An Unusual Collection [Lola]

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Put it off though he might, hide it behind expensive meals out and shopping, distract with trips to extravagant places but the gossip from socialites was everywhere and it was clear that he really must concoct some way to ensure certain 'friends' of his didn't disastrously interfere with a certain girlfriend of his. It was quite an uncomfortable situation, in general his past would already be known and he wouldn't usually care if the rouges got involved in his love life as more often than not the people he tended to date were very pretty but not very pleasant to be around for extended periods. From the airheads who giggle with every pointless sentence to those who snap and let loose their insults the moment he refuses a request there have been several that he truly hasn't cared enough about to worry if they're killed, kidnapped or mysteriously disappear so long as it's obvious that he's not the one who did it when the police come asking questions.

Lola was somewhat of an unusual case as a result, Oswald didn't dislike her. He wouldn't call it affection, the very idea of becoming so attached to another person he believed was most unwise and he was quite certain he was in control of his feelings, or at least that's what he was telling himself.

It was important to him that she didn't think of him as some sort of evil monster though and Oswald wasn't delusional, he was more than aware that he involved himself in a lot of criminal business but that was just business. If someone else told her they might blow it all out of proportion and make it sound bad. It was worth an experiment to see if he could pull off telling her his version of the world and seeing if he could come out smelling like roses. If he failed...Well, Lola should hope that he doesn't.

It was with this in mind that he had chosen a somewhat unorthodox destination for a date and rung ahead to arrange to meet Lola, claiming where they were going would be a surprise. His limo rolled up outside the hotel promptly on time and Oswald waited for Mike to get out and open the door before he left the car and strolled through the building to Lola's room, leaving Mike to take up the rear and carry a large bouquet of roses. Arriving with gifts was always the best way to go.

Wrapping the handle of his umbrella sharply on the door Oswald awaited a response, straightening his bow tie a little as he stood in the hallway.

[Lola Marks]

Lola had been getting ready to go out for the past 2 hours. She had showered and blown dry her hair curled it and gotten it perfect, put on her makeup to perfection, chose a beautiful night dress for the evening and stunning high heels. She wouldn’t be caught in anything less than luxurious, even in sleep. But she had been ready for a long time, always just putting on those finishing touches to make her go from a model to a super model. She had to be impressive tonight as she had a date tonight!

The next thing to do was tidy up the hotel a bit. In spending so much time on herself she had neglected to take care of the things laying around the hotel room. Some clothes were on the floor, make up was still left out and the bed was unmade with pillows lying on the floor. She really wasn’t a slob in her mind, she had just taken more time to look good herself than the actual room. Quickly, she shuffled to the edge of one side of the bed and began to tuck the corners in. Oswald would be here any minute to come and get her for this date and she didn’t want him to peer in and see everything like this. How could she have spent so much time on herself and not the room? Didn’t this place have people to do this for her?

After the corners were tucked in and the clothes were hidden away, a knock comes to the door just in time. ”Just a minute!” She exclaimed toward the door and ran into the bathroom to re check herself. She did a quick 360 to see her entire look and then went back out. Lola came to the door, adjusted her hair one more time and then opened it.

When she saw Oswald all dressed up, luxury from head to toe she blushed. But then the gigantic bouquet of flowers hit her eyes.”Oh, Oswald….Those are breathtaking…For me?” She asked sweetly and placed her hands nearly them so he could give them to her. She had the perfect place for them just inside. ”Please come in and I’ll make a spot for them” She kept the blushing pink on her face when she moved aside to let him through. She walked into the middle of her hotel room to a table with an empty vase. Carefully, she sat the flowers down and went back into the kitchen with the vase to fill it with water and grab some scissors. Lola cut each flower accordingly and then spread them out in the vase to make them pop and brighten the room. ”They are lovely Oswald, thank you” She smiled sweetly but now had something else on her mind. Where exactly were they going tonight. ”You had something in mind for tonight?” Lola’s mind was filled with wonder over what it might be, he was always so good at doing that.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Mike dispassionately hands over the flowers as the pair of them enter the room, though while Oswald hangs back by the door and gives Lola his main attention, ready to leave again as soon as she is ready, Mike moves to check the windows and look over the room out of habit.

