#maybe she knows how firmly Kristen believes and how much she's done

[the-butler-did-it]

Cassandra's pronouns changed from she/they to she/her this episode, I can't imagine it doesn't mean anything. Maybe there's a chance of freeing her from whatever limbo she's trapped?

[soriseerakyra]

Nice To Meet You -19-

Hello every one, sorry it’s been so long. There is a post on my page if you want to find out what's happening. If not, please enjoy.

TW: Violence, bad language, death

This was different. Or maybe it was normal, Bruce couldn’t tell. He knew he attracted attention, that he was a status boost to any party, but this felt wrong. From the moment he stepped past the makeshift foyer, he’d felt eyes on him, watching his every move. He tossed his famous, charming smile to everyone he passed, but instead of getting the swooning effect that he was so used to causing, he was treated to strange polite smiles. As if he was intruding.  

 “Bruce Wayne?” The questioning voice sent a chill down Bruce’s spine. 

He turned to look at the voice who called him and found a smiling blond man. 

“Michael Carlisle,” The man says, extending a large hand to shake. Bruce accepts the hand and firmly shakes it. At the interaction, the crowd that had been not-so-secretly eyeing the interaction of the CEO’s had all returned to their conversations. The allure of seeing the cities’ most famous billionaire, apparently not worth more than a sideways glance.   

“A pleasure,” Bruce says, responding with a smile. “It’s a shame that we haven’t met before tonight.” 

“It truly is, which is why what I’m going to say next may appear a little rude, but what are you doing here? I didn’t think a party like mine would even be on your radar,” The man asks with childishly wide excited eyes.  

“Nothing rude about that,” Bruce says, returning his hand to his sides. “Believe me, I’ve gotten much worse when I’ve shown up unannounced.” 

The man lets a smile quirk at the end of his lips as he waits for Bruce to answer the other part of his question. His blue eyes watch Bruce with fascination. Flicking from the top of Bruce’s hair and down to his shoes. Why is Carlisle sizing him up? 

“To be honest,” Bruce says, lowering his voice to make the conversation more intimate. He leans his body toward the boyish man and brings up a practiced hand to hide his mouth. “I’m doing a bit of shopping.” 

“Shopping?” The younger man questions with furrowed, manicured brows. “OH! Do you need an accounting firm?!” 

Bruce straightens his back a little, almost startled by his lack of discretion. 

“I’m surprised Wayne enterprises doesn’t have its own firm in-house.” 

“We do,” Bruce says with a shrug of his shoulders. “But I’m always looking for new talent, especially when one of my own is retiring.” 

The lie rolls off of his tongue smoothly, and judging by the blond man’s nod of assent, it was enough to ward off some suspicion. 

“So, you’re here to steal some of my up-and-coming talent, huh?” Carlisle asks ribbing the older man in the ribs. 

Bruce flinches away slightly, not expecting to be touched so informally. 

The blond man must have caught the hint of his displeasure that rang across his face for a split-second because a frown pulled at his lips.  

“I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable Bruce, I’m just glad I didn’t hug you like I wanted to when I first saw you. I’m a big hugger.” 

If Bruce wasn’t as practiced at maintaining his cover as he was, he would have scrunched up his face in confusion at the man. This was who she had worked for? Had believed in enough to move across the country for? He seemed more than overbearing, and as skittish as she was it was impossible to see her getting past an interview with this man, let alone going to work every single day for him. 

“If that turned you off, though, I’m afraid that you might not find anyone here who you’d want to work with you. We're all family here, lots of huggers.” 

The man lets out a laugh and some nearby party goers that were supposedly “giving them their space” chuckled.  

“I know I don’t look it, but I can get touchy-feely when need be.” 

The man’s blue eyes narrow and Bruce can feel a shift in atmosphere as the man’s once jovial face becomes stony. 

“We don’t call it being touchy-feely Mr. Wayne,” Carlisle says stoically. “We- I have made it a point to build a family here. A company based on empathy.  This isn’t 'touchy-feely’ foolishness. This is the future. How we build a company that lasts. But I suppose someone like you who’s never had to work for anything would know about that would you?” 

The party is once again silent and all eyes are on the pair of men, although not in a way that Bruce is used to. He hadn’t expected that man to be so volatile; it was only a harmless comment, no malice behind it. 

“I’m sorry if I offended you,” Bruce apologizes quietly, “It wasn’t intentional.” 

Carlisle’s nostrils flare in anger, his throat turns red, and a vein pulses lightly at his temple. 

‘A severe overreaction,’ Bruce notes. 

A clicking of heels pierces the silence, as Bruce notices a rather tall red head approaching the pair. A striking pair of blue eyes assess Bruce sternly, a frown pulling at her red lips as she apparently found the man lacking. 

Bruce watches as a slender hand grip Carlisle's shoulder tightly, the pressure being applied only noticeable because of the wrinkling of fabric. 

“There's been a call for you Mr. Carlisle,” the woman says with a pleasant tone. 

“A call?” The man asks, blond brows furrowing in confusion. The woman tightens her grip on his shoulder, and he seems to relent. “Ah, yes, of course.” 

“I’m afraid that we must continue this conversation later, Mr. Wayne,” Carlisle says, swallowing his anger and trying to force the same pleasant smile on his face. “Enjoy the party.” 

His eyes flicker around to the other party goers and with a nod of his head he hurries away. Bruce quickly loses sight of the man as he heads further into the venue, mobbed by a sea of people willing to help aid in his escape. 

Bruce bites the inside of his cheek in irritation. This had not gone the way he intended. He wasn’t used to losing at the charm offensive. 

He cuts his eye back to the tall woman who stood there with a rather pleased smirk on her face, arms crossed in a rather unimpressed fashion. As the chatter, light music, and dancing resumed, Bruce moved closer to the woman. 

“Sorry to have interrupted your conversation Mr. Wayne, but I’m sure you know that running a company can be a twenty-four-hour job,” She states smoothly, her thick red mane tumbling to the side as she lightly cocks her head.  

“It’s not a problem. And as hectic as business can be, I’m sure dealing with an annoying party guest, is much tougher.” 

The woman lets out a low chuckle, “Believe me, you aren’t the worst we’ve had to deal with.”

“Is that right? Tell me more, miss?” 

“Trainer, Kristen Trainer,” She says, extending her black tipped fingers to shake his hand. 

“Let me guess, you’re the brains behind the operation,” He says a smile easily finding its way on his face. 

“More like the conductor. Without me none of this,” she makes a circling motion with her finger, “happens.” 

“Ah, I get it. The boss’ boss.” 

“What can I say, being the executive assistant is glamorous.” 

They share a chuckle and then a silence falls over the pair.  

Trainer breaks it first, a coyness flitting over her blue eyes, “So when are you going to ask me to dance?” 

“Oh, I’d never assume you’d want to dance with me, I practically ran your boss away.” 

“Like I said,” She nearly glides as she walks toward him and takes his hand, leading them both toward the dance floor. “You aren’t the worst we've had.” 

Bruce lets a smirk cross his face. Perhaps he wasn’t as off of his game as he thought he was. 

*** 

Jason was more than sure that Bruce always stuck him with the shit jobs. If he was only a few years younger, he would have been proud to take them. He would have thought Bruce trusted him with the more troublesome parts of the jobs, that he was preparing him to be his true successor. Being older, wiser, and having endured more than his fair share torture proved to him it was probably the exact opposite.  

 Even now, it always felt like Bruce was testing him, waiting for him to go rogue, do something that broke the rules. He knew that the older man was always waiting for him to slip up, coiled to attack anytime he did something less polite than a beating a thug senseless.

 The thoughts cause Jason's shoulders to tense in irritation, but he can’t let his annoyance distract him from the mission.  At the moment, he found himself on the top floor of the once vacant wharf building.  If one were to enter from this floor, you wouldn’t assume that a high-class shindig was going on downstairs. Comparatively, it wasn’t the worst place that he’d ever been in; there was a distinct lack of rats he was more than grateful for. The bare walls and exposed beams were a little strange though. According to intel, provided by the Brownie Woman, not only had this not been the first party held in this place, they also owned the building. Who quits renovating when the project is only halfway done? 

 ‘Someone who’s more worried about appearances than substance,’ He thinks to himself with slightly pursed lips. 

