Summary:Helena catches up with her parents on current events Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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All told, the spring in the Bat cave is not the WORST place to be.
It's just the worst place to LEAVE. A cave is not the most hospitable place to walk around soaking wet, so tonight Selina Kyle's sort of… taking her time in the spring, a black bathing suit covering most of her torso as she leans her head back against the lip of the spring, her body mostly submerged under the water.
"… Still trying to think of ways to give clay back pain." She mutters as a friendly update, which means her back and shoulders are either still killing her, or are giving her just enough trouble to keep her grouchy. It's not been long since Clayface threw her into a brick wall. She managed not to think about the bruising that was causing until after she picked Batman up, having utterly ignored his radio silence to track him anyway. Now it weighs pretty heavily on her mind.
Arriving to his wife's rescue, Bruce is carrying a robe and a pair of flip-flops for Selina. As he pokes into the grotto, he gives a grunt. "He's weak to elements. High temperatures sieze him up, low temperatures freeze him - he conducts electricty and too much water breaks his molecular bonds." comes his response as he sets down the towel and robes on a nearby bench before removing his own down to a simple black swimsuit to join Selina. They match. Go figure.
"I'll have Alfred bring down some brunch." he promises her as he moves to settle into the water. "I took flowers to Martha's grave this morning, didn't see hide nor hair of our daughter." After that update, it's back to the subject at hand. "We know who's doing this - I've been working on connecting the pieces."
"Cold." Helena was out last night, having left a message with Alfred that she was hanging out with a friend, but back before evening patrols. She wasn't quite expecting this sort of mother's day breakfast, but then again, it's not exactly unusual in this house. She's got a tray already prepared by Alfred, heavy on the waffles and bacon and sausage and eggs, though she's still barefoot in shorts and a tank top.
"Yep, those things," she nods with a wry smile as she overhears Bruce, stepping up to the edge of the grotto to set the tray between her parents. "I was sleeping, like some weird normal person," she adds. "In my own bed, even." Smirking, she takes a seat on the edge next to Selina, dangling her feet in the water.
"Looks like you guys were…productive."
Selina sighs softly. "I'll have to freeze him up a spine, then." She opens her eyes narrowly in curiosity as Bruce brings up Martha, giving a soft "Hmmm?" As her mind searches for a connection before 'Mother's day' clicks into her head and she winces. "Ah… yeah." She doesn't really know what to say about that that doesn't sound patronizing, so when Bruce joins her, she sits up a bit and leans against him, giving his hand a squeeze. "… You're a good guy." She says lazily, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm sure Helena's…"
Helena arrives and Selina smiles. "… Here. Hey, Kitten." She greets fondly, then visibly brightens up as Helena brings food and sighs, "Haaaa, you're a saint."
"Hmmmm…!" she hums happily as she takes a bite of food. "… mmmmm…" she hums grouchily as their work is brought up and she's reminded of what happened. She lets Bruce answer that one.
When Selina leans against him, Bruce's hand is snared and he twines their fingers together. He made sure not to sit on the injured side, so the healing waters can do their work. "Helena." he greets her with a smile, before he considers Selina's comment. "Or find a way to flood and dilute him. Play up his vanity - he believes himself to be the perfect actor, and that he can fool anyone." he points out. He even fooled Selina into believing he was the Bat for a moment.
"There was a report of another murder last night. We responded - Selina ran into the person that's been masquerading as me - and now we know the mastermind behind it." he rumbles, his posture straightening as he shifts between Bruce and Bat. He's not going to give all the pieces out yet. He's going to let Helena work through it. "As you probably already gathered, Clayface is the mimic. The first victims were a family that was close to learning my identity. The father was seeing Doctor Adams for treatment, who was in turn victim number four, with his wife, who was victim five."
"So, we need to set up a call and response system." Helena's working on solving one problem at a time. And a mimic is definitely a problem that needs to be solved to keep anyone else from getting hurt. She's piecing together that's what happened to her mother, at least.
As Bruce lays out more of the story, she tilts her head, thinking it through. "So you think it's someone who already knows who you are?" she asks, squinting.
"Threw me into a *wall*." Selina complains dramatically and without much genuine frustration. She's had worse, after all. Still, not a terribly dignified experience.
