Notes: I'm sorry there was no update last week, but I hope chapter pushing us further into the events of Act Two will make up for it. I'd hoped to have been able to keep up the pace of posting a new chapter every week, but sadly sometimes my workload stops this from being possible. Of course I'll try to keep posting as fast as I can all the same, so hopefully this fic won't be slowing down any time soon. Speaking of, don't let the ending of this chapter fool you into thinking we're anywhere near the end of the story either. We're not even close to that where we are now.


For the first time ever, it seemed that the postcards arrived back in Misthallery before Badger and Crow did. Everyone usually complained about the postal service and it was a running joke that people tended to get back from their holidays before postcards. But this time Badger had people running up to him, thanking him for sending one. Even when he'd pointed out that Crow was the one who'd wrote them out, they all seemed to know that Crow never would have even considered sending any without prompting. Badger was particularly embarrassed when Maureen said that she was going to frame hers and would think of them both whenever she looked at it.

All in all, Badger felt that their time away had come to an end much too quickly. It had been nice to see Wren and Socket again. Doing so in such a relaxed atmosphere had made it seem less like they were gone for good, especially with Socket making them promise that more Black Ravens would come visit soon. However, a week was still a week and before Badger knew it they were back at Misthallery.

The upside of this was that they didn't miss Louis leaving. It was a few days after getting back when all the Black Ravens gathered again, this time over the rickety bridge that led out of town, to see Louis off as his parents packed the last of their belongings into the car.

"You wouldn't believe how much stuff Mam managed to convince Dad to leave behind," Louis admitted, "We would have had to hire an extra moving lorry if he'd taken all of the junk he'd bought from the market."

"Oi, that ain't junk. That's quality auction goods, that is," Crow proclaimed with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well if some of those 'quality auction goods' go missing between now and when we get back, it might not be the worst thing that could happen, "Louis hinted, "Just don't take any essentials."

"I aim to please," assured Crow.

"Um, when will you be coming back?" Gus asked nervously. It was something Louis hadn't been very clear about and none of them, save for possibly Marilyn, had worked up the courage to ask him.

Louis shrugged and looked uncomfortable; "Can't say for sure, but not for a while at least. Are you all gonna be be all right without me?"

"Are you going to be all right without us would be the better question," joked Marilyn.

"I'm as tough as they come!" retorted Louis and he flexed his skinny arms for emphasis.

"Yeah, well if things don't work out you can always come back and mooch off my family's spare room. It'd be a pain, but if you have to then we'll try not to complain too much," Roddy offered.

"I'll deffo keep that in mind," promised Louis, "...And Badger?"

"H-hmm?" Badger snapped to attention.

"You're gonna be the last northerner down here, with me leaving," Louis reminded, "It's your job to look after all these soft southern pansies and make sure they don't hurt themselves, all right?"

To that, Badger just nodded sheepishly, his face going bright red. If you asked him, people like Marilyn, Crow and Roddy were all tough enough to look after themselves without needing any help from a pushover like Badger.

"I'll, um, do my best," he hesitantly assured, "Take care up there, Lozza."

"And don't forget to write," Marilyn added.

Louis grinned; "I will do. Of course, chances are my social life in Liverpool is going to be so busy that I'll be partying every other night, but there's no way I'd forget my Black Raven mates. Maybe when things get settled I'll be the one hosting a visit instead of Wren and Socket."

"Are ya sure us 'soft southern pansies' would survive up there?" teased Crow.

"I'll tell them to take it easy on you, Crowlo," Louis assured, "Now I'd better get a move on. Don't wanna hold my parents up with my gassing."

Despite his claim to be in a rush, Louis then went on to say his farewells to each of them individually. He took the longest with Marilyn and Gus, seeing as the three of them had built up a close bond over the years, but also spent quite a while giving Badger a bit more of his unnecessary from-one-northerner-to-another advice. Crow, Roddy and Scraps weren't forgotten either though, despite their farewells being a bit briefer.

Once it was all over, Louis gave them all a final wave and got into the car with his parents. They all stood and watched as the car pulled away, shortly followed by the lorry along behind it. In the pit of Badger's stomach he couldn't help but feel that such a well-packed trip meant that the Shackwells might not be coming back as quickly as Louis wanted to believe.

