1970/Grappling For Dummies

Grappling For Dummies
Date of Scene:	05 June 2020
Location:	Batcave
Synopsis:	Bette works on an investigation while Dick does maintenance and Stephanie trains. All under the watch eye, and paintball gun, of Batman.
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Dick Grayson, Bette Kane, Bruce Wayne

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Stephanie Brown has posed:
It's evening in the Batcave. Late enough that some may be leaving for patrols, and others arriving back from them already. One such is Stephanie Brown. She's wearing her spoiler costume but has removed her mask for the moment. She's over in a training area that is used for climbing, balance, and other related types of training.

She takes a sip from a bottle of water and then sets it aside. Her mask is scooped up and put back in place, and then she sprints forward at full speed. On the run, she pulls out her grapple gun and fires it up towards a protruding object up near the ceiling. Far better than the rope from the hardware store and home made grapple iron she had made herself and had to swing and throw by hand.

The grappling iron wraps around the pole placed there for such use, and she suddenly whisks upwards as the device hauls in the line hard enough to pull her into near-flight. Partway up she detaches it, arcing through the air with cape flared behind her to land on what amounts to a tall pole much like a telephone pole and not any wider on the top. One of a series, she then runs, jumping from one to another. A misstep enough to send her falling to the softened ground below.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick has been in the Bat cave doing some work on his bike, mostly because it was closer than home and he really didn't want to have it make him crash. He is out of his suit for the bit and is in a t-shirt and jeans, and is a little grease-stained. He sets down the wrench and walks over, wiping his hands off when he hears Stephanie's work and says, "You about had it!" Trying to be encouraging, "I'd say give it another run, but you seem to have it mostly figured out, it appears."

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette is looking at a story board she has carefully constructed over several weeks of research and investigation. It's hard balancing West Point and vigilante work. The commute is a killer. She really needs better transport options - or to somehow manipulate the military in to stationing her in the city. Well, where ever she is she will keep fighting the good fight.

The board details Terrance Lorne, an arms dealer who while particularly 'inspired' one evening demonstrated his wares to a potential buyer by shooting up a park where families were having a picnic. The sale fell through when the heat came down on Terrance and he went underground.

One of the survivors of the slaughter, Fiona Keelig took exception to the police being unable to find or arrest him and turned vigilante. She managed to disrupt two different weapons deals before she was brutally murdered for her efforts. Terrance caught wind of his deals being busted and thought someone was after him, so he hired an assassin which is labeled with a question ? mark. The assassin seems to be doing his own investigation and Bette has attributed him to at least three kills on survivors of the park shooting. Terrance was caught by Bette a few weeks ago but the assassin hasn't stopped.

"One cowardly act of mass murder has set in motion dominos that are still tipping over today," Bette remarks, mostly dressed to go out on patrol soonish.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Second order thinking," Batman agrees. He's standing near Bette's storyboard; not contributing unless asked, not voicing opinions except those that affect the process. He's not offering conclusions of his own.

He's clad much as he often is in the caves, in rugged charcoal-black trousers and a silkweight, long-sleeve black tee. Donning the Bat-Cape is a matter of putting on boots, armor, and a cowl.

"Sign of good generals and military leadership. Also of career criminals," he says. All cool facts, delivered with a professorial indifference. "First tier effects are immediate consequences. Getting hurt. Injured. Loss of life. Second-tier consequences are forward-thinking. Long-term unemployment, impacts on housing markets, reductions in income. Third-tier effects are the hardest to predict," he remarks; a hand rises, fingers splayed subtly and gesturing at the layout. "Destroy a road today, forces a banking officer to take a longer route to work, fatigue increase, he gets in a car wreck, bank valuation and performance drops by a certain percentage. Our job is those third-tier predictions."

Stephanie's doing the drill quite well, so naturally that mean's she's either mastered it or not pushing herself hard enough; Batman reaches over, picks up a paintball gun, and fans a burst of paintballs at her feet and legs, making no real attempt to hit her beyond trying to give her something else to think about.

"Family here. Victims. Mikolos." Batman taps a photo on the layout. "What do you predict for them?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Spoiler darts from one pole top to another, not stopping on any but using each as a launching pad for the medium-sized hop to the next pole. At the end of the line of poles are a pair of practice dummies placed as if to guard the ledge they are on.

The standout gymnast's balance shows as she navigates the poles at the nearest to a run her stride can manage. Suddenly a paintball whizzes by and another impacts the pole her foot is just landing on!

