Notes: I sadly decided not to attempt writing Louis's scouse accent, because I'd only butcher that worse than I already do with Crow and Badger's accents. So just imagine he's speaking in glorious scouse. Also, I'm a bit late in the fic with mentioning this, but for US readers, in your versions of the game Gus is called Tweed and Roddy is called Nabby. It seemed like a good idea to bring that up now, since they have more speaking parts in this chapter.


It was around midday by the time Badger had managed to gather everyone in the market to wait for Crow. They all stood around Marilyn's stall, because she argued that her family couldn't afford for her to shut up shop at the drop of a hat, so they would have to have their meeting where she could carry on with her work. And Badger quite agreed with her on that. Not that the stall was likely to get too much business with a bunch of moody teenagers skulking around it, but you never know.

As well as Marilyn, there was also Scraps, Gus, Roddy and Louis, who was looking rather groggy for having been called out of bed on a day where they hadn't planned to do work. So that was all the rest of the Black Ravens, sans Wren & Socket, for obvious reasons, and Crow, who hadn't yet arrived, much to Badger's annoyance.

He supposed that Tony, their honorary member, also wasn't there and Badger felt a slight pang of guilt for leaving him out. But, as much as they all liked Tony, the idea of being a Black Raven was more of a game to him and his coming down to join in with them had sort of fizzled out as he'd gotten older. Perhaps they did take this all too seriously, but there was a silent agreement amongst the group that this was strictly Black Raven business and it was probably best not to get Tony involved.

So the motley crew waited for their leader to join them, mumbling amongst themselves. Badger supposed they'd all have a lot to say to Crow, so chances were that he'd keep as quiet as he usually did during group discussions. As much as he wanted to be confident Badger, who put his opinion forward, the idea of speaking in front of everyone when they were all serious like this just made him too nervous. At least he got to speak with Crow beforehand, so he could make it clear that he wasn't happy.

Or at least, he'd assumed that he'd made it clear. When Crow finally did join them, he sauntered over as calmly as anything, as if their talk earlier hadn't phased him at all. Water off a duck's back, Badger supposed, glumly.

And sure enough, the others erupted into a sudden bout of questions, only stopping when Crow motioned for silence. How he has that kind of presence over them all Badger will never know, but he certainly is good at getting people to shut up and listen to him.

"I know all o' ya are confused an' wanna know what's goin' on, but we need to get this sorted first," Crow began, "'Cause I've been told that Wren an' Socket 'ave disappeared an' I ain't 'appy about that."

"Disappeared is kind of an exaggeration. They just moved away," Marilyn pointed out, resting on the counter of her stall.

"Yeah, but they're still Black Ravens an' we can't carry on without 'em," Crow insisted.

"Where was that logic when you left?" prompted Roddy. He was glaring so harshly that Badger thought he might be the only person here who was angrier with Crow than he was. It worried him that a fight might break out. Crow and Roddy were known as best friends, but they didn't half argue most of the time...

"I was always comin' back though," retorted Crow.

Marilyn spoke up, not wanting this to get out of hand; "All right, we all know that Wren and Socket are gone. And we do feel bad about it, Crow, believe me. But what can we do about it now?"

Crow's eyes lit up. They had that dangerous glint about them that Badger had come to recognise as meaning he was about to suggest something that would be both absurd and possibly genius. Although in this case Badger already knew was that suggestion was, this would be news to the rest of them.

"We're goin' after 'em," he answered.

"We can't do that!" Scraps gasped.

"Why not? We know where we're goin', right?" Crow prompted.

"They moved to... to a small village in Northumberland," Louis yawned, "We could probably find where they live easily enough, but it's not like we can just waltz on up there, is it?"

"That's exactly what I intend to do. An' I brought ya 'ere to ask who's comin' with me," Crow replied, smiling around at them all.

"I will!"

The group turned in surprise to look at Gus, the portly lad who right now looked to be a picture of determination. Even Badger was a little shocked to hear him put his name forward so quickly, since while he was eager, Gus usually wasn't first in line for anything.

"Are... are ya sure?" Crow checked. It seemed that he was a little hesitant to drag Gus out on such a trip.

"Of course I am! Finding our friends is the right thing to do, right?" insisted Gus. Though it wasn't Crow he was looking at now, but Marilyn.

