"They'd been watching." Misty began. "They jumped our car when you went out to see the last show and the kids were having their play date. They knew enough to know that you didn't miss the last show, but weren't able to do much when they found it was just me in the car. They couldn't risk doing anything to me, because then you would keep the kids out of reach. They couldn't go looking for the kids without someone catching them." she replied, frowning.
"They threatened to take the entire circus down if I set off any kind of alarm. Did anything that would make it harder for them to keep an eye on us. Said that Vandal and Fisk were working together... and that both of them had more than enough means to keep tabs on the circus. Slip people in as workers to keep tabs... have people attend shows to keep tabs on when we were around the train and when we were in public... dozens of hitmen that could just come in and mow down everything and make it look like some random attack..." she continued, her eyes falling onto the envelopes again. "And... that they wouldn't kill you quickly. They snuck back out as quickly as they could and high-tailed it before any of you got back to the cart. I...I was..." she began, then seemed to loose her nerve. Her grip becoming a little tighter on the envelopes. It was... easier to talk about in front of strangers. Having to talk about it in front of CJ was.... harder.
"I... I was too afraid to say anything. I thought if it just looked like everything was normal, I they'd just follow us. Then maybe I could think of something. But... the only thing I could think of was to leave the Circus. Actually go into hiding. I.... I brought that up. The night before when we had the fight. I wanted to leave but... guh" Misty's angry voice played from behind her. Misty blinked, then turned to look at Doctor Mattis, who was holding a recording device in his hand. " "He wouldn't. He didn't want to leave. I wanted him to leave but he wouldn't quit it. He didn't want to leave the Circus or work! And I couldn't say anything other than I was scare and didn't want to have announcements posted on where I was going to be EVERY month. I felt like his job was more important than us!"" her voice continued, cracking with tears.
Mattis then stopped the tape and let it fast forward a bit. Skipping over the slip about the ring. Then he let it play again. ”That day... I … I wasn't planning on going anywhere. CJ went out to get groceries, I stayed in the cart to take care of the kids. After a little while... I looked out and spotted the same guys that had jumped me before.” she explained. ”I could tell that they knew that CJ was gone again. I.... I panicked. I don't think when I panic. I just...”
She started crying again. ”I had to get the kids out of there. I couldn't just take them to another cart, because we'd be followed, and I didn't want someone else getting killed. I couldn't wait on CJ either. I... I grabbed the kids... waited for a group of workers to pass by the cart, and quickly slipped out as they were passing by. I knew they wouldn't be able to see that we'd snuck out, and I knew if I just acted like I was walking with the workers, they wouldn't think anything of it either.”
Then the tears in the voice became stronger. ”And then I just.... I kept going. I... I don't know. Fight or flight instinct kicked in and I just kept going. I told the kids that we needed to take a little vacation for the night and we'd see....” The voice choked back a sob. ”..... and we'd see Daddy again soon.”
Then her voice calmed down a bit as she tried to push the tears back. ”I should have left a note. SOMETHING. But I just got out of the cart with the kids as quickly as I could. But... but I heard that CJ had panicked, and the hitmen left the circus to go looking for me. It... I figured that if I just stayed away... they'd stay away from the circus too. CJ would be safe... he'd have his job... and when I was able to call the circus, I'd be able to contact him and explain what had happened. But... they said that he didn't work there anymore. I had no way of getting a hold of him. No way of apologizing or explaining. I never.... NEVER meant to hurt him. I just wanted... I wanted him to be safe. I wanted him to be safe and able to work and... god and he went after Savage. Lost his job... I kept running for nothing. I completely left for nothing."
With that, Doctor Mattis stopped the tape. "Perhaps that will make it a little easier to explain things."
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:49 am
C.J. listened. First at disbelief. After all, this seemed like one elaborate excuse for her just leaving. He HAD seen a few extra people around, but nobody suspicious. Just fire eaters, sword swallowers, knife-throwers and one or two security guards, but nothing too too out of the ordinary. No excuse to cut and run!