Oswald instantly smiles as she approves of the flowers, another good choice, well done Ozzy maybe you're actually good at this dating thing. He of course politely tips his hat, it's practically compulsive when greeting someone "If only they were as breathtaking as you my dear but I have come to doubt anything can compare" He replies smoothly as he watches her deal with the flowers for a moment before the room does get a once over from him too. He can't help it, he's always looking for stuff even if the camera he had hidden is far more useful for keeping up with her business. Little signs of state of the room are noticed anyway and he mentally tuts and criticises the staff, he certainly doesn't expert her to have to make beds or clean up, of course he has people for that too. He's far too polite to draw any attention to it anyway but he does consider if a word with the hotel owner would improve the service.

It was tempting to get distracted with petty little things, just call the whole idea off and take her dancing instead. She had gotten all dressed up after all and she was looking far too fine to go where he planned but he must resist, putting it off would not prevent anything. Truthfully imagining the whispers of the socialites every time he stepped out of earshot of Lola was getting on his nerves. He can only imagine the stories some young man who fancied stealing her away could come up with, all in the guise of warning her of the 'truth' about the Penguin, before of course they swooped in as the nice guy.

It wouldn't be the first time someone was warned away from him but he couldn't sit back and allow it to happen this time. After waiting patiently for Lola to finish arranging the flowers and get ready to go Oswald finally offers an arm for her to take so he may lead the way back to the car "I have something quite important to explain to you my dove and it will be easiest done with visuals" And locked doors so she can't run off if she takes it badly, which he can't shake the feeling that she's going to "Perhaps if all goes well there will be time for dancing afterwards" Already he's promising things in the hope it will help sway her mind, though he would like the evening to come to that.

[Lola Marks]

She must have been as red as a beat. His sweet words kept her blushing. She didn’t notice that he was checking out the room, though she was already hyper aware that it wasn’t perfect. There was just not enough time in the day to take care of herself and the room at the same time, there were other people of a lower social class for that. She was just far too important for something that would be so beneath her.

She had no idea where they were going tonight, but she knew it was going to be splendid. When he offered his arm she wrapped her hand around and into where he provided. He was always such a gentleman. She kept her pearly white smile on as he began to explain the events of the evening. She was expecting a better explanation, but the promise of dancing afterward was enough to make her agree regardless, he always took her to the most beautiful places.

“It sounds adventurous…” She flirted with and edge of danger in her voice, completely playful of course. She didn’t want to sound turned off by it, though she was very curious what exactly could only be better explained with visuals. Perhaps he had some kind of extravagant event planned and wanted to surprise her with it? Perhaps he was going to provide her visuals with an amazing collection. He had told her before that he was quite the bird lover.

He seemed a bit off, maybe it was the body guards that were constantly around him, or maybe he was nervous. It was sweet, she loved it and loved to feel important. She knew that he must have been wondering about her money at this point and she was going to keep that from him at any cost. She would act rich and lavish as long as she possibly could, because she deserved it. Just because she had dropped in her funds didn’t mean that she didn’t fully belong in that social class.

Hooked around his arm she agreed happily with his idea for the night and let him lead her out to the car.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

It was really no explanation at all. Oswald didn't really want to explain, he'd be happy to continue as things were with Lola blissfully unaware of the underworld of Gotham. It was simply coming to the point that that was no longer an option and sooner or later he would find himself doing damage control. Logically it was better to control the situation entirely but he had to continuously try to convince himself it was a useful experiment. If he tried things this way then he'd know what to do differently next time.

He remained a little off on the journey, he was still trying to revise his words and try and find the right way to say things that would paint him in a good light, if indeed there was a right way, so he isn't terribly reassuring as they pass into the bad side of town and wind their way through the streets and into what seems to be a disused factory site.

