Gotham Nights - Don't Say a Word

Gem shot a quick glance at the gossips before going back to work, though her mind was still stuck on their words. What was that all about? She wondered what happened to that cop. She hoped they were okay. Gem had thought that everything had been fine when she left, but it seemed not.

The girl really wished that life would be and stay simple.

She shook her head when she realized she'd make a mistake and went back to correct it. She gave a small sigh. English was definitely her favorite subject, but tests were bad no matter what the class...

What a test! From the looks on his classmates' faces, Davey could only assume that the question were quite difficult. He had taken his time to himself to work on the camera he had carried in with his bag. Calibrations, such a boring affair, but any aspiring actor/director would have nothing but the best for his equipment. The teacher had dismissed the class, and most of the students had made it their mission to run to freedom as soon as possible. The talk of a party was in the air, but he wouldn't want to go. He had plans.

He also wanted to find the girl he had sat next to before it was too late.

Gem stretched as the class ended. What a strange day this had been. She honestly couldn't remember how long it had been since the last time someone tried. She was glad Davey hadn't been like the last ones though. The last ones had been trying to confirm some gossip about her and had freaked her out so bad that she had to make them disinterested in her.

She really, REALLY could not handle people.

Gem shoved all of her stuff into her bag and began the trip home. Hughie would be visiting today, and she wanted to hurry up and see him. With that in mind, Gem began to hurry home.

"Hey!"

Davey had ran out after her, but Gem had been far too down the road to stop now. He hung his head a little, but he knew that there was no time to be bummed right now! There was practice for Macbeth! He turned, mumbling his lines over and over and he steadily jogged through the halls.

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The midnight hour was close at hand, and yet Gotham was still as alive as it always seemed to be. With the lights of the city, one could easily forget that it was late at night. A branch of the Gotham National Bank had been closed for a few hours, but it's occupants had not yet left. They sat at their desks, counting the money, a security guard or two patrolling. All was calm, all was peaceful.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The facade of the building was blown in, debris rocketing through the air and crashing into the occupants, burying them under the rubble. A stray brick caught a security guard in the head, knocking him unconscious. Before the other could act, a bullet flew through the air, catching him in the shoulder. A clerk crawled out from under their desk, dust covering their clothes and face. They coughed, quickly hitting the silent alarm before looking up to the blast zone. A few bricks turned and stumbled as a lone form strode over the mound. A light brown duster coat flowed in the open air, black pants and boots protecting the feet of the attacker. He brushed a piece of rubble off of his chest, clearing out the red and black shirt he wore. A grin came to his face, which was hidden in almost it's entirety by gray bandages.

"Who.....who are you? What are you do-"

The clerk's rant was silence by the man's reaction, a single finger coming up to his lips.

"Shhhhhhhhhh."

He aimed and pulled the trigger, then continued on his way to the vault.

Meanwhile, the silent alarm did not go silent to other masked individuals. The bat had quickly suited up, taking off into the night sky, but for once, he was running late. The grinning assassin Cheshire shot across the rooftops, stepping over the side of the building. A field built up along the palms of his gloves and the sole sof his boots, clinging to the side as he literally ran down the building.

This could be a lead to his mark.

She kept telling herself that it wasn't a good idea, but Gem felt the need to go roof-running again. She was really glad to see Hughie again, who was just as sweet and adorable as ever, but seeing him also always made her sad. There was really too much sad in the world. Hopefully he would get better soon. But whenever she was upset roof-running seemed to calm her down the most.

Gem eventually decided to go, figuring that as long as she didn't follow any strangers into vents she'd be fine. So with a quick pat to the stray cat that seemed to live on their roof (she really needed to name her, she was practically theirs by now...) Gem was off.

Of course, it was just her luck that she was heading towards the people she hoped to never have to see again.

As she ran, the rockets of the batman whipped overhead, heading closer and closer to the crime scene unfolding. For the second night in Gotham, peace was not going to be had.

The bandaged felon had arrived to the safe. A strange move for any thief, he wore no gloves. It was as if the bandages were for show, and he had now intention of hiding his identity. He ran his hand on the safe, frowning as he saw the locking mechanism. It required a hand print to open. He looked down to his feet, finding the unconscious guard, and lifting up his hand, placing it on the scanner. A quick go through brought out the indication that all was ready, and the door unlocked. He tossed the man away like common trash and opened the door, stepping into the vault. He scanned through the files, coming across a small drawer labeled "B.W." He slide the drawer open, finding the true worth. Yes, among the thousands of dollars in cash, what he held in his hands were far more valuable.

