Gotham Universe
🩸‘Vampire’ Reader/Oswald Cobblepot🥀
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
You were back in Gotham.
Five years later and yet everything was just how you left it.
In a way.
New businesses were popping up, while housing got worse, along with anything left untouched by the city officials.
Though most things in the clutches of Gotham’s government would rot away in due time as well. Nothing truly good lasted long in this city.
Even so, breathing in the stench of something rotten you decided that you were glad to be back.
Your main problem was that most everyone in Gotham had a better memory than you, at least when it came to who was in charge of the criminal underground.
Last you heard from Victor it was still the big Don Falcone, but there was Maroni now. Not to mention Fish Mooney had come up in rank.
Maybe there were a few others , but nothing that stuck in your head like the name Fish.
In the end you couldn’t keep up with regime changes. It seemed like even the Narrows were constantly changing leadership too, and who gave a damn about the poor Narrows.
You would know.
Victor seemed glad that you were back, but ever since he asked you to help him run jobs for Falcone he had been cautious around you. It was clear he didn’t want you involved in any details, just murder.
That was fine with you.
You were made for such things after all.
Though not in the way that went off with a bang and someone’s guts splattered on a wall. Your style of killing was more invasive and less explainable.
Because of this you were quite the boon for Falcone, not that he knew it. All he knew from Victor is that you always got a clean ‘shot’ and never made any noise.
The man in charge didn’t ask any questions, content with his new silencer.
You assumed that was why Victor liked working with Falcone. He never had to explain himself, and Falcone could read people well enough to know how to encourage someone like Zsasz to keep him loyal.
You found it sweet though you never wanted to know more about the relationship between them. Surface level praise was enough.
Falcone had come around to you as well, even coming up with his own little name for you since you were born without one. At that point you could understand the appeal of working for this family.
You and Victor had always been like siblings growing up. Not having a family or community, he brought you into his with open arms. Since you were kids he was always looking out for you.
Now you were both older, but the sibling ties still remained. For that you were grateful. If it wasn’t for Victor and his grandmother you’d probably be dead by this point.
So when Victor had reluctantly asked you to come back to Gotham you returned without hesitation. You had been with his grandmother in Steel City for quite some time and it was starting to weigh on you.
There was a freedom you felt in Gotham. Victor accepted you for your murderous faults, but so did the darkness of this city. Anywhere else you felt out of place, like a monster caged.
And maybe that was why Victor was so cautious to let you out.
Your goal was to convince him he didn’t have to be, that you could take care of yourself. It was easier said than done, especially since he knew your track record.
However a perfect opportunity had shown up for you to prove your worth to Falcone with a job unrelated to killing people.
Recently Victor had been coming up as a player in the Gotham underbelly. He was starting to become a household name for murder among murders.
Flashy in all the wrong places.
These days when Victor was sent on call jobs people saw it as a threat. Even bosses in the same family were on edge when the man came through to check on the taxes.
Falcone wanted you to take his place for some in house work. He liked that you never showed your cards, or wanted to make a name for yourself in crime.
You just wanted to get by.
He took advantage of this and so did you. When he asked if you would collect and check in on his people, you jumped at the chance.
It seemed low key enough to not require a ton of effort, but was slightly dangerous enough to be exciting.
So now you were on your way to barter and keep an eye on the peace with the infamous Fish Mooney, while Victor stayed home. He’d want the whole story no matter how boring when you got back.
Victor was the one who paid attention to details, not you. Falcone should really have installed some kind of secret camera…
It was a dreary twilight, but the end of summer air still hung. The humidity made your hair curl up, the bangs that usually hid your eyes were getting shorter.
How annoying.
You had on a light coat, concealing a couple of Victor’s guns, which was the only benefit in the damp mugginess surrounding you. While you wanted to rip it off, you tied the sash tighter as you reached the door to Fish’s club. Something about the compression soothed your anxiety.
The inside of the club lit up red against the stone outside as the sky darkened. The silhouette of fish bones decorated the side of the building above you.
Without thinking you reached up to trace the outline, stalling your meeting. When you realized you probably looked foolish your hand froze. Looking over you saw you caught the attention of someone inside.
The condensation made it hard to make out the person, but it made you feel all the more anxious that you were being watched.
You dropped your arm, careful not to flex the wrist. With a final intake of breath, you muscled up the strength to push yourself through the front door.
It was cooler inside to your relief.
The person who had been staring back at you was now turned away at their small table, hunched over whatever notes he continued to write. You noticed his black hair was spiked up in an unusual way, but that was all you could gage.
Well that… and his very angular upturned shoulders, that seemed to radiate an attractive aggression off them—
