Paralyzer [Gotham]

23

After literal months of thinking Jeremiah had gotten out the night the bridges blew, we came to realize he was still running this sideshow, poisoning the river with a new toxin and putting reunification with the mainland on hold. The city itself was running out of things to hide, soon there'd be nothing left to scavenge. But, as long as my nephew continued putting strong efforts into purifying the water, things should get back on track. That same night the water got poisoned, he'd rendered the psycho brain dead.

Andrew was helping Andromeda practice walking as I finished up with a patient, showing them to the door as someone came running down the hall. "Detective Bullock," I greeted with mild confusion. "What brings you here?"

"There's something you gotta see," he panted, pointing over his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, I looked over my own to my brother and waited for his nod to follow the detective. As far as I knew, Zsasz had been off looking for any supplies he could manage to get his hands on, so when Harvey brought me to the GCPD to show me Victor going on about some 'Ivy Pepper,' I was struck with bewildrement.

Harvey left me at the door to collect something, unable to fight the curiosity pushing me inside the room. There was a cop standing guard at the wall just within the doorway, Zsasz's eyes lighting up a moment in recognition before he slumped in his chair. "You're not the redhead I was hoping for." I had to admit, the words stung, but I reminded myself to take it with a grain of salt, Harvey's warnings running through my mind again.

"He's hypnotized, he'll do anything that crazy woman wants until the effects wear off." Even then, he tried his best to display indifference to me when we were in public, and with the man standing guard to my left, I also had that to secure my thoughts. "Why are you in here?" I inquired, wondering what stunt he'd pulled to get himself thrown into an interrogation room.

"Jim Gordon is an elusive one," he nodded, a grin to his lips. "Always seems to hit the backboard." I took a deep breath and looked him over, he hadn't been this amused about work since Nygma and his rappers.

"Did she pay you?" Almost instantly he scoffed, dropping my gaze as he gave a simple shrug.

"She didn't need to." I frowned deeply, Victor never did anything without payment of some form. The protection he offered me was paid by the attention I gave him, and before all that he was actually paid to look after me. He wouldn't be part of my life if pay wasn't involved, he wouldn't be doing it now. I reminded myself again he was hypnotized as I left the room, a soft, "Toodles," following me out.

Bullock came back holding a walkie, nodding me along to follow him into the the bullpen. "Alright, listen up!" he called, addressing the room as I found some place to stand out of the way. "I know you're probably familiar with Ivy Pepper. In fact, you were probably here when she hypnotized the whole friggin' precinct, okay? She is on the loose, so we have to find her and take her down."

I'd like to take a moment to say, I'd never been more unsettled by the sudden appearance of Victor's voice until now. Not even the time he'd snuck up on me after a shower struck me this deeply. "Actually, fellas, she's already here." He allowed a second for them to react before firing upon the crowd of cops, instantly finding the nearest source of cover and placing myself there. Victor was an excellent marksman, he could kill someone in a packed concert venue without even grazing anyone else. I trusted him not to shoot me.

But this was less so now, if only because his mind wasn't his own; a majority of my mistrust laid within the returning fire of the police. "That's right, Ivy came and freed me. That's true love for you." I rolled my eyes as I listened through the gunfire. I'd never heard the word 'love' leave his lips before today, and the fact that he used it in refrence to another woman - hypnotized or not - it bugged the living daylights out of me. "She really understands what makes me tick."

I flinched as he fired several more shots, the room silent as he spoke to us without filter. "Don't worry, though, I'm just the distraction so she can finish off Jim once and for all." Getting sick of it, I carefully avoided his line of sight as I made my way around a couple desks. "You know, that's how great couples work." It helped if I did what my mind insisted, to replace the object of his current affections with myself. If you also excluded Ivy's plans to murder Jim Gordon. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you that. Oh well."

I had extended forward to cross uncovered ground when he opened fire again, slamming back to safety when a bullet ricocheted off the desk in front of me. The lack of any newfound pain allowed me to breath once more, understanding the true terror behind the father of my child. When his pistols clicked with empty mags, I heard them clatter on the floor before he opened fire again, the automatic fire advising me to stay where I was, just as effectively pinned down as the cops.

Someone ran through his spotted fire, talking to the cops far beyond my current reach, quiet enough to be out of earshot as well. The cops shot up all at once, so I acted on instinct and moved even further, keeping close to the ground as I manuevered the bits of cover that drew me closer to Victor, still again once he began returning fire.

There was a long pause as everyone reloaded their weapons, peaking over the desk in time to watch Victor flip over the balcony and onto the lower level of the bullpen. Currently, he was a few steps behind me, shrinking low and pushing myself into the small cutout of the desk as he slowly stalked past. "I wonder what Ivy's doing right now," he breathed, his feet stopping just to the right of my hiding spot.

"Hey, lover boy!" Harvey called, Victor's feet barely shifting as he turned towards the detective.

"Are you serious right now?" Victor asked dubiously, as if the dirty yellow suit Harvey was covered head to toe in was the only strange thing about this situation.

"As a heart attack." I looked away as Harvey advanced, flinching as Victor held down the trigger for several seconds, the bullets stopping just before his body made loud contact with the floor.

Victor laughed to himself as I stood, turned with his back to me. "What an idiot."

"Hey!" As he snapped to turn around, my fist met the side of his head with an equally fast motion headed the oposite direction, my fist errupting in fire as Victor dropped to the floor. "Always wanted to do that," I muttered under my breath, shaking out my hand. I looked up as Harvey took a second to stand, meeting his eyes with a low nod. If he hadn't had the wits to collect me, I might've been saying goodbye to Victor for good.