Chapter 96
I return home from the party, throwing down my purse onto the couch. I walk into the bathroom to take off my makeup, but when I reach the bathroom mirror, Oswald can be seen behind me in its reflection.
"So...how was the party? You know, I feel quite offended for not having been invited," Oswald smiles, waddling up to me.
"How did you know where I was anyway?" I ask, opening up the mirror cabinet.
He chuckles, his grin spreading to reveal gnarly teeth. He wraps his arms around me, his hand grabbing my neck, "Silly Trixie, you didn't think I'd have at least one of Don Falcone's servants in my pocket? Well, then again, I do have you…"
His hot breath blasting against my neck, his other hand wanders down to my thigh, long fingernails pushing up my dress and tickling my skin. I lean my head against his back.
I just accused him to be the one who orchestrated the run on Don Falcone's vault. Something he's completely innocent of, for once. Falcone's men could be coming for him any moment now, I just have to play cool until they arrive. But at the same time, what are they going to do to him? Would this be the last time I see him? The thought makes my heart sink. It shouldn't.
Oswald removes the two pins keeping my hair in a tight bun, letting my black hair flow down my back. His hand running down my cheek, he kisses me on the neck, "Your dress is beautiful...I can't wait to take it off."
"Not...not tonight Oswald. I'm tired," I confess. I try to move out of his arms, but he won't budge.
He turns me around and slams me against the wall. His hand wafts up and picks up my necklace, "You're wearing the pearl necklace I gave you...good."
Oswald encases me in his arms, his long nose poking the top of my head, "I love you."
After a brief pause, I bury my head in his chest, clutching the fabric of his suit, "I love you too. More than you'll ever know."
The door is kicked down by three thugs with Uzis and leather coats. Throwing Oswald off of me, I kick him toward them.
"Let's go!" one of them shouts, knocking Oswald to the ground with his gun.
The other one pins him to the ground as the first one yanks a black cloth bag over his head.
"Goodbye Oswald…" I murmur, as the thugs drag him by the legs out the door.
"Tri-trixie?! You bitch! I'll be back, I swear it! You'll regret this whore! I'll bleed you dry, and bathe in your blood! You'll see! You're mine, don't you dare fucking forge-"
Oswald's speech is interrupted by one of the thugs knocking him out with the end of his gun. The other thug walks back up to me.
"Falcone wants the money that Penguin stole," he holds his gloved hand out.
I nod, and walk into the closet, where I throw out the duffel bag Oswald gave me. There's still the other bags up in the Cobblepot's apartment, but if Mrs. Cobblepot's not going to have her son around anymore, she's going to need that.
"That's it?" the thug questions.
I point to the unconscious Oswald, "Does that look like someone who can make off with much?"
Shrugging, the thug takes the bag before walking off, the other thug dragging Oswald down the stairs. I shut the door, and breath a heavy sigh. If Oswald somehow makes it out alive...I'm far past dead, aren't I? But then again, what are his chances? While he may not have been the one to break into Falcone's safe, he still stole from him. Falcone might just kill him as a safety measure, it would certainly make my life easier.
I walk over to the fridge. The bottle of champagne Oswald and I had drunk from is still there, pushed to the back. I take it out; the bottle is practically empty. Oswald can really guzzle down a drink, unlike me. Two or three glasses and I'm out like a light. But that's exactly what I want right now.
Not bothering with a glass, I chug down what's left of the bottle before hurling it into the trash can, the glass shattering as it hit the can. With that, I stumble to bed, hoping that maybe in the morning, I'll have forgotten all about him.
I awake in a rusty iron cage, swinging back and forth. The bars are fairly wide apart, but not enough for me to squeeze through. Beyond the cage appears to be nothing but darkness, pitch black.
I try to get on my feet, but the cage swings prevent me from standing, causing me to trip and fall back onto the rusted cage floor.
I giant green eye rushes to the other side of the cage, blinking with long, light brown eyelashes.
"Wakey, wakey," a familiar voice coos.
The eye moves away to reveal an equally giant Oswald, smiling as he peers through the bars of the cage, "Did you sleep well?"
