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Hail to the King

Summary:

Fish is gone and a new king is named---that doesn't mean Butch needs to be happy about it, leaving Gabe to clean up the mess and a angry Ms. Kapelput in his wake. And when Momma's not happy, no one is.

Notes:

So I literally have had this idea just floating around since the final ep. Too bad for me the muses always have other ideas and turn it into stuff that I wasn't even sure I was gonna add. Please enjoy the sass...and trash that is this fic

Also Teal you are a most delightful cheerleader and helper~~ never stop lol

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

            A scream and a splash was the last thing Butch heard before Fish was no longer there and Oswald was yelling to the world he was king, choosing to ignore the blood that was staining his clothes and dripping onto the cement. With shaking hands, Butch slowly got up, creeping toward his boss; he could easily push him over the edge and be done with this nightmare, and yet for some reason he felt things might only get worse if someone found out. He was about to comment on the fact Oswald was facing sudden death if his leg gave out and he fell the wrong way, when he suddenly had a Penguin falling face first in his direction. Butch smirked slightly when he moved out of the way, not bothering to catch Oswald; just because he wasn’t going to intentionally kill him didn’t mean he had to be helpful either.

Gabriel sighed and looked at his watch, a BBQ stain on his lips as finished off the last of his Rodeo Burger. The Burger King crown laid on top of the bar next to a half-eaten container of fries while he waited nervously for his boss and Mr. Gilzean to return. His ears perked and he hunted quickly for a napkin when he heard the sound of the door opening, his happy expression falling slightly when it was not limping footsteps he heard, but the distraught sound of Oswald’s beloved mother’s voice as she neared where he sat.

“Miss K…you shouldn’t be out. It’s late,” he remarked, offering her a chair. Her troubled expression really didn't make him feel any better about the fact that his boss wasn't back yet.

            “My Oswald, where is he?” Gertrude questioned, frowning up at Gabe. “It—it's late, he tells me he will be home at a proper time. My Oswald, such a good boy and yet here he is making his poor mother worry!”

            Gabe offered a hug to calm her down, unsure of what else to really do to help. “I’m sure Boss--I mean Oswald--will be back soon,” he stated before moving to fix her a drink. One drink turned into many. It was against his better judgment since he knew what Ms. Kapelput could be like; but having had a few now himself, he couldn’t bring himself to care as he spun Oswald’s mother around the small dance floor, trying to dance their worries away with some soft music.

Time flew by and it seemed to put Gertrude even more on edge as she tried tugging Gabe to the door, stumbling slightly with how intoxicated she was. “Oswald is not back yet…” she slurred, her accent seeming even heavier, making it harder for the henchmen to understand her. “Oswald is not here Gabriel…we go look for him now.” Now was one of those times he was glad his size made it impossible for her to tug him toward the door. Gabe was about to comment about how it was nearly 1 in the morning and it probably wasn't a good idea in their drunken condition to be going out on a wild goose chase for Penguin. But luck seemed to smile upon him and Butch chose to walk through the club doors, dragging an unconscious Oswald by the collar of his suit coat behind him.

            “Oswald!” She stumbled forward to her son, already worried with the fact that he wasn’t moving. “Why do you do this? You’re suppose to help my son!”

            Gabe frowned at the scene in front of him, extremely worried about the state Oswald was in and fairly certain his mother may attempt to kill Butch for it.

           “You---you gonna tell me what happened?” Gabe questioned, moving quickly to move the fuming Penguin Mother out of the way so he could get to his clearly injured boss. “Butch, he’s bleeding bad and you drag him in here like you’re working for that Fish woman.” He had heard enough of Oswald’s drunken ramblings to know that Fish was far from kind; and  Butch being The Penguin’s only help to running the club made  Gabe more than nervous, regardless of what reassurance Zsasz gave him.

           “I shot him….and he killed her,” Butch snarled, pushing past the two and heading straight for the bar, grabbing a bottle of whiskey.

           “That literally tells me nothing other than explaining why he’s bleeding from his side,” Gabe snapped angry as Butch flicked him off and walked towards the back room. “You shot him….he trusted you!”

         Butch let out a very humorless sounding laugh. “I never said Oswald was smart. Now fuck off, I’m done for the night.” The door was slammed, leaving Gabe to stand stupidly for a moment trying to figure out what the hell he was getting into, before snapping back into the mindset of needing to make sure Oswald didn’t bleed to death laying on top of the bar. He could deal with Mr. Gilzean’s bad attitude later.

      “Look Mother…I’m the King of Gotham,” Oswald babbled, his expression dazed as he tried to reach for his mother, who was trying desperately to slow the bleeding of a gash on his head. “Mother do you hear me, I’m the king, you can have everything you deserve now…” The two could barely understand him by the end of his sentence with how badly he was slurring his words.

