17418/A Little Homecoming

A Little Homecoming
Date of Scene:	14 March 2024
Location:	Grand Hall - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Phoebe returns to the Wayne Manor. Damian is there to both give her grief, update her, and of course, welcome his sister home.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Damian Wayne

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Since she was allowed to leave the BatCave Medbay, Phoebe had eloped and ended up at Jason Todd's garage in the city. She had been there with her phone off, but tracker active, for weeks, hiding from the world.

    This afternoon at Wayne Manor, the gate pinged her motorcycle's tracker as she made her way up the driveway, the lean cafe racer with leather saddlebags coming up and into the main garage, where Phoebe had begun to de-jacket from the trip out of the city. Her hair was still black, though now it's been shorn short. She had her tragus ring in and a piercing in her left nostril, and she makes a face as she rubs over the recent haircut. Otherwise, jeans and a Super-Fam T-shirt from the official League store, and a pair of short boots.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I'm sorry, do you have an appointment?" The voice is from above, as Damian is leaning over the railing for the second floor, peering down at Phoebe. "You look like hell. Alfred made shepherd's pie. Be glad he didn't make the squab pie he mentioned earlier." Dressed in a pair of jeans and a tshirt, he seems to be relaxed at the moment.

There's a frown as he studies Phoebe closer. "Did you finally decided that Jason's couch was enough torture for you and you wanted a real bed? Alfred's already made up your old room to get all the cobwebs out, for what it's worth."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    She looks like she needs sleep. She's lost some weight. At least her self-done haircut was corrected by a professional now, and as Phoebe brings her bag in she pauses in the main hall, looking up at Damian.

    And she cracks a small smile.

    "Neither you nor I can eat the squab pie, little brother." she gives a smile up to her 'slightly younger' brother, and sets her bag down. Her hands are shaking. She's nervous.

    "I... ah... I needed some place that I could hole up for a while. Jason had to talk me down from leaving Gotham. Kinda coached me through some recovery." she takes a breath, and then raises her eyebrows. "Heard you've been keeping busy."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Yes, for us, we have Spanakopita." Damian responds as he makes his way down the stairs to Phoebe. "Nothing is going to hurt you here." he comments quietly, firmly, trying to resassure Phoebe that the Manor, of all places, is probably the safest place to be.

He's not going to make her sleep in the Batcave.

"I've had to keep busy, otherwise..." he shurgs, he doesn't want to get into how far down his rabbit hole he went - and with Rose's departure to wherever, the one link that knew what he did is gone.

"So no taking any of dad's cars to go out of town." he points out. "So. What can I do to help?" he asks quietly.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Otherwise being inactive would eat at you. Common family trait." Phoebe states, and she gives a breath out, and then goes to sit down on the stairs, looking over the grand hall.

    "The Manor just seemed Too... Big." Phoebe admits. "Too much to process. Too many rooms. Jason's garage is a loft, a garage, and an auxillery cave. Not so much to process. Got some sketching supplies. Made a couple meals. He helped talk through some of the nightmares. I'd just... I needed to be away from things to process a bit." she states to Damian. "I can see why repeated trips through could have affected people really poorly."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Do what I did when I first moved in here." Damian offers as he takes Phoebe's hand, after dropping down into a seat next to her. "When mother first brought me here? I used my luggage and some boxes, built a fort in the master room, near the fireplace and camped there for a week before I finally caved and came out for Alfred's cookies."

"The world's a great big scary place. Especially for someone being introduced... or reintroduced to it." he admits, giving her hand the lightest of squeezes before letting go. "But, control what you can, make a home with what you want." He shrugs. "I had Charlie over the other night, we watched anime together and ate snacks. Just because it looks like a museum doesn't mean you can't make it human."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah, because that totally works out between being a little kid and being a twenty-year-old." Phoebe points out with a wry smile as she looks to Damian. He's allowed to take her hand. She gives a breath out.

    "It's bigger and scarrier when I've lost my capability to contend with things. With magic? I had heavy hitter potential. I could take hits that would kill other people. I could launch fireballs and shield others. I've used my magic to bring all the actual Robins back from the brink." she states, and then she looks down. "And now I don't have it anymore. It feels like I'm naked." she explains to Damian. She takes a deep breath, and then looks down.

    "Was it you who put Cupp in Arkham? Or was it someone else?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Never doubt the power of a good pillow fort." Damian says firmly. There's a shake of his head and he lets out his own breath. "I know. I know what you lost. And I know I can't relate. Because I will never be in that place. But I can empathize. After all, I'm on a team full of people that can throw planets, read minds, and explode things with a snap of their fingers."

"And I can understand it in the context of that. We're doing all we can to try to figure out how to get it back. Tim and I went to Egypt and ran into a god wearing your dad's skin, I think." But then a shake of his head.

"...no. That was Osprey, I think."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... I think the only thing that surprises me more is that he's alive." Phoebe states. "Go Austin." she raises her eyebrows, and leans back against the stairs as she looks over to Damian.

    "Dams, /which/ dad? I mean, there was Chas. John. Chuck. Technically I have called Bruce 'Dad' *once*." she makes a face. "In order to get away from Van Dyne." she makes a further face. Death didn't improve her opinions.

    "What... what happened in Egypt?" she asks, and her lips purse.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I... I think it was 'your' dad. Not an adopted one. I don't know for sure. A relative of some type. Had a familiar very similar to Idu." Damian admits, and he sighs. "Tim took me to the well that /you/ didn't, the last time we were there." a small face at her. "He told us we had a short amount of time to figure out something that was coming within seven moons. And that there were two others that were involved. We're chasing the mortals. It's stupid."

