Edward winced as the hot water hit one of the healing marks on his shoulder blade. It has taken two full days for the bites and bruising which Jon had inflicted on him with his teeth that afternoon in the greenhouse to begin to heal and this one wound was being stubborn and refusing to disappear. It wasn't just a cosmetic issue, the mark caused a mild pain to shoot through his shoulder even time he disturbed it and this limited his movement slightly. He vaguely amused himself with the thought that if Ras Al Ghul were to attack he would probably be killed outright and when he went for his final judgement it would be recorded down as the result of sex injuries.
His teenage self would have been proud, he mused.
He continued to wash the shampoo from his reddish hair as he hummed along to an old show-tune he had vague recollections of. Whatever peace he was hoping to continue having was soon cut short by an insistent knocking at the bathroom door. "Who is that?" He called out loudly, squinting through the steam which had filled the small room.
"It's me Mistah E!" Came Harley's chirpy voice through the closed door.
"I understand that this is your house Harley," Edward scolded, "but usually when someone goes for a shower it means that they want some time alone. Privacy. That sort of thing."
"Why ya needin' privacy in the shower Mistah E?" Harley asked, mischief clear in her tone. "Do you need me ta send up Doctah Crane to help you out with anything?"
Edward snorted, "When did you get so vulgar Harley? Is this Pamela's fault?"
"Don't be mean about Red when she's not here to defend herself." It was Harley's turn to scold. "Anyway, Kitty and Doctah Crane sent me up here to tell ya to come down into the sparring room when ya finish!"
Suspicious. "Did they mention why?"
The answer came after a moment. "Nah." But Edward could hear the lie in her tone.
Assuming that it wasn't anything bad, Edward sighed again. "Whatever Harley. When I am finished I will dry off and meet you all there? Do I need to bring anything? A gun maybe?"
"You're so funny Mistah E. Just bring yourself and some fighting' clothes."
Moving back under the water spray, Edward heard her soft footsteps disappearing down the hallway and he swore silently. He hated sparring and he was suspicious of Jon and Selina's intent. They usually did not have his best interests at heart.
Realising that he would no longer be able to relax, he shut off the water and wrapped one of the luxury towels around his thin waist. One of the benefits of living in the Siren's house was that they enjoyed their little pleasures and Edward suspected that the cost of each of these towels would be outrageous to the average man.
Drying his hair quickly with another small towel, he slicked the damp hair to the side to keep it from obstructing his vision. Pulling on a dark black t-shirt he suspected that Selina had bought for him and a pair of comfortable yet flexible bottoms, he stopped to inspect himself in the mirror. He looked older than he would have liked. Even with the power boost from Pam he could see the stress, which was consuming him since Ras had made his presence known, on his normally youthful face. "Jesus, Eddie." He muttered as he frowned at the reflection, at least Jon wasn't with him for his good looks.
Locking the door behind him, he started to make his journey as quietly as possible. He would be mortified if one of the other rogues found him in such a state of undress. He had pretences and a reputation to uphold after all. Luckily, the sparring room was on the same floor as him and as he opened the heavy door he was pleased to note that so far his plans had been successful.
As soon as he entered, he noticed Jon, Selina, and Harley watching him. "Umm...hello?" He offered tentatively.
"Edward." Jon greeted and his eyes were twinkling with some unknown emotion which caused Edward's suspicions to deepen. Jon was definitely up to something. "I made an interesting proposal to Selina and she has accepted."
Edward grinned wolfishly, "Has she finally agreed to that threesome? Oh happy days! But then why is Harley here too?" He paused to wink at her. "Oh Jon you sly dog! Did you convince both these beautiful women to join us? If only all those bullies who told you you would die a virgin could see you now!"
As Jon growled his disapproval, Selina snorted. "You wish Ed. No, what Jon means is that he has challenged us to a double spar. Harley and I versus you and Jon. A simple spar, no weapons or use of extreme methods." She shot a look at an innocent-looking Harley.
"Jon did what now?" Edward spluttered as Jon shrugged in his direction. "Ladies, can we have a moment to discuss strategy?"