 He rolls his shoulders as he prepares himself to explore the building. He wouldn’t be able to do it for long. Since the assholes hadn’t finished the place, there wasn’t a steady supply of air flowing through the place. Having already climbed up into the building after gently detonating a small explosive on one of the back walls, he didn’t want to risk alerting anyone just to accommodate his breathing.

 With a sigh, he approached one of the newer-looking walls. It looked thin, like it was only a standing piece of paper, and mostly, he had been right.  With a slight wind up, his fist had easily found its way through the wall, white particles crumbling around his hand as the sheet rock easily gave way. The wall continues to splinter as he works his hands through it, and soon enough he has a hole big enough for him to slide through.

  When he gets to the other side, he's not totally surprised to see a mostly dilapidated area. Cobwebs, fallen pieces of plywood, and exposed pipes let him know that he's in a part of the building that has barely had any traffic. What has him slightly surprised though, were the construction lamps littering the floor. As the holes in the floor allow him to see both above and below him; the glow from the lamps on the other floors hit his eyes like fireflies. Despite only having worked to make some of this place look nice, there was activity going on throughout the whole wharf. It was strange really, buying out multiple buildings on the wrong side of Gotham just throw parties? The only way he wouldn't have found the situation not strange is if Bruce had been the one buying up the land. At least that way he'd at least have a guess what the man would be doing. And it was especially strange for an accounting firm to buy property that had nothing to do with campus expansion.

'Unless they're washing money for the mob.'

The thought hits Jason, and he can't help the smirk that crosses his face.

“Hey dipshit,” he says connecting his ear piece. “Are there any familiar faces in the crowd?”

He gets irritated slightly when he doesn't get a response right away. The old man wasn't going to ice him out because he called him a few names, was he? How professional.

“I don't seem to know many people here.” Is the response that comes back over the earpiece and Jason's haunches relax a little. He wasn't being ignored, Bruce was in the middle of a conversation.

Jason doesn't hear the response from the person who Bruce was talking with, but he gives about fifteen seconds pause, a chance for Bruce to listen to the other person, before he responds.

“You sure?" Jason questions skeptically, as he maneuvers farther into the building, careful to avoid loose or weak floor boards. "This place looks like a perfect place to wash some dirty cash."

"I really thought I knew everyone there is to know in this town," Bruce responds with a bit of a chuckle.

Not a familiar face in sight? That was putting a damper on the idea that these people had some kind of mob ties. When it came to mobsters Bruce had a practically photographic memory of their faces. For him not to recognize anyone meant that either there was a new organization or there was no mob there at all.

"I'll keep looking," he responds slightly irritated. He doesn't get a response, and he doesn't need one.

It's not long before he comes up to the next connecting wall.  Pressing his hand up against the wall, he finds that it's almost as thin as the other one he'd come through. With another well-placed fist, he easily forces his way through the wall once again. As he pulls out the rubble, sensors in his mask begin to go off. He pauses in his excavation for a moment, silencing his one movement. It's quiet for a moment but then there is a rhythmic thumping streaming into his right ear, then the sounds stop. There is the creaking of wood and then the thumping resumes and fades out. The thought comes to his mind before the computer in his mask flashes the analysis on the screen.

 Footsteps.

 A patrol route.

 Now that he had found what he was looking for, he'd have to be more careful. The general rule was if he could hear them, they could hear him.  And although most people didn't have access to the tech he did, he was sure that the rule had saved his ass multiple times.

 Carefully this time, he pulls himself through a smaller hole, he wouldn't make more noise than was necessary. Almost immediately he could see the shadows of movement dancing against the yellow lights of the construction lamp. The presence of these shadows made his heart jump slightly; if he was asked about it later he wouldn't say he was afraid, just a little freaked out. His sensors had only picked up the thudding of one person, he was sure of that. But right in front of his eyes, and how the shadows played with each other, he could tell that they're at least six people in his immediate vicinity. He had been lucky that no one had been just on the other side of the wall when he had ripped through.

 'No footsteps?' He questions internally with a slightly panicked voice that he would yell about to himself later.

 He crouches down, his knees bending easily to accommodate the familiar position and his weight  as he moves forward with as gentle a step that he can muster. Some might be surprised by how stealthy the young man could be, especially wearing the heavy combat boots he loved so much. But Jason practiced that much harder to mask his sound, he'd keep his aesthetic and be the deadliest thing you'd never hear coming.

 He makes his way to a worn wooden wall, marked with holes about the width of a small child's fist, perfect for getting an eye on a target, so he could know what he was dealing with. As he presses himself against the wall, the dancing of the shadows gives way, and he's clear about how many people that he would deal with on this floor.

  He'd only been one off, seven instead of six. But the thought of being mostly right didn't give him any sense of victory. His stomach twisted into knots as two of the figures moved past each other. He wasn't crazy, he damn sure knew that, but he was sure as hell that his eyes were playing tricks on him, because he was seeing double. Two carbon copies of the same person walking past each other with small barely visible flashlights cradled in identical vine like fingers. The words thin and tall didn't seem to do justice to the visage of men he sees before him, but those are the only words that come to mind. That and their faces are obscured with long black hair that is so thick, he isn't even sure there is a face underneath. They're filthy, he can tell that even if the nature of their outfits is muddled by the dimness of the surrounding lights. Their pale skin has brown almost black splotches of dirt or soil that almost seem pressed into their skin. The skin itself is so pale and sickly that it is almost a green color; he gags slightly about how awful they must smell.

 Finally, he looks down, and he hopes to see what is blocking out the sound of their footsteps from coming through on his sensors. He's surprised to find disproportionately enormous feet. Grimy as the rest of their bodies, he can tell that the men are extremely flat-footed. The way their feet meet the sections of floor that they walk on causes their toes to widen, spreading out what little weight they had evenly throughout their step. Coupled with the fact that they moved rather slowly, taking only the most deliberate of steps, the two beings in front of him were virtually silent. The only sound that seemed to give way to any hint of their presence was the air that seemed to be forcing its way out of their chest. Like the wheeze of an asthmatic, the beings swayed slightly whenever they had to breathe. Luckily for Jason, the minute difference in their breathing was enough for the computer to pick up on, and a visualized patrol route formed right before his eyes.

 Time seems to slow as he watches the forms move back and forth. It's not a large beat, about the visible width of the building; but even though the route is small, the guys were slow. Would he be able to pounce on one without alerting the other? Or would that be too much of a risk to take? While he had keyed into their breathing, he hadn't been able to locate any more guards. He probably wouldn't know they were there until he was right on top of them.

 Jason decides that it would be best to avoid them. He doesn't know their strength and the amount of noise that he could generate isn't worth the hell that it could bring down upon him.

 He watches them for a moment longer, there is a moment in their path where they stop and stare at each other, as if they are sharing information about what they'd seen on their walk around. That's when he'd make his move.

 It doesn't take long until they meet at the center of the room, standing in front of one of the construction lamps. They meet each other, staring into the dark void where their eyes should be. He breathes in deeply, his muscles tighten as he focuses. With a push he's off.

 Quickly, he's around the walls and trying to push himself to the next darkened area that he can find. There he could make his next move and try to get his bearings about where he needs to go. His first push is quiet, and he's able to launch himself forward with no issues. His practiced eyes immediately start scouting out where he should aim for. He should have planned for his destination before taking off, but he had always been an impulsive boy and that probably wouldn't change regardless of how many years of experience he got underneath his belt. 

 His eyes immediately go to the far wall on the other side of the floor, it’s where the other drywall had been, and he figured that it was likely the only way to get away from the danger of the unknown. He's slightly surprised however to see a change in floor planning. Instead of the crumbly wall that he had been punching through repeatedly he saw brick, but not just that, a door.

 'Into the lion's den,' he thinks aiming his body in that direction.

 His foot hits the floorboard in a soft practiced motion but a loud squeak still scratches out of the piece of wood underneath him. The wheezes of the guards that are playing in his ear stop mid breath, and he can almost feel them scanning for him. But he's quick. As soon as his other foot comes down, he's launched himself into the shadows of a jagged wall. He pauses for a moment. One of the dim flashlights glides over his general vicinity. When the light passes over the end of the floor, it lingers on the door surrounded by brick. After several seconds, a low grunt sounds in his ear. The computer in his helmet shows that the route of the guards has changed. They are headed over to the wooden wall where he was previously hidden.

