Getting a Few Things Straight [Batman]

[Deleted]

Having had the majority of a day to fume about the last thing that Batman said to her hasn't improved Shayera's temper much. Sometimes it does - a little time to think things over and whatever upset her sometimes seems so trivial. But this is not one of those times - instead she's been talking herself out of actually feeling more angry. No, that's probably not justified and in any event now is not a good time to feed a grudge with Batman. But she can't deny that she's well and truly irked.

Especially since her conversation with Supergirl seems to indicate that joining the Outsiders is probably a good idea, assuming that everyone is happy with the idea when she talks to Arsenal. But whether or not it's actually a good idea is beside the point. In fact, if she thought that it was a terrible idea then perhaps all of this would be a lot easier. What she does know is that she needs to talk to Batman again before she makes any decisions. The thought of simply waiting for his 24 hours to be up occurs to her because she doesn't doubt that he'd track her down then - especially since she's dutifully wearing the tracker that he asked her to wear. But no, it's probably better if she talks to him before that.

Fortunately, since it's roughly two hours before sunset when she's returning from Metropolis that means that he's most likely doing the Bruce Wayne thing. And the list of where Bruce Wayne is likely to be in the middle of the afternoon is rather short, so she flies toward Wayne Tower, gracefully avoiding the other buildings that are tall enough to be in her way. She's still a couple of miles away when she spots him through a window. Not knowing enough about his business or business on this planet in general to determine what kind of a room it is, she can see that he's in a large chair at a table and that there are other people there too. But she does know that whatever window he'd choose place between himself and the outside would be the very robust kind meant to stop bullets and such.

A fact that she factors into her calculations as she flies straight toward the window at a very high rate of speed then abruptly stops within a few feet of it. The air that had been in front of her as she flew does not stop, however, and the air pressure against the window is enough to cause a small crack about an inch long to appear.

CLINK!

But she doesn't look at him as she moves her wings to hover there briefly, instead looking around herself as if she's momentarily uncertain which direction she should be going. But as she does so, she idly scratches her nose with two fingers, incidentally pointing at her eyes, and then taps her chest with a finger as she puts her hand down. Then she scratches her wrist as she glances toward the sun that is only just approaching the horizon, her lips pursed as if unsatisfied. Knowing that her message of 'see me later' ought to be clear enough, she then turns southeast and flies away.

CLINK!

She flies away fast enough that the small crack, now a weak point in the pane of glass, stretches to well over two feet - this message means that she's not happy, as she's perfectly capable of flying through a city without breaking any glass. And the fact that she's gone so far as to actually take advantage of knowing who he is outside of the costume means that it's probably personal.

After leaving the building in her dust, she tries to relax by flying a patrol over the south and then eastern part of Gotham, finally ending it just before sunset at her apartment - which is in the upper loft space of one of the more elaborately topped skyscrapers, from the era when east Gotham still attracted a higher class of tenant. She doesn't go inside, though and instead sits on one of the ledges that leads up to the decorative spire. After all, she's expecting company.

[Deleted]

“Cute trick.”

There would be no mistaking as to whom that darkly grizzled and deep voice belonged to. The ominous outline of a bat-shaped shadow stretched out in lengthy possession along the cement ledge of the targeted apartment building. The shadow of the Bat unmistakable in its endless reach – settling solely upon the lone all-too-familiar figure perched atop that cement ledge. Batman hadn’t made a single sound in his arrival atop Shayera’s apartment building. And yet, there the Dark Knight was – as the Thanagarian had wanted what with her little stunt she had pulled at Wayne Tower earlier that same day.

In fact, before Bruce could even register as to just what he saw in the reflection of the conference room’s bay window glass, another blowhard board member sputtered out, “Look! Look outside! What the f--?!”

“Hawkgirl! It’s HAWKGIRL outside the window!!!” Exclaimed another board member.

“Quick, get your iPhone out, Daniel! Youtube this shit!” Another tight-necked suit shouted. “What’s she doing…?”