The group of street thugs who called it their base immediately became aggressive as the limo pulled into the yard and went straight through one of the loading doors and into main building. One would think that very few people other than Oswald would roll up to such a place in a limo but then he wasn't paying these people to think. Their advance stopped, their shouts fell silent and they lowered their weapons the moment Mike got out of the car.

Oswald observed for a moment while he waited for Mike to open the door for him "I keep some secrets, my dear and occasionally use unorthodox methods to have them remain private...Today though I would care to share some if you are interested to hear them"

There is a visible reaction in the thugs when Oswald got out of the car and offered his hand back to Lola. They looked uncomfortable, a few of them even nervous and several seemed to suddenly discover they had something they could be doing somewhere else. The boss didn't visit them often and he had a habit of ending up in a very bad mood when he did.

One of the larger men who looked less uncomfortable walked up towards the group, giving Mike an awkward glance on the way "Pen-" he quickly cut himself short and seemed to regret taking charge of the gang when Oswald looked irritated "Mr Cobblepot" The thug quickly corrected himself "Er...we weren't expectin' ya" Silent irritation from the Penguin and the thug hesitates, backing up a step "Er, not tha' ya need t'tell us" His yammering was halted as Mike placed a hand on his chest to push him out the way and Oswald carried on past towards the back of the building.

"Idiots" Oswald mutters as he nears what looks like an old cupboard and takes a key to open up. It even looks like a cupboard on the inside, there's a mop and everything but as soon everyone's inside Mike digs into a toolbox on the ground and suddenly the sound of a lift starts up and the room descends below the building.

[Lola Marks]

It was an interesting car ride to say the least. Lola didn’t remain quiet but Oswald was more silent that usual. Of course he was listening, there was no reason not to listen to her but he just seemed like he was nervous or his mind was elsewhere. Her mind began to race with everything that he was possibly thinking of. Maybe he was going to pop the question? It would have been a little soon she thought but maybe he just really wanted to settle down. In this kind of environment how could she say no? Oh she could hear the wedding bells and see the diamonds on her dress already. Half of Gotham would be invited.

The better half.

Lola became the quiet one suddenly in the car as the lights from the city flashed by the windows of the limo. She couldn’t stop thinking about who to invite and what to wear, where it was going to be and exactly what the venues would look like right down to the last detail. Oswald liked birds didn’t he? She was going to have to put birds everywhere, white of course.

When the car stopped she was brought out of her fantasy land and becoming more anxious than ever about what she was going to do, or what he was going to do. While the doors were being open her excited smile faded somewhat as he mentioned secrets. Unorthodox methods? She could only speculate what that meant and it could have meant a million things. She took his hand and stepped out of the car nodding to him that she understood but not quite sure how to respond to it. It wasn’t exactly a wedding proposal which she had prepared for the entire time in the car.

Outside of the car she looked back and forth to try and determine where she was. She was already new to the city and she did love to visit places within it but for some reason this place felt different than a mall or a fancy restaurant. There were men running around everywhere she even thought she spotted a few with guns. Was there high security in this place? Surely he didn’t work for some government agency. Regardless of what was running through her mind she followed along with them and watched the man stutter in front of his boss and a very well-endowed muscular man that followed them around.

She came into the building with them and she stood around looking at the place before the whole room moved. She lost her balance in her heels but gracefully recovered while holding on to her Puffin’s arm. ”You do know how to raise anticipation in a woman.” She softly commented as she brushed back her hair and waited for what he had in store.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Try though he might to be calm and collected Oswald couldn't help be send little glances Lola's way every few seconds. He's been expecting her to react badly ever since they got out of the car. Thugs? Abandoned factories? Secret underground rooms? These were not the things usually included when planning a trip out in the city and would be prone to bringing up questions or at least concerns of safety. Yet there she stood, mysteriously unconcerned.

Perhaps it was simply because she wasn't from Gotham, the city did breed people to be suspicious and wary, who knew how naive the rest of the world might be. Perhaps she really was trying to discover Oswald's secrets for someone else. Perhaps she simply couldn't care less. It was curious and Oswald wasn't entirely happy to find his predictions incorrect, most of the women he'd encountered had acted in one of a very limited selection of ways whenever they discovered him doing anything remotely fishy but then his reputation had often preceded him.

