The Gotham Corporate Tower was home to over three dozen businesses, some well-known, others that were just then taking off and hoping to become something grand. All throughout the building, people sent e-mails with spreadsheets, held meetings to determine what steps to take next, and dreamed about someday becoming rich and famous. They were envious of the more powerful companies that resided on the upper level floors and planned how to make their next move and land a corner office up there. Those who had escaped from their lower level jobs and made it to the upper floors were now wealthy and respected. However, the weaker ones who had somehow managed to ascend lasted no longer than a week and crashed and burned.
The most coveted upper floor office was Reizer, Inc., the pharmaceutical company. If one could make it up there, they had a promising future ahead of them.
Seldom did people survive long enough up there. Dozens of bleary-eyed, destroyed dreamers walk out of that elevator after a week of working there with blisters on their feet.
Up there, natural selection played out: only the strongest survived.
In the early afternoon of the first of September, Reizer, Inc.'s CEO rode the elevator to the top floor. Her eyes were hidden behind gargantuan, black sunglasses and her attention was directed to her Blackberry. Adele Worley was a woman to be feared and many opted to take the stairs in order to avoid the intimidating woman.
When she was out of the elevator and walking through her office, many of her employees looked down, pretending they were immersed with the work at hand. Several conversations ceased and one man even scurried out of the aisle and into a cubicle. The woman moved through the office like the Angel of Death, dangerous and beautiful.
It was a typical day at the office…until Adele approached her secretary.
The young woman hung up the phone when she saw her boss approaching. She was not an easily frightened woman—she had worked as a secretary for fierce fashion designers and steely lawyers. Adele Worley, however, was something else entirely and made those previous bosses look like kindergarten teachers.
Adele laid her leather purse on the counter and stared expectantly at the girl. "My mail's not going to fly into my hands, now is it?"
The secretary shivered and collected the older woman's mail with quivering fingers. "Your twelve o'clock appointment arrived. I told them to wait in your office."
Adele pushed her sunglasses on top of her blonde head and stared at the secretary suspiciously. "My twelve o'clock?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I don't have a twelve o'clock appointment," Adele stated in a cool voice. She turned and headed for her office, already knowing who to expect. It was only a matter of time until she arrived.
Adele turned the brass knob and the heavy, oak door opened. At first, she didn't see anyone. Adele stepped into the room and locked the door behind her. Once she was inside, several figures clad in black stepped out of the shadows.
Her eyes swept over the room. There was one woman wearing all white standing by the window. Hanna, Adele thought disgustedly. After a second sweep over the room, she still didn't see Brynn Kiley.
"You realize I'm going to have to fire my secretary because of this?" Adele looked at them the way she would look at an obnoxious person in a restaurant. Her lip was slightly curled and her eyes accusing. She did not appear to be afraid like most people would when they encountered the people who would kill them.
"Lucky for her," a voice chirped. Adele's eyes moved away from the Organization and to her desk chair. It swiveled around and Adele sneered when she saw the little bitch slouching in her expensive leather seat. Her sneer intensified when Brynn kicked her feet up on the desk. That look would have killed every employee in her office.
"Bet you thought you'd never see me again," Brynn said quietly with a twisted smirk on her face. Adele's teeth gritted. She resembled her mother whenever she did that.
Adele chuckled quietly. "Oh, I knew I'd see you again. I was hoping you'd be locked up in the cellar but I suppose this will have to do. I can always imagine you in chains."
The twisted smirk transformed into a grotesque scowl. Brynn's fingers tightened into the chair, her nails ripping through the leather. Adele could only imagine what thoughts were going through her head.
Adele dropped her bag on the floor and took a seat on the leather couch. The Organization shifted every time she moved, prepared to attack if necessary.
"So, let me guess," Adele began. Her narrowed eyes jumped back and forth between Hanna and Brynn. She pointed at Hanna. "That bitch over there came to the rescue and told you what a monster I am. She then whisked you away to some remote location where I would never find you and taught you how to fight. Now, you're back in Gotham for your vendetta against me and I'm going to die in a few minutes. Am I right?"
"Close," Hanna said in her quiet, calming voice. She gave the older woman a sickening smile. "But not quite."
