"Her head had turned quickly away...Not to hide her tears but to soften the fact of their absence." ― Gregory Maguire, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
~()~
"What the hell is this?" Reggie yelled, as he fought against the ropes that tightly bound him to the chair, his breath rushed in and out of his lungs from fear with the dark cloth bag that had been placed over his head.
He blinked rapidly when the bag was removed from his head and he stared at a man he'd never seen before, a man who upon closer inspection not only was bald, but also didn't have eyebrows or even eyelashes.
"Who are you?" Reggie demanded to know through clenched teeth, before yelling, "Let me go!"
"Well, hello to you too." Victor grinned with a darkness in his eyes as he proudly said, "I'm Victor Zsasz."
Before Reggie could point out that he didn't know him, or ask why the hell the man had taken him; he heard another voice.
"Remember me?" Bird questioned as she stepped out of the shadows from the far side of the room. Letting out a low whistle she held up a roll of hundred dollar bills and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she said, "Quite the chunk of change... now I wonder how someone like you got this much cash?"
Looking between them his mouth hung open, not sure what he needed to say to get himself out of the situation as he resumed trying to break free of the restraints.
Watching him helplessly struggle Victor let out a laugh before he said, "There's no getting out of those."
"It's true." Bird nodded, walking even closer and pausing to take a deep breath before she asked, "Why did you do it? My brother welcomed you into our family's home –to stay there for free out of the cold with hot meals and clean water. I sat there listening to all your old war stories of how far back you and Alfred went... and then you stabbed him."
"You have to understand, I never meant for anything bad to happen." Reggie tried to plead his side of the case before he questioned, "Alfie came through it okay though, right? He's going to be fine?"
"Ooh..." Bird teased, "Careful, Reggie... you almost sound like you care."
"I do care!" He asserted, shaking his head from side to side, "You're in over your head. You have no idea what you're dealing with!"
"Is that a threat?" Bird laughed, looking to Victor who laughed along with her. Holding up the bag they'd taken off of him she accused, "What I'm dealing with is a has-been, someone who by all accounts used to be a great man, a solider –and look at you now, Reggie. A washed up addict." Shaking the bag in the air she continued, "I'm going to guess Heroin, judging by the syringe padded cot we found you sleeping on."
"That's mine!" He yelled, his voice roaring through the room of the abandoned building in The Narrows, he'd been brought to, "That's my medicine!" With his breathing growing erratic he clarified, "That wasn't a threat... and I'm not talking about me. You really haven't a clue in the slightest what you're getting into."
Repeating something Falcone had said to her, Bird cocked her head to the side as she dangled the bag right in front of his face and said, "It's a terrible thing, being caught in the throes of addiction..."
"What do you want?" Reggie finally asked.
"The truth." Bird asserted, stepping forward, "I don't think it's coincidence that you turn up out of the blue after my brother had a meeting with the board at Wayne Enterprises. I've seen far too much to believe in coincidences."
When the room remained silent, Victor looked to Bird and offered, "We could carve the truth out of him?"
"Why does this even concern you?" Reggie practically spat at him, and Bird yelled, "He's a friend of mine. A friend with some very honed and sought after skills –of course if this whole thing goes south, he could very easily turn into your worst nightmare."
The grin on Victor's lips grew and despite facing down countless enemies and fighting his way through nothing short of a hundred life and death situations –there was something about the hitman that left him feeling uneasy at the very least.
"You know, as much as I'm enjoying this conversation; Victor and I are actually on our way to a job and so, sadly, we don't have much time to waste on you." Nodding to her friend, Bird continued, "I want names, Reggie. I want the names of the people who sent you and I want to know exactly what it is that you were after. You're going to tell me what I want to know... and how painful and messy the situation gets is... well, that part's up to you."
"I didn't mean harm to anyone." Reggie quickly stammered out, "I was just supposed to take some documents, but then Alfie walked in..." His voice trailed off before he questioned, "Is he alright?"
"I'm not here to ease your conscience." Bird flatly stated, not giving up any information.
"You shouldn't be doing this." Reggie warned, shaking his head and for a moment it almost seemed like he was being truthful when he said he hadn't meant to harm anyone. Taking a deep breath he continued, "Only Alfie can deal with these people. Your brother's in trouble with the wrong people –the both of you are in over your heads."
"What people?" Bird pushed, "I want names!"
"Bird..." Victor said, stepping up beside her as he reminded her, "We're on a time schedule. Let's take him to my basement and I can work on him later."
With an arched brow, she looked to Reggie and dramatically whispered, "You really don't want to see his basement... trust me."
