Barbara is pissed. Part of it's at Mel because she burned the bodies before a thorough examination could be made, but the vast majority of it as at the chair.
It's been years since she felt truly handicapped, but by the time she got word that anything had been found and managed to get her chair down the street it was already over and the bodies burned.
She's self-aware enough to know that it's not Mel that's the problem, so she manages to suppress it. Most of it. Her voice is only slightly clipped, "You found the bodies?"
Mel would be pissed if she knew that someone with forensics experience was around and not telling her, but then, she's only unofficially the leader here, right?
She glances up from the girls - who are happily sucking away regardless of any clippedness of anyone's tone, andtakes in the wheelchair in one glance.
Barbara slides her glasses off and pinches the bridge of her nose, "Did anyone examine them for time and cause of death?" She's afraid the answer is going to be "no", and that means she's going to be kicking herself for screwing this one up for quite a while.
"Did you get an idea of how big these things are? Being eaten generally scores the bones. You can usually get a good idea of how large the teeth are by the patterns."
She's hoping that this woman is a trained forensics investigator despite appearances. With the night noises getting louder, Barbara's pretty sure that they need to know as much as they can about what may be coming.
Barbara shakes her head sadly, "They wouldn't let me. I didn't pass the minimum height requirements. My dad is though, and I've spent years doing consulting work. Information, coordination, and crime scene analysis."
She shrugs, "I figured if they wouldn't let me join I could at least be useful enough that they'd wish they'd let me."
Fingers pinch her nose tightly and she mutters, "Damn."
"Two of us actually." I'm going to have to talk to Tim about failing to make local contacts. "And I'm pretty sure Robin has some of his gear with him."
She tilts her head, "You're Mel, right? Been here a while?"
This worries Mel, because she had them all pegged as fighters.
"Called a meeting a while back. Nearly everyone here's a fighter of some sort. Lots of people don't take kindly to orders."
Especially when given by a tiny woman with babies.
"Near everyone's armed too, which is good 'cause there's no weapons store around here. I wanna get people into the hotel now it's cleared up. Guessing the noises getting louder might worry a few more people into getting together.
They're fighters, not soldiers. And they don't know how to work together. I can just see someone accidentally putting a bullet in Tim or Steph or Cass by accident.
Still, Mel gets an interested look, "You called the meeting?" There's a hint of approval in her voice. She's got initiative, that's an asset.
"Armed yes, but most of them are going to have ammunition problems soon, and a lot of the people I've talked to don't have training for unarmed stuff. I trust Robin, Spoiler, and Batgirl to handle themselves, but I've seen them fight before." At least not nearly enough of it.
Barbara frowns, "Why the hotel? The food supplies aren't there."
"Because it's the only one with two stories," Mel says quickly. "I like to be high. The girls and their Dad like the sun. Plus with all the rooms open now, there's room for people to live."
Not just survive. Mel's in this for the long term.
"There're about three people here I trust to have my back," she says honestly. "At the last place we had training daily, but so far no one's turned up with expertise in training others. Sokka's busy building things, Zuko has to work on his own pace, and there's simply no one here at my level."
"Survive first, live later. You got plans for securing food and water supplies in case we end up stuck in the hotel for long periods of time?" The hotel's not a bad choice. It's big, and that's an advantage. We could all live their comfortably. I just want to know how far she's thought this through.
"The trust thing is going to be an issue. A big one. I think we may need to get everyone together at some point and have some sort of demonstration? Let everyone see just how much we're all capable of. Because if we were attacked tomorrow, I'm pretty sure we'd all end up in isolated groups."
"Batgirl." Barbara doesn't even hesitate, "She's the best fighter I've ever seen. Assuming she hasn't lost her edge, at least."
"Our nest on the roof is stockpiled," Mel says. "Wouldn't last us more'n a few weeks, but I don't plan to be confined on a roof for more'n a few weeks. And I'd be really surprised if people weren't stockpiling in their own rooms. Everyone did that the last place, and we had a store in the building.
"Sure, that works. I'm spoiling for a fight anyway. Be good to have someone around to keep me fit."
It's been years since she felt truly handicapped, but by the time she got word that anything had been found and managed to get her chair down the street it was already over and the bodies burned.
She's self-aware enough to know that it's not Mel that's the problem, so she manages to suppress it. Most of it. Her voice is only slightly clipped, "You found the bodies?"
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She glances up from the girls - who are happily sucking away regardless of any clippedness of anyone's tone, andtakes in the wheelchair in one glance.
"Yes."
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She's hoping that this woman is a trained forensics investigator despite appearances. With the night noises getting louder, Barbara's pretty sure that they need to know as much as they can about what may be coming.
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Mel brings up her leg to cradle Hana in the crook of her knee to free her hand to approximate size.
"They were big," she says. "And the claw marks were, too. About Magog-sized. Uh... large dog, probably. You a cop?"
She's watching the woman coldly now, masking her rising sense of guilt
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She shrugs, "I figured if they wouldn't let me join I could at least be useful enough that they'd wish they'd let me."
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A
wannabe cop.
"Well, there's still the carnage of the fight if you wanna see the damage they did to furniture and stuff," Mel offers.
"Yanno, if I'd known there was anyone around knew about this stuff, I'd have held off disposal."
It's all your fault, Barbara.
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"Two of us actually." I'm going to have to talk to Tim about failing to make local contacts. "And I'm pretty sure Robin has some of his gear with him."
She tilts her head, "You're Mel, right? Been here a while?"
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"Have there been any attempts to get organized? Because from what I can tell most people here aren't going to survive a serious threat."
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This worries Mel, because she had them all pegged as fighters.
"Called a meeting a while back. Nearly everyone here's a fighter of some sort. Lots of people don't take kindly to orders."
Especially when given by a tiny woman with babies.
"Near everyone's armed too, which is good 'cause there's no weapons store around here. I wanna get people into the hotel now it's cleared up. Guessing the noises getting louder might worry a few more people into getting together.
"Who do you know from home?"
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They're fighters, not soldiers. And they don't know how to work together. I can just see someone accidentally putting a bullet in Tim or Steph or Cass by accident.
Still, Mel gets an interested look, "You called the meeting?" There's a hint of approval in her voice. She's got initiative, that's an asset.
"Armed yes, but most of them are going to have ammunition problems soon, and a lot of the people I've talked to don't have training for unarmed stuff. I trust Robin, Spoiler, and Batgirl to handle themselves, but I've seen them fight before." At least not nearly enough of it.
Barbara frowns, "Why the hotel? The food supplies aren't there."
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live."
Not just survive. Mel's in this for the long term.
"There're about three people here I trust to have my back," she says honestly. "At the last place we had training daily, but so far no one's turned up with expertise in training others. Sokka's busy building things, Zuko has to work on his own pace, and there's simply no one here at my level."
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"The trust thing is going to be an issue. A big one. I think we may need to get everyone together at some point and have some sort of demonstration? Let everyone see just how much we're all capable of. Because if we were attacked tomorrow, I'm pretty sure we'd all end up in isolated groups."
"Batgirl." Barbara doesn't even hesitate, "She's the best fighter I've ever seen. Assuming she hasn't lost her edge, at least."
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"Sure, that works. I'm spoiling for a fight anyway. Be good to have someone around to keep me fit."
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