|
|
Post by Batgirl on Jun 28, 2017 14:39:35 GMT -5
Barbara had to look twice, but was Laura blushing? Part of her was making a mental note that she could have an effect on Cade's daughter. After all, she needed to know the weaknesses where she could. But the other part of her? She was blushing too. Knowing she had that kind of effect on someone, anyone, gave her a warm feeling. She was so used to sitting in her dusty cube in the dark police station, buried in her files and secretly trying to solve cases no one cared about anymore. Planting evidence no one could find so someone would figure something out. Hiding in the background so someone else could get the glory. She wasn't used to someone noticing her, or noticing what she did. Or noticing that she had an effect.
"I would love to see your collection," she said, grinning stupidly as they got to the door of the hotel. She looked up at it. It certainly was a lot nicer than the one she was staying in. She was definitely going to have to move Helena into this place tomorrow, as soon as she was given the chance. "I guess this is where we say good night."
She smiled at Laura and took her hand, gently shaking it like a meek, untrained woman would. "I might try to swing by tomorrow sometime. I really would like to get to know you better. Maybe over a drink or two."
She shivered and scurried into the hotel, stopping at the desk. She told the concierge that Artie Cade had reserved her a room, and he handed over the keys, no questions asked. That was ... kind of cool. She looked at the number and went up to the room. It was one of the top floors with a great room of the city.
She opened the door to look inside and marveled at how gorgeous it was. It was a suite of the swankiest proportions. She hadn't been in a place so nice in all her life. She set her things down in the living area and opened the door to the bedroom and...
Nearly jumped out of her skin.
|
|
Rorschach
Neutral 
Soon there will be war...
Posts: 27 
|
Post by Rorschach on Jun 28, 2017 22:53:00 GMT -5
Everything was hazy. Unclear. Cluttered in Rorschach's mind.
Rorschach. He was Rorschach. Even in his dreams, he knew that was not the disguise. Walter Kovacs was. And Walter Kovacs didn't belong anywhere.
Not even in Rorschach's dreams.
His head throbbed when he had woken up....his mind racing to review what had happened. Yes, he had found Cade's death mask collection....disgusting trophies, probably molded on the day he did them in. Right there at the scene. Cade would pay for that.
Then....he remembered a blue woman he had never seen before. He hadn't imagined that, had he? In his dreams? No. The throbbing pain and bleeding told him he hadn't. She'd gotten the better of him. Dumped him like a bad cargo shipment.
His second thought was...Barbara Gordon. He had been taken down and left her. He knew that couldn't stand. With more difficulty than he felt he'd ever moved in his life, Rorschach had made his way back toward the Wicked Suit. Slowly. Painfully. He could feel a rib shifting. It wasn't broken. No, not broken. But perhaps cracked. He had tied the belt of his trench coat tighter around his middle to keep himself straight. He had managed to get the fresh blood off his mask. Now it only leaked down his neck onto his scarf.
By the time he got to the Suit, he kept to the shadows and the alleys after seeing...Barbara. Seeming unharmed. Then...Laura Cade? He grunted to himself. What was this? He began to follow them carefully, at a great distance, blending into the crowd as he ducked into an alley, removing his mask and hat and coat, bundling them together in a bindle, knotting them together with the coat's belt and slinging it over his back.
No one knew the disguise as anything but the man carrying the sign through the street on occasion.
Rorschach kept his head down, careful to cross through alleys now and then to follow behind a block's distance across from his quarry to be sure he didn't lose them, but they didn't see him either. They seemed to be chatting...pleasantly. How unusual. Barbara Gordon was a better actress than he had assumed. As they continued, now carrying Barbara's belongings, he stayed in one of the shadows of a street lamp and watched as Barbara entered the Biltmore Hotel....so that was it. Cade was keeping her where he knew he could find her again.
With a grunt, he quickly changed into his normal clothes again. And put on his face.
Slinking around to the opposite side of the building, he looked the building over. It was huge. Vast. Finding her may be impossible.....no. Not with Cade setting her up. The penthouse.
It was worth a shot.
