(2014-05-08) Defenders, Day 1
Defenders, Day 1
Summary: Hawkette meets with Skids and Hummingbird at the new office as the furniture gets moved in.
Date: IC Date (2014-05-08)
Related: http://ageofheroesmux.wikidot.com/log:2014-05-06-a-friendship-a-team http://ageofheroesmux.wikidot.com/log:2014-05-07-a-new-space
NPCs: None
Scene Runner: None
Social/Plot: Plot
Players:
Skid..Hawkette..Hummingbird..

It's an early Thursday morning in Hell's Kitchen. Things that go bump in the night turn to their slumber, relinquishing control to the average denizens of the neighborhood. Kate stands on the fire escape, cup of manufactured caffeine in her hand as she looks down at the loading area, sizing up any form of difficulty for the delivery men. The small dock seems easy enough to maneuver, plus McGinty's won't be opening for deliveries for another few hours, giving Kate permission to use the area to get her things in. She's talking on the phone. "Alright. So you can get me an off-shore server, secured? That'd be great. Three StarkPads and two desktop setups, all connected. Yeah, I know hard copies are more reliable but hard copies can be stolen. I *am* putting in a security system, but nothing's foolproof, especially in the Kitchen. Yeah. Thanks Josh, you're a life-saver." She hangs up and looks out onto the Manhattan skyline.

"Morning." Mary says. One moment she's not there. The next she is. All that announces her arrival is a blur and a breeze. How she runs around without knocking everything over is something only comic book physics an explain. Mary's wearing the same clothes from yesterday. "How are you doing? Oh! That looks good. Be right back."

Look away.

Look back.

Now Mary has coffee.

Kate Bishop chuckles as she too is wearing the same clothes as the previous night, only looking slightly disheveled. "I'm good. I've got everything set to be installed today. A secured network with an off-site server for all our client's files. Sally made a good point last night about not keeping anything sensitive here. Too many people can break in." She smiles and looks over. "How're you doing?"

"Good. I only sleep maybe two, three hours a day." Mary explains. "And I got four so better than usual." She sips her coffee and leans against the wall. "So. Defenders for Hire Incorporated. We'll need a logo. I'll leave that to you. I run. I fight bad guys. I can canvas an area for clues like woah but as a bodyguard I'm probably good shadowing, you know? Hold this." Mary hands the coffee off and then begins vibrating so quickly she's almost impossible to see. A strange blur against the wall. Of course, the metal fire escape is buzzing now.

Kate Bishop blinks, holding both cups of coffee and looking for a way to brace herself on the wrought-iron fire escape.. "Um.. What are you doing? And please tell me you're not gonna take us down?"

Mary stops vibrating. "Vibrating so quickly I'm almost impossible to see. Sort of. I COULD vibrate this fire escape, find the exact counter frequency… everything has a natural frequency. Essentially shake it apart but I like you. I wouldn't try to hurt you. Promise. You're awesome."

Kate Bishop coughs and chuckles. "I see. Yeah, it wouldn't be too difficult to take the whole place down." She smiles. "I just signed the lease so be careful." She adds with a wink, handing the coffee back over. Marketing's gonna be touchy. We need to get the word out, but we want the right people.. The ones that really need us, not the corporate big-wigs looking to hide some money."

Mary accepts the cup. "Ugh. Yeah. Maybe we need to do things in reverse?" She ponders this. "We go looking for people who need our help. Forums. Twitter. Facebook. We explore. Research. Approach. And we take our payment from the bad guys. Their bloody money going to a good cause."

Kate Bishop nods. "Underground stuff, like Craigslist, or fliers in the bad parts of town. Checking out shelters and the like. Making connections with the social services in the area. I already have connections to those through my charity work." She nods. "Oh! Do you know how to use a StarkPad? We're each getting one, for official business and such." She's really not scatter-brained, she's just got a bunch of different threads running through her mind, though she seems happy, relieved.

"I can use a StarkPad, yes. I'm a serious gamer so I prefer my GameKord but I can use a StarkPad and a StarkPhone." Mary says. She finishes off her coffee. "But I'm not a hacker. I'm glad you're good with computers and security and stuff and Sally… her name was Sally, right? Sally's forcefield means she's the perfect shield, right?"

