Still Running

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

He emerges from the Gotham train tunnels, bruised and bloody, but at least he's alone. He's not sure why. That spell might have helped, sure, but if those two want him they'll be after him.

So he's not the target. Good to know.

He should find Selina, warn her. Or maybe he should get to Zee, talk to her. Divine if Selina is the target or not. Find out who is. Do something.

All he really wants to do is find somewhere to collapse and hide, but no. That has to wait.

Right now, he just needs to keep moving. He's at one of the parks now, making fairly good magically-enhanced time. Moving among the hidden paths of Gotham, taking shortcuts through the sprawl where he can.

Finally at Gotham Park, he forces himself to stop. He's wheezing something awful, and isn't in nearly the shape to do this. A quick rest and then he'll be back on his feet, ready to go.

Comments

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Shiva does not know why she is here, truly. The parks are not a source of comfort for her, nor inspiration. At least not here in this city, they aren't. Eyes narrowing, she notices a man, however, and there is something about him that draws her attention to him. It is not the blood, though that might typically be an allure of some sort.

She crouches near him, "You are not well." Not that she cares for him personally.

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"Considering the circumstances, love, I came out just fine."

He doesn't know why, but his hair stands on end when she approaches, and every instinct tells him to start running again. But with her this close, sudden running might just be the worst he can do. Better to stay on guard and seize a later opportunity.

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"Mmmmm. British."

Carefully, she looks him up and down again, "Why are you of interest to me?" Shiva is obviosuly not expecting an answer from him, as she continues to speak to herself, "You are why I am here, it would seem."

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

Of course he bloody is.

"Your guess is as good as mine, pet. I'm just passing through town."

There's something familiar about her, some reason he feels he should know her. Or at least who she is. But all he has is that unsettling feeling, that flight response, mixed with something else. A stain on her somewhere, as if she's been marked. He can't see it, but he can feel it there. Some powerful entity trying to put a claim on her.

Just what the hell is going on here?

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Arching a brow, she stands and offers him a hand, "Your name?"

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"John."

He takes the hand, certain that it would be far more dangerous to not take it than to have that contact.

"And yours?"

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"Shiva."

John. Well, that is somewhat bland and it is not informative to her in the least. Carefully, she pulls the man to his feet. He seems more fragile than he should be and she isn't at all sure why she gets that sense from him. "And you are in Gotham, why?"

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

Oh shit. Shit shit shit. First those two, and now her? Is it the Annual Asssassin Marathon or something?

"Honestly, I'm not one hundred percent certain. In fact, you might have a better idea than I do."

He doesn't want to piss her off, but maybe he can get some answers out of her before she kills him.

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"Mmmmmm. I do not know you John and yet I feel you are important to what is happening. I dislike not knowing what is happening to those few around me I count to be important." If she's interested in killing him, there is nothing about her that is showing it. Then again, he might not be able to see it if she were.

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

He basically assumes everyone is trying to kill him. It's how he's managed to stay alive as long as he has.

"'Fraid I don't know what's going on here anymore than you do. Wish I did. A lot easier to get away from it when you know what it is."

She's certainly more attuned than most people, though she doesn't have a full awareness of that other world he deals with daily. Or at least she doesn't seem to. He wonders if she's aware of that 'stain' on her. Maybe that's even what she's talking about. There's even something familiar about that, something he knows he's seen before.

"Why don't you start with what you know, and we'll compare notes."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Shiva arches a brow, "You ask much of me without giving me anything. John."

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"All right then. I came here because two assassins who aren't supposed to be in this reality anymore are here, and ambushed me for information. I escaped them and ran here, hoping to warn whoever they were after. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure who they were after to warn said person. Instead, I find you, a very worldly assassin, with a pretty serious mark on your aura, almost as nasty as the one on mine."

He looks her dead in the eye, unflinching for the first time.

"Your turn."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"Hnnnnh."

Shiva is silent for a few moments, enjoying the fact that he's found the ability to look her in the eye. It gives her a very small smirk in response as she thinks about the information. "There is something going on with an associate of mine, acting dazed and highly out of character - looking to kill a man out of vengence. As for a mark on my soul, I am an assasin but I'm guessing it is more than that?"

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"It's more of a claim than anything. Something wants you dead so it can have your soul as its plaything. Something about as evil as it gets. I've got one on mine--put there by the devil himself. Now, I've done my share of aggravating the powers of good, evil, and common decency. But you don't seem like the type to have picked a fight with anything you couldn't beat, even demons."

He considers taking out a cigarette, but he's only just now really catching his breath. Best to leave it be.