Aggitation shows for the first time in Damian's voice. "We're tracking the leads on these pills... and the pills have nothing to do with it. We went to the church and it changed. It was Set that was there. And if that's involved in your spark... we're out of our league. Not the first time we've been out of it, but still out of it." He draws in a breath, resteadying himself.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... Damian, I've never identified my actual father." Phoebe states softly. "I have no idea who he is. Even the Justice League DNA match couldn't come up with anything recognized -- just that I'm East African in origin." Phoebe points out quietly. But a face and a familiar? Another Desher?

    "My cousin killed all of our close biological relations. And then was dragged to Hell." Phoebe points out, and then she frowns. She rubs the back of her head. She opens her mouth, then closes it.

    "You're not out of your league." she states quietly. "Also I had no reason to take you to the well, just like I had no reason to take Tim to the church. And neither of you have been inside the wrecked Library chamber or the hospital, so nyeeh." Phoebe points out, and she raises her hands as if she were about to do something -- and then... slowly... puts them back down.

    "The Well is also a necropolis. I didn't share that part with Tim. What remains I could find were interred there. I thought that... it'd be comfortable for them. Considering how they perished. But -- besides that all..." she tilts her head back.

    "/You/ are the grandson of Ra's al Ghul. You are the son of The Batman. Tim is the smartest person I have ever met. Jason is smart, tough, and tenacious. Austin has a huge heart that is only matched by his willingness to go to bat for the little guy. If there is any team that could take on a god, it would be our family. You have all fought hard to get more information. And it's not stupid to chase the human part. Egyptian Gods? They usually didn't do too much for the mortals. Apparently it's like... a huge-ass frat party in Duat that Khonshu wasn't invited to. And the ones my family worshiped were primordial gods, and their desires and motions are so inhuman that who even knows what they do? Not even the *ancient* Egyptians knew." Phoebe states quietly.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damain frowns faintly. While everything Phoebe is saying is technically true. "Even the Batman knows when he may need to ask for outside help." he points out to Phoebe, "Yes, we're a good team together. And if this were Joker, Riddler, Penguin, anyone else, I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. But, this involves magic. I was going to broach it with Charlie, but I don't know if her magic is anything that can help out with your magic issue. I feel like I need to talk to like... Zatanna or something."

"But I know how you feel on that, and I don't want to do that." He glances aside at her. "So, I'm not going to do it." A sigh. "But if I have a friend that is having an issue with their lost magic, I may ask someone's opinion on the matter without giving away names."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Charlie is one-hundred-percent barely controlled Chaos magic. There's a not-zero chance that introducing her to something involving Set would backfire spetacularly -- " Phoebe pauses, and she looks to Damian "Made of the same stuff." she replies, and she tilts her head back. "Zatanna's not a bad option. She's my mentor. Was my mentor. Sara Pezzini from the Justice League Dark. I think Lydia's gone on a book tour..." she frowns, and brings her hands forward. "I know where The Door to the House of Mystery shows up in Gotham. THere's a chance Constantine would be home but -- also a good chance he wouldn't want to get involved. Or that involving his wife would be bringing a minefield to a knife fight." she frowns, and then she leans forward and puts her head in her hands.

    "There is always trying to get in touch with Moon Knight and through him Khonshu, but I have no idea how to get in touch with him without trying to figure out who he is at the moment. I didn't keep mundane contacts for anyone I used to work at. And if I did, it'd be at the Curio, which I can't access."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Which you can't get into at the moment. And I don't live there." Damian sighs and shakes his head. "Should have taken you up on that apartment offer. I suppose I could bother Bart or Emiko. They live there." reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "And yeah, introducing Charlie would probably be like putting a portable hole in a bag of holding."

But he is making mental notes of the names - and possible issues - she's listing off. "Alright, I'll see what I can find. And let the others handle the manhunt. Now. What else do you need?" he asks. "I want you to stay here. Alfred can take care of you and you'll be comfortable."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Nice reference, A+." Phoebe states with a smile and maybe a little bit of pride at the D&D joke.

    She closes her eyes, and then crosses her arms.

    "I'm not an invalid, Damian. I don't need to be 'taken care of' like there's some sort of injury. I died. I got a dunk in a pit of green stuff. I got over it. All I have is horrible residual nightmares and the occasional bout of seriously overstressed eating of fried foods." Except she's lost weight.

    "I'm still --" she pauses, and winces. "I'm not all the way back yet. I haven't really talked to too many people." she states quietly, looking up to Damian.

    "I haven't even seen Robbie yet."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"And that is why you need to stay here. You're not all the way back. You barely have an immune system. Until this is all settled, this is the safest place for you. I'll contact Robbie for you. But if he's dumped you over this whole thing?" Damian frowns, a shake of his head.

"I'll kick him so hard his ghost nuts will break." he grumps sourly.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Please for the love of all that is good do *not* kick a Ghost Rider, *especially* the one that knows where we live, in the nuts." Phoebe looks absolutely horrified at the idea of what might happen if he does. "They're all fast, and Robbie is crazy strong And weirdly if they have to work together they will. And I know of three active ones in the area." she looks over to Damian.

    "So although I absolutely appreciate the 'if he's a jerk I will hurt him' sentiment, is probably a really bad idea to follow through with that one." she replies, but gives a smile.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I'll keep it in mind." Damian huffs a breath and then tt's softly. "But for now, I need you to come get something to eat, and maybe try to relax and unwind a little. I know that may seem hard, but I'll be about, at least until I figure out what I'm doing next."