While Annabelle was lying down on the bar of the nightclub, she did nothing but sigh as she listened to the romantic song Oswald was listening to and continued to wait for Sofia Falcone to make her appearance at the lunch they apparently agreed upon.
It didn't matter how many times she insisted on just packing everything up and going about the rest of his day doing as he wanted.
Oswald just wouldn't listen to her.
He would insist that Sofia would be there any minute and that he would hate for her to show up with no food that was present.
After telling him to just leave and do as he wanted and him failing to listen to her for what felt like the twentieth time at that point, she grabbed herself a bottle of scotch and started to drink out of it.
It was only at that moment that she heard approaching footsteps, which got her to turn her head to see who was coming, only to let out another sigh when she saw that it was only Victor Zsasz that was walking over to the table that Oswald was sitting at.
Once he heard her sigh, Victor glanced over at her to see how annoyed she currently was.
Whether it was by Oswald's choice of going out to eat with Sofia, or Oswald refusing to listen to her, he wasn't sure.
What he was sure of, though, was that no matter the reason, Annabelle wasn't happy one bit.
After he looked away from her, Victor walked towards the table and said once he was standing at the table, "She's not coming."
Oswald raised his eyebrows as he said, "What?"
Victor told him, "Sofia. Your lunch date."
Oswald said to him, "It's not a date."
Victor replied, "Whatever. She called, she's not coming."
Oswald asked him, "Did she say why?"
As he sat down across from Oswald and started to eat the food that was laid out onto the small table, Victor replied, "Something came up, I don't know. I wasn't listening." While Oswald silently stared at Victor with narrowed eyes, Victor said with a shake of his head, "It's just gonna go to waste."
Oswald sighed as he said to Victor, "I want you to follow her, find out who she's with."
Victor asked him, "You think she's two-timing you?"
Oswald replied, "She and I are not..."
While Victor eyed him and Annabelle simply chuckled to herself, Oswald said to him, "This lunch was her idea. Now she cancels all of a sudden. I want to know why. That's all."
While he continued to chew on the bread he originally grabbed, Victor slowly nodded his head, which got Oswald to sharply inhale before he yelled, "Now, Victor!"
Victor nodded his head as he said, "Sure." Then he looked past Oswald and asked, "Hey, Annabelle, do you want a bite?"
Annabelle shrugged before she sped over towards them and sat beside Victor.
Then she grabbed a piece of her own bread and took a bite out of it, only to stop chewing when she saw Oswald glaring at her.
With furrowed eyebrows, she said, "What? You told him to go and follow Sofia. You didn't say that I had to do anything."
Oswald sighed as he replied, "Y-You know what? Just go with Victor. I don't care what you do. Just go."
Annabelle eyed him before she tilted her head and said to him, "You know, I think that Victor's right. You are acting as if you're some jealous boyfriend of hers."
Oswald started to yell, "Annabelle—"
She laughed as she stood from her seat but not before she grabbed another piece of bread and said to him, "Relax, will you? I'm just joking." When Oswald started to glare at her once more, she chuckled as she said, "And people say that I'm the serious one."
Oswald stood up and was about to yell at her again, only to stop when Annabelle laughed yet again before she grabbed Victor's hand and sped off with him.
* * *
As she stood on Victor's right, Annabelle eyed Oswald, who was eating a buffalo wing, while Victor started to tell him, "So it turns out Sofia broke her date with you—"
Oswald yelled, "It was not a date!"
Annabelle chuckled as she replied, "Sure it wasn't."
While Oswald glared at Annabelle, Victor said, "... to have lunch with the mayor." After Oswald tossed his buffalo wing into the bucket and dried his mouth with a cloth, Victor told him, "They went to Angelo's. She had the lobster ravioli, he had the tagliatelle. After they parted ways, Sofia went to the old Gotham Heritage Hotel."
Oswald said to himself, "I don't understand. That place has been vacant for years."
From where he was standing on the other side of Victor, Arthur Penn said to Oswald, "If I may. A couple months ago, I'd gotten word a secret buyer had purchased the hotel at six-percent over asking. I think it's safe to assume that buyer was Ms. Falcone."
