Rooms

So much for that.

[The bar was a divey little joint that housed mostly barflies who had barely moved off their stools in ten years and thirty-somethings that craved a quiet place with sticky floors and a cheap whiskey and coke on a warm summer’s night. The bathrooms smelled like piss and regrets, and the booths were in a state of disrepair that the red duct tape could barely fix. Marty, the bartender nearing on sixty and missing a tooth or two, was handy with a draft and generous with the salty pretzels that soaked up the plethora of booze he sold to his customers. He was the Mayor of Church Street, which was a sketchy little stretch of Gotham not too far from where the corners of Old Gotham turned into the gentrification of mobsters and millennials, yet still had the character of a seedier, edgier block.

Stephanie sat towards the back of the dimly lit bar, near the jukebox that hummed some ditty about a woman named Jolene. Back when she lived close to here, she’d come here now and then. Usually with her husband, sometimes not, mostly for cheap margaritas before they stumbled home to fool around. Marty had given her a cursory eye when she’d come in solo, and a screwed up mouth told him all he needed to know about the other half of the expected couple. Ah, well. He’d seen that plenty of times before. So, he’d just let her order her drink -- tequila and soda because she was not fucking around tonight -- and settle into that secluded, worn table.

She was waiting for Bruce Wayne, and she knew that no one was going to bother either of them in the back of that dirty bar. Even if he was Bruce Wayne and even if someone recognized either of them. It was one of the things she liked about this place -- people minded their goddamn business. She had no fear that she and her surrogate father could commiserate in peace over the litany of problems that fell into their laps over the last couple of months. So, she sat, blonde hair pulled back, white tank and a mess of chains around her neck, and she sipped from her tumbler, looking just as tired as she felt. Fingers drumming on the surface and swirling the drips of condensation left on cheap wood in alternating fashion as she waited slightly impatiently for the oldest Wayne’s arrival.]

I have popcorn.

[Locked to Bruce W, Dick G, Stephanie B, Jason T, &... Selina K]
[After this. So amused.]

A man named Flash wants me to tell you, Todd, your girlfriend is going to go after your daughter. Or Dick's daughter. Hels. In the Silent Hill door. If no one else does.

[Batfam +]

Can't go to summer camp if he can't find me. SEND HELP. CHILD ABUSE.

[locked to selina k.]

Sorry, I haven't checked in sooner. I've been hiding and trying to pretend things in Gotham are better than they seem, but I failed miserably at that. How are you holding up?

[locked to the bird boys]

[Separately.] Alright. No bullshit check-in time.

[locked to destiny.]

[She's got no idea where to put it, so his dinosaur gummies are left on the counter in Wayne Manor again.]

[locked to eddie n.]

[Against some of her better judgement, but after hearing about some new management at the Iceberg through the grapevine. (Some of her old patients.)] You're back?

[locked to jason t.]

Jason.

[locked to stephanie b.]

You're back?

[locked to ra's.]

[This comes after a great deal of consideration. He paces. He thinks. He doesn't want to lose the element of surprise, but really, he's never had it to begin with. Ra's has posted publicly about the child. Everyone and their mother knows about his connection to Iris. It's a shot in the dark, but...]

How is the boy?

[After this, locked to eddie n.]

[...] I'm sorry, Eddie.

[Just after this.]

[It was late, and Damian was up, alone and restless in the widemouthed kitchen of Wayne Manor. There was no Alfred—he'd learned that quickly, and with some pleasure, because at least then he didn't have to eat horrible cooking. But, there was displeasure too, as now there was no one else to make anything. He wasn't sure what was worse: enduring Alfred's meals or having to make his own.

Let's not get into how strange the Manor was or how eerie it was being back, like existing in a parallel universe where everything was the same, but the utensil drawer was on the opposite side of the room (...though, in truth, it was a parallel universe, wasn't it?)—Damian was doing his best to not think on it all just then. Drawers and cupboards were open, the flexed wings of a bird canted, behind him—all over the room, as he trawled the space in pajamas borrowed from his father, looking for a frying pan.]

[locked to destiny]

[During the Batfam+ post, while walking dino land with Selina.]

How bad is it there?

[So, their vacation was being cut a little short. It wasn't really surprising. After all, Gotham tended to wake up without warning. Drowsy periods, and then spikes, and what a spike. Oh, the Families were no surprise. In fact, the kitty cat was only surprised they hadn't gone bigger, faster. The mobs were as Gotham as Joe and his facepaint, and they were as Gotham as the Bat and his cowl, and she didn't expect any of that to change, not in any real way. But Damian coming back? Now that was something, and she wasn't sure yet if she was glad he wasn't the Damian that hated her all the way down to his baby bird toes. And Eddie going after Ra's and collecting Iris' love-child? Now that was surprising too, because the kitty had been so sure Bruce would do it in honor of Iris' memory. But she was quickly learning that this Bat? Was very, very different from the one who'd left.

But Stephanie needed to get home, and that was something Selina was very, very sure about. If anyone could calm Damian? It was the little blonde bat. And these days? These days it was Stephanie that managed to best console a Bat that Selina barely knew.

