3361/Motorcycle Maintenance

Motorcycle Maintenance
Date of Scene:	14 September 2020
Location:	Penthouse - Kord Co
Synopsis:	Huntress gets her bike and Blue Beetle gets a mission!
Cast of Characters:	Ted Kord, Helena Bertinelli

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Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord stakes a moment to look at his work. The Huntress' chopper sits next to the pool. It nearly sat on the bottom of the pool when Ted hit the throttle by accident. But a few cusswords and pulled muscle later he has it on blocks and running smoothly. He looks at a diagnostic read out on a tablet and smiles. "I knew nothing about motorcycles when I started. thank God for this Michelin guy. I wonder how my surly friend is doing fighting crime on foot or swingline or whatever?" He grabs a coffee wondering when she'll show up and checks his pager again. Nervous? No, why would he be nervous?

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress has arrived at Ted Kord's fancy penthouse digs during the dark of night, scurrying up to the roof so as to avoid going through the main entrance, due to her paranoid nature. She slides over the wall to avoid the security camera and hops over the red motion sensor. Maybe she's just testing the place. She drops in on the poolside area with a flutter of her PURPLE cape. Flutter Flutter. She stands there eyeing the motorcycle, "Hey Beetle," she begins, "Checking in."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord manages not to 'Gah!' at the sudden intrusion. He smiles a little. How much did he spend on the security system? Not enough.

"Hey Huntress. Come on in. You can see I got her purring. You can't kill these bikes. You can make them wish they were dead. Apart from new plugs I changed the oil and fluids, replaced the gaskets and belts and blew out the fuel pump. She could last you forever if you bring her around once in a while to upkeep. I'll be glad to do it. Oh, I fiddled with the carburetor and the muffler. She runs almost silent up to 40 miles per hour. And I got something for you..."

Beetle lifts up a very sleek black helmet that looks pretty light weight. "I didn't see if you had one and... safety first, It's bulletproof." He tosses the helmet to her.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress catches the black, black helmet and eyes it with a bit of a critiquey look, "Black, huh," she utters evenly, then knocks on it with her knuckles for some reason, and flips the visor a few times. She hmms. She holds it up and looks at it again, "Cool," she mutters, then tucks it under her arm. She walks over to the motorcycle. She looks at the engine and goes over what he said to her, "Uh huh, fiddled with the muffler and carberation, got it," she repeats.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord rubs the back of his head and says, "Anything else you need. I just had a pizza sent in if you're hungry... Or you can take a swim or whatever." Several mental kicks follow. "She's a fine bike. She just needs maintenance once in a while. Show her a little love. Oh, I can get you a bulletproof windshield in a couple days if you want?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress nods her head once, "It's fine," she says after she traces her eyes over the motorcycle lines, then pauses as she touches the fuel tank with her hand and examines other parts of the bike. "My father's friend has a son and apparently, he knows my name. My real name, I mean. I think he's coming to Gotham," she tells him ominously. She crosses her arms and finally looks over at what Ted Kord is doing.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord comes out of his reverie. He ponders her words and says, "What do you need me to do? Do you need a new ID? You need help with this guy? Least I can do, you pulled me away from that man-eating limo. I owe you. Thanks by the way. But anyway what can I do for you?" He grabs his tablet again and looks at one last reading on the bike. Yes, the bike is definitely shut off now.

"Come inside. I think better in there." He opens the patio door for her.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress doesn't look sure at telling Ted Kord about her issues, though she probably isn't sure about telling anybody about her issues. She walks inside through the patio door, "I have to think about it, I guess. His family is kinda...powerful," she mutters. She crosses her arms again, "So you're my resource now...?" she wonders, "You probably shouldn't get involved."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord shrugs and indicates the pizza. There are two plates set out. "Mmmm I been risking my life to help people a while. Then I started using my money to help people too. None of them pulled me away from a car. You're as important as they are. I have to ask something, can you go to Batman for help? I mean this is Gotham, he usually knows if a kid tags a wall in Gotham. I mean yes, I goof about him but... the man is incredible. It's been a while but I think I could get back in touch with him. And please don't call me a resource like you want me to do your homework for you. Anyway keep talking. I'm grabbing a slice and I'm all ears."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress purses her lips and says, "What are you trying to say? That I need Batman to help me out?" she wonders, "Yeah, he knows a lot. I think mostly because he tries to control everyhing," she mutters but then stops and smirks a little as he corrects her about being a resource, "Okay fine," she says with acknowledgement and shrugs. She then says, "Okay, I'll tell you the whole story, sometime."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord dabs at some sauce on his mouth with a napkin. "In Gotham, you don't leave Batman out of your calculations is all. Anybody can benefit from his help. I didn't mean to say you're less than competent. You want to sit down have a slice and tell me what you can tell me? So far I have to do something to help you deal with someone who might know who you are, whoever that is. This sounds like the restaurant scene in "Analyze This" You gotta talk to you know who about the thing? You talk too much!"

