Owner	Pose
Barbara Gordon	Barbara had been sending out invites to Birds members to stop by the Clocktower to touch base and discuss changes to the functionality of the team as a whole. Kate and Stephanie had gotten invites tonight. It's a busy team though, they all have lives and responsibilities. In the now, it is a calm rainy night in Gotham. May is especially rainy in the city. The clocktower lights are all on though, and there's a warm coziness to the place. Even some old cheery music playing on Babs' surround sound speaker setup. Barbara is walking toward the dining table that has four tall chairs setup around a dark cherry wood table just as tall, the kind of table you slide up in to, rather than sit down at. She has a few drinks and food options. Pizza, ice cream, and some drinks on a cart she pushed over beside the table. Dressed in black slacks, heeled shoes, and a sleeveless black top, Babs has her red hair tied up in a bun on the back of her head, with some black framed glasses over her green eyes. She's setting some glasses down at the table, and some napkins.
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie Brown can be heard arriving before she's seen. At least seen directly. The ever-present cameras watching all of the approaches to the Clocktower would have seen her pull up on the motorcycle that was Barbara's high school graduation gift to Stephanie. "Yes, it's a beautiful place. Glass walls with a view of the lake. Have most of the stuff moved over. I'll have to have you by to see it," she is saying into a phone. "Ok, gotta go, at my friend's place now. Take care. Make fun of Jordanna for me if you get the chance. Bye, Francisco." Stephanie comes around the corner into the room. "Made it!" she says. "And I brought an appetite," she adds as the food is spotted. But first things first, she goes over to give Barbara a tight hug.
Kate Kane	Kate had in fact made sure to clear her calendar for the meeting. When your entire schedule is 'I work whatever hours I want at my day job' and 'CRIME FIGHTING' for the rest of your day, it's actually pretty easy to clear your schedule, throw on some casual gear of the 'actual casual' sort and not the 'I'm going to be punching criminals but not in a Bat-themed outfit' style. If anything, she's annoyingly punctual, sleek bike speeding across the city, navigating between cars, buses, and anyone else Kate finds annoyingly slow. Which is how she gets places on time of course. Once her bike's pulled into the garage, she makes her way to the elevator, eyes narrowing as the floors tick up... can't speed past the /elevator/. Drat. She strides from the elevator smoothly, a dark leather jacket, white tanktop peeking up between the lapels, the jacket zipped halfway up. She grins and lifts her hand in a little wave, before she's moving with predatory precision to subject Babs to another hug. The price of hosting! "Hey, ladies. Everyone got here okay?" She narrows her eyes at Babs and murmurs dryly, "I know getting /this/ far from the keyboard is a marathon, Babs."
Barbara Gordon	Barbara is embracing Stephanie when Kate arrives. "Glad you could make it." She is saying to the young blonde girl. "How is the fiancee?" She asks with a sly grin as she leans back from the hug. Steph gets a squeeze to her shoulder before Kate is there, and giving another hug. Barbara puts her arms around the woman in the dark leather jacket, giving her a squeeze as well. "Oh you know.. It's even harder when I just got my brand new custom mechanical keyboard in the other day. It makes the most satisfying clicks, and has all the special keys I asked for. So many hot keys. I don't even know what to assign to them all." She jests. But not really. When she pulls back from Kate then she squeezes her arms too. "Come on, settle in. Food is already here." She states, motioning to the table. "Got whatever drink you could want to." She adds at the indication of the drink cart. All fancy. "Have you both been keeping in trouble?" She inquires. "Steph, you're still moving to the Manor, yeah?"
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie relinquishes Barbara to free her up for the greeting of Kate Kane. "Hey Kate," the blond offers with a warm smile. She starts getting some food onto a plate as she carries on the conversation, answering questions. "He's good. Great," she says, and getting her big, goofy smile of utter happiness. Not something that she's had very long stretches of in her life, before now. But it's easy to read her state of mind on the subject. "Yes, moving into the lake house. It is Bruce's early gift," she says of the small but beautiful glass-walled lake house on a private lake on the Wayne estate. "I'm going to have to take up waterskiing once the weather gets warmer," she says. Once pizza and other snacks are on the plate, she takes a seat. "How about yourselves? Barbara, are you getting out and dating again?" she asks, not having been filled in on those aspects of Barbara's life of late.
