Thanatophobia | VICTOR ZSASZ [DISCONTINUED]

forty six | heavydirtysoul

While he waited for Edward Nygma to wake up from being knocked out after his failed attempt of trading Oswald for Jervis Tetch, Oswald Cobblepot took out his phone after he pulled his vehicle onto a side-road and away from the police blockade before he dialed in a familiar phone number that he'd called a couple of times beforehand.

The last time he called them was the night that Barbara Kean and Tabitha Galavan had made a mess of The Sirens, a mess that was a result of Butch Gilzean sending some men after them to make sure Barbara and Tabitha went under Oswald's wing for his protection.

It was only after two rings into the call that he heard the all too familiar sound of Annabelle Mikaelson asking on the other end of the call, "Yes, Oswald? What do you want?"

After hearing a pained groan in the background, he asked her, "I'm sorry, Annabelle, are you busy? I could always call back some other time."

It was then that he heard the groan become even louder and after a couple of moments, he no longer heard the sound before she said to him, "No, not at all. What do you need?"

He asked her, "How do you feel about helping me rid myself of a particular nuisance and regain my claim to the position of a boss for the underworld here in Gotham?"

She replied, "Sure, why not? It's not like I have anything better to do, anyways."

His eyebrows furrowed as he said, "Really? Because last I heard, you were staying out of this war between me and Barbara Kean because of you having a deal with her that as long as you did just that, no harm would come to Victor Zsasz."

She chuckled before she told him, "That's the thing about it, Oswald. People can be quite stupid when making deals with me. They only mention one thing they want to happen. They never expand their wishes, thus allowing me to find a loophole, and that's exactly what she did. She told me not to do as Victor wished, if he told me to involve myself in this war of theirs. She said nothing about me joining it myself, if you asked it of me. I mean, if I remember correctly, I believe her exact words were 'I want you to, no matter what Zsasz says or wants, stay out of this war we're about to start, okay? Then and only then will we leave you and your beloved Zsasz alone'. It's not my fault she didn't choose to be more specific about it."

As a hopeful grin made its way onto his face, he asked her, "So, does that mean you're in?"

She chuckled as she replied, "Of course I am. The bitch has been trying to use Victor against me and used her threat on him over my head. I don't take things such as that very lightly. Hell, I'd rip her little head off, if you asked it of me."

He sighed as he said to her, "Thank you, Annabelle. I knew I could count on you." When she didn't respond to his words, he told her, "I swear, Annabelle, the moment I regain my position in the underworld, I'll do everything in my power to make sure no harm comes to Victor. I'll even let you work for me and not boss you around too much, if that's what you want."