Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

Penguin is a Girl's Best Friend

     With police cars surrounding the apartment building, I sit on the street curb as medical staff roll Marsha out on a gurney, her body entirely covered by a white sheet.

Ed comes shuffling up to me, "...I got you your ointment."

I chuckle, looking up, "Thanks Ed."

"What situation are the police handling in your apartment building?" he asks, sitting down with me.

I sigh, wondering whether or not to tell him the truth, "Well...I'm not quite sure. I must have been asleep for most of it."

He starts to nod, "Ah, I see. Well, I'm sure it's nothing. Another murder probably."

I can't help but be unsettled by Ed's comment, he's never referred to murder so lightly, "Yeah...I'm sure...it's nothing."

Just then, Renee and Crispus walk up to us, "Natalie, are you alright?"

I look up at them, "Yeah, I'm alrigh-"

"Natalie need not be disturbed right now. Please," Ed interrupts, standing in front of the two detectives.

"Hey, we just need to talk to her for a couple of minutes Nygma, okay? Go...do something else for a little bit, okay?" Crispus uses a much softer tone as compared to Renee's sharp tongue.

Ed fidgets in place for a moment or two, before standing up, his hands folded in front of him, "I will leave Nat for now...but I will return within ten minutes. I-...I need to keep track of your well-being."

He pivots at precisely one hundred eighty degrees and shuffles off, his feet only slightly leaving the ground.

"Ha...strange guy Ed...sweet, but strange," Crispus chuckles, "...does he have a thing for you?"

I shake my head "No, nothing like that. You've seen how he flirts with Kristen, I don't stand a chance."

"But then why shack up with a criminal like Oswald Cobblepot? That seems like quite the flip from Nygma," Renee chimes in.

I lean over and spot Oswald, standing by the doorway to the apartment building, just hidden out of sight, "Yeah...he is quite different from Ed. Although at this point, I consider Oswald more of a...business partner than a romantic partner," I confess, "for...obvious reasons."

"I mean, I trust your judgement but...watch yourself, okay?" Renee warns, putting her hand on my shoulder.

Crispus smiles, putting his hand on my opposite shoulder, "Yeah, there's already a shortage of good guys in Gotham, wouldn't want to lose any more."

Her hand massaging my shoulder, Renee grasps my elbow with her other hand, "Barbara, Crispus, and I will handle things while you recover. Now that Marsha's dead we just have to squeeze info out of her henchmen. If Marsha was involved with the Court of Owls, they have to know something."

After another pat on the back, Renee and Crispus get up to leave. My right hand has been kept in a tight fist this entire time, and I finally open it, revealing the piece of paper Oswald had stuck in my hand. I open up the crinkled paper, and read the cursive writing scrawled on it.

And to my love my heart be entwined

For love's grip is stronger than steel

A love that could be so divine

Yet you will never understand how I feel

With your warmth the sun seems to shine