GAH!!! Holy crap, sorry for the delay. Between writer's block and figuring out 's new system....well. Here we go.
Chapter 3
"I'm going out, Momma!"
Jackie's mother leaned back so her head stuck out from the dining room door frame. "Alright, Jackie sweetie!" she called back. "Just dont forget curfew!" Jackie pulled her newly washed jacket on and straightened the collar.
"Yes, Momma, eleven-thirty," she replied, running a hand through her hair. "I might be back earlier."
"Have a nice time!"
Jackie smiled at her mother and stepped out the door, taking the stairs out of the apartment building. It was cool out that night; odd for September. A light wind was blowing, and the sun was just setting. Jackie stuck her hands in her jacket pockets and walked toward the shopping district of Gotham, not really planning on buying anything rather than just window shopping.
She walked the whole way; she hated public transportation and only used it to get across the city. The shopping district was just two miles away, no biggie. The lights lit up the sidewalks, and she looked sideways at the windows, stopping when she saw something she liked in a boutique window. She looked at it for a moment, then walked in to browse the racks and pick out a dark blue silk shirt and black pants.
In the dressing room, she put them on and looked at herself in the mirror, noting how the shirt and pants stuck nicely to her frame. She then picked up the jacket and dug through the inside pockets, and took out a knife to cut the tags and theft detectors off, then put the jacket on and walked out of the dressing room and out the store.
After walking down the sidewalk for a few moments, Jack dug in his pockets and pulled out his menthols and lighter, and lit one up to stride down the street in a nicotine-induced bliss. Yes, tonight was a good start to a good night...
Tonight was just the type of night to recline at the unfinished construction site. It was the remains of a project that never really got off because of a downsizing of a construction company, and thus it was a great meeting spot for drug dealers, mole-meetings, and split personality dual genders. And the latter planned to do just that.
Jack flicked the ashes off of his second menthol of the night as he trudged up to the site and looked for a good place to recline and just think about nothing at all. As he turned a corner, a sight greeted him in his periph, and he looked over to see two young men conversing about something...and right underneath the best reclining spot no less! Jack made a soft clicking sound through his teeth in slight agitation and flicked the cigarette away before strolling over to 'greet' them.
Ignoring the fact that what they had to say was quite obviously not for other's ears--nor any company was wanted, no less--Jack sauntered up. "Good evening, gentlemen," he said, his voice almost innocently smooth. The two men looked up, a bit unnerved from Jack's ability to stride up casually and not be heard. The taller one of the duo shifted uncomfortably while the other narrowed his eyes. Jack just grinned. "Might I ask what you are doing here on this fine night...and on my private territory?"
The shorter of the two men scowled. "I dont see your name on it," he replied snidely. Jack merely grinned more broadly and pointed directly up from where the three of them were standing. The two men looked up to see, clearly etched into the metal the words Black Jack.
"I do," Jack replied. "And now, so do you. So..." He straightened his back and cracked his neck. "...Please vacate my area."
Two two men looked at each other, then snorted. The shorter of the two stepped forward, and it was apparent that he was even shorter than Jack's five-foot-eleven inches. He looked right up at him and pulled his jacket aside, revealing a gun in a holster. "You might want to recall that statement," he said, a smirk on his face. Jack didnt even bat an eyelid as he flicked his wrist and a blade fell in his hand, and with one motion, he sliced his arm in front of the man, and then did nothing.
It would seem that Jack had done nothing, really, but then the man in front of him made a wet coughing sound, and a thick spurt of blood came from a deep slice in his throat. He gagged for air and both hands went to his throat as he spat up what blood didnt spray from his throat, and Jack delivered a sharp kick to his stomach, sending him flying to his back in front of his friend. As the taller man gaped with shock down at his partner, Jack turned his back to them.
"I repeat," he said softly, his voice taking a slightly higher, insane pitch. "Vacate. My. Area." The taller man backed away, not bothering to pick his friend, and hauled ass out of the construction area. Jack made another clicking sound and turned to the metal skeleton of the unfinished building.
"I...I mean...he just...fucking sliced his throat...!" The man that had run away from the stranger earlier stuttered through his words as he followed his boss back to the construction site he had run from just an hour ago. As soon as the stranger had said to vacate the area, he had hauled ass to the base of the gang's operations and hadnt stopped stuttering about what he'd seen since.