"There's a woman named Mathis." He recalled, closing his eyes as he continued to explain, "And a guy named Bunderslaw."
"Sid Bunderslaw?" Bird questioned.
Nodding Reggie explained, "He's the guy I dealt with."
"Bunderslaw sent you to Wayne Manor?"
"To find out how much Bruce knew. I was supposed to gather up all the documents he had on the company." Reggie answered honestly.
"What else do you know?" Bird demanded to know.
Feeling like the ropes had only grown tighter and were pressing on his chest making it nearly impossible for him to breathe; he cried out, "Nothing, I know nothing else!"
"Are they going to make a move against me or my brother?" Bird pushed him for more information.
"I don't know... I don't think so, but listen to me... if Bruce keeps meddling I think they will come after him. He's just a child, but these people... they don't care." Reggie warned her before adding, "They don't seem too concerned about you. Your brother is the one they view as a threat."
"Well then..." Bird breathed, "I'll just have to change that then, won't I?"
Reggie stared at her before finally asking, "What happens now?"
Dropping the bag of Reggie's 'medicine' to the floor, Bird handed the roll of money to Victor who tucked it away in his pocket.
"Hey!" Reggie angrily yelled and Bird snapped, "Shut up. That's blood money you got as payment for coming after my family –no way in hell am I going to let you keep it. You're lucky I'm letting you keep your life."
Looking between them he seemed surprised as he asked, "You're not going to kill me?"
Knowing that Alfred wanted to deal with Reggie on his own, Bird respected that enough to not take the revenge on him that she so desperately wanted too, she stepped closer and leaned down to where she was in his face as she hissed, "I would love nothing more than to put an end to your miserable life... but, this isn't my score to settle."
As she stood up, she slapped him as hard as she could across the face and with a cry of pain he breathed heavily with blood pooling at the corner of his mouth from where his teeth had cut into his cheek as he stared up to her, Bird growled, "That's for Alfred."
Turning she left the room and Victor watched her go with an entertained look on his face. When they'd met up that morning, Bird had told him she had some personal business she needed to take care of first. With her being one of the few people that Victor had come to occasionally enjoy the company of, he'd agreed to come with her.
His eyes were dark and fixated on Reggie who was hunched forward in the chair, blood and saliva running from his open mouth as he breathed heavily through the pain.
Walking up to him, Victor kicked a leg off the wooden chair and watched as the chair toppled over bringing Reggie down with it. With a satisfied grin he watched the man continue to helplessly struggle with the ropes and chair, left even more defenseless on the floor, before he turned and left to catch up with Bird.
~()~
After explaining her situation to the store associate and thanking her for suggestions and for her help; Bird looked down to the stack of paint swatches she'd accumulated.
Sticking a few of them back in the display without even attempting to find their correct placement, she let out a small sigh and stepped out into the main isle of the store.
"Bird."
She didn't even have to turn around to know who'd called her name.
"Hello, Jim." She greeted, as she walked to the other side of the paint strip display and didn't turn around to face him. "Following me again?" She asked.
"I'm not following you." He sighed, before pointing out, "This store is on my way home."
Bird didn't say anything else to him as she continued to try and act like she was busy looking over the display.
She never quite knew which Jim she was going to be dealing with; the one who showed up with a tight lipped smile asking for favors or the overly self-righteous and judgmental version of him.
"How are you?" Jim questioned, before adding, "I've been meaning to stop by Wayne Manor to check up on your brother, but I've been busy."
"Yes, well, I imagine it's tiring trying to clean up a city like Gotham." She calmly replied before quickly swiping up three different variations of green colors from the paint swatches.
He was silent as he watched her with so many questions floating around in his head.
He'd recently found out the bodies of the elderly couple watching the house that Loeb kept his daughter in had been found and there was no doubt in his mind that either Oswald or Bird –possibly both were responsible for their deaths.
He was also still angry about being kept in the dark over who'd attacked Alfred and couldn't understand why no one would clue him in when all he wanted to do was help.
Deciding to choose a topic that wouldn't likely anger her and send her back into ignoring and avoiding him, he asked, "I heard Alfred was released a while ago from the hospital?"
"He's doing a lot better." She answered, still not turning around to face him.
Even though he hated to admit it to himself, Bird was right when she'd pointed out to him weeks ago that she was a good ally to have –especially when it came to his associating with criminals for the greater good.
Tucking his hands in his pockets, he awkwardly looked around for a few seconds and debated just walking away, until he saw Bird again swipe up several more paint swatches and he looked over her shoulder to see how many of them she was holding.
