Earth-52 IC

[industrious]

The Question

Kate sees a flash of purple eggplant scurrying over the rooftops.

The Spoiler

((Give me two Acrobatics rolls))

[Zarthrax]

Scarecrow

He moves through the depths of the warehouse, trying to find the trail of the man he was chasing.

He remembers what Ducard told him about chasing someone.

"If you are on the ground in the country, look for cover, that's where they are hiding. If you are in the city, especially an overgrown cesspit like Gotham, don't forget to look up...."

He looks for the nearest stairwell, reasoning that this would hold true here too, after of course looking up into the rafters for the moment to make sure there's not another Baptist hiding up there....

Spoiler

Show

OOC: Notice of 27 and Investigate of 29 to find which way the man went. It'd be a sad thing for him to miss the epic chase scene....lol

[Sophistemon]

Azrael

The Angel just stands there for a while, fuming over the indignity that has befallen him, while the others go about their business. Never before in his life had he felt so impotent, so unsure of himself or of his place in the world. Never before had he felt, and that was even more disturbing. Before his defeat at the Ball, Azrael had needed only the Missions to keep him going, his Targets and Objectives followed by a debriefing and a brief period of rest before it started over again. It was all he'd needed, and all he'd wanted. Now he was unsure, capable of mistakes and self-doubt. When the girl in purple bolts off, he watches her go with a disinterested stare. The Other, Jean-Paul, takes far more interest. {Maybe you should follow her,} he thinks. Azrael just sighs in response, not seeing the point in getting further involved. {Azzy? Pal? Are you reading me?} That prompts a response: {My name is not-} The Other's inner voice is firm. {Azrael, maybe she saw the guy in red!} So he goes.

[industrious]

Walker

With her leg, she wouldn't be able to do much, running around on rooftops like a freak. So, she took the sensible option: she drove.

Or at least, it seemed a sensible option at first. Her city quickly betrayed her with its bizarre urban design (a confusing mess of one-way streets and traffic jams galore), and her far too excitable ward drops from sight.

Scarecrow

He needed to get in better shape if this was going to be a thing. Free-running across rooftops was hard.

Panting and out of breadth after the second rooftop, he falls too far behind to catch more than a glimpse of eggplant.

Kate

Her enhanced strength helps her with the leaps, but she isn't as spry as the three ahead of her. Beyond the eggplant lies a figure wearing crimson.

A crimson trenchcoat, to be exact.

Exactly like the one she used to wear.

That thought breaks her concentration, and the red blur shoots away.

Azrael

He sprints across the rooftops upon angel's wings, and sprints after the Demon. But cursed with imperfection as he is, he cannot catch the Creature from the Pit, and the wicked escapes. But he is Azrael, and his holy light will eventually find the Thing.

The Spoiler

Whoever the red-coated person is, they're good. Like, really good. It was only because of her training for the Junior Olympics and regular games of rooftop tag with Cass that let her keep up, leaving first The Question, then the freaky Scarecrow, then Sir Grump-a-lot behind.

The two are on a rooftop now, with the next building over across a major highway. The culprit is wearing a long red trenchcoat, extremely similar to the blue one The Question wears, and a long-brimmed fedora that, along with its shadow entirely covers their face. A strap runs across the shoulder; the barrel of a sniper rifle extends diagonally.

The figure whistles.

"Not too bad, girl. Not too bad."

[Buwh]

The Spoiler

Wow, the Spoiler thought, this guy was good! But she'd never seen him in her town before, where'd he get his practice in?

"Not too bad? I'm amazing!" The Spoiler shots back with a serious boost of overconfidence. She feels a swell of pride at the compliment. No one else had been able to keep up.. which meant she was alone against whomever this was. The thought put her on edge and she dropped into a more defensive stance.

"Wow, do you and my friend shop at the same coat store?" The young girl continued quizzically, edging slightly closer. It'd be nice to put a face to the chase. "Because you two totally have the same fashion sense. Why don't we wait on her and you two can discuss it further?" She continued talking, hoping the figure didn't try to dart away, while also casting a quick look behind her.