Securing his grapple gun in his palm, Rorschach proceeded to grapple three stories up at a time. That was as far as the gun went. When he got near enough, he would alight silently on one of the window ledges beneath him before going up again. And again. Another three. Until he finally reached the top penthouse level, standing on the window ledge.
He felt the altitude. The wind. But he braced himself against the window, jimmying it open steadily with the hook of his grapple after retracting it.
Once the window gave way and opened, his fatigue rushed over him. Having accomplished his goal, he only barely registered the light coming in through the open door as he stumbled inside in a heap, his breath catching up to him.
"Rough night, Ms. Gordon." he growled through his mask.
|
|
|
|
Post by Batgirl on Jun 28, 2017 23:14:52 GMT -5
There was a flood of thoughts rushing through Barbara's head as she saw Rorschach crumple in a heap on the floor. Her first reaction, she couldn't stop. "You JACKASS!" She turned on the light and stormed toward him, gesturing wildly. "You LEFT ME! Where the hell were you? CHRIST! I've never been so nervous in my life! It's a miracle I didn't show it!" It was more of a miracle that her heartbeat didn't show it. Then again, she had no idea how lucky she was that was the case.
"What the HELL is wrong with you? Did you FOLLOW me? Why didn't you show up after I left the club?! I waited for YOU! I- .... Is that blood?"
Laura had said that the second reaction you have is how you show who you are as a person. Perhaps that was the case with Barbara. Initially, she was furious she was left alone with a criminal family without so much as a warning, but seeing the state Rorschach was in? Suddenly the anger washed away.
She rushed over to kneel at his side and gingerly lifted his chin to see if the dark spot was just another inkblot, like she had hoped, or if it was blood. She wasn't as lucky this time. It was red. "Shit." She got up and ran to the bathroom, tearing it apart to search for a first aid kit and grabbing all of the towels. She wet a few of them to use before rushing back.
Before she got back to him, she realized he had no real reason to trust her. As such, he might not let her help. But, then again, he had climbed up all these stories to get to her. Or had he grappled? Either way, it was incredibly dangerous, and ... well, she found she appreciated it.
"Rorschach ... I ... I'm sorry for yelling at you." And she was. The tone in her voice was more sincere than what might have been expected from someone that was just trying to make someone feel better. "I can't imagine you want to go to a hospital. Let me see if I can patch you up. Please?" She offered him a hand. In friendship or in help, it was unclear, but it was a genuine offer. "I want to hear what you found, but you look like you're in a lot of pain. Let me help you."
|
|
Rorschach
Neutral
Soon there will be war...
Posts: 27
|
Post by Rorschach on Jun 28, 2017 23:26:24 GMT -5
Rorschach grumbled as Barbara Gordon shouted at him. He didn't say a word as she continued. Not much point. She had to calm down.
It was an unusual thought to occur to him, but it was true. He knew she would. She seemed to have a cool head.
Besides, what purpose would there be in just leaving her? That would have been senseless. She would come to recognize that. Even so, he could understand her frustration without having all the facts. This wasn't her fight and dealing with a monster like Cade one on one would take its toll on anyone. Especially this young woman.
When Barbara Gordon had concluded her venom spewing, she noticed his wounds. Shit. No, good. No....shit. He didn't need this. To appear weak. But the floor felt so comfortable. No pressure on his ribs. His throbbing bruises on his face didn't hurt so badly.
Then she offered him a hand. He looked at it, then up at her, then at the hand again.
This was important. What basis had he to trust her with anything? Not much. Not much basis at all. Their relationship was tentative. At best it was a mild partnership. But she'd also gotten out of Cade's grip, and arguably was in a marvelous position to better serve the goal of dismantling Cade's activities.
He gripped her hand, letting her hoist him into one of the chairs. The rain from earlier had cleaned the mud from his coat. Securing it in a bundle with his belt had squeezed out the excess water. It would not leave a trace or else he wouldn't have agreed to sit. He didn't openly object to tending to his wounds. Good as a yes with him.
