Work Text:
Anarky has had his eye on Councilman William Blank for a while now. He’s got a few eyes on the Gotham City Council most of the time anyways, but this one especially.
Anarky has hated Councilman Blank for almost as long as he’s known he existed. A hardline conservative, elected for being “tough on crime”, standard fare in Gotham. Lonnie could count on one hand the number of Gotham officials who ran on lowering the crime rate that actually made any sort of impact. And one of the people on that hand would be Harvey Dent.
Still, it was the sort of thing that Gothamites ate up, even if his policies in every other area ranged from unpopular at best to downright nonsensical at worst.
Of particular note to Anarky was a recent policy he’d introduced and passed by a narrow margin destroying several homeless encampments in the east end of the city.
Ostensibly the move was meant to reduce crime in the area, though Lonnie had his doubts. The councilman was a real estate developer as well, and the location would be prime if not for its proximity to the Scarecrow’s base of operations.
Of course, he’d be lying if he said this wasn’t personal.
Anarky has known Marvin since he was 13 years old. He was part of the group that always hung around with Legs, an impromptu gathering of homeless Gothamites that had supported Lonnie when he was just starting out.
That is to say, Anarky had known Marvin since he was 13 years old.
A week ago his body had been found in an alley in the Narrows, frozen next to a dumpster. The police had determined the cause of death was exposure. No further investigation needed.
Nobody could be blamed for the harshness of the elements. Nobody could be punished for the misfortune of one man, to be outside with no protection on such a cold night.
No justice for the sins of the elite.
So it is up to the will of Anarky to see justice done.
Lonnie sits perched on a rooftop across from the apartment of Councilman Blank, eyes trained on the window, waiting patiently for the councilman to return from his committee meeting. He is so engrossed in waiting for his prey that he does not hear the footsteps making their way across the roof towards him. He does not even realize that there is another person there with him until they speak.
“Lonnie?”
Damnit. He’d recognize that voice anywhere.
Anarky turns around and meets the questioning gaze of Red Robin.
“What are you doing here?” Red Robin, Timothy Drake, plants his staff on the ground as he speaks, one hand on his hip. It’s an attempt to look casual, but Lonnie is well aware of the many weapons and gadgets hidden in the belts of the Bats.
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Lonnie’s tone is dismissive as he turns back to the window, resuming his scan of the building. He hopes that Tim will take the hint and leave him be. He’s not exactly prepared to fight a Bat right now.
“If you’re planning on doing something illegal there, I’ll have to stop you.” Both hands are on the staff now, and he’s sharpened his stance. The message is clear. Red Robin isn’t going to leave without either a fight or answers.
Lonnie whips around to face Red Robin, anger bubbling in his voice.
“You should hardly object to the dealing of justice. If the councilman were any other man he would pay for the life that he took. But because he isn’t, because he kills using law and ordinance instead of guns and blades he faces no consequences!”
Red Robin takes a step back, as though surprised by Anarky’s outburst.
“Whoa hold on, who died? And what does councilman Blank have to do with it?”
“A…friend of mine. He had been living in the camp that was destroyed a few weeks ago. It’s Blank’s fault that he’s dead.” There’s a hitch in Anarky’s voice as he speaks.
“Oh man…” Tim’s eyes aren’t visible through his mask, but the pain is evident in his voice. At the very least Lonnie seems to have made Red Robin uncomfortable. He’ll settle for making one of the servants of the system rethink their role, if he gets nothing else out of this encounter. “Look, whatever you were about to do to him, don’t give him what he wants. You’re just going to prove his point if you attack him.”
Anarky was planning on killing him, but he isn’t going to say that in front of Red Robin. “What he wants is to get away scott free! He needs to face consequences for what he’s done!”
“There are other ways to make yourself heard, you know. He’ll be up for election again soon, why not focus on getting him out of office?” Tim’s trying to find a solution, he knows that, but Lonnie can’t bring himself to believe that Blank’s replacement will be any better than he was.
“You know I don’t trust the system like that. Especially not here.” Lonnie turns his back on Red Robin, resuming his surveillance of the house.
A minute passes in silence until Tim casually walks forward and sits down next to Lonnie. Lonnie breaks his concentration to turn and look at the man sitting next to him, flipping his staff around in his hands like he has nothing better to do.
“...You’re not going to leave until I do, are you.”
“Not unless there’s an emergency.” Lonnie curses himself for not having the foresight to create some kind of distraction. In his defense, the Bat has a small army by his side these days. It’s hard to come up with something that can reliably command the attention of all of them without risking innocents being hurt. He had simply hoped that none of them would be patrolling here before he had achieved his goal.
Anarky stands up, turning the telescopic lenses of his mask off and walking across the roof away from Red Robin.
“Fine, you win. I’ll leave the Councilman alone.”
“Hey, wait!”
Lonnie turns around, impassive golden mask artfully hiding the annoyance that plays across his face.
“There’s a fraud case involving Lexcorp I’ve been having trouble with. I haven’t been able to get access to the payment systems to check everything out, but maybe you could help?” It’s an olive branch, a clumsy attempt to apologize for interrupting him. Lonnie would really rather not spend his valuable time working with a Bat (aside from perhaps Stephanie or Harper, but Harper was barely a Bat to begin with and he’d ruined any chance he had with Stephanie) but an opportunity to ruin Lex Luthor’s day was hardly something he’s going to pass up.
“Fine. What did you have in mind?”
***
On another rooftop, not far away, a man watches the two vigilantes leave together. Blood red lipstick exaggerates the man’s frown, thin lips looking almost cartoonish against his stark white skin.
“Ugh, birds. Always ruining our fun, aren’t they?”
He shoots a pointed look at the roof next to him where a pigeon has decided to settle itself. The pigeon looks at him blankly and coos.
“Exactly! Now I don’t know why exactly my dear runaway pup wants Mr. Blank dead so badly, but his birthday is coming up…”
The pigeon coos and ruffles its feathers, tucking its head under its wing for a nap, only to be roughly awakened by the Joker scooping it up and yelling at it.
“What do you mean it’s already June?”
He tosses the pigeon aside and pulls a knife from inside his coat, face morphing into a sadistic, tooth filled grin.
“Doesn’t matter. I don’t need an opportunity to give a gift, and this is exactly my kind of gift.”
***
Councilman William Blank is found dead the next day. His body is discovered in his office, throat cut and mouth slashed ear to ear. A note is pinned to his chest with the murder weapon, a note written in a childish scrawl in blood red lipstick.
“Smile, you’re a gift!”
***
Deep in the caverns beneath Gotham, Batman frowns at his computer. Joker’s movements have been…erratic lately, even more so than usual. This crime should be simple. Joker’s done this before, going after people that he believes Batman or Bruce Wayne have some interest in.
And yet searching through his memories of the last few months reveals nothing. Bruce can’t think of any interaction with the councilman, positive or negative that would compel the Joker to target him. And yet this wasn’t random violence either, the note is unmistakably in Joker’s handwriting and he took the time to carve up the victim’s face as well. A copycat perhaps?
Bruce is shaken from his contemplation by an alert from another computer screen. A sighting of the Joker at the Gotham docks. It seems he’ll have the opportunity to ask the clown about the councilman himself.
***
Lonnie smiles at his phone screen. The news isn’t showing all the details of the murder, but he found the police report without much trouble. Even at a glance, his father’s hand is obvious.
It’s not exactly how he would have done the job, but he certainly can’t complain that it’s done.