i_assist Pity Party in the Cave-- Round Two [Open to Bruce if wanted]
Max felt bad for lying to Alfred. Lying a hell of a lot to Alfred, come to think of it. But then, it wasn't as if he didn't know. Alfred was almost as good as Babs it seemed, the difference was that sometimes he chose not to say anything.
She almost wished that he had tried to pry more out of her tonight though. Maybe if she had her feet wouldn't have been taking her in the direction of the grandfather clock which led down into the cave. The cave was the perfect place to brood. To brood alone.
She scowled. Alfred had said everyone was out, and Tim was down there. But she could avoid Tim. The cave was big enough.
When the grandfather clock swung closed behind her there was a scribbled sign taped to the face. 'PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB. Thanks.'
Like that was going to stop anyone. It made her feel better in the meantime at least.
Max was still scowling as she descended the stairs for what she hoped would be a long and intense brood. She was all sorts of angry, and it didn't feel like it was going anywhere any time soon. Back home, whenever Terry'd run off with Dana leaving her babysitting Matt, she hadn't been mad. Even though she'd wanted to be going with him instead of Dana, she'd never felt herself get pissed. She'd always been able to sigh, watch them leave, and then sit down and play with Matt for a night. It hadn't been hard.
Leaving Jesse with Didi was hard. It aggravated her to no end, not knowing what was going on with the two of them. She sat down heavily in the leather chair in front of the main computer and reached over to turn on the security views. It was almost instinct now. She came down here to brood and watched other people while she did it. Probably wasn't very healthy, but it was better than raging upstairs.
He'd gone from telling her that he wanted to date her to rubbing up on some other woman in a matter of minutes. Max laid her head down on the desk, almost wanting to start beating against it. She should've known. He was older after all, and Didi had looked a little older than her. Maybe she still too much of a girl. Age-wise at least. Not experience enough… Didi probably was. Probably did stuff that still made her blush. Ugh, that was it, wasn't it?
Damnit.
Rational thought had apparently been checked at the clock. Max closed her eyes, thinking up all sorts of scenarios. Sure, Didi had seemed like she was stressing, but was an ankh really enough to get her ignored? Surely not after the talk she and Jesse had been having.
It didn't help things that Didi knew the secret, either. Didn't help at all. In fact, it made it worse.
Max peeked up, looking at her right hand, the one that had reached out to cup Jesse's cheek before the moment had been crushed by the woman's arrival. She remembered the stubble feeling kind of nice and wondering if it would feel just as nice against her own cheek. Not that that was going to happen anytime soon. Not while he was off helping Didi find her ankh.
The fact that that sounded like a horrible euphemism in her head, did nothing to improve her mood. She groaned loudly into her arms and the table, as if it would help anything. Maybe it would soak up the frustration, though she doubted it.
One of her hands balled into a fist as she took a deep breath. She tried counting to ten, but it wasn't nearly as effective as people claimed. At the end of it all she was still angry and filled with irrational thoughts. Such as… what if that caress Jesse had given Didi back at the park was still going on. In greater scale.
A bit of rationalizing would have told her that was just a stupid, stupid thought. Inside, she knew Jesse couldn't do something like that to her. Not unless he was an incredibly good actor, and none of what had happened that afternoon had been an act. If she'd been in a better state of mind, she would have at least given herself some credit. She could've seen through an act, she wouldn't be this angry if she'd thought it had all been an act.
But since she wasn't rational, and she wasn't thinking, Max just sat there for a good twenty minutes with her head in her arms, brooding, being angry, and wondering what was going on between Jesse and Didi. She just wanted an explanation.
Granted, she hadn't really waited around for one. Or asked for one. Or offered to stick around and help with whatever was going on.
Oh, no. Wait. This wasn't her fault. She wasn't going to let her mind flip this around. She was angry. Angry at Jesse, Damnit, not at herself.
Maybe she should have stuck around.
