dark places | wayne

six :: warehouse

8:36 pm
The Warehouse

Winnie had been talking to the girls, clearing things up:

"I want you to know that we have a very wealthy man coming tonight. His view of us can make or break how the rest of our year goes. Keep it clean, keep it in your pants, and keep it slick. No one goes home with him, understand?" They all nodded.

"So who is this guy?" A bold one asked.

"Bruce Wayne." Winnie answered evenly. They all aplauded.

"Okay, that's enough. Go get ready now, ladies." She said and they dispersed to a back room that was used as the dressing room.

She looked around the room once more, to make sure everything was ready. She'd made a name for herself here. She was the manager of a clean and productive strip club.

Not to mention she was highly skilled when it came to working with Jack and Harley in the field and in action.

She turned to see her boss enter the building. He was dressed in his usual famous wear.

"Good evening, Winnie. Doing better?"

"No. But I've gotten used to it." She answered, approaching him. "When does Mr Wayne get here?"

"Twenty minutes last time I talked to him. He was very serious when we spoke, very professional. He wanted it to be his private party, not sure why, but he'll pay extra so I agreed."

"Alright. I'll cancel any reservations, half off for the inconvenience?"

"Twenty percent off, let's not get generous." He laughed and she smiled in amusement. She made quick calls to the men that reserved earlier, all took it well which only reassured her.

But something about tonight still gave her a bad feeling. She shook it off and went to the bathroom. She washed the remaining paint off her hands and looked in the mirror at herself.

She looked ready and professional. It was hard to believe she was in an asylum only seven years ago. Part of her missed the routine, but at the same time she enjoyed how wonderfully chaotic her life was.

A stall door behind her opened and Harley came out, she washed her hands.

"Bruce Wayne's a handsome man. Are you planning on making a move on him?" Harley asked, washing her hands.

"Of course not. It's a business affair, nothing more." She looked at Harley. Harley only smiled.

She dried her hands with a paper towel.

"Good. Because I'm planning on making a move."

"But you're with Jack. That's not fair to him."

"Jack's always telling me to do this or that, or kill them or it. We're not really a thing anyway."

"But you've been sleeping at the apartment, seems like a thing to me." She muttered.

"So are you. How do I know you're not with him?" Harley accused, walking towards the smaller girl.

"He's eight years older than me, Har, that'd be weird."

"Excuses, excuses. Stay out of my way tonight." She warned and left.

Winnie left the bathroom, not rattled by the threat. She looked at her watch and then back at the large sliding door.

Two guards pulled it open to reveal a clean cut man, in a tailored suit.

"Bruce Wayne." Winnie greeted him, going to him and shaking his hand. "How nice of you to join us tonight. Can I take your coat? Get you a drink?" Now that she was closer to him, she had gotten a nice once-over of him. He had defined and seamless features, and his toned body pulled the suit fabric tight.

"I'll keep my coat on, it's a bit chilly. I'll have a Scotch, no ice." He paused, looking the girl up and down. Her beauty was familiar. "What'd you say your name was?"

"I didn't." She smiled. "Winnie Quinn."

It hit him; that cold night he'd saved her, she would have hit the ground and died had he hadn't been there. She would be dead, she didn't even realize it was him. How could she? He was Batman then and there, not Bruce.

"So I'm guessing you're related to Harley Quinn?" He repeated what Batman said five years ago.

"No. She just let me use her last name." Winnie said, walking him to his table, near the stage. The encounter was poking at something in the back of her mind, what was it?

He sat down and she went to the bar to get his drink. Harley was behind the bar and poured it into a glass. She walked past Winnie and brought the billionaire his drink, herself.

"Scotch without ice." She smiled and set it down for him.

"Thanks." He looked her up and down, she was the villainess. "You must be Harley Quinn, I've seen your work. You're good." He smiled falsely at her, the words burned on the way out.

She made the bank collapse. She killed all those people. But she was his one way ticket to Joker, and whoever Winnie had become.

"Thanks. You're not too shabby yourself." She said, walking past him. He watched her leave behind a door and part of him wanted to follow.

Within minutes the ladies came out and started the show.