"But first.. put down that gun and step away, maybe? What are you doing with a sniper rifle anyway? I think that's the line that separates vigilantes from murderers." Spoiler tried to have conviction in her voice. Was no one else seriously going to show up? He was probably getting seriously tried of her being a chatterbox.

"Can you guess what happens to weird guys with guns that hang around crime scenes? Spoilers; they go to jail."

Did she really just say that? The feeling of a solid Spoilerang in her hand made her feel a little better.

Spoiler

Show

I'm going to go ahead and roll for Initiative.. XD

Initiative: (1d20+6)[7]

[industrious]

The Crimson Avenger

"I'm the Crimson Avenger, kid. It's in the name."

The Spoiler advances and the Avenger retreats. Hurriedly, actually.

"Uh uh uh. No peeking."

A bit closer to the edge, and a safer distance away from the Spoiler, the Avenger regains some of the swagger previously shown.

"As for your friends...don't worry. I'll be seeing them real shortly. But in the meantime, send them a message."

One leather-gloved hand caresses the tip of the rifle, almost lovingly.

"Tell them that the past says...hello."

The other hand grasps something on the inside of the trenchcoat, and a cloud of smoke erupts from beneath the Crimson Avenger. When it clears out, Stephanie is alone on the roof.

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

Walker swears at the dead-end traffic she finds herself in, feeling illogically betrayed: her city should treat her better than this. She should know how to get around better than this. And now she has no way to find Stephanie, unless the kid has been dumb enough to take her phone on this stupid venture, and no one would be that-

Katherine sighs as she pulls out her mobile and dials the girl's number. "Kid?" She says. "If you pick up on this then you have now reached new levels of stupid."

[Buwh]

The Spoiler

"No, wait!" Spoiler exclaimed, but the Avenger was gone before she could react. She ran over to the edge of the building and looked over the side desperately, but not seeing much of anything but the Gotham Streets below her. Spoiler slammed her fist down on the concrete wall in frustration and started to do it again before she was distracted by the sound of her phone ringing in her utility belt.

Stephanie Brown jumped up and sat on the ceiling's wall before pushing up the bottom of her mask to expose her mouth. She quickly whipped out her cellphone and checked the ID.. and went pale. With the muted sound of a beep she raised it to her face slowly.

"Uh.. hi, Lt. Walker! Now, I can only tell you where I am if you promise not to get mad. Can you promise that?" Spoiler asked tentatively, kicking her legs back and forth against the wall. "Oh yeah.. he got away."

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

Red.

It's a color that Kate is very familiar with. It gave her the strength to find something to do with the rest of her life. It very nearly consumed her. But that was behind her - the Crimson Avenger was gone, replaced with The Question.

And now, someone was bringing Gotham's old ghosts back to haunt her. If she wasn't sure someone was targetting her before, she was now. And with the theft of the sniper rifle, everyone she knew was a target.

She kept following the rapidly disappearing eggplant-hued teenager across Gotham's rooftops - seriously, where did the girl get so good so fast? - but quickly loses sight of her. She ends up following the Crusader, hoping that he was focused on the faux-Crimson Avenger rather than Stephanie. If he harms one hair on her head...

You'll what, Kate? This I'd like to hear...

Kate continued onwards, trying desperately to forget she'd heard anything...

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

Stephanie hears a low-edge groan, the kind Katherine used when repressing something untactful. Walker being Walker and not in the habit of repression, it didn't get used much, but when it did it was mostly on the job. "Forget that for the moment." The policewoman says. "What I need right now is a confirmation that you are okay, a description of the perp and their last known location. Got all that?"

[Buwh]

The Spoiler

"Right! A full on briefing! It's like i'm really part of the team now!" Spoiler replies enthusiastically, blurting it all out before a small silence. "..I mean; That's an affirmative on being okay, ten-four boss-lady." The teen continued with a giggle, before spinning around on the wall to face the Gotham City-scape. "I'm not really sure where I am, ma'am, but I'm definitely on the top of some building. It's overlooking the major Gotham Highway.. the perp high-tailed it out of here, jumped off, I think. I couldn't survive that." She mused over the cell while searching idly for any sign of red on the buildings or streets below.

