Summary:Helena returns home to her waiting parents and a hero is born. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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While Batman is generally seen at night - work always begins in the afternoon. After getting out of bed and cleaned up, Bruce is already dressed and at work. Today, it's working on the spray aresol that he's come up with to disperse the anti-tattoo ink that Spider-Man gave to him. It wasn't working well last night, and he wants it to be fully ready for it's next use.
Selina has seen Bruce wear many hats underneath this cavern - scientist, doctor, engineer. So many things he could do. But right now, it's one of the things that he is that he's bothered about as his lips are pulled in a thin line. Dad.
"Has she come home yet?" he asks, for probably the fifteenth time since he first returned to the cave.
Selina, meanwhile, while not as versatile as Batman, has a fair number of sides she can show people. Some of them astoundingly fake. Thief, Socialite, Heroine, Caped crusader for awhile… she's been confidant; cold; seductive; thoughtful; she'd managed to pretend not to care about the consquences of her actions for a good long while. She's tried shallow ditzyness on for size.
Gnawing worry is one she doesn't tap into very often, but here she is, pacing in the cave after checking upstairs for the umpteenth time, gnawing on the side of fist as her heels click back and forth across the cavern floor, her cowl left to hang behind her neck. "No!" She answers sharply; not quite snapping at her fiance, but surprised by the volume of her voice as her brow lowers, looking away before repeating, "No…" in a more even but frustrated tone. Anxiety's been gnawing at her heart since she heard about what Helena did. This must be what Selina's parents were supposed to be feeling when she ran away.
After getting caught out in the field last night, Helena slipped away. Turns out she's learned that from her parents, too. Although the spiders didn't set a bad example of that either. She left a sign for her parents that she was safe and okay, but she didn't come home. There were things she needed to figure out first.
Given the fact that she's in normal clothes when she comes down the stairs to the cave, one of those things was probably a place to stash her gear, lest it be confiscated. Never let it be said that Helena isn't prepared for the worst.
She looks fine, though. Moderately rested. Clean. And uninjured. Despite her hands in her pockets though, it's clear from the set of her jaw and the squaring of her shoulders that she's steeling herself.
"Last time she did this, she was five, and was hiding in the hedge maze. Ace found her, and wouldn't leave her side." Speaking of, not two seconds after he mentions his name, the large dog lifts his head and starts towards Helena in a bound. She's as much his charge as everyone else is for her.
When he hears the footfalls on the steps, Bruce lifts his head. He watches Helena. Studying her. Making sure she's not wounded or worse. Once he's completely satisfied in his mind that she's not injured, he glances over to Selina - his look is sympathetic.
And then, he gives a nod of his head, letting Selina go first as he gathers his thoughts.
Selina doesn't look to Bruce for clearance, but they appear to be in sync enough that they're both done with the same basic scan by the time Bruce nods and Selina starts storming up the stairs at that exact instant, eyes blazing as she marches towards Helena.
She takes Helena's shoulder and pushes just enough to rotate her a bare couple degrees to look at Selina straight on. Selina squints at Helena's face, looks her over once for less obvious injury, then abruptly pulls Helena into the fiercest hug possibly ever as she half sighs, half growls, "I'm going to kick your aaaaaassssssssss kid…!"
"Hey, buddy." Helena leans down to give Ace an ear-ruffle, which leaves her just off-balance enough to look up to her mother's rush. She stays still and quiet for the inspection, but lets out a breath when it turns into a hug, returning it in kind. "I left you guys a message," she says for her mother's sake, though she looks to Bruce over Selina's shoulder. She knows that there's more for him to be upset about than just whether or not she left a message overnight.
For a moment, it looks like Bruce may stand up. Or say something. Then the meaning behind the nod that he gave to Selina comes to light. He wasn't giving her his permission. He was acknowledging what they had talked about. "You're safe. That's the important part. What happened?" He's not going to press further the issue at the moment, as he lets out the breath he had been probably holding most of the night, when he was worrying about her. Even with a message.
Letting your daughter be 'free' is a lot easier in theory than it is in practice. Selina isn't sure where that exact line is, but right now she feels like 'leaving home to indisclosed locations and getting involved in anti-gang-and-anti-wizard warfare crosses it. Funny how unappealing Selina's own former lifestyle sounds when it's your daughter doing it. But, Helena has a mom who's glad to see her home safe, and Selina didn't. That's the overriding feeling right now.
