Owner Pose
Ted Kord Ted Kord doesn't allow a lot of people on the 12th floor. It's his personal obstacle course and he doesn't like to give trade secrets away. Then too, the course is pretty shabby compared to League training facilities and those of other teams. He keeps meaning to improve it but there never seems to be enough time in the day. At the moment Ted is flying around the course while Bobo and Bingo attempt to tag him. Bailey watches with a sort of disdain. As he comes into view Ted smacks Bingo out of the way with his shield. making it clear that this is rough play and Bailey would sustain major damage in a moment of it.
Joan Wright If one were to ask Ted, most likely he'd agree that Joan is not like a lot of people. That's an indirect way to state that Joan is allowed up to the 12th floor. Something she's found out as of today when she came by and was informed to come to the 12th floor.

Somewhere upon the said floor an elevator door parts ways letting her on the floor. With it not being a work day Joan is dressed down. Which means-

Yes. Cargo pants and a nice shirt. This time a lovely green shade to go with the blue of the cargo pants.

Just how many pairs does she own?

Her steps are reasonably quiet thanks to the simple white tennis shoes she wears. The sounds of the training end up being more than enough hint to where she needs to walk. Seeing Bailey first, Joan waves the tiny bot over to her.
Ted Kord Bailey immediately flies over to her pal. She makes a point of examining Joan's fingernails and seems to tsk finding them unadorned. She then points at the guys and lowers herself to drag her manipulators on the floor. She floats up to eye level with Joan,. examines the shirt and patpats her human friend as if approving of her choice. Then she does something resulting in a horn sounding.

The guys stop as Tedd seems about to become the meat in a bot sandwich. He flies over to Joan, then drops to the floor. As he pulls off his hood he says, "Booster was hospitalized. He saved some hikers from a cave in. He has cracked ribs and lesser injuries. Skeets is banged up pretty bad as well. Maybe you could fix him up? Because... I screw stuff up." Belatedly he kisses her on the cheek.
Joan Wright Joan's head tilts down as Bailey moves closer to her hands. She lifts them up, holding the fingers out to indeed show that they are not pink and simply clear. Once Bailey has time to demonstrate her disapproval, the hand is lowered once more, leaving her to watch the pantomine act being done via manipulator usage. Joan's lips tighten for a few moments. She crouches down to get closer to Bailey's level, "It looks that way but they do need to practice that stuff." Eyes follow Bailey's movements giving a smile to the compliment.

The smile's shortlived as the unexpected horn sound causes for her to jump back up, eyes widening for a moment. The movement of the others pulls her attention back to them. Seeing Ted land before her, she smiles in greeting once more.

Smiles aren't meant to last right now it seems. "Booster was what?" Joan responds. Tone not at all conveying happiness at the news. "When?!" Considering Booster's nature, this is likely an important question.
Ted Kord Ted Kord slips his goggles off and places them gently on Joan. He touches his throat mic and says, play last message from Hella to Ted.

She'll see Hella's face, in the goggles at first, as she removes her visor and opens her flip phone to use its camera instead. The scene widens to a hospital room where Hella stands at the bedside of one Booster Gold, laid up in a hospital bed, attached to an IV bag full of clear fluid. Booster looks fairly banged up, considering he was eventually uncovered and discovered facedown under a collapsed mine-shaft or some such structure.

"He is alive," she says shortly. It's clear that Hella is very disappointed and grumpy with Ted, because there's none of her usual charismatic effervescence about her demeanor. -- She tilts the phone to take in a solo shot of Booster in the bed. Off camera, Hella can be heard, saying gently, "Wave to camera?" Booster offers a feeble wave.

The camera returns to Hella's face, looking pretty cross. "He has bruises; his handsome face is hurt; he has broken ribs; he is severely dehydrated, and was starving to death. I honestly have no clue how he survived without water for that long. I will not look gift horse in mouth. He is alive. That is what matters. That, and you need to keep some kind of beacon on him if he is in area because we could've rescued him sooner! Skeets was severely damaged and I only discovered Booster because Skeets was able to make it to me, provide me with location beacon. Dammit, Ted." Joan can see Ted grow thin lipped and hard eyed. Something new.
Joan Wright Just to state for the record, do not show Joan a picture of her wearing the goggles. For if she was shown the image at a time when she wasn't watching a message like the one playing, she'd likely decided that the bug eyed look does not look good on her. And the footage is upsetting enough.

Joan is deathly silent as she listens and watches to the message. Her arms lift, one crossing midwaist to rest the hand on the opposing side, providing a perch for the opposing arm's elbow to rest upon. That arm is serving to hold a cupped hand over Joan's mouth.

As the message reaches the end, Joan looks at Ted through the yellow lens, seeing the frown. The hand before the mouth pulls forward, fingers curling in as she turns towards him. "Ted, you didn't know."
Ted Kord Ted Kord says, "I replied. I might have crossed a line but... play reply to Hella audio."

