The Criminal AU Meme

[cerebel]

THE CRIMINAL AU MEME

Warning: This meme will contain violent content and possible triggers.



HOW TO PLAY:
1) Post a comment below, detailing your character and canon. For best results, DO NOT LEAVE THIS COMMENT BLANK; pick a role, or an AU, or write up a little on what you'd like to explore with your character.
2) Tag around and make magic happen.
3) If you get stuck, use RNG to select from the options below.

THE ROLE.
1) Criminal. (The one who committed the act.)
2) Law enforcement. (Cop, FBI, prison guard.)
3) Witness. (What did you see?)
4) Victim. (Probably not applicable in the case of murder. … Probably.)
5) Lawyer, judge, or paralegal. (Participant in the legal system.)
6) Private security. (Unaffiliated, but with an interest in keeping your client safe. Or in getting your target caught.)
7) Other. (Let your imagination go wild.)

THE CRIME.
1) ROBBERY. The crime of stealing via force or threat or fear.
You need the money. You're desperate. You have the gun, the convenience store is right there, and everything will be better once you've finished the job.

Or maybe you've been hired. Provide a little intimidation, and someone else will take care of all your problems.

Or it's a thrill. Rolling across the country, robbing banks as you go. A Bonnie & Clyde crime spree, and it can only end one way.

2) BURGLARY. Illegal entry into a building for the purposes of committing theft.
Non-violence, for you; you're just going to break in, take this one thing. Maybe a television, to sell for the cash. Maybe some jewelry, a computer.

Or maybe you're a master thief, dangling from a wire into a museum. Sliding through the air ducts of a skyscraper in search of a particular little item.

3) GRAND THEFT AUTO. The criminal act of stealing a motor vehicle.
You know your cars. And you can steal one in under 60 seconds. Better hope you don't get tripped up with one of those newfangled security systems.

4) MURDER. The act of killing another.
He had to die. He had to, and the guilt of knowing where you buried the body, of knowing that the police are coming after you -- it's starting to wear down your sanity.

5) SERIAL MURDER. A crime involving the killing of three or more people over a period of more than a month.
You have a drive to kill. Again, and again. Nothing satisfies it, nothing stops it. Maybe you hate yourself. Maybe you hate the human scum who only exist to go under your knife.

Or maybe you're a professional hit man. You've killed dozens, you know how it goes. It's just business.

6) CONSPIRACY. An agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future.
Mafia, Yakuza, crime families who keep their operations quiet under pain of death, dishonor, betrayal of the family. You're part of one of these operations, whether as a patriarch or a peon.

7) FRAUD. Intentional deception made for personal gain.
Blackmail. Cover-ups. Insider trading -- the marks of corporate crime. Perhaps you're a CEO who thinks they can do whatever they want. Perhaps your business is on the rocks and you just need a little time to make your golden parachute before you ditch it.

Or maybe you meant to destroy it. Maybe you're a professional con man, and you're stepping away from your latest conquest with plenty of cash in hand.

8) KIDNAPPING. The false imprisonment of another person against their will.
Do you do it for the ransom? For the money? For revenge?

Or is it a hostage situation, with dozens of prisoners, for some sort of political gain?

9) TERRORISM. The systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion.
For a religion, for a philosophy. But -- are you a terrorist, or are you a freedom fighter? It might just be a matter of point of view.

10) WILD CARD. For any crime not mentioned above.

Comments

[newboyontheblock]

John had been in the back, playing basketball with the boys when the commotion arises. He frowns, sent the kids off to find out what's going on as he tosses the ball back into the storage shed.

He wanders out afterwards, curious, and stops short when he sees the man stepping out of Father Riley's office. "Shit," he bites out before he can help it, and ducks back around the corner. He never would've guessed that Bruce Wayne would actually follow through.

And of course, he's sweaty and dirty, dressed in an old t-shirt and a ratty pair of jeans. Not exactly the elegantly dressed John Doe he had been the night before.

[lasiurus]

Bruce, of course, wants to see the real reason he's here. He lets the boys show him around, he lets them take him around back and he shoots some hoops with them. And then, finally, he asks about John.

[newboyontheblock]

The kids tell him everything, of course, much to John's dismay. Who, Blake? He grew up here one of the older boys say, he plays with us and teaches us stuff one of the younger boys say, he's one of us, you know? they all agree on with rapidly bobbing heads.

