[CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/0xjS780.png[/IMG][/CENTER] [B]Gotham City, The Narrows Abandoned Factory 2:01 AM[/B] [color=92278f]"...[i]Phil[/i]..."[/color] Bringing her hand to her throbbing forehead, Jessica Jones finally regains consciousness after being under for nearly twenty minutes. My eyes are directed outside, between the cracks of light that shine between the wooden boards bolted against the windows, and I try and keep my distance as she recovers. Both in the event that her connection to Poison Ivy hasn't been completely severed and for the sheer fact that I'm not completely sure of how to approach this woman. We hadn't met before tonight, and it was under less than idealized circumstances. For all that she knows, I'm a wanted murderer. For all that I know, she's hiding a past that could indicate criminal misconduct. Worse for me, she possesses power that I can't even begin to comprehend. If she were willing to kill me, she could do it with very little effort. So as Jones manages to slowly push herself into a sitting stance, wincing from the series of welts and bruises that came as a result of a full fifteen minutes' worth of physical trauma that I was forced to inflict, I say nothing and allow her to get a feel for the room. There's no telling what she remembers, if anything. Besides. I have a much bigger problem, as ACE was quick to alert me. The adrenaline shots are wearing off, and I'm starting to feel the toll that the earlier fight has taken on me. To tell the truth, it's bad - worse than I'd probably even be willing to admit. Broken ribs are a guarantee at this point, a growing sensitivity to light is already confirming the concussion, and I'm bleeding somewhere internally. If I were smart, I'd have left Jones where she lay and have Bruce Wayne checked into Elliot Memorial under the excuse of a car accident, or something sufficient enough to explain this. But I couldn't just leave the situation unattended. If Jones were to be back under Ivy's control, I'd have effectively left a mother and child to their doom. No matter what happens to me, I refuse to allow anyone else to die tonight. Ontop of that, there's the matter of the police bulletin that Alfred's texted me about. As should have been expected, the conflict between Ivy and I resulted in some massive collateral damage. Half of a small neighborhood was torn apart due to the sheer physical strength of Jones' metahuman abilities. As I feel partly to blame for not being able to contain this, I've already made it a priority to pay for the damages. But the GCPD are en route, and Jones' unconsciousness cost just cost me a considerable amount of time. ACE is tracking their squad units as they advance onto the O'Neil Bridge. It'll only be a matter of minutes, and in my condition, I doubt that I'll be able to pull off the same type of close-range escape as I did the night that I first battled Deadshot. Which means, as much as I hate to admit it, I may need some help. [color=92278f][b]"Cuntfucking son of a whore, my head."[/b][/color], Jones mutters to herself in pain, leaning forward. [color=92278f][b]"Haven't felt like this since... Christ, since [i]before[/i] the accident. What in the shit happened to---"[/b][/color] That's when she suddenly notices me standing off in the distance. Her eyes go wide and she nearly falls back at the sight of me, spooked out of her mind. I look over my shoulder and glare. But in truth, I can't help but feel a little relieved. It's good to know that the costume's intended effect can still work on someone of her capabilities. [b][color=92278f]"It's... you." [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/SIqCKd9.png[/IMG] "Holy fuck, it's really [i]you[/i]. You're actually real and not some asinine city-wide prank that the police made up to sell tabloids."[/color][/b] Under the cowl, my eyebrow raises. [color=DimGray][b]"So that's what people think of me."[/b][/color] [b][color=92278f]"...Ahh..."[/color][/b] Still in a bit of a daze and in a tremendous amount of pain, at least for her, Jones slowly pulls herself up with a metal railing against a piece of long-since decommissioned machinery. I take a step away from the window and back into the shadows. All things considered, I should wait a moment before I leave just to be sure of whether or not Ivy's still in there. But the police are still closing in. I'm not used to being stuck between a rock and a hard place, but it seems I've found myself there. [color=DimGray][b]"Try not to move too fast. I don't know how well you respond to head trauma, if you're even able to [i]have[/i] that, but you took some considerable punishment."[/b][/color] She scoffs at the remark I made in regards to her power. Probably something of a touchy subject. I honestly wouldn't know. [b][color=92278f]"If you consider a [i]hangover[/i] to be head trauma, then I've gotten plenty of that. This isn't much worse. Just alot more... all over."[/color][/b] Stumbling ahead, trying to maintain her balance, she takes another look at me and stares, giving less of a fearful reaction and more of a perplexed, borderlining skeptical glare. One that I'm not entirely accustomed to. [color=DimGray][b]"Something wrong?"[/b][/color] [color=92278f][b]"Not at all. Infact, I just talked to [i]another[/i] grown man dressed like a flying animal [i]last[/i] week. We're total besties."[/b][/color] I narrow my eyes. I'd say it's hardly the time for sarcasm, but I also don't intend to dwell on it. She notices my belt and immediately begins thinking to herself. After a minute, I find myself growing frustrated with her staring and begin to walk in the opposite direction. [b][color=92278f]"Okay, fine. You don't have to be so sensitive about the outfit. I was just wondering what you carry in that thing." [/color][/b] Looking over my shoulder, I give another look. [b][color=92278f]"More to the point, I was wondering if you had something specific. Got any cigarettes on you?"