The identity and stocks of Bruce Wayne.

He walked out calmly, slipping the folder in which the files were held into his jacket. He stood in the night air for a moment, ready to leave, only to be cut off by the whirring of a blade in the air. He leaned back, a crescent-shape shuriken spiking into the wall behind him.

"I was expecting Batman."

"I wasn't expecting to see a dead man."

The shadows left the mask of Cheshire as he stepped into the street lights, hands at the ready to draw whatever tools needed.

"Put them down, don't need blood all over the goods."

"I think not."

The bandaged man took off, leaping onto the fire escape of a nearby building and running up it with a great pace. Cheshire, not to be outdone, let loose his grappling hook, connecting to the rooftop his target was running to. He zipped up, ready to go on the hunt.

Gem paused as Batman flew overhead. Again? Why did all of the crime in the city seem to happen in her general vicinity these past few days? Maybe she was exaggerating, but at this rate, it certainly didn't feel like she was.

She sighed, but then went on running. Her favorite building to just kind of be on wasn't far off, and she figured she'd go there before heading home. Normally she went farther, but the girl did not want to risk running into any trouble tonight.

Of course this was a fruitless effort as she saw a stranger and the person from yesterday come up the other side of her favorite building.

She quickly let herself fall and hang on the ledge she had been climbing up. Why? Why was this happening to her? Three weird happenings in two days! Gem resisted the urge to bang her head against the brick wall in front of her. Instead she simply moved over to the nearby fire escape and dropped onto one of the steps, wincing when it squeaked. Hopefully they didn't hear that, but either way she wouldn't be moving for a while if she didn't want to risk getting caught.

With that thought and a mental sigh, Gem peeked over the edge of the building, wondering what was going on this time.

The bandaged man had begun his charge across the roof, only to be followed by the heavy thuds of Cheshire behind him, charging at full-speed. He tackled the man to the ground, aiming a punch as the bandaged man rolled out of the way, the first hitting the roof and sending cracks across it! Cheshire recovered just as the man got to his feet and pulled from his jacket two pistols, letting loose at least a dozen rounds down on him, each bullet connecting and dragging the impact point back a bit. The casings hit the ground, but no blood fell with it. At the point of impact, the clothing Cheshire wore had hardened solid and took the shots, but of course he had felt them all.

The bandaged man was slightly taken back but didn't stop long enough to give any true emotion or opening away. Cheshire kneed up and pulled his knife free, running straight for his target. The man fired again and again, his desperation taking away from his aim, a bullet or two deflecting off of the frame of his attacker. He was struck again, this time in the head by a punch, the slight sound of bandages ripping filling their ears. He stumbled back just as Cheshire readied his knife, looking to the man who know clutched at the exposed blonde hair in shock. It was slicked back, and from what he could recognize, the bone structure of the head very thin. The man took the initiative of reaching into his jacket before the grinning masked man struck again, and pulled a small black orb which he smashed on the ground, unleashing a large smokescreen!

"Damn!"

It took him a minute to react. Cheshire had to activate the infrared mode of his mask, everything he saw became a shade of red, the smoke serving as nothing but light veil to a bright red humanoid form, leaping from the roof top to another. An easy shot. Cheshire had pulled his pistol taking the time to aim. He lined the target up perfectly, and immediately his hand was struck! A batarang ricocheted away, just as the bandaged man fled. Cheshire could only chuckle, he'd never get to fire this gun, apparently.

"Twinkle, Twinkle, little bat. How I wonder where you're at."

The bat touched down on the roof, preparing himself for a fight.

"You let him get away. I was doing your job for you."

The bat grimaced to his words.

"My job isn't to kill someone. My job is to keep people like you off the streets as much as him."

Gem couldn't help but stare. As bad as it was that people were fighting and trying to kill each other, it was kinda like an action movie. Or a train wreck, seeing as she couldn't look away. It all depended on the point of view, she supposed.

When the Batman appeared, Gem once again wondered if she should leave. Murphy's law dictated that if she stayed she would most surely get involved with this, but leaving was going to cause a good deal of noise as well. It was a lose-lose situation for her. With that in mind she figured that she might as well stay still and watch and hope that nothing bad happened, to herself or either of them.

Argh! If only her powers worked on the smiling person! Then she could calm them both down, make them leave, leave herself, and everything would be fine.

Stupid Murphy.

"I didn't kill him. You have nothing against me. Your attack of me would be worth nothing more than personal enjoyment."

The grinning masked man chuckled through the electronic filter, leaning in a little closer to the bat who had not let off of his defensive stance.

"Is it that the noble Batman has become a common bully?"