Then C.J. looked at the recorder. First he was freaking PISSED that they had recorded them. Assuming Stevens did too. Then he listened deeper . . . the deadpan snarker covering up the angry young man broke into a thousand pieces . . . leaving C.J. shaking.
"Well . . . this is one of those moments where one could have a foot in his mouth." C.J. said . . . Arell saw this as an opportunity to roundhouse-kick C.J. in the face, sending him crashing into the wall.
"OW!!! I meant FIGURATIVELY put MY foot in MY OWN mouth you goddamn psychotic, *p-TUI!* scaly little blockhead!!!" C.J. howled, holding on to his mouth. Spitting out teeth between insults as Arell looked embarrassed, scratching his head.
"Sorry, che'." Arell said, shrinking off into a corner.
"I realize being recorded probably doesn't help your moods much." Mattis began, seemingly unphased by the random act of violence that had just happened. Misty was back to being upset for her worry for CJ's health to be very noticeable. Though she was clearly more concerned with CJ's well being than the Doctors seemed to be. (Such things happened all the time in Arkham.)
"But... as I explained earlier, we're helping Doctor Gray. Since three people are visiting you each separately, it helps us to record sessions so that we can relay information more accurately to one another. I assure you that it's used only for us..." he said, then looked to Dundee. "And the Lantern can confirm that Miss Gallay did not listen to any of your recordings." he said, then turned back to the two men. "I thought it would be best to let you hear hers... that way it's not so hard for her to try and explain again it again to you."
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:25 am
C.J., still dazed, looked at the doctors. "Yeah, sure sure. Play mine. I understood enough before I got kicked in the friggin' FACE! Now where's my teeth, gator boy?" C.J. asked, more annoyed than hurt at Arell, who looked back at C.J.
"In yo' mouth, few on de floor, one in my foot." Arell said, trying to get one of C.J.'s teeth out of his foot. Apparently it got stuck when the big Cajun kicked the Marylander in the face. Then it hit him. THEY RECORDED HIS, TOO!!!
"So much for 'it'll never leave the room', eh, Doctor Stevens?" C.J. asked, staring at the man who was in the room with him.
Dundee looked at C.J. with a brow raised. "She didn't hear what you had to say, dude. Just calm down!" Dundee assured as C.J. smirked.
"Calm down? Maybe we oughta move the kids into this cell. It's too damn crazy out there! Arell and I are probably the sanest ones here . . . and we killed five people!" he replied.
"From what I gather, ALL doctor patient sessions are recorded." Doctor Stevens said. "Usually that doesn't begin until a doctor is assigned to a patient and begins sessions. But since There are three of us working to help the two of you, Doctor Gray insisted that we record our sit down's with you so that she can listen to them once she is finished tending to the Joker." he continued. "It's far easier than each of us trying to relay information."
"I assure you... both of your tapes have not been heard or discussed yet." Doctor Mattis added. "We haven't even gone over the information to each other. I don't even know what had been said in your room earlier." he said, looking to CJ. "I let you hear part of her recording, because I thought it would be easier than letting her try to re-explain what had happened."
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 10:13 am
C.J. nodded. "Okay. As long as those kids remain unharmed when I get out, I'll cooperate." he said. Then he looked at Misty.
"At least now I can see why you left." C.J. said. "At least you don't have to worry about me anymore. Just keep the kids safe . . . you can hear my half on his recording." he said, trying to hold himself together. It was hard to tell if C.J. was still legitimately angry at Misty or himself. Perhaps both? Perhaps even Arell for kicking him in the face or the Doctors for lying to him.
Arell, who seemed confused about the whole thing, looked at Misty and the doctors. Shaking his head, he looked over at Dundee.
"Well, you da embodiment of hope. Ya gon' do somethin' or stan' dere wit' yo' jaw down? We could use some!!" Arell said, after C.J. broke down crying, using the big Cajun for support.
Dundee was back and forth before using the aura on the guys, hoping it could work.
Misty's gaze meanwhile had found it's focus on the floor again. She was feeling more than a little upset with the entire situation, and there wasn't anything more she could do to make things right.
