"Dawson, you've done it! This list is precisely what we need." Basil says with an overjoyed grin.

"What?" Dawson asks.

Basil puts on his deerstalker cap as he rushes to the window. "Quickly, back to Baker Street!" He says.

《↬.•.•✿•.•.↫》

"Ah, the uniforms. Oh Fidget, I knew I could rely on you. Now, you didn't forget anything?" Ratigan asks as he searches through the bag.

Fidget cackles with a malicious grin. "No problem. I took care of everything. Everything on the list." He opens his wing to display the list but it wasn't there. He frantically searches for it. "Uh-oh..."

Ratigan's grin falls, seeing something was wrong. "What's wrong?" He asks with a glare.

Fidget pats himself down in a panic. "The list...I know..."

"Where's the list?" Ratigan asks, becoming angrier by the second.

"The list, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well you see, uh, it was like this. I was in the toy store getting uniforms when I heard "A-roo A-roo" Fidget imitates a dog as he was explaining.

Ratigan, puzzled and impatient, rubs his forehead and grumbles, "You're not coming through."

"A dog came. I ran. I had baby bonnet, girl in bag and Basil chased me." Fidget explains.

Hearing this last piece of information, Ratigan snaps. "What? Basil on the case?! Why you gibbering little..." Fidget cowers in fear as Ratigan fights the urge to strangle him.

"W-Wait! I, I have some information that might be useful, against Basil!" Fidget suddenly says.

Ratigan quickly calms down and looks at him with a glare. "Well, what is it then? Spit it out." He growls.

"There, there was this (mouse/rat/other tiny creature) and, uh, they, they seem to be important to Basil." Fidget quickly says in a panic.

Ratigan pauses and looks down at the bat. "Who is this? I've never seen them nor have I heard of them before."

"I, I'm not sure, but they seemed to be, uhm, courting." Fidget nervously says, hoping this information will be useful to Ratigan.

"Courting, you say...? Hmph, I didn't think Basil was the romantic type." Ratigan thinks for a moment before grinning, a malicious idea sparking in his mind. "Yes... Yes. Oh, I just thought of the wicked idea." He chuckles, picking Fidget up by his cheeks. "Fidget, you delightful little maniac." He shakes the bat. "You've presented me with a singular opportunity." He drops Fidget. "Poor Basil! Oh, he is in for a little surprise." Ratigan grins maliciously with a deep chuckle.

⇜✾⇝

Basil lights a lamp and examines the list with his magnifying glass, you and Dawson next to him.

"Offhand, I can deduce very little. Only that the words are written with a broad pointed quill pen which has spattered, twice. That the paper is of..." Basil tosses the paper in his hand. "...native Mongolian manufacture, no watermark. And has..." He puts the paper to his lips and smacks it. "...been gummed, if I'm not very much in error..." He sniffs at the paper, and holds it at arm's length. "...by a bat who has been drinking Rodent's Delight! A cheap brandy sold only in the seediest pubs."

"You can determine all of that so quickly?" You ask.

"Hmm. Amazing." Dawson says.

Basil rummages at his desk. "Oh not really, Doctor. We still don't know where it came from." He pulls out his microscope and puts it on the desk. "Perhaps a close inspection will tell us something." He puts the list underneath the microscope, focusing the lens on the letter. "Hmm-hmm. Hmm. Coal dust. Clearly of the type used in sewer lamps."

Dawson goes to look through the microscope but Basil takes the list, holding it over a small fire.

"Basil, what are you doing...?" You ask.

"Trust the process, my dear!" Basil says, letting the paper catch on fire. He drops the ashy remains into a bowl and mixes it up with a wooden masher. He pours it into a glass jar with a yellow chemical, which turns blue. Dawson stares at the liquid with his glasses and Basil returns with a vial of a red chemical.

"Excuse me, Dawson." Basil says as he holds the red chemical over the jar carefully. "Steady hand..." Basil lets a single drop fall. A small puff of smoke comes out as the chemical turns violet. Basil sets the jar below a glass spout and reaches to the other side of the chemistry set to turn on a small flame.

The green chemical inside bubbles up and slowly makes its way through the tubes, Basil encouraging it softly. "Yes, yes. Good, good. Come along, come along, come along, come along. Come along, come along, come along come along.... Haha... Yes, yes, good, good. No, bad. Good, good, oh, no. Come along, come on. Yes, come on." The three of you watch intently as a single green droplet is hanging above the violet chemical. "Yes... Yes..." The drop falls, making the chemical turn red. He laughs triumphantly and puts his arm around you. "We've done it, my dear! This reaction could only have been triggered by the paper's extreme saturation with distillation of sodium chloride." Basil moves away from the table and Dawson studies the now-clear chemical.

