#pesteringjester

"No, stop! Let her breathe!" No matter what might have happened to cause this, seeing three large guards manhandle her was extremely hard to watch. They couldn't treat her in such a rough way! No matter what she had done she didn't deserve to be ganged up on like this when she was already surrendering. Feeling an anger quickly begin to build, the attorney grabs the nearest guard and pulls him back just to give Harley some space before she was completely lost under the weight of these men.

He can hear someone calling his name, demanding he leave the interrogation room. For a moment he thinks about ignoring it so that he could continue to pull the guards away, but the reasonable and logical part of his brain jumps ahead and convinces him to obey. If he temporary ended up in a holding cell, then how would he possibly be able to help Harley? He had to be rational about this. Before anyone can arrive to escort him out, Phoenix sucks in a quick breath and takes a few steps back just as they inject the woman with something. A sedative of some kind? At least that's what he hopes it is.

One of the guards pushes past him and soon returns with a straitjacket. With the help of one of the others, they fix it on the blonde and then make their retreat, shoving him out as they go.

"I can walk just fine." He shrugs them off and glares. "Now will someone tell me what the hell went on here?" Things had been going great, right? Harley had been working with the therapist he had recommended. So why the sudden outburst that caused three grown men to pile upon her like that? He had arrived too late to see how it had started.

@pesteringjester

Stupid. She’d been so stupid. Somehow, these bastards managed to trace several murders back to her. No idea how, but she had to have been careless, otherwise it was impossible. Right?

It was the same lecture she played in her head every hour she was awake. How long she’d been locked up in this cage, she didn’t know, but her guess was at least a few weeks. She stopped counting the number of times she was fed after 13, even though it was impossible to ignore. All hours of the day, she was kept with a pair of chains on her wrists; she was free to move until it was feeding time. They were pulled back, preventing her from moving. “Can’t have you using the soup to escape” they said. The air was even kept extremely dry, and they purposefully left her on the verge of dehydration. Just to be safe.

Once again, her chains were pulled back, but rather than a bowl being held to her face, her cage door was unlocked. Genevieve’s head shot up and met the eyes of a hard-faced woman.

“We have over a dozen guns trained on you,” she threatened. “You make one move we deem dangerous, we end you.”

Genevieve curled her lip back but remained silent.

“Since we have an understanding,” the woman said.

She waved her hand, and Genevieve’s chains were slackened. The demi-demon pushed herself to her feet and kept her hands lowered, not wanting to risk death.

“Follow him,” the woman ordered, pointing backward at the military-outfitted man that stood behind her with an assault rifle in hand.

“I know it might be... tempting,” he began, trying to simultaneously give Harleen the benefit of the doubt and predict her mood when it came to certain clowns... “- but try to resist touching the dummy.” 

... C’mere.

Officers, prosecutors, and the guards had warned him about this prisoner. Had said that she was unpredictable and that he should be careful when speaking with her. Phoenix had taken all of that into account, but now that he was sat opposite her, he couldn’t help but wonder how she had gotten to the place she was now.

She hadn’t looked up when he entered and that was fine. It was understandable, even. Just how many people had been by to see her? It was probably taking its toll on her. So, he opens his mouth and begins to talk. Introduces himself even if she isn’t listening before moving on to the case.

He’s patient. You had to be in this line of work. Not everybody wanted to talk to a lawyer, especially when many hated the profession. And, to be honest, he couldn’t blame them after everything that had happened in the past. Corruption, lies, blackmail-- the courts and the police department had seen it all.

“...show us that there’s something inside you that’s good.” Because she didn’t seem to fit with the definition of ‘evil’. Not while she was sitting there looking so lost. If there was even the slightest bit of good or hope within her, then he was interested to see it.

Ah, that gained her attention. It causes a small smile to appear on his features. This was progress. Good progress.

“Tell me about the time when you used to be good.” His hands are clasped on the table, his expression one of curiosity. He had heard some things about her, but he hadn’t been sure what was true and what had been twisted.

(If she had some help, then maybe she could be good again...)