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Jeremiah stared up at the tall statue of the Batman. He wasn’t even sure why he came. Probably because Gordon had the balls to send someone like him an invitation. He thought at first that it was some kind of trap. That it was a way to catch him off guard in order to capture him but it appeared the commissioner was dumber than he expected. This Carnival wasn’t just for show to lure criminals into a false sense of security. It was real and it was buzzing around him. “Huh.” Jeremiah murmured to himself before talking up at Batman like he was really there. “At least he’s doing the unexpected but your boy’s an idiot, Bats. A silly little carnival isn’t going to bring anyone peace.” 

Natasha had shown up mostly out of curiosity. As introverted as she preferred to be, crowds made it easier to blend in, and therefore easier to observe what was happening around you, even when there was so much more to take in. It was impossible to miss the imposing figure of the statue, even amongst the rides and flashy contraptions, it felt like the statue could still tower above everything else. She circled it slowly, looking upon it just as anyone who had actually known or admired the man    before her pace slowed even more, and her head turned, following the direction of the familiar, nearby voice. She arched a brow, continuing to make her way around the base of the statue before stopping a few feet away from him. “I couldn’t help but overhear. You didn’t exactly strike me as the type to talk about peace.”

“And then I said-” Mike stopped talking as a semi familiar female walked up to him, pouring her entire drink on his lap, and walking away. He looked back to the person who he was conversation with and sighed. “ I probably deserved that. pitt I can’t remember why.”

Natasha wasn’t too impressed as she halfheartedly listened in on her newfound acquaintance’s story. She was already losing track of most of it, but that was fine    it didn’t sound like anything to pressing, and, to her, it seemed like he just wanted someone to ramble out loud to. That being said, she was even less impressed at the scene that then played out before her, and she wearily watched as the woman stormed away. It was humorous, and a little pathetic on both ends, but not unfamiliar. Natasha knew few people who hadn’t ever been involved in at least a similar incident. The Avengers and their allies had more relationship drama than any sane group of people needed to witness. She gave a short, humorless laugh    one quite characteristic of herself. “When you put it like that, you make it sound like this is a regular occurrence.”

“Translator, uh?” she said, “well if you’re looking for something more permeant I know for a fact that the Gotham Police Department is always looking for interpreters,” especially those of Eastern European or Russian descent - which she guessed was where the woman was originally from. Over the last few decades, Gotham had seen the explosion of Russian and or Eastern European migrants and while most of them worked for the mafia in the city, the rest were some of the nicest people she’d ever meet. “I could give you the number of their requirement agent?” she offered.

“Huh. Boring.” He told her with a frown. “And here I was hoping the two of us could bond on a few rides.” Jeremiah let out a small laugh and watched as the fight began. He was expecting her to be overwhelmed and taken down rather quickly by her men but it seemed she wasn’t going down very easily at all. She took the occasional hit but nothing that would knock her down. She was strong, and talented. She hit with precision, like she knew what she was doing. Like Ecco did. He watched her carefully until she managed to get every one of his people to the ground. He lifted his hands and started a slow clap for her. “Look at that! I’m very impressed.” He told her. His men put up a fight but it wasn’t nearly enough to beat her. They’d need to learn that failure is unacceptable. They’d have to be punished so they’d fight harder next time. “Oh, I’ll have to keep that in mind then. It seems I need new fighters.” He said, glancing down at his people. A look of disappointment on his face before he glanced back up. “No matter, a deals a deal. You can go through my park to the other side.” She asked who he was and he smiled. At least she wasn’t calling him the Joker. “I’m Jeremiah. And you are?” 

“Most people usually are,” Natasha retorted, mildly impressed with her own work as well. One hand moved to rest on her hip, and the other pushed her hair behind her shoulder before falling to her side. Mildly smug, her gaze swept over her defeated opponents again, and before she looked back to the man. She gave a short, humorless laugh at his reply. “Yes, it does seem that way.” She didn’t really want any part in whatever the hell was going on in this theme park, but their conversation was somewhat amusing to her. “You do seem to have numbers on your side, though.” Though, she did agree that just numbers wouldn’t work on anyone remotely skilled in fighting    she had just proven that. She didn’t even know where all of them had come from. But, if past experience had taught her anything, then Natasha also knew that anyone out there could deem themselves a leader and attract an audience, no matter how unlikely they seemed. That was probably the case here    or maybe, it wasn’t. When he offered his name, she supposed she’d eventually find out the answer to that. Her brow furrowed. “I see,” she hummed, silently waiting another moment before fully answering him. He or his followers didn’t need her name right now, so she replied, “The Black Widow.”

Tony just smiled at her, clearly unperturbed. He knew when she was being serious and when she wasn’t. Or at least he thought he was pretty good at guessing. Maybe. “No, you’re one of a kind,” he agreed, though there was something in his smile that suggested he wasn’t being entirely flippant himself. He hopped up spryly and picked up a metal case, flipping it open to reveal small, discreet weapons that she could hide anywhere on her person. “So some of these explode,” he said. “This one here will basically give someone a concussion. This one reads heat signatures in the room to let you know if anyone is there, even if they’re out of sight.”

The Cloak perked up and waved at Natasha, apparently taking some kind of instant liking to her, before swirling and settling. Interestingly, it didn’t attract much in the way of attention – it seemed that caped persons were quite ordinary here. 

“Oh, the whole gang’s here?” he said, sighing a little. “I’m not entirely sure that Commissioner Gordon needs a sorcerer – I gather the threats tend to be a of less mystical nature. How about we take some time off? I can open up a portal to a nice island in the Pacific.”

Following her as she moved off, he glanced around the city. “Where are all these bad guys I’ve been hearing about?” 

