When The Crows Caw

First Impressions, Or something like that?

Leave it to her father to be anything but a simple man. Michelle had long polished-off and discarded the Burger King bag her brother had provided. Now, she only grew antsy the further out of town they drove; which seemed to be a good twenty-minutes by now.

"We almost there or are you playing with me?" Michelle broke the ice, rather annoyed she had to ask to begin with. Russ 'tched', smacking his lips and fiddling with the radio to clear the static fuzz- half daring himself to ignore his sister's inquiries.

"Five more minutes...so spicy for someone that just had to show up." Russ confided in Michelle, popping the last syllable in 'up' to emphasize his boredom. Rolling her eyes, Michelle stifled a retort as light rain began to 'tink' against the tinted windshield. Another few minutes and Russ was indicating a left turn with his blinker and she was sure they would be there soon enough.

The building Michelle and Russ had entered was reclusive, and by that meant the only entrance into their base was a latch-door covered in foliage. Sure enough her father did that- purposefully. Leave it to him to also not show up to the very thing he orchestrated too. At least that was what Michelle assumed would end up happening.

"He's original, but annoying in how he executes his bullshit." Michelle breathed out her complaint as she descended into the depths of the shadows; Russ close behind. At the base of the stairs Michelle could make out the faint, cool, ambiance of light down a desolate hallway. Thankfully Russ took the lead keeping in tow an overall antsy Michelle.

The walk itself was brisk but felt like eternity as they wound around the final stretch and entered in through sleek, metallic, double-doors. The doors opened and Michelle's temperature cooled, the hairs on her arms standing on end almost painfully. An oval table sat stoic in the middle peppered with a few faces she was, and wasn't familiar with.

"Glad you could join us, Duchess." Mac greeted dryly- no doubt already done with her and she, likewise, sneered as an impulse reaction to him. He had known their father allotted Michelle her dinky Gotham apartment, and was completely unscathed by Michelle's elicit response. With this Mac turned his attention towards Russ.

"Peachy to see you, thanks for gifting us with garbage." He greeted, happily and eagerly jumping on the chance to take a dig at Michelle. Though Michelle's heart panged with malice she took a seat defiantly, refusing to give him the satisfaction of reacting twice.

"Even garbage has its usefulness." Russ chided- attempting to provide Michelle some form of defense as he, too, took a seat alongside his sister. Mac grimaced at Russ and chose to put a pin in it in an attempt to smother out the awkward tension that seemed to now meander amongst the company. It wasn't until Mac started his introduction speech that Michelle cared enough to take a glance at the strange individuals with them tonight.

One of them had a style that she assumed could only be Oswald Cobblepot. It was most notably the fashionable hairdo that gave him away. He appeared charming, at least the most gentlemanly of the lot here- which definitely said something. He didn't make her repulsed, and with this she roved over the next subject.

This one appeared as if a leprechaun either threw up on, or made love to him. He was clad in green, had sophisticated glasses and looked overall educated. Likewise, he was observing her for no doubt the same reasons- curiosity. He was smirking with amusement, twinkling a tad in his brown globes. She had a nagging feeling they would end up becoming close later on, though to what extent she wasn't sure.

Lazily, her gaze sauntered over to the next target. This one was bald, though that did not halt him from being handsome himself. He seemed to be in his own world as well, glancing between the accrued guests or straight-up just zoning out. At times he came across interested, but the sole thing that stood out most was how carefree he seemed to be amongst a crowd of notorious men. She decided to take a rain check on him and settled on her final judgment.

This one too was staring at her, albeit more blatantly than any of the rest. Any other living beings in the room meshed into the background, and then it was just this man's presence that invaded your own energy's bio field. He wasn't recognizable in appearance but his karmic imprint was. He had blackish/brown hair combed back, or at least kept up to some degree with the evident grease in his hair. He, too, had glasses that gave him a moreover stoic demeanor than a playful, quirky one.

His eyes. My god they were haunting, bright, blue. They never faltered from Michelle's own darker puddles. This man was calm, calculating- at best he was a sane kind-of insane criminal. Was there the possibility she had crossed paths with him in earlier years? Whatever it was, he seemed to share the mutual idea that they had based alone off the way he was processing her.

This interaction felt like much more time passed than it actually did. In relativity, the whole ordeal lasted about a solid minute. Nevertheless, Michelle's heart thudded for entirely different reasons at that point. She had deduced it hadn't been fear- no. It was an insatiable hunger to delve headfirst down whatever rabbit hole this man had to offer her.

"If you need to get plugged we can wait while you address that." Mac stated, shifting everyone's attention to now look at you and your staring competitor. Flustered, Michelle straightened herself and challenged Mac's reddish-brown mud pits despite the redness creeping up her throat.

"What are you getting at? All I've been doing is listening to you blab. Can you not bore me anymore tonight, please?" Michelle lied straight through her teeth. Mac knew it too and chose to dismiss it altogether for his own sake at that point.

"Whatever, Russ will fill you in- lousy bitch." He rebuttaled, his composure cracking for a miniscule fraction. Michelle smirked devilishly to herself at her spoils and it was this that made Mac conclude the meeting abruptly. He made sure to assure everyone of the agenda to dismantle Gotham and had everyone evacuate swiftly.

Russ had been patient with, and kind enough to inform Michelle of what she dipped out on. Tomorrow her, Russ and the man they called 'The Riddler' had nasty, eventful details laid out to plant bombs in two rather odd locations. She didn't put too much thought into it. It wasn't as if Michelle hadn't done heists before to this varying caliber. It was her job to secure the bombs and induce mass panic. It wasn't nearly what had her brain reeling loops, though.

The drive back wasn't too lively. Brief chit-chat peppered between them, a few changes of the radio. Michelle was distracted and Russ had picked up on it since Mac's forward outburst. He knew better than to pry and ended up just exchanging goodbyes once they reached where Michelle would be staying for a while.

Michelle was appreciative of Russ' concern and his general respect for her privacy. Inside she exhaled a heavy sigh. She made sure to secure all of her latches before turning to half-fumble through the darkness. Her heightened senses allowed her to project where she felt the furniture would be and she managed to successfully make it to and crawl into her bed.

Michelle felt the heaviness of her exhausted limbs weighing down on her like an elephant on her chest. Blips of the man they introduce as Johnathan Crane, or Scarecrow, flashed behind her closed lids. Michelle coveted her face with her right arm and groaned out of frustration before opting to succumb to the night. She would either get to the bottom with time or it would consume her until there was nothing left.