"That's one more Black Raven gone..." Crow whispered, as the others started to head off back towards the market.

Badger didn't think that Crow had intended for anyone to hear him, but lately he's gotten good at listening out for the little things Crow says. And those words in particular only served to cement more of the worries Badger had been carrying since his talk with Wren.

Did Crow really think they were falling apart?

There was no doubt that production had slowed without Wren and Socket. Many of their wares were fixed by Socket before being sold, some of them even being created entirely by him from the junk that they found. And Wren was well known as being the brains of the whole operation. Most of their plans came straight from her head. Without them it would have been a while before the black market recovered to what it was, but with that loss happening during a time when Crow had been away it seemed to make the blow even worse than it otherwise would have been.

On top of Crow's quest to get them back and Badger temporarily being out of action upon returning from London, there was the low morale of the group to deal with. The one auction a week deal had felt like Crow trying to slowly build them back up after their collective shock to the system, but it had resulted in stagnation. Misthallery just didn't seem as busy right now and without customers they couldn't run the auctions.

The loss of Louis would certainly have an effect on this as well. Because despite his being notoriously lazy, Louis was also the keenest ear for gossip and one of the best in the group at sneaking about. When he put his mind to it, Louis could get information back to Crow faster than anyone. So without his help, there'd suddenly be a lot more going on in town that would escape the Black Ravens' knowledge.

All in all, it did not look good for their future.

With this in mind, Badger couldn't help but worry that some of the others might wander in time, especially Crow. Because as much as Wren said this was a natural part of growing up, it still didn't sit well with Badger. Everything had been going so well in Misthallery before that he saw no reason for change. Part of him still couldn't imagine the town without Wren, Socket and Louis, even now that their presence there had gone. So if he then had to also lose Marilyn, Gus, Roddy, Scraps and... and Crow on top of that, he just didn't think that he could take it.

These thoughts dominated his mind in the weeks following Louis's departure. Because there wasn't much else to do in order to distract them. The single weekly auctions left him with plenty of free time left over to worry.

One such day found him in his usual spot at the top of the lookout. Although mostly he was just there because he hadn't been told to be anywhere else, as opposed to being there because there was a genuine need to keep an eye on the streets. Below the lookout Scraps was dutifully searching through the rubbish as usual. Little could deter him from his work and it wasn't unusual for Scraps and Badger to quietly get on with their tasks in the same area without talking much. The silence between them was a comfortable one.

So Badger stood and worried about Crow's restlessness coming from not having as much to do, while Scraps went about doing the work no one ever told to do, but he continued to do anyway. At some point of watching one while thinking about the other, something clicked in Badger's head: To Scraps, the change in the group hadn't meant a change in his working habits. Even while Crow had been away, Scraps had looked for treasures in the junk, simply storing them until they were needed. If no one needed them then that didn't seem to matter to Scraps, he merely carried on. Now that Badger thought about it, even their single weekly auction might only have been possible due to the hard work Scraps was putting in.

Maybe... maybe if they all went about this like Scraps did then they could get back on track.

Badger raised his head to look around the market. There were people here, tourists even. Perhaps not many of them and certainly not the richer sort that the Black Ravens would usually extend their hand of welcome to, but they were here all the same.

In the buzz of his sudden inspiration, Badger hurried down the steps from the lookout and went over to Scraps.

"Um, found anythin' good today?" he asked.

Somehow he sounded breathless, even if he hadn't been running far. His sudden appearance, combined with such a vague question caused Scraps to raise an eyebrow.

"A few things here and there," Scraps dismissed, "Nothing exciting, but it's been a good week in general for trinkets, so it doesn't need to be."

"So you'd be readeh for an auction then?" checked Badger.

"I will be by the end of the week, easily," Scraps answered, still sounding cautious about where this was going.

"But what about today? Would you have enough stuff for if we did one today?" Badger pressed.

"I think... maybe?" Scraps replied, "It wouldn't be the fanciest of auctions though."

"Maybe it doesn't have t' be," allured Badger, "If we were doin' smalleh auctions for reguleh folk, we could sell more things more often."

Suddenly Scraps smiled; "I like where this is going. Never did care for those snobby rich tourists anyway. Why can't everyone else have a go, too?"

