Dressed To Impress [Pamela]

[noah]

[/b] Noah growled, kicking the radio from the man's hand and producing the handgun, he pointed it straight at the man's face, kicking his partner back down to the floor as he tried to move. "Guess I missed the red carpet, then?" Noah asked, before his finger hit the trigger and shot the man in the head. The body fell to the ground and he turned to the second security man. Body count was not Noah's problem, in fact, it made everything just that much better. He raised the gun at the second man and fired again. Nine shots left in the magazine, Noah thought, kicking the door open. By this point his men had seen the signal and were infiltrating the building in various different ways, surrounding the people inside. They were dressed in black clothing, gloves to avoid fingerprints on anything. They'd been ordered not to kill anyone. Only Noah - Nightwing - could do that. He slipped the gun away again and stepped into the museum. His arrival - and the gun shots - had caught the attention of the occupants inside. He spotted Isley and smiled - more security were arriving now, and he was prepared to up the body count as he flew into battle with them, this time in hand-to-hand combat, the gun tucked away for now.[/ul]

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Working the crowd has gotten much more enjoyable since her perfume got added to the mix. While Pamela can have some idea which of Gotham's wealthy gentlemen have been exposed to enough of her perfume for her to get the desired reaction, there are also the occasional surprises. Most of them, however, haven't had enough of the stuff for her to convince them to part with their money, though more and more are to the point where they're at least taking a rather large interest. So much attention, so little time...

The actual auction was just getting underway when the sound of gunshots interrupted the proceedings and suddenly the building was invaded by men wearing black. Pamela is, perhaps, one of the calmest in the crowd, raising no fuss as she simply waits for some sort of explanation for the disruption. She has two reasons not to worry: she's more valuable alive than dead by all accounts, and as far as she's concerned she's just a face in the crowd here - there are more high-profile people here so she has no reason to suspect that she'll be targeted. The second is hidden in her purse, which contains more than one thing far more potent than pepper spray for self defense.

But she can actually relax somewhat when she spots the unfortunately familiar figure of Nightwing, who seems to be leader. But then, she has a much better reason to not fear anything from him - he's dead if he doesn't have her good graces. Of course, the gunshots seem to be a bit of a puzzle for her - surely if he were that violent things would have gone differently the first time he broke into her greenhouse. No, they must have been the guards outside firing at the dark shadows of all these black-dressed men or something along those lines.

But she has to wonder what the point of all of this is then. Is he trying to scare her into giving him the antidote? Well, it's not going to work, and he should know that. Maybe this has nothing to do with her at all. When she sees him spot her in the crowd, his immediate smile causes her to raise an eyebrow and an amused smirk crosses her face. Regardless of what is going on, this is bound to be entertaining! She simply stands there and waits to see what he'll do.

[noah]

[/i] was the target of this operation. Noah - or Nightwing, as the rest of the room saw him as - made his way toward Pamela, fighting off the advances of the many security. It was very nearly overwhleming to Noah. Tetra made him strong, but not inhuman or invunerable, and there were quite a few guards. Noah kicked one in the face, before grabbing him by the back of the head and smashing him hard into the wall. Noah had been hearing bones break and gunshots for a very long time, but there was still something pretty painful about hearing another humans bones shatter. Perhaps it was because Noah was aware of his own humanity, he knew he wasn't invunerable, but he didn't care. Still, he turned around, a quick low kick to sweep a man off his feet before he reached behind him for the eskrima stick. Now would probably be a good time to master the use of them, Noah thought.

He hit one man across the face, surprised at the effect the sticks had. Why hadn't he been using these all along, he wondered, and understood why the real Nightwing chose them as effective weapons. He turned, now not far from Pamela. The only thing he lacked in his disguise as Nightwing was the simple acrobatic and gymnastic ability, but Noah intended to make up for that with sheer force. He turned on the spot, facing Pamela, another smile spending across his face. There was something about her expression, bemused and interested, hardly as scared as the people around her.