"Where did you go?"
'Worry.'
Selina steps back, keeping her hands on Helena's shoulders. "Did you have enough to eat?"
'Mom'.
"Do you have any idea how worr-ack!" 'Mounting indignance' interrupted by a short yelp as Ace wanders between her and Helena looking for more attention. Selina stares at him for a split second. Dogs.
Selina takes a deep breath and just… crosses her arms when Bruce is the one to ask for details more calmly than she would have.
"Nothing happened," Helena answers with a shrug, still giving Ace a fair share of her attention. The dog's easy, after all. "I just needed some space, is all. Think things over. Work things out. I got a hotel room, visited the market for those apple cider donuts in the morning, then stopped off at Avengers Mansion to talk to Uncle Steve."
She looks back to her parents then, lips pursing slightly. "Uncle Steve said I should probably go home. And he was right."
"Hnh." Bruce's response is succient. There's a nod of his head at it all, but he's got the feeling that there's more on Helena's mind. So he's not saying anything yet. He's listening. With all the patience of Batman. Even if the dad beneath it all is worried - his hand tightens slightly on one of the aersol cans. "I nearly have the concentration on the spray formula changed. It was too weak last night."
Selina takes a few steps back with a sigh and sits on the corner of the railing where the stairway turns to go down into the cave proper, almost seeming to shrink a little, like the air's been let out of her, when Helena describes why she came home. Selina has never been more grateful for the existance of total boyscouts, and her family's proximity to them. Selina likes the guy so much that it honestly tempts her to be mistrustful of him, but she's especially glad for their proximity to him now.
It's nice to have someone who isn't damaged for perspective.
Selina shakes her head faintly and then gestures towards the rest of the stairs, saying, softly "Come on." before walking down the stairs and onto the floor of the cave.
She frowns, briefly, and starts to say "Bruce, can you-"
Can you not talk shop two seconds after your daughter's returned from a dangerous situation; is what Selina started to say, but cut herself off with a stiff breath and a short sigh, deciding that's not an argument that needs having right now. She had all her energy devoted to worry, and now that Helena's back she's just got a bunch of frazzled nerves floating directionlessly inside of her.
She crosses her arms, staring at Bruce for a moment before inclining her head towards Helena. "… I don't know how not to make this awkward, Kitten." She says, reinstating her nickname for Helena despite the unresolved tension following the last time they talked, "… But we really need to talk about all this."
"Have you tried adding something to make it soluble to mucus membranes?" Helena suggests as she comes down the stairs. "Might help get it into their bloodstream faster, disrupt their ability to do whatever they do at all."
Silly mom. Talking shop is how bats say they're sorry.
She steps up to the table, setting her hands palm-down on the surface as she looks back to her father. "Mom's right. And Uncle Steve's right. I…am sorry that I responded the way I did the other day. Those feelings were real and important, but that was the wrong time and place and way to air them."
She pauses for just a moment, catching the inside of her cheek between her teeth. "It meant a lot to me when you said I was ready, Dad. For years it's felt like you've been picking every Robin, and Batgirl, and Batwoman over me. It's hurt. So when you said I was ready, that meant…everything. I went out there to do my best, to make you proud. To do the right thing. That was all I wanted."
Helena's jaw tightens as she searches for words. "I get that this is scary and that you worry about me. I know you love me and you'd do anything to keep me safe. And I know what happened with…What happened then is something that you've carried with you ever since. So I get why you were mad and why you were scared. But this is something I have to do, Dad. It's something I'm going to do. And we both know that you can tell me no, and you can throw me out, and you can cut me out of your will if you want. And we both know we're both stubborn enough to let it happen. But that's not what I want for the rest of my life. Is it what you want?"
"Any thicker, and it won't be as dispersable." Bruce starts to say. And then Helena starts up. His expression changes as he sets down the container. "You're projecting. And assuming." he says in response to Helena finally. He sets down the project to be able to look Helena in the eye.
"You were under strict protocols for the mission, Helena. What you did, without permission, could have placed you in trouble. The fact that it didn't was moot."
