Thanatophobia | VICTOR ZSASZ [DISCONTINUED]

twenty one | strike force

Annabelle was silently standing in the far corner of Theo's office and watching as Oswald limped into the room with Tabitha close behind him.

Just as he started to look around the room, Oswald suddenly stopped when he saw Annabelle standing closest to him.

He turned to her and said, "Annabelle, I heard that you returned to Gotham, but I thought it was nothing more than a rumor."

Annabelle looked past him and at Tabitha, who moved a finger across the front of her neck, before she looked back at Oswald and replied, "Well, you thought wrong."

Oswald sighed as he said to her, "I imagine Victor will be quite relieved when I tell him that the rumors we heard on the streets were not just rumors, after all."

Annabelle slowly nodded her head as she said, "Yes, I imagine he will be."

Just when Oswald was about to respond, Theo turned off the television and said to Oswald as he walked towards him, "Mr. Cobblepot, finally, we meet."

As he grabbed Theo's hand, Oswald said, "Call me Penguin."

While he eyed Oswald, Theo said, "I thought I heard you hated that name."

Oswald told him, "It grew on me."

As he gestured towards the seat in front of his desk, Theo said, "Penguin it is. Please sit."

Before he sat into the chair, Oswald asked, "How's your head?"

With a chuckle, Theo replied, "Oh, healing, thank you. Gave me quite a scare."

Oswald said to him, "You were lucky to get out of there with your life."

As he sat down across from Oswald, Theo replied, "Wasn't I just?"

Oswald chuckled before he asked, "Was it luck?"

Theo said to him, "You are a clever man." Then he looked over at Barbara, who was walking towards them, before he said to her, "Perfect timing, dear. Do you two know each other?"

Oswald turned his head to see Barbara walking towards them with a glass in hand, while Barbara told Theo, "We've met."

Then Barbara walked over to Tabitha, who brushed her lips against Barbara's, while Oswald's eyes widened before he said, "Oh, my. The Arkham breakout, Annabelle's return, the GCPD massacre, Jerome and the Maniax. All you. Of course."

Theo raised his hands with a chuckle as he said, "Guilty. It was foolish of me to think I could trick the King of Gotham."

While she offered her glass to Oswald, Barbara said, "Here. You need this more than me." After Oswald grabbed the glass, she said, "I'll make another."

While Barbara walked away, Theo told Oswald, "My sister tells me you're doing a stellar job of organizing your new empire."

As he put the glass down on the desk, Oswald replied, "I try."