bodilesswarrior | 27

[Iris is dying.

It takes everything inside Barbara, every ounce of training and experience, to be still. She knows she'll be too late. If she goes bursting in without knowing the situation, chances are high she'll just die next.

She knows better than that. It's not what Iris would want.

So she stays in her tower. She maps the way to Jack's cabin in her head, and she gathers her weapons, and she waits.

She's just about to make her own call - to the people she trusts most - when she gets Iris' message. When her heart sinks and bile fills her mouth.

She will not feel guilty or foolish or afraid; there's no time.]

[Voice]

[Barbara's voice is low and grim, betraying none of the rage or grief she feels.]

Jack killed Iris. I don't know why, not yet. She's in his cabin; he might still be there, he might have left.

There's something wrong with Mason - drugs, she said. Not sure how it's connected.

[A slow, deep breath.]

The laughter. The warped mirrors. They might be connected, too. They might not.

Either way, you need to stay on your guard. Look out for each other. Iris might not be the first victim, and she probably won't be the last. That's how the Barge is.

[Private to Cain]

You got one too, right?

[Private to everyone Iris is close to]

[She switches to video for this. She figures she owes them that. Everyone else that Iris loves.

There are no tears streaking down her face. Instead, her lips are curled in a fierce snarl, and her eyes are blazing. Still, her voice is steady.]

No one go out half-cocked. We don't know what we're dealing with, not yet, and the last thing she'd want is you getting yourselves killed.

[Private to Motorcycle Boy]

[Back to voice! Hoarse but calm.]

Harvey may be missing. Have you talked to him lately?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not a problem. [If it can help, he's happy to do it.

And - heh, that's funny. He's been accused of the same thing. But with his own life. Never others'.] I understand. I'll have her back. [It's a promise.]

Thank you. [There's real warmth in her voice, now. She believes him.

It fades, though, as she continues.]

The Joker wouldn't face you directly, not until he has an upper hand. He'll use - illusion, misdirection. Whatever he can get his hands on.

You're welcome. [For all of it.

Although he likes this guy - and this situation - less and less, the more he hears.] I'll keep that in mind. I've... dealt with someone a little like this before. [Loki was, after all, a master of illusion and misdirection. To say the least.

But he wasn't insane. Not like he's thinking this guy is. So that's a problem.] But if he doesn't want a direct confrontation, he's going to get a nasty surprise.

Edited 2014-07-29 01:38 (UTC)

Here's hoping. [There's something cruel in the words, something she reserves for a special few.]

I think he's more sadistic than your guy.

[There's really some history here, isn't there? Maybe he'll ask when the circumstances are less dire.]

Or just a little more loony.

[Or a lot.]

Edited 2014-08-01 06:01 (UTC)

Don't underestimate him, because of that. He knows exactly what he's doing.

I won't. That's the last thing I want to do.

Even madness has a method.

27 - Voice

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