Rooms

[Selina K]

So it's a mess out there

[Eddie N/Steph N - separately]

Can I get a 'I'm not wearing black' from you?

[Gwen S]

Hey. So tell me you're not visiting this door any time soon.

[Graham R]

Do me a favor. No black. For like, forever. And stay off the street after dark.

[Damian W]

Are you sick of this yet?

[ETA: Bruce W]

So I need Selina's key. Can I come get it?

[The name shifts in flickers depending on who's reading it - Death, Muerte, Em]

[Batfam+]
Danger, Will Robinson. Duck and cover if you're batly because I don't want to be any busier than I currently am.


[Selina]
Ignore the fact that I know the answer, and that this question is more for you to know that I'm checking in on you and less for me to get an actual answer: Staying safe?


[Eddie]
Question marks intact?


[Helena]
Okay?


[Damian]
[A pen-press. He's her last message, and the ink pools from an incorporeal pen.] So?

[Damian didn't have time for words. All the accusations that the cops died because of him were false. Claims made by cowards who were too afraid of the mob to lay the blame on them. Everyone treated the Falcones and others like they were monsters to be feared, to pay tribute to. Damian was brave, he was Batman. If the rest of his so called family stood behind him and took on the mob with him, they wouldn't have a chance. But, no. The cowards wanted to sleep with dogs, they wanted to protect the evil and they were more than happy to sacrifice their youngest child.

When Selina asked him if he wanted to die, he was shocked. This was about saving Gotham. If he wanted to die, he'd just trust his fraud father with his life again.

So he was alone. Almost. Helena was the only one he could trust, the only one left who thought about him and wanted to help with his crusade. She gave him direction because she was always the more thoughtful one of the two and he followed. Batman went after one of Falcone's Capos, Baldinotto while he was eating dinner at home with his wife in their expensive townhouse. The wife was put in a sleeper hold, Batman pressed his hand over the woman's mouth until she went limp in his arms and then he gently laid her on the floor. From the dining room, Baldinotto yelled for more wine and then yelled again when there was no immediate response. Another yell and Baldinotto impatiently jumped up from his seat and barged into the kitchen. Suddenly, Batman appeared behind him, knife at his throat and arm locked behind his back.] Scream for your life and maybe I'll spare you.

[PUBLIC AS BATMAN]

You care so much about the precious mobsters who are ruining this city? [A GPS location where a top Falcone family member is hanging from a construction crane.] I broke every bone in his body. If you want him to live, you better save him now.

[This was a stupid idea, but he didn't have a choice. Damian needed more supplies if he was going to be The Batman and the place to get it was the Batcave. He had a cache of weapons there and the only way to get access to them was to slip in and take what he could carry. Maybe one of the bikes, if he was lucky. Dressed in plain clothes, he slipped through the cavernous tunnels, carefully avoiding security that he knew by heart. He focused on climbing, on his breathing. The little bird couldn't think about each one of his family members that wanted to stop him. They weren't family anymore. This act of aggression, this takeover made his family a them and now it was one against all.

He perched on top of his favorite rock, one that was high above the bat computer. The cave was clear and he calculated that it would only take a few minutes at the very most to grab what he needed and leave before someone could confront him. Cartwheeling off the rock, he grabbed the edge with his fingers and carefully climbed down towards the main area of the bat cave. At this point, he couldn't do anything to stop himself from tripping an alarm, so Damian had to hope he was simply fast enough to get out before they could get him.]

[Public, after this.]

I feel so much safer now that we're nearly killing drone goons who don't have a say in anything, and whose injuries will only make the mob bosses kill them as a result. What's next? The mob's working girls? I'll sleep so much better at night.

[Damian W]

What the hell do you think you're doing?

[Jason T]

Welp. That's a thing that happened.

[Locked to Damian W]

I invited Gwen over for froyo with both of us. I'd really like it if you were nice to her.

[Locked to Bruce W]
b-man how was the party on those old bones :)

[Locked to Damian W]
hey bitty bat

[Locked individually to Damian W, Gwen S, Eddie N, Bruce W and after a little hesitation, Seven M and Marta F]

Okay?

[ETA: Individually locked to Natasha R and Jo H]

Okay?

[Public]

63. You got buzzed on 63. Which one are you?

And the guy who didn't find a single thing he liked, life any better when you're not at a party?

[[Selina K]

Did it rock or did it suck?

[Gwen S/Darcy L/Peter P/'Mouse': the pancake crowd]

Obligatory check that no one in another door died either.

[After packing up some of her things and going to a hotel for the time being:]

[locked to selina k. and muerte separately]

[Simply:] Look after him for me, okay?

[locked to batfam+]

Okay?

[locked to holly r.]

How you doing, kid?

[Private to Dick G.]

Going out of town. Feed my zebras.

[Private to Holly R.]

Leaving Gotham to spend time with my sister. Selina will help you find those girls.

[Texted to Damian W.]

So, I think after my interview, we need to head to London and I can make good on a promise. Y/y?

[locked to selina k. & damian w., separately.]

[He doesn't even bother pretending.] Are you hurt? How badly? And don't you dare act as though you have no idea what I'm talking about.

[All of this is handwritten in her messy, girlish hand.]

[locked to selina k.]

Meow.

[locked to batfam+]

Mandatory check-in. I'm living with a squat, old witch who insists on making me learn how to cook frog stew. Now your turn.

[locked to muerte.]

[She's not sure if this will go through, but she can't help but try. Pen press then eventually:] Hi.

[locked to eddie n.]

[She's been gone most of the day with Agnes. Eventually, midway through the afternoon he gets this locked to him.]

[Talon, in his black and gold, held one of the local Park Row pimps up by his collar with a knife at his throat.] You were the last person to see her. [The pimp squirmed, shouting and swearing that girls go missing all the time. That he can't report it to the cops. That this was just how Gotham was. The last part brought fury in Talon's regal blue eyes and he slammed the pimp so hard against the brick wall that the impact could almost be heard over the screaming sirens out on the street. It didn't matter how many pimps or dealers or hookers he questioned, they all said the same thing. They shrugged because people from Gotham accepted violence, death, disappearance and hurt to be a part of their normal lives. That alone always got deep under Talon's skin.] If I find out you had anything to do with this, I'm going to slice your face open.

[Talon let the pimp go and shot his grappling hook so he could go roost on the nearby roof to think. The girls who went missing were random and all were gone without a trace. They were working girls, which meant there wasn't a paper trail and no one really cared what happened to them. Damian didn't know where to go next, who he could shake down that could give him any answers and that added to the list of things that pissed him off.

Taking out his tablet, he swiped a digital line through the last name on the list and sighed. Grayson would tell him to work backwards, but this city could have any motive. Anything from some psycho killer to a crime recruitment ring. He didn't have a clue and he was about to give up.]

Who: Damian and Holly
Where: Cottage
When: recently!
What: chatting
Warnings: none!

( Damian? Didn’t want weird either, and she swung one foot free and kicked her heel against the cabinet in a one-two tattoo of fuck-it, just because she could. )

[Locked to Damian W]
[During this.]

Feel like talking about it?

[It's four in the morning on a Saturday, and someone has energy to burn.]

So I want you to tell me what your fucking problem is. No bullshit.