Ready Or Not [Crane]

[Deleted]

She took a deep breath and held it in for a moment. With a shaky exhale, she opened her eyes. The redhead had been sitting within the comfort of her locked car for twenty minutes now. Sifting through the contents of her bag, she grabbed the half-empty compact of foundation. Using it to cover up the remains of the fading bruises that decorated the side of her pretty face, Summer then slid the object back into her bag when she was satisfied with her appearance. The Penguin had been nothing short of brutal when he discovered her. Not only did he leave her with enough marks to remind her daily why her attempt to reveal him was foolish.

The pretty redhead stared blankly at her pretty features, looking past her image and at the emptiness that continued to consume her over the past few weeks. For someone so vain it was almost hard to look at herself anymore. Leaving her purse inside the car, she also removed the fitted blazer in the passenger seat. It had been her first day back on the air after taking several weeks to move homes and recover from her wounds. Still, it was great to be back with her show and feel the warmth of the lights baring down on her. Now as she was prepared to leave the studio and return home, she couldn’t suppress the urge to make a quick stop somewhere else.

As she began to drive, the sun began to set. With the heavy traffic it took a good amount of time for her to get where she was going. Having only visited the location once before, the young reporter contemplated whether or not this was the building that she had been to before. Parking but still failing to leave the comfort of her car, Summer convinced herself that she needed to do this. After spending weeks curious and developing her own opinions and conclusions about her situation – it was finally time for some answers. She had been debating all day whether or not she was truly able to initiate this visit and now there was no turning back.

The young socialite stepped out of her vehicle, smoothing the wrinkles from her green pencil skirt (which may or may not have been intentional considering who she was paying a visit to). Leaving her blazer in the car, she found herself displaying a fair amount of skin with the sweetheart neckline on her tucked-in top. It didn’t matter what she wore truly, seeing as most her encounters with the man ended up with her clothes in a pile on the floor. No – she couldn’t think like that. She needed to be angry and assertive with the matters at hand. The wide-eyed, curious reporter needed to transform if she wanted to be taken seriously. Of course, it was always hard to suppress certain urges when she was in the same room as Edward.

Lips pouting to an obvious frown, she started toward his residence – at least, one of them. There was the huge possibility that she had gathered all of this courage to find that he wasn’t home, or at least not in this particular home. She knew there was several scattered around town but this had been the only she truly had experienced. The redhead simply stood at the entrance for a moment as she tried to conquer her nerves. With a timid knock that quickly grew with force, she waited to see if someone would answer. Summer reminded herself of the past few weeks and the torment that she had faced. She couldn’t let her questions go unanswered any longer.  


outfit: take a peek

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

The doctor stared blankly at the computer screen in the dimly lit room. He really shouldn’t run numbers in the dark, it was a massive strain on his eyes. But right now his head was still focused elsewhere than his research. He couldn’t get the events of the previous night out of his head. Even in these short meetings he still found it impossible to stop….to stop thinking about it. He rubbed his jaw, idle in thought about what had happened. He still had a bruise just under his jaw on the left side. It was small but it was still sensitive to the touch. Why? Why was this so difficult? He’d never struggled with anything more. The thought consumed him.

There was movement on the side monitor and his mind jolted back into his body. Slowly his eyes ran over the screen to see Miss Gleeson making her way to the apartment door. Dr. Crane really had no need for all of these cameras, but he had made use of them regardless. They were already set up and had made a different in monitoring his patients already. The one watching the door was the one he needed the least, but it had its uses.

It was obvious that she had come here looking for Edward. Edward wasn’t here right now and he wasn’t going to be until his work was done. He’d met with him the night prior…but only briefly.. Before he got too deep in thought on that again he lifted from the computer screens and walked back out into the hall. The last he had checked Miss Glass was in her room doing something at the desk he had provided her with. He had never provided very much for her but she always seemed to be accepting of it now.

