[Thread] Can't Kill Lonliness Alone
Characters: Helena Campbell, [OPEN]
Where: Gotham
When: 5.16.2009
Summary: Helena has been holed up in her room for four months, eating, sleeping, drawing, and trying to remember. She heard of part of a city named Gotham that was phased in. The name was quite familiar to her so she decided to leave her room to brave its streets to find something, or ( Read more... )
Where: Gotham
When: 5.16.2009
Summary: Helena has been holed up in her room for four months, eating, sleeping, drawing, and trying to remember. She heard of part of a city named Gotham that was phased in. The name was quite familiar to her so she decided to leave her room to brave its streets to find something, or ( Read more... )
The plastic-like texture of the barrier stretched and finally formed an opening for Ada, after enough button punching and touch screening. There was no avoiding to just look at the opening for moment before walking through.
Ada had found herself in an alleyway (how cliche`), and in the background she heard a disgruntled hiss. Her eyes caught sight of the startled, filthy cat as it leaped and knocked over a metal trash can. The lid came off, spilling its garbage so it almost touched the tip of her black dress-shoes.
Alright...so I'm in some city, but what city? What's so significant about it to be brought here...?
As questions made themselves known in her mind, she hadn't missed the sinister chuckle. "Hey baby," said a gruff voice, his accent Australian. "Would you care to show me your goods?"
Calmly, Ada turned around to face the scumbag. There wasn't much to see, but the dim street lamp light nearby showed her enough. He was big, bulky, and had a lot of stubble around his chin. The clothes he wore as she could just screamed Dark and Creepy.
"Would you care to get lost," she purred to him.
Mr. Mugger laughed, and lifted a shadowy object that resembled a handgun with a suppressor attached. "Now, now--don't make a fuss. Just give me your loot, and you just might make it through the night."
You've got to be kidding me, she thought in bemusement. In just a quick movement, she sharply kneed the man right in between the legs.
"Y-You...You bitch," the felon hissed, after a cry of pain.
Before he could do anything more stupid, Ada fished out her Beretta and aimed at his forehead, point-blank. "I'll make a deal with you," she told him. She wasn't angry at him as she spoke firmly, but ever so slightly annoyed. "Give me your gun. After that, you'll never see me again." This statement was a guarantee to this pathetic excuse for a man. She sure as hell didn't want to run into him again, not anytime soon.
"Burn in hell," he strained, still wincing and bending over from what she did.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," she said, before swiftly knocking him unconscious with the butt of her weapon. No, Ada had no intention for killing this guy. She wouldn't stoop to his level for one thing. The other reason was that it would be a waste of a bullet to do so. She had to conserve her ammo, and use it wisely, not on petty thieves.
She picked up the suppressed handgun from the ground beside the man's body, and walked her way toward the nearest streetlamp. Nice, she marveled. It was a KM-1SR handgun. It could hold up to fifteen rounds, a little more than her Beretta could hold, in which was twelve rounds per clip.
For the future victims of what must be a shithole for a city, Ada had done them a favor by removing this from the street thug. It could also come in handy in case she had to use it around more dangerous people than him without drawing unwanted attention to herself.
She proceeded to keep moving forward. No matter how sad of a place this was, there had to be some answers as to why the Ring's computer wanted it here...
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Helena, had herself been waiting for something or other. Maybe someone? She couldn't really remember why she was there or what she was doing. She remembered her incident with the Joker and Robin coming to help her. Had Harvey been there too? Or was he just talked of? Maybe a figment of her imagination? Either way Helena was tired, exhausted even, her eye lids heavy and constantly closing.
She had tried to stand a few moment before but her ankle was sprained and hurt like the Dickens to stand on so she sat back down to rest for a few moment more unable to recall if she was waiting for something.
She watched as the woman walked away from her, as the man came up and got his rear end knocked to the ground. She smiled to herself in amusement. She was so tired she couldn't really tell if this was a dream or if it was really happening. If she was sure it had not been a dream she would have cried out instantly when she saw the sleazy creep peel off of the walls like a shadow and pull out his gun.
