So I'm Not Great At Apologizing (Kyte)

Rose clicked her tongue as she sat on a fire escape outside of an apartment, earbuds in, and listening to some new music. Yeah that was a thing she'd been missing, music! Do you know how much of this stuff there is?! And like, it kinda just never ends seemingly. Hell, there are apps where you can just listen to a seemingly never ending list of the stuff, and add what you like to a playlist. Absolutely crazy, and Rose would have never thought of it.

So anyway, this stakeout thing. She waited until what seemed like a good time to make her way inside. Not to remain unnoticed, no, moreso for when she didn't feel sick to her stomach. This was a new feeling, after all. Nervousness. Not nervousness to kill something or to jump from something high up, no this was...social anxiety. Eventually though she sighed and picked the lock to the window, not bothering to take off her headphones, and stepped into the apartment.

She walked lazily to the room she had a distinct feeling was the bedroom and knocked on the wall before turning on the light. "Hey." She said simply, crossing her arms and sliding her headphones down to her shoulders. "I kinda...lost my shit at you a few months back? So uhm...I'm kinda here to apologize?" Good thing she could see the future somewhat, so she at least knew this was the right apartment.

The thief was asleep in their bed soundly. But when footsteps became audible to the ears, as well as the two knocks on the wall, instincts kicked in. Years of intense training. The thief wasn't even processing their thoughts yet as they suddenly rolled out of the bed to the floor, breaking line of sight while the lights came on. Hurriedly, they tried to get ahold of their senses. Someone was in their apartment. Why is someone in my apartment?

There was no alarm. They broke in and there was no alarm. Whoever it is, you need to hurt them. Hurt them, and hurt them bad. There was a knife in their hand. They didn't even remember grabbing it, it was on the nightstand beside them while they were sleeping. Then they heard the intruder's voice; the adrenaline pumping through their veins making them feel as if they were thinking at a thousand miles per hour. It was a voice they very well recognized. Because this girl, unlike most other people, had actually made them feel genuine fear that they hadn't felt since- well, for a very long while. She's here... to apologize? Does she think I'm stupid?

What was the play?

After a moment of silence that felt like forever in her head, Petra spoke. "I don't know who you are, and I don't know what you want. If you want money, just take it. I don't want any trouble." I mean, she never heard her unfiltered voice, right? But how the hell did she find me?

Rose stared in confusion. This was definitely the building her powers had told her to check. "Wait, you're a chick?" She asked simply, leaning back on the wall after watching the display where she shot out of bed. She clicked her tongue and scratched her head.

"Hun. You literally rolled into a combat stance with a blade. Normal people don't do that. Like, they really kinda just don't." She drew her pistol from her belt and threw it onto the chair in the corner. Unloaded, of course. Rose practiced gun safety at least. "See, look, no guns, no nothing. I just...kinda have a history of fucking up."

She thought about it and sighed. "I saw the suit, shoved my nose into something that didn't involve me, and I thought it'd help me impress people. Guess I have a history of trying to impress all the wrong people at this point." She laughed quietly and shrugged, folding her arms.

The silence was pretty damn awkward at this point, and she scoffed. "I'm gonna be honest, I showed up with a way of apologizing in mind, and then it turns out you're a chick. So uhm. That's out."

She rolled her eyes when Rose asked her if she was a girl. It wasn't like she was supposed to know! She wasn't even supposed to be here! Then Rose called out that she naturally got into a combat ready position with a knife, and that wasn't normal. "Uhm... you... startled me?" It wasn't a lie, but-

Then the gun landed on the chair, causing Petra to tense briefly. When she observed it, she breathed calmly, and peeked up over the edge of the bed to make sure Rose didn't have another gun on her. And after a moment, she slowly rose, the knife held underhandas the adrenaline began winding down. For now. Her chin length black hair was a little wild from the bed she just got out of, and she had a physique that complimented her style of combat and her profession that she had met Rose on. Definitely athletic. Had to be exercising at least a few times a week. And she stood there in a black set of underwear as she raised a brow at Rose.