"....found something...." he grumbled as he undid his coat, hoisting his mask up over his nose to reveal the bruised jaw and bleeding lip, "....was attacked. Taken to the edge of the city. Dumped. Not killed. Maybe thought I was dead. One of Cade's. Didn't recognize her. Blue woman. Tall. Strong."
He considered his next description carefully.
"Did it when I found something I shouldn't have," he rasped, "...Cade's office....behind his desk. Face casts. Death masks. Like statues to pain. Trophies."
Rorschach looked over at Barbara, the mask blots shifting around his eyes.
"Odds are good, ones you're looking for are among them."
|
|
|
|
Post by Batgirl on Jun 29, 2017 0:16:18 GMT -5
It was a relief when Rorschach hoisted his mask up. She hadn't expected him to take her hand at all. She didn't know what to expect from a masked man. All she knew was that masked men tended to hide something, but here he was. He trusted her enough not to rip his mask off and learn his identity. And she honestly had no desire to. She wanted to know him, but she wanted him to trust her first. And for that to happen, he needed to be able to see her work around the mask.
And so she did just that.
She used one of the wet towels to dab away the blood on his lip so she could see how bad the damage was. It wasn't so bad. Bruised, mostly. Badly bruised. Whoever did this to him really did a number on him. Though, she wondered how much of this was from their fight and how much of it was fresh. She KNEW she didn't do this much damage, though.
She listened to him talk. A blue woman? Could be a metahuman. Or a mutant. That didn't really bode well, if Cade had some of them on his side. It would make him harder to get to. But she could figure something out. She always did. She had to figure something out.
And it made sense. That was why he didn't meet her outside. She was the one that got to him. She suddenly felt a hot wash of shame for yelling at him. If only she had known he had been attacked, she might have been a little more careful with her words.
Then she froze when he mentioned the death masks.
"Cade's office?" So the room she was in wasn't his office after all. That was right. It was a meeting room. Shit. "What a fucking sicko." She couldn't believe the words left her mouth, but she was horrified that someone would keep such macabre trophies of the people they killed.
She hadn't yet considered that Cade himself might be a suspect, but this information put him at the top of the list. Originally, she just thought maybe he would know where she could start looking. Maybe a crime lord would know the hitmen that branched out into Gotham.
But if he kept trophies of the dead in his office? That was textbook serial killer behavior. You didn't even need to be a detective to know that.
"...Shit and I can't risk poking around there myself. I might blow my cover." She thought to herself as she put some antiseptic on a washcloth and dabbed it on Rorschach's lip. "... But I can be a distraction again."
She gently lifted his mask just high enough to see the rest of a bruise, but not high enough to see his eyes. That might still be okay. Then she set it back where he had put it. She put some ointment on her finger and tapped it on his bleeding lip, choosing her words carefully.
"I can't risk going into Cade's office, but the girl I'm traveling with... her parents were killed by the killer I'm looking for. If Cade's the killer, her parents will be on that wall. Do you think, if I bring her to the Suit, you can sneak her in and show her where they are? I can distract Laura. I think she likes me."
Satisfied that Rorschach's face would be okay, she put the ointment back in the first aid kit and hesitated a moment. "... Is anything else bleeding? You looked like you were clutching your side. Is it your rib?"
|
|
Rorschach
Neutral
Soon there will be war...
Posts: 27
|
Post by Rorschach on Jun 29, 2017 0:38:40 GMT -5
Never having a particular love for doctors or the practice of cleaning up after a fight, Rorschach grunted as Barbara tended to him. Healing stung. It was an irritant. It reminded him of his weakness in getting beaten down. He considered himself a fairly formidable fighter for a man his size. A scrappy little junkyard dog. Yet he rarely walked away from a fight entirely unscathed. Still, Barbara was better at this than his own hands and a dirty mirror may have managed back at his shoddy room.
Perhaps this was more beneficial.
As such, he didn't complain. Merely grunted in reaction to the ointment and such as the girl did her work.
When she questioned him about his side, he shook his head.
"Fine now," he lied, "Can work through it."
Rorschach shifted in his seat but visibly winced in pain, unintentionally gripping at his bruised rib. Cracked? Perhaps. But he considered he might be in even more debilitating pain were it properly cracked. Still. It hurt.
