The Silent Treatment (Victor Zsasz x Reader)

#5

After at least 4 hours of interrogating Penguin's employees ruthlessly, Victor and I soon stumbled upon what we were looking for.

"The king bird had it coming," a drained sounding woman spoke, currently dazed from my ability. I narrow my eyes, mentally urging her to press on with her heretic speech. "That slimy bastard deserves very traitor within his grasp, he needs to be taken down and the union is going to do just that," she continued on, the trance beginning to fade. I shake my head, no, not yet. My hands grip gently at the leather chairs arm rests as I adjusted my seating position, leaning forward in case I missed anything that was said.

"What is this Union?" I ask, my voice cutting clean through the air and embedding deep within the woman's brain. With each question from me her hair seemed to get more dishevelled, her eyes darker and her wrinkles more defined and weighted. She licked he lips timidly, her hands rubbing as though her brain was lagging behind at the reveal of such information. Victor's hand shot out and grabbed the poor woman's hair but I made no attempt to stop it, watching as she writhed within his tightening grip. "The union... It's a group of people who have worked for Penguin in the past, currently work for him or just plain hate him..."

I arch an eyebrow, curious to hear the continuation of this. "They work to topple him, to kill that wretched rat and get the old families on top, those who should be on top, though some within the society work off their own accord and desire to rule Gotham..." She explains. I couldn't help but stand up, taking in a shaky breath myself as I looked her square in the eyes, a piercing and sharp tension now forming between us. "Who is your leader?" I question, Victor's steady eyes now focused on me, as though trying to figure out why someone would give so much information away. She had stopped struggling and writhing around which suggested she was now fine within Victor's rough grip, which means it was entirely down to me.

"I don't know," She confessed, before adding, "only the highest ranks of the union have knowledge as to who it is.. only a rare few meet them, though they don't usually survive the meeting..." I turn to Victor, locking eyes with him briefly. A shared thought between us passed, of how we would track down this leader, but almost in sync we both returned our attention to the woman who was becoming more frail by the minute.

"Where are you set up?" I question, knowing we'd require a location if we were to actually do anything in retaliation. "All over Gotham, constantly moving, finding new spots, always staying hidden from Penguin's eyes... the fixed base and supposed place of the founder is in the dock yard, though... but no one dares venture there, nor do those stupid enough come back..."

That was all the intel needed, everything necessary, for now. I didn't speak, waiting for the effects of my speech to dissipate. A hum escaped my mouth as I felt Victor's eyes trained on me, he was thinking, perhaps trying to figure me out.

Once the woman had come around we sent her on her way and she scattered rather, skittishly. I paid no mind to this, only making a mental note to tell penguin to exclude her from any and all information. She would be useful to keep close so she may assist in finding the Union, bringing them down or just getting any additional information.

I absentmindedly ran a few fingers through my hair, as though it suddenly became a mess at the pressure and stress of the situation, which I know it hadn't. I then glanced to Victor, who was now looking at his phone with focus on his face. "So what do we tell the boss?" He questioned, not looking up. I figured he was probably just staring at Penguin's contact details, deliberating what to say without making him go off like a landmine or ruining the plans we both seemed to be collectively forming.

I didn't speak and nor did Victor, for a while, until he looked up at me. I had written down 'Nothing, we have dealt with the risk.' He read it and nodded slowly before asking, "so what's with the voice? Is it a hereditary thing or?"

I shook my head, 'no', but left it at that. I didn't feel like getting into the ins and outs of my past and if he felt he drastically needed to know he could always go talk to Oswald. I wondered where he was, at this point. I guessed probably chasing after the Riddler, it was a common occurrence after all.

Victor then walked up to me and held out a slip of paper. I took it and with that, he left, talking into the phone. It was quick and I was a bit confused, so I looked at the paper which held his phone number, likely so we could talk without intervention from any of Penguin's goons or risk of someone, anyone overhearing us.

I couldn't help but smile, knowing that the assassin gave loyalty based on money and personal desires. I tried not to get distracted by this and headed home, deciding to rethink and make a plan, keeping my phone in one hand with Victor's number in my pocket.