Kate Kane	Kate offers Steph a smile and bob of her head, "Hey, good to see you again!" Babs earns an eye roll at her mention of hotkeys, like Kate's /kind/ of sure she's joking, but... okay, not that sure at all. She eyes the food, eyes the drink cart longer, and there's a brief flick of her tongue over her lips, almost pensive. But then she seems to settle on a decision and picks up a slice of pizza and a can of lemon lime soda. And she's mid-bite as Steph asks how things are going, her shoulders shrug and then her eyes lock onto Babs and she grins, "Oh! Yes! A very good question. Are you getting out and dating? Should we be /helping/ you get out to date?" Kate's eyes glint with wicked playfulness, but then she shows she is in fact a /true/ friend and takes some of the attention with a low sigh, "I mean, you should /probably/ get Steph involved in that, I am clearly not the best at dating."
Barbara Gordon	With the hugs out of the way, Babs reaches for her already filled glass of wine on the table beside the plates she'd set out for the food. She shows a little smile at the water skiing comment. "That sounds fun." She quietly says before the talk of her dating life comes up. A laugh is given then. "Uh... no." She responds. "Not really interested. I mean... I get why people do it, obviously. Especially the fun parts." As she speaks she grins over at Kate, then grabs a piece of pizza for herself before holding it with a napkin that she sets down upon the plate. "I just..." Her eyes look around the penthouse within the clocktower. "I like it here. I have a hard time imagining myself anywhere else. And when you get serious with someone? Moving always happens." She shows a smirk at Steph before she sits down at the table. Her eyes go to Kate. "Things not so hot and heavy with Pamela?" She asks now. "You two seemed connected at the hip at your birthday party."
Stephanie Brown	"Well, I mean, they can move in, instead of you moving out," Stephanie says. "Just in my case, not like my apartment in University Apartments was really the right place for that. Though, we'd have made it work, if so," she says, giving that little warm, private grin again. She takes a bite of her pizza and then sighs, relaxing back in the chair. "So good," she mumbles of the pizza once she's finished the bite. "Well, I'd offer to set you up. But let's be honest. I'm the worst at this sort of thing. I still don't really know how I ended up where I'm at. I think trying to figure it out probably would just jinx myself or something," says the girl with the questionable dating history.
Kate Kane	Kate sinks into her own perch in a chair and pops her can of soda open with a hiss, taking a deep gulp. A real good 'I'm buying myself a second here' gulp of carbonated lemon lime as her eyes close. And then she lets out a long, slow breath, shoulders rising in a shrug as she works her jacket open... /relaxed/, is she. Ignore the way she still /seems/ tense, the unzipped jacket means she's totally relaxed. She shrugs and grins lopsidedly at Babs "Well, like I said, I'm not the best at dating. We didn't... break up explosively or anything. I think she just sort of... got settled up in New York and we drifted. It happens." She quirks an eyebrow and hums softly, "I mean, we never /really/ established how serious we were. We were kind of... avoiding thinking about it." Again those shoulders shrug and Kate's face takes on a genuinely pensive cast for a long moment. "But, I mean, if we're done, hey, she didn't go blow up an oil refinery or anything, so..." She clears her throat and murmurs, "Definitely like, the /easiest/ breakup I can recall if we're done." She eyes Steph and grins crookedly, "Yeah, I think Babs is winning me over to her 'Live in your fancy tower and just watch Netflix' manifesto."
Helena Bertinelli	Helena Bertinelli was late. But as an Italian, she was -fashionably- late. Unlike being nouveau riche late or red carpet late she was just late enough to walk in on the middle of dating conversation. "Knock knock!" she announces and steps out of the elevator only to encounter a record scratch moment. Dating. "Oh god. No one saw me, I'm leaving..." she groans and pivots on her heel to step right back into the elevator. Except the doors have already closed and the car has already gone back down to the ground floor. "... damn it."
