Prompt: ( lego-joker ) "Almost Got 'im". Only with Cass. Use whatever villains you like. If you don't feel like writing full flashbacks, just them talking about her being terrifying is fine.

A/N: Okay I had WAY too much fun writing this, because I just really wanted to touch on all the amazing mercenary defeats that Cass had while in Blüdhaven anyway and tie it into Brenda and femslash february (man I've gotta pick up my game in a MAJOR way, c'mon, Rena). But this was great fun and thank you very much for the prompt. If anyone's curious about the battles and villains referenced, check out Batgirl (2000-20006) #33-36 & 58-64

Batman and related properties © DC Comics
story © RenaRoo

She Works Like Clockwork

The name of the game was being inconspicuous. The name of the game was being patient. And the name of the game was being bait.

There was a part of Cobblepot that had to admire the new Batgirl's tenacity. He hadn't had the pleasure of dealing with her much in Gotham, not outside of the times she accompanied Batman in roughing up the Iceberg Lounge's clientele.

But she was still a problem that had to be addressed.

A problem he had thought he was addressing already. But things had been curiously difficult as of late, and all of his last ten shipments had been foiled by Batgirl, no matter who had been on the case.

So the only answer it seemed was to meet where they would be least expected, to meet in the heart of Blüdhaven at a shop which the mercenaries had themselves named, just before closing, and get the explanations he so desperately desired.

By the time he walked through the cafe's door, the Penguin was greeted to the looks of the hired guns he had spent so much time and money on over the last few weeks, all sitting at a table in the back corner of the cafe.

Behind the counter was a single worker, a red-haired woman with glasses who made a point of cleaning mugs while watching Cobblepot carefully.

He crossed the cafe and sat at the open seat. "I want a cup of Earl Grey tea," he said loud enough for the working woman to hear.

"Right away, sir," she said before turning around and busying herself.

The Penguin then looked to the mercenaries around him. "I also want to know why no one has been able to collect that handsome bounty have left on Batgirl's head," he announced. His eyes glanced toward the Trigger Twins. "You two came to me highly recommended, you were the first of my investments upon moving operations to this city. And you could not even bring me Batgirl's cowl when I all but hand delivered it to you at my own home! What excuses can you have?"

The two glanced to each other and then back to the Penguin.

"You see, sir."
"We would have had her, sir."
"We almost got 'er, sir."
"But…"

Sir, it's not like we're exaggerating our record. Y'see, we actually are pretty transparent. We worked for Blockbuster before you, 'n his concerns were always about Nightwing.

That's a difficult challenge. He's like Batman himself – we'd know, Sir. We fought them both.

So when you told us that we needed to protect your assets from some girl and some boy who wore costumes, we didn't think nothing of it. Not compared to Nightwing and Batman.

They're just kids.

But you didn't tell us, Sir, that when we were patrolling the halls that night, that those weren't kids we were fightin' but straight up demons!

Robin used his usual tricks, we'd seen him back before back when we crossed paths with Batman in Gotham. But the girl… The girl's not anything like we've seen before.

When I'd shoot, she'd already be from the spot where I's shootin'. And before I'd shoot, she'd be back in his sights.

That's not an easy trick to pull on the Trigger Twins, hoss. We aim to shoot where people'll be, not where they are.

It's like the Batgirl saw that. It's like she knew that. And when she went from one spot to the other, we got ourselves all mixed up

And that's how Robin hogtied us from behind.

Couldn't even get sights on her, Sir. That's what fighting her's like, I swear.

You're shooting against the wind.

But that was with two of them. And even if there's two of us, it was a little unfair to compare us to these other guys when they lost her on her lonesome, but we lost her when she was teamed up with the other Batbrat!

Maybe without him…

Well, the point is, we had unlimited ammo. And her luck might've ran out just any minute then. We almost got 'er…

The Penguin tapped his fingers against the table, unimpressed. His other hand stirred the readied tea the cafe worker had gotten for him.

"I recall how you failed me at my grande entrée, Trigger Twins. It was probably a miscalculation on your end to remind me of that wasted retainer you both have," he snapped at the two of them, causing them to recoil in their seats simultaneously.

