Barely dodged it.

BANG!

The explosive sound hammered into his ear and Aaron was barely able to tilt his head in time. Shock immediately painted David's face. He saw the same flicker of emotions on Shiva.

'Holy shit!'

Aaron was pretending not to be aghast, trying to be calm and cool when he wasn't. His heart refused to flutter. 'He just tried to fucking shoot at me! Is he nuts!?'

"Everyone thinks they'll be the one to defeat me." Aaron rolled his eyes and nonchalantly sat on the chair, clenched fists in his pockets. "But no one's beat me yet. Good try though, David Cain."

The man wore a white hood and a gas mask yet Aaron could sense his confusion through his blue eyes. "Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter. I have a pretty good guess as to what you want." Aaron was bluffing, he had no fucking clue. He made an exaggerated sigh and shrugged. "But I suppose it's none of my business, Penguin."

"Hold on, what're you doing?" Shug-R asked, the communicator in his ear rising to life. "Ask him, make a deal, then never come back again. That's the plan."

'Yeah, right,' Aaron responded in his head. 'The Penguin is too careful to do something stupid like that. There's a reason he's been the kingpin of crime in Gotham. He knows to keep his cards close to his chest.'

He needed him to slip up. To do that, Aaron would need to reveal a card of his own.

The Penguin scoffed. "How could you possibly know?"

Aaron glanced at Shiva and smirked. "The League of Assassins, Poison Ivy, Harley. Everybody seems to be interested in metals all of a sudden, aren't they?" Judging by the sudden clamp in facial emotions, he was correct. Aaron clicked his tongue. "Like I said, I don't care."

David Cain had his gun trained on him, cautiously approaching him. "Who are you? Do you work for Waller?"

Who?

"If I worked for Waller, you would all be dead."

A point was made apparently.

"Hn. He's right, you know," the Penguin conceded. "Orphan, down."

His gaze flickered but eventually the rogue mercenary relented. He did not return to Penguin's side, however, preferring to lean on the desk to stare at Aaron plainly. He was deconstructing him to every last article of clothing.

"Alright, alright." The Penguin sighed. "I'll tell ya. It may be a gamble but…well…"

"Cobblepot," Shiva growled. He cast her a half-assed apologetic look.

"I need people right now and no offence you and I ain't on the best of terms. It's a peace treaty at best between the two of us," the Penguin responded. Sighing again, he began, "Dionesium, Electrum, Nth Metal, and Promethium. There was a bunch of shit going on with the Bat and the Justice League when it came to these supernatural metals. Real apocalyptic shit. Then, the Court of Owls–they're gone now–discovered something they call Batmanium. Yes, it's named after the Bat, sue me. But according to the League of Assassins, these metals are divine. You can become god if you're able to harness the power of these metals. Create infinite energy, mold whatever superweapon you want, achieve immortality or endless wealth."

"The power of the five divine metals are largely unknown to us," Lady Shiva said, cutting him off. "History has seen facets of its power but never its full scope–until the present. The Justice League and Batman; they know the truth. However, instead of using these metals and resources to lead humanity in a meaningful way, to better individuals, they say nothing. They refuse to share the knowledge we seek. The metals whose existence is ancient and written in stone from when the Earth was young. The Court of Owls possessed a portion of that ancient knowledge, as did my League of Assassins. Immortality and endless energy. That is what we know so far. The divine metals are the ability to create and destroy."

"I enlisted the help of Harley and Ivy," the Penguin said. "They're old pals of mine, see, but they eventually found out too much and now Ivy wants to find one of the metals to bolster her powers. Hah! That woman is already too powerful for my liking!"

'Dionesium,' Aaron connected. 'That's the metal Ivy is after.'

"But still, the League of Assassins and the Penguin. An intriguing combination. Less work for me, I suppose." Aaron chuckled. "Sign me up. Give me the contract and ten percent and I'll join."

"You drive a hard bargain. Deal." The Penguin delved into a fit of laughter. "Well, assuming Batman doesn't kick your shit in. Which he likely will. The profits will be mine in the end."

"We'll see about that."

Aaron signed the contract, talked and joked with the Penguin, then left. He told them he was going to grab his stuff and return, which the three seemed to believe. They didn't realize or suspect in the slightest that he was a fraud hoping to never come back here again. Aaron would have laughed if not for the countless gazes watching him.