a bit. "Right. You're allying with someone who names himself after the Devil... and me giving a couple of petunias to Ivy was crazy?" she asks.

The quip lacked her normal energy. Her fatigue is showing, and that coffee is probably the largest part of what's keeping her going at this point. "Yeah, Ivy's got a ton of hostages still. In the university's satellite campus there. Closed in. Cops can't get there. She's got the cops pinned in, lets them be long as they stay where she tells them."

Stephanie sighs. "She's putting them in the same kind of open prison that she was forced to, basically. And she can hear through the plants apparently, but I don't think she can see through them. Gunshot was what got her to stir the vines at the harbor and take out the dock. Though she waited until the last people were gone. Because of the gift, she said. She was able to kind of talk through them, somehow."

Stephanie grunts quietly. "Did I mention I don't like scary movies?" she asks, her arms going about herself. "Scream. Halloween. Nightmare. Never cared for any of them. The zombie ones either."

Red Hood has posed:
"Shut up," Jason says with a smirk before she's finished repeating the name, he rolls his eyes, "I know how it sounds but the guy gave us some solid intel on the demons, and it's not like we're picking out China with the guy or anything, we're going to see if he can deliver on more than intel, he says he can banish the demons, we're going to see if he can, and if not, well we'll have a wizard and Damian and his crystals as back up."

The fatigue is noted, "How long has it been for you? Sleep I mean," he asks with another sip of his coffee.

Turning to the screen he takes in the info again along with Steph's verbal details. "So she can basically hear anything happening on the island and she can communicate through them as well, joy," Jason says as if the whole thing wasn't creepy enough. There's a 'heh' for the bit about the prisoners, "Got to love her sense of irony," he remarks as he thinks things over. "Wish we knew how her control worked, like if she were to say, take a .50 cal round to the head, would she be able to kill the hostages before she went down," he asks, /entirely/ hypothetically.

Jason nods about the plant, "Glad it saved lives, really. My issue with it is, I guess, well, you know criminals too," since like him she grew up around them. "Kindness is either a trap or a weakness with them and right now we can't be seen as weak." That said Ivy's action at least gave a little lie to Jason's words. She'd acted with honour.

"Yeah?" he asks about the movies. "Why's that?"

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie yawns, getting her hand to cover her mouth after a moment. "Sorry," she says. "Um, I've only been for..." she says, glancing up and moving her hand as if she were jotting down figures while working them in her head. "I don't know. What day is it again?" she asks. And sounding tired enough it might not be a joke.

"I'm not really sure how she does it. But... guns are bad, mm'kay?" she reminds Jason in her best Mr Mackey from South Park impersonation. "But we need to figure it out and sever her control to where the hostages are, at the least," she agrees.

Stephanie looks back to Jason as she takes a sip of her coffee. "Yeah, I know them," she agrees, looking down at her cup glumly. She's been going after Electrocutioner who has been active in her patrol area. An old associate of her fathers.

Stephanie, sets the cup on the console. "I was usually alone," she says. "Dad was, you know. Being a scumbag. Mom... wasn't around even when she was around," she says, being kinder of her opioid-addicted mother. "So scary things just... got to me. Don't ever tell Scarecrow. That guy gives me the creeps, not even just him, but his damn gas," she says, shivering and hugging her arms about herself a bit tightly.

Red Hood has posed:
"It's Halloween," Jason informs her. "It took me by surprise too, left Kate's place and saw all the masks and wondered why nobody told me Arkham had another break out," he says with a faint smile. "Don't worry, didn't shoot any of them though."

Which brings them to Ivy, "Just a hypothetical," Jason says about the .50 cal round thing. Surrre it was, but he wasn't looking to have the kill no kill fight again so soon after clashing with Dick over the same principles. As to the question of the hostages..."Maybe something chemical? Something that'll take out plants and you know, not give the hostages cancer. I mean Ivy will be /pissed/ so we'd have to get them all out in one go, but it's a theory."

Jason really only knew Steph's story in broad strokes, dad was a scumbag 4th rate supervillain and her mom was on drugs, though somehow he imagined it a little brighter? Like more suburban disfunction, with dad slipping off to fight Batman rather than go down to the bar, mom washing down her pills with rose.