<<My phone was disabled by equipment I was conducting research with. This does not normally happen. It did. Technology is always foolproof till it isn't. As for his absence, he does that all the time. He has a phone and radio in his suit to the best of my knowledge and Skeets. He also had a Justice League distress call. As far as tracking him -I don't do that unless asked. This is a matter of privacy. I also don't know where he disappears to or when. That is his business. So all this technology failed at once -my tech, the JLA's tech, Skeets. We engineers have what is called a single point of failure, it's when a single error or malfunction stops something from working. We had multiple failures because a mountain fell on him and Skeets while I was working with new technology. I will fix my phones. I will make improvements to his power suit and/or Skeets if he allows me. But even this might tamper with the future and he may not want that. Thank you for your concern.>>

He looks very serious as he says, "I feel like I want to be quit of both of them if tis is the way their relationship works. I mean I hope they're happy but... I'm not responsible for all this. This is not how we work." He sits down on a bench.
Joan Wright Joan gives Ted a wary look as soon as he mentioned crossing a line. Oh no. What did he-

And the reply back is playing in her ears. The architect listens, eyes watching Ted's expression during the run through.

Audio finished, Joan reaches up to take the goggles off and walk over to the bench. "Ted, I know you're not." She sits down next to him. "But, considering what you do in that suit, you've got to know how most people would react in a situation like that. I'm sure you've encountered this before. Maybe at a point you were in Hella's shoes?"

She brings up the hand that's not holding the goggles to instead reach behind Ted. Giving him a bit of a half hug due to her positional orientation. "She's hurting too. And probably not thinking everything through."
Ted Kord Ted Kord says, "I am tired of technical people like us being ignored when things work and being to blame when they don't. A lot of work goes into building all this, more into my company. And I am serious. If this is the way she reacts to things, I want no part of it. I had enough of the powered and others treating me like crap in JLI. I won't set myself up like that again. I... I took care of that goon for years before he met her. I gave several million for his projects and the deals I was cost with his nonsense. I never went off on him. I gave her... my best tech and she kept asking for more and I kept giving her more... and now this!? Screw this. You say she was just hurting? Let's see what her reaction is!"

"Gimme those before you drop them. Heavy hunh? Try fighting evil in them."
Joan Wright Joan hands the goggles over to Ted. "Yes they are heavy." She answers. Finding that the easiest question to respond to at the moment. She opts to remain quiet for the moment, leaning against Ted as she considers the video. "Your friend is in the hospital." Joan states, breaking the silence. "Have you visited him yet?"
Ted Kord Ted Kord nods. "Yes. Stella was there. She power shifted him to make him more comfortable. I'm not going back unless I'm invited. I'm not sure I can even fix Skeets and Hella apparently took over that, too. Probably ask you, which is fine. I don't need to get a look at his warp core or whatever and unravel history."

"I... actually like Skeets."
Joan Wright "Ok. So Booster saw that you came to see him." Joan recaps, giving a moment for Ted to correct her if she was wrong. Now goggle-less the hand that did the returning sets back on her lap. "And the dynamic over there's making you a bit uncomfortable..."

She pauses, considering the Skeets aspect. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to fix Skeets either." She admits, "I could probably puzzle pieces together to where someone else could work with him but-" She gives an apologetic look, "If buildings were people, I'm more the person who does the quick repairs to ensure the patient makes it long enough to see a specialist. And if you're not the specialist when it comes to Skeets in present day, who would be?"
Ted Kord Ted Kord shakes his head. "He might be made of my technology -several generations down the road. In which case I might get ideas earlier than I should or never got at all. He might be unfathomable. I rebuilt these aero-discs but that was more replacing minor systems I understood and even then... they aren't easy to handle compared to the things I saw New Gods do with them, they aren't as fast, they're noisy and leave a trail. I'm kind of doubting myself over the phone business."

"Oh to answer your question who else could do it: Dmitri, in his armor, Cyborg, S.T.A.R. Labs, Tony Stark, Nadia Pym-van Dyne or her dad, Reed Richards. Oh Black Panther. Off the top of my head."
Joan Wright "Forget the phone business for the moment."

Joan fixes her eyes on Ted, expression a bit stern, "You can't change what happened. The best any of us can do is to learn from what happened and see if there's a way to make things better."

She takes a deep breath, glancing away for a moment, seemingly checking for where the bots went. "Alright. I'll keep your list in consideration but- maybe we should let Booster decide on the matter."
Ted Kord Ted Kord just nods. "For what it's worth... I convinced Booster that you could break the internet by googling 'Google' and that he was holding the internet in his hands." He leans on Joan a little. "I'm a very immature person."
Joan Wright Joan glances down, lips tightening as she listens to the prank pulled on Booster. Nope. Stern. Not funny. Her shoulder shifts as she feels Ted's weight a bit more in the shared lean.

The admission is the final straw. Joan bites her lip. Eyes closing shut as she prevents a laugh from escaping.

At least vocally. Her body shakes from the muted laugh.
Ted Kord Ted Kord turns around and says, "Oh don't think Future Man is so innocent. He showed up with a lily when I got on a step ladder. When he saw my bots he said, "Thus begins the uprising. I'll miss you, Ted." Bailey pats Ted's hand, and lands on his lap.