"Planning on painting some rooms in your apartment?" He inquired.
"Nope." She simply answered, as she added a few more shades of blue to the stack.
"You just like collecting these?" He started to joke, until the words came out and he found himself wanting an honest answer from her.
He'd been in her apartment a few times and she had decorative glass bowls filled with random shiny objects from jewellery to glitter marbles for decoration. Which seemed strange to him, so maybe it wasn't so far outside the realm of possibility that she also collected paint strips.
"For your information..." She breathed, finally turning around to face him, "Not that it's any of your business, but Harvey and I have purchased a house."
"You're buying a house together?" He exclaimed, seeming shocked from the newly learned information, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I hope so. We've already closed with the realtor and have people in there working on renovations as we speak." Bird answered in a dismissive tone like she didn't have time to be there speaking with him.
"I just mean that's a pretty big step." He clarified, clearing his throat, "You sure that's what you want?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" She asked, turning back around and looking at him with an arched brow. Clearly ready to shoot down any protest he'd have.
"I don't know..." He stammered, dumbstruck from the question and before he could stop himself he admitted, "I don't like it."
A look of confusion spread over her face and she asked, "I thought you liked Harvey Dent?"
"I do." He nodded.
"Oh, so it's me then?" She guessed, getting ready to remind him yet again how he was only alive because of her help.
"I didn't say that." He loudly remarked, knowing exactly where that conversation was going to lead and every single time she pointed out how much she'd helped him, it was an even harder pill to swallow.
"Then what is it?" She demanded to know.
Stepping closer and lowering his voice, Jim started to say, "It's just..."
"Just what?" Bird cut in, "And don't you dare bring up how he hurt my hand that day. It was an isolated incident and I've already explained to you what happened."
"Living under the same roof with someone else... doesn't give you much space to get away if you get into an argument." He added, his voice just barely over a whisper.
"I don't need to get away from him, Jim." Bird argued, moving even closer to where he was standing as she added in, "Besides, this city is my playground and if I really needed to get away, I could do so easily."
"Like I said..." He shrugged, "It's just a big step is all."
Her eyes slowly traveled over his face before she questioned in a more thoughtful tone than he was used to hearing from the girl who didn't seem to take anything seriously, "Is there some other reason you don't like the idea of Harvey and I moving in together?"
Jim's eyes locked with hers and he swallowed hard, taking a moment to replay the question in his head.
"Oh, hi!" A voice called out, stirring them both from the moment and eye contact. They quickly both stepped back from each other as if they'd just been caught doing something wrong.
"You must be the boyfriend." The store associate who'd been previously helping Bird guessed giving Jim a wide smile as she added, "Congratulations on the new house!"
"Uh..." Jim stammered, at the same time Bird's eyes widened and she tried to say, "Oh, no he's not-"
"Now, I was just telling Bird about this new brand of paint we've got in that's going to cut your work, time and effort in half. It's a little more costly up front, but in the long run is going to save you money. It's a not just your paint, but also a base coat and primer all in one." She excitedly rambled on, leaving both Bird and Jim unable to clear up the case of mistaken identity as she launched into a speech about how the paint was stain resistant.
"Now that you've had a chance to look over some of the color options, if you're close to deciding a color, I could show you over to the selection we offer in store?" She offered to them, still wearing a bright smile on her face.
"No, actually-" Jim declined with a nervous chuckle at how an already uncomfortable situation had grown evermore awkward.
"That sounds great!" Bird exclaimed, beaming a smile just as bright as the worker and leaving Jim staring at her with a stunned expression.
Her smile fell some as she added, "Oh shoot, I just realized I left something out in the car." Laying a hand on Jim's arm, Bird smirked at him and said, "Honey, why don't you go check on the paints with her? I'll be right back."
With that she spun on her heels and walked away, laughing to herself as she heard the worker trying to lead Jim over to the tins of paint, while he was left to his own devices to clear up the situation Bird had left him in.
~(The next day)~
"What did you do?" Harvey asked as he stepped into living room of the house he and Bird were having renovated and looked around the room to see different paint color swatch papers taped to the walls, in rows of three all around the room.
With a smile she walked over and raised up to kiss him, before she pulled back and said, "I gathered up all the colors I liked and wanted you to see them. We need to pick one."
Slowly turning in a circle he took in the sight again before blowing out a breath and questioning, "This isn't going to become a thing, right? I'm not going to come here and find six different couches you want me to pick from, right?"