Max's eyes were red when she finally picked up her head. She was sniffling a little too, and there were no tissues down here. None within reach anyway. A further reminder that the cave was not a place for brooding and having mini-fits. It was a place of business, discipline, and control. She had none of those at the moment, but the reminder did her good and she sat up a little straighter in the chair.
She was still crying and still sniffling, but at least she felt a tiny bit better. And she wasn't as mad at Jesse anymore. The anger and self doubt were still there, but they'd dulled under the realization that a little part of it all might have been her fault. That didn't make it right, but maybe it meant things weren't as bad as she'd thought.
It occurred to her as well, that she was sitting in possibly the most technologically advanced room in The City outside of Babs' Clocktower and City Industries. Chances were she could still do something, that's what the cave was for after all. Business.
If she found the ankh, then Jesse would stop worrying about Didi, hopefully Didi would go away and never interrupt them again, and she and Jesse could go back how they'd been before Didi had showed up and she'd over reacted. Over reacted just a tiny bit.
Max swiped at her eyes before looking up at the giant computer screen and the fifteen views of the city it was showing her. She brought up the police reports for the day on the left hand screen as well, and while sifting through them eliminated a view of the camera views. It was a task to keep her mind on the work when she was still shaken up over everything else, and maybe because of the distraction the job she was doing took a little longer than it should have. But finally she'd narrowed the views down to three, and closed the police reports after not finding anything substantial.
She pressed rewind, and waited for the three tapes to do so while wiping her eyes and nose some more. She really hoped that by the time she was done her eyes had lost the redness and her nose didn't look swollen as it always did when she had a good cry. The signs were so easy to spot and Max didn't exactly want anyone to know she'd been in tears.
Three screens were easier to watch at once than fifteen, and with the extra devotion to attention Max found what she was looking for quickly. It had happened that morning at the street market. Max hadn't gotten down there herself yet, but maps were easy enough to pull up on the right computer screen.
She saw Didi clearly, but Didi wasn't nearly as interesting as the man who approached her from behind. They talked for a bit, and then he snatched the Ankh from her neck, just as Didi had said.
Max sat frozen in her chair, the tears starting up again. They wouldn't have if she hadn't been crying before, but since they were already there, Max saw no reason (and didn't really have the control) to stop them.
"Shit… Jesse." She gulped, knowing that she had to get in touch with him some how. She had to tell him that the Saint of all Killers was in town, and that he was the one who'd taken Didi's ankh. She had to apologize before it was too late.
She wondered briefly if Jesse thought that she was mad with him. The tears started afresh; Max didn't want him going into this thinking that.
At nine o'clock in the morning, there'd been a call from Death, Didi. And Bruce had cleared his schedule in a way only a CEO can do, all that was left was busy review work he could do from any one of his home offices. He'd gone ahead to the penthouse and arranged to have clothing, shoes and jewelry from several local stores available for her to choose something for the Symphony before lunch.
At twelve, he and Tim had simply been waiting and Bruce expected to wait another hour. He knew she would likely try to cram a lot into her 'morning'. The dressers and personal shoppers had arrived, and begun to display their wares.
At one thirty, he'd sent the dressers and personal shoppers home. And had asked to have lunch brought up to the penthouse.
At two thirty, Bruce Wayne had gone to the second Batcave in the sublevels of the Wayne Foundation and double checked his monitors for any sign of a beacon from the panic button.
He'd still been there at four thirty, no longer convinced that respecting her privacy took precedence. He'd left a message for Oracle to review her files and look for any incidents involving a dark haired young woman, wearing an ankh. His access in the second cave was limited.
At five fifteen Batman was seen in glimpses, speeding through the City in the Batmobile on his way to the city limits. Alfred had called to say there was a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the grandfather clock and he didn't recognize the handwriting. And there was definitely someone in the cave, he'd thought he heard crying.
At five thirty, Alfred had called back to say that the person had been accessing files and that he now believed it was Ms. Maxine.
At five thirty one, the files she was looking at, appeared on the screen in the dashboard of the car.
