Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

In the Closet

    I say goodbye to Crispus before heading back to the hotel room. Barbara and Renee are both lounging around in the living area, an empty black box sitting next to Barbara.

I sigh, "...did you guys eat all of my chocolates?"

Barbara, still chewing, raises up the empty box, revealing a tracking device glued to the bottom of the box, "Tracking device under a false bottom. You're lucky we got to it when we did."

She throws the box onto the ground, and stomps on it with her high heel, shattering the tracking device into several pieces.

I slap my forehead, "I should have known he'd try something like that. Is our location compromised?"

"You tell me," Renee crosses her arms, "Penguin is aligned with the Court of Owls. What's to say he wouldn't turn us in?"

"Maybe you could offer to sleep with him in exchange for our secrecy," Barbara snickers.

Renee throws her an annoyed glare, and she shrugs, "What? She could."

"The last thing I want to do is go back into the belly of the beast. But...it would be nice if we could intercept that information before he could turn it into the Court," I consider, leaning against the wall.

Renee approaches me, "I know he's caused you legitimate harm, but you're the only one who could stop him from delivering that information. See if he's home."

I purse my lips, bowing down my head, "...fine. But you two owe me one."

Barbara slightly raises her eyebrow, and smiles, "Have fun."

The apartment building in which I once called home appears dead and foreboding as I walk up from the subway station. Alright, since no doubt Mrs. Cobblepot will be home, I should try to get Oswald's attention from the fire escape.

I grab onto the end, easily scaling the fire escape until I reach the Cobblepot's apartment. Peeking into the window of Oswald's room, I spot that the door is open, but his room is empty. Laughter comes from the living room, as Oswald and his mother share conversation.

"I know darling, this is all quite exciting for you, manager of a restaurant!" Mrs. Cobblepot cackles.

I take one step into the apartment at a time, careful not to creak on the old, dirty floorboards.

"Oh, I know Mom. You always had faith in me," Oswald replies in his smug tone.

Now, if I were a receiver for a tracking device, where would I hide? With Oswald's room being such a mess, that's a more complicated question than it sounds.

She laughs, "Of course I did, my little boy!"

I can't help but sigh, it's sweet that Mrs. Cobblepot showers him with praise and affection like that...she seems genuinely proud of him. Even if he's lying to her face.

"Mother, I have some resumes to go over, but once I'm done we'll get started on dinner, okay?" he asks, his uneven footsteps hobbling towards his bedroom door.

...shoot, gotta hide.

Mrs. Cobblepot's footsteps begin to grow distant, "Alright, Oswald, I'll keep everything warm for you."

Pulling open the closet door behind the piano, I duck into Oswald's closet, closing the door and tucking myself into its corner. The disturbing sketches and drawings I remember from before are still here, along with some new ones. I notice that all of his drawings are of men, with a few rare exceptions, and the men are...nude. It's hard to tell in the rough sketch, but upon closer examination, it's revealed that the men are drawn to be nude, drawn in the style of the Greeks.