i_amjustme Help, I Need Somebody [Jesse, Max, and any others]
She'd found the park. But Didi could no longer remember why she needed to be there. She'd made plans, or someone had made plans. And the sun was telling her that she'd spent too long trying to find this place already - any business she might have had here was long over.
But still, she was here. The piece of metal in her hand was confusing her too. Someone had given it to her. But all she remembered about that was something to do with 2pm concerences and 4am REM cycles. And something about bats.
Fuck! Her ankh, she knew she needed her ankh. But why? What was it that was so swiftly slipping away from her grasp? She was important, she knew that. Someone important. She was Death. But... how was that possible? She was Didi. She was eighteen years old, her parents and younger brother had died in a car accident two years ago, and she'd been living on her own since, avoiding the social workers until she turned eighteen.
A dog was running up to her, tail wagging with utter glee. She kneeled down and petted him. "Hi, boy," she said, rubbing behind his ears.
To her surprise, she was not surprised when the dog answered her, telling her that Jesse was just over there and smelled worried. And that she smelled different, too. Didi nodded. "I guess I do."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/21/2006 14:00:26
Jesse's eyes caught sight of Didi and he stood up, a bit abruptly, he knew. But she was here, and it put his mind at rest. He looked back at Max and was smiling a bit.
"Hey, come on. I want you to meet somebody." He hated to interrupt their moment, hated it more than anything, but there was no way to avoid it with Didi showing up.
He stood and started in the direction of Didi and Kojak, looking back to see if Max was following.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 14:04:07
Max lowered her hand reluctantly, but nodded and got up after a moment. Maybe it was better in the end. She had something to look forward to now, at least.
"Is that your friend, the one you were talking about?" She asked after catching up. She hoped it was, and that she liked dogs. Ace could be unpredictable around strangers sometimes.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/21/2006 14:06:14
"Yeah. Her name is Didi." Jesse quickened his pace so that they arrived at the pair sooner.
When he got to them he was all smiles. "Hey, Didi. I knew Kojak would be happy to see you. I got worried about you. Glad to see you're here now though."
He bent and patted the pup on the rear, and did't immediately recognize the problem.
She's missing....
Jesse closed his eyes against the voice in his head, forcing it away. Damned hybrid wasn't going to ruin the reunion.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/21/2006 14:12:46
Didi was in the middle of asking Kojak about Jesse when the pair on the bench stood up and started walking towards her.
Jesse. And... a girl with pink hair. And another dog, running behind them.
"Hi," she called, rising to her feet and waving. And then Jesse was talking. "Um. Something... happened this morning. And then I got lost." Her brow furrowed, and she looked confused. "We made plans, right?"
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/21/2006 14:16:11
She looks good in color. But there's...
Again, Jesse forced the voice from his head.
He frowned a little. "Yeah. We made plans. Didi? Are you alright?" Worried, he bent to look at her better. Putting a hand on her cheek and raising her face so he could look into her eyes. She didn't look like she had a concussion or anything. "What happened this morning?"
Jesse didn't mean to ignore Max, but now he was getting worried again.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 14:20:11
Max didn't know what Didi looked like normally, but Max didn't see anything too wrong with the woman, at least at face value. She was just a little scatter brained it seemed, that was all. "S'not hard to get lost here."
Ace slinking up next to her, looking very curious about the new addition to their group, as was she. Who was she and what was going on?
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/21/2006 14:24:40
Mortal eyes looked back at him. Completely mortal. Eyes that had never glimpsed eternity and had no understanding of immortality.
"Someone... a man took my ankh. I need to get it back."
Her hand rubbed the empty spot again. "I need it."
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/21/2006 14:30:15
Jesse noted the eyes. The eyes he'd never looked into before. She felt a little forgien to him like this.
He watched her hand.
As I was trying to tell you, Mister Smarty I Know Everything, she's missing something. That Ankh. She does need it. She'll forget.
"Helpful." Jesse muttered.
He took a breath. He had no idea what to do. "A man took your ankh." He repeated.
She may not remember you. Or me. She may be just relying on you because of the plans. Assuming you're a friend.
That. Made things harder.
Jesse looked her over. She seemed whole and untouched for the most part. So the man must not have done anything else to her. Just taken the necklace. Not that it was a "just" anything. But he was glad to see her otherwise unscathed.
He frowned again. "What can I do to help, Didi? I'll do anything I can."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 14:35:59
An ankh? Max thought for a second before the image came readily to mind. Nothing that she knew about it or what it meant indicted to her why the woman was having some sort of nervous breakdown over it.
And, to be quite honest, she wasn't exactly sure how this whole thing felt to her. Just a few minutes ago she'd been pleased as punch, sitting there and holding Jesse's cheek. Now, that seemed to have mostly fled his mind, the ankh taking presidence. Was Max frowning? Maybe just a little.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/21/2006 15:31:43
"I have to get it back. If I don't get it back by 9 am tomorrow, I'm dead."
