Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

The City of Opportunity

6/15/2020: Black Lives Matter: Analyzing/Criticizing the Use of Black Characters in My Most Popular Fanfiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s12JRxg_WEg

"Natalie, are you sure about this? You've still got a few good years left in you. And you can still good on up into the administrative level."

I shake my head, "Thank you Mr. Fay, but I think my time with the CIA is done with."

"Oh, no need to call me Mr. Fay, I'm not your boss anymore. It's just Simon."

One of my coworkers taps me on the shoulder from behind, "Natalie, you have a phone call."

I turn around in surprise, "On the federal line?"

He nods, and I follow him to the small landline phone connected to the wall. I pick it up,

"Natalie, it's Amanda Waller."

I twirl the phone cord on my finger, "Amanda, hey. It's been awhile, how's your new job?"

"That's what I'm calling about. Since you're now retired from the CIA...I wanted to ask if you could work for me."

I turn around and see the small crowd of my coworkers that have gathered in the banquet hall, "You could've at least waited until the retirement party ended, and either way, the answer is no. It'd be like I never retired in the first place."

"Please Natalie, you're the only one I can trust with this assignment. You'll be working in your own hometown too."

Gotham, I haven't been back since I graduated from high school. I got out of that place as soon as I could, need I explain why?

"Natalie, I'm begging you here."

I sigh, "Amanda, if you were anyone else, you know I'd say no. What do you need?"

"I can't discuss this further on this line. Meet me in my office."

She hangs up, and I place the phone down back on the receiver. I walk over back to Mr. Fay,

"Gotta bail early, Amanda's calling." I tell him.

"Oh, of course. I'll bet Amanda wants to recruit you for that new branch of security she's putting together."

I raise my eyebrow, "Really? What have you heard about it?"

"That she's the director of some new initiative, but that's all. Need to know basis and all that."

"Of course." I nod, "Well, it's been great working with you."

He places a hand on my shoulder, "Hey, you know how to reach me should you ever need me. Unlike Amanda, I repay my debts."

I smile, "Thanks Simon."

I quietly slip away from the party. It's a shame I'm the first to leave my own party, but if Amanda went through the trouble to call me using the line within the CIA, it must be urgent.

The building elevator takes me all the way down underground, where the hallways are gloomily lit with energy efficient fluorescent lights.

After getting out of the elevator, I cross the hallway and swipe my card on the reader next to the reinforced metal door. The reader flashes green and the door slides open, guess my card still works.

"Natalie, there you are." Amanda greets from her raised platform, from which she watches a large display screen.

"I'm missing my own retirement party for this, it better be something good." I tell her playfully, walking up to meet her on the platform.

"Well, I'm sure you're aware the government is having me put together a new defense initiative." she begins, "Well, the recruits I've been getting aren't...quite what I was looking for."

She waves her hand and one of the technicians below begins typing onto his keyboard, manipulating the screen. It reorients its images to show the profiles of top agents from both the CIA and the FBI,

"What's wrong with these candidates? As far as I know, these are our best guys."

"That's the problem. Sure they have the skill, but they're too valuable to the organization for me to send them on the kinds of missions my branch has to handle."

I press my finger on my chin, "So...what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to go to Gotham City and scout out possible recruits for my missions." she explains, "These recruits can't be ordinary citizens, I chose Gotham for a very specific reason-"

"Because it's hell on Earth?"

She slowly nods her head, "And the rich criminal element there is fertile grounds for recruitment into my new initiative: Task Force X, or as I've nicknamed it: The Suicide Squad."

I arch my eyebrows, "...really? You're going to recruit criminals to work for the government? That...actually, that kind of makes sense."

"So you'll return to Gotham, infiltrate the criminal underworld, and find me some talented soldiers. I want only the best of the best."

"Alright, but what's in it for me?" I ask.

"The work. I know this is what you really love to do, and besides, what were you planning on doing after retiring anyway?" she corners.

I pause, "...I was thinking about finishing school and becoming a psychiatrist."

She chuckles almost cruelly, "You, a psychiatrist? Natalie, give me a break."

I roll my eyes, "Thanks for the vote of confidence Amanda, but you know I could still change my mind about taking this assig-"

"You will do no such thing." she snaps out of her momentary laughter.

"Hey, I'm allowed to crack a joke too, aren't I?"

I follow Amanda down from her raised platform and into an armoury, filled to the brim with unusual weapons, much of it disguised as everyday objects. She immediately makes a beeline for two specific items, a set of daggers and a drawstring bag,

"I hand-picked these for you specifically." she says, presenting them to me.

Before even taking them, I ask, "What do they do?"

"The daggers have special tracking microbeads coated on them, you cut a person, those beads get into their blood. This is how you'll mark potential recruits, speaking of-" with one of the daggers, she slashes me in the arm, tearing my gray suit and causing the slightest cut.

"Ouch!" I react, pulling away, "...if you really needed to use it, I could've just as easily done it."

"Sorry, bad habit." she mumbles as I snatch the daggers from her and attach them to the strap on my thigh where I use to keep my gun.

"And these," she presents the drawstring bag made of a sturdy cloth, "Are small metal capsules. They can hold a variety of properties, but for obvious reasons, I did not mark them. For example," she takes one out, and I realize it resembles a metal marble as it reflects off the blue-tinted light in the room. She throws it away from us, toward the door, and the moment it hits the doorway, electricity releases from it, sending sparks of jagged white light everywhere.

"Impressive." I admit aloud.

She packs everything into a small backpack and throws it at me. I catch it with ease, swinging it around my back.

"Your plane leaves in two hours. Gotham awaits."