8946/It's Quicker to Ask a Librarian

It's Quicker to Ask a Librarian
Date of Scene:	04 December 2021
Location:	Somewhere in Gotham
Synopsis:	Batwoman quizzes Oracle about the new Huntress in town, and learns a little more than she did before. So does Oracle. There will be more snooping.
Cast of Characters:	Kate Kane, Barbara Gordon

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Kate Kane has posed:
Batwoman stands atop a building that allows her a fairly impressive view of the city. She's not so far from the abandoned amusement park out at the end of Amusement Mile. She stares out at the ruined site, looking for signs of movement. While she waits, and as she replays the details of her last trip out to the old plae, she purses her lips in thought. Presently, she reaches up to tap her com and switch it to a monitored private channel. "Hey. Oracle. You there?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The mac and cheese moosh that Babs claims is food is being shovelled in to her mouth with fork from bowl. Her legs are tucked up crossed underneath her as she sits in front of the large array of monitors. This is how she views the city most of the time. This is how she sees the world.

It'd be easier to admit she's a terrible cook if melted cheese didn't taste so good with zero effort. With Charlie off learning magic from Zee, it's given her a strange pause in her life. Time alone - something she thought would always be a comfort has turned in to a stranger. She misses Charlie.

The comms from Kate pops up even before the first sounds are coming through. She smiles a moment, .. it's rare to hear from Batwoman and she takes every opportunity she can to try and draw her closer in to her family. Despite the Kane's being actually related to the Wayne's.. that's not the family she means.

"Always," she replies. With Kate there's no obfuscated voice, no need for mystery. She's out near Amusement Mile; one of the more heavily patrolled areas of the city by her birds of prey. "What can I do for you Batwoman?"

Kate Kane has posed:
"Not sure," Kate replies, firing off a zipline to another building and starting to swing. "But I bumped into a kid, not so long ago. Said she knows you." A beat. "Or, at least, that you'd vouch for her." Her feet touch lightly down on another rooftop and she releases the line. "Calls herself Huntress. New vigilante in town?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Friendly chit chat from Batwoman? This is new. She puts down the mac and cheese and leans forward as she becomes more engaged. May be she's not the only one feeling lonely tonight. "Hm," she says wondering who exactly Kate could be talking about until she mentions the code name.

"Ah," is her first thought verbalised in response. "A work in progress. You'd find her in the birds app if you checked. Huntress, we have two of them now. She came out of no where - trained well, good fighter, good street sense, decent equipment." ...Daughter of Bruce and Selina somehow yet they're both quite sure they never had a child.

"Still vetting her. Do you have notes?"

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate snirks softly. Birds app. Yeah. 'Cause that's always her go-to. "She's got skills, I'll give her that. She claims to come from an alternate dimension," she tells Oracle. Not usually something she'd put credence to -- except there were all those dopplegangers from weird portals last year and she knows magic is a thing. So, you know... Why the hell not? "And that the place was being destroyed when she ended up here. You know anything about that?"

Her footsteps are light along the ledge of the building. Another leap, her cape deploys, she glides gracefully through the night to a building a bit to distant to waste a zipline on. Besides, the name is Batwoman. Not Spiderwoman.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs types on her computer, bringing up her file on Helena Wayne. It seems Helena is getting more comfortable repeating her story. Have the details changed? it's hard to tell if something is a rehearsed lie or the genuine truth, especially with someone as well trained as Helena.

"Wild story but I've seen weirder," she replies to Kate. "It's not just the skills, it's the ethos. She could have easily killed or badly wounded the gang members she took on while I was watching. But she went for low impact non-lethal take downs." Just like she would.

"I haven't confirmed if it's true yet. I'm sourcing technology used by SHIELD and ARMOR to detect those doppelgangers from last year. She should have an atomic resonance different from our own if what she's saying is true."

But she's interested in Kate's take on the woman. "Do you trust her?," she asks. There are shades of 'no' that she can expect from Kate. So far everything has checked out with the woman.. and she needs to have a real heart to heart with her. But Bruce really wanted to keep things close to his chest on this one. Babs can't exactly stop Helena sharing her truth.

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate's lip curls faintly, somewhat with distaste. "Not sure," she replies. Which in Kate-speak is marginally more positive than 'no'. "I don't *not* trust her. But, I can't say I trust her, either." Yeah. That's non-committal. It's not hell, no!, though. So, that's something.

"Like I said, she's got skills and she doesn't appear to be stupid. But, my jury's still out." That's probably not a surprise. "Sounds like she's met at least half the family, though. Two Batgirls, Flamebird, and at least one of the Robins. So, if she *is* trying to work her way in, she's making the rounds."

Again, she leaps and glides, making her way ever closer to that abandoned amusement park. Yeah. The Birds patrol there. But Kate's never been one to trust others to do when she can do herself. Besides... this one may be personal.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
That's a positively glowing review from Kate as far as she's concerned. Babs writes a note that Kate hasn't voted 'no' about Helena Wayne. She's still a prospect, but bit by bit she will peel the layers back on this well trained woman. She has raised one of the things that concerns her most.. just how easily she's ingratiating herself in to the family.

