Now was not the time for a phone call. Elizabeth groaned and pulled herself away from Edward who huffed like a spoiled child at the sudden lack of sexual pleasure. She sprinted across the room and snatched the cellphone from the dresser.
"Yes?" She snapped into the phone.
"Miss Howard I'm waiting for my repayment," the irritating voice of Falcone said on the other end.
"It's been four days."
"So? I gave you Cuvier; I want some Maroni boys dead."
"No, you gave me a trap Cuvier had set up." Elizabeth said angrily.
"Not my fault I want my end of the deal."
"Fine 10 guys."
"Ten! You said you'd reduced their numbers."
"And I said get me information on Cuvier not false information." Elizabeth's body tensed when she heard Falcone slam his fist and yell at someone on the other end. There was a pause on Falcone's side.
"Fine." He finally said, "three days from now Maroni has a small shipment coming in the east docks pier 35, there will be ten guys max there. Take them out and we'll call it even." Elizabeth held back a growl she didn't like the way Falcone was bossing her around.
"Very well," she said, "but unless you can tell me precisely where Cuvier is, not just some bar stool hearsay, don't call this number again." Elizabeth hung up the phone and turned sharply back to Edward who had propped himself up on the pillows his hands resting behind his head. She straddled his legs and ran her hands up his chest. "Now where was I…?"
The wind coming off Gotham Bay was cold and salty but against the warm night air it was a blessing. Elizabeth had been down at the docks for the last several hours getting a lay of the land so-to-speak. It was nearing midnight though and Elizabeth had positioned herself on top of some crates with a perfect view of the docks yet still hidden from anyone looking out from the warehouses behind her. So far she had counted only six men and only two with tommy guns. Her fingers tightened on the gun in her hand as a little dingy silently pulled up to the dock and the four men and the captain began unloading it.
Elizabeth watched in fascination at the crime unfolding before her. It seemed so casual, the men acting as if they did this every day, but they probably did. Pulling her thoughts away from the trail of 'Gotham is so corrupted' Elizabeth focused on the men down below her. They had nearly finished. She looked down at the gun in her hand; the first bullet this gun would shoot would be in attack not defense.
"Well I'm not leaving Gotham now Colonel." Elizabeth said to herself before crawling off the crates. As silently as she could she snuck around the stacks of boxes. Carefully she poked her head out from behind the pile of Gothcorp crates and saw one of the two tommy gun wielders about 30 feet in front of her his back turned to her. She took a steadying breath and raised the gun. 'One, two, three!'
Elizabeth pulled the trigger twice and the gunshots rang through the air. The man in front of her dropped to the ground without a thump. She heard the other men yell and drop the boxes they were carrying. The other man with a tommy gun ran forward checking on his fallen comrade. 'Too easy.' Elizabeth raised the gun again and fired off three more shots, he dropped on to the other body. Yells from the other men were ringing through the night air.
"The Bat?"
"Stupid the Bat don't use no gun!"
"Then what is it?"
"Must be Falcone's man."
"Let's get 'em!" A chorus of agreement sounded and Elizabeth tensed. While they were panicking she had snuck away from the two bodies and had a perfect view of the four men. The captain and the ship had disappeared. One less person to take out. In front of her she saw the four men break apart each going a different direction. Each one held a hand gun now but all were revolvers no match for her semi-automatic. Elizabeth slipped into the shadows between two large crates as one of the men approached her. He walked passed her without a second thought. She smirked and two more shots echoed in the air.
Two sets of loud clomping footsteps were heading her way. Elizabeth darted from the shadow running down the path created by the boxes away from the men. She rounded the corner and ran headlong into the third man who apparently had enough brains to be silent while searching for the shooter. His arms wrapped around her quickly causing her to drop her gun in surprise.
"Got 'em!" He shouted. The other two men were running pell-mell towards them now. Knowing she only had a limited time to act Elizabeth dug her fingers into the man's skin. She felt her finger nail puncture the flesh and she tore back as hard as she could bringing the skin and flesh with her. The man howled in pain and dropped her. Quickly Elizabeth grabbed her gun off the ground and shot the man right in the heart. The footsteps were right behind her now and she whirled around firing at the men. 'One, two thr—oh shit.'