As he quickly waved his hand, Oswald asked, "But why?"
As he walked closer to Oswald's desk and dropped several pictures on Oswald's desk, Victor told him, "When she got there, she met with this clown."
Arthur told him, "The zoning commissioner. She'd have to have had his approval for the wall and gate she built."
Oswald chuckled to himself before he said, "She's making alliances with politicians, building a fortress, all the while she's pretending to be my friend. She's been planning a war."
Annabelle scoffed, which got Oswald to hold a hand out to her as he said, "Not now, Annabelle."
After Oswald quickly hit his fist on the desk, Victor started to smirk, while Oswald leaned back into his chair and said, "Victor, we'll be having a chat with Ms. Falcone."
Victor replied, "Just so we are clear, is this a chat-chat, or a shovel in the trunk kind of chat?"
Annabelle stared at Oswald with narrowed eyes and started to wonder which course of action he would take, only to stop and a bloodthirsty grin to make its way onto her face, while Oswald said, "Get the shovel."
After watching Victor leave the room, Oswald said to Annabelle, "You're coming with us. I need you and Victor to both help send a message for what happens when one attempts to double-cross me." While Annabelle's bloodthirsty grin became even wider, he said to her, "Besides, I know just how much you hate her. I'm sure you wouldn't be too opposed to having her head on display on the tallest building here in Gotham."
It was then that Annabelle started to laugh as she thought of the pleasing imagery of Sofia's blood gushing out of the spot where her head should be the moment she was finished with Sofia.
While Oswald wasn't bothered by Annabelle's maniacal laughter, Arthur couldn't help but flinch when her laugh started to get louder and louder.
If Arthur wasn't feeling uneasy around her before the conversation, he definitely was at that exact moment.
After all, what could be scarier than a sadistic and psychopathic Original vampire that laughed at the mere thought of the death of one of her enemies?
* * *
Sofia Falcone was in the midst of checking on her makeup by using a compact mirror, only to stop and turn around when she heard footsteps.
When she did, she saw Oswald Cobblepot and Annabelle Mikaelson standing near the entrance of the room she was in.
As she closed the compact mirror, she said with a smile, "Oswald, I didn't know you were coming."
Oswald replied, "I thought I'd surprise you."
As she glanced over at Annabelle, who was standing beside Oswald with her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest, Sofia asked, "And Annabelle? I didn't expect her to come over, either."
Oswald replied, "Well, you know Annabelle. Always there by my side, making sure no one tries to pull one over on me."
While Oswald limped into the room with Annabelle walking closely behind him, Sofia nodded her head before she said, "I'm sorry I had to cancel our lunch yesterday. It was unavoidable. You have to let me make it up to you."
Oswald asked her, "How about now?"
Sofia told him, "I was actually on my way out."
While Annabelle slowly tilted her head, Oswald said as he limped around the small table and had his back facing Sofia, "Oh. Hmm. Where to?"
Sofia said to him, "This is going to sound strange, but I can't tell you. Not yet. I, uh, want it to be a surprise."
Oswald put down the frame of the picture he was looking at, while he turned to face Sofia and replied, "The thing is... The cat's out of the bag."
Sofia's eyebrows furrowed as she said, "I don't understand."
Oswald yelled, "I know what you're doing! The old Heritage Hotel, the fortress from which you're going to attack me!"
Sofia glanced at Annabelle and saw the wide smirk she had on her face before she looked back at Oswald with furrowed eyebrows as she said to him, "What? No."
Oswald replied, "Oh, oh! Oh, so you weren't pretending to be my friend while building your power base?" After he started to laugh, he said as he limped towards her, "I should have known. Annabelle kept telling me that you weren't to be trusted, that you were planning something behind my back, but I didn't listen. But just like she is every other time something goes wrong, she was right."
Sofia started to say to him, "Oswald—"
Oswald started to say to her, "But, you know, your father's blood definitely runs through your veins. Luckily, not for long."
With a smile plastered on her face, Sofia told him, "Oswald, you're making a mistake. I'm your friend."
