Chapter 10
"And that's the plan! What do you think?" Edward asked, spinning around quickly. On the wall behind him was a bulletin board covered in pictures, notes, and pieces of yarn connected by pushpins. Across from him, you were seated on a table with your legs crossed, watching his presentation with unbridled excitement.
"I think it's brilliant!" you said as you beamed up at him. "Of course, I expect no less from you, Riddler."
He grinned widely at the glow of pure adoration in your eyes.
"I promise that we're going to make them pay for what they did to you. They're all going to pay."
"And what about HIM? Is he going to be punished?" you asked as the happiness faded from your face.
"He's gone....and he is NEVER coming back," he said, even as he felt the tugging in the back of his mind.
"Just like me," you said sadly.
"No! No! You're right here. You're not going anywhere."
Reality pulled even harder on his conscious mind, but he pushed it away as best he could.
"I'm not going to let you go....not again," he said.
He tried to stroke your cheek, but he was distracted when he heard a voice call out.
Shaking his head, he muttered, "It can't be."
"Edward! Are you here?" the voice yelled again.
"Go see," you said softly.
"But, what if you aren't here when I get back?"
"If that's who it sounds like, then I think we both know it's worth the risk."
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"So, this is where it happened?" Alfred asked as he opened the car door for you.
"Mmhm, this is it," you replied, looking up at the warehouse. "This is where I got shot."
"What makes you think he'll be here?"
"It's just a hunch. If the cops haven't picked him up yet, it's because he's not staying anywhere they'd think to look. This is the only other place I can think of that has any meaning to him."
"Alright, well come on then," Alfred said.
"No, I'd like to do this alone."
"Miss, I can't allow-"
"I'll be fine. If I need you, I'll call out. Please, Alfred?"
"Okay, but be careful. Don't do anything crazy. Remember you're still on the mend."
You gave him a grateful smile before heading to the door. Finding it locked, you picked it just as you had before. Once inside, you walked into the main room and looked around, trying to remember exactly what had happened. You remembered the explosion....and pushing Clint out of the way so you could protect Steve....but the other details were fuzzy now. It felt like a lifetime ago, which in a way, you supposed it was.
"Edward!" you yelled.
No response.
"Edward! Are you here?"
You were beginning to think the trip had been for nothing when all of a sudden one of the doors opened.
"Edward," you said, looking him over. He was wearing a green suit and a bowler hat, and staring at you as if you were a ghost. When he drew close, he reached out his hand slowly towards your face like he wanted to see if you were real.
Without thinking, you smacked it away and said, "What do you think you're doing?"
He started to laugh.
"It is you!" he screamed before pulling you into a tight hug. You winced at the rough contact against your still healing wound.
He must have felt you because he pulled back and apologized.
"You're alive!" he said over and over again. "But, you were dying at the hospital. I thought-"
"I did die," you interrupted. "Tony paid Hugo Strange to bring me back to life. The team has been staying with me at Wayne Manor until I heal enough to go home."
"He did? They have? So, they made things right?"
"Of course they did. We're family. We'd do anything for each other."
He kept smiling at you while his eyes started to water.
"Penguin didn't tell you I was alive?"
"No, he didn't," Edward answered.
"I wonder why?"
"He blamed me for what happened."
"What?"
He couldn't bring himself to tell you the whole truth, so he went with a version of it.
"He thinks...and I think...that I shot you by accident. I've been blaming myself ever since."
"Oh, Ed," you said, reaching up to cup his face. "It's okay. It was an accident."
"You know I'd never hurt you?"
It seemed very important to him that you know that.
"Of course I do." You pushed his hair back affectionately. "Besides, if you'd actually been aiming for me, I would never have gotten hurt."
"What are you talking about?"
You laughed and said, "I used to take you to the gun range, remember? I know you can't shoot worth a damn. There's no safer spot than in your sights. You never hit the target unless it was three feet in front of you."
He was staring hard at you now and you could see the wheels turning in his mind.
"What is it?" you asked.
"What is that?" he asked, indicating your necklace.