“Why is she here?!” All the board members about the conference room buzzed with excited interest…

All except for Bruce Wayne. Of course, Bruce played along and acted just as surprised (in all honesty, he actually was a little caught off guard by the sudden situation) and turned to gawk at the winged woman. But, he knew. Bruce knew precisely why – or at least, could take a highly educated guess as to why Hawkgirl decided to make an appearance at Wayne Tower, during midday, happening right when a publically notorious board members meeting was scheduled. She wanted his attention – and from her given actions, she wasn’t happy and wanted him to know.

Well? Her point had been made explicitly clear; come nightfall in Gotham, Batman honed in on the signal of the miniscule tracking bug he had Shayera wear and made way to her location. Now, he stood silently behind her – remaining shrouded in shadows, hidden within her blind sight.

“Quite the scene you caused today at Wayne Tower. You even got Bruce Wayne’s attention.” He stepped in closer, moving smoothly, swiftly, silently. He now stood right beside her on that ledge, standing shoulder to shoulder with her.

“But more importantly, you got mine. So now that you’ve got it, don’t waste it. What do you want?”

[Deleted]

If Shayera is surprised by the voice behind her, she doesn't react. Perhaps she heard him, or perhaps she knew that he'd arrive shortly after sunset and position himself immediately behind her when he arrived. Anyone becomes predictable when you know them well enough, after all - she'd said so herself so many times to her students on Thanagar. But her lack of reaction is a good sign, at least - if she was really angry, she would have specifically positioned herself somewhere where he couldn't get behind her.

Nevertheless, she is angry enough to skip what passes as pleasantries for Batman and get right to the point. "I have a problem," she states, a small gust of wind suddenly coming from behind her as she uses a flap of the wing opposite from Batman to raise herself to her feet rather than a hand as a human might. It's a deceptively delicate move, actually - her wings are capable of so much force and yet she can without apparent effort use one to lift herself just high enough to land gently on her feet where she'd been sitting.

Turning slightly to look at him, her expression is rather impassive as she says, "I ran into Supergirl earlier today while I was looking for Superman. We spoke about the Outsiders. Based on her conversation, I'm convinced that the group would benefit greatly from my wisdom and experience." Which is putting it mildly, actually - in her eyes especially, it's a group of nothing but children. Powerful children, yes, but for them to be attempting to do real work without someone who really knows what they're doing... Actually, she'd probably trust them more individually, but you know what happens when you put young people together...

"If I can get along with Arsenal, I want to join them," she adds, but then her voice becomes abruptly harder as she states, "That is a problem." And to judge by the sudden shift of her expression, that's also what's made her angry at Batman.

[Deleted]

That’s her problem?! How about being expected to sit and read through dozens of painstakingly long business contracts at a stockholders meeting, when hundreds of Gotham’s violent crimes/missing persons cold case files remain unsolved and ignored by the justice system? Or what about handling madmen who have been reintroduced back into society because they claim to be reformed, only to prove themselves more psychotic and dangerous than ever? Not to mention, the Rogue Gallery and the hell they let loose. Gotham’s recently growing extra-terrestrial population… As well as crime fighter wannabe’s brandishing their idea of childish justice with mistake-riddled, questionably trained tactics. And don’t even get him started on the Bat Family and their acquaintances – he still didn’t know which category Selina Kyle fit into!

So, yeah – he knew all about problems. His biggest problem being: Time. His time was valuable and considerably sacred to the innocents he was able to protect, save, and assist. And given the fact that Shayera was now occupying his precious time atop this building’s ledge tonight by making it loud and clear that she has a problem…? Maybe the Bat wouldn’t be as incredibly annoyed as he is right now, had Shayera’s aforementioned problem truly been one of dire straits. Like the Joker just blew up all the orphanages within the city, or the Riddler just abducted the Mayor and will kill him and all his family if his riddle isn’t solved in time. But when he heard the Thanagarian explain her problem at hand, the Bat felt his anger bubble up like rising magma from the fiery depths below. Less than 24 hours ago, he had just given her the task to locate and gain membership with the Outsiders!

