capeandcowllogs | left hook

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left hook

WHO: HEINE RAMMSTEINER and KATE KANE (Nill can tag in, too.)
WHERE: Kate's apartment
WHEN: late afternoon of 2/29
WARNINGS: brb
SUMMARY: Finally out of the hospital, it's time for Kate to meet Nill's friend from home.
FORMAT: non

Kate had hailed a cab from the hospital and gone straight back to the apartment. After tipping the driver, she let him keep the change as well, and headed into her building. She didn't have her keys on her (or a coat, no thanks to being dragged out of her place in the middle of the night). She also didn't have her cell phone or communicator to ring up Nill and tell her she was on the way back.

She can only hope Nill is home, or her friend from her world. She felt somewhat uncomfortable having a total stranger -- from her point of view -- in her place, and after the situation with the Skrulls.

She knocks on the door to the apartment.

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He's adjusted as well as he can to this new... world. It's better, in some ways, and he'd never admit to missing anything (much less anyone).

Sitting in a kitchen chair, he's absently paging through older posts in the archives on Nill's comm. Heine hears the knock, almost ignores it — as he usually does, at home or otherwise.

Then he remembers what Nill has told him about the other person who lives with her: a woman named Kate.

Heine sighs and gets to his feet. He's never eager to meet anyone new, but this is, supposedly, necessary.

She nearly sighs on the other side of the door. She's holding the bouquets of flowers and the teddy bear she received from her visitors, but she's grown tired of carrying them. The thought of showering dominates her mind right now. But she's starting to wonder if Nill isn't home.

She'll have to ask one of their neighbors to borrow their phone, she realizes, and turns slightly so she isn't facing the door anymore.

It takes him much longer than necessary to reach the door, and then he has to fiddle with the unfamiliar lock for a moment.

Finally, he manages to open it and stands staring at Kate. Heine nearly freezes on reflex, but he's expecting her. Kind of.

Upon hearing the door open, she turns to face him. Automatically, she gives him a once over. She doesn't know much about this guy, other than he's saved Nill from those who ran the brothel they forced her in. Heroes come in all sorts of appearances, she reminds herself.

"Nill's friend," she says. What was his name again? "Heine. I'm Kate."

He stands stiffly, awkward under her appraisal. The greeting gets her a curt nod as he takes a step back (probably larger than reasonably necessary) for her to enter.

"Yeah. Hi." Heine keeps backing up slowly even after she enters, tense and wary.

She notes his body language, it's not difficult, but continues into her apartment, setting the flowers and bear down on a table. She doesn't head straight to the room yet, glancing around for a familiar blond girl.

"Nice to meet you, too."

She wonders how much he knows about the Skrull situation they just had, or that Kate was replaced by one herself.

"Yeah," he repeats, and looks at the flowers instead.

Heine hasn't heard much, really — it comes with being careless enough to lose his comm temporarily and then not caring enough beyond what he had to know about Nill.

"She's — Nill's in her room."

Mulling it over, she's not sure if she wants Nill to see her like this.

And to be polite, she moves toward Heine and holds out her hand. "Is she doing alright? I heard she was having some trouble walking."

"She's better," he answers. He does take a moment to hesitate at the proffered hand, but shakes it, eventually. It's fast and more or less perfunctory.

Heine lets go of her hand as soon as possible, and steps back, as well. "Where were you?" It's more of a curious question than an accusing one, but still. Hadn't she been Nill's guardian, or something like that?

That question is off putting and she retracts her hand just as soon as he does. She frowns, looking away momentarily before guilt takes over.

Nill doesn't know about Batwoman. She doesn't know Kate's been sneaking out every night when she's asleep to go on patrol and deal with local crime. She doesn't even know where Kate was for a couple of days, and that Kate had flown off to Berlin to deal with vampires over there.

If she had stayed, or just been back earlier, she could have prevented this all. It's not a question of maybe, she just knows.

"Replaced by a Skrull as well," she says quietly.

The reply is an unexpected one, because he still doesn't understand the entire situation. It explains a lot, though, and Heine's expression shifts almost imperceptibly towards negativity. He's distant at the best of times, but he hasn't had the best first impressions of this place or the people in it.

"What happened?"

This time he stops surreptitiously backing away.

She's still trying to make sense of it herself. Her shoulders slump slightly as she peers at Nill's door.

"Alien invaders. They took our places. Well, some of us." She adds. "Nill and I were in a ship orbiting in space. We were sedated and unaware of what was going on down here."

Heine follows her line of sight on reflex. Aliens. Right.

"What for?" And why Nill, he wants to ask. But he isn't sure enough of himself to go that far. He remembers what the one who took Nill had told him, with some reluctance.

"To infiltrate," she thought that much was obvious, but she doesn't know much about Heine and Nill's world to judge. "I don't know why us specifically. I thought they would go for those in positions of power."

She exhales slowly. Dead wrong she had been.

"Well, they didn't," Heine mutters, and crosses his arms uncomfortably. "How did... you get back?"

(Space simply doesn't make much sense to him.)

Her memory isn't as hazy as it was back on the ship or the hospital, but it still takes her a few seconds more to recall Carol and the others arriving.

She moves to her kitchen, in need of some water.

"The Avengers -- superheroes -- had a ship, and they carried out a search and rescue."

