3158/Catching Up at the Red Cave

Catching Up at the Red Cave
Date of Scene:	29 August 2020
Location:	Upstairs - Red Cave
Synopsis:	Carrie visits Jason and the two talk about their pasts, love lifes, and the situation with the Court of Owls.
Cast of Characters:	Jason Todd, Carrie Kelley

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Jason Todd has posed:
After the meeting at the Roost, Jason was more than happy to let the Outsiders sort through their respective bullshit and save Carrie the trouble of dealing with it by a tactical retreat to the Red Cave along with a quick stop at the Arcade Diner for some take out along the way.

Leading the way up from the old 17th Street Garage which serves as the ground floor of his layer, a two bay auto repair place that had closed sometime before Jason was born, Jason opens the door to his lair above, a work-in-progress safe house that most of the family had only heard of and never really seen. Stepping inside and ducking under some still hanging wires from the ceiling he warns "Watch your head," as he carries on towards the slightly less disastrous living room with their bags of food in hand. "Anyhow this is it so far, been meaning to get more done, but then the Owls and other things got in the way."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley was more than willing to do so as well. The issue was resolved much as it could be at the moment, and she hadn't really had a chance to catch up with Jason in awhile. Plus food was always a bonus. She follows his lead into the old garage then up, ducking when told, and then lifting an eyebrow at the sight of the place. "Yeah I guess it takes awhile when you're doing renovations yourself," she reasons with a slow nod.

"You need a house plant or something. Fake maybe in case of Ivy, but...." She chuckles quietly shaking her head. "Yeah this place could use some TLC. Good bones to it though, and way better than anything I have. Which isn't much of anything. I feel like I'm the slacker in the family these days."

Jason Todd has posed:
"Tell me about it," some of the areas of the safehouse had tools and how-to books strewn around but mercifully not the living room which had a couch, a chair, a TV and shelf, the shelf even had a little art, a sketch someone did of presumably Jason as some sort of anime samurai with two swords on his back.

He sits down on the couch and opens the bags, of take out to divvy up the food. "A plant is an idea," he says, "But already got art," he gestures over at the drawing as he sets down the food on the coffee table and lets Carrie pick her seat as he goes for drinks in the little kitchen. "Definitely fake for the plant, not just because Ivy but because I'd probably kill the other kind," he says. "Soda or beer?" he calls from the kitchen. "And if you need help kitting out a lair of your own let me know, C, glad to help. Can't let Timmy show us up."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"I think he already did. That theater was a good idea. Lots of useable space to convert," Carrie reasons as she settles down reaching for some of the takeout boxes. "Soda. You know I don't drink." Or at least she rarely if ever did. It was partially because of her age but more so because of her old training. It was still ingrained into her to not do anything that might compromise her control over her body.

The art piece is regarded with a smirk of amusement. It wasn't something she'd ever seen before after all. "You should have Damian paint you something. He doesn't talk about it much but he's actually really good at it," she calls over with amusement. "I think it's one of the few non-work related things he enjoys doing."

Jason Todd has posed:
"I know but I live in hope you'll join me on the delinquent side," Jason teases on the subject of Carrie's beverage. "Or formerly delinquent, I'm legal now it takes all the fun out of it." He comes back with a pair of sodas and takes a spot on the sofa, tossing over Carrie's as he does.

"Yeah, Tim had a decent idea there," he admits of Tim's hideout. "And a pretty good team." he has to admit. Though all of that is soon pushed aside with the other news. "Wait, what? Damian /paints/? Like mini-murder-Wayne ha a hobby?"

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley reaches up to snag the soda out of the air with a chuckle. "I did try some wine with Henry once but it was kinda gross. So semi-delinquent." Not really though. She'd had maybe a fourth of a glass before giving up in favor of plain old water. The soda is cracked open to take a quick sip that she very nearly chokes on with laughter at his reaction to the other news.

"Yep. Keep in mind I was the one that was looking out for him before he went off on his own a bit. He's got sketchbooks and paints though he doesn't talk about it much." It was still good to know something he didn't though. "I guess his mom had him train in a *lot* of things. To be fair art is kind of a good thing to train in, too. You work on your hand-eye coordination as well as noticing details that might otherwise be missed."