Hitting his arm, she laughed, "No, it's just... this is our house. We're supposed to decide stuff together." Pausing she turned to face him as she said, "And I figured we were going to use your living room furniture."
They both looked up when the hammering sound on the roof seemed to grow so loud they couldn't hear the thoughts in their own heads.
"Are we?" He yelled over the construction noise, "I was planning on selling mostly everything from my apartment, I just thought you'd want to move your furniture here."
"Yours is newer... less worn than mine." She shrugged, before asking, "Why did you think we'd bother moving mine?"
"It's just..." His voice trailed off and Bird yelled over the noise, "What?"
"It's just... I know how you are, you have to have things a certain way and you're really attached to nearly everything you own." He explained, trying to make the statement sound not so offensive to her.
"You're saying I'm a control freak?" Bird asked, still yelling to be heard over all the noise but just as she spoke there was a break from the loud hammering and her voice echoed throughout the first floor of the house and the couple looked over to see a pair of the men from the company they'd hired watching them as they stood holding a set of doors.
"Uh... we were going to replace the doors on the third floor, but we can come back." One of them said as he looked between Bird and Harvey.
"It's okay." Bird said nodding towards the stairs and Harvey offered a smile as he nodded in agreement that they were free to go about their business and do the job they'd been hired for.
Once they were out of sight, Harvey looked to Bird and said, "No, I'm not saying that. I just-"
"Know how I am?" She repeated his earlier words and held back a laugh at the expression on his face, like he really expected her to be angry with him.
"I guess we still have a lot to figure out." She finally shrugged, looking around them to the empty downstairs, "We just sort of jumped into this living together thing... didn't think it through much."
"I hope those aren't second thoughts you're having." Harvey said, as he rested his hands on her sides and pointed out, "It's a little too late to back out now."
With a soft smile she shook her head back and forth, "I'm not second guessing anything, I just think maybe we should have planned more before we actually bought a house."
"Are you kidding?" He joked, "We're lucky we got this place when we did –there had to be tons of other people just dying to snatch this little jewel up from the real-estate market."
With a laugh at his words, she ran her hands up his chest and across his shoulders before crossing her wrists behind his neck and leaning her body against his as she asked, "You're not having second thoughts either are you?"
"Never." He assured her, leaning in to kiss her as he promised, "I'm exactly where I want to be."
"Good!" Bird smiled, "Then let's pick a color because I don't care for white walls." Her jaw tensed as she spoke, white walls always made her think of hospitals and asylums.
"Okay." He nodded, smiling back at her as he added, "Our first big decision for the house... what color to paint the living room?"
He started to walk around the living room looking at all the different colors she'd pinned up, as Bird followed just steps behind him, eagerly awaiting what he had to say about the options she'd presented.
"No red." He stated, as he began plucking the paint strips he didn't like off the walls.
"Red could make it feel cozy and warm?" Bird shrugged, watching him closely.
Glancing over his shoulder at her, he argued, "All the red colors you picked out are all so dark they look angry –not cozy."
"Fair enough." She conceded before defending, "These were the only non-pastel shades of red they had."
"What about blue?" He suggested, coming to a stop near the patch of wall she'd taped several blue paint swatches to.
"Or green." She asked, with a hopeful smile as she grabbed his hand and pulled him over towards the fire place where she'd lovingly taped her favorite paint swatch –a beautiful green color.
"Or blue." He argued, trying to go back to the blue selection, but she kept a tight hold on his hand and argued back, "What about this green? It's got an earthy feel to it, you know? It looks alive."
"Mhmm... earthy..." He hummed, looking at her as he added, "Coming from the girl who's told me several times she can't even keep a plant alive."
Her brown eyes locked with his and she questioned, "What's wrong with this green?"
"Nothing." He admitted, "I just like the blue better."
"I have an idea!" Bird excitedly exclaimed, as she raised up and kissed him before pulling back and displaying the coin she'd lifted from his pocket and suggested, "Let's flip for it. Heads we paint it green and tails we'll go with blue."
Feeling his pocket and looking at her surprised, he asked, "How did you even get that?"
With a smirk she admitted, "Distracted you with a kiss."
He smiled at her and shook his head in disbelief before he said, "That's not fair, on so many different levels."
"Why? Because it's a two-headed coin?" Bird asked, keeping her eyes on him while she flipped the coin up into the air and caught it, before slapping it against the back of her other hand and not even looking down as she said, "What do you know? Heads it is."
Reaching for the coin he argued with a laugh, "That doesn't even count."
"Doesn't it though?" She asked moving her hand with the coin out of his reach and with an arched eyebrow she reminded him, "You tricked me into dating you, you know? You said heads we were meant to be and tails we'd part ways."