Kate Bishop smiles at the mention of Sally.. "Oh.. Yeah, that's her name." She smiles again and nods. "Yeah, she showed me last night after you left. Her forcefield. But I warned her that you can't rely on it at all times. We should have armor in our costumes, even though Sally doesn't want a costume." She shrugs. She looks down as a truck arrives, backing into the loading area. "There they are."

"We should go help out? Don't worry. I can do it at normal speed." Mary grins. "No use advertising we have powers until we have to, right?" She slings an arm around Kate's shoulder. "Armor's a good idea. If you can get it I can work it into costumes. I'm good with a needle and thread. Years of experience on the cosplay circuit."

The door opens, Sally in more jeans, a simple black elbow Tee, black skate shoes, smiling, "Mmm, hey." she calls over to the pair. "Sorry I'm late I had to set up a workstatio this morning in some new office." she explains.

Kate Bishop smirks. "Let them do the work. It's what they're paid to do." She smiles and yells to the men, waving. The guy in charge waves back, clipboard in hand. "Bring it up here!" She shouts, then turns to Sally with a look and a smile. "Hey, it's all good. Did you get any sleep?"

"Hi!" Mary says, offering her other new partner a smile. "Nice to see you again. Be right back." She leaps off the fire escape and then takes off. She's back in about twenty seconds with three oranges. "Fresh picked from Florida. Thought we all could use some sunshine and I'm ready for my after breakfast but before midmorning snack snack."

The orange is accepted and she's moving away from the door to give the delivery people room to work, "Thanks Mary." she says, then to Kate, "A little, Princess Diana came by my room for a little bit."

Kate Bishop smiles to Mary and nods. "Thanks." At the mention of Diana, she turns to Sally and looks.. "Oh? Is everything ok?" A slight icy chill to the girl's voice as she walks off to meet the delivery man while his crew begins to carry the furniture in.

"Princess Diana? Wonder Woman? The new one? That's so cool! I have some of her mom's comics. It is her mom, right? From what I read online." Mary moves to keep pace with Kate. "Is everything okay?" She asks, quietly.

"Yeah, she just wanted to make sure I'm ok." Sally says, peeling the skin off the orange, "I kinda live at the Embassy, Mary. I was homeless until a little while ago, when she helped me out and kinda took me in."

Kate Bishop nods to Sally, the invisible hackles smoothing out. She signs the clipboard from the man and smiles. He turns and asks her. "Aren't you a bit young to be opening up a detective firm?" Kate smiles and answers. "Yes. Yes we are." She hands the man a fifty dollar bill. "Lunch is on me, ok. Thanks for everything." She says sweetly before turning back to the girls. "My dad's IT guy will be in later to set up the StarkPads and computers and the whole network."

"Oh! That's really nice of her!" Mary enthuses upon hearing about Diana's generocity. She examines the boxes and furniture as it is moved into the office. Desks and chairs and filing cabinets and tasteful yet evocative art. "So, how long have you two been going out?"

Cue coughing fit….right about the time 'out' comes around. Sally begins to cough and choke as she was taking a section of orange. "I…we….I'm" she stammers once done, face flushed, "I'll be the fist to admit I'm…damaged goods, lots of stuff to work out before I even think about dating, though I couldn't do better than Kate…"

Kate Bishop blinks, limply holding the work order in her hand, not noticing it slip out and fall to the floor. "What? Who? Me? Erck." She looks blankly, then to Sally and her admission and she just swallows, staring blankly. It's official. Kate's broken. "Um.. " She scratches her head. "We're not… yeah.. I mean…" Still broken.

"Oh. You two were sort of acting like… and then Kate seemed to not like Princess Diana and I assumed that was because she was a little jealous so… oh." Mary looks at Kate. Then Sally. Then Kate again. "Okay. So, you're not dating. I'm not good with this sort of thing, I guess. I mean, you have to understand how fast my brain moves…."

"I've just got alot in my head Mary. Kate's a friend, and she's helping me out, Diana's helping me out, this place, what we're doing here is gonna help." she says smiling, "I'll let ya know what's up with me when I know you a little better, it's pretty personal, just, need a little time."

