*an hour later, he's walking the streets of Gotham. he
means to get to his lair sometime before dawn, but for
now he feels like walkin in the chill night air, and
talks to himself*
that tiger... hmmm... he uh... he thinks... i know he
thinks... well, he must be crazy. *g* he's in the right
place for it... *and he keeps walking... by dawn he's
home in his lab*
*sittin in her cell, on her bed with tan....eddie
apparently wuz taken off ta a discussioin with a panel of
drs, and still hasn't returned. sighs in loneliness and
cuddles up next ta tan, sobbing silently......and
wonderin wot got inta tan, bein so nice ta sumone other
than her!*
*he falls asleep on the cot he keeps in the lab, tho just
two rooms away is an extravagant bedroom, as posh and
comfortable as can be... but he is once again fully
immersed in one of his scientific projects... he'll be
able to get back to it the instant he awakes*
*as her sobs reside, she finds her mind
wanderin......but, not ta who it should be...she's
terribly confused and bursts out in fresh
tears.....thinkin the better of it, she quickly wipes her
eyes, runs outta her cell, tan on her heels, and breaks
outta arkham, headed straight fer one a the hidey's where
she changes inta her Q outfit and starts ta feel a lil
more like she should*
"good morning, Master Bruce. your paper."
"thank you, Alfred." Bruce takes a sip of his coffee as
he unfolds the newpaper. and then he sighs. "Beautiful."
"I noticed that item, as well, sir. I take it you'll be
expecting a late evening?"
"Maybe. It's hard to say, with this one..."
"One, Master Bruce? Skim to the bottom of the article."
*he skims to the bottom of the article* "ah. two. like i
said. beautiful."
The warmth of the sun on her face awakens her. Q pushes
herself up off of Tan's side where she fell asleep at
some ungodly hour after she managed to stop thinking
about anything. She stretches and welcomes the new day.
She's out of Arkham and in her own element.
'Now for a lil fun!' she thinks to herself.
Oh but where to start?!
"Tan, sweetie? Any suggestions?"
Tan looks at her, yawns, and puts his head back down to
sleep.
*sighs* "Yer impossible, ya know that, don't ya?!"
Still, she gives him an affectionate scratch.
*stands leaning forward, his hands firmly planted on the
work table, scowling down at his diagrams and
calculations, already several times drawn and redrawn*
"what the devil is the missing element here?" he asks
himself, for the hundredth time. "this is simple quantum
mechanics; childsplay! this should not be so... so...
errrrrrr!
God, if i can invent a time machine, why the hell can't i
get into another universe? it's practically the same
thing! the science isn't that different! this is SO
annoying!"
After a quick cat nap in the sun with her tiger, Q has
decided what she's gonna do tonight for fun. A simple
heist of some jewels. Not that she liked the ugly
things...Well, maybe an emerald or ruby, but she hadn't
seen ony of them yet in any form she'd accept.
*sighs at that thot and toys with the simple silver
puzzle ring she always wore*
Well, since Eddie wasn't here, and he was the brains
behind the riddles, she'd just have to use her own
skills as a cat burglar that she picked up in her years
on the streets. She began to gather her equipment that
she'd need to get into the jewely exhibit at the museum.
*he thot about Tan. there wasn't much else to do after
hours of focusing on a problem to which no solutions were
forthcoming. he'd have to stop and think of other things.
the problem was, as much as he'd actually been thinking
about this project for a long time, and looking forward
to it... the truth was... he'd also been throwing himself
into it now to avoid thinking about Tan... and someone
else...*
"She's just a friend, Kidd, that's all she'll ever be,
and you know that, so cut it out."
*it wasn't too easy to cut it out. he realized he'd have
to think of something else, so he planned a caper for the
night...*
"perhaps something simple, a few jewels maybe..."
She snuck into the museum, via the storm drains, her
preferred means of travel thru the city. Tan, her ever
present sidekick and protector, followed her, carrying
the few 'toys' she liked to use for such simple thefts.
In no time flat, she disabled the alarms. With practiced
ease, she entered the museum and headed non chalantly to
the jewel exhibit, thinking only of how she'd fence them
once she had them. And what to do with the cash
afterwards..
Tan followed her silently down the hall. A guard could be
heard in the wing straight ahead of her...She cautiously
slipped thru a doorway, just as he walked by.
he wore a mask. just for the heck of it. he wanted to
feel... not like himself... he went up to a hot dog cart
and drew a gun, make sure no one was around but him and
the vendor.
"here," said the vendor, "here's all my money..."
Kidder laughed and said, "just gimme a dog with french's
sweet onion mustard. on the house."
the vendor was relieved, but thot the guy must be crazy.
he complied without comment.
he continued on, strolling casually toward his real
target for the night: the museum. he thot he'd just be
so... nonKidderish.. in his MO... role play... it'd be a
lark...
he broke a window. there was no alarm. "someone's here,"
he said to himself. he shrugged. "oh well." he climbed
thru the broken window.
Tan stood stalk still in the shadows when he heard the
glass shatter.
"Damnit! Who the hell is here?! I hope it's not that
annoyin Catwoman!" Q said, bending over to reassure Tan.
Not that an 800lb tiger needed it. More she did. Catwoman
was always trying to get her to give Tan to the zoo since
he was so domesticated. She snuffed at that thot.