Adele shrugged. She reached for her purse, causing the agents to tense. She snickered and slowly pulled out a cigarette and lighter. "No need to get your panties in a wad."
Adele leaned back and lit up. "So," she said after taking a drag. "Care to tell me where I went wrong?"
"Gladly," Brynn said mockingly. She pushed herself out of the chair and moved so she was a few feet from Adele.
"You're not as chubby as I remember," Adele commented. "Served you right to put the bag of chips down."
Brynn's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to destroy you."
"Well, get on with it," Adele sighed. "You don't have all day." She spread her arms open and smiled. "I'm ready."
"You wish," Brynn snapped. She folded her arms over her chest. "I'm not killing you yet. I'll let the cancer slow you down first."
Adele's mocking smile faded. Her grim expression made Brynn snicker. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was I not supposed to know about that? How long did the doctors give you? A year?"
Adele remained silent. She took another drag of her cigarette and glued her eyes on Brynn.
Brynn pointed at the cigarette. "You know those kill you, right?"
"If you're not here to kill me, then why are you here?"
Brynn looked around at her fellow Organization members with a knowing smile on her face. She looked over her shoulder at Hanna and quirked a brow. "Can I tell her?"
"Go ahead," Hanna encouraged her.
Brynn faced Adele again and took a seat on the opposite couch. Her leg bounced excitedly and that knowing smirk was back on her face. Adele grew impatient as she waited for her to speak.
"Well?" she demanded.
"Don't rush me, it's impolite," Brynn scolded. She smoothed her ponytail as she spoke. "I'm going to kill you, Adele. You tortured me, killed my family, and ruined my life. Sins like those are unforgiveable and justice is required. But—'' she paused for emphasis "—I'm not going to kill you today. I need you around for a while."
Brynn stood and moved to the mini fridge Adele kept in the corner. She opened a bottle of water, sniffed it, and then took several long sips. "I know everything about you. I know all your secrets, your fears, your goals. I know what you love and what you hate. I also know that you framed my mother for my father's murder and how you got away with it. Scott told me."
"Scott's dead," Adele said flatly. "Or do you have a sixth sense now, Haley Joel?"
"Funny. And you're right, Scott's dead. I know you killed him. However, Scott wrote everything down and had the Organization hold on to it. He figured out how you framed her. I have all the evidence."
"Is that so?"
"It is. Now, remember how I said I know everything? Well, I do. I know about all the people you had help you frame my mother. Larry, Chandler, Robin, all of them. I'm going to bring down all your worker bees and your hive. The queen cannot survive without them, can she?"
Adele rolled her eyes at Brynn's theatricality. "They were all pawns. You know who truly helped me destroy her."
"Isaac Beckman," Brynn breathed out. She said it with such iciness that Adele was surprised a puff of cold air hadn't come out of her mouth. "How could I forget? Unfortunately for you, he's halfway across the world right now."
"I can easily call him," Adele told her.
"You can't, actually. From this day forward, the Organization controls you. We will be around you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If you attempt to get in contact with Isaac or any of your other henchmen, you will not enjoy the consequences."
"What are you going to do, kill me?" Adele taunted.
"Not quite. But you'll wish I did." Brynn turned to one of the men and took a black briefcase from him. With her back to Adele, she unlocked it and pulled something out. A syringe, Adele realized, when Brynn faced her again.
"This is Raw," Brynn said, staring at the syringe admiringly. The clear liquid caught the light and shone. "This is what you drugged me with for two months and, in case you couldn't tell, it was utter hell."
Brynn walked over to Adele and leaned down close. "Do you know what this stuff is like? You can feel every single cell in your body and all your senses are magnified to be one hundred times stronger. I could smell a flower three miles away while I was on this. Imagine what it would feel like while being tortured."
Adele stared at the syringe cautiously. She knew the powers Raw held. To be injected with just a little bit of it was unbearable. She had injected Brynn with gallons over the course of two months.
Adele looked up at Brynn again. Her voice was no louder than a whisper. "It was all so easy. You fell for every word I said. You should have seen the shock on your face when I came down to the cellar for the first time."
The air was still for a few seconds and Brynn's face was blank. Suddenly, electricity filled the air and lightning struck. Brynn snapped and leaped forward, clutching Adele by the throat.
"I trusted you!" she shouted in the woman's face. "You were like a mother to me, you bitch! How can you fucking sleep at night knowing that you did such horrible things to someone who loved you so much?!"
Adele clawed at Brynn's hands, desperate for air. She felt her nails digging into her neck and black stars exploded in her vision. When she thought she could bear no more, she heard Hanna's voice break through.
"Brynn," the woman snapped. "Let go."
Brynn's hands were shaking so violently, Adele feared she'd break her neck. Finally, she released herself from Adele. She gasped and gripped her throat, desperate for air.
Brynn looked furious. She spat on the woman and stomped away. "Manipulative cunt," she hissed. "You can watch me destroy everything you've ever loved. This company, Isaac, everything. You'd better hope the cancer kills you first."
She stormed out of the office with the others trailing behind her. Hanna was the last to go. In the doorframe, she looked like an angel sent from God.
"She's not strong enough to bring me down," Adele rasped out. "You know it. I destroyed her mind."
Hanna cocked her head to the side. "And I molded it into something great."
She disappeared and Adele was left alone in her office, still able to feel Olivia River's daughter's hands around her neck.
. . .
Brynn burst out of the revolving door and onto the sidewalk. She walked fast, not wanting anyone to see how shaken she was. Behind her, she heard Heather call out to her.
She let Adele get inside her head like all those other times. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Brynn thought to herself again and again. Had six years of training taught her nothing?
Hanna was probably shaking her head in disappointment. Brynn was never supposed to let the enemy see how much they had upset her. It would only motivate them to keep taking shots at her until she was a sniffling mess on the floor.
Brynn walked around the city for an hour trying to cool off. She felt exhausted and wanted to go back to the apartment and curl up in a ball. Adele was right—she had been so easy to manipulate.
Her feet started to protest from all the walking. Brynn took a seat on a park bench and removed her shoes. She massaged the bottoms of her feet and watched the city life unfolding all around her. The sizzling smell of hot dogs wafted across the street from the hot dog vendor. Yellow taxi cabs rushed past one another, excessively blaring their horns and nearly colliding with other cars. A young mother pulled her sobbing toddler by the hand, looking like she could use a vacation.
"Mind if I join you?" a low voice asked.
Brynn jumped. She looked up into the chocolate brown eyes of Jamal Ekko. They were filled with concern. Weakly, she nodded and scooched over.
Jamal sat next to her and folded his hands over his stomach. For several moments, the two sat in comfortable silence watching the cars drive by. Brynn dropped her head into her hands.
"I blew it," she mumbled. "I did the one thing Hanna said not to and now I've gone and screwed the whole thing up."
"I beg to differ," Jamal argued. "Had you messed the mission up, the Organization would be in jeopardy and you'd have a knife in your back. The Organization's not in jeopardy." He leaned over and looked at Brynn's back. "And you don't have a knife in your back. I'd say we're okay."
Brynn snickered a little and Jamal went on. "When I faced Ramon for the first time," he said quietly, referring to the man whom he carried his mission against. "I broke out into hives. My tongue swelled up so much I could hardly speak. I felt like an idiot but it didn't stop me from succeeding. So what if Adele made you nervous? You're going to bring her down."
Jamal was the king of pep talks. He was a good listener and always knew what to say, even if he couldn't relate. Brynn had gone to him in the beginning nearly every night when she felt like dying.
Their relationship had evolved from being speaker and listener to something more. A tiny twinge of sadness pricked at Brynn's heart. It was a shame they hadn't been able to keep their flame ignited. Now they were back to speaker and listener.
"Let's get back to headquarters," Jamal suggested. Brynn nodded and he hailed a cab for them. The ride back was spent in silence.
. . .
The Organization had located itself in an abandoned, red-brick factory that had specialized in textile in the late 1800s. Since then it had been used as a storage facility, a location for some wild, exclusive parties, and had even made an appearance in some box-office flop.
The taxi dropped Brynn and Jamal off a few doors down from the building. Jamal unlocked the heavy, rusted door and let Brynn inside first. The ground floor had been transformed into a living area and down the hall were the rooms where the agents slept. To their right, a kitchen had been added. Upstairs were offices and a meeting room. In the basement was their own armory and tunnels that had been dug out during the Prohibition. Bootleggers used to brew in the basement and would then sneak the liquor off through the tunnels to underground speakeasies.
All the walls had been made soundproof so passerby wouldn't hear them and the glass had been replaced with reflective glass. To the outsider, it still appeared to be an abandoned factory.
Some agents were lulling around on the couches and nodded to the two as they walked by. Brynn took the staircase and wiped the ancient, chipping paint off her hands on her jeans.
"I'd better get to work," Brynn told Jamal when they reached her office. "Thanks for the pep talk."
They parted and Brynn locked the door behind her. She leaned against it and closed her eyes, allowing herself to rest for a bit. When she opened them, she stared at the faces of her enemies.
Dozens of photos and newspaper clippings had already been taped to the wall, resembling a tree in a way. At the top of the tree was a photograph of Adele Worley; below her was Isaac Beckman. Theirs' were the largest photographs and the most clippings surrounded them. Below them were smaller pictures of the others Brynn was taking action against.
She narrowed her eyes at them. They would all pay the price for their actions.
Brynn reached down and searched through the soil of the flower plant by the door. She found the key and went to her desk, unlocked a drawer, and opened it. Inside was a plain, wooden box. Gingerly, she pulled it out and opened it.
The contents were arranged in the same manner they had been in last time she had opened it. The grainy photograph of her father and her as a baby was on top; the diamond necklace her father had given her mother for their three year anniversary was tucked in the corner; underneath those two things was the note Scott had left her before he died; and finally, in a manila folder, was some of the money Scott had left for Brynn. The rest of it was divided amongst several bank accounts. Ten million dollars was too much to hide in a single box.
It wasn't much but it was all she had left of her family. Brynn moved the necklace and photograph aside and pulled out Scott's note. It was scrawled on several pieces of paper and had been crinkled and dirtied. She had read it thousands of times.
My dear Brynn,
If you're reading this, I'm dead. I gave special instructions for this letter to only be given to you if that was the case. If I was still alive, I would have explained it all to you myself. However, things don't always work out as we plan.
The woman responsible for my death is named Adele Worley. She was your father's wife and their marriage was an unhappy one. At one point, Adele was the most powerful woman in the city. She had the GPD, the mob, and the politicians all eating out of the palm of her hand. Manipulation was second-nature to her. Unfortunately, your father fell for her and she played him the same way she did everyone else. Stay away from her at all costs.
Adele is responsible for my death but she didn't carry it out. She never got her hands dirty—that wasn't her style. Isaac Beckman, Adele's lover, was the man who killed me, Charlie, and those two other men Olivia was framed for killing. He's a truly messed up man and takes pleasure in killing people. At one time, he was a mercenary for Nigeria but went rogue. Ever since then, he's been Adele's personal pit bull.
Charlie knew about Adele's affair with Isaac for a long time but chose to look the other way. They were both unhappy in their marriage and he hoped she would divorce him to be with Isaac. He wanted to be able to give Olivia and you everything and in order to do that, he had to get rid of Adele. Those divorce papers never came around unfortunately. When it became clear that she wasn't going to end things, Charlie took the matter in his own hands.
I should have helped him. I never imagined Adele would have killed him. His death is my fault. I knew what kind of person Adele was and I knew about Isaac's past as a mercenary. It should have been obvious to me and for that, I am sincerely sorry… I lost my brother; Olivia lost her freedom; you lost your parents.
When Charlie went to tell Adele he was divorcing her, he told her about you and Olivia—that was a tremendous mistake. Adele went berserk when she found out about you. Children were always a sensitive topic due to Adele's inability to conceive. She believed Charlie only fell in love with Olivia so he could have a child. In her eyes, his actions were unforgiveable. She had Isaac lock him in the basement and they brainstormed what to do. Once they knew who Olivia was and about her past as a prostitute, they took action. They broke into the apartment when you and your mother were out one day, collecting DNA and other things they could use to pin her as guilty. They then located William Hannigan and Antoine Banks and killed them. There was no reason for them to die.
Finally, Charlie was killed. Isaac dumped his body along with the other two men's in dumpsters within a mile radius of each other. He left strands of Olivia's hair and police were able to make connections: they had all been former clients of hers.
Adele and Isaac planted enough evidence to make Olivia appear to be guilty. The judge was a friend of Adele's and she managed to convince him Olivia was guilty. Many people were paid off and the people had no problem hating her. Adele was portrayed as the mourning wife; Olivia was a psycho hooker. In no time, the jury reached a verdict.
Adele made sure you were kept away from your mother. However, she never expected her old friend Madelynn Kiley to adopt you. That led to a huge fallout between the two of them. Adele was no longer able to control your life with the Kileys in the way. She had to retreat to the shadows and wait until the time was right before striking again.
Several other people held key roles in your parents' downfall. Larry Tobin, Bud Callahan, Chandler Shelton, Robin Ryder, and Dee Harlinger were all paid off to convince the jury that Olivia was guilty. Each of them broke oaths and lied about her. They now live wealthily and without regret.
Now that you know that bit of the story, let me tell you about the Organization. Back in my early twenties, I was travelling through Europe and was hurt during a mountain excursion. I was all alone in the mountains with a broken leg and no way to communicate with the world. On the verge of death, a man found me and brought me back to Organization headquarters. They saved my life and I promised to do anything they needed to repay them.
They realized I could be useful and once they decided they could trust me, I was given work to do. In normal circumstances, the Organization would not have taken me in. They help people who have been horribly wronged by people much stronger than them. They work together to bring them down and make sure they can never hurt anyone again. So many broken souls had been brought in by the Organization to recover.
I performed tasks like collecting information, planting false evidence in homes, and going undercover. I knew several different languages so spying on foreign dictators was easy. I never took part in the fighting but I was useful.
Adele had been under the radar of the Organization for some time. She made them wary and her involvement with Isaac did nothing to help her case. Unfortunately, the Organization suffered major losses in an operation gone wrong when Adele took action against your father. We were not strong enough to stop her.
Since then, the Organization has been recovering and it's their mission to bring down Adele once and for all. They will keep you safe and tell you the truth. This family has faced enough injustice. It must end.
I'm sorry to have left you in this situation and I hope you'll forgive me. I also hope you can see your parents in a different way. The media has taught you to hate an unfaithful perv and a demonic hooker. That's not who they were—they were good, loving people and they loved you more than anything.
Yours truly,
Scott
Brynn put the letter down and stared off into space. She hadn't received the letter until after her kidnapping and the Organization had taken her in. She still remembered reading it for the first time.
She sat at a table with tears streaming down her face. The letter was crumpled in her hand and Brynn had to hold her breath, fearful that she would start sobbing. Next to her, Hanna sat quietly with her hands folded.
"Why did it take you so long to get to me?" Brynn whispered, her voice shaky. Her vision was blurred from the fat tears that kept falling out of her eyes. She was too tired to wipe them away.
"We were on our way to get you the night Isaac took you," Hanna said quietly. "Adele must have known we would come looking, especially after Scott's murder. She had Isaac move you around from one location to the next. Each time we arrived at one of them, you were long gone."
Brynn hugged herself and picked at the medical gauze wrapped around her arm. If she closed her eyes, she would see Isaac standing over her. She could feel his fists raining down on her body while the Raw was coursing through her veins. She could taste the chloroform in her mouth from when he kidnapped her. She heard the animal-like sounds she made as she writhed in pain.
It was better to keep her eyes opened than to see Isaac.
The first year at the Organization was the hardest. When she arrived in Switzerland, she was ordered to rest and was kept on suicide watch. She refused to eat, sleep, and shower. When she did sleep, she was attacked by nightmares of Isaac and the cellar and Raw. Brynn had panic attacks constantly, asking no one in particular if the Raw was going to poison her.
Hanna wasn't able to stay with her constantly and take care of her. She put James Grey in charge of her. He was a quiet boy from England and two years younger than Brynn. He had been there for several months already; Heather wouldn't arrive until eight months after Brynn.
James and Brynn developed a close friendship and even though she had a hard time trusting people, she learned to trust James. He saw sides of her no one else had ever seen, witnessing her manic depression, sudden panic attacks, and angry outbursts. And he saw the crying. Lots and lots of it.
