#they hold a grudge for ruining their good name in Gotham

[the-bassist]

Fic concept: Jason Todd following the clown code of ethics to spite the joker, and getting accepted into the clowns of America on accident, refusing to admit it was an accident, and lording it over the joker forever. He and Harley have weekly “actual clowns in Gotham meeting” which is just their code word for therapy

[gothamcityangst]

How would react Bane and Killer Croc, who are rivals, sometimes ennemis, if they found out that, they have a lot in common ? Mother is dead, grow up in prison, hate Batman, became father like figure to some orphans, protect lesbians. ( Yes, in the comics, they both did all this, tell us if you know of find anything else).

Oh to be a wee lesbian protected by Croc and Bane. Very interesting ask. Because this is angst we're adding just a pinch of sadness.

Tw: mention of childhood abuse, capital punishment, character death.

-

I'd imagine this conversation happens in a prison. Maybe one or both of them are captured and they've tried to get out but they've realised this time there's no escape. Maximum security. And neither of them were going to avoid capital punishment.

They figure they might as well tell each other their stories. They're dead men anyway so there's no point holding a grudge.

In the week leading up to it, they realise that they have more in common than they think. It starts when Bane has requested Osito. Croc at first berates him for wanting a stuffed animal before he died. Bane explained and Croc actually listened.

When he listened he actually felt a pang of guilt for mocking him in the first place.

This led to Croc telling him about his aunt and his terrible childhood. Bane and Croc can both express how they were failed by everyone around them.

They were surprised to learn the difference in their prison systems. Santa Prisca and Gotham Juvie certainly weren't the same. Neither could have survived the others situation if they were in it.

Bane sympathises with Croc and his lost childhood, Croc nods his head as Bane explains the horrible experiments done to him.

They even end up having most of their meals over conversation. The guards had never seen Croc so engaged.

By day five they're talking about their found families. The father figures they became. Chances at happy lives they ruined.

It takes a huge leap of faith when Bane tells him his real name. No one had called him Antonio in years so he figured someone should know. Antonio was surprised to learn that Croc wasn't his real name either.

Antonio enthralled Croc with tales of his Santa Prisca. The guard had called for lights out when he'd just gotten to the good part. They went to sleep both thinking they're going to continue their conversation tomorrow.

Waylon woke up one day fully expecting to see Antonio on the other side of the small grey room. When he wasn't he got angry. He screamed and bit the bars demanding an explanation.

The guard hands him the tiny stuffed animal. Waylon cries.

[britaisy]

Writing suggestion num.1

@smalltalkerr ‘Tim Drake actually going to Ivy University and becoming the worlds greatest detective (not a superhero literally a detective) and Damian as future Batman’

---------------------

Life has a funny way of proving people wrong. One day your whole being is scorched deep into stone, and then you blink an eye and all of a sudden everything takes a 180 degree, it leaves one able to utter only two simple words: “Well, shit”

When Tim Drake graduated from Ivy University with a criminology degree under his belt after being adamant that the education system was a pile of shit and being certain that whatever university had to offer, he had already learned, that’s exactly what he had said. Well, shit. Of course, he would have never enrolled into university had Bruce Wayne not ‘discreetly’ persuaded him into joining. It had taken many arguments for him to finally accept. They usually started with Tim saying something along the lines of “I am not wasting three years of my life in a leisure programme when I could be doing some real work. These are 1,095 days, Bruce. Lots of days, who’s going to be doing all the investigating work? Damian? He’s far too impatient. Dick is busy with Bludhaven and Jason, well, Jason spends him time with a Superman clone and an Amazon shooting up mob bosses. You need me.”

Bruce would remain calm, his stoic face as unwavering as always, and respond: “You spend your days in the batcave, hardly going out, Alfred is getting concerned, Dick is getting concerned, and frankly so am I. University will help you adjust in society. As for help, you forget, we got Barbara, Duke, Cassandra, Stephanie, Kate.”

