The Rose and Rose
---- Three days before the present ----
After doing my morning routine, I stood outside of Forrest Flowers waiting for Delilah.
She told me to be here at the store by ten o'clock, so that leaves twenty minutes of waiting.
Luckily I thought ahead and brought a newspaper. In my past life I would have been on my phone right now, but seeing as in this universe the phones are still in their Flip-phone era, There's not much to do other than make phone calls.
Although, LexCorp has made fast progress towards getting phones to a place that could be considered Modern by someone from my old world, being that Touch-Screen technology is well on its way to going commercial.
Sometime I forget that this world is based off a comic book about superheroes. If I didn't see these articles in the newspaper about Batman apprehending some poor sod, I might think this was just normal earth in the early 2000s.
Normal earth in 2004 where some people have super-powers. Although rare and far between, they do exist. I never met one in my two and a half years of living here, but that also might be that I'm not traveling as much as I probably should.
And, on the context of Batman beating criminals, It seems that the Gotham Gazette is really interested in Batman having a sidekick, it's all they've been writing about for the past month and a half.
And that was a surprise to learn, Batman has a sidekick. While I do know about the existence of Robin from the little I knew about DC from my previous world, I was expecting him to already be a known factor, but I was wrong. Batman, The Caped Crusader and Robin, The Boy Wonder, are only just starting out.
While Batman has existed in Gotham for a number of years now, starting his crusade against crime roughly a year before I arrived, Robin is new.
Which really made me think about what other heroes I know of that are already active. We have Batman and Robin, obviously, We got Superman over in Metropolis, We got Flash in Central City, Green Arrow in Starling City, Wonder Woman in Boston and Green Lantern in Coast City.
There are other heroes in other cities, but not ones that I really knew about.
But I've been thinking too long, It seems Delilah is here with her car.
"Good Morning Richard, I hope you're ready to drive to Metropolis, we might be there a while" She said as she slowly got out of the car, an old Subaru Leone.
"It's no problem Delilah, I didn't have any plans for the day anyway." I told her before I walked up to the car and moved to the drivers seat. "So... Do you know how many suitcases you're Grand-niece will bring with her?" I ask as I put the keys in the ignition.
And soon the two of us, Employee and Employer, were driving out of Gotham city and on to the highway connecting Gotham to Metropolis.
"-she will be staying at my place, but she will also be helping us at the shop, so expect to see more of her after we get- turn left here -back to Gotham," Delilah said while directing which way to drive.
"If only her mother's family would have agreed to take care of her, she could stay here in Metropolis, and finish her education in a nice city. These Cops these days aren't doing a good enough job. They keep relying on this Superman to solve all their problems. Back in my day, we didn't have a Super Hero in every city. We might have had the Justice Society of America when I was a little girl, but they chose to disband in the seventies instead of revealing their identities." She bemoaned as she talked about her past.
"Now when I was a girl, I had the biggest crush on Starman, I wonder what happened to him?" And as Delilah continued to talk about the JSA and The Good old Days, we soon arrive at our destination.
An old house in downtown Metropolis. Red brick walls, Two floors, a basement and an attic.
An upper middle-class home, for short.
Far away from the metal and glass skyscrapers of the commercial district but also far away from the seedy underbelly of the slums.
"Lucky Girl, When she turns 21 this house will be hers." Delilah whispers to herself as we both exit the car and walk to the door of the building.
Knock Knock Knock
Delilah knocks on the door with her Cane, and we hear the sound of hurried tapping from the other side of the door, of someone running down carpeted stairs.
The Door soon creaks open to a red haired teenager peaking outside from behind the door, her visible green eye alternating between looking at Delilah and looking at me.
"Rose, You might not know me but I'm your Great-Aunt, Delilah." Wait, Did she say Rose? The Girl's name is Rose? is this another part of the Cosmic Joke? Rose and The Rose, Florist extraordinaire? Is that it? What we're the chances of The Kid my Boss needs to start taking care of being named Rose?
"Uh-huh," Rose nodded before she opened the door wider, allowing us to come in.
Now inside the house, I can get a better look at Rose. Orange hair, Green eyes, Maybe Fifteen years old. Being institutionalized must have also left a mark on her social skills if her quiet voice is anything to go by.
As Delilah and Rose take a seat in the living room to work their introductions, I move towards the kitchen.
"I'll make some tea" I tell them as I open up a cabinet and take out a box of cheap teabags. Looking around a bit more, I find the kettle and start boiling some water.
Meanwhile in the other room, Granny Delilah is getting to know her new Ward.
"As you might already know, I'm Delilah, your Grand-Aunt, And I'll be taking care of you from now on." Delilah said, Rose simply looked at the small coffee table between the two and nodded her head meekly.
"That young man that came here with me is Richard, he's my assistant and you will be seeing a lot of him once we get you to your new home," Delilah Continues while Rose continues to meekly nod to what she says.
Soon I return with three cups of tea, and take a seat on a sofa next to Delilah.
After quietly drinking our tea, Rose leaves to grab her stuff while Delilah and I make sure to lock all the doors in the house. Nobody will be touching it until Rose is old enough to acquire her inheritance.
After double checking everything, we wait for Rose to come back with her luggage before we once again get in the car and Drive back to Gotham.
The ride was filled with Delilah talking to Rose with her simply nodding or humming in response, And soon enough we were back at Forrest Flowers.
Exiting the car, I give the keys back to Delilah as she takes the wheel and I walk back home.
Failing to notice the two suit-wearing men eyeing the shop from across the street.
---------
"So this is the place?" One of the men says as he watches the old lady drive away while the younger man leaves on foot.
"Yeah, This is where the boss spotted Penguin. If we get rid of this place, Penguin will be mad and lose his focus, then the boss will swoop in and take this entire street for himself, it's the perfect plan" The second man said as he stared at the flower store across the road.
And with a plan in mind to deal a blow against a large fish in the pond, the two men go back to report their findings to their boss.