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Your mistake, then. [If he's particularly nervous about backtalking the injured, agitated and heavily-armed vigilante, he doesn't show it.]

I said I'd work for you. Didn't say anything about getting shot up for you, though.

I wasn't talking to you.

Black Mask's men weren't supposed to be there. We weren't prepared to deal with their shit last night.

You're doing it again, aren't you? You know, it's really distracting trying to talk to you while you're also talking to like three or four other people through that glorified football helmet.

Look, you said go in there as the Electrocutioner. I went in there as the Electrocutioner. You didn't say anything about fighting like the Electrocutioner. I mean, have you ever actually tried using those stupid gloves? No wonder he always gets his ass kicked.

And I'd take a guess that Black Mask's goon squad being there might have had something to do with you breaking out the heavy artillery on them again the other night. Y'know, just putting it out there.

Me! You're the one that ran off without telling me what was going on! I'm not a damn mind reader! [She scowled a moment.]

[ Rayan huffed a little.] And seriously not bullet proof!

Yes, I'm doing it again. [Not really. He'd heard Batman over the comms and it just slipped out. He hadn't even realized he said it out loud until David replied. But just try getting him to admit that.]

You weren't supposed to have to fight as the Electrocutioner. I could make better shock gloves than those if we hadn't needed the diversion.

I wouldn't have brought out the heavy artillery on them if they wouldn't keep peddling drugs to kids on my turf. And Scarecrow was supposed to be keeping them busy tonight.

...

You weren't meant to hear that.

Guessing you meant Boss or maybe Nightwing then?

[She glares a little]

So, any other bright ideas? Or winging it from here on out?

Bruce, of course.

Winging it, obviously. Which is a bright idea.

Edited 2015-07-10 04:09 (UTC)

You know, one of these days I'm gonna come in here with an earbud in each ear, just so you know what it feels like. [Except he's not, because for all his mouthiness he knows who the boss is here. He's not a Gotham native, not like Jason or any of the other big players, just one of the thousands of migrants who flocked in at the promise of a city free from rules.

And then he found out what that really meant and now he's with Red Hood's gang because, hey, he might be asshole but he's not 100% a dick, and he's not crazy either, which crosses out most every other employment opportunity in this city.]

Ah, hell, shit happens. Just tell me you got something useful outta listening to me do my best moron impersonation for however long it was before the Fail Face squad showed up.

Dunno where Black Mask keeps getting all this fresh blood... but this whole 'battle of attrition' plan you've got going on with him? It might need a rethink, big guy.

Edited 2015-07-10 04:17 (UTC)

[She bounces to her feet. Being out of costume did have a few advantages, she did have more pockets for flash bangs and smoke bombs, but only so much she could pull off in her school uniform. ]

So you taking point? Or am I risking blowing my identity? Not that half of them don't know it already. [ She cracks her neck a little. ] And, you happen to have an extra comlink? Lost mine when someone decided to throw a flash bang at my opponent.

[Jason laughs at that. David is different than most of Jason's gang, higher standards, smarter, reliable in ways most opportunists in this town are not. As a result, Jason treats him almost like a friend.]

I did. Penguin's planning to meet with Falcone tomorrow night at his club. They don't know what either of us look like in civvies so we'll have little trouble listening in. I want to know what they're planning. It's never anything good for Gotham.

Oh, believe me, I plan to deal with Black Mask. Right now, the real Electrocutioner is on his kill list. Which I hadn't planned but good work, by the way. Once he's dead or out of Gotham and we deal with Penguin and Falcone's plans, I'm finding the real Black Mask and I'm going to kill him.

[David rolls his eyes, but there's no real exasperation, and it's always good to see his boss lighten up a little. Most of the time the guy's so intense, but hell, what can you expect from someone who used to run with the Bat? There's hundreds of guys who work for the Red Hood, but only a couple who he trusts enough to show the face behind the helmet to. And out of those couple, so few you could count 'em on one hand, he's one of them.

It's funny, he came to Gotham aiming to build himself a gang, and here he is running with one instead. Taking orders again. But the Red Hood ain't like the other psychos in this city, and Jason ain't like the guy he worked for before he got here. So, yeah, David's been loyal to him so far. And weirder still, he doesn't really see that changing anytime soon either.]