Spoiler reacts as if it was gunfire, hitting the next pole with both feet and pushing off into an evasive back flip, cape swirling around her to help conceal her form, back to the previous pole. She lands on that one with feet close together to fit as well, and leaps back forward again.

Soon she's nearing the ledge. She jumps up into the air, a hand sweeping down and pulling her telescoping staff from the equipment garter about her leg. The metal pole extends to become a bo staff silently, and the weapon delivers a rap to the head of first one dummy and then the other, before Stephanie lands on the ledge behind them.

She walks over and leans on the pole at the edge of the edge, flashing a grin down towards Bruce for the unexpected challenge. "It's never what you think," she calls down towards Dick. "How's the bike?"

Stephanie jumps off the ledge, turning in the air and already fitting a new grapple iron onto the gun and firing it, using it to swing across the training course, letting go to land nearer to the vehicle bay.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick picks up on some of Batman's commentary with Bette, "First rule of commute, make it the center of your plan." He then ponders and says, "Also don't rule out red herrings. Murders specifically chosen to create a pattern that lead nowhere or possibly cause others to be missed because they don't fit that pattern." He begins cleaning his hands.

While Dick is cleaning up, he says to Stephanie, "Fixed now. Fortunately not as bad as I thought, but they don't have a big margin for error, was also due for an oil change, so did that while I was down there. As he puts the towel down he sees the paintballs fly and says, "Footwork is most of what we do. Do it fast, do it now," sounding like an instructor from the academy as Spoiler continues the drill.

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette looks up as she sees Bruce with the paintball gun. This'll be entertainment - and it was, Spoiler flipping and dancing about so impressively. She nods in admiration, "Nice."

Bette tucks her hands behind her back as she steps closer to the picture Bruce taps. She can tell he's done his own homework or perhaps just recognises the name. He is a good mentor like that. "Oh I met the Green Arrow, he said he wants to talk to you. He made the reasonable assumption that I was 'one of yours'. Just passing the message along."

She tugs on a small piece of paper at the bottom of the photo and pulls down a postit note of details. "Mikolos, Greek imports and exports of stolen artefacts. They make a tidy profit off of vases and bowls and other such pottery from antiquity around the world." Her eyes turn to Dick, softening as she ponders him, then snaps back to the task at hand. "Could be a crime of opportunity, annoy an old crime family, start a war between the gun runners and the antiquity runners. Someone will always move in to the gun space - but if they are already good at smuggling, may be they wanted in."

"May be you're right Nightwing, may be Terrance planned this out before I caught him. It'd explain why the assassin hasn't stopped. Now they've lost a son either they ramp up the war or they accept the message and step back. No son, no legacy for their Gotham operations - now they need to find talent outside the family name. Marry in? adopt? start a new legacy? Rich people with loose morality who want ancient pottery have to look elsewhere temporarily for their fix, turn to a different supplier.. a supplier who already had this assassin on their payroll? someone associated with the gun runners? More questions, not enough answers. Who is the next best person to hire to sell you ancient greek antiquities?"

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce nods along with Bette's analysis. It's the sort of reasoning that some might read as a rambling guess, but everyone who's ever worn a mask in the Batcave is an expert in the art of deductive reasoning. "Random coincidences rarely are," he remarks for the benefit of the Batlings. "Better to assume everything's linked in some causal way. Find those little links. Even if they're inadvertent, they'll help you see a bigger picture. Power vacuums are one of the most dangerous elements of Gotham. When a crimelord goes down or a family gets murdered-- whenever there's a loss, economic or otherwise, someone rushes to fill the void. It creates imbalance. Recognizing the patterns takes time, but--"

He glances over his shoulder at Stephanie as she moves to speak to Dick, turning profile to him and Bette. Silently, Batman offers Bette the paintball gun. A little encouraging nod, for her to take it; once she does, he lifts the barrel with one hand and thumbs the trigger stud with the other. A paintball arcs towards Stephanie, aimed for a gap in her padded armor.

"Anticipating the way others think is our single greatest tool," he says, and with his shoulders back to Stephanie and Dick, he looks like he's just been standing there the whole time and is absolutely above suspicion.

Particularly with a smoking gun in Bette's hands.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie walks over towards Dick's bike, looking it over. "I've been... well I can't really call it studying... but I've been peeking at some of the manuals on the bikes," she says. She's still riding her battered Yamaha, the license plate removed when she goes out, and some water-soluble paint sprayed on to conceal the color if there's time. "Too much other stuff Barbara is drilling me- YEOCH!"