Annabelle scoffed as she said, "You can drop the act now, Sofia. There's no use in you continuing to pretend as if you haven't been plotting against Oswald since the moment you arrived in Gotham."
While Sofia stared down at Annabelle with wide eyes and saw that Annabelle's veins were on display, Oswald replied, "We'll see, won't we?" After he quickly grabbed Sofia's arm, he said to her, "Now, let's go see what you're building. I can't wait!"
* * *
After watching Sofia and Oswald step out of the back door of the vehicle the four of them were originally in, Annabelle Mikaelson narrowed her eyes at Sofia, while Sofia said to one of the men standing guard of the building, "It's okay, Charlie."
It was only after the men stepped aside and the four of them stopped in front of the entryway to the building that Sofia stopped and turned to Oswald before she said to him, "Oswald... I want you to know I forgive you."
While Annabelle tilted her head, she looked over at the doors to the building, just before the sound of clamoring children was heard as they quickly left the building and went down the stairs towards Sofia.
While all the children said 'Ms. Sofia', Victor said to Oswald, "Uh, boss?"
Oswald asked Sofia, "What is this? What's happening?"
Victor chuckled as he said, "Kids."
Sofia did nothing but smile at the children that practically surrounded her, while Oswald looked at a sign that said 'Falcone Home and School For Orphans'.
As he limped towards Sofia, Oswald asked her, "You started an orphanage?"
Sofia told him, "I wanted to surprise you next week when everything was finished."
Oswald started to say to her, "I... I—"
After he glanced over at Annabelle, Victor quietly said to her, "It looks like you were wrong, Annabelle. It doesn't look like she's planning anything against Penguin."
Annabelle shook her head as she quietly replied, "I'm never wrong. She's still planning something. She only means to use this orphanage as a cover up. That's all."
Victor only sighed in response before he looked back at the children and eyed them, while a woman was heard saying, "Children, back inside please."
While the children ran back up the stairs and into the building, Sofia said to Oswald, "Oswald, I want you to know I understand the pressure you face. Your very survival depends on seeing everyone as a potential threat. And I watched my father bear that weight for years. I don't want you to end up like him."
Oswald said to her, "Sofia, please forgive me."
Sofia chuckled as she asked him, "How can I... when I've already forgiven you? Well, you do owe me one thing."
Oswald replied, "Anything."
With a smile on her face, Sofia said to him, "Lunch. How do you feel about mac and cheese?"
With a chuckle, Oswald replied, "I love it."
Sofia also chuckled before she turned to look at Annabelle and said to the Original, "I forgive you as well, Annabelle. I understand how difficult it must be to see the worst in others and always expect an act of sabotage."
Victor glanced at Annabelle and saw that her veins were on display before she said to Sofia, "I don't want your forgiveness, Sofia Falcone. As a matter of fact, I don't want anything from you."
After she quickly walked towards Sofia and shoved Oswald aside, she said, "I know you're plotting something and you are simply using this orphanage as a cover up for whatever it is you're planning, so don't think that just because you've managed to grow on Oswald that the same would happen for me. I didn't like you the moment I first met you and I still don't like you now, so don't think that that will suddenly change merely because of Oswald's liking towards you, you bloody imbecilic—"
Then Oswald covered Annabelle's mouth with his hand as he said to Sofia, "I'm sorry about her. Annabelle does mean well. She just doesn't know how to really show her appreciation to others."
Annabelle grabbed Oswald's wrist and removed his hand from her mouth before she replied, "I actually do know how to show my appreciation to others. You, Sofia, just so happen to be part of the majority that I don't appreciate."
Then she turned her back on the three of them and started to walk away, while Oswald asked her, "Annabelle, where are you going?"
Annabelle replied, "Anywhere I please."
Oswald started to say to her, "But, Annabelle—"
Annabelle stopped walking and turned to look at Oswald as she said to him, "I'm sorry, Oswald, but I'm not going to idly stand by and watch as she continues to make a fool out of you." As she started to walk away and looked away from him, she said to him, "Do me a favor and call me when you realize that she is actually trying to undermine you. Until then, don't bother calling me for anything."
Before Oswald or Victor could say anything more to her, she was gone.