With These Hands

Days passed and Liam felt more relaxed than he'd ever felt in a long time. That included his previous life as well. 

From his business with Kevin the club owner, he had one hundred and forty grand left out of the two hundred he'd been paid. Then there was nine hundred grand from the deal with Cobblepot. Thirty million from the auction and another fifteen million that Bruce paid for three doses of the cancer cure. 

That all added up to around forty six million. All in all, he was feeling pretty good. The main reason he'd got into selling euphoria in the first place was to get money and it was safe to say that he was now rich as long as he didn't squander it all stupidly. 

According to Vincent, the threats from businesses and organizations had stopped, clueing him in that Batman did his job. 

He also hadn't had any contact with Bruce or Batman since their bargain so his days had been peaceful. 

Peaceful didn't mean idle. With that amount on his hands, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing. 

He wanted to become a doctor to save lives and now he at least had the means to start something meaningful. 

The Bowery wasn't a nice place to live, in fact it's the worst place. Crime, homelessness, prostitution, all were commonplace there.

Between juggling jobs to pay bills and send him to school, his mother never had enough saved up to move out and find somewhere else sustainably. 

'If only she was still here, either of them.' He thought as he walked through the streets. 

The mother who birthed him was his best friend and the version of her in this world was the same. So far, the most interactions with friends he had came from Vincent and Artemis. David was more like an employee than anything else. 

Even the dormitory in university wasn't as silent as the home he dwelt in. 

'Maybe I should get a pet.' He pondered for a moment. 

He stopped at his destination, a rundown building with the overhead sign worn out and unreadable. Despite that, he knew what it was, a homeless shelter. 

The door barely held despite how little effort he put into opening it. The first thing that hit him was the stench. He expected it but it still surprised him. 

Holding in the urge to wrinkle his nose, he went further in, ignoring the stare of the tired and hungry looking people in the shelter. 

Kids of all ages as well as elderly men and women with no hope and dreams, were partially the sources of the stench. He stuck out like a sore thumb in his clean clothes and appearance. 

Most of them either ignored him or sneered at him unkindly but he didn't take it to heart. His movement was stopped by a middle aged woman with a tired look on her face. 

"Can we help you?" She asked, not so subtly scrutinizing his appearance. 

"Yes. If you would be so kind as to take me to the manager, I would be most grateful." Liam said as politely as possible. An appraisal already showed that she wasn't the manager but a staff member. 

"And why would I do that?" She shot back. 

"Please, I insist." I said, adding some compulsion to it. Her eyes glasses over for a moment before she nodded. 

Allowing her to take the lead, I was soon brought in front of an office. Dismissing the woman, I pushed the door open, seeing a man seated behind a desk. A half empty bottle of what he could only assume was alcohol sat on it. 

His entrance startled the man who was in the middle of his drinking binge. 

"Who are you supposed to be? What do you want?" He questioned, unable to hide how tipsy he was. 

+++++

-[Gabriel Davis]

-[The manager of one of Gotham's rundown homeless shelters. An alcoholic and gambling addict amongst other issues, he takes a large cut out of the money intended for the shelter's upkeep to fuel his vices. Due to his poor management decisions, the number of staff under him dwindled to only one.]

+++++

'That explains it.' Liam thought with a sigh. 

"Answer me when I ask you a question, brat!" Gabriel yelled, taking another swig of the bottle. 

"Well, I came here to see how I could help this place but from what I can see, you are one of the main issues here." Liam said, walking up to the desk. 

"Who the hell do you think you are? Barging into my office and talking to me like tha- ahh!" He wasn't allowed to complete his sentence as Liam grabbed him from across the desk, holding him in the air from the scruff of his shirt. 

"You will stop any form of gambling you partake in. You will stop stealing this shelter's money and instead, use it for its betterment. You will care for this shelter and its residents and you will not commit any crime." He compelled him, layering multiple instructions. When he felt them stick, he ordered once more. "I am your boss and you will do as I say."

Gently letting the man down on his feet, he watched as the glassy look in his eyes slowly faded before clarity set. 

"Oh, I didn't know I'd be expecting you today sir." Gabriel said, making a futile effort to straighten his clothes with his hands. 

"Not to worry. I'm simply here to discuss a few things with you and go over the documents we have." Liam said, taking a seat and gesturing for the man to do the same. 

The next few hours were spent reviewing everything he could about the place from the business license, budget and expense records to its service policies. 

A whopping seven thousand dollars was what Gotham City had allocated for the shelter every month. Though there were a few donations here and there, they had been squandered. 

'I've got my work cut out for me.' Liam thought, massaging his temple before looking to Gabriel who was sitting across him, a sea of papers on the desk between them. 

"First things first, call plumbers, carpenters, electricians and any others that we need to fix the place up. The broken pipes, unstable power supply and broken furniture need to be dealt with." Seeing Gabriel nod, he continued. "When you do that, get back to me and give me a figure to pay."

"Of course sir, is there anything else?" The man asked. 

"Oh there's quite a lot but let's just start there. For now, use this and get them something to eat. This should cover for the next few days." Liam said, pulling a stack of bills out of his pocket and onto the desk. 

Ten grand. The man nodded as Liam stood up from the chair to exit. 

Pausing at the door, he turned back to Gabriel. "Oh and do make sure that Amelia plays nice with the residents." He said, referring to the woman who led him here earlier. 

Getting a nod from the man, he left, weathering the stare and glares until he exited the building. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he made his way home. 

Or at least he would have, had he not received a text. 

[Artemis: Hey, you free?]

Shrugging after a moment of thought, he replied. 

[Liam: Yeah. What's up?]

[Artemis: Needed to get out of the house so I thought we could meet up and have some fun.]

[Liam: Sure, I'm down. Where do you want to meet up?]

Receiving a reply to that and confirming that he'd be there, he tucked his phone back in his pocket and set out.