"And then you showed up last night. You didn't ask. You were just there." He pauses for a moment, holding his thoughts, and staying his tongue. "I said you were ready. Physically, you are. But I also said that there is a lot you will still need to learn. And that you will need to follow orders. So far, twice, you have not done that. Even if it was because of your mother on one of those." He glances to Selina with a side-eye. He doubts it was Helena that said 'Let's take the Batmobile anyway!'.
"Am I going to tell you can't take to the field again? No. Am I going to ground you? No." He looks between the two of them and folds his hands together. "The question is - are you going to listen? I never said this was going to be easy. And it would disgrace those that became before you if I went easy on you. Do you think you're the first one not to listen what I said?" he asks. There's a glance to Selina at that - meaningful.
Selina slowly closes her eyes as Helena speaks, breathing slowly. Sincere apology tinged with faintly manipulative emotional blackmail. Really, Selina couldn't be more proud.
Selina gives Bruce a smirk and a little finger-wave when she's mentioned. Really, she's not being true to herself if she's not at least a little mischievious once in awhile. "You'd have been proud of her, though~" She says with a slightly more natural smile, followed by a dismissive shrug, "I gave her the chance to lie twice, and she didn't. Wasn't even a trap~"
When Bruce finishes, she gives him a brief look, and sighs. "… I really wanted your first mission to be positive for you, and I'm sorry it wasn't. No one's gonna take this away from you, Kitten. You'd… you'd have to go off the *rails* for us to just take it all back. But we're…" God, it almost pains her to say this, "… Your father and I are still going to be in charge for awhile. Sometimes we're going to keep you out of things we think are out of your depth right now. We… *really* need you to understand that, Kitten. That we're not just looking for an exucse to coop you up at home while everyone else goes fighting."
"I am never going to follow orders at the cost of the greater cause." At least Helena is honest about it. And she doesn't look away. "You didn't, when the government started mandating registration. Uncle Steve didn't, when they told him he couldn't fight. Mom…just doesn't." There's only so much explanation for Mom. There's a reason she's Catwoman.
"I have the best examples in the world, Dad. The best support network in the world. The best resources, the best…everything. And I've waited." She looks pained, closing her eyes tightly as she takes a deep breath. "I've waited. But you have to give me a chance. I didn't need my first mission to be positive, Mom," she shakes her head. "You've both made it very clear that most of them won't be. I just needed to know that I made things better. And that's all I want to keep doing."
"Those spider-people out there were good, but they were good because they had abilities. And because that went smoothly, all things considered. They're young and inexperienced, too. But they're there. Doing what they can."
"They have super powers we don't, Helena. And they're always going to have that advantage. It's why we have to be better than them, because we're not going to have that crutch to fall back on." Despite Helena's attempts, it seems that Bruce is holding his ground today. Maybe something got slipped in his coffee.
"And do you think you made things better?"
Selina's serious expression cracks slightly when her… er… gentle lifelong insubordination is mentioned. "Bruce…" She sighs softly when he finishes, closing her eyes. Even she knows she probably shouldn't contradict him in front of their daughter when she's in trouble and all - clashing perspectives challenge that sort of thing all the time - but, despite thinking he's being too harsh… and despite having something she wants to say vis a vis spider-people, she manages to hold it back to let Helena answer.
Perhaps to her credit, Helena doesn't answer her father's question immediately. She gives it a moment, working everything through in her mind's eye, weighing it out. "On the mission with Mom, yes," she finally answers. "We found the crows. I saw the disks in action enough to think they were communicators. I found Miguel's soft spot, enough to get him talking. Last night…"
She grimaces, shaking her head slightly. "I didn't make it worse, but I could have. The spiders could have mistaken me for one of the Nightfall, you could have gotten distracted. And since I wasn't in contact with either prong of the attack, there was no way to coordinate. And," she rolls her eyes, "I couldn't even tell the kids who I was to make them feel better because I still don't have a stupid name."
After several moments of thought, Bruce finaly seems to come to a decision in the back of his mind. "Then you will need to make sure to coordinate better next time, or to know how to make sure that the others know what side you are one." he finally says. In his own way, telling Helena that she's back on. She learned. That's all he really wanted her to do in all of this.