[/color][/b] [color=DimGray][b]"I don't smoke."[/b][/color] She seems to be more taken aback by that than anything else. [b][color=92278f]"Jesus. No wonder you have problems."[/color][/b] Shaking my head, I continue on my path towards the other end of the building. [color=DimGray][b]"We don't have time for this. What do you remember about what happened before?"[/b][/color] Jones rubs the back of her head, trying to think. [color=92278f][b]"Just... noise. Colors, really. Alot of reds and greens blurring into eachother. It was like everything was amplified to eleven. And there was a voice that I've never heard before..."[/b][/color] Suddenly, her face begins to lose it's color. She looks as if she's just triggered a rather traumatic memory. [b][color=92278f]"Fuck. Oh, [i]fuck[/i]. Someone was in my head. No, that can't be. Christ, not again. This can't be happening again..."[/color][/b] I don't know what exactly she's referring to, but it could have something to do with those nine months that she went unaccounted for back in New York. ACE gives me another readout of the GCPD's current distance from the area. Minutes are possibly turning into seconds, depending on traffic and other variables. If I could stall them, somehow, I would. But the Batcycle isn't able to carry out a remote assault on it's own. Not to mention that it'd be torn to pieces if it did by an all-out escalation of gunfire. [color=DimGray][b]"Jones. [i]Focus.[/i] We have a situation."[/b][/color] Looking shell-shocked, she nevertheless looks back up at me and pushes whatever she's experiencing back into the recesses of her mind. I know that I'm risking alot in trusting this woman with what little I'm about to impart by itself, but I need her cooperation in order to ensure Zoe Lawton's safety. I can't trust the police to be able to attend to the child, but I'm also in no condition to protect her myself. Jones, however, possesses superhuman strength and inhuman durability. Not to mention [i]flight[/i], a fact of which I'm still trying to process. [color=DimGray][b]"Long story short? Yes, you were taken under the control of a powerful metahuman. Calls herself Poison Ivy. I don't know where she is in Gotham, but she's a player in the underground drug trade. She attempted to use you to kill a young girl named Zoe Lawton."[/b][/color] Jones reacts to the name. [b][color=92278f]"Lawton... wait, the daughter of Michelle Torres?"[/color][/b] I give a nod, beginning to scale the wall ahead of me. If the GCPD swarm the area, they're likely to be looking for any sign that I was here. It'd be best for everyone if I made my exit sooner rather than later. [color=DimGray][b]"You know her?"[/b][/color] [b][color=92278f]"Not particularly, but I'm starting to remember. I was in the middle of trying to talk her out of leaving town. Her ex-husband is a contract killer. Some piece of shit called..."[/color][/b] [color=DimGray][b]"Floyd Lawton. I met him earlier tonight. As of a few minutes ago, he's in police custody."[/b][/color] Breathing a sigh of relief, Jones holds her palm to the front of her head, seemingly accepting the reality of the situation. It seems that she does at least care, despite my earlier reservations. [b][color=92278f]"Did I hurt anyone?"[/color][/b] [color=DimGray][b]"The girl? No. But her mother was rendered unconscious. Nothing serious, and an ambulance is on it's way. However..."[/b][/color] Just as I begin to speak, a set of loud sirens from the Gotham City Police suddenly echo out from all around us. Jones immediately makes her way to the windows and looks outside, looking somewhat panicked herself. Dammit. We had even less time than I'd originally predicted. [b][color=92278f]"Shit. We need to go. We need to leave [i]right[/i] now."[/color][/b] [color=DimGray][b]"I was going to say the same, but there's a bit of a complication."[/b][/color] She turns back to me, slightly insensed. [b][color=92278f]"You're not listening. I'm not like [i]you[/i] and in the middle of waging some stupid vigilante crusade. I have a job and a personal life that I'd rather protect from the cops, and everything outside indicates that I'm a living weapon of mass fucking destruction."[/color][/b] I remain silent for a moment, just as the red and blue lights begin to bounce off of my face from outside of the building. While I was concerned with escaping the area for my own sake, Jones' status as a metahuman wasn't something that I'd previously considered. People like her are hunted regularly by government officials, and it'd undoubtedly take a very short amount of time under GCPD custody for an organization to take over. She could disappear overnight for something that wasn't even her fault. Goddammit. [color=DimGray][b]"I'll make you a deal."[/b][/color] Jones narrows her eyes, unsure of what I'm about to say. I'm not even entirely convinced of what I have in mind myself, but it seems as though that despite my history with the police, I have far less to lose than anyone caught in the middle of this situation. [color=DimGray][b]"Go and get the girl. Take her someplace safe, wait a few days, and ensure that she's reunited with her mother. The cops in this city are on the take and I don't trust them with her. Do this for me and..."[/b][/color] She raises an eyebrow. [b][color=92278f]"And what?"[/color][/b] I sigh to myself. This is likely to go down as the most idiotic plan I've ever had. [color=DimGray][b]"I'll cover your escape."[/b][/color]