Oswald was waiting on Jim's back porch, preening and primping his hair and fur-collared coat. Jim was late, to a meeting at his own apartment no less, but Oswald always found an unlikely softness for the detective that he just couldn't muster up for anyone else.
Well, anyone except Edward of course, but he hadn't seen him since he found the lovesick idiot dead on the floor and bleeding out next to his queen of the Narrows.
With some time to kill Oswald let his thoughts wander to a place of impossibility. He thought about the similarities between himself and Doc Thompkins. First he noted the physical similarities, dark hair and an affinity for purple, then their respective power grabs, and finally their initial friendship with Ed.
Oswald liked to think that somewhere, subconsciously, Ed had fallen for her for those reasons. Lee and Ed's relationship seemed too similar to the days of Ed's midnight wine confessions to Oswald that he "saw him for who he was". Ed was Oswald's right hand man, desperate for his approval and affection and when Oswald saw him puppy-dogging around Lee in the same way he felt a tug of familiarity in his chest. She even manipulated him and even Ed himself knew it. Lee was nothing like the late Kristin Kringle or Isabelle. He sneered a little at the idea.
A final similarity came to break him out of his reverie.
"Oswald, sorry I'm so late." Jim said, waving some papers in the air. "The tests from Crane's makeshift chemistry lab."
Oswald stood up from his perch on Jim's lone plastic porch chair.
"It's not a problem, though I am a little chilly." He rubbed his hands together. "Can we go inside?"
Jim nodded and unlocked the back door, Oswald scurried in the escape the cold.
The poured over the papers together, Jim adding what Lucious Fox had explained to him in dribs and drabs as they progressed. Oswald didn't have to worry about being cold as he became increasingly aware of their legs touching innocently on the couch, and Jim leaned into him to point out certain pieces of information on a document that Oswald had no chance of understanding. Still, he nodded along because the smell of Jim's cologne was intoxicating-
"So what do you think?" Jim cut in.
Oswald opened his mouth, stuttering awkwardly. A blush bloomed on his face as he realized he had been daydreaming and couldn't remember a word Jim just said.
"To be honest, Jim, I'm not quite versed in the realm of science. I truly don't think I can be of any help here." He admitted with a sigh.
"Me either." Jim rubbed his hands over his face absently. "Any ideas on where we can get the information Lucius needs?"
"Don't you have some sort of database for that? Archives or just the internet?"
Jim shook his head. "All damaged in the first few explosions. We only have radio communications now, and even those are fuzzy."
Oswald bit the inside of his cheek in thought.
"What information exactly does he need? Maybe I know someone." He offered earnestly. He did love feeling useful, and Jim scratched that itch quite well.
"He's looking for common uses for these chemicals." He gesture to the pages, now scattered on the table. "Some of them he recognizes from the fear toxin, but it's not the same gas Jerome wanted to use, and it's not exactly the same as the fear gas either."
Oswald examined the papers a little more carefully.
"The library?" he offered lamely.
"That's actually a good idea, but t's dangerous territory. I could go alone but it would be too hard to research and keep an eye out." His mouth pressed into a tight little line. "I can keep lookout while Lucius-"He stopped when Oswald lifted a hand and smiled.
"I'll do the research, you man the gun. It's an obvious decision."
"Oswald, you are technically a civilian. I already put you in danger last time when we were apprehending Crane. It's over and above our deal."
"A deal for which I cannot uphold my end today." Oswald sputtered hurriedly, standing as well. "I have no new information but perhaps I can assist in another way." He let the statement linger in the air, Jim's ears felt a little hot at the implication but Oswald quickly corrected. "I'm perfectly capable of both protecting myself physically and matching words in a book, Jim." He huffed.
Jim hesitated for a few minutes, pondering over his options. On the one hand, law and order had no real place in this Gotham, and on the other he was getting too chummy with Oswald, relying on him for ideas he could easily come to on his own if he put some effort in. Jim wasn't an idiot, he know exactly why he kept coming back to Oswald, hoping he had information, and it wasn't exclusively to catch Jeremiah.
Slowly, Jim nodded in acceptance.
"Today?" Oswald asked, looking a little pleased and nervous at the same time.
"No, I need to survey the area first. I don't want to run into any danger like last time. This should be a quick and easy trip." Oswald huffed in response.
"Jim, this is what I have lackey's for. Let them survey and they'll be able to give us the go-ahead in a matter of hours." He bragged.
Jim really didn't like the idea of relying on even more criminals but he knew Oswald's men were top notch. The GCPD was mainly in survival mode, and the outside help more focused on bringing in supplies and trying to rebuild infrastructure. He really didn't have the men to spare.
"Okay, make the call." He gave in reluctantly.
Oswald grinned his sly little grin and picked up the phone. After he gave the order they were both left standing in Jim's living room awkwardly. Oswald's eyes were wild and exciting, the way that had always been when Jim saw him climbing slowly to the top of Gotham's underworld.
Author's Note: You may have to suspend belief a little when it comes to Scarecrow's chemical weapons. I tried to do some research but I'm not a scientist by any means so I'm going to just leave out specifics so it doesn't pull anyone out of the story if incorrect.