Jedediah, Jeddy for short, wasnt too pleased to have had to leave his base (and the lady flavor of the evening) for a little problem such as this. Plus, he had to make a few calls for the backup that Kent had insisted on him bringing, and that was more hassle than he could tolerate. Now, with fourteen of those who showed up, he was following Kent back to the construction site that he had marked as his territory but was now being trespassed on.
When Jeddy saw the dead body of one of his gang members, he growled with anger. "Who was it!?" he demanded of Kent, who began to stutter again at the sight of his friend's corpse. "Who did this!?"
"I...I dont know!" Kent replied. "I've never seen him before! I dont know!" Jeddy turned to the other members of his gang.
"I want this place searched!" he shouted over to them. "I want this son of a bitch found, and I want his fuckin' balls in a glass jar for this!"
"Oh, that's eloquent..."
Everyone present looked up to see someone on a high rail of the skeleton, reclining on a backing with one leg hung over the side and swinging to and fro slowly as he held a cigarette about an inch from his lips. He was looking down at all of them with dark, hooded eyes. Jeddy stepped back a few steps to get a better look at him.
"Who the fuck are you!?" he demanded. The person on the rafter reached back to tap his knuckles against the backing he was leaning on. Jeddy looked and saw the words Black Jack etched into the metal. "'Black Jack'?" he read aloud. "The fuck kind of name is that!?"
"The kind a mother gives her child," Jack replied absently, tapping his cigarette to let the ashes fall next to Jeddy. The gang leader clenched his fists and sputtered softly while looking around for a way up to where Black Jack was sitting. Jack just stared down at him with humor in his eyes.
"Fuck...how the hell did you get up there!?" Jeddy shouted, mostly to himself. Jack snorted.
"I climbed, genius," he called down. "Any other brain teasers you want to throw at me?" Everyone present could practically see a vein in Jeddy's head twitch. Jack ignored him and inhaled his cigarette.
"Oh...a fuckin' wise-guy, eh!?" Jeddy spat, glaring up at Jack. "Why dont you come down here and say that to my fuckin' face!?"
Jack snorted and inhaled the last centimeter off the cigarette, then flicked the butt away to make it land on Jeddy's head. "Alright," he replied, cracking his neck and standing up on the rail. "If you insist." That said, he crouched down and jumped off of the railing. The other gang members around Jeddy and Jack let out various sounds of awe as Jack landed on the ground effortlessly, then stood up straight and looked at Jeddy. "Well," he said, beckoning with his gloved hand. "I'm here. And I say to you 'I. Climbed. Genius.'"
Jeddy snarled and threw a punch at Jack, who easily dodged it and shot his foot out to catch Jeddy's stomach. One of the gang members who had made a circle around the two caught his leader and pushed him back into the fight. Another member found a pipe and tossed it to Jeddy, who caught it and began to swing wildly.
Jack dodged all attempts at a hit, his hands in his pockets and his back bending farther with more balance than any of the guys watching thought to be possible. Jeddy seemed to grow more agitated with each hit and miss, and his swings became more violent and less accurate. Finally, Jack seemed to grow tired of the farce and when Jeddy brought the pipe down to smack Jack in the head, Jack deftly caught the pipe, twisted it out of Jeddy's hands, and swung it hard, hitting Jeddy in the head with a sickening crack.
The gang members all stared, mouths open, as Jeddy froze in place for a moment, then crumpled to the ground in a heap and didnt move. After a few more moments, a single cry of unanimous outrage crowed from the small crowd of fourteen and weapons of various sorts found a way into each hand and all as one shot forward for Jack.
Jack, calm as always, kicked the nearest one in the stomach to make him double over, then jumped onto his back and darted away, knowing better than to take on fourteen without a gun. He almost cursed himself for forgetting it at home, but then absently reminded himself that he had fifteen other ways at the moment to kill, and there were fourteen; still a way to spare. Ah, the bliss....
Jack's thought process was cut short when a glass bottle was hurled through the air and hit him in the head, completely shattering the bottle, but not even drawing blood. As with the thought process, Jack himself stopped dead in his tracks, all movement coming to a screeching halt. Behind him, all fourteen of the guys slowed down, wondering exactly why Jack had stopped. Finally, they all heard a soft, feminine whimpering sound coming from their adversary.
Jackie reached behind her and put her hand over her head, then turned to look at the gang behind her, her dark eyes wide and almost innocent. "I.......wha......?" she stuttered out, her voice light and most definately female. The gang exchanged confused looks. ".....What's......what is all this....? What do you want?" She took a few steps away, her posture and attitude a complete 180 from the being she had portrayed just moments ago.