Barbara Gordon	Barbara just softly laughs at Stephanie's words. "I know. I just assume the worst about people, and that if I met someone, they'd demand that I leave my fancy place in the sky, for some... more traditional home." She says it with almost a bit of spite to her tone. She shakes her head side to side then before just smiling between the two of them. A sip of her wine is taken as she looks to Kate. "I'm glad it was a nasty situation. Pamela has come a long way from her old routines. Both of you showed a lot of trust in each other, I think. So if she just grew roots in New York, well... hopefully she's happy. Now we gotta make you happy." Babs says to the other with a little grin. She sets her glass down then before sampling the pizza. After dabbing at her lips though she glances toward the arriving Helena. She clears her palette and then laughs. "Hey, get back here! We have to find out all the juicy details about the Helena life!" Babs calls out from the table setup for four, with one open place left....
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie Brown can't help but chuckle softly as she repeats, "Grew roots." But then she's grinning and waving towards the entrance that Helena made. "Pizza's good and the drinks are cold," she calls out to the Italian-American woman. Stephanie eyes her plate for a moment. "Well, I'm sure either way you were a good influence on her. I hope it takes," she says of Pamela Ivy. She's mostly done a good job of silently harboring her concerns about the altruism of some who have turned away from crime recently. Though Barbara at the last knows of them. That there was romantic involvement is all the more reason for Stephanie to keep them to herself.
Kate Kane	Kate nibbles at her pizza, maybe a touch listlessly, clearly lost in thought a fair bit... you know until the elevator dings and Helena 'I'm not late, you were early' Bertinelli arrives and Kate's lips split in a wide grin, "Nu-uh! No escaping! We're talking about /my/ romantic life! You're safe!" She snickers softly and finger points at Babs and Steph, "I'm blaming that grew roots line on both of you and claiming innocence in this, thank you very much." She shrugs lightly and leans back in her seat, tension slowly ebbing, "But hey... if she goes back to her wicked ways in New York... /that/ is a problem for the Avengers! Or Spider-Man. Or... well, I'm sure there'll be a line." And then she whistles sharply, "But look! Helena's here and now we can ask her about her social life and definitely not have any questions about Ivy and me, or getting Babs into the dating game! Get 'er, girls!" Smooth. Kate's so smooth. She's the best at this, and does not in fact immediately regret antagonizing the badass crossbow enthusiast.
Helena Bertinelli	Helena Bertinelli leans her forehead briefly on the closed elevator doors, eyes closed. God. Why? It was supposed to be a meeting. Not a relationship... thing. Why? A sigh as she resigns herself to her fate, cruel as it is, and she turns and makes her way over, "I'm sorry, but you are not a high enough level to acess that information" she jokes hopefully. That should throw them all off the topic. She's just sure of it. For at least five seconds. Buying herself more time, she bee lines to the wine, procuring herself a nice glass of red while she avoids answering. Then with drink in hand, she puts on a bright smile and makes her way toward the pizza pies. "So! We're here to talk about Birds business, are we?" Oh yes. The final desperate attempt to change the subject. But she can't resist. Looking to Kate, she asks, "Wait. You have a romantic life?" Shots fired!
Barbara Gordon	Babs (Bar bar a) sweeps her gaze from Steph to Kate, smiling at them both before she looks to Helena who comes to the table to get settled in. "The drink cart there is fully stocked with everything ever." She motions to a fancy little wooden cart with lots of bottles stored on its shelves, and more glasses in cup holders. "Pizza here." She says, opening the boxes with a quick flip of a finger. She laughs softly at Helena's jab at Kate. "Careful now. I don't need to spend time, or money, repairing my home." She warns the two of them. "And yes, this is a meeting, sort've. Since New York was brought up too, it's one of my topics... actually. I wanted to talk about bringing on more New Yorkers to open a 'second branch' of sorts, in the Manhattan area. If you three know of any, or meet any, please do consider that element. I'd like to have more intel about whats going down in that city too..." Babs takes another sip of her red wine before nibbling a bit more food.
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie Brown motions a thumb towards Barbara as she mentions wanting more intel about New York. "If we show up and she's got a hairless cat, I'm going to get very worried about her," Stephanie shares with a grin towards Helena and Kate. She takes another bite of her pizza, then finally opens her can of Sprunk cola that she'd gotten from the cart. "I don't really know too many of our sorts up that way. Though Diana lives there, she probably could point the way to some people," she suggests. "Would be happy to stop by and ask her." Not that she wants to fangirl over Wonder Woman. Because of course she wants to fangirl over Wonder Woman.