She pointed to the gun in the chair. "Well, that, there, is in fact, a gun. So... you mean there are no other guns?" she asked to clarify. When she got into the apology for attacking her over the suit, her lips formed a line as she stared at Rose. It was a story that Petra was very familiar with. Her years prior to meeting Batman were a sore reminder of it. Something she didn't like to remember. And so silence permeated the room. Rose awkwardly said that she had an idea of apologizing to Petra that wouldn't work because she was a girl. Which caused her to scoff lightly in turn after she broke the silence.

She tossed the knife onto the chair, walking slowly to Rose as she gave her a lookover. Her appearance hit different when she wasn't (allegedly) trying to murder her. "Oh? Is that so?" she remarked in a playful tone. She drew close. It was a bedroom, after all. "And what form of apology would that be? Because if I'm reading it right, that sounds like something I'd be very..." at this point she got up close to Rose's face, looking down at her before back up into her eyes from mere inches away. "...down for." And then, she slipped out the doorway next to Rose, heading to the fridge as she stretched to get some juice. And some whiskey. "So how did you find me?"

Rose snorted. "That's fair. I figured it would. And you kind of reacted the way someone like me would." She watched as the thief gave up the charade, and she smiled, nodding to herself. Yep, that would do.

Petra was, admittedly, reasonably concerned about the whole guns issue. And Rose sighed, gesturing to her katanas. "Nah. No guns on me. Just the one strapped to my ride outside but...that's not on me. Otherwise I just have these and you don't seem nearly as concerned with swords." She watched the knife throw, thoroughly unimpressed. Landing blade side up? That's just lazy.

She looked up at Petra with her one good eye, who was just slightly taller as she got close. Her face went bright red and she held up a hand. "Uh, oh! OK, I mean, that's great! N-Not...the offer's not on the table anymore. But there's nothing wrong with that! I just don't swing that way?" The thief seemed to walk right past her to get the drinks from her kitchen, and Rose raised an eyebrow. "Wait...I usually get served cuz of the eyepatch. How old are you?"

The question of how she found her came up, and she shrugged. "I know a guy who keeps tabs on things. Knew you were in the area, then walked around with the intention of breaking into every apartment within a square mile. My powers kinda took care of the rest. I can see the future. Sometimes. Kinda." Well fuck that sounded convincing.

Rose confirmed that Petra had reacted in a way that someone with skills like theirs would usually react in. Petra nodded to her. This was... kind of weird. But in a way, it felt good to be like herself with someone. Even if that person was someone who had tried to kill her the last time they met. Maybe it was the sob story about making wrong choices. Her guard wasn't entirely down; Rose was still armed with her katana after all. But this was her giving Rose a chance, and she would accept the consequences of how that ended up. It didn't look like Rose was lying about anything she was saying, at least.

"Swords are easy to deal with. There's only so much I can do about something traveling a hundred times faster than one." She did smile wryly at Rose's flustered objection to what Petra had proposed to her. It was kind of cute. It did good to assure her that Rose was being honest with her, and not hiding anything. Then, Rose asked about how Petra got alcohol, wondering how old she was. "I'm old enough as far as liquor stores are concerned. But I'm eighteen. You want some?" She was pouring the cinnamon whiskey into a cup of apple juice. It was a very simple mixture, but one she liked, nevertheless.

She then heard Rose explain her powers, though they didn't sound very believable with how she had worded it. "Wait... so you just wandered every apartment complex in uptown, and your powers let you know if you would be right or not?" That was... pretty terrifying, actually. How did she ever get away from her?

She mentioned she was 18, and Rose laughed. "Dope. Same. People see the eye patch and assume like, mid 20s hardened criminal bitch." She walked over and took one of the glasses, taking a sip of the mixture. "Which I mean it works, but I can barely get drunk. Metabolism and healing just kinda ruin it unless I drink way too much of it."