"Miss Isley," Noah spoke. Had he realised Nightwing and Pamela had run ins before, perhaps he would have chosen not to speak to her, for fear his voice would give him away. However, Noah didn't know this and continued to smile at her. "I'd very much appreciate it if you came with me," he added, in a softer tone, very much not one expected from someone who'd been ruthlessly taking down the security at the museum. "Although, I don't think you've got much choice," he added. [/ul]

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

While Pamela had seen Nightwing in action before, it had been against her plants and in the dark and, not being much of a fighter herself, she's hardly able to sense a different style of movement based on that alone. Still, it surprises her how much power and ferocity he puts into fighting off the security guards. Hmm, yes, definitely trying to scare her. Even as he draws near she remains exactly where she is even as the other people around her draw back in fear, because if that is his motivation, she's going to show him right here and now that it isn't going to work.

Her suspicious aren't truly raised until he gets close enough to speak to her, and the amused look fades just slightly and her eyes narrow a little. She may not know fighting styles, but she does know how to read a person's mannerisms. And his voice seems... different. Her eyes drift over his costume for a moment, but it really is too similar for her to be able to tell the difference and that's enough to fool her. If he is trying to put on a show that would explain his mannerisms and she could simply be remembering the voice wrong. Or maybe he's trying to give her reason to doubt in case this doesn't work. Well, she's not about to be fooled that easily!

"Nightwing, do you have a death wish?" she asks, her voice purposefully quiet enough to not carry to any of the other guests - her reputation is on thin ice as it is and she doesn't want to have to try to explain anything said here to anyone - and there's enough familiarity in her tone to suggest that this may not be the first time she's spoken to him. That, and the sheer amount of confidence in her eyes would probably raise a few red flags if he cares to pay attention to them. But she adds, "Whatever this is, it's not going to help you, but if you insist on being a fool you're right that I won't fight." Not that she couldn't, but with her poison staying his hand she's not prepared to make any heroic effort to defend herself - not with so many of her 'friends' watching.

[noah]

[/b] Noah said, realizing now his voice may be enough to give him away as a fake. However, she didn't appear to suspect him, so he continued on. He changed to using her first name, something a little more familar, considering she was apparently an acquantaince of Nightwing's. "Let's not argue, there's no time," Noah said slowly. He'd grown close to adding 'again' on the end, but he couldn't be sure of what had entailed between their first meeting. The 'again' would simply be implied if that had happened. He narrowed his eyes and turned on the spot as one of the previously grounded security guards made a run for him, and he smacked him hard in the face with the eskrima sticks, knocking him down to the floor with a thud. He turned back to the woman - the police would arrive soon, and he didn't fancy having to take them all down.

"Come along," he told her, and turned to his men. "Grab her!" He snapped, and stepped back. What was a good kidnapping without a bit of drama about it? He narrowed his eyes, and looked around at the rest of the people. Nobody stepped in to stop them, of course not. People were just scared, Noah thought, because they couldn't do anything without putting themselves at risk of being in trouble too. He turned back to look at Isley, wondering if she'd try to struggle against his men as they approached to grab her. Even if she wasn't going to put up a fight, Noah would do it this way, and in a little while he'd talk to her, and try to discover exactly how she knew Nightwing.[/ul]

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

His words cause Pamela to scoff, but she gives no further comments. He doesn't have time, huh? She certainly doesn't have time to play whatever game he's trying to force her into. A part of her wants to declare this completely unforgivable here and now, but she's too smart for that: she has only the one bargaining chip - a very, very powerful one, it's true, but if she plays that card then she puts him in a position where he literally has nothing to lose. So until she finds out what's going on in that head of his she'll be patient.

When he tells his men to grab her, the smirk on her face fades but only into a more passive expression. While letting them take her by force is certainly not pleasant, if she were to demurely walk off without that detail a lot more questions would be raised. But she doesn't struggle, knowing that would only make things worse and an innocent socialite like herself wouldn't necessarily be expected to put up what would appear to be a useless fight. Wouldn't be very lady-like and there are, after all, so many of them and only one of her.