"And he looked like, well," Her voice was suddenly a little more serious in tone. "I didn't get a good look at his face, but he was dressed very similar to the Question except in all red. Seemed to know her, and you, too. I thought that was kinda odd. Had a really cool hat. Not to mention his sniper rifle." She prattled on about the mysterious figure, saving the juiciest piece for last.

"Called himself the Crimson Avenger. Said to tell you guys 'the past says hello'. But in a much scarier voice. Whatever that means."

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutentant Walker

"Right. Thanks for the info." Katherine nods to herself as Stephanie finishes the debriefing, mentally editing it and consinging all the important pieces to memory. "The highway close from here - I think I know where that is. Meet me where it turns towards the city center. And there won't be any yelling." She promises. The way she says it makes it sound more like a threat.

The policewoman disconnects and goes to her car radio, relaying her update to any nearby squads. Someone who could keep ahead of Question and, admittedly, Stephanie would likely not be hindered by most of the GCPD, but they might catch some small sighting or clue.

Remembering Josephine's maxim that she was the traffic, not in the traffic, Katherine sits and simmers and resists the urge to yell at the other cars as she makes her way towards where Stephanie should be.

[industrious]

The Following Day...

Doctor Jonathan Crane

The man greeting him is muscular, and wears a set of glasses. From the looks of things, probably ex-military. Not navy or air force, and too easily casual to be a marine unless he's been out of service for a while. Given his age, this is entirely likely. He's been married, happily, for quite some time as well, and has children.

"Senior Detective Crispus Allen. Welcome to the MCU, Doctor Crane. Let me give you the grand tour."

The MCU is a cramped area filled with desks and boards and people filling out paperwork, and drinking enormous mugs of coffee.

"Unfortunately, our Lieutenant is in a staff meeting right now. Do you have any questions before she gets here? She doesn't like questions, mostly."

Walker

Gordon's back-thankfully. Running the MCU had become something of a routine, one that she was comfortable with. Running the GCPD...that was a bit more tricky.

She was pretty sure that IA hated her even more, now.

A staff meeting to fill him in on what he had missed out on, and afterwards...she was asked to stay behind again.

Gordon stared into the distance as he leaned back in his office chair, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Was I the last one to know about my daughter, Lieutenant? Or were you just as surprised as I was?"

Kate Kane

"...Mind if I join you, Ms. Kane?"

It was that revolting, prying N! News reporter. The celebrity gossip channel. And she was here, in one of Kate's favorite afternoon cafe's.

"And would you care to comment on a story that I'm breaking tonight?"

Jean-Paul Valley

Looking after the various incarcerates in the Slammer was something he had taken to doing. It was good to feel useful.

"Well, now" comes a voice from a cell in the corner. "Who's the new guy? And where is our usual warden Grumpypants this wonderfully sunny afternoon? Come closer; let's have a look at you."

Stephanie Brown

School sucked. Private school sucked more. There weren't any uniforms, but everyone who wasn't named Stephanie Brown seemed to have at least one house and a yacht and a horse and a shirt that cost more than her entire ensemble today. And everyone knew it.

On the plus side, the cafeteria food was good.

"...I'm still not going to allow you to ascend as The Nerd in our campaign, and that's final!"

"Fine. Look. See you afterclassI'vegotsomethingtodobye."

Two figures are walking down the hall. One peels off to join the hot food line, and the other heads to Stephanie's table. Where's she's sitting alone.

It's Tim Drake, this short, uber-geeky-nerdy-but-in-a-cute-way kid a year younger than her.

"Hi," he begins. "So, there's the dance coming up in two days, and I was wondering-should you want to, of course, I mean of course if you want to, since, you know, I can't really do anything if you don't want to-not that I would, of course, but saying that out loud just makes me look bad and so does this and now I'm rambling I'm sorry."

He takes a deep breath, and starts over.

"Hi, Stephanie. I was wondering if you'd like to go to the dance with me?"

With each word, his voice gets higher and tighter.

Deadshot

"...thank you for aiding your country, Mr. Lawton. We'll keep in touch."