“So, you are saying I am useless?”

“I am saying that what you are doing to yourself with lead you to a path that you will not escape from. When was the last time you even took a shower?”

 Those days had been mentally exhausting, one argument piling up on the other until the mere implication of university caved into Tim’s taut nerves. Tim hated to admit it and he would certainly never vocalise it, but Bruce had been right. University had changed him. He was still an incurable introvert with severe caffeine addictions and an unhealthy dose of cynicism, but he had learned a couple of things about people that he would have never learned in the batcave. Besides, the parties had been shockingly fun.  Those mere three years had eventually led him to an entirely different path than the one he had initially planned out for himself. He had been Robin, then the Red Robin and now he was the world’s best private detective, working restlessly in Gotham. Not that bad. Not that bad, at all.

Of course, his occupation meant haphazard working hours. Mostly, he was always working, it could be twelve at night or three in the morning, Tim Drake could be out on the job with a matching coffee cup in hand. It was a good thing he only needed three hours of sleep to recharge. But, he wasn’t the only eccentric with questionable habits in Gotham who worked unorthodox hours. Night time in Gotham still belonged to the one and only Batman. Only Bruce Wayne was no longer the Batman, the round age of seventy had taken its toll even on the stubborn billionaire. After his x-rays begun resembling something out of a sci fi movie, he had retired. Damian Wayne, former assassin, former (annoying) Robin, son of Bruce Wayne was now wearing Batman’s mantle and that was who Tim out to meet tonight.

The man was standing in the alley where he had been told to wait, one hand in the pocket of his long trench coat, the other holding his coffee. He heard the faintest sound of rustling in the wind, a sound that would have gone unnoticed to the untrained ear.

Tim chuckled when he turned around, not the least surprised when he was face to face with Batman.

“Trying to spook me?” he mocked.

“If I had you would have noticed.”

“Touché” Tim smiled.

“I need your help.”

Just like his father, straight onto the point.

“I assumed so.” Tim said, sipping his coffee, waiting for Batman to continue.

Batman fished out some files that he had been hiding under his cape. He handed them over to Tim, the front page was dominated by the blurry, stained picture of a grey-haired severe-looking woman.

“She’s been gone for two months. She’s from the Narrows, but my sources say she used to be an assassin in her younger years, she was even employed by Raz Al Gul, at one point. Father always kept a close eye on her, even though she seemed to be in retirement. All her things are in her flat, but she’s gone, no signs of struggle, either.”

“If she did work for the League of Shadows, wouldn’t you have better access on the case, considering who you are?” Tim asked, though his eyes were solely focused on the woman’s face, despite the dim light provided by a lone lamppost, he was already skimming through the information in the folder.

“The League hasn’t been very accessible to me lately��� there was a bitter coldness in his voice. “Seems as if they are hiding something.”

“Hence the name. You are not exactly one of them anymore, Damian.” Tim tore his eyes from the paper to look at him. Despite the mask, Tim could tell the young man was frowning, he had always been more expressive than Mr. Bruce Deadpan Wayne.

“I am no stranger to them, either. I was supposed to be the demon’s head.” He argued

“And you turned that position down once you chose being Batman, which honestly, I am glad you did. It would be a pain in the ass battling with you.”

Damian smirked, satisfied with his words. “That, I agree with. But, back to the point. I need you to find her. I want to know what she’s up to. I would have done it myself, but Gotham is keeping me busy.”

“You know…it’s not bad to admit that I can get this job far more easily done than you. I am the world’s Greatest Detective, after all.” Tim shot him a shit-eating grin.

“Show off.”

Tim laughed. “Anyway, I can get the job done. I’ll need five days, the fancy jet with the espresso maker, some cash, around three thousand dollars, and a new coat” he tucked onto his tacky coat’s collar. “Mine is worn. A detective is only as good as his trench coat.”

“Sure, just make sure you don’t ruin the espresso machine this time.” Batman replied.