Instead she merely seems to be very brave in the face of adversity as the men unnecessarily restrain and half-carry, half-drag her away. Though she has to smile inwardly when she notices that after a moment their hands become more careful; one can't come close enough to touch Pamela without feeling the effect of her pheromones. And though it's not strong enough to put such men under her control or distract them from their orders, it's enough to make it impossible for them to ignore the fact that they're grabbing a very beautiful woman and that naturally leads one to handle her with care.

[noah]

[/b] Noah muttered, looking around at the many others in the room. "That's my job," he reminded them darkly, and swiftly left the building, his men and Isley in tow. He turned to her as they made the descent down the stairs, passing the dead security. Noah could hear the sirens in the distance. They had seconds - two minutes at the most, he figured. A van had pulled up outside, and Noah was keen to get Isley inside. He was still trying to grasp what the possible nature of their relationship was, one of animosity, that was for sure, Noah thought. What could Nightwing possibly have to do with Isley? She was clearly hiding something, and Noah wanted to expose it. He could have scooped himself much more than he'd bargained for. Perhaps in a good way, he figured. "Miss Isley - Pamela," Noah smiled. "You're playing the part admirably," he informed her, the van doors swinging open. "Shall we go?"[/ul]

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Having Nightwing burst in and brutally attack the security guards is one thing, but when she's taken past the clearly dead bodies of others, her eyebrow raises and she gives him a confused frown. Though she knows that some self-proclaimed heroes are willing to kill, she knows that they're generally only willing to kill the guilty. And when another man jumps out of the shadows and is immediately shot by his men, that only cements the oddity of the situation.

Her confidence fades to passiveness and she mulls this turn of events over. What does it mean? This is clearly going further than merely trying to intimidate her unless he's the world's biggest hypocrite: a hero who values themselves much more than the masses. No, the conclusion she reaches is that the first couple of times she met him must have been the act - this must be the real Nightwing. He must have only been pretending to be a hero before - why, she's not sure, but now that she has this hold on him he's showing his true colors. It's the most plausible explanation in her mind.

Well, whatever his true nature she still has his life in her hand, so she need not worry about herself. He dares not hurt her, she's sure of that much. But she is a bit disconcerted by this turn of events, however, and she silently keeps an eye on all that's happening around her - especially Nightwing. And his words cause an annoyed glare. "Whatever this is, it'd better be good," she mutters as she's 'helped' into the van, sounding merely flustered and annoyed but not the least bit frightened despite having now witnessed him killing someone and the evidence of others. Once inside, she prissily sits, tugging her dress back into place and scooping her purse into her lap. She just want to know what's going on as soon as possible so that she can get on with her life.

[noah]

[/b] Noah commented, hoping this simple statement will serve up some kind of explanation for the relations between Nightwing and Isley. Something doesn't quite sit right here, Noah thought. There's something more about this, something about Pamela he doesn't know but the real Nightwing does. Noah cursed himself for the unforeseen problem, but it would have been impossible to guess a civilian would have some kind of knowledge of Nightwing, enough to speak to him much like they knew each other, much like they'd had previous encounters. By now, Noah is by far convinced Pamela and Nightwing have met before. [/ul]

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Now that the relative chaos of getting grabbed and people getting killed seems to be over, Pamela settles what few nerves she has and tries to get comfortable. At least as comfortable as she can be with Nightwing peering at her. "What?" she asks after a moment, irritated. While she's plenty used to men staring at her - especially when they're within range of her pheromones, and she enjoys that immensely - the way he's staring is not the way she likes to be stared at.

His question causes an annoyed exhale and she says, "Of course I'm not afraid of you. You don't fear someone who dies the week they screw up. And you're getting very, very close Nightwing - or have you decided that you don't care whether you live or die?" Her eyes narrow dangerously at the end of that, not shy about letting the full level of her arrogance and annoyance show now that they're out of the sight of anyone she'd be worried would question it. And you'd think that based on the level of malice in her tone that she has a knife to his throat instead of sitting quite calmly opposite him as his van takes her to who knows where.

Obviously, Pamela much more than simply knows Nightwing - she believes herself able to threaten his life with complete impunity. Even when she's been kidnapped by him and a bunch of men with guns who are clearly not afraid to use them.

