Disclaimer: All characters belong to DC, with the exception of Magda, Jim, and Danny. Everyone who is still sticking with me, Thank you!
The next morning I went downstairs. It was oddly quiet. I took a lap around the hideout, and found my way into the double doors leading to the old casino. The only person that was there was the Joker. He had a pile of papers spread across an empty table. I approached cautiously, but he must of heard me . Without even looking uphe began, "Good morning Magda my dear. In case you're wondering, Harley is taking the boys out for a stroll, and Jim will be back with breakfast. So this is a good opportunity for us to do some...bonding." He turned and met my eyes with a mischievous grin. I stepped towards the table, but kept a comfortable distance. "Since you've made such a sacrifice recently, I think it's time we laid down some ground rules."
This annoyed me a little and I sarcastically replied, "Rules? Wow I've never heard of those before."
He turned and shot me a fuming glance, then continued. "First, you have freedom to go anywhere. But don't think about skipping out of town. I have eyes and ears everywhere. You would not believe how many people owe me favors." His smile turned up at each end of his mouth. "Second, no double crosses. I will always rule the roost, so to say. In my absence however Jim is next then Harley. In time, if things continue to do well, then you'll be third."
I gave him a confused look. "Why not Harley next, then Jim?" He slapped his hands on the table and laughed hard.
"Well if you must know. Her schemes haven't proven to be worth anything. She only seems to be good for loyalty and love. Poor girl, she isn't even that great of a cook." That smile of his turned into a smirk and he continued. "Jim...well...he has been here since almost the beginning. I've known him longer than her. He's the best bodyguard a man could ever ask for. Ten years of beatings, stints in prison...and the killing! O the way he kills is just brilliant!" His booming praise turned into a big sigh. "That man might outlive me. But you see my point." I shook my head yes. "Third, no secrets, just truth. Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters." He beamed, "And finally fourth, don't forget to have fun! There's no fear when you're having fun! Don't tell Crane that or he might be out of a job." The smile returned fully to his face. "Live by these simple rules and everything will go smoothly."
I unenthusiastically replied, "Ok. Good to know. I think I'll be going now." I turned but before I could get anywhere he grabbed my arm. I flinched in pain as I turned around. He took hold of my sleeve and pushed it up. When he looked down his voice got low.
"He did a number on you didn't he?" He let go of me and I didn't say anything. "I hope I don't need to label you as damaged goods after this." I shook my head no as I pushed my sleeve back down. The charm snuck back into his voice. "That's good. Now off you go, but don't be long! We need to go back to the old hideout and scrape together what's left from there. No need for products to go to waste. Toodles!" I walked out of the room as Jim was coming back. I'm not sure how, but he must of read me. In passing he handed me a bagel without a word.
When I made it outside to the pier, the day was dark and gloomy. Honestly the sun never seemed to shine in this town, or if it did it was on days few and far between. I found an old bench and sat down. Eating my bagel in peace, I was deep in thought. Going back to the hideout. This gives me a chance to snoop around. My arms began to ache in the cold weather. I need some medical attention. Maybe I should go see that Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Better yet, maybe there are some leftover drugs in that medbay. I could try and sell them to her. I really need to save up some money. My concentration was interrupted when I heard some odd animal noises. It was a cackling, then I saw Harley come up the boardwalk with the hyenas. One broke loose and ran up to me. It was Lou, the spot around his eye shown on what I assumed was a happy face. At least for a hyena. He smelled my food. I tore off a piece and threw it on the ground. After gobbling it up he nudged my arm. I petted his long mane until he looked satisfied. Harley wasn't far behind, Bud was pulling her towards me with some force.
"Sorry about that. These guys must be hungry." She grabbed Lou by his mane and stared him down, I guess to assert dominance, then gave him a hug. She let them both walk around freely and took a seat beside me. "So what are you doing out here?"
"I just needed time to think. The past couple days have been crazy."
"Yeah, I can understand." Her tone took a solemn note. "You know I'm feeling pretty responsible for everything."
"But none of this is your fault." I tried to reassure her.
"But it is. I told J I wanted someone, and he tends to deliver on most promises. I was very surprised he found someone so young though. But because your so young, I'm feeling guilty for getting you in this mess. This isn't the life for you." She looked at me kindly, and pulled me in closer with an arm around my shoulder. "Do you have any plans? Any dreams for the future?" I kept my head down.
"Not really." I gave a little laugh. "When I was in the orphanage the plan was to run away. To leave this city with...someone."
Her voice sounded enthusiastic. "Was that someone a guy?"
"Yes, but." She cut me off.
"And did he love you?" Her excitement was growing.
"You know. That's a bit complicated. I guess yes, but right now the situation isn't right."
"If he loves you, he will always come back to you." She swooned as she said this.
"That is not my situation. Are you referring to your relationship?" I questioned.
She shook her head, "Yup. I might mess up sometimes and get kicked to the curb, but he always comes back for me." The air of love never left her voice.
I sounded a bit disapproving, "That doesn't sound right. Where do you go when he kicks you out?"
Sighing heavily, "Ivy has always been there for me. Her hate towards men seems to make her take pity on me."
"She can't be your only friend. Right?"
