"Worst Comes to Worst"
The Company Mourns Billy, Fifth Avenue, 1989
The Company was still in the Foxworth mansion. No one felt like returning to Fagin's apartment, not after what had happened. Tito and Francis were curled up on the sofa, their heads on a fluffy pillow, resting together. Stud and Kitten were teary-eyed. Dodger sat with Nancy in the doggy bed. Adena sat alone, high on the other end of the sofa.
"I-I can't believe he's just gone," Stud whimpered, "an' I never even got to apologize for being such a jerk to him. He died thinking I hated him."
"No, Stud, he didn't. He told me he wasn't angry at anybody no more. He just said he missed our mom. That was all," Dodger quickly explained to the poor pup.
"I miss our mom, too," Kitten cried out, jumping up on the other sofa.
"Me, too," Stud joined his sister in weeping for their mother.
"Now, now, fellas. Just remember," Dodger hopped up on the other sofa with Kitten and Stud. He wrapped them in a tight embrace, "our mom will always be with us. She's right here, in our hearts. An' it's tha same with Billy. Our little bro may be gone, but he ain't forgotten. As long as we never forget him, Billy's memory will live on."
The pups continued weeping. Dodger sighed, then carried on, "He died a hero's death, y'know. Saving mine and Oliver's lives. Makes him a hero in my book."
This did little to comfort them, though Stud managed to sniff back his tears and give Dodger a nod of his head. "I just can't believe we didn't save Oliver. He's all alone out there, lost in the big city. We have to find him."
"Way ahead of ya, tough guy." Dodger reassured Stud that he was already planning to head out into New York that very night and look for Oliver. He wouldn't come back inside until he'd found him and brought him home safe and sound.
Except when Dodger headed for the back doggy door, Adena was already there ahead of him, blocking his path. "Slow down there, Dodger. If anyone's gonna find Oliver, it'll be me. I know the Kings' territory better than you do. And… I owe it to myself to find him."
Dodger gave her a look that said exactly what he thought of that plan. "You're crazy if ya think you're stopping me from finding him."
"That's exactly what I'm gonna do. Listen to me, Dodger. Your family needs you right now. Stay here. Be with them. Comfort them. Let me rescue Oliver."
Dodger could still here Kitten crying from in the living room. He sighed, admitting that Adena had a point. "Alright, fine. I'll stay inside with them. But if you're not back by this time tomorrow, I'm heading out there myself to find ya both. Deal?"
"Deal," Adena said with a nod, slipping outside the doggy door.
Dodger returned to the Company in the living room, hopping up on the sofa to be with Kitten. He held his little sister close, comforting her as she cried over their little brother's sudden and unexpected death. Maybe she cried for their mother, too. Dodger honestly couldn't say.
He just hoped Adena stuck to her word and brought Oliver back soon. He couldn't stand the thought of the little guy lost and alone in New York City.
Oliver Alone in the Big City, East Village, 1989
Oliver could close his eyes and remember what happened.
The very instant Dodger had dropped him to run back to Billy, the Kings had been after him. "Get that cat!" Razor had shouted. Oliver wanted to stay with Dodger—the rest of the Company had run off way ahead of them both—but with the Kings running after him from the other side of the street, all he could do was run.
And run he did. Oliver had darted off into an alleyway, jumped on a chain-link fence and climbed his way over, then jumped down to the other side. The Kings chased him right into the fence, where they stood barking and snarling at him through the chains.
The memories all came flooding back to him like a torrent of rain. And it was raining that night, wasn't it? Raining as hard as he'd ever seen. His cardboard box had been washed away, and he'd been swept into the drainage vent. Luckily, he'd somehow gotten out and climbed onto the street curb, where he was immediately splashed with water from a passing car. That splash had run him off into an alleyway, where three savage street dogs. There'd been another chain link fence to crawl over, to keep the dogs at bay, snapping and snarling at him through the chains. And he'd been alone that night, curled up inside a parked truck.
Just like he was alone now. Oliver still had his collar on, so he was hoping and praying that someone, anyone would see him and return him to Fifth Avenue. Right now, he was somewhere above the Lower East Side, probably in the East Village. But this was still Kings' territory, ever since the Villagers had surrendered. He had to get out of here.