     Gertrude smiled, brushing Oswald’s hair out of his face. His skin felt cold, making her worry even more that he could die in front of her. “Of course darling…you are always King to me…” she replied softly, stealing a glance at Gabe who was busy getting the first aid kit. “Oswald, hush now. Gabriel will fix you, but you need to be still and quiet.” She moved slightly out of the way to give the henchman room to work.

     Gabe made quick work of getting Oswald out of his suit coat and shirt so he could get to work on the bullet wound in his side. Oswald let out a sob of pain as the bullet was dug out of his side.

    “Sssshh, Liebchen…soon you’ll feel better,” Gertrude soothed, kissing Oswald’s forehead, hoping to offer him some comfort. The Penguin’s eyes fluttered shut as she ran a hand over his cheek. “Go to sleep…” She thought maybe it would help if he could just sleep through the worst of getting cleaned up. It hurt her heart to hear her son whimper and cry. “Gabriel will take good care of you. He’s good man…unlike that other. I put stop to his cruel ways.” She smiled and patted Gabe’s arm before walking back to where she’d seen Butch wander to.

   “Mother…no….please stay,” Oswald whined, struggling enough to annoy Gabe into being a bit too rough so he would lie still again. “You did that on purpose” he groaned. Gabe got him to sit up and take a shot of the strongest alcohol he could find behind the bar in hopes that it would knock him the rest of the way out so he could finish in peace.

   Butch was leaning back in a chair, eyes closed and the bottle of booze half gone on the table, when Gertrude entered the back lounge area. Not wasting any time, the angry woman backhanded her son’s associate, still fuming over his entrance of dragging Oswald into the club. Such blatant disregard of Oswald’s life would not be overlooked.

  “What the hell, you old hag?!” Butch slurred, clearly drunk, holding the side of his face. Blood dripped from the cut her rings had made and she was far from finished letting him know that she was not pleased with him. “Shouldn’t you be tending to your overly dramatic brat?”

   Gertrude’s eyes flashed as she approached him again, shoving him off his chair and onto the floor. “You may think I’m nothing more than a drunk old woman,” she began, grabbing a hold of Butch’s chin to keep his attention while she loomed over him, smiling rather eerily. “I guarantee, I catch you being mean to my son again, I do something worse than even my Oswald can think up.” She patted his head, moving to allow Butch to get up.

  “You…you top anything Cobblepot could do?” Butch laughed, trying to force himself back up to his spot at the table. “You’re joking, right? Crazy old bird---you have no idea what your precious son is even capable of.”

  “Nothing more than a nightclub owner, my Oswald. Do you think I’m fool?” Gertrude inquired, pausing to stare down the henchman once again. “Where you think he learned such things?” She walked out the door, not leaving any more room for discussions on the matter.

  “I need a new job…I’m too old for this shit,” Butch muttered, putting his head in his hands and proceeding to finally pass out.

  Gertrude smiled as she walked back out to the bar area of the club to find that Gabe had gotten Oswald patched up and into some clean clothes. “My Oswald, are you feeling better, dear?” she asked, kneeling down in front of the chair he was sitting in and placing a hand on either side of his face to get a good look at him.  “Gabriel fixed you up so nice, I’m so happy.”

  “So sorry Mother…I worried you,” Oswald replied, giggling while he rested his head on Gertrude’s shoulder. “But it’s just business, and business is good…I’m the king, Mother!” he cackled louder this time, nearly falling off the chair.

  “Don’t worry Miss K…he’s got some blood loss and I may have given him some alcohol and pain killers, but it might have been a little much.” Gabe chuckled, noticing Oswald was suddenly very interested in the sleeve of his mother’s dress. “Boss how about some sleep, you look kinda tired.” He moved to try helping Oswald up only to be pushed away.

  “Kings don’t have bedtime, Gabriel!” Oswald snapped, scowling and placing the forgotten Burger King crown on his head from Gabe’s long since cold fast-food meal. “See, I’m the King, I have a crown.”

  “Whatever you say, Boss. Too bad I’m bigger then you,” Gabe teased, picking up the other easily and enjoying the slightly loopy mindset Oswald seemed to have. The Penguin nearly squawked in displeasure, much to Gertrude’s amusement. She was glad her son found such a good friend in this man who protected him.

  An hour later found a fussy Oswald sound asleep in his bed, the crown now crooked on his head from smooshing his face into Gabe’s stomach while his mother sang to him in a language the henchmen had never heard before.

  “I’m glad my Oswald will be okay…” she commented after she’d finished her song. “You help him and guide him; he’s a lucky boy to have you.” Gertrude stood and kissed Oswald’s forehead before covering him back up. Gabriel was about to ask exactly what she meant, but he wasn’t given the opportunity as she said her goodnights and left him to ponder the evening before finally falling asleep with Oswald curled to his side, not wanting to leave his boss in case he was needed.  

           
  

Notes:

Yay now off to work on more Penguin's and Tuna Fish

Can someone please tell Victor muse to behave? I'd do it myself, but he can beat me up. O_________o

Also Ao3 screwed the formatting like usual so 1,000 apologizes on that too!

till next time!