Paralyzer [Gotham]

15

"Don't turn around." A chill ran down my spine but I obeyed all the same, folding my hands in front of my mouth to cover the smile that grew on my lips. "You look healthy... Not like last time." I took a deep breath, barely turning my head in Victor's direction before he stepped on my toes in warning. With a slight hiss I turned back, pulling my foot out of his reach.

"I like to keep my promises," I sighed, toying with the tiny umbrella in my cranberry juice. "How're things on the outside?" I frowned behind my hand as he accepted a drink from the bartender; if he didn't like drinking on the job, he definately shouldn't be drinking while a majority of the city was a warzone.

"Gordon and the GCPD are pushing the Green Zone futher and further everyday. Right now, as long as gangs keep to themselves, I'm in the clear." I shrugged with a humorless smirk.

"Too bad, the Dark Zone suited you." I turned and observed the club around us; Barb offered food, safety, and booze to anyone who could pay their due in information or resources, men were out by midnight - no exceptions. She kept me around because she was at least a fraction as smart as Falcone was - especially now, doctors were a good thing to have lying around. "You think Barb will let you keep stepping on her toes?"

He didn't answer, what could've been a shrug, nod, or shake of his head lost on me. "You know, you're the only one who calls her that," Victor commented instead.

"The woman's like barbed wire; safe in spaces." I couldn't help the smile that pulled on my lips when he chuckled. His time here was always limited, and he couldn't come around all that often. Passage into the Sirens was expensive these days, and I hadn't heard that sound since before we had seperated.

"You should think about not entertaining the main floor," he advised afrer a moment. "Pretty soon--"

"I know," I sighed, taking a chance and looking his way. He had his eyes turned to the bar, jaw tightly clenched as he stared into his glass. I was four months in, give or take. Soon I wouldn't be able to hide the forming lump in my stomach behind clothes, soon I'd have to start choosing who to tell. "I've got it taken care of."

"You doctors and your modern medicine have improved the quality of a lot," he pointed out, avoiding my gaze at this point. "Take away the medicine and things aren't as reliable as they were before the city went to hell." I took a deep breath and restrained every urge that told me to reach for him, eventually even convincing myself to turn away from him once more.

"I'm aware of the odds I'm up against," I breathed, tapping my fingers impatiently on the bar. "I'd just feel a lot better about them if you were there with me," I added in a quieter voice.

"We'll see, Luce." As if he was okay with taking turns, I felt his stare on the side of my face, allowing him a soft smile as he took me in. I looked at the watch he'd given me and sighed, frowning at the clock - time was our greatest enemy.

"You should probably head out before the bouncers come through," I advised, picking up my glass of juice but only turning it over in my hands. "They make you look like a kindergartener." My lips twitched at his laugh, as if the idea alone were incredilous, turning my head a few moments later at the following silence to find him gone.

With a sigh I sunk against the bar, wondering when it would be that I next saw him as I decided what to do with the rest of my night. Tabitha was still extremely bent over Butch so these days she became my bar buddy. Just because I can't drink anymore doesn't mean it isn't still my prefered place to be. As she walked up beside me she placed a gun on the bar, fingers tapping impatiently. "Got any bang for that buck?" I hummed.

Now that any resource became a commodity, I was beating myself up over going to the shooting range with Zsasz, wasting bullets we didn't know we'd need. "Barbara's making a deal with Penguin," she growled, tighening her hands into fists. "We give him food and he gives us ammo. He gave us one in good faith." I nodded and looked her over, Penguin's bullet producing factory made him the most powerful man in this sideshow of a city, he was practically untouchable.

"And what?" I asked skeptically, turning a bit towards her. "You thinking about putting that one in the base of his skull?" Tabitha didn't look at me, didn't even answer, but she didn't have to. Penguin blew his money to fix Butch before the city went to hell only to kill him before Tabitha's eyes. If the same had happened to Zsasz, I could honestly say I'd try to kill him myself. "You've got the same chance of living down that path as you do crossing the river."

Her dark, narrowed eyes shot to me and all I could do was shrug. It was the truth and she knew it. Going after Penguin, especially right now, was signing her death warrant. "Butch wouldn't want that for you," I tacked on.

However, I shrunk back to the bar at the harsh glare that came over her features. "You're right, he'd want to be alive." I didn't get to say anything more or even apologize as she took the gun and left the bar as well, leaving me to find solace in my cranberry juice. Barb kept me taken care of and well fed here, so far I wasn't running into any problems.

But I got to see Victor so little and he was holding a thin grip on territory in the Dark Zone, so it was even harder to keep his safety secured. I doubted Barb was sending care packages of food and/or booze with him, so I could only hope he was keeping up with himself, I could only take care of myself and the baby.

Little did I know how right about Tabitha I would be.

The next day, Barb made me tidy up Tabitha's corpse before allowing me to tend to her bicep. The real pain broke free once I dislodged the bullet, both physical and emotional. After cleaning her up, I left her to mourn. She crossed the room to Tabitha's body as I sat behind her assassins; they always gave me creeps worse than Victor ever had, and that was saying something.

After taking a moment to kiss her goodbye and pull the veil over her corpse, she took some steps away, scanning over the guards and I before turning back to Tabitha. "I promise, if it's the last thing I do... I will kill him!" She yelled the last part, causing my chest to tense. Now probably wasn't the best time to break the news, especially since the person I had planned on telling was currently dead on a table.