DC: 2011-07-27 - Outsourcing - Batman Style - Part 1

It's just gone midnight, the moon is high in the sky and this is one of the few areas in Metropolis that isn't constantly lit. Batman lurks as always in the shadows, the places people never bother to look. Their meeting time fast approaching he seems content to wait. The only motion from him being the wind causing his cap to flutter. He's been quiet since arriving, no crimes stopped, or apparently any other action taken, if he hadn't sent word it'd be likely no one would ever know he'd been here. Supergirl walks through Hell's Gate in her civilian clothes, but not wearing the glasses or her hair in a ponytail. Basically, she looks like Supergirl.... in normal clothes. She looks around, then flies up to a nearby low rooftop with a billboard providing shadowy cover. She floats there, hands in her pockets glumly. "Hey." she says into the shadows. Batman doesn't leave the shadows, it seems he's not looking to be seen by anyone who might be watching. His voice is also fairly low. "I've got a job for you." He pauses a moment. "I need a weapons ring taken down here in Metropolis and would rather not step on Superman's toes." He finally moves a file removed from somewhere on his person and handed over to Kara. "They expanding into Gotham, so far I've managed to stop their shipments, but I need to deal with them at their source." He seems to consider his next words. "I've got all the information I've got on them in there... It includes future meetings and the man you'll need to talk to about finding out where they're coming from. As well as their connections in Gotham and likely other cities." He pauses a moment. "Kara this is a possibly a big case. If you need help with the investigation, I'm available." With that business is concluded and by rights Batman should disappear. Yet instead he seems to pause a moment, it's impossible to tell what he's thinking, but when he speaks he's somewhat less stern than usual, his voice just a touch more human. It'd be possible to miss it if you weren't careful. "And Kara just because I don't spend my time chatting with you or having fun. Doesn't mean I dislike you, or even mistrust you. I don't have fun with anyone." Supergirl hoves there in the air, listening as you talk. She bites her lip. "But you don't think I do a good job, right? That I don't focus and care too much what people think?" She shrugs a little. "What else am I supposed to do, who do I really have except for Kal? I care what people think of me... can't help it. I mean look at all the bad things I've done in the last few months." "People think I'm a monster. They're scared of me and most of them don't particularly like me." Batman shrugs a shoulder. "I don't think you do a bad job. I just think you'd do a better job if you cared more about doing the job than being liked." He shakes his head. "What matters is what you think of yourself. Most people will react to that and draw a similar conclusion." He frowns a little. "And we've all been mind controlled Kara, it comes with the job Supergirl floats over to you. "You want people to be scared of you though. You want them to think you're a monster so ..." She changes what she was saying "You like having people be scared of you. I don't know what to think of myself. What if I wasn't -" She frowns a bit. "I don't have any real friends." she says simply. "I don't have any family except for Kal. I miss everything. Kal doesn't have to miss everything - he doesn't remember any of it because he was a baby. I don't know what to do with myself... I mean... something my evil me said to me when I was split in two.... she said that I don't even have a real name... they just took my cousin's name and slapped 'girl' onto it." Wow, she IS mopey. "That is my meaning. I have decided that they should fear me and I have decided how they will think of me. Decide who you want to be, what you want to do and do it." He frowns a little. "Your powers are immaterial Kara, you're smart. Focus your will onto what you want to be, how you want people to react to you and make them." He shrugs a shoulder. "I lost everything when I was eight years old Kara. I had my entire world taken away by an evil man who may still be out there. I chose to do everything in my power to make sure no one goes through that loss again. Perhaps you could do the same? Or perhaps there shouldn't be a Supergirl. Maybe you should just be Kara Kent." Supergirl pauses. "So.... I shouldn't be Supergirl?" she asks, missing the point of what you were saying. Batman's tone becomes hard again. "I'm saying you need to stop being what other people expect you to be and be what you /want/ to be." He shakes his head as he looks at her. "You've got the potential to make your life what you want it to be. Yet you seem to think only of what others want. Who do you /want/ to be Kara, not who does Clark want you to be, or Diana, or even me. Who do /you/ want to be?" Supergirl walks over ot you. "You don't get it. You don't get it at all.... so I'm going to tell you something I havent even told Kal. I'm going to tell you something, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else. Promise?" Batman's known for keeping secrets, he's known for not sharing things. He nods to Kara with little hesitation. "I promise... Unless it puts others at risk." Now it's a matter of how far you trust Batman's word, his terms however are sound. You say, "You remember when I split into two people, right?" Arching an eyebrow Batman nods. "You tried to kill me. I remember." He stays crouched in the shadows, hardly having moved other than to nod and speak. You say, "Yes... but before that.... the other me... the bad me... she told me something." Nodding Batman studies Kara, his expression neutral, yet his manners shifted. There's something almost inviting about it now, an intentness that makes most want to speak with him. You say, "She told me that when I was in that kryptonite meteor, my real personality submerged. That I was not a good person at all. That... when Darkseid turned me against Kal, it was so easy for him because it wasnt about turning a good girl bad - he was just unburying my real personality. And that when that black kryptonite split me into two, that Kara.... the other Kara... she's the real one, and I'm the fake. That I'm just a surface 'thing' that's suppressing what I really am." You say, "Now you don't trust me. Right?" Batman nods and studies Kara. "It's true to a point." He looks at her. "We are all made of our best and worst qualities Kara, we aren't what lies in our hearts. We are what we /choose/ to be." He's still got that intentness about him. That focus that makes it seem as though all of his attention is on Kara. "I see a young woman who chooses to be a good person Kara. You make that choice, whatever your instincts may be." He shrugs a shoulder. "And of course, we have no way of knowing it was true." Supergirl nods a little. "I guess I'm still trying to reassure myself. It would just help so much if I had friends or knew people I respect respected me too." She shakes her head. "So um.... Im just going to take it on my own to think you like me, because you wouldnt have said any of that if you didnt care." Supergirl floats over. "And yes, we are hugging, and I don't care that you're the Batman. I need a hug." She then hugs the Batman. "Don't do that again." Batman's suddenly back to playing the role of the Bat. "I'm not good at comforting and I don't hug." It's more than simple image issues. He really doesn't like it. Though he doesn't disagree with Kara's comment on his caring or liking her. Not even to point out the tactical reasons he might have tried to prevent Kara from being depressed and emotional. He frowns a little. "And Kara. Kara Kent can't fly. It's a good idea not to use your powers out of costume." Supergirl smiles, then stops hugging you. "Point noted. But Kara Kent wears glasses and a pony tail. I wonder why that is.... when I put on just some glasses and change my hairstyle, no one recognizes me. When I don't, everyone does." She grins, shaking he head. "Anyway, I'll make sure to not go flying around like this all the time." She smiles. "And ... um... with the investigation... where would I start?" "People see what they expect to see. People don't expect to see Supergirl walking down the street, so slight changes in appearance convince them that you're just someone who looks like her." Batman shrugs a shoulder. "It's easily done. As for the investigation. I'd suggest you start with reading the file, I've included times for shipment deliveries and several suspected members. I've highlighted the man I'd like to speak with, if you could let me know when you've got him I'll question him." Supergirl smiles "I'll let you know when I get him." then flies up into the air, spinning around happily. She flies off, making a few loops around in the sky. and flies off with more spins.