"But I… I don't even know where I am," Oliver mewed pitifully. He took a look around at the buildings, the street signs, the passing cars. He'd been lucky enough to escape the Kings. He had a feeling he wouldn't be so lucky getting back to Fifth Avenue.
Oliver wandered up and down the streets, looking at the street signs uselessly. He didn't know how to read, so they were no help. He'd give anything to be Dodger right now, with his mastery of the city's layout. Dodger would find his way home pronto. Too bad Oliver wasn't nearly as savvy as his big brother.
Speaking of brothers, Oliver had barely glimpsed what happened to Dodger's little brother, Billy. All he'd seen was Billy lying in the road after being hit by a car. Oliver couldn't imagine his prospects were too good. "Oh, poor Billy… poor Dodger."
But now he was getting hungry. Oliver sniffed around and found a couple sitting down at an outdoor table, ready to order their dinner. When their food came—a delicious-looking meal of fresh fish—the last thing the couple must've been expecting was for a cat to jump up on the table, snatch the fish, and scurry away before they could do a thing about it.
Oliver quickly downed the fish in a safe back alley, but he felt bad about the robbery. He wasn't Dodger. He wasn't born to be a thief, not like his big bro, and he couldn't steal without feeling bad about it afterwards. Oliver could never be a street cat.
The question was, how much longer did he have to pretend to be? How much longer was he going to be lost out in the big old city? Oliver didn't know. He was scared. He was alone. And without Dodger beside him, what chances did he have?
Not a chance, Oliver knew that much. Not a chance in the world.
Noah Mourns Billy, Lower East Side, 1989
"Oh, Billy… It should've been Dodger, not ya. Ya were so small an' innocent, an' I… I let this happen to ya. This is all my fault. It's my fault as much as it is Dodger's." Noah was moaning in an alley in the Kings' territory. He'd ordered his fellow Kings to give him space to grieve in peace.
And Noah was carrying Billy's broken body in his mouth. He had to find some way to bury it, where he could be comfortable in death. Blood had coagulated in Billy's fur, and Noah could taste it on his tongue. It was rusty, almost metallic-tasting. He felt bad for tasting Billy's blood, but it couldn't be avoided as he was carrying him.
Noah eventually found a quiet spot in a back alley, secluded from the world by a small wooden gate. Noah pushed through the gate, moved around some cardboard boxes, and found the perfect resting place. There was a tiny flower growing in the cracks between the pavements.
He placed Billy's body beside the flower and covered it with a cardboard box. That way no one would ever find him, and Billy could sleep forever undisturbed.
"This is my fault an' Dodger's… if I'd kept Billy by my side instead of letting him run ahead… if Dodger had just been hit by that car like he was supposed to be, instead of Billy… Billy would still be alive." Noah seethed over what had unfolded.
"I'll have my revenge. I'll do it for Billy." Noah was practically foaming at the mouth he was so angry. "I'm coming for ya, Dodger. When ya think you're safe, that's when I'll strike. I'll take away everything ya hold dear… just like ya did to me."
He turned out of the alleyway, leaving Billy's broken little body behind in his final resting place. Noah hopped on a parked car, staring at the city above him. It was all traffic lights and steel skyscrapers, noisy trucks and yellow taxi cabs, construction cones and steam vents on the ground below. Noah saw all of New York City from that alleyway, and he claimed it for the Kings. "We've played around long enough. It's time to go to war."
The war for New York would start very soon, he knew. It would be them versus their biggest rivals, the Refugees. Still, there were other gangs to consider. The Hellhounds over in Hell's Kitchen, the Park Pack in Central Park. These were large gangs, and if they joined forces with the Refugees, it could spell bad news for the Kings.
"So we'll have to take out tha Refugees before they get a chance to merge gangs." Noah didn't exactly know where the Refugees lived, which means they'd have to make the Refugees come to them. "We let them make tha first move. An' once tha gang war has begun, that's when I'm coming for ya, Dodger. Just ya wait an' see."
Oliver is Lost and Found, East Village, 1989
Oliver was running as fast as his little legs could carry him. It was happening all over again. First it'd started raining, so he'd run into an alleyway to escape the rain, but then these three savage street dogs started growling and eyeing him for dinner. Oliver made a run for it, and here he was now, running for his life.