“Noted.” He looked back at the picture. “From what I can tell you this far is that this woman was never retired. An assassin who had worked with the League of Shadows would retire in glory in an island and buy an extravagant mansion. She chose the Narrows, an unlikely area, she was living in a poor multiblock. She was hiding, she didn’t want a certain somebody to find her, somebody she really feared. Judging from the fact that her last job was with the League of Shadows, my guess is that somebody there has a grudge against her.”

Tim knew that Batman’s silence meant that what he had said made perfect sense to him.

“When will you be ready to start?” he asked.

“I have to sleep for three hours and then I’ll be good to go.” Tim replied.

“Good.” Batman smiled. “Pleasure doing business with you as always, Drake.”

Tim smiled, the man looked down at his lower pocket, patting himself to find his pad. But, as soon as he looked back, Batman had disappeared into the night.

“Can’t believe the kid got me.”

[justgotham]

Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed something a bit different in the performance of Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. “Scarecrow” in the last few episodes of FOX’s hit series Gotham. The character’s reintroduction comes with a new actor behind the burlap mask, one David W. Thompson, a Cortlandt Manor native.

We got to chat with Thompson amidst his debut, and now that his arc is in full swing we can finally let slip on Westchester’s newest supervillain.

So you went to Walter Panas High School. (I went to Lakeland, but I won’t hold it against you.) Did you get involved with the Panas Players or any other on-stage productions back then?

I did not. They predominantly did musicals, and while I enjoyed singing in the shower, I don’t think anyone else really wanted to hear me sing.

How did you first get into acting professionally?

I started getting involved in middle school at Copper Beach. My first play there was A Midsummer Night’s Dream where I was Puck in sixth grade. I remember there was this one scene where I was supposed to walk in and I have this flower, and I remember stepping on stage, and Oberon says, “Do you have the flower, welcome traveler?” and I remember looking down and I did not have the flower. I was gonna say, “Yes” and then I looked down and said, “No!” and I ran back down out into the wings and I grabbed it and came back, and everyone was laughing. Afterwards they’re like, “Dave, you played that off so well!” and I said, “I don’t know about that.”

I did a couple plays in middle school, and some local theatre. There’s the Depot Theatre in Garrison; they have some one-act play festivals I was involved with for a couple years. Some of those local playwrights said, “You should go do some short films in the city and get in involved with student films.”

Which led to some small but recognizable parts in fairly big shows like Boardwalk Empire and The Unbreakable Kimmie Schmitt, as well as films like Win Win and A Christmas Story 2. Now Gotham is shaping up to be potentially huge role for you. Can you tell us a little about what it was like going up for such a well-known character as Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane?

It was kind of terrifying at first. There was a recast. The prior actor, Charlie Trahan, wasn’t able to do this arc in this half of the season. So when I auditioned they sent me some clips of him earlier in the show, and they said, “So if you could do something like this, but also kind of make it your own … but really kind of stick to what he was doing … but feel free to play with it!” which was very ambiguous, very vague instruction.

I’ve also been a big Batman fan. I loved the Nolan films and I think Cillian Murphy was fantastic in his iteration of Scarecrow, but I think what Gotham is doing is just a different approach. It’s been fun to kind of take the roots of the character, as well as the work that Charlie put in, and then kind of shaping it into my own thing as well. I’ve been kind of terrified of ruining this thing, this beloved character, for people who really enjoy this show, and I hope to do it justice.

It’s been a lot of fun so far, and the arc that I’m involved with for the duration of the season is very exciting. I look forward to watching it — I haven’t really seen any of it yet. I’ll be watching it for the first time with everyone else.

You do look a little like a young Cillian Murphy. Do you think that helped your case?

I don’t think it hurt. I think we have similar body types: tall, scrawny, even scarecrow-looking guys.

[Pun entirely intended] We’re a little afraid of how a student of the Meisner method approaches the character of a fear-based supervillain. How do you get into that type of headspace?

