Housekeeping
Thoughts
Sexy Scarecrow Speech
Speech
Chapter 31: Mystery is born
The drive into China town was a silent one and the tension in the car could be cut with a knife. I'd taken off Edward's hat and set it gently on my lap almost as if it could help reassure both me and my babies that we'd be alright. I had to do this; I had to get my men back. The phone in my pocket seemed to get heavier the longer I had it and I bit my lip nervously. The car turned into an alley behind a worn down old laundry mat that seemed to be closed. It parked along the side and Gerald let out a heavy sigh before looking back at me.
"This is as far as we can take you. We'll wait out here but he won't let anyone go in with you. Kinda his rules." He seemed uneasy and watched as Zach got out of the car and opened my door. He held his hand out to me and I took it as he helped me out into the alley. The air felt damp against my skin and I was nearly crushing the bowler hat in my hand with how hard my hands were shaking.
"Relax; he won't do anything to you. If you weren't welcome he wouldn't have summoned you." Zach whispered as if the walls were listening in.
"Wait I was summoned? I thought he agreed to suit me up." My eyes were looking everywhere making sure that no pesky bats or birds were listening in.
"That's how it goes, you get summoned and you show up. You always show up." He closed the car door behind me and got back into the passenger seat. Both men were making me even more nervous as I walked to the beaten down metal door just down from where we parked. I raised my hand to knock and the door opened into a darkened room, a giant cavernous room lay empty before me. I walked in and just as I made it to the center of the room the door slammed closed with a heavy thud. I looked around and saw that the room was empty save for a platform near where I was standing and a mirrored wall along one side.
"Strip now please." I nearly jumped out of my skin as an elderly asian woman appeared next to me. Her gray hair and wrinkled face made me feel safe as if I were greeting the elderly grandmother of a friend. I nodded and handed her my clothing as I stripped down to my underwear. She poked at my stomach and clicked her tongue. "Baby will require extra protection; I will go see what we have in the back. Go stand on the platform and he will begin making your new skin." She left and disappeared into a door that was hidden behind one of the mirrored panels.
I took a deep breath and walked over to the platform and cautiously stood upon it. As soon as I did a bright light clicked on above me making my shadow a stark contrast on the floor. I stood up straighter when I saw multiple stains and spots of blood ingrained in the wood under my feet. Would my blood join them if the dressmaker found me unworthy or undressable? A green light appeared on the wall I was facing and a voice whispered in my ear nearly making me jump.
"Stare at the light, look anywhere else and you forfeit the lives of both you and your baby." I wasn't sure if the voice was male or female but my gaze was locked on the green light until it filled my vision. I could feel hands along my body taking measurements and poking here and there testing the strength of my muscles. I bit my lip hard when I felt a hand pushing against my lower stomach. It was as if my babies were being tested as well. "More then one baby. Very strong babies, stubborn like mother will survive." The voice seemed to be thinking out loud but I didn't dare lower my eyes from the light.
I felt a tape measure being dragged across my skin as the light started climbing up the wall towards the ceiling. My gaze followed it until I was craning my neck at an almost painful angle to keep it in my vision. My arms were moved out to my sides and my legs kicked apart as more measurements were taken. It felt like I'd been standing for hours and my body was becoming slick with sweat from the heat of the light above me. I would be strong, I'm not backing down. I've come so far I won't give up! A pair of cold hands started pulling fabric over my frame and pinning it down before pulling it off again.
"You need special undergarments as well. I will send in my wife to get your sizes." I heard a scuffle and an exchange of speech and I didn't understand a word of it. Soon I heard a door close and the soft voice of the elderly woman I met when I arrived.
"Relax child, I will take your measurements. Keep your eyes on the light and relax." She removed my underwear and started measuring my sizes, the room was cold on my sweat soaked skin and I swallowed heavily. Once she was done I felt a pair of lips on my lower stomach and a hand stroking over my babies. She was singing something softly to them and I relaxed hoping that my nerves weren't agitating either of them. "Your babies are fighters like their mother. You will have both your hands full with them." She chuckled and the light lowered until I was staring straight ahead again. She let me relax and I covered my chest with my hands and squeezed my legs shut as she left the room. I could hear her shuffling off with my undergarments and I blinked away the dots floating before my eyes.
