While he limped through his nightclub with Victor and Annabelle walking behind him, Oswald said to Victor, "Another excellent night of business, Victor."
Victor replied, "Except for the part where a couple of thieves tried to rob your shipment."
Oswald quickly turned to look at Victor as he said, "What?"
Victor replied, "Relax, boss. My men stopped them before they could get their hands on anything."
Oswald scoffed before he turned to look at Edward's frozen figure as he asked, "You see what I'm dealing with, Ed?"
Annabelle's eyebrows furrowed as she looked between Edward and Oswald, while Victor simply stared at Edward's frozen figure.
Then Oswald looked back at Victor as he said, "That shipment is full of black-market items I'm auctioning off tonight to Gotham's elite. I stand to make a killing. I cannot do that without the items. Where are they?"
After he looked back at Oswald, Victor told him, "At the warehouse."
Oswald said to him, "Take me." After he turned around and limped towards the exit of the nightclub with Annabelle and Victor following him once more, he said, "I want to be sure it's all accounted for. Once I do, bring everything back here for safekeeping."
While Victor turned off the lights to the nightclub, Annabelle leaned in to Victor and quietly asked him, "How often do you think he spends his time talking to Edward, despite him not being able to hear anything?"
Victor replied, "Probably a lot more than you would think."
She sighed as she said to Victor, "Oh, that's comforting."
Victor only chuckled before the two of them heard yet another rant coming from Oswald about the importance of bringing the items to the nightclub and ensuring that no one else would try to break in and steal them before they could be auctioned off.
While Annabelle simply rolled her eyes and sighed to herself, Victor smirked as he occasionally glanced at Annabelle to see her becoming more and more annoyed with each word that Oswald said.
It was apparent that, despite her loyalty to Oswald, she was becoming more and more annoyed with him.
In Victor's opinion, that was quite amusing, since it had been quite some time since he last saw her be annoyed because of someone.
* * *
Once he saw the cracked open ice after Victor had flipped the light switch, Oswald gasped as he quickly limped over towards the cracked ice, while he yelled, "No! This cannot be happening."
Annabelle glanced over at Victor with an amused smirk on her face, while he said to Oswald, "I don't know. Kinda opens up the room."
While Annabelle chuckled to herself, Oswald quickly turned to Victor and said to him, "Whoever did this, I want them found. I want them dead. And I want Ed back here, today!"
Victor only smirked in response before he patted Annabelle's arm as he turned around and left the nightclub, but not before he closed the doors behind himself.
While she leaned up against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest, Annabelle watched as Oswald quickly limped over to where Edward was frozen and practically threw himself onto the platform to grab Edward's hat that was left behind.
After repeatedly gasping to himself, he asked in a whisper, "Where are you, Ed?"
After she simply raised her eyebrows at Oswald's behavior, Annabelle shook her head to herself before she walked over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of scotch.
With how desperate Oswald was to have Edward taken back to him, she figured that it was going to be a very long day for her and knowing how Oswald was when he got like this, she would need to be drunk just to get through it.
* * *
Annabelle was in the middle of talking to Oswald about how she would be of much more use helping Victor with finding the person that had freed Edward from his icy prison, only to stop and narrow her eyes when Barbara Kean walked into Oswald's office and said to him, "There's a knife being sold at your auction tonight. I was thinking you might be kind enough to sell it to me ahead of time."
After Barbara sat down in the chair across from Oswald, Annabelle slowly tilted her head, while Oswald said 'hmm' before he leaned forward and folded his hands together as he asked Barbara, "And why is this knife so important to you?"
Barbara told him, "It's not. I have a client who's interested. Gave me a ton of cash. So, I was hoping to get it for a lower price and make a profit."
Oswald asked her, "That start with the attempted five-finger discount last night?"
While Annabelle chuckled at Oswald's question, Barbara said to him, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
As he leaned back into his chair, Oswald replied, "Of course you don't."
Barbara told him, "I'll triple the opening price. It'll probably go for less at auction."
Oswald chuckled before he stood from his chair and limped around his desk and towards her as he said, "My dear, wherever you disappeared to these last few months has not made you a better liar. If anything, it probably made you an even worse liar. I mean, I don't even need Annabelle to tell me that you're lying because of just how terrible you are at doing it. It's clear that this isn't about profit, but about your mysterious benefactor. He is your client is-is he not?" When Barbara didn't respond, he chuckled once more and limped towards her before he crouched beside her and said to her, "Reveal his identity to me and you have a deal."
When Barbara slowly turned her head and simply stared at him, he laughed as he said, "Wow. He's really got his hooks into you." As he limped back towards his desk and leaned against it, he said, "See you tonight, I guess. Don't forget to bring your checkbook."
Barbara slowly stood from her seat and stood in place as she stared at Oswald, which got Annabelle to take a step closer to them, only to stop when Oswald raised a hand at her.
With a slight shake of her head, Barbara said to him, "Always a pleasure, Oswald."
Then she calmly left the office and closed the door behind herself, which got Annabelle to eye the now closed door before she turned to look at Oswald and said to him, "She seems different, compared to how she was prior to her disappearance. It's bothersome. I don't like it."