Domesticated! Hah! Q gave Tan a firm hug and stood back
up, glancing around the corner where she had
heard the glass break. A male figure was squirming thru
the window. He was graceful in his moves, but she was
still annoyed that he'd have the guts to try and ruin her
night. Good thing she'd cut the alarm.
"Well, Tan. You up for a chase?"
The tiger gave a low growl and nuzzled her hand.
"Good idea. Let's see where he's going first."
he'd been here before. he'd bought things here. even sold
a bit of his own work. he'd been to a high-class function
here one evening, actually on the guest list. he was
familiar enough with it. he'd never broken in before,
never really thot he would- but of course, he always kept
his eyes ope and his mind working on all levels, just in
case. he walked by several paintings he'd always liked,
and briefly considered fixing a few flaws he perceived
in them, but decided against it, with a sigh. that wasn't
what he was here for. he wasn't entirely sure what he was
here for. "jewels" he told himself. "a display recently
in from Ireland, or on the tour..." he didn't really
care. it was just something to occupy his time. keep his
mind off other things, tho this was hardly sufficient. it
was so... mundane...
Q and Tan watched as the man walked and turned down the
wing that held the jewels she'd come for. She glanced at
Tan, who was looking up at her, awaiting any order she
wished to give him.
"Not yet, luv," she whispered, as she quietly took off
after the stranger.
He definitely took his time in reaching the hall. He kept
pausing at paintings and looking about him.
"Wot the hell?! Does this guy think it's Sunday afternoon
and time for a friggin
stroll thru the museum for a lil R&R?!" she muttered
furiously to herself.
At her side, Tan's body began to tense as he felt the
changes in his mistress. He started forward of his own
accord.
"Tan! No!" Q whispered, calling him back.
He obediently trotted back to her, sitting at her side,
tail twitching with nervous energy as they watched the
slow progress of the man thru the hall.
he reminded himself that someone else was already here...
had already disabled the alarms... he should be careful
not to run afoul of whoever it was. well, be ready...
never be surprised... senses at full alert... well,
that'd take some concentration, anyway. he'd have to
think bout what he was doin, now. it was less simple,
now. nothing to worry bout, but still...
finally, he arrived at the display. it was untouched. he
decided to stand around
and wait for the other to show up... no reason not to
share...
"Wot's he doin now?!" she asked Tan, as she croutched
next to him in the far shadows of the display. "He's just
standing there! Oh I do wish he'd go way!"
Tan merely snuffled up against her, near knocking her
over. She regained her balance by keeping her hold on his
neck, as she peered over him and watched how the man just
stood in front of the display.
after a while he got tired of waiting. "don't blame
whoever, i guess." so he selected a few pretty emeralds,
pockted them, and left the rest. he headed out the way
he'd come... he had a feeling someone was in that
direction, watching him, not that he'd pay them any mind
if he became aware of them as he passed... he'd just keep
on walking.
As the man passed, Q and Tan sunk further into the
shadows. He had gone a short way down the hall when Q
ordered Tan to pounce on him. With silent paws, Tan took
off, made a stunning leap and landed square on the man,
pinning him to the floor.
"Good job, Tan," Q said, stepping out of the shadows.
"Hold him there for a minute."
*Tan does as he's asked, tho he snfs at his prey and lets
out a lil half purr half growl*
Q shuffled thru the
remaining jewels, only to find that the ones she came for
were gone. Except for a couple rubies she rather liked.
She dropped those into her pouch and went to take a look
at the man Tan had pinned down. Tan's huge paws were
planted firmly on the man's back. He was trying to speak.
he thot to himself, "there's only one tiger around here
that could conceivably be involved in a jewel heist... i
think..." and he was fairly sure he was right, so he
wasn't worried. he said to himself, "hakuna matata, then"
and chuckled softly... just for a moment, before he
realized he couldn't breathe well enough to chuckle. so
he waited for the tiger's friend to show up.
Q stood over the man, not allowing Tan to let him face
up.
"Ok, Bucko. Where ya got them emeralds?!" she demanded.
A muffled reply wuz all she got. Annoyed, she rifled thru
the man's pockets and found the jewels.
"Thank you and have a nice day!" she said. "C'mon Tan!
Let's go!"
She skipped down the hall, Tan following at a trot,
pausing once to look back at the figure laying on the
floor, grinning. Q paused round the corner to wait
for Tan. She tapped her foot impatiently.
Tan trotted back to the man and rubbed up against him,
waiting till he was on his feet again before heading
after his mistress.
he watched Tan walk towards Q, and thot about going after
them... but then decided he might as well stroll back to
the display and pick up something for his trouble, just a
stone or two out of whatever she'd left behind... he'd
probably just drop it in some beggar's cup on his way
home later...
after picking up a could jewels, he leisurely strolled
back toward his entrance, in no great rush...
Like the cats she luv'd, Q was over curious. She once
again hid in the shadows and watched the man stroll back
the way he came. She'd heard him go back for a couple
jewels. Well, she had the ones she wanted. The rest were
useless to her. But, she just waited, poised on top of a
display case that he just had to walk under. She was
determined to find out who he was and where he was going.
Tan hid off to the side where she'd left him. The man
slowly
came toward her case. Just as he walked underneath it,
she dropped down on him, pinning him to the floor for the
second time tonight.
he looked up and grinned at her. "oh. hiya, Q. um... did ya ever run inta Eddie?"
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