Oswald lightly chuckles as he steadies her "Anticipation, yes" though his mind continues trying to figure her out as the elevator comes to a stop and Mike opens the door, stepping through to flick the lights on first.

Leading her through the door Oswald sweeps an arm out to show off the room "Welcome, my dear, to my private collection" Another chuckle "The one the public isn't allowed to know about" In fairness it wasn't an underground lair, more like an underground warehouse. It occupied at least the area of the factory above and most of the surrounding grounds and housed all manor of things though a good section nearest the door was entirely devoted to artwork. There was paintings on the walls and stacked under sheets, statues and naturally a large percentage featured birds, an even larger percentage was stolen.

The further one got into the warehouse the odder it became though because while it was a useful storage space for at least a portion of his art collection the real focus was on items of interest from the rogues and heroes of Gotham.

He had them all set out like museum exhibits with little placards of information on each item. Everything from a partially destroyed freeze gun, batarangs, communication devices, deactivated explosives and guns, two partially destroyed motorcycles which he'd had hung from cables on the ceiling and a partially incinerated police car. He even had the more mundane items; a mask from Scarecrow, one of the Riddler's green bowler hats, a tea set from the Mad Hatter, pictures of known associates, torn bits of capes from the bat brats, he ever had a life sized replica of Batman himself though he had to have it cut into parts when it turned out to be very unsettling. There's a small side section for people of interest outside of Gotham because Superman is just too annoying to leave out but Oswald has kept quite busy in the city. If a rogue or vigilante has so much as touched something Oswald may be interested in it and if it turns out to not be useful it ends up here.

There is of course no simple display for the Penguin but at the very end there is a lavishly decorated room with his own personal collection on himself, naturally he'd never house himself with the rest of the criminals but he's far too important to leave out.

[Lola Marks]

When the lift stopped and the doors finally opened her eyes widened with amazement. It was such a large underground area; she never imagined there was anything this big here from the surface. It certainly wasn’t like any type of bird collection she had ever seen. There wasn’t any birds at all in fact or at least none that she could immediately make out from all the other wonders that it gave. She stepped out of the lift and continued forward on her own when she was invited, if she was asked to stop she wasn’t even sure she’d hear it. Lola felt like Belle in the Beasts castle for the first time.

She walked to the first display she saw which seemed frozen in nature. She glanced at the name below it and then at the strange weapon inside the case. It was so odd, the case itself seemed to be frozen over yet everything around it was warm. It reminded her of an eternal winter, it was beautiful. It can be enjoyed with a fur coat of course. She eventually passed the case and looked on to the next one. This one was so much darker. The only thing keeping the darkness at bay in the case as a show light that lit up the ominous mask in the center. Lola didn’t spend too much time in front of this case as it immediately gave her the chills.

What was this place? A collection of strange or unique objects? She noticed that each casing had a weird name on it and several strange items but it really wasn’t concrete about what anything was. Where these real people or things from real people? Were they dead or alive? Her head was buzzing with questions, but before she could ask herself another one a display caught her eye.

She walked over to a large display case that had several things in it, but it looked like something was missing from it. Maybe it was something he had yet to collect? She leaned down to read the plaque underneath. ”Batman” She read allowed to herself. She had heard that name before, she’d heard it on the radio and the news. It sounded like some psychopath, but all of this still didn’t make very much sense.

Before he thought she had forgotten him completely she turned around to see him. ”This is a beautiful collection Ozzy….” She spoke almost breathlessly. It really was an amazing sight to see, however he got this kind of equipment…..But it didn’t matter ‘that’ much as long as he had it! She just had one question that was burning on her mind.

”Who is Batman?”

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Beauty and the beast was rather a fitting tale except Oswald was unlikely to ever transform into a prince and was quite content playing the monster, he'd also has a much more efficient way of dealing with unwelcome house guests.

