What I Though Was My Time Of (Rawhide)

[Abigail Fairweather]

It was a quit night, with an unpleasant chill in the air, as if death was creeping around in every corner, gripping out for whoever was outside at this late hour. The dark only making the mood more uncomfortable, for if someone was trying to get to you, no one would be ever to see it. And since no one really was around, - except for some wasted and faraway drug addicts – the chance of someone helping you was close to none existing. To make matters worse it started to rain heavily so that minimized the chances to none. The sound of the rain would easily kill any screams for help, it made it impossible to see clearly though the rain, and people usually stayed inside when the weather was like this.
That fact didn’t scare of Abigail, actually the thought of being alone was comforting. She have had a rough day, constantly being harassed by her co-workers, and being reminded that she was not good enough. But she would be alright, for tomorrow she would just stand stronger, facing the world with an even bigger smile.
So now she was walking home taking a detour home though the slum. Reminding her of her old life, the one she was trying to get away form, just to make sure that she would not forget the reason why she was fighting crime. It worked like a charm every time, for her past came crawling back in her head, and he shivered by the though. Shaking her head to get the memories out, then she cuddled her head between her shoulders for warmth.
She was dress in her usual dull looking cloth, in the form of none fitting jeans, and a way to big grey sweater. Her hair pulled tightly back in a ponytail making her pale skin show of more. But due to the choice of colors, she look more like a person form an old black and white movie.

[Rawhide]

It was a perfect night, a perfect night for the first act that was. The chill, the dark, the heavy rain, all of it was perfect. Todd was smiling beneath his hood as he stood there, looking down at the two dead people before him, laying there, in the quiet streets. They did not bleed, or, they did, but the rain washed it away before it could even puddle. This was fine By Todd though, it meant less need to worry with evidences. Not all he had to do was get them inside and start his work, he was thinking he'd make a new pair of leather shoes for Sarah, and this couple, now dead, would make a perfect pair.

He was pretty sure she'd be happy, she loved her father after all, and when he brought her strange gifts they were kinda cool, like the pendant with her totem, kept up by four stings of leather. Todd had made the strings himself, he did remember Mrs. Smithers. But now, he had to focus on the materials laying there before him on the wet, cold street. It was a little funny, their expressions frozen in such comical ways. Todd didn't know what made him this..giddy. It was probably because he was looking forward to work, but who knew? perhaps he had a preference towards the rain he didn't know about before now.

And that was when he heard it, the quiet breathing of someone nearby. How hadn't he noticed it before? How had the person gotten so close without him noticing? It had to be that damned rain, blurring everything, drowning out noises. This was it, next time he wouldn't perform an outdoor kill, or kills to be exact. He'd stay to something he had control over, indoor kills, it was also easier to make the locked door trick indoor instead of out here. As Todd slowly turned he saw her, as if she had always been there, or stepped out of an old movie. This woman, so close, yet so far away. She could see everything from where she stood. The dead couple, Todd, everything. He was in his full costume, nails in place and hood covering his face. If she had been able to see his eyes, she would have known they'd met for a second before Todd took action, his powerful frame moving way faster than anyone would expect, the glint of a streetlight in metal as the machete flashed towards her.

Only the next couple moments would tell if he would have two kills to skin and tan, or three.

[Abigail Fairweather]

Abigail didn’t expect that she would find herself in the middle of a crime, only short after this. She has thought that she was the only – at least non addicted person – out here. Looks like she was wrong!
When a feeling that something was wrong, right in front of her, she finally lifted her eyes from the ground. Only to find the horrors of what seemed like two dead people, and the most peculiar person, that she has ever seen. And that was despite the fact that she lived in Gotham, and Gotham being the one city containing the weirdest people – at least what she knew of -. But the real surprise wasn’t really his look, or the scene that she was so capable of seeing. No… It was the fact that she saw it.
Here she stood, late evening, starring at two corpses, still months before she would finish her education as a police officer, the criminal still being here, her all alone. It was clear to see that she was confused, frozen in the grip of her thoughts, – of which there was a million at the time – trying to find a solution, to this newly found problem. But clearly, but not surprisingly, the criminal did not intent to give her the time to sit around to think.
The next moment seemed like it went in slow-motion. Throwing himself at her, she instinctively stepped back to evade his next action. Which she fully expected to be an attack, everything else would come as a surprise. And sure enough, the moment she had moved away from her former position, a machete flew by. If she hadn’t moved, that machete would have been buried deep in her stomach, so she suddenly praised her quick reflexes high to the sky. But the danger was not over, and she had two options, either running away securing herself from danger, or staying and fighting the criminal, of which she had the possibility of dying. It wasn’t really a choice for she had decided long ago, what she was going to do.
Time went back to it normal state.
Her heart beat as quickly as it possibly could, but she kept her head cool. And as soon as anything other than her legs would listen to her head, she pulled her gun, pointing it at the man.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” She yelled, clearly not doubting to pull the trigger.
“Drop the weapon!”

