Owner	Pose
Thomas Blake	A deserted rooftop. A ventilation grill that was unfastened. Several floors below a ceiling panel scrapes softly as the Catman pulls it aside and peers into the office below him. He smiles and says, "Fuck Catwoman." The Corporation housed here has files stolen from LexCorp. the assignment, simple enough: get in, power up a monitor. Insert flash drive, crash the server and wipe any Lex Corp docs. He isn't tech savvy but that part in very simple. The pay... he could live on that for a while. Now... timing is everything. A maintenance robot rolls by and Catman drops lightly on it, pulling his legs up quickly to avoid the web of lasers on the ground.
Cassandra Cain	A shifting in the background suggests that a security guard may be on patrol. The person shuffles a bit in the outer hallway, listening to an audiobook on his celphone. If things are kept quiet he'll never know that Catman was ever here. Too easy, nothing could possibly go wrong. Of course that would be when someone would appear, to make things harder..and the soft sound of hissing below would herald just such a thing. What...is that? A breath of air might make him look up just before two feet impact with his hide. A body behind it, inertia drives him off of the maintenance robot to fall toward the laser web below. A smoke grenade sitting on the floor sends a gentle smoke through the room, highlighting the lasers as he falls. But not just him. A small form, catlike as well, alights nearby in between two of the red lines. Catwoman? He had to say her name in vain, didn't he?
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake holds his breath. Selina, no, too small. Then he is hurtling off the robot. No intro? Obviously a rookie or someone without the massive ego to be one of the higher functioning hero types. Thomas dives head first to the floor, throws his hands out and by luck avoids the grid, flipping onto a desk and seething. "You dumb bunny cape narc," he whispers. "Do you want to get us /both/ killed? This is Alchemax, and they make the fucking Sunderland Corporation look like Greenpeace. Get off me or we're both going to be in the Happy harbor landfill face down." He is amazed he avoided the grid but will insist he did it on purpose. he settles into a wary stance, not provoking attack but sizing up his little hound of chaos. All muscle from the impact. Definitely not Selina. Besides, Selina would let him do the work and take the risk then take him down and swipe his lunch money.
Cassandra Cain	A beat of time passes, and the newcomer completely fails to respond to Thomas' heartfelt plea for logic. The lady steps over a laser, then ducks under another, showing no fear of them. Perhaps she's part of the place's security, she definitely is showing a willingness to work within the existing defenses. She pulls back her hood, showing no mask, not even the protective faceguard of a cop. Not one of the vigilantes either then. It looks like a punk kid having a lark? But no way any punk kid walked with that kind of balance. Every move is a warning, as she raises her left hand to beckon. Fight me, it says. But her face is a mask of boredom. And she ISN'T calling the guard, which is what security would do first.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake' response is two fold. The middle finger is extended. The flash drive gets stuck into the USB port of the desktop he is near. Any strategist will tell you... let the foe come to you. Besides, being on a desk, Thomas has the high ground. "Fuck that. I'm not fighting you so you can count coup. These people are bad people. they stole some files." The mntor lights up catching several ragged scars on his chin. "Can we discuss this somewhere else before the idiots with automatic weapons come stomping along? They really will kill you as well as me."
Cassandra Cain	The response is unique. Not an attack, but a tilting of the head, the kind of move you make when you're listening intently to someone and thinking about what they're saying. Her eyes are so intent, so focused, it's somehow surprising when she steps over another laser beam without setting it off. Most people would at least have to pay attention. She seems to consider what he's suggesting, but without words it's hard to tell for certain. Her eyes glance at the flash drive for an instant but just as clearly choose to ignore it afterward. Then she leaps into the air to land next to him on the same desk. Too close, too close! But it also gives him warning of her move and the chance to act.
Thomas Blake	Well fuck him running. He isn't killing a cape. Kill her and the Titans likely come after him or the JLA (GHU forbid)! His claws stay retracted but his hands lash out throwing a combination of punches, spear hands and claws, "You little... " he mutters. This was such a sweet job. "If you want a kung fu movie I will gladly let you film me fighting you... someplace else! I have no desire to see you dead. Promise. Besides, she's cute.
Cassandra Cain	For all her confidence, and she is clearly a confident person with good reason to be, his attacks strike home with surprising efficiency. The first punch lands as she's getting her feet on the desk; the spear hand that follows bruises her collarbone. A claw across her face spins her around, knocking her right off the desk! That should be the end of it right there, as she spins and falls toward the lasers. She extends her arms in a blur, twisting almost bonelessly and her hands hit the floor first. One foot on the desk still, she's holding herself off the nearest laser of the grid. Barely. She still looks oddly bored. Or it could just be focus, as she immediately starts looking around. Likely looking for the best way to get back up.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake steps back from the desk and motions her up. "Get back up here. Truce. Villain's Word." He extends a hand to her. "Listen I'm about to come into a fair amount of money. Quit this place, I'll treat you to sushi at Nobu's. Then we can resume. The eel is do die for. Or Chinatown for some dim sum. I know a place." He sees from the monitor the little drive is doing the job.