Quietly he watches her studying the cases, following silently he's waiting for those questions, waiting to see how she takes it, though he's rather grateful she hasn't found the Joker's display yet. Mike's waiting too but it's at a distance, by the door to cut off the escape route just in case.

Beautiful was an unexpected description and the surprise showed until she finally asked her question. Of course it had to be Batman. A small frown appeared. Why was it always Batman? An entire room filled with abnormal men and women and somehow it would always be Batman. Granted his display was larger, the only one with a life size model and contained a significant amount of discarded or broken gadgets and photos of strange vehicles but somehow he still hated that it had to always be the Bat!

That even with it's head removed and displayed by it's feet the model still felt like it was staring at him and waiting to pounce didn't help.

For a second Oswald's grip on his umbrella tightened uncomfortably but he forced it to stop and instead hooked the item on his arm as he reached for the display and opened a compartment beneath it. The entire thing was not yet user friendly considering he'd never had people down to look at it before but he'd begun the process of sorting footage for suitable clips to include a level of interaction, for now they sat on a tablet which he removed from it's storage place and brought to life as he began to explain, picking his words carefully "Gotham is a rather unusual city, everywhere has it's unseen motivations and people who shape the way things work but we have, well" he gestures to the room "These are the more prominent members of Gotham behind the scenes, as you can see there are quite a number of them"

"The entire city is in a delicate balance between the two opposing main groups, the vigilantes and the rogues" A hint of a smile appears "It's quite as crazy as it sounds though entire true I assure you"

The smile doesn't last long as he finds the file he wants and stares at it for a moment before with a tap of his finger it finally starts playing a video taken from one of the club's cameras which clearly shows Oswald sat working alone in his office "The vigilantes are people who have decided to take the law into their own hands by disguising themselves behind masks, lurking in the dark and beating up everyone they believe to be doing something wrong" He gestures to a spot on the screen and moments later a figure just seems to appear out of the shadows by the window "Batman is one of the worst of them" For a second the figure just stands there until in the recording Ozzy looks up from his work and slowly turns around, then all hell breaks loose.

Scrambling away and out of his chair Ozzy grabs for a gun under the desk and a spray of bullets shoots into where the shadow had been but it moved too fast, dodging and throwing something, one of the batrangs, that knocks the gun from his hand. Ozzy actually manages to dodge the first punch thrown and blocks the second but he's not nearly so lucky with the third and gets knocked to the ground, it's all over when he's hit while getting up and before he gets another chance he's lifted and shoved against a wall to be questioned.

There's no sound so the incriminating nature of the conversation isn't a problem but Oswald still stops the recording there. He'd planned to show it, without any context it painted Batman in such a bad light but he didn't like to see it and he hated that she got to see him lose "One of many little visits he's paid over the years" He comments off hand, trying to make light of it.

[Lola Marks]

Since she had come to Gotham she had heard whispers about Batman. It just didn’t make a lot of sense to her. At first she thought he might be some thought up crazy child’s dream that caught on in its popularity but the more time she spent here the more she realized that this might be an actual thing. But for his name to be here amongst this grand collection was another matter entirely. Was this “batman” really so important that he was being watched by Ozzy as well? And why? How could he be so important to have so many people speaking his name?

She didn’t notice exactly how uncomfortable Ozzy had become but she did see that he didn’t like her asking about it or that it brought him discomfort. How could one man do such a thing to him? Her eyes widened when she saw the display come to life and listened intently when he spoke. This was very elaborate and well put together. He must spend a lot of time on this and that she could admire. Only the best of them had hobbies that were this expensive.

She tried to put together what he was saying piece by piece. At first it seemed unbelievable but the evidence was all around her. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t heard some of it on the news or in the paper already, even though she hadn’t paid much attention to it. Those kinds of problems were better fit for the working class. But this seemed like it was on an entirely different level with Oswald. For some reason as he explained it just seemed incredibly personal.

