Fandom Gotham

[Kassandra Rose]

[Anytime. There's no rush. I'm glad you're okay! x]



"Hello there! This is Catherine from UPS," J mimicked, as he left her side to get some real toys out. What to use? What to use? That one, definitely, that looked nice and pointy. Oh, and lookie there, that looked like it'd make a nice bang. Although, he didn't want to become too predictable. Perhaps one explosion in a night was enough? Nah, he'd take it, just incase. You never knew, an explosion could come in handy at anytime.

When he approached, it looked like she seemed to be finished. Was it really that easy to get ahold of rich people? If so, what had he been paying them idiots for? All that wasted money. God, he really needed to get with technology, google and shit. What even was a UPS? Or where was it, if it was a place?

Smacking his lips, J approached with an embracisve smile. "How did it go?" He held his arms out, to welcome the good news. And it was going to be good news. He wouldn't stand for any less. "Have you got the address?" His sharp eyes scanned her, in search of a reaction, and yet could find very little. Of course, this only piqued his interest more. He was very used to being able to just read people.

"I have a little toy box over there, if y'wanna take a few. I have to say, though, it's a first. I'm not much of a..." he paused, flashing his teeth in an unnerving smile. "Sharer. HA! HA! HA! Hm". That wasn't a new thing either, had even extended through childhood. Although, he wasn't about to go and say that was he? J never revealed his past to anybody.

"Are we bringing guns?" He sat at the table, placing his picks before her like a proud child who'd won a trophy or found something highly valuable. Propping his cheeks in his hands, and elbows upon the table, he watched her from a short distance. Excitement was clear in his voice, perky and upbeat, "I personally think that they're a little to clean for something fun, but your call". He wanted her to enjoy this, killing for fun. Her first time had to be special enough to destroy that thread of sanity that held her back.

***


​

His vow brought a forlorn smile to her face, tugging slightly upon the corners of her lips as if they were attached to strings. His parents would be so proud of him. She wanted to word this, but her words somehow failed her, going stale in her throat before they even had a chance to meet the air. Instead, she merely watched him. Her soft eyes trailed from where he held her hands in his own, right up to his flawless face.

When did little old Brucie Bear become so damn intimidating? "Of course," she replied weakly, to his suggestion of tea. How could she refuse that? She had, after all, spent such a significant portion of her life in England. "Only because I know that you're simply craving to be in my company," she joked, attempting to lighten up the shit show that had been her life today.

Sitting down, she picked up her cup of tea, adding the tiniest splash more of milk. Unlike Bruce, she didn't add sugar. That was how the weak hearted drank their tea, she'd comment had she felt up to it. She didn't. Instead, she raised the steaming liquid to her lips and sipped it ever so gently, enjoying the burning sensation that stung along the back of her throat.

"Hey, I heard you left school to be home schooled," she said, placing the fine china cup back down ever so gently. There was a tiniest clink of the glass against the saucer. "What happened?" In her soft eyes was the gentle torment of concern. Alike Bruce, she held those she cared for dearly, and having a big heart, this often extended to a lot of people.

 

[e u n o i a]

[You're so lovely thank you! I've been in the process of slowly packing to move to another city hours away so it's a little crazy! x]

---​

"Great. Thank you so much for your time. Enjoy your day." Scarlett finished up on the phone, the tail end of her statement coming across the slightest bit eerie due to the unnecessary amount of friendliness packed into her tone. Truth be told, it may have been a mix of the role she was playing, the cheerful UPS worker, and the ever growing excitement blooming in her chest as they became one step closer to their end goal.

"You bet I did." The redhead assured J, offering a cheeky wink as she tucked her phone away into her back pocket. "I told you I would impress you with the way I can get shit done." She added with a subtle shrug of her shoulders. Her livelihood rested on the fact that she could get things done neatly and efficiently; if she couldn't maintain such a useful trait, she was confident that she wouldn't be in the business she was comfortably living off of. She very much took pride in the fact that she could pull through with her quick thinking and character playing skills.

Toy box, huh? Jinx cocked an eyebrow in interest as she made her way to the box of goodies. Frankly, she was most confident in using firearms, having the most experience with them, but there was a part of her that really wanted to impress the green haired man. What good would she be if she could only handle a silly gun? A monkey could do the same - mind you, not as well as she could in her own opinion.

"Well, we wouldn't want our first hunt together to be boring, would we?" She murmured, crossing her arms over her chest as she peered down at what he had chosen. A lovely variety it seemed, and of course, explosives. The sounds of guns were one thing, but the explosion that went off in the club she was working at earlier that night made her ears ring. However, that being said, she supposed that it may be something to get used to if she would be hanging around longer than one night.

