Calling Cardinal

Fate

"Do you honestly think I could kill a child?" Oswald asks, ridiculously. "No, Sera. I sent him away. I put an escape hatch in the vehicle and he followed the path to a safehouse."

"So where is he now?"

"I sent Victor to take him out of the city. I wouldn't let him tell me where they were going."

"You sent a child with Victor Zsasz? That's even worse!"

"My options were slim, Sera! What was I supposed to do?"

"I think you both need to cool it for the night," Loren says from the bar. She downs her strawberry margarita. "You're both running on fumes. I'm sure Sofia Falcone is doing the same thing."

"God, when did she become the sensible one?" I rub my temples.

This elicits a soft chuckle from my husband's lips. "Since Gotham went to hell in a gift basket."

"It's a handbasket."

"Pretty sure it's a gift basket."

"It's late. Go home."

For once, we don't argue with her. We return to the mansion and waste no time refamiliarizing ourselves with the other's skin. Sleep comes easy after that. However, it's not restful. My dreams point to the recently deceased and recently resurrected. I wake myself up in a fit of screams, clutching my chest and panting.

Oswald startles, too. He whips around to clutch my bare shoulder. "Sera, sera, shh."

I wipe the tears from my eyes and focus on relaxing.

"It's been a while since you had a nightmare that bad."

The morning comes at long last. Penguin calls Carmine Falcone into town. He promises to talk some sense into his daughter. Meanwhile, we plan our next attack on Sofia. I'm to stay a safe distance away from the battle so she can't use the choker against me. That's when we get the news.

"Earlier this morning, Carmine Falcone was assassinated in front of his mansion. Oswald Cobblepot is the lead suspect."

Penguin scoffs at the news. "I called him here! Why would I kill him?"

"I'm sure you're going to hear from my brother sooner or later," I say, "but you have an alibi."

"Oh?" He smirks, pulling me close. "You? Solid alibi. Sure."

That night, Oswald, Zsasz, Loren and I attend Carmine's wake. Whether we were invited or not is a different story. I think all of us want to pay our respects to the old man in one way or another.

Sofia is being wheeled around and has a neck brace. If I could roll my eyes any harder, they'd pop out of my head. The worst part is that my brother buys into all of it.

"Your husband has some explaining to do," he whispers as Oswald walks up to the casket.

"He called Falcone into Gotham to get a hold of his rouge, bitchy daughter. Why would he kill the old man?"

"I don't know. To be honest, the hit doesn't feel much like Penguin's work." He takes a quick note on a piece of paper. "Don't tell me you're jealous of her."

"My, whatever do you mean? She tried to seduce my husband and has now successfully done the same to you? I'm not jealous. I'm annoyed."

"Whatever you say, Sera."

It's my turn to pay my respects as Oswald slides into the pew. Carmine's corpse is gruesome one to behold. It's decorated in the typical funeral make-up and a nice suit, but it's strange seeing the bane of Gotham so still.