The faintest of smiles took over her expression for a moment at the sight of the cloak, before she continued walking. “Well, he, and everyone else who deemed this place in needing of help    and rightfully so    I’m not even sure if they know what they need yet.” 

She’d seen crime thrive in cities all over the world, but it was strange here. In most other places, she’d seen criminals easily squashed. Even when they were replaced by new ones, in recent history, they never were able to last very long. That was part of what made the situation here so odd to her. 

This wasn’t something Tim did very often, and he had really no plan on doing it tonight either. but even if he had decided to stop back a bit, he would go on petrols and scann the city. Sometimes he would be hard to just sit back and not doing anything, due to his sense of right and wrong. However, Tim had also always been a stubborn person, so if he decided something; he never really let it go unless it was truly needed. He had in fact followed the guy, but had not at all planned on taking him. He rolled his eyes behind his mask, she seemed to think she was doing him a favour. “If you give him to me, I’m not handing him in so…” Tim looked at the man she had taken and just added “I don’t care” 

Natasha stood with crossed arms, glancing between the body of the criminal on the floor and the man she had encountered moments prior. Her face was fixed into a look of slight disapproval and confusion, his explanation a little incoherent to her. “What?” she asked, brow arching. What was his point, then? They had gone after each other and this guy for nothing, apparently. “Where else are you going to take him, then? To deal with him yourself?” Natasha challenged, though perhaps not rightfully so. ‘Turning someone in’ was usually her own personal code for dealing with someone on her own. At his rebuttal, though, she paused, eyes narrowing. “What? All this and now you don’t care what happens? That doesn’t make much sense.”

“Uh, never thought of that,” she smiled, “smart.” (Might regret it) she thought to herself - she’d never say that out loud though, it wasn’t for her to burst the stranger’s bubble. Her ears picked up at the word job, “what do you do?” she asked. Barbra still had the feeling she was being lied to, but hey if the woman was going fabric a story - she might as well have some fun and go there. 

“It may not be the wisest decision,” Natasha chimed in, getting the other woman’s response clearly, even if she hadn’t actually said much of what she meant. “But…it’s only temporary. There are worst places to be.” Truthfully, since Natasha had seen a lot of places——enough of them being bad ones, while the crime in Gotham could be jarring, the state of the city didn’t especially phase her. “I’m a translator, interpreter. That kind of thing. Freelance mostly, but sometimes I get opportunities that come with some semblance of permanency.”

“Well, I have so much information in my brain, some leaks out,” Tony said, with a brief grin, tapping his temple as if indicating the source of the leak. He snorted softly as she spoke, shaking his head. “Warm and kindhearted, I wonder what that’s like,” he said, his lips twitching into a smirk. He shrugged and sat down across from her. “I have a few new gadgets and gizmos I thought you might want to test out.”

Natasha’s brow raised as she took another sip of her coffee. “Seems like a lot more than just some,” replied flippantly, but lightheartedly. She put the mug down and sat back in her chair, hands dropping into her lap. “I know. We can’t all be as good-natured as myself,” she jested, and then gave a short laugh at her own quip. “Huh. I see, sure.” She gave a small, artful smile. “What have you come up with?” she asked, genuinely curious.

𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐘. she admired natasha, looked up to her. a strong woman living in a world that mostly determined that men would get the recognition. wanda had moments where she envisioned if she were a child again, she would want to be like her. but fantasy was not always reality. a grim reminder and understanding of her own mind. “i suppose i was asking in case someone else was sitting next to you,” she finally said, albeit a bit late as she moved to sit next to the widow. “it is good to see you, i’ve missed when we all could be together - but like it is now, it always came with a problem.” she sighed, glancing around them. “and you? are you well?”

“Are you sure? We do have a ferris wheel and a merry-go-round in working condition. Which to me sounds like a pretty good time.” He said with a chuckle before watching as his people began walking towards her. She was lucky, he thought, that Ecco wasn’t with him. She was the best fighter he had. He took a few more paces back, not wanting to be in the splash zone when someone started spraying blood. After all, he just got this suit cleaned. “You heard what she said, boys and girls.” Jeremiah announced before one of his more eager people went to hit her with his lead pipe. Another readied themselves, preparing for a fight and a third moved in as quick as he could with a punch. They weren’t the best fighters, but quantity over quality. He supposed. 

He had about nine of Jerome’s Followers with him now. while the rest were out elsewhere. Crowded around the two of them, some carrying lead pipes and bats. Crude weapons you can find just laying around. They were never the smartest bunch or the most talented. They did previously worship his Twin Brother of all people, but there was safety in numbers and he didn’t mind inheriting them all that much. “Well, that’s no fun. Is it?” He said, raising his voice so his followers would hear and mumble in agreement. “How about a deal. “I’ll let you go through my park. Even let you on a couple rides… But only if you beat my followers.” He said, stepping back and ushering them in front of him. 

She glanced around at the others, looking back at them, disinterested, as they regarded her silently, before her gaze moved back to their apparent leader. “Rides?” she echoed, brow arching. “That won’t be necessary,” she deadpanned, and then her lips pressed thin into an unimpressed line. Natasha waited for him to continue his spiel, arms folding in front of her as she silently mulled over his proposition. “I don’t want to hurt you guys,” she replied, tone relatively light    just becase she didn’t want to didn’t mean she didn’t have a problem with doing so either. It wasn’t ideal, and he and the lot of them had already inconvenienced her enough    if they wanted to fight, then she hoped they could at least get it over and done with. They hadn’t really tried to hurt her yet, so Natasha considered that there was potentially nothing to even think of worrying about. “Sure, whatever. The faster the better.”