"I... I'll be coming back as much as the doctors need me to in order to help you get out of here." she said quietly. "I just wanted to see you again before I head back to check on Jack and Amanda. I didn't want to leave again without at least saying goodbye this time, and I wanted to at least explain what had happened."
Then she held the envelopes up, and slipped them through the bars for one of the two to take. "And... to give you these. There was no way to call you, and I had been hoping to track you down at some point to send these to you. When I told the twins where Dundee was taking me..." she said, then smiled a bit as she looked at the envelope under the blank one. Stickers sparkling back at her again. "... they refused to let me leave until they checked three times that I had their letter to Daddy."
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 1:48 pm
Arell nodded, C.J. using the Cajun to hold onto as he got the letters. "Well y- *sniff* got that much. Thanks for comin' out." he said as he tried to get a hold of himself. It was almost like those kids gave him the hope he needed to persevere through this trouble . . . after all, he needed to be the dad they could use. Since their actual one did a REAL bang-up job.
Arell nodded towards Misty. "Well, hopefully we can get dis fixed. C'mon, big guy." he said, hugging C.J., letting his brother let it all out.
Dundee nodded and looked over to Misty. "I'll make sure things go smoothly for his release. Both of 'em. After all, we're family more or less." Dundee said to Misty with a warm smile.
Misty looked back to Dundee, and gave him a small smile that she clearly wasn't feeling. "Thank you. Just... let me know when you need me to come out again." she said, then turned to the two Doctors. "As long as I can make sure the kids are taken care of... I can come down whenever you need."
"Of course. We'll let you know." Doctor Mattis said with a small smile.
Misty nodded, then turned and looked back to CJ. Her poker face began to crumble a bit more, and she had to turn away. "I'm sorry...." she said quietly, tears welling up in her voice again. With that, she turned away and began walking down the hall, out of sight.
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:23 pm
"They'll be safe. Shoot, you wanna come by the headquarters for dinner? We got some good food there." Dundee offered. A bit of Blue Lantern Hope mixed with classic Mississippi Hospitality made a great combination as C.J. stared off, waving.
"Don't be." C.J. said, wiping a tear from his eye, he stored the envelopes under the mattress of Arell's bunk. He would have some reading to do tomorrow, that's for sure . . . in the meantime though, he had a lot to think about. A LOT. Laying on the lower bunk staring at them, he hardly said a word. Just staring at them.
Arell shook his head and leaned up against the wall of the cell. Carefully watching the Marylander from his spot, he nodded to the doctors. "Jes' give 'im space, y'all. Just give 'im space." Arell said with a twang. He didn't want to have any more trouble in that cell. As long as people didn't try to bother them, he'd be okay.
The Joker sat in his little corner of the cell, grinning from his parting comment to Dr. Gray. Well, partly from that, but mostly from realizing the implications of seeing Gossamer after what had happened. At first, it was startling, seeing her again, but now, it could happen again! Even better, he could slowly guide her into remembering everything, just in time for it to happen again.
The clown smiled his great, big sadistic smile and chuckled out loud, loud enough to echo through the hall. This was going to be hilarious.
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:36 am
Doctor Gray grimaced a bit as the laugh echoed down the hall, sending a slight shiver down her spine. Yeah... she was checking up on Janet, then she was finding the damn contact number for Joker's regular Doctor. If he couldn't come in tonight, they were having a talk first thing in the morning.
As she came up to Gossamer's cell, she stopped in front of the glass and stared in. Gossamer was once again sitting on the end of her bed, bent over her legs, staring at the floor with her hair hanging around her face. The same position she had been in when they first stopped.
"Miss Loveless?" she asked.
No response.
".....Gossamer?" she asked again.
The other woman looked up at her for that.
"...are you alright, miss Loveless?" she asked.
Gossamer just looked at her quietly, a very.... odd sort of expression on her face. "I.... yeah. I think so."
Gray stared at her for a moment, then glanced back down the hall. She looked back at Janet with a small frown. "How much... how much do you remember?"
