Anatomy of a Car Crash [Evangelina]

[Jeremiah Arkham - Black Mask]

He turned the radio up as the relaxing, yet upbeat music started. He’d just turned onto the on ramp to enter the bustle of the highway. It was one of his rare days off; a day he wouldn’t have to think about Arkham City, though he was always capable of being reached by phone if an emergency. It was also a rare day from the business of his second life, one that offered much more dark activities. Today was a day Jeremiah had all to himself, well mostly to himself. He was expected to pick up Isaiah from his dorm room at Gotham State. Today was their weekly father-son dinner day and he’d made reservations at a restaurant that wouldn’t make the older teen roll his eyes. A simple café that college students these days made their study nooks.

For now, though, it was late morning and Jeremiah was steering his SUV into the traffic. His sunglasses protecting him from the glare of the morning sun. A day off of his jobs was one thing, but he had always chores to run. At the moment it was touring office spaces since his in Arkham Asylum was now closed. He wanted to move from his home study; the place was now more crowded and a cluttered workspace made for a cluttered mind and he could feel the tension rising every time he’d been unable to locate a file or document in what he considered an allowable amount of time. He wanted to pick up some brunch and coffee on the way, though, and he already had the best place in mind. Today was shaping up to be just another common day in Gotham City, but even the worst days always disguise themselves.

One moment he’d been listening to the smooth noises of instruments flowing through his stereo and then suddenly there came the sound of sirens. They were coming from the opposite direction and so he thought nothing of them as he switched lanes from the fast to the exit lane. He wanted to pull into a much more relaxed side of the city with quaint bakery shops known for their pastries as much as their traditionally cultivated coffees.

The noise of the sirens was becoming louder, but as Jeremiah still couldn’t see the police vehicle he pulled up to the traffic light. He turned down his music, however, just in case he would have to pull over and allow the vehicles through. Sirens were not out of place here and so he felt no special curiosity as to what or who was being pursued. He just hoped it wasn’t one of the Rogues or criminals not yet in Arkham City’s walls—that would certainly damper the day in an entirely different way.

The light turned green and Jeremiah pulled through the intersection, but the way that had been clear only a moment before wasn’t anymore. He didn’t even see the sportscar before it rammed into the side of his SUV—his side. He held the wheel and tried to steer as he was thrown to the side by the speed of impact. He could hear the sound of glass breaking, the body of his car crunching and the sound of the police sirens.

The ordeal was over in seconds and as the speeding vehicle was surrounded he assumed, he listened to his heart speed in his ears. He breathed in and out and then as his mind caught up quickly with the events he looked down at himself.

Unhurt. He sighed in relief before a knock on his door made him turn his head. The window was gone, but the woman he saw made him smile.

“Officer Bradley,” he said. “It seems I’ve found myself in trouble again. And here you are…again too.” He chuckled in disbelief.

[Evangelina Bradley]

Car chases in Gotham are always a bit exciting to be a part of. Mostly because most of the time they don't occur on the freeway or somewhere else where it might actually not be totally dangerous to drive at a very high speed. No, they tend to occur on the city streets, where there are lots of people and objects that might accidentally get involved in it. She's in a good position, though - near the back of the pack of police cars where she's less likely to literally or figuratively run into anything unexpected. Or have to actually interact with the suspects without many other cops there, which is good because the car they're chasing is full of armed gang members - nobody from the costumed set, but nevertheless determined to keep themselves out of prison.

Focused mostly on the cars ahead of her, as she knows that they may do any number of extreme maneuvers without notice - because such is the nature of chasing another car through such busy streets, when she sees everyone ahead of her quickly braking and a call already going over the radio reporting an accident and asking for an ambulance at their location. Of course, given the effectiveness of vehicular safety devices one may or may not actually be needed, but when a crash is bad enough it's appropriate to ask for an ambulance right away anyway - when you put a human body through enough g-forces that alone can cause injury, and such injuries are much less obvious than broken bones or bleeding wounds.

Catching up to the front of the police chase takes only a second or two now that it's stopped. And seeing that so far all the other officers, intent on their prey, have opted to surround the vehicle containing the suspects with their guns drawn, she leaps at the opportunity to be the one who checks the other car before anyone else can beat her to the task. Because she didn't become a police officer because she wanted to do anything heroic - oh no, she did it for the power and authority. And since vehicular safety devices protect the guilty just as well as the innocent, if she can opt out of being a part of a group trying to determine whether a group of armed criminals are still dangerous or not, she will. Checking to see if and how badly a Gotham citizen whose only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time is much safer, but also important, so she'll take that job.

