For once, this hall was devoid of traffic, though people were beginning to appear in the adjacent areas. Ken simply looked on and ran, seeing little point in staying in one place.
When Crane finally arrived in the main hallway, below the stairs, he paused as he noticed a woman stumbling around. His first thought was that it was a drunk person, but he doubted that it would be possible to get alcohol in a place like this, so it had to be something else. Numb muscles from sedatives, perhaps. Then in that case, the person was asking to be made into a meal, and deserved the fate that waited them. Upon second glance, he realized that she looked familiar.
It was Ms. Quinn. Had she been sedated? If so, then why? And she'd claimed to be from Arkham, but why was she doing something as stupid as trying to walk around at night? She should know what sedatives did to a person's motor functions. Although clearly, she wasn't terribly familiar if she was still trying to walk. It seemed as though she was headed upstairs to, and he could barely hear her mentioning something along the lines of 'Mommy's coming' as he came closer.
He had half a mind to leave her to whatever monster ran across her and tried to eat her, but he paused before he passed on by. She was from Gotham, after all, and as he'd told Kristoph the night before, it seemed like a different Gotham than he knew. He still had questions, and couldn't let her die before they were answered. Unless, of course, he took advantage of the fact that he was sedated. If he got the information he needed tonight, then it wouldn't matter.
Instead of passing right on by, he went over to her. "Ms. Quinn?" he asked, feigning concern. "What are you doing out here? You don't look well. Should you really be out tonight?"
"Huh?" She turned at the sound of her name and blinked up at the face in an attempt to focus more quickly. Oh. It was that guy: the guy with the same name as Professor Crane, but wasn't really Professor Crane or even a professor at all really, so maybe she was supposed to call him Mr. Crane, but that seemed too stuffy a name to call someone, especially...
...Wait, what was she doing? Oh, right.
"Oh. Hey, Crane-y," she said, voice much distant as though she were speaking to herself rather than another person. "Guess I don't, huh? Don't feel too good either... Docs shot me up earlier, but I gotta go upstairs... If I don't go... they might hurt them..."
Her sentences were slowly dropping in volume as she went along, turning into a mutter by the time she'd gotten to the last word. It was so strange. Her best friend in the world left her to rot away in this place, but here this guy she barely knew was being so nice to her. He almost spoke with that same quiet tone the Professor Crane back home used with her. Of course, thinking that just made her feel homesick all over again, so that would be enough of that. Still, it was nice to actually have someone she kind of knew seem worried on her behalf.
There was a pause as though she was trying to collect her thoughts again before speaking. "What're ya doin' walkin' around by yourself anyway? Ya don't even got a weapon... They got killer cats wanderin' around at night..."
He'd had to strain in order to hear her correctly, but he wasn't certain what to think of what he did hear. "'Them?'" he asked, raising an eyebrow, choosing not to remark on her choice of a nickname for him. It looked like he had otherwise been right on the mark, though. She'd been sedated, and was trying to get out anyway.
"Anyway, I might not have a weapon, but I'm headed towards what it supposedly a place of safety upstairs, to look around. And I could certainly run better than you in your condition," he commented. Crane had no problem admitting what battles he couldn't win and leaving them. Even if that had sounded a bit mean, he certainly believed it to be true. Then again, she did have a weapon, but he doubted she could wield it as well as she thought while fighting off the sedatives. Just like he doubted she could get too upset over his comment while in a drugged state.
"...That reminds me, Ms. Quinn, I had a question for you. What exactly were you in Arkham for?" Even if it meant accompanying her upstairs until he got to the chapel, he wanted answers for the next time he spoke with Kristoph and Mikami.
Her eyes wandered towards the stairs as the man spoke, almost like she wasn't paying much attention. On the contrary, she was listening as best as she was able to in this state. So there was a safe room somewhere upstairs? That was convenient. Harley wasn't much for making elaborate plans, so she hadn't considered what to do with her sweethearts once she'd freed them. A safe spot would be good place to go to figure out what to do next.
Like she was sleep walking, she slowly moved towards the stairs, growing more desperate to move as she spoke.
"My babies," she said, voice louder now so it reached normal speaking volume. "This place... I saw them. They were here. Only a few nights ago. And then they took 'em away... I gotta find 'em." No amount of sedatives could disguise the amount of concern and venom behind her words. "They gotta be upstairs... in the lab."
Harley leaned against the handrail as she climbed the steps slowly, the effort breaking her speech apart as she spoke. It also made it more difficult to think straight. Just get upstairs... That was all that mattered right now.
When Crane finally arrived in the main hallway, below the stairs, he paused as he noticed a woman stumbling around. His first thought was that it was a drunk person, but he doubted that it would be possible to get alcohol in a place like this, so it had to be something else. Numb muscles from sedatives, perhaps. Then in that case, the person was asking to be made into a meal, and deserved the fate that waited them. Upon second glance, he realized that she looked familiar.
It was Ms. Quinn. Had she been sedated? If so, then why? And she'd claimed to be from Arkham, but why was she doing something as stupid as trying to walk around at night? She should know what sedatives did to a person's motor functions. Although clearly, she wasn't terribly familiar if she was still trying to walk. It seemed as though she was headed upstairs to, and he could barely hear her mentioning something along the lines of 'Mommy's coming' as he came closer.
He had half a mind to leave her to whatever monster ran across her and tried to eat her, but he paused before he passed on by. She was from Gotham, after all, and as he'd told Kristoph the night before, it seemed like a different Gotham than he knew. He still had questions, and couldn't let her die before they were answered. Unless, of course, he took advantage of the fact that he was sedated. If he got the information he needed tonight, then it wouldn't matter.
Instead of passing right on by, he went over to her. "Ms. Quinn?" he asked, feigning concern. "What are you doing out here? You don't look well. Should you really be out tonight?"
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...Wait, what was she doing? Oh, right.
"Oh. Hey, Crane-y," she said, voice much distant as though she were speaking to herself rather than another person. "Guess I don't, huh? Don't feel too good either... Docs shot me up earlier, but I gotta go upstairs... If I don't go... they might hurt them..."
Her sentences were slowly dropping in volume as she went along, turning into a mutter by the time she'd gotten to the last word. It was so strange. Her best friend in the world left her to rot away in this place, but here this guy she barely knew was being so nice to her. He almost spoke with that same quiet tone the Professor Crane back home used with her. Of course, thinking that just made her feel homesick all over again, so that would be enough of that. Still, it was nice to actually have someone she kind of knew seem worried on her behalf.
There was a pause as though she was trying to collect her thoughts again before speaking. "What're ya doin' walkin' around by yourself anyway? Ya don't even got a weapon... They got killer cats wanderin' around at night..."
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"Anyway, I might not have a weapon, but I'm headed towards what it supposedly a place of safety upstairs, to look around. And I could certainly run better than you in your condition," he commented. Crane had no problem admitting what battles he couldn't win and leaving them. Even if that had sounded a bit mean, he certainly believed it to be true. Then again, she did have a weapon, but he doubted she could wield it as well as she thought while fighting off the sedatives. Just like he doubted she could get too upset over his comment while in a drugged state.
"...That reminds me, Ms. Quinn, I had a question for you. What exactly were you in Arkham for?" Even if it meant accompanying her upstairs until he got to the chapel, he wanted answers for the next time he spoke with Kristoph and Mikami.
Reply
Like she was sleep walking, she slowly moved towards the stairs, growing more desperate to move as she spoke.
"My babies," she said, voice louder now so it reached normal speaking volume. "This place... I saw them. They were here. Only a few nights ago. And then they took 'em away... I gotta find 'em." No amount of sedatives could disguise the amount of concern and venom behind her words. "They gotta be upstairs... in the lab."
Harley leaned against the handrail as she climbed the steps slowly, the effort breaking her speech apart as she spoke. It also made it more difficult to think straight. Just get upstairs... That was all that mattered right now.
[to here]
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