Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

The Big Giveaway

    In a few days time, I'm standing in front of Veronica Vreeland's mansion, a metal bucket in one hand, the top covered by a picnic blanket.

Veronica answers the door, "Oh good, you're here! But...where's this friend you spoke of?"

I lift the pail up a little, "I'll...I'll explain once we're inside."

Walking in, Veronica closes the door behind me. I set down the bucket and kneel beside it.

"Are you prepared for what you're about to see?" I ask, my hand on the picnic blanket.

Blinking a couple of times, she gives a silent nod. I swipe away the cover, revealing Eel's face floating in the liquid of his own body.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle!" he greets, and Veronica screams, leaping back.

"Wha-...what is that?!"

I gesture to the bucket, "Veronica, this is Ee-...uhm...I mean, Patrick."

Eel looks up at me, raising an eyebrow, before his liquified body does something resembling a shrug. He lifts himself out of the bucket, growing in size until he reaches the ceiling.

"I...I can't say whether this is a freak or miracle of science," she marvels in a hushed tone.

"Whatever it is, we need to find a way for him to stabilize it," I explain.

She assumes a thinking position, "Yes, of course...hmm...I think I might have a solution. Let's go to my lab."

Eel shrinks back into the bucket, and I pick it up. We follow Veronica to her lab hidden in her wine cellar, where she opens up various wide drawers full of metal gadgetry and indescribable objects. She whips out a piece of red fabric and shows it to him.

"This is a special fabric designed to stretch to lengthy distances. Give it a try."

Eel picks up the piece of fabric, and sticks it to his arm. The fabric seems to mold into his skin, blending in to have the same wax-like consistency. Holding out the covered part of his arm, the skin under the fabric stretches up in small droplets, slinking back and forth and even separating in little balls only to sink back into his sink.

"Hey...that's me! That's all me doing that! I'm controlling it, I'm not turning into the Blob!" Eel smiles.

Veronica turns to me, "What is he talking about?"

"I never really know," I confess, shaking my head.

"So Doc, when do you think you make more of this stuff?" he asks.

Veronica rips the fabric off of Eel, and the moment she does he loses complete control, falling to the floor in a heap of melted flesh. She recoils back, but quickly regains her composure.

"It'll take some time, I'd have to have the material specially made," she explains, keeping her distance from Eel.

Not taking a hint, the slime of Eel crawls up to her foot, and lips form out of the sludge to kiss her feet, "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Luc Fox ain't got nothin' on you!"

Grabbing the metal bucket I'd arrived with, I scoop Eel back into the container, "Thank you so much Veronica. I owe you for this."

She gives a wry chuckle, glancing into the bucket containing Eel before responding, "You certainly do."

    After dropping off Eel, I head back to the hotel room. Upon opening the door, Barbara and Renee are both standing by the bedroom door. Barbara's holding one of the small boxes Oswald had given me.

"Nice earrings. Wonder who gave them to you?" she asks, holding the small box between two fingers.

Oh no...they found Oswald's gifts. Although the last couple of days I've been storing them in my desk at the GCPD, I kept the earrings in the hotel room.

Renee approaches me, her doe-like eyes carrying a calm seriousness, "Natalie, you've still been receiving gifts from Cobblepot? You didn't have that when we'd first arrived, and it isn't like you to steal money from either me or Barbara. So tell the truth...did he give you those?"

With a great amount of hesitation, I nod. Barbara smiles, "Ha. Thought so."

Opening the box, she drops the pearl earrings onto the floor and smashes both of them with her black high heels.

"Just a precaution Nat. No hard feelings," Barbara's voice is lower, almost sinister.

"Natalie, if Cobblepot delivered that here, then he knows where we are," Renee concludes.

"I destroyed his tracker!" I defend, "Yes, when I received the earrings, it was a tip-off that he knows where we are, but look at how much time has passed. If he was going to turn us in, he would have a long time ago."

"He could still give us away at any moment," Barbara raises an eyebrow at me, "and let me guess, you 'trust' him not to turn us in because he's your little boyfriend, right? Hmph, boyfriends are no more trustworthy than friends, if not worse."

Renee turns to her, "Barbara, you're letting your emotions get the best of you."

"Well, hasn't that always been my problem? I'm too...emotional, too sentimental," she crosses her arms, "I say...we kick Natalie out and see if Penguin will come to her rescue once the Talons get a hold of her. There, that's logical, isn't it?"

"Barbara, this is exactly what the Court of Owls wants! For us to be divided, fatigued from arguing among ourselves!" Renee retorts, raising her voice.

Barbara points to me, "She betrayed us to Penguin! Natalie...whose side are you on?! Yeah, I get it, he's the only one willing to sleep with you-..."

Unable to finish her sentence, Barbara slumps into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. With her hands in her trench coat pockets, Renee stares down at the floor.

"Barbara's letting her emotions get the best of her, but at the same time...she has a point. You weren't honest with us," she reasons.

I speak up, "If you want me to leave, I will-"

"No...honestly, we've made our fair share of...mistakes. None of us know how to handle the situation and...it's better to stick together."

Getting down on her knees, Renee scoops up shards of the broken pearl earrings, "No tracking device...do you really think Penguin can be trusted?"

"Trusted? No...but manipulated?" I tilt my head to the side, "Possibly."