7821/Deja Vu

Deja Vu
Date of Scene:	14 September 2021
Location:	Helena Wayne's apartment, Gotham City
Synopsis:	Helena and Helena work on an alibi, and become 'family'.
Cast of Characters:	Helena Bertinelli, Helena Wayne

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Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli vroom-vrooms her purple motorcycle up to the side of the street as evening just begins, the sun setting over the classy, white apartment buildings nearby. She hops off the motorcycle and whips out a purple CELLPHONE, looking at it closely, because it really belongs to HELENA WAYNE aka the Huntress version 2 aka the dimensional clone that makes her nervous. She studies Wayne's address again and swipeswipes the purple cellphone closed.

Helena walks into the apartment building and picks up Wayne's newspaper on the way up to her apartment, cause she's HELPFUL like that (nosy). She looks over what Wayne subscribes to while she's in the elevator and then exits, going to the door. She knock-knocks plainly and then after Wayne answers, Helena smiles knowingly, "Ah, you forgot something?" she wonders, holding the cellphone up with her hand. She then holds the newspaper up in the other, "Forgot your mail," she tells her. She offers these things back, then walks on in like she owns the place, if she's not tackled and/or punched out cold.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena Wayne may be new to this dimension, but she wasn't born yesterday. HER world was in the process of tearing itself apart in a global war when she got ripped away, after all. She had to become a soldier. And soldiers think tactically.

The newspaper is the Gotham Gazette, which she takes out of nostalia. The mail is just a couple of bills in an neutral name. The cell phone....?

Helena Wayne answers the door with a smile, gaze sizing up the woman before her. She's wearing jeans and a purple blouse. Barefoot, but with several pairs of shoes and boots on a rack by the door. The other woman doesn't need to be in cape and cowl to be recognized.

"Oh good, you found that. Right where I left it, I take it?" Think tactically. She had no chance of tracking down the other Huntress, after all. There wasn't a lot of juicy stuff on the phone... the Oracle drop-phone was kept more carefully... but she plucks it away when it's offered. Along with her mail.

"This place isn't much on amenities, but I splurged on an espresso machine if you'd like a cup."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
"Trying to test me, huh?" Helena Bertinelli asks and keeps smiling knowingly, "Yeah, I gotcha. Here am I. Wish granted," she comments, gazing around Wayne's apartment as she walks about. She's wearing her casual casual clothes, with not even a hint of a superhero piece of kevlar around her. She is ALSO wearing jeans. And a black blouse buttoned up the front. She has on a little PURPLE jewelry.

"Sure, I'll take an expresso. Thanks," Helena replies as she sits down on the couch, trying it out, "Nice place," she adds. Funny how Helena and Helena knew each other almost automatically, as if some secret dimensional magic has connected them somehow, "You can't sense my presence like a psychic, can you?" she wonders out loud, because apparently she likes blurting out what she's thinking or maybe wants to judge what Wayne is thinking.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena Wayne makes her way towards the kitchen. The apartment decor is neat, if plain. Soon she starts making sounds with the espresso machine, her back casually to the woman she's only meeting for the second time. What was it she said before about trust in her world?

A soft chuckle follows the question. "I'm afraid not, actually. By the way, you can call me Helena." All the mail was addressed to 'H. Kyle' curiously enough.

"So now that I've lured you into my lair, what shall I do with you?" Pause. "After a cup of coffee, that is."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli snickers and gives Wayne the eye, "Okay Poison Ivy, do your worst," she comments, watching Helena in the kitchen area, but she continues to look around, "Call you ... okay fine ... Helena ..." she says, pausing and slowly admitting she can do it, "I guess you're going to have to call me 'Helena' too," she admits.

"Oh, do I need to help you with your cover story? Remember what I said? What you do sometimes catches up with me," she adds, "Looks like you've started that already, huh?" she asks, motioning to her fake mail.

She then purses her lips and seems to get more serious (finally), saying, "You get any strange telephone calls? Hang ups? Wrong number?" she wonders.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena Wayne actually pauses to look back over her shoulder at that. "Helena? Seriously?" She chuckles. "Okay, chalk up one for the duo-dimension theory." Pause. "Make that two. The costume isn't a coincidence. Can't be." The coffee-making resumes.

"And no, my last name isn't really 'Kyle'. But I'm new here and running low on intel, so I'd appreciate any help I can get with a cover story." Can't really go around masquerading as Bruce Wayne's kid, after all. "We look close enough to be sisters. Or cousins."

"Strange phone calls? Honey, I only know about 6 people in this city including you and the weird guy down the hall."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
"Okay good, just checking. Just ... checking," Helena mutters, "My family does not have the best reputation with the damn locals. I'm the only one over here," she adds, meaning the USA, "I'll tell you the whole story some time. It's a bit long," she explains.

"Had a brother once. Not a sister," she explains in past tense then just leaves it out there in the dead, dead, DEAD air. Yes, dead. She should be dead.