I open my mouth to speak, but with my heart racing, and my breathing beginning to accelerate, I'm unable to produce words. What is he going to do?
His hands lash out, fingers the size of my body curling around the cage, "Thought you could run away...hmm? Delusional little girl."
He opens up the cage, and I begin scooting to the back, but his hand is too fast as it grabs me. With a tight grip, he squeezes the air out of my lungs.
"I was your only chance! Edward will never love you, nobody will! Now you will suffer alone, as you've always been."
Holding my head with two fingers, he leans his head back, and dangles me over his open mouth. I start sobbing, covering my face with my hands.
With the flick of his fingers, he drops me into his mouth, and I fall into the neverending abyss.
My eyes flash open. I'm in my room, in bed. It was a dream.
I try to get up, but I'm immediately hit by a crushing headache. Owe, owe...hangover. Great. An eighth of a bottle of champagne and I still feel the symptoms.
Looking out the window, I see that it's morning. Gotham during the day has never been comforting, maybe for a moment I'll just pretend I'm in Metropolis and...try to find peace of mind.
The window I'm looking at shatters, as a Talon crashes through, an electrified staff in his hand, blue lightning encircling both ends.
"Really?!" I shout aloud, before grabbing the lamp on the nightstand and hurling it at him.
He knocks it away, but it gives me enough time to jump under the bed and pull out the metal suitcase containing my Trickstress outfit and weapons.
I'm just about to open the case when he jumps out from over the bed. I slide under him, knocking him in the knee with the end of the suitcase. He stumbles, falling on his knees, and I hurl the suitcase up, poised to strike him in the head. He whips around, side sweeping me. I fall onto my rear, and he grabs his electrified staff. I roll away just in time for him to slam it down onto the floor. I grab the staff in the middle, and wrestle him for it. Getting to my feet, I headbutt him, cracking the owl-like goggles on his suit. But he bunts back, throwing me off of him. With his staff, he stabs me in the chest, the electricity shocking me. I fall to my knees, a hole burned into my shirt and my skin charred. He grabs me up by the shirt collar and uses my head to smash open the window. Leaning my head out the window, the Talon reveals a blade hidden in his sleeve, and strikes down.
I dive down just in time, the Talon getting his sleeve caught on a shard of broken glass. Getting up on top of him, I slam my hand onto his back and press down, causing the crack of glass followed by blood dribbling down the wooden wall.
Blade still in hand, he slashes my arm, and I stumble back. He slices several more times, causing me to dodge further and further back. I duck under him, allowing myself to step to the side, toward my bed. I duck again, but to grab my Trickstress suitcase. With it, I knock him in the stomach, launching him back. I open it up, grab one of my knives, and hurl it at him. The knife makes contact with his chest, slicing in halfway through. The Talon falls to the ground, completely limp.
I walk over and pull the knife out of him, and, for good measure, I stab him several more times in the chest, blood spurting all over my face and pajamas. Finally, I pull out one more time and check his pulse...nothing.
I glance around the room, accessing the damage. A broken lamp, easily replaceable. Now the window...that's a little bit harder. I'll have to start by clearing the rest of the glass out, and cleaning off the blood. And the body…
My bedroom door is kicked open, as Crispus Allen aims his gun at my head.
"...oh, thank goodness you're alright Natalie," he sighs, putting his gun down. He looks down at the dead Talon lying on the ground, "I see you took care of your intruder quite well."
Allen's gaze flows from the body to my knife, "Ohh, is that one of the knives Amanda gave you? Nice."
He runs up to take a look at it, totally unfazed by the large dribblets of blood on my skin and clothes.
But just as quickly as his attention diverted, his expression becomes serious again, "We need to go. Renee's under attack."
"Wha-what do you mean Renee's under attack?" I ask, as we start running out of the bedroom.
"Barbara discovered that once she became a member of the Court of Owls, the Court wanted to cut off any 'undesirable' connections...aka, you guys," he explains, "she sent me to come get you guys. We're meeting her at her apartment. The Court sent two Talons at once, so...I kind of had to make a judgement call."