 He doesn't hesitate, and he's off again, this time his approach is silent, and he reaches the door with no issue. A curious part of him wants to turn around and get a glimpse of those "guards" but he thinks better off it. He opens the door quickly and quietly, and he pushes through to the other. 

 Unsurprisingly, much like the rest of the building, the room he's in now is almost pitch black. The only things lighting up the place  are yellow industrial lights nestled into a brick wall.  However, unlike the rest of the building, he finds himself at the top of a black metal staircase that seems to spiral down, seemingly endless in the thick blackness. He’d be an idiot to continue with no back-up. To top it all off, the sensors in his ears have rung again. Not with the wheezing breaths of the first guards he encountered, but with the thumping footsteps that had seemed so distant when he first started. He wasn't keen on finding out what was causing them. Did he think he could kick whoever or whatever it was ass? Of course. But fighting in a place like this admittedly left him at a disadvantage, wasn’t a good idea.  That and he didn’t want to make good on Bruce's premonition that he would have to be bailed out at the end of the night.

 With an irritated roll of his shoulders he starts down the stairs, but not before he turns on a tracker. If shit did hit the fan, he didn't want to be stuck underground for the rest of his life. 

 The swirl of the downward spiraling stairs seems to go on forever and based on how long it took him to reach the bottom, Jason is sure that he's underwater at that point. The pounding of footsteps in his ear irritates him, but he doesn't turn it off because they begin to get louder. Aside from that, the sensitive pieces of tech have picked up chatter. At least he thinks it's talking.  He can't really be sure, the sound is staticky and descending further below doesn't seem to help. Either he's picked up on some shitty talk radio show or there is something partially dampening the signal.

 It doesn't take too much more time before he reaches the bottom of the stairs. It's so dark that he wouldn't be able to see the toe of his boot if he didn't have the helmet on, though he might have been grateful for the lack of sight when a gigantic rat ran over his boots. 

 The stairs let out into a dank wet hallway. There is enough water on the ground that it covers his ankles. Clearly, no one had given a shit about drowning when they were "renovating" this part of the building.

 At the end of the hall there is a single hanging lamp, casting a dreary white light on the familiar red brick. And there is also another door. He splashes his way through the water to reach the end of the hall, and he is almost there before something causes him to stop. The thumping of footsteps had stopped. Instinctually, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and his skin prickled. He was unprotected, he realized, exposed. It really hadn't been a good idea to charge down into this hallway without making a plan. He could go back, get his bearings and then try again. 

 The thumping resumes, but only for a moment. Whatever was making those footsteps, he realized was listening. Likely, it had heard him coming down the stairs and sloshing through the water. And it's listening to him now, waiting for him to make another move and confirm its suspicion. 

 He steps back, moving his leg as gingerly as possible, barely stirring the water. It doesn't seem to arouse in any further action, and he makes to move his other leg in much the same way. His breathing seems loud in his own ears, why was he so afraid? He'd gotten the shit kicked out of him before, been on the brink of death. Perhaps it's just his lizard brain just acting up on him. His breathing is getting heavier still, so loud in his ear, almost like... was he wheezing?

 The thought and Jason's reflexes happen at the same time. He's tucked and rolling forward just as his thin arm comes arcing through the air. One of the thin men, or maybe another that had been lurking about, stands just out of the light of the hallway and the blow that was meant for Jason sends red dust into the hair as a spidery arm pierced the brick.

 'Could've been my head' he thinks quickly as he is standing up again. 

 But he's not on his feet for long. He almost doesn't hear the loud sloshing of water, and he tries to roll forward again when he does, but it's too late. Enormous arms wrapped around his midriff holding him tight against a large protruding belly.

  "Looky looky, little lamb came to see me again."

  He doesn't have to turn around to see the voice of the creature that has him hostage. It was the butcher, the one that he had saved Bruce's Brownie Woman from. He didn't understand how, though. Although he hadn't sent the gargantuan man to the grave himself, both he and Dick had confirmed that he had driven that beat up old van into the water. There was no way he would have gotten out in time to survive the depths of the bay.

  The Butcher squeezes and shakes Jason from side to side, like he was trying to pop his head off. Not only did he have to contend with that, the wheezing thin man was beginning to slowly make his way down the hallway, his fingers arched ready to aim and fire and stick Jason like a pig. 

 While his arms are bound to his sides, he has enough reach and wriggle room to reach into his pockets. Once he grips onto what he's searching for, he locks his visor on the thin man in front of him analyzing his form and making him a target. It took longer than he would have liked, but the constant shaking of the madman who had him hostage wasn't exactly the most conducive thing for focusing.  He waits until the man shakes him back toward the middle and then with a swift flick of his wrist a compact ball flies out toward the thin man. Just before it hits the water, it lets out a pop and a hiss as gas smoke fills up the room. 

 The butcher doesn't stop his shaking, unfazed and singularly focused on the task at hand. The Thin Man, however, lets out an annoyed screech. Jason can see the form of the man through his visor and just as he hoped, the Thin Man brings his arm back getting ready to attack. Jason slides down as much as he can and then tucks his head into his chest, guarding himself. He hears the fingers cut through the air, and before he knows it the shaking stops. A groan is leeched forth from the man holding him and his arms fall slack just as Jason is freed, he feels a thick liquid fall on his back. Looking up, he sees trails of viscous black blood flow from the neck of the Butcher. 

 As Jason had hopped the Thin Man and pierced right through the Butcher killing him almost instantly. The large heavy frame fell backward, landing with a splash into the water filling the hallway.

 'One down, one to go.'

 He turns his attention back to the slow-moving creature that was coming up behind him, its claws having finally retracted into the shape of a hand again. A gasping growl comes forth from the creature, as it takes a step back.

 "Don't like working alone, I take it," Jason voices smugly.

 The creature doesn't respond, but it's fine with Jason. He charges the Thin Man placing a few well-placed punches and kicks before the creature finds itself on the ground. However, as he stomps the creature, he realizes it's just absorbing his blows and not even trying to fight back. If he could see its eyes, perhaps he would get at least an inkling about what it was thinking, but in the water its mess of thick black hair seems to obscure its face even more.

  He pulls back and stands over the creature for a moment. A bullet to the head would cause too much noise, and there's no guarantee that it would work anyway. He watches with a frown as the Thin Man twitches in the water and pulls himself away. Jason lands a heavy boot on its chest holding it in place. It writhes and wiggles pathetically underneath him. Unable to put distance between the two of them to launch his attack, the Thin Man was helpless. 

 Finally, it stops wiggling. Its arms fall to the sides and it lays there listlessly as if it has given up. 

 Jason doesn't remove his boot at first, but the surrounding water turns a cream color and bubbles. He jumps away from the man, and he watches in slight horror and amazement, as the Thin Man disintegrates, well most of him. By the time the bubbling is over and the cream seems to have disappeared, all that's left is the thick mass of hair and presumably the head of the creature. 

 "What the fuck?" Jason whispers to himself.

 He uses his helmet to take a picture of the scene, but he doesn't understand exactly what he’s witnessed. Instead of dwelling on it, he moves on; pass the dead Butcher, who had started to bubble, and through the door at the end of the hallway.

 ***

The door leads to another dark hallway, one that seems to be suspiciously empty and long. He imagines, however, that whoever was in charge of those goons wasn't expecting anyone to make it past them. He doubted that they even thought anyone was on to them. 

 As he goes deeper down the hallway, he realizes the ground underneath his feet is changing. No more soppy wood or concrete. It is a see through steel grate that he was walking on; a catwalk.  He stops mid step and bends down to see if there is anything under the grate worth checking out.  It's pitch black, but his helmet quickly clears up the image, and he can see individuals milling around in the dark. They don't seem scared and their body language suggests that they are simply conversing with each other.

 'Talking in the dark? Some party.' He thinks to himself.  He tries his earpiece again, he's sure that the voices he heard earlier are coming from these people, but their voices are still being distorted.

