(Untitled)

[littlegordon]

Jimmy thought he heard the door open in the next room and, thinking his father was (finally) home from work, abandoned his homework and rushed toward the door. A moment later the ten-year-old boy stumbles to a halt in the lobby, looking around in confusion and rising panic. "Dad?" He skitters backward and looks back the way he came, but his

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[timeto_play]

Fear, Jon thinks, has such a distinctive ring to it, and it's one he can very rarely ignore. So naturally he stops upon hearing the boys voice, and a slow smile comes to his face. He's never had much time for children - they're simply not complex or challenging enough for him. Sometimes you just have to mix up your routine a little.

"I don't know if they're here," he says as he steps into the lobby. On his face is a concerned look, not at all genuine but believable.

[littlegordon]

And this one has plenty to play with to make it fun for him. Jimmy watches him warily, distrustful. "Where's here?"

[timeto_play]

"Here? Here is Nowhere." He takes a step closer. "Kind of like a fairy tale. One of the old, nightmare-like ones." A grin. "Boo."

[littlegordon]

Jimmy takes a couple steps backwards. "Can't be nowhere, that doesn't make any sense." He glances around for a door and starts towards one, meaning to get outside. Maybe he can flag down a cop car and they can call his father.

[timeto_play]

"Absolutely nowhere." He follows Jimmy, slowly and casually. "You know, you must be a Gotham kid. You have that ... What's the word? That air about you. I think Gothamites are the most fun."

[littlegordon]

The fact that the man is apparently from Gotham is not only not reassuring, it makes him even more tense and wary. He speeds up. "I gotta go, I'm late, my dad'll be looking for me." He hopes. He doesn't even know how he got here or what's going on.

[timeto_play]

He laughs softly. It would almost be considered sweet if it didn't sound, well, everything opposite of sweet.

"I assure you that no one is looking for you. In fact, you're not even missing to them. It's sad, I know, but you'll get over it."

[littlegordon]

"That's not true, he's looking!" He speeds up again, reaching for the door.

[timeto_play]

Jon decides to let the kid run outside. It'll be worth it, he thinks, to see his face fall. A cheap little kick. So he stands there, smiling, watching. Waiting.

[littlegordon]

He nearly bursts into a run as he pushes through the doors, and when he sees nothing but ocean and beach, certainly not the smoggy Gotham streets he was expecting, his face doesn't so much fall as slowly transform into horror and rising panic, his breath short and quick as he stumbles to a halt on the sand.

[timeto_play]

He follows, standing in the doorway and folding his arms.

"You poor thing. All alone, in a place that's nowhere."

If he's sounding sympathetic, it's because he means to. He might be able to get something out of this kid after all. But to do that, he has to make him trust him. Just like he's made Harvey trust him.

[littlegordon]

Jimmy is barely listening, he's never even seen the ocean before. "...Where's the city?" Where's Gotham where's dad where's Batman where's his family where's home....

[timeto_play]

Sometimes Jon thinks he should have been an actor. He takes step over to Jimmy, putting his hand gently -- comfortingly -- on Jimmy's shoulder.

"There's no city."

[littlegordon]

He flinches away, too reminded of Harvey's hand heavy on his shoulder. "Why not? Where did it go?"

[timeto_play]

He doesn't persist, not wanting to frighten the boy anymore (not yet, anyway).

"If I knew, I'd tell you. If I knew, I probably wouldn't be here."

[littlegordon]

"...How do we get back?" Any fear of Crane himself is becoming secondary to the fact that not only is he not in his house anymore, but he's not even in Gotham/