Chapter 97

The bag over Oswald's head is lifted, revealing him to be in Don Falcone's dining room. Falcone stands by a nearby window, while a servant blocks the only exit. He feigns a look of surprise, while carefully plotting out his every word. After gazing out the window for several seconds, Don Falcone walks over and seats himself in a chair across from him. A scare tactic, he wants to intimidate him...so this is serious.

"How did Maroni know where my money was?" he begins, his tone stern.

"W-...well, that's a very good question. Ha...not to criticize but...you could've just called me…" Oswald laughs, trying to lighten the mood.

His smile fades when he realizes that it isn't working, and Don Falcone's expression is just as shrewd as ever, "I'm going to ask you once more. How did Maroni know where I kept my money? No one knew."

Oswald's expression sharpens, as he begins laying the seeds for his plan, "The robbery at the armory? ...that wasn't Maroni-"

"I thought we were friends," Falcone shakes his head, "we had an understanding."

He continues, "You tell me every move Maroni makes...what happened? When did you turn on me?"

"Never! Don Falcone...I swear, never. Maroni had nothing to do with the armory job. I-I would know, I would have told you-"

"Who was it if not Maroni? And how did they know about my money?" Falcone questions.

Just then, the servant opens the door as Liza steps through with a silver tea tray. She stops as Oswald turns around and their eyes meet.

Don Falcone looks up at her and smiles, "Thank you Liza. Won't be long."

"I'll come back," she whispers, before quickly turning around and skirting away.

Oswald grimaces as she leaves. Here's Fish's spy, right under Falcone's nose, and the sentimental old man is too blind to see it.

"I asked you a question," Falcone snaps, turning back Oswald's attention.

Shoot, he probably thought I was staring, Oswald realizes. If he had Fish's new umbrella boy thrown into the river for ogling Trixie, who knows what Falcone would do to him? Ugh...Trixie...don't think about her right now…

"Well, you have a mole obviously...which is not Maroni's forte, is it? No, this is someone else, someone artful...someone close to you."

"I know who you're going to name," Falcone nods, "but your hatred of Fish makes me doubt anything you say against her-"

"With respect," Oswald interrupts, "I don't understand why you still tolerate her existence. She has proved her disloyalty a hundred times. She wants your head."

Don Falcone leans back, smirking, "Like half the people who work for me. Fish makes me a lot of money, I can handle Fish Mooney or whoever son-of-a-bitch did this to me. Tell me how to find the mole."

Oswald takes a breath, "You leave that to me Don Falcone," he looks down, "...dirty work. I'll find your mole for you. Trust me, he'll belong to Fish."

Falcone leans over to Oswald, and places his hand on his, "Bring me proof."

Reaching his hand up, Falcone lightly slaps Oswald's cheek, "And shame for keeping around such a dishonest girl."

Oswald waits for Falcone to lower his hand before replying, "Oh, Trixie? Yes, she'll be dealt with, posthaste."

"Good," Falcone smiles as he leans back in his chair, "...will you kill her?"

He contemplates this for a moment or two, "You know what? ...no, death would be far too forgiving. No...I'd rather see her live...and suffer."

"It was two Talons. One attacked me at my apartment and the other attacked Natalie at her's," Renee explains to Barbara over coffee, "how many of these guys are there?"

"I-I don't know," she confesses, "I just know there's more than one."

Renee, Allen, Barbara, and I all sit around Barbara's coffee table, with Barbara and I on one side, and Allen and Renee on the other. Four cups of unspiked coffee sit on the table as the fireplace burns behind them. Everyone's dressed in long overcoats, save Barbara, as the first winter snow floats down onto Barbara's balcony just outside.

"How...how are you guys feeling?" Barbara asks Renee and I, "I could imagine getting attacked by a Talon each would be...difficult."

Renee takes a sip of her coffee, "To be honest, I had a difficult time dispatching the Talon. Even with the three of us it was hard. Plus my apartment is now a wreck-"
"Oh, you and your apartment. We're dealing with a highly influential organization and you're complaining about your decor," Allen chuckles.