Kate Kane	Kate snorts at Barbara and pokes her tongue out, "Hey, we wouldn't wreck your home! We're your friends! Besides, needling me about my terrible dating record is the sort of personal grudge that can only be settled in a one on one fight in a thunder storm on a rain-drenched rooftop." She points at Helena and grins wolfishly, "So any time you happen to see a promising weather forecast, you better call me, Bertinelli. We'll do it." She does her very /very/ best to look 210% serious about this future throwdown. But then she's snorting out and sighing, "Yeah, we probably do need some folks in New York. I mean, if nothing else they can phone us if the /literal host of heaven/ shows up again. Hey, what happens if aliens /and/ angels show up at once? Do they have to fight to determine who gets to wreck our day?" She perks her eyebrows up as Steph mentions Diana, nodding her head, "That's a good idea. I mean, I'm sure the League has like... all sorts of info on operators in the area. ...Which I guess means I might have like, Auxiliary file access, but approaching /Wonder Woman/ about that /and/ offering to try this whole... space thing she's got going on?" She shudders and murmurs dryly, "I don't think I need to be rejected on personal /and/ professional matters in rapid succession. So yes, /you/ should definitely ask her about recommendations!"
Helena Bertinelli	Helena Bertinelli looks innocent, "Wait, what? I didn't do anything to insult you or besmirch your character, Kate. I'm not fighting you" she declares as she takes a slice of pizzza. "You besmirch your character well enough all on your own.." She just couldn't leave it alone. But it was needling in the most friendly, sisterly sort of way! A nod as the conversation actually turns to business. Thank god. They got nothing out of her. No-thing. Safe! "I can't say I have a lot of dealings in New York. We're busy enough as it is, here." Little Murder-Widows. Who knows what else. Just another night in paradise.
Barbara Gordon	Barbara shows a smirk at Stephanie. "No hairless cats. I'd never look at Selina the same way again." She counter jokes before the two others nearby discuss squaring off. This just makes her crack another grin. "Staying on the topic of /business/." Babs interjetcts. "I wanted to run past all of you the concept of narrowing our individual focuses. In so far as to say that we break up the city grid in to the various districts that we assign to each other. We could rotate these assignments here and there, as needed. Obviously some districts are more dangerous than others too. The Narrows, for example... I actually brought this up with Harley earlier today in text messages. She claimed the Narrows before I could even offer any further suggestions..." Babs says with a grim smirk. "But. Still. How would you all feel about being responsible for different parts of the city, rather than the wide open grid that we're doing over the city as a whole?" She asks then while taking another sip of her wine there-after.
Cassandra Cain	Some time ago, Cassandra has snuck into the room. When exactly is not entirely clear. However, just because she can, she's just kind of -there-.     Where?     There. Her head laying on Stephanie's right hip, eyes closed. Like a sleepy little ninja, she's not only managed to infiltrate, she's managed to almost fall asleep there.     Seriously, would it hurt the girl to make some damn noise? Put a bell on her or something.
Stephanie Brown	After the initial jolt of surprise, Stephanie just contents herself with brushing the Asian girl's hair as she sleeps there. Or tries to lull them into a false sense of security. Stephanie makes sure there are no knives nearby. Cass will have to have brought them on her own. "I'm game," Stephanie answers Barbara. "Already some of that going on through Batman, coordinating and all," she says. "Not that Harley is on those. But easy enough to split things up a little more for the benefit of everyone."
Kate Kane	Kate nods her head and makes a thoughtful noise, sinking into a more business-like posture as she laughs softly and grins crookedly, "Well, I've got no problem giving up the Narrows. But it's a solid concept. If we each have our own section of the city to patrol and maintain, we'll be more likely to establish relationships with the citizens. Get a feel for the routines and rhythms. We'll be more likely to notice when things get... hinky." Kate notices Cassandra's arrival right around the time she realizes Steph's toying with her hair. But Kate's /not/ going to ask if she's been there the entire time! She is like... 60% certain she wasn't. And 80% certain if she was, she was invisible until just now. "Plus if anyone's sector gets /really/ wild, we can always call on one another to concentrate forces. And hey, probably less chance of a couple vigilantes lurking on the same roof and not noticing each other for like twenty minutes because we all do that menacing gargoyle perch."