The bat frowned.

"You know, he's getting away."

Batman looked between Cheshire and the direction the thief had ran in. Despite his intense want to punch this psycho in the face, he was right. That man had run away with who knows what, and he was top priority. He loosened up.

"You're lucky. Any other time you'd be locked up. Put the gun away, stay out of my business or else I'll have to take you down next time."

The bat then took off, Cheshire following his path with his eyes.

"and I do look forward to that time. The Batman, mad as a hatter. Heh, aren't we all?"

He placed the gun back into it's holster and shook his head. He then said a sentence that would send a chill down the back of a young girl's spine.

"You can come out now."

Stupid Murphy indeed...

Gem nearly squeaked in surprise when the person called her out. How did they know she was there? Did they actually or were they bluffing? The girl once again resisted the urge to bang her head against the brick. Why had life decided to become so complicated recently?

Well, if she tried to leave it wasn't going to get her anywhere fast. By the looks of it they were probably trained for this sort of thing (whatever it was) and they'd catch her in a heartbeat. Not to mention she was rather curious herself.

With an audible sigh, Gem poked her head over the side of the building and waved to the strange person.

"Don't worry, I bite much, depending on the answers you give."

He turned to face the girl. There was no sway in his body, no nervous tick, no way to determine the mentality of the mystery man, and yet that blasted grin painted over his helm still shown clear as day. He crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head slightly. He had picked up on her leap to the wall. She didn't make much sound, but it was enough for him to know she was there. It was the same girl from the night before. One run in was a coincidence, two was obviously suspicious.

"Why are you following me?"

Gem shook her head. "I...I'm not, actually." She told the gunman quietly. "Not tonight at least. Yesterday I was curious about who went in the vent. So I did follow you, but I wasn't following you...?" She trailed off for a moment, unsure if that made any sense to them. The girl went on anyway. "Tonight was...unlucky. I like to take runs across the roofs. It's fun. Safer than the streets and alleys. And you were all on my favorite roof to relax on..."

It was admittedly very easy to talk to a masked person wearing full body armor. No chance of eye contact or skin contact. It was rather comforting, in a strange way.

The teenager shrugged a bit. "But...I don't have any proof, I guess..."

One could feel his eyebrow raising under the mask. He walked to the edge of the building, looking down into the alley. Things have changed from how buildings used to be. Even the lowest high-rises were twice the size of their past counter parts.

"You.......run across buildings and risk your life..........for fun?"

The masked man turned back to look to the girl. He could smell her fear from where he stood, even under the helm. It was a delightful scent, and at this moment he began to piece things together. Strange happenings seemed to come in the presence of this girl. In that,a small chuckle came through electrically. That chuckle turned into a laugh, and those laughs grew louder!

"You're absolutely mad! I love it!"

Well, this guy certainly had the stereotypical evil villain maniacal laughter down.

"Yes?" She offered up timidly. What was so funny? It was true. There was a far higher chance of her running into criminals on a nighttime stroll through the city than her falling to her doom due to a miscalculated jump. And she certainly knew which she'd choose if she had to pick a way to die.

And she amused the strange person because of this. If it were possible, this would be the cue for slowly backing away...

"And, um, yay?"

"Yay, indeed. Being Mad is fine. I certainly am."

He folded his arms over his chest, tilting his head to the other side. The fun was over, he just needed to get to the points.

"So you aren't following me, eh? Well it seems coincidence must not be on your side, little girl. You find yourself stumbling into the scum of Gotham City two nights in a row. Yet, I can't seem to think you're just an average teenager."

He stepped a bit closer to the girl, trying to test her boundaries in terms of mental stability.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about the sudden pacification of The Batman and The Royal Flush Gang the other night, would you? I should include myself into the mix as well. It was.....soothing."

The painted grin did not help remove the slight tinge of insanity as he spoke.

"H-Huh?" Started Gem, before mentally cringing. THAT was certainly convincing. 5 star performance right there. "I-I didn't really...see anything. It was kinda dark...there wasn't that much light. I don't remember seeing anything strange, and I was mostly focused on you anyway...but it did get kind of quiet at one point? Is that what you were talking about?"

The teenager trailed off for a moment before going on. "I fell pretty soon after I recall it becoming quiet though, so I don't really know anything else..." She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't remember any real 'soothing' feeling. Sorry."

"Right."

His response was obviously sarcastic. In truth, figuring the source of said calming sensation was easily done just from the small amount of proof he had. His mind ran at speeds the normal human wouldn't comprehend. It was enough to drive a man.....insane. Luckily, he wouldn't have that problem.

