Chapter 115

Don Maroni strolls into the GCPD along with one of his men. Oswald and Gabe had fallen asleep waiting from them, and I don't blame them, it's nearly the end of my shift and Maroni's only just now shown up. I quickly make my way upstairs, where I can still watch the show, but be unseen by Maroni and Oswald. Wouldn't want Maroni finding out Oswald's girlfriend is also a cop for the GCPD, but then again, the ones who have been finding out have been taking it surprisingly well. Guess there isn't much difference from being a cop and a crook in Gotham.

"Penguin," Maroni grumbles, as he stands tall in front of his cell,

Oswald leaps up from his sleep, and pulls his jacket back on, "Hi. Sir...ha...Don Maroni, thank heavens you're here."

"You look kind of frosty," Maroni observes, his tone smooth but distant.

Oswald looks down at himself, and tries to excuse it with a smile, "Forgive me...I've had nothing but a moist towelette since yesterday morning."

"A very sad picture," Maroni nods to himself, "you know why you're in there?"
Oswald shrugs, "I have no idea-"

"Rhetorical question!" Maroni interrupts, "You're in there, because I put you in there."

Oswald stutters out his response, "But Don Maroni...why? What did I do?"

Maroni's face stone cold, he asks, "Do you know what hubris is?"

Oswald gives a confused expression, and Maroni repeats, "Do you know?!"

"...s-sorry, ha...I-I thought that was another...rhetorical...question...mph, yes, I do, hubris, it's when-"

"It's when limping little chicken butt second bananas think they're hot stuff," Maroni finishes.

"Sir-"

He interrupts again, "When dumbass underlings raise taxes without asking me first."

Oswald lowers his head, "Yes sir-"

"On fishermen! You raised taxes...on fishermen! They're out there in the freaking ocean risking their lives for us, and you raise their taxes without asking me?"

There's a long pause between the two of them before Maroni finally finishes, "That's hubris, my friend."

"I'm sorry Don Maroni...deeply...sorry. I will never do it again," Oswald apologizes in his most sincere fashion. Somehow, I can tell he's telling the truth, but this is Oswald, so...at what cost?

Maroni nods, "Alright then."

He turns around to Detective Alvarez and points to the cell, "Hey you...let my friends out."

"...excuse me?"

"What? Am I talking Hungarian? Open the cage, moock!"

Alvarez, in clear fear of Don Maroni, puts down the phone he was answering and unlocks the cell, letting out Oswald and Gabe, Maroni extends a single arm to give Oswald a hug, but as soon as Oswald goes in to take it, Maroni pulls back.

"Holy mother, you stink."

Oswald looks down at himself, and can't help but nod.

"Let this be a lesson to you, yes?" Maroni warns.

"Yes sir," Oswald answers without question, although I can already taste the aggression in his tone.

"You're a smart monkey...but you're a monkey. And I'm the zookeeper," Maroni cups Oswald's chin in his hand, examining his black eye. After a few seconds, he lightly slaps his cheek, "Ah, you're alright."

Oswald smiles, but as Maroni turns away, his smile quickly turns into a fierce look of loathing. Looks like Maroni's next on Oswald's hit list.

I hurry out of the GCPD precinct, clutching several folders hidden under my jacket. I turn the corner and lean against a dank apartment wall in a nearby alleyway. I open up the file to reveal a picture of Barbara's parents, clipped to several sheets of paper. I sift through the papers...nothing out of the ordinary. However, one piece of information catches my eye. The Keans happen to own the ACE Chemical Plant down in the Narrows, it's actually one of their oldest properties. But...the Keans don't own Ace Chemicals, so why would they own this one particular building? It was definitely something worth investigating.

"Ah, Nat, there you are," Ed smiles, having leaned in inches away from my face.

I nearly jump back, "Ed! Wha-...what are you doing here?"

He points back to the precinct, "The annual holiday gift exchange is about to commence. I'd hate if you missed."

I shake my head, discreetly stashing the folders back into my jacket, "Don't worry Ed. I already contributed my gift to the pile. You won't be one short."

"No...I mean to receive your gift. A-and if you don't like what you get, we can always trade," he offers.

I place my hand on Ed's shoulder, "Ed...not today, okay? I-...I'm very busy right now. Tell Captain Essen that you can have my gift, okay?"

I turn to walk away, when he suddenly pipes up. "You're becoming distant Nat. It's concerning me."

Tears begin welling up in my eyes, and I refuse to turn around, "You're right Ed, I have been distant. But I can't have you getting involved in what I'm doing right now. For your safety Ed...I-..."

I lower my head, and dash off, "Goodbye!"

"Nat!" Ed cries, reaching out, but I don't look back.

Knocking on a motel door, I wait a couple of seconds for it to open. I press my ear against the door...nothing. Something's wrong.

Standing back, I kick down the door, rushing in. Eel stands in the middle of the room, a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Can't a guy get dressed first?!" he cries, hands over his chest.

"...sorry, I thought you were in trouble," I explain.

Eel slumps his shoulders in a sort of surprised satisfaction, "No one's ever been that...concerned for me before."

I shrug, walking back to fix the door, "I just...wanted to check in to see how you're doing."

"Great, actually. Classes started last week, although, I'm already having trouble keeping up. I mean, I've never done long division before," he scratches his head.

"Well, I'm a little bit of a hurry, so I can't help you with your homework right now. But long division isn't that difficult, it's just multiplication backwards," I smile, as I turn around to leave.

"Just like multiplication, huh?" he mumbles to himself, "Well gee...I don't think I've done that either."

Just as I'm walking out the door, one of the papers from the folder fly out. Eel picks it up for me, but not without getting a look at it.

"Say, what's this? Some sort of business report...you running a bookie racket or something, Trix?"

I grab the paper from him, "...did you just call me 'Trix'?"

He smiles, "Yeah...like the cereal."

"The what?"

He sighs, "What I'm saying is that looks like serious stuff there. You sure you know what you're doing?"

I nod, filing the paper back into the folder, "Yeah...damn papers just keep flying out of this thing."

"Well, maybe I could come along. Be your muscle, in case anything goes wrong," Eel suggests.

I look him over, the kid seems genuine enough about it, and I could use the help, but I don't want him to get involved.

"I appreciate the offer Eel, but it's too dangerous," I warn him.

"But see, that's exactly why you should take me along! I've faced bounds of gunmen working for Maroni and Penguin, and I'm quite the shot with a Tommy gun."

I sigh, he's not going to let up, is he? Well, as long as we aren't ambushed by Talons, he should be okay.

"Well, I don't have a Tommy gun to give you, but if you want to come along, I guess I can't stop you," I figure.

He jumps up in the air, a rather unusual feat for a grown man more than half a foot taller than me, "Alright! Where're we headed?"

"The ACE Chemical Plant."

Author's Note: I've been posting chapters on Tumblr, but it's clear that Tumblr is not made for multi-chapter fanfics. I might make a blog specifically for posting chapters so it doesn't get muddled in the rest of my posts. I don't know, I'm still trying to figure this Tumblr thing out

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