Summary:Catwoman and Helena reflect on their mission Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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For a short while, it seems like the ride home is going to be *deathly* quiet.
Miguel has been dealt with. There are plans to follow up on. Information gleaned! All around, more or less a success!
It wasn't smooth, though. And Selina was all… Batman when she caught up with you.
Seated in the driver's seat of the Batmobile, though, racing through the streets back home, Selina suddenly speaks up. "How's the side?" Her voice actually sounds… somewhat normal? Her head is inclined towards you slightly; and though you can't see her eyes through the goggles, there is a faint tug at the corner of her lips.
—-
Helena glances down at herself, reaching over to give her side a gentle push. She hisses a hit, but her slight wince is still measured. "I mean, I'm definitely going to be feeling it," she says, rueful. "But I've had worse from Dad. And Dick. And you. And Kate…" Funny how the list goes on.
She looks down to her lap, flexing her fingers to bring those claws out to where she can look at the blood on them. "They're sharper than I really…appreciated," she admits, quiet.
—-
Catwoman nods quietly, a sort of wistfulness in her voice as she replies, "Never as fun as it sounds, right?" referring to… the clawing. Selina sighs softly, letting a thoughtful moment pass. Granted, Selina has had PLENTY of fun with her claws, but that was when she was already in control of the situation. Helena probably doesn't need to hear that, though. "So! What went wrong back there, and what went right?"
Teacher mode, engaged.
—-
"They were more prepared than we were," Helena grimaces, flexing her fingers to put the claws away. "They had masks. That guy that came after me, that was systema. That's…way more prepared than a gang should be. Prepared and trained." Her fingers tap against her thigh as her mind works. "We didn't know how the teacher was related to Miguel. Lost leverage. He showed up while we were questioning her, but that was almost more good than bad, all things considered. We might not have found him otherwise."
—-
Catwoman nods along slowly, an ever-growing smirk pulling at her lips until she says, "I'm still waiting to hear about how you ditched me at the school." She takes a second to look straight at you, but can't quite stop smirking before she sigha and looks at the road again. "All of those were things we couldn't predict. Hazards of the work. Honestly? The fact that they were *even ready* tells me your father probably spooked some of them before we got to them. But! We learned more about them blundering into danger than we knew before. Not my most graceful night out, but I don't get to pick my escapades these days~" She says with some dramatic regret, hiding just a hint of legitimate regret. Just a hint, though.
—-
"Hey, I sent you the tracking information and the bike!" Helena protests, a hint of a smile touching one corner of her lips. It fades soon enough though. "Honestly, I wouldn't have except that he was already on the way and I was already at the window. I thought if I didn't go after him then, we might lose him completely. And he'd be warned, and he'd warn everyone ahead of him, so we'd completely lose the chance to catch any of them."
—-
"And *that*" Selina says, reaching over to scritch Helena's hair, "is the *only* reason you're not in big trouble~" After that though, Selina's smile slowly fades, as if 'trouble' had set her on a train of thought. "As far as your father's concerned, I'm the one who carved that guy up. Okay? He…" Selina presses her lips together thoughtfully, "… he cares more about that stuff than I do. I can take some scolding, but you…? YOU he might ground, and that'sssss… not the lesson I want you to learn tonight."
—-
"I get what you're saying, Mom, but come on," Helena looks over, dry. "It's Dad. You know he's going to figure it out, one way or another. And if he has to figure it out because we lied about it, then it's just going to be worse when it happens." She sets her elbow on the door, staring out the window as they drive. "It was my mistake. I'll own it. I won't learn from it otherwise. And I need to learn from it."
—-
Catwoman lets out a slow breath. "Aw, hon…" She smiles warmly. "You're a good egg. I have *no* idea where you get that from." She means that in a good way. The Selina Kyle of old was trouble in high heels, and walked the line between enchanting confidence and insufferable arrogance… not always as straight as you might hope. Helena's a good kid. It's amazing they're related.
Finally, they pull into the Batcave, and the car comes to a stop. Selina steps out, then vaults across the hood, landing in a sitting position on Helena's side of the car. "As for lessons - and this is serious time now, sorry - this is… well." Selina crosses her legs and rubs her chin thoughtfully on how to put this. "You got hurt, and you gently mangled someone. Excessive force. And tonight was a good night. There's gonna be better nights! But there's also gonna be… way… way worse ones." She tilts her head. "You're not dumb, you never thought this was a game. But now there's blood on your claws, and you're gonna have to sit down and clean them off. It's real now. So… and I *promise* I'm not trying to insult you here…" She grimaces a little, as if understanding how it may sound, and lifts her goggles so you can see her eyes; so she looks like mom again. "… this is where I want you to really have another good think about wether you want this. As much time as you need."
