Edward delicately placed himself in the leather chair as he attempted to keep his breathing as even as possible. He might have agreed to this experiment but it did not mean he had to be happy about it. He watched pensively as Jon fiddled about with chemicals at his bench as he whipped up a quick dose of the toxin which would soon be coursing through his system and causing him all kinds of trouble.
"Relax dear." Jonathan attempted to use the pet name to encourage him to be less tense although it didn't really seem to be helping. His nervousness was to be expected but for this to succeed he would have to clear his mind at least a little more. Jonathan began to rub Edwards' neck with the pad of his index finger gently. He concentrated mostly on the spot he intended to inject as he attempted to get Edward to relax slightly, moving behind him quietly to finished organising the syringe he planned to use to deliver the dose.
"I am as relax as I can be." Edward bit out in response. "So how exactly do I 'not fight the effects' of the toxin? Because from experience I have found that it is an incredibly difficult feat."
"Usually when I inject someone they physically and mentally try to fight against what they see and feel. I need you to try your hardest to do neither of those things. Now, lets get started." He leaned down to kiss Edward softly as he slowly inserted the needle into the side of his neck and deposited the full amount. Breaking away he spoke quietly, "You will have around five minutes before the full effect will begin to take hold."
"Oh joy." Came the sardonic reply. Edward lay in the chair patiently as he waited for the hellish effects to begin. He was faintly aware of Jon stroking his head and he tried to concentrate on the feeling as he felt his body react to the toxin. The shadows in the corner of the room started to shift and he could sense something dangerous within them. He squinted into the darkness as he desperately tried to keep his mind as settled as possible. But then the visions started.
Jon watched with rapt attention as the minutes ticked on and Edward reacted to his hallucinations. He was visibly flinching and cowering from something which he could see in the dark space near the bottom of the chair. "I didn't." Edward whimpered as he stared into the darkness. "I didn't cheat! I'M NOT A CHEAT!" Jonathan knew immediately that Edward was seeing his father. He did have a tendency to see the deceased man as his main toxin-induced tormentor which was the perfectly reasonable result of years of physical, verbal and emotional abuse. Jonathan was still considerably impressed, usually by this point in a session Edward was virtually comatose with fear. He was certainly unable to make coherent sentences which suggested that his initial hypothesis, that accepting a dose did actually influence its effect on the individual, could be correct.
Edwards' eyes landed on Jon as they darted around the room. Jonathan could see the deep fear which filled the mans' expression and it made him smile with affection. He literally could not think of anyone else in this world who would willingly accept a dose of his toxin, especially after having experienced it before, but Edward was different. Edward has agreed to it after nothing more than a spoken agreement and Jon knew that he wasn't lying earlier when he claimed that Edward trusted him. He had heavily suspected that Edward did genuinely trust him but to actually be shown it in such a display made him feel...odd. In his long and dark life he had never really had someone who legitimately believed in him and he was unsure how to deal with this new knowledge.
On the chair, Edwards' face twitched suddenly and become clouded with utter rage as he suddenly screeched "I HATE YOU!" Jons' eyes widened in alarm as Edward leapt suddenly from the chair and snatched up a small hammer which had been left on the nearby floor. "Father." He growled as he locked onto Jons' position and advanced towards him threateningly. Slightly stunned by the sudden change in events, Jon simply backed away from Edward as he frantically tried to think of a way to calm the man down. It wasn't the first time he had been forced to deal with a violent patient but he had simply killed the others and that wasn't an option here. He tried to call out to him.
"Edward. You are hallucinating." Jon soothed in his most calm voice as he continued to move away from Edward and his murderous intent. "Your father is already dead by your hand. He is not here. Calm down Edward. It's me, Jonathan." Still clearly hallucinating that Jon was his father, Edward continued to swing wildly at the older man forcing Jon to duck and roll away from the attack.
Grabbing a small needle he had kept to the side in case of such an emergency, he timed his attack as he quickly stuck the needle into Edwards' exposed upper arms and watched as he slumped to the floor almost immediately. He was disappointed that the experiment had to be cut short but he was also pleased to have avoided being bludgeoned to death. Crouching beside the fallen man he gently picked him up bridal-style and placed him back on the reclined leather chair, pausing to check the strength of his pulse before returning to his work bench to wait for Edward to wake up again.
A loud groan alerted Jonathan to Edwards' waking. "Well that was fun." Edward said hoarsely as he rubbed his eyes and glanced balefully around the basement . "What is the time?"
"It has just passed ten. You were unconscious for just under three hours."
A nod in response. "So how did I do Doc? Did I pass?"