[Rawhide]

Todd saw her move and was only a little surprised as his attempt at her life failed, but it had been a possibility after all. He knew he had very few choices by now, actually there was only three. Either he ran and escaped, he stayed and killed her or was killed in the process, or he ran and killed her later after he had found out where she lived. As Todd mulled over the different possibilities and the pro's and con's for each possibility, He was rather abruptly interrupted when his new prey pulled a gun at him.

Todd had been in this situation before, or something similar. A bank robbery, The idiots had tried but had been stopped by none other than Todd and some female, masked vigilante. They had shot at him, and he had felt the wonderful pain as the bullet's had nicked his flesh. Perhaps that would be repeated? All these thoughts in half a second, Todd would have marveled at the speed of thought and memory if it was not for the more pressing matters at hand.

"No, Little Mouse..I think not.." He answered in his deep, rumbling and distorted voice, the mask clearly creating the last effect. Todd knew she'd shoot him if she got the chance, if nothing else, then to clean the streets of this rotting city. Thus he reacted accordingly, moving forward and a little to the side as soon as he had finished his sentence, slashing at her gun in order to either disarm her or destroy the weapon as his other hand shot forward towards her abdomen, aiming to punch her with as much power as his huge, muscular arms could manage. It was all a question of survival, and Todd knew he was the more dangerous of the two, now he just had to beat the little mouse and all would be well again.

[Abigail Fairweather]

Abigail knew the danger she was in, and she felt the fear, even though she put up a brave face. Some part of her screamed and begged her to run away as fast as she could, so she could save herself. This person being over seven feet tall, and very muscular, clearly capable of smashing her into, what would resemble nothing if he got to her. And that was clearly his intension, at least what she could interpret form his chilling presence and his apparent lust for killing. But her stubbornness refused to break under the fear, and made her feel a great honor by the thought dying in the name of right.

“Stop!” she yelled again, but she did not wait to fire the weapon, for he had already begun the attack. She pressed the trigger several times, aiming for the shoulder, as she had been told to do. But for being able to give a decent shoot (or four), she has to sacrifice her ability to move. This meant that in a flicker of an eye she lost her weapon, and a punch able to knock a grown man over, made her bend forward over his arm. The only reason why she has not been pushed back, was the reason that she has grabbed his arm in the last moment, with one of her hands, making the impact softer. But it didn’t prevent the fact, that all air in her lungs was forced out, and that she lost the strength in her legs, almost making her lose consciousness. Now leaving her as nothing more than a ragdoll.

It was rather sad if this was how she planned to do her job, for this would certainly not make her fight crimes.

She gasped for air, and managed to get oxygen back in her body. At that second she did not wait to deliver a –rather week – kick towards his knee.

[Rawhide]

If she had been able to see Todd's face, she would have seen a wide, eerie grin. Todd felt the flowers of pain bloom in his shoulder as several of the bullet's connected, not even slowing him down. The pain was amazing, rolling through him like a river and making more cheerful than he had been all week. It was a curious thing, how pain effected him, probably even in the opposite way of most people. Not that it really mattered what caused the pain, in this case the bullet's in his shoulder, all pain was good, and he rarely needed to worry much about the damage since the damage done to his body never was severe enough to be really dangerous.

