Two sides of the same coin

Chapter 16 - Magpie

"Well well well, look who finally decided to show up."

Bruce turned around to reply to the stranger and was met with a woman that looked to be around her early twenties. Her hair was, probably, poorly bleached white seeing as there was black streaks that snuck threw the white strands of hair. Feathers laid on her shoulder, some black and others a different shade of grey. The feathers were connected to a jacket that only reached her ribs but was rather flashy nonetheless. There was a variety of objects that hung on or around her neck. One notable feature was the silver necklace that looked like it had been fused with all kinds of necklaces. Some with ornaments and some that were a simple silver chain. Bruce opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by them.

"So this is him? Smaller than i'd imagine...or are you still growing? Hm? Well then, you're quiet too? The exact opposite of what I imagin-"

"Yes yes this is Bruce Wayne. He's the one you will be escorting."

Her attention snapped from Bruce to Jeremiah but not being able to direct her attention towards Jeremiah completely. Bruce couldn't read her expression, which was odd. What exactly made it odd was that she showed many emotions such as annoyance, confusion, and happiness but her whole persona was fickle to say the least. Her appearance only added to her fickle personality.

"Bruce, this is Magpie. She will be escorting you to your destination as well as helping you enter the building."

Magpie spared a glance in his direction, not very interested anymore. Bruce was confused as to what made Magpie so special that she was given the task of escorting him to the building. Not that he needed an escort in the first place. A moment of silence passed until Magpie spoke.

"And i'll get what I asked for, now then let's go! Faster the better!"

Magpie rushed over to Bruce and slipped behind him, pushing him towards the door. Bruce was forced to comply but as he was being rushed forward he managed to glance at Jeremiah for a split second with a look of pure confusion.

"Oh, and Bruce!"

He said and Magpie immediately stopped to let Bruce hear what he was going to say.

"You might need this."

He threw a large black piece of cloth towards Bruce, when he caught it he barely had enough time to get a grip on it due to Magpie dragging him out the door again. Jeremiah only waved to say goodbye with a small smile on his face as Bruce was pushed out of the door.

They had walked throughout the alleyways of Gotham for at least thirty minutes by now. Bruce had no idea why Magpie didn't take a car instead of walking, it would save a lot of time. He jogged to catch up to her.

"Where exactly-"

"Shhhh! Cash, Jewels, and sparkles will suffice! I did not bargan to become a babysitter."

With that Bruce stayed quiet, clearly he wasn't going to have any sort of conversation with her. They continued to walk through the city, Magpie was constantly talking to herself. It could change from bickering with herself to sunshine and Daisies the next. Usually Bruce could ignore people like this, he should be used to it by now, but Magpie's voice was so silky and high pitched that it was rather difficult to ignore. He wasn't going to complain but it did bother him, there was also the fact that at times she would become very loud and Bruce would have to make sure no one had heard. He questioned why exactly Jeremiah wanted her to help Bruce. If anything it was a disadvantage rather than an advantage.

They had been walking for some time before they eventually slowed down. Bruce took notice of Magpie's footsteps becoming lighter and more thought out so he did the same. She stopped at the corner of the building they were behind and peeked around the corner before hiding behind the wall. Magpie looked towards Bruce and smiled at him, like she knew something that Bruce didn't. And Bruce definitely wouldn't like this. She slowly reached for a pouch she had attached to her jacket while she kept that mischievous grin on her face. Then as if in a split second she went to an innocent and less intimidating expression. Almost as if she was sorry for something but it was clearly an act. Bruce wasn't that stupid. She lifted up the other arm near her fact, pointing her index finger towards her lip and looked upwards.

"Oh oh, almost forgot."

The hand that was placed in the pouch was then pulled out of it carrying something black. As she brought it to the front of her figure and gestured it towards Bruce for him to take it he then realized it was a gun. He took a small step back as confusion took over his expression.

"Wh-"

"You Bang Bang and leave, Magpie gets all pretty little shinies she desires."

With that she ran off and Bruce ran after her. He finally caught up with her, she was standing next to a door looking at it almost lovingly. Her attention then snapped to Bruce, realizing that he had caught up. Magpie gave him a small smirk as she pulled out a pocket watch from her jacket pocket. She seemed to hold it somewhat away from herself. Careful not to let it hit anything as she placed a hand under it, still not touching it apart from the chain to hold it up. Bruce walked closer to Magpie, keeping his eyes on the door.

As soon as Bruce got close enough to the door, Magpie threw it. An explosion rang out throughout the building and Bruce quickly looked around in fear that someone had heard. Magpie, instead of doing the same, continued to focus on the door with a wide smile on her face as she eagerly walked through the door and into the building. He looked back towards where Magpie was, only to catch a glimpse of where she was heading. Bruce quickly ran after her, not wanting to lose sight of her.

He ran after her for who knows how long before he turned a corner and she was gone. Bruce observed his surroundings to see if he could find where she had gone. He saw a latter and immediately ran to it. When he began climbing it he could hear light giggles come from above him. He looked up to spot the exact person he was looking for, Magpie. She was looking down at him from the ledge the latter was screwed onto. She smiled and waved at him, letting out more giggles as she did so.

"Thanks, now time to say bye-bye!"

She quickly pounced up to her feet and jumped off the ledge and onto the floor then quickly ran off. Bruce was left grabbing onto the later as he looked at the hallway Magpie had just ran through. He let out a sigh and continued to climb up the later.

'If she left then she must've taken me to where I'm supposed to be.'

He thought to himself as he lifted himself up to the ledge. The latter led to a rather small hallway, if the ceiling was any lower Bruce would have had to crouch to get through it. He looked to the right and then the left. He found that to the right was a dead-end so he turned to the left and began to walk down the small hall.
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