"....not a lot. It's... mixed up or just not there." Gossamer replied.
"Do you remember him?"
"No."
"Do you remember Rosie?"
"I.... yes. Some now. Bits and pieces."
"Whats the last thing you remember about her?" Gray asked.
Gossamer paused and stared at her quietly. "The last thing I remember?"
======================================
Misty just continued to head down the hall and towards the corner so she could move out of sight. She was upset... just... just seeing him like that made her upset. She needed to cry, but she didn't want to do it in front of them.
Doctor Mattis smiled gently at Arell and nodded his head. "With as busy as today has been for you two... I hadn't planned on doing much other than letting you settle in for the night. We'll let Doctor Gray go over the tapes, then figure out what can be done for you both tomorrow." he said, then motioned for Doctor Stevens to follow him so that they could give the two some personal time again.
"Just let me know if you need another smoke break tonight." he added. "And I'll see about getting something set up for you to practice music."
Gossamer's little flashback. Half of it is "hidden" ... keeping the more sensitive members in mind. Open the spoiler for the first half of the flashback; Violence & suggestive themes.
Gossamer's costume It was dark. The room was light-less, it was well after midnight, and the only source of light came from the glow of a neon bar sign next door as it flooded through the open window. The light bounced off of furniture that had been overturned and broken. Somewhere from the dark corner, a woman was sobbing. A hysterical, terrified little sound.
The door was locked. A smashed chair was lying against it, helping to keep the outside world from simply walking inside. There was a knock... a timid, frightened little sound. ”Mommy?” a girl's voice whispered from behind the sound. ”Mommy? Can I come in now?”
”Not now, Sweetie...” Gossamer replied. Her voice a mix of motherly love... and utter disgust.
The woman stood in the middle of the room, a metal bat swinging gently at her side. Her sparkly diamond studded boots were sprinkled red with blood. The red liquid dripped from her gloved hands and was sprinkled along her abdomen and chest. The spikes that ran along her shoulders were stained from previous “visits” with strangers. She stood there, staring at a dark corner of the room. Her face twisted in disgust.
In one corner, a barely clothed woman was huddled, terrified. Gossamer didn't pay her much mind... the hooker had likely never done anything to her child. The group of men... however... they were a different story.
Three of the men were dead. Beaten to death with the metal bat that swung innocently from the angry woman's side. The last man lay crumpled on the ground, clutching his knee in pain and begging the woman for mercy.
”Mommy will be out in a few minutes...” Gossamer continued, then walked up to the injured man.
”P-p-please! W-w-we didn't do anything to her! I swear!” the man begged.
”You should really hide your camera better, Mister Tack.” Gossamer replied... her voice dripping with poison. ”You never know who might stumble across what you like to do at night.”
”P-please... it-it wasn't mine!”
”You take a child in from the streets... MY child... for that I give you my gratitude. For taking care of her when I couldn't.”
”P-please...”
”But.... for what I just found flipping through your phone and laptop... well... you can understand why I'm just a little pissed. Right?” she asked. The bat was suddenly swung forward, striking the man in the face. The man yelped and fell backwards.
”MY CHILD!” Gossamer screamed, rage overtaking her again. ”How DARE you even entertain the THOUGHT of-”
Then there were sirens. Outside. Red and blue lights began to flash in from the window. Gossamer stopped what she was doing and looked towards the window. A moment later... she realized that they were outside the building they were in... not across the street at the bar. She hissed something vulgar under her breath and turned back to the two still inside the room. Someone had called them... probably making too much noise in the apartment. That had to be-
Then she realized that the cowering woman was hiding her hands. Gossamer glared at her, then flipped her hand towards her. The woman screamed as she was covered in red energy and pulled out of the corner by some unseen force. A cell phone clattered to the ground.
”....... you idiot.” Gossamer said regretfully. ”I had no intention of killing you. But now you've given me no choice.”
The glow became stronger... and then the woman screamed.