As Barbara spun the rest of her notions considering the information he had given her, Rorschach thought for a moment. He pulled the mask down over his face, settling the ends under his scarf.
"Perhaps," he agreed, "Cade is twisted. But don't underestimate him. Will play you before you even notice. Might be right now. In this room. Was very specific on what to do to get in here, I'm guessing."
He looked around slowly. Nothing seemed out of order. This may be a safe house he utilized when something got too hot. Maybe Rorschach was simply being paranoid. Possible. It had been said. But overly cautious did give an edge over carelessness.
"....can show her," he growled after a moment, "Two of you getting in deeper than you should. But I can. If you think she can stomach that sight without giving away our position. Would be...inconvenient. Again."
He rubbed his bruised jaw demonstratively.
"Don't trust Laura Cade," he continued, "Or anybody associated with him. Will trick and cheat you. Won't even know it til it's too late. Don't trust her. Or anybody there."
Rorschach had repeated for emphasis. He believed Cade's daughter to be just as foul as her father. Or the blue woman. Cade wasn't the devil, but he walked and talked like him.
|
|
|
|
Post by Batgirl on Jun 29, 2017 1:00:16 GMT -5
Barbara didn't quite believe that Rorschach was fine, but she wasn't about to try to argue with him. He had his reasons, she was sure, but she couldn't help worrying about him. Worry. Like she always did about complete strangers. It was curious, though, that he let her help him as much as he did without complaining. Was he beginning to trust her? The thought made her smile a little. And the smile grew wider on her face, as smiles often did when they appeared n the face of Barbara Gordon.
"Trust me, I don't plan on letting Cade get the better of me. I've dealt with criminals like him before. Hell, I used to date one, back home in Gotham. It was ... an interesting time in my life."
She packed up the first aid kit and the towels and set them back into the bathroom. She'd tell the cleaning ladies she cut herself shaving. There wasn't enough blood on the towels to be anything more serious, but there had to be a good explanation. That was as good as anything.
"I'll play his game for now. Win his trust. He thinks I'm weak and scared. I'm gonna prove him wrong when the time comes. Even if it means putting on a mask and moving outside the police department. Lord knows this is outside Gotham's jurisdiction, and New York won't let me do a damn thing if they have anything to say about it. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna just sit here and twiddle my thumbs, waiting for them to decide to do something."
She sighed and sat down in one of the chairs, looking at Rorschach. "I was in deep when I met you," she said, tone light, "but you're not gonna scare me away from doing this. The girl I'm with, Helena, her family was mafia. Parents were killed by the Smiley Face Killer. She's as close to an eye witness as this case has ever gotten. I don't think she's squeamish, but if she is, I trust her to keep it together until it's safe to let it all out."
She managed a small smirk.
"After all, I'm not gonna let you get beat up again. Not if I can help it."
She leaned back in her seat and let her hair down, running her hand through it. It had been a very long day, and there was something about Rorschach that made him easy to talk to. Maybe it was that he was like her. Like her in that he also wanted to do whatever it took to see justice done. Granted, he took it to an extreme, but she wasn't far from doing the same. She wasn't far from giving up the hope that her father would ever let her be a detective.
"Say what you will about Laura, but there might be some good in her. She had a whole bottle of pricey Russian vodka and she just gave it away to a homeless man on the way from the Suit to my hotel. It's not much of a gesture, but there's something there."
She trailed off and shook her head.
"I know, I know. Don't let her get to you. I won't. But if there's good in her, I want to save her from Cade. If she can be saved, anyway."
|
|
Rorschach
Neutral
Soon there will be war...
Posts: 27
|
Post by Rorschach on Jun 29, 2017 20:54:01 GMT -5
The smile on Barbara's face was warm. Nothing took the edge off of Rorschach but that was close. Almost made him think she was right, that her confidence in all she believed and said might come around after all.
Almost, not quite.
She used to date....a criminal. Rorschach bristled at this, letting out one of his grunts.
"Hurm."
