Chapter 8: A Night At The Maison Derriere

Alex, Lisa, and Maggie have been waiting at the Police station for over an hour. Alex had gotten the call from Lisa when Maggie had called her from Bart's apartment when she had found blood on the floor and Milhouse tied up in the closet. The police had told them that there were signs of a struggle and Milhouse had told them what happened when he was there.

Lisa was worried sick, she hadn't told her mother of what had happened but she didn't have to when both she and Homer had come running in.

"Lisa! What's happened? It's been all over the news that your brother's been kidnapped, is there any word?" Marge asked, clearly out of breath.

Lisa shook her head and hugged her crying mother.

Everyone sat down as the police were making calls to see if anyone in Springfield has seen or heard from Bart or his kidnappers.

Chapter Eight: A night at the Maison Derriere.

The police had told the Simpsons to go home and reassured them if they hear anything they'll call them as soon as possible, also vice versa.

Alex was making coffee for her and Lisa when there was a knock at the Simpson's door. Alex told them she'd get it and opened it to reveal Gina.

Alex stood there numb both in mind and body. Gina, apparently, was silent, too.

Lisa walked up to Alex to see who was at the door and made a low growl when she saw who it was.

"What are you doing here, Gina?"

Gina, awkwardly, looked off to the side.

"I was wondering if there was any word of what happened to your brother."

Lisa didn't answer.

Alex sighed, "No. There hasn't."

Gina nodded, still not looking at either of them.

To Lisa's surprise, Alex walked outside with Gina and said to Lisa, "I'll be back in a bit."

Closing the door, Alex turned to Gina.

"I can understand why she's acting the way she is, I haven't been kind to this family, in the past," Gina said, gloomily.

Alex folded her arms, "Not to me, either."

Gina nodded, still looking down.

Alex sighed, "I'm sorry, Gina. I didn't mean to act that way."

Gina shrugged, "You had every right to."

The two had walked all the way down to the Springfield Pier.

Looking for any indication of what happened to Bart. Knowing about Springfield's lax efforts in investigating, the two women took it upon themselves to follow the clues that led up to the disappearance.

Stopping at the exact place, Lisa had described as the place where the cab was when Bart and Alex were together that night, Alex looked and found the tire tracks.

"Hey, Gina, over here!"

Gina walked over and found the prints as indicated.

Both women followed the tracks all the way to the Gentlemen's Club.

Walking down the flight of stairs, Both Alex and Gina pounded hard against the door.

There was a moment of silence, then followed by a soft sound of footsteps coming to the door.

The eye window slid open and a set of eyes eyed Alex and Gina suspiciously.

"Eh, whaddya want?"

Alex looked defiantly in the eyes, "We want Bart Simpson, where is he?"

The person behind the door turned and looked as though he was mutely conversing with someone in the room, he then turned his attention back to Alex and Gina.

"Sorry, no one here by that name. Now scram!"

He then shut the eye window.

Alex turned to Gina.

"I think we have the place."

Homer Simpson was pacing back and forth in front of his boss, Mr. Clemens, doors at the Springfield Power Plant.

Lenny and Carl exited through the doors from down the hallway.

"Hey, Homer. Any new about your son?" Asked Lenny.

"No, and Mr. Clemens has me doing rounds through the Plant."

Carl looked to Lenny and then back to Homer.

"Uh, Homer, no hard feelings or nothing, but, uh, aren't you supposed to be walking all over the Plant?"

Homer sat down and put his arms around the back of his neck, "I feel I've covered enough ground."

Just then an alarm sounded and Homer emits a loud "D'oh!"

He then punches some numbers on the phone and starts yelling at the phone.

"Milhouse! Get your butt up here!"

Homer laid back and cracked his knuckles.

"Aww, yeah."

Bart awoke groaning, loudly.

Looking around his surroundings, he quickly figured out where he was. Fat Tony once had him here making bets and serving drinks to his clients. It was enjoyable until he was being played the escape hole to the supposed murder of Principal Skinner. Turning to be a mistake, Fat Tony tried to reel Bart back in only for Bart to flat-out refuse him.

The Gentlemen's Club seemed to be empty only until the main door opened and in stepped Michael "Baby Tony" Williams. A person Bart had frequently tried to help the D.A. put behind bars and whom The Simpson Family had tried to help out when he was trying to get out of his father's wing. After Fat Tony's death, he had taken over his father's business. Proceeding him from the entryway was Dolph Emerson, one of the four bullies that had ruled all three of the schools Bart had attended. Dolph had surprisingly graduated and got a Private Investigator's license. Bart finally understood who it was that night in his apartment.