The triggered pulled but the third shot did not ring out. She was out of bullets. The final man was firing now her last two bullets having hit his companion. Elizabeth let out a cry of pain when one of the bullets grazed her arm. Throwing herself behind a large crate Elizabeth hastily removed the empty magazine and slid her spare into place. She cocked the gun bringing the first bullet into place.
"Come on out you Falcone bitch." The man said as he walked towards her hiding spot. Taking another deep breath flung herself around the corner firing three shots into the night. The man fell in front of her with a thump. Elizabeth smiled in relief and let loose a shaky breath. It was over. Her deal with Falcone was done.
She took a few steps to leave then collapsed to her knees silently screaming. What had she done? She had just killed six men that had never caused her harm. They were innocent. 'No they weren't', she reminded herself. They weren't innocent. She had killed them while they received a shipment of drugs to sell, drugs that have destroyed more lives than she ever could. Their deaths were a favor to the world.
The pain in her arm pushed away more depressing thoughts. She was injured and someone might have heard the gun shots and called the police. Elizabeth needed to leave. Holstering her gun she hurried down the path to the open area where the men had been unloading the goods. She stared at the boxes sitting half loaded into the van. There were no sirens yet and her wound wasn't that deep. Curiosity overcoming her Elizabeth picked up a crowbar from the back of the truck and wrenched the lid of one of the boxes open.
It wasn't drugs like she had expected instead sitting inside was something far more dangerous yet far more useful: guns. To be more precise brand spanking new machine guns far more powerful and accurate than the mob's current tommy guns. Forgetting her pain and the prospect of police all together Elizabeth opened the next box to find long rang sniper rifles with amour piercing rounds. The next box held the pieces to a bazooka. She jumped into the truck and pried the lid of one of the smaller boxes. Elizabeth chuckled this was more her style. Carefully she picked up one of the handguns.
"Oh, this is beautiful." The sleek black gun was heavy in her hand. It was larger than her current gun and therefore much more powerful. She ran a finger down the magazine still in the box. They were hollow tipped bullets that expanded on impact making them much more dangerous than normal bullets. Elizabeth looked around and spotted a small tool bag in the back of the truck. "I'm sure no one will mind if I take a little something for myself."
Emptying the bag Elizabeth put two of the hand guns inside along with all the ammo she could find. Off in the distance she heard the wail of sirens. Time to go. She jumped from the truck, tossed the crowbar into the water, and ran off into the night.
Harvey Bullock was having a good night so when he was told to check out gunfire on the East Docks he had been less than pleased. Now he was standing over the bodies of five of Maroni's men and one undercover cop. Silas had been a good cop he had gotten in with Maroni mob to track their drug trade. He was supposed to report tomorrow night on a large shipment Maroni was getting in, that the Thorne gang was going to try and grab. The police were going to try and grab both gangs at once with the help of Batman before anyone got hurt but it didn't look like that was a possibility anymore.
"You look awful Bullock." Montoya said stepping up beside him looking just as displeased as he did.
"Blame the jerk who thought it'd be fun to kill Silas." A car pulled up beside the crime scene and the Commissioner stepped out.
"What do we have Bullock," he asked tiredly.
"Silas is dead, Commish," Harvey said bluntly.
"Damn," the Commissioner cursed reaching for the cigarettes in his breast pocket.
"Well maybe if the Bat hadn't told us to wait he wouldn't be."
"Silas knew the danger; he was willing to risk it to put both mobs behind bars." There was a rustling above and both men looked up at Batman who had just arrived at the scene.
"What happened?"
"It seems someone decided to hit Maroni tonight, Silas is dead and weeks of planning just went down the drain."
"We'll think of something, any clue on the motive?"
"Nah, they opened a few of the boxes but nothing seems missing 'cept a couple handguns and ammo."
"Hey!" One of the crime scene investigators cried out, "we got blood here!"
"It's a crime scene there's blood everywhere!" Harvey yelled back annoyed but Batman leaped from his perch and went over to the crates where the analyst was standing. He took out a swab from his utility belt and took a sample of the blood.
"Hey! That's police evidence!" Harvey yelled ready to begin his usual tirade against Batman but he quieted when Montoya elbowed him in the gut.
"I can analyze this faster than your labs." Batman said tucking the sample away.
"And what about Silas and the mobs?" Gordon asked.
