[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/uG7WxAV.jpg[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/iQVA87F.png[/img]
Left to Right: [i]Stefano Calabria[/i] [b]FC:[/b] Adrien Brody; [i]Joseph "Joe" Miller[/i] [b]FC:[/b] Joseph Gordon-Levitt[/center]
[b][i]Something's Fishy[/i][/b]
Tricorner, Decommissioned Naval Yard
Gotham City South, 0310

     Their escape had gone smooth. Too smooth that he couldn't feel comfortable. Nothing went right in Gotham. It might not go wrong right then, but it always did later. Karma was a bitch. As much as he liked to believe he and the trash bagger had gotten away Scott free, he didn’t feel free. His nerves were encasing him and he couldn't escape.

     “He’s gonna hunt us down,” Stefano muttered staring wide-eyed between his feet at the belly of the boat.

     The former trash bagger looked back at him nonchalantly, his teeth gnawing idly at the corner of his inner cheek. He didn’t look bothered at all. How could he be so calm?

     His associate shrugged and looked ahead at the approaching bank. He cut the engine and hopped out of the boat to plunge waist deep into the water in what Stefano felt was a good way to ruin a nice suit. Beneath the plastic he had worn earlier, the guy wore clothes a person wouldn't normally wear if they were planning to play in the sand. The man guided the boat onto the bank and tugged it onto shore. Stefano stepped off the boat into the mud, grimacing a little as his shoes sank into the squishy sediment. He wasn’t a diva, but who liked getting mud caked on their shoes? After glancing down at them, he looked up at the former trash man like a child desiring guidance.

     The former trash bagger smiled and waved him over. “I gotta place not too far from here where we can shack up until things calm down.”

     Stefano followed him. He didn’t know why he did or why he trusted him. The guy had a nice honest face, and he had helped him escape. He didn't have to do it. He could have left him there to die. Was he planning to hand him over to The Penguin as some sort of redemption? Stefano stopped and raised his chin a little as a defiant scowl weighed heavily on his lips.

     “Who are you?” Stefano asked.

     The former trash bagger stopped and gazed back at Stefano curiously. He studied his mannerisms for a moment before he replied, “Nobody important.”

     “Answer the question,” Stefano said curtly.

     The former trash man turned to face Stefano, tucked his hands into his pants pockets and parted his lips to answer him when Stefano snapped, “Take your hands out of your pockets!”

     The man removed his hands and raised them in surrender so Stefano could see them.

     “My name is Joseph Miller. People call me Joe,” Joe answered.

     “Why did you help me back there? Why didn’t you escape and leave me?”

     Lowering his hands, Joe smiled and explained, “I’m gonna be frank with you. I knew how important you were to The Penguin, and I felt if the cops had arrested you, you’d squeal.”

     “What!? Me? Squeal!?”

     “I said I was gonna be honest, didn’t I? So I thought if I saved you, I could turn you into The Penguin to save my ass…”

     Stefano stiffened in shock. He knew it!

     “...but then I realized The Penguin would just kill me anyway. As I said, I’m nobody. He has to put the blame on somebody and I don’t see him putting the blame on you. You got somethin’ he likes.”

     Stefano deflated a little. “What are you gonna do now?”

     Joe peered up at the sky in thought and stroked his chin with his fingertips. “Leave this shithole that’s for sh’or. I think I’m gonna go to California.”

     Stefano began gloomily staring down at the ground again. What was he going to do? He didn’t want The Penguin to catch him. He was afraid of what the man would do.

     “Can I go with you?” Stefano asked.

     A large smile expanded on Joe’s face before he broke into laughter. “Man, you’re like a puppy dog. Hell no, you can’t come with me. Everyone will recognize your face.”

     Stefano gave Joe a dejected look, distress creasing his face. “You really think I have that much notoriety?”

     Joe waved a dismissive hand at him and grinned. “Nah, I was just fuckin’ with you. You can come with me I guess.”