The man watched in horror as the woman's body was bent unnaturally, very suddenly. Her scream was cut off by a chilling 'crack', and she became deathly quiet. The girl was dropped to the floor, and Gossamer began walking towards him again. The man began begging her again, and backed up until his back was to the wall. No where else to go.
”Thank you for taking care of my little girl...” Gossamer began. A pair of glasses levitated towards the man, and slid across his nose and onto his face. ”But I have zero tolerance for anything else.”
The man stared forward. His eyes following the bat as it was draw back, pulled around the woman's body, and came straight for his face.....
…....
The door opened finally. Gossamer stood in the doorway, blocking the little girl from seeing the rest of the room. The little one looked up at her with large, worried eyes. ”Mommy? Are you okay?” she asked, her eyes falling on the blood that was sprayed across Gossamer's costume.
Gossamer didn't say anything... just smiled lovingly down at her child as she moved out of the room. She closed the door behind her, then sat the blood-dripping metal bat against the wall. Still without saying a word, she knelt down and opened her arms up to the girl.
Rosie looked at the bat, fear flickering in her gaze, then moved to her mother. Gossamer wrapped her arms around the child and hugged her. There was enough emotion filling the hug that it seemed to put the little girl at ease. Her body relaxed in Gossamer's arms, and she wrapped her arms around Gossamer as well.
”I'm sorry it took me so long...” she whispered softly to the child. ”Can you forgive Mommy?”
There was clattering outside. The police were getting closer to the room.
”Of course...” Rosie replied, smiling as she hugged Gossamer. ”Are we going home now?”
”Yes...”
More clattering. Louder now.
”Everything's going to be alright now. Mommy's going to make sure no one ever hurts you again...”
The door was broken down a moment later. Police swarmed into the apartment. An older man with white hair and a thick gray mustache came into the room. His brown trench coat swaying behind him as he came to a sudden stop. His eyes fell to the ground in front of the closed door. A girl... couldn't have been more than five... was lying on the ground. Curled up on the floor as though she were doing nothing more than sleeping. Lipstick smudged on her forehead from a kiss.
Commissioner Gordon growled under his breath, then turned to the GCPD behind him. ”Not another one... Search this place! She was just here!”
=============================================
Gossamer stared at the glass separating herself from the Doctor. Doctor Gray could tell that she was reflecting... remembering something... but she was doing so silently. Then... as the memory seemed to end.... Gossamer's expression changed again. It became... closed. Statuesque. Gray could tell that she wasn't going to talk about what she had just remembered.
"....do you... remember anything?"' she asked gently.
" ....no. Nothing." Gossamer replied. Even her voice had taken a different tone now. The woman turned her head away from the glass, then focused on the floor again. "..... can I have some water?"
"Of course. I'll send one of the guards for you." Gray replied, then moved to the doorway. This was..... ugh. She wasn't used to dealing with this sort of thing.
After sending one of the guards to fetch water, Gray began walking down the hallway to her office. It was a little more private in this hall. She pulled out her cell phone, then began scrolling though one of the files she had saved on it. "Come on.... where are you damnit..." she growled as she scrolled through a rather long list.
Finally she came to the name she wanted. Joker. Issued Doctors. Contact Numbers. Ah... there it is.
Pressing the bar, she sent the send button, and waited for this "Doctor Villa" to answer his phone.
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:58 am
Dr. Villa answered his phone after only a couple rings.
"Hello, This is Doctor Gray. I'm calling to... inform you of some recent developments concerning your patient, the Joker." Doctor Gray said, opening the door to her office and stepping inside. "It would probably be easier for you to come by my office to speak but... we've had several new patients brought in today. The Joker requested a 'second opinion' on something... and being the only doctor on the floor right now... I didn't want to make him wait. We took him to one of the rooms to talk, and he reacted... interestingly to one of the new female patients."
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It was dark. The room was light-less, it was well after midnight, and the only source of light came from the glow of a neon bar sign next door as it flooded through the open window. The light bounced off of furniture that had been overturned and broken. Somewhere from the dark corner, a woman was sobbing. A hysterical, terrified little sound.