Ah, that was it. Ever since they were kids, Gus has always had this massive crush on Marilyn. He must be doing this in some misguided attempt to impress her. Badger sympathised a lot. If he wasn't keeping quiet about his... well, his own doomed attraction to a certain someone who probably wasn't interested, then him and Gus would probably have a lot to talk about in that regard.

Marilyn smiled warmly and said, "That's very noble of you, Gus. I'm sure that the two of them will be glad to see you again."

"A-aren't you coming...?" checked Gus, his nerves slipping now that doubt had settled in.

"Of course not. As much as I'd love to, there's no way that I could leave my family's stall for so long. My family all needs to work together to get by, I'm afraid," Marilyn answered, "But Louis's going, aren't you, Louis?"

"I am?" asked Louis, snapping to attention now that his name had been brought up.

"Of course you are. You're going to keep an eye on Gus, aren't you?" reminded Marilyn. Her tone on the surface seemed as cheerful as usual, but underneath it was the slight hint of threat that only those who knew her very well would pick up on. And Louis knew her almost better than anyone.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Louis haplessly concluded.

"Right, so that's three o' ya, including Badge', who told me 'e'd come earlier," Crow counted, "Anyone else?"

All eyes turned to Scraps and Roddy, though Scraps was the one to speak up first. He shrugged, shaking his head with an air of indifference.

"Who'd keep our stock levels up while you're away if I left?" he pointed out, "It's been hard enough managing all the inventory on my own while you've been away. I'm a finding stuff guy, not a writing stuff down guy. And if I did come and some other kids stole all the good stuff from the junk then I'd never live it down. That treasure that could make us rich might crop up at any time."

"I can see I won't be able to talk ya outta it," sighed Crow, knowing that Scraps always stood by his word. So he directed his gaze instead to Roddy, "How about you, Rod?"

"You're a real piece of work," Roddy growled, suddenly storming off away from the group and down the street.

"Roddy, wait..." Crow called, heading off after him.

"Guess that means the meeting's over," hummed Louis, as they watched the two of them disappear down the street, "I better go pack my bags then."

That seemed to act as a signal for the gathering to disperse, with Scraps not needing to be told twice to head back towards his usual post. Scraps is a good friend to all of them, but he does like to keep himself busy as much s possible, to the point that sometimes be came across as dismissive. Badger reckoned it might be his way of dealing with problems and there were certainly a fair few of those to mull over right now.

Marilyn in turn seemed to have been distracted by old Thomas, who'd turned up to buy some vegetables. Out of the corner of his eye, Badger saw her motion to Gus and Louis to stay put. No doubt she wanted to have words with her brood as soon as she got a moment.

Which left Badger. Not that being left out was something he wasn't used to...

No, don't think about that. Those were awful, old Badger thoughts. New Badger knew that sometimes his friends needed to deal with things without him and other times they did need him there. But if they ever needed to be without him, that didn't instantly mean they hated him or had forgotten about him. Yeah, hold onto that thought, he mused.

And new Badger was brave enough to go after Crow and Roddy, right? Maybe they really would break out into a fight and it would be down to Badger to stop them from beating each other silly.

That was all the motivation he needed to quietly head off after them, following the tracks that he assumed they'd headed down. Sure enough, it wasn't long before he could hear their voices outside of one of the boarded-up houses. That was when Badger's nerves broke down. They sounded angry and he didn't think he could deal with that without becoming a stuttering mess. Maybe he could just stay here and listen out, so that if it sounded like things were getting worse then he could jump in to help at the last minute...

"And you never even think! You just put me on the spot like that!" snapped Roddy, making Badger cringe.

"Don't know what ya talkin' about," Crow snappishly dismissed, "I told everyone equal an' everyone spoke up when they were ready. It's not my fault ya went last. Usually ya first to open ya mouth."

"If you don't beat me to it," grumbled Roddy, "But that's not what I meant. Ugh, you're such a pigeon-headed brat that you'd never get it."

"Then why don't ya tell me what I don't get?" Crow offered.

