2013-01-02 Party Planning

Central Park
In the past, much like Times Square, this park has had a less than stellar reputation when it comes to crime. But in recent years... Well, between the police and the cities super heroes, the park has gotten better, It's a place where kids can come and play again. Where families can have picnics. Where people can basically exercise and/or relax.
But such a place is still not completely free of crime. Thus there's still effort that is going in to keep what is 'clean' in the park clean, and to deal with things as they come up.
So, on a cold winter afternoon, people are wandering through the park. But like always, trouble may not be too far away.
Then again, help might not be too far away either.
Tommy is one of those dangers that lurk in the park, although his almost peerless pick-pocketing skills (mostly based on him being too fast) cause more annoyance than anything else. In winter the park is slim pickings, though, so he is not here to steal, quite the opposite, he is checking there are no homeless freezing to death forgotten in some corner. It is quite cold already and it will be well under freezing tonight.
Eddie probably shouldn't be out right now. The EMTs were probably still annoyed he bailed instead of letting them take him to a hospital. But even injured he's not one to stay back and not patrol even if it's just as plain old Eddie. In his standard winter attire of jeans, a homemade 'Hawkeye' (purple with an arrow logo!) t-shirt, and his Captain America jacket, he's wandering the park with intentions similar to Tommy. He knows all too well that there are homeless in the park often forgotten so he's doing his best to find them and help them if he can...even if his ribs are bandaged up, he's sporting a few visible bruises on his head, and one arm is in a sling and he's being careful not to put too much weight on one leg. Billy will probably zap and heal him later. For now, he's all smiles as he walks along.
And there's someone else in the park. Someone else who, despite what some who know her background may think, knows the homeless issues of the park very well (just not as well as Tommy and Eddie). Yes, it's Kate Bishop.
But for the moment, she isn't walking. Instead she's bundled up in a winter coat, and sitting on a bench drinking a warm drink.
And yes, she does feel a little guilty at the moment for stopping to do that, but it is buying her a little time to collect her thoughts.
Tommy, of course, won't openly admit he is helping anyone. It would hurt his bad boy image! But when he spots Eddie all battered and bruised, he approaches the other kid looking vaguely worried. "Eddie! Happy New Year, man. Damn, what happened to you? You lost a fight?" If he saw Kate, well, right now she looks like some pretty middle-class girl that belongs to an entirely different world than Eddie and he.
Eddie Resilver jumps slightly when someone calls his name, tensing up. When he sees it's Tommy, Eddie smiles. "Happy New Year, Tommy," he ends up blushing. "Um...n-no. I was on a train that got blown up..." he trails off, rubbing the back of his head with his unhurt arm. "I'll be okay," he says. He hasn't spotted Kate quite yet either but now that he's facing the right direction he will eventually.
And as Kate takes a sip of what ever it is that she's drinking, she just enjoys it for the moment. And yet, as she finally looks up, she does notice the other two. And she even recognizes them. Thus she gets up. but instead of moving over towards them, she heads to the nearby 'drink cart' she bought her drink from, and starts to talk to the guy running it...?
"You were training using dynamite or something?" Tommy shakes his head. "Alright, you know, I think trying to be a super-hero is not going to work well. I mean, we did a good thing getting those kids off the crazy old woman's hands, but most real crime is not in the streets. What really hurts us now is the corruption in the political and financial circles. You can't fix it with super-powers."
Eddie frowns. "No...s-s-some crazy guys attacked the train. It's...I don't know what they wanted. Daredevil, Invisible Girl, and I stopped them," he says. He'd mention Domino but he doesn't know her name. And then Tommy just gets an odd look out of Eddie as if he just sprouted a second head. "Dude...-that's- crazy. J-just because we can't deal with those jerks doesn't m-m-mean there isn't still good we can do out here. People to save and more things like that crazy Granny woman to stop," he says simply. "What we do out here is important, Tommy."
If she can... And does hear the conversation between Eddie and Tommy, Kate doesn't butt in. Instead, as the guy at the drink cart quickly preps not one, but two more drinks, the out of costume archer reaches into her pocket for a pair of 'sunglasses' and slips them on. That is before she pays for the drinks, and accepts a carrier so that she can carry all three at the same time.
