Thanatophobia | VICTOR ZSASZ [DISCONTINUED]

fifty | the demon's head

Annabelle was in the midst of eyeing Oswald, while he silently stared at Edward's hat, only to stop and quickly look over at the doorway to see Victor Zsasz walk into the room and say to Oswald, "Boss."

Oswald scoffed as he grabbed the hat and pulled it off of his desk before he said, "Knocking, Victor. We discussed this."

With a nod of his head, Victor said, "Uh-huh. She's here."

As he stood from his seat, Oswald replied, "Show her in."

Then Victor walked towards the open doorway and held out an arm, which allowed Sofia Falcone to enter the office and look between Oswald and Annabelle.

Oswald said to Sofia, "Ms. Falcone, welcome to Gotham."

After she stopped walking and turned to face him, Sofia replied, "Mr. Cobblepot, it's a pleasure to meet you." Then she looked over at Annabelle and said to her, "It's nice to see you again, Annabelle."

Annabelle merely tilted her head with narrowed eyes and chose to ignore the confused look Oswald gave her, while Sofia walked towards his desk before Oswald said to Sofia, "Call me Oswald."

Then the two of them shook hands before Oswald said to her, "Please, have a seat." While the both of them sat down in their chairs, he said to her, "Thank you for coming to see me."

Sofia told him, "I learned from my father when the king of Gotham summons you, you come."

Oswald asked her, "And how is Carmine? Can we hope to see him sometime soon?"

Sofia replied, "Shall we just address the elephant in the room?"

Annabelle took a step forward as she said, "I'm fairly certain that Oswald just asked you a question, Sofia."

Oswald grabbed Annabelle's arm as he said to her, "Now, now, Annabelle. It's fine. She is right. We should get straight to business."

After he nodded his head at Sofia, Sofia told him, "My father's illegal businesses hold no interest for me. I'm here because the Falcone family has a number of charities that need my attention."

Annabelle tilted her head once more and her veins came onto display when she heard Sofia's heartbeat increase.

Victor slowly shook his head at Annabelle, while Oswald replied, "And you can only provide that attention by being here personally, in my city."

Sofia started to say to him, "I understand your concern—"

Oswald asked her, "Oh, do you?"

Sofia was silent for a couple of seconds before she said to him, "But I assure you, it's unfounded."

As he sat up in his chair, Oswald told her, "You know, your father taught me many things. Among them was to nurture a healthy paranoia." As he stood from his chair and limped around his desk, he said to her, "For example, when I took over, some of his old capos went underground. Now, perhaps they've vanished for good. Or perhaps they're waiting for a Falcone to return to lead a rebellion."