"What a pain... All right, Mr. Leader, try this on – you stride back in here with your big ideas, expecting everyone to go with you just because you say so. But you never stop to think that the rest of us might have lives. Sure, you all understand when Marilyn says she needs to run the stall or Scraps says he needs to pick up your slack, but what about me, eh? Stubborn, grumpy Roddy. I bet if Roddy says he doesn't want to go, it's just because he doesn't care and not because his mum would never manage without him. You'd just tell me to stop being so selfish," Roddy explained.

"Rod..." Crow's voice was a whisper now, Badger had to really press in as close as he could to hear, "I'm sorry, I didn't think..."

"Of course you didn't think! You never do think about me. It's always me having to run around after you, like the pain you are," muttered Roddy.

"That ain't true. If ya 'ad talked to me then I would've got it. I get it right now, even," Crow reasoned.

"What I'm trying to say is that you never gave me the chance to talk to you about it. You just gathered us all together as if I'm just another one of your numbers," Roddy countered.

There was a brief silence, which was followed by Crow confessing something that Badger never thought he'd hear from him; "I was wrong, ya right. It would've been better to talk to ya first. I got so caught up with the idea of 'elpin' Wren an' Socket that I wasn't thinkin' proper. 'Cause the idea o' us all breakin' apart scares me so much, Rod..."

"You can't keep us here forever," Roddy stated, "We all want to be Black Ravens as long as we can, but sometimes life just doesn't let things go like you plan. It's difficult like that."

"But Wren an' Socket were never given the chance to choose," insisted Crow.

"Fine, go after them. Find out what they want and do whatever it is you can about that. Just... don't get too worked up if things don't go your way," Roddy replied. He sounded much softer than Badger had ever heard him be towards anyone before. Maybe this was why they were best friends.

"I'll try not to," Crow promised, "An' Rod...?"

"Yeah?"

"Look after Mist'allery while I'm gone, all right?"

"Ugh. You really are such a pain and a bother and everything else."

"Thanks, Rod."

With that, it sounded like footsteps were disappearing away from where Badger was stood. He let out a deep breath and walked out from where he was hiding – right into Roddy.

"Ouf! Watch where you're goin- ...Oh, Badge'," sighed Roddy, "Did you have fun eavesdropping on us?"

"I-I-I didn't do it on purpose!" Badger quickly assured. Glancing over Roddy's shoulder, he could see Crow disappearing down the other end of the street, clearly unaware that anyone had been listening.

"Yeah, well, whatever. I don't care that much. But if you were listening I guess you know what an impulsive idiot our leader is, eh?" sighed Roddy, seeming a bit put out that he'd been caught getting emotional, even if he was claiming not to be.

"Kinda knew that already..." mumbled Badger, looking down at the floor.

"Yeah, well that makes three of us – you, me and Marilyn," clarified Roddy, "And two of us aren't going on this goose chase. So it's down to you to stop him from getting too reckless."

"If Crow wants t' do summit then I doun't think I could stop 'im," Badger quietly objected, "'E won't listen to me."

"Then make him listen. He can be a pain, but he cares about what we think. Deep down, under all the layers of arrogance," Roddy insisted, "If you don't, then if he does something stupid and the others get hurt, if he gets hurt, it'll be on your head."

"...O-o-okay... I'll d-do my best..."

Badger was blinking back tears now. Seeming to get that this was the case, Roddy shuffled past him, ready to make his way down the street.

"You'll do fine, Badge'. You're the next closest person to him after me and I can tell you're finally starting to see past his act," Roddy assured him, "Now go get packed – his highness might decide he wants to leave at any time."

A sniff and a silent nod. Badger couldn't bring himself to speak right now, but fortunately Roddy didn't wait for him to, disappearing back to wherever he needed to be. Maybe he didn't need to be anywhere and he just wanted to avoid everyone. That's certainly something Badger couldn't blame him for.

But Badger just... couldn't do it. He couldn't be what Roddy was to Crow. He couldn't even be the confident new Badger, so how could he ever look after Crow or talk to him like Roddy did? Sure, Badger might have his angry outbursts, but he couldn't make Crow listen the way Roddy seemed to. And, for all he might find Crow annoying, there is still a big part of him taken in by the act, enchanted by Crow, even. What if he didn't recognise Crow was making a mistake until it was too late...?

With so many troubles hanging over his head, Badger began to head back home. Because home was another big problem he needed to face.