And so, after days of running and hiding in the woods, filth and survival, the girls were back on a route to the docks, armed with knowledge and a ferocity that came with days of taking down very, very big things with very, very big teeth. It was early yet, morning sunlight, and they had a half-day's hike ahead of them. And hopefully there would be a door waiting.]

[After a visit to the Watchtower, goes to the manor to check updates on the batcomputer. And runs into a child?]

There's a kid running loose in the manor. Well, now she's running around with my VR headset. And consequently crashing into things.

[Batfam +]

How about a little Perry Como?

[And then sent to autoplay on any electronic communication devices that are owned, and working at the time.... And also playing through the speakers in Wayne Manor. Dickie's back. In case anyone was wondering. There is also a rogue eight year old running around like she owns the place if you desire to find her and/or run into her for you Wayne Manor people who might be around.]

Spread joy up to the maximum

[As promised, the kitty cat was waiting outside Marvel disgustingly early. Track pants and a snug shirt in grey, sensible boots, and a pack on her back, she looked entirely harmless. No suit, her whip an afterthought low on her hips, along with the thigh holster lower against the back-striped black of her pants, and her hair tugged back and away from her face. Coffee in gloveless hands, and she didn't bother lying to herself about this little excursion. Oh, she was trying to help Stephanie, but she was trying to help herself just as badly.

She hadn't felt this adrift since she'd ended up captaining a pirate ship. But she'd changed since then, and going off alone to take on the Seven Seas? It just wasn't going to cut it this time.

Sure, things with Babs had made her relationship with the little bats tense, but Selina was fairly confident that enough sweat and endurance? And she and Stephanie could get back to fine.

So, there she was, sipping her coffee, leaning against the dusty hallway wall, and wondering how irresponsible this was. Oh, she didn't mind that it was irresponsible. She didn't even mind the associated risks. She'd ended up in zombies and walked out, and she'd walk out of wherever she ended up that morning. That was just Gotham confidence, burrowed so far beneath her skin that nothing would ever be able to dig it out. Gotham? Gotham was survival, no matter how badly Bruce Wayne wanted to turn it into some colorless mockery of Metropolis.]

[Group lock: Eddie N & "Em"]
So, when's the grand opening?

[Locked Stephanie B]
I've had all the unwashed bodies I can take. Up to something undull?

[Locked to Natasha R]
Remember me?

[After getting Jason into a hospital in Gotham, after helping with some more clean-up in Marvel, she returns home for the time being. And lots of people get messages.]

[locked to barbara g.]

Hi. I'm back. I'm sorry. Are you okay?

[locked to jason t.]

How ya feeling, slugger? The food kill you yet?

[locked to destiny.]

You see. When I got back from that Marvel mess, I was gonna be cute and bake you something, but I have no idea where to leave it.

[locked to selina k.]

Hi, kitty cat. Make it out of there okay?

[locked to leo c.]

[A sketch of this, Batsignal, clear pops of color that this Gotham lacks, and all.] That's my Gotham. Well, the one where I grew up. My baby brother and I always said this city was too blue sometimes.

[locked to steve r.]

Let me know if you guys need anymore help over there, okay? I'm popping back in Gotham, but I can be back there in a second.

[locked to bruce w.]

Glad everything waited for us to leave for it to go to shit. So considerate like that.

[locked to eddie n.]

You better not be dea I'm sure you don't even wanna tal [In the end, nothing posted.]

[locked to batfam+]

[Y'all know who you are. She posts this frantically after seeing the public post, knowing a good chunk of them is over there.]

Selina, Jason, Dickie, Eddie. Whoever else is over in Marvel right now -- check in? What the hell is going on? Where do you need me? What do you need from over here?

ETA: [locked to steve r.]

[Totally resisting locking it to Captain Dreamy.]

Hi. Don't know if you remember me, but I'm Stephanie Brown from Gotham, one of the bats. I'm coming over to help, ready for whatever you need, wherever you need. Just point me in a direction, Cap.

[Comm to Pepper P.]

Pepper. I need the containment unit in my lab, and I need it now. How close are you?

[Avengers Comms and Transcribed to Public.]

Hi, I accidentally kicked an anthill named HYDRA and they’re pissed. Backup might be nice. [Explosion not transcribed, but it’s on the news by now.] Lots of backup. Tons. I’d take your grandma with a slingshot. Ow!

[Public]
[Because he's tired of who is and isn't on a lock.]

Don't expect a new Arkham.

[Private to Muerte]
[After talking to Selina:]

What a strange place this city has turned into while I was away.

[Destiny]
[Outloud:]

Destiny, Muerte says hi.

[Public]

I met a man today who said he was locked up in Arkham before hell opened up. He knows fairies, met them when he was a child and learned how to draw circles for them. He told me half of his fairy friends died in Arkham, the others barely escaped with their wings attached. Then he reached into his pocket to show me one of them. There wasn't anything there, of course, but I pretended to say hello anyway.

[Hels]

Checking in.

[Bruce B.]

I know it's going to be a long, long time before you read this buddy. But, drop me a line when you get back? I'll let you look at my alien plants from the Watchtower~

[Steph B.]

I should be back in Gotham this weekend. Want me to just pick up the pets? You could come over here to see the shop, too.