"Don't worry I'll think of something. We'll get them."
'Poke.' 'Poke.' Elizabeth groaned. "Just five more minutes."
"And put all this hard work to shame?" Elizabeth's reached for the covers but a hand prevented her from pulling them above her head.
"No, sleep."
"Well if you insist I'll get eat all this bacon by myself…" She loved bacon. She didn't know they had bacon. Actually she knew they didn't have bacon she had done a thorough search of the fridge and pantry yesterday and there was no bacon to be found. Elizabeth's eye shot open. "Bacon?"
"Yes, I went out and bought some this morning. Now sit up." Elizabeth complied, careful not to put pressure on her injured arm, and was surprised to see a tray precariously placed at the end of the bed. Edward picked it up and placed it on her lap.
"Breakfast in bed? Why?"
"Because gun shots wounds hurt like a bitch."
Elizabeth smirked. "I'll have to get shot more often then, if this is how you'll treat me afterwards."
"Haha," Edward said blandly and lifted the heating cover off. The aroma of eggs and bacon wafted up to her nose and her mouth began to water in a way that would make Pavlov's dogs jealous.
Elizabeth smiled sickeningly sweet up at him. "Eggs too? You spoil me." Edward held in his laughter at Elizabeth's ridiculous expression.
"Don't look forward to it too often; you need to be in top shape for the ball next week, so eat up."
"Aye, aye, Captain."
Edward smirked and rolled his eyes, "I'll be in my office." Elizabeth ate her meal quickly though she savored every bite of bacon. When she was finished Elizabeth carefully slid out from under the covers making sure she didn't spill on the bed. She went into the bathroom to relieve herself and take a few more pain killers; when she was done she examined the bandages Edward and wrapped her wound in last night. They were still tight but would probably need to be changed come the evening.
Elizabeth smiled at the thought of last night. She had stumbled into their hideout slightly woozy from blood loss. Her graze had been a lot deeper than she had realized and Edward needed to stich up her arm. It was sweet the way he had scolded her while bandaging her arm telling her to be more careful in the future. Of course, in the future Elizabeth would have her polymer suit that would prevent any knife and bullet wounds. If only Maroni had wanted her to do something in a few nights then she would've only had to worry about amour piercing rounds.
Her mind drifted to the rifle and other weapons she had seen last night. From the intensity of them it looked as though the Maroni mob was preparing for war or had suddenly decided to get into the illegal arms trade. It wasn't her business though. Her business was finishing building Scarecrow's dispersal devices before October, helping Edward with the ball heist, and, naturally, finding Cuvier. Elizabeth blinked as she realized that she hadn't really thought of Cuvier in the past week. Ever since she had her bout with Batman and came to Edward's hideout. Everything that had gone on had driven the idea and the need for revenge out of her mind.
Maybe she didn't need to…no! Cuvier was dangerous he was killing innocent people in the pursuit of his formula. He needed to be stopped. Elizabeth ran a hand through her hair and sighed. It shouldn't be this difficult.
Deciding the exploration of her inner desires was best saved for when she wasn't nearly high on pain killers Elizabeth dressed then snuck across the hall and into Edward's office. He was hard at work bent over schematics and blueprints. Wrapped up in his planning he didn't hear her approach. Smirking she slid her arms around his shoulders lazily crossing them on his chest.
"Echo don't, I'm working."
Elizabeth tensed and her lips curled in anger. She removed her arms and stood stiffly. Crossing her arms she tapped her foot on the floor waiting for Edward to realize his mistake.
"Echo, quiet, go help Query or something." Elizabeth's fingers clenched and she wrenched Edward's chair around with a snarl.
"Ech—oh."
"Yeah. Oh."
Edward chuckled sheepishly, "I didn't me—"
"Think before you finish."
"…I'm just used to them being here while I plan…"
If anyone had seen them at that moment they would have been surprised at the way the Riddler quelled under the gaze of this injured women. In the Rouge's defense he remembered what Scarecrow had deduced back in Arkham. That Elizabeth's breaks could be caused by anger and he could nearly see the fractures beginning to slip within her mind. Finally, Elizabeth pulled away with a huff; she turned sharply on her heels and marched out the door.
"Where are you going," Edward asked running to the door and watching her walk determinedly down the stairs.
"Out!"