For a moment she pauses as a thought strikes her causing her to sit up a bit more. "Ah, sorry to bring up his mom. I mean. I know that's a touchy area right there," she adds with a sheepish dip of her eyes.

Jason Todd has posed:
"Trying to get you drunk is he?" Jason teases about Henry. "Do I need to 'big brother' talk him?" even if Jason was only older by a span of a few months.

Jason shakes his head. "Wow, so even D's more well-rounded than I am," he says with a laugh. "And figures she would want him to be up on all sorts of crap. Ra's and T sort of strike me as multi-talented."

He pauses a moment as his phone dings, and he checks the screen typing something back a moment before putting it down.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, T and I? It's okay to talk about her. Hard not do with her being D's mom," he says. "The past is the past there," a beat. "I hope."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley gives a little snort and roll of her eyes at that though she is grinning at least. She leans forward to snag some plastic silverware to tear open. "Not quite. I think he keeps offering because he forgets I'm underage in that regard. Though he has said if I want to indulge he'll watch after me. I can't see him ever trying to take advantage of me." That causes the slightest blush from her along with a clearing of her throat. "We're thinking of getting an apartment somewhere to ah... Have some privacy. A mid-way point between cities. Not like flat out moving in together."

Nodding firmly she changes the topic again. "Good to know. I don't know all the details, but..." The phone is eyed and a wry grin of her own comes. "Got someone on the hook yourself?" She teases.

Jason Todd has posed:
There's a laugh from Jason as he grabs one of the food boxes. "Yeah, I could see Hank forgetting, but definitely not taking advantage. Not that I've met him more than that one time but he didn't seem the type and besides, you trust him," he says easily. After all he'd learned to reply on her knack for catching what others missed when they patrolled before his death.

There's a broad grin about the apartment. "A hook up, pad? Nice." he teases. "Figuring somewhere like Starling?" he asks. "Or maybe New York?" A further smile. "Don't worry I won't drop in on you two."

"Heh, wouldn't you like to know," he says, almost by reflex before saying, "Maybe. It's not dating, just having fun."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"It's not like that!" Carrie blurts defensively with a plastic fork jabbed in Jason's direction. "We haven't even hooked up y-- Nevermind." Redfaced and shaking her head she digs into her food with sudden gusto, only to clear her throat. "Thinking New York. He works in upstate, so at least the hypertube to New York City is kind of a halfway, almost." With a little snort she nods at his defensive remark still looking amused none the less. "Good you found someone to have fun with then. I mean, you could use some happy times after all the shit you went through."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason reels back trying to avoid the plastic fork of doom! "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you guys haven't and you've been dating for how long now?" he asks her, clearly not above prying into Carrie's personal life. "What's the deal there?" No judgment, just a lot of amused curiosity. "And New York can be fun."

As to the rest, "Thanks, I've been having a bit of fun here and there since I came back, but this," his phone pings again. "Is a bit more normal I guess." Case in point with the texts.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley grumpily bites down on the fork of doom which at least had a few french fries on it at the moment. Nothing like some carbs to help the mood when being teased. "Neither one of us has a lot of experience in that department," she mumbles out in their defense. "Besides, just after we started dating he and some others were kidnapped and tortured." It's here she pauses with a scowl of clear dislike at what happened. "It caused his genetic mutation to shift further along, and... well. He's been recovering and learning how to use his altered body. So. It didn't really seem important to press that topic."

There's a little smirk when the phone pings again. As soon as he might reach for it she lashes her hand out to try and snag it away to get a peek at who was texting him. "Oh, so who's the lucky girl? Guy? I mean I don't judge," she teases laughingly.

Jason Todd has posed:
It's rare to see Jason actually show regret or embarrassment but he was showing it now. "Shit, well now I feel like an asshole," he says, giving Carrie an apologetic look, before it becomes more focused and Jay-like. "Did you get the guys who did it?" he asks her with that Red Hood edge in his voice.

He picks up his burger to munch and distract himself a little before he adds, "But I get not wanting to press him about it."

