16306/Post-Robbinsville

Post-Robbinsville
Date of Scene:	11 November 2023
Location:	Library - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Phoebe and Damian go over some of the information gathered regarding Saif Hassan and his defeat the night previous in Robbinsville. Damian also proves that he is the worst brother ever. Damian and Gabe Reyes should definitely not ever meet.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Damian Wayne

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The gray light of late morning Gotham filters in through the windows of the library. The pattering of an autumn rain against the panes of glass, and the gentle crackle of a fire set to burn in the fireplace creates an almost cozy atmosphere for the cavernous room. Phoebe, in study, was often found on the upper levels, tucked away between book cases (or occasionally on top of them if she was feeling particularly antisocial), but at the moment she was near the fireplace, some books that look suspiciously like they were bound in things other than cardboard and cloth, carefully scribed and esoteric letters keeping ancient secrets.

    She must have not yet slept; she hass a pair of orange glasses on as she pours over one of the books, up on a stand that she's borrowed from one of the tables.

    Potato lays behind her, and Idu is wrapped in a blanket, belly-up, pawing at the air half-asleep.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"The blonde is going to get someone killed." The voice isn't really from anywhere. It's Damian. He's showered and bathed and in pajamas, a robe and a towel in his hair as he moves to take a seat near Phoebe.

"I don't understand her powerset. But I understand her attitude. Anti-social. Unwilling to listen. Blames everything on her being a mutant. Thinks she can do what she wants because another member of the team does not wear a mask." He frowns as he settles in and he sips from the cup of coccoa he had made for himself earlier as he frowns a new.

"I intend to bring it up with Tim. The Outsiders would be better off without her, as she is now."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "You should definitely bring it up with Tim." Phoebe states, arching her back a little it as she brings her arms up.

    "Her codename is Flux. She's got a stop-time power that puts her in an alternate time-stream. I'll talk to her." she volunteers quietly, "If Tim doesn't. And she doesn't blame everything on her being a mutant... I mean, it's not exactly obvious looking at her. She passes for human..." Phoebe remarks, and she turns the page.

    "She's also not a member of the Gotham Elite and related-to-or-a-ward-of Gotham's Most Famous Son. She's homeless and estranged from her remaining family after her father's on-duty death -- NYPD officer." she explains to Damian, and then turns to face him.

    Sniff. Sniff sniff.

    "Now I want cocoa." she mumbles.

    Potato looks up at Damian and wags his tail, thumping it against the floor as his big ol' head wriggles, short ears pricking up. FRAIIIND.

    Idu remains asleep.

    "... someone attacked me on the roof last night and managed to disappear after Essix came to my defense."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I handed her a mask. Her first comment was 'I'm a mutant'." His brow raises to Phoebe. "You tell me if it's not an issue." Damian sips from his cocoa, "Extra marshmallows." he adds, before he frowns even harder.

"Phoebe. Seriously? You're going to ask me to go easy on her? And the fact that you are trying to compare me to her."

He's getting angry. She can tell. Sore point found. Finally, he 'tts' dismissively. "She's your problem. Don't let her become mine."

A hand reaches out to pet Potato quietly as he gets the rest of the information. "Saif surrendered entierly too easily. I suspected there was something more. Did you get any information on who attached? Essix get a look at them? She might be able to recreate the assailant." Damian offers. She's obviously alright, he doesn't need to ask on that.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I'm asking you to treat someone you don't know with the empathy we didn't get. Also -- not your job. She's an Outsider, we'll let Tim and Conner handle it. And if they don't want to, I will. I'd say neither of us know what it's like to be hated based on genetics, but..." she trails off and makes a face.

    But she's Black, and Damian's of Middle Eastern stock. It gets weird sometimes.

    "No. They were masked, and I didn't get a good look at them. They hit my communications array and domino and the redundancy circuits were still connecting when I turned to look." she explains, drawing her legs up into a lotus position.

    "The assailiant turned into ash. I reckon it was some sort of magical defense. It felt a bit like necromancy, but it wasn't as... icky feeling?" Phoebe's nose wrinkles. "Repungent."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"That's why I'm depositing here and not dealing with it myself. She tries to smart off again..." A different story. Damian shakes his head. "I didn't make it about genetics. She did." He has his own feelings on this, "I will keep my distance."

And like that, he drops it. "Then they knew where and how to strike you." The new puzzle has his attention and he absently pets Potato. "If not necromancy... demonolgy?" he asks curiously, his hand withdrawing from dog to cradle his mug to sip from it. "When Saif dropped his sword, it likewise turned to ash and said it was not meant for me."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I'll make sure to not put her on your team for joint operations. You can take Essix. She's a good listener." Phoebe gives a small amused smile -- which fades quickly. Potato wriggles and puts his head on Damian's lap, and gives a heavy sigh.