Before he can even think about how to clear up the signal a light comes on, a spotlight to be precise. It illuminates a woman who is standing on a stage, and from what he can tell, she definitely looks like she should be at the party. She's a tall redhead, in a fancy dress, and even from this distance he can tell she's a commanding presence.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," she starts, and at the sound Jason almost thinks his ear piece is back working, but it's just the sound echoing through the walls. "I'd like to welcome you to the party."

At the word party, a curtain lifts from behind her, revealing several large television screens, all showing different angles of the ballroom and the party goers. But that was the tamest part.

Behind the woman and below the screens sat a group of five individuals; Bound, gagged, bleeding and mostly naked. Jason felt his stomach churn at the possibilities of what these people were about to endure.

"By the end of the night the five highest investors will get to have their way with one of our special guests," the woman lets out a chuckle at the word. "In any fashion you choose. There is no limit."

There is a pause of the small crowd followed by a polite applause.

“For example,” she says with a smile as she gestures with a hand to the side of the stage.

Someone pushes a bound man out on the stage. Unlike the others his eyes aren’t blindfolded, but he’s so weak that he stumbles around the stage.

Jason is slightly surprised when another Thin Man makes his way on stage. He is only up there for a minute, as his duty was to hand the woman a revolver.

Jason’s heart pounds in his ears, his body realizing what’s about to happen before he can think it.

“Goodbye Geoffrey”, the woman says in a sugary sweet tone.

The man’s eyes widen, but he seems too out of it to move.

She points the gun at the man’s head and before he can groan out in protest; she fires the bullet.

He falls to the ground dead in less than a second.

She turns and faces her audience, “Who would like to make the first offer?”

 All hands in the room raise.

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Partners {2}

OA Zidan/Zeeko Zaki x Reader

Warning⚠️: Cursing, Small Angst, Slow Burn

Words: 5.1k

Summary: You’re a damn good FBI agent in your own right. It is definitely partly to do with how well you’ve been trained and partly to do with you not letting anything or anyone distract you. You have a six-year plan that you’re fast-tracking for four. After being transferred from your office in Tampa you’ve been sent to New York which you’ve labeled the “big leagues”. On your first day there you were introduced to your new partner OA Zidan. It was then you realized you’ve moved out of the frying pan right into the pot of distraction. A year later and your rising attraction for your partner still hasn’t been snuffed out.

Note: If you’re thirsty and you know it clap your hands. Clap-Clap. If you’re thirsty and you know it clap your hands. Clap-Clap. I have no shame. This is a first for me writing about a TV show and interjecting into it. Let’s see how this goes. I hope you guys enjoy this mini-series.

 ***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

~~~~~~~~~~~

-Three Days Later-

 You weren’t supposed to be back at work until the following Monday, but you’d gotten tired of sitting on your ass and pacing your apartment. You’d watched all the Netflix and Hulu you could stand. You’d gone through episodes you were behind on and even gone through several movies you’d missed in theaters because you lived, ate and slept the bureau. You were so antsy that you’d even begun watching cop shows like Law and Order: SVU, Criminal Minds, and even a show called FBI. That was the only show that actually calmed your angst to return to work.

 On several occasions, you’d ignored the orders of the doctors aside and worked out much longer than thirty minutes. It hurt yeah but you also knew codling yourself would make recovery a lot longer. It wasn’t a full-on shot to the gut, but it was a deep enough graze to keep you in the hospital for two days.

 In those two days, you’d had plenty of time to think. Plenty of time to replay your conversation with OA. The thing with having nothing but time on your hands was that you were able to look at every interaction and conversation in a different light. After going over a year’s worth of endless time spent with OA you’d zeroed in on a handful of them that your imagination was working overtime seeing something that possibly wasn’t there.

 He’d always been kind to you, always gentle and helpful. He took his time teaching you the ropes of how New York ran, tricks of the bureau he’d picked up since he’d been out of Quantico. When you were in the thick of things he always looked out for you. In the moment and thereafter you always deduced it for him looking out for his partner. Who wanted to live with a dead partner on their conscience? You’d thought it was him acting normal.

After a few months he’d started bringing you coffee in the mornings, each time it was something different, a vanilla latte, black coffee, cappuccino. You thought maybe he was bringing you whatever he got that day. When you thought about him giving you your exact coffee order your imagination began to think he’d done it all these months trying to figure out how you liked your coffee. When you thought that everything was under analysis.

 You panted out as you bent forward trying to catch your breath. Today you’d run five miles and you were already feeling the pain in your stomach. It was four miles more than you’d been given the okay to do.

 “Shit!”

 It took you a good five minutes to catch your breath enough to keep going. After four days, you were now in that weird limbo place, where you were fifty percent sure and fifty percent thinking you were crazy. You didn’t know what to think. You did know that this was not what you were supposed to be thinking about. You didn’t leave Miami for a better opportunity to fall for your partner, especially not when you were so close to possibly a promotion. Still, it didn’t stop the butterflies in your belly every time you replayed his words in your head.

 “I thought I’d lose you. I thought that was it and I lost my shit, Y/N.”

 “I don’t want to lose you.”

 The way he’d said them with a quiver in his voice and the wild look in his eyes. The look of a man at his wit’s end. You’d seen the look before, several times, but on perps who felt they’d lost everything and were out of options. He had that look because you were hurt. More butterflies filled your stomach and you hated it.

 “Shit, Y/N. Get your shit together. Do not make this a thing. It is not a thing,” you drilled out loud as you stared at yourself in the mirror. Your words were full of firmness and authority, but your face was anything but. You didn’t even believe your own words. Deep down you knew it was a thing because you’d fallen for your partner months before he’d spoken those words.

 “Shit!”

 An hour later you were walking into the office. A few people saw you and gave you a welcoming but concerned smile. You nodded your head and walked toward your desk. OA’s desk was empty as was Kristen’s. Oddly enough the office was quiet, or quiet compared to normal. Once you put your things away it began to bug you. even this was strange for the office.

 “Hey Scott, where is everybody?”

 “Emergency briefing in the boss’s office.”

 You nodded, grabbed your coffee cup and made your way to Isobel’s office. Through the glass, Isobel saw you and beckoned you in. Once you stepped inside all eyes fell to you.

 “Y/N. What’re you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here until Monday,” Jubal inquired.

 “Yeah I know but I’m good. I am literally going insane at home.”

 “I get that, but we have these rules in place for a reason. You need to heal,” Isobel protested.

 “Isobel I’m good, I swear. My doctor even said I can go back to work when I felt ready. I’m ready,” you hammered home.

 Kristen looked at Jubal and Isobel waiting for their response while they stared you down. When their eyes met they exchanged brief nods.

 “Okay. Glad to have you back,” Isobel said as she signaled toward a seat. You sat and made sure to keep your eyes firmly away from OA.

 Isobel continued to speak about a new case, an abduction. She gave all of you the details of the case and how they wanted to play it. You tried to focus on the case and not the sexy ass man that was in the room. It was difficult especially since you could feel his eyes on you and the unspoken tension in the room. You flipped through the composed file and familiarized yourself with the victim, a seventeen-year-old girl, daughter of one of the richest men in the city who’d been abducted in an alley in Hell’s Kitchen.

 After the briefing, everyone poured out of the room off to their assignments. When you got to your desk you took up your lite FBI jacket ready to get a move on. When you turned, OA was right there. The two of you stared at each other for what felt like a minute but was only seconds. Neither of you spoke.

 “You guys good?” Jubal stood to the side watching the two of you. You cleared your throat and side-stepped OA.

 “Yeah, yeah, all good,” you stuttered.

 “Good, get to the family’s house, see if they can shed some light on this.”

 “Got it.”

 You felt like driving so you’d have something to busy yourself with, but you knew OA liked to drive so you sat in the passenger side and skimmed the file again. When he got into the truck he hesitated for a few moments.

 “Y/N--,” OA began before he paused. He turned the car on but didn’t pull out.

 “Are you sure you’re good? I need you to have my back.”

 Half of you was annoyed at him implying that you didn’t have his back, you’d always had his back.

 “I always have your back. That’s what partners are for.” His eyes met yours for a second before he gave his signature tight-lipped, clenched jaw scowl and pulled out of the parking spot.

 The forty-five-minute drive out of the city and into Hudsons on Hastings was relatively quiet. Besides the talk about the case, the two of you were silent. You wondered what he was thinking especially since that scowl didn’t slip once. He focused on the road and never geared his eyes off of it. Every so often your eyes skimmed his frame beginning at his tightly clenched hands on the steering wheel along his muscular arms and down to his bulky thighs. God, he was crafted to be a distraction, you thought. He was good looking to a fault, tall as hell, muscular like a God and was from what you could tell a great guy. He was a good catch—a great catch.

 “All right we’re here.”

 The two of you walked up the pristine walkway to the palatial house that was literally at the top of a hill.

 “What’s a seventeen-year-old girl doing all the way in Hell’s Kitchen from here?” OA’s question made sense. What was she doing so far from home?

 “Are you the FBI agents?” A redhead woman in a multi-colored wrap dress asked as she stepped out onto the porch with a taller gentleman with blonde hair on her heels.

 “Yes. I’m special agent OA Zidan and this is my partner special agent YFN/YLN.”

 You greeted the couple as they ushered you into their home.

 “You have a beautiful home. You’re quite a far way outside the city,” you audible observed.

 “Yes, we think it’s great to be outside of the madness that is Manhattan,” the blonde gentleman said.

 You looked back to see OA scanning the interior of the home. He’d nonverbally given you the cue he was going to be the observer during this visit. The coupled showed you to another large room with matching seats. The home looked perfect as if it was magically created to be perfect. From experience, you knew impressions of perfection usually always came with deep dark secrets. You spent the next several minutes going through questions with the couple about their daughter, her home life, and school life. They candidly answered your questions and gave no hints to them being anything but deeply concerned parents of a missing child.

 “Do you have any idea what your daughter was doing in Hell’s Kitchen?”

 The couple looked between each other but neither spoke. OA asked the question again.

 “We don’t know. Her school is here, it’s a private school. I don’t know,” the father said.

 You believed him.

 “Can we take a look around your daughter’s bedroom?”

 The couple showed you to the room and you and OA slowly went around to find anything you could.

 “I don’t know what to make of the mom,” OA voiced in a whisper.

 “Why?”

 “Too perfect. Did you see there was nothing out of place? Not on her and not in the room. Anyone who appears too perfect always has something to hide. You get that, right?”

 Something about what he said rubbed you the wrong way. Turning to him you watched him moving from bookshelf to desk.

 “What do you mean by that? Why would I get it?”

 “You know, from experience.”

 He definitely meant something by that. “If you have something to say OA, say it.” He turned to you but didn’t respond. He just had that scowl on his face.

 “Nothing. Let’s go, found what could be our smoking bullet.” He held up two cell phones before he dropped them in Ziploc bags and walked out of the room. You were now annoyed.