I think I approached this character in a much more physical way. Really only my eyes are visible through the costume, and it’s kind of big and bulky, and I’m kind of a gangly guy, so a lot of it was me trying to express his intensity through the eyes, as well as finding a physicality that is unlike mine. In the Nolan iteration he’s a perfector and he’s a very angry person, but I think in this one he’s really kind of tortured, and then he was injected with all these kinds of chemicals by his father, and he was locked away and abused in this facility for years, so I think he kind of lost a lot of his humanity throughout that. I think it was kind of tapping into that sort of more bestial, primitive side of this tortured character.

Have you worked on your maniacal laugh yet? All good villains have a maniacal laugh.

There is one scene where I play with an evil laugh, and I remember trying it out with a friend beforehand, and I just kind of did it, and he said, “Hey, that sounded alright,” and I said, “Yeah, I think I was just doing Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.” We’ll see how that comes out.

You mentioned you were a big fan of Batman as a kid. Did you have any favorite version?

I was a huge fan of the animated series when I was younger — that was the best show! Mark Hamill as the Joker! Yeah, to me, that is always my definitive Batman. Also, I loved Batman and Robin, the one with Ivy, and Bane, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, I was a huge fan of that as a kid.

What are you afraid of?

Oh, jeez. When I was younger I was really afraid of dolls, like little dead girls. The Grudge and The Ring, I’ve never seen either of those, but the trailers always terrified me when I was a child. I had this neighbor who lived across the street, literally I think maybe 30 feet door-to-door, and I was hanging out at his house, and I’d be walking home late at night, and I would ask him to walk me to the end of his property, and I remember I’d be maybe ten or fifteen feet away from my door, he’d say, “Watch out for a doll!” and I would cover my ears and run back into my house.  Really good friend.

Last year you co-created and starred in the four-part web series Rhinebrook, about a young man who uses his brother’s ID to take his place teaching at a prestigious boarding school. We dare to hope, but was Rhinebeck the inspiration for Rhinebrook?

Maybe at least partially? The name, there’s a regal sound to it, and I remember my friend and co-creator of it, Austin Cauldwell, we were bouncing around some different names, and I remember one day he just emailed me “Rinebrook?” and I say, “Yeah, that sounds good.”

But we can be sure you are, in fact, the real David W. Thompson?

[Laughs] I, uh … I can neither confirm nor deny.

Lastly, for new things coming up moving forward, can any of your local fans- or, can you key us in on any new projects you might have coming up?  Anything post-Gotham?

A few things are in the works. When I know, you’ll know.

[redjayson]

Imagine if jayson gets in trouble by something like he exploded something or told off a league member so they made bruce come and try to get him which only made them go on a wild goose chase but mostly imagine bruce gets like dad mad at him when Jason comes home and he looks over and sees the entire batfam recording them arguing, even dick from the kitchen table.

okay look this is totally not jason’s fault

it’s just that from the perspective of most outsiders, he and artemis and bizarro (or roy and kori, or donna and kyle, whichever beautiful trio you like best tho personally I’m most familiar with the sunshine trio of jay, artemis, and bizarro) – well, they look like they’re just indiscriminately causing chaos.

well. maybe indiscriminately is too strong a word. there are definitely way more explosions than a regular superhero ever needs to cause, though. 

point being, there are explosions. so many explosions. you’re saying y’all are the good guys?? why the fuck are there so many explosions then

so yeah eventually the team’s (or jason’s) luck runs out and they end up being arrested – or someone calls the league in – and oh man. ah, shit. technically the only thing that jason promised was that he wouldn’t kill people, but oh god. batman is going to be insufferable about this. 

obviously the best (funniest) way for this to go down is for someone to call down a league member to deal with these “supervillains” and it has to be someone who is unfamiliar with the (sunshine) trio and/or jason. (and let’s face it, if it’s just jason, then someone’s going to get called immediately, because who cares if red hood is known outside gotham or not, this guy looks like a villain.)

so. some jla member ends up taking custody of jason (and potentially the rest of the trio) and starts to cart them off to prison or to a trial or something–

except Batman Knows All

(and he set up an alert for red hood’s name within the jla database or whatever, so that he can keep track of his son’s movements and make sure that nothing untoward is happening and also so that he can make sure his kid’s okay because he worries, all right, jason’s died on him once and he couldn’t take it if it ever happened again)

batman comes down on this poor jla member like the wrath of a god

“what are you doing with red hood and his compatriots?” batman asks, staring intently.