The doctor came to the door and waited for the knock. The moment she knocked on the door he opened it and leaned into the doorframe. She looked like she had dressed to meet Edward and she had. There would have been no way of her knowing that she was going to be meeting him instead. He knew that Edward had been toying with her in some way. He almost thought that Edward expected him to react the same way he did when he first found out about Miss Glass. His logic on the matter didn’t make any sense to him if that was the case. They were two entirely different scenarios, but if she was his effort to upset him, it didn’t work.

“Miss Gleeson….It’s been some time.” He greeted her without opening the door in the slightest beyond resting at his side.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

The Riddler's apartment hadn't been Heather's first choice when it comes to places to live. But, then again, it was never really her choice to make - Jon hadn't asked for her opinion on that matter when he made the choice, and of course she'd go with him anywhere. But she'd had some misgivings about the idea initially - she can't say that her relationship with the Riddler has ever been remotely good. However, after the dust settled - since apparently the Riddler somehow had the strange idea that Jon would move anywhere without her - since he's not been around and it's just been her and Jon in this extremely nice apartment (Jon's 'redecorating' it only hurt the place so much) it's turned out to be the nicest place she's ever lived in. And that's including before Jon. I mean, you should see the kitchen in this place. (...but don't look in the fridge...)

This evening she's sitting at her desk, writing in a notebook. What is she writing, you may ask? Well, that's none of your business - it's private! She suspects that she'll destroy it before another soul sees it. Unless, of course, Jon has gotten curious enough about it to peek at It when she was asleep or something. But since he's not given her another lecture about how fear is the only emotion based on its contents, she figures that it's most likely that he's not been curious about it. Of course she'd never believe that he'd refrain from looking out of respect for her privacy or anything like that.

Unlike Jon, she's unaware that they have a visitor until she hears a knock on the door. That alone is weird enough to catch her attention, so she sets aside what she's doing. Hearing Jon headed for the door she knows that she doesn't need to worry about answering it, but she still quietly moves to a spot just out of view of the doorway, so that she has the best possible spot of hearing what's going on without being seen - given how rarely and what type of person knocks on Jon's door, it's wise to be cautious.
However, the name Jon says when he opens the door causes her to abruptly change what she's doing. "Summer?" she asks in surprise as she rounds the corner and shows herself, though she still stops right there - remaining a bit away from the doorway. "What are you doing here?" she asks, confused. It doesn't immediately occur to her that her friend would be looking for the Riddler - because who in their right mind would actually want to talk to him? Instead her first assumption is that Summer found out where they were living somehow and has come to see her for some reason. But how in the world would she have found that out and why would she take so much risk to see her? Hopefully it's not another attempt to talk her out of being with Jon. Why does everyone keep doing that?

[Deleted]

Summer adjusted the ample amount of cleavage she was displaying. Of course, she had several intentions on making an appearance here, though some were smothered and diluted in her head at the moment, she did want to see him and want to slap him at the same time. She held her bag closer to her, the unusual contents within making an odd sound in the process. Once the door was open, she stepped forward, feeling exposed the longer that she stood outside the location. Head turned to make sure no one was a witness before she forced her way inside, she put her hand on his chest. His distinct voice poured from his lips only moments before Summer’s gaze actually met the face of the figure that was before her. It wasn’t Edward, but Crane?

She dropped her hand instantly, a disgusted squeal falling from her lips as she nearly dropped the bag that was looped around her forearm. Her cheeks grew red enough to match her scarlet hair as she blinked in surprise. Moving her bag further up the course of her arm so now it settled on her shoulder, she composed herself before looking back into his vacant eyes. “Yes, I suppose it has, but I was more than comfortable with the distance.” She replied, perhaps a bit too harshly.

Heather made an appearance in the background of the home, causing the questions in her head to multiply once more. Should she think of some kind of excuse for being here that varied from her true intention? After all, how many people did she really want to confess to about her recent capture and humiliation by the Penguin? But maybe they already knew? That was when the idea first hit her, she tried to prevent it from looking obvious on her face. They had both had their fair share of turmoil’s with the man himself, perhaps some of the fuzzier parts of her memory could be revived by talking to Crane. That was, if he would do such a thing? Maybe she shouldn’t even try – play dumb and see where this all goes?

