Dark Heart of Gotham

[shesamarshmallow]

Gotham has never been a friendly city. For as long as most can remember, it has been celebrated for its faded beauty and broken promises. Art deco buildings harken back to days of industry and energy. Dark alleys speak more to Gotham's heart, gilded towers giving way to threatening shadows.

Batman's parents had been murdered in one of those alleys. Batman, Bruce Wayne, now just as dead as his parents, his ashes and pieces scattered throughout the bay. Gotham's son, dead and somewhat buried.

Veronica Mars does not belong in Gotham. She can appreciate its shadows and jagged edges, the lies of its shining spires, but what is hard and tough in Neptune, California, is not hard and tough in Gotham. And yet, this is where she finds herself. This is where the hard and tough people get harder, tougher. This is where she hones her skills. This is where she escapes her past while using it to shape a new, better version of herself. Well, a new version of herself.

Her PI office is a one-bedroom efficiency above a laundromat, a desk in the living room and a futon that folds out into a bed. This is the only city where she hasn't trusted second-hand, and her sparse belongings are new, even if they are cheap. She doesn't have all the money in the world. She's not Bruce Wayne.

Which makes her the luckier of the two, she thinks.

Law books sit on one corner of her desk; she takes classes at night when she can, when she doesn't have a case. But these days classes are cancelled more often than not and her caseload is full of missing persons and cheating spouses and stolen belongings. Things too small for the police, things where people don't think the police care.

In the absence of Batman, it seems private investigators are the new heroes.

Tonight, her case load has brought her to the Bowery. She slouches through the streets, her hair tied back and an oversized jacket on, her cap pulled low over her eyes, and her expensive, beloved camera hidden away in her bag. A missing persons case. The client? Madsy Young, whose son is a criminal wanted by the GCPD but whom she insists is still in town. All she wants is proof that Elias is alive, but Veronica can get a bonus if she convinces Elias to give his mom a call.

Of course, in this city, everyone is a liar. Veronica has already dug into it; Madsy really is Elias's mom. But after that, Veronica isn't sure what the truth is. Is their relationship good? Is Elias hiding from his mom and the cops?

One way to find out is to find Elias. Though if Veronica isn't getting paid one way or the other with this case, she's going to be pissed.