"Sure Mistah E."
Following Jon into one of the corners of the room, Edward widened his eyes at him. "Jon are you insane? These women will most likely kill us! We do not have the skill to take them both on."
"But we do have the strength and the element of surprise." Jon countered. "We allow them to think they have won and then we use our new found talents to win." He spoke confidently and Edward almost felt convinced.
He frowned. "And if we lose then we will be carrying the bruises of this encounter for the next week! I'm still not fully healed after our own private spar in the greenhouse."
Jon smirked at the memory, "That was my mistake. How is the shoulder?"
"Sore." Edward pouted.
"Would a victory over both Selina and Harley make it feel better?"
"I suppose it might." He sighed deeply. "So what do we do?"
"Exactly as I said. Allow them to believe they have won and then turn the tables on them."
Smiling despite his doubt, Edward nodded. "We can certainly try. Are you ready ladies?" He called out.
"Of course we are!" Harley grinned.
Selina stretched her back out a little and quipped, "It's not like we have to do much to prepare. I give you both five minutes tops. And I bet Jon cries."
"We shall see, Lina!" Edward smiled before taking his position in the centre of the room with Jon by his side. "So how do we want to split this?"
"I want Mistah E! I haven't fought Mistah E before! Harley waved excitedly.
Selina nodded. "That leave me with you Jon."
"Delightful." He dead-panned as he faced her. "On my count then. Three. Two. One. Begin."
As soon as his count down ended he immediately ducked, knowing Selina as he did he knew that she would try to end it quickly and he didn't want to give her the satisfaction. Evading the blow, he realised that he would have to go on the defensive for a while to keep her suspicions down. As he continued to dodge her constant punches, which he only really managed due to his mild speed increase, he glanced at Edward who was faring considerably worse.
Perhaps allowing Harley to go on the offensive was a bad move, Edward sighed internally as he took another swift kick to the arm. So far she had landed a handful of kicks and one jab to his shoulder which, to his eternal embarrassment, pulled a small squeal from him as she directly hit the sore spot. As he tried to dodge her, she swept her leg out and sent him flying to the ground.
Just as Edward hit the floor, Jon felt Selina jam his arm up behind his back and he instantly relaxed in her grip. "I think I've won Jon." Her musical laugh played out behind him.
Casting his eyes to Edward who was lying prone at Harley's feet, he jerked his head in a slight nod. "I don't think so, Selina." He challenged as he summoned all the extra strength which he had been injected with and used it to free his arm and twist around. Without hesitating, he knocked her with his forearm and to her surprise she found herself being thrown fully backwards into one of the padded walls and she fell to the ground a little winded.
As Jon was throwing Selina, Edward pushed himself off the ground as quickly as he could and threw a punch at Harley's upper arm but he misjudged the distance and it caught her on the upper chest and sent her flying to the ground as he himself had been thrown earlier. She missed the mat by a few inches and landed harshly on the wooden flooring.
"Sorry Harley." Edward grimaced as he surveyed the dazed blonde. He had not meant to actually hurt her.
"It's okay Mistah E!" Harley grinned as she hopped back to her feet. "I've had worse."
"Ain't that the truth." Grumbling, Selina pushed herself to her feet again. "So what is the deal then boys? Jon was able to knock me to the floor and the laws of probability state that such an event is almost impossible without outside help. You been stealing Bane's venom?"
Harley shook her head. "Nuh-huh. I betcha Red did something? Sure she did?"
"Correct Harley. Darling Pam injected Jon and I with a diluted version of what she infused you with. The effects are only temporary and will wear off in a few weeks. She did not appreciate the growth of debts between us and this was her solution."
"Nice one Eddie." Selina smiled as she flexed her shoulder. "You might actually make it through this fight with Ras after all!"
"Thanks Selina." Edward frowned. "Shall we continue?"
"Hell yeah!" She grinned ferociously at the thought of a decent bout but as she dropped into a fighting stance a new noise made itself known.
