Just a Girl, Not a Wonder...

The door to the director's office was half open, and Nessie knocked lightly on it to announce her presence -- then peeked inside the room. The two of them had a thirty minute meeting scheduled, in about three minutes, and Nessie wanted to be sure he remembered.

Felix Desidero was seated at his desk, phone receiver to one ear, looking frustrated. When his gaze flicked over to Nessie at the door, he held up one finger in a 'wait a minute' gesture. Nessie nodded and slipped into the office, gently closing the door.

"No, of course I don't want people dying of drug overdoses, but what do you expect me to do with the children they leave behind if we have one-third of our normal operating budget?" Felix demanded. Whoever he had on the other end of the phone line spoke for a while... a rather long while. Felix's expression got sourer and sourer as he listened.

Nessie slid into the chair across from him, and gave him a sympathetic look. He rolled his eyes skyward and used one hand to make a choking motion toward the receiver, silently expressing his frustration. Nessie grinned, but covered her mouth so that no laughter could escape and possibly be overheard by the caller.

"Well, maybe, just maybe if our Representative in the General Assembly wasn't a Republican who cares more about the rights of corporations than the lives of people, we wouldn't be dealing with so many damned drug overdoses that you have to rob Peter to pay Paul!" Felix rubbed at one temple, as if trying to stave off a headache, and his tone was deliberately calm when he next spoke. "I know you're dealing with the whole county, and your boss is dealing with the whole state, and the governor wants to look like he's doing something about this drug crisis. But forcing city-level budget reorganization just led my mayor to gut our senior care services and the counseling budget for our foster kids."

Nessie gave Felix a frankly horrified look at that comment. She hadn't heard of that yet.

"Look, just... maybe the General Assembly can be pressured into passing some kind of relief bill? If there's something on the table, we can get activists pushing for it... Yes. Something, anything. I've got a meeting that I should be at, and I'm sure you do, too. Please call me back, with some good news next time? All right, thank you."

Felix hung up his landline phone. "I'm sorry you had to hear that, Kapatelis. Things aren't going well at all."

"So I gathered," Nessie replied. "Are you serious? We've only got one-third of our operating budget, and they want us to stop offering counseling and therapy to our traumatized kids?"

"People are addicted to opioids, thanks to all the overprescribing that went on in the nineties," Felix said. "So we passed laws to restrict easy access to large amounts of the prescription medications, thinking that would help. Turns out, people are just switching to heroin to get their fix. The spike in heroin-related deaths is making New Jersey look really bad, and the governor doesn't want that."

"Of course not," Nessie scoffed.

"So they want to throw more money at the health departments, which I'd be all for... except they're taking the money from our social services departments." Felix sighed. "There's nothing to be done right now, not until I get more information on what we can do to pressure a change. God, I wish we could do something to cut off the heroin supply to the city!"

'We might not be able to, but I know someone who can...' Nessie thought. She didn't dare say it aloud, though. Her 'partnership' with the Red Hood was something she wanted to keep under wraps. Affiliation with a known gang leader didn't look good for an employee of the city government, after all.

"I'm sorry to hear it," Nessie replied, "we're hobbled enough as it is, and we don't need more obstacles thrown in our way."

"From your lips to God's ears," Felix responded. He straightened his posture a bit and cleared his throat. "Let's put that aside for now. What did you want to discuss, Kapatelis?"

"Well... I was going to ask for access to the non-digitized files to review some old cases, and I still want to do that, but... now I'm thinking we ought to tap the Wayne Foundation for help in closing our funding gap."

The pinched, sour look was back on Felix's face -- and, based on her previous conversation with Jason, Nessie would bet that her boss was remembering his investigation into Bruce Wayne's family and the suspicious death of one of the adopted children in it. He clearly didn't like the reminder that they were, in some part, beholden to the Wayne family and the largesse of its charitable organization.

"I think that well has gone dry," Felix said, rubbing at his bushy mustache. "At least, with Bruce Wayne out of the city again, you'd have to appeal to other people like his... adopted son." Felix actually looked a little pained to describe Timothy Drake-Wayne in that way. "The one who is helping to run Wayne Enterprises, that is."

"You don't think Mr. Drake-Wayne would refuse, do you?" Nessie asked.

"I think you'll have a hell of a time getting him to grant you an appointment to meet," Felix said, "and we don't know if he'll be as generous as Bruce would be in the same situation."

"It can't hurt to ask," Nessie said stubbornly.

Felix smiled faintly. "If you want to go for it, you've got my blessing, Kapatelis. I'll email you the budget information for the past few years, and the projected one for next year. If the Wayne Foundation isn't willing to help, those cold, hard numbers might do a lot to convince the folks in charge. And as for access to the non-digitized case files, you can go ahead with that, too. I'll update your keycard access right now, in fact."

"I appreciate it, Mr. Desidero," Nessie said, smiling back at him.

This was working out really well. Though the budget problems were a negative overall, they were opening doors for her. She'd be able to look into Felix's old case files on Jason Todd, getting things like his old address in Crime Alley. Information on his old neighbors might even be in the file, if they were interviewed in the course of Felix's investigation -- and she might get a lead on the mysterious "Mrs. Walker". Furthermore, the need for financial help from the Wayne Foundation in order to continue assisting seniors and children in the foster care system gave her a reason to visit Wayne Manor. Certainly, it wasn't the normal way of doing things, but this wasn't a normal situation.

"There we go," Felix said. "You're all set for expanded access to the archives."

"I really appreciate this," Nessie started to say, but Felix held up a hand to cut her off.

"Do what you have to, Kapatelis," he said. "I don't need to know all the details, and you just know that I've got your back, whatever you're planning."

Nessie blinked. Did he suspect? Did he know? Had she slipped up somehow, and said or done something that showed a connection to the Red Hoods? She didn't dare ask. That would confirm his suspicions, if he had them.

"I'm just trying to help..." Nessie eventually answered, quietly.

Felix nodded. "I know. And..." He looked at her seriously, with his usual sharp, assessing gaze. One corner of his mouth lifted, into a half-smile. "I trust you, Kapatelis."

No qualifiers, no 'despite everything'... just trust. Nessie smiled, even though she felt her chin wobble from the effort of keeping back tears.

"Thank you, boss."