The little yelp comes as the paintball smashes into the joint in the suit's armor along one side, right next to one of her girls. Her costume didn't used to have that protection. A layer of leather sewed into it was the most her homemade costume had, but the equipment upgrade from Barbara, if not at the standards of the rest of the team, was still tremendous.

But the kevlar weave there might stop a bullet but it still transmits the force of even the paintball pellet. Stephanie's yelp reverberates through the cave, setting off a number of the bats hanging from the ceiling off to one side. They flap out into the night noisily as Stephanie turns towards the culprit. "Bette!" she says, rubbing the side of her boob rather comically.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick nods to Bette, "Never assume rational actors, either. Creating social mobility also works, just like in sparring you are at your most exposed when you are moving, in this case up or down. The trouble also is the chaos that ensues, it's something we cannot predict or control, but it comes with its own opportunity." He watches as the paintballs fly and grins, "As in that chaos also gives us room to maneuver against some of them, as they may lack the protections they normally enjoy, especially if it's a successful decapitation."

"Could be worse," Dick calls up to Stephanie, "At least nobody's throwing wrenches, or dodgeballs." He chuckles and says to Bette, "Friendly fire isn't," the tone still comical.

Bette Kane has posed:
"Looks can be deceiving," she says getting in on the one liner lessons about life. But then she demonstrates the more important lessons by rapidly disassembling the paintball gun and placing the pieces down on a nearby table. She smirks though, it was very funny.

She opens up the laptop on the table and sits down in front of it, logging on to the dark web. "Well then let's see who might be advertising their services, helpfully, when the usual supplier is mourning the death of their son by a senseless murder." Tap tap tap, she is no Barbara Gordon, but she doesn't need to be - because anyone who wants to make money off of crime can only be _so_ sneaky before they get no business at all. "Hm, I think it's time I arranged a viewing of some merchandise." She taptaptaps some more creating a new fake account and sending off a message.

"If I'm lucky, they'll bite. Find them, may be I find this assassin, may be I find a link between them and Terrance Lorne. May be we stop more dominos from toppling."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Off Bette goes, following the paper trail. There's a finely honed investigatory mind in that girl's head, and it's sending her chasing leads.

And that is the real work of being a detective. It's often long and boring hours of research and surveillance. Frustration from leads that dry up or hypotheses that are proven wrong.

Then again, patience is one of those most supreme virtues.

Bruce glances back at Stephanie's outburst, and then frowns at her as if in reproach for the undisciplined squawking. His head shakes and the Bat looks back to Bette.

"Options for post-graduation are pretty limited," he points out to Bette. "Likeliest guess for you would be one of the rapid response brigades. Washington state, maybe," he observes. "Are you planning on taking the military's relocation order, or finding a way to stay local?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"Could be worse," Stephanie repeats after Dick, and looking away at the look she's given by Bruce. Though when he turns back to the computer she picks up one of Dick's wrenches for a moment. Just hefting the weight and then drops it with a sigh. Under her breath, loud enough it won't carry past Dick she says in an altered voice as if quoting what Barbara would say, "When they do it, it's training you, Stephanie. When you do it, it's just throwing wrenches at people."

She lets out her breath in an exhalation that dislodges a few stray locks of blond hair. The girl leans against one of the work benches, picking up a tool and looking at it. "So you going to make the graduation party?" she asks Dick. "Show up with a supermodel girlfriend too I'm sure. I can't wait until Mom sees Tim. He went by a fake name when he first met her," she says a grin at the memory.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick also nods to Bette, "You're getting it. Maybe MP life would work for you, also would help if you shoot for staying near home." He isn't as worried about the response from Stephanie and raises a brow at the comment, and responds in a matching volume, "Usually it's more planned, but I'll keep that in mind for future trainings."

The eldest Robin goes over and grabs his watter bottle and takes a swig before rejoining the group, and answers Stephanie's question, "I'll be there, but will be flying solo. To show up with a supermodel girlfriend would require having a supermodel girlfriend." He chuckles and takes another drink.

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette winces a little as the conversation inevitably steers back to her future. "I could join the reserve, go on the US Tour again for uncle sam. That's a nearly civilian life. I'd be traveling but also able to come back. I think I could pick my post if I did it that way too, they'd probably say yes to Gotham anyway. I have an itch to play tennis again and I do recognise that I have the professional attention span of a gold fish, yes."

