zerocharliexray | [oom] a beautiful night in Gotham City

That grin is impossible to resist - Dinah has to smile warmly back at her, grateful again for her friends.

She'll have to make sure that Zinda understands to launch the strike whether Dinah's conscious to give the signal or not. But that will come later.

And before she can says anything else, the door opens, and another man peers in - this one young, with almond eyes and brown skin that poses a stark contrast to his short cropped blonde hair. His outfit, as close fitting as Ted's, is green and brown, and from behind his head an array of green-fletched arrows can be seen.

"Dinah?"

"Connor!"

Dinah holds a hand out to wave him in, and he grasps her hand in both of his, both of them glancing over the other with cautious fondness.

This was not how Dinah wanted to mend this bridge, but it is what it is.

"Thank you for coming."

"Any time."

Sharon studies the newcomer with shuttered interest – an archer, like Hawkeye, she guesses.

Hopefully he's decent with hand-to-hand, too. She waits until he turns to glance over her and Bucky, quizzical. "Sharon Carter," she introduces herself. "This is Bucky Barnes."

She tips her chin at Zinda, standing nearby. "We're recruits."

"Interdimensional travelers," Dinah offers, and that's apparently perfectly normal because Connor nods, putting a closed fist in an open palm to bow to each of them.

"It will be an honour to fight by your side," he says, sincerely.

Dinah has only a short time for introductions, before she nods at Zinda and jerks her head to the door. "Shall we?"

"You got it, sis."

Zinda guides Sharon and Bucky back out, then falls into step with Dinah as Ted and Connor take up the rear. "Y'know I won't be able to hold position for long," she points out to Dinah as they walk. "And we're gonna have to stay in contact so I know when Bucky's clear and when to take the shot."

The second they walk out into the corridor, Dinah's gaze drifts back to the operating room, so her "right," is vaguely distracted.

Until she blinks, bringing herself right back to the moment.

"Do we have any more of those comms in the Aerie? Something we can give him for the operation?"

Zinda is probably more familiar with the comms tech that Dinah, whose relatinship to her comms is does it go with my outfit? but given that Zinda was a fighter pilot in the forties it's probably not saying much.

She puts a warm hand on Dinah's back, comforting. "She's gonna be fine," Zinda tells her, ever optimistic. "The Skipper's one tough lady. She'll be okay, and she'll wanna hear all about how you kicked those twelve brothers right back into the sea when she wakes up."

Glancing around at Bucky, she nods. "As for comms, we've got plenty. But just in case somethin' goes wrong, maybe we oughta work out our timing."

Dinah nods her agreement.

"I can tell you it won't take long," she says. "The Twelve do not fight defensively, and no one's going to be drawing a second wind.

"And they won't have any more guards, so anyone with a gun will have no issues clearing the boat. Thirty minutes?"

Zinda nods. "I'll run comms from the Aerie One," she says. "So don't you go anywhere without an earpiece, Canary."

She glances at Bucky. "If you need a weapon, I've got a locker on the Aerie One you can look through."

"Appreciate it," Bucky replies, with a nod to Zinda. "I've also got a few tricks up my sleeve," he adds, flexing his left hand just enough to make it visible without making a big deal of it.

"So thirty minutes won't be a problem."

"I never go anywhere without my trusty earpiece," Dinah lies, her hand on her chest and her tone not convincing anyone that she doesn't ditch her earpiece and her back up at every opportunity.

Though as she passes her door, she stops short. Her costume is on the Aerie, but it occurs to her she doesn't want to wear that for this occasion.

"Hang on, I'm going to grab an outfit, one sec."

She slips in quickly - anyone thinking she was going to take on the Twelve Brothers in Silk in skinny jeans and a belly shirt will be disappointed.

Edited 2022-05-12 14:04 (UTC)

"You've got one on the Aerie – oh, she's gone already," Zinda says, fondly exasperated, as the door closes behind the Canary. "If she keeps that earpiece in for more than five minutes, we'll be on the right track."

