11654/Checking in Checking Up

Checking in Checking Up
Date of Scene:	19 June 2022
Location:	Historic Clocktower - Penthouse
Synopsis:	Carrie and Helena come to Babs' to check in on her after the big 'Werewolf fight'.
Cast of Characters:	Barbara Gordon, Helena Bertinelli, Carrie Kelley

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Barbara Gordon has posed:
The day after the fight in the Narrows.

Barbara is in the kitchen, she's wearing a pair of track pants, light grey with black stripes down the sides. She's got a white tshirt on over a sports top, and her hair is tied back in to a bun on the crown of her head. She's standing in front of the stove in her eccentrically (nerdy) decorated kitchen, filling up a cup of tea. Her television in the main room of the penthouse is on, and its covering a news story about the Narrows event. The explosion that Harley set off with her weapon got a lot of attention in the area last night... but as days go by, people will quickly forget, as they do.

Babs turns from her tea pot, she walks to the edge of her kitchen where she leans against the counter, raising her cup up to sip from it, her eyes across the living room to the television where she watches the news coverage.

Her bottom lip is busted, she has a bruise across her right cheek, and over her arms, visible injuries from last night...

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli rolls up on her bike a little after noon. Parking and making her way up to the penthouse, she knocks on the door frame lightly as if her arrival wasn't already known in the buiding's system.

Dark eyes look around with concern till they spot Barbara. "Hey.. how're you doing?" There's genuine concern in her voice. "That fight was.. insane."

Helena walks over to stand near the redhead, silently looking over those visible injuries.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Helena's arrival is announced by the AI system, so Babs is indeed ready for it. She sweeps her green eyes over to Helena, and shows a reserved smile for her, partly because of the injury to her lip that is fresh and only barely holding on to not opening up again.

She glances down at herself, knowing the worst bruising is on her right bicep where that big bastard tried to crush her arm at one point.

"Healing." Babs says with a continued light pleasant expression for Helena, as she looks back over to her, then upnods at her.

"Thanks for the backup... You, and the others, got there pretty quick. I'm a lucky gal." She states as she takes a sip of her drink. When she lowers it, she motions toward it. "Tea?" She asks.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli reaches over to lightly brush that bruised cheek. "We all got there as quicly as we could. Attack one Bird, get all the talons. It's how we roll" she says with a wink. "I wish I could have gotten there sooner. Or that my efforts were more effective. But.. I'm glad those things didn't hurt you worse." Seeing Batgirl being waved around lke a ragdoll actually rattled her.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs shows a smile at the caring gesture from Helena before she lowers her cup again and just sets it aside on the counter where a saucer waits. "You guys didn't get to see the part where I held off all five of them." She jokes, of course, and laughs softly after saying it.

A breath is taken in then, as she lays her right hand on the center island counter of her 1950s decored kitchen. "We've fought big and nasty things before, but those creatures... were viscious. This is why we need to be ready to back each other up, all the time."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli shakes her head, "No we didn't. But I believe you kicked their asses, Barb. That's what you do" she says with a grin. "But none of us, probably not even Nightwing, could have held out forever against all five of them. We need to work on some contingency plans. Something to slow them down. I unloaded a whole clip of stun bolts and they didn't even blink.. That's.. like getting hit with three sets of defib paddles at once. Nothing should stay conscious after that."

She lightly squeezes Barbara's shoulder then heads for the wine cooler. It was definitely Wine O'Clock.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs holds that small smile for Helena after the shoulder squeeze. She folds her arms over her stomach, then turns to watch the other going for the stiffer drinks than tea. "It was their healing powers." She tells Helena. "When it got bad, before the rest of you showed up, I know I broke at least two legs on the smaller ones. My suit... it lets me hit harder, move faster... but even still. These fucking things... they just shrugged off any damage I did to them. I know that Dick said they were Werewolves... and I've never dealt with a Werewolf before, but... these things felt different to me."

She shakes her head then, and reaches her right hand up to push a loose strand of fiery hair out of her face. "I've been looking for leads online... but once you start digging in to 'monsters' on the internet, it becomes a minefield of truths versus ... crazy bastards."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie's entrance is announced, not only by the AI, but by a mechanical feline padding out of the elevator first then stopping to 'clean' itself. She follows right after, watching it's movements and actions. She doesn't even realize that Helena is there at the moment, not until she looks up and... there she is.

