Who: Selina Kyle, Various goons of the Maroni Family. Where: Gotham Park and a Limosine. When: Monday Morning, June 15. What: Selina receives a dangerous message and a job to do. Rating: R for language.
With the coming of summer, Selina had been liberated from the great indoors and allowed out into the fresh air again for the only form of outside exercise she enjoyed. Jogging, there was something meditative about it. Something about simply moving forward at a constant pace, about dodging others and blocking out the world. About not being bothered. And though she typically had a partner, she had for the sake of Helena's leg, gone out on her own.
Selina Kyle looked extremely different from her night time persona, and even transformed from the typical demeanor she affected during the daytime. There upon her face was a smile(of all things), and her face remained free of all make up save for the spf 35 lip balm and sunscreen she wore. Black and green jogging pants and a top revealed the rest of her sweating body to the sun as she left the shade of the trees, rounding the interior part of Gotham park, her beat up Mizuno's took her faster towards the edge of the man made reservoir. Her ponytail bouncing as the music, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries pumping throughout her body.
The unexpected rendez-vous happened quickly, well-planned and professional. As Selina entered a long straight stretch a black SUV zoomed past her and pulled to the side 20 yards ahead. Enough time for them to quickly exit the vehicle just as Selina arrived. A tan looking young man in a dress shirt with rolled up sleeves from one side, a dark haired woman in dark slacks and a blouse on the other. They both moved to the curb, crowding into the lane Selina would be attempting to run through.
The young man adjusted his sunglasses on his nose and gestured with his head at the car. "Ms. Kyle, we need to talk," was all he said. The woman standing next to him and a step behind just watched Selina.
Things were peachy, the sun was shining not too brightly, the birds were relatively quiet and the place was empty due to it being a work day. She was feeling happy, and free. And for a moment all of the shitty aspects of her night time world were forgot. That was until her path became imminently blocked up ahead, and suddenly she had the feeling she was about to be served. If there was one thing that pissed Selina off more than anything else, and let's face it, there were TONS of things that pissed the woman off, in fact it was typically harder to list the things that she did like. But really that was neither here nor there at this point, if there was one thing that truly caused the dashing young woman to erupt into a fit of blood boiling anger, it was interruption, and especially when it was her free time. Her initial reaction was to try and run the knoll of grass but as her name was spoken she found herself stopping short, continuing her jog in place as she eyed them both skeptically through the dark tinted lenses of her Ray Ban's, an eyebrow raised arrogantly. "You've got thirty seconds to convince me why I should listen." Earbuds removed, her hand raised to her neck to check her pulse while they spoke.
The man smiled confidently, looking a bit amused. The woman just stared coldly at Selina with no response. "It's about your sister," is all the man replied. He then jerked his head towards the car again. "Not the sort of thing you want to chat about out here," he added. He raised an eyebrow expectantly as the woman moved to the back seat door and opened it, waiting for Selina. She could see the head of a driver waiting in the idling car.
She lost count in the moment he mentioned her sister, a sister that very few people knew about. Not even Garfield(who had a way of weasling information out of her), not even her more trusted clients, not even Helena knew about Maria more than any sort of passing mention. Selina followed the woman's movements towards the car with a nervous stare. Green eyes widened, she took to walking in place now. Attempting to lower her already staggering heart rate.
"What sister? What would she have to do with anything?"
And why should I have to get in your damn car? She pondered to herself, before edging towards the vehicle and edging through her arm band for a cigarette.
The man only kept his arrogant little smile on his face as Selina stammered her responses. "Let's just say you're not the only family Maria has in Gotham," he says with a quirk of his eyebrow. "So, let's have a little family to family talk about how Sis is doing, and how you can help her out. Okay?"
When the name was stated Selina moved, albeit quite cautiously towards the door of the car. Sliding in to the seat closest to the door and rolling down the window, her legs crossed casually and the cigarette was then lit with little to no regard for whether or not her captors would approve. "Let's just make this quick. You tell me what the hell has she gotten herself into now, I make her fix things. And we get on our way, okay? I've got shit to do."