Pulling his ringing phone from his pocket, Edward glanced at the number and his face twitched. Placing the phone up against his ear he answered, "Yes?" A pause. "And you are certain? Okay."
As Edward hung, Jon was the first to notice that his body had went rigid and his expression was lacking. "What has happened?"
"That was our little assassin friend. Ras Al Ghul will be attacking our stronghold tonight." He answered simply. "Assemble the rogues. We have no time to lose."
x-x-x-x-x
Tense. Tense would be the perfect adjective to describe the atmosphere within the room as the final rogue, Black Mask, made his entrance. Standing on the stairs of the main hall, Edward surveyed the room. Each rogue had been under very strict instructions to bring themselves alone and leave any goons or henchmen in a separate part of the house. This was not a meeting which needed an excessive audience. Seeing Ivy give him a nod to let him know that all were present he cleared his throat.
"I have received word," he called out loudly, "that Ras Al Ghul has amassed his forces and will be attacking us at midnight tonight. He is unaware that we know of his plans to attack and this gives us the element of both surprise and home-field advantage. They are not present at the moment but Oswald Cobblepot and Victor Fries have provided us with weapons to keep the invaders at bay but that can only do so much." He held his hands out in a welcoming gesture. "Each of you are responsible for your own safety tonight but be warned that if you allow your fellow rogues to fall in your place then we will all fall. For tonight at least, consider us a team. One solid cohesive unit."
"Don't be selfish bastards, is what he is trying to say." Selina piped up from the front of the crowd.
"Thank you Lina." He rolled his eyes and continued. "When they arrive, I am unsure of the exact numbers but I do believe that we will have the advantage. Some of us are more skilled than others in battle and if you are blessed with talent," he nodded to Harley, "brute strength," he nodded at Waylon, "or other forms of power," he nodded at Pam, "then use these skills to kill as many of these invaders as possible. Every assassin is your personal enemy and they will not hesitate to carve your heart out and present it to their master on a silver platter."
Waylon growled, "Sounds delicious."
Ignoring him, Edward clenched his fists. "Gotham City is your home. It may be hell on earth but it is 'our' hell on earth and we will not be forced off this land by Ras Al Ghul and his misdirected power trip. You each will now have a few hours to gather your wits about you and make whatever preparations you need for tonight's festivities. We shall meet here again at ten and you must bring everything you need, henchmen included, in order to survive."
"We will endure, we will survive and we will win the fight." Edward concluded. "We need to believe that or we have already lost." At his words a cheer of agreement went up from Jervis and it encouraged a few of the others to yell their support. Sighing as he realised that was the best he was going to get, Edward watched as Jervis bolted from the room.
No one else made any effort to move and Edward could see the mix of concern and bloodlust which was flowing through the room. Realising that perhaps his speech was a bit 'much', he sent Jon a quick grimace before facing the crowd again. "Uhh...do we have any questions?"
"What will happen to our bodies if we die in the fight?" Dent inquired casually from the sidelines but there was a heaviness to his voice which was hard to detect but definitely present.
"In the event of death, any bodies will be returned to any living relatives or loved ones," Edward suspected that Dent might be seeking assurance that Gilda would be able to bury him should the worst happen, "and in the event of this not being an option then the remaining rogues will see that you receive an appropriate send off." His words were again met with a silence which dragged on as the minutes ticked by.
The heavy atmosphere was broken by Jervis's sudden reappearance with a massive tea tray filled with several small china cups which contained a mystery liquid.
"Jervis, what is that?" Edward asked, exasperation clear in his tone. He was not in the mood for Jervis's nonsense. Not tonight.
"Green tea my dear Doormouse!" Jervis tittered as he handed out a cup to each of the assembled rogues, each with varying degrees of amusement and annoyance on their faces. "Clean cup! Clean cup!"
"Who set him off?" Edward demanded of the virtually silent room. "Whoever did, know that I hate you." He glanced at the cup in his hands, green tea was supposed to be good for steeling the nerves. Bringing it up to his lips, he gulped down a decent amount of liquid. "But thank you Jervis. I appreciate it."
At this point he was willing to take courage where he could get it.