“he’s…a villain…?” the poor jla member says, sweating nervously. 

“what are the crimes he’s accused of?” batman asks.

“a bunch of explosions in various nations, several connections to drug runners, and his friend–”

“the amazon or the kryptonian clone?”

the jla member sweats even more nervously, because obviously they were thick enough to not really take in all the details of hood’s colleagues (or maybe the other two were in disguise, we’ll give this poor jla member the benefit of the doubt. they’re probably super new to the jla. poor baby, what an introduction to the jla – fucking up in front of batman, who is Terrifying.) “….the…….Amazon……? Sir?”

batman stares.

“she…..set a lot of things on fire. and then hood….set off the explosions. and nobody died, but there was a lot of collateral structural damage and the governments of these countries are very annoyed, and also they’ve been moving through several countries, did I mention that, and they’re–”

batman holds up his hand and the Very New jla member shuts their mouth immediately and hopes that they’re not about to be kicked out of the jla because seriously, they just joined, they didn’t realize that apparently these three were in batman’s jurisdiction or they never would have gone after these three. 

“I will be taking custody of them,” batman says, and the jla member hands all responsibility over to batman and then fucking flees, because that was terrifying and they’re going to be triple checking their information from now on and making sure that they don’t accidentally infringe on batman’s territory again. they’d been warned about going into gotham, and oh god, if this is how batman acts when it’s just one of his villains, how bad is it when people enter his city?

jason just shakes his cuffed hands at batman like, are you going to let me out of these?

the answer is no, because they’re going back to gotham and batman is going to dress jason down. 

“come on!” jason complains. “I did exactly what you asked!”

“in point of fact, you did not,” bruce snaps. 

“I didn’t kill anyone!”

“the lowest possible bar,” bruce says, pulling up data on his computer. artemis is standing next to jason, watching this with a terribly amused expression on her face. bizarro is exploring the cave. he loves the giant t-rex. 

“that’s literally the only stricture you put on me,” jason protests. 

“while you were dealing with black mask,” bruce says. “and when you left gotham–”

“you said the exact same thing!” 

“jason, I expect you to–”

“you’re such a fucking hypocrite–”

“–not blow up every city you step foot in–”

“–I bet you were watching me just waiting for me to fuck up–”

“–and you need to be careful–”

“were you just waiting for an excuse–?”

“I can’t lose you again!”

and there’s a momentary pause in the argument. jason looks away. 

“I’m fine,” he says. 

bruce looks – tired. and old. older than jason’s ever thought of him. 

“just be careful,” he says again. “and please. stop it with the explosions. or at least tone them down. don’t get arrested by people who might think you’re a supervillain.”

“you are a life ruiner,” jason says. “you are ruining my life. first the legos–”

bruce rolls his eyes. it’s an old argument.

“– and now this?” jason continues, at an even louder volume. 

on the head of the t-rex, most of the batkids have been watching/filming this encounter – and making friends with bizarro – and at this, they all have to duck their heads and laugh into their hands because somehow batman and red hood have carried on this whole conversation without noticing them and really, parts of it are pure comedy gold. it’s been going on for so long. batman’s so annoyed about the explosions, like hood hasn’t toned it down since he left gotham. 

and oh man, the old arguments. 

“he’s still holding a grudge about the legos,” dick says, almost hiccuping with how hard he’s laughing. “it’s been eight years and he’s still so angry.”

