141 Interrogation #141

Gotham

The Diamond District

The theatre's back entrance

"You have a death wish or something?" Abbot's body stiffened as he heard a cold remark behind him. He put the unconscious body on the ground, slowly turning around as he raised his hand.

Abbot was not surprised to see Grayson standing behind him as he had approached the theatre's back entrance, fully intent on luring him out to have a word.

"I'm only here to talk..." Abbot blankly said, regarding Grayson with a calm look as he maintained his posture, keeping his hands in the air as a sign of surrender.

"Be quick. Don't test my patience. Don't try anything funny," Grayson replied, frowning as he alternated his gaze between Abbot and the unconscious body on the ground.

"May I...?" Abbot asked as he noticed Grayson's gaze lingering on the body at his feet. He gestured towards it with his chin as he didn't want to push his luck.

Gray wordlessly copied his gesture in approval, and Abbot slowly kneeled next to the body, removing the black bag over its head and revealing Nightshade's face.

"We found her lurking around the theatre--" Abbot said, prepared to explain the situation. However, Grayson quickly cut him off, causing him to swallow his words.

"We...?" Gray remarked, his frown becoming more pronounced as he activated his personal computer power to inspect the area and quickly found Abbot's partner.

"Stay," he added, quickly disappearing and leaving Abbot to stare at the air as he sighed at his verbal fuck up. However, he did not have to wait long before Grayson came back, walking behind an annoyed-looking Whisper.

"Keep talking," Gray blankly instructed as he watched the bemused Whisper slowly walk towards Abbot and stop beside him, giving the latter a displeased glare.

"As I've said, we found this one lurking around the theatre and thought you might not appreciate that..." Abbot said, gesturing towards Nightshade, unmindful of the increasingly bemused stare Whisper gave him.

"And you're right... I don't appreciate it one bit. But you don't expect me to believe you were passing by when you caught her, do you..?" Gray said, gazing at Nightshade, then slowly moving his gaze back to Whisper and Abbot.

"The way I see it, you two were 'lurking' here first. Mind telling me why the fuck that is?" He asked, his already frigid tone growing several degrees colder, urging the duo to choose their words wisely.

"We were indeed lurking; I won't lie..." Abbot replied. Gray's expression immediately worsened, seemingly on the verge of violence, to which the werewolf quickly went on.

"You are not an easy man to reach... and we had no other way to get your attention..." Abbot explained, quickly raising his hands. "Please understand that we did not have any other option..." he added, sighing as he noticed Grayson's expression easing up.

"You have my attention, but I'll need to deal with this one first..." Grayson said after a second of silent contemplation as he gestured towards Nightshade, prompting Whisper and Abbot to step back from her.

Grayson quickly walked towards the unconscious heroine, picked her up, and turned to Abbot. "I'll be in touch," he concluded, conjuring a cheap phone in his hand from nowhere, and throwing it to the werewolf before leaving.

"Well... you're in one piece... I'm in one piece, and we have a line of communication with Wraith, albeit one-sided..." Abbot said as he turned to Whisper, noticing the murderous glare she was sending his way.

"I'd say things went well..." he added with a shrug as he walked away, causing the serpentine woman to sigh in resignation as she followed suit, muttering in annoyance.

"Fucking fur-for-brains..."

...

East End

An abandoned factory

I sighed as I sat on a rusty metallic stool, looking at Nightshade, who I'd tied into an equally old metal chair, wondering how to deal with the troublesome heroine.

The simplest solution was to hand her over to the authorities and get it over with, but I was honestly curious as to why she'd come looking for me after breaking out of Stryker's island.

I brought Nightshade here because I didn't know if she had any tracking devices. I might be willing to hear Whisper and Abbot out, but I didn't trust them.

After carrying out a clean and professional inspection, I found no tracking devices. However, what I discovered intrigued me greatly. The collar on Nightshade's neck was a device to inhibit meta genes.

Luckily, my Mechanics and Computers skills were high enough to let me scan the collar and attain its design, even if I lacked the proper tools to create something similar for now.

Again, that would come in time, and it would help me immensely, but enough of that. I had a heroine turned convict I needed to question, and I didn't have all day.

I approached Nightshade, jabbing my finger into her neck, hitting a nerve to wake her up through pain forcefully, and awaken she did, screaming in agony through gritted teeth.

I sat back and waited for Nightshade to gather her bearings, which didn't take long, much to the heroine's credit, and she quickly noticed my presence and her current predicament.

"Eve Eden, senator Warren Eden's daughter, an infamous party girl by day, and Waller's loyal hound and an alleged hero by night..." I blankly stated, leaning on my knees as I crossed my fingers.

"Though that's all in the past... you're just a wanted criminal now..." I added, raising an eyebrow at the heroine, to which she only listened in silence.

"Nothing to say? Fine by me. I do enjoy the sound of my own voice, you know?" I remarked, chuckling after waiting for several seconds and getting no rebuttal.

"See, I'm a nice guy, as nice as circumstances allow me to be, at least, but..." I said with a sigh as I straightened my posture, trailing at the end of my sentence.

"You lurking around my people doesn't exactly appeal to the nicer side of me..." I added, narrowing my eyes at the heroine. "So now would be a good time to start talking before I completely lose any inclination to be nice..." I concluded.

"You didn't ask any questions..." Nightshade calmly replied, unfazed by my threats, and her reply honestly took me by surprise, causing me to chuckle.

"Fair enough..." I replied, nodding my head. "Then let's start with how you broke out of Stryker's Island...? They should have matching collars to the one you're wearing right now..." I asked as I gestured towards the meta inhibition device.

"I had help..." Nightshade replied, and I only gave her a 'no shit, sherlock' look as I crossed my arms, prompting her to sigh as she continued to elaborate.

"It wasn't Waller or anyone from the task force. I can't tell you who, but they weren't any of your enemies..." The heroine quickly added, shaking her head to emphasize her point.

"Let's say I believe you, that someone with no grudge against me freed you... if that's the case, then why the fuck are you here?" I asked, scowling at Nightshade's flimsy answer and contradiction in her words.

"Because you're the only one who can help me--" she replied, seemingly ready to explain, but I quickly cut her off with a loud burst of laughter, stunning her into speechlessness.

"Help you? Me? You'd be lucky to get back to Stryker's Island with all your bones intact..." I mockingly replied after a second to calm myself, shaking my head in exasperation.

"I'm not asking for a handout... I- I can help you..." The heroine quickly immediately replied, piquing my interest, so I gestured for her to keep talking, and she was happy to oblige.

"If you help me, I will testify against Waller..." Nightshade added. "I don't know what kind of evidence you have, but it wouldn't hurt to have a testimony from someone who voluntarily worked for Waller backing it," she concluded.

"It won't, but you're barking up the wrong tree, lady. Try talking to the DA if you wanna snitch your way into a lighter sentence," I replied with a light laugh, shaking my head.

"I don't care about my sentence... I did a lot of bad things. I deserve to rot in a cell, but my brother... he... he's different..." Nightshade replied, her tone growing helpless as she looked away from me.

"I'd gladly spend the rest of my life in Stryker's if you'd just help me free him... you're the only one who can..."

...

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