She let out another sigh, "Selina too."
I scrunched my eyebrows, "Who?"
"Catwoman. Her and Ivy are the only ones I have. Well there is you now." She hugged me closer.
"Yeah. Your right. Your my only friend right now. Well you and maybe Jim, but he has an odd way of showing it."
She gave a giggle. "Jim is the best! He has more sanity than the rest, and boy can he fight. You could never ask for a more loyal guy."
"What's his story anyway?" I was genuinely curious.
She cocked her head to the side. "Dear, that's not for me to tell. Maybe you could ask him sometime." She got up and whistled for the boys. They came running back, yipping all the way. "Come on. It's time to get back. These guys need a feeding, and I'm sure we will be off to the abandoned hideout soon." I got up and walked with her back to the club.
When we arrived, it looked like everyone was ready. Jim had a plain white shirt under his leather jacket, and wore an old pair of jeans. Joker was finishing his ensemble by hiding some throwing knives in the inside of his long dark purple trench coat. Harley took the hyena's to the gambling room and locked them in. She announced, "Let me just get my coat and I'll be ready." I followed her upstairs, got my coat out and put on my backpack. When we went back downstairs, they were already in the van waiting. Me and Harley got in the back.
We drove into Crime Alley and found the warehouse untouched. Pulling the van around back, we left the doors open, and started to load in anything we could find. To my surprise a lot of the ammo and guns were still present. I snuck away from the group and went to the medbay. There wasn't much left. I found a couple bottles of morphine and epinephrine. I took the little glass vials and stuck them in my pack. Before I left the room, my eye caught a green liquid. It was the same stuff they pumped into me that day. It was in a small jam jar. I couldn't just leave it here, so I took it too.
I made my way back to the center of the building, known simply as "the training area". It was empty. Scanning the room I noticed a staircase that led up to a room with many windows. I've never actually been up there before. Since no one was around I climbed the stairs to the top. The door was unlocked, so I went in. The room was simple, a writing desk and a filing cabinet. I put my pack down on the table and opened a drawer to the cabinet. Nothing was locked. The drawer had many files in it and each tab had a name. Nothing was in alphabetical order. Selina Kyle. Oswald Cobblepot. Edward Nygma. Harvey Dent. Dr. Jonathan Crane. Pamela Isley. Dr. Victor Fries. Dr. Harleen Quinzel. Jervis Tetch. Waylon Jones. Floyd Lawton.
My attention was broken when I heard a whizzing past my head, and a thump of something hitting the wall. It was a knife. I turned around to see him standing in the doorway. "You want to hand me my knife back?" He cocked an eyebrow. I pulled it free from the wall and walked it over to him. He grabbed it from my hands, stuffing it back in a pocket. "Thank you." He pushed me aside and stepped further in. "I see you found the last thing we needed." Going over to the cabinet, he thumbed through the files and took them out. Slamming them on the empty table, I jumped. "How curious are you?"
I tread with caution. "I've seen some of those names in the paper. Harley mentioned Selina to me earlier. She said she was...Catwoman?"
"Yes that little feline. I've never trusted her, but for some reason those two seem to get along." He trailed off seeming to be thinking about something else, then continued. "But the point is. I took a page out of old Bats book. Know your enemies. I keep files on the competition. I was going to burn these, but maybe you should take them with you. Study them because most likely you'll meet some of them soon."
"When I had door duty with Jim one day I met a couple of them, but never knew their real names. Why isn't there a file for Mr. Falcone?" He walked over to me, hands behind his back.
"We try not to deal with him dear. If we have the money, and he has the guns, then that's it. Him and Meroni are more of an Ozzy thing. Crime families feud more. Not my thing. But there was that one time with Riddler." He paused thinking. "Forget I said that." He held out a hand. "That was the past. We are looking towards the future now." He took a long pause and smiled. "Your future." His hand followed down to the desk and settled on top of the files.
In a sarcastic tone I said, "Sure. My future life in the crime syndicate. My biggest dream." I rolled my eyes.
He let out a low growl. "Come on kid. You were doing so well." In a flash, he had grabbed me by the back of my shirt, and slammed me against the desk, with my hands held behind my back. From behind me, I felt him put all his weight on me. I struggled to breath. Leaning over me he whispered in my ear, "I know you're not completely fearless. You'd be smart to still fear me. Now be smart and take my...suggestion...into consideration." With that he released me roughly. The desk squeaked as it moved across the floor, and my body fell to the dirty linoleum. Papers were scattered everywhere. He coyly walked away.
In silence, I picked up the files and added them to my bag. I went straight to the back of the van expressionless. We left minutes later, and went back to the club with the payload. When we got back, I went upstairs to my room, saying nothing to anyone. I closed the door and pushed an empty dresser in front of the door. Sitting down on the bed, I took out the files and spread them out. The rest of the night I heeded his warning and studied them all. I learned every name, real and fake. Studied every face, and went over every weakness. When I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, I got up and moved the dresser out of the way. Putting the papers away, I went to bed.
AN: I apologize for any misspellings, grammar errors, ect. Please feel free to comment, review, like, or favorite. I'm looking for any feedback you have on how I can improve the story. Thanks for reading!