 ~~~~~~~

Two hours later you’d spoken to the victim’s friends and checked the crime scene. Now you were at headquarters waiting for Kristen to come back with whatever was in the phones. You couldn’t get OA’s words out of your head. He was purposely digging on you. he thought you were too perfect, thought that you had something to hide. You didn’t know if you were more annoyed that he could see through you to figure that out or the fact that he could say that to you.

 “You okay?”

 Kristen walked beside you in the break room and placed her hand on your back.

 “Yeah. I’m good. Thanks.” Kristen nodded and made a move to walk out.

 “Kristen wait.” You sighed and shook your head before you began again. “Do you think I’m boring or too perfect?”

 Kristen smirked and took you in for a few moments.

 “Why?”

 “No reason just—something someone said. Am I boring?”

 “I don’t think boring is the right word. Maybe—focused.” You gave her a cold glare that she laughed at.

 “Really? Focused is the best you could come up with?”

 “Yes. Okay look, you are focused. It is clear to see you take the job seriously and have goals and a plan for yourself. There is nothing wrong with that. You take the job so seriously that you come off standoffish and—serious.”

 You scoffed and shook your head. “Ah-ha, so not only am I boring but I’m a bitch.”

 “No, no one thinks you’re a bitch,” Kristen corrected. You shook your head and rubbed your forehead.

 “What does it matter what people think about you?”

 “I don’t want people thinking I’m boring and a goody two-shoes who is this perfect straight arrow. I’m not perfect, I’m not a goody two-shoes either. I’m a mess, I--,” you stuttered.

 “Y/N, calm down.” You took some deep breathes and composed yourself.

 “Okay. Thanks, Kristen.”

 “Y/N, we got a break,” Jubal informed peeking his head from around the corner.

 Thirty minutes later you and OA were in a seedy part of town hunting down a lead in the abduction. CCTV caught images of the potential suspect. You could see movement at the front of the restaurant and saw your suspect walk out. He was laughing and talking as if he had no care in the world. In the back of the truck, you and OA were strapping on your protective vests getting ready to approach. You flinched as you came back up from your hunched over position and sucked in a breath. Looking over, you saw OA watching you with concerned eyes.

 “You up for this?”

 “Yep.” You pulled on your shirt over the vest and then your jacket.

 “Y/N, before we head out there maybe we should talk,” OA began.

 “No time.”

 “Just like last time, no time?”

 Your eyes met and again there was so much to say and no time to do it. Even if you wanted to talk you had no idea what to say.

 “OA--.”

 “I’ll take lead.” OA was the first to climb out of the truck and begin his slow walk to the restaurant. You followed behind making sure to check behind you. The two of you walked inside the restaurant, him surveilling around while you made it to the counter.

 “What can I get ya?”

 “A number seven, two and two number nines. Hmmm, what else, anything Pablo?”

 OA looked at you with a “really” look. You knew he hated the name Pablo because of a case you worked with another agent who kept calling him Pablo since OA wouldn’t tell his whole name.

 “Add a number ten on there, I love that garlic sauce.”

 You nodded and looked back to the man behind the counter. He didn’t move, he just stared at the two of you until he made a move to throw a metal napkin holder to you. Ducking out of the way you reached across the counter to grab his head and bang it onto the counter. You heard the scuffling behind you and knew OA was taking on the two creeps that were sitting at the table to the door.

 “I’m never talking!” You shuffled over the counter and kicked the perp sending him a few feet back. The fight was a dirty one, he threw things at you and was clearly out for blood. When he pulled a gun you kicked it out of his hand and brought his head to your knee. He groaned and got in a punch to your gut before sweeping his leg under you making you crash to the floor. The pain in your midsection distracted you long enough for him to make a run for it. OA was beside you a few seconds later checking if you were okay.

 “Go after him, go!”

 You still tried to catch your breath and get the pain under control as you secured the two idiots that dared fight a man that was clearly well over six feet tall and two hundred pounds. Every second that passed you worried about OA. You should have been with him running down the asshole, but you couldn’t. You were supposed to be watching his back and you felt like shit that you couldn’t. It didn’t take you long to recognize that the reason why wasn’t because he was your partner and you were supposed to be with him but because you were worried about his safety, you were scared for him and it went way beyond platonic.

 When backup came around they loaded the idiots in the car. The bulletproof vest you wore felt restricting, so you peeled off the jacket and the vest to reveal your white tank underneath with a fresh coating of blood. A paramedic took you to the back of an ambulance and cleaned your wound that was now bleeding again.

 When you walked back to the sidewalk it was then OA came around the corner carrying a young girl—the victim.

 “Medic, I need a medic!” You hurried over to him; his shirt was covered in blood. You didn’t know if it was the girl’s or his. Panic set in again.

 “OA, what happened? Are you okay?”

 Two paramedics rushed over with a gurney in time for him to place her on it. once his arms were free you proceeded to check his body for wounds. You touched all over his chest, abdomen, and arms before circling his back to scan even more.

 “Hey, hey, I’m fine.”

 “You’re bleeding,” you frantically announced.

 “It’s not my blood, I’m fine.” Your eyes met and his words finally broke through. You felt his hands on your arms steadying you.

 “Are you sure?” He nodded and you finally felt like you could breathe. You dropped your head and took several breaths. OA’s hand fell to your waist, you flinched then groaned. When he saw why his eyes were piercing into yours.

 “Are you hit?”

 “No, stupid stitches busted. I’m fine.”

 “We have to get her to the hospital,” one of the paramedics announced. You watched as they wheeled the seventeen-year-old girl away.

 “How did you--?”

 “He led me right to her. He was trying to move the truck she was cuffed inside. Turns out her mother is her stepmother and she wanted her out the way so she arranged all of this,” OA informed.

