I only own Nicki

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Oswald watched as Nicki left and Butch, looking extremely uncomfortable, returned to Fish's office. She had denied his offer to call a cab, her bike parked outside. He heard the engine roar and speed away. He was, once again, alone in the empty club. Propping his elbows up on the bar, he rested his head in his hands letting himself get lost in his thoughts. The poor girl. He knew that they were trying to convince her to join their family, but whatever had gone on in that room had been something terrible from the way she had looked. Especially seeing Butch that distressed as well truly threw up a red flag for Oswald.

Butch had said she would start at nine… It really would be nice to have her working there. He would get to spend more time with her, and truth be told, he wasn't too popular with the other boys in Fish's employment. It would be nice to have someone to talk too in general.

But she looked so sad…

He shook his head. It was silly for him to worry himself about her like this. He hardly knew her after all. But it didn't feel that way. He had very little experience with relationships, never having many friends even as a child, so he wasn't exactly one to judge how fast these things went. It was nice though. And perhaps she would be helpful to him later. It would be nice to have someone to rely on, especially someone like her, when he finally made his way to the top of the Gotham food chain.

Yes, it was only a matter of time. He had gotten a feel for how the inner workings of the Gotham underbelly worked and he was confident that he could start moving up soon. The main problem he was facing was how to get rid of Fish without her knowing it was he who was responsible for doing so. She would be a valuable friend and a tie he wouldn't want to sever. In truth, he observed her closely and did his best to emulate her charismatic and strong nature, knowing full well that she was not one to be underestimated. It would be sad when he had to overtake her, but, such is life. And maybe Nicki would even be right there at his side, not just as a right hand, but…

He shook his head. He was getting far too ahead of himself. With a sigh he contended himself to get to work, thinking that he had done enough daydreaming for now. Grabbing a rag from under the counter, he began wiping the surface until it shown. As he made his way down the length of the bar, lifting glasses and decorative ash trays as he went, he came across something that made him pause. Nicki's helmet.

She must have left it behind in her rush to leave. Picking it up, he looked around to make sure he was alone, and then raised it to his nose and inhaled. He could smell the sharp burn of hairspray mixed with an interesting jasmine and vanilla scent. Breathing it in, he realized that it must be the shampoo that she used. He allowed himself to close his eyes and indulge in the fragrance, imaging her in his arms, his nose buried in her hair as they embraced.

The door to Fish's office opened, snapping him out of his reverie. He quickly shoved the helmet beneath the bar and began to act busy, watching as a disgruntled Fish and Falcone made their way outside of the club to his car. He caught bits and pieces of their conversation, something about backlash and whether or not Nicki would be controllable. Yes, it was clear that she had not willingly came to their side.

As they exited, he allowed himself to duck under the counter and stick his nose into the helmet one last time before really getting back to work. Maybe she would come to realize that she would be happy here with them. So what if she was of the Maroni family.

Here is another chapter! A little short but I wanted to jump into Oswald's head for a second.

Also random side note but I'd love to know what other people think of this, so me and a friend were talking the other day and we came to a conclusion...

Let me preface this with I LOVE JIM GORDAN! SO MUCH!

...that being said...

He's the most useless character on the show. He plays his part as being a symbol (or a white knight of Gotham), but his two main goals have been:

1. Find the Wayne Killer

and 2. Get all of the corruption out of Gotham, especially in the police force.

Well 1. Bruce actually straight up told him in one episode that he was sick of waiting so just to not worry about it anymore, he'd handle it (I love little man Bruce) and 2. Every major change in the corruption of Gotham outside of throwing your typical crazies in jail and arkham...has been done by Penguin. In Season 1 Penguin is actually the one who let everyone know that the real Wayne's killer hadn't bee caught and where to start looking. Penguin took down all three major powerhouses in the mafia, and several underbosses, getting rid of the factions of organized crime and stopping the bloodshed (and then he took over so...view that how you will). He also got Jim promoted by helping him get black mail on Loeb putting the only good man in Gotham in a position of power. THEN in Season 2 Penguin gets Jim his job back, once again keeping the only good man in Gotham on the payroll and he has now done what Jim has been trying to do for half of this show AND HAS MADE LOEB STAND DOWN.

Don't get me wrong, he always has his reasons and...way of doing things...but the man has gotten results.

Conclusion: Is Penguin is the original dark knight of Gotham?