***

I couldn't stomach the idea of going to the hideout and being alone, although I still felt that sense of loneliness now surrounded by criminals in the secret room of the Iceberg Lounge. It seemed that I wasn't the only one who wanted to spend Christmas Day alone, and since the incident in Arkham this place was much more lively than before.

All anyone was talking about was the recent murder of Milos Grappa, one of Falcone's bodyguards, not that it was any surprise. The Holiday Killer's pattern was clear, they only killed on holidays and it seemed that they had some kind of vendetta against the Falcone crime family.  One that was increasing tension within the Gotham underground as Carmine Falcone was becoming increasingly desperate to find whoever was looking to take down his empire.

"Alone on Christmas?"  A familiar voice questioned, and I couldn't help but feel surprised that the man who claimed he disliked the Iceberg Lounge found himself here on Christmas. Though it really shouldn't have been as everyone in the room was here as a pathetic escape from their loneliness. "And in that dress?"

I turned to meet Floyd Lawton's dark eyes who although as serious as always, seemed slightly amused. He was wearing is using black and red attire as he leaned against the bar counter. It wasn't difficult to imagine that he was possibly coming here after completing on of his jobs. "I don't see how that's any of your business Floyd."

He looked around the room with a smirk on his lips before leaning closer. "See everyone has been talking about tensions between you Sirens. They're starting to see that cracks."

It was true, I wasn't completely sure if we were still the Sirens at all. Since the Arkham incident things had to been cleared between Harley and Ivy, and rumors spread fast in Gotham especially when it came to the possibility of gaining more power. "Is that some kind of warning?"

"Just to be careful. You don't want them to think you're weak." Floyd said dismissively as he turned to look at all the other criminals in the room who were chatting away with one another.

"Weak?" I repeated in disbelief, the idea of being thought of as weak after everything I have done to make a name of myself in Gotham was infuriating. Maybe it was all the emotions building up or the alcohol that was making it's way through my veins, but suddenly the lights around the room began to flicker. I heard people's gasps but they hardly registered in my mind as I looked at Floyd irritated by his words.  "I could kill everyone in this room in an instant if I wanted to."

"I know. It's good that you reminded them though." He replied a turned and looked around to the room where everyone seemed uneasy as they looked my way. Their fear was unmistakable, because they knew it too. My abilities were deadly even if I rarely used them, which might be the reason they seemed to have forgotten that I had them at all.

Slowly I realized that this was what Floyd wanted. He wanted me to react this way, to prove that I didn't need the Siren's to be a real threat. Oddly, I found myself appreciating him, at least enough to continue our conversation. "What do you want?"

"I can think of a couple of things."  He mused as he looked at me suggestively, and I simply rolled my eyes as I retuned my gaze back to my drink. "But if you want to talk. We can talk. Have you heard that Jokers going even more insane? Rambling that there can't be two homicidal maniacs in Gotham."

The truth was that I couldn't care less what was happening with the Joker or the Holiday Killer. Those weren't my problems to solve and they didn't involve me. All I was focused on was my own inner turmoil and no amount of talking would get my mind off of my troubles.

Retuning my gaze back to Floyd, who was looking at me expectantly, I considered him for a moment. There was no denying how incredibly good looking he was and although hearing him talk wasn't effective distraction,  there were other things that were. And suddenly I found myself stepping closer to Floyd "I don't want to talk."

Floyd smiled understanding completely what I needed and from the way his smile didn't reach his eyes it was clear this was something that he needed too. "Then do you want to get out of here?"

"I thought you'd never ask." I replied as I grabbed my clutch before following him out of the Iceberg Lounge. As unfazed as I seemed, this was something that was new to me. I had never spent a night with a stranger, the only one was still Dick Grayson and maybe that was why I was finding it so difficult to completely let him go.

For me to stop thinking of him as the one, I needed to make sure that he wasn't the only one. I needed to let him go completely by finding other distractions that would bury all the memories of him. That much I knew I could do and tonight was going to be the start.

***

The last couple of days with all the tensions running in Gotham and my increased encounters with Dick I had found myself exhausted and admittedly incredibly lonely. Once again feeling weighed down by others expectations even if I felt more powerful than I did before. 

But now laying in this bed with Floyd Lawton I felt oddly liberated. And a lot less lonely than I did before.

"You clearly had some anger that needed release." Floyd commented still slightly out of breath as he reached into drawer at his beside moving a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Once he lite the cigarette he offered it to me.

I hesitated for a moment not being a fan of cigarettes, but ultimately one time wouldn't do much harm. Taking the cigarette between my fingers I placed it one my lips once feeling the hot smoke invade my lungs before handing it back to him. "So did you."

"Want to compare emotional scares?" He questioned and I initially thought that he was joking but one glance told me that he was very serious.