The scariest woman on the planet nods once and turns her back to him, heading towards the chopper. He knows that if he checks the airport records, it was never there.

And if he checked the records of the man he had killed, neither was he.

[DeafnotDumb]

Katherine Walker

It's probably time to be a little less her usual grumpy self. This seems important to Gordon, and what is important to Gordon is important to the GCPD. You don't want a distracted boss or an unhappy one if you could help it.

"Sir..." She says carefully. "I knew. Moment I saw those two together fixing my computer, I knew." She looks carefully at his face for his reaction. "But it was always your daughter's place to tell you when she was ready, not mine. Sometimes, a parent just don't know what their kid's thinking, and that's okay. And I don't know how you're taking it, honestly, but I've known Babs years now. She adores you. Whatever your concerns, you two will do fine." The policewoman figits, as she does whenever dealing with something emotional.

"And because there's no better time for you to know.."But now for the reason she'd been looking forward to this coversation. She keeps her eyes on Gordon's expression, because she wants to have the next few moments embedded in her memory forever. Call this revenge for leaving her to deal with this mess for a week. "Also, I'm bisexual and I kissed Katherine Kane at the Ball." She adds, flippantly. And manages to keep a straight face.

For all of two seconds.

[industrious]

Gordon

"It isn't that it's with a woman," he says absently. "It's just...my little girl's getting older. She's getting married. Dinah has an adopted daughter. And she just...sprang all of this on me so suddenly. Like she left me out of the loop."

Then second part of her statement catches up to him.

"...WHAT?"

[DeafnotDumb]

Katherine Walker

Katherine manages to stop laughter echoing out via the application of cramming as much of her fist as she can in her mouth. Within a few seconds, she's calmed down enough to be able to answer her superior's question. Or yell.

"Yup." She smirks, and manages to just keep back another fit of laughter. "And she liked it. And we're datin'. Which means, for the first time in several years, I have the chance of gettin' laid."

Walker does a victorious fist-pump in the air, and collapses into anoter brief set of amusment. When she recovers, she's still smirking, with a dirtier edge this time. "Thought I should tell you in case it got out and became all political. You know how the papers can get. And I also told you because your expression was really, really, really-" The policewoman is breathless but manages to control herself. "-funny."

"But seriously, it was 'cause I trust you. So don't tell anyone else 'cept for your family." She wags a finger. "And about your family, if you got a problem with Babs? Talk to 'er. Your family, that's how family works. She's a good gal and will take it well if you go about it sensible. And, for what it's worth, part of all the hidin' might have been her afraid of you'd think of the whole 'likin' women' thing. I got experience with that." The smirk grows. "In more ways than one."

"b-but the look-" This time, the straight face lasts five and a half seconds before falling.

[Buwh]

The Spoiler

The sullen superhero poked at her various pieces of meal, which was better than even the food she got back home. She shuddered at her thoughts of the past and turned her attention to last night, looking a million miles away for all to see. She'd much rather be Spoiler right now instead of boring old Stephanie Brown, hoping over rooftops, collecting evidence, almost catching the bad guy.. heck, she'd love to be trapped deep within the MCU helping Walker do paperwork. Or whatever she did in there.

Walker was not happy last night, but she'd been relatively spared with it being so late on a school-night. An errant yawn reminded her of the downside of midnight vigilantism, and she put her head in one of her hands. She had Math next but she wanted to focus on something important; Who is the Crimson Avenger? It was so exciting, like a real mystery, she was pretty sure this WAS an episode of the Grey Ghost. Her notebook was open but instead of any sort of homework, like the kind she missed last night, she was working on a very rough sketch of the Crimson Avenger.

Tim Drake startled her. Sure, she'd seen him coming over.. but she didn't think he'd actually talk to her. Steph had been a curiosity that most people didn't dare investigate here. She definitely wasn't high class. Stephanie listened, pained, to Tim's declaration.. and, surprisingly, found herself smiling a little. Something interesting going on in her own life?