You and me, listening in right there on Falcone and Birdboy? In civvies? [No argument, just eyebrows lifting in surprise, and a low whistle.] Ballsy.

Hey, for what it's worth, I didn't plan it either. Nice to know we got at least some kinda win out of all that bullshit, though. One less crazy's always a good thing, but if word on the street's right, you might need to do something about him sooner than that.

[It's one of his jobs, to feel out the rumblings at ground level and bring them back to Jason. And of course he's not the only guy the Red Hood's got for that, but David likes to think he's the best at it. He leans forward on his elbows, totally serious now.]

Word is, there's some heavies coming in from outta town to take a crack at that hit Black Mask put out on you. And I'm talking way outta town, League of Assassins-type guys. Wasn't able to get much past that, but I don't think they're gonna be pushovers like that last bunch of clowns.

Which is why they won't think anything of it. But I'll need to hide the scar if we want to do it again.

[Jason grimaces. It's not entirely unexpected news. He and Black Mask... It really does need to come to an end sooner rather than later. Before civilians get caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately, he's not quite in position to actually kill Black Mask yet, not without a turf war breaking out.]

As long as they don't dress like clowns. [Yes, he's afraid of clowns. After what the Joker put him through, it's a completely reasonable fear even though the bastard is dead.] How much is the bounty? It might be worth evening the playing field a bit.

[He rolls his eyes at her.]

Do I look like Bruce to you? Of course I'm taking point. You're a kid. Let me do the fighting. You throw smoke bombs, flash bangs, and batarangs at the from above and behind.

[He hands her an extra earpiece and waits for her to put it in.]

You should get Bruce to build one into your mask.

Oh please if you were, or if you were Dick, I wouldn't be out here. They both refuse to let me have some fun.

[ Pint sized ex assassin's version of fun usually calls for baddies to have dislocated limbs, she's been careful not to break any. ]

There's a reason there's not one built in. They don't seem to sit right with my mask. And yes we've tried.

[She grins a little.] If it gets too thick I'm dropping down. I'm as much of a kid as you were when you had my job Jaybird. But by all means, lead the way.

Too bad those two'll have a couple truckloads of shaved gorillas around. It'd sure solve a lot of headaches down the road if we could just take 'em both out right there at the table.

[David lets out a breath. He gets it: the bosses go, and with them goes the fragile net of control the Red Hood's thrown over organized crime in this city. But if he had his way, they'd just plant a nice little charge under the table before anyone got there and let nature run its course.]

Man, I'm pretty sure that the clown shtick is deader than disco in this town now. You know, ever since you blew that impostor Joker and his gang right off the map. [And yeah, he's never not going to be impressed by that, even if it'd just been a wannabe leading a gang of wannabes. Not that the Red Hood ever pulls his punches much, but that'd been one of the only times when the bossman had just cut loose and gone full-out scorched earth. And hey, no one's had the balls to try a stunt like that since, so in his book? Totally worth the collateral damage.]

As for the bounty? Depends on who you ask. I've heard 100 mil, 250 mil, even 500 mil. If I had to pin it down, I'd say 250. But it always comes with the offer of double if they bring you to him alive. No points for guessing why.

Shaved gorillas? [That draws a snort out of Jason.] Please don't insult the gorillas. I'm pretty sure they're smarter than Flappy Bird's goons.

[He smirks proudly at the mention of that incident. The impostor hadn't had the brains the real Joker did, thankfully. No, it wasn't brains he'd been lacking but creativity. But Jason had gotten a double satisfaction out of killing that can.] One Joker was too many. He doesn't need a successor. But I still don't like clowns, even when they're not crazy.

No guesses need. So we even the playing field.put out a bounty on Black Mask and his men. 300 mil alive, 600 dead. 25 and 50 mil for his men.

Dick might keep you out of this but Bruce... No, you're right. You're a girl. He would keep you on the sidelines for this one.

You gotta be using the wrong kind. Or maybe something in your mouth would be better. Ever try one of those music-playing lollipops? Combine that with a speaker and you'd never have worry about losing it again.

When I had your job, Little Wing, I was sixteen. And I was still too young.

Both would fail keeping me inside.

That a not so subtle hint to shut up? Besides, wasn't lost. The flash bang crapped it out. [Okay so flash bang and taser, but hey it's not like she can't take the damage. One good thing about her training... Or would that be a bad thing?]

