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Subj: A Classic Catherine Adventure: Nightshift. With special guest star: Hatman! Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 at 06:50:52 pm EDT (Viewed 341 times) | |||
Recently I was going through & reading some of my old Catherine stories. This was one of the first, if not the first, story with Catherine as the main character. Before this story she was a side character to Chad much like how Jane is/was to Ronnie. As time has gone on, she has gotten more & more solo adventures or adventures with just her & Jane. This story is also one of the few times I've done a story with a Lair Legion member that wasn't Lee Bookman, wasn't at the mansion & that Legionnaire was a main character in the story. Most times if you see any members of the Legion in one of my stories they are very brief scenes & are just there to move the plot along. Not sure why I used Hatman as Catherine's night visitor. I think it was that I thought he would fit & that I could write an ok version of him. I think I did. Also this story is from late 2007. It also makes reference to somethings that were happening at or around that time. It's late at the corner of Macgovern & Litchdenberg, the site of Goth Haven's City Hall. The building is dark & quite now. Most of it it's workers have gone home for the day. On the main floors there are just a small group of security guards roaming the halls & a few people burning the midnight oil. Now in the basement is a different story, it neither dark nor quite. Which is kind of odd seeing as the only two things in the basement are the Coroners' Office & the City Morgue. Another strange occurrence is someone is paying the Morgue a visit. The old elevator touches down & the art deco styled doors open in a somewhat jerky fashion. The rider steps off & makes his way down the hallway. He stood about six feet tall maybe more, had a thick rich head of dark brown hair, he was of fair complexion & was clean shaven. He was a nice looking suit, it was black & his button down shirt was white. He was also wearing a red tie. The sound of his shined black leather shoes make an echoey click clack sound as he walked down the empty, marble laced hallway. A hallway which was devoid anything beyond a few framed pictures on the halls. As the man walked down the hallway, he's lost in thought & thinks about the what happened over the last few days. It was a pleasant Thursday morning: nothing more to do then file reports. Sure, he hated doing them (too much government red tape surrounding them) but they had to be done but no one else wanted to do them & since he was the Leader he felt his duty to file them with all the right agencies: The FBI, CIA, OPS, The U.S. Postal Service, League of Woman Voters, etc. The reports had being piling up. Emergencies had been pulling him away from them, there were meetings to attend to, Interoffice disputes to put a end to, Phone calls to return. But all things keeping from the reports were office related, there was his burgeoning love life amongst other non work related activities. Just before he entered the Morgue, he paused, took a deep breath & then pushed open the large black plastic doors. He then entered the Morgue's waiting room. It was sparsely furnished: a beat up old couch & a couple of matching leather chair. A coffee table that looks like the one he owns. There were a few magazines on it, he think own a few of those, too. A sad looking plastic looking tree stood in the corner. "Ficus?" He thought offhandedly. There were some generic framed art on the walls. There were some framed posters relating to Morgue & City Hall on the walls, too. The halogen light that shown down from the ceiling flickered a bit & gave the room an almost sickly look to it. It also kind of smelled funny. The man walked over to a counter, on the other side was a small office & behind that was the Morgue it's self. The man could see into it via a window. No one was in the office area but he could see there was someone in the Morgue proper. As he stood there he realized that there had been music playing, it was faint when he got off the Elevator & it got louder as he walked towards the Morgue. The loud music was coming from the Morgue but it muffled through the walls so he couldn't quite make out what was being played. On the wall next to the counter, was a sign that read: "If Attendant is absent, ring bell for Service". Below it was a yellowing White plastic doorbell. He pressed it, he held it down longer then he normally would with doorbells, but he was hoping the prolonged ring would overpower the music. It did, since the music cut out shortly after he lifted his finger off the button. There was some frantic noises coming from the Morgue, almost like the Attendant didn't expect anyone to be there but that was a perfectly normal assumption: It was a little after Midnight. A minute or two later, the Attendant made her way into the small office area. Who entered certainly wasn't he expected to be there. On her feet was a pair of black Chuck Taylor All-Star high tops (They had little white skulls spray painted on to them). As she walked he could she that her socks appeared to be argyle. Her pants were a well worn pair of blue jeans. She had a grey short sleeved T-Shirt on. Under that shirt was a red & black long sleeved shirt. Over all this was a white lab coat. The under shirt could only be see because she pushed up the Lab Coat's sleeves. On her wrists were a few too many bracelets & a couple of wrist bands. A few of her fingers had some rings on them (One ring looked to be a Waffle). Her black nail polish was cracked & chipped in places. The woman's skin was paler then most peoples' were but that might because she works at night. She wasn't wearing much makeup or none at all (he didn't know a lot about makeup), she was wearing ruby red lipstick. Her pitch black hair was put up in a sensible ponytail. "Hi!" she said as she pushed a strand of her black hair behind her pierced ear, her hair had some light blue highlights scattered through out. She smiled warmly, her ruby red lipstick & emerald green eyes seemed to sparkle in the Halogen lighting. The sparkle was all the more striking against her somewhat pale skin. "I wasn't expecting to have anyone come in since...well, no one has ever rung the bell. At least during my shift. The only people I normally get to see are either Guards, Dead or a Paramedic." "It's all right. I wasn't really expecting to come in either." The Attendant looked at him oddly. He wasn't sure if he should stop talking & ask her why not. But he kept talking, it made the situation seem less awkward if he did (at least to him). The way she was looking at him appeared to be like she knew him from somewhere, which is probably true given what he does for a living. "Excuse me?" He said. "Yes?" She replied a little nervously. His question broke her stare. "Sorry, If I was staring. It's just I can't help thinking I know you from somewhere. Plus, I'm also wondering how you got in the building since City Hall closed about..." The Attendant said & paused. She reached her hand into one of her pant's pocket & fished out a watch. She looks at & then put it back. "City Hall has been closed for little over five hours ago & the place is crawling with Guards. Plus, there is the security system to contend with." "Well, I have a pass code to get in." "So, you work for the City?" "Not exactly." "State?" "No." "Your a Fed?" She asked. She was running out of choices. "Sort of." She went back to looking him over. That went on for another minute or so, then he said something to stop it. "Imagine me with a Hat on." "What type of hat?" She asked. "Any sort of Hat, I wear a lot of them." He said replied with a sly smile & a laugh. It took a moment to resister, once it did her eyes got big. "Your... Your... Your Hatman!" She said with a bit of shock & awe. "Yes, I am." "Wow. What are you doing here?" She said, then paused & continued. "Stupid question, your probably here the same reason everyone else comes here: your here to see a body." "Yes." Hatman said sadly. "Ok. Let me Buzz you in." The Attendant said & left the office area. There was a high pitched buzzing noise & then she peaked her head out the double black plastic doors a few feet away. She waved him in. He entered the Morgue. On the wall facing Hatman were three tiers of three sets of brushed chrome rectangular doors. The rest of the room was pretty much your normal operating room. Off to Hatman's right were a series of metal filling cabinets, each had at least one drawer pulled out. On top of one of the cabinets' was a stereo with an MP3 player connected to it via a cord. On the middle of the three examining tables spreading across it were various pieces of paper & file folders. At the head of the table was a large plastic cup which read Mondo Gulp, Hatman recognized it as the larger then needed cup size from the local mini mart Gulp 'N Go. Next to the table was padded metal stool on wheels. The Attendant slapped her forehead & then held out his left hand as she said. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. Name's Catherine." "Pleasure to meet you, Catherine." Hatman said as shook her hand. After he let go, Catherine looked at her hand like it was suddenly made of gold. That was ok but it got a bit awkward when she continued to stare for a few minutes. She noticed that. "Sorry. I'm never met someone of your stature before. Wait..." She said, pausing to think. "No, I have. I briefly met The Librarian, a crazed robot double of his kidnapped me & friends once. He saved us from it before it could do anything." "Interesting." Hatman replied. He wasn't sure if that actually happen or it might of been a caffeine fueled daydream. But chose to not press the matter because that was not why He was there. There was a few moments of silence & then Catherine asked. "Can I ask you a question?" "You just did. But, Yes." Hatman replied with a smile. "I guess I did. But why did you come here now & not say... when the Sun is out like a normal person." Catherine said then stopped. She had a look of shock on her face. She couldn't believe what she just said. "It's ok. I knew what you meant." He said warmly. "Thanks. I'm sure lots of people would have liked to meet with you. One of them being Mayor Macklinberg, he always seems to be up for a Photo Op." "Yes. But that's partly why I'm here now. I wanted to get some business done so I came when no one's around." Hatman said. Catherine frowned slightly. She didn't think he saw but he did & then said. "Almost no one." "Ok. Is the suit related to that?" "No. A certain yellow hued teammate of mine who shall remain nameless set me up on a date with a woman from hatfetish.com." "You went on a blind date with some from a Fetish site?" "No. I left the Mansion to let the woman down in person, a phone call is not my style. She was a very nice woman but she wasn't my type." "Not a shapeshifter?" Catherine asked. "No. See didn't appear to have an special powers." "Not a Wiccan?" "No. Not that I knew. It just that I'm not looking at the moment, which is what I keep tell my teammate but he continues to set up dates for me." "Won't you being out this late make him think you actually went on the date?" Catherine asked. Hatman was about to say something but didn't. He thought for a moment & then said. "Great. Now he'll think I'm into people with all sorts of fetishes & that's all he set me up with now." He said, sighed, closed his eyes & pinched the bridge of his nose. "Plus, I think this was one of the tamer sites. But, then my dating life should be interesting for awhile." He said with a half hearted laugh. "So if that's going to happen, why come tonight?" "I was out & I've been meaning to come in, so I'm here." Hatman said with a smile. It was different then the ones' from before, the smile & the rest of his expression read to Catherine that Hatman was tired but there was things that needed to be done. "Ok. So, who are you here to see?" She asked. Hatman was sort of taking back at the nature She spoke about the Dead, she was either emotionally detached from the world or she still thought of them being alive & they were just sleeping. "Roberto Miguel Sanchez." "Hmmmm...." Catherine said as she thought. She walked over to the examining table & picked up a clipboard. She ran her index finger over a list. "Oh,yes. Sanchez: Bay 4." She said as she put down the board & walked over to the freezers. Hatman walked over as she opened the door on the second tier. She pulled out the slab with the body on it. She pulled back the sheet & there he was a 20 something latino male. The two of them just stood there on either side of the body for a few moments in silence. Catherine wondered what Hatman's connection was to the guy was. She'd seen his file, nothing in it denoted a connection to the Caped Crusader. But not everything that happens in a person's life gets put down in a report. Hatman looked at the body, he started to tear up but stopped & wiped away the tear that had come out. He leaned over & said something in the Roberto's right ear. Catherine didn't catch all that he said but did hear this: "I'm sorry that life was cut short for you." Hatman stood back up & gave a nod that Catherine could close it back up. She did. Hatman undid his tie & unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. "I think it's time for bed." "Not for me." Catherine & looked at the clock on the wall. "I still got little over seven hours to go." "Well...Goodnight, Catherine. I'll show myself out." Hatman said & then started to walk away. "'Bye, Hatman!" Catherine called out & waved. He gave a wave back & then exited the Morgue. Catherine thought about turning back on her music but didn't it was right to so. She spent the rest of the night filing with it off. After she got home to her Parrodpolis apartment, Catherine was having some breakfast & had the TV on in the background. "Good Morning, This is Dan Smith with the news from overnight. Our top story is that people of Goth Haven can rest easy: the recent crime spree is over. While out on patrol the Police found members of a local gang all trust up from them in a alleyway. They admitted to the spree that had been plaguing the city. The crimes were various, including a few Murders. When asked who tied them out, according to them it was 'some guy in a suit'. But it wasn't a costume, it was an actual business suit. It looks like we have a new vigilante in town & he apparently dresses quite well." Dan said with a laugh before throwing it over to the KYRQ 7's Weather man for the five day forecast. Catherine smiled & then took a bite of her sourdough toast with strawberry jam spread on it. | |||
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