"Well.." Little Miss Brown mumbled back, looking up at the male specimen to study him. Of course he couldn't do anything to her, boys just assumed a girl couldn't mop the floor with them. Oh, sure, she'd seen him around alright, but he just seemed like the nerdy version of those rich preps that hated her. And a year was a huge difference in high-school.. and did I mention he was a huge geek? It's one thing to watch a lot of nerdy shows, but who knows what this guy got up to. Oh, she still hadn't answered. I mean, he was kinda cute, like really cute but more in that horribly non-threating whatsoever way, and she she was just complaining about needing a date..

"..Sure, I'll go."

Did she really just say that? Did she really just say that?

[ChronicLunacy]

Deadshot

"...thank you for aiding your country, Mr. Lawton. We'll keep in touch."

The scariest woman on the planet nods once and turns her back to him, heading towards the chopper. He knows that if he checks the airport records, it was never there.

And if he checked the records of the man he had killed, neither was he.

Floyd watched her huff her tubby arse back into the chopper, the whole time seriously considering putting a few hollow-point rounds into her back. Then again, he'd have to pierce her heart and that was too small of a target for even Deadshot to hit. So he turned on his heel and allowed his hatred for that woman to come down to a simmer.

They'd called him right out of Zinda's bed. That was the worst part. Couldn't tell her where he was going, just that he had to go. It looked like he'd gotten what he wanted from her and then fled before the bed cooled. It wasn't often that Floyd wanted to do anything but that exact thing, but Zinda was...that woman was a tiger. He'd call her later and try to salvage his chances of a second "date" when he wasn't so furious at the shadowy face of the U.S. government.

His car was in airport parking where he'd left it. Graciously, they'd taken care of the cost so he just drove right out, headed toward downtown. He was probably going to change into his "work" clothes before the sun went down tonight. Floyd needed to shoot something and the criminal element always presented him with a convenient target.

The muscle car revved its over-charged engine and peeled out onto the freeway, the skyscrapers of Gotham looming in the distance.

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

Kate Kane

When Kate needed to think, she headed to Andre's. There were other, more trendy espresso bars in Gotham, but Andre was in a class by itself. Andre Villanova, proprietor and master roaster, did magic with the coffee beans - he roasted all the beans in the back room, so there was no place to get a fresher cup of coffee in the entire city. On top of that, the man had mastered the espresso machine and could play it like Hendrix on a Stratocaster. It was a testament to Andre's skill that Kate was far too busy enjoying her steaming macchiato to notice the reporter's approach.

And here they were. Kate knew that whatever the reporter's angle was, she was just hoping for a sound bite to play with their story. The only thing worse than that would be if Kate blew her off, and it was something potentially damaging, then the reporters could truthfully finish with "Ms. Kane was unavailable for comment." She mustered up a fake smile for the woman (what was her name? Tiffani? Staci? It definitely ended in an 'i'.), and gestured for her to have a seat. "Andre, two more macchiatos. Now, how can I help you out, Miss...?"

[industrious]

Gordon

He simply stares at Walker until she quiets back down. Given that it's Gordon staring at her, that's extremely quickly.

"...You're welcome for the amusement, Lieutenant. But I believe we both have work to do."

Most people would say that harshly. Gordon said it as a gentle rebuke, a reminder to keep things professional.

Lawton

His apartment is just as he left it. Then he checks his messages.

There are 15 messages.

2 are various spams for life insurance and some sort of church, respectively.

The other 13 are the utterly foul, profanity laced screams of one Zinda Blake (not to be confused with the good profanity laced screams of Zinda Blake he had heard several nights previous).

He probably should make some sort of call.

Tim Drake

His shoulders slump as he nods in response.

"Oh, I totally understand...wait."

He pauses.

"You said yes? Wow. I did not expect you would, because you're really pretty and I'm a year younger than you, I know, but you said yes! When and where can I pick you up?"

Kate Kane

"Call me Kristi."

The other woman fumbles in her large, pink and orange handbag for a recorder, placing it on the table, as well as a manila envelope. She continues talking while she opens the envelope.

"Now, Ms. Kane, I was hoping for a comment on your latest romantic conquest. Our viewers would love to hear about it from your own lips."