The woman closed the door as she entered, and climbed into the front passenger seat herself. The driver paid them no mind, keeping his eye on the road. The young tan man walked around the car and climbed in the seat opposite Selina. "Maria's wanted a lot of money, a lot of help and got it. You know how it works, Ms. Kyle. You borrow, you pay it back. Your sister doesn't seem to have your sense," he explained. He smiled, admiring Selina openly while she smoked. "Or your style. But nonetheless we now find ourselves in possession of a fairly worthless commodity. Your sister."
The compliment received nothing more than a sardonic raise of the corner of her lips, the smoke dangling from her fingertips carelessly as she hid the alarm that sent her every muscle thrumming with worry. Glad for having been caught in the midst of running as the flush, sweat, and pounding of her heart in her ears was as easily credited to the cardio as it was to her nerves. "What do you fucking mean, in possession of? Clarify that as well as who this all encompassing "we" is, though I've got a vague idea... And I suppose for the record...how much does she owe?"
If one wasn't sure who was at stake, it'd almost sound like they were simply conducting business. More importantly, it would have seemed like she was in charge, from the way she lounged back, eyeing the goon rather patronizingly over the rim of her glasses. "Be a bit more specific here, Mister....."
"In possession of?" he asked sardonically. Gesturing with his hand at the woman in front he waited while she took out her phone and dialed it. "We're like the repo guys, okay? Your sis, she owes over 100 grand to friends of ours. We've given her every shot at paying it back. You can see how that's ended up. Now we're going to give you a shot. Kind of us, I think," the fellow said, waiting whilet he woman in front whispered into the phone.
"But don't bother asking me all about. I'm just the repo guy. You can talk to her."
As the phone was handed to Selina, she scowled at the device before raising it to her ear. "Maria? What the fuck did you get yourself into, are you okay?" Selina's tone as big sister, spoke volumes upon her vernacular. Even the term 'oka' held some hidden meaning which the youngest sister, the one who had been abandoned before would only know the darker truth to. The sobbing voice on the other end of the line took some time to materialize into understandable words. "Li...Lina, I'm so scared. I.. I'm sorry but I didn't have a cosign. I didn't hav a cosign and the FAFSA didn't go through." She struggled through choked words. "It...I was younger I'm sorry, Lina..I just needed it or else GU would've dropped me. I couldn't have de-def-deferred again. And it was so hard to get in."
The look that contorted the woman's face was one of both annoyance and sheer anger. "Kitten...Kitten calm down okay? Quit crying, it won't get you anywhere if it's got me in this damn car. First of all, you're a fucking idiot. You have spoken to me first. Second of all, how much did you owe?"
There was sniffling to be heard and in the background the snickering of bigger goons, mob goons only riled Selina up further. "I...I'm so sorry Lina...So..sorry....I..Right now it's up to a hundred and thirty or something..I think..He cut me slack back in senior year. But...but I expected to graduate like way earlier, and I haven't been able to find a job as of late and works been real slow what with the Batman spooking off my guys you know? Spooking us girls too. And....." The sobbing commenced once again, as a goon on the other side of the line that something that caused Selina to squirm violently in her seat, and set Maria to crying once again. "I'm just so sorry, Selina. I...I fucked up real bad..F-f-f..."
"Shut up. Kitten." It was added softly, lovingly. Though her body language spoke of anything but. "So they need me to pay back fucking a hunred and thirty something grand or else what?" Because god knew she didn't have that kind of money, even if she hocked everything she owned. Half of her standard of living was paid for out of pocket by clients; very few of her investments actually lay in monetary form.
"I don't know, Lina, they said they're going to--" the voice was suddenly gone on the other side and Selina could hear muffled deep voices. After a pause a new voice spoke, and older man, Italian accent cloyingly sweet.
"I think you've got the message, Ms. Kyle? We gave your little sister every chance and she's just really fucked up. I figure a big sister like you, you're going to want to watch out for her, right?" There was only the slightest of pause, the hint of a chuckle on the other side. "Of course you do, I understand family. And I understand there's no way that even a high price escort like yourself has a hundred and forty three thousand fucking dollars, am I right? Your company can't be that sweet. But don't worry. We've got some ideas."
The man and woman in the SUV watch Selina carefully, the man smiling to see the look on her face, the woman staring at the phone with a look of uneasy disgust on her face.