—-
Helena listens closely, those golden eyes intent on her mother's features. "It wasn't easy, Mom," she agrees. "And I'm going to feel it for the next few days. In more than one way. But Mom, there are kids out there who are lost and afraid. Kids whose Mom and Dad aren't vigilante superheroes with all the training and funds in the world to come after them. I have those things. What sort of person would I be if I just…let that happen?"
—-
"A normal person." Selina answers with a patient smile, though her eyes crinkle as if in minor revulsion at the concept. "Kitten, you are a sweetheart, and I am so…" she presses her lips together and shakes her head, "… *god* damned proud of you. But you wanna know my dark little secret? As much as your dad wants you to take all this? " She gestures about to indicate the cave, but may as well be indicating Staten Island, "As much I keep poking you to be Catgirl? What I *really* want? What I really *really* want… is just for you to go after what *you* want out of life with all your heart. Wether that's helping others, 'ruling the night', leading the Avengers, robbing Paris blind~" She smirks slightly, "… or just… being a doctor, or a basketball player, or a garage band drummer. Literally anything. As long as it's you, I want it for you."
Selina takes Helena's hand and gives it a bit of a squeeze. "That's how I got roped up in all this. Doing what I wanted~ I want you to be… *free*, whatever that looks like for you. Not to be ruled by guilt and empathy." She waves a hand, "That sounds bad. But you know what I mean?" She sighs, "I'm trying to say I've got your back. So… no pressure, okay Kitten? Just give it a think."
—-
Helena slides out of the car, catching her mother in a tight hug. She's all long limbs and gangly strength right now, but there's a young woman waiting to come out. "Thanks, Mom," she says quietly, head on her shoulder. "But I promise, I'll always be me. If there's anything I learned from you, it's that we choose the person we want to be. No one can make us be anything we aren't or don't already want to be. We're the only ones who can do that."
—-
Selina purrs and hugs her daughter tight, smiling from ear to ear as she speaks, heart swelling with pride. "Hon, if that's the only thing you ever take from me, I'll be a happy cat~" She says, pulling back just enough to smooch Helena on the forehead sweetly. "Love you, Kitten."
They're both in trouble, probably, so they have that to look forward to, but Selina's an 'in the moment' kinda lady.
—-
"I love you too, Mom." Helena stays there for a moment longer before she pulls back with a sigh, pushing back her hood and pulling down the mask in front of her face. "On the up side, I do think the costume mostly works here. Might have to think about the cape though. Adjustments of some sort. Or else just…train more with it."
—-
Selina pulls back, reclinging a bit on the hood of the Batmobile and grins, "It did the job~ There's always room for fine tuning, though. I probably went through four designs before I turned nineteen." Her shoulders rise with a quick chuckles. "You're gonna want to work on a name though. I don't think 'The Associate' is gonna catch on~"
—-
Helena wrinkles her nose, though there's amusement in the expression as well. "Yeah," she agrees. "Probably not. I thought about Bast, but Dad's worried I'm going to upset the gods or something. Shadow, maybe? Although honestly, that kind of sounds like something you name your pet." She pulls off the gauntlets, heading for the work table to start taking care of maintenance and cleaning. At least she's responsible about that. "I was thinking I might visit some of the others and see what they thought."
—-
Selina grins. "A little bit." She answers in regards to 'Shadow', "'Sparrow's good if you don't like sidekicks, but do like birds~" Selina looks off wistfully for a moment. "And I *do* like birds."
Cat joke.
At the end, though, Selina raises both eyebrows with surprise. "Oh…?" Then her mind goes from 'other heroes her age' to 'other people to pass through the cave' and it makes more sense to her. "That might not be a bad idea. 'Nightwing' made it out of here with a snazzy name, after all~"
—-
"And they know me," Helena adds, unclasping the cape and hanging it over the back of her chair. "Sparrow sounds nice. Pretty. I'm not sure if pretty is what I'm going for though. But I do like the sound of it." Setting the gauntlets on the table, she presses the trigger to extend the claws, sobering a little further at the blood on them. "I kind of had to do it," she says quietly. "But I probably didn't need the claws to make the point. I panicked a little bit." Like her father, she can't help but analyze things.
—-
Selina watches her daughter for a moment, then slides off the hood of the car, stepping towards Helena. She's tempted to just say 'screw that guy', but that's probably not what she needs to hear. "Hey… you make mistakes, you get hurt, other people get hurt… there's no way to get better at this without this happening. That's why we go together, yeah? Until you can pretend to be perfect, like dad… you and me. Team Kyle." She says reassuringly, smiling like, well, like Mom and not like Catwoman.
—-
"If Dad was perfect, he wouldn't have gotten hurt in the Blitz," Helena smiles ruefully, breaking out oil and a cleaning cloth to start cleaning off the claws. "But he's definitely pretty close. For, you know. A normal human like us." She winks, then winces, rubbing a hand at her side. "Yeah. I'm gonna be feeling that one."