Avenger in Gotham (DC - Jeanne D'Arc Alter SI)

AN: *insert confetti noises for reaching however many words we've gotten to in like... a month and two weeks*

Chapter 12

- - -

"So, just to double check. You… kicked them? In the crotch? And that's all it took?" the cop—Darold as he had introduced himself—asked once more in a skeptical tone.

I groaned. Not because of the question itself. But because this would be the third time in so many minutes that Darold was asking this question. The other cop—Rayner my mind interjected because these people had actually taken the time to introduce themselves—had been equally surprised but hadn't felt the need to repeatedly ask the question.

I was actually somewhat surprised at how nonconfrontational they were about this whole affair. Or at least, at how casual they were acting. Perhaps that was unfair to them, but my own biases had a very unfortunate view of cops. Even with how relaxed they were, part of me still felt tense being in their presence. Again, entirely unfair of me but I was still expecting something to set them off. Which wasn't helping with the growing annoyance I felt at the repeated question.

Thankfully, it seemed Rayner was equally tired of the question and just nudged Darold and gave him a Look.

"Sorry, sorry," Darold apologized before explaining himself. "Just surprised you were able to get all three of them without getting hurt."

"...You aren't hurt, are you?" Rayner asked, his tone suggesting that he was genuinely worried about me. I could even see him checking me out—and not in a gross way either. Like, he was genuinely just quickly glancing at my limbs for presumably any bruises or the like.

I let out a lazy smirk. "Nah I'm good, don't worry. The fuckers didn't get a chance to retaliate or anything."

Rayner, after a few extra few seconds of making sure, nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of which, where are they?" Darold asked, looking around and presumably very confused at the lack of bodies. "The call mentioned they were handled but I'm not seeing them?"

"You'll find them in that dumpster over there," Darcy said, pointing with her finger and with a grin on her face.

Both officers blinked at her before shifting their faces to stare incredulously at me. Well, Darold was. Rayner just had a smirk on his face, laughter evident in his eyes.

I just scratched the back of my head with a sheepish smile. "It seemed like a good idea at the time? And it's not like I had anything on hand to tie them up with," I continued, gesturing to my outfit and my lack of… well, anything really.

Cool as the outfit was, the Shinjuku outfit was just a glorified dress and jacket combo. Great for style. Not so great for practicality. And sure, the jacket had some pockets—something I was still genuinely surprised about considering what I remembered of the artwork—but that didn't change the fact that they were incredibly limited in how much I could put in them. Even just bringing my writing utensils for this library trip had them fairly stuffed.

(Mental note, buy one of those hip-leg bags. Would be more convenient than a backpack for casual trips. And pants with pockets once I could afford to waste money on extra outfits for myself.)

That, if anything, just made Rayner's smirk widen and let out a bark of laughter.

"Ok, that's fair. But as funny as this is—and believe me, it is—I am gonna need you to get them out of that dumpster so we can bring 'em to jail," Rayner said after regaining his composure. "So…?" he trailed off leadingly.

I groaned. "Oh come on, why me? The lip of the damn thing is nearly chest high for me!"

"Well, seeing as you're the one who put them in there, it seems only fitting that you take 'em back out, doesn't it?" Rayner said with a raised eyebrow. Besides him, I saw Darold giving him a look of disbelief.

I, meanwhile, was scowling at the logic but I couldn't find it in myself to refute it. I turned my head to face the dumpster—ignoring the furious whispering of Darold to Rayner for whatever reason—and slumped. God damn it, this was gonna be disgusting.

I walked over, ignoring the others who started trailing behind me, and once more propped opened the lid. My face immediately scrunched up in disgust. Yep. Still smelled like ass. Though the sound of groaning coming from inside the dumpster had us all on immediate alert. Slowly peeking inside—and very much trying to only breathe through my mouth at this point—I was greeted to the sight of the three men glaring up at me from where they were seated. Huh. Guess they finally woke up.

Well at the very least, going by how they were clutching their gonads, I doubt they'd be much trouble in the immediate future. No matter how much they probably wanted to be going by the glares being directed at me.

