"You can steal anything your heart desires, Al, and you decide to stay in a dump like this," Facilier crooned as he entered the small homemade shack at the end of an alleyway. The hustle and bustle of New York could be heard at the mouth of the alleyway. A teenager, with thick black hair and mocha-tinted skin looked up and grimaced. "After all these years of business, I still don't understand you."
"People are going to remember a rich teenager, Facili-er," the teenager grumbled, pronouncing the French name as if it was English just to bother him, and stood up from his patched beanie bag chair. "They're not going to remember some homeless street rat. And they're definitely not going to remember the fact that the street rat doesn't age."
"Ah, always making immortality seem like a bad joke. How do I ever keep away from you?"
"I'm surprised that you don't," the teenager sneered. A monkey showed its face from a bundle of blankets and chittered angrily, shaking its small fist at Dr. Facilier before climbing to the teenager. Who was a face that everyone knew quite well: the Prince of Thieves, Aladdin.
"I need a job and I need it done quick. Got me some souls I'd like to catch so I need bait, if you will," Facilier mused as he pointed his crane towards Aladdin. "You think you can handle it?"
"Just give me the address, already."
"89 Wooster Street. Just something of the person's, anything of value, you know the drill."
"I'll get it to you tonight."
"Pleasure doing business, Al, my ol' pal. You get your payment after we done, like it usually is." With a skip in his step, Facilier walked out of the shack, a jazzy vibe to the way he walked. Abu blew a raspberry in his direction before diving back into the pile of blankets. New York wasn't the best place for a small monkey, however, Abu insisted they stay. Aladdin wasn't sure why.
That is, until they reached 89 Wooster Street.
"No… That means…" Aladdin has been doing business with Facilier for a long time. If he wants something of value, it means something that was either close to his heart or something off his body. The reason he'd need something like that stolen is because he was planning on bringing someone back from the other side.
It meant that Baelfire was dead.
Aladdin gulped, looking around while swallowing any emotions about it. Baelfire was once from the Enchanted Forest, the realm that Aladdin was from. Although it was across the sea and past a desert, Agrabah often traded with the kingdoms in the Enchanted Forest. Aladdin and Baelfire were once partners-in-crime here in the Land with No Magic… quite literally. But, Baelfire wanted to grow up and Aladdin couldn't.
Abu was a magical being, a product of a genie's wish. So, Abu knew things that others didn't. That's exactly why the monkey wanted to stay in New York. Baelfire was here the entire time.
"What does Facilier want with him?" he asked, mostly to Abu as the monkey fished through the belongings in the apartment. There was a dream catcher on the window, as well as all sorts of letters on the coffee table. Aladdin took a deep sigh, kept his questions to himself then snapped his fingers. Golden hazes appeared all over the apartment – things that Baelfire held in high regards. Aladdin shifted around, looking for something small enough to fit inside a voodoo doll. Finally, a folded piece of paper in a desk drawer glowed brightly more so than others. It was glowing almost as much as the dream catcher hanging by the window. As Aladdin opened the paper, he let out a nostalgic smile.
It was underneath a bridge, where a fire in a barrel blazed and two sets of sleeping bags near the barrel. There was a shopping cart filled with cans and non-perishable foods. Umbrellas of all sorts also resided in the cart. It was a realistic sketch using charcoal. Aladdin even remembered the exact moment when this was being done. The title of the sketch was "Home". It was where the two teenagers used to live when they were in Boston together.
"He always remembered us, hey, Abu," Aladdin murmured before shoving the paper in his pocket. It was perfect for bringing him back. As swiftly as he broke in, Aladdin left the apartment.