Like you would have changed things. Come on, we better get going before all the fun's over.

Edited 2015-07-12 05:06 (UTC)

But I doubt Alfred would fail. And you know they'd involve him.

No. That was me saying we should make you a mouthpiece instead of an earpiece. Might get crapped out less, too. If I wanted you to shut up, I'd say so.

[He grins, pulling out his guns.] All right, I'm going in. Get ready.

[ There's a small smirk. She'd never hurt Alfred of course, but really if she wanted out of the house it would take more than him and all Bruce's gadgets.

Though when he said he was going in, her hands went behind her for a few items. She was serious about having fun. Really, B should keep better eye on her, Jay might be the best/worst influence on her.]

[She wasn't the only one having fun, either. Killing bad guys like this has its own satisfaction that simply capturing them does not. Jason kicks open the door and fires his twin guns before anyone can react. The first two thugs go down before they know what hit them.

He might not be the best influence on Rayan but he makes sure she's having fun, not fighting a war, and that she's safe instead of running headlong into danger.]

Frag left. [That was the only warning that she gave Jason as she tossed the grenade. When it went off she used a line to get to the catwalks.

The way wasn't perfectly clear, but she did know what she was doing and there was no way that she's get taken out by some low levels... Bouncing from the rail she knocked three gunmen down off the catwalk with a few well placed kicks and acrobatics.]

Main target's end of the warehouse, I just saw him duck that way have no idea from here how many idiots are in the cargo stacks.

[Her vantage point would make her a target if she didn't keep moving, unfortunately, this was probably the only warehouse in Gotham that didn't have rafters she could escape to, but oh well, she'd make do. There were enough shadows after all, and her costume was more muted than the original, made hiding that much easier.]

First of ten mistakes on you buddy. I'm only reliable if you want something $*#$-ed up.

Or if the pay is really high.

[He stayed just to the right of the grenade's blast radius, smiling behind his helmet at the men's screams when it went off. Serve them right for all the kids whose lives they'd ruined.

He puts a bullet through the closest goon and takes off toward the back of the warehouse, trusting Rayan to cover him. No one harms children on his turf.]

Wasn't talking to you but I do want someone fucked up. Make that two people.

Yeah? I could do that... for a fee.

Need some chimichanga money. And I can eat a lot of them.

[She keeps look out, managing to stay just ahead of him and above out of his gunfire.]

Jay hold up. [She's silent a moment.]

Ugh, stupid clo... [She yelps as she gets surprised and oh look she's flying.]

[And that gets an outright laugh out of David.] Well, whaddya know? Turns out there's something you like that doesn't go boom. Who knew it'd be big hairy apes?

[He can't help but grin himself, as even for all the destruction that little incident caused, it's also a big reason why he's sitting here right now, making cracks with his boss and not worrying about getting his head shot off for it. That impostor might not have had any of the real thing's unpredictability, but one thing he did have was the very last barrels of the clown's old Titan stockpile. He'd been the one to find out, giving Jason the chance to destroy them before the impostor could ever even put them to use.] After all that, a guy'd have to be crazy to try being a clown in this city. Not that I think killer ninjas are gonna be a whole lot more fun, just for the record.

Woo, those're some high figures. But consider it done, I'll have the word spread to every corner of town by midnight tonight. Probably ain't gonna do much about the real thing, we might get a body double or two. More likely we'll take out a good chunk of his lieutenants, though, with numbers like that.

Joker. I want him dead. As painfully as you can.

And then Batman. Alive but broken. I want to kill him myself.

[Jason freezes at those words. Clowns. He hates clowns. One in particular. He running back toward her before she's even done speaking.]

Rayan, can you hear me?

Ow, watch out Harley's got her mallet. [And Rayan had lousy footing, but even landing hard she's getting back up.]

I'm fine. Just didn't think she'd be out here. We're pretty far from her usual haunts. [Rayan cracks her neck.] She's mine. And we're not telling Nightwing nor Bats.

Ugh, I fuckin' hate clowns. [BLECH! He'd probably kill Joker for free But if money was on the table, hellz yeah!]

But Batman, he's pretty cool. [I mean come on! Batman was the shit!] Not sayin' I won't do it- but sheesh. The pay better be pretty damn good.

[Jason rolls his eyes.] Don't be ridiculous. I never said anything about liking apes. I just said they're smarter than Penguins morons.

