Chapter 13
The next night, I was getting ready for my meeting with Penguin when I heard someone come through my elevator. I walked out into the foyer and saw my Dad. Handsome loved my Dad and always got so excited when he came to visit. My Dad was leaning on the ground petting and hugging Handsome when I came in.
"Hi Daddy." I said as he got up and hugged me.
"Hi baby. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something." My Dad said as he took my hand and walked me to my couch. He sat me next to him and got a serious look on his face.
"Word on the street is that The Bat is alive." He said. I shook my head in disbelief.
"No Dad. There's no way. I saw J unload a round into Wayne's chest. I saw him drop dead." I said. My Dad was just as surprised as we were when we found out who Batman actually was.
"I know babe. But one of my guys swears up and down he saw The Bat flying around South Gotham last night. Now we both know that there are always wanna-bes out and about so just keep an eye out." He said. I nodded. I still thought it was bullshit. My Dad kissed my forehead and got up to leave. "So you doing that meeting with Penguin tonight?" he asked.
"Yeah. Afterwards I am going to Crimson's place. J said I can recruit her as my second." I said. My Dad eyed me.
"Luna. Crimson Dante is a crazy bitch. She will get you killed." My Dad said worried. I rolled my eyes.
"Dad, she is crazy but she is fearless. You do know that I have diagnosed with acute sociopathy and violent psychosis right?" I asked. He sighed.
"Yes honey I know. But you seem to have somewhat of a grasp on life. That girl has almost gotten you killed." My Dad said.
"Yes I know but that wasn't technically her fault. She is street smart, strong as hell and not scared of anything. I think she's perfect." I said. He shook his head in defeat.
"Fine. But if you get hurt under her watch, I will have her head." He said as he got into the elevator and went up. I rolled my eyes. I put on my gloves and put my gun in my holster and my knife in my boot. I headed outside and Frost was waiting out front and opened the door to the black SUV for me. I got in and crossed my legs. Frost got in the passenger side and told the driver where to go. I looked at my phone and saw that I had a text from J:
"Bring her by the apartment tonight so I can meet her. If Bird Boy gives you any trouble, just say the word and I will put a bullet in his head.- J"
I smiled. We pulled up to the dark club and Frost opened my door and held an umbrella over me as we walked inside. Frost walked in front of me and whispered something to the hostess. She nodded and showed us the back of the club. The club was packed with people, it being a Saturday night. We walked into a dimly lit office and I saw The Penguin sitting at his desk.
"Penguin." I said as I walked in. His face lit up.
"Luna Cee! You look so much older than the last time I saw you. You were no more than fifteen years old. I am so glad you were able to get out of Arkham. That Amanda Waller. I hear she is quite the character." He said giggling.
"Was." I said suggestively. He roared with laughter.
"Oh just like your father." He said smiling. "Now let's get down to business. I know you have partnered up with The Joker. That was a smart move, the man knows what he's doing. Now I know you two have been shipping ammo and armory throughout the nation. Right now you're paying thirty percent for movement fees correct?" He asked politely.
"Yes we are." I said simply. I saw Frost and his guy shift behind me as I sat across from The Penguin. Penguin nodded.
"How does twenty sound?" He said smiling. I shrugged.
"I'm not stupid Cobblepot. I know how much it costs you guys to transport. Why would you offer to do this job for that low?" I asked.
"I am just now getting back into the game. I don't have the right to be greedy. Yet. Your father and I had a long talk last week and I am willing to put old history aside. I am willing to work with you and the Clown Prince of Gotham. What do you say?" He asked. I thought for a moment.
"Accepted." I said with a slight smile. "But I need your word that this isn't about getting back at The Joker. If you lay so much as one finger on him, i'll burn your eyes through your skull. Got it?" I said seriously.
"Understood." He said seriously. I nodded and started for the door.
"Frost here will be in touch to get it all set up. Nice doing business with you Cobblepot." I said as one of J's guys opened the office door for me.
"Please Luna, call me Oswald." He said smiling wide. I ignored him and headed to the car. Frost opened the door for me and as he got in the passenger side, he put his phone to his ear.
"Yeah boss she's good. Deal went fine...you got it." Frost said. I rolled my eyes. I knew that when J was checking on me it was strictly because he didn't want anyone messing with his property. Frost hung up the phone and turned his head slightly. "Where to Miss Cee?" he asked.