He didn't like that. He didn't trust that. Her judgment was in question....or would have been if she were still involved with said individual. But as she said "used to," he didn't find it to be a mark against her. Everyone had something in their past they wished they could rework.
He was put more at ease when she mentioned her notion about donning a mask to work outside the law. His shifting mask nodded at this.
"Good," he growled, "Easier to operate."
Rorschach then considered her information about this Helena girl. He didn't trust her not to be squeamish over the sight they may find. Still, he shrugged and nodded in acknowledgment.
"Taking a bit easily to criminal associates, Ms. Gordon," he grumbled, "Previously dated a criminal. Helena with the mafia. Laura Cade with the little man's family. Curious."
He tilted his head as she went on. Save Cade's daughter from her father? Good in her? Ridiculous.
Rorschach scoffed at these declarations about Laura Cade.
"Helping alcoholics get their fix," he sneered under his mask, "Such a nice girl."
|
|
|
|
Post by Batgirl on Jul 5, 2017 0:49:33 GMT -5
It was odd, feeling the small bit of approval from Rorschach. He approved of her putting on a mask to operate outside of the law. She didn't even get approval from her father to work INSIDE the law. In a weird way, it was encouraging. She didn't want to immediately jump to wearing a mask. Not yet. But if she couldn't work within the law to solve this case, she knew she had someone in her corner to encourage her if she ever did decide to walk down that path.
But then he turned it back over on her. "Eddie wasn't a criminal when we started dating," she said, defensively. She could almost feel her heart ache just thinking about it. "We ... dated in high school. I mean, we were the two smartest people in school, so of course we would. But his family life was ... rough. I never did ask him about it, but I snooped, and it was ..." She fell silent, deciding it wasn't her place to talk about it to a stranger. "We both suffered in high school, in our own ways. I suffered, and decided I didn't want to see other people go through what I did. He suffered, and decided everyone else should too. Somewhere along the way, I lost him. I tried getting the Eddie I loved back, but I couldn't get through to him. He just ... disappeared one day."
She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, trying to hit a hard reset on her emotions so she didn't show too much weakness.
"I still try to see the best in people. Helena is a good person that bad things have happened to. Laura .... Well, I haven't gotten much of a read on her yet, but she strikes me as a person that has a limited view. If I can find a way to expand that in any way, she might make a decent vigilante. I just need to get her away from her dad."
She looked at Rorschach again, her smile more tired but no less warm.
"Helena and I have an appointment tomorrow to see what the cops here in New York have in terms of evidence for the killings. If I can give her a heads up and get her to the Wicked Suit, will you show her the masks? I can try to prepare her as much as I can.... You're right. She might be squeamish. I don't know how she'll react. But we have to know definitively if Cade is the one we're after."
|
|
Rorschach
Neutral
Soon there will be war...
Posts: 27
|
Post by Rorschach on Jul 23, 2017 17:58:25 GMT -5
Rorschach sat silently listening to Barbara speak. She went on at some length about this criminal she'd taken an interest in...well, formerly. The current running criminal Artie Cade she also had an interest in. But thankfully not the same sort.
Her apparent budding concern for Cade's daughter, however, was a concern.
One that he made mental note of.
He shifted in his seat and stood, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked out the window into the night.
"I'll show her the masks," he growled, stepping toward the moonlight, "Confirmation would be useful."
He turned to face Barbara, the ink blots on his mask shifting slowly with his slower calm.
"If Cade is the killer you want," he continued, "What do you plan to do? He deserves to die. Put too many in the ground to build his house of horrors for that."
His head tilted at her.
"Or didn't you know?" he grunted, "About his....Rabbit Hole? They say it's down underground, beneath the Wicked Suit. Sprawling out to even under the waves and Coney Island. It's where he takes you when he wants to pull you into pieces. That's why they never find the bodies in his territory. Or at all. There's a reason his enemies have been known to call him Mr. Hades."
Rorschach leaned against the wall and kept his gaze on Barbara.