Todd was actually a little impressed after his punch had connected with the woman, instead of sending her flying, he had her bent forward over his arm, the small woman grabbing at said arm. She was a fighter, that was for sure, and Todd had a feeling he shouldn't kill this one, yet. As she gathered oxygen he opened his fist, grabbing hold of her sweater as he lifted her easily, resulting in her kick hitting his thigh with little effect. Since Todd had nothing to tie her up with, he decided to improvise. Acting rather quickly he attempted to slam her, back first, into the pavement. if He succeeded he would quickly open one of the two corpses, pulling out the length of entrails needed to tie her up, using those as robe, folding them several times to make them stronger.

provided he had successfully tied her up, Todd with gag her with a piece of clothing torn from the bloody shirt of one of the corpses, carrying her over his shoulder towards one of his workshops downtown. after all, having more than one lair had some advantages, but also drawbacks, thus he never stayed the same place more than a couple of sessions before he cleaned up everything and left. He knew this one would be interesting, but exactly how interesting, that remained to be seen.

[Abigail Fairweather]

Abigail would have thought the man even more mad if she had known, that the pain from being shot, only had made the man grin at her, and enjoy this ‘little game’ even more, But to her luck – or not – she only thought the man to be of great resistance. Either way she would still fight him, the only difference would be where she would send him, when she was trough with him. Sadly for her, the only way he saw her getting out, was in a body bag.

The attempt – if you could call it that – on trying to kick him had failed, and she found herself being lifted off the ground. She tried to catch the eyes of her opponent, trying to figure out what ever went through his head. Her own eyes displaying not fear, but a mix between determination and disappointment. Nothing would make her give up, at least not until she was unconsciousness. Clearly she did not fear death at this moment. Though she thought it sad to end up killed before even finishing the education she so desperately wanted. That just meant that she would have to fight back with all her might and win, which she trusted herself fully capable of.

Her back connected with the pavement, and once again she fought to regain the lost air. But quickly she found that she lost consciousness, caused by her head meeting the ground, there for making the world being shackled around. But her stubbornness refused her to give up that easily, and by pure luck she gained back the world. She did not waist one second further on laying still and got up. It wasn’t an elegant move, and almost caused her to fall right back over, but nonetheless she was now standing. She still had problems with seeing anything clearly, and felt like she was slipping in and out of reality, but she tried to just shake it off.

She raised her hands in front of her, getting ready to block another of his attacks. Now at least being fully aware of the strength in her opponent, and knowing that it would take some effort to bring him down. So certain of her own abilities she stood ready for combat, still wobbling a little.

The sight of him standing with entrails in his had, made her feel even dizzier, and she felt the urge to vomit. But she wouldn’t allow herself to do so. So to keep from vomiting or fainting she got closer to him, kick as hard as possible – not with actually reasonable force – after solar plexus, giving her the biggest chance of making him at least step backwards.

“Get away from me…” she growled in a low tone, knowing why he had violated the corpses, pulling out their intestines. And clearly she was not happy by the thought of getting in contact with them.

[Rawhide]

She was standing. She was actually standing, ready for more. Todd was fascinated and surprised by this fact. It wasn't often that this happened, that Todd encountered such will to fight, such will to LIVE. it intrigued the large man. Perhaps, he had found an worthy adversary in this mouse..no..this Woman. Todd looked at Abigail as she stood there, unsteady on her feet, yet ready to fight. He knew she would be interesting to fight, and a look at her discarded and damaged gun told him she as in the Gotham Police department. The fact that he now had an adversary in the police department actually made the large man chuckle.

The kick she dealt him struck his abs, though it essentially wasn't all that strong, did make him take a step back. He then looked at her for a moment, then slowly started to laugh, the sound building up deep within him before it gathered more power and finally escaped his mouth. It was a eerie sound, as Todd didn't actually laugh all that often. Here he had a challenge, and adversary who wasn't afraid to hurt him, to grant him pleasure, she if she was a smart girl too, it'd be perfect.

He then, rather abruptly stopped laughing as he looked at her, his deep voice rumbling once more, "Get away from you? really? You're a cop who should want to catch me..and now you're giving me a free pass to leave? Hah!" He shook his head with a chuckle before he suddenly made a move, swiftly, he was next to her gun, kneeling as he grabbed it before he stood. He wasn't worried about fingerprints, since he was wearing gloves and everything, and even if fingerprints was found, it wouldn't be his.

