-Fox's POV-
I awoke to the smell of smoke.
This wasn't a usual occurrence, and so I sat up with a start from my sleeping spot on the floor. Opening my eyes it seemed the same as it had been when I'd fallen asleep late last night, after kissing Dahlia. My heart fluttered as I remembered her touching me, and all the stuff we'd done after that fateful kiss, leading me to the conclusion that I may actually love this girl.
The flicker of light from under the door shook me out of my fantasies, and I leapt to my feet. With the smell of smoke in the air partnered with the odd sound of flickering flames, I knew instantly that there was a fire outside the door.
Dahlia was asleep on the single bed and so I dashed over to her side, before grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.
She grumbled, yelling slurred obscenities at me as she squeezed her eyes shut further. I shook her as viscously as I could to wake her up.
"What the fuck..." Dahlia murmured, opening her eyes at least and giving me a hard glare.
"The house is on fire." I hissed, my face portraying as much urgency as possible. We didn't have time for her to rub her eyes and slowly wake up. We needed to get out now.
This seemed adequate as her eyes grew wide and she sat up straight, immediately getting to work at putting all of her clothes on and tying back her hair for action. I had slept in my clothes to keep me from catching cold, but took this moment to pull on my boots. She rushed to the door to fling it open, and I quickly stopped her.
"We can't open the door, there's a fire right outside and it'll make quick work of us." I informed her quickly.
She gave me a look which was unmistakable concern. "But my mom might still be in her room..." she murmured, hand still on the door handle.
I met her eyes and thought for a moment, before taking her hand and leading her to the window. It was one designed not to open the full way, and so instead of wasting time wrestling with it, I used my foot to kick out the glass.
"Come on, it's only a small drop." I explained, carefully climbing out onto the windowsill and avoiding the stray glass as I released Dahlia's hand and dropped the ten or so feet to the floor.
Without another word the girl lumbered out of the window and landed on the grass below rather ungracefully. Notwithstanding I darted around the corner and she followed me, in a serious reversal of roles. The two of us ran to the front of the house in order to find another safer entrance to Dahlia's mother's room, however we were met by people waiting there for us.
Dahlia smiled to see the face of her mom out of harm's way from the burning house, albeit this disappeared when she caught the gaze of the smartly dressed heavily armed strangers holding her at gunpoint.
"So you finally decide to join us, Miss Dent and Smith." one announced to us, the woman holding Grace hostage.
Grace herself was breathing heavier than usual, but she feigned a calm expression in order to keep her dignity. I had no doubt that she had come across worse situations with her ex-husband in the past.
"Great job trying to kill us." I muttered, placing a hand on my hip. I would be much happier standing their in my old clothes, but when one was escaping from a crime boss, they didn't really get time to change clothes.
The woman sniggered, along with the other men and women stood beside her. "I'd be fairly disappointed if that pitiful fire killed experienced girls such as yourselves. That was only done to get you out of the house, the last thing we need is you locking yourselves in there and sacrificing Mrs Dent here in order to save yourselves. Better to have a hostage and threaten your lives." she explained, playing with her grip on the gun.
Grace grimaced. "It's Gold, I got divorced decades ago, sweetheart." she spat, not looking at the woman who held her.
The woman ignored her, and so Dahlia sighed. "I'm guessing you're Oswald's pets?" she asked, hardening her brow and crossing her arms.
"We work for him it that's what you mean; you didn't think you could double cross him and get away, did you?" the woman teased, and I never wanted to hit a woman more.
"If this is about Fox and I, then why involve my mom?" Dahlia asked, serious as all hell.
The woman paused to think for a second before nodding. "You know, you're right, why take a hostage? You are unarmed and lesser in numbers." she began, before stepping away and releasing Grace.
Grace gave Dahlia a smile and ran to join our side, but within an instant there was a bang and she stopped in her tracks. Dee watched in horror as her mother collapsed to the ground face first, revealing a bullet wound in the back of her head. The only comfort is that she must had died in an instant, and now lay on the grass lifeless as she continued to bleed.
Dahlia's eyes filled up with tears and she gave out a guttural scream directed at Penguin's goons. She dropped to her knees to hold her mother, and I crouched over to comfort her, but also to stop her rushing the enemy or doing something stupid to get her shot up. She had watched two parents murdered in the space of a day, both by Penguin's order, and albeit I had lost both of my parents, I still couldn't grasp at what exactly she was feeling. She truly had cared about her father and mother, and so all I could guess was that she wanted to kill Cobblepot infinite times over.
This was something that I shared with her, as Penguin had interfered far too much in my life, but also he had just ruined the life of the woman I found myself fawning for. At this moment all I wanted to do was help Dahlia hurt him... destroy everything around him and teach him a true lesson. Where people had failed before, we wouldn't. Or at least we would be dead if we failed, so it didn't matter either way.
"You're coming with us, is that clear? Or the next ones with a bullet in their heads will be you two." the woman explained, calmly as if she hadn't just murdered a civilian in cold blood.
Dahlia grew silent as did I, as I waited for her decision. She eventually nodded, and though this confirmation wasn't really needed, two of the henchmen came forward to detain Dahlia and I. I wasn't sure she really had a plan as I looked over at my love, only to see her head drooped over and melancholy. Maybe this was it - we would be taken back to the Penguin, where we would most definitely be cut up and made examples of. I didn't have Dahlia to save me now, and Dahlia barely had a smudge of her gang left after the shootout she had just escaped from, so this was it.