The vehicle appears to be quite the spectacular wreck, but she's definitely seen worse. The frame immediately around the driver's seat appears to be intact, which means that there's much less of a chance of severe injury. But the driver doesn't notice her approach so she gets his attention by tapping on the door because the window is missing. It isn't until he turns in her direction that she realizes that she's met him before. "Dr. Arkham?" she asks in surprise, sounding also a little amused as she adds, "We need to stop meeting like this..." Because the last time they met was also in a bit of an extreme circumstance, one that was arguably even more dangerous.

"Are you okay? Can you get out of the car?" are the obvious questions for now, her voice now serious. Can't let the surprise of a familiar face get in the way of doing her job, after all, and if the answer to either or both of those questions is 'yes', then that's a problem that needs to be immediately addressed. Though she also tries to keep an eye on the situation over at the other car - if bullets are about to fly, she wants to know about it, but so far there's no sign that the suspects are trying to leave the vehicle. That means that the suspects are either injured and unable to put up a fight, trying to decide whether or not to surrender, or preparing to charge out, guns drawn. Or perhaps some combination - according to the police dispatcher there's four of them in there. And if it's that last one, she'd rather not be around. It's not that she's a coward, it's that she values her life - it would be an absolute waste to lose it over something like this.

[Jeremiah Arkham - Black Mask]

Jeremiah’s been in his share of car accidents as both the cause or the victim. This certainly wasn’t his first, nor would it probably be his last, but that didn’t mean he was all casual. In the moments that tick by before he’s facing Evangelina and making his easy comment, he’s not only concerned about himself, but his car. The vehicle wasn’t cheap, and in fact it hadn’t been that long since he’d paid it off and all he can sincerely hope is that it’s not totaled. That would be a damper on his day and he’s already aware that he’s not going to make it to the meeting with his realtor. Still he puts all these thoughts on the back-burner in lieu of assessing himself and then meeting Officer Bradley again. At least this situation doesn’t involve a psychotic, homicidal clown.

He chuckles with her and nods, “We really do, otherwise, I have to question my fate if whenever I run into some trouble you happen to be there.” He takes another glance around his SUV’s interior trying to locate his cell phone. He’ll need that, not that his health isn’t on his mind. “I’ll feel worse come morning, muscles aching as a result of the whiplash, but aside from some minor cuts caused by the broken glass and maybe a bruise here and there, I’m quite alright,” he unlatches his seatbelt when he spots his phone in the passenger floorboard. He turns back to Evangelina once he’s retrieved it. “I’m surprised at how uninjured I am, I know I was not hit at a moderate speed at all.”

It’s then that he glances back to the car that had hit him and the officers surrounding it. He’s sure he can get out of his car, but he’s not sure whether he should. His eyes find Evangelina’s and he opens the door. “I think I can get out,” he said and that’s when he hears it. More glass breaking, gunshots. He doesn’t even think. He just acts.

He yanks Evangelina into the car and presses her beneath him. It’s doubtful that the hooligans are after him per se—he can hear the return fire from the officers who are much more equipped to handle this. They would go after the officers first and most likely then flee disregarding him, but if he’s wrong he’s not helpless. He has a gun in his dash; loaded. Yet arming himself isn’t the priority; Evangelina is. He’s holding her against him, shielding her.

They really need to stop meeting like this, don’t they?

[Evangelina Bradley]

Normally Evangelina wouldn't actually care so much about the well-being of someone involved in a car crash, but she's genuinely concerned about whether or not Dr. Arkham is okay. It's not that she wouldn't care about anyone else - she'd certainly prefer it if they survived and weren't injured - but then again it's simply a preference and much of it has to do with the amount of paperwork involved. But she remembers how well they worked together during their little skirmish with the Joker (and also several details of the fit of the suit he'd been wearing at the time...) so she has extra reason to hope that he's in one piece.

But based on his banter and his reassurances, he seems to be fine, if a bit understandably shaken. "It had to have been around fifty, if they didn't break before they hit you - our investigation team will be able to figure it out more exactly," she comments, recalling the speeds of the chase, "But these luxury cars don't skimp on the safety features any more than they skimp on anything else." Because yes, she noticed the quality of the car - it's always a shame when something pretty gets wrecked when there's plenty of eyesores in the city that are more deserving of a scrap yard.

When Evangelina is suddenly grabbed, her first instinct is to fight back - if someone is going to grab someone then she's the one who should be doing the grabbing, thank you. But that instinct is almost instantly overridden by another, and suddenly jumping into the car seems like a very good idea. No sooner had she glanced away from the suspect's vehicle than all hell broke loose. She doesn't need to look back to tell that she's hearing gunfire, or that the gunfire - while not exactly aimed at her - is going in her general direction. Having a few layers of steel between herself and that gunfire seems like a really good idea.

