Chapter 114
Oswald paces back-and-forth around his cell, a black eye from the punch he received from the officer. Gabe sits on the bench, yawning and keeping his head down. When Oswald turns back around to face the precinct, he spots-
"Detective Bullock!" he cries, limping up to the edge of the cell.
Detective Harvey Bullock, attending to a civilian, taps him with his hat, "Wait here."
He saunters over to the cells, a satisfactory grin on his face, "Haha...Penguin! It's good to see you. Wadda you guys doing?"
"O-old friend," Oswald stutters, "thank goodness you're here. There's been some silly mistake."
Bullock leans into the cell, his voice alight with sarcasm, "Looks like it. Unless you irritated someone important, you didn't do that, did you?"
"Me?" Oswald gives him an innocent smile, "...of course not."
Not buying it, Bullock retorts, "You sure? ...examine your soul, Penguin."
He turns around and starts to walk away when Oswald reaches out from the bars, "Wait! ...don't go. Please, sir, I-...I beg of you. My patron Don Maroni is obviously unaware of my predicament. ...a simple phone call would resolve things I'm sure."
As Oswald keeps a confident smile, Bullock, holding his hat in his hands, strolls back up to the cell, "But see, I like having you here. Cause I can sit at my desk...and look at you. It's soothing, like a bonsai tree."
And without another word, Detective Bullock turns around and walks away. Gabe, now standing with his hands on his hips, asks,
"What's a bonsai tree?"
Oswald closes his eyes, groans, and hits his head against the metal bars. He's going to be in here for a while.
I walk into work at the GCPD precinct to find a familiar, if beaten face in one of the jail cells.
"Oswald…" I realize aloud.
His suit is haggard and dirty, with his hair lacking its usual plumage and a black eye consuming a good portion of his face. Somehow I can't help but...laugh. Thank goodness Oswald doesn't notice me among the dozens of other officers, because I know he wouldn't be pleased at my amusement. But still...seeing him powerless once more, after all of his boasting...it's rather cathartic, isn't it?
After composing myself, I finally make my way up to him, and before I'm halfway there, he recognizes me through the ill-fitting policeman's uniform and cap.
"Trixie! My love-"
I immediately hush him down, "Oswald, do you know where we are right now?! If word got out that I was associated with you-"
He gives me a rather defiant look, crossing his arms, "Trixie...all cops are crooked one way or another...well, except for James Gordon, but...that's besides the point…"
Distracted, Oswald's eyes start roaming, "Where's Jim?"
I can't help but chuckle. He's so obvious, it's adorable, "I heard some of the other unis talking about him getting demoted. Security guard at the newly reopened Arkham Asylum, I think."
He purses his lips, "Well, that's a shame. Now, onto my freedom-"
"Well, what do we have here?"
Detective Bullock comes strolling up to Oswald and I. I've never had much interaction with Bullock, and I assume he only knows me as another uni, as well as a dancer for Fish.
"Officer K, right? Say, I haven't seen you down at Fish Mooney's lately? Getting to old for the glitter and sequins? Ha...Trixie...it's a good...ahem...stage name, you should take it on the road-"
"Excuse me, Detective Bullock, but isn't it workplace harassment to delve into such...personal matters that are completely unrelated to the task at hand?" Oswald comes to my defense, even as he's restricted behind bars with his black eye.
Bullock turns to Oswald, about to come back with a witty remark, when he suddenly stops. He does a double-take, looking back to me, and then back to Oswald.
"Oh...I see what's going on here. You two...are together, aren't you? Haha, wow, when Jimbo said not to trust you, he really meant it, didn't he?" he asks me with a knowing look.
I place my hands on my hips, "I'd suggest you reconsider the advice of a man who's now out of a job. Now, Detective Bullock, I can handle the situation from here, thank you very much."
Bullock stares at me for several seconds, before shrugging, "Sure. Still not going to get him out of there. Not on my watch anyway."
As he walks away, Oswald watches him with disdain.
"You've met Detective Bullock? Jim's former partner, and a cop with a mouth," he grumbles.
He turns back to me, "Now Trixie...sweetheart, I need you to put in a call to Don Maroni. He'll sort this out for me."
"What got you locked up in the first place? Did your deal with the fishermen not go as planned?"
Oswald moves his head around several times before responding, "...perhaps."
I run my hand through his messy hair, "Don't worry, you're going to slip up every now and then. I'll call Don Maroni."
I let my hand go, and notice the hair product and sweat now greasing my hand, "Uhm...and get you a towel."
"And some chocolate!" Gabe demands from the other side of the cell.
Heading over to my desk, I grab the black rotary phone and start dialing Bamonte's. The restaurant has to be open by now, and it's not like I could phone Don Maroni personally. I can't seem to completely remember their number though...
As I roll each number through the rotary, I spot Ed walking up the stairs from his basement area. Oh no...if Oswald saw me interacting with Ed...he would know what he looks like, he'd know he works at the GCPD. Oh god…
Hanging up the phone, I run up to Ed before he can come into Oswald's view.
"Morning...Ed!" I nearly run into him with my rushed greeting.
He doesn't seem to pick up on my emotional cues, smiling as usual, "Good morning Nat. Say, I was working on composing a poem for Ms. Kringle, and I thought I'd run some verses by you. You've always been a romantic at heart, even if you'd never admit it."
I glance over at Oswald, before going back to Ed, "Yeah...I guess I can sort of be a romantic. How about we review those verses in your lab? Wouldn't want Ms. Kringle overhearing them."