That was until a vehicle sped out of nowhere, barging the goons' car down the road, which was where the two of us were about to be thrown into. It was early morning so I could see it was a form of Batmobile and bike that had sped past, and now circled back to us.
Dahlia and I were tossed aside as all four goons loaded their firearms and shot at the fast moving vehicles, instead shooting at the other suburb houses and mailboxes. We could simply just watch and wait as the the vehicles sped faster and faster down the straight road unrelenting, before a shape leapt from out from the Batmobile and onto the armed goons, taking down one and tripping up another.
The male figure on the batbike also jumped from his vehicle with his target being the other goons. He was then joined by the third figure who slowed the Batmobile and fired a net toward one of the goons who had thought it smart to run away.
Once all four enemies had been taken down, the two figures who had exited their vehicles approached us, one male in a suit I could recognise as Robin and the other a tall female I had seen named on the news as Shrike. Their faces were serious and stern for as much as I could see of them behind their masks, but I gave them a half smile.
"Thanks?" I questionably responded, as each one helped each of us to our feet.
Dahlia was quietly muttering to herself, but gave a sudden yell as Robin tugged her arms behind her back and cuffed her.
"Hey! Let her go!" I exclaimed, trying to go to her side, but being held back by Shrike.
"She's a dangerous criminal, she has to be restrained-" Shrike started, before I gave her a hard glare.
"She saved my life!" I argued, as Dahlia and I were directed into the back of the Batmobile, the former struggling all the while. "Where the hell are you taking us?"
"Robin, you stay behind to sort this out with the cops." Shrike informed the boy on the bike.
He muttered to himself and was clearly displeased with this, but got to work directing away the neighbours that were intrigued with the going on at seven in the morning.
The door was slammed and my questions ignored, as Shrike loaded into the passenger seat, whilst another female figure sat in the driver's seat, and stepped on the gas.
"Mom..." Dahlia murmured, as she watched her body on the grass get further and further away.
I couldn't think of anything right to say to her, and so I chose only to put my hand on her arm. She didn't pull away, and so I kept it there until the car came to a halt. The doors in the back didn't open from the inside, and so we waited for Shrike, who opened the side closest to Dahlia. The two of us were dragged out, and it was then that we found ourselves in the underground parking lot of the GCPD. I now understood why we were here, it wasn't getting Dahlia and I to safety but rather to arrest us. Or more likely just arrest Dahlia, as I hadn't really done anything but aid a criminal.
Nevertheless Shrike and the woman who had been driving, a vigilante known as Batwoman, lead us into the GCPD which resulted in nothing but cruel stares thrown our way. I was something of interest due to my crude clothing, gaudy scar and ruined black makeup, but the kicker was how the cops then turned to stare with deep hatred at Dahlia. Judging by the many wanted posters on the wall each baring a different picture of her, Dee had outran the GCPD as several points in time. Also judging by the amazed looks from the cops, she hadn't been caught in a good while.
"Well well well if it isn't the Black Dahlia." a male voice laughed, as he stood up from his desk that we now approached. He was a black older man, most notably with a hook instead of a right hand.
"Caught her out in the suburbs in trouble with some of Penguin's gang." Batwoman explained, keeping a tight grip on Dahlia's arm. I wasn't being held but I stayed close to Dahlia, looking nervously around at the other people.
I had never had a liking for authority, especially vigilantes. Maybe it was my raising in a gang which made me an enemy of these people, but maybe it was also my fear of being controlled again after I was set free from my father. I'd wanted to be normal and civilian after he'd died, but I also fell in fear with the police and vigilantes. I didn't commit crime in correlation with my dread of being sent to prison and being trapped, but the truth was I was fairly trapped by my fear.
The officer laughed. "Suburbs? What are you Dahlia - a Girl Scout?" he asked lightly. "Who's the other girl?"
"Fox Smith, the missing girl. She needs to be held for questioning." Batwoman elaborated.
The man nodded. "Alright, I'll take them off of your hands, thanks Batwoman. And Shrike too." he corrected, giving her a light smile.
With this the two vigilantes left, and Dahlia was seized by another cop. The first man held my arm, and we were lead through the facility until we came to a hallway containing several interview rooms. I realised I was being lead to the left whilst Dahlia was to the right, and struggled against my hold.
"Hang in there, little lady, you'll be in separate rooms, calm down or you'll be restrained." he warned, pulling me to the left using my arm.
Before I could retaliate I was jerked away from the officer, and I found myself in a headlock. My mind panicked even when I realised that Dahlia was the one holding me due to the shape of her body against me, and the glint of her tattooed arm.
"Put us in the same room or I snap her neck." Dahlia stated simply.
The cops looked and each other and nodded, before ushering us into the room on the right. Quickly Dahlia released me, and held me by the arm as we were sat down at the metal table, in metal chairs that didn't move from the spot they were nailed down on. We were both chained to one side of said table, before the cops were satisfied and left out of the metal door. They locked the door, and Dahlia and I were left alone.
Her cuffed hand found my hand this time.