"Is that salt water?" You ask as you also inspect the chemical.

"Great Scott." Dawson mumbles.

Basil rummages through his set of maps. "It proves beyond a doubt, this list came from the riverfront area." Basil uses his darts to pin the map to the wall.

"Ah, now steady on there, Basil." Dawson says.

"No, no. Elementary, my dear Dawson. We merely look for a seedy pub at the only...spot..." Basil marks said spot with another dart. "...where the sewer connects to the waterfront."

↠❀↞

Basil and you walk up to the front door of a pub called "The Rat Trap." Basil was in a sailor disguise with a fake mustache and you were wearing a disguise that fit the "low-life ruffian" vibe this pub had so you'd blend in. A part of your disguise Basil asked you to wear was a ring on your ring finger, though you had no idea why. You didn't really think about it that much.

"Uh, Basil?" Dawson asks. He was hiding behind a pier column.

Basil pulls out a cigarette, intending to blend in. "Come, come, Dawson." He says.

"I feel utterly ridiculous." Dawson says. He steps out in a pirate disguise.

"Don't be absurd. You look perfect." Basil says.

Dawson steps out in pirate disguise, with a bandana, an earring, an eye patch, and a striped shirt that is much too short for him. He keeps trying to tuck it into his pants, with no luck.

"Perfect? Perfectly foolish!" Dawson says, not believing Basil.

Basil shushes him as he opens the door, all of you walking into the pub. He strikes his match against the wall and lights his cigarette. He leans towards the two of you and whispers, "Stay close and do as I do." Basil turns to you. "Hold onto my arm." He whispers. You blush slightly and nod, clinging onto his arm. To the pub, it looked as if you and Basil were together, which was exactly Basil's plan.

The bartender looks up to the three of you. Basil signals him for service as he walks to a table. Dawson copies his movements, seeming a little more exaggerated than Basil was.

The bar patrons eye the three of you suspiciously. A knife suddenly lands at the floor in Dawson's path and he stumbles back, knocking a woman's chair forward.

"Ah! Oh I do beg your pardon, Madam." The woman blows her cigarette smoke in his face, making him choke. "Quite unintentional, I assure you." He coughs. They laugh at him and return to their poker game. "How impertinent!" He says angrily.

"Remember Dawson, we're low-life ruffians." Basil whispers, pulling Dawson away from them.

"Well, I was until that..." Basil shushes Dawson as the three of you sit down at a table.

The barmaid walks up to your guys' table. "What's your pleasure, mates?" She asks.

"Uh.. I'll have a dry sherry with... oh perhaps a twist of-" Before Dawson could finish, Basil covers his mouth with his hand.

"Three pints for me, my shipmate," He says in a tough-guy cockney accent and gestures at Dawson. "and my spouse." He wraps an arm around your waist and shows you off to her. It suddenly dawns on you why he asked you to wear the ring. Your disguise was to be his partner. You blush slightly at your realization. You decide to play along to help fool the barmaid. You giggle and show off the ring on your finger, leaning into Basil. Basil stares at you lovingly and pulls you closer, a grin on his lips. He was trying to keep his "low-life ruffian" act but there was a hint of truth to his loving gestures towards you.

The barmaid goes to walk away but Basil speaks. "Oh, by the way. We just got into port. We're looking for an old friend of mine. Maybe you know him. Goes by the name...of Ratigan!" Basil says with a grin.

Several people gasp and stare at Basil in shock. The barmaid recovers from her shock quickly to play it cool. "I, uh...never heard of him." She lies and walks away. Even though she left, Basil still keeps his arm wrapped around you. There were people still staring, so that gives an excuse to keep his arm around you. But honestly, he'd still keep his arm around you, even if no one was looking.

A woman comes on stage and begins to sing, catching everyone's attention. You and Basil seemed to be the only ones uninterested in her. You were more focused on Basil, specifically the fact that he wrapped his tail around you. He did it impulsively and he had no idea until he suddenly realized it. Noticing your red face and your flustered reaction, he begins to think to himself.