Leaning in he stopped just in front of her face as he quietly asked, "And aren't you happy it was heads though?"
Bird chuckled against his mouth when he tried to get the coin away from her when he kissed her, but she didn't give it up.
"I am." She admitted, her lips brushing against his before she pulled back and asked, "But what about that speech you gave me? About chance being one of the only decent things in the world?"
"I do believe that." He nodded, the expression on his face melting into a smile as he added, "But sometimes I think we should make our own luck and you were about to walk out on me that day."
Looking down to the coin she still had in her hand, she questioned, "You use this coin trick to get your way a lot?"
"I help people." He stated, trying again to get the coin away from her but her lightning fast reflexes made it impossible. With a small sigh he explained, "To help teenagers mostly with some of the cases I prosecute. A lot of them are just good kids who made a couple wrong decisions, sometimes all it takes is a little push; a little faith to get them back on track. So I'll tell them to pick heads or tails, if they guess right then it means someone is looking out for them." He continued, pointing towards the sky as he spoke.
"And they all pick heads?" She asked.
"Pretty much." He nodded, "People –especially teenagers almost always seem to pick heads, not sure why."
"That's sweet." She smiled, giving the coin another toss and effortlessly catching it before reminding him, "You picked for us though... why didn't you let me pick heads or tails?"
"You're a rebel." He stated, breaking into a small laugh as he admitted, "I had a feeling given the option you'd have picked tails."
She flipped the coin up into the air, but before it fell back into her hands Harvey quickly reached out and grabbed it from midair with a satisfied smile on his face. Tucking it back into his pocket he asked, "Honestly, if I'd told you to pick a side that day, what would you have said?"
Laying her hands on his chest, she looked up and her eyes locked with his as she admitted, "Tails... I always pick tails."
"See?" Harvey laughed, with his head cocked slightly to the side as he continued, "Had to make my own luck."
Reaching past her to the wall, he picked the green paint strip up she'd taped there and after staring at it for a while he gave in, "Okay, we'll go with the green."
With a wide smile, Bird plucked the strip from his hand and admitted, "Good, because I already told the painters we'd decided on the green earlier today."
Not giving him a chance to say anything, she raised up and planted a protest silencing kiss on his lips.
~(The next night)~
"Hey!" A man called out and Bruce turned around to see who was talking to him, the man offered a less than friendly smile as he eyed the young teen's expensive clothing and commented, "You look far from home."
His heart started to race in his chest and he took a few steps away from the man until he heard his sister's voice echo through the empty street as she said, "Leave him alone."
Bird stepped up beside her younger brother and gave the man an unwavering expression as she motioned with her hand and said, "Go on, get."
"Or you'll what?" He asked, stalking closer to the siblings.
Not flinching or seeming the least bit off put, Bird stepped protectively in front of her brother and said, "Oh, I don't know. I could see this playing out a few ways... you see we've got the river right there." Nodding to one of the metal trashcans with fire burning inside that street people often used to try and stay warm she continued, "Death by fire... or, there's always the really messy way." She finished, pulling a switchblade knife from her pocket and extending the razor sharp blade.
"Whatever!" He yelled, as he backed away from them before turning and jogging off in the other direction.
"Thank you." Bruce said, looking to his older sister with a saddened and scared look on his young face.
"What are you doing out here?" She asked, "You didn't tell me anything over the phone."
"You said if I was I trouble, that I could call you –no questions asked." Bruce reminded her.
Grabbing the sleeve of his jacket and pulling him over next to a wall of a collapsing building and out of sight from the road she nodded, "Yeah, I did say that... but I'm asking questions because you're out in the middle of Gotham City and it's nearly midnight."
"It's bad." Bruce admitted, his eyes getting glossy as he whispered, "It's really bad."
Looking him over she questioned, "Bad as in I need to kill someone?"
His eyes met hers and with a weak voice he admitted, "Starling, I can't tell if you're joking or not."
"Bruce, what happened?" She sighed.
"Alfred's friend, Mr. Payne... he's..." Bruce swallowed hard, "He's dead."
Taking a breath he blurted out, "Selina pushed him out of a five story window and we ran... I went back to check on him, but the police were already there and he... he's dead."
"What the hell were you even thinking? Running back into the city with Selina again?" She yelled, rubbing her forehead.
"I was thinking that Alfred almost died and that all my research on Wayne Enterprises disappeared that same night. I was thinking that I needed answers and-"
"Yeah?" Bird cut him off, "Well you should have been thinking that you should have taken those concerns to your older sister. That instead of going to Selina for help, you should have called me... before someone ended up dead."
