Gotham City August 9th 2010 20:57

WATER

"Do I look like an idiot kid?" The bouncer asked as he raised his eyebrows.

He handed me back my I.D. "Come on. I need in there. Jack Winters wants to see me." I pleaded with him. The bouncer didn't believe my I.D. I needed to get in there soon as it was nearly nine.

"And I need this job and I ain't losin' it because some kid wanted in. I've got kids to feed. Now move along you're blocking the line." The bouncer snapped at me. I groaned. I had been waiting in line for nearly two hours and didn't want to go home with nothing.

A woman in high heels and a black pencil skirt, black jacket and white blouse walked up to the bouncer. She whispered something in his ear which I assumed was bout me because the bouncer was staring at me. The woman stepped away as the bouncer looked at me then sighed. "Sorry Miss Carter. Go ahead."

I frowned at him calling me Miss Carter. I hated to be even slightly associated with Adam. The woman waited behind the bouncer. She was tall, brunette and wore a black pencil skirt, black high heels and a white shirt. She clutched a black clipboard and was scanning a page when she looked up at me. The woman smiled widely at me and said "You must be Nina Carter. I'm Daphne. Please, follow me. Mr Winters wants to see you."

I nodded and followed her through the crowded bar. Bartenders in white shirts served brightly coloured drinks behind the bar and the sound of chatter and loud music filled the room. I quickly scanned the room to check for possible exits. Selina always said to check in case you needed to make a quick getaway.

Daphne led me up the stairs and onto a balcony area, which overlooked the bar where there were a group of people sitting on purple couches. Two men dressed in black, I assumed they were bodyguards, were standing behind one of the couches and three women were sitting on the couches, drinking one of the brightly coloured concoctions.

Sitting on one of the couches by himself was Jack Winters. He looked older than I expected, around mid-fifty's. He wore a black suit and a white shirt with gold rings covering his fingers and gold chains around his neck. He had cold, grey eyes and his black hair had a streak of grey in it. He grinned when he saw me and removed the cigar from his mouth, letting out a puff of smoke.

"Ah! Miss Carter! Please take a seat," He turned to one of the women sitting on the couches and snapped at her "Don't just sit there Evelyn, move up and let the girl sit down!"

Evelyn rolled her eyes and moved over to let me sit down. I sat down and Jack exclaimed "Let me get you a drink! Do you want one of these margaritas? Wait, you're underage!" He laughed and then turned to one of the waiters, "Get the girl a soda."

"Right away sir." The waiter said with a nod.

Jack turned back to me. "I've done a lot of things sweetheart but I ain't gettin' arrested for something as dull as underage drinking!" He laughed loudly again. I let out a forced chuckle. This was making me a little uncomfortable.

Luckily, I was prepared to make an escape if I had to. I wore my suit under my clothes and I had my whip tied around me like a belt. My utility belt was under my shirt and wrapped around my waist. The club was dark and I was wearing a jacket over it so no one could see it.

Jack let out another puff of smoke and grinned at me again. "My, my, my Miss Carter. You certainly do look like your mother."

I blinked. That was actually a very sweet compliment. I thought my mom looked very beautiful and if someone said I looked like her it made me smile. "You knew my mother" I replied.

He nodded. "Yep. We went to High School together. Shame what happened to her," Jack shook his head, "She was a very kind woman. Although I think she'd be turning in her grave if she saw your brother."

I frowned and nodded. "This was actually why I came, Mr Winters. You said you had information about Adam." Jack nodded before putting the cigar out on an ash tray. He leaned back and pressed his hands together before placing them on his chin.

"I know he's in Gotham but I actually hoped you could help me Miss Carter." He replied.

I raised my eyebrows. I thought Annabelle said he knew where Adam was! "I think Adam Carter is a piece of shit that needs to be taught a lesson and I think you think this too. Do you know where your brother is?" Jack added.

The waiter walked beside me and placed the soda on the table in front of me. I thanked him quickly before turning my attentions to Jack. "But someone told me that your gang was keeping Adam safe." I replied. This was clearly a bad thing to say as Jack got his gun out and pointed it at me. Oh shit. I gasped quietly and stood up, trying to back away.