It's only then that she turns, and starts to carry them /towards/ the other two 'out of costume' heroes, without even waving or saying 'hi', or otherwise greeting them at all. At least not yet.
"Sure, you can save some folks," admits Tommy, "but you can do that working for NGOs or as a social worker, or a fireman. And they got more backing. You don't even get decent medical se..." pause. Funny how glasses can make all the difference. "Hawkie... hello," he grins at the brunette girl. "Funny meeting you here. I mean, without a bow in your hands."
"It's n-not the same, Tommy. Social workers and NGO's get hampered and t-t-tied up way too easily. And we can do fire rescue on top of hero stuff. I already do," Eddie replies. Brave? Stupid? Crazy? All of the above? He's about to say something else when he notices Tommy looking somewhere else. Following his gaze, he jumps when he sees Hawkeye and smiles again. "H-hi."
It's probably a good thing that Kate has her 'sunglasses' on, because otherwise it'd be clear that she's rolling her eyes, even as she offers Eddie and Tommy a drink from the carrier.
"No. It's not funny. If people need to find me, this park is usually where to do it." is said in a blunt, but semi-polite manner.
On the other hand, she doesn't comment on what they may have been discussing. That is, if she even heard it.
"Hello though."
"For me? Thanks!" Yes, Tommy knows Hawkeye patrols the park, but it is not as obvious she would also hang out in her civvies. In fact it seems like a bad idea to him, sunglasses are not the greatest disguise. He looks vaguely frowny to the girl, but only for an instant. "Well, nice to see you. And happy New Year. Oh, I wanted to tell Eddie, but since you are here. I saw Noriko again, and managed to piss her off, I'm afraid. I might... need a little help there."
"Thanks, Hawkeye," Eddie chimes as he takes the drink. He knows Kate patrols the park too. "How're y-you doing?" he asks. When Tommy mentions Noriko, Eddie perks up but a concerned expression creeps onto his face. "Oh n-no. What happened?"
And before Kate can even answer the question of 'How she's doing', she just quirks an eyebrow at Tommy and says, "Happy New year. And... What now...?"
Then though, and somewhat belatedly, she does say, "You're welcome' in regards to the drinks.
Tommy sighs. "Well, she was angry about me telling Eddie and Gar about her drug habits. But I was... er... Karolina and me, we randomly stumbled with her near the Tavern of the Green. She was moping. And clearly hungry. But also... she is like this 'I am fine, you get lost'. So we were going to take her for a pizza and I sort of snapped at her and she ran away. Again. She does that a lot." And Tommy is not exactly diplomatic. Not with Noriko. Because... drugs.
Eddie Resilver sighs. He's not happy about the drug thing either but based on his conversations with her, he's pretty sure it's something power related and not recreational. Looking down for a moment, he nods. "I c-c-can call her and see if she'll t-talk," he offers, looking to Kate to see if she has ideas.
"... I see."
Yeah. This is the first time Kate's even heard about the drugs bit in relation to Nori. But then again, she doesn't really know Nori that well unfortunately.
All though yes, there is a glance that's returned towards Eddie as she bites her lip, making it look like she's considering options. But still.
"And if that doesn't work, you might want to have me and Speedy try to talk with her, as a bit of a 'girls' thing."
Of course Kate doesn't know how well Mia knows Nori either, so again, that might not be much help.
"Yeah, I hope she listens to you," replies Tommy. "Either of you. Drugs and mutant powers never go well. It is bad enough for normal humans." He paces around the other two, slurping at the drink Kate brought him. "I have seen it a lot of time, y'know? They never want to admit they have a problem: I can control it. I need it or I would die. If I don't do it aliens will invade the Earth." He sure seems upset about it.
Eddie nods to Kate. "Okay. I hope this helps," he says. The power booster frowns as he listens to Tommy. He may not have heard as much but he's seen similar. "Drugs and any k-kind of powers tend to be bad..." he agrees.
There's a slight nod from Kate in agreement with Eddie. All though at Tommy's overly dramatic comments, she shakes her head.