"Exactly!" chimed Badger, "I'm gonna gan ask Crowlo about it now. So keep on lookin', 'cause we might need more trinkets soon."

"You can count on me!" promised Scraps.

"I'll see you later then," concluded Badger, grinning genuinely for the first time in a while.

With that he was off, dashing towards the manhole that led to their base. Badger turning up all eager definitely made Roddy look a bit confused, just like Scraps had been, but he let Badger down into the tunnel all the same. That was one of Roddy's best qualities at a time like this – he viewed everything as so much of a nuisance that he wouldn't ask tons of questions until it became unavoidable to do so.

Once Badger was down in the tunnel, he made his way to the back room behind the auction hall, practically skipping from the excitement of his genius idea. This could very well turn the Black Ravens back around. And maybe just remind Crow why he loves doing all of this so much.

Crow was indeed waiting in the back room, inspecting some of the wares for this upcoming auction like usual. He didn't seem to be that deeply into his work right now and gave Badger a cheerful wave as he came through the curtain.

"Badge', wot brings ya to my lair?" he hummed, as he put the small pocket watch he'd been looking at down on the table.

"I've... I've 'ad a great... idea," Badger puffed, "A-about... the auctions...!"

"Well, I'm all ears about that," prompted Crow, "Given 'ow quiet things 'ave bin lately, any ideas about 'ow to get us back on track would be 'elpful."

"We need t' do more," Badger instructed, "A lot more auctions. That's 'ow t' get everyone back int' the swing of things."

Upon hearing this, a look swept across Crow's face that seemed all too much like pity. It appeared that the leader didn't want to point out the obvious to Badger and it took a few moments before he could bring himself to reply. Even then, it sounded as if he was trying to let Badger down gently.

"I'd love to do more, believe me I would," Crow reasoned, "But the reason we 'aven't bin doin' that is 'cause there just ain't the crowds for it right now."

For once, Badger didn't let disapproval deter him. He pressed on; "But there are the crowds! We just need t' look in the right places. Even if they doun't 'ave load of cash, there's still a lot of tourist who come 'ere all the time. If we let them int' the black market, instead of bein' so picky... th-then maybe we could 'ave more auctions."

"Per'aps. But the reason we keep things so exclusive ain't only 'cause o' money," reminded Crow, "The more people who know about us, the more people who'll talk. There's a big risk in lettin' just any old person in."

"What's the biggeh risk though – lettin' in someone who might talk or goin' on as we are now? The way I see it, if we doun't change there's a good chance that we might not last much longeh anyway, especially if more Black Ravens leave. The otheh way might be risky too, but it'll get everyone motivated again and make Misthallery talk about the Black Raven like it use to," Badger challenged. He glared directly at Crow, not backing down.

His argument seemed to cause a few cracks in Crow's armour. It was plain to see this from Crow's face as he thought it over. And while Badger knew that Crow wouldn't want to do anything that might put the group in danger, he also knew that deep down their leader loved taking risks. The whole black market had been a massive risk to start with, after all. One that they've gotten away with for so long that it's become usual and as a result has become too safe itself. They needed something to give them their edge back and Badger was almost certain that his idea was going to be it.

"Do ya think it'll be good for everyone?" Crow asked, at long last.

"I think that the way we are now is bad fer everyone," countered Badger. Because he knew this was true, particularly for Crow himself; "I can't promise that this'll work out fer the best, but doin' more auctions might be the best way to get them all back on track and if we want t' do more auctions then we need to expand our market t' more people."

"Yeah, I think ya right, Badge'," Crow agreed, "I'm still not sure 'ow I feel about lettin' just anyone in, I'll admit. But if it's for the good o' everyone, then we should take a few chances. We can always test the water by 'avin' a mid-week auction an' invitin' all the tourists we normally ovahlook. Couldn't 'urt to try it once an' see where to go from there."

"So that's a yes?" checked Badger.

"It is," Crow confirmed, "Gather up all the othahs an' I'll give the announcement. Cor, Rod's gonna 'ave my 'ead for givin' 'im loadsa extra work to do."

