I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2006-04-03 00:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | challenge 1, helena wayne, jake chambers |
i_huntvillains Surprise guests (Challenge#1: attn: Jake)
Setting: Babs' house, sometime Monday afternoonish
Summary: Helena comes home to find that she is no longer the only houseguest...
Work had been long. Her cases seemed to be particularly perplexing of late, not to mention that the District Attorney's re-appearance was throwing everyone into a frenzy. Helena had yet to meet Mr. Dent, but she already disliked him, if only because she was tired of half the office running around in a panic. It was interrupting her own train of thought, and given the cases she was working with, that was a very bad thing.
And so, tonight she had promised herself a night off from it all. She would be returning home at a normal hour, and she was going to take a hot shower, slip into her pajamas and watch a movie. Maybe Barbara would even be home to join her, for once.
She reached the kitchen door, pushing it open and dropping her keys on the table, instinctively locking the door behind her before kicking off her shoes and heading up the hallway towards the bathroom.
"Barbara?" she called out hopefully as she moved through the house.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/03/2006 04:45:33
Jake's first day in the house, he had slept. For a solid sixteen hours, without interruption. This had only been after a long discussion with Barbara to determine the fate of his weaponry. The guns had been taken away, removed to Barbara's safe (placed there by Jake himself, when she'd refused to even touch the things), but he'd been allowed to keep the plates. Which just went to show how something that wasn't immediately recognizable as a weapon could be seen as less dangerous, somehow.
Waking up in an unfamiliar place, hearing an unfamiliar voice, the comination had Jake rolling out of the bed, plate already in hand, before he came to his senses and peeked out the door. The plate was in his hand still, but still hidden inside the room as he looked down the hall.
"Hello?"
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 04/03/2006 12:48:18
The unfamiliar voice sent Helena's senses into alert. She quickly bent, retrieving her collapsible bow from her heeled boots and holding it in front of her. But she hesitated slightly, registering the face in front of her. It was... a child's face?
The hand holding the crossbow dropped to her side, but her grip on the weapon did not loosen.
"Who are you?" she asked slowly and deliberately.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/03/2006 12:54:08
By the time she raised the bah, Jake was already standing in the hall, plate raised to his shoulder like a Frisbee, half-covered by the doorway. It dropped slightly when her weapon lowered.
"Barbara said I could stay," he said, looking curiously back at her. "Who are you?"
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 04/03/2006 12:59:32
"Helena Wayne," Helena introduced herself, eyeing the boy's... plate? Who used a plate as a weapon?
If that was indeed what he intended to use it as, though from the defensive pose he had taken, that was what she was assuming.
"I'm a friend of Barbara's, and I'm also staying here." she eyed him curiously. "She didn't mention inviting you, but then I haven't seen her in a few days. What is your name?"
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/03/2006 13:07:57
"I only got here yesterday." He lowered the plate, and, as an afterthought, tossed it easily back into the room and onto the bed.
"Jake Chambers of New York."
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 04/04/2006 16:37:53
As he ditched his weapon, she also showed good faith and stowed her bow back in her boot, studying the kid thoroughly.
He was definitely cute. And, save for his eyes, looked entirely innocent and nonthreatening. But as she'd learned growing up, the eyes were the true way to get a person's measure, and this boy hid an old soul behind those eyes. A soul that had most likely seen his share of grief and violence, and perhaps even doled out some himself.
Yes, she could definitely see why Barbara would be inclined to take this particular boy in. His haunted expression fit well with the rest of their dysfunctional family's.
She finally smiled, holding her hand out in a friendly gesture.
"Helena Wayne of Gotham," she introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you, Jake Chambers."
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/04/2006 19:22:35
Jake took a few steps forward, and started to ball his hand in a fist before he stopped himself. He extended the hand instead, and put it in hers. "Nice to meet you, Helena," he said, in the voice of Jake Chambers, son of Elmer, Master of 'The Kill' for New York's Top Network.
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 04/05/2006 13:33:23
She smiled again, and then withdrew her hand.
"Are you hungry?" she asked him as her stomach rumbled. "I was just going to make myself something to eat. Any preferences?"
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/10/2006 08:23:59
Jake considered, heard his stomach voice it's opinion in a rumble to match hers, and nodded. "Yup. Hungry. No preference." Then he reconsidered. "Unless it's pink. I'd prefer something not pink."
That protein stuff had the taste and consistency of cardboard. It wasn't something Jake would stand in line to try again.
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 04/11/2006 19:01:22
"Not pink," Helena nodded with a serious expression. "Got it."
She headed towards the kitchen, gesturing for the boy to follow her. Once in the kitchen, she rummaged through the cabinets and fridge, throwing together a chicken stir fry. Not exactly Alfred material, but it wouldn't be half-bad.
As she began to cook, something registered in her mind. Jake Chambers of New York... Eddie Dean of New York...