My eyes widened when I felt a gun bump into my back. I turned to see all three of the women standing up and pointing guns. I hissed in pain as Jack grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to face him. I tried to move back as he put his face way too close to mine. "Why the fuck would I help the piece of shit who murdered twelve of my boys," His boys were probably men high up in his organisation if Jack was this furious, "Who the hell told you that?"

I glared back at him and hissed again as his grip on my wrist tightened. "Annabelle." I ground out. "His ex-girlfriend?! That whore! Annabelle Hagen is a lying sack of shit!" I scowled. Annabelle, if I got out of this alive, I'm coming after you.

"I'm not going to ask you again Miss Carter, where is Adam?!" Jack growled. "I don't know!" I snapped back.

"Lying won't get you out of this kid; you have to know where he is! You've got ten seconds to tell me. Ten, nine…" As Jack counted down, I grabbed my escape plan. I extended the claws on my gloves and put my hand up my shirt, pulling a few smoke bombs from my belt. "Four, three, two-"Jack never finished the sentence as I scratched his face with my claws, causing him to cry out and let go of my wrist, before throwing down the smoke bombs, blinding the other people.

I took this opportunity to make my escape. I jumped over the edge of the balcony and landed on the bar. "What the fuck are you doing?!" One of the bartenders yelled at me. I jumped off the bar and took off running.

I could hear Jack roar "Where is she? GET HER BACK HERE!" Oh God, why didn't I listen to Selina? I now had an angry mob boss after me. This wasn't going to end well. People starting to scream when others started to shoot. I let out a quiet shriek as a bullet landed on the floor near my foot.

I could have lost my foot. Oh God, I was terrified. I ran to the back of the bar and pushed the door open. I ran out of the bar and into an alleyway which lead to the road. I had to get away but how? Then a miracle came in the form of a motorcycle. A man with blonde hair was flirting with a woman beside him. The motorcycle was on and the helmet was just sitting on the seat. Perfect.

I ran over and kicked the man, causing him to trip and fall to the ground. I put the helmet on and got on the bike. "What the fuck are you doing? That's my bike!" The man yelled as I drove away.

"Sorry!" I shouted back. I kind of doubted that he was going to get the bike back. Where was I going to go? I couldn't go back to Selina's apartment in case I led them back there. I did have money in my utility belt so I could try to lose the gang and then stay at a motel or something.

I gulped when I heard the doors of the bar slam open and Jack roared "Get her!"

I groaned as I drove out onto the highway. I was so stupid. Why didn't I listen to Selina? I could end of dead at the end of this. No, I couldn't afford to think that way. I was going to make it out of this alive.

My thoughts were interrupted as a bullet hit the ground beside me. I bit my lip and looked in the rear view mirror. Three black cars were following me and leaning out of the windows were members of Jack's gang who were shooting at me. Great.

I swerved in between cars, trying to lose them and winced as I heard a car screech to a halt. A looked in the mirror again and saw that one of the bullets had hit the tyre of another car. This actually worked to my advantage as the car that had swerved managed to block the way of one of the black cars.

While I was distracted one of the men managed to hit me. I screamed as the bullet hit my leg which made me swerve and nearly made me crash. Luckily, it was only a graze. I could still move my leg but it hurt like a bitch.

I swerved and went down the nearest exit, into a town that I didn't know the name of. I went down one of the quieter streets, thinking that I had lost Jack's gang. I turned into an alleyway and abandoned my bike. I started to limp away. I need to look at the wound soon. I didn't want to go to a hospital. That would be too suspicious.

"She went that way!" I heard Jack yell. Oh great, they found me. I struggled to climb up the nearest fire escape, it was hard to climb with a bad leg, and hid on the fire escape before pulling the hood over my black hair.

"Check down there! We'll look further down the street." Someone ordered. I watched as three men dressed in black suits came into the alleyway.

"Her bike's here. She must be around here somewhere." One of them said. I pulled myself into a small ball to hide myself and watched as the men move around the alley. I didn't dare move or I would give myself away. I could hear my heart pounding in my chest and was worried that even that would give me away!

"You see this?" One of them asked, pointing at the ground.