 “What?”

 “Yeah. I told you behind perfection lies secrets. Come on, let’s get you checked out.”

 An hour later you were back in the hospital getting checked out. This time OA didn’t let you out of his sight. Thankfully they allowed you to go home that night and OA was right there to take you. The two of you were in the elevator riding up to your floor in silence. When the doors opened, slowly led the way.

 “You don’t have to do this. I’m a big girl, I can get myself home.”

 “Yeah, I’m sure you can but I’d feel a lot better knowing I saw you get inside,” OA answered. Nodding you continued walking. You knew better than to try to argue with him. he was just as stubborn as you.

 You unlocked your door and walked inside and turned to face him. “Safe and sound.” OA stood there silent just watching you. you watched as he sucked in his bottom lip and nodded.

 “I’m sorry.” Confusion decorated his face.

 “What? For what?”

 “I didn’t have your back. You had to chase him by yourself. I was so winded I couldn’t—I should have had your back and I didn’t. I’m sorry.”

 “Y/N, it’s fine. You got knocked on your ass. You needed a minute.”

 “I needed a minute because I probably shouldn’t have been out there.” You groaned and rubbed your forehead.

 “You felt ready, I’m not going to argue with you about it. I’m fine.”

 “What if you weren’t? I thought that blood was yours and I was scared,” you admitted. Silence fell between you and the butterflies in your belly picked up.

 “Why were you scared?” His voice dropped a few octaves and it made goosebumps tickle your skin. God, it was sexy.

 “Because.” It was a whisper; it was all you could muster. Lowering your head, you averted your eyes. OA took a step to you, but it wasn’t enough to crowd you.

 “Tell me.” You took a deep breath and began.

 “I thought you were hurt, and I was worried, really worried.” Your eyes met again and neither of you spoke for a few moments.

 “Did it feel like your heart was being squeezed? Like no air could come in and because of it there was a burning sensation but also a sharp pins and needles feeling? Did you feel like your life was slowly bring drained?” Every word he spoke fit how you felt to a T.

 “Is that how you felt?” Slowly you nodded even though right now you felt overwhelming fear.

 “Yeah, I felt it too. I felt it when I saw you take that bullet and every second until you spoke in the hospital. I felt it and so much more, Y/N.”

 You had no words, so you remained silent. You just stood there staring at him and listening to your pounding heart.

 “Jesus I don’t know how much more I can take,” OA began before he took another step to you. “For a whole year, I’ve tried to keep a wrap on this and remain professional with you. For a year I’ve had to pretend as if I don’t watch you in awe and amazement every day you do something incredible. For a year I’ve had to be this whole different way with you when all I want is the opposite.”

 With every word, your breathing became even more erratic. You couldn’t believe he was saying what he was.

 “You’re the crazy thing, Y/N. I know the rules and what I’m feeling are definitely against them, but I don’t care. I care about you.”

 You plastered your hand across his mouth to shut him up. “Stop, don’t. Just don’t. We can back away from this night and pretend like it never happened and move on and keep things status quo. We can stop right now, and no one would have crossed any lines. We can do that just—don’t say those words.”

 From the look in his eyes, you could tell he was not going to back down. He was going to commit and commit fully. Using one of his colossal hands he took your hand from his mouth, but he held on to it.

 “I don’t think I can keep pretending. I’ve always known life is fleeting being in the military and in Iraq I saw how tangible life was and come here doing what we do day in and day out, I know life is precious. Seeing you hurt hammered it home. I don’t want to pretend anymore. I don’t want to leave anything unsaid, or anything undone. I want to do the crazy things I dream of. I want to live—but only with you. So I can’t keep things status quo and if you were honest with yourself you don’t want to either.”

 Damn it, you thought. He’d spend a year learning you, reading you, doing everything they’d taught him at Quantico. He knew you; you didn’t want him to, but he did. Since he did he took another step to you. There was no professionalism between you now, that last step erased it all.

 “I have feelings for you, Y/N, feelings I’ve held on to since damn near the day you walked in and brought Florida sunshine with you. I can’t go back,” OA confessed. In the process, he took your breath away.

 The day you met him you knew he would be a distraction. You’d put up a good fight, but it was always a losing one. You saw that now, in this moment, with him less than a foot before you, waiting patiently for you to say the words he knew you felt.

 “Tell me. Say the words,” OA whispered.

 “This is crazy.” OA smirked and nodded. His hand fell to your waist and rested there barely touching you.

 “Be crazy with me. Be imperfect with me.” His encouragement made the butterflies in your belly flutter more erratically. It was useless to fight it and fight your increasing feelings.

 “I—have feelings for—you too,” you whispered. He searched your eyes as if trying to make sure there was no lie behind the words. Slowly he pulled to you him closing the gap between you. Your bodies barely touched but you could feel the heat coming off of him. slowly OA inched his head closer to yours until his forehead rested against yours. He released a relieved breath before taking another deep one.

 “I have feelings for you, real ones that I’ve never felt before,” OA added. You nodded agreeing fully. “You too?” Again, you nodded. His smile was beautiful, it was the first thing that you fell for.

 Slowly your lips move closer until they touched, but neither of you moved. You just remained still taking it in. After a few seconds OA was the first to really kiss you. The kiss was slow, timid and exploratory and you reciprocated every second of it. His hand on your waist held you tighter until your bodies were touching. The hardness of his muscled torso against your soft one had you moaning on his lips. OA mimicked the moan which had you both intensifying the kiss. OA’s free hand cupped your cheek before you felt his tongue delve into your mouth. It was like a dam broke. You passionately kissed him, holding onto his waist with one hand and gripping his back with the other. The feel of his moan against your lips made you want more. Slowly you pulled away.

 “I’m not boring.” OA smiled.

 “I know.”

 “I can do crazy,” you continued. Again, he smiled and nodded.

 “I bet you can.” You smiled and kissed him again while gripping his tie holding him to you. The two of you stood in your doorway full on making out not caring who saw. Every second that went by the more you wanted him and the more you were tempted to pull him inside your apartment. OA’s hand slid to your hip where he squeezed sending a fresh wave of arousal to sweep through you. Before the kiss got any more carried away OA pulled back from you.

 “Wow. That’s what I’ve been missing.” You smirked and pinched your lips.

 “I don’t want to rush you or take advantage. I’m not after just this, I want more.”

 “How much more?” Again, his smile took your breath away.

 “Everything.”

 His confession brought you back to reality. While it was sweet it was also an awakening. He was your partner. Was everything possible? The bureau had rules, regulations, and policies. Dating your partner was strictly frowned upon. This could break your career and set you back years. Both of you must have thought the same thing because he even nodded his head while he looked down. He didn’t move though, he still held you to his body.

 “So many nights I’ve had this dream. So many nights I’d stare out my window over the horizon and think about you here wondering what you were doing. I want this Y/N. I want you.”

 Your eyes met again, and it was like looking through glass, his feelings were so evident so transparent. It spoke to you. you softly caressed his bearded cheek then kissed him while pulling him into your apartment. Reality could wait until sunrise.

 You dropped onto the couch in your living room and made out for hours. His hands explored your body while remaining respectful as he got familiar with your lips and the sensitive skin of your neck. In between kissing, he confessed his true thoughts of you when he first met you, confessed how beautiful he thought you were. It was then he made you confess your thoughts too. From there the two of you went through your interactions together that both of you thought your feelings were so obvious.

 It made you feel closer to him and even more attracted than ever. To think you both had felt this way from the very start and had denied it for so long was insane. Everything between you felt as natural as breathing, it never felt weird. You just fell into step like it made sense—you made sense. When talking was pointless you allowed your lips and hands to take over in the conversation. Of course both of you were tempted to go further but neither of you did. Besides dry humping on each other and kissing over places of each other’s bodies everything remained very tame.  Every time you felt his hardness you were even more tempted than you ever imagined you would be. From what you felt you knew he was blessed in more ways than just appearances.

 By the time you finally pulled apart from each other and stopped whispering, giggling and cuddling together it was nearing four-thirty in the morning.

 “I’m going to leave to let you get a little bit of sleep,” OA whispered in between kisses.

 “Okay.” Your response should have been the end of it, but it wasn’t. you kept kissing and caressing each other until another five minutes passed and you were back on the couch. This happened four times without accomplishing anything.

