Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

ACE Chemicals

    Oswald limps up the stairs to Natalie's apartment. It's the first day, and in his hands he holds a small box with a bow.

He comes to her door to find it wide open. Peering inside, he discovers that all of the furniture has been wrapped up, with some pieces already missing.

Just then, two burly men walk into the apartment. Oswald halts them.

"Gentlemen! ...good afternoon. Wha-...what is the meaning of this?"

The men look at each before one responds, "All of this stuff is being sent to storage."

"Bu-but the current occupant of this house is not moving-"

"Yeah, she is," one of the movers interrupts, "she was just here, actually. Came in here carrying a big folder. Said she was moving to Blüdhaven and needed all of her stuff put into storage."

Oswald wraps his mouth around one hand, glancing to the side, "Oh...oh, I see."

Moving to Blüdhaven?! That makes no sense...it must be a ruse. Throwing him off the scent, of course Trixie would try something like that. She knew he would come looking for her.

"Well, thank you gentlemen," Oswald nods.

The two movers give him a suspicious look. One of them lifts up a box and walks out of the room. As soon as the man is out of the room, Oswald attacks the one who's still in the room, flipping out his knife and stabbing him in the jugular. He falls to the floor, blood seeping out from under him. Oswald hobbles out the door, and the screams of the other mover ring out seconds later.

Oswald waddles back into the room, blood on his shirt and face. Ripping the sheet covering the desk, he starts rummaging through the drawers, looking for a clue as to where she's gone. The desk has been cleared completely, there's nothing.

He slides down to slump on the floor. Oh poor, lovelorn heart. Perhaps he should have taken more action while he could. Will he ever find such love again?

Oswald starts to sniffle, his mouth contorted down in a stretched frown. This can't be how it all ends. No...no...no...

Under one of the covered pieces of furniture, Oswald spots a loose piece of paper halfway tucked under. On his knees, he scrambles to the paper. Snatching it, he holds it up to view. It's some kind of business report from...ACE Chemicals. Why would Trixie have something like this? It's incredibly specific...that must be where she's headed!

Folding up the paper and tucking it away into his pocket, Oswald stumbles out the door, kicking one of the dead movers out of the way on the way out.

I sit in the back of the subway with Eel. For the early evening, the subway is almost eerily empty. Eel and I are the only ones on this car.

"So Trix, what got you into this business?" he asks, scooting over to the seat next to her.

I look up at him, snapping me out of a train of thought, "Huh? Why I got into this business?"

He nods, crossing his arms, "Yeah."

"Well...isn't that a complicated answer for everyone?" I chuckle.

Eel raises an eyebrow, "Alright, fair enough. My story for yours, how about that? ...I was born in Arkham Asylum."

My head jerks up, "You what?!"

"Totally true, cross my heart," he smirks, "Was born to a female inmate who died from experimental shock-therapy treatments a few years later. Never became a ward of the state though, guess I just fell through the cracks. When Arkham closed, they didn't really have anywhere for us inmates to go, so a lot of us took up with Don Maroni. Gabe too. He was on the same floor as me, but I've never really gotten along with him."