Owner	Pose
Vic Sage	Gotham nights in the summer are hot and muggy. The humidity in the air is like being in a sauna, and as close to breathing water as most people are going to get without drowning. Even though night has fallen, it is unusually hot and the ambient temperature hovers just under triple digits which only ads to the misery of being outside in it. It is also why The Question is found on a rooftop in a pair of jeans and t-shirt, rather than the full suit and coat he is known to usually wear. His brown hair is unrestrained buy the usual fedora, and has grown long and wavy. His hands are still covered by form fitting leather gloves, and his face...well, he still lacks one.
Lady Shiva	She has been in and out of Gotham a lot in the last few months. Yet, she has left him alone. There was no need to reach out. She had nothing new to share with him. She doubted he had anything to share with her. If so, there were ways she could be reached although none of them were through savory methods. The black market, the criminals, those who can find an assassin when one is needed. She takes few jobs these days, unless they catch her interest and offer insane amounts of money. Her skills are enough she can name any price.     Recent events have her evaluating her life again. There is more knowledge to learn but it is in a place that may be unreachable for her. In her wanderings as she evaluates, she finds herself seeking out an old friend. Perhaps that wasn't the right word when compared to what most people use it for. Acquaintance isn't strong enough for their relationship. So friend would have to do.     She is wearing a red and gold Asian style blouse, black pants, flat slippers. Despite the heat, a lightweight black leather trench is worn over it all.     From behind him on the rooftop comes her voice. "It has been some time since our last meeting. I trust you are well?"
Vic Sage	He doesn't startle at the sudden voice behind him. Either he sensed the presence of someone else on the roof, heard the footsteps on the gravel and tar that make up its surface, or Richard taught him to suppress those reactions. At the sound of her voice, The Question cocks his head to the side and turns it slightly to glance behind him. "Well enough." Vic moves from his perch on the edge of the roof, turning and straightening up as he takes a few steps forward, pausing just out of arms length. "And you, Shiva? What brings you to Gotham? More tests?" As he finishes the last word, he bows at the waist in a gesture of respect, the eyes behind that faceless mask hidden, but likely keeping eye on her for any sudden moves on her part.
Lady Shiva	The bow is returned, eyes locked where his would be were it not for the mask. She resumes an upright position. Her posture is relaxed, that sense of zen around her as though she's at complete peace with the world. Strangely, she has that same essence even when she is fighting or killing. It simply is her. He is wise to be wary. She is not known for being predictable in what she will do.     "No testing. For tonight." The future may hold something different. It is at the core of who she is to always challenge, herself and others. This man is one of the few she has grown to respect over the years but it doesn't mean he is safe from her mercurial moods. "I have been in Gotham often of late." She moves, walking toward the edge where he had been sitting, passing within two feet of his position. At the edge, she looks out over the city skyline. "Seeking knowledge." She tilts her head down and turns it so she can look over her shoulder at him. "In my travels, I happened upon a vigilante here that I had not met previously. He is investigating a ring that deals in women and murder. I have chosen to assist him." Whether he likes it or not. Which has mostly been not.
Vic Sage	The Question remains silent as Shiva stands from her bow, speaking only when she has started to move. He knows her, and she knows him. She can tell by the subtle shifts in his stance that he is still on his guard. She can tell his eyes follow her as she moves past him to the roof's edge. It is only there, when she has turned to look down below, that he drops his guard slightly. "Have you? I hadn't heard. Usually there tends to be some evidence of your passage through. A body or two." There might have been the hint of humor in the last sentence. His head moves to one side as he faces her and then slowly walks forward, to take a spot next to her on the roof's edge. "Which vigilante is that? I might be able to put them in contact with someone on the GCPD that I have been cultivating a relationship with. I'm sure they would like to know about this ring."
Lady Shiva	As he joins her, Shiva glances his direction. The change in his posture is noted, the fact that he has accepted her word. She does not speak lies. It is not a way to stay in balance with the world. There have been tims but now, with him, she speaks the truth. He has earned that much. A hint of a smile plays at the corners of her lips.     "Why would I want them involved? They would seek to prevent me killing them all." It is spoken in a manner that they would try, more an annoyance than a deterrant. The police don't even have her on their radar. Something she would like to keep as her modus operandi. "It is bad enough having this Dr. Mid-Nite wishing to save the animals when I take them down." She gives a little shake of her head. "He is strange."
