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John waits a day, and goes where he's told and delivers his message.
"The Joker wants to arrange a meeting with Mr. Moriarty. He says it's time to put aside our differences."
And they have to have been expecting it, because the person he talks to doesn't even ask for proof of the message's origin, just nods and says she'll see about contacting the boss.
It's two more days of back-and-forth before they get their meeting - not with Moriarty, but with his local representative, or something. Everyone is very vague on the details, for which he can't really blame them, all things considered. Somewhat to John's surprise, Moriarty's people accept the Joker's offer of one of his many abandoned warehouse lairs (seriously, does the man have a collection?) as a meeting spot. They show up early. John feels... out of place. The Joker is meeting with a mob boss to discuss an alliance against the guy who just took over the city, and for some reason John Blake is invited.
He still hasn't told Gordon a thing. It's not that he's afraid to, exactly, more that he can't even figure out how to bring it up. How do you explain that the Joker is actually weirdly approachable as long as you can make your peace with his sense of humour? Not to mention the little girl with the wings. Definitely don't mention the little girl with the wings. If he mentions the little girl with the wings, Gordon will probably be out the door before he can even try to explain.
mylegalname
mylegalname
"Absolutely nothing," says John. "Everything about this situation is completely normal."
mylegalname
And of course that's when somebody knocks on the door.
"I'll get it," says John. He crosses about thirty feet of bare concrete littered with fragments of disintegrating cardboard. The little side door is made of metal, with bits and pieces that add up to half a paint job remaining and the rest of its surfaces gone to rust, but the handle still works. He opens it.
"I'll get it," says John. He crosses about thirty feet of bare concrete littered with fragments of disintegrating cardboard. The little side door is made of metal, with bits and pieces that add up to half a paint job remaining and the rest of its surfaces gone to rust, but the handle still works. He opens it.
causas-rerum
There's a woman standing there, well-dressed and smiling.
"Hello," she says. "You must be John. I'm Elle."
"Hello," she says. "You must be John. I'm Elle."
mylegalname
That was the name. So either this is the right person, or they're in very deep shit.
"Nice to meet you. Come on in. Sorry about the," he waves vaguely at their surroundings.
"Nice to meet you. Come on in. Sorry about the," he waves vaguely at their surroundings.
causas-rerum
"Not a problem," Elle assures him. She steps inside and picks her way across the floor to the little folding table they brought with them. That and the accompanying plastic folding chairs are clean, at least.
manofmyword
"Hi," the Joker chirps. He came in the full suit and makeup. "So, what do you think of" (he flutters his fingers dismissively) "that Bane guy?"
causas-rerum
"I think he's even more dangerous than he wants us to believe," she says. "I think he's planning something more than enforced anarchy, and I don't want to wait around for it, whatever it is."
mylegalname
John blinks. "Uh," he says, not entirely sure he should be asking, "knew what?"
causas-rerum
"I had intended to wait a little longer before revealing that, but yes," says Elle. "I am the person you know as James Moriarty."
manofmyword
"Our little game of tag's been going for a while now. Enough for me to get a sense of you. Now isn't the time to be screwing around. If you were in town and you believed it was me, you wouldn't send an underling, make it another week until we actually talked. You'd come yourself, or you wouldn't deal at all. And then you sit down like you own the place and talk like you're the boss? It wasn't that hard."
causas-rerum
"Fair enough. So, to business. What are you bringing to the table here? You're not the first group I've contacted who thought they were starting the resistance, but you're definitely the first one I thought might have had a chance of getting anywhere on their own."
manofmyword
"I tried Batman first, believe it or not," he says. "Batman didn't show. Johnny here's got a line on Jim Gordon, though."
mylegalname
John stiffens slightly with surprise. He didn't expect that to come up so soon.
causas-rerum
"...That's a lot of trust to be placing in someone you only just met, game of tag or no," says Elle/Moriarty.
manofmyword
"Now is not the time to be screwing around," the Joker repeats. "But Gordon's not even our best resource, necessarily. The other one's just... harder to explain. Of the 'seen to be believed' variety, you might say. D'you know that half-finished opera house on Martial?"
manofmyword
"If you're serious about working with me on this, meet me there tomorrow. You, personally, nobody else. And I do believe you're serious about working with me on this."
causas-rerum
Elle studies his face thoughtfully.
"And you're not going to explain until I see it for myself, whatever it is?"
"And you're not going to explain until I see it for myself, whatever it is?"
