Justice! Sort of!

April 19, 2015:

Bluebird rescues Alexander from a group of thugs.

The Narrows, Gotham

Characters

NPCs: Susan, would-be muggers

Mentions:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

Gotham has its own appeal to the traveller. It's darker than New York, with a more overt air of the sinister. It is the perfect backdrop for late at night introspective strolls where an individual casts their thoughts back far into the past to ponder the mistakes or successes they had, to go over them in their mind, and then to ponder what the future may hold. It would be the perfect place for such, save for the high likelihood of those wandering philosophers to be set upon by ne'er do wells. Yet if that did not happen, then it would not be Gotham.
One such traveller tonight is Alexander Aaron. He wandered the streets of the city with that too arrogant sense of immortality owned only by the truly young… or the truly immortal. He has his hands in the pockets of his jacket, unmindful of his location. At a glance he's just another mark walking along, nothing stands out terribly.

"Bad place to be buddy." The man was walking with his crew, he was one of the shorter ones; stalky with tanned skin, almost put a person in the mind of a bulldog that was laced heavily with chains. The three of the men that were with him varied in size, one with a bandana strapped across his head, fighting of the chill of the shakes from his previous drug use, looking to steal a bit of money from the man that walks in towns untethered so that he could get his fix of whatever drug was hot on the market at this time.

"Yeah ma' patnah. Looks like yo' gone have to break yoself in a minnit.." The other spoke up, dark skinned, mixed in between the two in height and size, though the other one himself? He remains quiet.

Bluebird has been trailing them for a while. In her mind, they just looked like the regular denizens of The Narrows, walking home from a night out of drinking 40's and partying, probably shooting craps on one of the ruined corners of the concrete jungle. But their biggest mistake? Walking up upon someone who minded their own business. She hated when the local gangs did that. Usually they'd pick on someone alone; not of their size and sometimes not of their race. But in the Narrows, it was one race.. all the time. The poor.

Right when one of them in the back begins to take a step forward, his body arches, his hair standing upon end as he lets out a loud scream. The shock was delivered a little too late, the man suffering sticks within the back.. faulty wiring due to a bad still caused the delay as the sound comes ten seconds later.

*BZZT!*

The man crumples to the ground, only leaving three, two of which spots the tail-end of Bluebird as she ducks behind the alley to get out of sight.

"Oh dear me," Is Alexander's response as he espies the men. His subtly glowing eyes shift from one to the other and he feigns a measure of concern. I'm sure this is a mistake, I have no money, and I'm just trying to find my way back to my hotel. I'm visiting Gotham you see." And that tone is entirely too conversational, too tinged with what could only be considered comically affected fear. "I can't let you have my wallet, it has all my papers in it."
Of course that's the moment when the Bluebird strikes. At the sight of one of the men shaking, muscles tensing, going up on his tiptoes, Alexander smiles openly. He looks past them and says, "The Batman!l He chooses to point behind them in the direction she flees generally.

The men were all a shock, maybe they had came down from their high and too eager to get at Alexander's wallet. So much that they missed the glow in his eyes, the inflection within his voice, and when one of their buddies go down? Alexander is long forgotten.

"Let's get that mutherfucker!" One cries out, the three filtering out behind the alley as another sound rings out, echoing in the dark.

*BZZT!*
"OW, fuck! Get up!"
"It's a bitch! Who the fuck!"
*BZZT!*
A young woman screams, the sound of a garbage can falls over, as another is tossed out into the street.

"Yeah, you gon' get yours!" The man cries out!
*THUD!* *CRACK!*
"OW!" The girl cries out.
"Fuck.. you.. bitch!"

Harper takes a tumble out into the open, rolling upon the ground at a full stop as she scrambles to her feet, her body wavering just a moment as she drags her ass back into the darkness, her gloved hands drawing up her sleeves as she takes off at a run in the last minute.