[wittygaypuns]

Gotham prompt list: nygmobblepot💚💜 - 49! 😅

Sorry this took so long

Cut for length. Prompt; “Of all the people in the world I could end up tied to, why did it have to be you?“

As Oswald woke, he felt a distinctaching in his arms and back. He fidgeted, only for the pain to spikea current through his spine and cause him to freeze in place. Hiseyes slipped back shut as he tried to relax. Physically it wasn't aproblem, but mentally he had to push down the bubble of panicthreatening to push him into a frenzy. He didn't know where he was,but he could feel that he was back to back with someone. Whoever itwas was taller than him (which wasn't particularly telling given hissomewhat diminutive size) and was ridiculously warm. The heat waspouring off of them in a way that was adding to Oswald's discomfort.

“Are you awake? Who are you? Whereare we?” Oswald snapped; the person hadn't moved yet. He tried tolook over his shoulder, but couldn't make out any features in the dimlight of the room.

“Shut up. I already have a headache.”The voice was husky and one that he knew intimately. His heartdropped and he began to jerk his arms despite the pain.

“You!? Whose sick idea was this?!”Oswald screeched in anger and no small amount of heartache.

“Stop it! You're going to damage bothof us, you idiot!” Edward snarled, leaning back into him, pressingOswald's body in against itself.

Oswald yelped in pain and used his legsto anchor himself, responding in kind. With his legs as leverage, heforced his body back into Edward's, making the man double over. Itwas a petulant response, but he didn't care. They were bound by thearms and the chest with thick rope, tight enough that the dismaygripping Oswald's chest made it even harder to breathe.

“Oswald, stop it!” Edward's body nolonger pushed back, submitting; satisfied with the little victory,Oswald settled back into a sitting position.

“Fine. Why are we here, do you know?”Oswald grumbled.

“I don't. All I remember was walkinginto Sirens and then waking up here. The room is non-descript,probably an empty apartment or a warehouse office...” Edwardsighed, leaning his head back. It brushed against Oswald's. He had tofight the urge to throw his head back against him, but it would onlyhurt them both.

“Of all the people in the world Icould end up tied to, why did it have to be you?” Oswald mumbled.

“Well, whoever our assailant isobviously did it deliberately, knowing our history. Which doesn'thelp narrow it down at this point, given the enjoyment you seem toget out of telling everyone that will listen you're in love with me.”Edward grumbled.

“I feel nothing for you anymoreexcept for hate,” Oswald insisted, shifting his arms, “And I'drather break my arms to get out of this then to be stuck with you aminute longer!”

“Oswald, don't! We don't knowanything about who has us here and what they have in store! At leastbe patient for once in yourlife!” Edward held his arms as still as he could to negate Oswald'smovements.

“Foronce in my life? For ONCE!?”Oswald snapped, offended. “You're calling meimpatient? I worked for years to get to where I was before you ruinedeverything, and you can't even hatch a plot without immediatelyblathering about it to any authority that will listen because you'retoo self-involved to wait for them to figure it out!”

“Itisn't my fault I'm constantly at odds with idiots!” Edwardreturned.

“That'swhy you'll never succeed, Ed. You'll constantly get yourself caughtbecause you're too prideful to keep your mouth shut!” Oswald spat.

“Betterto be caught because of pride then belittled and made a fool of forhaving none!” Edward fidgeted, getting worked up by the banter.

“That'sthe thing; I have pride. I have toomuchpride, most of the time... but I can at least realize that I don'tneed to protect that pride with my life because most people justdon't matter enough to me to care what they think! You, on the otherhand? You're so desperate for people to recognize you that you don'trealize that you're a joke to them! You put yourself on some loftypedestal because you think you're the smartest person there is, andwhat has that gotten you?” Oswald's voice raised a little, butbegan to lower in volume as he spoke. The tone he took was seething,full of venom, and Edward's silence showed him that his words hithome.

“Atany rate, it looks like we're stuck here unless we work together orwait for our captor to show themselves. Unless they plan on torturingus by leaving us with one anothers company.” Oswald muttered.