Instead she smiled wearily as she watched the woman take care of herself. And just in case, when she had done she spoke in barely above a whisper, "Hullo, there. Are you a dream? Or did you just come from The Ring?"
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She turned only her head to look to where the crisper and softer accent came from. It was still very dark in this spot, but she could see the younger female. What peaked her attention of course was her question about the Niven Ring.
What the hell was this kid doing here? The question appeared through Ada's expression.
She clicked the safety on the KM-1SR. "This isn't a place to take a nap in, that's for sure... Yes, I'm from the Ring." Her tone was half suspicious and half laid back as she offered her open free hand for the girl to take.
"Who are you," Ada had to ask.
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Helena flinched when she went to put weight on her ankle. She raised her foot up off the ground a bit and leaned backwards on the wall behind her to support her weight. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like this. Even on her long adventure with Valentine she had never been so tired or felt so weak. It was almost uncharacteristic of her.
"What's your name?" She smiled at the woman before her. She could very obviously take care of herself but she knew that letting her go out into the city without any warnings would be bad so she tried to stall her a bit, attempting to make small talk while she gathered her thoughts.
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She knew a crazy, off-their-rocker person when she saw one. This young British woman certainly wasn't, so the only other explanation that came to mind was something she didn't want to share.
Well--looks like she might have to. If her injury gets any worse, then where the hell can we call for medical transportation? There it went again, the inner drill sergeant voice mulling and noting Helena in observation.
Her arms looked dirty, and indeed did look exhausted over something that must have happened. She could have been brutally mugged, or violated.
Quietly to herself she made such observations while awaiting Helena's explanation.
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Helena twiddled her thumbs as she noticed that Ada was not one to beat around the bush nor was she dumb. She was observant and skilled. Even in her weakened state Helena could at least observe that much.
"I was looking for someone." Helena looked out behind Ada as if... maybe that someone would show up, turn the corner and be there for her.
"I sort of got lost but I thought that if I was lost I would find what I was looking for. I was sitting on a fire escape in an alley way when I was approached. I have a feeling he knew who I was way before I did... my memories are still very fuzzy... It was The Joker. We seem to constantly cross paths with each other. Almost unavoidable if I recall correctly."
Helena grimaced at the frame by frame snipets of memory that came and went.
"Well, I was saved by Robin but we barely made it out. I mean, I don't know about her. He probably would have really tried to kill her if he had wanted to. I don't think he would have killed be but nobody really knows... Anyway, I was shoved and I tripped." She looked down at her ankle.
Helena laughed slightly under her breathe. She really had just begun to ramble on attempting to remember the events of the evening when it all came flooding back in. Apparently the initial shock of the evening was wearing off.
And no, Harvey hadn't been there...
"I had to run on it so I don't know how bad it really is. I can't really feel it, though I know it hurts."
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All of that didn't feel quite right to her, and this exactly wasn't a good time to mull over on how hard she must have tripped, for instance.
In just over a beat of hesitation, she just decided to take action and help this kid. She moved one of Helena's arms in order to have someone support her. "The more you try to move on your own, the more swollen that ankle will get." In picking a direction to go, she was not go back the way she came, that's for certain. Dark alleys in cities were hazardous anyway.
But where to go? It wasn't like she was going to knock on some stranger's front door, or even break and enter anywhere. "First, let's just get out of here," she decided, while taking her time so Helena could move with her.
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"Where is the transporter? Back to the ring?"
Helena looked around, not a whole lot striking her as familiar. She peered about her, turning her head here and there, her brows almost furrowing together, a searching look on her face. She was trying to remember. But the shock was still there... her journey around the city all mottled in her head.
She turned her head towards Ada and looked up at her, "I don't really know where I am..."
