Just part of the job [Zinda]

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

The atmosphere was heavy with smoke in the dockside bar fondly referred to as the Wheezing Squid by the locals. Officially it wasn't even a bar, it wasn't even supposed to be a building but somehow year after year it slipped off the list of places to be demolished and continued to serve the alcoholic needs of seamen and contractors alike, so long as they weren't too bothered by the mice and didn't try to go upstairs. It was quite likely that the rotting stairwell was the only thing keeping the upper floors from coming down.

Nigel fit into the place like a glove. He was a rat, in appearance and nature. Thin, twitchy and with the sharp kind of eyes that paid everything an uncomfortable amount of attention. Likely to scurry from danger with only the care for his own hide but give him a bit of cash and he'd be your best friend, at least until he got a better offer.

Not everyone was happy with this arrangement.

There he was, enjoying his drink and a smoke while he pretended not to be eavesdropping on the pair down the bar when out the corner of his eye he watched as two men pushed their way in the door and stopped to look around. Interesting. They looked like they'd come straight off the docks but cleaner, blending in perhaps?
The hope of an expensive secret to learn was shattered when one of them pointed at him and Nigel pretended desperately that he wasn't there and they were after someone behind him. Maybe if he didn't move they'd pass on by? That hope too was shattered the moment one grabbed him and dragged him off of his bar stool. Nigel quickly started yelling instead "Whoa, lads! Lads! Don't waste the beer!" being drug about by random thugs was just one hazard of the job, he didn't spill a drop as he left the beer on the bar and made the customary token struggle "You want money? I can get you money!" They ignored him and drug him out the door with one last shout for the bartender "Look after me pint!"

His destination wasn't far, just round the corner to the alley where he was thrown down in front of a very nondescript looking car and the far finer shoes of it's owner. From Nigel's sprawled position on the ground it only took one look at the umbrella stood next to the footwear for him to start to mutter "Oh shi-" before one of the thugs kicked him in the ribs. Nigel was in deep trouble, the Penguin didn't come out to see just anyone.

[Deleted]

In the short time that Zinda Blake had been a 21st century resident, her life had taken abruptly sharp u-turn, and it had all been for the better, in spite of her vast ignorance of all things modern. Almost all things. She'd made a friend in one Doctor Nina Stenet. She also now had access to money. Alot of it, as well as something she could call a job. Not more than a few days after her first meeting with Nina, Zinda had discovered something that reinvigorated her. Not far outside of Gotham, directly across the bay, matter of fact, in a city called Metropolis, stood a branch of a company known now as Blackhawk Enterprises. Maker of Military equipment and the like. Planes, weapons, you name it. Lo and behold, and needless to say, once she discovered it and once she discovered the company's connection t the original Blackhawk Squadron, and of course, once they verified her claim that she was in fact who she said she was, the first female member to have ever joined that elite team, Zinda Blake had it made. Now with a stable position and nothing sweat over except door still adjusting to a time and place that wasn't her own, she had the proper tools to scratch an itch she'd been getting for awhile since her time transplant.

One only had to catch an ear or eye full of the news to realize how infested this city really was. Psychopathic, murdering clowns. A criminal with a fetish for riddles. There were others she had heard wind of but Zinda wasn't content to merely sit n a couch and watch it all happen every day at 5. Gotham City also had,she'd discovered, it,s share f heroes, saviors, and vigilantes. One more surely wouldn't overcrowd things.

By day she was a corporate shirt, making deliveries by air, as well as looking to branch out and open her own chauffeur service. By night, she was now living a double life.

The east side may be neither the sanest or wisest locale for an old soldier gal to showcase her righteous anger, but she seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Plus the smell of beer also made a decent enough hook to reel Zinda in.

Except that on this night, Zinda Blake was nowhere to be found.

The Wheezing Squid was as nasty as nasty now. Not a kid friendly establishment at all and indeed it was full of rats. Some two legged and a few that really crawled in the ground, but in a darkened corner, the eyes of the blond that was cloaked within shadows was more interested in the man being dragged off a stool and escorted outside by a small circle of hoods. That was all the woman needed to see.

This Lady. This Blackhawk.

By now she'd had her fill, and Lady Blackhawk was ready to work it off. Making her way outside after a discrete 5 second head start, she stayed hidden around a corner. Close but out of sight, pistols pulled out quietly as she listened and waited. Wanting to catch more of what this was about before she made a move to bust it up

[Oswald Cobblepot - The Penguin]

With no knowledge that he was being watched Oswald continued on without a care for putting on his public face. He did however pretend to be calm even when rage was simmering steadily beneath the surface "Hello Nigel" He said dispassionately, a dry look directed at the man by his feet "I've been hearing the most interesting things lately"

Nigel was already looking panicked, he knew he'd done a lot of things that a lot of people would be pissed off about but he had no idea which one it was this time "Please, it's not true, I'm good, I'm loyal, just ask me anything!" He grovelled, tugging on Oswald's trouser leg and immediately regretting it as the end of the umbrella pointed at his face. Quickly he let go and tried to scramble back only to be grabbed by one of the thugs who put an actual gun to his head.

The Penguin waited until he'd frozen in fear before going on "Do you know what happens to people who lie to me Nigel? If I can't trust your word what good are you?" The calm demeanour snapped for a split second and Oswald grabbed the Nigel by the neck as he snarled into his face "Why is he not dead?!"