"Shit, you could be practically describing my childhood," he says with a hint of surprise in his voice. "My dad was a scumbag too. No costumes or code names, but dealt drugs, stole stuff, worked muscle for Two-Face, step mon did the drug thing too, ODed," he says then reallizing its sounding like he's trying to one up her on shitty lives he adds, "What I'm saying is I've been there, and yeah, I get not wanting to watch that sort of thing in alone in a house thatf's anything but safe. Never really watched movies until I got in with Bruce, but, I feel you, there's a reason I won't watch It." He had enough killer clowns in real life.

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie picks up her coffee mug and takes another sip before setting it back down again. "Yeah, and it's not just the being alone, but... the fact you probably shouldn't be watching stuff like that, and that age. I mean, yeah there's a reason we don't let kids do things. Or, shouldn't," she says.

Maybe Steph picks up on Jason's moment of hesitance there. She reaches over, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Yeah. It's kind of almost par for the course, here, isn't it? I mean, to some degree at least. It's sort of like comedians. They... ah... humor is a coping... thing," she says.

"Ok, obviously I'm not a psychologist," she says as she fails to convey where she was going very well. Her words were also indicative of how tired she is, and followed up by another muffled yawn.

"So we should probably go watch... what? Sound of Music maybe?" Stephanie jokes. She leans back in the chair before the Batcomputer, her eyelids fluttering and drifting closed. They stay like that for a moment before they open up with one of those sudden, snapping back to it sort of movements. "Sound of Music, yeah," she says, remembering what she was talking about.

Red Hood has posed:
"Well if my mom hadn't pawned the DVD player, I'd probably have watched them /because/ I wasn't supposed to, but I get what you're saying, trauma, young minds, though gotta figure it doesn't apply to kids like us, I mean, down the Narrows, I saw all sorts of shit that other kids only saw on TV." Which probably explains a lot. "Guessin' you did too."

With the talk of the past, Jason's lower-class Gotham accent begins to slip out, it's subtle, more about word choice, but it was there like Gotham itself, the accent rested somewhere between North Jersey and New York.

Jason, glances at the hand on his shoulder like it was some foreign thing, but he doesn't stop it or try to shrug out from under. "Yeah, I can see it," Jason says. "Instead of telling jokes we kick ass," a beat. "And tell jokes while doing it, mostly."

There was a faint smile at that.

Though as Steph starts to gap on him, her eyes slipping closed, he chuckles, "Hey, Sleeping Stephy, Babs'll murder you if you drool on the computer," he warns her. "You should probably go upstairs and crash, dream of raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens," a smile at that. Has Jason actually seen Sound of Music? Whatever the answer he'd likely never cop to it.

Spoiler has posed:
Stephanie continues on after Jason says the line from the song. "Dah duh duh dah duh duh warm woolen mittens," she mumbles in a tired voice. Stephanie glances over at the super powerful computer and says, "Yeah, she probably would. I keep expecting she's got like, a buzzer wired into my costume and is just going to set it off sometime," she says with a faint grin.

Stephanie rises, pushing on the arms of the chair to get to her feet. "Yeah, I think you're right. I'm not doing any good staring at maps of the Island. And I still need to stop Electrocutioner too, though he takes a back seat now," she says.

"Ok. Try not to let the town, you know. Have a zombie apocalypse. While I'm gone. If I wake up to a zombie eating my brain?" Stephanie says, and then points to her eyes and to Jason. "I'm blaming you," she says. "Ok... night." She begins to wander off towards the elevator up to the manor.

Red Hood has posed:
Jason snorts. "Not sure dah duh duh is on the lyrics sheet," he snarks reflexively, but without real heat.

He nods, "Yeah, letting a lot of crap slide too on account of this demon thing, don't know how Bruce handles all this on the daily," he shakes his head. "But if you need a hand with him or Ivy," well Ivy was a given, she was very much a /family/ problem. "You know how to reach me, we can tie them down and make them watch Sound of Music."

"What brain?" he teases back, waving at her as she heads to the lift. "Say hi to sleep for me, I probably won't be seeing them soon." Then he sits down to work on the computer, shaking his head with a smile.