Damian insisted on walking with me, even though he could have taken a car or something. Once he heard that I preferred to walk, he was determined to walk with me. It was sort of annoying, to be honest. But it was a nice, rainy day. I held the umbrella over Damian's head, as much as he objected. He eventually moved close enough to me for both of us to be under it. He irked me.
"Where are we going?" He asked, trying to hide his excitement.
"I dunno. Oh, I actually have to check in on something." I mentally changed courses.
Eventually, when we finally got back into Gotham, I led us to the Iceberg Lounge.
I walked past the bouncer, holding Damian's hand as I did so he didn't get stopped. The bouncer actually flinched at the ferocity with which I moved. Everything about me was sharp, angry.
I walked straight back to the VIP section and yanked Penguin to his short, stubby legs.
"Miss Harmony!" He shrieked. "H-how have you been?"
"Fine, how about yourself?" I sat down across from him, shoving the man who was sitting there aside. I sat Damian beside myself.
Penguin waved the guy off. I almost wanted to smirk.
"What can I do for you today?" He was sweating.
"I'm just here to check in on that project I gave you." I crossed my legs and placed my hands in my lap.
Damian looked confused.
"Ha, ah, yes." He pulled on his collar. Nervous. "Yes, I have that taken care of."
"Let me see."
He stood, his hands tightened on his cane. His hat was straightened by a shaky palm.
Whoa, I really scared the shit out of him. Like, I hadn't even meant to scare him that badly. Did Rex do something after I left?
I followed him, motioning for Damian to stay.
The statue was beautiful, the poor girl's exact likeness, body type, except she was wearing a flowing, gorgeous dress. At the foot was a gold plaque that read "Diana Formir"
Her face was serene. Not nervous like how she looked when she worked for him. The statue was in the middle of everything in the club. A goddess living in a sewer. A clean sewer, but a sewer all the same.
"Good." I nodded and looked away from the statue.
"W-would you be so kind as to tell Rex that his package is ready?"
"Sure." Rex appeared behind him. "I'll let him know."
"Rex!" Penguin actually looked pleased that he was here, his nervousness breaking. Maybe Rex hadn't done anything. Maybe I was just scary when I was mad. "Yes, I'll go get it right away!"
He waddled away, glad to be free of us.
"You're soaked." He glanced over me, running his fingers through his own, drenched hair. It almost looked grey when it was wet.
"You too."
"She looks good." He jerked a thumb at the statue.
"Yep."
"You okay?" He put a hand on my head.
"I've had a long day." I shrugged.
"Heard you cleaned up at the ring. Musta saw like twenty guys being carried out." He looked proud.
"I did okay." I shrugged again. It seemed a satisfying enough answer, and it meant I didn't have to talk as much.
"You did great." He corrected me.
He really was like a big brother. It was comforting, actually. It wasn't as weird as it had been. He didn't look strange to me as I used to think. His grey skin, white hair, those were signs of home.
"Thanks, Rex." I took a deep breath.
Penguin brought him his package. Rex handed him a thick envelope. I wondered how many banks he had to rob to get that much money. He waved at me, told me not to make any plans for tomorrow, and left.
I ignored Penguin when he asked me if he could do anything for me, retrieved Damian and left. I didn't have the patience for Penguin. Not when he was going to try and kiss ass to save his own skin.
"Rain's letting up." Damian commented.
"Yep." I nodded. I didn't let the umbrella out from under my arm.
Cars were screeching. I looked around, expecting a car crash. I didn't expect a van to screech to a halt in front of us and a group of people to yank us into the car. Something like an oxygen mask was placed over my face and I watched Damian struggle as I lost consciousness.
Fuck.