Though she didn't exactly expect to end up beneath Dr. Arkham when she stopped resisting his pull. "Ungh!" she complains, now unable to protest more eloquently. Though really, whether or not she would do so if she were able to is another question - she sees both positives and negatives to the way in which he's chosen to react. Should she be more impressed by his instinct to protect her or bothered by the fact that he's put her into a position where it would be very difficult for her to do anything to protect herself? She's capable of doing that, you know - but on the other hand, she probably is in more danger than he is at the moment.

[Jeremiah Arkham - Black Mask]

He’ll never feel bad about his love for luxury cars again. He’d never felt bad about it, honestly. Yes, it was a symbol of his ego, a trophy of his wealth, and it screamed that he had the means and mind to accomplish and have whatever he wanted, but it was true that his car had saved his life. Evangelina wasn’t the only one who knew that when it came to these sort of cars safety was first—no point advertising to a rich market if you couldn’t guarantee they’d probably be alive to buy the next model. As for it being damaged, he isn’t sure of the extent and for now that’ll be fine. He can take it to a mechanic and find out. His insurance is great and will certainly pay to either have it repaired or a substantial amount so that he can buy another of the beauties. He won’t bemoan the lost car yet and he doesn’t have the mind to. He’s still reeling from the wreck and he’s not even given enough time to come down from that before the bullets start flying.

He remains sturdy as Evangelina understandably struggles. He’d grabbed her with no warning, but he’s manhandled bigger, madder. He’s killed bigger and madder if he’s honest and he’s not going to admit that to her. He had just acted on instinct, no thought of capabilities of him or her, just that there was shooting and unlike him she was in the open. She’s a cop, more likely to be gunned at, and fine he’s gentleman to women he finds appealing and Evangelina is one of those. He noticed the fit of her own uniform during their last meeting, not to mention her personality and how well they cooperated.

There’s no words from him until the shooting stops and even then he carefully lifts up from her and peers out the door. Police are still standing, but there’s a couple of the gang members now on the ground unmoving. The other’s are also on the ground, tackled by said still breathing officers.

The police hadn’t gotten away without their own causalities, though. An ambulance will be on the way. Now it’ll be more urgent.

“Sorry,” he finally speaks for the first time since the shooting starts. He looks down at Officer Bradley and moved out of the car so she can get back up and out.

[Evangelina Bradley]

Evangelina is no stranger to manhandling people herself, which is a part of the reason why it's so instinctive for her to resist someone else doing it to her. But when it sinks in to her just how many bullets are flying outside, she finds all potential objections evaporating quickly. She certainly doesn't want to be involved in what's going on out there, and the car does happen to be the nearest possible shield from the bullets. Yet while a part of her is still slightly bothered by the fact that she's ended up in a situation where he's so automatically taken complete charge of her safety completely upon himself to the point of rendering her unable to do much for herself, another part notices when he gets off of her that a man that she regards as rather attractive actually was just on top of her... "Don't worry about it..." she replies. Focus, Evangelina!

She's slow and cautious about leaving the vehicle, her hand hovering near her gun until she's able to peer around the door and she the aftermath of the gunfight. Let's see: two clearly dead suspects plus two suspects safely pinned to the ground equals zero suspects still at large. She finishes leaving the vehicle with much more confidence. Surveying the aftermath of the shootout, she shakes her head and comments, "What a waste..." Because that's what you're supposed to say in these situations, right? But she looks past that, trying to find whomever is taking charge of the scene...

Ah-hah! She manages to catch the eye of the police captain, who is quite some distance away. In fact, he's far enough that she normally might have just talked to him through the radio, but the radio is crackling non-stop with more important matters such as trying to get more ambulances headed in their direction - it would be poor form to interrupt with something non-important. Fortunately, there are other ways to communicate when you're too far away to shout, especially when you already have some idea what needs to be communicated. The captain points at Dr. Arkham's car and then holds up his finger. She responds by holding up hers, nodding, and then flashing the 'okay' sign. Then she points at herself and then glances pointedly at the mess of police cars with a questioning expression. The captain shakes his head and then points at Dr. Arkham. She nods and then the captain turns his attention to something else.

Evangelina turns her attention to Dr. Arkham, "Sweet - looks like I get to keep an eye on you until we've got you taken care of." Glancing once again at the 'mess' - specifically at where one officer is quickly giving first aid to another officer who was shot on the arm. "It might be a bit - you're probably a little low on the triage list at this point," she comments with a slight frown. But someone like Dr. Arkham might notice something about that frown - it's a bit more relaxed than one might expect. When things like this happen, your average cop grits their teeth and continues to do their job in spite of feeling one or many strong emotions about the fact that a couple of criminals just died and several cops were injured - that's a part of the job. Evangelina, on the other hand, only a little bit bothered by the situation - she has no strong emotions to keep under control.