Not needing to be told twice, Badger darted away to get the rest of the Black Ravens. He was elated that Crow was going to try this out, even if it was a bit of a gamble. But Badger knew that it would work. Tourists are still tourists, at the end of the day. Maybe letting more people in would increase the chances of word about them travelling too far, but at the same time a tourist is usually gone in a week or two. It wasn't as if they were going to be letting the locals into it, outside of a few they already trusted. The whole group had learned their lesson in that regard when Mr. Shackwell had become addicted to visiting the auctions... Maybe Louis would still be here if they'd never let his dad get involved in the first place.

But no, Badger couldn't get bogged down by thoughts of what they'd done in the past. There were still six Black Ravens in Misthallery, seven if you counted Tony as their occasional honourary member (Badger might even ask Crow about getting him involved more, since they needed more hands on deck). That was more than enough people to get this show on the road.

And even if these tourists might not have as much money as their usual crowds, more auctions could only mean that they'd turn a bigger profit as time goes on.

Badger was so sure about this. And when Crow told the others they seemed mostly positive as well. Scraps was already on Badger's side from earlier, but as well as him Marilyn seemed keen for them to get back on track. Maybe that came down to how she and Wren had seemed to have been concerned about Crow lately. It was possible that she was more interested in the idea simply because it might get Crow back on the right track. Admittedly, Badger felt a bit like this was his main priority as well.

Outside of Scraps and Marilyn, Gus chimed in that he was happy to go along with what the others wanted and Roddy begrudgingly said almost the same thing, albeit with a few more grumblings of how much work it would be.

Crow even agreed to Badger's suggestion to get Tony in on it, which surprised them all considerably. Because as much as Tony was a good friend to them all, in time his honourary membership of the Black Ravens had sort of faded away. He was a bright and eager child, but it was clear that he thought of what they did as being more of a game than anything else. And while he had been willing to put the work in, he sadly didn't seem to grasp that the auctions were an important part of the group's livelihood before being about fun and games. Maybe once upon a time it had been about making money to buy a few sweets from Aunt Taffy's stall, but eventually it progressed on from that so much it meant members like Louis, Roddy and Badger all needed to work in the black market just to make the money to get by. It was sort of a shame that Tony had joined them after that point and, as a result, seemed to get worn out by what they did very quickly. So these days they mostly just invited both him and his sister Arianna to hang out when they knew they were doing something purely for fun instead of for Black Raven work. It had been a silent agreement amongst them all, so Crow deciding that they might need to bring Tony back into the fold was unexpected, to say the least.

With the decisions made, all that was left was to prepare.

It seemed that Crow wanted to strike while the iron was hot and boldly arranged this experimental auction for the very next day. Scraps was to get all of his wares ready, Marilyn was to drum up interest by passing the word on to customers at her stall, Badger was to occasionally flit about the rooftops in the Black Raven outfit, making sure that enough people spotted him to create suspense, Gus was to help Crow with the heavy lifting down at the base, since they'd need to get a lot of larger items ready quickly for this unexpected auction, and Roddy was given the task of going to fetch Tony from the manor.

They all worked hard that day. For the first time in a while it seemed there were no thoughts about how hard it would be without their three missing members. Because as much as they all knew that it was difficult, these were all obstacles they were going to overcome.

Badger felt his heart soar as he raced across the rooftops, ducking and diving to the sound of tourists in awe. When he stopped for a rest near the entrance of the market, he spotted Roddy returning with both Barde siblings in tow and felt good about how this was going. In this giddy moment he didn't even mind that Aunt Taffy briefly caught sight of him. As he left, he almost swore that he heard her say 'it's about time'.

Once the evening of the test auction came around the next day, it felt as if all of Misthallery was in a flutter. Or at least those in the know were. Badger had never seen the auction hall packed this full for a long time. As he peeked around the curtain, he gulped and felt glad that he wasn't the one who was going to be dealing with the crowd. Crow might like talking to large groups, but Badger couldn't think of anything worse.

"The first few are going to be a set-up," Marilyn informed him, as he retreated further back into the store room, "Arianna's agreed to bid on some of the early items to help up everyone else's game. She won't actually be buying them and those items will just go back into our stock, but Crow thinks that it'll help."

"Crow knows what 'e's doin'," Badger mumbled in awe.

