Hardest Of Hearts (Cheshire)

[Black Canary]

Players: Black Canary, Cheshire
Location(s): Prague, Czech Republic
Plot Summary: When Talia al Ghul sends the League of Shadows after Cheshire, Black Canary intervenes in an attempt to save her life.
--

Prague was beautiful this time of year, but as much as Dinah would have loved to do some sightseeing, she wasn't here to admire the landscape and architecture. She had a job to do. Her involvement with the League of Assassins had grown over the years, primarily due to Lady Shiva's ever-increasing interest in her. While that had been a blessing in disguise at times and a gargantuan pain in the ass at others, at this moment it fell somewhere along the middle of either category. Shiva had sent her a note (she still hadn't figure out e-mail, apparently) the day before, warning her of Talia al Ghul's latest order: Jade Nguyen had to die.

Dinah didn't know why Shiva had chosen to warn her; part of her didn't really want to know. She could speculate that Shiva had perhaps been trying to tell her to stay out of it, or the opposite: if she wanted to play hero, now was her chance. She knew of Cheshire's history with Dinah's family, which could have some part in it. Or, for all Dinah knew, Shiva needed Cheshire alive for some future plan. Maybe Shiva wanted the opportunity to kill the woman herself and preferred to do it on her own terms. Dinah knew better than to assume one thing or another when it came to Shiva. As Ted would likely put it, she was one crazy broad.

The warning had come with plenty of mixed feelings. Dinah had never liked Cheshire personally. The woman was an impressive martial artist, but most assassins had some kind of code of ethics - even Shiva, who would snap every bone in a person's body without losing any sleep over it, was a surprisingly honest person. Cheshire? Not so much. She was what a snake looked like in human form. She couldn't ever be trusted, nor could a person even slightly lower their guard around her. It was Cheshire who had cemented the fact that Roy had really ridiculous taste in women. While Dinah had never understood what he had seen in her, the fact had remained that Jade had been an important person in his life, and Roy was important to Dinah. It didn't help anything that the woman had also been Lian's mother. If Dinah had to guess, she would assume that Cheshire would be even more dangerous following the death of her daughter. She supposed that that, more than anything, was why she was here. She didn't necessarily feel like she owed Jade anything, but in a roundabout, unpleasant way, Cheshire was family. Apart from the rest of the 'Arrow clan,' she was the only person in the world who had loved Lian as much as Dinah had.

That was why she stood in the middle of a run-down apartment complex hallway, waiting silently for Oracle to shut down the security system Jade had placed in all of her safe-houses. This one in Prague was the last known one, and Babs had already verified that Cheshire was inside. The woman definitely wasn't safe. If Dinah had found this place, Talia could too. The blonde had a scowl on her face as she watched the door, arms crossed. Her normal outfit had been exchanged for the black bodysuit she reserved for colder locations... and situations where having as much skin covered as possible was crucial to her survival. One cut from Cheshire and it was game over. Over her mouth and nose rested a small gas mask. While Dinah didn't like having her secret weapon covered up (though she could easily move the mask if necessary) Jade's little stunt the last time they had gone after her hadn't been forgotten. No airborne toxins for her today, thanks. It wasn't as though Dinah couldn't take her down even without her Cry anyway. She had done it before and she could do it again.

"I've shut down the computerized aspects of her security system, Dinah," Oracle said through Dinah's earpiece. "All you have to do is handle the front door. You're sure you want to do this?" The blonde let out a quiet grunt as she knelt down in front of the door and retrieved her lock-picking kit from her glove. "Not really." That wasn't entirely true. She never wanted anyone to lose their life if she had a means of preventing it, even if in this particular case that life belonged to someone who had murdered millions of people. She wasn't Ollie, though. She didn't get to decide who she did or didn't save based on their perceived worthiness. The second she started doing that, she was in the wrong field.

That didn't mean she was ecstatic about this whole thing, though. She couldn't help but recall that the last time she had broken into one of Cheshire's safe-houses, it had been in Hong Kong after the woman had killed her sensei. That still stung a little.

Upon picking the lock, Dinah slowly, quietly opened the door. Despite her heavy boots, she moved silently through the apartment until her blue eyes settled upon the sleeping form of one of the world's most deadly assassins.

"Get up, Jade. We're leaving."

[che]

Nine hours earlier

"No," Jade said, glaring at the man to her left. The cellar was brimming with commotion so he leaned in closer to catch what she said. The look on her face was indication enough. The smell of blood, urine and liquor, accompanied by yelling, laughing and inebriated singing was starting to give him a headache, not to mention it was leaving him pale, but he had yet to accomplish what he wanted that night. Not until Jade agreed.

"I know you don't like people telling you what to do. I mean, who does? But this is money we're talking about. I'll cut you a deal. And you don't have to box. You can fight any way you want, just no weapons," he urged on. The smell of his sweat and his lack of understanding made her jaw clench. He positioned himself on one knee in front of her. "C'mon. You love doing this. You want to do it. You're just messing with me, trying to play hardball. It's working, beautiful. It's working. Let's do this. C'mon." The man placed a hand on her bare knee and negotiations were over. Faster than he could remove his hand, Jade was up on her feet and pressing his face down on the wet wood table. With his arms locked behind his back, she gave her grip a squeeze to make him squeal. "You don't touch me." Jade let him go with a shove. The buzzer went off twice; final chance for last minute bets. "Radek!" she yelled over the noise, keeping a cold stare on the bothersome stranger. Radek, the official bet keeper quieted the men with a loud whistle. "I'll fight," she said in the now quieted cellar. Radek smiled, revealing his missing two front teeth. "But only if you get rid of this dog," she motioned to the stranger. <"Kick that son of a dirty whore out of here! We got ourselves a tournament!">

The men cheered and piled on the stranger. Jade watched him being manhandled out of the cellar as she stepped to the center of the fighting area. <"Bets! Bets! Final bets!"> She didn't need those men to do away with the stranger, but she had to make an example of him by more than just an ass kicking. Considering he knew of her reputation, his actions were strange. He was almost too forward in fact. She thought of this as she removed her jacket to reveal on a black pair of shorts and brown shirt underneath. A large man entered the fighting area with her. He was bald, muscular and nearly an entire foot taller than her. The Czech smiled. "Miklos," she said. "Woman," he answered. "I give you first hit free." Her fist closed. "You'll regret that."

Present

Jade's eye opened at the sound of the female voice in the room. Her green eye shut again on the off chance that she was still dreaming. Everything was still. Black Canary's presence could still be felt. Jade sat up in bed and looked over to see the naked man still there. She rubbed her forehead with one hand and slapped his butt with the other. "Bedrich." He awoke and smiled when he saw the beautiful blond woman. As attractive as he was, he wasn't very smart. "We do three sex?" he asked. "Get out before I castrate you," Jade answered. Bedrich's smile faded. He gathered his clothing and left without putting them on. "Why are you here?" There were a few cuts on her lips and one above her left eye, but Jade didn't appear that beaten up. And yet there was a haziness in her face. She wouldn't even make eye contact with Canary, nor had she reached for one of her hidden weapons yet. "Never mind the answer. I don't care. Just get out and I'll leave my own way. We can end this without a fight," she sighed.

[Black Canary]

Cheshire wasn't alone. The man in bed beside her awoke shortly after she (though with a little more encouragement), and Dinah arched a brow at his question. Not in this lifetime, big guy.

[/i] Her focus was more on Jade. The last time they had been in a situation like this, the woman had immediately gone on the defense. Now, she seemed more or less disinterested in Dinah's presence. Her demeanor wasn't the only curious thing about her; she had to wonder where Jade had gotten those cuts, though knowing her, it wasn't entirely surprising. If there was one thing Cheshire did remarkably well, it was make enemies.

Dinah didn't even glance toward Bedrich as he gathered his belongings and exited the room. Nothing there she hadn't seen before, and she was much more interested in making sure Cheshire didn't try to kill her the second her attention was diverted. It was still surprising that she had neither attacked her nor made a run for it. Dinah wasn't sure if she had ever seen Jade looking so non-confrontational. Even when she had clearly lost, the woman threatened, swore, and spit in your face if you gave her the opportunity. "I'm not here for a fight," Dinah replied. "Not against you, anyway." If one of Talia's favorite assassins showed up, it would be another story. Again, the blonde reflected on the insanity required to take on this sort of mission. She could very well be in the middle of trying to protect Cheshire, and it wouldn't be unheard of for the woman to stab her in the back right then and there. There really wasn't only one enemy in this situation.

Regardless, there was one enemy she was more concerned with, and the longer they stayed here, the more at risk Cheshire was. "Pack your things, we need to go," Dinah ordered. "And if you try to poison me, stab me, blah blah blah, I will go back on that no fighting thing." And they both knew that if it came to that, Jade would not be the victor. Unfortunately, Dinah wasn't sure that that would completely dissuade the other woman. While Dinah could defeat her in hand-to-hand combat, if Jade managed to slip her something then she would be at a severe disadvantage. She would have to keep a very close eye on her food.

[/blockquote]

[che]

Not here for a fight? Odd. It was only after hearing that that Jade made eye contact with Black Canary. She looked serious, but just because she wasn't here for a fight didn't mean she wasn't ready for one. That was usually how their encounters ended so was it wrong to assume the blond was lying? There was no doubt in Jade's mind Canary wanted to collect her and send her away to some prison or back to some person she owed a debt. Whatever her reasons, she was not about to get a cooperative ninja.

Jade sat up in bed and began to pat the mattress looking for something. She pulled the white bed sheet up against her naked body as she walked across the room to the dresser. A pill bottle was toppled over, along with indiscernible wrappers and bottles of an unlabeled liquor still filling the room with a strong scent. Bouncing her fingers over the items still came up with nothing. She turned around and headed for the bathroom, keeping the door open to listen to Canary's movements. "I don't know if you've realized this yet," she said from the bathroom as she dressed, "but I'm on vacation. So whatever inane good-guy mission you're on right now, I could not care less." Jade brushed her hair and braided it so that it ran down her left shoulder. She wore black shorts and a tight green shirt when she walked back into the bedroom. Canary was still there and still had that same stubborn look on her face even as Jade completed her look with a dark brown jacket.

"I'm not going with you. If that means I'll have to kill you to be able leave, then I'll give you one chance to back out. I have to admit though, I kind of hope you decide to stay. I'm in the mood to kill someone right now." Almost as if on cue, a thunderous "thump" came from the wall behind the bed. Jade's eyes darted off Canary and to the wall. Another thump, then another. The third one knocked down the three small framed paintings on the walls. With the final thump, a man came crashing through the wall, landing with plaster, glue and wood all over him on the bed. His face was so badly beaten, the red cherry that it was didn't even have visible human facial features. From the hole in the wall, a large man well past 7 feet walked into the bedroom. He was a human rhino with broad shoulders, thick arms, and overly-muscled legs. There wasn't a hair on his body except for his thick black mustache and bushy eyebrows. "Hello. I am here to kill you."

[Black Canary]

During that brief moment of eye contact, Dinah wondered if she was about to get something hideous thrown at her. Cheshire looked about as excited to see her as she was to be there, which was pretty expected. Their encounters were always far from friendly. Finally, the woman rose without trying to kill her and, after collecting her clothing, headed into the bathroom. Dinah's blue eyes followed her briefly, then moved over to the bottles lying haphazardly around the floor once Jade disappeared behind the door. No wonder the assassin seemed grouchier than usual. There were enough liquor bottles there to give Creote a hangover, and he was Russian.

She balanced on the balls of her feet as she crouched down and reached out with one gloved hand to pick up the bottle of pills, raising it slowly so that the contents would be undisturbed as she read the label. "I can see that," Dinah muttered under her breath as Cheshire spoke from the bathroom. While Cheshire was never one to lead the most exemplary of lifestyles, she had to admit that finding what looked like the remnants of a frat boy's Friday night was a little surprising. Most martial artists of her caliber took extremely good care of their bodies. The bottle was silently replaced on the floor, and Dinah stood. Once the other woman had finished speaking, the blonde shook her head slightly. This was about what she had predicted. Jade wasn't one to ever be cooperative unless she had a good reason to be, namely not getting her face caved in.