I pat Ed on the back, as he turns around back toward the basement, "Ah, of course! Why didn't I think of that-...Nat, you are always so helpful, I can't thank you enough-"
"Yeah, Ed, I'll be right there, okay? Just have to...finish up some paperwork," I interrupt him, before practically pushing him away so I can head back to my desk.
Not wasting any time, I rush back to my desk and pick the phone back up.
"Trixie...who was that you were talking to?" Oswald asks through the bars.
Refusing to answer him, I call the operator, "Operator? Yes, could you please put me through to Bamonte's? I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a hurry."
The operator's nasally voice comes in with a buzz, "The Italian restaurant? Just a moment please."
I let out a sigh of relief as the operator connects me to the number.
"Bamonte's, whatcha ordering?" a male voice with an Italian accent answers.
"Tell Don Maroni that the GCPD has his underboss Oswald Cobblepot. That is all."
I hang up before the clerk can answer back, and turn my swivel chair to Oswald. Now we wait.
The only reason I'd risk coming to work today was to go through the police files. Anything that might help with the Court of Owls case. In the records annex, I rummage through the case files under "C". Nothing. Of course.
I sigh. Maybe there's something on Barbara's parents, or maybe something in Don Falcone's file that would help. I don't know, any scrap of information would help right now-
"Officer K? Is that you?" Kristen Kringle peeks out from behind a filing cabinet, a clipboard in her hand.
I turn to her. Right...she's the secretary for the records annex.
"Yeah, hi," I greet, closing the last cabinet.
"Mr. Nygma has been...rather...forward with me lately," she starts, swaying her hips side-to-side.
I nod, "Yeah. You want me to tell him to lay off?"
"Uhm...I-" she stands silent for a couple of seconds, her mouth open, "...don't kill me for this...but, I actually kind of like it. I mean, I am...still seeing Detective Flass, but Ed is...nice."
My expression draws down into a frown, "Oh...that's great."
Kristen smiles, but is clearly aware of my downtrodden expression. She leans her head down.
"You know, maybe you shouldn't be so focused on one guy. The precinct's full of guys," she shrugs, "one of them must be easy enough."
She walks out of the precinct, and I'm just...angry. She's right, but at the same time, I'm angry about it. But...what can I do? When I looked for alternatives, and found Oswald...would looking again bring just as horrid results?
Author's Note:
princessyuki08 (Chapter 26): Yeah, I made the Twilight parallel when asking "Team Edward or Team Oswald" as well. I would like to think BOAF has a better love story than Twilight, but that's up to you guys
princessyuki08 (Chapter 35): You could argue in the beginning that Natalie is just responding "I love you too" out of a pressured/autonomous response. How much does saying "I love you" really mean? For Natalie, at least at this point, I think she's saying it mainly to further her own interests and to stay in good favor with Oswald
princessyuki08 (Chapter 38): Yes, the Trickster being used is the younger one from the 90s Flash show (although Mark Hamill was already in his forties when that was filmed). I was never able to fit it into the story, but there's a young boy who has a single line in Chapter 39 who's suppose to be Barry Allen
Guest (Chapter 114): Sorry, yeah, I've had my own technical problems with the website from time-to-time. If you're ever having trouble, you could always check the AO3 or Wattpad versions
Guest (Chapter 115): Ha, I was worried that the theme of who hogs who in bed was a cliche, but I'm glad you enjoyed it regardless
princessyuki08 (Chapter 46): I've actually never seen the Men in Black series, but it's cool you caught the reference anyway. Looking through his wikipedia page, there are more similarities than one might think. Fun fact: when Natalie was a CIA operative, she was also known as "Agent K"
princessyuki08 (Chapter 47): "Why Natalie stays with Oswald" is a loaded question. While yes, some of her attraction to Oswald stems from frustration over her one-sided affection to Ed, that isn't the only reason. There's just so many factors in play it'd take forever to sift through them all to find a real root cause. To her, Oswald may not be the best choice, but he does a good job at presenting himself as the only choice. I'd also argue that he'd kill her no matter who ends the relationship, prompting Natalie to try to keep him pleased as much as possible, and she can't throw him in jail because we've seen how ineffective the justice system in Gotham is, and doing so would just anger him more
Guest (Chapter 85): I do have more ideas for Standalone Specials, including the next one which will be a new one (no spoilers as to what that will be). Other ones besides the '66SS and Arkhamverse include the Bloopers universe, and an unreleased concept for a World War II alternate universe similar to the "Bombshell" comic series
princessyuki08 (Chapter 53): I agree, it was time for Oswald to be kicked out of the apartment. The only reason I kept him there for so long was because in the show he doesn't return to his mother's apartment until Episode 5
princessyuki08 (Chapter 59): She absolutely has reason to love him: the readers demand it. In all seriousness, it's not so much he's given her reason, as it is exterior factors pulling her to him. If anything, the only thing he really brings into the positives is that they have a lot in common in terms of background and upbringing
princessyuki08 (Chapter 60): You're right, there's no logical reason for her to love him. Their relationship is based completely on emotion. Who does Natalie really have outside of Oswald and Ed? Who does she have to talk to when she's not working? Who can she spend time with, or rather, who wants to spend time with her? The pathological reason why she's trying to create a support system with Barbara, Renee, and Crispus is because she knows Oswald could turn on her at any minute
Thanks! :)