CHAPTER 1 – Everybody Wants Something
Harvey Bullock sat slouched in his chair staring blankly at the stacks upon stacks of crime reports covering his desk. The mass of paperwork was just another ugly reminder of the chaos the Tetch virus had heaped on Gotham City. Although the antidote had been available for almost three weeks, rounding up the infected and administering the cure had proved to be a massive undertaking and a severe drain on police and health service resources. Sadly, most of the "Tetchies" (a term coined by the media for the infected) didn't want to be cured and many were surprisingly cunning at avoiding the police sweeps and checkpoints designed to capture them. But the light at the end of the tunnel was almost in sight. The number of new crime reports coming in was finally beginning to drop to pre-outbreak levels and now efforts could be taken to address the thousands of crimes that had occurred during the crisis. The decision was made, by the City Council, not to prosecute the Tetchies that previously been law abiding citizens, but the uninfected criminal opportunists, who took advantage of the situation—they needed to be identified and apprehended. With that in mind, Harvey lifted the file of the one perp he couldn't wait to get behind bars. The name written in bold black letters on the folder was Edward Nygma.
Tabitha awoke to the sound of her name and the gentle nudging of her shoulder. She groggily opened her eyes and felt momentarily disoriented, unsure of where she was. She looked up at Selina; then it hit her, she was in the hospital, lying beside her precious Butch. He was still comatose and seeing him beside her with all the tubes and wires yanked at her soul, as fresh tears welled in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around him, as best she could without disturbing the equipment, and sobbed quietly on his chest. This is all my fault. She thought forlornly. I should have killed Barbara when you told me to Butch. I'm sooo sorry!
Selina stood silently at the side of the bed, hating the sight of her friend in such pain. She racked her mind searching for something she could say or do that would alleviate Tabs' anguish, but she knew getting Butch out of that bed was the only thing that would really make a difference. Ivy fixed me when I was in a coma, I'm gonna find a way to talk to her. Selina promised herself.
"Tabitha" Selina said softly, her hand gently touching Tabs' shoulder. "You need to get home and clean up. Penguin has called a meeting of the families today at three and we need to be there."
Tabs looked up with red-rimmed eyes and slowly nodded. She gave Butch a peck on his cheek, stood up, and walked out of the room. Selina wordlessly followed.
Penguin was hunched over his desk working on the outline of the speech he would give the crime families, when his phone rang. Annoyed, he almost decided to let it go to voicemail, but he saw it was his attorney's office, which had been trying to reach him for days, and picked up.
"Hello. I'm very busy today. So, unless this is urgent, we should talk later." Penguin said brusquely.
"Well, you tell me. How urgently would you like to become mayor again?" Answered a smooth female voice Penguin didn't recognize.
"Okay, you've got my attention. Who is this?"
"I'm Danielle Davis, a partner at the law firm that handles your affairs. My area of practice is governmental law. You see Mr. Cobblepot, under Gotham City law you are still technically the mayor of this city and you have over three years left to your term." There was an air of confidence and authority to her words that pulled Penguin in, but he had his doubts.
"Well my behavior, before I left office wasn't exactly mayoral, as I'm sure you know. I doubt I still have the people's support."
"Yes, they'll be naysayers, but I've got a plan to shut them all down. But it's best we discuss it in person."
"How soon can we meet?" Penguin asked anxiously.
"I can be at your mansion in twenty minutes." Danielle replied.
"Perfect! I'll be waiting." A broad smile spread across Penguin's face, as he hung up the phone. He grabbed the outline for the speech he'd been working on, crumpled up the sheet of paper, and tossed it in the wastebasket.
To hell with that old speech. I've got a much better one now. Penguin decided, rising from his chair and walking across the room to stand in front of an ornate full-length mirror. He stood there adjusting his tie and toying with his hair, as he mused about the great news he'd just received. When the families find out I'm going to be mayor again, I'll have them in the palm of my hand.
As he stared in the mirror, he saw Ivy enter the room and walk toward him. Seeing her approach, he grinned, beaming. Although they had not been companions long, he cared very deeply for her. She had been there for him during some of his darkest days. Even with guns pointed at their heads, she'd stood firmly by his side. That was true loyalty and he'd never forget it. He turned to face her, his smile still bright.
"Well someone's in a good mood." Ivy chirped happily, a mischievous grin playing across her shimmering pink lips. "I need to ask a favor." She said cocking her head to the side and clenching her hands together under her chin in a 'pretty please' pose.
"Anything for my Ivy." Penguin proclaimed magnanimously, then he added with a sidelong glance. "Within reason, of course."
"I wanna have my birthday party at the Iceberg."
Penguin considered her request for a second before replying. "When is your birthday?"
"One month from today. The club be ready by then, right?" she asked softly, afraid he'd say no.
"Yes, it will and yes, you can. We'll throw a party that Gotham will talk about years from now." Penguin replied enthusiastically, pleased to make Ivy happy. Ivy's face burst into a dazzling smile, then she leapt into Penguin's arms and planted a juicy kiss on his cheek.