Kate Bishop sighs and swallows hard and nervously. She's wearing the big girl clothes, time to fit into them. "Ok… I like Sally… I think she likes me… There's a mutual attraction, but… I just don't know. We both have issues, and then we have *this*." She says, indicating the office. "I don't want to make things weird for anybody, including you, Mary.." She sighs and swallows again, closing her eyes. "So.. I mean.. if anyone wants out now, I understand."

"Wow. You are both making way too much of this. You're attracted to each other. I can see that. Hell, you're both pretty hot." Mary points out. "Sexy, mysterious brunette. Tough blonde. Very nice. I'm not complaining about the eye candy in the office. So, relax."

"I kinda can't leave, I said I had an idea….and in a week it turned into this. It's my thing just as much as it's anyone's, and yeah I like Kate, she's nice, but I'm not good for her right now, in that way." she says, "Not leaving, not really an option, good or bad." Blushing, at Mary's take on the situation, "Thanks Mary." she says, relaxing a little, kneeling down to pick up the orange, peel, and in her other hand the coughed up segment, which she tosses in the trash, well just the segment.

Kate Bishop chuckles nervously and nods. "Thanks, Mary. You're no slouch yourself." She says as she bends to pick up the paper. "So.. Sally. Our files are gonna be setup like you said. An offshore, off-site, secure server and we're each getting a StarkPad. We can work on underground advertising soon. I already put in a few feelers with some of toe social workers that I've dealt with. We can make abuse victims disappear, stuff like that." She says, trying to keep her mind on business.

"We're clear on the no killing thing, right?" Mary says, firmly. "That's not what we do? We don't kill. We take people. Make sure they get justice. Help victims vanish if we need to. But it isn't our place to end someone's life."

"Not sure I could take someone's life." she says, "No Killing, and nothing illegal." Sally continues, "I'm fine with with both of those things, and I know enough people on the streets, places where the people who need our help go as well, I was going to drop word there."

Kate Bishop blinks as Mary throws that in.. "Oh, of course.. I.." She looks around, to Sally and then back to Mary.. "I thought that went without saying." She nods to both. "We have to be on the up-and-up. The cops will be better about us snooping around that way." She nods to Sally. "Good idea."

"Great." Mary says. "I figured it needed to be addressed because, well, I mean. We don't know each other. Well obviously you two know each other but I don't know you and you don't know me. Not really. My impressions are good but some things are better said up front."

"Communication, if we talk, like, really talk and stuff, then yeah, we chould all feel comfortable enough to bring things up some of us might not think about or feel should be brought up." Sally smiling, relaxing some, "It's not just anyone's show here, it's all of our's."

Kate Bishop nods and smiles. "You're right. We don't *really* know each other. Not well. But yeah, I've come across 'heroes' who seem to have an issue with not crossing that line, so I understand the need to state it." She nods to Sally. "Exactly. We're a team… A family." The men pack up and leave after having installed and plugged in the furniture per orders received earlier from Kate. She smiles and walks behind the secretary's desk, takes a seat, and props her feet up on the desk. "I didn't think to get cigars to mark the occasion." She chuckles.

"Aww. Family!" Mary hugs! First Sally. Then Kate. Superspeed makes for quick hugging. When Kate mentions cigars Mary holds up a finger. "Just a moment." This time, Mary's gone for about a full minute. When she returns she's carrying a bottle of champagne with a French label. "Sorry that took so long." She says, "It takes a little longer to run across the Atlantic."

Kate Bishop laughs and waggles a finger in mock-disappointment. "Be careful for Customs when you do stuff like that." At that moment, her phone rings. She kicks her feet off the desk and stands, looking at the phone… "Oh boy." She says, as she picks it up, hits the 'answer' button, and begins to walk into the Office. "Daddy…" She says…

She looks, Kate's phone, then Mary's off, and then back, though by the time Mary is back, Sally's seated at the secretary's desk.

She looks, Kate's phone, then Mary's off, and then back, though by the time Mary is back, Sally's seated at the secretary's desk. "You…went to france for champagne, when there's some downstairs or at the corner?"

"I went to Champagne for champagne. The real thing." Mary points out. "I didn't get glasses, though, so one of you will have to do that. We'll wait until Kate's off the phone with her dad and then christen the office."