Selina frowns softly as Helena speaks. "… I wouldn't think so. Right? I mean the first guy…" She grimaces and looks to Bruce, "It was still a pretty long list of names, right? I don't think they just asked Steve."
Releasing Selina's hand tio reach up and play his finger in her hair, Bruce works on soothing her - not that she needs much soothing - but the attention is warranted. "He'd already come here if he knew." comes the confirmation. "He's someone that gets thrill and an erotic reaction to the taking of lives, and he also has kept a tally on them." he offers to the pair. "He had the money and influence to once have been a major player in order to draw in a resource like Clayface to do his work for him."
"The tentament that we ended up at yesterday is where he had fallen to once he had spent everything he had, his landlord was victim six." Bruce pulls his lips into a thin line. "I'm working on trying to get ahead of him before he reaches victim number seven. I already warned one of his supposed targets, the reporter that defended Batman in the papers, Betty Brant. The same one that's coming to interview us. She had information given to her from inside the NYPD."
"Well, that's gross," Helena makes a face at the suggestion that someone is getting that sort of enjoyment out of the process. She kicks her feet slowly in the water, jaw set and lips pressed together in an expression that mirrors her father's. "So the person who was obsessed with you. The doctor he likely confided that to. Did you check the doctor's phone and patient records? Any police officers or detectives he might have been in contact with? A consulting doctor he might have shared with?"
"I already know who he is, Helena." Bruce points out. He's trying to get his daughter to figure it out. He watches her as she thinks, and goes through the process to try to deduce who it is. There could be a smile. "The doctor was from Ravencroft." So that opens the whole enchilada for Helena. "However, the doctor and the first victim had a tie to a few mutual contacts in his own pursuit of my identity. They were in a support group together."
Selina closes her eyes and sighs softly before swallowing another bite. Bruce does this sometimes. Selina just says, "He didn't tell *me* until after it got spelled out for him." She notes sympathetically to Helena's situation. Though, being her father's daughter, she might enjoy it for all Selina knows
"There are support groups for non-evil people who are trying to figure out who Batman is?" Helena is distracted by that one for a moment, quirking a brow. "That's…interesting." She flashes a wry smile back toward her mother, leaning over her to steal a piece of bacon for herself.
"Ravencroft. I'm just saying, if you were looking for a new project, I feel like prison and mental health treatment reform could save you a lot of trouble in the future."
She chews pensively, mentally working her way down the list of names in the computer. Which is no doubt why it takes her a minute. "Victor Zsaz. The counting."
There's a glint in Bruce's eye. She figured it out. And there's pride there. "Yes. He left a digital recording at his former apartment, along with some batarangs he collected." Bruce responds as he reaches over, and pauses at the waffle wedges. "Did Alfred make these?" he asks his daughter with a lift of his brow. "I have someone looking into his former home now. "It's currently listed as unoccupied."
Selina smiles fondly as Helena reaches the right conclusion. Selina's no detective - not really - but she's not a scientist either, she can still be proud of her daughter's talent. "I don't know how that guy got out. Wouldn't mind paying a few extra tax dollars to keep guys like that in Hulk restraints." She says, then gets a look on her face like 'what have I become?' Taxes?
When Bruce asks about the food, Selina says, "Hush, it's a present." And smiles, "Thank you, Kitten." she says, finally finished, and having let the bacon theft go uncommented upon because, well, she's in no position to complain. And hey, thivery only ever worked out for her!
Helena Wayne's lips twitch at Bruce's question. "I made the waffles. Banana chocolate chip." Because who cares about calories when you fight crime all night long? "Mothers Day and Fathers Day I'm allowed to make the waffles. The rest of the year, you're on your own."
The smile fades, though, as the rest of the implications cascade through her mind. "That's a dangerous pair, though. Good thing you guys were out together and not alone."
Bruce takes a wedge. Banana and chocolate chip? There's a mote of amusement in his lips as he moves to take a bite of Helena's latest creation. However at Helena's comment about them being together, there's a glance towards Selina. A pause. "Yes." he finally says, though there was so much more he may want to say on the subject, the waffle in his mouth does a good job of covering that up. "On another subject, your friend, Peter, introduced us to someone the other day."
Selina just smirks and nudges Bruce twice with her elbow. There have been explosions about his tendancy to go solo, and there may be more in the future, but at this point the argument is so inured to both of them that she can basically condense it down to a gesture now that Bruce is avoiding the subject. In effect: 'Ya dope'.
