A/N: this will be a very insanely AU fiction, I think it shall be AH too, and have one OC. I am trying to make this a 'general' fiction, but our altered and OOC Little Bird will be a bit… obsessive. Try it before you dump it (: and if you do not get the character references it will become clear in the next chapter… or review if you are an impatient folk.
Please enjoy:
He adjusted his blue striped tie that hung loosely down the front of his cream dress shirt. He tinkered with his wristwatch again. His client was late.
His shoes shuffled as he walked to the nearest bench in the park. The street lamp lit the dying grass and bare trees. No one was out at three in the morning. The whole point for agreeing to meet at this time.
But it made no difference unless the client showed up on time.
He sat down shifting his attaché to his lap, crossing his left leg over the right, settling his calf on his knee, his arms slinging over the back of the concrete park bench. His pants slid up a little and the breeze ruffled his shagged reddish hair. Looking into the lamp, plagued with bugs buzzing around the light source, he figured that 73% of all PI hirers are paranoid, therefore 73% would take time making up their mind about meeting for information or not, and 73% would be late…
He shuffled his feet along the grey listless sidewalk. His mind wandered to other things. Important things. Thoughts of people…Death.
He shook his head, clearing the thoughts from his sleep-deprived brain, his weakened will power showing through. He thought to grab a coffee, but the styro-foam thermal cup was steadily growing colder in his hand. His other hand was shoved deep down into a jacket pocket, trying desperately to escape the Jump City autumn chill.
His loose fitting pants and black shirt, tucked in, didn't conceal his gun, but his jacket did. He spotted the guy… paranoia settled in his chest, just above his lungs, pushing the air out of his body.
He knew contacting a PI was a bad idea. Even with the fake ID's and all of the cover stories made up after years on the run, there would be no way to convince this man. This man could turn around and find out who he was as easily as he found the girl.
The girl. The only one to change him, make him want to be different.
And she escaped before he could do something.
Do anything…explain, come up with more lies, or even kill her.
He sighed as he wiped away those thoughts. He had to find her or he'd go even more crazy, she was worming her way into his every thought,
The way her black hair had shone in the full moon light, or the way her golden eyes looked when filled with fear.
He was compelled to find her.
And he had heard great things about this man, this Private Investigator.
But as the man sat there, looking skinny, and just a bit dorky.
He couldn't help but feel skeptical.
Bananas and cinnamon rushed through the kitchen, as an embodied aroma.
The oven was sounding that the hummingbird cake was done. The icing was cooling the fridge. And Elizabeth sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Repressing memories like she always does. Memories of beatings dealt by her father, memories of snobby children calling her names, memories of a dying red haired and green eyed man calling her name on a hospital bed, memories of a muscular olive skinned man grabbing her around the waist and putting a hand over her mouth…memories of how she had almost wanted what he had offered…
She shook her head, and checked the clock again. Seven oh' four. Two hours until she had to go in to work at the local bakery. She had moved seven times in the past three months, it was easy when all she owned was a box of cookware and a box of clothes. She missed being able to stay in one town, get to know people, and make connections before she felt the pull to move again. She was naturally like ivy; she roamed and kept growing, but always found her roots from time to time. But it was so much worse now, it seemed as if that man's paranoia was settling into her.
Now she was in Ellicott City, she had been in Little Wind City, Greenland, Arrow City, Dendrick, Wayne City, and Reckson. She stayed close to Jump because if she didn't, say catching the next flight to the Pacific Northwest, it would be too predictable. The guy had been stalking her for weeks before he made a move, he could stalk her to a different state…and she stayed in the tri-city area (including Gotham) because her '98 Camaro was a piece of shit.
But she had a rules, stay about a week and a half, work to make as much money as she could, and try her damndnest not to fall in love. She did that often, whether it was falling in love with her apartment building, the city, the view, or a man.
She grabbed her trusty icing spatula and began putting the cream cheese frosting on the layer cake. Suddenly her phone rang; a pang of fear fired itself through her heart. No one knew her number, no one from this town, that is.
Her first instinct was to throw it in the sink and pour water on it, but sometimes, the first isn't always the best. So she looked at the caller ID, it said Grayson, Richard.
She knew no one of that name, so she took the back off the cheap Nokia, took the battery and tossed it in the trash, quickly followed by the SIM chip, after it took a bath in the tap of course. She breathed deeply before turning back to her cake, finishing icing it and writing a note. Telling her landlord she had to leave and the cake was for him.
It took her less than five minutes to pack her things and be out the door, loading the two boxes and a rucksack into her car, turning the key in the ignition and speeding away from Ellicott.
A/N: I hope that wasn't too hard to follow (: