2014.12.10 - Welcome to the Team

Nate didn't stay in the safehouse a day longer than needed. In fact, it was more like a day less. If Kendra tried to visit, she would find the place empty. The young psion got back to Halo because although they are still repairing the building, it has better facilities. Not that training is a good idea at all. In fact, it is painful even going to the theater, where his friends and co-workers don't want him bleeding all over.

So Nate got back to Halo, and is brooding like a mutant. He does that pretty well. And he has plenty of coffee and tequila.

For Hawkgirl she left with the intent on getting her costume, wings specifically upon. While her injuries aren't severe (just the pulled ankle) they're annoying enough that she wants her wings on to help aid her healing. And so, once she's costumed up, she takes flight with the speed of Nth Metal. Kendra does indeed go back to the safehouse, but when she finds it empty she frowns for a moment or two.

Then with a location in mind, Kendra turns upon wingtip and streaks back towards the inner city. She has her sights set upon a specific building, the Halo building.

It doesn't take her long to find her way back to the rooftop, as she slowly spirals down towards the rooftop. She's being cautious, she doesn't want to surprise anyone, or the building and the potential safeguards it may have activated since the attack.

Since the building is working on solar power (because its super-hi-tech alien Hyperspace power plant was blown up) the powerful and dangerous defenses it really has are still down. There is a radar, though, that detects Kendra and activates a silent alarm. But Nate turns it off realizing who is coming to visit. << Hawk-lady. Welcome back, pretty bird >> he greets. His mind-speech is a little off, because he is getting close to the point where the alcohol is interfering with the control of his powers.

When her booted-feet land upon the rooftop, she can't help but breath a faint sigh of relief that she wasn't obliterated. However, at Nate's mind speech and more specifically, his words, she can't help but cock her head to the side. "Pretty bird?" She says outloud, even as she shakes her head, "What drugs do they got you on?" She murmurs to herself, before she finds that same door they had used for her earlier visit.

As long as it's open, Hawkgirl will enter the Halo building and retrace her steps towards the living area they had went through previously. Yup, she's looking for the wayward, obviously /drugged/ Nate.

<> and he better shut up. At least until Kendra shows up in the old War Room in person. He can control his mouth better than his thoughts. Today Nate has turned on more equipment, and there is a large plasma screen with the news on, but he has killed the sound. On a low table there is a coffee pot and a half empty bottle of liquor. Also several large handguns apparently he was cleaning. Nate himself is shirtless, so all the bandages (and tattoos) are on plan sight. "Hey. Good to see you," he greets, glancing to her leg briefly.

The leg seems to be fairly well, sure, there's a slight limp but nothing terrible. At his shirtlessness, Kendra will eye the bandages, before she curiously looks at the tattoos. "Nice art." She says off-handedly, even as her gaze flicks to the equipment and especially the plasma tv. When nothing essential seems to be going on, she'll then make a bee-line to the bottle of tequila.

Her hand reaches out to snag the bottle, as she asks, "How you feeling? And good to see you're doing more than just bleeding out." Grim humor, it is, but at least they can joke about it now. "And I think you've had enough of this, don't you?" And Kendra should know, she's had her struggles with the bottle among other things.

There is some blood in the bandages, but nothing serious. Maybe he has been relatively still like the doctor demanded him to be. In fact he should be in bed, but of course he is not. "I am fine," he lies, "and I am not drunk. If I was, you would know it pretty quickly." He doesn't have a problem with drinking, his usual method to deal with angst is hitting things, not getting drunk. Unfortunately hitting things is not an option right now.

He sighs, leaning back and wincing. "Thank you for coming, though. Want anything to drink besides that? Fridge got restocked this morning."

Again a long looks is focused on Nate, "Really?" Kendra says dryly, "All right you may not be drunk as a skunk yet, but you're pretty close. A good deal buzzed, to say th least." Once the bottle is in hand, she'll make sure to set it far enough away from him that Nate couldn't easily snag it with a hand. Good thing he still doesn't have his powers.

The mention of a drink is waved away, instead Hawkgirl will find a seat to settle into. Sure her ankle isn't bad, but why stress the sprain. "Nah, I'm good, no worries. What're you up to here in your fortress of solitude?"

Nate smirks. Maybe a little buzzed, he could admit. "I went looking for the stuff Ravager and Spartan kept around. I won't be able to do much hand to hand fighting in Greenland, but if I meet someone I can't take out with telepathy, I want a large gun at hand." He looks thoughtful for a few seconds. "Most of them are gone. Sunspot left for Brazil again. Ravager has vanished."