Cassandra Cain	The face, upside-down with two hands on the floor, glances up at him. The response to his words is to lift that one foot off of the desk and balance, a handstand over a laser beam sensor. Then she lifts one hand off the ground and carefully balances. Rolling cautiously to one side, she pulls in her legs to avoid another beam. Then she places them down, one on the ground and the other on a drawer handle. At which point she stands up and walks back onto the desk. Pose. Beat, and grin cockily. Then she tries to kick him in the chest.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake oofs and falls backward, away from the desktop. The flash drive, its job done, explodes like a grenade going off. Catman backflips to another desk and leaps straight up. The ceiling panel above him is knocked away and he slips into the ceiling. "Ain't got time for this. That lousy... an exploding flash drive and he... His legs are disappearing into the hole he made. Fire alarms are going off and other alarms.
Cassandra Cain	There's no response from behind, no chase and no cape on his tail. The kid isn't after him now, he's gotten away scot-free! Without his flash drive of course, because this was way too easy and therefore obviously a trap. But no guards on the roof, he's easily out of there. Okay...why? Back below, however. There's an issue, as the girl knocked him away from the explosion, she herself was right in the middle of it. Laying on the floor, laser sensor beams intersecting her torso, she lays groggily, not able to get out herself. As the guards pound down the hallway, guns unholstered and ready. They line up at the door, one by the entrance, and get ready to breach the room.
Thomas Blake	Catman drops back down growling several curses. "I hope you're alive... because I want to beat the crap out of you myself!" He scoops the girl up and throws her over one shoulder, the other hand grabs the line he trailed behind him. With a leap and a tug they ascend as armed goons pour into the room. Thomas is already scuttling through the access way, holding Cassandra close to his chest. "I am not done with you girl. You better stay quiet!" He has claws out now, just in case she's faking. Also for climbing. He mimes the words of the guards silently, "Getting away! send more men. Try the roof!" The roof. Well fuck him yet again.
Cassandra Cain	She hangs like the dead, not even so much as twitching. In that way she's easy to haul, though the issue of 'dead weight' is a bit worrisome. As the two of them reach the roof, the sprinkler system goes on down in the office, dousing all the guards as they turn their weapons up at the exit. They're in an even worse mood now. The sound of booted feet pounding up the stairs comes shortly afterward, the roof rapidly becoming a bad choice of places to stay in. And she's barely breathed, causing him to look at her. Just in case. Her eyes are open.
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake looks at her as he is pulling her out the vent. Eyes lock and he says, "Fuck me for the third time tonight..."
Cassandra Cain	She lets him hold her for another instant, allowing him to know that she's been faking this whole time by keeping that absolute stillness a bit longer. Then she slips out of his hold like the eel he'd offered to take her out for a short time before. Rising to her feet, she glances at the door from where the guards approach, then back to him. Then she does something no cape would do. She points to the skyline. "Go," she says softly, eyes locked on his own. She's letting him go. She's letting him...go?
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake frowns at her. He didn't notice anywhere she could hide a grapple gun or line, then again she got up here. "Nobody tells me to run. Get on my back and I'll get us both out. You're not a cape. I don't know what you are."
Cassandra Cain	She smiles at that. Just for an instant, and the smile vanishes as if it were never there. Her face is back to that thousand yard stare, as she steps back toward the door. The one that's about to slam open and spew bullets. Men, and bullets. She raises an eyebrow, taking a step to her left so she's right beside it. And waits. Three. Two. One. The door is kicked open, and men burst out, assault rifles raising..
Thomas Blake	Thomas Blake sees the men pouring out. His response is uncannily similar to a child's cartwheel as he spins along, dodging bullets. A few rip through his cape. he somehow doesn't think he's going to have to duck them for long...
Cassandra Cain	Well, she WAS planning to just fade away. But if he's going to hang around and put himself at risk... The girl visibly sighs, then nods and steps into the group of men. Right into them, too close for the weapons to be used. And she does what she considered doing earlier to him; she uses the close range against them. Before they even know that she's there, she bends low and drives three punches into the ribs of the closest man. His armor absorbs some of it, but the armor on her fists lets her hit with enough force to crack ribs even through it. They come out like lightning, and she turns to stand up in the face of the next man, driving her forehead into his chin. As he's falling down the stairs onto the last two men, she's turning toward the two who were up first. They're turning, trying to get a reaction in. And she's turning to them, her face showing no emotion at all. They'll be able to get a shot off. Maybe.
Thomas Blake	Oh, you shoot at the cat you better kill him. Two huge hands grab the remaining guards by their necks, slamming their heads together. Here's the thing about helmets, they don't keep your brain from smacking against your skull. The last two drop. Catman glares at the woman and runs to the edge of the building without another word. "We're even!" he yells as he plunges over the side.
Cassandra Cain	She doesn't respond. Not that she would. He's safe now, so she has no more need to fight. Silly villains, staying to save the heroes. She watches him go as the guards search the roof for either one of them, pausing only to sneak inside and delete the camera footage. Wouldn't do to get caught on tape. Boy needs a keeper though. Sheesh. Who in their right mind tries to rob Luthor anyway? Well, he'll learn. Eventually.