One thing that was concerning Bart was why was the Mafia interested in getting him. Although he had caused trouble by trying to bring them down he also had helped a lot of their stooges. Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Bruce Kearny, and Kathy Lee Gifford, all of whom had attachments, Bart had helped.

The next person who came in made it all too clear.

A man next to Michael put a blindfold on Bart. Before a blunt object hit Bart on the head he remembered the distinct smell of lilac and a voice saying, "You're mine now, Bart."

Alex had told Lisa everything Gina and her had found out during their snooping.

Unfortunately, for Alex, the first thing Lisa did was complain about Alex spending that time with Gina.

"What happened to you hating Gina, Alex?"

Alex heaved a loud sigh, "C'mon, Lisa! I think it's best to forgive and move on, don't you?"

Lisa started pacing and then sat down.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

Alex sat down next to her dear friend, "It's alright. Now, who do we know that can get us into that club?"

Lisa thought long and hard about it and then finally came up with one name.

"Nelson."

Walking down to Moe's Tavern, Alex and Lisa were trying their best to try and quickly devise a plan to talk Nelson into getting them in when the door of the Tavern flew open and Martin was flung out.

Nelson came out the door too.

Martin looked up at him, defiantly.

"Hey! What did I do?"

Nelson brandished his fist at him.

"This is the last time I'm going to tell ya, dork. Next time you get drunk off of two bottles of Zima and start calling names at me, I'm calling the cops."

Martin hiccuped as he tried to stand up, "All I said was that we were "friends"."

Nelson pointed a finger at him, "That's what I'm talking about, don't ever let me see you here again, got it?"

Nelson slammed the door shut as Lisa and Alex helped up Martin.

"Are you okay?" Asked Lisa.

Martin waived a dismissive hand; "I'm fine!"

Martin then passed out.

Lisa and Alex decided to leave him there and proceeded into Moe's.

Homer walked into his boss, Mr. Clemens, 's office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

Mr. Nathan Clemens was dressed in a royal purple business suit with a Smurf's tie on, his blonde mustache twitched into a grin as he looked up at Homer.

"Aw, Homer! Glad to see ya. Say, Homer, sorry to hear about your son, bad luck that, I want you to know you have my deepest sympathies and I hope he comes back well."

Homer smiled, "Thank you, sir."

Mr. Clemens got up from his desk and walked around it and put his arm around Homer.

"Homer, I like you, you know why?"

Homer stumbled on this question.

"Uh…Well…uh…"

Mr. Clemens slapped Homer on the back; "Relax Homer! This wasn't a test."

Homer wiped his brow in relief.

Mr. Clemens laughed, "That's what I like about you Homer, you're so down to Earth."

Mr. Clemens walked back to his desk and sighed loudly.

"Well, now back to business. Now, Homer, we've been given a great opportunity. We're to be a part of Springfield's Support Your Local Honorary Businessman, or S.S.Y.H.L.B. for short, which is being held at the Maison Derriere. Homer, I'd like you to represent the Plant at that benefit, are you game?"

Homer straightened up and gave a salute, "Yes, sir!"

Moe's was busier than usual and making their way through to try and find Nelson was becoming increasingly hard for Alex and Lisa. The place was advertising a new Duff promotion called "All new 50 more alcohol Duff!"

Making their way to the bar table, Moe, who had lost his hair and had lost an eye due to a mishap with a shrimp fork at a Red Lobster, took to by surprise when he saw Lisa.

"Oh, uh, hey Lisa. You're going to have to tell Homer that I don't have any more betting money for him."

Lisa shook her head, "Moe, I haven't done that for seventeen years. The reason we're here is to see Nelson."

Moe seemed taken back, but merely pointed to a door that had a sign which the sign had the word "Bouncer" scratched off and the word "Floor Negotiator" in its place.

Lisa knocked at the door where there was a loud grunt.

"Hey, it's sleeping time, I have thirty minutes until I really work."

Lisa sighed, "Nelson, it's Lisa, can I come in? I need to talk to you."

There were shifting sounds in the room followed by a loud booming sound as if something hard hit the floor.

Locks were being released and then the door swung open.

Nelson held the door open.

"Come on in."

Lisa and Alex came into the room, which was decorated with various heavy wrestling promos and some featuring the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour". Nelson had a desk and behind it was a small TV screen that showed a black-and-white view of the bar.

Nelson's tattered leather chair made a squeal as he sat down in it.

"So, what do you two losers want?"

Lisa sat down in the wicker chair that was really worn down and tried her best not to fall through the hole that was widening in it.

"Nelson, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

Nelson eyed her carefully, "What kind of favor?"