"Ah!" Selina perks up at the mention of Parker. "Came right up to our house! Helena, you didn't tell me your brainy friend was adorable~" She grins with the simple joy of trying to make her dauhgter squrim. "Good catch~"
Helena almost chokes on her stolen bacon when her father mentions Peter, turning an abrupt shade of pink before she can school her expression to neutrality. "Oh yeah?" she asks with studied and utterly failed indifference. "He's- He's, uh. Yeah," she smiles wanly back at Selina.
The nudge gets Bruce's attention, but when he catches Selina's eye - there's something there that suggests it isn't about the solo thing. Exactly.
"Yes. Interesting." Bruce adds. "Her name is May Patterson. Apparently she was needing a job and place to stay, I'm surprised that they didn't just suggest she was a stray cat to get your mother's attention." There's a hint of a tease in his voice.
"I offered her a scholarship with the Wayne Foundation to continue her science work, and you may be seeing her around here more often."
Selina rolls her eyes, "You wound me." She says, though she's fighting back a smile, "She somehow managed to weasel her way into being my replacement PA for a trial run." She sighs. "*Hell* of a sales pitch."
Helena looks between her parents, that flush fading to a slightly more suspicious expression. "Uh…huh," she says slowly. "That's…weird, right? I mean, Harry Osborne is his best friend, though I guess maybe he wouldn't want to pull on that, and we all know OsCorp isn't exactly above board and all." There's another pause, and she gives them both another look. "Did you know he's got an internship with Kate?"
"That'd explain why he didn't take her to Kate first." Bruce responds as he pops more of the waffle into his mouth. "I was approached by two of the Spider-Girls the other day. They wanted to help with the investigation. There's enough going on that they didn't need to be involved - I suggested that they put their talents elsewhere." Ah, Helena endears them, Bruce pushes them away. Situation normal.
Selina blinks once and replies, "It didn't come up, no." She ponders this. "Huh." Regardless, she inclines her head to Bruce as he speaks and smirks slightly. "Guess word didn't get out among the costumed youth movement." She says, referring to Bruce's request to Steve to keep other heroes out of it. "There should probably be some kinda message board online."
What the heck is discord?"
"Yeeeaah, there is, Mom," Helena pats Selina's shoulder. "I told them to call me if they see anything and not to approach anyone who just looks like Batman because, you know, it might be a psycho killer. I also made a basic suit for Silk, so she's not running around in webbing, and I gave exo-skeleton Spider Girl a new backpack, because she was using the same one she brought to the meeting at the mansion out in her regular life." Translation: identity confirmed.
"I think I'm going to work on a high-calorie supplement too, as soon as I finish analyzing the webbing. Turns out Silk and exo-skeleton Spider-Girl produce organic webbing on their own, but it's a massive energy drain. New Spider-Girl in Spider-Man's colors seems to be using the shooters though, so…not a male/female evolution thing."
Bruce gathers information on everyone through obsessive observation. Helena just…asks.
"Let them know that the imposter Batman may be Clayface. He's not to be trifled with, Helena." Bruce warns her gently. While they may be young and eager, Clayface has been around as long as the Bat has. "So. Are we going to meet them all at your graduation soiree?" Because you knew that was coming, right? "Also. Your mother and I need to come up with a present for you." That doesn't have to be stolen."
"Extreme heat works, extreme cold works." she lists off after Bruce speaks of Clayface, "Water works. Probably easier to come by. It's… not easy to physically hurt the guy."
'We need to come up with a present' Selina opens her mouth, 'That doesn't have to be stolen.' Selina closes her mouth. Pouts. "Ohhh, but that's how you know it's special~" She teases with ninety percent faux disappointment and ten percent sincere disappointment as she finally grabs her robe and climbs out of the spring, fastening it tight around her body with a bit of a shiver. She passes by Helena, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a smooch on the temple as she passes before she goes to find a proper chair to sit in, rolling her offended shoulder experimentally before she pauses and turns around. "And uh… don't approach Clayface without backup okay? Or Zasz, Karlos may be shadowing him." She grimaces sympathetically "This isn't an 'overprotection' thing, this is a… a…" she gestures helplessly, '… a 'most of the Avengers don't have a quick answer to this guy' thing.'