Brynn used to cry every day. She cried over Adele's betrayal and her hatred for Brynn; she cried over being thousands of miles away from home; she cried over being too afraid to shut her eyes.
She especially cried over Jonathan Crane. Brynn missed him more than anyone and had to have her fingers pried off the phone constantly. The only person Brynn ever talked to about Jonathan was James and she only ever said a few words about him. Thinking about him, she realized, was too painful. Jonathan was back home and had moved on with his life. She needed to do the same.
Brynn pushed the thoughts out of her head. Now was not the time to mourn. She opened another drawer, grabbed her laptop, and fired up. After typing in the password, she searched through her documents and found the one labeled 'LT.' It contained all her information on Larry Tobin, her mother's lawyer.
Inside were several more folders. The three she focused on were labeled as Info, Photos, and Comp. She clicked on Comp. and began browsing through its contents. One of her computer hacker friends at the Organization had planted a software in Tobin's computer which automatically downloaded all the files from his computer to hers. After studying two new documents that had been added to his computer, she opened a new document and began to type.
9/1
LT's law firm is responsible for hacking into the bank accounts of customers and taking sums of money. LT then uses the money to increase his pay check along with several other employees'. A fake account has been set up under the name 'Maureen Whittaker.' Heather will go in to his practice acting as a hopeful new customer. If LT takes the bait, it can be expected that he'll go fishing in her bank account. Authorities have been notified by an anonymous source that he's been doing this. Once they see the money is gone, they will take action against him.
Brynn spent another hour double-checking Larry's activities on his computer. The man was unorganized and snooping through his files was a bit of a challenge. Luckily, Brynn had access to his e-mail account. On several different occasions, Larry and other workers had referred to the bank account schemes. What an idiot.
When she was done with her computer work, she stretched her arms above her head, grimacing when her back made a popping sound. Fighting off a yawn, Brynn left her office and went to the living area downstairs. Heather was sprawled on the couch with some book written in Arabic. James was in the kitchen area making himself a cup of coffee.
"Come on, Maureen Whittaker, you're going to be late for your meeting," Brynn said to Heather. She threw her book to the side and yawned.
"Can't you be Maureen?" Heather asked through a second yawn.
"He'll recognize me. I'll buy fro-yo if you do this."
Heather was off the couch and up the stairs in a flash. When she came back down, she looked like she should be on the cover of Vogue. Heather typically got the job of leading the guy on, getting information, then kicking his ass. They were very disappointed when they found out her sexual preferences did not include men.
"Am I to die for?" Heather teased, batting her lashes at Brynn.
"You're definitely killing James," Brynn joked and the two women laughed. James rolled his eyes in annoyance and walked outside, leaving the two to snicker mischievously.
. . .
While Heather was inside the law firm, Brynn and James sat on a park bench across the street eating popcorn with their earbuds in. They heard Heather talking to the secretary with a fake Boston accent.
Brynn pulled her earpiece out and whispered, "You have to tell her how fake she sounds."
James took his out as well. "Why do I have to tell her?"
"You're nicer than I am. You can sugarcoat it."
James shushed her and put his earpiece back in. They listened to Heather hum to herself and then say hello to Larry Tobin. There was rustling and static on the other side of the line.
"Heather, stop scratching your ear," James hissed. The rustling ceased.
Heather, as Maureen Whittaker, explained her problem to Mr. Tobin. She was suing her fake ex-boyfriend for vandalizing her car and was in the middle of a very heated rant. Larry kept trying to break in but was cut off by Heather each time.
James was trying his hardest not to laugh. "Oh god. She's losing it. She's Jersey now."
"No more accents, Heather," Brynn whispered. She tossed some of her popcorn to the pigeons and watched them fight over it.
Brynn's eyes wandered to the other side of the street. She watched a man on his cell phone drop a brown bag in the trash. His brisk pace and outfit reminded her of someone…
Jonathan.
"Shit," Brynn murmured and ducked her head low. She wished her sunglasses covered her whole face. Next to her, James looked at her curiously.
Brynn peeped over her glasses and watched him walk down the street. He turned around and Brynn sighed in relief. It was a different man.