They all knew that their leader was a born con-artist and had all of the tricks of the trade up his sleeve. And at the same, Badger was impressed that Arianna had agreed to this. Because while, for the most part, all of the Black Ravens got along well with the Barde siblings, due to them both being stubborn and sharp-tongued, Crow and Arianna had never quite seen eye to eye. It was rarely something that caused any trouble, but it did mean that the two would often avoid each other in their gatherings. Badger could only hope that this new-found desire to push the auctions once more would help everyone get along better in the long run.

"I don't doubt that he knows how to handle this," confirmed Marilyn. It felt like there was something more to her statement, but Badger couldn't place what it might be. At the moment he felt too caught up with the buzz of the evening to devote too much time to thinking about it.

He stayed with Marilyn to watch from the side as it all began. Sure enough, Arianna won the first item with a high bid, but after that the crowd seemed to be so worked up that there was little need to fake any more than that. Maybe they didn't have as much money as their richer customers did, but this lot made up for it in pure excitement. Badger kept tally in his head and it didn't take long before he was telling Marilyn that tonight they'd surpassed the amount of items sold in comparison to any other auction since before Crow left for London. Although this quickly became apparent anyway, by Gus checking with Scraps if they had any more items.

"You're all lucky that I've worked hard this week," Scraps hummed, as he hunted through their back-up storage, "I could have told you that honest, hard working souls would make better customers than those rich snobs do. No offence, Tony."

"Um, none taken...?" mumbled Tony, who was helping Gus gather the extra items. Badger noted that he seemed happy enough just to be here, even if Scraps's thoughtless comment threw him. Having Tony and maybe even Arianna eager to get involved was a good sign.

The evening went on. No doubt it had turned into night outside, but the underground auction hall was so cut off from the world above that it was difficult to keep track. Eventually it seemed that they'd exhausted all of their wares, save for a few items that were fancy enough to be worth saving for the more up-market auction at the end of the week.

It was at this point when Badger looked at Marilyn and proclaimed, "I-I've been doin' the maths in my 'ead and... um, we've done it. We've made more money tonight then in any auction this year."

"Crow's going to be thrilled to hear," cheered Marilyn, "You tell him that when he gets back stage."

"I will" Badger promised.

It seemed to take far too long after that for Crow, posing as the Black Raven, to bid their guests farewell. But that was probably only because Badger was so keen to pass the news onto him. He practically shook as he stood behind the curtain, occasionally peering out in anticipation. And it was hard to keep in his squeak of excitement when Crow told the audience that he looked forward to seeing them all again soon. That could only mean that Crow had adopted the idea. This had been a success!

When he came through and finally pulled off the Black Raven mask, Badger grabbed him in a tight hug.

"We did it, Crowlo! We made more money tonight than in any otheh auction since before you left!" he told him, dancing them both around.

"Steady on, Badge'," chuckled Crow, "That's great to 'ear though. We'll 'afta do this more often."

"If we have enough stock for it," Scraps chipped in, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we went through almost everything this evening. Even some stuff we haven't been able to shift for months."

"Then we'll get new knick-knacks. A bit of hard work never did anyone any harm," insisted Roddy. When everyone looked at him in surprise, he grunted, "...What did I say?"

"I'm glad we're all so eager," assured Crow. He paused for a second to let Arianna come through the curtain, since she'd had to wait until the rest of the crowd had gone before joining them, lest anyone suspect her. Once they were all gathered he continued, "It's not gonna be easy, we all know that. But I want us to push ourselves, 'cause I think that's wot's best for us. Even if sometimes we don't think we 'ave enough wares, I'm gonna arrange auctions anyway. 'Cause we'll find the ware if we're pushed to. We can all do amazin' things if we try. It's just that lately we've bin in a rut. An' I want ya all to thank Badgah for the success o' tonight. Without 'im, we'd all still be mopin' around, not knowin' what to do."

Badger had to resist the urge to hide under Crow's Black Raven cloak as the group turned to applaud him. He didn't like being the centre of attention, that was for sure, but it did feel kind of nice to be praised like this all the same.

"It was nowt..." he sheepishly murmured.

"But it was somethin'," Crow debated, "An' it's gonna keep on bein' somethin' from now on. 'Cause I can tell ya all right now, the Black Ravens are back in business for propah!"

Now that was exactly what Badger had hoped to hear from Crow.