"Fourteen zero two West Chase Street. Downtown." I said looking out the window. Frost was a human GPS of Gotham and already knew where that was. He directed the driver and when we reached our destination, Frost opened my door.
"Now listen Frost, I know you're under strict orders to watch me but I think this would go a lot better if it were just me. Crimson is a little...out of her mind. If there is too many people near her collection, she panics." I said. Frost looked at me curiously.
"Collection?" Frost asked.
"Yeah. You see, Crimson is a tad bit obsessed with Wonder Woman." I said trying not to give too much detail. We walked to the third floor of the crappy apartment building and I knocked on door 502.
"Wonder Woman? Why?" Frost asked. I hesitated.
"Long story. Just don't say her name in front of Crimson. The whole thing will be ruined. Just stay out here while I talk to her." I said. The front door opened a crack and I opened it slightly. I walked into an apartment that was covered with pictures of Diana Prince plastered on every inch of the place. Crimson was normal at one point. We were in our first year of college. Crimson was my lab partner and was the only one who knew about my ability. She was engaged to Tommy Plank. They were madly in love and it was gross. But at the end of the day, she was my best friend at the time and I guess I wanted her to be happy. One summer, Crimson had found out she was pregnant. She and Tommy were thrilled. Me? At the time, if it were me, I would have gotten rid of it. But then again, Crimson and I were very different at the time. Crimson had moved out of our dorm and moved in with Tommy. Crimson was seven months pregnant with their little boy when Diana Prince broke into their apartment one night, shot Tommy in the head and Crimson in the stomach. It turns out that Gotham's super bitch has a dark side. She had a fling with Tommy years prior and like the crazy bitch she is, she went psycho on him. He paid the price along with Crimson and her unborn baby. Crimson lost it after that. She went off the deep end and that's a lot coming from me. She dropped out, stopped sleeping and eating. She almost got me killed once when we were going after Diana one night. I didn't think we were actually going to kill Wonder Woman. Needless to say, the incident that happened between Wonder Broad and myself (that got me locked up) was well deserved on her part. Now Crimson just sat in her dank apartment obsessing about how one day she'd expose Wonder Woman for who she really is. Then put a bullet in her head and stomach. Couldn't say I blamed her.
"Crimson?" I asked as I walked slowly through the apartment. Then I saw her emerge from the dark corner.
"Luna." She said softly. She sat on her couch and lit a cigarette. I sat down next to her. "I see you got out of Arkham." She said as she took a drag. I nodded.
"Yeah. On unusual circumstances, but yeah." I said.
"I heard. You joined forces with Amanda Waller." She said sarcastically.
"Now hold on, I didn't join that bitch. I joined Quinn and Deadshot. That whole group." I said certainly.
"Whatever you say. So what can I do for you old friend?" She asked as she ran her hand across a few pictures of Diana on her wall.
"I have a proposition for you. I don't know if you have heard or not, but I have teamed up with The Joker and my Dad. We are taking Gotham back. We started by taking out Waller, Batman and the Gotham PD. Along with other important venues." I said.
"I heard that too. I didn't think you knew Joker." She said.
"I didn't. I mean I had heard of him but never met him until I joined the Squad." I said.
"I see. So what do you need me for?" She asked.
"I need a right hand. With J and I running this most of the time, I need someone watching my back when he can't be there. You are the only person I trust for that. You'd get twenty percent of my cut and you are welcome to move in with us once we get our new headquarters up and running." I said.
"I don't know Luna. I don't play well with others." She said as she put her smoke out.
"I know. But you don't have to answer to anyone except me and J. You know I don't even see you as an employee. Just the only friend I have ever had that I trust." I said. She looked at me and sighed.
"Okay. I'll do it. On one condition." She said seriously.
"Anything." I said.
"If the opportunity arises, I get to kill Diana Prince." She said simply. I nodded.
"She's all yours." I said with my hands up. She nodded. "Come on. I will help you pack." I said. She didn't have much. Only two suitcases worth. I called Johnny in so he could take them out to the car.
"Who's the guy?" Crimson asked eyeing Johnny. Johnny kept staring at Crimson. Oh great.
"Crimson this is Johnny Frost. The Joker's right hand. Johnny, this is Crimson. You two will be working together a lot from now on." I said. Johnny extended his hand to Crimson.