He came upon an open fence and quickly maneuvered through it. He even managed to shut it back, but it didn't lock. The three dogs were fast to figure out it wasn't shut permanently, and they nudged it open with their noses.
It'd slowed them down a little, but only a little bit. Fortunately, Oliver came across a narrow alleyway that was too small for the dogs to reach their muzzles into, but just tight enough for Oliver to squeeze into. Eventually, the dogs got bored of trying to get at him, and they gave up and left. Oliver was safe at last.
"Oliver? Is that you?" someone called out in a very familiar voice.
"I'm here!" he cried out in joy. "I'm down here!"
Finally, someone had found him. He knew there had to be people looking for him. Dodger and the Company, for sure, maybe even Georgette if she was back from her trip. The last person he'd been expecting to see was Adena.
"Adena, what are you doing here?" Oliver hissed at her.
"Rescuing you, of course." Adena smiled, despite his hissing. "I've been searching the streets for ages now. Come on, we've gotta get you home."
"I'm not sure I trust you. What if you sell me out to the Kings again?"
"Oliver, I just led the rescue mission to save you from the Kings."
"And whose fault is it that I got captured in the first place?" Oliver shouted at her. "It wasn't Georgette's. It sure wasn't Dodger's. It was all your fault, Adena. Everything bad that's happened to me has been your fault."
"Oliver… I know you probably hate me, but you have to trust I'm taking you back to the Company. Everyone is gathered at the mansion waiting for us to return. Dodger is waiting for you. I know he's gonna be so happy to see you safe and sound."
"Dodger's waiting for me…?"
"Him and everyone else. Come on, let's go!"
Oliver still didn't budge from the safety of his narrow. "I still don't trust you. I don't even trust myself. If I hadn't fallen for your charms, I would've never been taken. And I'm still mad at myself. You wanna know why?"
"Why are you angry at yourself?"
"Because despite everything you've done, I still have feelings for you."
This took Adena quite by shock. She paused for a moment, unsure of what to say next. Eventually, she settled on, "…Those feelings don't have to change, you know. I like you a lot, too. More than any other cat I've ever known."
"You're still one of the Kings and I don't trust a word you say."
"Oliver, I quit the Kings. I should've done it a long time ago, but I'm done meeting with them in secret. I'm done betraying a cat I like a lot to their stupid war on Dodger. I'm done having anything to do with them. All I want is to go back to when it was just you and me in the Foxworth mansion, with our whole family there together. Don't you want that?"
"…Sure I do. Still, give me one good reason why I should believe you."
"Because I love you, Oliver. Is that what you wanted me to say?" Adena was on the verge of tears herself now. Oliver wiped away his own and took a step back.
"You… You love me?" He wasn't sure he'd heard right.
"Yeah, I do. I really do. You're so special to me, Oliver. You're probably my only friend in the whole wide world right now, and I don't wanna leave you alone out here."
"I guess that's why I was so angry. Because I'd let myself fall in love with someone who hurt me so bad. But I still love you, regardless of what you did to me. I love you, too."
Adena and Oliver simply stared at each other. She backed into the narrow with him, facing him, and gently licked his cheek. Oliver licked hers in return. Their noses touched. Adena backed out of the narrow, and Oliver followed her out.
"Let's go home, Oliver. Together."
Oliver followed Adena north out of the Kings' territory. Their turf encompassed so much of the city now that they had to walk forever just to escape the stench of Kings. Finally, they were out of the Village and heading north, walking every sidewalk and curb till they arrived on Fifth Avenue, across from Central Park.
"We're finally here. I've never been so happy to see Fifth Avenue in all my life," Oliver said, teary-eyed. "Thank you, Adena. You really rescued me."
"No, Oliver." She licked his cheek again. "You rescued me."
It was a short ways up the road to the Foxworth mansion, situated right across from the gates of the park. Oliver and Adena eagerly ran around to the back doggy door entrance, then bolted into the mansion.
"I'm here! I'm home!" Oliver cried out, tears of joy streaming down his face.
