Maria Helena Grayson (crossbow_bat) wrote in dc_nextgen,
@ 2011-06-26 10:29:00

Entry tags:

What If - Cat and Mouse
It had started innocently enough. Maria Helena Grayson Wayne had taken a job with a small security firm and had quickly learned the ropes. She had to have something to pay the bills in this strange new world. Once she was settled in, she had what it took to get onto the team that tested firm's security systems by breaking in. At first Maria loved it. It was challenging and fun, but then it became way too easy. Uncle Bruce had trained her since the age of five and it showed.

Maria wanted more of a challenge and she found one.

She broke into higher security places and took small mementos for herself. Those small mementos turned into bigger things, but she didn't keep them for herself. There were so many people living on the streets of Gotham that needed help. Maria fenced the little trinkets she stole and used the money to give to the shelters and soup kitchens of Gotham.

Steal from the rich and give to the poor. She became a female Robin Hood clad in purple and black.

Tonight she was breaking into the offices of one of the richest men, after Bruce Wayne, in Gotham. There was a diamond the size of a fist he was keeping in the safe in there.

She was on the roof and working on disabling the security systems.

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	first_son 2011-06-27 12:06 am UTC (link)
	Jon glances around, finding the bike... but not its rider. He tries to sort out the voices of the staff, and any other signs of breathing, slowly homing in... but not having picked her out amidst her quick change. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 12:18 am UTC (link)
	Maria put her hair up in a bun and stood up. She went to a nearby rack and casually picked up a blouse to look at. Keeping an eye out for /him/. She slowed her breathing and tried to calm herself. She was just another shopper. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

first_son
2011-06-27 12:21 am UTC (link)

Fast heartbeats... quickened breathing... closer... closer... then whoever it is calms herself. He has it narrowed down, a couple women in the store, a couple stock girls... he moves closer.

"Did anyone see a woman run in here?" he asks those around, hovering a couple feet off the ground, trying to figure out if anyone matches the build of the motorcycle rider, by habit, trying to do so without too much x-ray vision... cause looking through dresses just isn't done.

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	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 12:29 am UTC (link)
	"The only thing I've seen is a woman ride through on a motorcyle," Maria said. "Crazy people running loose in the city." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-27 12:31 am UTC (link)
	He nods. "Which way?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 12:42 am UTC (link)
	"That way," she said as she pointed in the direction the bike went. "She jumped off and I didn't see where she went after that." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

first_son
2011-06-27 12:50 am UTC (link)

Jon nods, playing every bit the naive farm boy - he's good at it, and takes off in the indicated direction. When well out of human sight and hearing range he stops and turns the x-ray vision back on the store.

Panicked people might think they saw all sorts of things... but he never heard the bike leave the store, so he's sure one of them was his quarry. He can be smarter than he looks, sometimes.

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	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 12:57 am UTC (link)
	Maria went to the counter and paid for the dress in her hands and the one she was wearing. She pretended nothing was wrong, but the diamond had shifted and was uncomfortably poking her. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-27 01:00 am UTC (link)
	Hmm, nothing... nothing... that's... weird. He scans a little closer on the woman, trying to figure out the source of her discomfort. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 01:16 am UTC (link)
	Maria smiled at the clerk and tried to shift the diamond into a more comfortable position. "Thank you," she said as the clerk handed her the bag with the one dress in it. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

first_son
2011-06-27 01:29 am UTC (link)

He finally finds it - the diamond is /definitely/ not part of that outfit... though it takes him an extra few moments to find it - even in present circumstances, he hesitated... and then there's the whole staring at breasts thing...

Fighting off the blush and focusing on the diamond, and the thief, he checks out her features, and moves to the exit she's heading for to prepare to ambush her.

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	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 02:03 am UTC (link)
	Maria grabbed her bag and headed for the entrance. Uh oh. Red and Blue Boyscout was there. Did he suspect her? He couldn't. She kept walking. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-27 02:11 am UTC (link)
	"Ma'am, I'm afraid I need to ask you to come with me." No question who he's addressing. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 11:27 pm UTC (link)
	"I'd like to say that's more forward than I'm used to, but I can't," she said with a cheeky smile. "Though you are rather handsome and you got that whole boy scout thing going for you." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-27 11:29 pm UTC (link)
	"And you're in possession of stolen property." he replies, extending a hand to her. There's at least some possibility she won't resist arrest, right? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-27 11:58 pm UTC (link)
	"You're not going to give me a cheesy line about stealing your heart, are you?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-28 12:02 am UTC (link)
	One brow raises. "No. I was planning on returning the diamond you stole after dropping you off at the police station." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-28 12:06 am UTC (link)
	"If I /hypothetically/ had a diamond, it would be one I stole from a man who's high up in the mob and use the money from it for homeless shelters in the city." "But I guess that wouldn't matter to a boy scout, if I /had/ done it." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-28 12:08 am UTC (link)
	He considers that a moment. Sometimes the law does have its gaps... but he can't endorse this, right? "Come with me, we should discuss this somewhere quieter. Don't try and get away though." he replies, offering her a lift. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-28 12:34 am UTC (link)
	She put her hand in his. "Do I get a spanking for being bad?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-28 12:47 am UTC (link)
	He picks her up, and carries her to a rooftop, finding one significantly higher than its neighbors so there's not an easy escape if you can't fly. He's about to respond, when what she said hits him... so he stands there with his mouth open a few moments, finally shaking it off. "Do you have proof the owner is in the mob?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-28 01:24 am UTC (link)
	Maria grinned. "Of course I do. I would just steal from anyone," she said. "Not that I did steal, but if I were to, it would be from bad guys." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-28 01:26 am UTC (link)
	Which... some of the bats do as well, and the Question... and others. "Let me guess, you have the kind of proof that will link these people to the mob, but wouldn't stand up in court, right?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crossbow_bat 2011-06-28 01:30 am UTC (link)
	"That's usually how it goes," she said. "Take away their resources and they do get desperate enough to do something rash. Something that will stand up in court." She shrugged. "There's more than one way to skin a cat and the people of Gotham get aid in the process. Everyone wins. Except the bad guys." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	first_son 2011-06-28 01:36 am UTC (link)
	He sighs. "And you can show me this evidence?" Operating in Gotham sometimes requires a certain tolerance for letting things be done the Gotham way. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)