Chapter 24: An Offer He Can't Refuse

He had to admit, it was kinda cool that each time he had been to the Iceberg Lounge, he had been admitted to the VIP section. The first time he knew it had definitely been Deadshot's doing, but now… now he knew the top dog was meddling.

He hadn't even planned on coming tonight, but his villain-only phone had received a text from an unknown number requesting his presence for tonight. It probably wasn't a trap… probably. Either way, he knew Barbara was at least tracking his phone, so if anything went wrong someone would know.

One of the lounge's scantily dressed dancers had led him past the velvet rope and up a second stairs towards a private balcony above the larger VIP area. His assumption had been right, as they reached the top and found Oswald Cobblepot seated on a high backed, red leather chair behind a round mahogany table.

"Mr. Johnson," the Penguin said with a greasy smile, waving his hand at the free, less ornate black chair that sat opposite of him. Danny did so slowly, curiously noting that his guide had now taken up residence behind Cobblepot's throne. The woman was clearly in employment for more than her looks.

"Mr. Cobblepot, is there a reason you asked me to be here?" He wasn't trying to be rude, but was very curious. He hadn't been summoned before; mainly, the criminally inclined sought him out. He had to say, he much preferred Cobblepot's approach.

The Penguin took his time answering, pulling out a cigarette from inside his jacket and having his dancer (bodyguard) light it, before pointing it at Danny. "I hear a lot of things in this town," he stated simply, and then paused to take a drag of the cigarette. "Not everyone is accepted by World of Wishes, and thanks to the wonders that are the modern internet, there are other ways to be heard." The Penguin cackled in amusement. "Really, people just keep making my job easier! Do you know how much information people freely give out without even realizing it?"

Danny wasn't sure if it was appropriate to laugh, so he decided on wryly smiling instead. The man certainly made a point. It was part of why Danny was annoyed with how viral his work had spread, but he knew there was no way of changing that now. 'No good deed goes unpunished' and all that jazz.

"Did someone post about wanting to meet you?"

Danny's eyebrows rose in surprise as his phone vibrated in his pocket. He didn't want to pull it out during a meeting, but Cobblepot nodded his head, urging him to check. Danny opened it to see a screenshot from the same unknown number. Under a picture of a dark skinned boy in a hospital bed giving a thumbs up was the following text:

#TVW my cousin is 15 and recovering from bone marrow transplant. His favorite movie is The Godfather. How many likes can we get to watch it with Gotham's own cool king?

Danny looked back at his host. Clearly, the man found the request amusing and, considering his own presence, wanted to fulfill the boy's wish. "Nine thousand likes was all it took?"

The Penguin shrugged. "14 thousand now, and what can I say? I'm a generous man."

"I can make this happen within the week." He looked back at Cobblepot. "Am I right to assume you have the boy's name and hospital information as well?" His host grinned back at him and beckoned with his hand, signalling for his bodyguard to slide a folder across the table to Danny. He took a second to flip through the few pages, checking to make sure all the information was there. "You're all set! I'll message you with the exact time once I set it up."

Danny stood up and leaned slightly forward to shake the Penguin's offered hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Johnson. Violet will show you the way out."

Danny wasn't sure who was enjoying the Penguin's hospital visit the most: the patient, the internet, or Penguin. Jared had surprisingly hit it off with Cobblepot, and of course he just had to take a selfie with the mobster to show the world that the Penguin had seen his wish and delivered. The post made the kid a celebrity. (Funny enough, Jared didn't even notice until later, because he was way too enthralled by the Penguin's presence to check his phone).

Danny had never seen the Godfather, and to be honest he had no interest in it either, so while the two others watched the film (along with a few nurses who would pop in for certain scenes), Danny sat in the corner of the room, going through other requests and making a list of who to contact first. One was for Scarecrow (Danny needed to ask around about that first), another for Killer Croc (lovely name; didn't really help the wishee's case), and a third was a request to meet Ivy (Danny would need to run that by her carefully… he knew the loss of Melody had hit her hard and didn't know if she was ready to meet another patient).

By the end of the movie, Danny had figured out a game plan. By then, he had also strategically turned a blind eye to the Rolex that Cobblepot had slipped Jared.

He did step in when Cobblepot had tried to hand Jared a cigarette, even if it had turned out to be a candy one. Danny did not want to deal with the potential headache it would cause him.

To the guest reviewer Maddax: Danny's job is to supervise the villains and kids, not to watch movies with them. He is at work. He is working on work related things while paying attention to the patient and Penguin. I'm not sure how this compares to "going on a guided art museum tour and staring at your phone instead."