Renee smiles at her partner, taking a relaxed position on the couch, "...of course you'd find that funny."

"Anyways, I think we should take some time off from work," I suggest to Renee and Allen, "we took some heavy hits in those encounters and-"

"No," Renee disagrees, "the Court of Owls is bound to have eyes at the GCPD, if all three of us were to take time off at the same time they would know something's up. I say that Natalie and I take two days off in separate shifts to recover from our wounds. That's it."

"Renee...you're being too hard on yourself. You were hurt in that fight pretty bad...right?" Barbara gestures to her stomach.

Renee looks down to undo her trenchcoat, revealing a navy blue silk pajama top soaked in blood, the outlines of white bandages thinly visible through the top, "What? This? No...no this is nothing. Those pain meds you gave me are helping tremendously...even if...I shouldn't be taking them…"

She shakes her head, and places her hand on Renee's, "Nonsense. You need it."

Allen and I make quick glances at each other before he speaks up, "Uhm...are we intruding on something here?"

Barbara and Renee quickly separate, "No, nothing at all."

The four of us fall silent, intermittently taking sips of our coffee at different intervals.

"I think I should stay at Renee's," Barbara suddenly perks up.

Allen furrows his brow, as Barbara begins to explain herself.

"She'll need help cleaning things up anyway. And besides, if I'm with her, the Talons can't attack."

My expression turns suspicious. Is this really about helping Renee? Or about something else.

Renee folds her hands together, "Barbara, I don't know about this-"

"We'll talk about it later. In private. Right now, we should relax, we've had a tough morning-"

"No, I think we should discuss this," Allen interrupts, "if you're so concerned, why not have Renee stay here? It'd make more sense-"

"No, what would I tell Jim? That his coworker is going to be staying with us? What would he think?" she cries, getting out of her seat.

"If you really want to keep Renee safe, she'll be safer here. This is a better neighborhood than any of us live in, and besides...where is Gordon anyway?" Allen asks.

She sighs, looking out the window into the balcony, "He's already at work."

Allen, Renee, and I glance at each other, the three of us coming to an equal realization. I get up from the couch, and walk over to Barbara, "Babs, if this isn't about Renee, you can tel-"

"It isn't, okay?!" she snaps, whipping around. Shoving past me, she points to the door, "I want to speak to Renee, alone. Now."

Allen and I look down, before looking at each other. We file out, closing the door behind us.

"Oh, thank goodness. It's like a pressure cooker in there," he sighs.

"You're telling me," I chuckle, "although, if you wanna help out over at my place, I wouldn't mind the extra hand."
He laughs, "No kidding? Well, I wouldn't mind that at all."

We glance back at the door. Nothing can be heard from the other side, although considering what Barbara and Renee could be discussing, it might be best to keep it that way.

"They're not coming out for a while, are they?" Allen realizes.

I shake my head, "Girl talk, I'm sure."

Allen checks his watch, "Oh, I should be getting to work," he turns to me, "...you feeling up to it?"

I twist my lip. Eh, I've been through worse, and with Renee wrapped up with Barbara she'll probably miss at least a little bit of work. Might as well let her take today off instead of me.

"Yeah, what the hell," I chuckle.

"Alright, we'll take my car," he smiles, as we head down the hall.

Author's Note:

Guest: I just wrote the scene where he confronts her, and trust me, it's intense. Can't say anything other than that though ;)

HungerGamesHarryPotter7887: I update every Monday and Friday, so you always know when an update's coming. We'll see how Natalie reacts to Ed's dark side as we work our way into the later half of the season. Like the show, it's going to be a slow burn, so stay tuned

Langley21: Yeah, "Sharkbait, Ooh Ha Ha"! :D And it's fine you were hesitant, I get it. Their relationship is about to take a turn for the worst, what with Natalie seriously betraying him. Thank you, I hope you enjoy this next chapter

Thanks! :)