[noah]

[/b] Noah replied, looking back at her. He was beginning to worry that she was going to see through him and pick up on the fact he wasn't actually the real Nightwing. Shaking such a thought from his head, he leaned forward again, leaning in towards her. "Maybe, I've had enough?" he added, with a slight hint of venom in his tone. He wondered if he could make Pamela worry, holding over her the idea that Nightwing had completely snapped and no longer cared about the kind of information that bound him to the woman, whatever it was. The idea that Nightwing had nothing left to lose and would do anything to get a little revenge. He hoped he could scare her, make her feel like Nightwing would be willing to sacrifice everything just to get back at her for what she had on him.
[/ul]

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

At first that reply causes Pamela's eyebrow to raise skeptically, but after considering the possibility for only a moment, she brushes it off with a laugh. "No, I don't think so. When I was explaining it all to you, I didn't see you giving up - you're too much of a fighter for that, aren't you? I could tell you were already trying to think of a way out of it and, useless as that is, I doubt you'd flip without trying something," she says smugly. Though the thought that Nightwing may eventually decide that he doesn't care is certainly possible, now would not be the time for it. Now would be the time for desperate, silly attempts. When those don't work, then would be the time to stop caring - but she plans on killing him before that anyway.

And her smile doesn't fade when she adds, "I must admit that you've already gone further than I expected, but if you're trying to frighten me into giving you the cure then I'm sorry to disappoint you but it isn't working." She simply can't afford to release him from the trap that he's in, regardless of what happens, so it will take more than a little intimidation to make her budge.

Her face shifts from that arrogant smile to a perfectly executed but completely false look of sympathy when she continues, "I only hope for your sake that you're not so sure of your success that you burn any bridges. Because the moment you're worth more to me dead than alive, you're dead - no matter how many days it takes for you to die. I'm not a very forgiving person." There's just a tiny hint of venom of her own in her voice at that last part, because it's very true; Pamela has always been one to hold a grudge - no matter how long it takes, if a person crosses her then she'll sooner or later have her revenge.

[noah]

[/b] Noah growled back, a smile on his face as they continued to drive on. The further they managed to get out of Gotham, the better. Noah was beginning to wonder if Pamela's kidnap would cause the real Nightwing to come searching for her, especially if she did indeed hold the key to his continued existence. As such, Noah couldn't take chances of being tracked, though he didn't underestimate exactly what Nightwing could do.

"But, I haven't even threatened you, Pamela," Noah continued. "We're not going to burn any bridges, are we?" Noah grinned.[/ul]

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Even as she taunts and threatens, Pamela watches Nightwing. Though she can't shake the feeling that there's something off about him, the resemblance is too perfect and she's too wary of being fooled for her to actually suspect an impostor, there is a lingering feeling that there's something going on. Nightwing has completely changed his act and seems too confident, and that's enough for her to keep her eye on him just in case there's is something going on that she hasn't anticipated.

What that could be is beyond her - she can't imagine anyone else short of Dr. Woodrue could have cured him, and if that man reappears she'd probably be the first to know. And, logically, as long as the poison is still a threat and he wants to live then she has nothing at all to worry about. It's not like he can kill her without killing himself, after all. Still, the feeling remains.

His first comment causes her to murmur, "Well, you're a man. Men are easy." Or at least, they've always been that way for her ever since her little run-in with Dr. Woodrue. And that includes that short span between then and when she enhanced it even further with her pheromones. Impulsively, she slowly leans forward herself, wondering if Nightwing will let her come within pheromone range or if it'll cause him to back off. She'd like to have some sign at least that he recognizes that she's actually in control here.

But as she does so she smiles and says, "Not yet, but we are dumping gasoline on them and playing with matches." Though actually, she could probably be pushed a lot farther without deciding to kill him - but she doesn't want him to know that.

[noah]

[/b] Noah smiled. "No time for arguing. I have no time for arguing," he explained. "I feel we should talk, and this way it's not implicating yourself. Some madman in a suit kidnapped you, you're certainly not acquiescing an invite to come with me," he explained. "I could have easily made our... arrangement... known, Pamela, but I haven't," Noah pointed out. "I don't think this bridge is burning."[/ul]