"I'll read them in," Helena nods. "Temperature, electricity, water. They've got a sort of…built in early warning system? Part of how they react so fast. Something in their head warns them that trouble is coming. I'm sure it's not infallible, but it's part of the edge. And for the most part, they're pretty smart."
At the question of her graduation party, she reaches up to rub a hand at the back of her neck. "I mean, probably not. They don't know who I am. I always use the voice modulator, and the contacts, and even under the mask I've got the holo-mask, so. No reason any of them would know Helena Wayne." At least not that she's admitting right now.
"How…did you know when it was time to tell anyone?" she asks, looking between her parents. "Like Steve?"
"You can invite friends over, though, you know that right, pumpkin?" Bruce asks, as he follows Selina out and pulls on his own robe, wincing at the bruise present on her shoulder, noticable even with the swimsuit. Cinching it off at the waist, he draws in a breath as the considers the question that's been presented to him and her. "Oh, kitten." he lets out a sigh as he considers. "When we told Steve, we were bonding together because of the registration hysteria. There were precious few of us that were against the idea in the Avengers. Steve didn't find out until after I walked out." he admits.
He looks over to Selina, and considers her. "Selina found out a year after we met." Don't get into how many times they may have connected /without/ sharing their secrets. Ahem. "Sharing this secret is a hard one, Kitten. Steve knows who I and Selina and you are. Though I'm not even sure if you've taken up a mantle yet." he admits, rubbing at his chin. "He doesn't know Kate, or Barbara, or Jason.." he sighs. "But this is your secret to decide who you trust with it. And if that they figure out who you are - if you are willing to risk that they find out who we are through you. Don't forget, you were barely a peanut when Steve learned about me. But you can always play it as you're just a rich daughter looking for a way to spend her parents money."
Selina smiles sympathetically. "That's… a tough one." She says, joining in, "It's really just a matter of trust. A really… really… crazy amount of trust, concerning everyone you know. Unless you happen to go wild over a thief." She smirks. Then stops smirking, "But… avoid that, if you can." She shrugs, "There isn't really an obvious tell for it, just… once you'd die for a person, and you're sure they're not a blabbermouth… and if knowing wouldn't hurt them somehow." She gives a sympathetic grimace, "A lot of stars have to line up, and it's not an exact science. And it's never risk-free."
"The thing is, it's one thing from the in costume perspective." Helena stays at the edge of the pool, feet in the water. "I know what to do when I'm in costume and I figure something out. It makes sense from that perspective. It's easy to respect both ways. You tell a cape who you are, you're trusting them because they know the life and if they don't tell you back, then you get it."
She catches her lower lip between her teeth, worrying at it. "It's another thing when someone tells…you. It's like, it's not a lie if you're in costume and someone tells you who they really are and you don't tell them back. But if you're not in costume and you're face to face, and someone tells you their secret and you don't tell them, then…then it feels kind of like a lie."
"It's not a two-way street." Thats immediate and flat from Bruce. "I know people may trust you. They may want to share with you. Vet them before you share back. Young people are especially eager to share their identities - it's why I always kept such a tight rein on the Robin identity." Finally, it's starting to slowly come out. "There's those we know the identity of that you don't know, Helena."
Selina was going to awkwardly bring that up later, but now's as good a time as any. Frowning she says. "It may sound kinda harsh, Kitten, but… what they choose to do with their indentities has nothing to do with you. I mean, it's… sweet 'n all." She averts her eyes, "And usually kinda dumb," she looks back to Helena, "But you don't owe them your secret. Much less *our* secret. That's gotta be something you're damned sure about. Like… the fact that you're asking? That pretty much means you shouldn't tell him, I think." She pauses, then rubs her hair and sighs, "Not that we wouldn't appreciate the head's up."
As for Bruce's allusion to May, Selina grimaces a little. "That's… yeah. If you're feeling guilty about *his* secret… well… it's *his* hon. You don't need to share it with us unless it's gonna hurt us. That's why…" She sighs, "… I know we've had problems with secrets lately." She doesn't know if that's why Helena's feeling especially anxious about this, but it's possible, "… but I think if the secrets don't belong to us, it's fine to keep them for someone else."