John curses under his breath. Those were all the things he didn't need Bruce Wayne knowing.

"Right, break it up," he snaps, walking around the corner. He avoids looking at Wayne. "Don't you guys have homework? Get to it!" He ignores the groaning and gives the kids a stern look, though it's ruined by him laughing as one of the kids pouts adorably (and he knew what he was doing). John ruffles his hair. "Seriously guys, go," and he watches them run off towards the house with a last wave for Wayne.

[lasiurus]

Bruce waits until the boys are gone before he turns a cat-with-a-canary smile on to John.

"You look surprised to see me."

[newboyontheblock]

"I'm not surprised," he snaps, scowl getting ever darker with each passing moment. "I just didn't think you'd actually show. I didn't think you remembered anything from last night, actually. Isn't that how you do it?" John shoves his hands into his pockets. "Drink all night and sleep all day?"

[lasiurus]

"Yeah well...I'll take a nap after I'm done here, don't worry." He retorts, completely at ease with that lazy, shallow reputation. He's worked hard for it, after all.

"So what does this place need most? Besides more Robin Hood types to play basketball with."

[newboyontheblock]

John shrugs, looking over the area. "People who care." His shoulders slump. "But Gotham's a little short on that. Seriously, Wayne," and he glances over, "Why are you here?"

[lasiurus]

"I came," his voice lowers, and he turns to face him completely, "To see if you were telling the truth."

[newboyontheblock]

"I knew I should've made something up," he sighed. "Well now you know. Congratulations. You don't remember coming here before, do you."

It's not a question, exactly.

[lasiurus]

He looks around, and maybe the walls are vaguely familiar, but....

"I go to a lot of charities."

[newboyontheblock]

He laughs, short and sharp. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Besides, we're not really-- This isn't really a charity. It's an orphanage." John smiles pleasantly at Wayne, and though he's dressed as casually as possible, it's quite reminiscent of the previous night at the party. Pleasant and shallow and a mask that Bruce Wayne is probably quite familiar with. "Sorry for lying."

[lasiurus]

"No you're not." But he's not really upset about it. If anything he sounds amused that John would even try to apologize. "How many people work here? Case workers, therapists?"

[newboyontheblock]

"Not fucking enough, obviously," he smiles flatly. "There's Father Riley and... There's Father Riley. So I stop by when I can."

[lasiurus]

Bruce slips, unknowingly, into his more genuine, more serious side. "With enough money to pay for help, would that make a difference? Or should the focus be on renovations for more beds?"

[newboyontheblock]

"Wait, what?" John's confused, caught off-guard. "Are you serious?"

[lasiurus]

"...Yeah. I didn't come just to check on the man who tried to take my cufflinks. I told you," a one-shoulder shrug "I'd pay up."

[newboyontheblock]

"A check to Father Riley would work. He's a good guy, he'll make sure the money goes where we need it to." John shifts his weight, takes another look at Wayne. "What do you want in exchange?"

[lasiurus]

"I'd like it if you stopped stealing from people." He says, not quite sarcastic. "But I don't know if you'd do that."

[newboyontheblock]

A small laugh is startled from him. "Sorry, no," he shrugs, "Though I'd appreciate it if you didn't advertise that. Do as I say and not as I do is much more effective if they don't know what I'm doing."

[lasiurus]

Bruce just purses his lips, falsely apologetic. "When you're arrested they'll find out."

[newboyontheblock]

"They'll have to catch me to arrest me," John says with a shake of his head. "And that, Mr. Wayne, isnt going to happen. Not even by you, tall, dark, and broody."

[lasiurus]

He smoothly ignores the twist of surprise that causes. "I wouldn't be so sure. I have leverage--your fingerprints, your habits. I hand those over to the police, you'll be locked away."

[newboyontheblock]

John's angry, now, but he's gotten much better at tamping it down than he once did. "I'll disappear. I don't want to leave the boys short another person that takes care of them," it's a deliberate guilt trip, if true, "but I'll disappear. And if I vanish, Mr. Wayne, you'll never find me."

[lasiurus]

"Then you won't be stealing from me, so..." Smirk. "Where's the downside?"

Except to the boys. Bruce's gaze flicks briefly to the walls around them, betraying him. He cares more about the boys than he does about John's petty theft.

[newboyontheblock]

"Every penny would come from you, Mr. Wayne," John hisses, angry, "And you wont be able to do jack shit about it. Try me. Just try me."