Chapter 80

The day's light trickled through the curtains, hazy and gray. Spilled into Beryl's crib, covering her little feet. She slept on, just like Cobblair a few feet away. Curled up like a cat, curly black hair spread across the pillow, they snoozed as deeply as Princess Aurora and twice as soundly. Their minds, as fused as their bodies, produced fractured carnivals behind closed eyelids. Memories. Desires.

Oswald weeping as he held his mother, her blood staining his hands.

Ruby being examined by Strange's lackeys, probed and prodded like a doll.

Oswald, no older than four, and missing a front tooth, jumping up and down at the discovery of a silver dollar under his pillow.

Ruby, a deformed teenager, listening as the muffled sounds of a Christmas party resounded beneath her feet.

Oswald at the top of the criminal food chain, cackling from a golden throne.

Ruby by his side, an equal. Smiling.

A thin wail reached their ears, cutting off the train of thoughts. Eyes flew open. One was icy-blue, the other indigo.

Jumping out of the covers, Cobblair reached into the crib. Extracting the crying infant, they patted her back in comfort. As she quieted down, they proceeded to change and feed her. When she finished her warm milk, she looked up at Cobblair. Recognition shone in her bright green eyes. She saw Ruby looking down at her, as well as the man who'd been living with them. Far from being intimidated, she liked it. Gurgling, she reached out to them with her chubby arms. Cobblair blinked, then chuckled. Held the baby close, feeling her fleshy warmth. It sent waves of affection washing over both hearts.

Kissing the baby's forehead, they put her back in the crib. Cobblair looked at the clock, and sighed. It was eight o'clock, bright and cold. Only five hours until the inevitable meeting at the Sirens.

Neither of Cobblair's components wanted to separate. After so long, it felt wonderful to be whole again. To fill in the void that had haunted them both. But they both knew that the longer they waited, the more torturous it would be once they did split up.

Cobblair closed their eyes. Their body began to shimmer with light. Became encased with it. Split down the center. One became two. Stretching and yawning, Oswald and Ruby turned to each other. Smiling sadly, she said, "That was easily the best sleep I've had in a long time."

Oswald nodded. "Indeed." Sighing at the clock again, he jerked his thumb at the bathroom door. "May I...?"

"Sure." Ruby nodded. "My shift doesn't start until three. And I'm not going to meet any gangsters."

"These aren't just any gangsters." Oswald replied. "These are the gangster gods."

"And what does that make you?"

"The king of gods." Oswald sniggered. "Figuratively speaking."

Rolling her eyes, Ruby waved as her friend disappeared behind the bathroom door. As she heard the water go on, she set to work tidying up the place. In particular, she made the bed and took out the garbage - which, in her case, meant that she had to stretch her arms out the window until they hovered over the public bins, bags in hand. Then, with time to spare, she began to reorganize her stone collection. But even as she tried to work, she kept thinking back on being Cobblair. It had felt like her first meal after being unknowingly starved. And just like that, it was over. Ruby found herself wondering when it would happen again. And if her heart would ever give out from the roller-coaster she put it through.

Shaking off her thoughts, Ruby got to work recording her latest acquisitions. Mercury had insisted that she could have them for free, but Ruby would have felt guilty in depriving the store of income. In the end, they had settled for a compromise: fifty-percent discount. After all, Ruby had a baby to feed.

Recording the gems was wondering. Familiar as well as enriching.

Benitoite. Rare blue gemstone that is found ONLY in San Benito Country, in California, USA. It has a very high disposition (fire) that makes it sparkle intensely in the sun.

Chalcedony. A type of quartz with a wide variety of forms and colors. Typically semitransparent or translucent. Color depends on the minerals present when they form.

Lepidolite. Natural, untreated stone found in Russia. The mica provides a unique glitter.

Pietersite. Named for the man who discovered it in Africa in 1962. Features swirling reds, golds, and blues naturally cemented with quartz.

She went on like this for a while, until at last she heard the water flow end and her hand cramp. Rubbing it, she turned around just in time to see the door opening. A wall of steam gushed forward, dissipitating in the air. Yup. No hot water for Ruby. She rested her cheek on her knuckles as Oswald walked out, still in the process of slicking back his ebony hair. When he saw her, he grinned. His face was beet-red from exposure to damp heat.

Ruby whistled at his suit, all clean and pressed. "You look like a million diamonds."

Oswald gave a theatrical bow. But the gleam in his eyes was cold. "Hopefully, my edges will be sharp enough to cut out the unloyal."

Ruby rolled her eyes as she got up. Approaching him, she smoothed out the tiny wrinkles in his suit. "Don't worry, Oz. You've got them in the palm of your hand." Brushing a few stray strands out of his eyes, Ruby cupped his chin and made him look at her. "You got this. Okay?"

Oswald blinked. A dozen emotions swam in his icy-blue eyes. Then, at last, he embraced her. The two held onto each other until, at long last, the clock began to chime. Pulling away, Ruby looked at her friend worriedly. "Do you want me to accompany you? As Cobblair, we'd be at the Sirens in minutes."

"What about the baby?"

"I could leave her alone for ten minutes." Ruby replied. "Seven, if it's windy out."

