Paralyzer [Gotham]

12

When I woke up, Cat was gone. Didn't surprise me in the least, but it made me chuckle. She didn't take my valuables, only some food and the rest of my milk. My place had been relatively quiet for the next week, I honestly didn't think much of it.

With practiced hands, I carefully slid the needle out of Andrew's arm and placed a band-aid over the growing dab of blood. Moving quickly, I started replacing his nutrient IV, hearing the door click as I waited for the clear liquid to travel down the tube. "Give me a minute, Victor," I greeted. After a drop formed at the end of the needle I pushed it through one of his veins, gently taping it down in several spots.

I checked everything once more before walking into the livingroom, taking off my gloves as I found Zsasz scanning over the spines on my bookshelf. "Need more torture content?" I asked skeptically.

"No one's heard from Penguin since the attack on Galavan's. Bird has his head in the sand somewhere," he informed, getting straight to the point.

"Ostrich," I provided, my smile faultering at the pointed look he gave me.

"Things aren't good right now. Nobody knows whether we should wait for his body to pop up or if we should start looking for a new head of the criminal underworld."

"No honor among theives," I realized with a slight shake of my head, sitting down as he came to look at the other shelf. "You don't want the job?" He gave a short laugh, shaking his head as he looked over the books.

"Gotham would be in for a nightmare if I took over. Better to remain the enforcer." Though he had initially been humored by the question, there was no amusement to be found in his tone. "Right now, my only plan is to keep you safe."

"I'm not paying you," I scoffed, feeling the need to put that on the table. Sure, Falcone and Penguin payed me good money, but most of it went to Andrew alone; I didn't want or need hired protection.

"See, finding a doctor who is willing to work on the worst of the worst mostly without question, is like finding a unicorn," he explained, slipping a book off the shelf and turning to face me finally. "It's like buying my way into the leprachaun's party." I rolled my eyes and took it into consideration.

"What, your skill alone not cutting it anymore?" I chuckled. What humor had been in his face was gone as he narrowed his eyes at me, seemingly in the middle of a mental debate with himself. "Okay, okay," I sighed, holding both hands palm out. "No more jokes."

"Stop wondering if I'm up to snuff and be grateful someone's looking out for you," he advised. "Good doctors aren't usually the most well versed in self defense." I shrugged, hardly remembering the things Andrew had once tried to teach me.

"I know how to use a knife." There was surprise of Zsasz's face, so I gave him a sarcastic smile. "You stick 'em with the sharp end," I shrugged. "Besides, I was a doctor. I know enough about human anatomy and sharp knives to protect myself if I need to." With a scoff that told me he didn't truly have faith in my abilities, he sat beside me and opened up the book, flipping through until he found something that caught his eye.

[]

I craddled a mug of coffee, using it's heat to warm myself, looking up from a book when Zsasz sat up from where he laid out on my couch. "I have to go," he announced, picking up his gun holsters from the coffee table and sliding them over his shoulders.

"So soon?" I hummed, this being about week two of him crashing here. He gave me a sarcastic smile as he walked over, nodding me to stand.

"Look, things are gunna get rough for a minute, I don't want you unprotected. Ever use a gun?" Shaking my head, I set down my coffee and stood beside him, a wariness about me. Zsasz pulled one of the pistols from his holster and held it out to me, I could see just the way I took hold of it irked him as he came to stand behind me, hands slipping over mine and directing my fingers.

"Both hands, or you'll snap your wrist," he breathed in my ear. "Finger off the trigger till you're ready to shoot." I nodded and adjusted my hold, struggling to keep my finger on the resting slot he showed me. "Turn off the safety, pull back the hammer, and squeeze." As he spoke, he directed my fingers to complete the actions, sending a bullet flying across the room.

My ears rung as I slowly processed what just happened. "Are you insane?" I asked incredilously, pulling away from him to study the brick wall we'd fired into. "I am renting!" I ran my finger over the hole, the bullet laid resting an inch away from the mortar, too deep and stuck to pull out with just my fingers.

"Finger off the trigger," he warned. With irritation pulling on my nerves, I set down the gun and turned back to the wall. Spackle wouldn't fix that, would it? I whipped around at the rapid pounding on the front door, checking the peephole and sighing in relief when it was just a neighbor.

I opened the door with an apologetic smile, the woman's dark eyes rapidly trailing me. "Sorry about that, Mrs. Johnson. I've got a visitor who really hates pigeons." She stared over my shoulder, and I had no idea if Zsasz was there or not, but it didn't ease the panic on her face. "It won't happen again."

"You be careful, Luci. If your visitor is like that to pigeons, I'd hate to see what they'd do to you on a bad day." I nodded and took her words into serious consideration, Zsasz's bad days weren't to be taken lightly.

"I will, Mrs. Johnson. Have a good day." Her eyes darted inside and back to me before she nodded and turned away, gently shutting the door behind her with a deep breath.

"Mrs. Johnson seems like a peach," Zsasz commented. When I turned, he had taken my place at the brick wall, smoothing his thumb over the indent.

"I'm glad she came. What if I'd just been shot?"

"Then your neighbor would've banged on your door pointlessly until the police got here," he shrugged, turning to me with a small, amused smile. "If you really need it, I'll teach you more later." I didn't notice he'd picked up the gun until he grabbed my wrist and pressed the handle firmly against my palm. "Don't accidently shoot yourself, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," I agreed, a smug smile to my lips. "I'll make sure to clip your leg first. Let's hope I don't graze your femoral artery while I'm at it." Zsasz chuckled and let me go, slipping past me and out the door.