     Stefano exhaled a breath of relief on a laugh that the two shared. Joe was...a comical guy. Joe waved Stefano along.

     “Come on before the sun starts risin’. It’s not far.”

     They walked up the bank onto a cement turf to a naval yard that was long decommissioned. Old rusted containers and warehouses were stacked about claimed as housing by the homeless. Stoners were slumped in the doorways and dealers were dealing inside. Stefano gazed ahead at Joe hoping he wasn't planning on sharing the space with the riff-raff. It wouldn’t have been a bad cover, but it might have brought them unwanted attention. The Penguin had birds everywhere. They steered clear of them, walking at a distance that even if they were noticed, they couldn't be recognized in the twilight.

     Unfortunately, Joe did seem to own one of the containers. They stopped before a red one that was covered in graffiti and sealed with rusted chains and a padlock. Joe grasped the lock and jerked the chains to make sure they hadn’t been compromised, and then crouched down to lay flat on his stomach. Stefano glanced left and then right, making sure they weren't being eavesdropped on. He watched Joe dunk a hand into his pants pocket and fish around inside it for a cardboard Starbucks card. He had two more drinks to go before he got a free one. Joe then proceeded to slide the card between the cement seams and managed to prop up a brass key. Plucking the key free, Joe stood and held it up before Stefano with a smile.

     “Voila!” Joe presented with a pleased smile.

     Stefano didn’t show much amusement, desiring more to get out of eyesight.

     Joe faced the container and unlocked the padlock. He pulled the chains free, dropping them aside for now and grasped the handle to open the door. The door opened and before them was a simple rectangular interior arranged to be a room. There was a bed against the back wall with a steel bedpost, spring mattress, and a desk and chair against the adjacent wall. A lantern-style lamp was on the desk. Joe walked in spreading his arms in presentation.

     “This is it. Suite 2B in the five-star Hobo Hotel,” Joe presented.

     Stefano stepped in and out of Joe’s way when the guy swiftly passed him. Joe stepped outside to pick up the padlock and chains, and closed the container door. Dropping the chains and lock in a corner, he stepped over to the desk, cut on the lantern, and began rummaging through his pockets. He removed a Ziploc bag of cigarettes with a lighter and a pistol. Stefano’s brows rose.

     “You have a gun on you?” said Stefano in surprise.

     Joe unzipped the Ziploc bag and fed a cigarette into his mouth before he flipped the chair around and sat in it. He glanced over at the gun on the table and then up at Stefano.

     “Yeah. Don’t you?”

     Stefano didn’t answer that question. It disturbed him a little that Joe could have put a bullet in his head if he had wanted to, but then why would he? He had needed him before right? Joe removed the lighter from the Ziploc bag next and cupped the end of his cigarette as he lit it. Setting the lighter on the desk, he waved over to the bed.

     “Go ahead and sleep. I’ll take first watch. You look like you need it.”

     Stefano hesitated. “You’re not gonna disappear on me are you?”

     Joe arched a brow at him and smiled through his cigarette. Grasping the fag between his pointer and middle fingers, he removed it from his lips and exhaled a grey sigh. “No, man. I promise I won’t disappear on you. I think it’s better we stick together. That way we both can make sure we won’t go squealin’ on each other.”

     Stefano slowly nodded. He still felt a little apprehensive about Joe’s trust. It irked him how he seemed like such a swell guy. Giving in, Stefano walked over to the bed and took a seat. The springs gave under his weight, squeaking a little. He reached down to unlace his muddy shoes and slid his feet from them. He then unbuttoned his jacket and loosened his tie, removing both to set at the edge of the bed. Stefano gazed at Joe once more and then laid down upon his side, drawing his knees up a little. He watched Joe until he couldn’t no more, studying the man’s expression as he stared at the wall. No; he was thinking. He was deep in thought perhaps planning their next move. His vision blurred as his eyes grew heavy. He couldn’t hold them open anymore. Stefano fell asleep.