"I didn't mean for it to happen!" He defended, his breathing labored as he replayed the entire night over and over in his head.
"Okay." Bird breathed, laying her hands on his shoulders and asked, "First things first... were there any witnesses?"
"What-"
"Did anyone see you, Bruce? Can anyone name you as an accomplice to what happened?"
Seeing the look on her face he asked in a shaky tone, "W-Why? What are you going to do?"
"I'll do what I have to-to keep you safe, to keep your name out of this. Now answer me, did anyone see you?" Bird repeated.
"I don't think so." He finally said, "It was at a place they called a shooting gallery-"
"So everyone was pretty much too far gone to know what was happening around them?" She breathed with a sigh of relief.
He gave a frantic nod as he said in an exasperated tone, "I just wanted some answers."
"Well, did you get them?" Bird asked.
"Yes." He said, "He was hired by Wayne Enterprises, specifically by-" Bruce started to say but his sister cut him off, "By Bunderslaw?"
"How did you know?" Bruce questioned.
"Because I had my own recent run in with Reggie, just a few days ago and guess what? I got what I needed out of him and managed to not kill anyone." Bird harshly said, letting the fear that something could have happened to her brother drive her to anger.
"I'm sorry." He breathed, "He'd told me what we needed to know, but then he got mad because Selina dropped his bag of drugs out of the window and he threatened to go back to Bunderslaw and tells on us. H-he said that once they knew we were onto them, they'd come after the both of us and when he leaned out to get the bag... Selina pushed him."
Blinking back tears Bruce remembered, "He yelled... screamed all the way until he hit the ground and then... silence."
"Yeah..." Bird breathed, "Death has a way of shutting people up." Looking around to make sure no one had been watching them she said, "We need to get out of here."
Once they were safely in her car with the heat on high, Bird drove a few streets over from Wayne Manor and let the car idle as she looked at him and asked, "You alright?"
"Not really." He admitted, taking a deep breath before repeating, "I didn't mean for this to happen."
"It's over now." Bird softly said, "He's gone and nothing can fix that now. You know you're going to have to tell Alfred what happened, maybe not tonight... but soon."
"I can't..." Bruce breathed.
"You can and you will." She argued, "You have too because if you don't it's going to eat away at you. Not only does Alfred deserve to know, but you have to tell him the truth for yourself. You're not the kind of person who can live with those deep dark secrets."
Looking at her and thinking of everything she'd told him, and all he knew about her he asked, "But you can?"
"Yes." She quietly said, taking a deep breath as she leaned back against the headrest and said, "Reggie had to die, Bruce."
When she had his attention, she thought out loud, "If whatever the hell the two of you did to him, to make him angry enough he was going to tell Wayne Enterprises that you were onto them about everything, then he had to be eliminated."
"You really believe that?" Bruce whispered, turning in his seat to get a better look at her.
"I think that sometimes the world is better off with some people not in it and because of what happened, your world is better and safer without Reggie in it."
Looking at her he asked, "And when you asked about witnesses to what happened... were you planning on killing them if there were any."
When she didn't answer he questioned, "Starling?"
"What do you want, Bruce?" She heavily sighed as she spoke, "You want the hard pill to swallow answer, or the candy coated one that's going to make it easier for you to sleep at night?"
Slowly he turned his head and stared out of the front widow of his sister's car and swallowed hard as he said in a voice that shook with his uneven breathing, "I think I'd like to go home now."
~(The next week)~
"Thank you for joining me." Don Falcone said as Bird took a seat at the table with him in the dining room of his mansion.
"Of course." Bird said managing a smile as she politely said, "Thank you for inviting me."
Motioning to one of his wait staff standing near the door to bring the food in, he looked to Bird and commented with a smile, "I hope you're hungry."
As their food was brought out and set in front of them, she nodded, "It looks delicious."
A few minutes passed in silence with both of them starting to eat their dinner and Bird waited impatiently for him to talk, but he didn't say anything.
Taking a drink from her glass, she cleared her throat and asked, "What was it you wanted to speak to me about?"
"Business can wait until we're finished eating, don't you agree?" He questioned, watching her closely as he spoke.
"With all due respect, sir... it seems like everything with you is business." Bird quietly said, avoiding his eyes as she spoke.
"Yes, I imagine it does." He agreed with a small laugh, appearing happy to have her back to where she felt comfortable to speak her mind.