Jon smiled encouragingly as Edward watched him. "You did excellent Edward. Truly excellent." He paused to allow him to soak in the praise he craved before continuing. "The potency of the toxin did appear to be lessened by your acceptance and refusal to fight against the effects. Unfortunately I did have to 'take precautions' after you attempted to murder me with a hammer but that was always going to be a risk if you were left unrestrained." Jonathan allowed some regret to enter his voice. "It is a shame since the experiment was going encouragingly well."
"And I still get my request? Do not try to cheat me out of my reward since you were unprepared for possible outcomes Jon." Edward hissed. He would not allow Jon to change the terms of the bargain they had arranged, especially since he had legitimately held up his end of it.
"Do not worry. I will honour my agreement even though I did not exactly get what I needed." Jon laughed. If Edward had voluntarily agreed to be injected once then he was pretty certain he could convince him to do it again with the proper encouragement. But that could be discussed at a later date as he suspected that it may take a while. "Instead of the usual fear response you consistently succumb to, you were able to break through it with anger and physically attack me while under its influence. Usually I have to adjust the toxin and it's chemical components to get that type of result. So yes. I will honour the agreement and you have earned one request which can be used at any time."
"Good." Edward glanced around the basement as he willed the last remnants of his mild headache away. Headaches were always an unfortunate side-effect of the toxin which were somewhat unavoidable. "We really should clean up in here." He remarked as he attempted to steer the conversation to something which did not involve what had just happened. The basement was relatively tidy but it was quite dirty and Edward could see the beginnings of cobwebs in the nearest corner.
"It does not bother me." Shrugging, Jon made a face. "If you have a problem then fix it."
"Obviously you would have no problem with it. Do you remember how disgusting your boat home in Arkham City was?" Edward frowned as he recalled the space. "It was absolutely filthy. You are supposed to be a man of science, how could you have worked in such a place?"
"A better question would be 'how can you stand there and complain about my living conditions in the boat house when you constantly visited me at least once a week simply to annoy me?' That's the question I would be asking."
"You seemed lonely. And someone had to keep track of how you were healing from your surgeries."
"Lets be honest Edward, you would have slept with me in that boat if we were in a relationship at the time."
"I can promise you here and now that I would not have since I have standards. Even Freeze kept his lair in nicer shape and he was originally set up in the sewer." Jon was struck by the sudden thought that he had not gotten around to informing Edward of what he had learned from Freeze. Pulling up a small chair so he could sit beside Edward, who was still lounging on the leather chair, he cleared his throat to get his attention. "Yes?" Edward peered at him as he noticed the sudden change in atmosphere.
"Do you remember when I had my meeting with Freeze?" Edward nodded. "Well while I was working with him he revealed that both himself and Nora had been attacked the previous week by a few assailants."
"Who?" The surprise was obvious in his voice as he turned to face Jon fully. Attacks on Freeze were incredibly rare since he was known to be a solitary figure who commanded considerable respect from many of the costumed rogues.
"He does not know. They were killed almost immediately as he froze them and smashed them to pieces."
"How cool." Edward remarked coyly.
Jon gave him a look of mild disgust at the pun and moved on. "They seemed to be targeting not only him but Nora as well and we know that Victor does not take threats against his wife very well."
"That he does not. Did you mention the attack on Ivy and Harley to him?"
"Yes. He is working under the assumption that the two attacks were pure coincidence but he did tell me to exercise caution." Jon clasped his hands under his chin. "I am curious as to who could have a grudge against both Ivy and Freeze though since they have never worked together and, to my knowledge, they do not tend to associate with each other."
"Two-Face." Edward said suddenly.
"Excuse me? What could Dent have against the pair?"
"You misunderstand me. When Dent was in the apartment he told me that someone had stolen a great deal of money from one of his safe-houses and he had no real suspects as to who would be responsible. It looked to be a professional job."
"Do you think it's related?" The events did seem like odd coincidence and it was entirely possible that they were but something was instinctively telling Jonathan that there was more at play here than was initially obvious.
"Possibly. When was the last time you knew someone to have successfully robbed Dent and gotten away with it? Hell, even Selina got caught and she is the master thief."
"You are correct. But then we are just adding more questions to the pile Edward. Who would have the motivation and power to bury Ivy alive, attempt to murder Freeze and steal from Dent? Assuming that it is the one individual."
Edward leaned back in the chair and placed his hands underneath his head. "It's something of a riddle Jon. And while we have no evidence that something untoward is going on, I think we would be foolish to not be on our guard for the foreseeable future. We should contact some of the other rogues and discover if anyone else has experienced any 'misfortune' recently."
"Wise words. How do you feel about a little hunting trip tomorrow night? See if we can pick up anything on the streets?" It had been too long since Edward and himself had been on an information gathering adventure and the prospect was a tempting one. After all, he had all the new vials of toxin which were just begging to be used.
"Sounds like a wonderful plan Jon. I'll even wear my good suit and cane."