Oswald didn't respond and limped over towards one of the boxes in the back of his office.
Once he reached the box, he opened it and reached into the box to grab the apparent knife that Barbara was asking for.
Its blade was covered with a golden hilt, which got Annabelle's eyebrows to furrow as she wondered what it was about the knife that made Barbara so desperate to get it.
* * *
While at Oswald's black market auction, Bruce Wayne quickly raised an arm as he said, "Two-hundred and fifty-thousand."
The auctioneer said, "Two-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars going once, twice..." After hitting the gavel against the podium, he said, "Sold to Mr. Bruce Wayne."
As he enthusiastically clapped his hands together, Bruce yelled, "That's what I'm talking about! I love art." Then he turned to Alfred and held up a hand to Alfred, only for Alfred to raise a finger at him, while the young billionaire yelled, "I love it! Yeah! I'm gonna put it in my-my bathroom."
One woman in the crowd muttered 'what', while the rest of the crowd muttered to themselves about Bruce's actions.
Alfred said to Bruce, "Steady on, Master Bruce. Let's not overplay our hand, shall we?"
Bruce replied, "I must admit, this is fun."
Alfred said to him, "And try to exercise a modicum of financial restraint. Technically you are the richest man in the room, but let's not try and buy absolutely everything, shall we?"
Bruce replied, "True. But if I only bid on the knife everyone's been trying to steal from Penguin, it might draw his suspicion. If I go on a spending spree, recklessly throwing my money around, he won't think twice."
Alfred said to him, "Right. When did you think of that?"
Bruce told him, "Improvisation, Alfred. It's a weapon in any actor's toolkit."
Alfred looked past Bruce and said to him, "Alright, sir. Here we go."
Bruce turned his head to see Oswald shaking the hand of one of his patrons and Annabelle standing behind him with a blank look on her face.
Then Bruce held out his arms as he yelled, "Oswald! My friend."
Annabelle quickly looked over at Bruce with furrowed eyebrows before she followed Oswald, while he limped over to Bruce and said, "Bruce Wayne? What a lovely surprise. You certainly are getting out quite a lot these days, aren't you?"
Bruce replied, "The way I see it, everyone else in this town is having fun, why shouldn't I?"
Annabelle tilted her head once she heard Bruce's heartbeat increase before she glanced over at Alfred and then started to look between the two of them.
Oswald nodded his head as he said, "I agree. You and your insanely large bank account are more than welcome here."
Annabelle scoffed before she chuckled to herself, while Bruce looked past Oswald and said to him, "Barbara Kean. I thought she died."
While he looked at Barbara, Oswald replied, "Unfortunately, nobody stays dead in this town." Then he quickly looked back at Bruce and said to him, "Excuse me."
While Oswald limped away from them, Annabelle silently stood there with narrowed eyes before she took a step closer to Bruce and said to him, "There's something off about you, Bruce. You're not acting like yourself and I don't like it. Whatever it is you're planning, or thinking of planning, better not be an attempt to undermine Oswald. It doesn't matter if you've seemed to apparently grow on me, as has your butler. I won't let you try and attack him in any way, no matter the way you attempt to do it."
Before Bruce had the chance to reassure her that that wasn't the case, she disappeared in front of him and it was then that Alfred said to him, "You do realize, don't you, Master Bruce, that if you actually win, Ra's al Gul will come after the knife."
After he silently stared at the spot where Annabelle had once stood for a couple of seconds, Bruce slowly looked back at Alfred before he said, "Let him."
It was then that the auctioneer told the crowd, "The next item up for auction is an embalming knife. From the tomb of King Balahsi of Sumeria. Opening bid will begin at fifty-thousand dollars."
Just as Bruce was about to announce his amount, Barbara said, "A hundred-thousand dollars."
Bruce turned to look at Alfred and asked him, "What does she want with it?"
Alfred replied, "I have no idea. Stay focused."
The auctioneer said, "One-hundred-thousand dollars to Ms. Kean. Do I hear one—"
Then Bruce said, "One-hundred-thousand and one dollar."
The auctioneer told him, "Actually, Mr. Wayne, the bidding amounts are in fifty-thousand—"
Barbara said to the auctioneer, "Two-hundred-thousand dollars."
The auctioneer replied, "Fine. We have two-hundred-thousand dollars."
Bruce said to the auctioneer, "Two-hundred-thousand and one dollar."
While the crowd started to laugh, Barbara walked over to Bruce and said to him, "Mr. Wayne... How about you let someone else have some fun?"
As he put his hands on his own chest, Bruce replied, "Oh! Sure. No problem. I'm sorry about that."
Then Barbara walked in front of Bruce and said, "Three-hundred-thousand."
The auctioneer replied, "Very well, three-hundred—"
Bruce said to the auctioneer, "Three-hundred-thousand dollars and one cent."
The crowd started to laugh again, while Barbara said, "Five-hundred-thousand." After she turned to face Bruce, she said to him, "Now back off, you little brat."
Bruce replied, "Wow, Ms. Kean. That's a lot of money. For someone like you." Then he held up an arm as he yelled, "Two-million dollars!"
