Chapter 71

Ed and I are a couple of blocks away from the Flea when a muffled, sobbing sound comes from the drain below.

"Wait...that voice sounds familiar…" I realize, bending over to look down at the corner drain, "Ed, help me!"

With Ed on one end and me at the other, we both grab the grate leading to the sewers below. My end of the grate lifts much faster, with Ed struggling to keep up. I chuckle, "Ed, I got it from here."

He lets out a sigh of relief as he drops the end of the grate, sending me spinning with the heavy, unbalanced grate in my hands. I finally manage to set it down on the nearby sidewalk, and look down into the dark, open sewer hole.

I look up at Ed, who begins shaking his head profusely. I sigh, of course.

I jump down the hole into the sewers, where, with the small amount of daylight pouring in from the hole, I can make out a small figure huddled in the corner. Treading through the shallow sewer waters, I approach the familiar figure as slowly as I can.

"...Otis…?" I whisper.

The shadow is bathed in light as I grow closer, revealing a pale, starved Otis curled up in the corner. He's wearing the exact same clothes I last saw him in, except they're now covered in grime and there's holes in his shoes.

"Oh my gosh...what happened?" I ask, sitting down with him.

"Trixie!" Otis cries. He reaches over to hug me, but then looks down at himself, and shrivels back into a ball, "Well...a little after my brother died, I was kicked out of our apartment. My money alone couldn't pay the rent. So...I've been living here."

Otis shifts to the side, and a large rat with messy gray hair, "Meet Mr. Sniffles, I found him in the sewers, and I trained him. He's not a picky eater, and he doesn't bite."

The rat, on all fours, scampers onto my leg and jumps up onto my shoulder. I jump, but his feet leave no scratches, and true to Otis's word, he doesn't bite.

"Wow, that's so cool Otis, but couldn't you stay at the Flea? I thought they let people sleep in the warehouse. They even provide food and blankets," I tell him, tentatively petting Mr. Sniffles on the forehead.

He scoffs, "Ha, I didn't realize you're that old, Trixie. The Flea hasn't let people sleep there for free ever since the fences took over. Now you gotta pay, and it ain't cheap."

Mr. Sniffles leaps off of my shoulder and trodes back to Otis as he feeds him a stale cracker. I guess I have grown out of the loop, "What ever happened to the Baron of the Flea?"

"I...I was too young to remember, but I think the Barons' rule ended when two guys started a whole bunch of in-fighting over the throne. After that, the fences took over. My brother told me, that for the longest time, the Baron was some little girl they called the Baroness, can you believe that?"

I chuckle, "It's hard to believe in hindsight, yeah."

"So, what brings you here?" he asks, taking out another moldy cracker from a plastic package.

I stop him from eating the cracker, grabbing it with my hand, "Uhm...how about first, I get you some new clothes and something...substantial to eat? I'll explain on the way."

After wolfing down a cheeseburger and two orders of curly fries at a local diner, Otis, now dressed in typical black Flea garb "borrowed" from the precinct, smiles up at Ed and I.

"So, you guys are investigating the kids who go missing from Haly's Circus?" Otis recounts, tearing off a piece of cheese from the remainder of his burger and slipping it to Mr. Sniffles, hidden away in his deep coat pockets.

I nod, "Yeah, the cops didn't think that the acrobats would frequent the Flea. But I figured that with their background, they'd have at least visited it once or twice, right?"

"Oh yeah," he confirms, "there are plenty of kids from the Flea who join the circus. I tried too, but I'm too old. Apparently they only take them really young now, to train them to top form by the time they're adults. And hey, it's a free meal."

"Yes, but what about the disappearances of all the circus children?" Ed asks, leaning against the table.

Otis nods his head, "Open secret. Everyone knows that some of the kids from Haly's Circus go missing, it's been happening for as long as anyone can remember. No one knows why, there's tons of stories, from the ghost of a murdered clown looking for revenge, to something about the Grayson/Lloyd rivalry, to a shadowy organization who trains them to be assassins!"

We all give a slightly nervous laugh, while Otis's wild stories may be partially believable, these are still kidnapped children we're talking about.

"Alright, but who would have the resources and motivation to serially abduct the children?" Ed asks, completely skipping over the humanity of the situation.

"If I would link the kidnappings to anyone, I'd link it to the fences themselves. They already traffic Flea residents, including kids. If anyone knows about it, it's them," he promises.

I stand, "Alright, let's go meet these fences."

Ed throws his long arm in front of me, blocking my exit, "But first...dessert!"

The Flea is bustling as usual when Ed, Otis, and I arrive. Kids and teenagers crowd the abandoned warehouse as smoke floats out of lit garbage cans and loud music blares. It's getting closer to wintertime, more people will start flocking to the Flea as it gets colder. And if what Otis said about the fences is true, many of them won't be allowed to stay the night.

With our street disguises on, Ed and I follow Otis through the market area of the Flea, climbing up a rusty metal staircase to the catwalk above. A small office room sits in the corner of the catwalk, built into the crumbling warehouse wall. In it, three men in their twenties sit behind cubicle-like stalls, while scores of younger children and teenagers line up to present them with wallets, watches, jewelry, and other assorted goods.

"Hmm...you brought in a good haul today kid...but times are getting tough around here. I'm afraid it won't be enough to let both you and your little sister. She'll have to find a home somewhere else," one of them waves off a young child.