"Well, either way your appearance has been documented. Once would have been passable, but twice has now set you up for investigation."

He tapped the side of his helm.

"Everything I see is recorded and sent to my employer. You seem nice. Nice can get me killed, so it's better that you tell me what I need to know before they decide to look into things. What's your name, may I ask?"

...Well that wasn't creepy at all. Either way Gem gave a small polite wave to whoever this employer person was.

"D-Do I really have to?" The girl really didn't want to give her name to this guy. That was just asking for trouble. A named could be traced very far and very easily nowadays. But was it any safer not telling them? They could kill her. They could kill her and she had little doubt that they wouldn't laugh about it, and even less that they couldn't care less about doing it. And even if she lied and they let her live, would she be safe? They might be able to figure it out on their own some way.

Closing her eyes the girl just wished that the world would leave her alone for a little while.

She sighed.

"I..." She stopped for a moment as her voice failed her before trying again. "I'm Gem."

"Gem. That's a nice name."

The masked man bowed to her. How terribly rude of him! He had asked for her name before he had introduced himself.

"You can call me Cheshire."

He straightened his back, placing his hands to his sides. He noted how uncomfortable the girl was. It wasn't exactly his job to ruin the lives of young girls.

"Your capabilities to which you may or may not possess could be useful in the near future. I can understand the fear of what you've witnessed. It's not entirely normal. However, while I've seen you, chances are some of the scum in this city have as well. Consider yourself safe, though."

He reached into his pocket, removing from it a small device similar to a walkie talkie. He placed it on the ground and slid it toward her.

"You stay under my protection as long as you're willing to go along for the ride. No matter the choice you make, you're already a part of this now. You can leave and go home without another word, but the remainder of the gang, and.........whoever that was, they know your face. They'll try to find you, to hurt you. They'll try to hurt those close to you."

His tone seemed to shift at the phrase 'those close to you', as if a sudden pain came to his heart. Though it flashed away, overwhelmed again by a wave of calmness.

The teen nodded and took the device without a word. She had been afraid of that. More than anything, she had been afraid of the possibility of her loved ones getting hurt. Or rather, loved one. There was really only one now.

Gem winced with the sudden burst of emotional pain from Cheshire. What was that about? Had he been reminded of something painful or were her powers being weird? They just didn't seem to work normally around this guy. Or was it because she herself was feeling so upset now that it was weird? She didn't know. It sure felt like him.

But it was none of her business.

She looked up at Cheshire, waiting for a dismissal or otherwise.

"I'm sorry that you had to join in the fun this way."

He nodded to the girl. She had been picked up into the heat of battle by a couple of bad choices. It was a shame, but at the same time she had a set of skills that would be very useful to Cheshire and his assignment. He would not let them pass.

"Rest for a week. I assume we have enough time. You can sleep soundly, you and your loved ones will be fine. When I call for you, be ready."

He began to step back without another word, the light around his form bending to his will as the beams were turned away and he became all but invisible. With that, he leaped from the building, disappearing into the night

Gem nodded again, not waiting to even see Cheshire's dramatic exit before turning and beginning the run home.

This was insane. This was absolutely insane. She wished she could say that she was dreaming, but she could never conjure up a nightmare like this. But even knowing that she couldn't stop wishing that she would just wake up already. How had this happened? She'd just been in the wrong place in the wrong time and now she was roped into who knows what!

Gem didn't stop running until she was home.

That restless weak had passed by as slowly as one would expect. Passing thoughts of thieves, masked men, and bats would be enough to drive anyone off of the edge in nerves, and yet school would not rest for anyone. The halls of Gotham High emptied into their classes, ready for it all to begin again.

A certain video student sat in the back, playing around with the features on his camera. He had a few shots he wanted to get that night, and he needed his camera at the top condition.

Gem stifled a yawn as she entered class and walked towards her desk. She'd had the strangest dream last night. She always seemed to get weird dreams or nightmares when she was stressed out, which didn't help in the slightest. Luckily, though, there hadn't been any actual nightmares yet.

The girl had taken up her da's offer to stay home the day after her second encounter with Cheshire. She had honestly just needed to calm herself down, and had spent the day training and exercising and teaching the students. She hadn't dared go roof-running, though she did run around the building quite a bit. But she knew that she couldn't avoid life forever, so Gem went to school the day after. It was a bit calming too, in it's own mundane way.

Still, she couldn't help but feel a surge of panic whenever she put her hand into her pocket and remember that the device from that night was still there.

With another muffled yawn, Gem sat down in her usual seat, wondering what was going to happen today.