"You know the Gentlemen's Club?"

Nelson sat up straight, "Yeah, what about it?"

Lisa wasn't sure how well this was going to go but decided to give it a try anyway.

"Any way you can get us in?"

Nelson thought about it and then said, "Well, yeah, maybe but they'll be at the Maison Derriere, dressing rehearsal is at five."

Lisa's eyes went wide, "Uh, what?"

Nelson crossed his arms, "You wanted to "get inside" right? Well, they need some dancers at the place and even though you two are major dorks you still fit the bill."

Alex tapped Lisa on the shoulder.

"Lisa, did he say what I thought he said, we have to be dancers in order to get in there?" She whispered.

Lisa sadly nodded. Turning back to Nelson she breathed in deeply, "Ok, we'll do it."

Bart awoke for the second time to a back room that looked way too familiar. He couldn't quite place it. The room was shaded in a deep purplish color and the air smelled of smoke and alcohol. He was in a bathroom which had an assortment of pictures lined up on the wall, and one of them made him realize where he was. When Bart was ten he had accidentally broken a gargoyle on the property of an elderly named Belle. Belle's house turned out to be a burlesque house, which was intriguing to Bart. Bart worked off the damage to the gargoyle by working as a hat checker and collector. Bart hadn't returned here for eleven years so he could actually be here legally. He returned again a year later for Belle's funeral. She didn't have any family to take over the business but Bart had managed to convince his Aunt Patty to take over the place.

The picture on the wall was of Bart and Belle when Bart had turned twenty-one. Bart realized he now was in the second-floor bathroom of the Maison Derriere.

Bart wondered how long he has been here and if his Aunt knew her nephew was locked up in the bathroom.

Suddenly the door swung open and in came Michael and Dr. Nick Rivera.

"Hi, everybody!" Said the charismatic doctor.

"Hi, Dr. Nick," Bart said.

Michael leaned against the sink as Dr. Nick brought out a syringe and got out a bottle.

"Now, Bart, I'm going to give you a little something to make you say things you normally wouldn't say."

Michael made a grunt.

"Oops, heh, didn't mean to say what I shouldn't have." Dr. Nick nervously chuckled.

Bart was about to say something when Dr. Nick injected it into Bart's arm.

Bart found the whole world slipping into a deep red spiral and then fading to black.

Homer walked into the Simpson's household whistling the theme to "Gilmore Girls" when he didn't hear anything.

"Marge? Lisa? Baby?"

He soon found a note on the fridge.

Homer read it aloud, " "Dear Homer, I've gone to see if the Police have found out anything about Bart, dinner's cooking right now, see you soon, Marge." Homer shrugged and went to the fridge to get a beer and then trailed back to the living room and turned on the set. He was about halfway into his show when he looked up at the clock and he suddenly got up to his feet and panicked.

"Aw, crap! I'm going to be late for the benefit! Stupid Fox network, always wasting people's time!"

Homer then ran out of the house and got to his car and sped off.

Alex and Lisa arrived at the Maison Derriere forty minutes ago and were shown into the dancers changing room.

Alex wasn't entirely sure how they were supposed to find Bart when they were forced to dress so scantily in order to gain entrance to this place. Nor was she sure of what Lisa had in mind once they were inside.

The wardrobes, no matter how illicit they were, were not half bad in her mind. Alex made some quick notes in her head on her Valentine's selection that she'd have available in her shop.

All the women here were assigned to various tasks until their routines to be on the dance floor were established. They had Alex dressed in a very slim negligee that was black and had sequins running along the sides. Her halter top, along with her thong, was also black. She was allowed to do her own make-up for which she was grateful because it seemed that the other women here had made theirs a little too seductive and not practical.

Stepping out of her dressing room she glanced around and failed to see Lisa.

She then heard a small voice call out, "Alex? Are you out there?"

It was Lisa.

Alex knocked on the door of the fitting room next to her and Lisa opened it and brought her inside.

Lisa was dressed in more of a red ensemble accompanied by a red feather boa that draped around her neck.

Alex laughed, "Wow, Lisa, if only your parents were here to see you today."

Lisa blushed a deep crimson, "Please, not now. I still haven't figured out how we're going to find Bart."

Alex thought for a moment. "Well, I'm supposed to be working the casino floor, I can see if I can find or hear any info relating to Bart, why don't you do the same."

Lisa grabbed her friend's arms, "That's just it, they're putting me on the stage floor to sing a song, looking like this! Most of Springfield's going to be here and half of the people know me!"

Alex understood, and a lot of the people knew the Simpsons and the word would get back home to her family.