"...'Sup?" I said after a brief period of silence of me staring at them and them glaring at me. "How you feeling?" I asked with a smirk.

"You. Fucking. Bitch," the lead mook eventually croaked out, putting out every bit of hatred he could muster into his voice. Probably would be intimidating too under most circumstances. If not for the stance he was in and the somewhat squeaky tone of voice he said it in.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance and held back none of my sarcasm. "Wow, great comeback. Ten outta ten on the originality scale."

Well, they were awake unfortunately but at least they were tall enough that I didn't have to lean in too much while I gingerly grabbed them by their collars. Once more I was extremely thankful for my enhanced Servant body strength because I got the feeling any normal person would've fallen into the bin had they done what I was doing. Though I did have to balance a bit precariously because, again, this was just unsanitary as fuck and I didn't want to touch them or the dumpster any more than necessary.

Though, in the back of my mind, I will admit it was funny to be holding each of them in the way that I was. Mainly because not a single one of them was actually touching the ground while I held them up. They were still in fetal positions and, though I had to hold my arms at a slight upward angle, I was just tall enough that they were completely held aloft. None of their feet touched the ground until I eventually let go.

"...Impressive," Rayner said in a cautious tone after I dropped the three mooks in front of him.

"Yeah, holy shit you're strong," Darcy agreed with an admiring tone in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I said while waving off the compliments.

Feeling any pride in that felt wrong considering that this was Jalter's strength, not mine. That and I was mentally and physically preoccupied with just shaking my hands to remove at least some of the ick off of them. Seriously, I desperately needed to find that fucking bathroom to wash my hands after this. Something had been wet when I had grabbed mook #2 and I wanted it off now.

I did turn my focus back on them after I heard the sound of the handcuffs being put on. As well as the struggle that they had doing so. Turns out mooks clutching their gonads in pain did not want to move their arms into the appropriate positions. I let out a huff of amusement watching how the mooks were now forced to walk with an awkward waddle by Darold back to their cars.

"So… is that it? We're good to go?" Darcy asked and I focused back on Rayner as he answered.

"Mm, yeah you're good. We just need your names and an address to find you in the event we need to follow up on anything," Rayner said. "Standard procedure and all that."

Was it? Was that actually a thing? I still wasn't sure if I was supposed to even trust these cops completely and now—

"Of course. Darcy Hill. You can find me at—"

—and of course, Darcy just says it and basically robs me of a choice. Especially since Rayner nodded and then turned to me with a questioning look in his eyes. And so, with what I hoped was only some reluctance showing on my face, I did my own lines.

"Jean Doe," I said and then continued with the address of the place I was working at. "—Park Row District in Old Gotham."

I held myself taut to stop myself from fidgeting at the Looks the two of them were giving me. One of disbelief and the other of worry.

"'Jean… Doe'? Is that right?" Rayner asked, the first bit of suspicion entering his voice.

I groaned. "Yes, that's my name. Yes, the person who came up with it was not original in the slightest. Yes, I know." Nevermind the fact that the one who came up with said unoriginal name was me. Would definitely not help the situation if that came about.

Rayner made a humming noise in the back of his throat, one of consideration if I had to place it. I'm not sure if he fully believed me at the moment but I don't think he was gonna push it. Hopefully. Which let me focus on the other set of eyes.

"That's where you live?" Darcy asked, her worry very visible on her face.

I didn't get why she was worried but nodded anyway. I didn't really feel a need to hide it. I then noticed Rayner repeating the name of the address to himself. "Something up?"

"Mmm, no. Just double checking my memory. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that place just a strip club? Unless something changed?" he asked with a questioning tone in his voice.

I tilted my head. How the hell did he know that address off the top of his head? I shook my head. Whatever, not important. Maybe he just visited a bit on his days off. "Nah, it's still a strip club. Has a bar though on the side if that's what you mean? I just got myself recently hired there actually so I haven't really been paying attention to that."

"Oh, really?" Darold called out as he made his way back. That struck me as odd but I did note that he was keeping an eye on the car and presumably he had secured the mooks if he was confident enough to come back here. "Might have to pay a visit then."