"For now, there probably isn't much we can do. At least not here, and like this. But I'm sure we're probably not the only ones trying to help with this."
Then there's a pause.
"All though, if you think we should keep talking about, and I'm not saying we shouldn't, we might not want to talk about it out in the open like this."
Tommy hrms, looking around briefly. "Yeah, sure... I have finished talking about her." Probably a good thing they stopped him before he started ranting about drugs, drug users and stupid American drug laws. "Are you in touch with the rest of the gang, Eddie?"
"We c-could go to the place Billy and I told you about if you want, Hawkeye," Eddie offers. They are in Central Park already after all. He nods when Tommy says he's finished though. "I'm trying to b-be. Speedy and Xavin are hard to g-g-get a hold of by Hawkeye is helping with Speedy at least," Eddie replies. "Oh yeah!" he smiles. "That reminds me. Umm...I'm kind of p-putting together a little party for us. So we can all get to know eachother better. There'll be f-f-food and stuff. You should come, Tommy."
There's a tilt of Kate's head at Eddie, before she nods.
"Probably a good idea."
Then there's a grin.
"And I contacted a 'middle man' to clue Speedy in. I'll try to contact her more directly too. But until then..."
Of course as that's all said, Kate reaches into her coat pocket for something. And tosses it towards Tommy. That is before she lets out a slight, "Catch." And if caught, it'll turn out to be... A smartphone?!?
Catch? Sure, Tommy reflexes are ridiculously quick. "Party? Sure thing. Well, which day and what time?" He checks the smartphone over. "Thanks, although I have a good cell already. You want my number? Or... can I have yours?" Startech cell, because he stole an expensive one, you see.
Nodding, Eddie glances around and takes a sip of his drink. "C'mon this w-w-way then," he says, leading them deeper into the park. "It's on the seventh," he explains to Tommy. "And um...around six o'clock to whenever. The whole team is invited. You c-c-can stay the night if you want too," he says. He's pretty sure Thor won't mind.
And here's where Kate stares at Tommy for a moment, before reaching up to massage her temples. All though if she knew what sort of phone Tommy had, she'd instantly tell him to dump it, especially if it's one of the newer ones with not only some fancy security bits, but also a tracking' feature that /can't/ be turned off in case the phone is ever stolen. Just like what certain iPhones have as a 'standard feature' now.
"A number that you can reach me with is on there already. But keep it. It's being paid for. And on top of that, the app with the 'YA' icon encrypts its text messages and calls in a way that only people with the same app can receive them. One way or another everyone on the team will probably end up with a phone like that, or at least the app so we have a /secure/ way to stay in touch."
With that said, the archer without a bow does follow along after Eddie, but she does wince slightly.
"And I won't be able to make that party. but if you want to give the phones or the flash drives so people can install the app on their own phones to people then, I'll try to get that stuff to you before the party."
"Oh, pretty cool, thanks," admits Tommy, grinning to the dark-haired girl. "Well, let me know if you need my help." He pockets the device. "I'll drop by your place later, Eddie, right now I have a couple things to do and it would be funny if I am late." He nods to both of them and walks away briskly.
Eddie blinks as he watches Speed go and then sighs. He wants to spend more time with the guy that looks so much like his best friend. Turning to Kate, Eddie nods again. "Okay," he chimes to the plan. The walk takes a little while but eventually Eddie leads the way to a more secluded area of the park. When they reach a small foot bridge that goes over another path, Eddie heads under the bridge. He glances around again before moving towards a worn and faded door in the bridge that at one time lead to a storage room for the parks department. Unlocking it, he waits for Kate to follow him into the dark and dusty room before closing the door. From there, it's moving a shelf and metal sheet to uncover a tunnel. "Watch your st-step in here," he cautions as he leads the way into the darkness. Down some stairs and through another door brings the young heroes into the dark and abandoned subway station Eddie used to call home. He glances at Kate before jogging over to a power box on a wall and pulling the switch. There's a light hum before a bunch of Christmas lights that had been strung around the area light up. "Here it is."
Silently, Kate follows along. She doesn't question anything. not as they enter that storage room. Not as the stuff gets moved around. Not even as they head into the darkness.