Vigilantes, it almost sounded like something right out of a story book. People like that didn’t actually exist did they? But as the video on the screen played, her hand came up to cover her mouth in horror. It was no wonder he had a gun with him he must have been terrified of this man! She was terrified of this man. Her free hand went Ozzy’s arm to steady herself as she felt she might faint. She hopped that he could protect her from a monster like that. ”…..That….Freak…” Her lip quivered some at the tought of being ambushed in the dark by a maniac.

”You are going to make sure that he stops this right? She mentioned softly and hopefully as she watched the video finish. She couldn’t bear to think of that monster swooping in in the middle of the night. She felt she’d have nightmares.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Oswald was happy with her reaction to the tape, finally something went as expected. Show a person the right thing and you could get them to believe anything, though he did like that she actually seemed to care.

Patting her hand reassuringly he put the tablet away as if the images would go with it, it had served it's purpose anyway "Be calm my dear, I'm quite the tough old bird, he can't spook me so easily as that. It was not the first time that has happened and it won't be the last but I know how he plays his game and the more you know the greater the power you hold. It's only a matter of time before he can be dealt with"

Whether he was going to stop Batman was another matter, if the opportunity appeared without too much chance of backlash he'd certainly be all for it but his attempts in the past had not exactly met with success, but that would hardly be a reassuring thing to say "Officially the mayor has already called for his arrest, however the commissioner of police appears to have other ideas and is known to willingly work with the Bat. The entire city has changed beyond recognition since Batman appeared. Stopping him is clearly not something the police are willing to do and their stance on the other vigilantes is equally blinded" He points his umbrella at the displays for the rest of the Bat family, moving closer to point out pictures of their younger selves "Despite the fact their number includes several children that appear to have grown being trained by the Bat to fight on the streets with him"

He stops ranting long enough to breathe for a second and keep himself from raising his voice. The Bat really was a touchy subject and how some people in the city seemed to think he walked on rainbows and made the world a brighter place really irritated Oswald. They ignored the flaws and painted him a hero while Oswald was forced to fight among the criminals. They made him the bad guy. So be it. They didn't know who they were dealing with.

Another deep breath and Oswald forces calm, carefully going on "The burden of dealing with such people falls to the rogues" he finally gestures to their part of the room, painting murders in a good light was not going to be an easy task "Just as the vigilantes have been painted the good guys so the rogues are called the bad. The reality is far more complicated. Several of them are considered insane by current standards, though the judgement of the employees at that asylum is questionable at best. They are loners, they don't play nice together, they are constantly at each others throats and looking out for themselves. They're opportunistic but a push in the right direction towards a common enemy and they can be quite formidable"

Despite the words the anger disappears and a small smile replaces it "They are also much more pleasant to deal with, they understand how business is done and show respect when it is deserved...They are considered criminals for some actions but they are far more honest about their motives"

[Lola Marks]

Lola still had her hand over her mouth in shock when he had attempted to calm her. As a fragile woman should she turned to him and leaned on him as one would that depends upon someone for safety. She never wanted anything like that to happen to her, or him ever again. No one deserved that kind of treatment….Well….almost no one. She wouldn’t mind seeing him getting some of what he deserved. If someone decided to take it into their own hands so be it. He may learn something. But she took his word for it that the lunatic would eventually be dealt with and again leaned on her own wait. Choking back a bit to get her bearings she brought her hand away from her mouth.

Her eyes traveled to the other displays, all with similar themes. Why did they choose a Bat to follow after? Such a disgusting creature. It couldn’t even make a decent fur coat….Could it? The thought intrigued her for a moment before Ozzy had pulled her mind elsewhere again. Children?.....This monster had taken children?! ” This man is sick and needs to be put down!” She demanded as if she was talking to some sort of authority that should have been there taking her order.

Oswald was able to keep his composure through showing her this but she just didn’t understand how. Maybe it was because this had been going on for a while. Had it really taken the police this long to get such a horrible terrorist, child napping, freak? The thought was exhausting and far too much for someone as high class as her to think about for too long, but she had asked.

Her head tilted as he mentioned the thought of someone taking up the job to stop him. Rouges? So they are “bad guys” fighting “bad guys”. She smiled at the thought and actually let a giggle slip from her lips when he smiled. Well Ozzy didn’t seem to be scared of them….It made perfect sense to her now. Her puffin made all his money by being a hero to the city in taking down this Batman. He obvious had deals with these rouges to track him down.