"As for your associate, I'm afraid I can't offer any help without being around them."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Shiva makes a low thoughtful sound, deep in her chest at that. This is information she didn't have before. It doesn't disturb her too much as what happens after she dies will be of concern then and not before. "Thank you for telling me, John."

Her own accent has thickened in talking to him, "He would be hard to bring someone to meet, though I'm sure we could sit on a roof and wait."

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"Ah. One of that family, then?"

He's all too familiar with acquaintances of that sort.

Though if it's one of them...maybe this is all connected. Using one of the them to get to Selina? Or maybe she wasn't the target at all, and they are. He hates not having the answers yet.

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"Little Bird seems heavy of spirit."

Shiva looks toward him, "Where are you going from here, John?"

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

Little Bird? Must be the Robin one. John doesn't know much about that one, but then, he doesn't know much about any of them. Not even Selina, truthfully, though he knows more than most.

"I'm not sure. I was going to try and find my own acquaintance here, but I'd rather not see her until I have more information. Did you have someplace in mind to be?"

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"No. Now that I have been brought here, my desire to continue walking through the city has abated." Shiva seems bothered, somewhat aggravated. She doesn't like complicated situations.

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"Fair enough."

He's curious what she meant by 'brought here.' He's never held much stock in 'destiny' and 'fate,' but from the sounds of her accent she hails from a culture very invested in "meant to be"s.

"What do you suggest, then?"

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"I? You are the key here, John."

Shiva smiles faintly toward him, an expression sharp enough to cut.

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, well, a key can only work where it fits, and I don't know what's going on well enough to find the lock."

He tries hard to not see her expression, though it's pretty much impossible. He at least suppresses his shudder, though.

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Shiva notes the reaction, there is something about how his body language shifts that draws her attention. "I will not harm you, John." She has no desire to do so, though if he asked her to, she'd certainly consider it.

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"If you wanted to, I s'pose you'd have already. Just habit on my part."

When your last name is Constantine, it's best to assume everyone's out to hurt you or be hurt by you. That way you're never wrong.

"When you last saw Robin, did anything feel suspicious aside from his--it's a he again, right? I can't keep up--behaviour? Any weird smells, goosebumps on your skin?"

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"He and there was an odd sensation, as if there were something in the shadows, watching. I could not determine who it might be." Shiva shifts her stance, looking back the way Constantine came, though she doesn't know it as that specifically.

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"Hm. Usually implies some kind of specter, though 'fraid that doesn't narrow it down much."

He still feels a familiarity coming off her, like he should recognize just what has laid claim. He just can't quite place it.

"I might have to go pay a visit to Papa Bat, assuming he lets me in."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"If you would like. I can likely get an audience."

Shiva is amused by the phrasing that they've both chosen.

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

There's something that should annoy him about the Bat letting in the world's most dangerous assassin before him, but he frankly doesn't care. Connie might be even more dangerous, his is just coincidental.

"That would be helpful. But what exactly is the price for that?"

It isn't that he thinks she's after him. But that means other goals and aspirations, and he'd like to not help play into what those could possibly be if he can.

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"Price?"

Shiva looks toward John, uncertain about what it is he's asking of her. It isn't that the Bat will /let/ her do anything. She'll do it no matter what the bat wants.

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

There are ways to approach someone such as Lady Shiva. Rules and regulations, certain speech patterns and honorifics. Not only for her status as an assassin, but for the many death cults surrounding her. There are things that being worshiped does to a person, both psychologically and mystically. He wonders if she has any idea how close to being a deity she could really be.

Unfortunately for John, he's never followed those rules when it comes to millenia-old divine beings. It's part of what makes him so likable.

"Not his price. Yours. What do you expect in return? Sorry, love, but I only know you by reputation and I have a hard time believing you don't have your own goals in this."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

Shiva looks at him and then blinks once before she breaks into a laugh. The sound is somewhat rusty, as it cannot be something she has the chance to use very often. "Oh, John, you do not know me at all, if you think I would require payment for this. I have no need of money nor favors."

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"You're right, I don't. And I've found it best to play it safe when I know as little as I do."

As close to a 'forgive my potential insolence' as he can possibly give.

"All right then, let's see about finding this boy so we can find out just what's happening here."

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"Mmmmmm. Just remember I do not do these things for you."

[mucous-magus.livejournal.com]

"I'd never trust you if I thought you did."

He rises from the bench, having rested enough for now--especially as it seems those two aren't following him, which doesn't make him feel any better.

"Shall we find him, then?"

[shiva-wusan.livejournal.com]

"Let us find him."