Kate Bishop returns, ending the call with a sigh. "Sorry about that. What's this about…?" She looks over. "I had cups delivered with the coffee maker. We could use those. Bodyshots for everyone would not be office-appropriate." She tosses the phone on the desk and stands behind Sally.

"I was thikning of popping my head into the bar and asking for glasses, but if paper cups are ok, i'm fine with that." she says, pushing away from the desk, swiveling in the chair to look between the pair she's with.

"I think we can forgo the fancy stemware." Mary says with a laugh. "Here." She holds the bottle out by the neck, to Kate. "You paid for everything here. You made the arrangements. Its only fair you pop the cork and make the toast."

Kate Bishop shakes her head. "Bar's not open yet, se we can go with the cups." She takes the bottle from Mary. "So…" she thinks of a toast. "To Defenders. To Us. May we continuously do our one percent in making this world a better place." She pops the cork and takes a swig from the bottle while waiting for the cups.

Sally hops up from the chair and heads to the back of the office after the toast, laying them out on the desk, "May this place, and what we do here, make a difference." she says with a smile, "I never knew saying, 'I have an idea' could turn into all of this."

"Every problem we can help fix. No matter how small." Hummingbird agrees. Once she has her cup full she holds it up and then takes a swig. "One of the side effects of my powers. I never get buzzed. I metabolize alcohol almost as fast as I drink it."

Kate Bishop smiles and fills the cups. She nods. "Three great minds thinking alike." She says to Mary. "Wow, so there's no need for you to drink, then, really." She takes a cup for herself and sits on the desk, adjusting her skirt.

Mary, hearing a call, runs out. She waves to the girls as as she leaves.

Aaand as Mary runs out, Sally's tilting back her cup, and blinks, "So…" she blushes, "That, part of that, was a little awkward…"

Kate Bishop scratches the back of her head. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I've no right to even pretend to be jealous, and Mary picked up on it, so…" She blushes.. "Yeah. I'm sorry. Totally my bad."

"If it weren't for Diana, you'd have never met me, ya know?" she says, smiling to Kate, "She's a friend, andlike I said, i'm like totally messed up, and I know that, and you're really pretty, and I liked what we did last night…"

Kate Bishop nods. "But it can't go any further.. I get it. I do.I like you. I want you to realize exactly how awesome you are. I know you have a problem with that from time to time." She sips the champagne. "Just know that I'm here for you. If it's just to talk, or a place to crash, or just to cuddle and feel someone close to you. Ok?" She crosses her legs while sitting on the desk. "You're not nearly as messed up as you think you are."

"Well not right now, I mean I wouldn't rule it out, you're a great kisser and your hands…" she blushes, "Just, in the field, on a job, it's the client first, the team, then the individual." she says softly. "And we can do all that, talk crash…um…other things."

Kate Bishop raises a brow. "I do know how to be professional, Sal. I'm not a… Well, I *am* a kid, but still.." She leans back, legs crossed at the knees while both hands are flat behind her on the top of the desk. "So when do you think we can do all that crash talk and stuff again."

"When we got the time?" she says, blushing some, "I dunno, this whole thing is new to me, and um, I just, um, when you're not dealing with finals." She pauses, "Was everything ok, with your dad?"

Kate Bishop nods and smiles, sitting up and becoming serious. "Yeah, it's just the usual phone call. He's checking to make sure I'm doing the right thing, HIS way, which I'm not, but too bad for him." She smiles. "Finals are over. I'm free until September." She finishes her champagne and hops up off of the desk. She grabs the bottle and places it in the mini-fridge.

"Oh, well then." she says flushing as she sits back in the chair, "Well as soon as I get some of that money I talked about hopefully we can pay off a chunk of what's been borrowed." she says. Leaning back in the chair some.

Kate Bishop waves it off. "It's not a loan.. Not really. He considers it an investment. He's helping me start up, but he's forcing me to be successful. Technically he now has a share in the business. Which means he can try to tell me what to do. He knows I hate this, so it's forcing me to be successful so I can buy him out and get him out of our hair." She smiles. "See? It's much more devious than a loan." She smiles, taking a look at the girl as she sits.

"Still, if I have enough, I say we buy him out, just as a means to get him off our backs and make things easier, plus makes us look better, in his eyes." she just shrugs, leaning the chair back as she smiles.

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