So, her problem is what...? That she agrees with his commanding order? His chiseled, unshaven, pale jaw remained still as if carved from stone, stoic and unforgivingly firm.  Ghostly white thinly slit eyes sliced through her shadowy form, studying, analyzing, internally rationalizing. Shayera Hol isn’t the kind of person who chit-chats for fun – instead she’s no nonsense and right to the action. Maybe there was something more to this little rendezvous of hers… Maybe she was bucking against his authority by questioning her assigned command.

“Right now, you have 6 hours, 1 minute, and 15 seconds left to complete your assigned task. Fail to do so? Then the only real problem you’ll have is me.” Batman icily replied. “Since it appears you’re in agreement with what the Outsiders stand for and the valuable asset you’d be by joining them – then, what’s your problem?  You now have 5 hours, 59 minutes, and 47 seconds left.”

[Deleted]

As he speaks, Batman would probably note the hardening of Shayera's expression. She's hardly known for her ability to control her emotions - in fact it's quite the opposite - and what he's saying now is making her even angrier. On the other hand, she is known to be extremely careful in exactly what she does with her emotions. If she punches a friend in anger, it would be Clark or someone else who could shrug it off easily. So it would take a tremendous change in her for her to lash out physically now. But she wants to - does she ever want to!

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she states, "My only problem is already you. Because you seem to be under the delusion that you can give me orders. So let me correct that: No. You can't. Not unless we're conducting a joint operation and we agree that you're in charge, at least." Though she's willing to bet if it comes to that, it means that either he'll be in charge or there won't be a joint operation.

"I'm not interested in having your trust if it's based on me doing what you say," she continues, managing to calm herself somewhat so that she can explain this logically, "Just because I made one, admittedly very large, mistake doesn't mean that I'm incapable of independently deciding every detail of my life with any worse judgment than you could. That is what I need you to trust - not my ability to follow orders. If anything, I've proved to be too good at following orders." She'd been following the orders of her superior officer when she'd deceived the Justice League and handed over her report on the Earth's defenses, after all...

"So I won't," she says rather lightly, "I will not join the Outsiders as long as it's an order. Especially not within some damn time limit. If you want to suggest it - fine. Or you could even ask. If you think that something is a good idea, I put a great deal of weight on that. But if you tell me? No. Never." And given just how calmly and easily she's saying that, she's fully prepared to immediately back up her words with action.

With an annoyed grunt, she adds, "Besides, it's completely ridiculous - you ordering me around? Do you even know how much more training and experience I have? If anything, you should be listening to me." Her arms cross against her chest as she frowns at him - not only does she think that letting him presume to have any authority over her is a bad idea, she also takes it as an insult to her pride. Does he even know what it means to have made Lieutenant in the Thanagarian army? She may not have that rank anymore, but to have earned it in the first place... As if she's going to let some human tell her what to do! Even a fiendishly clever one who probably doesn't even begin to suspect how much respect she hold for him.

[Deleted]

“I’m not the one who’s guilty of betrayal.” The Bat coldly replied.

“My loyalties are set and damn well known. Your military rank and training aren’t my concern and hold no merit with me. You came to ME on MY turf asking for MY trust. Trust isn’t something I just freely hand out, it has to be earned. Especially when it’s been broken. You want to run things and decide how order and respect works? Then get your own damned city. Gotham is mine. No exceptions.”


The gruff harshness of his dark voice gave the smallest indication that Hawkgirl had struck something of a nerve with the Bat. After a small, icy pause his steely toned voice spoke up once again.


“Look, last thing I want is some lap dog that follows my every command. I respect the fact that you choose to think for yourself and act on your own volition. I also know what you’re capable of – good and bad. And I’d like to think that I know you, so I decided to give you a chance to earn trust back with me by providing certain tasks to either be done or not. You want to call this chance to earn back trust with me a “joint operation” that I’m in charge of? Fine. The only order I can give to anyone is the order of justice to those who need it most.”