 Finally, he walked to the door alone thinking it would be smarter for you to stay on the couch. When he turned to look at you again he smiled softly. “We’re doing this—you and me?”

 You didn’t know what to say so you smiled like a schoolgirl making him smile widely. “All right,” OA said before he walked through the door only to come back to kiss you once more before hurrying out.

 “See you soon.”

 When he was gone you couldn’t stop smiling for a good ten minutes. You squealed in your couch and giggled like an idiot. It was impossible to stop. It was also disgusting how bubbly you felt. You felt lite and full of energy. It wasn’t until you’d managed to take out your badge and place it on your nightstand did reality come creeping back in. For the first time, your bubbly feeling slowly faded leaving a very sobering feeling that was very similar to dreadful worry.

 “Fuck!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[noahsflynn-archive]

okay, so I want to talk about this shot from the 3x15 promo for a quick second because I had some thoughts on it

so one reason for ed doing this is that he wants to take credit for killing oswald. (firstly let me say real quick that I know oswald isn’t dead, but ed believes he is. here’s an ask I answered on why we know oswald is alive). 

now I still firmly believe that ed doesn’t want to be the king of gotham, I just don’t think it’ll interest him. an audience to see his work, maybe, but an empire to run? no. however, there’s still a lot he can gain for taking credit.

1) it gives him some standing in the criminal world. oswald was able to become king because he made falcone go into hiding, manipulated the events that led to maroni’s death, and killed fish. I know, I said ed doesn’t want to be king, but having credit in the criminal world means he’ll be taken seriously and has made a huge impact already to build upon.

2) his part of the deal with babs and that was to help her rise to the top and become queen, that standing he’ll gain from having killed the king in the criminal world can only help with that

and there’s many other reasons I’m sure as to why ed would want to take credit for killing oswald, however, there’s another option that I like to lean towards and it could work perfectly well in conjunction with everything said so far

I like to think that he left the ? on the painting because he feels guilty about killing oswald and at least some small part of him wants to be caught/punished for it.

okay, let me explain

so back in 2x07, after killing kristen, when ed wakes up hallucination/dark ed says to him “You probably have half a mind to turn yourself in.” okay, sure, he didn’t mean to kill kristen so it is slightly different, but the point stands that he felt guilty after doing it and wanted to turn himself in. most likely because kristen never did anything wrong (whereas someone like dougherty was an abuser and even beat up ed, and with people like the man who came across kristen’s grave, ed didn’t know them personally so most likely felt no real guilt because “it had to be done”) skip forward to 2x17 where ed finally gets caught. the only (or major) reason why he gets caught is because he becomes paranoid and decides to go after jim because he believes jim is onto him. we add the fact that he jumped to conclusions and gave them everything they needed to convict him (kristen’s body, his confession, etc) with his guilt immediately after killing kristen, it suggests that a small part of him still wanted to be caught by 2x17 despite him seemingly accepting who he was becoming (and what he’d done)

so ed is no stranger to guilt, especially when it comes to hurting people he loves

he felt guilty over killing kristen (we also know this because he straight up tells isabella as much)

if he’d killed isabella he most likely would have felt guilty over that, and in a way he probably feels guilty because she essentially died for being in love/in a relationship with him

the stuff in 2x17 could suggest that he also wanted to be stopped so he didn’t have to kill jim but I fully accept that maybe that’s my shipper heart talking so hey

anyway, ed most likely felt guilty about killing kristen because he thought he was in love with her and she meant something to him. 

if we include the middle bullet point, he feels guilty for the same reasons, he thought/thinks he loves isabella and she meant something to him, she was also his second (and perhaps first real) chance at being happy in this mind anyway

and if we do include the last bullet point, jim was one of the few people who was nice to him at the gcpd, they were friends, there’s no denying that.

seeing a pattern? these were all people who meant something to ed, treated him nicely, and/or people he loved

even if we step away from nygmobblepot as a romantic ship and just look at them as friends, these things still apply.

oswald was at the very least ed’s best friend, that’s a pretty big thing and even just suggests how close they were (especially in the moments we didn’t see)

factoring in that oswald can be blunt, he was never really purposely cruel to ed

whether it’s romantically or platonically or whatever I have no doubt that ed loved oswald in some way, shape, or form

all of that that added with the fact that ed clearly regrets and feels guilty about killing oswald immediately after shooting him (feel free to read my meta/analysis about that here) it suggests to me that ed, on some level, is going to feel guilty enough to even consider handing himself him I’m not saying he’s going to be conscious of this, I don’t think he was concious of the fact he was essentially handing himself over in 2x17 when he got himself caught, but whether it’s conscious or not I’m choosing to believe that the question mark on the painting is because a part of him, no matter how small, and no matter how aware of it he is, wants to be caught and punished for what he’s done

also this still stands whether you see nygmobblepot as romantic or not, they were close and have a bond, one that can’t easily be broken, and one I think is never going to sever completely. they, as a pair, are so intertwined at this point that it doesn’t matter if it’s romantic or not because that connection they have is already so strong that there’s no way that ed doesn’t feel guilty, and only serves to back up the idea that some part of him, no matter how small, will want to be punished it also adds strength to me, that one day, at some point, ed and oswald will come back together and slowly make it back on to good terms

[ahmerjohnny-blog]

Mother And Daughter Quotes, Sayings, Messages And Wishes

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Mother And Daughter Quotes, Sayings, Messages And Wishes

Mother And Daughter Quotes

Mother and daughter quotes? Daughters are a life of their mothers, they treat their daughters like their Barbie dolls, take care of them like princess similarly for daughters, mothers are heaven for them. They take care of her so much more than every relation. Daughters are mostly attached to their mothers and they both are friends with each other…

Mother and daughter Quotes are searched by most mothers and daughters due to many reasons some search mother and daughter quotes in order to put on their status, some have to write mother and daughter quotes on gifts. Some wanna surprise their mother or daughter by speaking these mother and daughter quotes in front of their owns… Here are a huge collection of mother and daughter quotes. Just visit our blog for mother and daughter quotes and get best mother and daughter quotes.

Relationship Between Mother And Daughter Quotes

A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take. – Cardinal Mermillod

Sometimes when I need a miracle I look into my daughter’s eyes and realize I have already created one.

Angels are often disguised as daughters.

I didn’t give you the gift of life, life gave me the gift of you.

What the daughter does, the mother did. – Jewish Proverb

The special bond shared between a mother and daughter is the one place in all the world were hearts can be sure of each other. Like branches on a tree, we may grow in different directions, but our roots remain one.

Brother And Sister Quotes, Sayings And Wishes With Images

I never want her to think that the whole world revolves around her. But I want her to know, without doubt, that my whole world does.

A daughter is God’s way of saying, though you could use a lifelong friend.

Mothers and daughters are closest when daughters become mothers.

A son is a son till he takes him a wife, a daughter is a daughter all of her life.- Irish Saying

No matter how old my daughter gets, she’ll always be my baby girl.

A mother holds her children’s hands for a while..their hearts forever.

A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future.

If you ever feel like giving up, just remember there is a little girl watching who wants to be just like you.

My mother: She is beautiful, softened at the edges and tempered with a spine of steel. I want to grow old and be like her.

No daughter and mother ever live apart, no matter what the distance between them.

Daughters are another version of yourself only better.

Mother Daughter Quotes Sayings

“As long as a woman can look ten years younger than her own daughter, she is perfectly satisfied.” – Oscar Wilde

“We mothers are learning to mark our mothering success by our daughters’ lengthening flight.” – Letty Cottin Pogrebin

“A daughter without her mother is a woman broken. It is a loss that turns to arthritis and settles deep into her bones.” – Kristin Hannah

“A daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend.”

“Being a mother is an attitude, not a biological relation.” – Robert A. Heinlein

“A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.” – Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Weekend Quotes Amazing Collection With Images

“My mom is the greatest mom in the whole wide world. She’s done everything for me to make my dreams come true.” – Josh Hutcherson

“My mom is literally a part of me. You can’t say that about many people except relatives, and organ donors.” – Carrie Latet

“The best place to cry is in a mother’s arms.” – Jodi Picoult

“I can see my daughter a successful woman, a fighter, and a very good person. So, I always believe in her. I love how she becomes exactly like me. I only hope she will be a better mom more than me.”