“Heather?” She exclaimed, unable to withhold another round of surprise. She could only assume that wherever Crane would be, she would be close to follow. Still, why were they here in the first place? Whatever she was going to do, she needed to think of something quickly. “Where is Nigma?” Summer asked in a low voice, with obvious confusion. After all, she couldn’t very well justify her hands on Crane’s torso at this point. While this unexpected meeting did hold promising outcomes even with the situation, she wanted her answers first. “Let me in before someone sees.” She ordered, forcing her own foot into the door as she waited for him to back up.


outfit: take a peek

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Miss Gleeson looked as if she was dressed to impress a different kind than himself. Still he appreciated the effort she put forth as it was meant for someone else. It would have been wasted on him, he didn’t care how she looked. There was only so much importance on outside appearance. The inner self was in the mind and physical appearance could only reflect so much of that. He nodded to her reply at the doorway, taking no offense to her being uncomfortable at all. Comfort was when one would get into trouble after all….

Dr. Crane turned his head slightly upon hearing Miss Glass’ voice behind him. His eyes shifted forward again to catch Gleeson’s as she questioned her presence. He thought that his body had taken up most of the frame, but he wasn’t blind to the fact that he was thin. The real question of why they were all standing there was asked but before he had a chance to answer she was pushing her way forward.

The doctor moved from the door as she intruded into his space. He opened the door wider and allowed her in to escape whatever horror was going through her mind if she was even caught speaking to him. Assuredly it would have been much safe for her if she was seen. .. “You won’t find him here, not at the moment.” He looked down at his watch to determine the time he would be wandering back in.

Edward only made short appearances since their agreement. As long as Miss Glass was in the house his appearance would be scarce if any at all but to check or grab something quickly. A short exchange of words and then it was back to work for both of them. That was the way things were now, as the wall continued to climb into the sky. There was only a limited time to prepare and they were both busy with their own goals in that aspect. He never condoned Edward’s way of going about things, a waste of time but he respected the thought he put into it. Edward was one of the few he could hold a conversation with.

“When he returns I can tell him you stopped by….But I wouldn’t make a habit of visiting.” He explained that Edward wouldn’t be around often. “If you are here to see Miss Glass she is here most of the time…But I am working and…” he looked her attire up and down before settling back on her eyes. “You’re not dressed appropriately for a lab setting.”

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Still hanging back, Heather's expression is one of surprise and concern. Nevertheless, she looks quite a bit improved from the state that she was in the last time Summer saw her. In fact, in the make-up, hair, and wardrobe department she looks exactly as she did before she met Jon - she's in a position to be able to get everything she needs in order to maintain her 'look' right now. Of course, there's that permanently anxious bent to her every facial expression, but while that's not gone away it's faded considerably. She's doing just as well mentally as physically, really.

Well, except for the fact that VerMillion still exists. Of course, VerMillion doesn't come out as often as she used to.

Allowing Jon to answer the question of The Riddler's whereabouts, Heather furrows her eyebrows in obvious disgust as she asks, "Why are you asking about him?" She can't say that she like the man at all. She didn't think of him positively before, but after seeing him making out with Jon - an issue that she's extremely jealous about, even still - her opinion of him has taken a rather drastic nose dive.

Considering the situation for a moment, she somewhat hesitantly offers, "Um, Jon, if you want to get back to work, I can talk to her and make sure that she doesn't get into anything and stuff." Because, though Jon may be the object of her affection, she's still quite nervous about what might and could happen if her friend spends too much time with him. Because, well, she's spent a lot of time with him and she's fine, but that's hardly par for the course for people who are around Jon. Then again, the fact that Jon didn't do anything to Summer the first time they met is a good sign. Still, it's a worry, so if that's all it takes to keep them apart then she should do it. Of course, there's always the possibility that one or the other of them will reject her offer, and she's already far enough out of her comfort zone as it is that she probably won't try to insist or anything if it comes to that.