After a few more minutes Hawkgirl will slide her mask up, so that it frees her face, but still sits atop her head like an actual hat would. She'll idly twirl the tequila bottle around, as Nate speaks. Not to be irritating, but more to keep her hands busy and be less fidgety in general. A quick glance at the guns will be given, when Nate speaks it, and she'll nod every so slightly. She can understand that. Always have to have a back-up plan, after all.

At the mention of some of his team being MIA, she can't help but offer a faint look of sympathy, "I didn't realize some of your team had left. That sucks. What will you do?"

"Keep going," replies Nate. "At least until Cyberdata is finished. And Rachel is being a great help, although she is officially part of a group of alien superheroes and spends half her time in other galaxy." He shrugs. "Right now Stormwatch has Lunair, out gunslinger, and sometimes the Sleeper. Great guy, just his powers make him unreliable, they keep changing. And Magik when she can find time away from her throne in Limbo." Which lately is almost never.

The mention of keep going, Hawkgirl automatically nods, it's all anyone can really do in the end. As for the names, all of them garner a blank look from Hawkgirl. "Can't say I've heard of them, but that's not surprising. Not like I've been around that long, after all." The bottle of booze will be left alone for a moment, as Kendra leans forward. "Well, if you need a hand with Cyberdata, let me know. I can't say I have genetic powers, like you all do, but my wings and mace can pack a mighty punch."

Said mace, which is currently clipped upon her belt, will be given an affectionate pat. "I also have other weapons handy too, but I do love my mace."

Nate gives the mace a skeptic look. What's with people bringing swords, bows and... maces too, to 21st Century fights? "You sure you don't want something more efficient?" He waves to the gun collection. "Or if you are dead set not to kill anyone, maybe a stun gun? Lunair could get you a very effective one."

Wait, she actually offered to come... "hey, you know what? I think you would fit with Stormwatch. Want to hear what is this all about?"

Hawkgirl saw Nate's skeptical look and she can't help but flash a smirk. "Have you ever fought with a mace? It packs a mean punch. And besides, it's made of Nth Metal, it has some properties that go beyond just maim and smash." And while she could explain more about it's energy absorption, magical absorption properties, she doesn't. Some things are left better unsaid.

Nate's offer, however, is considered thoughtfully for a few seconds. "Join your team? Huh. I never thought of that. I don't see a problem with it, as long as you don't see a problem that school and other things can sometimes take precedence. Unless of course the world is ending, then that, definitely comes first." Leaning carefully back against her chair, she'll nod to his offer of explaining what the team is all about. "Sure, go for it."

"Ah, it is not an army. We don't go 'patrolling' or have 'monitor duty'," explains Nate. "In fact, we don't even have a leader. Although Spartan usually did the strategizing. He is an alien android, and took serious damage during the fights with Cyberdata. So right now he is laying low. What we do is monitor for incoming crisis and try to tackle them before they hit home. Preferably before the normal people even know they exist. Stormwatch is a clandestine team, although we have some links to other metahuman groups. The Halo Corporation was initially established as the support infrastructure, time travel was involved and all, but I think Jack Marlowe has come to love it too much. Now it has its own life. Still, they give us neat toys and support."

Kendra listens intently to how Nate describes the team and when he's finished she'll nod. "Okay. That doesn't sound too terrible." Though at the mention of time traveling, her eyes did widen ever so slightly. "How do you get in contact with our your team members, if you're pretty much left alone until the world is ending? Or a new crisis has popped up?" She asks curiously, "I'm assuming it's part of your toy collection Halo gave you?"

Another question pops up in her head, "And how do you get everyone here quickly if they're scattered? I know my wings can get me to places pretty fast, but distance can be a factor."

"Sure, Halophones," Nate pulls out a sleek cellphone. "Halo sell these, and they have their own network structure, so communications are extremely secure. In fact, ours used to work all over the universe. Bit of overkill. Cyberdata attack disabled the hyperspace... uh, a gate we had. Now they are just worldwide reach."

"Of course, /cell phones/." Kendra says with a grin, before she shakes her head. At the mention of the hyperspace gate, that's enough to earn Nate a slightly wild-eyed look from the winged woman.

"Right, hypergates." Comes Hawkgirl's rather dry response, still, one can't say too much since her life revolves around reincarnation. Hypergates are actually far easier to consider than reincarnation for decades and decades. "Seriously thought, count me in."