He then looked to the next group at the table. "And you? The four of you were supposedly unstoppable – top tier, a veteran force of evil, as you had sold it to me. How did you fail me?"

The Brotherhood of Evil was represented only by the youngest member, Gemini. The replacement for her own mother on the team, according to what little research Cobblepot had bothered to do in looking into them.

He had thought battling the likes of the Doom Patrol and Titans – teams of super powered heroes – that they would be capable of handling one bat stuck up in the Penguin's belfry.

"We are an excellent force, the Brotherhood of Evil," Gemini assured him. "It is why we are the highest billing."

"Were, my dear," the Penguin corrected. "Your colleagues are still in detention centers. I believe one is even in Belle Reeve, the poor devil."

Gemini lowered her head, anger still clear on her face. "The Brotherhood of Evil did deliver on its promise to you. We defeated her, just as you had instructed on the ship you gave us–"

"But she survived," the Penguin reminded her. "Very much against plan, I should recall quite clearly."

"We almost got her," Gemini insisted.

I may be fairly new to the business, but my partners have been veterans of the Meta scene. They knew how to cover their tracks.

Once I had tricked Batgirl, we all took the fight out of her. She was completely taken by surprise, out of her element. And when we left her, there wasn't a chance she was getting out alive.

Especially not after we blew the ship she was on out of the harbor.

The amount of damage she had to have taken, the blow to that obvious ego she was wearing when she burst into the room – even if she wasn't dead, she wasn't showing up the next night. My partners were sure of it.

I had no reason to doubt it.

When we set out to supervise your next shipment, Mister Cobblepot, there was no sign of her.

Until there was.

I don't know how she got past the Brotherhood of Evil, but her ability to read movement had its limits with me. I had seen them on the ship.

That was when I shaped into an entirely inhuman form to continue throwing her off.

At least, that was my plan. It was a good plan, got me a few hits.

But then, somehow, she saw through my metamorphosis. She saw through the monster I had become and hit me exactly where I hurt.

After all that work, after she had been on the ropes, she took us all out. Right there. And had called the police to back her up just to add injury to insult.

The worst part, though, was the way she looked at me when they handcuffed me. The way she looked…

I know the Batgirl doesn't really have a face with that mask, but I coulda sworn she pitied me.

She shouldn't have pitied me. I don't need pity.

After all, we almost got her…

Resting his half empty cup of tea on its saucer, the Penguin wasted no time in glaring at Miss de Mille. He reached for a handkerchief and wiped down his lips and chin. "Of course you shall receive no pity because, like everyone else, the only thing you're truly offering me here is a bloated excuse as to why I am still dealing with the menace to my personal affairs that is Batgirl!"

Still young and lacking confidence, Gemini flinched back at the accusation and lowered her head.

"Honestly, this meeting is nearly pointless save that I remember that old lessons can teach new blood what not to do in the future," he announced with a dignified shake of his head.

It was during the uncomfortable shift that his words had caused that the Penguin noticed the girl with platinum hair sitting coolly in the corner and recognized her almost immediately.

"And what of you, girl?" he asked. "Did Slade have a good reason beyond sheer embarrassment to send you to this meeting and explain his incompetence rather than himself? After all, I was assured multiple times over that the mighty Deathstroke was the best that the industry had to offer. Was I told wrong?"

Wilson's daughter glared up at the Penguin with only one eye, her arms still crossed. "No," she said back almost angrily. "He almost got her…"

Deathstroke is the best, but the reason he's not here right now and the reason he did not finish the job then are one of the same. That would also be why I am here instead of him.

The way he fought her it was obviously the first time in a long time she had been on the ropes in a purely physical battle. That was because Deathstroke's fighting style was more than physical, it was mental gymnastics.

It was difficult to predict from muscle memory alone when Deathstroke was leading her from one trap to the other.

Ultimately, though, it was not an exercise for Deathstroke to prove himself, it was an exercise for someone else to prove themselves.

That was when I stepped into the fray.

Batgirl was to be my quarry, and my introduction to the underworld as the new Ravager after my failure to live up to expectations against the Titans.

