Born to Fly

No Rest for the Wicked - ✔

I awake with a scream after another nightmare.

"It was just a dream," Oswald says bitterly from the couch. He sits up and rubs the drowsiness from his eyes.

My heart stops pounding so violently as I walk over from the kitchen table. I feel relaxed and perhaps even a little happy from last night.

"Let me see how it's healing today."

He carefully unwraps the bandaging around his side. There's no sign of infection, and the swelling is even starting to go down. There will be some bruising, and it'll probably hurt for the next month, but the wound is off to a good start.

I instruct Oswald on how to re-wrap it and sit beside him in silence.

Outside, the sun is just beginning to appear. The early morning sky doesn't seem so dark today. Nothing seems dark, actually. Everything feels a little better than I'd imagined it yesterday. I feel hope.

"Thank you," he says softly, "for what you did last night. You shouldn't have been there for me. I broke your heart."

"Your gift was pretty telling. I knew you didn't really mean it. I heard you talking to Jim, and I know— or I'd assume you'd do anything to keep me safe."

"I did. We all did. To be honest, I should've sent you away before I started this."

I'm pretty sure Jim's said the exact same thing. Every second I stay interlocked with this criminal, I'm drifting farther and farther away from my family ties.

His features soften at my annoyance. Instead of arguing with me, he kisses me. It's gentle, like he's afraid of breaking me. How can his kiss be so opposite of his fiery persona and so intoxicating at the same time? As we're about to go in for another, a pounding knock comes at the door.

Every butterfly leaves my stomach to make room for paralyzing anxiety. I answer the door with Jim's spare pistol, fully expecting a rivaling gang.

"Is the boss here?"

It's Butch and Zsasz. The lackey looks worlds better than when I last saw him. Victor seems as psychotic as ever.

"Come in."

My gaze remains locked on Gilzean. He's been reconditioned, I think. He appears just as compliant and Pro-Oswald as ever.

"Gotham needs a new king by sun-up," he informs.

Victor says, "So we should go soon."

He mulls over each of their suggestions. "Boys, boys. I have a plan. Don't I always have one?"

In one sentence, the tenderness I witnessed disappears. I understand he has a negative reputation to uphold but does he have to be so good at playing both sides?

They come to an agreement. The henchmen pull out their phones and dial away. Apparently, they're calling an immediate meeting.

He waddles over to where I stand at the edge of the stairs. "Won't you come?"

"Yeah, right. I don't want to be in a gang."

He rolls his eyes up to the ceiling. "It's a little too late for that."

If Gotham's underbelly know I'm in a relationship with their king, then I become another leverage point against him. If we keep it quiet, there'll be a multitude of men and women trying to weave their way into his bed. Jealous embers spark in my gut. I can't let that happen. Butch once told me that Oswald will need someone at his side if he takes the throne. Maybe it's my time to step up.

No longer thinking of my own wants, I made a promise to his lackey. I backed out of it once and I'm not doing it again. He has to have someone to take the boss's heat when things go wrong. This conditioning can't last forever. He'll require someone to protect him when he can't.