"Darold," Rayner said and I quirked an eyebrow at the warning growl in his voice.

"What? The guys are secured," Darold waved away his concerns before giving me a grin. "And don't worry, I'll remember to bring tip money."

"Ok?" I gave him a confused look. "I mean, the other girls will appreciate it but why're you bringing it up now? It's not like I'm gonna be seeing any of it."

Darold—and actually, Darcy and Rayner were doing it as well—gave me a confused look. "But… the tip money is for you?"

What?

"What?" I asked with an offended glare. "What the fuck gave you the impression that I needed your charity? I'm paid by the hour."

"Sorry, sorry!" Darold frantically apologized. "It's just, I just thought workers like yourself lived and died off of tip money, y'know?"

"'Workers like me'? What the hell are you even talking abou—?" I felt my face immediately shift into a blank stare. Comprehension hit me. "...Hey, Darold? Quick question. When I said I was recently hired at the club, what exactly did you think I was working as?" I asked, my voice devoid of any emotion.

"Um, one of the… strippers?" he said in a halting tone.

I stared at him and watched as he squirmed at my continuing silence.

"I'm a bouncer," I stated blandly, after watching him fidget for a bit longer.

Darold went ramrod straight and started backing up a bit. At the edge of my hearing I could hear Rayner facepalming and Darcy was snickering but my focus was on the guy in front of me.

"Hey, Darold? Quick question," I repeated myself. "What about me gave you the impression that I was a stripper? Please. Elaborate for me."

"I—I, um," Darold stammered, the very definition of Cringe on his face. "...I can't really say anything here that won't make this sound worse is there?"

"No. No, there is not," I stated blandly.

"...I'm just… I'm just gonna go," Darold weakly said, already in the process of backing up out of the alley.

"Yeah. You do that."

I kept my blank expression up as Darold sprinted away back to his vehicle. I only stopped after I heard the sound of one of its doors opening and closing in rapid succession. Then I allowed myself to let out a large sound of aggravation.

"This fucking day, I swear to God," I muttered to myself.

"I am… so sorry for him, ma'am," Rayner spoke up after a couple seconds of silence.

I just took a couple more deep breaths to calm myself down while Darcy patted me on the back in sympathy.

I shook my head. "Whatever, it's over and done with," I eventually said. "Are we good to go? Please tell me we are because I was already done with today even before this whole… thing," I tiredly asked after giving a nod of thanks towards Darcy.

Rayner simply nodded. "Yeah, you're good to go. I won't keep you. Later girls!" he called out over his shoulder as he left.

Darcy and I waved off Rayner as he left. Once he was out of sight, I let out a sigh of relief. Thank fuck, it was finally over.

"Well aside from that last bit, that wasn't too bad, I'd say," Darcy said after hearing the cop car pull away. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Jean! Once again, thanks for the save! Bye!"

I waved at her as she quickly started running. I didn't begrudge her for it. She had mentioned how she had been running late already and doubtlessly she'd probably have some explaining to do to her boss when she showed up. And she had given me her number so I could talk with her later after I had gotten a phone.

…Probably in smaller doses though. She was just a little bit too much for my socially introverted ass. As fun as it had been, talking with her had been mentally exhausting.

At least now I could just get to the library with no fuss. Another thing to thank her for.

- - -

I felt my eyes twitch as I came to the next street on my list of directions. Closed off for reasons as police folk were blocking people from walking through it. Unbidden, my ears latched onto conversations occurring around me.

"—a shootout—"

"—think it was planned for—"

"—then another gang showed up and—"

"—when the police showed up—"

I very carefully kept my emotions in check. Me being annoyed wouldn't change anything. And quite frankly, I didn't want to deal with the stares that I'd get if I yelled out like I wanted too. Instead, in a bid to keep myself moving and not screaming as I wanted to, I kept moving but with my eyes on the people around me instead. Eventually I found someone who didn't appear to be in a rush and clamped my hand on their shoulder and stopped their movement.

"Hi random stranger," I greeted the teenager. "I need directions. You're helping me."

There. Easy.

I was just gonna ignore the wide-eyed look he was giving me.