'Are they...flustered by me? They look flustered and they're blushing quite a bit, and they seem to enjoy my touch. Do they...reciprocate my feelings? They happily played along with my act and they didn't seem to mind pretending to be my spouse. Hmm...judging by their mannerisms towards me there's a high chance they reciprocate my feelings.' Basil thinks to himself, staring at you. You look at him and give him a smile, noticing him looking at you. He blushes slightly and gives you a love-struck smile. Your smile was absolutely adorable and you look so precious to him. How did he fall so deeply in love with you in such a short amount of time? He doesn't know, but he's not complaining.

Basil snaps out of his love-stuck trance and glances around, quickly noticing the barmaid whisper something into the bartender's ear, who discreetly pours some sort of liquid into three mugs of beer.

The barmaid comes back to your table, handing your guys' drinks.

"There you are. It's uh... on the house." The barmaid says.

"I say, how very generous." Dawson says and picks up his drink. You don't touch your drink, you weren't thirsty at the moment.

Basil picks up his drink and looks at it suspiciously. He swirls his finger in the beer and takes a small taste. "L/n, Dawson...these drinks have been..." You and Basil look over and see that Dawson has already downed his beer. "Drugged!" Basil squeaks.

"Ooh, boy..." You mumble.

"Has a rather nice bite to it." Dawson says drunkenly. He, now under the influence, turns his attention back to the stage and cheers loudly. "Jolly good, ladies, jolly good!"

"Dawson, get ahold of yourself!" Basil says and pulls him back.

Dawson ignores him and keeps clapping. "Oh, bravo, bravo." He shouts drunkenly.

Basil sighs and rubs his temple, clearly irritated. You rub his arm in a soothing way, getting his attention. "Hey, it'll be okay." You say with a smile, hoping to comfort him. Luckily, Basil quickly calms down, giving you a smile. You thought Basil's smile was absolutely precious, it was so attractive on him- though he always looks attractive.

Both of you pause and perk up, hearing the sound of footsteps, specifically from a certain bat with a peg-leg. You two grin at each other.

"Well, well, well... Look who it is." You say.

"If it isn't our peg-legged friend. Dawson, ooh hoo, what luck!" Basil and you turn towards Dawson but he wasn't there.

"Dawson?" You ask and the two of you look around. You two look towards the stage and see Dawson dancing with the singers.

"Dawson!" Basil says in a hushed, panicked tone.

"How did he get up there without us noticing...?" You ask. Basil slaps his forehead, clearly annoyed.

What happens next is like a cartoon. Dawson drunkenly falls off stage and breaks a piano, the pianist tries to hit him with a plank but accidently hits a huge mouse, the huge mouse goes to hit the pianist but he hits the piano instead and Dawson goes flying, and a very chaotic bar fight begins.

"Where is he!?" You ask as you and Basil try to make your way through the riot, trying to find Dawson. Basil was holding your hand tightly so you wouldn't accidentally separate from him.

"There!" Basil says and pulls you towards the unconscious mouse. He helps Dawson sit up, slapping his cheek lightly to wake him up.

"Dawson?" You ask, also helping him sit up.

"Dawson!" Basil says loudly, trying to wake him up.

The sound of Basil's voice and sudden gunfire wakes Dawson up, the drug wearing off.

"What? What?" Dawson asks and looks around at the chaos. "What in heaven's name is going on?"

"I've spotted our peg-legged-" Basil looks over at the bar but sees Fidget gone. He helps Dawson to his feet. "Come on, old fella. There's not a moment to lose." Basil says. The three of you make your way to the bar. Basil sees a trapdoor behind it and you three climb down the passageway, unnoticed.

You and Dawson follow Basil as you three creep behind, watching Fidget crawl into a pipe and singing to himself. You three look into the pipe and watch him disappear into the darkness.

"Basil-" Dawson says in a hushed voice but Basil shushes him, climbing into the pipe.

"Follow me." Basil whispers and crawls through the pipe. You follow him, then Dawson follows you.

"Great Scott. I can't see a thing." Dawson says in a whisper.

"Same here, it's too dark." You whisper as well.

"Shh. L/n, grab my coat and follow along. Dawson, you grab L/n's (article of clothing that you were wearing) and follow them." Even if it was too dark, Basil could tell Dawson was going the wrong way. "No, no, no, not that way. Dawson, look out for your-"

Dawson walks straight into the wall. "Oww! Confound it!" He hisses in pain.

"Are you okay?" You ask quietly.

"I'll be fine, thank you." Dawson says to you. "Do you have any idea where we're going?" He asks Basil.

"But of course. Left turn. Right turn here, Doctor." Basil says.

《↬.•.•✿•.•.↫》