"It's my bullet. Natasha swiped it from the hospital. She was afraid she might have been the one that got me. She wasn't, and she had this sick little memento made."
"May I borrow it?"
"Sure, but why?"
He checked his watch then said, "You have to go now. How did you get here?"
"What's going on?"
"There are some people coming. You can't be here," he said, guiding you quickly towards the entrance.
"Does this have anything to do with the bank robberies?"
He didn't answer you. But once the two of you were outside, he ushered you over to Alfred and said, "You have to get her back to Wayne Manor."
Alfred didn't wait for a reason why and began rushing you towards the passenger side door.
"Damn it! Everyone stop pulling and pushing me! I came to help you, Edward!"
"I know you did. But, you're hurt, and I've got something I've got to do. I won't chance losing you again," he said, opening the car door.
You didn't want to leave, but you knew you were no help to anyone right now in your condition.
Once you were in the car, Edward leaned over and said, "You know I'd do anything for you, right?"
"I know."
"I love you."
Without worrying about the consequences, you stretched enough to plant a quick kiss beside his lips. Then, in an instant, the car pulled off and he was left far behind.
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"What should I do?" you asked Alfred as the car sped down the streets of Gotham. "I don't know what Edward has gotten himself into. I'm in no shape to help right now. I don't want to endanger my team by getting them involved. I could call Penguin, but that might just make things worse. I just don't know," you said helplessly.
"I know you care for him and feel responsible for his actions, but he is a grown man. His choices, right or wrong, are his and his alone. You can't choose his path for him."
You simply sighed and leaned your head back against the seat. You'd thought that if you found Edward, you'd be able to pull him out before he made too many bad decisions. For the first time, you wondered if he was just being who he really was. Maybe you had only been the catalyst, and not the cause, of what was an inevitable transformation inside of him.
Alfred reached over and gave your forearm a quick, reassuring squeeze. In spite of your worries, you began to feel the wear of your adventure on your body. You were sick of healing; you wanted to be back to normal. But, a fatal injury did take time. Once you were back at Wayne Manor, Alfred helped you upstairs.
"Will you be alright?" he asked before taking his leave.
"Yeah."
When he was on his way out the door, you said, "You know, Bruce is lucky to have you."
You felt that, in his mind, it was the highest praise you could bestow upon him.
"And your team is lucky to have you. Goodnight, miss."
For quite some time, you lay awake staring at your phone, wondering whether or not you should call Penguin. Edward was his friend, maybe he could help if you explained things to him. You wondered why he hadn't told you the truth about why Edward was staying away. He'd obviously known, and had chosen to lie to you instead. Of course, he probably lied quite often, but you liked to think that he didn't with you. Even though it was extremely late (or early, depending on your point of view), you dialed Penguin's number.
After several rings, you heard his voice scream, "This better be a matter of life or death!"
"I'm sorry to wake you, Oswald. But, it is important."
There were a few moments of silence, obviously while he was checking his caller ID, before he came back on the phone stuttering out an apology for his rudeness.
"It's okay," you said, interrupting him. "Os, I saw Ed. He told me the truth."
You were met with more silence. You couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to come up with another lie.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was trying to spare your feelings. I thought it would be a difficult thing for you to take, especially at the time."
Was that true? Would you ever know?
"It doesn't matter right now. I'm worried about him. I think he's in trouble. I can't help him, but maybe you can. No matter what he may or may not have done, it was an accident, and you are his friend. He needs you."
"Where is he?" he asked with a sigh.
"Down at the warehouse. He had someone meeting him there. I don't know who."
"I'll go talk to him. See what he's gotten himself into."
"Thank you....and, Oswald, please be careful."
"Don't worry. I will."
For the first time since you brought up Edward, he didn't sound annoyed.
"Call me later? So I know you're safe."
"Of course."
Then, the line clicked in your ear. Putting your phone on the nightstand, you settled in to wait for his call. The pain meds you had taken earlier began to take effect, however, so no matter how much you fought it, you still drifted off to sleep.