At five thirty two, Batman activated the panic button in hopes of using it as a homing beacon.
When the second car rolled into it's own spot in the Batcave, the man who stepped out and made his way swiftly towards the monitors, was not in a good mood. It had been a very long day and the time stamp on the monitors left him feeling foolish and angry. He knew that if nothing bad had happened, he'd have felt badly for not respecting her privacy. This one day of her doing what she wanted, when she wanted. But the fact that he did, meant time was lost.
He spun the monitoring chair around with a sharp kick.
"What happened to Didi ? Where is she ? Where did you meet her ? "
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 20:21:45
"The park." Max felt kind of numb, a feeling that had set in as soon as the car rolled into the cave. It was useless now to hide that she'd been upset, or that she still was, it was all over her face and she doubted any amount of covering would help. "I met her in the park this afternoon, after school. She had of your signals."
She took a bit of a gulping breath. "I didn't think it was serious. When she said she lost her ankh, I didn't think it was that bad. But he took it from her."
He tapped something on the keyboard in front of him. "You saw it, but didn't bring her to me. Why ? "
The tape looped again. Going shot by shot, frame by frame. Batman took the time to analyze everything.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 21:23:52
"Because the button you handed her calls the Bat, and Jesse doesn't know that you're the Bat. She mentioned you by name. He would've put to and two together." That hadn't been her reason at the time, not even close, but for a bit of fast, distraught thinking it wasn't half bad.
"s'the Saint," Max said, glancing at the screen again and pointing to the figure who'd taken Didi's ankh. She felt a small wave of panic build up in her. "I didn't know it was. We didn't know he was here."
He didn't care that he'd been mentioned by name; Losing her symbol, and it had to be her symbol of power, because he'd never seen her without it and if it wasn't, she would have been at lunch; this was incredibly important.
But Maxine apparently didn't know. "Didi is Death, Which means the Saint, whoever he is, is Supernatural and at least thinks he's powerful enough to handle a lot of trouble."
His eyes stayed on the tape as he tapped another button on the keyboard. "Oracle, someone named the Saint attacked my friend. He stole her symbol of power. She has one of my panic buttons. It should be acting as a homing beacon. Can you track her ?
He turned to Maxine again. "What does the preacher know ?" Because who else could 'we' be ?
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 21:47:33
"About the Saint? I... well he told me what to look for. And about his guns. They're something called revolvers, a-and they never miss. Ever. Jesse only beat him once, and it only stopped him for awhile. Only Jesse can do it," Max explained slowly, trying to calm her voice as she went. It didn't work horribly well after the thoughts of the revolvers got into her head. "He's coming for Jesse, and I..." No, stop. That was a whole other can of worms. She would just have to find Jesse, and soon.
Oracle's voice came back clearly through the speakers then, breaking into Max's thoughts. "Homing beacon, got it. I'll let you know once something comes through." A pause. "Evereything alright over there?"
"How many heroes and advisers do you have mapped ? We need someone supernatural. Someone powerful and supernatural. There are a couple of immortals we need to contact, one in particular. And we need to make sure Didi is stable." He paused. "Didi is Death, Barbara. She was mortal today, for just one day." He knew the fact that he didn't use her codename, would put across how important he thought this was, to him personally.
He glanced at Maxine a moment. "And look for a cowboy. He'll be after a preacher. I'll let you know more, when I know more."
Batman leaned against his equipment giving Maxine all of his unwavering attention. All six feet some plus inches, and near two hundred pounds of attention and more than a little impatience.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 22:09:58
"No! No heroes." Max said, before she could stop herself. She fidgeted under Batman's stare. It wasn't helping her calm down very much. "Heroes won't do anything. He's immortal. You need Superman. He's the only one, and he's not here. No others, just Jesse. I have to go tell him before the Saint finds him first. I promised I would."