*CRACK!*
*CRASH*
"Hnnng!"
*THWACK!*
"OW, my dick! My fucking dick!"

And then silence, save for the harsh and heavy breathing and the drag of feet as Harper staggers her way out of the alley, the harem-esque mask fluttering as she huffs, her body drawing against the wall as she presses leather gloved hands against her knees, one hand reaching up to point a finger towards the air as a meaning to give her a second. After a smack of her lips, she reaches under the mask to touch at her face, her lip bleeding, marks around her left eye which shows that soon, it'll swell shut. But forget about her, what about him?

"H…hey bud, you a'right?"

Through all of this, the young man on the sidewalk serves as her audience of one. He stands just on the edge of that alley to the side, only able to see a fraction of the action but seemingly enjoying the carnage as various people and articles are hurled out the mouth of the way. He stands there, hands in the pockets of his brown leather jacket, those crimson eyes muted as he observes.
When one of the men is hurled clear and falls at his feet, Alex looks down and tsks sadly at the crumpled criminal. He kneels down to touch fingertips to the side of the man's neck. She's not killing them, interesting. Perhaps she is a Batman/Batperson. He straightens up, turning to look at her levelly as she recovers against the brick wall. A few steps carry him over towards her.
And that may be the first moment she looks at him, or rather sees him for true. Those eyes always draw attention first, the faint glow barely discernible in the night of Gotham. Then there's the faint smile, apologetic for now, a curve of lips that seem to go well with those handsome if pale features. "I'm fine," He lifts a hand, "Though you look like you could use some first aid."

Yeah, she was a bat person through and through. They all stuck to the mantra of no killing, and so far? Even though the line was toed it has not been crossed. Yet. One of them still may cross to the point of no return.

But still, hunched as she was, she was able to see his feet upon first approach, her brows lowering just a touch as she leans herself upright to catch a good view of the glow within his eyes. Strange..

"Oh. I always need first aid. I'm right in there with Crab-Leg Stacy at the local clinic down the street. And trust me, dude. You do /not/ want to know why they call her Crab Leg." She huffs a little, the laugh bringing a faint trail of blood that drips down towards the ground, her mouth working beneath the cloth to swallow hard, her hand lifting to right the way her neck feels, her eyes closing to take it all in.

"Yeah. Think I cracked a rib." She states, then pushes herself upright, her arm clutching along her waist as she tries to push from the wall. "Even though you got the creep-tacular eyes, you shouldn't be wandering around here at night. 'Specially the Narrows. That's bad."

The hand hovers there for a moment, as if he were considering something, but then it lowers. His weirdo eyes holds hers and then he smiles almost reluctantly. "Now I feel terribly guilty." He slides his hands back into the pockets of his jacket and tells her, "You put yourself in harm's way for me and here I just stood hesitant to interfere."
Shaking his head, Alexander tells her, "Let me make sure you get seen to decently. Unless you have some sort of healing factor?" Since, to be fair, the people he usually sees doing the superhero gig who get hit that much… yeah they tend to have Super attached to their name.

Somewhere, in a land far away, or at least in a couple of hours when Harper comes to her senses, she'll be kicking herself for calling a hot guy with glowing red eyes creepy. As she does kick herself quite often.. one would add. "Ah.."

She waves her hand slightly, one hand bracing against the wall as she slowly begins to pace away from the scene of unconscious and genital broken men. "It's no big deal. As long as you're okay, that's all that matters."

Would Batman do this? Talk to those he's saved? No, he'd dash off in the middle of the night, leaving people curious and dumbfounded without someone to thank them. Harper can't do that. There's a fear that a rib might puncture a lung and then it was game over from there.

"Healing factor? No way buddy. I /wish/. Do you know how many lives I could save if I did? I gotta have down time. Nothing special about me." Her walk was slow as ever, still holding onto her side as she gives him a side-long glance. "You're not from here, are you? Your cadence and jargon is weird."

