This is the sequel to my first fic "Wraith" which can be found on my profile, thanks for reading! - Katy x
I was sat outside Ivy's cell playing chess with her, we were discussing how my day had gone.
"...and then he had the nerve to suggest that this place should be given to the state!"
"So how are you going to deal with it?" I smiled wryly, I had just the plan.
"I'm going to ask his nephew out for a drink." Ivy laughed then.
"Oh Genevieve Arkham, how terribly cruel of you!"
"He deserves it, both of them. Quincy is a dick and his nephew a heartless bastard, he'll be getting a taste of his own medicine."
"You know if you keep going after heartless bastards the press will pick up on it."
"They already have. They published an article just last week saying that I had a weak spot for bad boys!"
"If only they knew." if only indeed, I was the bad one in my relationships. Not just the heartbreaker, but the secret murderer, the psychopath walking free.
"So any new gossip on the grapevine?"
"Now you mention it I have been meaning to talk to you about that." she sounded serious "Something big is happening, and soon. There is something not quite right about Arkham City, we all know it but what we don't know is what."
"If you find anything out tell, me and i'll pass it on to Bruce." he dealt with the press not me, I had difficulty restraining myself from lashing out at them and a murder on my part would do our campaign no good.
"You know I will" and I did. Ivy was my most trusted friend, even more so than Harley though I trusted both of them with my life. "My dear Genevieve I believe that is checkmate. Chess really isn't your forte is it? Though you seem worse than normal today, are you okay?" I wasn't. That night's nightmare had been the worst yet, it hadn't ended when I woke up and in the end I was only able to secure two hours of sleep. I didn't want to concern Ivy though, or risk her trying to dig deeper behind their cause.
"I'm fine, just a late night is all!" I wasn't sure if she believed me or not but she didn't bring it up again until just as I was leaving.
"Genevieve?"
"Yes Ivy."
"You know you can tell me anything right?" That almost broke me, there and then.
"I know Ivy, and you me." she smiled at me and it felt like someone had stabbed me in the heart, I didn't deserve her.
I had to go home and get ready, there was a press conference about Arkham tonight and Bruce had told me I had to be there, even if I didn't talk, just to show my solidarity behind the campaign. However on my way I bumped into none other than Daniel Sharp, Quincy's nephew who I had been talking to Ivy about.
"Oh Daniel what a surprise seeing you here!" I had my flirt on, which basically consisted of me raising the pitch of my voice slightly, giggling lots, leaning in close and making a lot of physical contact.
"Well actually Gen I was looking for you."
"Really why?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to grab a drink with me before the conference tonight?" perfect.
"That sounds lovely Daniel! How about we meet at the place down the alley across from city hall? I hear they do wonderful cocktails."
"I'll meet you there at 6."
"See you later!"
When I got there at five past six I was wearing a short green dress and uncomfortably high black heels, I wasn't playing around Daniel was nowhere to be seen. I waited another five minutes before my phone started to ring it was Daniel.
"Hello, where are you?"
"I'm just around the corner, come and meet me i've got a surprise for you" he was actually that pathetic.
"Okay i'm on my way!" as I rounded the corner I walked straight into him. "There you are, I was worried you'd forgotten!" something was wrong though, he seemed off.
"Right. Of course you did."
"What are you saying Daniel?" I was starting to worry now.
"I'm saying that I know what you're playing at, you want revenge for what my Uncle said in court earlier." not so pathetic after all then.
"Daniel! What would make..."he cut me off by shoving me against the wall, a hand over my mouth.
"I was also saying that this isn't your plan right now, this is ours. But first i'm going to get my payment from you for thinking you could use me you little whore." No, no, no. I wouldn't let him do that. Anything but that. I lashed out at him and kicked him in the stomach but what I hadn't anticipated was him being trained as well. He countered me by grabbing me by the hair and slamming my head against the wall, my arms locked behind me and the full weight of his body preventing me from kicking. "Nice try, but you're little weak." he whispered in my ear sending a trickle of fear down my spine. "Now where were we? Oh yes, I remember." his hand started to stroke up my thigh. "Don't struggle, you're gonna need your strength later." he moved his other hand up to my chest and grabbed me roughly. "See? Not so bad." he was just starting to pull the hem of my dress up when a familiar voice interrupted.