    "Demonology would be my next stop, but in spite of the fact that apparently I just can't stop playing with demons, it's not my speciality. And I'd hate to bother Constantine in his retirement." Phoebe frowns. "Which leaves trying to get a hold of Jason Blood or trying to get Robbie to let me interact with his Satanist Murder Demonic Uncle. Which isn't going to happen, since I don't think either of us trust him enough to be truthful or helpful. On the other hand... maybe Saif was as high as the magical hierarchy goes, and the next level up is just mundane drug dealers? That'd be... refreshing actually."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I'll be available as you need me." Damian counters, leaving it at that. He's not really smiling. His attention is fully on the current case.

"There are others. I'm sure someone can come up with an idea. I don't have the magical contacts that you do, but I could ask Jinx." he suggests to Phoebe. "She is currently a guest of the Titans and has broken free of her control by H.I.V.E.." he explains, before he gives a snort of amusement. Just a small one.

"A reverse pyramid scheme? Where the most powerful are the bottom, then drug dealers, carjackers and pimps? Would jaywalkers be the most powerful?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "The people who rip the tags off mattresses." Phoebe states in reply to Damian.

    "And no, sometimes it's just people who have money who are the top. Saif is still on Phillip Cupp's payroll for this election cycle, but I know know what he does. Or how close he is. Cupp assuming that I'm out there fighting crime with the Bats and Outsiders makes me a liability for secret identities."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"So this is dealing with politics." Damian frowns as he sips from his mug again.

"I thought secret identities weren't an issue." Dryly said, it's a one and done comment. "I do not think you want me anywhere near Cupp. The last thing you need is news of yet another Wayne beating the hell outta him to give him the vote of those that see our family as the problem in Gotham."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "No, I don't want you anywhere near Cupp. I don't want Robbie near Cupp. I don't want Jason near Cupp. I don't want anyone near Cupp. More I don't want Cupp near anyone. I kind of want him on a desert island with a radio stuck on the Easy Listening station but it's just fuzzy enough that you can't make out the lyrics. Forever." Phoebe mutters.

    "I want to suspect Cupp, but I don't want to suspect Cupp." Phoebe breathes out. "I can't have him be eliminated because he's the only link I have to the rest of the list of people who nearly beat me to death in the Silo. Tim's searched his phone and couldn't find anything there. And there has't been enough reason to search other parts of his house or office on a possibility that I'm wrong."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I will avoid Cupp only because you've asked." Damian manages. He's not as grousey now that he's aired his greivances on Kiden, and is focused on the situation at hand. "Though I would suggest a dwindling oasis in the middle of the desert with no trails that pass within 500 miles of it." he suggests helpfully.

"Just because he's not using his phone doesn't mean he isn't involved. I'd suggest a recheck of Saif's hideout. We went in, attacked, and left. Maybe a closer investigation of what was left behind -- after the GCPD went through it -- may yield results. And again, I do know magicians in the Titans, if you wish me to reach out to them. You might actually like Jinx. I don't know about Rae."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I have clasically bad luck dealing with Titans." Phoebe comments quietly, "but if you feel pulling one in would be best, I'm willing to give it a shot." Phoebe murmurs quietly, and then she tilts her head back, and as Potato moves to full-body flop across Damian's lap, tail whapping against knee and back (because eighty pounds is totally a lap dog), Phoebe flops down to look up at the ceiling.

    "Robbie also asked to put fear into the guy. It wouldn't be fair." she mutters, and her eyes narrow at the ceiling "And not to mention Jason would probably get jealous."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian gives Potato's sides a firm pat with both hands. "Who's the jealous pupper?" he asks with a small chuckle as he gives the dog attention.

"It sounds like it is well in hand then. I can put out a feeler for a meeting. Though..." he frowns. "...it would have to be a Titan that knows me. As in Damain. Most do not." He's still seriously guarded with his identity there. "I will think on it. But between the Outsiders and Robbie, it sounds like you have it well in hand.'

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "A lot of the Titans are at least aware of Balm. I've been with the Outsiders for a long time, and occasionally worked with Titans. I regrew Vorpal's spleen." she gives a 'bleh' sound. "And I'll never be able to look Starfire in the face without thinking about her naked, rising from the foam on the half-shell with Gar and Kian as chibified cupids."

    Taht is oddly specific.

    "No. Actually it's entirely out of hand. As much as I just want him gone, I'm not willing to see him hurt or killed because of some... bullshit high-horse." she mutters. "He's dangerous to our family as long as he knows who I am. What I am. But I can't take the memories from him without potentially hurting him with magic, and I promised Tim I wouldn't do any more mental magic." and she flatly adds:

    "And knowing what he knows now, I can't trust Robbie to not lose his cool and let the Rider out to punish him. Which would probably kill him."

    Potato is not jealous. That requires there to be more than two braincells. He's just happy to be here and rolls onto his back, on Damian's lap, and wriggles happily, tongue coming out the side.