The envelope contains a single, glossy print, of Kate and Walker's kiss at the ball five days ago.

[ChronicLunacy]

Deadshot

Floyd listened to the messages with a mix of cringing expressions and appreciation. "God, the woman could make a sailor blush. Just like mom. ...I think I love her." he remarked at the end of a particularly profanity-laced diatribe, then skipped through the rest. All of the messages seemed to be variations on the same theme, unfortunately.

He had a beer and a cigarette before coming back to the phone, ready to deal with Zinda's wrath. He didn't usually give the ladies he was with second calls, but something about Zinda Blake was different. For one thing, she wasn't the common big-titted bar trash he normally picked up. Those girls were consumables, like his beer or cigarette. A momentary high, then he threw them away. Zinda was a different breed. After the last three or four days he'd had out of the country he wanted to repair that bridge more than ever. Floyd dialed back her phone number and waited.

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

That expression wasn't quite so amusing. In fact, it seemed like a significently gentler version of the look she imagined she gave Stephanie at some points. She nods soberly in response. Him and Babs had always been good anchors for her. "Is there anything else, sir?"

[industrious]

Zinda

"Oh. It's you."

Yup. Still mad.

"I don't ever want to hear from you again! You were so bad, that I turned fancy due to how bad you were, and am now in a very happy alternative relationship with another woman. Right, Helena?"

Another voice, more distant and obviously shouting from across the room. "Leave me out of this, Zinda! We're just friends!"

"Traitor...what do you want, Lawton?"

Gordon

"That's all Lieutenant. Though you do have that new police profiler to brief. You remember Dr. Crane, right?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Deadshot

"Aww, baby, don't be like that." Floyd replied. "Duty called. I was dragged away; I didn't want to leave. You know how my job can get." he explained as he set his beer cap on his thumb and flicked it across the room, where it buried next to a bunch of other caps and tabs into a target roughly painted with what looked to be permanent marker. "Let me make it up to you. We'll go out somewhere fun and I dunno...shoot some stuff, get in a barfight just like the night we met. I'll spend a bunch of al Ghul's money on ya. It'll be romantic."

[Zarthrax]

The Following Day...

Doctor Jonathan Crane

The man greeting him is muscular, and wears a set of glasses. From the looks of things, probably ex-military. Not navy or air force, and too easily casual to be a marine unless he's been out of service for a while. Given his age, this is entirely likely. He's been married, happily, for quite some time as well, and has children.

"Senior Detective Crispus Allen. Welcome to the MCU, Doctor Crane. Let me give you the grand tour."

The MCU is a cramped area filled with desks and boards and people filling out paperwork, and drinking enormous mugs of coffee.

"Unfortunately, our Lieutenant is in a staff meeting right now. Do you have any questions before she gets here? She doesn't like questions, mostly."

Doctor Johnathan Crane is almost recognizable after all these years, but even to those who just knew of the man professionally, there is visible difference between the man he was and the man standing here now.

Before, the man made a habit of being personally fastidious. Clean shaven, clothes neatly pressed, always had a lint brush just in case, even his office was immaculately kept.

Now? The scars on his face draw everyone's attention at first, but the suit bears the distinct signs of lack of care. Wrinkles, small holes, even lint, all point to signs that the man wearing it no longer cares about little things like maintaining a dapper experience, the weight of his life visible in the way he holds himself.

He offers Detective Allen a handshake, barely held for a half second before dropped, then shakes his head.

"Nothing pressing, Detective. Just where I hang my hat is all I want to know."

Crane offers Allen a sour smirk, the thin line drawn from the corner of his mouth to the middle of his cheek stretching what should have been an expression of mild amusement into an expression of boredom.

"I have nothing pressing I'd rather be doing."

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

Kate Kane

Kate stared at the photo for a long moment before she answered. There was a red flush coming to her pale skin, but her voice was ice cold as she spoke. "Conquest? You make it sound violent. And there's not much more to tell than the thousand words your photograph hasn't already seen. We shared a kiss by the koi pond. That's really as far as that story goes."