This was actually surprisingly nice. It'd be awesome to have a gal pal in her line of work, or at least adjacent to it. Even if it wasn't the same, they were at least on the same side of the law. Then came the questions about her future sight and she shrugged. "It's...really fucky. My powers basically tell me what's likely to happen. So with something that has no variables like who lives in a place, I just have to start breaking in." She started making a makeshift diagram with her fingers and shot glasses. "And then they'll tell me what I'm about to run into. But with a collapsing building, there's variables. So I just know what's likely. And even then they're like, not that helpful half the time." She downed it her drink and realized. "Oh fuck I never...My name's Rose. Wilson. You?"

She nodded. It was a little weird how such a thing like missing an eye could be considered to make someone look older. But that was a little more philosophical than she was hoping to get tonight. It was then that she mentioned her metabolism and her healing factor, and she gave another nod to that. "And at that point, you'd probably be sinking more money than you'd care to spend into getting a buzz."

Rose elaborated more on her powers of precognition. So that explained her uncanny ability to see what was going on and what Petra was about to do in their fight. If Rose really was telling the truth, she was actually kind of glad she wouldn't have to be looking over her back for the girl anywhere. This night could have been drastically different otherwise. "Even if they're not completely accurate, that's a crazy ability to have. You used it pretty resourcefully to be able to find me like that."

Petra got started on her drink as well, when Rose actually introduced herself. Petra thought she had recognized the mask somewhere, but thought maybe she had just been influenced by the legendary assassin. "No shit. Well I definitely know who your dad is now. No wonder you're so skilled." She blinked at the revelation, but then after taking another sip, answered Rose's question. "I'm... Jaiden. Jaiden Todd. You can call me that or Petra."

"I mean ya know, they're not bad. As long as you can keep yourself sane when you see everything that can ever happen happen in front of you." She shrugged and sipped her drink. "So uh. With all the shit I did to you I'm gonna call that uh...crazy juice. Super power induced crazy juice."

Rose listened to the name given, and then scoffed. "I don't do multiple syllables. I'm calling you Jay. Easier that way." She smiled and leaned against the bar, clicking her tongue when the subject of Slade came up. "Yeah...dad is uh...not the best teacher. But he gets results. Fact is he's a son of a bitch." She sighed and tapped her fingers on the bar. "Honestly, every time he's mentioned, I get pissed. Gonna need to blow off some steam. You ever shoot a gun before? If not, you wanna learn?"

She nodded lightly as Rose said the powers weren't too bad, but that they did make her a little crazy. Joking about it and calling it crazy juice. It was adorable. And then, she figured out Jaiden's old nickname. One most everyone called her in Gotham. "Yeah, that's what everyone calls me, where I come from. I go by my middle name here. I'm beginning to think the past should stay in the past."

When she brought up Slade, Rose's father, she got uncomfortable. And said that he was a son of a bitch. "Yeah. I could see that. Never met him personally. But everyone's heard of him." Then she asked if Petra wanted to learn how to shoot a gun. She raised a brow to her. "Well... I'm not really interested in using them. But... first time for everything." She finished her drink. "I'll drive." She went back to her room, not even bothering to close the door. Then again, Rose had pretty much seen every bit of her at this point. She emerged in black clothes and a leather jacket, getting her keys.

Rose stood there awkwardly, looking around the room while she waited. "I mean, we can. My bike's outside, but we can ride with you. I know a good 24 hour range. Nice guy runs it." She bounced between her toes and heels for a moment while she waited until her new friend finally reemerged. "...Oh, you have actual..." She looked down at her modified Icon suit and shrugged. "I'll get street clothes later."

She followed Jay out to her vehicle, hands in her pockets. "So yeah it's like...closer to the outside of the city. Looks like a hole in the wall, that's just the upstairs. Most of the actual range is underground and hollowed out. Felix says its safer that way. I'll direct."

She called back from the room to Rose when she said that they could have taken her motorcycle. "Sure, but if I don't find reasons to drive the C8 somewhere then the gas is gonna go bad." When she came out and Rose seemed astonished that she had civilian clothes, she couldn't help but scoff lightly. "Well, yeah. This is where I live." Then things started clicking together. "Wait, he didn't even give you clothes? Fuck, I thought I was raised bad." She went back into her room briefly and then tossed a shirt and some gym shorts. "Here. You can keep them until you get some clothes. You can change in my room if you're more comfortable."

