As the other Maniax dug through a bunch of old boxes, Cynthia sat off to the side; deep in thought.
"You wouldn't be able to hold onto that. Not in any capacity."
Cynthia could read between the lines; Theo meant Jerome.
Give up Jerome for some semblance of stability; that was a no brainer, right?
Right?
Cynthia was jerked out of her thoughts by the sound of a chainsaw.
Jerome was hitting his chainsaw against Greenwood's samurai sword.
"That's enough!" Galavan called.
"I tried to stop them," Dobkins said, Cynthia rolling her eyes as she slumped more in her chair; interested where this was going.
"Boys, we're a team," Galavan appealed "We don't fight amongst ourselves."
"Yeah, we're a team, boys," Dobkins repeated.
"And I'm the captain," Greenwood said with a sneer. Cynthia sighed; she didn't want to deal with a pissing match; she had more important things to be doing and thinking about.
"Captain of my foot," Jerome growled back.
"I've murdered a dozen women; terrorized this city. What've you done? Chop up your mommy?"
"Everybody has to start somewhere," Jerome said, obviously annoyed "See, I have vision, and ambition, and brains, and you're just a nutty old cannibal. How many people can you eat until that shtick gets old?"
"I could eat one more."
"I can see we're going to have to resolve this once and for all," Galavan said, pulling a gun out of his pocket and removing all the bullets and putting only one back in "You all know this game?"
"Love it," Jerome replied.
Cynthia watched more attentively; things just got a lot more interesting.
"Who wants to be the boss?" Galavan asked, holding the gun out.
"Ladies first," Jerome said, Greenwood taking it and pulling the trigger next to his temple; nothing. Greenwood passed it to Jerome, who took it happily and placed it against his temple as he spoke.
"Hey, Greenwood; what's the secret to good comedy?" Jerome asked, pulling the trigger; click "Timing."
"And what's courage?" Still nothing "Grace under pressure."
"And who's the boss?"
Cynthia leaned forward in interest.
Click.
"I'm the boss."
Cynthia smiled as she leaned back.
Jerome laughed quietly as he handed Greenwood the gun.
"When you're not too busy eating out of that bitch's hand."
Before Galavan could scold or Jerome could shoot him, Cynthia was across the room; slamming Greenwood's hand onto a table and taking the sword to pin his hand to it. As Greenwood screamed, Cynthia was vaguely aware of Jerome's cackles as she spoke calmly.
"If you call me a bitch again, I will knock out every single one of your teeth with a crowbar and I will make gyūtan with you. I'm sure you don't know what that is, so I will illuminate; it's a Japanese dish made out of grilled beef tongue, but I'm sure it'll work just fine with yours."
Then, Cynthia reached up and calmly pulled the sword out of the table and Greenwood's hand; the man falling backwards and clutching his hand as Cynthia wiped the blade clean on his shoulder. Then, she passed the sword back to a grinning Jerome and turned to Galavan.
"I hope you will accept my apology for your table."
"Of course," Galavan said.
Cynthia smiled pleasantly before leaving the room; Jerome slapping the sword into Galavan's hand and following after her.
.
Cynthia took heavy breaths as Jerome lied across her back; they'd just finished and were still recovering.
Jerome rolled off of her; pulling on his pants as Cynthia rolled onto her side.
"Jerome?"
"Yeah, Doll?"
"Could ya do me a favor?"
"Depends."
"When Galavan brings up your next hit; suggest Cheerleaders."
Jerome grinned.
"You're being such a bad girl."
Cynthia smirked, winking at Jerome.
"Learned from the best."
.
"I heard you're joining the family."
Cynthia turned to where Tabitha was approaching her.
"Yeah."
"Good; we could always use some more bright, ruthless people around here," Tabitha said "Oh, if you're worrying about losing Jerome; don't. I know plenty of more suitable boys you can mess around with."
"You're one to talk about suitable," Cynthia said teasingly "I'm not judging; Barbara's a hottie. Does your brother know you two have been screwing?"
"What he doesn't know won't kill him," Tabitha countered.
"Fair enough."
.
"When you're there, before they go boom, can you do something for me?"