Lola took offer her heels and made herself about 6 inches shorter. She knew she had been a bit stiff with him lately, everything was still so knew and he was so….Lola leaned down and wrapped her arms around him, sliding smoothly into a kiss.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

The Bat really made it far too easy to turn people against him. If only the rest of Gotham would think a little more logically about his actions and not spend so much time worrying about the Rogues perhaps they'd finally drive him out.

Oswald nodded along to Lola's outrage. Yes, good, that was what he wanted. Make the heroes the monsters and perhaps he wouldn't look so bad by the end of it. Never mind the fact he'd done far worse things.

Lola's giggle broke his train of thought as he carefully planned his words. Was that a good sign? Did she think he was playing a joke? That he was funny in some way?...Why is she taking off her shoes?

His confusion quickly became surprise as she kissed him. He automatically returned the kiss but his mind raced on. This wasn't part of the plan! He should be in complete control of the situation, explaining everything so perfectly while she remained amazed yet confused, reliant on him to guide her to safely by his side to the top where she'd be in too deep to leave and he'd be her own personal hero. It was the way it had to be, everybody knew the hero got the girl. No one wanted the short, fat, balding man. No one wanted the comic relief. No one wanted the Penguin.

He stopped, backing his head away from hers he broke the kiss and looked almost wary. He'd been burnt before so many times, she wasn't allowed to like him, that wasn't how the world worked. He could pretend this entire trip out was an experiment to see how she would take it all he liked but it wouldn't matter if she hadn't grown on him this much.

A little voice in his head considered that he had been talking a lot and perhaps she was just trying to get him to shut up. It had definitely worked out that way but shut up little voice, nobody likes you.

Oswald had always been distant in one way or another. He'd bring gifts, flatter and flirt but he was always acting the stiff perfect gentleman, following the rules of high society even if most were ignored by the rest of the upper classes. After years watching his words and minding his every step as he rebuilt his reputation it was so hard to stop playing the character. He lead two lives, the high society public life and his backroom private world, Lola was just starting to bridge the two. Oswald Cobblepot, club owner, was a polite, dignified businessman who was attempting to conform modern societies views, mostly to avoid harassment lawsuits, even if he refused to change the waitress uniforms to something a little less revealing.

The Penguin was quite a different story.

The wary look lasted just a few seconds before Oswald's eyes hardened. To hell with the stupid plan. He let his umbrella drop to the ground as he reached to cup his hands over her cheeks and pull her in for a firmer kiss, one with more passion and confidence. No matter which act Oswald was putting on he always wants to be kissing her but usually he'd settle for the polite route, a quick peck, a kiss on the cheek, all as he silently doubted she'd even be there if he wasn't paying for the trip out. Very rarely does he drop the act with her and just do what he wants without thinking about all the stupid little details but as he moves an arm to pull her in closer that's precisely what he's doing.

It was several seconds before he even considered breaking such a kiss but ultimately he had to to catch his breath again. He didn't back off though, still holding her close as he moved the hand from her cheek to brush her hair back "One day someone's going to try and steal you from me" he said thoughtfully after a moment before a smile, almost a grin, twisted into shape "I'm not going to let them" In his current mood he really meant that. He wouldn't just tell her about his past so they couldn't, he'd gouge their eyes out and feed them to his crows so they could never look at her again because that's just the sort of guy he is.

[Lola Marks]

Lola only intended for the kiss to be soft and sweet, she was going to pull back right after, especially if all he did was stand there. It wouldn’t be the first time she had kissed a man that didn’t know what he was doing with her but those men were useful for some things and not for others.

The clatter of the umbrella hitting the floor startled her, but she had barely had a moment to process before he wrapped her into a far more forceful kiss. This one she had no option but to participate in. She felt his fingers tangle in her hair and his other hand come around to the small of her back. He body came forward with no protest and comforted her into the far more passionate kiss. As the kiss continued on she molded to his movements and lazily slid her arms around his neck in her already bent position. She was quite a bit taller than him, but that didn’t matter, it was better without the heels.