Oswald shook his head, but smiled gently. "I appreciate it, my dear. But no." His expression darkened. "This is something I must do alone."

Ruby handed him his cane. "Okay. Well then, good luck. And just to make sure you actually do have good luck..." She reached out towards her desk. Her arm, boneless and rubbery, found the drawer and dived inside. It returned to her with a chain carrying stones of a red so dark they were nearly black. Smiling, she placed it around Oswald's neck, right under the zircon stone. "These are tumbled garnets, associated with the planet Mars. They bring luck and money. Perfect for the occasion, in my opinion."

Oswald beamed, touched by the gesture. He reached out and stroked Ruby's cheek. "All the stones in the world can't compare to your companionship."

Ruby fought to keep her cheeks from reddening.

With that, Oswald left. And Ruby suddenly felt hollow.

The Sirens was silent. There was no murmuring conversation. There was no clinking of glasses. There wasn't even the muted sshh of boots scraping nervously against polished floors. Oswald suspected what he would find when he arrived. But when he saw the empty tables, it hit him like a truck on full-speed.

He could only stare at the seats, and what they meant, until Barbara's voice slithered into his ear. "I sent out the word, said you wanted to see everyone, express concerns, ect, ect. And..." Barbara waved an arm at the desolate lounge. "See for yourself."

Oswald bit his lip. "This is a rebellion."

"Well, don't say I didn't warn ya, but..." Barbara, wearing a silver dress, smirked at him, "I did warn you."

Oswald smiled tautly. "You have been such a friend, Barbara."

Barbara placed a hand on her chest, as if to say, 'who, moi?'

"Tell me," Oswald pleaded, "what should I do now?"

Barbara tried to appear modest, but her natural inclination to lead and give orders shone through her face like moonbeams. "Well, if it were me, I would pick one of them - the Duke, maybe, or Tommy Bones - and teach them a lesson. They don't respect you, Oswald." Suddenly relaxing, she grinned. "In fact, kill Tommy Bones and the Duke. Just clean house!" Oswald snorted, apologized, and proceeded to cackle behind his hand.

Some of Barbara's pretty exterior cracked as she commented, "I'm glad you can find the humor in it."

Then, Oswald dropped the bomb. "Did you really think I would be so easy to manipulate?"

Barbara sombered. Oswald took his cane's head - a penguin carved from bronze - and pulled. At the end of the penguin's head was a long, wickedly sharp blade. He held it upward, almost as an offering. Barbara flinched at the sight of it. "What was your plan?" Oswald asked. "Take advantage of me while I was in a weakened state? Trick me into attacking my subordinates so they truly did rebel? Inciting war so that you could pick up the pieces?" He broke into peals of laughter once more. Barbara looked away, composed but displeased.

"My dear," Oswald said, "you couldn't even get a single person to commit suicide - which, by the way, I have never forgiven you for. What makes you think you had the capacity to lead? You are tragically out of your depth."

"Oswald, I'm your friend." Barbara's words were flatter than pancakes and unfeeling as corpses.

"Perhaps I should call Tommy Bones." Oswald said, ignoring Barbara's lie. "Or the Duke, or any of the families, and ask them if you really invited them to this meeting. What would they say?" In that moment, the phone next to Barbara began to ring. She answered it with an expressionless face. "Yes?...He's right here." She held out the phone to Oswald. "Tommy Bones."

Scowling, he accepted. "Yes?"

Tommy Bones' gruff voice gushed from the reciever. "You got the message? We don't work for you no more. Your day is done, freak."

Oswald's anger filled his chest like hot lava. "How dare you?!" His voice grew louder by the second, while Barbara watched with amusement. "I will gut you! I will hang your entrails from every lamppost in Gotham!"

"Then Nygma dies." Bones said calmly.

Oswald stopped. Petrified, all he could do was envision Ed - sweet Ed! - and imagine him in harm's way. The thought was so horrible that it festered even as he tried to banish it. "What?"

"Walk away quiet." Bones advised. "Maybe we'll send him back in one piece. And don't try sendin' your superfreak girlfriend after us, neither. We'll just have some fun with her before sending you her head. Right after we roast her baby and eat it for dinner, how's that sound?"

Oswald was nothing short of horrified. All he could do was listen as the hideous images took root in his mind. He saw Ruby, biting and thrashing like a wildcat as Bones' men pinned her down, taking turns with her. He could imagine her fighting, even as they jammed a needle in her neck. He could almost hear Beryl's screams, begging in infant language for someone to please come save her...right before she was dunked in boiling oil.

Bile coated his tongue. He swallowed hard as Bones hissed his last. "We'll even let you keep bein' mayor." Click! Then the endless hum of a dead line. Dropping the phone he looked up at Barbara. "They have Ed! And they threatened Ruby. They're holding him hostage." Barbara reclaimed the phone, putting it in its place. Oswald stared down at the blade. "I will kill them! Every one of them!"

Barbara just looked bored. Oswald couldn't have cared less if he tried.

"I have to go." He sheathed the blade. "I have to gather my men. I have to..." He ran off.

Barbara watched him go. Smiling. Judging by Oswald's face, Bones had said everything they had told him to. But every loose string had to be tightened.