Heine opens his mouth to say something; he closes it, thinking better. "Right. This... kind of thing. Does it happen a lot?"

He stays in the first room, pausing near the chair. The distance over which the conversation has to take place now doesn't seem to bother him.

"Something like that," she replies, trying to restrain the bitter tone. Hearing about Vulcanus again when she checked the Network -- to know they were up to something again, but not caught, frustrates her. There's no telling if they'll pull something like this again.

"There's almost always some kind of big battle around here."

"Nothing new, then," he mutters. Heine leans awkwardly on the back of couch, waiting for a way out of the conversation or to change the subject. He's never been the most social, and talking to a stranger is even worse.

Kate's getting the vibes off him, yet here is someone from Nill's home in her apartment. Nill might trust him, but Kate had to rely on good faith while she was cooped up in the hospital. Besides, she can recall what she's been told about Heine and Nill's world; a violent and strange place, perhaps too brutal for someone like Nill. Heine, on the other hand, looks as if he can put up a fight. He's on the slim side, but she imagines he can be quick on his feet.

"She's spoken about you before. About how you rescued her." From the brothel.

Heine shifts on his feet, balancing his weight on one foot and then the other. Her voice — all women's voices — have echoes of the professor's, and his sister's.

Glancing up at Kate, over in the kitchen, Heine lowers himself onto a seat. He's quite ready to return to what he'd been doing earlier, but... right. The comm's over in the kitchen. Maybe he could just walk over —

— well, no. "She told you. Through writing?" Not that there could much of any other way, but he figures he'll ask.

"The Network, yes." She pauses, as if she's going to add something to that. Ultimately, she decides Nill's new power is not for her to talk about, even among people she trusted. She would tell Heine eventually, anyway.

The crease in her forehead never loosens as she thinks back on those conversations. She pours some water into a glass, then takes a long swig of it.

"It's not something many people know, I think." She faces him once more. "How did you two meet?"

"She told you, didn't she?" he mutters. He never misses a chance to talk as little as possible.

He's also watching her in a way that might be unsettling, but it's more of a habit than anything. Trusting everyone that Nill does isn't easy, but Heine is quite assured of the fact that she knows who to get along with.

"She said you saved her." She never pried later on, though on a second thought maybe she should have. The manner in which he's eyeballing her is enough to warrant a look from her. "It's not quite telling."

He opens his mouth, hesitates — he'd really rather not talk, but it'd be worse if Nill had to explain it. With a shrug, he starts again.

"Saw her on the street when she was running away. Got rid of the guys who were trying to catch her." Heine stops there, even though he's cutting out nearly all of what actually happened.

Setting down her glass, her expression softens up. She'd seen horrible things at an earlier age, but it doesn't stop her from thinking anyone Nill's age shouldn't be subjected to the evil people can do.

God, she barely even knew her own food groups.

"When she talks about you, it's obvious you mean the world to her." She says to Heine.

"It wasn't..." Heine trails off. He's half-turned away from the kitchen, but it's fairly easy to read his posture from any angle — tense and closed off. "I had to." At the time, it was almost a reflex to seeing her wings.

But now he'd do anything for her, without question, though his shrug just looks apathetic as usual.

"I think she's in her room," Heine finally adds. "If you want to see her."

Something changes in Kate's expression again. She stands there, some sort of quiet understanding reflected in her eyes.

"I get it." And she starts off towards Nill's room finally.

Nill hadn't known Kate would be back so soon, and she'd been in her room drawing for class at the Institute. But she'd eventually heard Heine and Kate talking, and her eyes had lit up with excitement. She knew that he wasn't comfortable around women, but she at least hoped he could be nice to her (nice in his own way, of course). And she was aware of how Kate felt about strangers, but she had the same hope for her. It wasn't the most likely friendship, but she could at least try for an amiable acquaintanceship. She heard Kate heading her way, and immediately got up to open the door, wings flitting, a smile on her face. She hadn't exactly listened to what they were talking about, just the sound of their voices. She raised a hand in greeting, even if her expression immediately became concerned when she saw the state her roommate was in.

Heine stays in his seat, now toying with one of the belt loops on his pants. He looks almost younger than he is.

Looking up when Nill comes in, Heine's expressions slides towards the positive, but just barely.

She can always count on Nill to smile, no matter happens to her. It relaxes her, though only slightly; it's hard to shake the images of Dick tending to Nill aboard the ship.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

She shrugs, still smiling. Kate didn't seem to be letting her injuries bother her, so she'll try to act as if it doesn't bother her either. It would, of course, but she'd try to hide it. She caught sight of Heine behind Kate, and went on tip-toe to look at him. She smiled and gave a wave.

Sitting where he is, he goes to face her when she walks up. "Hey." His voice is exponentially gentler when he talks to Nill.

There's a lot left unsaid, but Kate concludes it's best for the time being.

"I'm going to shower. Have you eaten yet? I can order Chinese." She didn't feel like cooking tonight, especially now that they are three people for the moment.

Nill nodded, bringing her eyes back to Kate. She'd definitely ask to talk about it later. It may have seemed mean, but she hoped it was just the skurlls. She hoped Kate hadn't gone out and been hurt even more. She was still settling in after being abducted, and was jumpy at most everything. Knowing Kate had somehow gotten hurt again... she didn't know if she'd be able to go out alone for a while.

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