I thought about it for a while weigh whether it was a good idea knowing that kind of intimacy could lead to attachments, and that was the last thing I wanted from this one time tine. But I couldn't deny that I was curious how someone like Floyd Lawton could become a hitman. Though a year ago I would have never thought that someone like me would become a thief. "Well let me guess you grew up rich..."

"How did you guess?" He questioned as he turned towards me in surprise. It was almost amusing how he thought of himself as a mystery and although in many ways he was, there were was something incredibly clear about who he was.

"You have rich boy manners."

Floyd turned to face me his interest clearly piqued, this was the first time I had ever referenced something about my life outside of Gotham's underground. Considering that a couple of months ago I appeared out of nowhere at the Iceberg Lounge it was only natural that everyone was curious. "You've been around a lot of rich boys?"

"A few come to mind." I replied though I didn't want to discuss the topic further. The reason why she was here was to distract herself from all outside problems yet now she found herself about to discuss personal detail with someone who was practically a stranger to her. "But I don't understand how you became a criminal."

The smile quickly disappeared as he seemed to realize that comparing emotional scared actually meant revealing them. For the first time I saw a hint of uncertainty come from him, something that was oddly satisfying to see from him. "My father was an abusive asshole. Hurt my mother and brother. One day he took it far, so I took his gun and fired."

Floyd paused for a moment gathering his thoughts. The pain was so vivid in his eyes that I couldn't help but feel his pain too. 

"I missed. I shot and killed my brother instead, since that day I vowed to never miss a shot ever again." 

His words were a lot to wrap my mind around. Of course I knew that everyone in Gotham's underworld had some kind of tragic backstory, but Floyd was always someone I assumed did everything without a purpose. That he only worked to get paid no matter the lives that he took.

"Now you,"  He began as "you you're too nice. Too good to be surrounded my people like Joker or Penguin. People like me."

I couldn't deny that I felt stunned by his words. The fact that he saw me in that way was slightly comforting, knowing that I hadn't completely lost touch wit who I was. "Why do you say that?"

"It's in you eyes."

Nodding I did my best to not seem affected by his words. "Never took you to be the sentimental type."

"I may be a cold blooded murderer, but I am human." Floyd reminded me, a reminder that I seemed to need constantly. 

Though It wasn't something that only applied to Floyd but the rest of Gotham's rogues including myself. Sometimes with all the terrible things that we did it was easy to forget that we were all human. That we all became what we were because we were hurt, because we were human and had to find a way to coupe with our tragedies.  

"Well, this was fun but I really should get going." I stated as I sat up reaching for my dress that was discarded on the carpet. My desire to leave was both my unwillingness to share my story knowing that giving him the full picture meant revealing that I had worked with the Batman, and the fact that I knew it was better not to get to involved with Floyd or anyone else. 

I couldn't help but appreciate the fact that Floyd didn't place any pressure on me to tell my story. That he was willing to accept the fact that I wasn't ready to share too. "Will this happen again?"

"I'll consider it." I replied dismissively as I zipped up my dress looking for any other things that I didn't want to leave behind and have a reason to return. 

"Looking for these?"  Floyd questioned a he raised a piece of familiar black lace. His smile was truly wicked as he stood not bothering to cover his naked figure as he approached me, which spoke of just how confident he was in himself. Once he was in front of me I took the black lace from his grasp keeping my eyes locked on his. "Is it really something you need to think about? You didn't seem so undeceive before coming here."

"I get it. We had sex." I said as I turned away from him to slip my heels on, still feeling him incredibly close.

Once my shoes were on my feet I opened his bedroom window planning to slip out through the fire escape. The night was still incredibly cold and the reality was that ideally I would have liked to stay. If it didn't have too many implications. 

"More than once if I remember correctly. Multiple times actually." Floyd replied a satisfied smile touching his lips as he reached forward to close his window. In the process "You're actually saying that you wouldn't want this happen again?"

"If you think I'm the one that's going to get attached you're mistaken." I stated as I took a step closer to him running my hands down his bare chest. There was no denying how attractive he was or the fact that I did enjoy our time together. He was a perfect and beautiful distraction.

Leaning forward I pulled him into a deep kiss enjoying how normal this felt, and how he just seemed to fill the void of loneliness. That was enough for me to be convinced that I did want this to happen again. And there was no doubt in my mind that I was help Floyd with his own loneliness. 

It wasn't long before his lips left my own and traveled down to my neck as he worked to unzip my dress again. As the dress fell to my feet his lips began to travel farther down my body until he was on his knees in front of my placing slow kisses on my hip bone. 

"Whoever he is he's a fool." Floyd muttered against her skin and for the first time she found herself really thinking about Dick Grayson.

But I couldn't find it in myself to correct him. Because the truth was that I was  the fool.