Kent was the first to recover from his confusion, and pulled out a switchblade. "Oh, dont give us any of that bullshit!" he spat, advancing toward her. Jackie took a step back with every one of Kent's steps forward. "We're not fucking buying it!" The rest of the gang nodded and muttered their agreements and also advanced toward Jackie.
Jackie let out a soft sob, then turned and ran. She ran fast, fear and value for her life pumping adrinaline into her veins as she sped toward somewhere--anywhere--there was help.
Unfortunately, she came to a steep cliff she knew she couldnt survive had she attempted to jump, and she was forced to stand on the very edge and look behind her as the gang made their way toward her.
"Nowhere else to go, asshole!" Kent said, brandishing his switchblade. "You're gonna see what happens to anyone who fucks with the Jeddies! Get 'im, boys!"
That was all the incintive the gang needed to let out a unanimous battle cry and run toward her, fully intent on beating the life out of her before throwing her over the cliff. Unfortunately, one of the guys slung a chain at her, which struck her in the face and made her lose her balance before the gang could get to her, and she fell over the edge, letting out a scream as she fell.
Her scream was cut off when she was suddenly caught mid-fall and held onto tightly as she was flung out of the plummit. Coming to her senses, she noticed that a strong arm was holding her to a just as strong body, and she looked up to see a dark blue shape of what looked like a bird over black. Looking up further, she saw a face covered half way by a black mask.
"Oh fuck, it's him!" she heard one of the gang members shout, and she heard similar explicatives from the others as the all scrambled away from the scene.
The arm around Jackie loosened, and allowed her to stand on her own on another part of the unfinished building where she and her savior had been dropped. She balanced herself and looked her savior in the face.
It was Nightwing; Gotham's new Dark Knight, as he had been called over the past few years. He stared at her, his eyes flickering over to the large bruise and cut on her cheek where the chain had struck her. Jackie seemed to notice, and raised her hand to touch it, now aware that she was even injured at all. She winced, but ignored it on the whole. "....Thank you," she said softly, swallowing hard. ".........Thank you."
Nightwing nodded. "You should go home," he said, his voice rough, but soft. "It's not safe to be out here." Jackie nodded.
"I know," she said. She looked around a little toward Gotham. "........I'll go home......but........could you just.....?" She shifted a little and gestured at the beam they were standing on. Nightwing took the hint, and held her to him again as he safely jumped from the beam and landed on the ground. "Thanks." She pulled her jacket tighter around herself. "It's a lot to ask.....but could you please......keep an eye out while I walk home? Just in case."
Nightwing nodded, and Jackie returned it, then began her trek home without another word. No one bothered her the whole way there, but she could still feel someone watching over her like a hawk the entire way until she arrived to her apartment complex and went inside. She was quiet until she walked into her apartment. "I'm home, Momma," she announced somewhat weakly. Her mother came around the corner, smiling, until she saw her daughter's face.
"Oh my god, Jackie!" she cried, rushing forward to gently cup Jackie's face and examine the wound. "What happened!? Who did this to you!?"
"It....it was just some gang members," Jackie replied, feeling drained and in need of some sleep. "....I'm alright.....I was rescued...." She saw her mother's lips purse slightly, knowing who exactly she was talking about. "...Momma, I'm fine...!"
Her mother let out a sigh and gently led her daughter into the bathroom to clean up the wound. "...Jackie, I know this doesnt sound fair," she said, dabbing some antibacterial on her daughter's cheek, "but I dont want you going out for at least a week, alright?"
Jackie didnt protest. She just nodded and let her mother tend to her wound. "Yes, Momma," she replied. She let her mother bandage her cheek, then she shrugged off her jacket and handed it to her mother to hang up on the coat rack. "...Can I go to bed?"
"Of course, Jackie." Her mother leaned forward and kissed Jackie's uninjured cheek. "I'll come in with some water in a minute." Jackie hugged her mother goodnight and left for her room.
In the living room, Jackie's mother held the jacket to her for a moment before hanging it up and brushing the dirt and what looked like tiny glass pieces off of it. She smoothed it out and sighed before turning and heading into the kitchen for that glass of water.
SO sorry it took so long! --beg beg grovel--
Well, next up, Jack has a meeting with a former terror of Gotham.