She ran through the street, ducking to avoid people and ignored the people yelling at her. Eventually, there was an alley she slipped into, the lead straight to her base if she were to follow it. She winced, grabbing the ladder placed by the building over from her base and climbed. She would be using the fire escape. No doubt Batman would have figured out where she was by now.
Marley wasn't going to stay long, she only needed her first aid kit. And a heck of a lot of band-aids, as well.
'I'll get him next time…'
She glanced over her shoulder before running across the rooftop and leaping across the short gap to her base. She winced as she landed, waiting a moment for her legs to stop tingling, and dropped down to the fire escape. Earlier on, she'd had all the pervious floors (Only three in her building, if you were wondering.) removed, leaving only the top floor for easy access. Her window was closed tight, locked from the inside.
'Maybe I should have left it open.'
Now on her trail, Batman followed silently. He lost her when she ducked into an alley. He'd been expecting her to come out the other side, but when he realized she wouldn't, he'd already glided to far to turn without hitting a building. The sound of broken glass was a relief. He quickly followed the sound, and saw Marley crawl through a broken window.
On the wall was the first aid kit. She first checked that her door was locked tightly before looking for the things she needed. Now that she wasn't running, or fighting, her heart was beginning to return to a normal pace, and the wound in her shoulder began to burn. Biting her lip, she reached for a mirror. The bullet had, thankfully, gone all the way through. She wouldn't need to pull it out. She would need a new coat of course, this one being covered in her blood and two holes.
If she was going to do anything else, she'd need to take off her coat. Under that was a sleeves gray shirt, also by now she would assume covered in blood.
'I'll kill him. As soon as I'm better and my head doesn't feel so… Light, I'll… I'll kill him.'
I suppose the readers are wondering why Marley has it for the man. Or, if you were paying attention in the first chapter, her father. Well, for that, you would need a bit of a history lesson taking us back fifteen years, when the subject of interest was but six years old.
You see, Marley lived in the very apartment she'd just visited. Her mother had a job as a musical teacher, which paid very little. Her father, well… If he had a job, which he normally didn't, it was usually something they all avoided talking about. On her sixth birthday, exactly fifteen years ago today, her father was in a particularly bad mood. He'd just lost another job- Or more likely, he was no longer needed, as his employer would most likely be on his way out of the city. He came home late, and started throwing things around.
Her mother, of course meaning Marley's, tried to stop him. It was his daughters birthday, and here he was, scaring her half to death. They took their fight to the kitchen, where Marley wouldn't have to watch. Her father didn't really care about that, but her mother most certainly did.
Marley sat in the corner the whole time, her fingers in her ears. After a while, the yelling stopped, and there was a scream. Everything from there on was a blur to her. The clearest image she could recall was her father with that knife. He told her to hold on to it if she wanted to live. And then after that, he left. When he returned, he was completely cleaned off, calling for the police.
Marley winced again as she put a wet cloth against her shoulder. 'That… That…' She thought. "That stupid bat! He ruined EVERYTHING!"
She kept her head facing the window. She would see him if he tried to get in through the window. He didn't want that. He needed to take her out silently. She had her back to the door. If he snuck inside, he could sneak in.
'This is just hopeless.' Marley thought angrily, throwing the wet cloth across the room, where it hit the wall with a soft splat. She mumbled angrily to herself, and stood up to grab another coat from her closet. She didn't care her blood was still flowing through her wound, even if it DID stain her new coat. ignoring her pain, (or trying too) shje emptied her old pockets. A few bits of lint, her baton, and the book from Mr. Jackson's apartment. The cover was bright pink with random stickers. Stickers such as a faded and torn purple unicorn, and faded rainbow, and several flowers. On the front, was her name printed in large curly letters.
'What's in this thing anyway?' She opened the first page. 'Oh…' It was a picture book. Not like a two year olds, but one that held photos. She suddenly wanted to look through it, and took a seat. Her head was spinning, and she could feel a headache comeing on, vut she was determined to look through the book.
The first photo was of her, when she was… Acording to the small curly writeing in the corner, three months old. The next was when she was celebrating her first birthday, and pretty much each on after was just her at some event.
After she had turned several pages, she came across one of her and her mother, and a few of all three of them. On the last page, was a set of three pictures. One of her, her mother, and Mr. Jackson. She took his out and ripped it in half before placeing it back in.
The door was locked, but he easily picked it wioth his lock pick set. His detective mode showed that she was now on the other side of the room, her back to the door. He slowly pushed it open enough to slip inside.
"You'll die for what you did Mr. Jackson…" She murmured to herself and the pictures. "I'll kill you… And then you'll go away…"
She stood up suddenly, hearing something in the room. Too soon, she relized. Her head was spinning even worse now, and her vision couldn't seem to focus one thing. She took a step back, right into…
She was mumbling to a book for a while, before pulling something out and ripping it in half. 'Picture book?' He stepped on a creaky floorboard. Cursing in his mind, he snuck closer to Marley, who'd stood up. She looked dizzy. Probably she hadn't bothered to heal herself, or was unable to. Whatever the case, he had a pair of Batcuffs ready to snap on her wrists.
'Oh… Quiff…"' She thought absently as the cold metal closed around her wrists. 'I… I can't go… Down this… Easily…' She told herself to struggle, to get away from him, but now she was caught, her limbs just seemed to go limp. Her brain was revolting. That was it. Her body had lost quite a bit of its blood, combined with a sudden wave of exhaustion… And her brain had decided to take control without her permission.
He said something to her, but she didn't hear it. Either it was her mind, or she just didn't feel like listening. What she DID somehow decide to care about was the fact the picture book was gone. It was in her hand before he cuffed her- Probably dropped when he began leading her out the door.
"LET ME GO!" She screamed. "I have to get the book!" Now she pulled away from his with as much strength as she could muster. It was hardly enough, but Batman did stop.
"Book?" His eyes traveled across the floor to where he'd cuffed her hands behind her back. The little pink book she was looking through lay open, somewhere in the middle.
"I need it!" She screamed again. He wasn't worried about her getting away. She looked almost dead on her feet, and he'd all but dragged her along with him. Her struggles were weaker than the Riddler- Basically his physicly weakest foe he'd faced so far.
If only to stop her screaming, he returned for the book. As soon as he slipped it into her pocket she grew silent and walked slowly to her doom.
She sat quietly in the back seat of the Batmobile, not thinking of anything in particular. She wasn't really aware of anything. One minute she was looking up the window (A very strange place for a window. (Maybe Batman liked to look at the stars?) and the next she found herself slumped over against the side of the car, her head resting on the cold metal. (or maybe that was why the window was on the ceiling, so they couldn't break out as easily.)
Eventually, the Batmobile stopped. She blinked sleepily as the roof opened up and the bright lights a flashlight shone in her face. Everything else was a big blur. She yawned, shivering suddenly as someone put a strap over each wrist.
Batman watched silently as the woman was rolled off to the medical facility before hopping back in his car and leaving.