"Don't want to kill him, though. Do you?" he asked without a question, "Think they can keep him locked up tight. Won't work. It's happened before. His tendrils reach too far. Too deep. Even for your Arkham Asylum in Gotham City."
|
|
|
|
Post by Batgirl on Aug 27, 2017 19:26:33 GMT -5
Barbara stared at Rorschach. She had no idea about the Rabbit Hole. But .... deserves to die? She didn't think anyone deserved to die. It made her blood run cold. It gave her chills just thinking about what might be underneath their feet.
And he was right. Her normal method off wanting to take him to jail probably wouldn't work. She would have to think of something else. Something more secure. Whatever that ended up being, she would have to hope that worked. Artie was ... evidently a lot more dangerous than she gave him credit for.
"No, actually, I didn't know about his Rabbit Hole," she said, quietly, looking down at the floor. "Stories of the Rabbit Hole didn't reach Gotham. It was just him and his organized crime."
She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, trying to wrap her head around what she was going to have to do. She was going to have to get him to turn himself in. That was the only way to get him in jail and get him to stay.
But how was she going to do that?
That was going to be impossible.
No, she was going to have to do it the old fashioned way.
"You're right. I want him in jail. I don't think anyone deserves to die." Did they? Not even someone like Artie Cade, right?
"I can figure something out. I WILL figure something out. I have to. He's gotta be off the streets somehow. New York will be safer when he is."
She rested her hand against her mouth to do some thinking. She had no idea what she was going to do about this. The Rabbit Hole was a game changer. If she was found out, she risked being thrown in there with the rest of his enemies. Then what would she do?
"What do you know about the Rabbit Hole?"
|
|
Rorschach
Neutral
Soon there will be war...
Posts: 27
|
Post by Rorschach on Sept 1, 2017 23:07:48 GMT -5
Rorschach surveyed Barbara for a moment and considered her question.
What did he ultimately know about the Rabbit Hole? He had never seen it himself.
He began to pace the floor steadily, as much as it ached to do so.
"The Rabbit Hole..." he murmured, "...all I know is what I hear. Never seen it. Might not exist til I do."
He stopped and looked at her, the blots on his mask shifting steadily, indicating he was calm.
"Only rumors," he went on, "Supposedly, deep down under the city. Spreads out five miles in every direction, they say. Right under this city's cafes and bars and families. Wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen the mugs I'd taken down plead. They felt safer in jail. They thought that's where I would take them."
He let that statement sit there in the air for a moment.
He had most often killed the criminals he came across. Quickly, quietly.
"Curious thing is," he continued, "Bodies I leave behind now and again, if they don't have more for me....they disappear. Never seen again. Only ever witnessed one being carted off. Two of Cade's men, Axel Graves and Ticks Malone. Didn't catch up in time. Saw them heading in the direction of Coney Island that night. A month after Cade had bought the place. No body for the undertaker. I checked around. Including the police morgues."
The Rabbit Hole had never been something he had seriously considered until now. It certainly wasn't anything regularly talked about, save when faced with the end of his fist. He thought further about it for a moment before he slowly looked at Barbara.
"...the streets had been closed off surrounding the suit some time before...." he recalled, "Sewer maintenance they said. Possible connection. Coney Island also closed for renovations. Had only seen Cade on the property once, very public appearance. He and his daughters. Laura included."
He spat the name Laura out as if it were poison on his tongue.
"Entrance is most probably somewhere at Coney Island," he growled, "Or through the sewers. But would have to extend further down than that. Not exactly something you just offer up in conversation with Cade."
Rorschach ran his hand down his chin in thought.
|
|
|
|
Post by Batgirl on Sept 1, 2017 23:32:33 GMT -5
Barbara stared at Rorschach as he spoke, her mouth agape like a surprised guppy.
This was turning into something far more dangerous than a simple crime boss.
This was a serial killer that had never been caught.
Now she understood why Tipton was so fixated on Cade and why he was so eager to interview her and Helena. Why he was willing to make any arrangements to question them. It made sense now. He wanted to bring Cade in.
But she had to remember, this wasn't about the serial killer. This was about one murder.
If she could focus on the singular homicide case, that would be the key. She just knew it.