"Cynthia Wayne sends her love," Jerome said, cackling as he sprayed screaming cheerleaders in the face with gasoline "And regrets that she won't be able to see you all go to hell."
.
"It's too bad you weren't able to blow them up," Cynthia said, running her fingers through Jerome's ginger hair as he rested his head on her lap.
"Sorry, Babydoll; maybe next time."
"Cynthia, Jerome; Theo wants you two," Tabitha said.
.
"Sure, the last move on Gotham didn't exactly go according to plan, but Gotham is prepared for our next move," Galavan said "Jerome; you are our star."
Jerome grinned at Galavan's words.
"While, Cynthia is our pièce de résistance."
"Doing what?" Cynthia asked, interested in what her first job as one of the Maniax was.
"How good are you at crying on command?"
.
Jim sighed as he ran a hand through his hair; the Maniax were nowhere to be found.
And, wherever they were, Cynthia was with them.
Even though all evidence pointed to the contrary, Jim still believed that Cynthia was being held against her will; the Maniax had her locked up somewhere.
As Jim considered that Cynthia Wayne was in the hands of those psychotic criminals, his phone rang.
"Gordon."
"Jim."
Jim froze; the voice was familiar, if a little wobbly.
"Cynthia?"
"Jim, I need your help."
"Are you with them right now?" Jim demanded.
"No, I got away, but I need to see you."
"Tell me where you are; I'll take you down to the station and you can tell them everything."
"You think those cops can be trusted? Jim, this is way bigger than you realize; we need to meet somewhere else."
"Where?"
"Follow me."
These words were both over the phone and from across the room; Cynthia was standing in the doorway. Her eyes were wide and scared and she had a large bruise on her cheek.
They made eye contact and Cynthia swiftly turned around and headed out the door; Jim running to follow her.
Cynthia stayed a few feet ahead of him; leading him to an alleyway near the precinct before she turned around.
Her eyebrow was raised and her lips were quirked into a surprise smile.
"I cannot believe that worked."
"Cynthia?" Jim asked, frowning in confusion.
"Oh, god, now I almost feel bad," Cynthia said, her voice implying she did not feel bad at all "You look like a little lost puppy."
"Cynthia, what's going on?" Jim demanded.
"Oh, Detective; I've been such a bad girl."
Helzinger jumped out and tackled Jim, beginning to beat him up.
"Remember, keep him alive," Cynthia said, leaning against the alley and sighing; hardly the most thrilling part of the plan.
Instead of focusing on Helzinger beating Jim into a pulp, her mind began to wander to earlier.
"Now, Cynthia; you have to make him believe," Galavan said, Cynthia biting her lip; tears and doe eyes wouldn't be enough.
"Jerome," Cynthia called, the ginger man walking over with a grin; he was excited about the part he played "Hit me in the face."
Without question, Jerome punched her on the cheek; Cynthia stumbling to the ground from the force that had hit her. Cynthia shook her head and spat out blood before standing up; smiling at Jerome in gratitude.
Her cheek still kind of hurt, but strangely enough, she kind of liked it.
Helzinger had Jim on the ground; punching him over and over.
"Alright, that's enough."
Helzinger obeyed and moved away from Jim, who was barely conscious.
Cynthia whistled as she moved over to the side of the alley; picking up a pipe before skipping slightly too where Jim was lying.
"Sorry for the killer headache you're going to have. Not so sorry for what happened at the precinct. Night-night!"
Cynthia raised the pipe and everything went black
.
Cynthia drummed her nails against the steering wheel impatiently; she could hear sirens as she waited for Jerome to exit the precinct.
"Well, Missy; who put that bruise on your pretty cheek?"
Cynthia giggled; the sirens forgotten as Jerome leaned against the car and spoke in a funny voice through the open window.
"My despicable boyfriend, Officer; who messed up your nose?"
"All in the line of work. Why don't you leave that boyfriend of yours?"
"I just can't bring myself to; he's so mean, but he gets me so hot."
Jerome broke and grinned, opening the door to the car and shoving Cynthia over to the passenger side; the young girl giggling as she lay on her elbow while Jerome got in and pulled away. Jerome leaned and slapped the side of her thigh.
"Don't worry, Darling; once I get you back home, I'm gonna hurt you some more."