"You really should care about this one," Dinah snapped. "Believe it or not, but I'm actually trying to help you. For some reason," she grumbled the last bit to herself. "So if we can move past the threats on my life, that would be super." Part of her still wasn't sure why she was here. The simple answer was that it was her job to protect the lives of others, regardless of how they lived that life, but it was more than that and she knew it. Dinah didn't exactly spend her free time chasing after criminals to help defend them from whomever they had most recently pissed off. It was beyond Jade simply being part of their family in that twisted way, even.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the pounding on the wall, and Dinah took a step back. She had a pretty good idea of what that was, and if she was right, then Talia's friends had found Cheshire faster than expected. If Jade wanted a fight, she was about to get one. When whoever was attacking the wall from the other side finally broke through, Dinah jumped back, raising her arms instinctively to protect her face from the debris that burst into the room. As soon as she lowered her arms, she found herself staring first at the bloodied, unrecognizable man, and then the thick-browed giant who accompanied him. Well, at least he was upfront with his intentions. Such a rare quality in men these days. "Yeah, see that? That's the reason I'm here," said Dinah, sounding more annoyed than anything as she struck up a defensive stance. "So do me a really big favor and drop the attitude, get whatever you can grab in about three seconds, and run."

[che]

One of the large man's bushy brows perked up. "Blond hair. Thick. Unpleasant accent so probably American," he huffed. "I'm not killing you. You may leave." Cheshire stepped out of the bathroom fully armed with her equipment, most of which was not visible except for the twin poison laced sais in her hands. The sleepiness from her face was gone and replaced with irritation. "Ah, you. Asian. I kill you." Faster than she expected, the large assassin stampeded toward her and caught her by the throat, much to her surprise. Jade swung her limbs and stabbed both of arms with her poisoned blades, but he didn't flinch. She was running out of breath in the brief seconds he had been strangling her until she yanked at the sais in opposite directions. The large man let go of her and stumbled backward as his blood gushed out of his wounds. He needed time and distance to deal with Cheshire. He granted them some privacy by grabbing the bed frame and easily lifting it and throwing it toward Black Canary, keeping her from Cheshire and the commotion. All the while, he was bleeding everywhere without even expressing pain in his face.

Jade made her way back into the bathroom to jump through the glassless window and out into the fire escape. He was too large to fit through the hole, but he braced himself to break his way through. That is until he realized that Cheshire wasn't even on the fire escape anymore. He pulled his head back in to the bathroom to find her standing behind him. Like a viper, Jade's arms sprung forward and jabbed his back several times with her poison blades. It was an acupuncturist's client's worst nightmare. She probably stabbed him twelve times before he swung his lumbering arm backward to fend himself. Jade backflipped out of the bathroom. There was no change in his demeanor or stamina. He knew how to protect himself from her poisons. Jade turned her focus back to Black Canary. "This is about Talia then?" she asked. "You're working for al Ghul?" she turned her attention back to her attacker. He had since turned around, still bleeding profusely, and smiled. "Yes. You are the uh, bitch she wants dead. So I do this." There was no way of stopping him, he was a bit of a derailed train. Jade figured there was only the messy way of getting rid of him. And that was piece by piece.