As to who Jason was having fun with, Jay puts on a serious face as he answers, "It's Tim, Rose is just his beard," he says before his lip starts to curl at the edges and he breaks into a bit of a grin. "It's Valeria Richards," he says, which may even be harder to believe.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"No. The guy is slippery as an eel from what I've heard. There's a lot of people after him," Carrie explains with a shake of her head. "Some geneticist calling himself 'Sinister'. He went to ground, no one has heard of him since." It's shrugged off. Not that it wasn't important, just she wasn't going to dwell on it when she couldn't do anything. "He's recovering well."

Her gaze falls to the phone which of course is locked. Snorting she hands it back. "Lies. Tim barely knows what to do with a woman much less another man," Carrie quips back at the oh-so-serious tone. At least until he caves and says the truth. She stares a moment as her mind wraps around it. "Valeria? Little Valeria?" Eyes narrow as she does some mental calculations... and still shakes her head. "Oh, man, I hope her godfather doesn't find out. And I guess she's not so little anymore either. Huh."

Jason Todd has posed:
"Sinister, huh?" Jason says making a mental note. Clearly someone has been added to his mental hit list, though with the Owl situation, he's not going to go rushing off to find the guy either. "Glad he's doing better, he seems like a good guy."

There's a bark of a laugh about Tim. "Yeah, he actually came to me for advice twice now and if that doesn't tell you he's out of his depth," he grins.

The rest has him face palming. "She's not that little any more!" he says, "And yeah, I am aware of the dangers, honestly more worried about Sue. She was the one who caught me with no shirt during breakfast."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley sucks in a breath which she holds for a few seconds just staring at Jason as if he'd grown a second head. Maybe he had in that he wasn't thinking with the one on his shoulders at the time. "Oh. Oh man. Why would you DO that?" Her head shakes slightly with a cluck of her tongue. "Yeah, Sue is going to kill you. Or worse. She'll find a way to make it worse." Still she offers a sympathetic smile back.

"Yeah, I know Valeria was only a few years younger than us. Just when I first met her she was... well. Little. I really ought to go visit and catch up with the Richards family. And Ben," she adds with a fond grin.

"You're lucky you got out of there without being tossed out a window or something. She could do it you know."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason spreads his hands and grins, "She wanted me to help upset her parents, I delivered on my promise," he says of why he'd do that. Though he does nod emphatically about Sue. "Oh she definitely wanted to throw me out of the window, and I guess she didn't get the memo I was back from the dead either, so... surprise."

He lets out a sigh his expression sofrening. "She also mentioned she cried at my funeral, which, wow, low blow," he says though je looks to Carrie for confirmation if it's true, assuming Carrie if anyone would have been there.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley purses her lips tight. That was a rather touchy topic even if it was years in the past. All she can do is respond with a mute nod. "Your funeral was... it was tough," she quietly admits with a frown of recollection. An awkward stiffness comes over her. This wasn't something that was ever discussed after all, even when he came back. Maybe it should have been.

"I tried not to cry. Tried to hold it together. You know the old Boss always told me not to show weakness... but it was hard. When she started, I did too. I couldn't stop."

"Lots of people were upset."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason gets up as Carrie talks, he needed something stronger than soda for this talk. He grabs a beer from the fridge and comes back, listening all the while. "Jeeze," he says about the whole thing. He really didn't think too much about what his death would have done to others. He assumed on some level that a lot of people would be grateful for it. He takes a long sip of his beer.

"Huh," he says when Carrie says she cried. "I really tried to follow your warning," he says. "You saw that right? Remember I sat out that time Joker tried to hit the Gotham reserve?" he lets out a breath. "I didn't know it was him or I wouldn't have followed those stupid leads about my mother."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"I know." The words are softly spoken and with a look of sadness as she regards him quietly. Maybe she could use a drink too. It wasn't the same as a beer but she takes her soda to take a long drink helping to wash away the tightness in her throat at old memories. It gives her a moment to catch her breath. "I didn't blame you for it. I mean. I had limited information as to how it happened. I just knew that it did happen. The Boss never talked about the details, and Alfred ... Well, he didn't either other than to explain how hard it had hit them both."