"Nice to meet you Miss Dante." Frost said smiling. Crimson shook his hand and ran her hand through her platinum blonde pixie haircut.
"Likewise Johnny." She said smiling back. I rolled my eyes and led her to the car. As we were walking down the building stairs, Crimson stopped me and saw my black eye.
"Did The Joker do this?" She asked, not sounding surprised. I laughed.
"You should see him." I said laughing. She knew I could hold my own and that my relationships were usually abusive on both sides. She shook her head and got in when I opened the car door. I got in after her and she shook her short hair from the rain. "We are headed to my Dad's. We have been using his place as temporary headquarters while we transition to our new place. J doesn't know about it yet so don't say anything." I said. She nodded.
"When are we moving into the new joint?" She asked as she velcroed her fingerless gloves.
"I am hoping at the end of this week. I love my Dad but I am scared he and J will kill each other soon. It's nice, downtown. Totally off the radar. Completely secured." I said. She nodded. We pulled up to my Dad's headquarters and we went to J's floor. Frost, Crimson, Tony and myself got into the elevator and Frost pushed the button to J's HQ. I walked in first and saw J going over some documents with some of his associates. He looked up and stopped what he was doing. He bolted out of his boss man chair and grabbed me into his arms.
"It's about goddamn time." He growled into my mouth. He grabbed my chin roughly and I ran my hands through his hair. I heard Crimson behind me.
"Jesus. Are they always like this?" Crimson whispered to Frost.
"Yep. It's either this or beating the hell out of each other." Frost said shortly.
I pulled away from J and put my hands on his cheeks as he held me close to his body.
"Now be nice baby. She's a friend." I said. He growled and rolled his eyes. I walked up to Crimson and grabbed her hand and pulled her towards J. "J this is Crimson. Crimson, Joker." I said smiling. I had already warned her that he didn't shake hands with anyone.
"Salutations Ms. Dante." J said absently.
"Same to you Mr. Joker." Crimson replied.
"Now, we have important business to conduct. My Queen, will you be as so kind as to lead everyone into the conference room? Your overbearing father will be here shortly." J said laughing. I nodded and ushered everyone into our large meeting room. I always sat to the right of J, Frost to the left of J and my Dad at the other end with cronies in between. I had Crimson sit to my right. J and Frost sat down along with the other Clowns. My Dad came in shortly after with his men. They sat down and waited. I got up from my chair to start.
"Lights." I said. A cronie of my Dad's turned out the lights and I used the board to show my plan. "Penguin is now the full mover of our armory. He will move our shit for twenty a cut. That's way less than what we are paying now." I said.
"It's too good to be true. With his run in with your Clown, it wouldn't surprise me if this was just a decoy." My Dad said.
"Don't worry Dad, I took care of that. He won't fuck with us." I said smiling. I went to my laptop and changed the screen on the board to a map of Gotham. I removed my glove on my right hand so I could use my glowing finger as a pointer. "He starts down at the fifth street warehouse, drops at sixteenth and ninth then picks up at the warehouse in Southside. He will be in the clear to get through the border of the city limits." I said. J was watching me with that look of his. He always got turned on when I took the reigns. I smirked at him and turned my attention to my Dad. My DAd was thinking.
"Good work baby. After the twenty for Penguin is taken out, what are our profits?" My Dad asked.
"Maroni gets 30% and we get 50%. So that equals to 600k to you and a mil to us every push. With three pushes a week we will be making three times the profit we were before." I said. My Dad looked so proud of me. I was talking to him like a business partner.
"Deal." My Dad said. J cackled a high laughter and pounded his fist on the meeting table.
"Good! I knew you'd come around to liking me Dad." J said. My Dad eyed J seriously.
"That's Maroni to you Clown." My Dad said as he and his men got up. J whispered to Johnny, "Oh he hasn't warmed up to me just yet Frost." J said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and smiled. My Dad and his men were now gone. J got up and smacked my ass and told me to sit down. I obliged but still pouted.
"Now we talk personal business. The Smile n' Grin was tragically burnt to the ground recently. That was our big money maker. Time to rebuild." J said smiling wide. I fidgeted in my seat. My sister was a stripper at one time. I knew the shit that went down at the Smile n' Grin and the thought of some other broad rubbing all over J like that, made my blood boil.