Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for my OC, Isabella Bruno.

"Anybody seen Bella?" Allred asked casually as he strolled into the room.

"No, not today. She's probably with Carson or Ruby." another one of his associates answered.

"Okay, I probably should go check with them. Jackson told me to tell her something." he replied, turning on his heel and towards the door.

"She's a cute little thing, isn't she? Reminds me of my daughter." the other assassin said aloud. His daughter was killed by their enemy company after they were head to head on a flashy high profile assassination. Poor guy never really got over his daughter's death.

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be okay. You'll get closure eventually." Allred, reassured him. "Anyway, I have to go find Ruby and Carson. I'll see you later, Chuck."

"See you later, buddy." Chuck smiled, his eyes watering. He seemed a little out of it. Allred brushed it off and walked off down the hall to find his two coworkers.

He strutted down the hall and to the right, the rec room. It had three pool tables, two ping pong tables, and an air hockey table. There were also many couches and chairs with a few televisions. It was usually pretty empty during the day but at night, it was abuzz with activity. There was at least one rec room in each of the four wings: North, South, East, and West. Then there was the business wing, where the work went on in the building. It was a pretty extensive place.

He spotted Carson and Ruby talking to each other on one of the couches in the corner. Allred looked at his watch, it read seven o'clock. The sun was beginning to go down and the sky was a beautiful reddish color.

But that color always reminded Jackson of blood. He always said it whenever the sky was like that. And for some reason, Allred never forgot it. But it wasn't something that he'd mention to Bella. It might just freak her out even more.

"Carson! Ruby!" he called out, walking in their direction.

Their heads perked up at his voice and looked at him. They looked pretty relaxed, which was unusual for them, especially Carson, when Jackson left for a job. They always worried about him when he was gone. Jackson Rippner was one of the best men around here. He knew all the fields. Managing, assassinations, coverups, etc. He knew how to do everything.

It would be a hard hit on the company if they lost him. Even thoughnthis was a fairly easy job, the tension was intense. Very intense.

"Hey, what's up, man?" Carson asked, casually, his arm slung around the couch.

"Hi!" Ruby said cheerfully.

"Hey, you guys seen Bella?"

Ruby and Carson's faces dropped. They looked at each other, fear in their eyes. They slowly rose from the couch in sync, looked at Allred, and started running towards the door.

"BELLA!" they yelled in unison, runnignas fast as they could.

Allred just stood there, dumbfounded. "Guess they haven't seen her.." he said, plopping down on the couch.

Ruby got to Bella's room first, running in abruptly. Carson ran in a few seconds later. Both were out of breath, their chests heaving as they tried to recover from their run.

"Bella, honey, you okay?" Ruby asked.

Bella didn't move, she didn't even look up. She sat on the bed quietly, looking down. There were tears clearly running down her face. She hadn't been out of her room all day.

"Bella?" Carson asked, behind Ruby.

"No." Bella said, suddenly.

"No what?"

"Only Jackson can call me Bella."

"Okay, we'll all call you Isabella from now on." Carson said. "Are you okay?"

"I want Jackson back."

"He'll be back in a few days." Ruby said.

"What if he's not?" Bella asked.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" Carson asked, confused.

"What if he doesn't come back?" Bella rasped, her voice barely above a whisper.

Bella looked up and she looked like a mess. Her eyes were red, her cheeks puffy. Tears kept pouring silently out of her blue orbs. There were scratch marks all over her face, she probably was clawing at it all day.

"Have you eaten?" Ruby asked.

""No."

"Do you want something to eat."

"No."

"I think you should get some sleep. Jackson will be home soon. If you go to sleep, tomorrow will come quicker and the day after that, Jackson will be home."

"Okay."

Carson and Ruby got Bella ready for bed and tucked her in to bed and wished her goodnight. They left with reassuring words, saying that Jackson misses her too and that he'll be home sooner than she thinks. He'll be home before she knows it and then he can tell her all about his "trip."

Bella thought that he was on vacation and not on a mission to murder her own father. He wouldn't tell her the difference. It might scare her. Imagine how a nine year old would react to that.

Bella lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The room slowly began to grow darker and darker as it got later. But she wasn't tired. She just wanted Jackson.

Her eyes had run dry a while ago, not finding the energy to cry anymore. She didn't think there were any tears left in her to cry. All she could do was sit and think about what it would be like to have Jackson back. He was hers, and no one else's.

Finally, Bella fell asleep. Her eyes slowly began to grow heavier and heavier. It was hard to keep them open and stay awake. But it was no use as the dreamland overtook her and brought her to deep, peaceful sleep.

A few hours after Bella was asleep for a while, a stranger came in through the unlocked window of Bella's room.

It was none other than Jonathan Crane.

He sat on the edge of her bed and studied her hard. She slept soundly, and she wasn't tossing and turning. Her breathing was deep and even. He was sure that she was asleep.

He had the perfect plan to lure her to him where he could get her away from his brother. She seemed a little too attached to him.

He was outside her room all day, observing her. She wouldn't be too hard to get to cooperate. Especially when she was vulnerable. She was usually stubborn but she was too broken to even put up an argument with anyone. And she already liked Jonathan.

He gently shook her awake. "Hey, Isabella..."

She rolled over to meet him and opened her eyes. "Jonathan?"

Even in the dark, she could tell who was who. And they were identical twins. That was impressive.

"C'mon. Get up. I'm gonna take you to see Jackson." he said, smiling at her.

"Really?" she was awake now, and her face was excited.

"Yeah, come with me. Let's go."

She followed him out the window. He grabbed the suitcase he packed for her while she was asleep and walked to his car.

Jonathan hastily buckled her in and got into the driver's side. He started the engine and quickly drove off. He didn't want to get caught. Jonathan was actually surprised how easy it was to accomplish his little plan.

He smirked to himself. They were most definitely not going to see Jackson. In fact, they were going straight back to Gotham. To Jonathan's office at Arkham.

She was going to be his little assistant.

A/N: Ta da! This chapter was fun to write! I hope it was a good chapter. The action will start up a little bit more now.

I have plans for this story, though it won't be especially long, it will have a bit more left. :)

But I hope you enjoyed it. :) Thanks for reading! Until next time!

-Harley

I will do shoutouts next chapter. I don't have enough time to do them now. Sorry :(