"Oh... hello," is offered before she scoops the metal feline up. "I was just coming to check on Barbara, good to see you Helena."

Truth was, the drones had been keeping an eye on Barbara from the minute she got home. Some were functioning as intended, reporting back even the most boring of things which included, but was not limited to: She crossed the room. She sat down. She went to the kitchen. She entered her bedroom, off limits, stand guard. She went to the kitchen. For most, this constant dump of information would become annoying, but not for Carrie.

"How are you both doing?" she then asks, carrying the now purring loudly feline as she walks toward them.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli shakes her head, "I don't know what a proper werewolf should be or not be. But I know those things were dangerous, deadly. We were all lucky to get out of that without you being more seriously hurt, and our pride bruised." She comes back with a glass of red wine.

Leaning on the counter beside Barbara she sighs "I... don't think I scare easily. I've seen, well, a lot." Mafia daughter. Mafia killer, here. "But that.." her eyes closed. "I was scared. For all of us. But seeing you? That.. yeah. Sorry." She hides behind a sip of her wine.

She looks up as Carrie arrives. A smile is offered to the younger redhead, "Carrie. Hi. Yeah, same. Have to make sure our boss is still in one piece."

Another sip of her wine, "I'm good. Need to go rob an Army Rangers armory I think. Felt pretty useless yesterday" she says with a wry smile.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara reaches her left hand out then to take hold of Helena's right elbow as the woman sips her red wine. She smiles as much as she can toward her, squeezes her elbow, then releases it again.

Her green eyes go over to the arriving Carrie, and her robo-kitty. She laughs softly at the checking-in on her from another of the Birds. "I'm okay. Bruised, but nothing I haven't felt many times before."

Babs picks up her tea cup then and motions toward Helena. "You were most certainly not useless. We came at them with Force last night, and arrested four of the pricks because of it. Now we just wait and see what our friends in the GCPD can get out of them..."

Her teacup is lifted then and she takes another sip of the steamy beverage.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Once she reaches the kitchen, Carrie set the metal feline back down but her eyes look over Barbara rather than what it does. She's been worried about her since last night, and didn't sleep real well as a result. What the feline does is walk over and rub alone Helena's leg like a real cat would do, then sit down beside her foot.

"You weren't useless at all, but no need to rob an armory," she offers to Helena, even if she's looking at Barbara. "I can hook you up. My suit is almost finished, and I have a few ideas for more arrows that could easily transfer over to bolts."

Walking to the fridge, she gets herself a bottle of juice then moves out of the way of the older women once again. "The healing factor on those things was insane," she then offers. "I've seen a few regenerating things in the past, but nothing like that. Going to need to get a chemist to make up some much stronger tranqs, cause I set those arrows on 'elephant' and they still woke up way too soon."

She finally stops looking Barbara over, convinced that she's mostly alright, even if bruised and sore. She needs a spa day, that's something Carrie will arrange for her.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli looks toward Barbara at the squeeze of her elbow and smiles in appreciate of the reassurance. "Thanks, Barb. Really. And I know. We did stop four of them. But.. " She shrugs lightly. "Kind of shook. If it had been me there solo till everyone arrived I don't think I'd have.." no. Not going to down that road.

Changing topics never came with so much appreciation as in this moment.

"That would be really great, Carrie. I can afford my gear. But I'm no engineer. I've extended past my limits to improve my equipment on my own" she admits. They're a team, and she's learning better to be a team player. That also means asking for help sometimes.

"Well.. " she thinks aloud, "... what is supposed to traditionally stop a werewolf? Silver? Doggie Bones?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs listens to them both as she watches the robot cat rub against Huntress' leg. It keeps her smiling softly while she takes in what they say.

She looks up again then at Helena's last question. "Silver." Babs says, and then inhales deeply. "I can't believe I'm saying it, but yeah... we should look in to having some silver weapons on us going forward. Be it ... arrow tips, or batarang, I suppose."

Another sip is taken from her tea and Babs steps around Carrie to one of the bar stools in front of her kitchen island counter. She seats herself upon it, her bare feet going up to her tiny toes upon the hardwood floor beneath the stool.

"I saw so many of these 'things' in the Sewer. I don't know where they came from, how we haven't run in to this before... It's, unsettling."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
A mental note is taken about silver as Carrie opens her bottle of juice and takes a drink.

