I heard Oswald's limping footsteps before he even knocked on my door. I opened the door with a narrowed gaze and watched him carefully as he entered the apartment. I couldn't help but take note of how he completely walked by his mother's apartment, which concerned me. Oswald read my facial expression and said, "You seem stressed, Miss Rook."

"Stressed is the last word I'd use to explain what I'm feeling, Cobblepot." I said, closing the door behind him. "That stunt with the police station just put a target on your back. You chose a stupid way of coming back from the dead."

Oswald snorted. "You're a brutally honest person."

"I've been told." I said. Oswald had a pleasant smile on his face as he kept looking at me, and the sight of it was starting to bug me. Before I could say anything though, he patted my cheek lightly and limped over to my kitchen.

"The first group of people I wanted to let know that I was back was my friend, Jim Gordon, and any of his friends at the station." Oswald said, taking a seat. I was left standing in front of him, still taken aback by the fact that he had touched my face. "There's a butterfly effect, you see? There are men in the police station who are in Fish Mooney's pocket, and they'll be running off to go tell her the grand news that I'm alive."

He paused to take a slight breath, and I took this opportunity to start talking. "You seem really happy about that. She wants you dead, in case you don't remember."

Oswald laughed; I raised my eyebrows at him and crossed my arms. "You didn't let me tell you, Miss Rook. Don Maroni believes that I am his man. He thinks I am one hundred and ten percent loyal to him and him alone."

I caught the fact that Oswald had continued to use the word "think". I brought this up and Oswald grinned cheekily at me again, tilting his head just a tad. "Good ear, Miss Rook. And yes, Maroni thinks I am his man, but I've been meeting other players in this game. Playing people the best way I possibly can."

"You're being very vague." I pointed out.

Another laugh. He was starting to irritate me with the constant laughing and smirking, as if whatever I said was just so amusing. I narrowed my eyes at him and waited for him to finish before saying, "What game are you even playing? Who else is a part of this?"

Oswald gestured for me to sit opposite of him. I did, keeping my eyes on him the entire time. "Right before Jim tried to 'kill' me, I made a deal with with Flacone. I promised him that I would come back to Gotham, spy on Maroni for him, and he'd offer me a spot right beside him when this war was finished."

"Sounds like it's easier said than done."

"Exactly. So you see why it's important to stay on Maroni's side, Miss Rook. With my cards played right, I'll be the ruler of Gotham."

He was making it sound like a kingdom, I noticed. And he wanted to be king of it all. Every time Oswald talked about taking over Gotham or throwing Falcone and Maroni and Fish out of power, he got this bright light in his eye that slightly unnerved me. If Oswald ever noticed this reaction from me, he didn't show it at all. Oswald looked up at me with a thoughtful expression, "I believe that Fish must know about me being alive by now. You've never met her have you?"

I blinked at him. "No."

"Good, that's good for you at least." Oswald said, nodding. There was a nervous twitch in my stomach and I forced myself not to think about what could've happened if Fish Mooney ever knew that Oswald and I were "friends".

Oswald left a little after that, going next door to visit his mother. I locked the door behind him and pressed my back against the door. After an hour, I was almost back to being relaxed again when someone knocked hard on my door. I stopped getting out the ingredients for dinner to peek around the corner at my front entrance. I hadn't heard the familiar limping footsteps of Oswald, so whoever was out there knew how to walk quietly.

I flinched when there was another pounding knock on my door. When did I suddenly get nervous every time someone came to my front door? Oh yeah, when I got involved with the next door neighbor's kid. I heaved a sigh before slowly approaching the door, and answering it. I almost had a heart attack when I saw who was standing there.

The man standing in front of me was much taller than me. He had super dark eyes, and judging by his head, was completely hairless. The tall and bald man tilted his head slightly and gave me a small smile that didn't make me feel any better. "Hello. I guess that you're Sydney Rook?"

"That's me." I said, fighting to keep my voice over the pitch of squeak. The man snorted and tilted his head back to a normal position.

"My name is Victor Zsasz. And my employer needs to have a word with you." He said quite calmly and with a surprising amount of politeness. But that didn't stop my heart from hammering in my chest.

I cleared my throat and crossed my arms, making an effort not to look as frightened as I really was. "And who is your employer?"

"Surely you've heard of Don Falcone?"

"You know, that name has a familiar ring to it."

Zsasz blinked his dark eyes at me. "Do you want to come along peacefully, or will I have to use force?" The threat in his voice was clear as day. I blinked and looked at Zsasz up and down before sighing and retreating into my apartment. I half expected Zsasz to follow immediately, but he continued waiting patiently right outside of my door for me to come back.

With my head held high, I left the safety of my apartment and locked the door behind me. Zsasz gave me a polite smile before gesturing for me to lead the way out of the building. We walked past Mrs. Kapelput's door, and I could hear the opera music starting next door. I grit my teeth as I lead the way down the stairs and into the overcast day outside.

There was a dark black car parked right on the curb. I swallowed as I approached it; Zsasz ignored my nervousness and moved ahead to open the door for me. I got inside the car and he got in right behind me. I moved as far from him as possible and was practically pressing myself against the opposite window and door. There was a tinted window between the back seat and the driver's seat, and Zsasz banged on it hard to alert the driver that it was time to move. As the dark car slide away from the curb, Zsasz ave me a pointed look.

"I'm so glad you chose the peaceful way, Rook. I'd hate to have to use the forceful way." Zsasz said, glancing out of the window every now and then.

I snorted despite myself. "You didn't leave me much of a choice."

"There's always a choice, Rook. You just happened to make the smart one." Zsasz paused for a second before looking back at me. "Make sure that you keep making the smart choice."

The car sped up as we made out of the heavily populated neighborhood.