They'd been doing more than just their normal research. She felt her stomach curdling inside, just trying to imagine what sort of god damn sick thing these assholes had planned for her and more than likely her sister as well. Selina swore that once she had Maria out of this, she'd kick the girl's ass so hard she'd be shitting diamonds for a month. Despite the inner blood boiling, her face betrayed nothing more than the earlier annoyance that she'd lingered in for the majority of their magically informative car ride around the park.
"And just what sort of ideas did you have there, sweetheart." The woman tried her best to keep her tone flat and calm, which wasn't necessarily hard considering her typical demeanor. This was simply another business deal, Selina reminded herself. She'd do a job, get paid...Maria would get out and her sister would then be admitted to the hospital by Selina's own means. This fucking degree better be worth it. She grumbled to herself while awaiting the details.
Selina could hear his disappointment on the other side of the line at her cool reaction. Whoever it was, he clearly had hoped to get under her skin. His voice turning business-like, he detailed it for her. "You're going to take care of a job for us, a favor for our family. Then we'll do one for yours. A big fucking favor." Selina heard a squeal in the background at this. "There's something that belongs to us. It's been, how would you say, misappropriated. Lucky for us they're putting it on display at the Gotham Museum of Art. You're going to fetch it back for us. My dear great-grandmother will rest in her grave and maybe your sister won't have to. Got it?" Selina felt his waiting ear, the two sets of eyes staring at her in the SUV. "It's a set of jewels. I'm sure they'd look great on a broad like you, but they're destined for greater things."
"Wouldn't this be a job best left for a professional?" Of course she was already going through her list of potential contacts, Garfield Lynns cropping up first and foremost. He'd had body hiding under his belt, who was to say that didn't also include high scale breaking and entering. Still, she was no professional and while she might have been damn good at some things...others she couldn't begin to fathom quite where to begin. breaking in to her favorite museum was indeed one of them, and unless she did some serious finagling with the guards she doubted she could pull it off with minimal technology. "If I do accept I'll require a detailed description and picture of these jewels, along with a layout of the museum. I'm sure a big, important man like yourself can manage that...correct?"
"I'm sure we can manage to get you acquainted with those details," the man replied, the amusement clear in his voice. "Of course if this somehow got connected back to me, your sister would be very unhappy." He let that linger for a moment before continuing. "Professionals, they've all got ties, calling cards, easy to trace. You however, well I ain't ever been a customer. And you're expendable. To me at least, if not to your sister." Selina heard her sister's cries again in the background. "You say you're in and she'll be a lot happier. These nice folks will drop you back off for your run. And you can believe that we'll be keeping an eye on ya. Got it?"
"I don't have much of a choice in this matter, whether I want to or not. But do know that should a hair on her head be touched inappropriately. There will be hell to pay for you and your family." Selina was obviously not amused by his threats, even more so by the implications that she might have refused to begin with. "Have somebody deliver the information as quickly as possible, I assume you know where I work."
For a woman in no position to be negotiating, she certainly was taking the lead. Trying to make the best of a tough situation, taking the silence on the other end of the line to think of a way to get in touch with Gar.
She was met with a warm chuckle on the other end of the phone, and one to match from the fellow in the car, all clearly amused at Selina's bluster. "I'm sure they're quite worried," the fellow in the car joked, grabbing the phone back from Selina and turning it off. "Why don't you focus on doing what you're supposed to. The longer it takes you the more likely something unfortunate happens. The guys watching your sister ... they're not the best company, are they?" he asked grinning at the woman who was watching them from the front. A grimace crossed her face and she glared at the man then at Selina.
"No. I wouldn't waste any time," she said, no mocking or joking in her flat voice.
"You can let yourself out then," the man said gesturing at her door. "We don't want to hold you up any longer."
As the limousine came to a stop, Selina slipped out wordlessly. The scowl not leaving her face even after she'd escaped the dingy car; the horrible company. It was nothing, she kept telling herself as she took off into the more heavily populated area of the park. Retaking her jog as if nothing had affected her, as if their threats and the screams of her sister were nothing out of the ordinary.
That was until she reached the interior, far from their eyesight. Where her jog slipped into a full out drag, and a cigarette lit she looked like nothing more than a failed runner. How the fuck am I going to pull this off? No distress was visible on her face save for the few crystalline tears that sparkled down her cheeks from behind the dark sunglasses.