She looked sideways at Jake. "You know, I just met someone from New York. Do you know anyone else here yet?" she asked. Maybe it was just a coincidence.
Maybe. But that was certainly a unique way of introducing oneself. Or rather, not the way she was used to in her world.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/11/2006 22:27:36
Jake blinked as a name surfaced on her mind. A familiar name. He almost questioned her immediately, but stopped himself. Barbara had already been thrown off by his ability to Touch. He didn't want to worry someone who walked around with a bah in her boot.
"I've met a few people," he said, taking a seat at the table. "A girl named Delirium. A man named Mal. Malcolm Reynolds. A... a man in a red leather suit." He decided at the last moment not to mention about the man being blind. Again, it wasn't even for him to know.
"Who did you meet from New York?"
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 04/12/2006 06:51:39
"Red leather suit?" Helena repeated, frowning. "Now that's new." Of course, Barbara had probably already spotted the man and catalogued him.
As he asked, she realized that if he did know Eddie, her secrety identity could be compromised.
Damn. She'd been so careless since arriving here. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that this entire existence here in the City didn't quite feel real. Perhaps.
But... she glanced down at the boy's hopeful face. If she could help him find people from his old life, then it was worth the risk.
"His name was Eddie Dean. Sound familiar?" she asked.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/12/2006 06:58:46
Jake stopped short, breath caught in his throat as though he'd taken a blow to the chest.
Eddie.
"Hazel eyes? About this tall? Kind of sarcastic and cracked a lot of jokes?"
Could it be Eddie? Jake hoped against hope. He'd seen Eddie die, shot and killed, in the blaze of glory that the cowboys and certain rock stars glorified. There had been no glory to it. The ka-tet had broken in that instant, and events had simply spiraled out from there.
Eddie.
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 04/12/2006 07:46:35
"That would be him." Helena studied Jake's face, attempting to read the emotions crossing his expression right now.
"How do you know Eddie?" she asked, her own expression softening as she tried to put together the pieces in her mind to get a better picture of this little boy who, until now, seemed to have no family here.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/12/2006 07:56:30
The question stumped him for a moment. How did you explain to someone who had no understanding of the implication of ka that your destinies were bound together?
"He saved me," came the response. "And we've been travelling together. He's... part of my ka-tet. My family."
Family. Ka-tet. The words were different, but the kinship was the same. Just because their DNA wasn't linked didn't mean Eddie wasn't his family.
"Where did you meet him?"
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 04/12/2006 08:56:23
So the boy did have a family. The word he used initially may have been different but it was clear from his expression and his body language that it meant the same, no matter what dimension you were from.
"He was outside the courthouse a few weeks back, on the day of the explosions. I'm not sure where he lives, but I promise I'll do everything in my power to track him down for you."
She tore her attention away just long enough to transfer the stir fry off the stove top, retrieving plates and spooning the rice and then the stir fry onto them.
As she set the plates on the table, she looked expectantly at Jake.
"What did he save you from, if you don't mind my asking?"
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/12/2006 09:56:46
The food smelled good. Really good. Jake's stomach rumbled again, and he picked up a fork, weighing her question in his mind before deciding on how to answer.
"He made a key. And it opened a door. A very special door. And he pulled me through it, before the door's keeper could catch me."
He took a bite, chewed contentidly. "This is really good."
Another bite. "Can I come with you, if you find him again?"
From: [info]i_huntvillains Date: 04/12/2006 11:23:16
Keys and doors? Helena frowned in confusion, trying to weigh if this was metaphorical or a child's jumbled-up memory, or something she had never seen in this world or her own world.
Nevertheless, she decided to let the subject drop for now and instead grinned as he complimented her food.
"Thank you. I'm not the best cook, but this is one of the few dishes I know how to make well. Doesn't hurt that it's easy."
She took a bite and chewed thoughtfully, already running through the steps she would take to track Eddie down.
"As soon as I find him, I'll set up a meeting for you two." She frowned and chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I suppose I should warn you... this place is strange. I found a few people from my family back home, but I didn't exist in their reality, and they didn't know me. It's not very likely, but there is a chance that this might not be the same Eddie you know." she paused, studying his face for any sign of reaction, and hating to even bring up that possibility, as she was well aware of how terrible it was to find people that should know and love you and have them not recognize you at all.
From: [info]i_throwplates Date: 04/12/2006 11:52:30
There are other worlds than these.
How true it was. And the Tower bound them all.
Jake considered her words, but they didn't seem to make the impact he'd expected. In whatever world, whatever form, he and Eddie were ka-tet. One from many. A group bound by destiny.
Maybe it was the Touch. Or the strength granted by the Rose. Or maybe it was simply the joy that he'd be able to see Eddie again - any Eddie Dean was better than how he'd last seen his Eddie.
"Thankee, sai," Jake said, and tapped his throat three times with the fingers of his left hand. "That really means a lot."