Just as Barbara started to say a number, Oswald quickly took the gavel out of the auctioneer's hand and repeatedly hit the podium with it, while he said, "Sold to Mr. Bruce Wayne."
Annabelle shook her head as she chuckled to herself.
While Oswald limped back over to where he was standing beside Annabelle, she asked him, "Aw, Oswald, why'd you have to do that? It was becoming quite entertaining for me."
Oswald only chuckled in response, while Barbara turned to Bruce, who was clapping his hands together with a big grin on his face, and said to him, "Congratulations, Bruce."
With the grin still on his face, Bruce replied, "Thank you."
While he was limping over towards Bruce with Annabelle close behind him, Oswald said with a laugh, "I do love seeing that woman lose. But a little piece of friendly advice. Barbara Kean does not give up easily. She'll be coming for that knife. I would just, uh, keep a close eye on it if I were you."
Then Oswald repeatedly patted Bruce's shoulder before he limped away from the young millionaire with an amused Annabelle Mikaelson walking close behind him.
* * *
Annabelle was about to tear into the neck of a victim she just grabbed for herself, only to stop when she heard the sound of high heels clicking on the pavement, while the person entered her alleyway.
Without even bothering to look at the person that was walking towards her, Annabelle said to them, "You have to be incredibly stupid to think that you can enter this alleyway and exit it with your head still attached."
It was then that she heard an unfamiliar voice say to her, "My apologies. I've just gotten lost and thought you could help me with getting to the Gotham City Police Department."
Annabelle scoffed as she turned to look at the person with an eyebrow raised, while she replied, "I'm sorry, do I look like a tour guide to you?"
The woman that wore red lipstick and had long, dark hair shook her head as she said, "No, you don't, but from what I was told, I could find you in one of your beloved alleyways and that you were the person I should go to for finding my way around Gotham."
Annabelle tilted her head as she asked the woman, "Oh, yeah? And who said that?"
The woman replied, "Why, Jim Gordon, of course."
Annabelle scoffed as she asked the woman, "You're telling me that James Gordon, my least favorite detective in all of Gotham that never leaves this damn city, came to tell you— whoever you might be— that I could help you with that?" When the woman nodded her head, she said to the woman, "I think you'll understand if I tell you that I don't believe that. I mean, out of all of the people that could say that, it's less likely for him to say that. After all, I've done nothing but want to kill him since he first came to Gotham three years ago. We've never gotten along, so why would he go and find some random woman and tell her this, when it's been known just how much he wishes to have me taken back to Arkham?"
The woman plastered a smile on her face as she held a hand out to Annabelle and asked, "Oh, where are my manners? I've forgotten to introduce myself." While Annabelle eyed the woman's hand, the woman told her, "I'm Sofia Falcone."
Annabelle eyed Sofia with narrowed eyes as she asked, "You're a Falcone?" When Sofia nodded her head, Annabelle said to her, "Don Falcone said nothing about him having a daughter. A son, yes, but nothing about a daughter."
As she let her hand fall back down to her side, Sofia told her, "Well, since Jim said that you're a vampire, I think it shouldn't be too hard to find out if I'm lying, right?"
Annabelle eyed Sofia and made a mental note to call Carmine and confirm that he did in fact have a daughter named Sofia before she said, "I still find it hard to believe that Gordon would willingly speak about me in such a careless manner, as you claim he did with you."
Sofia sighed before she said to the Original, "I know how odd this must be for you, finding out that your former boss has a daughter, but hadn't told you so much as one single thing about me. I was simply told that I could go to you, if I needed to find a location here. I mean, after all, I haven't been here since I was thirteen. I was hoping that you could help me get around, if I needed it."
In turn, Annabelle eyed Sofia once more before she said, "Hmm. Does Don Falcone know that you're here?"
Sofia shook her head as she said, "No, he doesn't, but I will tell him when the time comes. I swear it."
After she glanced at Sofia's raised hand, Annabelle asked her, "Why do you need to get to the GCPD, anyways? I see no point in going to that damn place."
Sofia told her, "I just need to speak with Jim Gordon about something, that's all. You would only need to drop me off there. You wouldn't need to remain there, if you don't wish to."
In turn, Annabelle said, "Fine, but you better not piss me off or annoy me on the way there. If you do, I won't be held responsible for whatever injuries you might receive by my hand."
Sofia smiled at Annabelle as she said, "Thank you, Annabelle. You're much nicer than I've been told."
Annabelle scoffed as she said, "I'm not nice." After she held a hand out to Sofia, she said, "Now, hurry up. I don't have all day."
The moment that Sofia grabbed Annabelle's hand, they were both gone, but not before Annabelle compelled her victim to stay in the alleyway, no matter what.
On the way to the GCPD, Annabelle couldn't help but feel suspicious of Carmine's daughter.
She might not know the exact reason for Sofia returning to Gotham after not being there since she was apparently thirteen, but due to the odd way in which Sofia was acting, she could only hope that it wasn't anything too bad, otherwise she'd have to upset Carmine by killing his daughter.