    Idu, meanwhile, has risen, dragged his blanket with him, and has brought his smaller forty-pound self to smoosh against Phoebe's side.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian frowns in thought. There really is not much he can do and she can tell by his shift. He doesn't like this. "The our best hope, really, is that he loses to Dent by a large margin and disappears into obscurity." Where he can be dealt with without drawing attention.

But Damian digresses.

Giving the dog another rub, Damian lets go so he can focus. "What can I do to help, Phoebe? Other than listen and I'm sometimes not very good at that."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That was the other reason I can't do anything about him at just this minute." Phoebe admits. "He dies or disappears. We get called to investigate it. To show his connection to my disappearance would be to out me as a metahuman, because he would tell everyone about my powers. And then I stop being Balm, and I stop being Oriole. It's not worth risking your lives for my identity. I can't be someone who is publicly known as a healer... I'd never get rest. And how do you *choose*?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian is quiet for several moments. He's mulling something over.

"There may come a time where he will attempt outing you to try to get something out of Father. Or to force you back into his embrace." Damian points out. "I imagine it will happen not soon before or after the election. Either to try to convince Father to influence the election..." He's playing the scenarios in his mind as he considers them all.

"...or after, when he attempts to take you as a consolation to his failure as a politician." he points out. "You are going to need contingencies in place for both of those scenarios."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian adds, "If he wins, he will force a hand. Probably leverage his office against Father to gain control of you again."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "If he tries, he'll lose. Harvey Dent knows he has it out for me for some reason, and he knows me pretty well." she pauses. And she crosses her arms.

    "He can't legally take possession of me. He doesn't really have a way to forc eme to start dating him. There's only so much he can do... but he knows my triggers. He's gotten me on the ropes before because he spent the time learning them. What makes me tic." she scowls.

    "Everything your father's done has been legit to a fault. There is papertrails to the papertrails just in case someone pulls something bullshit."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian looks up at Phoebe for a moment and then he gives a soft sigh. "Desperate people make stupid moves. It's a fact of life. Give him time, he will make his. And you will need to be prepared."

"He knows you, that's fine." A lift of a brow. "But that means you know him. You, Phoebe, are not a victim here. You are a fighter. And if you let him get you on the ropes again? Then it's because you're not willing to punch hard enough back."

"And while Father does everything on the up and up and is legit..." With this, he offers a slight smile. "...that does not mean you have to do the same."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe is quiet, running her fingers along Idu's long ears a moment.

    "I can only give him rope and hope he hangs himself with it." Phoebe replies quietly, and then turns to Damian.

    "But I have the feeling Saif's sword was meant for me. There's something going on, and I'm trying to figure it out. And right about now, I wish I had my John, who I could go to, and he would curse up a storm, smoke half a pack of Silk Cuts and then after some cross words and licking a socket we might have an answer. But the magic world is bigger than a teenage girl's problems," she gives a dry smile.

    "... but remember, if something *does* happen to me, you have to take care of Potato."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Then make sure you do not end up in the same room as Saif." Damian responds with a small frown. "But I doubt you will have a choice in the matter. And it's no use to dwell on what we don't have - lets work with what we can figure out works."

"I know, I will make sure he is pampered. But I am in no rush to carry out that promise, Phoebe." A frown. "This family experiences much in the way of loss. Don't be in a rush to add to it."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I'm not in a rush, trust me. That's half the reason I'd set up my deadman memory spell -- so that no one would remember me to feel the pain. But I've got bad feelings. Constant dreams. Just the feeling that I can't shake, like someone stomping on my grave." Phoebe stares up at the ceiling.

    "Something is coming, Damian. I can feel it."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"If I have to tell you one more time that you are not alone in this, Phoebe..." Damian reaches out with a foot and lightly taps her shin with his toe.

"I'm going to come into your room while you sleep and write it on your forehead. In sharpie. I don't care if you can magic it off." It's an empty threat, but he's trying to give her hope.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Brave of you to assume that you can access my room. Also..." she raises her eyebrows.

    "Which bedroom am I sleeping in?" she gives a bright grin, and pokes Damian back.

    "I know I'm not alone. And I am so very thankful for it."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"You make it sound like I can't find a way into your apartment home." Damian smirks and wiggles out from under Potato so that he can get back to getting ready for bed.

"I am his son after all."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Ah, but whose apartment?" Phoebe teases, giving a cheeky grin up at Damian.

Damian Wayne has posed:
There's a long... long pause. And then Damian, just as he is about to step out of the room.

"When you and Robbie are done?" he asks her curiously.

"Do you light a cigarette off his skull?" And with that, he's out the door.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe just... stares at the ceiling. She absolutely cannot answer that one correctly because it's giving her horrible thoughts.

    ". . . that is one smartass son you raised Bruce and Tals." she mutters, and then just covers her face with her hands and makes an AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARUGH sound.