Says the girl with the Gotham accent.

At that his smile turns wry, those eyes glowing faintly brighter and leaving slight trails in the air behind him. "Was born in Joisey." His expression is amused as he extends a hand and offers her his shoulder. "Though, to be fair, I spent a lot of time in Greece, so yeah you could say I have a weird accent." As he speaks he makes to lift her arm gently over his shoulder and then encourages her to put her weight on him.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you are somewhat new to this, aren't you?" As he holds her upright she can feel the subtle shift of the strength in his arms, and the strong warmth that comes from him, definitely strange compared to most. "I mean, wow, you whupped them. But I might an… if you do this a lot you must have a terrible doctor's bill."

Wow. So his eyes were like Rudolph.. though, Rudolph only had a glowing nose. His leaves a mark when they pass. That's.. kind of cool.

His faint Jersey accent causes her to laugh just a little, not enough to disturb the pain within her ribs, easily reaching out to take his hand, which was soon wrapped around his shoulder. The lean was almost casual, like they were good friends; the masked woman with the man with glowing eyes, quite the pair they would make.

"Oh.." She murmurs quietly, almost wistfully. "I've always wanted to go to Greece, and various parts of the world that I don't have readily access to.."

She doesn't say much after, he hit the head right on the mark. There wasn't shame, just quiet contemplation. "It's a little high, but I work some of it off by fixing things that need to be fixed around the clinic. Though, I doubt it's open at this time of the night so I'd have to go in the morning."

"Well," Alexander's voice is a casual thing at the moment, as if this were an everyday occurrence, escorting a vigilante to somewhere for medical attention. "I seem to have more money in my pocket than I would have if those guys had gotten their way, so what do you say we go somewhere that's open?" As he says this he continues walking with her, supporting her as she moves, but then frowning sidelong at her as their pace is still a touch slow.
"Or is there someone you can call? Only people I know even somewhat nearby are in Metropolis and that's a bit of a commute." When she perhaps misses a step he takes that moment to turn and slip an arm behind her hips… then lift her gently into his arms… almost effortlessly as if he was much stronger than his lithe physique lets on. "Sorry about this, faster this way. You can get even with me after you heal."

"Noo noo.." Harper draws out, "Honestly. This all can wait until morning. I have someone waiting for me at home. And if he doesn't see me where when he wakes up.." She clenches her jaw, her head hanging low as they continue that slow pace. It was comfortable to her. Besides, there were no baddies out; the ones that were, were currently sleeping in a pool of their own pee. Just like Harper likes it.

"I can't call anyone." She still wasn't hooked up with the Bat and his crew, so as of now, she's still on her lonesome. "I don't think I feel comfortable leaving the city with my brother at home. Besides, I don't think I can deal with Metropolis. That place is all sunshine and rainbows and death. And even then, it's like.. happy death with killer butterflies and apple pies.." She laughs aloud at that mental image, groaning a little bit in pain, her steps catching up with her until she's lifted as if she were nothing but a doll. "Woah.."

Her hero, right? But wasn't she his a few moments ago? "You bet your ass I will. Just so you know, I don't approve of this." She was totally lying. He was handsome, -and- he carried her? Gag her with a spoon! Or a fork.. no, that would hurt. "You're pretty strong…"

* OOC Time: Sun Apr 19 18:57:03 2015 *

The pace is steady as they walk, his arms terribly firm and offering at least some shelter from the woes of the world. He is, at least, setting a better pace than her shuffling earlier on. "Well then we're going to Gotham General. A doctor there owes me a favor." He says this matter of factly but then she makes her comment about his strength and he replies with a casual smile, "I work out," And easy as that he offers such a strong explanation.
"Though…" He turns a corner and keeps on strolling, "Might be amusing if those guys you whupped up on showed up there as well. Hm."