"If I'd known he lured you out with info about your mom I would have told you, I swear."

Here she pauses again allowing herself a faint smile. "You know. I know in my ... In the old world, I knew my place. I had a purpose. But I was alone even with the Bat Boys. I lead, I didn't associate. You were the first real partner I worked with as an equal." Here she chuckles with faint amusement, "You know, it's funny, but in some small part of my mind I always thought we might get together if things didn't go the way they did. Funny how the world works huh?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason looks across the room to Carrie unsure how to deal with sadness in another especially when it was about him. "I know you would have told me if you knew more than you did. I get it, it's not your fault."

He moves over to sit back on the couch taking a long pull from his bottle, pausing to look over at Carrie's admission. "You too huh?" he says with a wry smile. "You were this badass super robin who had her own army," he chuckles and shakes his head. "And you had my back. Was so pissed at Bruce when he adopted you, I mean, I get it, you needed a family, but tell that to fifteen year old me." He smiles and shrugs. "And yeah, funny how the world works. This isn't going to make things awkward is it? I mean you're one of the few people I don't think of strangling on a regular basis."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley can't help but laugh at that. At least the sharing of that small detail was enough to bring the mood up a bit. Even she didn't like dwelling on the sadder parts of her life too long, not when so many other amazing things had happened. "Yeah, that would be awkward with the whole family angle," she admits grinning. But mention of it being awkward otherwise just earns a small snort.

"No more awkward than you teasing me about being a virgin. At least I don't get ragged on like poor Tim did." It's shrugged off with another fry popped into her mouth. "Nah. I mean, hell. It's great having you back. I was kind of the odd one out when you were gone. I got sent off for training, then Tim showed up... we get along okay, but it wasn't the same either," she points out.

Jason Todd has posed:
"Okay fair," Jason says about the virgin thing. "I"ll let that you being the resident Bat-Nun go then," he says getting in one last tease before he makes good on that promise. "And yeah, the family thing would have made it awkward, we're not that kind of rich."

He shakes his head. "Well yeah, Bruce replaced me with White Urkle, you totally got screwed when it came to replacement partners," he says with a smirk as he raids his own stash of fries munching amusedly. "Anyhow if you want to get the band back together, we /are/ supposed to patrol in pairs with the Owls around. Want to team back up like the old days?"

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley nearly snorts her soda at the Bat-nun reference. It's a quick recovery as she grins and gulps down the soda to keep from hacking up a lung instead. With a deep breath she just shakes her head. "I don't think some of the dresses in my wardrobe would be very nun-like," she points out with a chuckle. Relaxing again she considers the offer though only for a moment.

"I think that'd be great. I've been keeping it low key with the patrols but I did find one of their buildings. Empty of course, but... Man. These Owls are serious business. Old school cult type stuff."

Jason Todd has posed:
"You have dresses?" Jason asks with a cocky smirk and a pre-emptive duck.

"Great," he says of their renewed team ups. "And yeah, sounds that way, curious if it's a cult or a guy or what pulling the strings, I mean they've got serious resources and intel. They know our routes and at least Bruce's identity. They need to go down." He says before glazing at Carrie. "Got anything lethal for that bow of yours?" he asks. "If so you should load up. Their soldiers aren't alive, not really and the only thing that takes them out so far is headshots."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley does take a swing at Jason though she knows it'll miss. If she really intended to hit him she would have aimed a lot lower. "Yeah every now and then I have to be a proper socialite to keep up appearances." With a smirk she nods, and then focuses her attention on the matter at hand.

"SEEMS like a cult. There's circles drawn on the floor and everything. If it's not, whoever it is, is doing their best to make it seem like it IS. Plus these are OLD buildings. This isn't new construction on them." She shrugs it off considering.

"Of course I do. I've got explosive tipped, and some other trick arrows. Ollie taught me well." She pauses to add, "It was really weird meeting him here the other week."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason grins as Carrie misses him intentionally. "Right, forgot you're the face of the Wayne foundation now. Guess I'll need a real person job sometime too." But then on to the matter at hand.