They made small talk while they ate, he told her how Oswald's club was doing much better now; profits were up and guests were happy again. They talked about the weather and all of the recent snow that had blanketed the city in white and for a moment Bird found herself feeling comfortable around him –like she used to be before her betrayals came to light.
That was until he changed the topic of conversation.
"You've recently moved, correct?" He questioned between bites of his food, "Purchased a house with Harvey Dent?"
All of the food on her stomach started to sour and she couldn't bring herself to take another bite as she stared at him.
"Is there a problem?" Falcone questioned, seeing the look on her face.
Laying her fork down on the glass plate with a clink, she admitted, "The problem is the last time you brought up Harvey to me, I left here to find out he was in the hospital-"
"Yes." He said, cutting her off midsentence, "An unfortunate incident, but as I warned you before that –actions have consequences and my dear, you had stepped way out of line."
"I have done everything you have asked of me since then; I've done my job perfectly." She defended, unable to sit still in her seat any longer as she continually readjusted and nervously tapped the toe of her shoes against the floor under the table.
"You can relax." Falcone assured her, "I was only making conversation."
"You didn't have him hurt again?" Bird asked, swallowing hard as she spoke.
"No." He answered, "You have my word."
Nodding, she had no choice other than to accept his answer at face value; silently she vowed to herself that if he had sent anyone after Harvey again she'd kill Falcone herself the first chance she got.
"Is it a nice house?" He questioned.
"It will be." Bird nodded as she spoke, "There's a lot of work it needs to get up to code for us to actually move in, but we've got people on the job nearly around the clock. Probably just a few more weeks before we can start moving in."
"It sounds lovely." He smiled, and she again shifted uncomfortably before getting the courage to ask, "Is it customary to keep such close tabs on all the people who work for you?"
"Why do you ask?"
Bird's eyes widened slightly, but she quickly covered the expression and decided yet again to try a semi-honest approach with him; it always seemed to fare the best.
"I was only wondering –at times it just feels like you've taken a special interest in me and I'm not entirely sure why." Bird admitted.
With a nod, Falcone explained, "I keep a closer watch on a select few. You do happen to be one of them."
"Why me?" Bird questioned, but she didn't get an answer as Falcone told her to try the soup, and went back to making small talk for the rest of dinner.
After they'd eaten and relocated to one of the sitting rooms, Bird looked around before taking a seat in one of the plush chairs and questioning, "Now it's time for business?"
"Yes, it is." He nodded, walking over to the small cart with expensive bottles of liquor against the wall. When he held up one the clear glass bottles, she held up her hand and shook her head from side to side, "None for me thanks."
After he'd poured himself a drink and sat down across from her he said, "I'm happy with how well you've done working with Victor, you've really embraced everything about the job and exceeded my expectations."
"Thank you." Bird smiled, glancing around before she said, "You're not going to ask me to take over the club again, are you?"
"No." He laughed, looking down to the light amber liquid in his glass as he let out a heavy breath and added, "But, I do think it's time to see how you'd fare with other tasks and responsibilities."
"Like what?" She cautiously asked.
"I want you to work for me, directly under me. I think it would be good for you to see how things are ran and-"
"No thank you." Bird declined, "I'd like to continue working with Victor."
"You didn't even let me finish." He complained, giving her a harsh stare.
Pulling in a breath he leaned forward in his chair some, "There are many different kinds of people in the world, but you see... when it comes down to it, there are two main types –those who take orders and those who give them. As you said to me before, you're not a hired gun." Taking a drink and letting his words sink in he continued, "You've done well with contract killings and other work, but I think we both know that thinking in long-term... that work is beneath you."
Catching the glint of anger in her eyes as she diverted her gaze to the floor he questioned, "Something to say?"
Not able to stop herself, she thought of how he also often spoke of Oswald as if he were a lesser person and Bird shrugged, "You just seem to look down on an awful lot of people, Don Falcone. You're polite and respectful, of course... but you do look down on people."
"Comes with the territory, I suppose." He admitted with a small shrug of his own, "To rule this city, to do the things I need to do, I have to carry myself a certain way."
"Fish Mooney was right about one thing –that Gotham needs a change, this city needs something other than what I've been giving it. I told you before I'm no fool, I see the way of the world is changing and it's no secret that I'm having trouble keeping up. But she was wrong for thinking she was the one to bring that change about." Don Falcone spoke with a somber tone, as he stood up and walked over to the window taking a long look around the perfectly landscaped side yard, before raising the glass to his lips and taking another drink, appreciating the smooth heat from the expensive liquor.