"I'm not a ...sorcerer or whatever so don't get me thinking about it." Yes, she thinks she can handle this situation, no need for Doctor Strange.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena Wayne turns to look again at the mention of a brother in the past tense, and all the pause that follows. "I'm... sorry." she replies softly. And it's genuine. Helena Wayne lost her father as well, of course. Deep breath, slow exhale. "So we'll work on the cover story, then."

Clicking the metal cup into place, she flips a couple switches and steam hisses as the machine comes to life. And that's when she looks over the other Helena a bit more closely. "Yeah, we could definitely be related, alright. I think we should work with that. Could have cousins with the same name, but then we'd have to use surnames as well."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena pauses for a moment while she thinks about her little brother. She listens to Helena hiss and plod around with the machine to make the expresso, then she looks up at a mirror. Who's that? Another Helena...

"Okay, here's the story. We'll just tell people you're married. Simple," Helena says, avoiding any painful discussion with her sarcasm, "Or were married? How's that?" she notes and shakes her head, "Step-siblings won't work either. Yeah, you know, you're even wearing your hair the same," she comments with another squint at Wayne. She plays with her own, shifting it in a new direction.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena Wayne snorts softly at that. "Married? Why do -I- have to be married? You're older, right?" At least she guesses as much. "Or was this a tragic mistake of my youth?" A lift of her chin accompanies the toss of her head. Dramatic. A nose-wrinkle. "Maybe we could get matching t-shirts with 'Thing 1' and 'Thing 2'..." Her voice trails off, then.

"You do have Doctor Seuss here, right? Children's author. Odd sense of style."

"Elaborate a little more on the married schtick, though."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli waggles her finger at Helena, "No t-shirts!" she exclaims, "And yes, I'm OLDER and WISER and more of a GRUMPY-ASS than you," she notes, "What? Oh Doctor Seuss? Yes we have Doctor Seuss," she adds.

Helena smirks a little amusedly as she nods, "By the way, the younger one is the wild child," she tells her, "Okay listen, the love of your life swept you off your feet and in a week, you were married! Bam!" she says with a little Italian penache, "But Doctor Doom vaporized this handsome-ass husband-of-yours, so you were all sad and kept his last name. Really sad!" she lets out with some sad energy. She betrays it with a chuckle.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena Wayne smirks at that, folding arms over her chest and cocking her hip in a pose that's likely all too familiar. "Whirlwind romance, impulsive decisions, then Doctor Doom vaporized my dear hubby. Seriously?" She snorts again. "Served him right, hooking up with a wild one like me."

"Let's call it a skiing accident or something instead. And how are WE related through all this, oh wise and grumpy one?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli hmms, "Well, your dear Sicilian sister came to help you bury your vaporized husband---what? Oh fine, skiing accident," she notes, "I came to help you bury him on his favorite mountain. There. Nobody will ever check. Yeah, it better be you anyway, cause my backstory's kinda known," she tells her.

"You know any Sicilian? Italian maybe?" Helena wonders and hmms, thinking about the rabbit hole she's digging, "Hopefully we won't get asked too many questions."

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena Wayne shakes her head at that. "Not enough to pass for fluent." She bites her lower lip, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I'm American. Everyone will believe I don't speak any other languages." A knowing grin follows.

"We were on a trip to the Alps when disaster struck, then my beloved Italian sister came to help out." She pauses, then adds. "I could learn a few phrases and the like. I'm a pretty quick study, after all."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli furrows her nose .... exactly like Helena Wayne as she says, "Sicilian...come on sis," she mutters, "You're not trying!" she lets out, then hmms as she continues thinking about the cover story.

"Well it's not unusual to lose some of your accent. Even I don't have much of one. I didn't really grow up in Sicily anyway---listen listen, I'll teach you some of the language. Whew, okay that's enough of that frickin stuff for today!" she lets out and shakes her head.

Helena Wayne has posed:
Helena Wayne nods slowly at that, then she shrugs and replies glibly. "You were raised by dad in Sicily, I was raised by mom in New York." Yes, she's getting good at this. Then again, her REAL mom was quite a master of deception. "After my husband's death, you came to live with me and we both got a new start in Gotham."

Ugh! Why Gotham?

"I'll see about getting a job as a computer tech or something. I'm pretty good with computers, after all. That work for you?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli shakes her head, "Uhh no, after Dad died I was raised by my Uncle. OUR Uncle Paulo in Sicily," she says and sighs, "And you were raised by ... your mom in New York," she notes, "There, fine, I'm done with this. I'm no story writer anyway," she says and shakes her head. She stands up and nods to what Helena is saying, "Alright fine, well at least we have something. I should get going. Remember, you get any strange calls---you just call me," she says and gets up, telling her the phone number, "I guess you're family now," she says and nods her head like she's the Godfather. Finally, she smiles a little bit. The idea of a family actually makes her feel ... good.