The reasoning was that Batgirl was but one person and not a team of individuals. She was good, but she was not a meta. And getting to her would get to both Nightwing and Batman ultimately. It was a way of letting them know a message from Deathstroke – that his family was greater than theirs. That his methods were more just than theirs.

I was eager. But Batgirl was not.

Gemini spoke of pity – you haven't seen the meaning of the word until you saw what looks I received in my fight with her.

I wished for pity compared to the sympathy and outreach Batgirl tried to hand out to me. She saw herself in me and she fought me that much harder because of it. Humiliated me in front of my fath– in front of Deathstroke.

And if it wasn't bad enough, she used my rage and anger and impulsiveness to keep my father from completing his quarry. She cut my jugular and forced Deathstroke to chose between completing his objective or saving his legacy.

He chose. And to justify that choice he told me to come here today and humor your asinine request to have former mercenaries under your employ justify themselves before you in a ridiculous, unnecessarily quaint local set up like this.

Because he almost got her, and it's not his mistake to excuse…

"Yet it's an excuse all the same," Cobblepot sighed, with a frustrated fling of his hand. His tea was done. "And for the record, my dear, regrettable former investments, the idea for this réunion is not a choice invitation of my own, but that of the untested among you."

The four mercenaries turned their attention to the shadowy figure in the business suit who had been silently sitting and waiting on them the entire time. His reaction was hidden behind his sunglasses, an interesting choice considering being indoors.

"My newest hire had heard, through your ever leaky community that I had attempted to address my issues with Batgirl before in the past, and thus set up this entire arrangement before acting on his own to fulfill my request," the Penguin said, lacing his stubby, malformed digits together. "He wanted to learn from mistakes of the past and whatnot before acting. A sign of wisdom one would think."

Wilson's daughter narrowed her visible eye. "And just who are you supposed to be? I've never seen you before, and I have studied all the big names in the industry."

"You're not from Blüdhaven," a Trigger Twin announced.
"We'd know you if you were," the other completed.

The mystery man smiled and raised his shoulders in a shrug. "The only thing you need to know about me… is that my name is Alpha. And I've been closer to getting Batgirl than any of you," he explained. "But that's not my story to tell." He got to his feet and nodded back to the redhead behind the counter.

Alarmed, Cobblepot began to stand, but the redhead dropped below the counter and suddenly sirens and lights began shining in through the windows.

Shocked, the mercenaries reached for their weapons and Cobblepot garbled for words, near squawking when Alpha tisked at them all, shaking a finger.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned before nodding back to the storage room door.

Batgirl flung the door open, eyes narrowed.

"Boo," she said before leaping into action.

With the FBI and police all finished up, I was at last able to close up shop. The mysterious Alpha guy that had been part of the whole scheme with me from the beginning and had been somewhat of my guardian as I recorded the conversations and served the dangerous lot told me I had quite the angel over my shoulder.

I just took him for his word as I finally closed up shop. I was disappointed but also had expected the exciting night to end like it was just the same.

That was, until Batgirl proved to be beyond expectations once again and was right behind me as I locked the door.

"Oh god," I breathed, putting a hand over my heart. "You scared me. You–"

"Sorry," she said, hands up in a soothing way. Her voice, though deep seemingly by force, was full of genuine apology.

"It's fine," I said back, nervously stroking some bangs behind my ears. "Just hope you can get out of here with the door locked and all."

"Wanted to… thank you," she explained softly. "You were brave."

"You and that Alpha guy did the hard work," I said with a shrug and a smile. "I'm a big fan, by the way. You've really helped to start turning this part of the city around. You probably won't get thanked much for it – Blüdhaven natives are stubborn like that – but you can hear it from me whenever you want."

"Thanks," Batgirl said hesitantly. She then stepped closer. "You're… turning it around, too. I've seen you… you're a good person. People notice. People I know very well. You feed and shelter and help them. They don't forget it."

I couldn't help the smile on my face. "Well, there's only one person I can think of who fits all those bills. You that familiar with just one girl around the corner?" I knew my voice was a touch too suspicious.

"Yes," Batgirl answered all the same, backing off. "Have to go. Thank you… Miss Miller."

"Thank you, Batgirl," I replied, watching her disappear into the shadows.

With a huff and a smile, I shake my head. "Almost got her."