Helena Bertinelli	Helena Bertinelli listens to the proposed patrol idea. She sips at her wine as the discussion progresses. "Other than individual cases that may take me into a different part of the city, which I'm going to keep doing so y'know? Sure. I'll patrol whereever you say you need me, Barbara. You're the boss. If you think one of us will work better in one area than in another for a while, or permanently? You've got the knowledge to deploy us. I'm good with it." And then she, too, notices Cass. Huh. Pretty sure no one came in after her, but Cass wasn't there all along. Was she? Maybe? More wine. That's what matters!
Cassandra Cain	No response to the chatter, Cass only mumbles slightly when Steph starts to fiddle with her hair. To be fair she probably does need to brush it more often. Or wash her hands. Oddly her face is always clean, unless she's been fighting. Then all bets are off. If the asian Bird has a comment on the current discussion, she doesn't appear to be sharing it. Of course, she does already patrol China. That's jet lag for you; even the Bats are susceptible to it. If she's assigned an area though, she'll likely do the job. Yawning all the way.
Barbara Gordon	Barbara is looking past Steph's lap to see Cass there too like the others. She shows a quick smile before looking back up to each of their faces. She nods once to what she hears. "Excellent. Since you're the ones who made it here tonight, if you have any preferences... shout them out now, or tell me before you leave tonight. Otherwise... well... I will start making the assignments myself." She grins lightly then. "And, of course, if Batman needs any of us anywhere... we'll divert to what he needs. Likewise..." She nods to Helena. "We can adjust any active patrol routines for that night to accomodate what we each might be working on. I want to further develop our app so we know where we are, where to expect to find us, so on, and so forth. Streamline things." She shows a quick smile then. "So... Stephanie goes to see Wonder Woman. I setup the routines. We see how things play out from there... and..." She pauses to sip her glass of wine then. "I want a second in command. Back at the prison break in Blackgate. I got completely 'owned'. I was effectively disabled again. If a situation like that comes up again, I'd like to know one of you will step up and help control the team from the Clocktower, or otherwise. a clearer chain of command, as it were... From me, to whomever wants the second spot."
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie finishes off her slice of pizza, getting some marinara sauce to dip the pizza bones in as she listens. As Barbara talks about having a second, the blond coed asks in her best Cartman impersonation, "You mean we'd have authoritah?" she asks with a grin. Though she doesn't volunteer for the position either. She knows herself well enough to know that isn't where she's at right now in her life. Even if she's come a long way with Barbara as her mentor.
Cassandra Cain	"Not it," a voice says from the vicinity of Stephanie's lap. Wait, what? I mean, yes, Cass has been learning English of late. But still. What the what? Cass doesn't even open her eyes, taking this moment to prove that she is, in fact, aware. But I call bullshit on her napping.
Kate Kane	Kate continues to sip her soda and she quirks one eyebrow with a little grin, murmuring out, "I mean, I feel like the best choice is... you know, someone who can /be/ your second in command. Someone you could see... growing into the role? Someone whose life is taking a more mature path as of late?" Those green eyes lock on Steph. Stare. Staaaaaaare. She hasn't got an actual arrow to point towards the blonde, so she's doing her best. She sips her drink again and hums out, "Or, y'know, she asks Diana about it when she meets her... think about it 'Barbara Gordon, boss of the Birds of Prey above the Princess of the Amazons.'. That's got /tons/ of authority!"
Helena Bertinelli	Helena Bertinelli idly swirls her wine, staring absently into it as Barbara talks. "It makes sense. You've got to make that call, though. I mean right? We can propose each other, but it's your team. This is your home and headquaters. Who do you see being able to step in? Able to understand enough of your systems to keep the lights on in such an emergency?" She shrugs, sipping at her glass without offering an answer to the question.