I was the one that left him for this life. And although I didn't find myself regretting my departure from Wayne Manor there was no denying that Dick was a casualty in that decision. That even though he lied to me he didn't deserve the way I treated him then and the way I'm treating him now.

***

Although the thought of seeing Selina was one that greatly irritated me, I would have to face her eventually. Though in reality I had to acknowledge the fact that Selina was undoubtedly out with Bruce Wayne or Batman. 

After having left Floyd's everything about Selina became suddenly clear. That invitation was Alfred's attempt at bringing Selina and Bruce together. Dick and I too, but when it came to Bruce and Selina their relationship was something that had been happening for a very long time. If they were together they were probably attempting to solve the city's latest murder. 

Or they weren't able to fix things between them either and like me Selina was looking to clear her mind from her conflicting emotions and thoughts.

Stepping into the building it was hard to miss the new greenery that now decorated floor and all the walls. Relief seemed to flood through me at the realization that Ivy had returned.

"Ivy?" I called out into the darkness carefully steeping inside making sure that I wasn't stepping on any of Ivy's beloved plants. The last thing I wanted was to anger her when she had finally returned. 

"Cheyenne." Ivy replied softly and following the direction of her voice I found her silhouette sitting on the couch at the far end of the room. Taking her reply as an invitation I slowly made my way towards her hoping that she was much better than when she left.

I couldn't deny that the last couple of weeks I had been incredibly worried about Ivy, especially after everything that happened. Quickly I took a seat beside her where she was simply staring out into the darkness, deep in thought. "Where have you been? It's been weeks."

"I needed time away to think." Ivy replied finally turning to meet my eyes, and I count that her's seemed incredibly troubled and confused. Clearly her time away hadn't done her any good as whatever thoughts had her running away still troubled her now.

"Think about what?"

Ivy turned away from me, almost like what she was going to say was incredibly embarrassing or shameful. And although she couldn't meet my eyes, Ivy's head remained held high and her voice sounded confident. "I think I'm in love with Harley."

"I know." I told admittedly feeling slightly relieved that she had finally realized what was happening between her and Harley. It was obvious to Selina and I, but it was not our place to help them see it too. That was something that they had to discover on their own and based on Ivy's words and Harley's behavior for the last couple of weeks it was clear that they finally saw it too.

Raising her eyebrows it was clear that this wasn't the answer that she wanted to hear. There was no way of knowing what the answer that she wanted from me could be, but she remained to look unfazed as she stood. "I'm not going to tell her."

"Why not?" I asked finding the idea ridiculous. In Ivy's absence it was almost like Harley had lost her anchor. Although Selina and I advised her against her truly insane ideas, we simply didn't have the influence that Ivy had. In a way it was Ivy who kept Harley's feet on the ground.

Not to mention the two hyenas that Harley now carried with her everywhere, they're laughter always echoes throughout the building. Suddenly, I realized how incredibly quiet it was and the fact that neither Harley or her two pets were home. Instant I began to worry for her knowing that the Joker was out there could be incredibly tempting for Harley, I could only hope that she wasn't back in the arms of the Joker.

"There's something else." Ivy quickly stated bringing out of my thoughts  "Carmine Falcone has asked that I carry out a request for him. He's going make a large donation to an organization of my choice if I influence a man into doing business with him."

"Easy money why not?" I replied as I leaned back against the couch feeling exhaustion take over. No one was truly going t be hurt, and Ivy still needed something to keep her busy a feeling that I completely understood. 

I knew that Ivy's uncertainty over taking this job stemmed from the fact that Ivy didn't work for others, she worked for herself. The only times that Ivy was the cause of chaos was when plantlike was being threatened, but with this Falcone job she would still be protecting the green in a different way. 

"I suppose you're right."     

"Am I right about Harley too?" I questioned not giving up on the idea that maybe they could find happiness in each other. Especially when that was such a difficult thing to find in a city like Gotham. 

"That I'm not so sure about."  Ivy replied still not sounding completely convinced, though the slight uncertainty in her voice was enough to confirm that not being with Harley was an idea that she did not fully accept. "They say love is complicated."

"I suppose you're right." I replied using the words she had used only moments before, a small smile touched Ivy's lips before she left the room.

Leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Yes, love was complicated. But it seemed so easy and natural for Ivy and Harley to be together. Now they had nothing truly keep them apart other than their own insecurities and uncertainties. 

Which I suppose are obstacles that are more difficult to overcome than any kind of physical obstacle. As many times it's our own insecurities holding us back and not the world.

That was something that was becoming increasingly clear to me.

***

A/N: Now we are definitely going to see a slight shift in Chey where she starts to work in more of a grey area. I teased her crossing line that lead to her being locked up in Arkham and this is where we are going to begin to start to see shades of that side of her begin to emerge. A bit of a longer chapter so I hope you all enjoyed. More Ivy coming soon.