Low and behold, Batman understood where Shayera was coming from – understood her point of view. Perhaps he had come off as too harsh in the beginning, though that still didn’t change his views.


“The choice is yours to follow through with my suggestion for you to join the Outsiders. There’s still a time limit to be followed, considering it takes time to earn back trust… It just won’t be a 24 hour one.”


His silently eerie gaze watched her closely in the darkness, his inky form statue still.


“And of course, I’m still in charge of this joint operation.”

[Deleted]

At his cold reply, the feathers on Shayera's wings start to stand on end, which is, among other things, a sign of defensiveness. But she'll allow him to say that - it's fair, and it's not as if she can't handle hearing words that are just as harsh and to the point as her own. Though when his initial response is over she watches him and says nothing, and instead her expression is expectant - because if that's all he has to say, he's in for a tongue-lashing.

Fortunately for both of them, he continues and her feathers gradually lie flat again as she listens. Well, good - it seems that now that they've both drawn their respective lines in the sand, they can now actually have a productive conversation. Though it takes Shayera a few moments to decide what she needs to say now and how to say it. "No, I wouldn't call this a 'joint operation' - I hardly think that it's necessary. Gotham City is yours? Fine. You want to tell me how things are done in your city? Fine. If I can't live with that, I'll leave. And you can expect that of me not because you order it, but because I'm a reasonable person," she says, but knowing Batman as well as she does, she figures that she ought to offer a way they could possibly compromise, "But if you want to consider this a joint operation, that's doable - but we'd need to discuss the parameters of the operation first. Because if we don't, we'll end up arguing about it later and that wastes our time." Because no, she doesn't want to leave that to Batman's judgement - she's willing to bet that he'd eventually decide that everything ought to fall within his jurisdiction.

"What I think you fail to understand is that this is the first time in fifty-four years that I haven't been obligated to follow someone's orders," she states. Because that's how long it's been, unless she's mistaken on the proper conversion of time between Thanagarian years and Earth years. "And to say that ended disastrously would be putting it mildly," she adds, wondering if humans even have a word that can fully describe something like the defeat of Thanagar. Probably not - they'll have to invent one when they as a species experience what it means to lose an entire planet for the first time.

"It's no small thing to even suggest that I join the Outsiders, where I'd again be expected to follow orders - and from a fledgling, no less," she explains, not really expecting him to respond to that, but hoping that he can at least get a sense of what he was so quick to demand of her - and why that so fully rubbed her the wrong way, "The only reason I can even consider it is because the scope of that team is so small." And that's also why she can't even begin to wonder if rejoining the Justice League would ever be an option.

[Deleted]

Really, they were both now just comparing apples to apples at this point – ho-humming over specific color tint, sweetness of taste, crispiness of crunch – so to speak. In fact, the only reason why he had even used the term “joint operation” was simply due to the fact that Shayera had made mention of it first in her arguing prose. (That was sure as hell not a term that would ever be found in his vocab regarding management of his vigilante guardianship over Gotham…) But, it’d be a waste of time to point out such a blatantly obvious fact to her – it had been during her little rant that his cowl’s sensory comm-link quietly pulsated out the all-too-familiar alarm indicating a confirmed “1-8-7” was in process and extreme police force backup was needed ASAP.


It didn’t escape Bruce for a single second that Shayera was trying as best as she could (and that damn well said a lot, coming from an ex-high ranking elite officer of the Thanagarian military) to adjust to a whole new lifestyle complete with different expectations, responsibilities, and freedoms. Especially when it was so limited in what freedoms she now had available – privileges she had earned through years of service in the Thanagarian military were now revoked, almost as if mocking her exclusive expertise. Welcome to the command of the Bat. Bruce wasn’t affiliated with any federal or state government legal forces like police or military; he was his OWN special brand of law – the law of vigilante justice. And it was with that law he took a self-appointed command over the Gotham City battleground, a bat-masked general who was as relentless as the darkness in the night. She had 54 years of honorable service, he had a lifetime and beyond of destitute servitude.