Barbara Gordon	A big smirk crosses over Barbara's lips as she hears Cass' declaration. "Noted." Babs replies dryly back to the young woman lounging on the floor beside the table where Steph is. The heavily implied suggestion of Steph from Kate gets a big smile from Barbara who glances at Steph that is conveniently taking a phone call now. She takes in what Helena says lastly before gently nodding her head. "A lot of the Clocktower is automated now, admittedly. The AI system... the future of 'Oracle' is running well. We've been putting it through its paces and its performed great." A bit of self boasting there, from some points of view. Babs draws in a breath as she slowly releases it. "Maybe I'll just build a Robot to take over after I get knocked around." She jests a bit herself. "We'll see though. I strongly doubt Wonder Woman would be up for such a role." She says with a grin toward both who are not lounging. "Cass. I'll probably be assigning duos from our younger members to some of the southern patrol routes. You and Charlie, maybe?"
Cassandra Cain	Two eyes look over the table as folks talk. Specifically when Kate talks, because the glare looking at Stephanie is noticed. However the timing is weird, and she looks not at Babs, but at Kate. Then she says, "Her," and she looks at the woman. Cass wants her as a partner? No, that can't be it. Something else. Then she relents, glancing at Barbara. Then at Helena, then at Kate again. And nods, apparently okay with things. Still, the fact that she's expressed an opinion at all..
Kate Kane	Kate deadpans, "I mean, I'd follow RoBabs for sure." And then Cass, dear sweet sleepy 'Wait, how'd she get here?' Cass throws her under the nomination bus! She frowns thoughtfully and chews her lower lip, almost flinches, "I mean... oh damnit, I totally said you should pick someone you can help grow into the position and get comfortable with the responsibility and so I can't say I'm /not responsible enough/ because then that just means I'm a project and..." She throws her hands up and sighs out, "I am willing to /consider/ it if we don't find anyone else, but it also means I'm going to make damn sure you do this job forever, Barbara." She pauses and sweeps her gaze between Helena and Cassandra... then back to Barbara. "You know, because we're friends. Not because it means I never have to take over. Just the friend thing."
Helena Bertinelli	Helena Bertinelli looks to Kate then Barbara. "Well the tribe has spoken" she says with a wink to Kate. "sorry. Now you have to be even more responsible!" Rubbing it in. Probably because she has absolutely no doubt it will not, nor ever will, be herself. She'd just kill the bad guys. Whether or not there is a god to sort them out, most likely.
Barbara Gordon	Cass' declaration, and appointee, gets a look from Babs. She arches one of her dark red eyebrows up a bit before the other can offer her response. This gets a grin from her. "I'm happy to make you never have to fill the space of my absence. But, as history has shown, I seem to be highly breakable. As much as I hate to admit it..." "Think about it? If you want it, I think you'd fit it well. Though, I know you have aspirations with the Justice League too. Maybe the Princess wants to poach you from us?" Babs asks with a smirk. She takes a sip from her glass before she gets a plate and puts a couple pieces of pizza upon it. "Cass. Come eat some of this." She says to the younger one. "You're gonna wither away..." Barbara then looks between all of them. "I appreciate you guys. I'm glad you came over tonight. We'll... figure it all out."
Cassandra Cain	Cass stands, then calmly unruffles her outfit. She has an imprint on her left cheek of Stephanie's jeans, but denies it with every motion of her being. You didn't catch me napping at all, and nothing will convince me of this. Oh wait, she isn't actually a cat. Damnit. She wanders over, ignoring the kerfufle she's caused, and looks at the pizza. Then she begins to pick at it, looking for edible food. Picky picky picky..
Kate Kane	Kate snorts out softly and grins, "Oh, I don't think Diana's intending to sweep me up for some sort of League thing, I was just figuring I'd /volunteer/ to go to space, because... I mean... c'mon... it's /space/. There's aliens and stuff out there!" Yes, there are also aliens /here/, more and more of them, which is why the Spaceport project is a thing. But this is all sound, rational logic and not at all Kate being a daredevil. New York's already got Daredevil. She just glares half-heartedly at Helena, eyes glinting playfully as she mutters out, "Oh, just you wait until I get to pick the /third/ in command. So much responsibility for you. Spreadsheets. INVOICES!!" She drains the last of her drink and sits it down, sinking back and bobbing her head slowly, eyes a little far off. "But... yeah. Just gimme a bit to think." She probably won't be sitting in the same position come morning. Maybe. Time will tell.