"Now, now Daniel. It isn't the time. Miss Arkham has an appointment and unfortunately it will render her unable to attend the press conference." Quincy. He walked over to me and pulled a syringe out and injected me in the neck. As I slowly slipped into darkness I heard his voice in my ear. "Revenge is sweet Miss Arkham."
I woke up to the sound of an engine, it didn't exactly take long to work out I was in a helicopter and that it was in the process of landing.
"I can't get a clear spot." I heard the pilot say, there was some murmuring from his head piece and then he nodded his head "affirmative." We continued to descend until we were about three meters above a four storey building, the pilot then turned to the man guarding me and gave him the thumbs up. The guard the roughly grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me towards the open side of the helicopter.
"Move."
"What do you think you're doing? Get off of me now, or..." I didn't get finish my threat as he pushed me out of the side. I landed hard on the roof of the building leaving a series of scrapes down my right side, and looked up to see the helicopter fly away. Brushing myself off I got up to walk to the side of the roof to take a look at my surroundings, my heart dropped as I realised where I was. Arkham City.
So this was Quincy's revenge, drop me into the super prison I was campaigning against to be killed off by someone else. It was clean but cowardly, completely Quincy's style. Well then, the only thing I could hope to do was stay alive. Unfortunately I was still dressed in the same attire I had left my apartment in, which was only practical for getting laid. Across the road from me I saw a fancy dress shop, it would have to do. I looked around the roof for some sort of hatch into the building below but couldn't find any, my only option was to climb down the drain pipe and try to reach the fire escape six meters below. It wasn't elegant but I managed it and quickly took the ladder till I reached street level, I kept an eye out for any sign of movement and when I was sure the coast was clear I crossed the street and used one of my heels to smash the window of the shop to break in. It wasn't particularly helpful. I doubted a cow costume was much more practical than what I was already wearing, however I did manage to find a pair of boots that according to the label were once part of a Luke Skywalker costume. I tried to find some kind of weapon but the only thing I could see was a plastic samurai sword, which wouldn't exactly help me much. I was about to give up when I noticed a door leading through to a small kitchenette which I assumed the store workers used for their lunch breaks. After a quick rifle through the draws I managed to locate a knife, it felt familiar in my hands and I started to relax a lot more.
I was just about to exit the shop when I heard voices heading my way, so I ducked behind a rail and waited for them to pass.
"Penguin says the clown's on the way out."
"You think it's true then?"
"Don't see why the boss would lie." their voices started fading and I peaked round the corner to watch their retreating backs. I knew the Joker was ill but dying? This was bad. And as for the other bit of intell I was now privy to. Cobblepot was here and that meant I was in worse danger than ever. Cobblepots and Arkhams had hated each other for centuries and as the couple of encounters me, Cobblepot and a couple of his thugs had, had over the past year had proven, relations between our families hadn't improved.
If I was going to stay alive I needed a plan of action. Quincy had kept the blueprints hidden from me so I was unaware of the layout, some scouting was needed. jutting from the rooftops in front of me I could see a large spire, decorated in luminous green question marks. A smile graced my lips, Eddie. I had barely seen him over the past year as his tendency to sneak out out had caused him to be imprisoned under especially high security, making it impossible to get in for a visit. I started to make my way towards the church which was quite a challenge considering I had next to no knowledge of the area. As I was passing what looked like the courthouse I a mob of blackgate thugs spotted me.
"Hey there, pretty lady. Want me to take care of you?" what a jerk.
"I'll do just fine by myself thank you very much."
"Oh we got a fiery one on our hands boys!" followed by an idiotic chorus of "ohhhs" and whistling. Until one of them shouted out "Wait, I know her. She was at the asylum, she works for Joker!"
"Then get 'er, the boss will wanna see her. Keep her tied up with the cat." The first one charged me and I neatly stepped to the side plunging my knife into his ribs as he passed. I then blocked a punch from another and delivered a roundhouse kick to the head, knocking him to the floor where I jammed the knife into his stomach. His friends paused as I knelt down and pulled the knife out of his stomach hearing as his rasping breaths grew shallower and shallower. I then looked up at them from my position on one knee and raised the knife to point at them.
"If I were you i'd turn around and walk away." They clearly decided it was a good idea to do as I said. I looked down at the man on the floor next to me as he took his final gasping breaths, when he went silent I leant over and carved my signature three kisses into his forehead before repeating the same with the other guy. If I was going to get by here people were gonna have to know I wasn't to be messed with and that meant leaving my mark.