"I love you Pengy." Ivy squealed in delight. Penguin had given up on telling her not to use that nickname, after she promised not to use it in public.
"By the way, how old will you be?" He asked.
"Thirteen! Yay, I'm going to be a teenager, grown up inside and out!" Ivy sang as she broke into a little dance filled with child-like exuberance.
Penguin laughed, tickled by her cheerful antics. But he was also struck by how young Ivy really was. Although her age didn't come as a big surprise, it reinforced his desire to protect and guide her. She deserves a real parent in her life.
Before Penguin could carry that line of thought any further, Olga stepped in and announced the arrival of Danielle Davis.
Tabitha and Selina were sitting at the bar in the Sirens, which was empty, but for the two of them. It was several hours before Penguin's big pow wow was scheduled to start and both ladies were concerned what decisions made, during that meeting, would mean to them.
"Penguin took control of Fish's organization when she died, including Mr. Freeze and Firefly. You and Firefly go way back. Do you think there's a chance you can get her to flip to our side?" Tabitha asked, her brow furrowed and her intense gaze fixed on Cat.
"Yeah, I've been trying to get through to Bridget, but she won't make a move without Fries. Seems like the two of them have really 'clicked' and now they're a package deal." Selina replied. "Both of them have moved into a guest house on Penguin's estate and Penguin's even having a massive freezer room added to it so Fries can be more comfortable. Getting them to turn on Penguin isn't likely to happen any time soon."
"What about Ivy. You two were thick as thieves and I mean that literally. Rumor has it, that girl can do things with plants that would make Mother Nature blush."
Selina looked down and slowly shook her head before responding.
"I don't know what's going on with Ivy, it's weird the way she's latched on to Penguin. I've only seen her once since I conned her into giving me the location of her and Penguin's hideout and she was still pretty pissed about that. All she could talk about was how wonderful Penguin is and how rotten I was to betray him. I mean she just went on and on about how smart he is; how brave he is; how generous—oh my God it was nauseating. But I gotta admit she was looking well cared for with her Hermes handbag, red bottom shoes and Versace dress."
"So, do you think there's any chance she's just playin' him for his money?" Tabitha, obviously intrigued, asked.
"Normally, knowing Ivy, I would say HELL YES!" Selina vigorously replied, before continuing in a more hesitant, unsure tone. "But no, it's definitely more than that. It's just the way she stood in the face of death for him. Riddler and your whole crew was out gunning for him, but she never left his side. I know for a fact she had a chance to run, but she didn't take it."
"Hmm, there's usually only one thing that'll make a young girl ready to die for a man—love." Tabitha stated with a knowing look on her face. "You think Penguin's hittin' that? Have you ever noticed how long his shoes are? That man might have rocked her world." Tabitha added with a throaty chuckle.
It's great to see Tabs laughing again. Selina thought, finding the laughter contagious and falling into a giggling fit herself.
Finally, choking back her laughter, Selina breathlessly responds. "Yes, I have noticed his feet, but I didn't have the dirty mind to take it where you took it. But seriously though, that would be too messed up. Ivy is only twelve years old."
"Wait! Are you telling me that tall redhead is a twelve-year-old?" Tabitha gasped, clearly surprised.
"Yeah, Marv, one of Hugo Strange's freaks, touched her and she aged super-fast." Selina explained. "Ivy's had a hard life; so she's got a lot of street smarts, but deep down inside she's still a kid. There's more though, which is why I've been trying so hard to reach her."
"More?" Tabitha asked. Selina hesitated before responding because she'd purposely kept this information from Tabitha, afraid that her reaction would mean trouble for Ivy. But the phone call she received this morning made it clear that now was the time to put all her cards on the table.
"The rumors are true. Ivy's got mad skills when it comes to plants. She can heal people with plants, I think that's how Penguin survived after Riddler shot him. And I'm pretty sure it's the only reason I'm sitting here. I was in a coma after being thrown out of a fourth-floor window and when I woke up, a few days later, Ivy was in my hospital room with plants everywhere. The really wild part is, I didn't have a scratch on me. I felt great, like nothing happened." Selina took a deep breath before adding. "Maybe she can help Butch."
"We need to snatch her and find out!" Tabitha stated with a fierce gleam in her eyes. Selina's mouth dropped, shocked speechless for a moment before finding her voice.
"DO WHAT! You can't be serious Tab. We're going to bust into Penguin's lair and grab Ivy?! It sounds like a suicide mission to me." Selina vehemently protested. "I agree we need to get Ivy's help, but we need to do it right. Ivy can be stubborn, forcing her won't work."
"Oh, I can force her." Tabitha confidently asserted.
"NO, we need to get her to cooperate voluntarily. If I can get close to her, I'm sure I can talk some sense into her."
"IF? If's not good enough. BUTCH COULD DIE ANY MINUTE!" Tabitha shouted, standing so suddenly that her bar stool fell over. Selina also stood up and looked Tabitha directly in the eye.
"THE BOTTOM LINE IS, I'm not going to repay Ivy for saving my life by kidnapping and torturing her." Selina stated firmly. "But I have a plan and I'll need your help to make it work."