"Heh. Spartan brought in a lot of alien tech. We have hidden most of it because it is the reason Cyberdata was attacking us," explains Nate. "Once we get back from Greenland we are going to bring it back. Magik hid it a few decades in the past. She can time-travel, crazy stuff. Maybe Void will be able to repair the hyperspace gateway."

Obviously for show, Hawkgirl brings her hand to her nose and pinches the bridge of it. "Woah, woah, more time travel stuff? I think my head is starting to hurt." Then she drops her hand and gives Nate a quick grin, before she lifts the bottle of tequila in the air. "If you keep talking like that I may have to have a drink of this."

"When do you plan on hitting Cyberdata? I'll try to keep my schedule clear." Teases the winged woman.

"Go ahead, I have more," replies Nate with a smirk. "We are leaving Sunday. The trip will take about a day. If all goes well, getting back will be much faster." He stands up and gestures the young woman to come with him. He needs to arrange security clearances and stuff. He is already talking telepathically with Jules Newberry, the company exec. "You can keep your secret identity, of course. But if you don't mind some folks at Halo knowing, they can set you up as an employee of some kind. That should solve all normal financial problems."

The bottle is left behind, as Hawkgirl rises and follows after Nate. Her wings will idly rustle as his question about secret identity, "As long as you trust them, I think I'm okay with a few people knowing." As for the job - she considers it for a few silent minutes. "Let me think about the job bit, for a moment. I know we can all use money, but it feels like cheating. I'll get back to you on that one."

"I'm sure I'm being stupid but .. " She shrugs, uncertain how to properly phrase her uneasiness about accepting a job that will take care of all of her needs. "And Sunday sounds fine. I'll make certain to be here."

Nate shrugs, "cheating... well, you are going to risk your life. I think the idea is that at least you shouldn't have to struggle to pay the rent." He glances back to Kendra, "you pay the rent, right? Because half of our group is... hmm, a little weird in that regard. I have never even bothered to try to find a normal job. I came from a parallel Earth where normal jobs and anything normal had been gone for years. Magik rules another dimension, and goes to college in her spare time. Lonair and Ravager were mercenaries since the teens. Sunspot is... richer than Tony Stark, I think."

"Yes, I pay the rent." Hawkgirl says with that dry wit of hers again, "All by myself. No other dimensions, no merc since I was a young teenager, nothing like that." Only other things, things that she's not going to bring up right now. "Seriously, I'll think about it. If I find I'm struggling, I'll take the job, but right now I'm okay. And speaking of the more mundane, I'll need to get going soon."

"And I'll be taking the bottle with me. I'm still pretty sure you had /way/ too much to drink tonight." Hawkgirl says with a faint smile.

Nate laughs, and winces, stops laughing to wheeze a bit. Stupid stitches. "Welcome onboard, Kendra. Come tomorrow, I will have a Halophone for you, they are pretty neat. Mine has survived anything so far... except that time Magneto blasted me." She can keep the bottle. He has more! Although he will try to find something else to do. "If you have a few minutes, I can show you the living quarters where you can crash in a pinch, and... well, training areas. But that is better left for tomorrow."

At the wheezing, she'll give Nate a vaguely concerned look, "Tomorrow you can give me the grand tour, tonight I think you should just go rest. And I mean really rest. If we're going to tackle Cyberdata you'll need to be in the best shape you can be. Unless you have a healing factor too?" She asks rhetorically, knowing he likely doesn't.

"Before my patrol tomorrow I'll stop and pick up the phone too. Sound good?"

"Man, I wish I had a healing factor," replies Nate. "I'd trade my telepathy for it any day. No, I will..." he pauses. "I will have to be careful, I guess." Except he won't. But he has nothing to lose now. Looking back at the girl, he adds, "when we get back from Greenland, I want to talk with you, and then maybe go to another date."

"Healing factors are nice." Hawkgirl says with a smile, already winding her way back towards the steps to get back to the roof. It's, however, at Nate's last words that she'll stop and offer a short laugh. "A date? My friend that was not a date that was a /disaster/." It's clear she isn't taking him serious, perhaps because she still feels he's a little too buzzed to be real.

"And sure, we can talk after the trip. This time, however, no getting stabbed in the back, okay?" Already her helm is being slide back down upon her face as she gives Nate one last look. "Get some rest and I'll see you soon."

Finished.