Hand Me My Shovel, I'm Going In! - GOTHAM

[11] A Glitch In Time

Evelyn didn't actively practise Christianity. It reminded her too much of...darker times in her life. But something about church buildings always drew her to them - The older the better - Something about it resonated deep in her bones. Centuries of the prayers of good people. She usually frequented them when they were empty, choosing not to attend service as organized religion reminded her too much of her parents - who were neither organized or religious, but they made a good show of it. She supressed a shudder at the memory of the 'prayer closet' - a damp, claustrophobic, arachnid, rodent (and who knows what else) filled cupboard she'd frequently found herself locked in as a young girl and told to pray for forgiveness, though she never knew what her sin was. She vaguely noticed the presence of another woman sitting next to her on the pew...And her senses being assaulted by the sickening stench worse than the rotting of the recently deceased - Sulfur. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and muttered a prayer she didn't know she knew. She was certainly never taught it as a child - The dark figure of the woman hissing like a slowly bursting balloon and moving further away. Wondering if she should leave, Evelyn decided she should at the sight of a darkly clad man emerging from the vestry.

To those who knew him, The Padre was associated with the smell of flowers, childhood memories - always a pleasant smell. But to Glitch, he only smelled like shit. She'd encountered a few of these reekers before - the ones who prayed on a loop. The most infuriating part was that he was untouchable - Not like with Evelyn, who Glitch simply hadn't found a way to persuade yet (not for lack of trying, she'd been close to Evelyn Hart her whole life like a fly on shit, with no success in turning the woman over to evil. She couldn't even affect her dimensional twin, the Queen Of Hearts, couldn't even turn her into the Queen Of Spades! Who did this bitch think she was?!) - She couldn't even get a reading on him. In contrast to Evelyns' love of the place - The whole building stank to Glitch, but none worse than him.

The "Smell" of so much suffering and death was enough to draw her to the Asylum. No one noticed her - She was cloaked at the time after all - She took a moment to take in the scene. The only thing spoiling her enjoyment was the stench of two of the recently escaped inmates - Both looked oddly young for their ages. No one noticed her laughing as she walked out of the building - except for a male figure who seemed to be looking right at her - But that wasn't possible, she hadn't revealed herself to him - 'Surely it must be a coincidence...' She thought to herself, a slight shudder running through her as she remembered how many times she'd heard those words. 'There are no coincidences.' She shuddered again then shrugged it off. 'Eh, maybe he's one of ours.' - repressing the thought that he couldn't possibly be because of that smell. The worst part was that his eyes held no fear...but hers did.

Glitch took the opportunity to follow Evelyn out of the church building. She knew where she would be going, of course - she took the time to memorize the time schedules of her victims, occasionally even 'bumping into someone' when appearing as a human. Evelyn was unaware she was being followed, as she mulled over her most recent job offer. She didn't know how they knew what she did, more accurately used to do, she was trying to stop...a corrupt politician, which was nothing to her, she'd done in her fair share of them - a husband and father...she found something about the idea of killing a father off-putting, although she never had before. This man was a murderer...He owned a block of apartments and several houses in a part of town with much less traffic - where tenants kept dying thanks to how run-down and unattended to they were - carbon-monoxide poisoning, disease, black mould, gas-fires, even the odd boiler explosion. And then he'd do the renovations and rent them off for five times the price. That wasn't just neglect - it was murder. His wife always looked scared - his little girl too. She could put the fact he was a father to one side, he wasn't a particularly a good one - but it was how specific her potential employer had been...Fire. Where it would take the whole house and everything in it with it. She could even say she was doing the City a favour by getting rid of the mayoral candidate... 'I can't do this, I came here for a new start.' She thought to herself as she continued walking, a sigh passing her lips. 'Gotham is diseased. And there's only one cure.' Another thought entered her mind, Which sounded like The Queen. 'You know his wife and daughter will be out of town. And you know what he's like. It would be more like doing this city a favour, than committing a murder.' She'd almost convinced herself she was going to do it, and then suddenly...She knew she wasn't.

The smell that revolted Glitch was becoming stronger than just the vague flowery smell coming from the woman. She'd never felt fear before, and she certainly wouldn't admit to it now, but this was something powerful. Something that could kick her ass - and she was outta there! Evelyn lifted her head and turned around to face the man in black. Had he been following her? She shelved the thought and spoke. "What are you doing here, you some kinda pervert?" She placed a hand on her hip - while the man was strangely calm in response - she almost felt as if he could see her the way she could see others - It felt odd to be on the receiving end, and she couldn't see through him. "No, you looked like you wanted to talk." Her reply was sarcastic. "What, walking down a dark alley with my head down and I looked like I wanted to talk? Listen, I don't know where you get off approaching random people in the street, but-" The man cut her off. "No, earlier, in the church. You looked like you wanted to talk then."

Evelyn pondered for a moment, whether she should trust this man. 'Not that much.' She argued internally, although perhaps he could help with her situation...she would just have to omit a few details. "I've...been offered a job recently and I wasn't sure if I should accept or not." The mans' response was enough to give her a shock. "I know exactly what kind of job you mean." He couldn't possibly - Evelyn almost scoffed, her reply dripping with not-quite-sarcasm. "What do you think it is I do for a living, then? Hairdresser? Manicurist?" The man seemed to pause for a minute before he replied - he didn't want to scare her. He chuckled at his own train of thought. 'You know perfectly well what she does, and you don't want to scare her.' "No, I think you're more of a...Soldier Of Fortune." He said and laughed. 'He's laughing, he's joking...he can't possibly know.' She relaxed and let a slight smile overtake her features. "You have no idea how right you are." She deadpanned in a light-hearted tone. "...Thank you. I think I'll be seeing you more often."

It was later that night that Evelyn re-entered the church, walking into the confessional. She hadn't actually done anything, as such, but she felt the need to get some things off her chest. "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned." The Padre simply smiled. "Who hasn't, dear? Who hasn't?"

As it turned out, the potential target had persuaded his wife and child to stay with him instead of leaving to go on Holiday...The whole family would have burned. Evelyn Hart still had it out for him - But two innocent lives were saved that day. And Glitch was furious that she had once again failed in turning Evelyn Hart...she hadn't even been able to get her to kill a bunny rabbit when she was a girl. She was almost sick of trying. Well, there were other ways of getting to her.