Humming indecisively, Jinx reached down into the box of wonders and pulled out something that she assumed would be for close combat. It looked like it perhaps could have passed as something relative to a baseball bat, but it no longer held the same shape. Opposite to the handle was a large, smooth metal ball which seemed to be messily splattered in paint. Propping the toy over her shoulder, the swung it in a way as if she was testing what it would feel like to knock someone's lights out with it. After gliding it through the air a couple of times, she nodded her head in approval.

"I like this one."

---​

"Can you blame me?" Bruce asked in response to her joke, though his smile resurfaced, softly gracing his lips, it was only half meant to be a joke. Could she, or anyone for that matter, actually blame him for wanting to be in her presence after reuniting after a painful amount of time apart? At one point, she was the only friend he had, and despite the time they had been away from one another, it still felt the same. If anything at all, he felt closer to her in that short time of bonding the two of them had, even if it wasn't over the most happy of circumstances.

The two of them had gone through very similar tragedies, and although he wished that neither of them had to witness or live through something so horrific as losing family, he felt as though it pulled them together further. They could relate on such deeper term than kids who bonded over their favourite shows or hobbies. Despite the fact that he would have loved to be there for Abelle while she was grieving, perhaps it was for the best that the two of them were separated, rather than wallowing in sadness together. It wouldn't have been healthy at the time during their formative years, besides, he could be there for her now.

"Oh, yeah." The brunette furrowed her brows slightly when school was mentioned. He didn't want to drop everything onto the table regarding his training or any part of that side of his life. Hell, the only person who knew everything about him like that was Alfred. It didn't make sense to have anyone know, it was his best kept secret, and he intended on keeping it that way for as long as he could.

"You know, things got really hard after everything happened. I couldn't focus, and kids were awful." He responded, bringing the tea cup to his lips as he finished his statement, taking a sip of the sweetened tea. It was comforting, soothing, and just what the two of them needed, he thought. "What about you? How was school all the way in England?" He asked curiously, making sure not to ask too hastily to make it look like he was trying to take the spotlight off of himself.

 

[Kassandra Rose]

[I hope it all went okay!! Didn't know you were moving. You'll have to let me know how things are. Sorry about the wait btw].



Problems only seemed to be growing day by day. Though, being a visionary, that did not matter to J. It was a mere hurdle to jump over. They all were. Sure, he'd killed a fair few of his men. Men were replaceable, especially broken ones. Yet, the issue of the Abelle girl was a little more difficult than he would've liked. Not only did he have to kill her, which was actually a pretty natural skill for him, but also find out what she knew and who exactly she had told.

Then, of course, there was the more permenant issue: the bat infestation. The man always seemed to know his plans, even before J did, given the fact that he wasn't exactly the type to plot ahead. Could you call Batsy a problem? J wasn't exactly sure. Had he wanted to get rid of him, he probably could have a long time ago. He certainly would've tried a little harder.

J observed her, his head tilted rightward, as she fumbled through his toy box. His eyes did not move from her face, watching as her eyes gleamed with every new toy she picked up or quickly ran her fingers along. "Hm. You suit that," he found himself verbally wording, as she swung the bat in a trial run. It was the truth, in purest form. There was something about the weighty item in her hands that reflected her nature. Perchance, it was how honest it seemed and yet so incredibly savage. It took little effort to kill a man by firing a gun, but taking a life with a mere bat required guts and, to a larger extent, insanity.

"Keep it," he nodded towards the doorwa, awaiting for her to follow him. He leaned upon the wooden frame, crossing one leg before the other. He had a feeling that it would be more useful, for him, with her than in the box decaying. She was a sticker. J could sense it. Once she got a taste of this life, how it felt to be free from societal chains of sanity, he was certain that she'd never want to leave his side. Deep down, perhaps he would want that too.

* * *​

His words made her stomach turn a little where she sat. She ought to have been there for him in his time of need, as he had always been for her and apparently still always was. "I'm very sorry to hear that," Abelle almost whispered, biting back the watery droplets that had begun to gather in her soft azure eyes. "I- you know I would have stayed if I could". A small hand reached out to squeeze his own, but paused just before she could reach him; Bruce had never been one for pity, had always, to a considerable extent, despised it.

"England was somewhat of a whirlwind," was the best way to describe it, not wishing to press and further, or intrude on his personal life. "I got involved with the wrong type of girls, caught up in some very questionable things and basically did whatever I could to take my mind off-" she didn't really want to think about it. "It got to the point where I could convince myself that it wasn't real, because I wasn't me. If I weren't me, then he weren't him, you know?" Only, there was just one way that rollercoaster went, and that was straight down a very dark path.

"Eventually, I came to see the light. Although, I'm not sure how I wasn't excluded before I did," some of the things her group had gotten up to in school were ridiculous, not to to mention the- "they began to go a little bizarre, the girls. One day, the main one, Maya, brought in four tiny little goldfish in a small plastic bag. Her idea was to put them in our friends water bottle, when she weren't looking. Of course, they didn't fit, and the fish thus became... useless. So, they went out and found a use".