[Abigail Fairweather]

She was not very comfortable with his way of laughing, for it back-up the theory that she was going to get her ars kicked. He knew it, and she knew it. Well if luck was with her for once, she would be able to win this. Firstly she would have to get control over herself again, making things stopping from twirling around. But she was truly afraid that if she kept standing, she would not be able to keep on. She staggered a little, but refused to go down. No she couldn’t give up!

She took the sweater and pulled it off, so that she could freeze. Reviling her slim almost thin but still feminine and beautiful body, only covered in a sleeveless, black T-shirt. And if it had not been dark, raining and her being to pale, some scars would have showed.

It was still raining heavily, and she blessed the cold weather, for in theory, this should work as a cold shower. Hopefully she hadn’t gotten a concussion, for that would mean her tactic would not work. Either way this was a game of life and death and if he were to win, she was going to give him the fight of his life. Abigail did not feel fear, just the pleasure of bringing him down.

“I was only saying that those…” with a nod of her head, she pointed at the entrails “… Are not gonna get in contact with me!” She only got to finish the sentence before he quickly threw himself at her pistol.
“You sure aren’t into fair play…” She ran towards him, using a trash bin, to take off into air, kick towards his face, with all the force her body could archive. Right now she was running on pure will power, while her body was screaming for her to just sit still, and letting it recover.

Weather her attack succeeded or not, she landed on the ground again, and kicked towards in lower body, not caring if she was playing fair, since he did not intend to do so. Without waiting she kicked towards him side, then stepping back, hoping that he would at least react.

[Rawhide]

Todd looked at her as she came at him. Todd couldn't help admiring her slim, almost thin but still feminine and beautiful body. She was like an aggressive angel dead set on punishing him. She was no longer a mouse in his eyes, she was an adversary, she was HIS opponent. The mere fact she actually fought back with such ferocity and will to live made his blood pump faster. This was no longer a hunt, this was a fight, and if there was something that Todd hadn't had in a long time, it was a proper fight, someone to actually test himself against.

Then she was there and Todd barely managed to lift his am before the impact of her full weight send him backwards and downwards. He quickly got to up on one knee before the next attack landed against his chest, sending him onto his back once more. This time though, he rolled to one side before he got up, thus evading the third of his opponents kicks. As he stood, once more and looked at her, his breath barely uneven, He reminded himself that he should calm down. She was still weaker than him. True, she knew how to attack, but with the punch he landed earlier she was probably struggling to stand. her undressing made sense now, better mobility and the cold to keep her sharp.

Todd could feel the pain throb in his shoulder as the cold water ran over the wounds, sending small flowers throughout his body with each throb, in it's own way, keeping him both sharp and a little happy as well. He looked at the broken gun in his hand, his machete on the ground near her. He chuckled a little, smiling beneath the hood before he suddenly yelled "CATCH!" throwing her broken pistol at her as he ran right after his throw, shoulder first as if he was playing American football. The plan was to tackle the little mouse or at least get her to move, probably giving him time to get his machete, or perhaps, if he got his hands on her, he could just strangle her.

[Abigail Fairweather]

It almost felt reliving to be able to hit him and to see him stumble, especially since she wasn’t sure if her body would hold, since she started to stumble again. Apparently standing still was too much of her to take, but she just shook her head, holding her hands high. It wasn’t very hard to see that she wasn’t gonna hold, unless her will would go beyond imagination. She still felt so very dizzy, like her world was a rollercoaster.

As foreseen she tried to catch the gun, and she damned her reflexes for reacting to it. For the minute she looked at him again, he was in the middle of tossing himself at her. Little could she do, but to step aside, which she only barely made. Well it wasn’t really stepping aside, but more like stumbling to the side, almost tripping over. It was getting worse, the dizziness. Her breathing was unsteady, her legs trembling under her weight, eyes kept getting forced open. No she couldn’t do this, it was too much for her to bare. Her legs gave in and she fell to the ground, almost seeing it slowly nearing her in slow-motion.

And there she was, on the ground, trying to make her body react to her will. And it was around now that she noticed that she was bleeding. She was really in trouble now… Bleeding, shaking, desperately trying to keep awake, but barely managing. Perhaps it would be okay to rest a little? She closed her eyes, giving up for a second, before she shot her eyes back open, trying to push herself off the ground. Blood dripped down the side of her head, but that was the least of her worries. No it was the lacking of strength in her arms and legs, and the fact that she was losing consciousness. She couldn’t even get herself up and standing, she was struggling with even getting further up than she was.