"Traditionally werewolves spread their curse through bites," she comments idly. "Could be they're deliberately finding the homeless and increasing their pack."

Then just as quickly as that comment finished, she changes gears back to Helena's words. "We'll get you kidded out in no time at all. Wide variety of choices and possibilities, and if we don't have it, I can make it. Which reminds me..."

And now she looks back to Barbara. "I'd like to assign a drone to all the members of the Birds, no not the spyders, I'm talking about the flyers that can go invisible. If everyone had one, then in situations like what happened last night, you could deploy it with a gesture and I'd of known your location, state of trouble and need for help sooner."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli nods wryly, "Right?" about silver. "I'm going to buy a mess of pre 1964 quarters and a shotgun..." she mutters. A sip of her wine as Carrie speculates on the nature of the replication of the creatures they're now planning to face.

The talk of drones makes her uneasy but she doesn't speak out against it. She settles on letting the conversation run its course before she decides how she would respond.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
A smirk comes from the thought of the Birds arming themselves up with silver bullets. "Lets not go too crazy with it, yet. Maybe these ... things were just passing through the city." But even as she says that she knows not much in the way of trouble ever is just seemingly 'passing through' Gotham City...

Her eyes sweep to Carrie then. "You'll have to talk to each of them individually. I've used drones for awhile, even if mine are a bit less sophisticated than yours. But the others?" Babs smirks faintly. "Some of them are pretty guarded about their secrets, Carrie. They may not like 'Big Sister' fully watching out for them, so to speak. Optional gear piece? Maybe. But always there? Gosh, probably not. I mean, I don't mind, but you know that by now." She says, since there's probably 60 cameras pointed at her right now from different places in the Clocktower.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie hmms softly at Barbara's assessment. She realizes that everyone liked their secrets, but she hadn't thought of how rigid keeping them could be. "Well, that's why I said /they/ activate them," she offers. "I'm not saying keep them on all the time, just have them with them and if things go to heck, they can activate them."

She takes another drink of her juice before leaning against the counter. "I'll talk to them, maybe I'll be able to explain it better by then. I just want to protect them, even when they're working alone," her eyes settle on Barbara, as if to say 'yes you'. "I don't want their secrets, but I would keep them if I learned them.... anyway, I'll talk to them and get you one, Barbara."

The cat stands up, stretches then rubs against Helena's leg again, winding around her feet then sits down again. Drone cat is way more patient then a real one.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli looks down at the robo-cat beside her foot. She gave the critter a slight smile and gently toed it with her shoe to say hello back.

Listening to the conversation, she nods to Barbara then to Carrie. "I.. appreciate the advances in tech we're going through. It's important and valuable. But?" She shrugs, "I'm not one who wants all this tech creeping into my life. I won't speak for the others but I would say we really need to talk to Dinah carefully. You now how she is about anything tech. I don't.. think she'd have the same appreciation as some of the rest of us may." Trying to keep the peace for her part as well.
"We all appreciate your enthusiasm to keep us all safe. None of us begrudge that. God knows we need all the help we can that way. Particularly when the unexpected happens."

Like fucking werewolves.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs shows a quick smirk to them both after lowering her cup of tea again.

"So. Silver weaponry. Stakes? No... that's vampires... Well, I mean, a silver stake is going to do damage to a Werewolf too, right?" She thinks alloud to them both. "Batarangs. Projectiles. Maybe arm some of these drones with such things too... If nothing else a drone can get to an Emergency Beacon usually faster than any of us can also... so if they have a bit of firepower themselves, it could help. But... Well. Yeah."

Babs draws in a breath then as she raises her left hand up to rub at the back of her neck, flexing her head from side to side, before she looks back to the both of them. "You both are doing great though, and we'll overcome these challenges too, just like we always do."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The cat leans her head over and bumps Helena's leg lightly, then returns to just sitting there purring. It was a work in progress obviously, and Carrie was keeping track of it's actions and reactions.

Looking now to Helena, the young red head just nods with a soft sigh. She didn't have to like it, but she would accept it. Why someone wouldn't want that extra level of emergency protection was beyond her, but she did her best to understand that some people just didn't like technology. Truth was, if she wanted to go spying on the Birds, she could, but that's not her style.

"Okay," she finally says with a slight shrug. "Maybe the others would want the extra emergency help. As for Dinah, well, maybe better to not even ask?" She looks between the two older women with that, not certain if it was just better to not even ask.