It sounded ridiculous but it become a pivotal moment in her life. "They were going to kill them, and not in a quick and easy way either". She shook her head, her soft white locks bouncing ever so slightly. Giving herself a moment to recollect on the memory, Abelle sat back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other. "They boiled the first two alive in the cooking d&t room. The third they..." her nose scrunched in disgust. She didn't want to think about that one. "I managed to save the other one, a little survivor".

I named him after you, she thought, but don't add that part. "I felt like a murderer for merely not stopping them, despite not being present. After that, I finished my schooling with my father's friend, who was admittedly surprised by my changed perspective on life". That was everything, really, not much else to tell. "I'm not too sure what I want to do now I'm back. Mother wants me to take over. It would've been Arthur's job but-" biting her lip, she shrugged. "I couldn't care less about work at the moment. I can't think about anything else but him, and now about what they did to him". Truth be told, had she the choice, Abelle would much rather go into the GCPD and join Captain Gordon in his pursuit of cleansing corruption, especially after what she read. Yet, such a lowly job would surely bring shame on the family.

 

[e u n o i a]

[I finally got settled in to my new house! It's so empty, though it took 3 lifetimes to pack my things! Postings should become VERY regular now that life isn't insane. ]
---

---​

"I think so too." Scarlett replied, a grin pulling at the corners of her lips as she finished her test run with the weapon. Frankly, she had mixed feelings about leaving the guns out of the picture due to her proficiency with firearms. However, to increase skill, and more importantly, impress the big guys, she knew she had to broaden her expertise. No one liked a one trick pony, they were easy to find and easy to replace. That being said, the redhead never wanted to be considered expendable.

Despite the strange feeling bubbling in her gut, along with perhaps a hint of hesitance to kill not only for fun - without compensation - but also with a tool that would require more than one shot to finish the deed. Never did she find herself dwelling on the thought of delivering a slow, torturous death to someone until then. Perhaps one could say that she was anxious about the idea of it, murdering someone with more thought than the little mind power she used to aim her gun correctly. Watching the light fade from one's eyes slowly would be a new phenomenon to her, and quite honestly, she was unsure how confident she was that she would be able to stomach it.

Killing came easily to her when she knew a few month's of rent and maybe a designer handbag would come out of it. One shot and done. There was no combating, no drawn out pain, and she never had to watch life drain out of anyone, she just had to make sure they weren't surviving her attack. Never were her hits done so intricately.

Yanked from her thoughts by J's voice slicing the air once more, Scarlett could feel herself perk up at the idea of keeping the colourful weapon. Perhaps the more she bonded with it, the more comfortable she could be. Though, if she was thinking about bonding with a tool used to cause harm and ultimately death, maybe she was already well on her way to becoming comfortable and confident.

"Thanks!" She finally replied, her grin resurfacing for a moment as she made her way over to the doorway in which he had placed himself. "We better go get some action. I'm getting bored waiting around here."

---
​

Bruce simply nodded his head at her apologies, brushing off the heaviness of the circumstances he had explained to her. Things were in the past, over and done with. He'd already started a new chapter in his life, and he didn't need to dwell on the minor details outlining why things were so low and downright shitty for him at times. There were much more important things to be dealt with than marinating in a pool of pity brought to him by his childhood friend. The small bumps in the road were long behind him, and in a way, made him stronger, and fuelled his desire to make things right himself.

Pressing his lips together, the young man attempted not to grimace at the stories he was being told. It seemed as though - to him, at least - that maybe England wasn't the most helpful thing for the young blonde if it lead down a darker path than she'd already been on. Then again, though, who was he to decide whether it was better or worse for her? His thoughts could easily be biased, as he thought, deep down, that the two of them would have been better off if they hadn't been torn apart as children. How were they supposed to cope without the support of their closest friend?

"They certainly sound like the wrong type of girls. That doesn't sound like you at all." The brunet reiterated, sipping his tea once more, though as the warm liquid passed his lips, he couldn't help but think about the boiled goldfish. What a way to put himself off of tea for the night. He placed his cup and saucer down on the coffee table, his eyes lingering on the cup for a moment before trailing back to Abelle, focusing on her words rather than the idea of drinking boiled goldfish water.

"I don't blame you for thinking that way." Bruce replied, regarding her taking over her older brother's job. Hell, after his parents' passings, he didn't believe that anyone would be able to handle the family company better, or as well as his father did, let alone himself. Trying to fill in someone's role after their passing was a hard pill to swallow, and he couldn't think any less of her for not feeling bright eyes and bushy tailed about taking her brother's place, especially after what she had just been exposed to based on the file he'd found for her,

"I don't think there's any rush to get into anything, right? You just got here." He commented, a slight shrug pulling his shoulders upward. Unless she needed something to immediately get her mind off of the things she'd found out upon returning to Gotham, why rush into something? The last thing he wanted was for her to crash and burn herself to the ground.