"Do you know him?" James asked.
Brynn shook her head. "Wrong guy."
"Who'd you think it was?"
Brynn contemplated telling him or not. She felt strange talking about him during a mission. Then again, Jonathan wasn't a huge deal or anything and James had heard about him before.
"Remember that guy I used to tell you about?" Brynn said softly. She paused when Tobin began to speak again. "Jonathan Crane?"
"Vaguely," James answered. "He was the one you were hung up over."
Brynn pursed her lips and tried to not let the comment anger her. "Right. That guy. Turns out he's still in Gotham. I ran into him at my dad's party last week."
There was a brief break while they listened to Heather. James whispered a few things into the earpiece, instructing her to say certain things and decline an offer Tobin had made. He turned back to Brynn. "What happened?"
"I spilled water all over his girlfriend. Accidentally," Brynn added when James gave her an exasperated look. "And then I saw him the other night when I was supposed to have dinner with my dad and then he came to my place for lunch."
"So you're getting back together?"
"No," Brynn said quickly. "No, we just caught up. It's…it's weird. I hadn't expected him to be in Gotham when I got back. He detested this place."
James watched her for a long time. Even though she hadn't talked a whole lot about the man, he knew Brynn had been very serious about him. Leaving him had crushed her. James took a deep breath and thought about how to word his next few sentences. "Don't let him distract you from your mission. It may be best to let him remain in the past."
"It's not like I want to get back together with him," Brynn defended herself. "He's changed, I've changed. I'm not letting him distract me from the mission."
Brynn looked away and threw more popcorn at the birds. James frowned; he knew the man was still on Brynn's mind. He hoped Brynn wouldn't get too distracted by thinking about what could have been. That was one of the hardest parts about joining the Organization: things could never turn out how they were supposed to be.
Heather walked out of the law firm a few minutes later and walked down the street. James and Brynn followed her and they regrouped at a deli out of sight from the firm.
"Next time, can you save your boy talks for when you're braiding each other's hair?" Heather pulled the earpiece out and looked at the two accusingly. "I can hardly focus when Brynn's talking about her love life."
"It's hard to listen to you talk with that accent," Brynn barked. "I think I heard five different ones in the course of an hour."
James gave Brynn and Heather warning looks before they could throw more fuel on the fire. They grumbled under their breaths and cooled off a little. James bought everyone sodas and they sat outside.
"So," Brynn broke the silence after they finished their drinks. "Either of you know where I can score some coke? I think we should leave a nice present in Tobin's apartment and office for the authorities when they stop by."
By the end of the week, Tobin would be destroyed.
. . .
A/N: I am getting really good at updating. Three chapters in a week! Hug me, brotha!
HOLY REVIEWS—HOW ARE WE AT 600?! You guys are amazing and I love you so, so, so, so, so, so much! *Insert 1 billion hugs here.* Thank you: KaeBear, areosmithlover, Jasmine Scarthing, Guest, Dawn's Edge, dEnIsE tHe StRaNgE, Elena, maddQueen, and Rousdower! I cannot express in words how grateful I am for all of you.
I liked this chapter a lot. The background stories of a lot of characters were revealed and other things, like how Adele framed Olivia. This chapter was really informative. We learned about the Organization, Brynn's mission, how Brynn felt when she first joined the Org. Scott's letter revealed his involvement with the Org. and more about Adele and Isaac. We learned a little about Raw, that mystery drug Brynn was filled with when the police found her a long time ago. We also learned that there was a past relationship with this Jamal Ekko character. What do you guys think of him?
You can tell that Brynn's unstable like her dad said. It's mostly evident when she's around Adele, Isaac, and the others who ruined her life but it comes out when she's pretending to be normal, too. Like Adele said, she destroyed her mind…
I forgot to add in the last update what I pictured some of the characters to look like! I picture Olivia as Margarita Levieva, Charlie as Simon Baker, and Scott as Thomas Jane. I also realized that Michelle Pfeiffer would be the perfect Adele. Not sure how I hadn't thought of that before but I'm glad I did.
Jonathan will be in the next chapter, pinky promise! I leave for vacation tomorrow so I'll work on the next chapter while I'm gone. Review please!