Harper didn't feel the need to hang on to his neck as tight as she does, but it keeps her grounded and centered. The stride was right enough to not jostile her injuries, but every now and then a pang of pain overtakes her and she's left with a catch and hitch of her breath.

"I think if we go to Gotham General they're going to call the police. And they're going to take off my 'mask'. And my cover is going to be blown. Everyones going to know who I am and my stint as Bluebird is over.."

She grunts just a little, her head shaking briefly. "Not funny dude. Totally not cool at all, you're speaking that crap into existence."

"Well," Alexander turns his head to the side, red eyes smouldering slightly giving two faint pinpricks of light against the tapestry of Gotham's night sky. To her right now he's just this silhouette that is occasionally lit by the errant street lamp they pass, "You may need to decide if you trust me. I can tell you right now I can guarantee you that my doctor friend won't care and will tend to you…" He looks away, still holding her gently and trying to avoid any movement that would cause her to gasp in pain. "But then those are all but words if in turn you do not believe me. So it's up to you."
"We can stop here and go our separate ways… or not."

"You don't seem like a bad person." She states obviously. If he was, he could do away with her easily, and not get her to a hospital. "Though, you're probably in it for the long con and want to get at my throat because I've done something that you don't particularly like." The possibilities were endless. She doesn't mention Batman, not at all. She was on her own, mostly.

This was a hard decision to make, one that allowed her to remain quiet for the while, her gaze falling upon the path that they take as they get closer and closer to the hospital. If she were dead or dying? He'd probably see her face either way. Besides.. everyone had someone to lean on.

And most of the time, she felt like she was alone in this world. "Alright.." Her gloved hand lifts to bunch along her face, pulling and tugging away the cloth that covers her lips. The mask that covers her eyes stays on, there was no point in removing that. Her lip was obviously swollen, jaw horribly bruised. There may be even a hairline fracture.. but she still continued to blab.

"Call me Bluebird."

There are moments for Alex where he realizes that he is not so elevated nor beyond humanity to still feel in touch with their lives. It's a reminder of his past, and who he really is. Not Phobos, not pure divinity. Inside his heart and thoughts he's still the son of a construction worker from Jersey, "Alex. Alex Aaron." He tells her this with such a curious openness that it surprises him himself.
They continue walking and he's making decent time, though they're still a few blocks away. He turns his gaze back upon her as he says levelly, "If we're going full disclosure here… I should kind of admit that when you so nobly leapt to my defense that I could have perhaps helped you." A slightly apologetic smile is there in his eyes and just the corner of his mouth. "My father made sure I was able to defend myself in most situations. But then you swooped down so heroic. It was amazing. I was impressed, flattered. And I in part froze because I didn't know the ettiquette of such a situation. I imagined if you were the Bat person you might mislike it if I got in your way."

"Just Alex?" She asks, but remains silent after all.

Even after the little confession, she keeps her mouth shut, her gaze turning to view the streets and those who seemingly shuffle home after a hard days work, paying attention to nothing but their own safety as they disappear from sight. "But we're not going full disclosure here.. I didn't even tell you my real name." In which she wouldn't, she had a code to follow, besides, he's seen enough.

"What you don't know, well.. then. It couldn't hurt you." She draws her hand up to smooth her hair away from her face. "I would like to think that I am part of the that crew. But.." Her voice trails off for a moment. She hadn't earned her stripes in the form of direct communication, but she won't give up. "That.. Alex. Is a story for another day."

They step around a corner and distantly she can probably see the glow of the hospital sign and the long red glowing lights of emergency vehicles in the parking lot. His footsteps, however, carry him towards the staff entrance even as he walks with her. "Then I'd say we're about even." Those red eyes slide away from her as he looks off to their destination. "I didn't tell you my other name. We each must keep our secrets, must'nt we?"
Once they start up the ramp that leads towards the rear entrance, he very gently lets her down against the railing to help support her weight along with his arm to support. "One moment,"
From his pocket he pulls a small white phone that he activates with a thumb swipe. He then scrolls through some names… a few more, then hits call. There are a few rings, "Susan, hello." He smiles as he speaks, "Afraid not, I'm here at your work. Yes, really. Oh good you can get some time off? Wonderful, I'd love to see you. I have a friend here who needs your help." There's a pause, then he answers, "Yes, you know how things can be, work hard, play hard. Roller derby injuries. Indeed. Great see you soon."