...All though as they do go into the darkness she just gently taps the side of her 'sunglasses', before she moves along as if she can see everything anyways.
All though as those lights do activate, there is a faint, "Gah." from the out of costume archer as she up and rips her eyewear off of her face. In fact it's another few moments before she even looks around the area that is illuminated, which prompts her to let out a low whistle.
"All right, I admit I'm impressed."
Eddie just looks apologetic when it clicks with him what might have happened. The same thing happened to the bad guys last night after all. The whistle just makes him blush. "It's n-not much. I just stumbled into the place while I w-was running from some guys and figured it was b-b-better than benches and alleys..."
"Oh, it's definitely better than that." Kate admits as she glances around. In fact, as she takes a few steps forward, she even lets out a slight 'hrm'.
"Should I ask how many of the others you've shown this place to? Or at least know of it?"
Eddie leans against the wall, silently fighting a bit of pain from his injuries. "Well um...you know. Billy obviously. I told Speedball but haven't shown him...and Martian Manhunter followed me here once b-b-but he gave me his word he won't tell anyone," and Eddie trusts J'onn. "Thor and Sif know I used to live underground b-but I've never told them where exactly."
So in other words, Billy is the only other member of the team.
"I see." is let out as Kate considers that. Or at least that's before she grins ever so slightly in Eddies direction.
"And you said that you're having your party at your place. Is Billy going to be there...?"
Eddie nods a little, waiting quietly. When Kate grins his way, Eddie returns it. "Of course," Eddie replies cheerfully. "He's m-my best friend, he'll definitely be there."
And here's where that grin just grows.
"Then maybe... Just maybe... You might want to set something up with him, so that somehow, people can come here and take a look at this place. After all, he can teleport whole groups if need be. And I think letting people come and see this might help. After all, what could be better as a bit of a belated 'christmas present' to a team than showing them their new 'base'."
Then there's a pause.
"That is if you want to use it as that. And I admit I'm suggesting doing it during your party since it might be the best way to grab as many 'members' of our 'team' as possible at one time..."
Eddie perks up and grins wider as well. "That's a g-g-great idea," he replies, already making a mental note to tell Billy about it. "Sure, we c-can use this space if everyone wants to. It's not like I n-need it anymore and it's just sitting down here um...gathering more dust."
There's another nod from Kate at that as she adds a bit more.
"And if you want to hand out the smartphones with that app, or the thumb drives with the app so people can instal it on their own phones... Well, I think that does help take us another step or two closer to becoming a real team."
"All though getting everyone together like you are... If everyone, or nearly everyone shows, may help more with that."
"I'm trying t-t-to get everyone," Eddie confirms. "I really hope everyone comes s-s-so we can be a great team. We can r-really kick some bad guy butt and save the day even better when we've all g-g-g-got one another's backs."
And here's where Kate lets out a little news that might not sit well. But then again, it is something she did mention before to Eddie, if only in passing.
"I agree. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it. I have a prior obligation that I agreed to months ago that I can't back out of. Sorry."
"But I do agree we can kick butts better as a team."
That just makes Eddie give a little pout without even realizing he's doing it. "It's okay, you c-can come hang out some other time," he says. "Yeah! I can't wait...this is even better than how I dreamed it w-w-would be."
For a moment it looks almost like Kate is going to sday something as she bites her lip. But decides against it. After all, if Eddie thinks this is coming together well...
"I hope it keeps going well then. Odds are sooner, rather than later, this is going to be tested. I just wish I knew how."
"Whatever the test is, we'll beat it," Eddie replies. "When we pull t-t-together, there's nothing that'll stop us. I have faith in you guys."
There's a faint snerk... And then a smirk from Kate at that.
"I hope we will. I hope we will."
"Right! N-never give up hope!" Eddie gives an enthusiastic little cheer...immediately followed by a cringe as he moves the injured arm. It doesn't slow him down much though, Eddie grinning right after and blushing a little from embarrassment. Apparently saving all those people, teaming up with two great heroes, and then getting told he did a good job have filled Eddie with a bit more enthusiasm and energy than usual. "C'mon, I'll show you the rest of the place," even if all that's left is the ticket booth/employee area and the bathrooms.
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