The light above me had dimmed and I was shivering from the cold by the time I heard a shuffling behind me. My hands were pulled from my chest and I felt fabric being slid into place covering my breasts from the air. I couldn't tell what kind of fabric but I wasn't about to ask. Soon my legs were being pinched until I stepped into what felt like a stretchy thong. It sat high on my hips and covered where my babies lay within me. I felt a little better now that I was exposed but I was starting to hurt from the constant standing. One of my legs was lifted and slid into what felt like a body suit, and soon the other joined it. The suit clung to my skin in a way that felt very pleasant. My arms soon joined my legs in sliding into the fabric and it stretched over my body until it reached my neck. My chest still felt cold and I felt a finger trailing in a heart shape over my cleavage.
"Heart left open to show love for husbands, distract enemies and cute." The voice was quiet but I never let my eyes wander from the green light in front of me. The suit I was in felt like I was wearing nothing at all and I wondered how it was made so quickly. Soon a pair of what felt like shorts were slid up my frame and I heard a clicking of what sounded like clasps on the sides of one of my hips closing them into place.
"Armored fabric to protect both you and children, Kevlar to protect against stabbing and bullets, but force will harm children. Avoid being shot at all costs." The voice almost sounded angry and before I could say anything it felt like a chest harness or a belted top was slid around my breasts. I could still feel air on my cleavage so it was open around the heart but it felt armored around just about everything else. I could breathe easily in it though so I tried to calm my racing heart.
"Top Kevlar as well breathable, flexible and silent." A pair of armored gloves were pulled onto my arms, they rested from my hands to my elbows. The fingers were left open and I wiggled them a bit as the gloves were tightened. It felt like the gloves themselves were made of belts and clasps. Soon my feet were lifted and slipped into a pair of heavy boots. I could feel that they were armored and went up to my knees. My outfit almost felt complete and I nervously shifted from foot to foot.
"Close your eyes, open them and this beautiful skin will be soaked with your blood." I snapped my eyes shut so fast that they hurt and I could still see the green light burnt into the back of my eyes. It would take awhile to wipe that vision away and I felt a type of mask slid into place along my eyes it was almost like a domino mask but shaped differently. It felt like it were a part of my skin but heavier. I kept my eyes closed and my outfit was tugged here and there, tightened and loosened until it felt like it was a part of me. I heard a click and a quick shuffling of feet then a sudden door closing. "Open your eyes and take in your new skin. Awaken Mystery, wife of the dark ones." I cautiously opened one eye then the other. I looked around and saw the room was empty. My legs were shaky as I turned to face the mirrored wall and took in my new form.
"Wow." My bodysuit was a dark aqua in color and looked really well with my green hair; it would look amazing if my hair were to go back to its natural red as well. The armor was black and seemed to suck in the light around it to shadow my form. My mask was an almost diamond shaped mask with mirrored lenses. I walked up to the mirror and saw the lenses were tinted dark blue and not silver. Somehow they had cut several inches off my hair without me noticing and now it was up in a high ponytail but had two sections hanging off near my eye level.
I ran my hands up the gloves and saw that they were pretty much belted straps of material and would take awhile to get on or off; I would have to be cautious on where I took them off at. The fingers were cut off so I could grab things easily and I wiggled them in front of my face. The gloves would come in handy but if I needed to flee or dress quickly I wouldn't have time to tighten them enough. My boots had belted straps up the sides but the other three sides were solid armor and flexible. I leaned around watching them flex before moving to my shorts. They looked almost like leather with armored plating built in but stretchable and one side had clasping belts along the inside to hold it closed, and in no way would harm my babies. The top had armor over my shoulders and sides and was belted under my breasts. The armor also extended to cover my breasts and another strap slid across the very top of my cleavage across my collar bone. I pulled at the top to make sure that my movement wouldn't accidentally pop it open. It was almost like a sports bra on steroids and kept me from bouncing around for which I was extremely thankful. I ran a hand down the material of my bodysuit and wondered what it was. I couldn't place it; it was almost rubbery in texture yet fabric. Could it be Kevlar as well? Maybe a synthetic rubber to help stop electrical shocks?