She would wait for Rose to get changed. When she emerged, she gave her a quick look over, nodding, and then led her downstairs to her vette. It was a dark shade of red, to absolutely no one's surprise. It was autostarted and ready to go. She got in on the driver's side and waited for Rose to get in, before starting to drive for the gun range Rose was directing her to. "That makes sense. Most open ranges have to worry about being downhill and stuff. Just make sure you tell me so I have enough time to get over or brake." She would go a little over the speed limit, but not enough to draw any real attention.

Rose shrugged and crossed her arms at the mention of clothing. "Dude. I literally spent 13 years in a bunker being forced to kill whatever walked in. Bad is an understatement for how I was raised. And like, hate is looking a little light on how it feels." She was stopped from the monologue when she was hit in the face by a tank top and black gym shorts. She stared down at them, stretching them to test the elasticity for a moment, before shrugging and walking past Jay to change. "Suuuuuuuure. Fuck it."

With their outfits swapped, and Rose's katanas in the trunk, the two rode out to, eh, the middle of nowhere? There they found a small shack, marked "The Best Defense" in a dimly lit neon sign. "Yup, here's dickhead's shop. Park out back if you're smart, or up front if you're dumb."

After they parked and walked in, there was a young, maybe 20 something year old guy manning the counter. His hair looked like it was black, but was graying due to stress or genes. Definitely not age, with the look of his face. When he heard them walk in, he glanced up from his phone and took his feet off the counter. "Rosie, Rosie, Rosie, welcome back sweetheart. And you brought a friend too!" He gave a hell of a shit eating grin and gave a slight mock bow to the girls. "Name's Felix sweetheart. I'll be honest, I'm surprised Rosie's coming around with someone she can't suck off once she's done here!"

Rose narrowed her eyes and blushed, crossing her arms and sighing. "...Fuck off Felix."

"That sounds accurate. And it explains a lot. But, I guess at least you're here now, right? Befriending infamous thieves and whatnot."

When they finally reached the place, Rose called it "dickhead's shop," which Jaiden was totally sure was a simply colorful name, and not an accurate reperesentation of the guy who actually ran the place. Yeah, totally. She raised a brow when she told her how to park, but decided not to question it as she parked in the back. They were in the middle of nowhere, after all, and if someone saw her C8 and decided it was a good time to get some spare parts, she was gonna be pissed anyways.

They went inside, and met the "dickhead" that she was sure Rose was referring to. He made a remark about her not walking in with a guy she could get off, and Jaiden raised a brow at Felix. "Jaiden. And yeah, I tried already, but I don't think she likes me that much," she said a little playfully. Maybe she didn't have to get all bitchy with this guy. Hopefully. it was fun most times, but it also got tiring. She turned to Rose. "So, shooting things?"

Rose sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Jay. We've been over this." She grumbled walking up to the counter and leaning against it. "She's good. I'll vouch for her." She glanced back at Jaiden and grinned. Evidently this was her full apology.

Felix nodded his head as Rose spoke, glancing over at Jaiden. "Jaiden, eh? Good stuff, good stuff. And Rose vouching for you is the magic word." He walked into the back and input a combination into a safe, pulling out a massive LMG before handing it to Rose. "How much experience she have? What're we going for, handguns? Rifles? How much kick can she take?"

Rose shrugged. "First timer. Start her small probably." Felix just nodded with a knowing grin. "Good. Good. We'll start with a 9mm then." He grabbed a few off the display rack behind him, laying them out on the counter. None of them had a clip in them, obviously, and they had a few different paintjobs. "Pick your favorite. If you shoot straight, maybe Rosie here will get all hot and bothered."

Rose twitched and pulled out her own handgun, firing a round at Felix's forehead. For half a second it was terrifying, but the round seemed to be stopped, making contact with Felix's skin and falling onto the case. Felix gave a roll of his eyes as his eyes glowed for a moment, leaning forward and booping Rose on the nose. "Now that's just mean. I was gonna let ya shoot free, but now I'm docking it from your next contract, Rosie."