"Yeah, no, I get it," Helena nods to Bruce, though she's still staring down at the water. "I just…really don't want to be kicking myself years down the road when or if I do say it and then they don't get why I didn't sooner, I guess. That would really suck. Way more than never getting that far in the first place."
When her mother adds the family into the equation, she looks up with a faint smile. "Yeah," she says quietly. "Yeah. If it was just me, it'd be one thing, but…" She shrugs, letting out a heavy breath. "There are too many of us, and we're too connected in our out of costume lives to risk starting to unravel that thread. I know. I think I just…needed to hear someone else say it, so it wasn't just me."
"Just don't wait until you're pregnant before sharing your identity, Helena." Bruce says. Surely /that/ didn't happen.
Right?
Selina pinches the bridge of her nose. "He's kidding." She says, "Jerk unmasked me like two *years* before he showed me his face. You came along *after* that." She smiles a little despite herself. "So, y'know… you can't mess it up much worse than we did."
"Yeah, I'm not planning on getting pregnant any time soon, so we can totally not worry about that," Helena rolls her eyes with a smirk, pulling her feet out of the water and standing up. "Besides, that's why Mom got me the IUD." Beam. Poor Selina. Happy Mother's Day!
Speaking of /secrets/. Bruce just glances towards Selina. 'Really?' That's totally in the look, before he shakes his head. "You know Selina…" he starts, "I was thinking. If Steve and James can finally decide to take the step to get married…" Oh, yes, Happy Mother's Day indeed.
Selina just beams innocently, barely managing not to laugh at Bruce's look. "What? Everyone's entitled to a good time~"
At Bruce's jab, though, the smile softens to something a tad more genuine, a wistful look in her eyes as opposed to the usual teasing that line of questioning tends to cause. "Yeah, well…" She tilts her head a little, "… Maybe I'm warming up to it." She steps closer to Bruce, poking his shoulder with one finger and then kissing his cheek, "There's something about you, mister." she says before walking past him, leaving the subject there for now.
Helena looks to Bruce, then shrugs. Swing and a miss, but nice try! She's long past worrying about her parents' marital status. "So Peter brought you a random girl who needed a job and a scholarship," she muses, going back to that topic. "Which he definitely wouldn't ask for himself, because he wants to earn everything on his own."
She pauses, turning back toward her parents with a suspicious look. "You didn't do anything weird, did you? Because for some reason he was under the impression that my entirely normal playboy father would send a posse after him."
There is so much he could say to that. Really. But Bruce looks towards his daughter - his flesh and blood, and draws in a breath. "Helena, there's nothing I would do tio protect you. But I'm also not going to keep you from having your own life." he says quietly, honestly. As Selina passes by and kisses his cheek, his hand touches her side in return in a light caress. "Anyway. You know the truth. It's not me he has to worry about.'
Selina stops and turns around, squinting slightly at Bruce and replying to Helena, "Not when he was out *our* house, no."
Helena snorts back a laugh. "I pity the person who actually manages to hurt me, I really do. So, uh. Graduation present, you say?" she grins, making her way over to a chair to let it spin on its axis. "And a party. I mean, there are probably a few people I could invite." They're all going to seem strange, but hey, that's life, right?
"Yes. As large as you want, Helena. It's your party." Bruce responds, and then smirks slightly. "Your mother may have given me the inspiration to open the doors to the manor to host a party." he admits with a shrug of his shoulders. "I haven't held a soiree here since the last anti-registration rally I had here."
Selina shrugs, "In fairness, you did explode." It's been five years and he's fine, they can PROBABLY laugh about it now. A little. Sometimes. Hrm. At any rate, she says, "I think it's past time we made good use of this house again."
"I think having people over is a great idea. Besides, you're Bruce Wayne. Your parties are legendary," Helena teases, winking. "Steve and Bucky, of course. The whole family. I heard Carol's back in town, too. It'll be great." She spins again, then grins back at her parents. "All you two have to do is not get punched in the face."
The mention of Carol brings a frown. But there's not much more than that on it. "We'll see." Bruce offers. "I'm woefully out of practice - but perhaps we can make something of it. I was going to suggest that Steve and James have their reception here, but lets put on a good show first, hmm?" he asks with a wisp of amusement in his smile. "Hopefully your mom will be able to go sleeveless."
Selina just sighs, in regards to face and shoulders just says, "Tall order."