Still, the knowledge that the Rabbit Hole was even a rumor gave her chills.
"Probably not something to bring up with Cade," she agreed.
She decided to ignore the venom with which he said Laura's name. He probably wasn't going to get over his hatred for the Cade girl, and she wasn't going to expect him to.
"His daughter, on the other hand.... Once I gain her trust a little more, she might be a little more forthcoming with that kind of information. I bet she could give more information about the Rabbit Hole than Cade would ever let slip."
She got up and gently led Rorschach to a chair, hoping he would sit down. She could tell he was in pain.
".... You said daughters. As in plural. I only met one. I didn't see another. Should I be worried about a second daughter stepping into the picture?"
|
|
Rorschach
Neutral
Soon there will be war...
Posts: 27
|
Post by Rorschach on Sept 2, 2017 0:07:49 GMT -5
Begrudgingly, Rorschach allowed Barbara to lead him to a chair and he gingerly sat down again.
It was admittedly good to get off his feet. They were sore. So was the rest of him.
But while his body was sore, his mind was racing to gather the facts as he knew them.
"Jessica Jones," he growled, "His eldest. Adopted, presumably like Laura. Don't believe either are biological children of his. Both are....enhanced. There is a term floating around. Mutant? I think? Not enough data to classify."
He clasped his hands in front of him and looked up at Barbara.
"Haven't seen much," he went on, "Didn't need to. One night saw Jones carry two grown men out of the Suit like they were disobedient puppies. Toss them in a cab. And kick the cab half a block down the street before it found its treads again."
It had been an astonishing sight. He remembered her glaring at him as he stood with his sign across the street.
She'd thrown him out from snooping on more than one occasion. Laura usually only threatened him.
"Laura..." he rasped, "Is less of a brawler. More precise."
Rorschach held up a clenched fist and gestured with his opposite fingers two long strikes from his knuckles.
"Claws," he said, "Two of them on each hand. Heard she's carved plenty of Cade's enemies up. Don't understand it, either of them. If Cade keeps them around and calls them his children, can bet he's manipulating them. Deeply. Cade doesn't care about anyone or anything but himself. You saw tonight how persuasive he can be. He'll lure you in, make you comfortable. Until he can get what he requires from you. I'd imagine it's similar with them."
It bothered Rorschach deeply to consider that Cade was manipulating these young ladies in the manner he was. Or in any manner at all. Truth be told, he only had his own experiences to go off of. But Cade was a heartless monster, he knew that. He couldn't hold any love for anyone, not with the amount of bodies he'd destroyed. Having been the subject of his own emotional manipulations at the hands of his mother, Rorschach knew all too well what vying for approval felt like. What never getting it felt like. How hollow it was.
"If they've stuck with him all this time," he growled, "He's got his claws in them deep. Be careful around Laura, as I said."
|
|
|
|
Post by Batgirl on Sept 2, 2017 0:33:05 GMT -5
Once Rorschach was sitting down, Barbara walked over to the kitchenette and started making some coffee. She had a feeling they were going to be talking for a while, and she wanted to be alert, so at least she could absorb some more of the information.
Then he mentioned a name she actually recognized.
She almost dropped the coffee pot right then and there.
"Wait. Did you say Jessica Jones?!"
She listened to all he had to say, so she wasn't entirely rude, but once he finished talking, she just sat down in her seat and stared at the wall for a moment.
"Rorschach, Jessica Jones is a private investigator," she said, still startled. "We worked together in Gotham. She set up shop in Crime Alley to catch the business we couldn't legally catch. She's kind of a hero in Gotham, even if she doesn't like to admit it. The police love her, the people love her. Not only is she one of the best private detectives in the city, she's a personal role model of mine. I mean, minus the alcoholism, she's a good person."
The four words came out of her mouth, and the doofiest expression spread over her face.
"You SEE? If JESSICA JONES can do it, there's a chance for Laura! I told you!"
About that time, there was the sound of the coffee maker going off in the kitchen. Barbara got up and poured herself a cup, adding in a little bit of cream and sugar. "Can I get you anything while I'm in here?"
|
|