Looking around the room she then found a masquerade mask.

"Here put this on and you'll be okay. Now, what're you going to sing?"

Lisa seemed to settle down after seeing the mask and then thought for a moment.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe, KT Tunstall's Big Black Horse and The Cherry Tree."

Alex nodded.

There was a knock at the door and a man said, "Hey ladies, you done yet? The girl in red is needed on stage."

Homer walked in and found his nametag along with others at the table near the entrance of the casino. Walking inside he found Moe and Barney shooting craps.

"Moe, Barney, how's the night, guys!"

Both of the men greeted Homer and the three went to get a table as the speaker came onto the stage.

Alex watched Homer and the others at his table and was feeling a little apprehensive about coming out. Those feelings subsided when she saw how many beers they were ordering and then snuck out onto the floor.

Walking through the various rows of people she was asked to stop, a couple of times, to either take pictures with someone or blow on somebody's dice. One guy asked her to stay with him during a hand that he was playing, for good luck, but she lied to him about having to be somewhere else.

So far, overhearing a lot of the groups' conversations she wasn't hearing anything relating to Bart. She was also getting dehydrated, so she went over to the bar for some water.

The bartender mocked her for a bit for getting water at such a wet place and Alex paid him double just to shut him up and not draw attention to the two of them.

Alex looked to the stage to see Lisa. Lisa seemed to hold herself okay despite what she was wearing and the fact that so many people from the town were here, not to mention her own father. Alex started looking up until she saw the second floor of the building and she saw something that made her sure they were on the right track. Jessica Lovejoy dressed a little more dignified than Lisa or Alex, was walking with three men to a room that didn't seem to have a window. Alex knew she needed to act quickly.

Getting up, she headed over to the stairs only to find that two men were guarding it.

One of them was giving her "the look" which gave her a quick, but unformulated, plan.

As soon as she was about three feet from the landing, the man on the left stepped forward.

"Excuse me, Miss, but no one's allowed beyond this point."

Alex tried her best to sound seductive, "I'm sorry sir, maybe a strong, sensible, handsome man, such as yourself, could point me to the lady's room up there; unfortunately there's a line down here."

The man made a face as if to say that he wasn't buying it, fortunately, the other guy did.

"No problem, ma'am, right this way."

The other guy looked as though he was going to argue until he saw another person making their way to the stairs and instead made his way to thwart this person.

Alex made her way up the staircase and took a left to the hallway she saw Jessica make and found herself in a place that looked like a reception. A man came out from a door and Alex saw he had a side arm. Panicking she looked for any door to hide in. She was wondering how she was going to get around looking the way she did.

Finding the women's restroom, she slipped in and, luck had it, found that some women left her jacket inside. Slipping into it, she came back out and went to the two double doors at the end of the hall. She could hear music.

Stepping inside, she saw a minister and walked up to him.

"Excuse me, sir, but, I've misplaced my planner and have forgotten whose wedding I'm attending. I have so many cousins, it's hard to remember who's getting married, half the time."

The Minister smiled, "Why, no problem, Miss. This is the wedding of Ms. Lovejoy and Mr. Simpson."

Alex felt as though she was going to be sick. But being Lisa's friend for all these years has taught her to look for facts, not for half-truths.

"Do you know where I can find the Groom?"

Homer was through his third beer when he looked at his watch, "Uh oh, it's nine, I probably should go home."

Homer tapped a woman on the shoulder, "Excuse me, Miss, but can I get my beer to go, and I…Huh, why are you wearing that stupid mask, I bet you're the prettiest thing on this damn…Wha? Lisa!"

Homer looked across the floor and saw his daughter wandering around dressed in a thing she would never let her dress.

"Sorry, Miss, gotta go." Homer ran over to Lisa and turned her around, "Why are you here?"

Lisa blushed and pulled her father over to a corner of the room and said in a low tone, "Dad, don't draw attention to me. Alex and I found out Bart was being kept here, so we had to disguise ourselves in order to be allowed to get in here."

Homer folded his arms, "I don't care what excuse you have, little miss dress-up. You're coming home right now and…What! Bart's here?!"

Alex walked through what seemed like another long hallway to a door that was locked with a padlock.

Alex started knocking on it.

"Bart? Bart, are you in there?"

She heard groaning, "Bart, it's me, Alex. Are you in here?"

The groaning continued.

Alex heard some person clear their throat behind her and she spun around to see Jessica and three other men leering at her.

Then another face appeared that made Alex's mind spin.

Gina came up from behind Jessica and said, "Sorry, Fashion Queen, this is the end of the road."

To be continued…