Chapter Text
“I don’t know, it looks like someone’s idea of what radioactive material looks like? It’s green and glowing. I’m probably going to die from standing next to it.”
They round a corner and Dick can see the speaker. For a second he thinks it’s Spoiler, just because of the amount of purple being worn, before he takes in the whole picture–dark hair, a sword, a bow strapped across her back.
“I’d stop walking unless you want to wind up a charcoal briquette,” she says, not looking up.
Damian tugs on his cape and points to the tripwire several feet in front of them.
“You rigged this place to blow?”
“Uh, no. It was like this when I got here.”
“And I suppose you just happened to see it just in time?” Damian asks.
The woman laughs. “No. I came in from the roof, Mission Impossible style and took out the motion sensors on the floor. You’re welcome.” She turns to face them fully and immediately jumps, startled. “Jesus fuck! That’s fucking terrifying, what are you supposed to be, a chupacabra?”
“I’m Batman.”
“You’re Batman?” She says, her voice pitching up incredulously. “Seriously?” She tilts her head to the side, probably using some kind of communication device to ask, “hey, do we know anything about Batman?” Then “oh. okay. so we should have known something about Batman. I’m not blaming you! Good guy? Bad guy–good ish? That’s not helpful. Good like I’m good, good like you’re good, or good like Squirrel Girl is good?”
Damian clears his throat.
“Oh, shit, they’re still here.”
“What do you want with the kryptonite?” Dick asks, since they’re getting nowhere.
“Kryptonite? I don’t even know if I want it yet.” She turns back to the case, pointing a small device at it. “No weird gamma signatures. It’s not whispering to me.” She pauses, listening. “I don’t think it’s useful either. I’ll lick it just to be sure and–”
“No!” Dick and Damian exclaim at the same time, once again drawing her attention.
“Okay, one at a time, I can’t have all of you yelling at me. Bat…man. Why shouldn’t I lick this?”
“It’s harmful to humans after prolonged exposure, I don’t think licking it is a good idea.”
“Okay, so kind of radioactive? Okay. Wh--licking is a perfectly valid method of scientific inquiry, it’s how you can tell bone from rock!”
Dick wishes he could hear the other half of this conversation.
“Well, now I don’t want to tell you. Diamonds and pearls, obviously. The Soul Stone, but that was mostly an accident. Also, vibranium and adamantium taste different. So yeah.” A pause. “Yeah, I’m heading out.” She turns back to them. “Did you guys want this?” She holds up the kryptonite. “I’m getting the impression that it’ll be safer with you than with whoever has it now.”
“You’re just going to give it to us?” Damian asks.
She shrugs. “Sure. Why not? I don’t need it. I’ll meet you outside, we’ll do a handoff, I’ll blow up a building, we’ll call it a night.”
“So who are you?” The Batman asks once they’ve joined up outside the building. “Do you work with Green Arrow?”
Kate can’t decide if he’s more or less intimidating up close. He looms, fading in and out of the shadows depending on how the light falls on him. He’s also got horns or some kind on his helmet. Objectively, yeah. He’s probably pretty scary. He’s large but not as broad as she’d initially thought—the cape adds bulk.
The other one, the kid, has a sharp jaw and spikey hair. He has a sword. Everything about him seems sharp and angular. He’s also wearing the brightest goddamn colors known to man. The inside of his cape is a screaming yellow and his suit is red and green.
“Why the yellow?” She asks, ignoring Batman.
The kid glares, crossing his arms. “Why the purple?”
“Fair enough. So if he’s Batman are you Batboy?”
“No.” He looks at Kate like she’s something he stepped in, like she’s a particularly dimwitted cat; truly an offensive amount of disdain emanating from him. “I’m Robin.”
“As in Hood, or like the bird?”
“The bird.”
“No shit!” Kate can’t help the smile. “I’m Hawkeye!”
Batman makes a very unflattering noise that sounds an awful lot like a laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Long story,” he says, suddenly serious again. “This isn’t the time or place for it. So, Hawkeye. Do you work with Green Arrow?”
“I don’t know who or what that is. It sounds like a baller environmental activism group, is it that? Please say yes.”
“It’s not. The kryptonite?”
Kate pulls it out of her pocket and tosses it to the Batman. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”
He doesn’t bother responding to that. He fusses with the belt he’s wearing and disappears the rock into...somewhere.
“So,” she says, rocking back on her heels. “Pleasure doing business with you?”
Neither of them say anything.
“Cool,” she says after a beat. “Love that response. Be seeing you around. Maybe.”
She takes off at a jog and then...vanishes.
Before reappearing on a roof half a block away.
Dick allows himself a sigh before reaching out.
“Oracle? Got someone we need to keep eyes on.”