Cheshire made her way across the room with a flip and twist away from his long arms until she reached her katana that stood up against the nightstand. Before she could unsheathe it, his giant foot struck her abdomen, sending her flying backward and meeting with the wall. His other foot pulled back and prepared to smash her head in until the katana sliced through his shoe perpendicularly with the sole of his foot, and coming out through his heel. With all her strength, she supported his leg up in the air as he stumbled backward now propped up on just one leg. He yelled out in pain with the blade through his heel, but the sound that followed when she twisted the sword could match Black Canary's sonic scream. Jade finally pushed forward her own weight, forcing the large man on his back, his foot still caught in her katana. She held his leg up as he squirmed long enough to fall straight down on the side of his knee with her elbow, dislocating it. With his other leg, he attempted to raise it and use its weight to crush her, but instead he yelled again and again as she yanked the sword out and held it over his crotch. "Do you want to go to hell a eunuch?" He made no answer as his flesh turned white from blood loss. She swung the blade across his face so the blood on it would whip off seconds before she plunged it in his heart. "We need to leave," she said as she pushed all her weight down on the katana. Jade pulled it out and headed for the door so that she and Black Canary stood in the hallway. "After that noise, this place should be empty." On cue, every apartment door on that floor opened up and out walked men dressed in head to toe black shinobi shozoku.

[Black Canary]

Thick?

Thick?

Insulting her accent, okay, she could take that; but what the hell did he mean, 'thick'? Dinah brows lowered as she stared at the large assassin. "Okay, that was a little unnecessary," she muttered flatly an instant before the man lunged at Cheshire. The big guy could move, that was for sure. Dinah whipped around and started after him. Jade had already made the first move by stabbing him; the fact that the man didn't drop almost instantaneously was astonishing. It was pretty much a guarantee that those blades were poisoned, and Cheshire's taste in toxins were pretty terrifying. God help her if she managed to get cut while trying to prevent the giant assassin from strangling the woman she was trying to protect.

That goal became somewhat more difficult when she found a bedframe being flung at her face. Dinah jumped to the side, attempting to duck and roll, but she was too slow; the frame caught her in the side and sent her sprawling on the floor. She let out a hiss through her teeth as the frame, now leaning haphazardly against a wall, pinned her leg against the floor. That was perfect. Nothing like getting stuck with two assassins trying to kill each other in the next room. Dinah could hear the fight moving to the bathroom, and though she was preoccupied with trying to regain her breath and kick the frame off of her pinned leg, the unmistakeable smell of blood was beginning to overtake the room. This was already getting ugly and it was only about to get worse from here. Dinah grunted as she pushed herself up, propped her free leg against the frame, and then pushed with her upper body as well. The frame began to budge, and the blonde let out a sharp cry as she shoved against the frame once more to push it off of her leg.

Okay, step one completed. Now to make sure nobody was poisoned, strangled, or otherwise murdered. Dinah pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the throbbing pain in her previously pinned shin. Cheshire and the other assassin were back out of the bathroom and seemed to be having a jolly good time trying to strangle and/or stab each other, which seemed to be a big thing with these sorts of people. The problem that Dinah had with this was that it looked like one of them was about to die. "Wait!" Dinah barked as Jade prepared to shove the blade into the man's heart. Even as she said it, she knew it was too late. The sword was embedded in his chest, and the already powerful stench of blood became more potent as his began to spread out onto the floor.

"Goddammit, Jade!" she snapped as she ran over to the man. Just because he was an assassin didn't mean she wanted him dead. Even before she had knelt down next to the assassin's body, she knew that there was no way to save him. Cheshire was too good for that. "How about we do this crazy thing called not murdering everyone we come into contact with?" she growled as she straightened and followed the assassin to the door. Not for the first time, she wondered what the hell she was doing here; that thought repeated itself once more as she found herself and Cheshire facing what appeared to be another onslaught of Talia's employees.

Dinah was taking care of these guys this time. Much as she was set of protecting Cheshire (for whatever insane reason she had) she wasn't about to let anyone else lose their life in the process. The blonde snatched off her gas mask, then slammed her boot at Cheshire's side, intending to send her sprawling down the staircase next to them. Was that completely necessary? No, probably not. Was it satisfying? Oh hell yes it was. "Stay down!" Dinah barked at Cheshire before unleashing her sonic scream upon the men. Those nearest would be the most affected, and while the men further down the hallway would certainly have one hell of a headache, it wouldn't do more than hold them off for a very short while. Dinah held the scream for several seconds, long enough to keep those closest to her down for the count, before she began to race down the stairs after Jade. "Next time, we leave when I say and not when you've already pissed everyone off."