Welcome To The Iceberg Lounge (Part One of Maragret's Story)

The Sorrow’s were a well to do family with a well to do history. Solomon Sorrow was the Gotham District Attorney while his wife Cameron was the daughter of Mallory Industrial’s Tiberius Mallory. Margaret Sorrow was not one of them nor had she ever felt like one of them. She didn’t appreciate the fancy clothes ore the well to do lifestyle. She thought that her family felt that they were self intitled to things but they were not. Perhaps that is why she rebelled. Instead of the beautiful and feminine clothes that her mother insisted she wore, Margaret preferred blacks and boyish clothes. She cut her own hair so short that some people often had trouble telling if she were a girl or if she were a boy. But the worst habit she picked up to set herself aside from what she thought was the perfect family was thieving.

Shiny things attracted her the most; be they big or small. Cutlery from the kitchen, silver from her father’s study, all the things Margaret stole were stashed away in a box under her bed. Before long, she felt as if she had to start going after bigger and better things.

Money from Gotham’s Iceberg Lounge was one of those things. She often went there, due to the fact that it welcomed all ages, to have coffee by herself and listen to the live bands that played there every night. She would sit sometimes and watch the young man who worked the counter store money in a bin and carry it to the back. She waited one day until most of the patrons were gone and picked the lock to the room. She saw the money sitting on the desk of the owner and decided she could be in, and out, before anyone could see her. The money in hand, she turned to come face to face with an older gentleman that all of Gotham knew.

She came face to face with The Penguin.

He was older than Margaret thought he would be, shorter as well. He was short and round, dressed in a suit that her father would have worn and carrying his utility umbrella which she had seen on the news quite often. He grinned and let out a cackle that sounded like the bird that he was named after, “What do we have here dearie?”

“I told you she was plottin’ somethin’ boss,” the muscular gentleman who worked the counter said as he stood behind the Penguin, arms crossed over his shoulders. He towered over both Cassie and Penguin and his accent was thick with New York.

“It’s alright Lark, I’m sure she was going to give it back, weren’t you dearie?” the olderman smiled.

She had expected him to be livid and send her to “the backroom” like many mobsters did. Instead, he seemed amused. She looked at Lark and made a quip, “Lark, huh? You must be a part of his crew. I thought you all had cool bird names. Lark totally sounds like something a girl would be called.”

Penguin cackled again, even Lark cracked a little smile. “I like her Lark, we should keep her around. She puts Os to shame.”

“Yeah, yeah she does,” Lark smirked, “But she did try to steal from us.”

“Yes and she got in here without being seen by me or you, she’s a crafty one. We could use her on our team. What’s your name dearie?”

“Margaret….Margaret Sorrow…” she spoke, unsure of how he would take her name.

“Sorrow? As in Solomon Sorrow? He’s been working for Black Mask for quite some time. Aren’t you looking to get in with Black Mask’s gang? Be a professional thief?” the older gentleman asked as he sat down at his desk.

“Honestly? I did this because that box was shiny and I wanted it,” Margaret stuck her hands in her pockets.

“Well then, I can trust you seeing as how if I reported this, you would go to prison,” he laughed, “My name is Chester Cobblepott but you know me as The Penguin. This is Lark Caros, we call him Lark. You’ll meet Ostrich and Raven later.”

“I like the bird theme,” Margaret chimed up, sticking out her hand. “Partners?”

“Oh no, dearie. To be partners with me, you have to have a bird theme too,” he smiled as he looked at her hand. “You said you stole it because it was shiny? What about Magpie?”

“Magpie…I like it,” Margaret smiled. “Now we have a deal?”

“Now we’re fair weather friends,” he agreed as he finally shook her hand.

Margaret felt great in the weeks to come. Raven, a young woman who used her sexuality and talents to steal became a best friend to her. Ostrich, a young man who was the comic relief of the crew always seemed to have some new joke he wanted to try. And Lark was the older brother she never had. They were a crew to be reckoned with.