Cry me a goddamned river.


His icy stoic expression complete with stony silence is his response to Shayera once she has had her say. Instead, he pulls out a small piece of unprecedented tech from his well-equipped utility belt, hidden beneath the inky wrappings of his pressure sensitive cape. The shift in movement reveals a fleeting glimpse of his dark ashen grey tech-armored batsuit beneath the pitch-black caped cowl, the utility belt about his waist was a touch lighter in its muted smoky silver color. Obviously, the Bat’s suit had been upgraded since their last rooftop tete-e-tete, (which was nothing new considering he was a man who definitely enjoyed his tech toys…) he would now insert that small piece of tech into a hidden port within the confines of his bladed black glove, suddenly a digital holographic display projection appeared glowing dimly before him.


He began to effortlessly tap his fingers about the digital display, operating the digital light projection just as if it were a touch screen on a tablet, iPad, or smart phone. The images were coded to be seen and used by only him – making it impossible for anyone else to access the holographic display, via touch, nor could they catch a glimpse of its images should they happen to peer over his shoulder or sneak a peek via quick side glance. For a moment it was starting to seem like Batman had totally lost interest in the conversation, blatantly ignoring Shayera’s concern by choosing to move onto the next task on his endless list. His white, thin-slit gaze now focused directly on the small digital screen projecting out from his left gloved forearm, while his right hand now shifted through the holographic screen’s interface to pull up the information he was apparently looking for.


“It’s because of your expert training in military tactics that I… suggest you becoming affiliated with the Outsiders.” Batman finally stated, tone deadpan. “At the end of the day, the Outsiders are just a bunch of kids who want to make a difference in their world, sick of living in hell. They’re looking for guidance – a stable and incorruptible ideal to believe in, to uphold, to become a part of. As of now, they have drawn their line in the sand – choosing to fight on the side of vigilante justice in this war. Fine by me, we’re on the same side, in the same city. And even though Gotham is MY city and this is MY war of justice, the Outsiders take orders from Arsenal – not me.”



‘Not directly, anyway…’  He silently added in thought.


“And just like the rest of the Outsiders, Arsenal’s a kid – still inexperienced, lacking in discipline and training.” As he continued, the digital holographic screen projection suddenly expanded its display, glowing brighter, now becoming visible and accessible to Shayera.


She was now able to see what it was he was tinkering with… It was a detailed blueprint going over a secluded fortress layout within the confines of an underground massive cavern, equipped with a myriad of weapons, tools, chemical and biological compounds, virtual training arenas, physical sparring arenas, digital tech – just to name a few things of what was housed within this high-tech makeshift battle training satellite cave.


“I know what you’re capable of, Shayera. And if you want, the Outsiders can learn to be just as capable with your lead – becoming a force to be reckoned with. Anything you would need for training, I can easily provide and then some.”


Batman then quickly swiped his fingers methodically about the holographic screen causing a faint humming sound to suddenly occur, followed by a brief flash of electric blue light from where the projection once had been. In the digital display’s absence, Batman now held a fiber-thin, incredibly flimsy, opaque sheet of what looked like light grey wax paper, no bigger than the size of a postcard. He gave Shayera the strange sheet of air-light, effervescent paper, now finally re-focusing his unnerving gaze right back onto her own predatory razor one.


“It’s a polymer nano-fiber digital file copy. Once in-sync with your personal bio-thermal levels, it will become an interactive digital holographic projection of the file I’ve just copied over to you. You’ll be allowed to go through the notes I’ve included about anything within my satellite cave, as well as its location. Copies of updated dossiers on each of the Outsiders have been installed for you as well. And to show you my willingness to trust you, the digital file copy is the only key access to that satellite cave.”


