Thank you for reviews FuchsiaGrasshopper, Marlena Deux, MugglebornPrincesa, and Persephoniii :)
I'm getting a little silly with the chapter titles. Sorry...sort of...
Sometimes he thought kissing Grady was a mistake. Sometimes he thought it wasn't. As it turned out, it wasn't a passing fancy. Desire wasn't new to him and it could be satisfied or ignored relatively easily. Affection however, was dangerous. Especially in a partnership. Especially towards Grady who could not be trusted, despite her loyalty so far. As far as which he was feeling, it seemed to vary from moment to moment. When Grady called Oswald to the shop the morning after she had returned from his own home, his resolve was put to the test.
Her eye was still very purple but she appeared to be in much better spirits. "I've got to tell you something sensational," Grady said and kicked a pile of papers off the sofa. "Here, sit."
"You're looking much more your old self. Possibly more so," Oswald said as she practically bounced in her seat.
"Oh aye. Well, that was just it. I wanted to tell you straight off, but I needed to see where things stand. And with my head still ringing and all, it took a bit of effort..." She leaned forward, showing the full glory of her gap tooth smile. "I know it won't sound like much. But it's a step. Considering where you are now to where you will be...I'm going to give you the Burrow Boys."
Oswald laughed. She looked incredibly proud of herself. "Grady, how are you going to do that?"
Looking a little deflated, she gave him a swat on the leg. "Come on! You've seen them! I know they aren't much, but they're even more hopeless without a leader! And they've never had a leader with more than half a brain. Maybe we've haven't seen what they're capable of. They've got spirit like know one else."
"I'm not doubting you. But you haven't answered my question. What makes you think they'll follow me?"
"They've go to follow someone, believe me on that. And we carry a grudge around here."
Oswald raised an eyebrow. "Really. I hadn't noticed."
She thumped him in the chest this time. "Enough of your smarting. Listen, if you can promise steady income that rivals Falcone and the others that have done them wrong... Throw in a little revenge and you've got them. It's manpower you didn't have before. You think I let Hannigan knock me around for no reason? I planned it. They had to see me suffer. We're going to tell the Boys he set me up. That he's always had it in for me just like he had it in for my Da. We're going to tell them he set my Da up all those years ago, so he could take over. Hannigan was one of his best friends. Opening up those old wounds, they'll be howling mad. And they'll love that we fed Hannigan right back to Falcone. It's all the proof they'll need that you're fit to lead them. You're not Irish, so that's not a point in your favor but eh...we can Irish you up a bit, yeah? You'll fit in before too long." She pushed back her hair, almost nervously. "So whatcha think?"
Suddenly everything Grady had been doing in the past few weeks made sense. As always, she had been two steps ahead of the game since it started. Even willing to risk her life for it. He had the feeling Hannigan went a bit further than she had planned, but still. Could he have asked for anyone more brilliant or committed than Grady?
"And you didn't tell me any of this," he wondered aloud. "Grady, why didn't you just claim the Burrow Boys for yourself?"
"I don't want them," she shrugged. "I've always preferred to work behind the scenes. I mean I'll help you and all, we're going to have use my status. But no, I don't want them. Hopefully, I've proved to you why you need me in this arrangement. Well, this is part of why I need you. I don't want to lead. Not directly anyway."
She looked down at her hands, fiddling with a half constructed watch. He raised her chin with a finger.
"I think you'd be good at it."
"Please," she said, flashing the gap tooth. "Imagine for a minute, I'd be a joke."
"You don't exactly have Fish Mooney's authority," he agreed.
Reluctantly, he made himself take his hand from her face. "How long were you planning this?" he asked.
"When you did me over asking me to set up the Boys," she rolled her eyes. "I know I was stubborn, but it got me to thinking...planning. I mean, it's pretty sick of me making things up about my dead Da to get us ahead but...I figure if he were smart enough, he would have done the same. Didn't tell you about it because I didn't want to make a promise I couldn't keep. Had no idea if it would work until it did."
"It was brilliant Grady. Truly inspired," Oswald said.
She waved her hand in an "aw shucks" gesture and went back to her watch. He was very afraid it was affection that he was feeling as he watched her nimble fingers work.
"I must ask that you tell me about anything else you might be planning. Even if it's something you aren't sure will work. And most especially if it involves you getting assaulted on purpose."