"Bu-but, you promised!" the small child stuttered.

The man stands, towering over the child, "I said I would let the both of you stay if you could get enough loot for the both of you, and you didn't. Now I don't got all day, move along, kid."

Tears starting to spill from the boy's eyes, he bows his head and stumbles past the other kids in line, quietly removing himself from the office.

"Pretty cruel, turning down a little kid like that," I confront the fence, leaning against the door.

The three fences look up, and the children in line turn around. I twirl one of my daggers in my hand, "I mean no harm, I just want to ask you boys a couple of questions."

"Who wants to know?" questions another fence, one with dyed blond hair.

"If you're so curious Clyde, maybe you should jog your memory," I snap at the fence.

His eyes widen, as I glance over to the other two fences, "Hakeem, George, it's been a while. How are you?"

"Look lady, I don't know who you are, but you've messed with the wrong guys," Clyde looks down at the children.

"Hey rugrats! Whoever brings back this lady's head gets to stay the whole winter, free food and everything!" he promises, pointing to me.

I pack away my knife as the children come racing toward me, some of them climbing up onto my legs as one of them tackles me to the ground. I've never had to kill children, and I'm not starting now. Pushing them away with my hands as they try to claw out my eyes, I throw my legs up, kicking them away. One of them bites me in the arm, and I grab her by the hair and kick her back. I look up, and realize that the fences have fled the office, running down the catwalk. Knocking the kids out of the way, I dash for the door, flinging it open and chasing after them. The kids follow me, tearing down the catwalk in hot pursuit. The first two fences pile into a beat-up old car, but the third fence, George, suddenly stops, and starts pulling at his shoe. As I approach, I realize that Mr. Sniffles, Otis's rat, is chewing at George's foot. Smiling, he turns around just in time for me to grab him, unsheffing my knife and holding it to his neck. The children stop, unsure of what to do. The others in the Flea have stopped as well, turning around to watch the spectacle.

"Alright, question time. First, what do you know about the missing circus children?"

Sweating, George begins stuttering out an answer, "W-we give them to this guy...I...I have no idea who he is. We bring the kids...he gives us cash, a lot of cash. Then he just-"

His speech becomes gurgles as I squeeze his neck in my hand, "Where do you meet this man?"

I loosen my grip just enough that he's able to speak, "N-Next pickup is scheduled for tonight at eleven, between Docks Nine and Ten. It's the...the last one before Haly's Circus leaves town for Star City. Please, that's all I know, alright!"

I let him drop to the ground, but quickly stomp my foot on his head, "I can't let you go, not if you're going to run off to your little friends."

Grabbing his hand, I drag him up to the catwalk. Not caring if he bumps his head several times as we ascend the stairs, we reach the top of the catwalk.

"Ed, give me some rope," I command, gesturing to him.

"Ooh, I know what's coming!" Ed claps his hands before handing me some nearby rope.

Tying one end to George's foot, with one forceful push, I send him over the edge of the catwalk, sailing down toward the ground below. He suddenly stops, swinging in mid-air. I'd tied the other end to the railing of the catwalk, he should be hanging there, at least for a while.

"One last thing, are the food stocks still stored in the same place?" I ask him, leaning over the edge to watch him hang.

"Y-yeah, but how would you know…?"

Not responding, I walk to the other side of the catwalk, and climb another side ladder behind the office. From his hanging place in the middle of the Flea, George's eyes suddenly pop as a realization comes to him, "No...you."

Once on top of the office area, I open up a hatch in the roof and jump down, revealing...a completely empty room.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I shout to the hanging George just outside, "The place is empty!"

"It has been for years," he explains, "ever since we've been in debt to Don Falcone, we haven't been able to buy food."
"And what business do you have with Falcone?"

He starts struggling in place as I return to stand over him, "We were already losing money, and he seemed to be offering a pretty good deal. But now we can't afford nothing, everything we make goes to him."

I shake my head, "Why would you trust someone like him?"

"W-we were desperate. And hey, it's not like you were running this place during hard times," he points out.

I sigh, before standing up straight again. I turn around to leave, when George shouts, "Ha! I knew it! You're not really her, the real Nat would've given me hell."

Raising an eyebrow, I take hold of the rope with both hands and start swinging it back and forth. Steadying the rope with my hands, I keep the top still until George starts swinging in a circle.

"M-make it stop, I-I'm getting real...dizzy…"

I look away as George throws up. Hanging upside down and swinging around in a slow circle must have done it to him. Serves him right.

Looking over the edge, Ed chuckles giddily, "When is a man a stupid relative? Haha…" he points to George, "when he's a mannequin, or as I like to say...a dummy. Ha!"

Author's Note:

Narutoske: Thanks, I'm glad someone likes their relationship, I'll make a good character out of Babs yet! Oswald did pile on the creepy last chapter, didn't he? It seemed kind of appropriate, seeing where he was in the show at the time

McCoyote: Whenever Oswald is creepy or steps out of line, I'd like to think that it's always for a reason. The introspective moments are very popular, although I can't have them too often. Oswald's a very "do or die" sort of person, which is why he can seem rather dramatic at times. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint! :)

Erik-is-my-angel1234: Thanks, it's hard not to feel for Oswald sometimes, hope you enjoy this chapter

Thanks! :)