“A daughter is a mother’s gender partner, her closest ally in the family confederacy, an extension of her self. And mothers are their daughters’ role model, their biological and emotional road map, the arbiter of all their relationships.” – Victoria Secunda

“Only a mother can understand a daughter who’s in her teenage. Treats her same and most especially loves her the same.”

“There were times when, in middle school and junior high, I didn’t have a lot of friends. But my mom was always my friend. Always.” – Taylor Swift

Cute Short Mother Daughter Quotes

I am not a perfect mother and I will never be. You are not a perfect daughter and you will never be. But put us together and we will be the best mother and daughter we would ever be. Zoraida Pesante

“She thought, she hoped, that the handkerchief was something fantastic, like a piece of a tale, but real, and just for her, a symbol of the real, hidden love of her mother.” Shannon Hale

“The bride’s getting ready to toss her bouquet, so get me up there! Mom said the day after she turned 96.” June Shaw

“Yes, it’s quite amazing how I continue to shock my mother even after all these years together” Eloisa James

“If you can’t go back to your mother’s womb, you’d better learn to be a good fighter.” Anchee Min

Happy Birthday Mom Quotes, Sayings, Wishes, And Messages With Images

“In a child’s eyes, a mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love either way. I am convinced that this is the greatest power in the universe.” N.K. Jemisin

“I loved my mother too,’ I said. ‘I still do. That’s the thing – it never goes away, even if the person does.” Anna Carey

“In a corner of her heart, she imagined her compassion as kindling that could ignite not only her tender and guarded feelings for her mother, but also jump across the void and ignite her mother’s feelings for her.” Sonja Yoerg

“Maybe I stepped into the skin my mother left behind and became the girl my mother had been, the one she still wanted to be.” Laura Kasischke

“I got almost eighteen years with you. The best eighteen years of my life.” Kristen Simmons

Mom Quotes From Daughter I Love You

A mother… sees all, says little. Sacrifices all complain little. Gives all, expects little. All she wants is her child to be happy – that’s what I’ve learned from all these years. Thanks for everything, love you, mom.

With you, I have fought and argued. In return, you kept a calm mood. At you, I have ranted and screamed. At me, you made sure your love beamed. For you, I could have definitely done more. For me, your heart has always had an open door. I love you, mom.

The job of a mother is more important than the job of any CEO in this world. CEOs run companies, mothers change lives. CEOs make good employees. Mothers make CEOs. I love you, mom.

This is a tribute to a woman who works hard to pay the mortgage, raise her children and support her friends. She is not SuperWoman, she is my mom. I love you.

If my life had to be fit in a single selfie, it would be incomplete without my mommy. I love you.

Cute Good Night Quotes, Sayings, Wishes, And Messages With Images

However, I may never be able to be exactly like you, but just the thought of filling the shoes of a woman like you makes me a better person. I love you, mom.

The world would change into a better place if producers started making reality TV shows about how loving moms like you juggle the burdensome responsibilities of work, family, and kids – all while carrying a beautiful smile on the face. I love you ma.

Mom – your love is the chicken soup for my soul. I love you.

I fight with you every now and then, I keep arguing again and again. But deep down inside I hope that your heart knows, that my love for you will forever grow. I love you, mom.

Short Daughter Quotes

To my Daughter. Never forget that I love you. Life is filled with hard times and good times. Learn from everything you can. Be the woman I know you can be.

A daughter is God’s way of saying, “thought you could use a lifelong friend.”

You are amazing. Remember that.

Let me love you a little more before you’re not little anymore.

If I could give my daughter three things, it would be the confidence to always know her self-worth, the strength to chase her dreams, and the ability to know how truly, deeply loved she is.

For all the things my hands have held, the best by far is you.

A daughter is one of the most beautiful gifts this world has to give. –Laurel Atherton

Sad Quotes About Life Best Collection For You

And she loved a little girl very, very much – even more than she loved herself.

Chin up, princess. Or the crown slips.

I constantly go between wanting you to be my baby forever and being excited about all the amazing things you’ll do in this life.

To my daughter, I will say, ‘See your beauty without a compliment or a mirror.’

Teach your daughter to worry less about fitting into glass slippers and more about shattering glass ceilings.

Someday when the pages of my life end, I know that you will be one of its most beautiful chapters.

Life is tough my darling, but so are you. –Stephanie Bennett-Henry

Out of all the moms in the world, I’m SO glad you are mine.

A mom’s hug lasts long after she lets go.

To the world, you are a mother, but to your family, you are the world.

You’re the mom everyone wishes they had.

My identity rests solely and firmly on this: I am my mother’s daughter.

I Love My Daughter Quotes And Sayings

All people want their achievements to be noticed and recognized. A simple phrase “I am proud of you” can inspire and cheer anyone up, especially if it is said, my mother. So if you think that your daughter is doing really great, tell her about it! These short heartfelt messages will help you express your feelings!

You are such a beautiful girl, and I’m so proud of the incredible way that you are growing up. Even at such a young age, you are full of wisdom, kindness, compassion, and courage. I love you so much, honey. Never ever change.

My daughter, I am so proud of the beautiful young woman you have become, and I am so proud to not only call you my daughter but also my best friend. I love you more than words can express.

I am proud of many things in life but nothing beats being a mother of such a girl.

Funny Friend Quotes Beautiful Collection

Despite all the hardship, you persisted, you endured, you never quit, you persevered, you kept going, you never gave up, you prevailed. I’m so proud of you!

My dear, I am blessed to have a daughter like you. You always make you feel proud.

You are an indispensable part of my life. However, You are for me like water for a flower. Thanks to you, I am able to grow, develop, prosper, learn and achieve success.

The biggest privilege in my life is to be a daughter of the prettiest, the kindest, wisest, the most patient and understanding woman on Earth. I love you, mommy.

I can be not the best daughter for you because I know how many troubles you’ve experienced with me. But I want to tell you that for me, you are the best mom ever.

Mother Daughter Poems

She’s always been there for me Just talking to her can make me happy She tells me of the hard times she’s been through In hopes that I won’t go through them too She’s an independent woman of stature and grace She has beautiful eyes and a lovely face An audacious strength from deep inside In her I know I can confide She’s my guardian angel who’ll always be A very special part of me She takes pride in caring for her kin She gives us hope and things to believe in If I didn’t have her there for me I wouldn’t be half the woman I turned out to be I Love You, Mom,

Kevin Gates Quotes Huge Collection

You brushed my hair and tucked me in, Made me laugh for hours on end. You kissed my boo-boos when I fooled around. Mommy, you never let me down.You held my hand as I got my shots Then took me for ice cream that hit the spot. You bought me Polly-Pockets and Barbies too. Mommy, there’s no one quite like youYou held my hand as I walked through the door, Then you met my teacher as I stared at the floor. You told me it’d be fun, and I’d make friends too, And for that reason, Mommy, I love you.You listened to me talk about the drama and boys Then taught me how to handle it with class and poise. Also, You spoke of wisdom and of things you know. You love to hear me say, “Mommy, you told me so.”You love the Lord with all your heart, And you’re kind and gentle and pretty and smart If I could be anyone, I’d pick you ‘Cause, Mommy, the world would be better with two of you.You’ve taught me so much, with more in store And with each day that passes, I love you more.

Funny Mother Daughter Quotes

I smile because I’m your daughter. I laugh because there’s nothing you can do about it.

Mom, what is it like to have the greatest daughter in the world

Dear Girls, if a guy pauses a video game just to text you back… Marry him.

“Nobody loves me but my mother. And she could be jivin’ too.”

“I asked mom if I was a gifted child. She said they certainly wouldn’t have paid for me.”

“I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.”

“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.”

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?

“The hand that rocks the cradle usually is attached to someone who isn’t getting enough sleep.”

Baby Boy Quotes Awesome Collection For Mommy And Daddy

A Harvard Medical School study has determined that rectal thermometers are still the best way to tell a baby’s temperature. Plus, it really teaches the baby who’s boss.

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”

“My mother used to say that there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet. She’s now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia.”

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.”

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”

And here’s to the Mommy angels in Heaven. I know you’re still watching over my friends and your grandbabies.

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