"Sir?" Bird asked, also standing from where she had been sitting as she let out a nervous laugh and said, "I'm sorry, but it almost sounds like you're hinting at me being the one to take over."
"Why do you think I want you to start working directly under me?" He asked, not looking back to her as he spoke, "Not only for you to see how things are run, but to get everyone of importance used to your face and presence. Bird, I have many enemies waiting to rise up when the day comes that I either step away or die and that is why I need a plan in place, if the power I hold falls into the wrong hands than there will be complete and utter chaos –I have no doubt the foundations of this city will fall to ruin."
"It doesn't make any sense." Bird admitted, stepping closer as she asserted, "In the grand scheme of things, in this crime family –I am a nobody. You have people working under you who have been with you for over thirty years-"
"Yes, and many of them have turned on me –fueled by greed and a thirst for power, but as I've said before there are two types of people and they all function better following given orders than being trusted to make their own decisions." He said, turning to face her as he spoke in a confident tone, "You on the other hand, you're made of something different entirely. You're brave, strong and intelligent. Bird, you have a strength inside of you that I've seen in less than a handful of men in my entire life –you have a true greatness."
"You're serious about this." She breathed, her eyebrows knotted like the full weight of his words were finally landing on her.
"I wouldn't be wasting my time and breath if I wasn't." He pointed out.
"I'm flattered, but Don Falcone... I can't do what you do." Bird argued.
"You still have a long way to go, but-"
"Not now, not ever... I can't be what you are." Bird argued, silencing him before she took in a deep breath and explained, "Despite being something created by Fish, you really did care about Liza. I could see it and she was starting to adore you... and I stood there and watched you kill her with your bare hands. I understand business is business, but when it comes to friends and family..." Her voice trailed off and she shrugged, hating to show weakness in front of anyone.
"That was the ultimate betrayal." He defended, sounding indifferent on the matter when he added, "Business always comes first."
"Yeah?" She scoffed, "Well, I can't do that. I tried to be like that, but when it comes to people I care about... the lines between business and emotion blur."
"You're still young." He nodded, "But I have faith in you... you're more capable than you know."
"May I speak openly?" She finally asked, eyeing him as she spoke.
He nodded and Bird asked, "What happened to you? You see, I went through something traumatic as a teenager... something that almost broke me and I haven't been the same since. There are times when I'm emotionless, completely apathetic at times and I don't really remember being that way before I was attacked. It seems to me that the people who can so easily disconnect from their feelings are the ones who have been hurt in ways that most can't understand."
"We've all experienced tragedy; some just seem to get more than their fair share." He simply replied, but the answer wasn't good enough for Bird.
"I heard some rumors." She softly said, "Rumors that you had a family once. I've heard of a son and years later a baby who... died."
"Well..." He cleared his throat and sighed, "Most rumors do start with a heart of truth and like I said..." He breathed looking her over as he spoke, "Everyone goes through tragedies."
"You just..." Bird shook her head, "You know so much about everyone and no one really seems to know much about you. And I don't understand why the hell you'd pick me to fill your shoes when you have a son out there."
"I do have a son." He nodded, a proud look in his eyes as she explained, "A son who was raised outside of organized crime. I'd made a promise to my wife that Mario wouldn't get caught up in my life, pulled into underworld affairs and that was a promise I kept."
He paused for a brief moment before adding, "He's a doctor now. I couldn't be more proud."
"The baby you lost-" Bird started to push, feeling like since he'd opened up a little to her that she'd try to her luck to find out more, but he cut her off.
"Take a few more weeks of working with Victor, if you'd like." Falcone suggested, choosing to not speak on what she'd asked him about much more than he already had, "After that, you'll start working with me."
"So I don't really have a choice in this?" She scoffed, feeling like a weight was pressing down against her chest and slowly forcing all the air from her lungs.
Setting his now empty glass down on the decorative table by the window he continued, "Winston Churchill said it best; The price of greatness is responsibility."
"I don't get it." Bird admitted lingering by the doorway she was about to leave through, "Underneath everything, I think you're sad... that you feel empty. You hide it well, but sometimes equally broken people can see it in others. The life you made for yourself hasn't brought you happiness and knowing where that road leads, you want to force me down the same path? Out of everyone who actually wants to step up and fill your shoes, you're picking me... it's like you want to damn me."
"My dear..." He said, walking closer to her and with a saddened look in his eyes he said, "The darkness of this city gets inside of some more than others, it burrows under the skin and no matter how hard you try, you can't escape it. It's almost like a select few are born with it in their blood and I can see it in you, the same as I see it in the mirror. You're already damned."