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Sprained ankles were really no fun. A really long time ago, on a job, she had twisted and sprained her right ankle. It took several days of physical therapy for the restoration to be complete.
She didn't mind Helena's leaning. In fact, she had mentally encouraged it a little. So much for that. She fell really hard, claimed to have met some Batman-related characters... How swell.
Quietly Ada let out her breath. Under a distant street lamp was a bench. Very few people were walking on the sidewalks, just minding their own businesses. She led Helena to the bench across a street, then helped set her down into it.
Maybe we should just wait for a taxi to someplace much nicer, she thought. Honestly, she didn't trust anyone in the city, for most were always two-faced excuses for human beings. There was nothing else she could think of at the moment.
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Her jeans had holes in the knees, white shirt just barely showing under the gray, almost black suit jacket, a thin orange scarf hanging around her neck. She looked down at her feet and smiled. Bunny slippers. She had several chances to get new shoes but they reminded her of all of her adventures... the ones she could remember.
The jacket, like the scarf, had been gifts. The jacket had been left behind by an old friend. The scarf a... was it a Christmas present... that sounded right. But from who? Static.
Helena swiveled her head around and watched as the few people who were out passed by, minding their own business. She was uneasy. She decided she didn't like this city. Not since she knew now who it really belonged to.
"I need to get back to the ring."
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Ada looked to Helena in concern. "Are you sure you're ready to move around some more?"
Getting back to the Ring would at least be much safer, that she knew. But in order to get back successfully Helena nor Ada could be allowed to slow each other down.
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Helena smiled faintly. Apparently the computer, whatever it was, was a good listener. Not giving it another thought Helena looked at Ada, "I think that's the way back to the ring. I'm going... Thank you for your help. You don't have to come with me."
Helena leaned forward and fell in.
As fast as she blinked Helena was crashing down to the floor. She landing hands first, a light "thud" sounding as her palms hit the hard tile surface. She clambered up onto her feet and looked around to see where she was and try to find out in what direction the infirmary would be in...
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She knew where the girl wanted to go, and acted as the human crutch again for her. "The sick bay is this way," Ada said, and started to steer her into the right direction. She flipped mentally through what she has memorized of the Ring's complex so far, the place for medical needs included.
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Helena looked up towards Ada then down at the floor. "Thank you. I know you don't really know me and all that but... thank you, for your help."
Helena continued o hobble on next to Ada, following her lead in which ever direction they were going. Helena was very trusting, almost to a fault, and even now she was trusting this very kind stranger to help her. She was relieved that she had met another person whom she could trust to aid her without turning on her... as one or two fellows might have done before.
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"Don't worry about it," Ada assured her. "I'm sure you'd do the same for me." As she talked, her mind was buzzing, calculating away. "Just be a little more careful, in case we don't run into each other again."
She may have meant to be kind to her, but the mental inner barrier around her bittersweet soul she put up kept Helena at arm's length.
She led Helena to make a right, and straight down the hall. They reached to the second door on the left, the metal plaque reading "INFIRMARY". Opening the door, she didn't see anyone. A small frown of disappointment appeared on her satiny red lips.
With little effort needed, she led Helena to the patient's table. "I'm going to look for someone with more medical knowledge than I do." She said this to lighten the atmosphere a little. "Hopefully this won't take long."
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Every time she went outside it was as if evil was always lurking, waiting for her. Some disaster was always around the corner. It's true that every time she managed to escape it, managed to come out okay, but every time someone or something or even herself managed to get hurt in the process.
However, she was thankful that she always managed to meet one or two people along the way that made the adventure worth the journey. Ada seemed to be one of those people. She was tough, quick, and calculating. Like a strong pillar to lean on and just the person Helena needed in a moment like this, though Helena hated to admit that even she had her weak points.
She smiled up at Ada, gave a nod and rested her head on the pillow. She'd been up and about for almost twenty four hours. At least that's what it felt like. So while Ada went for help, she would rest.
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