Even if she had been and angel set on bringing justice, her body was nothing more than a mere woman’s, and one with a rather fragile one. You couldn’t really blame her, for it was not her will lacking, it was her body that hat hit the panic button. She was forced by her own body to lay still. Betrayed by herself! A head injury, internal bleedings, twisted shoulder was the course, so how she was even managing to move now was a miracle, adrenalin was probably the answer.

[Rawhide]

Todd smirked a little as she stumbled to the side, narrowly dodging his attack. She was lithe and fast, and a good shot as well. She was the most opposition anyone had given him in years. The blood and adrenalin was rolling in his veins, this was something else entirely, something new. He usually felt like this, only stronger when he worked with the skin, tanning and shaping it into the needed forms. It was funny how much of a rush he got from this fight. Perhaps he should fight more in the future? Nah, better not, no need to take unnecessary risks. As Todd's eyes rested on her he could see that she was getting close to her limit. She was really unsteady, her legs trembling with the task of keeping her standing. And then. Just like that, Todd saw her fall.

Todd kept his eyes on her, feeling both Disappointed and a little content at the same time. There she was after all, on the ground and trying to make her body react. Todd could see what a bad shape she was in, she was bleeding, trembling and and fighting to stay awake. She even tried to get up, in her condition that was nothing short of amazing. But, not all that surprisingly, she did not have the strength to get up, struggling to even move at all. Todd then sighed as he calmed down, the fight obviously over. He looked at her, tilting his head before he sat down next to her, thus making the most strange sight in the world, the huge, monstrous killer and the tiny police officer next to each other, one sitting, the other laying in the pouring rain on an empty street two corpses behind them.

"It's over..." Todd stated, quietly, not much louder than she could hear his deep, distorted voice. He didn't even look at her, just at the rain all around them. "I have to say..you did well...and you're a cop...You know, I think you and I will have fun in the future." He then chuckled, a sound that did not in any way reflect happiness at all. "I have a little challenge for you, mouse..catch me within a year, and I shall not harm anyone you know when I then escape. Fail to catch me within a year from today, and I shall track you down and kill you and everyone you care for.." He then leaned over her, rummaging her pockets for her wallet, and if failing to find it there he would look in her jacket. Finding it he checked for drivers licenses or Id card, anything to confirm her identity. Finding what he was looking for, he then found the cellphone of one of the two corpses, finding it on and unlocked he placed it next to her on her shirt. "Here..call an ambulance or something, you don't look too well Miss Fairweather" He then rose to his feet, wrapping the two corpses in a bag each before he lifted them onto his shoulders. "Until next time Miss Fairweather" Todd then nodded politely at her before he turned around ready to leave.

[Abigail Fairweather]

She was shaking badly, but beyond that she wasn’t moving. No now was not the time for that, but the time for convincing this stupid body to move, and get one last attempt at hurting him. Now it was just about waiting for the right moment when the pieces would fall together. Meaning her body reacting to her commands, and him being off guard… And well her being awake, which was hard as it was

Bitting as hard together as she could, she tried to keep her eyes on the weird man, blinking wildly to keep her eyes open. Her beating was more like short breaths, due to the fighting to keep her body lively. She didn’t even bother to answer him, but only glared at him, with all the contempt that she could manage, which should be a good enough reply. Waiting patiently for him to leave, finally having her body doing as he wanted to. And as he turned to leave, she rolled to her side, picking up her gun. Three shots were left, and with a little luck it still worked.

She pointed the gun at him, pressed the trigger sending a bullet towards him, hopefully so the bullet would hit his cheek, but not so it would harm him more than a simple wound (If it could get through his hood). Again she fired the gun sending a bullet between his shoulder blades. And lastly she aimed for his knee.
”I have no one I care for, and if I die I will drag you with me… I will be your end scumbag!” Her hands was shaking desperately, trying to keep a tight grip on her service pistol. As things were at this moment, it would not be the hooded man that would be her death, but more likely her own stubbornness.
She collapsed, fainted as her bodys system shot down to prevent her form doing anymore damage. And if luck was with her, she would be alright, and this once it probablt was.

//Over and out