Ted grunts and claps Connor on the shoulder. "We're goin' up," he says. "I'll give Helena the plan so far."

"You're aces, hon," Zinda tells him, and waves as he and Connor head along the hall to the elevator that leads to the roof and the Aerie One.

Bucky's looking after where Dinah's vanished, then slants a look at Zinda. "Independent sort, huh?"

His gaze shifts to Sharon as he hooks a thumb under the cord to pull out the amulet he'd picked up in his room. "Think you could use this without breaking the stupid rules?" He makes sure to hold it up so they can both see it clearly.

"Some kind of protection from magic; it also makes missiles easier to avoid, accelerates healing, and helps keep the head clear under stress. A friend of mine loaned it to me a while back."

Before either of them can point out that he could use it, he adds, "I already have some of that kind of thing built in. You know it, I know it."

Zinda holds up her hands. "All I know is 'no weapons,'" she points out. "I don't see how anyone could kick up a fuss 'bout a lil necklace like that."

Sharon studies the amulet, reaching out to touch it lightly. "Pretty sure we won't need to deal with magic or projectiles," she points out. "But I won't say no to a little extra clarity. Sounds like we're going to need it."

He pulls it over his head and hands it to Sharon. "Don't get killed," he says, trying to keep it light and teasing. "I'll be mad as hell if you do."

He'll never forgive himself either, but that's separate. He turns to Zinda.

"You either. Hear me?"

Edited 2022-05-12 14:33 (UTC)

"No fear," Zinda says. "I'll be safe as houses up in the Aerie One."

Sharon smiles at him and puts her hands briefly on his chest as she looks up into his face. "You can't get rid of me that easy, Barnes," she murmurs. "You better stay alive, too."

"Everyone stay alive please," Dinah says as she rejoins them. She's slipped into a white catsuit, easy to move in, and not too thick. At this level, she figures, armour is only a hindrance.

She meets Zinda's eyes, and shrugs. "Hey, if they haven't figured out that Ms Crenshaw is the Black Canary, I'm not going to give them a reason not to underestimate me."

"Too bad you can't just Canary Cry 'em into the water and leave it at that," Zinda says, wistful, as they start towards the end of the hall.

"But I guess this is the next best thing."

"Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches," Dinah says, adding in the same breath: "Literally.

"Which reminds me." She clicks her fingers in annoyance of having forgotten earlier. "I'm your back up there. If you have any problems with the ship, signal me asap and I'll blow it up from the dock."

"Oh, no you don't," Zinda says, with spirit. "You're gonna have your hands full, you dizzy blonde. I'll load the Sarge here up with some charges. If anythin' goes wrong on my end, he can set them and blow it sky-high once he's off."

She points at Dinah as they get into the elevator. "You can be his back-up. Otherwise, keep your head in the fight."

"I have pretty extensive experience making things explode," Bucky assures Dinah, laconically. "Don't worry about it. Zinda and I've got this part."

"The shipment's the priority," Dinah says, just for the avoidance of doubt. "Apart from it being Oracle's personal request, no one will want to tell Batman how it got here."

Zinda's right, though. It would be nice to just scream the thing into pieces and be back before Babs woke up.

The elevator door dings and opens to the glowing Gotham night. On the roof, washed in floodlights, the Aerie One waits patiently, a little knot of people hanging around near the hatch.

"There's my baby," Zinda says, fondly, and leads the way to the jet, the hatch opening and unfolding to them as they near it. She tips her head at Bucky. "C'mon, Sarge. Let's get you kitted out. And I'll find that comm for you, Canary," she tells Dinah. "So don't you go runnin' off without it."

"You got it," Bucky says, and nods to Sharon before he follows Zinda to the Aerie One like a dark shadow. It's not the first time he's been on the trim little jet, of course, but this is different.

She leads him through the updated passenger section, with its comfy seats and banks of computers, toward the tail. "These are mine," she tells him, as she opens a series of weapons lockers. "The other gals aren't so keen on firearms."

"Nice selection," he observes, as he browses through them. "Incendiaries too?"

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