"Blood splatter and there's more of it. Let's follow the trail." Oh shit! I had led them right to me! My heart started to pound even louder as another man said "It stops at the fire escape. She's up there." He hissed. I couldn't climb up higher or leap across to the fire escape opposite in case that caught their attention.

One of them started to climb the ladder and I didn't dare move a muscle or even breathe. I had no choice but to fight. I pulled the whip out from around my waist and clutched it tightly. I stood up and watched the man got to the top of the fire escape.

But, before he looked up, I hit him with whip, which wrapped around his leg, and pulled it forward, causing him to fall. I pushed him off the fire escape and he let out a cry of pain. It was only the first floor of the fire escape so the fall wouldn't do so much damage. He even landed on his friend, which killed two birds with one stone. "What the fuck?" The last guy yelled. Now I just had him to take out.

I crouched down as he climbed up the ladder and scratched his chest with my claws. He cried out in pain and feel down, landing on his friends. Assholes. I stood up and choked back a cry of pain. Before I did anything else, I had to get bandages.

I climbed the ladder again while grinding my teeth. Luckily, the bullet had only grazed my calf, it didn't hit my leg. I could deal with a graze. I didn't want to go to a hospital. They would ask too many questions. I was going to sneak into the bathroom of the apartments and clean myself up.

At the fourth floor I found a bathroom that looked empty. I used my claws to pick the lock quickly before sliding in. I didn't dare turn on the lights. That would get way too much attention. The bathroom was small and white. Everything was white. The blood was going to be fun to clean off.

I pulled open the cupboard above the sink and grinned triumphantly when I found bandages and cotton balls. I pulled the lid of the toilet down and took a seat on it before pulling up my jeans. I winced at the sight of the cut.

After washing the graze, I put cotton balls on the cut and wrapped the bandage tightly around it. It wasn't great but it was better than running around with it bleeding. I could get Selina to help me when I got home. You know, after she screams at me.

I frowned as I started to scrub the blood off the floor. I had no idea where I was and Jack could still be out there. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and groaned. 15 missed calls from Selina. She was going to be so furious. I am an idiot.

Just as I finished cleaning up the blood, the door creaked open. Oh no. This just wasn't my night, was it? I left the window open, ready to make a quick escape if I needed to. I turned to see a little boy standing there, staring at me.

I pressed a finger to my lips, telling him to be quiet. He repeated the gesture and I grinned at him before climbing out of the window and shutting it. I locked it as well. There had to be no evidence I was there.

The boy came over to the window and waved at me. I couldn't help but smile slightly at this. I waved back before climbing down the fire escape. I went back down to the alleyway and smirked. The men were still there, lying unconscious.

I walking down the alley and pulled the hood over my head. Stupidly, I didn't bring my cowl or goggles, which only proves the point that I am a massive idiot. I'm pretty sure that Selina will want that in writing. I would be like Bart in The Simpsons, writing this over and over again on a blackboard: I, Nina Elisabeth Kyle, am a massive idiot and will never disobey you again.

I decided to head to the nearest nightclub. They would have a motorcycle that I could take. All I had to do was avoid Jack and his boys, get the bike, get out of this city, get back to Gotham and then I would be home free.

I stayed in the alleyways and kept away from the roads. I had to stay out of sight. Jack's men could be anywhere. I kept my head down and walked quickly. A group of obviously drunk men stood outside the nightclub. I rolled my eyes as they cat called women walking past. Assholes.

I tried to walk past them quickly when they started calling at me. "Hey baby where you going'?" "Aw come on baby smile!" They kept whistling and yelling. Then one of them tried to put him arm around his waist. No fucking way. I grabbed his arm and slammed my fist into his chin.

"What the fuck?!" He screamed.

"Do that again and I'll break your fucking arm." I snarled at him before turning around and walking quickly. The men started it yell at me and my eyes widened when I realised that a black car had stopped near the top of the street. Men in black suits started to get out of the car and come towards me. Jack's men had found me. Great. I turned and saw they were coming from the other side of the street.

I walked down the alleyway and tried not to get too much attention. I climbed over the fence that separated the two alleys while grinding my teeth in pain. My leg was still sore. I started walking again, trying to lose Jack's men. I looked over my shoulder and saw no one but I still felt like I was being watched.