"Go Mystery enjoy your new skin, several more have already been delivered to your home and await your discretion." The elderly woman was back and she held out the clothing I came in with. It had all been hemmed and fixed to the point it looked new. I took it from her and felt the phone still in the pocket and the hat almost looked as if it had been freshly ironed to perfection. "Stay safe, and love both your little ones equally." The woman bowed and backed towards the mirror.
"Thank you." She nodded and shooed me towards the door where I stepped out into the light. I blinked as the air felt freezing cold on my skin and the door slammed closed behind me. I walked back to the car in a daze and Zach opened the back door for me to slide in. The ride back was silent and I caught both men eying me more then once in the rear view mirror. Thankfully the mirrored lenses in my mask made it impossible for them to see that I was watching their every move.
"You're going to be a force to be reckoned with Mystery." Gerald's voice was soft when we arrived home and he parked the car. "Not everyone who goes in comes back out, especially the women. I can count on one hand the number of women and you're about it."
"I'm going to check out the place before you go back in, make sure we didn't have any guests." Zach slipped out of the car and cautiously stepped into the apartments, I didn't realize that he'd had a gun on him the entire time until he pulled it out and disappeared inside. I felt strangely calm and kinda hungry. A few moments later Zach came back out and gave Gerald a thumbs up. Gerald quickly got out of the car and opened the door for me. He took the pile of clothing and helped me out of the car. My new shoes crunched against the gravel on the ground as I walked back into my apartments. The atmosphere felt different, I felt different.
When I stepped inside there were several dress boxes lying on the table in front of the television and I knew that they were more of my suits. There were also several pairs of boots lying under the table. I took a deep breath and my heart ached because I could almost smell the cologne that Edward always loved to wear. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the last bowl of 'Joker potato soup' from the fridge and began heating it up. I looked at the clock and saw that I'd been gone almost eight hours. My stomach growled as I put the now steaming bowl of soup on the table.
"Do you want us to stay for awhile Mystery? We can set up camp in one of the empty rooms…" Gerald trailed off and my head snapped up. It seemed almost sacrilege to let any other man sleep where my husbands lay their heads.
"No. Don't even think about touching anything of my husbands." I snapped and both men took a quick step back as if I'd hit them. I felt like crying because I didn't have my men here to hold me and I'm sure that Scarecrow would be giving me a verbal beat down once he showed up, if he showed up.
"Alright, we'll set up camp outside. We'll pitch a tent or get a van." Zach slowly backed away taking Gerald with him. Gerald set the pile of clothing on the couch and both he and Zach quickly left. Once they were gone and the door shut behind them I felt tears falling down my face. I didn't know what to do, I felt lost like I was falling down into a deep pit that I needed to fight my way out of. I took a deep breath and started eating my soup before it got cold. I carefully nibbled at each bite to make sure I didn't spill any on my new suit and I could almost feel my babies' elation at the food they were finally getting.
I tried to pace myself but all too soon the bowl was empty and Joker never left the recipe. I licked the spoon clean and looked down at the empty bowl with a sigh. I dumped the dishes carelessly in the sink and walked into Jokers room and sat down on the edge of his bed. I picked up one of his pillows and could still smell him on the sheets, holding the pillow against me I went into Edward's room. His pillow joined Jokers and I trudged to Jonathan's room. I collapsed on the bed and held all three mens pillows against myself and nuzzled against them as if they could somehow become the men I love. I felt a strange buzzing behind my eyes and I closed them almost picturing Jonathan thinking about me. A sad smile crossed my features and I reached out almost feeling him brush against my soul the way Scarecrow does.
'Victoria is that you?' Jonathan's voice echoed in my head and I nuzzled against his pillow. His voice almost hurt more then it comforted me.