There's a hiccup of a laugh from Bette as Dick mentions needing a supermodel girlfriend. "You could take me, I've been on the cover of Sports Illustrated." Though, she's only half joking, she avoids eye contact and shuts the laptop.

Bette takes out a kevlar case from her backpack and takes out her Bird-a-rangs and slot deposits them in to her belt, preparing to go out. She taps a finger on another family in the 'not yet victims' list - "Just in case they want more bodies to cover up their real intentions.. or just in case this isn't a deep seated plot to take over a criminal legacy... I'm going to be staking out the Donovans tonight. Their daughter is the right age and she's the last on the list that could credibly be a threat in Terrance Lorne's depraved mind."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Being a homicide investigator-- professional or vigilante-- is a macabre line of work. One grows inured to things like death, violence. Murder. Homicide.

Batman digs under the cabinet for a protein shakes and calmly whips it back into a homogenous blend, then chugs the green vegetable protein blend while the talk meanders from murder and violence towards dating and a career.

It's a weird life.

"Soleil Meyers is still single," Batman says, and glances back at Dick. There a hint of mischief in his blue eyes. "I liked her. Up until the incident with the aquarium at Le Cirque," he amends. "Maybe you can wring a pity date out of her. I'd just make sure not to put anything sharp in her arm's reach."

This time, Stephanie and Bette are in on the joke; he looks at them, bobs his brows once in wonder and exasperation, and finds something interesting on the distant wall of the cave to look at.

He's nodding at Bette's words, that brain of his processing them in due time; the mouth of the bottle gesturs in her direction, approvingly. "You might consider running a cross check of her social media profiles. Employment, friends, hobbies, movement patterns. Residencies. See if there's any chance that Terrance Lorne crossed paths with her. Case #445, the Dillinger murders. 2007, April-ish. Six homicides in a four day time period, done to cover up a jilted lover getting revenge."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown breaks out in a grin at the discussion. She grabs her water bottle and takes a long drink from it. "Uh oh. Good thing we're not serving fish," she comments to Dick with a teasing grin.

Stephanie pulls out her phone and begins manipulating it. "I suppose if you wanted, I could ask Roberto if his sister is single," she offers to Dick. "I haven't met her, but I hear good things about her." Stephanie holds her phone so Dick can see the picture on it. Brazilian supermodel Beatriz da Costa. And if Dick gives her a questioning look, Stephanie gives a grin and a confirming head nod that that is her boyfriend's sister.

She looks over to Bette. "Well, no more school in the morning for me. At least, until college starts. If you want help staking out, I could go with?" she offers. Stephanie's eyes move from Bette to Bruce. "Bruce, I got into Gotham U," she says. "Even got a pair of scholarships that should cover everything. Agnes and Douglas Rothchild Memorial Scholarship," she says. "I'm trying to thank them. Hard to get ahold of. So I've just been able to send a letter. But... ah, yeah, the kind of thing I want to say thank you for," she says before looking away so her face doesn't show too much. Not that the emotion in her voice didn't say it already.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Considering the donation the foundation had to make to avoid further issues, I think that /might/ be a bad idea, they are still getting mold out of some places," Dick snorts in amusement at Bruce, and says to Bette, to whom he gives a nod, "Aren't you getting an invitation?" Then the topic shifts to the case, "He's right, that might be a place to look, also note timestamps for patterns."

The talk of employment and patterns causes Dick to look at Bruce, "That reminds me, would it be possible for me to get into the family business, not the one I'm currently in, but the other one. Detective work is getting a little... rough with scheduling and my real job. Figured you guys might need a consultant, and at least I have six years under my belt and made detective, so the optics won't be as bad." He takes a breath, it's kind of an awkward question

Fortunately, he gets a little cover when Dick listens to Stephanie and looks, "Oh wow, hadn't seen her at the Hellfire Club in a while," gives an approving nod, "I wouldn't be opposed."

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette shudders, "So.. much.. brine." She's not going to lie to herself, that hurt just a little bit - well, it's not like she has a lot in common with Dick apart from being a vigilante. "Yeah yeah, but I wasn't planning on bringing a date."

A hand is waved in front of her face indicated a gawd awful smell. She rewinds a grappling cord in to the small delivery system on her belt, then nods to both Dick and Bruce.

"It can't hurt," she says and sits down to start going through social media, branching out to family, friends, acquaintances.. bypassing the usual login to look at the most recent photos taken. "I really hope this guy is done with three. But if he does turn up tonight he's going to get what for."