Edwardsaid nothing, and Oswald knew that he had struck a nerve. The feelingwasn't as satisfying as he had hoped. Somewhere in the pit of hisheart the urge to comfort the man stirred. Oswald tried his best tosuppress his feelings, to make it so that love didn't ruin him as ithad before. It was easy enough when they were apart, but now, beingin his proximity, smelling his cologne, feeling his warmth, Oswaldwas finding it harder and harder to harden his heart.

“Atleast yell back at me.” Oswald muttered, frowning down at his ownlegs.

“What'sthe point? You're right.” Edward said softly, sounding wrecked,lost. Oswald knew that if he could see the man's face that hiseyebrows would be knitted together, eyes wide and soulful with pain,the ghost of a frown etched into his features like the mask ofTragedy.

“I'mmore angry than anything.” Oswald wouldn't admit that anything hesaid was wrong, but he would at least say that much.

“Iknow,” Edward said with a sigh, “you're angry a lot. More thesedays, it seems.”

“Goodto know you're still keeping tabs on my moods. Yes, I am angry a lot.It's exhausting.” He admitted.

“Isthat because of me?” Edward asked.

Oswaldwas briefly dumbstruck. Was Edward so out of touch that he couldn'tcomprehend Oswald holding a grudge? Was he so disconnected fromemotions that the idea that he could stay angry at him for so longwas beyond his comprehension? The thought baffled him, but after amoment or two it made sense. Edward was used to rejection, after all;it was likely that he assumed Oswald's love for him was temporary,fleeting, a mistake born from closeness. Edward likely believed thatOswald merely wanted to use him for his intelligence like so manybefore had.

“Yes.”Oswald mumbled once he was able to speak.

“Ifit means anything to you, I did have... regrets. Without you around I– I think I lost my way for a time.” Edward said. Oswald's browsfurrowed. Was that some sort of awkwardly worded attempt at anapology?

“That'sinteresting.” He replied lamely, words failing him again.

“Interesting...right.” Edward muttered.

“Youjust didn't seem like you had regrets. Only like you wanted tocontinue trying to kill me.” Oswald clarified.

“I'mnot exactly the best at... expressing certain things. I think youknow that better than anyone, Oswald.” Nygma muttered.

“Ithink you're right, there.” Oswald actually chuckled a little, thehumor of the situation beginning to present itself.

“We'requite a pair.” Edward followed suit with a chuckle of his own,leaning back against the smaller man.

“Weare, aren't...” Oswald began, only to trail off when the only doorto the room opened.

“Quitea pair you are indeed; your assistance now is what I need! I capturedyou to lend a hand, we three will make a merry band!” A voice camefrom outside, and through the door stepped a tall, twitchy, wide eyedfellow wearing a top hat.

“What!?Jervis? Why are you here?” Oswald snapped. “Free us at once!”

“Freeingyou will come in time --” Jervis began.

“Stopspeaking in such stupid rhyme!” Oswald shouted. Edward began tosnicker behind him.

“Howvery rude, Penguin!” Jervis stuttered.

“Interruptionis a sin!” Edward interjected.

“I'vebrought you here to work things out! I -” Jervis stomped a foot infrustration.

“Thereisn't any need to shout.” Oswald cut in again, grinning. Jervismade a noise resembling an irritated goose, moving towards Oswald andbringing a previously hidden blade to his neck.

“Nowlisten here, little man--” He pressed the edge to Oswald's neck.

“Youneed us both to carry out your plan.” Oswald sneered. Rage wasboiling in Tetch, but the two knew instinctively that his threat wasentirely empty. Jervis was on the run from not only the law, but somebig names in the crime world. He had brought them there and boundthem together to try and force them to cooperate not only with him,but with one another.

Thecalm that had come over Oswald once the conversation between himselfand Edward had shifted to something more playful was a stunningindicator of how well that idea had actually worked.

ButOswald wouldn't admit that.