[He shudders dramatically. Between Joker and Harley Quinn, clowning in Gotham was a doomed career.] He'd have to be crazy to try being a clown at all. [And then he gives David a surprised look. Oh, come on. Killer ninjas will be fun. And it's a chance to show Bruce up.

I have the money. I might as well use it. I can always hire out the militia if I need more money after. And anything to throw a monkey wrench in Black Mask's business. The more body doubles he goes through, the easier it'll be to find the real Sionis once Electrocutioner dies and we deal with Penguin's newest scheme.

Dammit. [He's beside her, grabbing her hand to help her up. This criminal is too dangerous to risk her. He's not about to risk her going through anything close to what he did.]

No, we are not. But be careful. And don't feel bad if you manage to kill her. You'd be doing her a favor.

Clowns should be illegal.

The pay will be more than worth it. And Batman shouldn't have abandoned me to the Joker. [Yes, this is extremely personal. Even if it didn't really happen the way Jason thinks it did.]

[By the time he's there she's already up. She knows she's going to be sore in the morning] Here goes the gymnastics team try outs.

[She gives a slight nod, though knowing her, she won't kill. Bats has gotten that lesson in fairly well. And she's not Jay.] And I'm always careful. She just has to remember I really hate safety nets.

[David laughs.] Hey, to be fair, that's not hard. I'm pretty sure I've met dead bodies that still had more brains than anyone on Penguin's payroll.

[He jerks his head to the side, still grinning.] I oughta get the reports on crime in Metropolis or something, I bet there's been a surge of clown guys there now that you ran 'em all out of Gotham. [The ones they didn't kill, anyway. But clowns are one thing, and Batman's quite another, so he straightens up and gets serious. He's still got a street tough's healthy mix of respect and fear for the Bat, and even now that he knows the guy's real name (thanks to the bossman, of course) he's still not totally keen to tangle with him. At least not without Jason.] I guess 'fun's' a word we could use, yeah. At least as long as they don't get the drop on us. But your old pal in the cape and cowl's a whole other matter, man. You really think he's just gonna keep going like this and letting you show everyone how he's old news?

I got the feeling we're gonna have to waste most of Black Mask's whole gang to make the real deal come up for air. He's holed up somewhere, I don't got any hard proof yet but I'm sure of it. Like Saddam in his spider hole. And as long as you keep the heat on him, that's where he's gonna stay. Penguin's gonna be easier to handle, but I still don't see why you even tolerate the guy.

[Jason throws back his head and laughs.] That's a good one. Perfect name for them. Corpse crew.

Supes can handle it. Be good for his career, too.

[He sobers then, fists clenching.] He won't. I'm counting on it. If he shows up when I'm not around, get out of there. I can barely take him alone and I know exactly how he fights. [But for once, this isn't exactly about revenge. Sure he enjoys showing up his old mentor, the man he still thinks of as a father. But this is about their city. He's not sure that he'll be able to make Bruce see that but it's worth a try.]

And that's why I'm saving Penguin until after Black Mask is dead. Sionis is enough trouble already. If I take out Penguin now, half his men are going to go work for Black Mask and he'd be that much harder to get to. Even if Sionis' surviving men end up working for Cobblepot, they won't make enough difference to be a problem.

Sorry, little bird.

[Jason knows that and he has mixed feelings about it. She's still a kid, despite everything. Kids shouldn't even be thinking about killing. But he does hope that she won't be completely rigid about that rule when she gets older. She might be a girl version of Grayson but she's seen things he hasn't.] That's what Nightwing always said before he did something crazy. [His own line had been that crazy was boring.]

They'll pay no big.

[She throws something, barely missing Jason, one of the thugs gets pinned to a wall as she lands on her feet.]

See you soon I have a clown to knock out. And a damn mallet to break. [The look in her eyes is a little wild, someone might be having a little too much fun.]

Your target ducked out the door by the way. They won't get off the docks though. Pretty sure GPD has the area surrounded by now.

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screw it, why couldn't there be even one scene with Jason smiling?!

sadly, Jason just ain't a smiling kinda guy. :| also, apologies for the delay on this!

He really isn't, for obvious reasons. And no apology needed.

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sorry about disappearing for a few days.... my modem is broken....

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no prob, last week ended up being super-busy for me anyway

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