Unwanted Allies- Dr. Jonathan Crane Story

Unwanted Alliances.

A month had passed, rather slowly too. Mercious was still gone, occasionally Lilah would get a phone call from him, but other than that, he was gone. Dr. 'Sexy' kept to his work, not that she complained as they were still on rather negative terms. Unfortunately, she was forced to see him most mornings thanks to her room being across from his. One particular moment that haunted her was last week when Crane was returning to his room from the shower. He was wearing a only a towel that was wrapped around his waist and his wet hair was stuck to his forehead. The reason why it haunted Lilah was the fact he had caught her staring at him and had requested she tell him why. Of course, Lilah suffering from foot in mouth syndrome replied with, 

"Just because I'm admiring doesn't mean anything. Don't flatter yourself." If she had said it while looking at his face, it may have been less awkward than the smug look she found on his face when her eyes did finally flick back up. For the entire week since, she had tried her best to hide the embarrassment that haunted her.

This very day however, Lilah decided it was time to step up and actually do something with her life. Gotham was nothing but a crime soaked hell hole and people like her father and the Wayne's were long dead and gone. Plus, Carmine had been bragging to all of his friends about her importing skills, so why not try a more hands on job? There was no point lingering on the past anymore, today she was going to step up, move on and finally accept that life wasn't fair and that no matter how hard she tried, she was stuck with Carmine Falcone and his annoying children; Mario, Sofia and Alberto. 

Carmine was thrilled when he received Lilah's call about her interest in sitting in one of his more private business meetings he conducted in his own home rather than Lilah's. He'd been trying to get her to play a larger role in the family business for years, as if being one of the youngest and most talented Heroin importers wasn't enough. Glancing down at her arms, she ran her fingers across the small white scars in the nape of her elbow. Lilah used to struggle with addiction for about two years after the death of her father, but she had Mercious to thank for pulling her out of it and now, she didn't dare touch anything. 

Carmine's house was huge and even that was an understatement when describing the hotel like building. Thankfully, one of his servants ushered her into the large meeting room with twelve others, all men excluding herself and her stepsister, Sofia. No one paid her much attention, she was a legacy, but everyone knew she had a big mouth and lacked 'respect for he elders' as she had been told numerous times. Taking a seat beside Mario, who ignored her, and another man she didn't recognise, she pulled out her phone and began playing 'Snake' whilst the other around her chatted away. After being elbowed by Mario, Lilah's phone returned to her pocket and she remained completely silent and partially suicidal as she endured the meeting. She really only paid attention when it came to any mentions of Crane or Carmine's flattery regarding her success. Other than that, Lilah completely regretted her decision to attend the meeting and pondered how her life had hit this low point. 

Looking around the crowd, she nearly started cackling like a lunatic as she noticed everyone in the room but Carmine and his children all shared her bored expression, occasionally laughing whenever Carmine did. The entire city was Carmine's through fear, but it was nice to know even his closest allies shared Lilah's opinion on him. From what she had learnt from Carmine, fear was power, or at least, that's what she gathered, all her life she had been met by fear and the things it was capable of.

"Lilah." Carmine said, drawing his attention to her, as did the rest of the room, "Go down to the shipment and oversee everything. If problems come up, you know what to do" Usually, she would question his decisions, but Lilah was determined to change, to make life a little easier. Apparently, this was an important drug shipment- she didn't know exactly what drug it was, or what it was for. Usually Lilah handled her side of the drug business through her computer, far away from the trouble. She gave orders, she didn't take them, but there was a first for everything.