He chomps another slice and listens some more. "I know this is hard for you. People have secrets for good reasons. Tell me what you can and what you want me for and take your time."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress smirks a little though restrains herself from sarcastic or hurtful comments, since she honestly does want to have a friend this time, at least for a while. She sits in the chair, "I don't really trust a lot of people, maybe that's my problem," she tells him and then shrugs, leaning back in the chair. "His name is Johnny Manfredi. He's Italian. They called him Johnny "Clean Cut" because of his age. I was pretty stupid when I was young. I didn't really even know what my family did or what his family did. Maybe I ignored it."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord pours himself a glass of wine. Family... oh FAMILY. "Wow. Well first of all we're all stupid when we're young. It's what you do going forward that's important. Don't keep getting tricked by the Clean Cut guys out there. Uhmmm I understand about Batman. I think I was kind of similar to you. I didn't know anyone really before the Justice League, heck I was wanted on suspicion of murdering the original Blue Beetle for a while. It sucks. We all get off to a rocky start. So this guy may know who you are. How do you plan to deal with that? I mean... we're talking la Famiglias, right? If he knows for sure why didn't they just blow you up or something final? these guys don't use some dopey death trap. they just shoot you. But go ahead keep talking. Please." He reaches over to give her a pat on the hand, ready to yeet his hand back if she bites or something.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress sits motionless for a moment as she considers Ted's rambles and the bevy of emotions. She shrugs off a thought of something ominous (at first), "Why doesn't he shoot me? Because he's my friend. Or at least he thinks he is," she explains, "For...reasons I can tell you about later, but needless to say, he gave me advice this one time when I was younger," she explains, "And after I started moving around, I lost track of him. It's kinda funny getting a message from him after all this time. When I'm now a masked vigilante breaking arms and kicking ass, and he's---well who knows what he's up to. I don't want to assume he's now some generic Italian mafia stereotype," she says with a frown, "Can you find out.... or am I begging Batman to comfort and console me?" she says, as that sarcastic attitude leaks out. She stops talking immediately, as if wondering why she said it like that.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord smirks. "Batman doesn't do comforting and consoling. He will tell you what you need to hear, shove you in the right direction. You don't look like you'd put up with comforting or consoling for very long. But yeah, I do a fair spy act and I have business contacts and all that stuff and a couple of embedded hackers. I can see what your old friend is up to. That's a problem you got there. I'll be glad to help ...a friend." He sticks his hand out to her then and gives her a very genuine, warm smile.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord smirks. "Batman doesn't do comforting and consoling. He will tell you what you need to hear, shove you in the right direction. You don't look like you'd put up with comforting or consoling for very long. But yeah, I do a fair spy act and I have business contacts and all that stuff and a couple of embedded hackers. I can see what your old friend is up to. That's a problem you got there. I'll be glad to help ...a friend." He sticks his hand out to her then and gives her a very genuine, warm smile.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress hmms and nods, "Yeah I know, I was just being super sarcastic," she tells him. "You have business contacts huh? Overseas too?" she wonders out loud.

Huntress grabs his hand stiffly and shakes it, "Deal," she says, "Okay I'll leave you alone now. Can I take my chopper?" she asks, ratherly politely for the Huntress, so she must be in a better mood than earlier.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord nods. "I do overseas stuff. I'll get back to you in a couple days. As for your bike, yeah you better take it. As a biker I make a good airship pilot. I nearly wound up in the pool with it when I brought it out. Maybe you can give me some lessons?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Huntress stands up and fixes her cape, pushing it back. She says, "If you like," she tells him, "My tests are killer though," she says, subtly providing an ironic joke, though she isn't nearly as funny as Ted is, "Later," she utters quietly and heads out of the room.