At the offer of help from Stephanie she nods enthusiastically, "Yes absolutely. I really don't want another body dropping. -- and if I'm away for West Point stuff someone might need to keep following this." Her attention does get absorbed in to the work of cross checking all the social media though.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Good manners are an important part of a society cover," Batman tells Stephanie. His face is utterly inscrutable as he meets her eye contact. "Formal letters are well respected in polite society." Before that conversation can go anywhere else, he gestures at Bette. "Bette, you and Stephanie should take this murder case on. A second set of eyes wouldn't hurt. You need to proritize your residency issues," he bids Bette. "Before the military reassigns you to Nebraska. Your talents are wasted in a missile silo.

He looks to Dick, and his voice evens out a bit. "I'd feel better knowing you were taking on Dent and Penguin at the same instead of you going to the Hellfire Club," Bruce tells Dick. For a moment, there's a very paternal worry in Batman's voice. "The Da Costas are a good family-- Beatriz has a good reputation. Just be wary if you go to the Club. They don't know who we are, but given the resources they control, it's not impossible they could solve the Bat dilemma." A finger uncurls from his shake and encompasses the whole of the cave, the grounds, and the family, in a single gesture.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie puts her phone away and nods to Dick. "I don't expect she'd be coming to the party. But their mother is. So, you know. Behave yourself in front of her and who knows?" she asks with a smile. "Though I'm not even sure she's single."

Stephanie takes her water bottle and moves over to join the others at the Batcomputer. "Right. Murderers and assassins that need stopping. Just how I'm hoping to spend my last summer off," she says. Though rather than sarcasm, there is eagerness in her tone that paints the truth of her statement.

She starts reading over the dossier that's pulled up on the one screen. "Hrm," she says, frowning at the parts one might expect, and her expression getting much more serious and determined as she reads over each of the deaths.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"It's the social cover," Dick notes to Bruce, "I don't have a lot of time, with the busy schedule, but keeping up appearances is important. We have our social obligations. We show up, prove we still exist and are not hiding from everybody, but don't stick around so much they get to know you and develop enough to work with for patterns," his tone is sincere, "And don't worry, Dent and Penguin are on my radar, never left. But yeah, I don't intend on spending too much time there, just enough to avoid suspicion." He gives a firm nod to confirm.

Bette gets a nod, "Yeah, Nebraska is a rough posting. But I hope you can find a way to stick around." Stephanie gets a raised brow and a snort, "Hurtful, but understood. "

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette nods to Bruce, "Yes Sir." Inside she is delighted by this piece of praise - when she was younger and had pictures of Batman and the Boywonder, she dared to dream she'd be right here, like this.. turns out, not every little girl dreams of the same things. She's determined to make up her mind may be soon probably about the future of her life and things of such not now and not before nature.. ish. Her gazes glances over to Stephanie as she reads about the numerous deaths that have resulted from Terrance Lorne's initial bloody killing spree.. but says nothing. She wants her to draw her own conclusions. May be she'll see something she's missed.

"Definitely don't want to go to Nebraska. But I think even though I find psychology really interesting and it's my major, I need a break from university - may be I'll go back to it in a year or two and do a doctorate, become an actual psychologist. I don't know. Either way, I'm about to be a 2nd Lieutenant and that concept is warping the very nature of how I view myself. Weird."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Talk to Kate," Batman advises Bette. "This is a realm she's got experience in. She'll help you plot a path forward."

Back to Dick. "Cover job. Agreed." Batman nods once. "Done. Drop off a resume. I'll have it intercepted. Lands on my desk by ten PM. Come into my office at eleven-ten. We'll have an argument about special favors. Twelfth-floor offices are a little run down, but serviceable, give me a list of people you want to pull for your team and ten spares I can knock off for the sake of appearances." He's backing away towards the elevator as he talks. "I'll give you back... four ringers, you kick one back because they're under-qualified, spend an hour complaining about things, then lunch at Bardenay's at 12:35," he hazards. "Plus or minus a few minutes. Bette, Stephanie, if you want to join us, Dick will make sure to hold seats for you."

"Good evening, children. Be safe," Batman bids them--and then the elevator doors pivot shut and it *whooshes* Batman up into the upper vaults of Wayne Manor overhead.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Sounds good," Dick nods to Bruce with a grin, "Already got everything printed, if you want digital you can have it in five minutes," he nods, "I'll work on my lines and shortlists, if you need anything else, let me know." He gives his adopted father a wave, "Sleep well." He then looks to the other two, "Looks like lunch is on him tomorrow. Bring an appetite, should be good food and a good time."