There For You ||Edward Nygma|| [4]

Chapter Twelve || Ceasefire

Charlotte watched with disdain as Gotham's gangs shoved and shouted at each other. The Street Demonz, Lo Boyz, Soothsayers, Undead, and the Leopards couldn't be kept in one room without starting a fight. But there they were gathered in City Hall at Jim Gordon's request. Oswald had asked for Charlotte to be there for reasons she couldn't comprehend and he seemed to be amused with the commotion going on in the main hall.

Barbara wasn't happy with the gathering and feared all the noise could stress the baby. There was even a man holding a chainsaw recklessly among the other gang members. "Where the hell is Nygma? Shouldn't we have left the city already?"

The question was directed to Charlotte, but the other blonde ignored her and sent a deadly stare towards the criminals downstairs. So it was Oswald who came forward with the answer. "Miss Kean, this may come as a surprise, but building a submarine from scratch takes time. Patience".

Charlotte finally looked away from the commotion to face Oswald. "Not that you would know".

Oswald huffed and threw his hands up in frustration. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You haven't done anything!" Charlotte exclaimed causing Oswald to roll his eyes.

Things had gone more swiftly after they figured out how to make the sonar work to detect the mines spread throughout Gotham's river, but it would be a lot faster if they had another set of hands to help.

"Are we really having this discussion again?" The Penguin thought Charlotte was being dramatic as always.

"Why did you ask me to come here anyway?" Charlotte asked impatiently. "I have a submarine to work on".

"Well, you're here in case things go messy before Jim arrives," Oswald explained.

A crease appeared between Charlotte's eyebrows. "Oh, so I'm your bodyguard?" Oswald opened and closed his mouth looking like a fish out of the water, but ended up nodding his head. "Hopefully, they kill each other before Jim even gets here".

"Will you two shut up?" Barbara shook her head and looked downstairs as the fighting continued with no end in sight. "With the way things are going, you might get what you want, Charlotte". It was a wonder how nobody had gotten their entrails ripped off from their bodies yet. Barbara tore her gaze away from the gangs to look at Oswald. "That whole patience talk is easy for you to say. You're not a walking egg timer".

Oswald scrunched up his face as he stared down at the big round belly that had grown in the last eight months.

"You two better get a move on," Barbara told Charlotte. The next question was directed to Oswald. "And why, exactly, are you hosting Gordon's gangland get-together?"

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, my dear," Oswald remarked smartly. "If we're really going to leave Gotham, we need to keep Gordon happy". He smirked as he pointed at the baby bump. "You know all about that, don't you?"

But Barbara wasn't amused. "It was a momentary slip. The world was on fire".

A loud thud was heard as the GCPD finally decided to make an appearance and burst the doors open, shoving the gang members out of the way, which caused more complaints from the unsettled villains.

"This is gonna end well," Barbara mumbled sarcastically under her breath with her hands resting protectively on her belly.

Oswald however seemed happy for the moment. He knew nobody would try to kill him with Charlotte and Jim in the room. "Jim, it's your show. Mi casa, su casa".

Charlotte leaned against the railing as she watched the cops station themselves behind and in front of Gordon in case the gangs decided to attack. She huffed in annoyance as one of the officers pointed his shotgun at her.