Dodger immediately ran to him, snatched up the cat, and gave him the biggest doggy hug of his life. Dodger fell back, Oliver on his chest, purring happily. "Great to see ya, kiddo. Great to see ya again. I was so worried."
"I know, Dodger. I thought I'd never see you again."
"Oh, same here, kid. Oliver. My little bro."
"And if it weren't for Adena, I'd still be out in the streets somewhere!"
"Adena really came through in the end, didn't she?" Dodger eyed the calico cat with something almost resembling gratitude. "Thanks, Adena. For everything."
"You don't have to thank me. I owed it to you after what I did."
"Well, I certainly won't disagree with that."
"Dodger!" Oliver laughed. "Play nice."
The rest of the Company came bounding out into the hallway to see Oliver. The orange tabby cat was quickly smothered in wet dog kisses, Dodger the biggest slobber-mouth among them. Francis hugged him, Tito gave him a high-five, and the two pups jumped excitedly in circles around him.
"One last person ya gotta see, kiddo." Dodger took Oliver into the living room, where Winston was attending to Nancy's needs. Winston nearly fainted with happiness when he saw Oliver and Adena, together in one piece.
"Oh, thank heavens you're alright! You must never do that to me again, you hear? Oh, we'll have to get rid of that blasted doggy door. I assume it's how you got out, no? Well, it won't be happening ever again, you two must promise me that. Do you promise?"
Both Oliver and Adena crossed their hearts.
"Oh, splendid! It really is just marvelous to have you two—and my job—back safe and sound. Oh, but you're all filthy! I must give you two baths tomorrow morning, first thing before the Mister and Missus and Jennifer return with Georgette."
A bath sounded no good to Oliver. Then he turned around and smelled himself. He nearly gagged at his own stench. Guess that's what came from being a street cat, if only for a handful of hours. "Who's the last person I've gotta see, Dodge?"
"My lover, Nancy," Dodger introduced him to the pregnant girl resting on the doggy bed in the living room. "She's my one an' only, kid. An' now she's gonna be tha mother of my kids."
"You're gonna be a father?" Oliver exclaimed with joy. "How wonderful!"
"Congratulations, Dodger, man!" Tito shouted.
"Yes, yes, good cheer to you!" Francis was not to be left out.
"Thanks everyone," Dodger grinned at all the excitement in the room. And Oliver was right there beside him, forever and always. The kid was truly home safe and sound, and everything was as it should be.
Dodger Alone in the Big City, Midtown, 1986
Dodger was all alone again, and he was starting to regret running away from that Fagin man before. Maybe it was the craziness of the city finally getting to him, but Dodger was feeling pretty lonely and agitated. Well, he could blame Genevieve for his loneliness. If it wasn't for her, he'd be back with the Scoundrels right now.
But Dodger was never going back there, not to rejoin the gang anyways. So maybe he needed a new place to stay. Fagin had mentioned having a boat with some other dogs on it. Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"Now, where can I find this Fagin fella?" Dodger first returned to the bar he'd met Fagin outside of, the one he'd gotten kicked out of, but of course, Fagin wasn't there. He'd been kicked out, after all.
So Dodger tried some more bars in the area, hovels he hoped Fagin might've fallen into in his drunken stupor. He found a few drunks outside of the bars, some of whom tried to pet him—Dodger was having none of that. He wasn't some lapdog to be pet at their whim. No, Dodger needed to find Fagin, and fast. He was starting to get hungry again.
Finally, Dodger was strutting down the street, trying not to look half-starved, when he spotted a familiar green trench coat and beanie combination coming out of a pawn shop. "You'll really get a good bargain for this fine collector's piece! I'm practically giving it away!"
But the pawn shop owner didn't look too impressed with Fagin's variety of "collector's" watches. In fact, he seemed to be ordering Fagin to leave the store. Fagin slumped out with a sigh and fell to the ground outside the shop.
"Well, hello there!" Fagin chuckled as Dodger came up to him. "Didn't think I'd see you again so soon. Have you decided to take me up on my offer?"
Dodger barked happily.
"Alrighty, then, boy." Fagin stumbled to his feet, dusted off his trousers, and straightened his beanie cap. "It's time to go home." Dodger eagerly followed him down the street.