I raise an eyebrow, "And you chose me?"
"You were the closest to my place. Plus, I didn't know how you'd handle yourself in a fight. By the looks of things, maybe I should have picked up Renee first," he observes.
After grabbing my black trenchcoat and disposing of the Talon's body, we run out of the apartment. Allen unlocks his car door, double parked outside of my apartment building. We get in, and he speeds off before I've even closed the door.
"So, how long have you and Renee been partners?" I ask over the roar of the speeding car.
"Ever since she joined Major Crimes. My old partner, Jim Corrigan, quit the force, so Renee became my new partner. She's a much better change of pace, Corrigan was corrupt as it gets."
Allen makes a sharp turn onto the Vincefinkel Bridge, heading west, "So, how did you come into the company of Amanda Waller?"
"I could ask you the same thing. ...Amanda and I went to college together. Star City University, I never graduated though. There was an attack on campus, and through that, Amanda and I were recruited into the government," I tell him.
Allen raises his eyebrows, "SCU? Nice...although, who would want to attack a college campus?"
I turn to him, giving a knowing stare.
"...I'll bet that's classified," he realizes aloud.
We stop in front of a tall, medium wealth apartment building. Climbing the stairs, we take cover to each side of the front door. There's already shouting and loud banging noises coming from inside. Allen shoots the doorknob off and I shoulder the door open.
The apartment, which appears to have once been nicely decorated, is now a complete mess. A window to the side has been left open, the expensive red curtains now torn, and what's left of them blow in the breeze.
The shouts of Renee come from the bedroom, and Allen and I rush in, slamming the door open together. She and the Talon are locked in battle, the Talon wrestling her on the floor.
Allen aims his gun to fire, but the Talon quickly shirks out of the way, hoping he'll shoot Renee. I charge the Talon with my knives, stabbing it in the back. The Talon, wearing specialized gloves, attacks with five small blades extending out of his fingertips. He scratches my arm, and goes in for me. But Renee comes in from behind, wrapping a piece of torn curtain around his neck and tugging him back. The Talon claws at the cloth, and tears it in two with its claws. Allen shoots him in the shoulder, and the Talon hits the floor. Renee gets on her feet, grabbing the fire poker from the nearby fireplace and drives the poker straight through the Talon's head.
Climbing to my feet, I glance around the bedroom. The bed post is cracked in the middle, bits and pieces lying on the ripped bedsheets. A large flower pot lies shattered on the floor, the dirt and flowers it once carried now spilled out onto the shiny wooden floor.
"How'd you know this guy would be coming after me?" she asks, yanking the fire poker out of the Talon.
"Barbara got the intel after she joined the Court of Owls," he explains.
She looks around, "God, how am I going to clean this up?"
"I was just attacked at my place as well. Broke a window and everything," I chime in.
Renee looks up at me, and chuckles, "Ha, you think that's something?" she picks up a piece of a ripped painting that had fallen to the floor, "This was an original. ...Barbara painted it for me. God, how am I going to tell her?"
"I'm sure she'll understand," Allen nods, "but right now, Barbara wants all of us to meet at her place. Let's get rid of the body and head over."
Handing out gloves to Renee and I, the three of us begin carrying the Talon's body out the fire escape.
"How'd you guys get rid of the body at Natalie's place?" Renee asks.
Allen shrugs, "...dumpster."
She smirks, "Ha...classic."
Author's Note:
Guest: Oh, I thought you guys meant do something for you guys, the readers (which I will do). I guess I could maybe do something for myself. I'm pretty busy getting ready for school, but I'll see ;P
Langley21: Awe, thanks guys, I really appreciate it. Natalie might not be able to comprehend Ed's more deviant side at first, because she's so used to the playful, well-meaning Ed. Also, good catch, the "swimming through a volcano shooting bubbles" is an obscure reference to Finding Nemo, where the tank crew initiate Nemo by having him swim through the volcano that shoots bubbles out the top (I don't usually make references outside of the DC universe, but Finding Nemo is the first movie I ever saw in theaters, so it holds a lot of significance to me personally)
Thanks! :)