'Yea it's me. I got summoned to the dressmaker today.' I let my thought trail off as I felt something cold flash against his presence in my head.
'He gave you a new skin.' There weren't any questions in his mind just a flat voice void of all emotion. This really hurt, I wanted to crush him to my chest and have him tell me that everything would be alright.
'Yea a new skin and a name, seems he knew that I would want to rescue you all before I did.' I curled into a tighter ball around the pillows wishing for some form of warmth or comfort. I was alone in this and I wasn't sure who was more scared, me or Jonathan.
'I'm not going to help you kill yourself. Arkham's changed, they've got a new head of security and it's bad in here. Really bad…' He trailed off and it felt like he was pulled away and shut out of my brain. I reached out for him but found only blackness and my eyes snapped open.
"Scarecrow?" My voice was weak and strained and my eyes burned from crying. Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind and I saw his tarry blood on his fingers. "You're hurt." I stroked one of his hands with mine and tried to roll over to see him.
"Don't V. I'm hurt pretty bad and so are most of the guys. I don't want you to see me like this." His voice was a strangled horse whisper and a chill ran up my spine. I harshly flipped over and nearly fainted at the state Crow was in. His burlap face was ripped and torn to the point that his eyes were bleeding tar and he was missing great chunks of his straw hair. His hat was completely gone and his shirt and pants were torn and bloody. His skin was mottled with bruises and it almost looked like several of his bones were broken. His autopsy scar had been recently re-sewn shut and the skin around it was swollen and almost infected looking. He looked like he was at death's door and a strangled cry escaped my lips.
"Scarecrow what happened to you, oh baby please don't die on me." I softly stroked his face and pulled back with tears streaming down my face as he flinched from my touch. There wasn't an inch of his flesh I could touch without him being in pain and my heart felt like it was cracking apart inside of me.
"I refuse to die and leave you and my babies alone." He paused to take a painful gasping breath as one of his hands softly stroked my stomach. He paused to cup his hand around where the babies lay and licked his lips. A few of his sharp teeth were gone and there seemed to be a multitude of injuries in his mouth. His tongue was pale and covered in a frothy foamy tar.
"How can I help you Crow, tell me what I can do to make you stronger. To fix you up…I need to hold you." I wanted to touch his face again and this time he leaned into my caress even though I could see pain shoot across his features. I wanted to bandage him up and make him better but I wasn't sure where to even start.
"In order to heal V I have to rest, I can't because Johnnie boy's not letting me in. They've got him back on the drugs and he's in a coma half the time. If I rest in you you'll be unprotected and I refuse to do that to you. Even if you call me I won't be able to jump to your aid or even answer until I'm patched up enough to carry on." He took a shuddering breath and some tar leaked out of his mouth onto the bed. He looked like he was about gone and I grabbed him by his noose and kissed him as if he were dying.
"Rest in me Crow, because I swear to god that if you die on me I will trudge through whichever layer of hell you go to and bring you back." I wasn't sure if it were possible to bring him back if he died but I wasn't going to lose him.
"My scream queen, my beautiful blazing ember." He put a taloned hand against my cheek and pulled me down for another kiss. His tongue snaked into my mouth and for a moment I couldn't breathe and it felt like death itself was ripping my soul from me. My vision darkened for a moment and when it cleared he was gone, a dark tar stain on the bed was all the remained. Was I too late, was he gone?
'I love you V. I'm here even if you can't reach me remember that I'm in here and healing. Don't lose yourself to the fear.' His voice seemed to echo in my head until it was gone and I took a shuddering breath while placing a hand over my babies. Someone had nearly killed my Scarecrow. Jonathan could be in even worse shape, oh god what about Joker and Edward? I took a deep breath knowing that my mind was going to be silent until either Jonathan or Crow woke up. I had no one left to save me; I had to start saving myself. I closed my eyes for a moment and rolled back into the pile of my mens pillows. It could be a long while until they returned and I wanted to ingrain each of their scents into my head until I would never forget them. I had to stop being Victoria for awhile and become Mystery full time. I am Mystery, wife to the dark ones. Mother to their children, and mommy was pissed.