Selina's known Bruce long enough to pick up on that particular subtlety - they've made up with less ceremony over the years - and it brings an odd, fond sort of smile to Selina's face. Selina doesn't have the perspective Bruce does, exactly; she recognizes that it's basically a miracle she's still alive, given the way she used to do things, but she can't bring herself to regret living on her terms. She wants the same freedom for Helena, but the fear of Helena getting hurt is… palpable. But she can choke it down, she's sure. Probably. Regardless she gives Helena's head a gentle ruffle. She's in tune with Bruce's… Bruceness enough that it feels like enough of a mood change for her.
"It'd probably help if they knew what to call me," Helena admits with a faint smile, taking her phone out of her pocket and cueing up a song. She sets it on the table just in time for a familiar tune to start up out of the speakers.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
As the music plays, she looks back to her parents, smile crooked. "What do you think?"
Selina blinks once, then lowers her head, shoulders shaking with a suppressed laugh. She used to sing that to Helena all the time. Even snuck that onto her first phone as her ringtone for when Selina called her. "Oohhhhh…" She smirks, "… Purrfect, darling."
There's no telling how many times that Bruce has walked by the room that was once Helena's nursery, that eventually became her bedroom, to find Selina within, rocking their child, humming that song to their daughter. Their daughter. There are times where Bruce still can't believe that the cat decided that he was worthy to give her such a precious gift. He lets out a breath as he rises from his seat. "I think it is for your mother to decide on." he finally glances over to her.
She carried Helena under her heart for nine months, it seems to be right for her to make the final decision. And when that's done, he nods. "I'll make sure the computer updates the comms." Then he pauses. "Koriand'r has decided to accept my offer. I gave her fifty thousand to start - but I am not sure if she understands the concept fully. Apparently SHIELD didn't assist her with that. Blackbird, I'd like for you to make contact with her. She could use a liaison."
"Yeeeaaah, I'm starting to get the feeling there's a whole lot of human customs that don't get out there all that much," Helena says ruefully, pausing her phone and slipping it back into her pocket before she steps over to her mother for another hug. "I ran into a woman at the market last week who claimed to be from Atlantis. It tracked, too. Strength, durability, water control. And she had this communicator that I wish I could have taken apart."
Because obviously the more exciting part of this is the idea that there might be new tech to look into.
"I'll give her the treasury 101 lesson," she nods in regards to Kori. "Probably still have one of the little books Alfred gave me when you guys set up my first checking account."
Bruce nods slowly. "I haven't seen an Atlantean in a good long while. And I'm not sure if you've ever met one, Selina." because putting Cats with fish.. well, she's not all Cat, right?
Wait, did he just imply a joke in there?
Selina hugs Helena tight with a purr, and laughs softly. "Aliens and mer-folk on your first week." She grins, "Did you know it took at least a month for me to run into *him*?" She says aiming a thumb at Bruce. The times they are not the same.
Selina smirks at Bruce, "No, but I've never met a fish I didn't like~"
"Well, this one was curious about the giant squid monster thing. I gave her Uncle Steve's number. I figured he could handle whatever was going on there." Helena eventually releases her mother, then crouches to give Ace his fair share of affection. "So…the spider came up with the reagent to work against the tattoos?" she asks, quirking a curious brow over at Bruce.
"He did. They've been working on ways to weaponize it into their webs. I gave him the information on the cold iron in return." Bruce responds, and then smirks. "I'm sure the Avengers can handle whatever issue it was with the squid, and with the Atlantean visitors. We have enough going on with the kidnappings and the assmebly of Koriand'r's group." he lets out a breath. He's actually /not/ going to stick his nose in someone's business? Maybe he finally is mellowing out at his old age.
Selina takes a seat and reclines, giving Bruce a curious look "He doesn't just shoot it out of his wrists? Huh." She says, though she takes a certain amount of interest in Helena's impressed tone, and closes her eyes with a bemused sigh. It probably means nothing, but it reminds Selina of the fun day THAT problem rears it's head.
As long as she doesn't fall for a criminal!
"It was pretty impressive. I mean, to come up with it, manufacture it…There's got to be only a certain number of places in the city to get the materials and do it all…" It's kind of hard to tell if it's the mystery of it that's got Helena going or if she's just got a little bit of a nerd crush going on. But at least she's got her own nerd things to keep her busy here at home.
"Anyhow. The aerosol. It was definitely effective, I just feel like there's gotta be a better way to deliver it. Also, did you notice that mist? When they started calling up the creatures? Was that new, or does it happen every time?"