She knew that much. The fluttering in her chest told her that this heart woldn't last long. Didi understood - she'd lived with a heart condition all her life. But how the ankh would stop that from happening... that was where it got fuzzy.
Pain, in her hands. She looked down and realized she'd been clenching her fists, tightly enough to leave half-moon marks in the palms. She opened her hands, and in one, there sat the tie-tack button that Bruce had given her. She puzzled at it, wondering at the meaning behind it, and the reason for the tiny bat symbol carved into the side of the metal.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/21/2006 15:33:59
"We'll get it back. I promise you." Jesse laid a soft hand against her cheek. "I won't let nothing happen to you, Didi. We'll get it back."
He glanced down at her hand, puzzled.
"What do you have there?" He couldn't even begin to guess what it was.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 15:40:02
Anger or rational thought? What a dilema.
Jesse was lucky the small black button in Didi's hand caught her attention, triggering the rational thought, which for the moment overpowered the sudden surge of anger and jealousy she was feeling.
He was caressing her. That's what it looked like to Max.
"Where did you get that?" Max asked after shaking her head to clear it. It wouldn't do any good to sound pissed, no matter how much so she was getting. She moved in closer, examining the button. A closer look confirmed her suspscions. "Who gave it to you?" There was only one right answer to this question.
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/21/2006 15:52:19
She opened her mouth to say that she didn't know, but there it was. This name stuck out in her memory. "Bruce," she said. "Bruce gave it to me."
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 15:58:39
It all just got better and better. "You... Put it away. You shouldn't be waving it around like that." Max frowned. That was a signal, not for Bruce, but for the Bat. If Didi had gotten one from Bruce, chances were was in on the secret, but Max didn't know her. She knew who was privy to that knowlege, you had to in the family, so that you knew when you could drop the charade and when you had to be on guard. But Max had not been informed about Didi.
Her frown deepened, not fueled by jealousy, but from the simple fact of not knowing.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/21/2006 16:04:24
Jesse didn't know who Bruce was, but if Max said she should put it away, then she should. He closed Didi's hand around the electronic thing again. "Keep it out of sight."
Max wasn't volunteering information on it though, so Jesse wasn't about to pry.
He sighed. "Max." Jesse closed his eyes. "Max, I'm sorry. But I have to help Didi."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/21/2006 16:20:01
Relief camped on her face for a few moments. But then the dogs started barking, and she looked at them. "Wait a minute, one at a time," she said.
She put the button back in her pocket, and looked down at Kojak. "Tell me." And listened.
"Oh," she said, when the dog finished his report. She looked up at the humans again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I can..." She trailed off, because she didn't know what else she could do. She couldn't wait, she needed someone to help her. And soon.
From: [info]i_assist Date: 01/21/2006 16:25:48
"Figured." As if she hadn't seen this one coming.
Max began wrapping Ace's leash securely around her hand, not quite looking at Jesse or Didi throughout the process.
"It's fine, though. Really. I understand." She said, attempting to keep any anger from seeping in. "I should get back home anyway. I'll-- I'll message you or something."
Max managed a small smile, and waved at Jesse before leaving. She was so out of there.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/21/2006 16:32:25
Jesse waved at Max, confused at her attitude, confused by the whole thing. He turned back to Didi.
"I guess there's no choice in the matter."
Jesse frowned.
"Where do we start looking, then?"
You're a smooth one, Jesse Custer. Real nice.
"Fuck off."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/21/2006 16:48:59
Didi shook her head. "I... I don't know. We need someone who'd be able to track the ankh. Someone who knows something about how the universe works."
She looked up at him, biting her lip a bit. "Thank you. For helping me. I'm just having the hardest time..."
Remembering. Memories washed in and out, some that were Didi, some that were Death. Brothers and sisters (one little brother) and a car accident (a garden, a maze, a castle of dreams). If she held one, focused long enough, she could start to get a grip on it. And what she was holding most firmly was how to get back that piece of jewelery that was the most important thing in the world.
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/21/2006 16:54:55
"Who would be able to do that, any idea? Any at all?" He noted that she was having memory problems. She might not.
And Genesis wasn't offering anything either. Jesse wasn't doing much in the way of provocation yet, though.
"Try to think, Didi. Please. I want to do what I can, but I don't know what that is."
From: [info]i_amjustme Date: 01/21/2006 17:00:33
"There was a man. A magician." She was trying to remember his name. Dark hair, starting to grey at the temples. A yellow medallion that seemed important at the time. She grasped at that memory. "Strange. Strange!" Didi looked up at Jesse. "Strange can do it. He can help!"
From: [info]i_seekgod Date: 01/21/2006 17:03:34
Jesse did know that name. He nodded.
"Let's find him. We've got to find a way to find him. When I met him, he said his body was on the other side of the city from where we were. And that's when I was near the hospital. I think, maybe, we might be close."
Jesse looked at the pup near him. "You gonna help us? Do you know where he is?"