Except she wasn't moving to get up. Her body felt heavy under the stare and she knew she wouldn't move until she had permission. But when would he give her permission. They were wasting time that counted against Jesse's life. "You have to let me go find him. I don't know that much, just what he told me. This guy's dangerous. More than any of the people we've taken on. He's taken a nuke to the chest and survived. Think about what a guy like that's gonna do to Jesse."
The stare turned icy. He'd just said they needed someone supernatural to contact other immortals. "Maxine, calm down." It was a warning.
Batman took a step towards her, cape swirling at his feet as it covered his form, leaving only his head in the cowl bending down to her. "Is Didi with Jesse ? "
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 22:29:29
"I can't calm down," Max shouted back. She hadn't meant to shout, but she was on edge and worried and couldn't leave the cave. "Jesse was with Didi when I left him, but I don't know where they went after that. I don't know if he had his computer with him either. Only saw his smokes." They were out on the streets with a veritable madman on the loose. Two mortals and a mutt against an immortal being with never missing guns.
"Damnit. Damnit." She put a hand to her face trying to calm her breathing and stave off the tears she knew were getting ready. "I shouldn't have left him there, I shoulda just stayed. He could die."
"Maxine, hysteria is useless to me." Under the cape, there was the merest ruffle of movement. "Either give me information, or I take you out of the equation.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 22:43:54
"I am not hysterical, alright? I'm not. There's a difference between being in hysterics and being worried about a friend." Being worried about the person you were only just getting a chance to know, to date, to spend all of her free time with. Maxine sniffled as a new round of tears threatened.
"I told you what I know. He's the Saint of all Killers, he killed the devil and now he's after Jesse because Jesse's got power. It's like... equivilant to God's. The Saint's not afraid of anything, Jesse said. Including any of us, and he'd gonna go straight for Jesse no matter what. He'll kill whatever tries to top him, and that includes Jesse."
Was he getting the point? Max hoped so. She wanted out. Out of the chair, out of the cave, and out of the manor. She needed to go down into the city and find him. Maybe it wouldn't do much protection-wise, but she would feel better.
She hadn't told him this menace's full name, or about the devil, or about Jesse's power. Though knowing the preacher had power explained why Didi might have gone to him after the ankh was stolen.
"If he kills anyone in his way, you stay here. Watch the monitors. Report to Oracle if you see them.
He moved to leave but paused. "You're scared, Maxine. And it shows. You're also emotional. None of that can help anyone." Batman did not often explain himself to anyone. But he had a feeling that in the future, he had perhaps other means of dealing with the teenager than tranquilizing her.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 23:07:31
"S'not like I'm any safer down here. He could probably find me. I'm probably on his list. 'Long with Didi... Ace... Kojak. We all know Jesse." Of course she was scared, Max wanted to yell, but she didn't. She just nodded at the instructions. Bruce didn't know about the extent to which she cared for Jesse, and he didn't need to. It wasn't a conversation for now.
She was to stay here apparently and watch. Watch. Watching was fine and good while she was having a brood or didn't have much else to do, but not when she was fretting over Jesse. The last thing she wanted to do was stay down here, and she was pretty sure she would be less help distracted as she was.
"Emotion never hurt anyone," she muttered to herself, turning back to the computer screen, at least for the time being. She wasn't sure where Bruce was going, but if he was going as Batman, then she'd be able to track him, and once he was far enough away she was calling Babs and asking her to watch the monitors.
She was acting undisciplined. Maybe her emotions were why she'd stayed behind the scenes in the future. But had she even done that properly ? They were taking a lot on faith.
"We'll talk when I get back."
He stopped at the steps leading up to the mansion, where Alfred materialized from the shadows. "I need your medical expertise and a quiet room. Also, if Oracle calls back, let her know I think the Green Lantern is our best hope to find Jesse and Didi and get them away safely. He wouldn't have to be near trouble to use his ring."
"Master Bruce ?"
They were walking away now, deeper into the caves and there was the soft echo of footsteps.
"There are always Gods, or Aliens or Immortals or geniuses with too much time and too much money, Alfred. Now, I need something to...."