"Nah, nothing else. I'm glad we can plan it together now so I've got your two sense as well. Terrifying doing what we do sometimes, isn't it? Like juggling chainsaws, I imagine. I was afraid I would drop one and then argh! My arm!" She pulled a hand in her sleeve and flapped it around comically.
He felt a powerful urge to kiss her again, but refrained. He was late for a meeting with Maroni.
When he returned to the clock shop that night, he almost used his umbrella on what he thought was an intruder.
"Don't say anything! I had to go incognito," Grady shouted.
It was Grady, but very much in disguise. She wore a green dress suited to her small frame and most notable was her wild hair. It had been tamed somehow. Sleeked and shining and drawn up on the top of her head. Makeup almost made her features look delicate. The only thing to indicate it was still Grady was the gap tooth.
"Where were you?" Oswald asked, he couldn't help but admire the effect.
"Wayne Foundation benefit. Prime source of intel. And I know you don't think it's important, but I still need to know more about those Wayne murders." She irritably wrenched a shoe off her foot and flung it across the room where it knocked over a pile of spare parts. "Stupid things hurt my feet," she rubbed at her arch. "Should have sent you. You clean up well, but you would have thought it was a waste of time."
"I would say you did a fine job of it yourself." Oswald moved closer, his smile teasing while Grady wrenched off her other shoe.
"Well, I have that lady that owns the laundromat down the street do all this," She gestured wildly at her face. "I'd be hopeless on my own." He wasn't sure whether it was the makeup that made her cheeks so pink or embarrassment. "Not that it wasn't pretty much a waste of time anyway. I didn't find out much useful at all. But I did manage to plant a few bugs." She seemed flustered. Grady started picking the pins out of her hair and it tumbled out in bouncy strands. Proper curls. Her hair normally looked like it wasn't sure if it wanted to be straight or wavy.
"And who do you tell people you are at these things?" His eyes fixed on the process of unpinning her hair.
"I try not to have to tell people anything. I'm incognito remember," she yanked out another pin with a yelp. A scent of shampoo and something else flowery wafted out. Oswald thought that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to indulge. Every so often. He took a strand of her hair, ran it between his fingers.
"Ailis is a pretty name," he said.
"Never did suit me," she bit her lip.
"It suits you now," he said quietly. He put his hand on her hip, the fabric of her dress was warm and smooth. Grady put a hand on his chest.
"Oh no, no, no," she said. "You're not getting all flirtatious just because I'm done up like this."
But she didn't back away either. He dropped his forehead against hers, touching his thumb to her lip. "I'm not meant to find you pretty like this?"
"I don't. Barely recognized myself in the mirror." She turned her head away. "I know what you're up to." She smiled now, eyes glittering. She stroked back his hair. "But I think you'd be quite rough with me," she smirked. "And I'm still all bruised up from that Hannigan business."
"I think I could be careful..." Gently his lips brushed the bruised cheekbone that the makeup concealed, as if to prove this. When he moved to her neck, much less gently, she softened. Almost as if she were melting. But then she pulled away again.
"Alright, alright," she murmured. "We've got work to do."
"I'm not very interested in working at this moment," Oswald said.
Grady wandered into the bathroom to wash her face. "Then what are you here for?"
He leaned on the door frame, making one last attempt. "I'm here for you, of course," he grinned.
"Aye well, sorry to disappoint," Grady scrubbed at her face with a towel. "You know, I met that young Wayne orphan tonight. He was interesting. Very interesting. Bright for a child his age."
"Hmm," Oswald sighed, resigned.
"I think we ought to watch him. He's very intuitive. Seeing as he's a kid, I thought it would be safe talking to him for a bit. But I think he sensed there was something off about me."
She emerged from the bathroom free of eye makeup and blush, but perhaps more appealing than she had been when she had it on. Oswald watched her moodily, hands in his pockets.
"You're not taking me seriously, are you," she accused.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not overly concerned about a child, Grady. Forgive me for not trembling with fear."
"I'll be saying I told you so," she jabbed him in the chest with a finger. "Someday Bruce Wayne will be a real threat."
And it was a great misfortune that Oswald ignored her. But she was pushing his buttons and he was very annoyed and remained that way for the rest of the evening.