"If what she says is to be believed then she knew some of us were Bats back in her realm." Not her, though, somehow 'Batgirl' was a surprise to Helena.. let alone two of them. "I'm curious why she's taken the name Huntress. She has been hanging out with the other Huntress." That's neither here nor there, she thinks she might trust Bertinelli. For certain kinds of trust. Another prospect for the birds.

"Batman has a bigger stake in this than usual. He wants to keep her evaluation close to the chest. I see the that's going to get harder if she's telling anyone wearing the Bat symbol who she is. Do me a favour please, if you get the chance, ingratiate yourself with her. I want to know just how eager she is to tell her story to people she shouldn't immediately trust just because of the symbol you wear."

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate lands lightly and starts to run through shadows, approaching the old iron fence. "Different world. Maybe she was Huntress there? Is she related to the Huntress we know?" 'We' know. Yeah. Kate's information on Bertinelli is largely confined to the Bird's app.

Whatever.

"I can try to find out," she agrees -- mainly because she'd rather not be surprised by the woman. Which means keeping an eye on her is in Kate's best interests as much as anyone else's. "She thought I was a Batgirl, too. So, I suspect there's no 'Batwoman' where she comes from, either." This doesn't make her sad. At all.

"What's Batman's stake in this?" C'mon. It's inevitable she'd ask. And if she doesn't get an answer? Yeah. She'll snoop.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Oracle's job is to keep information isolated. Can she trust Kate not to dig deeper? or to question Bruce about this? ... no. As much as she wants to, there are things she must expect from people: Kate and Bruce are blood family and that means there's a certain level of expectation on what can and cannot be talked about.

"No, not our Huntress. " She hates keeping someone she's trying to earn the trust of in the dark. Here she is, finally, having an earnest conversation with Batwoman and she has to shut her down.

"I'm sorry Batwoman," she says with a frown and and a slightly tighter squeeze on her mouse than needs be. "That's not something I can share at this stage. I hope that'll change." It's not you, it's me. The road to trust is a rocky one; sometimes a two way street has road works.

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate's brow arches faintly. Is it the answer she expected? Yep. Is it the answer she wants. Of course, not. So... Snooping it is, then. Sorry, Bruce.

Her response to Oracle is a non-commital, "Mm." That probably tells the info broker all she needs to know about what's going to come later.

"You picking up any chatter about someone leaving the queen of hearts as a calling card anywhere?" she asks then, abruptly chaging topic. Wheedling and cajoling are not in the Batwoman's repertoire.

Relying on the insulation in her suit to get her over the fence when it sparks with electricity, she lands with a rustle of heavy fabric on the far side.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
That's what she expected. No, it's better than she expected.. she's still talking. The ghostly voice in the night for lone vigilantes. Oracle, in your ear, if you want it. But, she'd best give Bruce a heads up about this. Kate's smart, sooner or later she's going to pry the information about of Helena that she's really the daughter of Batman and Catwoman.

The change of topic is a relief, really. She does her due diligence and brings up police reports. A quick flick through them shows nothing new. Yet. "No. But I'll keep an eye out for any mention of it from the police or otherwise." This was how she survived her years in the chair - being useful to the people with boots on the ground. That hasn't changed since she learned to walk again on her own two feet.

"Calling cards are never a good sign. What else can you tell me?"

Kate Kane has posed:
"They like knockout gas," Kate replies. The shrug is in her voice, not her body. She moves closer to the funhouse where she found that first card. "And funhouses. Hall of mirrors. Trip wires. Fishing line. Real delicate mechanisms. Pretty sure it was directed at me."

She's spent a lot of time trying to chase down leads on it. There haven't been many. That could be why she's reached out to Oracle. When leads run dry, the internet goddess tends to find threads in the thinnest of places.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Oracle begins typing. Her expression has changed. Neutral, focused, this isn't a chit chat night anymore. If Gotham has attracted a new clown after they just got rid of the last one. Well.. Harley isn't exactly gone, but she's not running around blowing stuff up anymore. She's actually proven herself as a Bird.

"It's not a lot to go on, but I'll look in to it. Remember to log evidence with the birds app. It'll help." Because she feeds it in to the batcomputer. It is a particular set of intersections though. If it didn't sound so.. as Kate put it 'delicate'.. she'd think the Joker was behind it. A fan perhaps?

Though, it feels less like clown territory when mirrors are thrown in to the mix. It's an iterative process, but the intersection of trip wire and fishing line sales starts as a big list and as she learns more will shrink. No villain can hide forever from Oracle.

Though it does beg the question, "Why you?" Putting on a cowl does tend to attract 'fans', may be it's as simple as that. May be it's not.

Kate Kane has posed:
"Beats me," Kate says. She eases her way between the attractions to the funhouse. "But I intend to find out." She knows she set a trail for Oracle to chase, now. And she's reasonably confident that, if there's anything to be found out there, Oracle will find it.

Kate doesn't bother saying good-bye. It's not like Oracle's ever really gone. But she does fall silent. She has work to do. And dismantling whatever is lurking inside this funhouse is a big part of it.

Should be a busy night.