43. Old Friends and New Problems

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Deserey had been in GCPD headquarters a handful of times -- or maybe she hadn't considering history was momentarily all jacked up -- mostly to antagonize one James Gordon. This time was no different.

"We really gonna work with pigs?" Mick snarled. It was a bit too loud, but Deserey couldn't hold it against him given his track record with police. She herself didn't hold the so called authority figures to very high standards either, not when the entire system was corrupt, racist, sexist, and bigoted in an infinite number of other ways as well -- especially in Gotham.

"It's just one -- uh, maybe two," Dez promised. "Package deal type thing."

That didn't make Mick look any happier. He growled as a pair of deputies passed by, eyeing their group suspiciously. (Of course they were. Everyone in Gotham was suspicious...) Leonard grabbed hold of Mick's jacket sleeve, pulling him along as they followed Dez to the back of the building, past the holding cells, and up the flight of maroon stairs. The place put him on edge, brought up things he'd buried years ago. It was also strange willing walking into a police station for once -- without handcuffs around his wrists. "You seem to know your way around this place. I thought you've never been arrested before?"

Dez shrugged. "Doesn't mean I've never visited the police station before. Seriously, anyone can just walk in here at any time. No one gives a shit here." She pushed her way into the little office at the back of the platform; it looked as if they were interrupting a meeting between three men -- one of which was none other than Oswald Cobblepot.

He'd changed over the years, but not quite enough for Deserey to stop recognizing him. Besides the obvious aging in his face -- he was thirty-eight now, so he wasn't that old -- he was pretty much the same as he'd always been, albeit he had, perhaps, put on a few more pounds since the last time Deserey had seen him. (Which was good, she had to admit, because he was skin and bones before.) The thicker frame erased the thin, bird like limbs, but in turn gave his figure even more resemblance to the winged arctic creature he was nicknamed after. And was that a monocle over his eye? Oof. Top hot to cover his unruly hair. And the umbrella -- an iconic item, a must have.

"Who's the weasel?" Mick asked, because the guy didn't look anything like a cop to him. Just the opposite actually, more criminal, like him and Snart. What's more, he could easily be pegged as a rat -- it was all in his eyes. He'd do anything to save his own skin, even sell out his most loyal crew members. What a punk.

"Penguin, actually," Dez corrected.

"Hm?"

"Excuse me!" Oswald burst out. "We're in the middle of something here!!" Ah, so he was still prone to temper tantrums. Good to know. It'd be tremendous fun to wind him up and watch him go, for old time's sake, but that would have been incredibly dangerous; it also would have wasted valuable time that Deserey did not have to lose. Not with her children on the line. Still, she couldn't resist pushing at least one of his buttons.

"Not any more, Waddles." Dez smirked as his face fell flat; his eyes widened, mouth falling agape as it dawned on him: she was the only one who ever called him that. Perhaps, it had taken him a while to recognize her, given that the last time he'd seen her she was only a teenager -- that and the fact that she was a boy. At least, he'd thought she'd been a boy. "Bigger fish to fry. Now, I need the only cop in existence who gives a damn about this place -- where's Gordon?"

Oswald pointed, a bit too stunned to speak, at the man perched on the desk at the back of the room. Square jaw. Hard eyes. He didn't look it, but he was a big softy. Jim. The cop hadn't changed much either, except for the hint of a mustache that was a huge mistake for his face. He held up a hand before slowly lowering it again. His eyes widened, too, as he got a good look at the woman in front of him. "Wait... Dez?" He'd spent a great deal of time trying to help her. Lord only knows why, she was always such a shit to him. "I thought you were taken by the child snatchers?"

Sara and the two thieves exchanged looks, Leonard raising an eyebrow at the comment. "Child snatchers?" Leonard asked.

"Yeah, it was this whole thing with this lady and some pins," Dez shrugged. The three other Legends got more curious, especially given how casual her tone was about it, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to happen. Perhaps, in Gotham it was pretty common place. Deserey didn't seemed phased by Gordon's words, a bit amused if anything. She ignored her team mates questioning gazes, keeping her eyes on the officer in front of her. "That was such a long time ago," she gave the softest of chuckles. "Almost forgot about it. But no. They didn't take me. I was actually just kidnapped by myself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harvey asked, making his presence known. He was leaning against the wall at the back of the room, looking as cool as ever, fedora and all.

"It means we're time travelers," Sara put in, giving Dez an interesting look. "And Rip is going to give you one hell of a lecture about subtly when we get back to the ship."

"Me? You're the one who said time travel! I just said I kidnapped myself. Way more subtle."

Gordon stared at them, blank faced. Harvey shook his head, and Oswald blinked. "Time travel? Really? You don't possibly expect anyone to believe that ludicrous story, do you?" The Penguin scoffed.