Vic Sage	Vic, as a rule, doesn't kill. Not to say that he hasn't killed before, or would again if the situation required it, but he values like a little more than Shiva. "Perhaps that is precisely the reason to get them involved?" says Vic, with a slight shake of his head. "Sounds like this 'Midnite' guy has his priorities straight. I can't see Batman putting up with him otherwise. You, I don't think he has a choice with you." Vic turns his 'face' towards her, rolling his shoulder in a shrug. "I know it isn't your normal style, Shiva, but maybe keeping them alive to suffer for their deeds is better punishment than the sweet release from this mortal existence? You can't hurt the dead."
Lady Shiva	"Of course you can. You just bring them back and kill them again. As many times as you like."     She turns her head away, eyes going to the skyline once more. Despite her answer, he knows her well enough he can see the shift in her. Her gaze is out there but in truth, she is reflecting inward. During the last conflict, while following the good Doctor in his non-costumed identity, she had granted the man that gift. She had not killed those who sought to harm others. They were taken down but left to breathe another day. The doctor hadn't even thanked her for the gesture. "Perhaps..."     She pauses, a moment of uncertainty as her brow furrows then she turns back to him. "Perhaps you are right, in this instance."
Vic Sage	"Perhaps." says Vic as he turns his face back away from her and glances down to the street below. "If you and Midnight want to get a meeting with the GCPD, I can set something up. Or if you would prefer to stay out of things, I can just have the Doctor meet Renee." His face turns back to her, the slight budge in his mask that would be the ridge of his brow shifts slightly, as if his eyebrow raises, "How did you get involved anyway? You're not one who tends to go in for charity or vigilantism unless you have a reason. What reason did you have to help this Midnight guy?"
Lady Shiva	"He intrigued me," she answers. That often is all it takes. Shiva realizes it isn't explaining why he intrigues her. "I happened upon him as he was following someone." She tilts her head slightly, glancing back over at him. "He sees the world differently from anyone I have met. I wish to understand it. So I stayed to watch him. The perpetrators had women in a truck." Her voice hardens. In any other woman, that would be tantamount to screaming. She is not one to scream, to lose her temper, yet this is something she feels passionately enough about that it can be heard by those few who know her well enough. "Women they were using, killing, then prostituting out after they were turned into chemical weapons. Slavers. Yet you both espouse letting them live."
Vic Sage	The Question hrms. "I see." Vic doesn't move as his 'face' stares at you for a long moment, "I can understand your involvement now. You have always been a strong woman, Shiva. It is good to see you taking an interest in helping others." Vic lets out a little sigh as he turns his head away from her, "Killing them is probably too good for them. Sometimes I think if I had my way I would make them endure the same hardships they subjected on others. Eye for an eye and all that. But what separates us from them if we return to them in kind what they themselves have wrought? Nothing. It makes us as they are."
Lady Shiva	The idea that she is helping others makes her brow furrow again as she considers. She is no hero. There have been times when she has done heroic things perhaps in the eyes of others. The other night at the celebration of the play, when she helped subdue the thieves. Taking down the mobsters with Dr. Mid-Nite. Assisting heroes in the past on varying tasks.     She has no illusions about what she is. By the definitions of society, she's a killer. Not the type of person that is out saving kittens from trees or putting criminals in jail.     "Slavers only or all criminals?" The answer is a slippery slope for in essence, she is a criminal.
Vic Sage	Letting out a little chuckle, Vic crouches down on the edge of the building. "That's is the question, isn't it Shiva? Does the punishment fit the crime? Does one's actions balance out at the end? Can a hero be a criminal, or a criminal be a hero? I wish I could tell you, but I don't have all the answers." The sound of glass shattering and a cry for help echoes in the night air, causing Vic to stand and turn towards the noise. "All we can do is choose our actions, and hope for the best. We won't get the answers to those final questions until then end. Now, if you will excuse me..." Vic leaps off the side of the building, using the fire escape to slow his decent as he makes his way to the alley below, calling back. "You know how to find me. You always do."
Vic Sage	The Question says, "With a thousand million questions about hate and death and war?"