When the kiss broke she stared into his eyes. That was one intense kiss, and brought on by surprise at that. She never expected him to act that way, but she was glad he did. It just proved even more so that she deserved to be with him. Lola tilted her head in his hands when he caressed her and talked about someone taking her away. Why would someone take her away?

The empty case in the room behind him reminded her of why they were standing here. These kinds of men must have kidnapped people often, maybe he saw that someone would try to take her? Or maybe he was talking about another man taking her away. Either way it was going to be up to her whether that happened, but he didn’t give her a choice. She smiled at him and gave him another light kiss on the lips. “It would just be more to add to your collection right?” She whispered to his lips and then bent herself back to stand straight again.

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

Oswald was really allowing the act to drop, it was so easy once the guard dropped just to be himself. No one was there to see, why must he be so careful? Perhaps it was really the first time Lola got to be around the more confident Penguin.

While he was disappointed to have her straighten away after the final kiss Oswald allowed it with only a small chuckle to her words "You assume I would leave enough to display" Perhaps it wasn't a good joke to make considering what he was going to show her but he didn't care.

Hooking his shoe under his fallen umbrella he flicks it neatly back up to catch in one hand as he moves to guide her with the other "There is one final thing to see, the purpose to this escapade" He continues, no longer watching his words so closely as he leads on into the back room.

In stark contrast to the rest of the place it looked nothing like a warehouse or temporary storage, with the plush carpet, small desk and comfortable leather chair it seemed as though Oswald might even have spent some time there. Stylish lighting highlighted cabinets containing things that would look at home in the R&D lab of a Bond film. Ultra-thin body armour, prototype monocles and cuff links. Shoes, bow ties, several top hats and of course an entire rack of old umbrellas, the first one he adapted taking pride of place underneath an expensive piece of artwork that's accompanied with the newspaper article describing how it was stolen. It had been Oswald's first big crime, the one that had gained his acceptance with the gangs. Getting the painting back after it was sold on the blackmarket had been difficult but years later when he had the resources he'd done it.

Photos lined the walls, right back to Oswald's childhood with his stern faced parents, his father soon disappearing. School pictures where even in the crowd of his class there always seemed to be a gap around Ozzy where no one dared to stand. Out of the entire lot he only seems happy in one, in his early twenties, standing in a tropical jungle with a couple of people around the same age and completely surrounded by birds.

Then the framed newspaper clippings begin to take over. His mother's death made a small article but after that every single one was about crimes, be they unsolved robberies or credited to the Penguin. Oswald focused on one, he knew exactly where on the wall it was and lifting his umbrella he tapped on the frame. 'The Penguin caged' the city newspaper proudly proclaimed on the front page complete with a picture of Oswald's mug shot glaring with pure hatred out of the page with a bloodied nose. His first arrest, the day his reputation had been ruined and his nickname sealed in print forever "I have quite the history with this city, some have forgotten but the moment it is convenient they will do their best to remind everyone"

It made him angry, people just continued to try and fight against him and forced him to drag all these things up in front of one of the few people he spent time with that didn't know. He'd enjoyed not being weighed down by the questioning of his motives but they demanded he be the bad guy, to tell her or give them the upper hand. His jaw tightened and he actually showed the anger this time without even attempting to hide it "One day someone will come and either attempt to use you to get to me or tell you horrible things about me, most likely to steal you for themselves. Some of those things they say may even be true but times have changed, as have my ways. I have no intention of a return to incarceration and will avoid attempts at any cost...Still I retain methods and connections that would not be available to your average millionaire, I have to with the risks posed by some in this city" His eyes scanned the pictures as he spoke but finally he turns his head back, watching her out the corner of his eye "If there is anything you want in life my dove, you have but to ask" If it was him he wouldn't care where the money and power came from so long as it was there, he wasn't certain anyone else saw the world the same way but he knew how people could be tempted to forget their silly little morals.