"But of course." Harper comments, actually giving a slight bow of her head as she lifts with a brief smile. But once she was out of his arms, she wraps one of her own around the railing so that she could draw her hand upright to carefully peel and pry at her mask. For such a young one, she was beat up decently, old.. faint bruises that were once prominent upon her features have slowly faded, recent cuts beneath the chin that gives her an almost native american look..

The phone call was listened in on, even though it was one sided, a slight smirk drawn upon her face as she shoves her items into her back pocket. She leans there, her body hunkering down, her hand gripping her side now as she coughs with a jarring weight that has her spitting up blood.

To the side.

She was a lady after all.

"Girlfriend?" She asks. Steer the conversation more towards him, it works best that way.

At that the slightly amused smile returns on Alexander's features. He closes the phone and slides it into a jacket pocket as he turns to look back at her directly. Something about those eyes, they're intimidating, making one think of things in the dark lurking. But with a tinge of fear there's often something exhilarating. "Still full disclosure?"
He leans back against the railing beside her, just in case she should buckle. "We met at a club once, slept together now and again since then, but I don't think we consider the other a boyfriend or girlfriend." He looks at her askance and smiles a touch sadly, "I am not a very good person with relationships."

She rolls her back against the bannister, both hands reaching back to grip so that she could remain upright. The force of it all draws out a few wheezes, but it was nothing that she hasn't ever felt before. She's been tossed around a lot. Eventually, she'll start to hear white noise before the pain hits.

She nods at the mention of full disclosure, keeping herself quiet for now, but the expression upon her face is priceless enough for her to let out a little chuckle. "We never are." She confesses. "My type. That is." She corrects. "We're all doom and gloom and eventually someone loses an eye."

She pauses.

"Or gets MRSA." Good ol' Narrows humor.

For a moment it looks like Alex is going to respond, but then the door opens and a young woman in a white jacket stands there, looking between them. She's tall, statuesque and attractive, she's got the look of one of those beautiful people that the world bends over backwards for. Bright blue eyes shift to Alex, then Harper, then back to Alex. "Alexander!" She says happily, "So glad to see you," She makes a quick air kiss to his cheek but then looks to Harper, "Though under better circumstances. Let's get you seen to, dear girl."
Alex smiles and tells her, "Susan, this is Blue. She could use your help and I would consider it a personal favor if you tended to it yourself. I'll handle any bills if needs be."

Harper makes a slight noise that was akin to a laughter until the door opens; her body bristling, already on guard and ready to fight or flight if need be. It was a natural reaction with the wounded vigilante, and as she alights her eyes upon the woman, she was ready to hurl slurs at the woman because..

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!

She was gorgeous! It was enough to make Harper swing by the sides with her tongue lolling out. She had no words for this moment, only watching the two interact with a slight furrow of her brow, her teeth gritted as she pushes herself from the railing to draw an arm around the woman as she takes her in.

She stops for that brief moment, one hand striking out towards the wall as she glances back over her shoulder. "Seein' you around. I guess." She tries to smile, but the woman drags her on in.

A small rueful, almost… apologetic smile is seen there on Alexander's features as he stands at the back door while Susan starts to take Harper off into the hospital. "We'll talk again soon,"
Meanwhile inside the hallway, Susan quickly gets a wheelchair for Harper, starting to get a room set as she looks about mentally for what she'll need. "Don't worry, hon. Everything will be fine." She urges the girl to take a seat and prepares to wheel her down the hall.

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