DamndamndamndamndamndamnDAMN. How the Hell did they get that picture? If I find out they snuck a reporter on my estate, they will be hearing from my lawyers by the time Andre gets here with my coffee.

"I'd like to know how you came by this photograph, Kristi. I don't believe your station was issued press passes to this event, so I'm curious how it came into your possession."

[Buwh]

The Spoiler

"Um.. yes, yes I did." Stephanie replies, after a slight hesitation. "I live at, with, well, it's complicated.." She trailed off, before writing something down quickly in her notebook- ripping it out and handing the torn piece of paper over to him. It had Walker's address and Stephanie's current number, with a heart doodled in the side. "That's where I'm staying at right now."

A gentle blush spread across her cheeks as she leaned over the table, pressing herself closer to him so she could whisper. "You really think I'm pretty?"

[industrious]

Tim Drake

Tim, apparently has this thing when he gets flustered. His shoulders attempt to stab into his ears, and his lips tighten inwards and his nose wrinkles and it's a really cute nervous expression.

"Yes."

And his voice gets higher, so that a statement sounds like a question.

Crispus Allen

"We've got a desk set up for you over here."

Said desk has definitely seen a great deal of wear, with one leg propped up by half a phone book.

"It's actually less than five year old," Allen remarks. "But during No Man's Land, it was used as a barricade, among other things, so it's got some battle scars. But it still works, and that's what matters, isn't it?"

Allen turns around, nods.

"Lieutenant Walker's here to talk to you, now, it seems."

Zinda

A pause on the other end.

"We'll see."

There's more shouting in the background.

"And now my job is calling. I should get back to you in four days. Probably."

Click.

Well, that went better than expected.

Kate Kane

"So, given your...reputation among the various nightclubs and bars of the city, you don't think the description is accurate?"

She stares at Kane from above the top of her fake glasses.

"Tell me, Kate...how would you describe what you have with Lieutenant Walker? Are you two serious? How long has this been going on underneath everyone's noses? And does this have anything to do with the record-setting donation at the Thomas Wayne Foundation Charity Ball? Come now, Kate; there are million ways that this can get spun, and I'd much rather hear it from you than have everyone gossiping all about possible ulterior motives. Give me an exclusive, and you can be in control of this story."

Vulturous, nosy, damned harpy.

"And even if I did know who took this photo, I wouldn't tell you. It was just slipped under the door of my office this morning."

[Zarthrax]

Crispus Allen

"We've got a desk set up for you over here."

Said desk has definitely seen a great deal of wear, with one leg propped up by half a phone book.

"It's actually less than five year old," Allen remarks. "But during No Man's Land, it was used as a barricade, among other things, so it's got some battle scars. But it still works, and that's what matters, isn't it?"

Allen turns around, nods.

"Lieutenant Walker's here to talk to you, now, it seems."

Dr. Crane nods to Allen.

"Should be fine, then. A desk is a desk."

He turns to greet his new 'boss', for lack of a better term.

"Lieutenant Walker."

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

"Doctor Crane." Christ, if Gordon hadn't told her he'd be here she probably wouldn't have reconized him. He doesn't look any better than the last time she'd saw him, and considering that he'd been a junkie trapped and forced to work for the mob, that was saying something.

"I'm the boss lady here. You'll be seeing something of me."She offers her hand, running more or less the same script she'd used several times before on autopilot. "Now, the MCU's got two halves, more or less - those that deal with organized crime and those that deal with costumed freaks. You'll be dealing with the latter, but sometimes they'll overlap, so get to know people on both sides of the fence. You know better than me the details of how to do your job, so I'll just tell you two things about working in this department - listen to the experienced police, no matter their rank, and trust me when I say there's going to be a lot of overtime. Remember those two things and you won't go far wrong."

"You got any questions, ask Allen here. If it's something that he or Sarah can't answer for some reason, ask me. I might have something tricky to start you off with today, but I'll leave you a few minutes to get ready-" Her eyes spot something, and she smirks. "And enjoy the desk. Those things are a lucky charm around here. We give them to some of the new cops."

"Allen, you know the rest. Either of you need anything, give me a yell."