"Wait there were circles?" Jason asks. He hadn't found any on his building but there's a nod about the construction. "Fair point," he admits, frowning. "How good are these guys then if we've missed them this long," he says sounding worried for the first time since his return.

"Definitely go with the explosive ones. Don't hesitate or give them a second to close in, they're a pain in the ass with those blades of theirs I only got out with as few scars as I did because my costume is mostly armour."

There's a snort about Ollie. "You met him? Still had both arms?" he asks.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"At the JLA moon base opening," Carrie points out with a grin. Being on the moon had been rather cool after all. "And yes, he did. I met Flash too. He was nice but super geeky. Tim would like him." Thre's a pause before she adds, "So would Henry."

"It could have been a different Green Arrow of course. I know our worlds don't entirely line up. Maybe he's not 'Ollie' here," she reasons with a shrug. "But that's how I knew him there. Anyway, yeah, I'll take care to load up. And... it was circles but not drawn out. More like set up in the room with chairs?" She tries to explain with a frown. "It felt like something from an old movie."

Jason Todd has posed:
"Wait you were on the moon?" Jason asks beer poised right at his lips. "Man I miss all the fun stuff being dead," he says. Or at least officially so. "Once the paperwork comes through to make me a real boy, I'm going to have to get in on some of these gigs."

He nods about the other heroes. "True, I guess your world isn't an exact copy of ours, so Ollie might not lose his arm here," he says. "Still might want to warn him though, just in case," he offers with a smile.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley crinkles her nose at that considering thoughtfully. "I don't know, I might be two for two there. I don't know how THAT happened either..." She pauses considering, and then shudders. "Wait, no, I do know how he lost it. And if that's going to happen there's nothing anyone could do to stop it." This causes her to frown further as she shakes her head firmly. "I can only hope it won't happen."

"And that was only a few weeks ago, you know, you could have come with. D and Bats were there too."

Jason Todd has posed:
"Oh? Well, don't leave me in suspense, how'd it happen?" Jason asks about the arm eyes glinting with dark curiosity.

Jason tilts his head considering. "I guess, but it seems like a 'good kid thing'" he says with a smirk. "It's alright, I'm sure we'll all have to go up there the next time the world's in danger."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie Kelley opens her mouth... and shuts it again. There's a clear look of indecision on her face when she thinks on this. "I... it was..." A deep breath is drawn and she ducks her head to pinch at the bridge of her nose. "This is not my world. At all. The heroes there, the powerful ones, stepped away. Humanity began to fear them and they decided to retire. To let the world do with itself what it chose to do without their interference."

"But there was one who couldn't go home. So he vowed to do whatever the President asked instead. And when other heroes, the human ones or otherwise, refused to 'retire' along with them... He was asked to retire them."

Carrie swallows hard and looks Jason dead in the eyes, her expression similar again to the grim one she used to wear so often when she was younger. "Superman tore his arm off."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason looks over the amusement he had about finding out how Ollie lost his arm evaporates as Carrie tells the story. "Shit," he says. "Yeah, definitely a different world than ours, no way Supes would do that, he'd go live on the moon or something before he hurt members of the League," he says, giving Carrie a sympathetic look. "Sorry your world was shitty like that. Guess all the Earths suck in their special way."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"Yeah. I... I'd almost forgotten that was how it happened," Carrie admits with a frown. Forgetting things wasn't like her, though she really hadn't had the need to think on that history in a long while. "It was a dark place. We were at war with ourselves and the world. Gotham stood strong though," she adds with a weak grin of pride. "But I digress. I guess there's a lot about my past that I don't mind not dwelling on. Though sometimes Superman still gives me the jeebies." With that she chuckles attempting to go back to the not-so-dark mindset. "Anyway. I should get going for now. Thanks for showing me the place..." A look is given askance to some hanging wires. "If you need help just let me know. I do know how to swing a hammer."

Jason Todd has posed:
"Sorry to have brought up some of the darker parts," Jason says of Carrie's past. "But I can understand feeling like you do about Superman," he says.

He stands as Carrie says she needs to go. Her comments about helping out earning a smile and a look around, "Yeah, I think I might give you a call next time I start working. Could use an extra set of hands," and some company. "In the meantime watch yourself out there, C."