I wanted to get back to Gotham soon. I just wanted to go home to Selina. I was scared, tired and in pain which is not a good combination. I was on edge, thinking that Jack and his men were close by. I whipped my head around when I heard a car. I crouched down behind the trash cans and watched as the car pulled up to the side of the street.

Four men got out of the car and started to search the streets. This space wouldn't hide me for long. There was a warehouse near me that I could hide in until they left. I ran behind another set of trash cans closer to the warehouse.

Then it went wrong.

I was just about to get to the door of the warehouse when I tripped and knocked over a trash can. The sound echoed through the street and there was a moment of silence before someone said "It's probably a cat."

"Let's check in case." Came the reply. Well, it was a cat. I gulped and hid behind the other trash cans, waiting for them to pass. My heart started to pound again as they passed me but luckily they didn't look. I turned and found a window into the warehouse.

After sliding it open silently, I climbed through. This was a big mistake as who was sitting in the room? Jack, himself. Just my luck. He grinned when he saw me. "You stupid girl. Get her." His men got up from their seats and started to approach me. I threw down another smoke bomb before leaping on top of some crates that were stacked in the warehouse.

I hid near the back and hide again. As soon as the smoke cleared one man shouted "Where the hell did she go?!"

Jack chuckled eerily. "I know you're hear Miss Carter! There's no point in trying to hide!" Creep. "Maybe this will lure you out." Wait, what?

Suddenly the crates below me exploded. I gasped and pulled out my whip. I hit one of the rafters with it and swung myself up there. "There's no use hiding Miss Carter! I have my boys guarding every exit. You won't be leaving here alone. You're trapped like a rat!" I scowled. He did have me trapped. But I was good at escaping traps. I tore a part of my t-shirt off and soaked the rag in chloroform. I carried some in my utility belt.

The warehouse had a lot of crates stacked up in piles which created paths. The men split up and walked down the paths. I followed one who was walking alone and stepped down behind him. I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him down to my level before pressing the gag on his face. He struggled for a moment before falling down. I quickly leapt on top of the crates again and swung myself up to the rafters.

I took out another three guys like that until the boxes exploded under me again. This time I wasn't prepared. I fell on the ground and smacked my head on the floor. I groaned loudly as I tried to stand up, feeling dizzy. That was obviously going to be a concussion.

"I knew that would work." Jack chuckled. Another group of men ran towards me. I tried to fight but they overpowered me easily. Punches and kicks that made me cry out in pain. Was I going to make it out of here? Jack chuckled again, the chuckle I hated, as he stood above me.

"Tie her up and put her in the trunk." What?! Where were they taking me?! I tried to get up but Jack kicked my head. I saw darkness.

….

I could smell the sea. What on earth? Why could I smell the sea? My wrists were bound and my ankles were tied to something heavy. My eyes opened and I gasped. We were on a boat and my legs had been tied to a concrete block.

Jack grinned at me. "I can't have you revealing my secrets Miss Carter! I'm so sorry it had to end this way but," He shrugged, "What can you do?"

I struggled as I felt panicked tears spring to my eyes. "No Jack, please. I'm won't tell anyone I swear! Please don't do this!" I begged and pleaded. I didn't want to die!

"Sorry kid. I have to. Drop her in boys." The men started to push me into the seas.

"No Jack please! No! No! Ple-" I was cut off as I fell from the boat. I inhaled a gasp of air and started to sink rapidly. I tried to wriggle out of my restraints as I sank. I was going to die. I was never going to see my friends or Selina again. Selina, who I had came to think of as my own mother.

I'm sorry I lied to you Selina. You were right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

My lungs felt like they were ready to burst and vision started to fade. This was it. My world started to turn black before I was suddenly released from my restraints!

Someone wrapped their arms around my waist and pulled me to the surface where I inhaled a sweet mouthful of air. I coughed, trying to speak. "Wh- who are-"I tried to wriggle out of his grip.

His soothing voice spoke. "Be calm. You are safe now." I believed him.

Then I closed my eyes.

…

Fourth chapter done! Hope you enjoy it!

Stronger123- Thanks!

Rainbowlalaland-Thank you!