Notes: I didn't intend to write another chapter to this, but I was preparing to write a second Crow/Badger fic for the prompt "It's all your fault!" anyway and then thought that it'd be interesting to write it as a sequel to the first one. So now this has become an on-going Black Raven fic that I'll probably never complete! Hooray!


It was two months until Crow came swanning back to Misthallery. Two months exactly, because Badger had been counting each and every day since he left. Maybe Badger didn't have a lot of skills, but counting is something that he knows he's good at.

And, in his arrogance, Crow obviously expected that everything would be the same. That while he was off doing his soul-searching to discover... whatever it was that he needed to discover, that everyone in Misthallery would sit around and wait for him to get back.

That hadn't been the case.

What also hadn't been the case, however, was bold, confident, new Badger being there for the return. The lanky lad reckoned that he had grown a little in Crow's absence, but he still couldn't slap Crow in the face when he waltzed back into the market. As much as he wanted to. Really, really wanted to.

Crow had a slight air of wonder about him as he approached, the sort that someone might have when coming back to a place where they used to live after being away for a long time. He had a bag on his back and his head was so up in the sky that he barely noticed how empty the streets were. Not that they were ever busy at this time in the morning, but there was a certain absence that he should have picked up on.

He reached where Badger was hovering and smiled warmly. It was not returned. As much as Badger's instincts just wanted to smile at Crow, he couldn't. Their leader didn't deserve smiles right now.

"Hey, Badge'! How's everythin' been?" Crow started, clearly still stuck in the euphoric glow of his trip.

"Quiet," Badger pointedly replied.

"I can see that," observed Crow, looking around, "So where is everyone?"

"Most of 'em are still in bed. 'Cept for Marilyn, who needs to run 'er stall, n' Scraps, since 'e's always up at the crack of dawn t' look fer stuff in the junk," informed Badger, wondering how long it'd be until the penny dropped.

Crow nodded; "An' I wouldn't expect Louis to be out 'is pit at this hour. It's a wonder we get 'im up to do any work at all. But what about Wren an' Socket? They're usually about by now."

"They're not 'ere," seethed Badger.

"I can see that, but where are they?"

"They're. Not. 'Ere."

Crow's eyes grew wide as realisation dawned on him.

"As in... not in Mist'allery?" he checked, not wanting to know the answer.

Badger felt himself slump under the weight of having to hold it in for so long; "No. They're gone. Their mam found a job somewhere else, while ya were flirtin' with... with whereveh it was ya went, n' they 'ad t' leave. The dog n' all."

"But... they can't! They can't just 'ave disappeared like that! Wh-what about... the Black Ravens...?" Crow gaped, staring up at him through pleading eyes.

"We asked ya that same question when ya left an' ya said it were just somethin' ya 'ad t' do," reminded Badger, "They 'ad to do this too."

"But... I didn't even get to say goodbye..." mumbled Crow.

His tone was pathetic enough to finally make Badger snap; "Say goodbye? Ya coulda stopped 'em! If ya 'ad bin 'ere ya coulda worked ya stupid Crow magic n' somehow made it so they didn't 'ave t' go! It's all your fault they're gone!"

"Badge', I ain't some kinda mystical magician," Crow reasoned, "If their mum needed t-"

"Shut up! Just shut up! Ya bloodeh well could fix it! Just like ya fix everythin'! But ya didn't, 'cause ya weren't 'ere n' ya didn't care!" screamed Badger. It was loud enough to threaten waking up those who lived in the houses nearby, but that was the last thing on Badger's mind right now.

After this outburst, Crow went silent. He focused himself, giving Badger time to breathe. Clearly the taller boy was working himself up to counter whatever Crow might say next, but that's not what Crow wanted to do. He didn't want to argue with any of his friends. What he wanted to do was... make things right again.

"So we'll find them," he concluded, after the pause.

"We can't just- ...what? Are ya fer real?" checked Badger. He'd been prepared for a fight, but Crow's reply had left him utterly confused.

"It can't be that 'ard," assured Crow, feeling his confidence grow now that it had direction, "They musta told some people where they were goin', right? Maybe they even told you."

"I... I could find out. But look, Crow, we can't just 'ead after them. They're bloodeh miles away! What do we even do when we get there? Just knock on the door n' say 'Oi, can we 'ave our friends back'? Be smart about this, birdie," Badger argued.

"Let me worry about that," Crow dismissed, "All I want ya to do is find everyone, find out what they know about where Wren an' Socket are, an' ask 'em if they wanna come with me."

"Right," Badger replied, loyally snapping to attention. Even after two months, he couldn't bring himself to not listen to Crow's orders. He hates himself for it, because all the time Crow was gone he'd been trying to believe that he could break free from that grasp. But when it came down to it, he was still the same old Badger who jumped the longest jump he could manage just because Crow wanted him to.

"Ya, well, ya don't 'afta come if ya don't want to," Crow added, "I know ya pretty angry with me."

"I'm comin'," growled Badger.

"Ya sure?"

"Yes. Now if ya would excuse me, I've got people to find," he concluded, pushing past Crow. Him, Badger, actually pushed past Crow.

There was a chuckle from the small leader. It was enough to make Badger reconsider not hitting him. Here Badger is, being as tough as he can and holding onto the anger that Crow deserves to be faced with, and he was finding it funny.

"Won't keep ya," Crow hummed.

"Good. Ya... ya betteh not. But... um, they're probableh realleh far away n' ya... 'ow t' say it? Ya always bin a bit of a 'ome bird," reminded Badger.

The strange chuckle increased in volume. Badger hated it when Crow did that. The slightest thing could set him off into his twisted laughter and there was no stopping him once it started. The noise wasn't infectious, Badger himself had no desire to laugh, but it was toxic. Just hearing it made Badger's insides want to knot up in a way that he couldn't explain.

"I used to be, but not any more. It would surprise ya 'ow much I've changed," informed Crow. Badger might not be able to see his face, but he could picture the grin.

Great. Just fantastic. Badger spends two months trying to become a new person and fails completely. While Crow, on the other hand, skips away on some unexplained little journey (which had admittedly also taken two months, but that's not the point) and come back a stronger person who's ready to face the world. Being secluded to his limited life in Misthallery had always been Crow's one weakness that Badger was aware of. The one thing that the others had over him was that many of them had travelled around before, but Crow had never left his home town. But not now, apparently. Maybe Badger didn't yet know where Crow had been and what he'd been doing, but it was clear that he's seen a lot and grown as a person because of it.

It seems that every conversation they had was going to end with Badger hating Crow a little more, wasn't it? As much as that was balanced out by him also... g-growing fonder of him at the same time...

No. Now's not the time to think about that.

"Ya still look like the same little birdie t' me," Badger huffed.

Then he dashed off, determined to have the last word. Not that he even managed that, as Crow's laughter echoed behind him. Stupid Crow and his being so perfect at everything.

Stupid Crow who's going to find Wren and Socket, so they can get the Black Ravens back to how they should be. Yeah, that was it. Crow would fix it all. Because there's not a single problem that their leader couldn't solve. Badger knows this to be true...