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"Should we wake her?" Natasha said quietly as she stood in your doorway with Steve.
"I don't want to, but Gordan requested that she be there, too."
"We could just ignore what Gordon wants," she offered.
Steve smiled. "Believe me, I was tempted. But, I don't want to hide things from her either."
Natasha nodded slightly before walking over to your bed.
"Hey, wake up, sleepy."
You groaned and lifted your head to look at her. After your brain had cleared, you quickly reached for your phone.
"What's wrong?" Natasha asked.
"Penguin said he'd call me. He hasn't."
All at once, numerous theories and fears about what might have happened flooded your mind. What if whoever was meeting Edward had killed them both and dumped their bodies in a ditch? No, surely Oswald would have brought backup.
"Maybe he just forgot, or he's busy," Natasha said. "Don't worry about it right now. Gordon called. He wants us to meet him at the station."
"Why?"
"He wouldn't say."
"I'll get dressed."
"Are you up to it?"
"I thought we'd ride there, not do cartwheels the whole way," you replied with a smirk.
"Oh, shut up you."
When you, Natasha, Clint, and Steve arrived at the station, Harvey greeted you at the bullpen.
"Good to see you up and moving around again. Hey, Red," he added, tipping his hat to Natasha.
"Detective," she replied with a smile.
"What's this about, Harvey?" you asked.
"We're hoping you guys can identify a body we've got in the morgue. We're not having any luck with it. It's pretty bad, though, so if any of you have a weak stomach-"
"We'll be fine," you interrupted.
"Don't say I didn't warn you. This way."
Outside of the autopsy room, your group ran into Gordon. He gave you a quick greeting and opened the door for you.
"The guy on the table is the one," he said.
You walked up close to him. Harvey hadn't been exaggerating. The guy looked awful. Something about his face was familiar, but you couldn't place it. When you looked at the others, you could tell from their expressions that they recognized him.
"I've seen him before, but I don't know where."
"He was our mission," Steve said. "I guess it's over now."
"Makes sense," you said. "The details have been hazy for me. I'm not surprised I couldn't place him."
"What happened to him?" Steve asked.
"Well, he died of a gunshot," Dr. Thompkins said, entering the room. "But, he was burned rather extensively, electrocuted, and stabbed, among other things, before his death."
"What's that on his face?" you asked, studying some spots where chunks of flesh were missing.
"Looks like rats gnawed on him," she said.
"Postmortem?"
"No."
"What? You think one of us did this?" Clint asked calmly.
"With this level of brutality, no," Gordon answered.
"I could have," Natasha said. Then with a smirk, she added, "Except I got a thing about rats."
Harvey let out a humored snort.
"We couldn't get any kind of ID on him. Then, I thought about your mission. We were working on a hunch," Gordon said
"Afraid we can't give you a name. We didn't have one ourselves," Steve said.
"Well, I vote we just write this one off and move on," Harvey said.
"Harvey," Jim started.
"Jim, the guy was a thug who almost caused the death of a friend of ours. These guys would have already taken him out anyway if that hadn't messed up their plans. Somebody did us all a favor. Next case."
"Except for the money," Jim said.
"What money?" you asked.
"Jim, don't," Harvey pleaded quietly.
"We found a couple of burned out vehicles down at the warehouses today. That's where we found this guy. There was some money at the scene, too. It was in bad condition, but we were able to match it to the bank robberies. We think the person who did those jobs is most likely responsible for this, which makes sense considering who our suspect is....and what was left on the body."
"What was left on the body?" you asked, staring straight ahead at the wall across from you.
Gordon passed you a piece of paper in an evidence bag. It read:
I am born through wrongful events, sometimes even despair.
I show that deep down you care.
Although I give you strength, I am but a flaw.
I can turn a man into a monster, a monster even his own loved ones saw.
What am I?
The signature at the end, written in green ink, was The Riddler.
"How does this concern us?" Clint asked the detectives after he'd finished reading the note over your shoulder.
Before they could respond, you said, "They want me to tell them where he is."