Harvey gestured at the crime lord, nodding briefly. "I'm with Penguin on this one. We have to draw the line somewhere. I mean, what's next? Aliens? Alternate realities?"

"Nah, man, that was last week," Dez said.

Harvey groaned, rubbing at his temples like he was getting a migraine. "I need a drink."

"This is absurd!" Oswald protested. "And in case you haven't noticed we are in the middle of --"

"Zip it, weasel!" Mick growled.

Oswald stared back at him, at first flabbergasted -- who was this brute to talk back to him in such a way?? Then, he was furious. How dare this no named nobody speak to him -- the self proclaimed King of Gotham, notorious crime lord, ex mayor of the city, the Penguin -- like that! "Now, you listen here --"

"Oswald," Jim scolded. He gave the crime lord a slight shake of the head, which he begrudgingly listened to. Though he was no doubt already plotting an elaborate murder scheme for Mick in his mind. Meanwhile, Leonard held his arm in front of Mick, keeping him held back from the Penguin. A fight between the two would get very ugly, very fast, and no one needed that. 

Deserey eyed Gordon. Her eyes wandered over the badge pinned to his shirt. "Commissioner?"

He glanced down at the badge as if he'd forgotten it was even there. "Oh. Yeah."

"Commissioner Gordon. Has a nice ring to it."

"Come on, don't make his head swell more than it already is!" Harvey stepped forward. Mick made a growling noise at the moment, Leonard keeping his arm firmly in front of his partner, just in case one of his violent impulses took over. They didn't need that kind of heat, not with Penguin and definitely not with the cops, not when they were trying to help Dez find her kids.

Jim's gaze flickered over to the other three Legends standing behind Deserey. Maybe he was just thinking how they seemed to escalate things just by standing in the room. At least one of them had a temper to rival Oswald's and that in of itself was bad news. He'd never seen them in Gotham before, and that made them even more dangerous. Strangers really were dangerous in Gotham City. "Who are they?"

She turned pointing at each of her friends in turn. "Sara. She's an assassin, Leonard and Mick, they're thieves. Also Mick is an arsonist." Leonard stared at her, the other two gawking in shock. How could she just be so blunt with that information? "I figured since we're throwing subtly out the window..."

"You're in a police station," Harvey reminded her. "Don't say things like that in here!"

"Why'd you come back to Gotham?" Jim asked, sitting up in his chair. "Not that I don't appreciate small talk but, I'm assuming that's not the only reason you've come here."

"Oh, we're going to kill a bitch for kidnapping my children."

Harvey gestured around the room, voice elevated slightly as he spoke. "Again, we're in a police station! Do not say things like that in here!"

Dez rolled her eyes. "Like you'd arrest me or my friends." Harvey shrugged in agreement, prompting a curious gaze from Leonard. He'd met some dirty cops in his time -- Hell, his old man was one of them, but he'd never seen one be so blatant about it. Then again, they didn't exactly seem dirty per sey. It was just that they didn't mind bending the rules a bit -- or even breaking them all together. That, by definition, was technically the definition of dirty cop, but they did it with the best of intentions. Sort of like Flash and that little team of his. Like Joe West. Leonard had mixed feelings about that.

"Why come here of all places?" Jim asked.

"No one can get people to talk like you two can, and I need help tracking them," Dez gave a brief shrug. "And also I need to exploit the weak and take advantage of people -- speaking of, you can help with that, Ozzy. Sara and the boys here are good at all that, but I need people who know the city inside and out too."

Oswald gave a tight smile, hands folded in front of him. A tell-tell sign that he was completely full of shit. "A sad tale. Truly. My sincerest sympathies to you and your children, but unfortunately, our hands our tied. We have more pressing matters to attend to."

Dez shook her head. "First of all, ain't nothin' more pressing than my babies. Second, you keep saying that, but no one has said what this uber duper important business actually is."

Harvey shrugged. "You know how this city is. Some lunatic gets a big head, tries to take over, Penguin gets cranky cause they're in his territory," Oswald shot him a glare, "all hell breaks lose."

"Who's the lunatic?" Leonard asked. Everyone gave him a brief look. "Out of curiosity."

"We don't have an ID yet. Just  surveillance footage from the outside of a drug store." He played the footage for them, which had to be against ten different kinds of regulations, not that Leonard cared. It was just mildly amusing. The amusement died quickly. The footage. It happened within seconds -- people dropping dead one by one in a matter of seconds. That wasn't the shocking bit, though. It was the perpetrator. They turned, their face clear as day for the camera.

Sara squinted at the screen. "Is that...Savage?"

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