"People can use your cell phones to spy on you at this point, you'd think that would be more scary than specially made devices. Right now, the drones primary attack is a self destruct that's about equal to an M80, but I could up that. I've been working on a prototype for full offensive drones, but gaging damage against flesh so as not to kill, and just harm, is proving challenging. Against these werewolves though, the level of damage they currently render could work."

Another shrug, another sip of her juice and she switches gears. "Pure silver is pretty easy to get your hands on," she offers. "I can go with silver bullets and arrowheads, as well as silver tipped bolts. Solid silver Bat-a-rangs would be worthless, but silver coated might work. Another possibility is Wolfsbane, but that also depends on what kind of werewolf, if I remember correctly. I don't know much about werewolves, save for old legends and fantasy books."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli shakes her head, "I didn't say that Carrie." She looks to the other woman, "I'm only telling you that Dinah does not share your level of passion, or even Barbara's, for tech. Barbara will tell you how hard it is to get the woman to use a smart phone let alone a computer. She's just an analog kind of girl. It's who she is. And we have to accept her there. She won't begrudge you offering her the tech. But let her have time to think about it and decide for herself." She offers a smile of assurance. "We're a big family. And we have a log of strong personalities. There is no one size fits all solution to anything we do."

Sipping at her wine again, she looks to Barbara, still watching how the woman moves, just to be sure she's okay.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Another sip of her tea is enjoyed before Babs stands up from the stool again. She shows a quick grin to the two of them. "Carrie is even more of a Doctor Frankenstien with her robots, than I am with my computers." She tells Helena. "It's hard for her to believe someone could say no to having more little metal friends around to help out." Babs teases Carrie lightly as she passes her by and gives her arm a light squeeze.

On her bare feet, Babs pads toward the computer level of her living room area, up in the northwest corner of the penthouse. She starts up the stairs, all four of them, as she holds her tea in her left hand.

"Now I'm curious what kind of Silver weapons I can buy online... Maybe check some martial arts sites, Amazon... Ebay.... Etsy even. God, I bet Etsy is full of artfully crafted Werewolf hunting tool kits..."

Yep, Babs seems to be her normal self, just a bit bruised!

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie sticks her tongue out at Barbara then says to Helena, "I get that some people don't like tech, and Dinah is one of them. I don't want to make her uncomfortable, just want to help protect her. Maybe I'll get Babs here to help me broach the subject, or you Helena?" She grins broadly at the woman, suckering her right into helping with this.

"Babs is right though, how could someone not love Felix," she points to the metal cat that has now flopped on it's back and is staring up at Helena expectantly. "I mean, I'm still working on his programming, but he's the bestest cat, or will be when I get done!" She beams a little at this, then her eyes shift to watching Barbara move.

"Get me a list of what you want silver, and I'll get to work... I mean, those things you don't find on Ebay." She snerks a little, just imagining that search and the adds that will come up as a result of it. 'New and improved vampire repellent, 20% more garlic!'

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Any cat that doesn't need to use a litter box, there-by keeping me from having to clean one is the best cat in the world, in my book!" Barbara shouts from up on the computer level, as she settles her butt down in to her favorite chair, and sets her tea-cup off to the side.

"Smelly cat, smelly cat... what are they /feeding/ you...." She now sings as she gets her personal computer, of the like ten computers up there, up and running.

"Smelly cat, smelly cat.... it's not your fault!" More singing, from the Mamma Bird.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli nods to Carrie, looking amused as Barbara immediately goes off into problem solving mode. Totally Barbara, that.

"I'll talk with her if you want, yes. I don't promise anything. But I'll present the idea to her soon."

Then Barbara begins to sing. A brow raises and Helena just laughs. "I.. think I'd better be going for now. It was good to talk with you Carrie. You take care of yourself Barbara." It's meaningful, but not a threat. Just genuine concern.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Walking over by Helena, Carrie scoops up the cat before it can try to jump up Helena's body. It doesn't have claws, so it would have been a humorous thing to watch, but still... no need to do that to her.

"Thanks Helena," she offers once the cat is secured. "If she has any questions, or you do, tell her to contact me and of course, you know where I am."

Glancing to Barbara as she heads for her computer, a satisfied nod follows. She was going to be fine. "I'm going back to the lab Babs, but if you need anything at all, just tell the room and I'll know."