[center][img] https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/314245695609503757/319606713223479304/stephbanner.png [/img][/center] [b]Schwariz Bypass 12:37 AM[/b] Really the most dramatic part of the situation was the screaming. Whatever of the rest of her training, Steph had not let her physical fitness diminish. It was not a question of if she could pull him up, but rather how to pull him up, keep him close-by, and praying no passersby looked closely enough to see a masked assailant holding a young teen over the river. After a minute of cursing and fending off vain, clawing attacks from the boy's free arm, he lay on the ground in front of her, head on the pavement, and staring blankly into the streetlight. The drug had kicked in harder, or the panic of nearly falling to his death had tried him out, or maybe the pain had made him loopier than before. Steph took a moment for her own heartbeat to recover. Her shoulder almost certainly had a pulled muscle, but that pain wouldn't set in till morning. [b][color=DDA0DD] “Alright Chuckles; school night, time to get you home.”[/color][/b] She gently slapped his cheek and lifted him with her as she stood, minding his shoulder. No sooner was he on his feet, than she leveraged one arm beside his neck and in one movement popped his joint back into place. Whatever calm had been gained was lost. Her companion howled, and turned to swing at her with a blow she dodged and returned with an uppercut strong enough to knock him back off his feet. Perhaps too strong, she realized, looking from the fallen boy to her fallen bike. She used his more compliant position to swab his mouth with a piece for gauze from her utility belt, before dragging him to the motorcycle. When she did eventually get him to sit on the damn thing, he swayed precariously; leaning far to either side each time Steph tried to adjust him. [b][color=DDA0DD] “I did not just do all this for you to go flying off at eighty miles an hour.”[/color][/b] She huffed, and eventually conceded to flex-cuff his arms around her waist as she drove. Tempting as it may have been, Gotham wasn’t a city where you could leave a drugged stranger on the street and just hope for the best. She’d have to drop him off at the nearest hospital. Which of course with Steph’s ever-lasting fortune, was Mercy West; first exit off the bypass, staffed by one nurse Crystal Brown. Who, if she heard even a whisper of a purple-hooded figure prowling at night would at best end whatever tentative relationship Stephanie had tried to reform. If not just kill her outright. The patient in question had no thoughts to offer on the matter, aside from fractured laughter, interrupted by the occasional wince of pain. [color=DDA0DD][i]Well then, if it's all the same to him...[/i][/color] She went to the police station instead, just north of the Narrows and before the bridge that would take her to Wayne Manor. It wasn't like the kid was [i]dying[/i], and besides going off the highway in that part of town would only lead to more trouble. Still, it wasn't exactly something Batman would have done. He seemed almost passed out when they arrived, very much alive but placid even as Steph cut the flex-cuffs and dragged him up the station's steps. Inside she was met by a sole, somewhat shocked, officer who took the boy with what was probably the proper amount of suspicion. [color=7ea7d8]"The hell are you supposed to be?"[/color] [b][color=DDA0DD] “A good samaritan.”[/color][/b] He looked her over again, boots, cape, and all. [color=7ea7d8]"Right. I'm going to need ID for processing..."[/color] Steph shifted uncomfortably, should have just left him outside. [b][color=DDA0DD] “Look officer, just get the kid some medical attention. I really don't know anything about him and have to get going.”[/color][/b] The cop looked at the boy she'd brought in again, sitting on a wire chair across from his desk. [color=7ea7d8]"There's paperwork-"[/color] She was already outside again, kicking her bike into gear. - [b]Bat-Cave 01:03 AM[/b] It almost surprised Stephanie to find the cave was empty. Not that it was normally a hub of activity, but she’d never been alone inside. Even Alfred, whom she'd half expected to come down and throw her out, was no where to be seen. [color=DDA0DD][i]Unsupervised computer use, how liberating.[/i][/color] Her pace slowed as she passed the bat-mobile. Strange maybe, but not terribly unusual that it was still there. Unguarded, and no one had specifically told her no… [color=DDA0DD][i]Bad idea.[/i][/color] A joyride, even in the bat-mobile, wasn’t quite worth losing her access to the cave again. It took some scouting of the area to find the drug scanner; the entire place seemed to have gotten even bigger. Steph put the gauze in and went to the computer while she waited for it to process. There was a flashing alert before she could even sign on. Wayne industries security breech. So that was where everyone was, and Steph wasn’t invited. She brushed the feelings that thought brought up off before they could settle and keyed in her ID. A schedule opened on the screen, dated back a full month. [i]Training[/i]. But she hadn’t even gotten so much as a call from the cave in that long. The screen flashed again, a new notification. [indent][b]MATCH FOUND[/b] [i] CUCKLES – 2:1 MDMA:JOKER VENOM DISTRIBUTED: MAXI ZEUS – STATUS; INCARCERATED[/i][/indent] Well the nickname had fit. Steph frowned. A dead Joker and imprisoned Maxi, one apparently still dealing out to the suburbs. Recreational drugs where decidedly not the Joker’s style though, and it was some venom supplies where still lying about with his crew mostly scattered. Just waiting to be found by other criminals, in which case, the supply would eventually run out. [color=DDA0DD][i]Shame I’m the impatient type.[/i][/color] She removed her cowl and settled more comfortably on the seat before opening all files pertaining to both the drug and Maxie's known associates in the West-Gotham area.