Wrapping his cape back about his armored dark form once again, he paused a moment before his next statement. “I won’t order you to join the Outsiders because that infringes on Arsenal’s own right of say in the matter. I will only suggest that you do so, especially because applying for membership to the current leader is a much better strategy in being an effective force of power, rather than declaring leadership on your own accord. Maybe our “joint operation” wouldn’t be the only one you could be a part of…”

[Deleted]

Though Shayera is making an attempt to be very honest and open about her feelings, does she expect any sign of sympathy from Batman? No, don't be ridiculous! All she expects from him is to listen and to file the information away. Hopefully to be put to good use, though she has a healthy amount of skepticism as to whether or not he actually will - she knows him well enough to have a pretty accurate idea of his strengths and weaknesses, and whether he's aware of the full extent of it yet or not he's probably going to have to deal with much of the latter as the two of them work this out.

Not that she's unaware that she's going to have to do the same herself - she knows that she's going to have to face a lot of things she's not had to handle before. Then again, she's one to charge right into anything with full confidence of success, this time just as much as any, even if she's uncertain about exactly how she's going to get there.

As he fiddles with his fancy gadgets, Shayera watches him closely - though she naturally watches pretty much everything closely. As Batman is very well aware, Shayera has a certain inherent attention to detail that goes well beyond her extreme senses. Though he'd have his work cut out for him if he ever decided to try and impress her with the sheer sophistication of his tech toys - it's very rare for her to find a bit of technology that she hasn't already seen an even better version of, if not among her own people then on one of the many planets she's been to. So what he's doing now hardly strikes her as anything odd, though she does find herself mentally noting exactly how far along the path he is with his tech. She knows better than to believe that he's using it as a way to ignore her concerns though - if only because he ought to know that doing so will bite him in the ass later. One does not simply ignore Shayera.

When he finally begins to speak, she pays close attention, especially when he shows her what he was looking at. Surprise crosses her face as she looks it over, though she remains silent since she's sure she doesn't need to ask for him to explain. And when he does so and hands her the copy of the file. She peers at it for several moments, seeming to be lost in thought. Long pauses aren't very normal for Shayera - she's normally one to make quick and rather predictable decisions. She takes this sort of pause when she's playing chess against a sneaky opponent, right at that moment when she's figured out their strategy and needs to spend some time figuring out the best way to combat it. And she's exceptionally good at that - whether or not she wins generally depends on whether or not she reaches that point before it's too late to save herself.

But when she's done thinking it over, she nods to Batman and says, "Thank you for this - it will help me a lot." She pauses before adding, "I have an appointment to meet with them at one in the morning. If all goes well, and I suspect it will, I will join them then." But she's planning on doing so only on her own terms. She's not certain what Batman will make of that, but if he doesn't like it then he'll simply have to pay for mistakes he's already made. "If there's nothing else, I need to get as much sleep as I can before then," she states. She's been up since before dawn, after all, so if she's going to be up at such an hour then she'll need to rest now. Not everyone is silly enough to stay up for days at a time, after all.

[Deleted]

Truth be told, the Bat had intended on giving Shayera the digital file of information after she had officially gained membership with the Outsiders. By giving her the high-tech piece of detailed info now, didn’t exactly throw off his carefully measured plans. If anything? It gave him insight on Shayera and how much she was and wasn’t willing to put up with.

His trust for the Thanagarian was still definitely shaky, she had a long way to go in earning it back – but? You had to start somewhere, and he was comfortable in drawing that starting line. Only time would tell, right? A silent nod is given in response to her plan of action. A subtle shift of movement beneath the dark confines of his cape to suddenly produce a sleek, black grappling gun is his main reply regarding her request to adjourn their meeting.


“Enjoy the sleep while you can,” Aim is then taken, followed by firing off a muffled shot into the darkness – grappling hook connecting with its well-placed target. “I’ll be in touch.”


No sooner had the gravelly words been spoken, then the Bat would be gone – a disappearing shadow into the darkness of night.