"That was new. Something tied to the ones with the head tattoos, I can only assume." Bruce responds as he frowns. "We mahy have to adjust our tactics, on who we are able to talk first. And we were unable to take a member of the Nightfall." That brings frustration to his voice. He does not want to kill anyone - yet these people keep chosing death over capture.
Selina frowns. That quirk of the Nightfall was probably a bigger reason for Selina denying the mission to Helena than the danger was. "Don't suppose we could just sneak up on one and tie them up some place."
"It didn't feel like it was just for effect," Helena frowns to herself, considering. "Infrared worked on the casters, but not so much on the constructs. It was cover, I guess, but…I dunno. My gut says there's something to it." She paces idly, tapping her hand against her thigh as she thinks.
"The Nightfall are taken as children. Brainwashed into soldiers and marked." Bruce says with a frown. "It's worse than Stockholm syndrome - once they have been with Nightfall as long as some of the adults have - they're willing to do anything for the cause. I believe that it was only through incrdible will that Keiko was able to break away from her bindings to them. Though she still shows signs of backslide into worship of Plokta."
Selina's expression is one of muted horror before she looks away, muttering, "Jesus." You don't have to be a mother for that to make you sick to your stomach, but it adds a certain punch to it.
"As someone who's taken in several children and raised them to a mission, I think you know how that goes," Helena points out to her father, stepping over to the computer banks to start rifling through the files, searching for a clue. "Do you think there's something in the ink or the tattoos as well, maybe? We did get two kids out of last night who'd just been inked."
Really Helena? Did she just suggest. "I am nothing like that madman. I don't force anyone into this. Even /you/." Bruce snaps at her, before he shakes his head. "And I'd never demand that - of /anyone/." Way to backslide there. He shakes his head. "The ink is laced with gossamer. Just like their blades. If you cut the tattoo, or try to destroy it, it will drive the bearer insane and send them on a murderous rampage." He brings up an article in Spanish from the early 1990s that shows the exact results of one of those rampages.
Selina winces and draws in a short breath through her teeth. Low blow, Helena! Damage control! Selina puts a hand on Bruce's shoulder and placatingly says "She's… kidding, Bruce…" She aims a bit of a look at Helena, "In poor taste, possibly." and back to Bruce. "Let's not all un-makeup, please. We're all kinda tired."
"I'm not saying you are," Helena replies, glancing back at her father. "I'm saying if you remove kids from their support system and give them something to believe in, there's a solid chance that they'll start to follow you, regardless of who you are. Which is to say that it's possible we might not be able to 'break' that part of things, because it might not be magical at all. Just human." She nods at the article, pressing the side of her thumb to her lips. "But if you destroy the animal summoned by the tattoo, what happens then?"
"You injure the person. The tattoos the children have are tracking tattoos. They were made to track the children once they are in the possession of Lord Plokta." Bruce says finally, letting out a breath, pressing a hand to his fiance's shoulder as he passes by Selina. "They only have a limited range. I currently have Batgirl and Zatanna working on a way to end the tattoo permamently." he comments. "As for the older ones.. I am working on that still."
Helena frowns at the screen, rolling things over in her mind. None of the solutions she can think of seem like good ones. Or at least not things that any normal kid or normal parent is going to be okay with. "Magic," she wrinkles her nose. "It really is a pain."
"Why do you think your mom frowns every time I bring it up?" asks Bruce before he gives a little smirk. "There's a solution. One to everything." he reminds Helena. "There's nothing that exists in the realm of possibilty that's truly impossible. Just yet to be solved."
"Right?!" Selina throws her hands up. "This is what I've been saying. Just… not in front of Zatanna.
Selina nods once affirmatively as Bruce speaks, and carefully does not say: 'Like parenting'. But it's in her eyes.
"Everything's got rules," Helena agrees with her father. "Magic's just got weird ones we don't know about yet." She spins from one side to the other in her chair, restless as ever when she has a problem to solve. And if one isn't working, then another one can take her attention. "I got my cape grabbed the other night when I was out with Mom. I was thinking if I insulated the rest of the suit, I could probably build a current into the cape to deal with that problem."
"Or you can go without the cape. It works for your mother." Bruce points out. And after a moment, he steps close to his daughter. And hugs her. Because she's here. And safe. And not dead in a ditch or worse. And that's all he really needed to know. Because the first mission really is the worse.