Dr. Hugo Strange strolled down the sterile hallways of patient intake at Arkham Asylum with a dark expression on his face. He'd been overconfident and it had backfired. He'd perhaps overestimated Nigma's attachment to Tetch. He'd underestimated just how stubbornly Nigma would hold onto his reform. He hadn't accounted for Selina Kyle's conscience, or for Cobblepot's, Query's and Echo's loyalty. He hadn't accounted for Dr. Young at all. Edward Nigma it seemed had more of a support group than he had anticipated, which meant any plans to speed up his relapse would have to wait. He couldn't afford to expose himself this early. Dr. Strange glowered a bit. Nigma would no doubt start digging, if he hadn't already. He'd covered his tracks well, but if Nigma was motivated enough, it wouldn't take him too long to begin to uncover the track. Strange smiled a bit to himself. Nigma may be motivated enough, but he was easily distracted. And not even he was clever enough to fully unravel what he and his master had planned. Let Nigma have his fun a little while longer. Strange stopped in front of the cell door where Jervis Tetch was sitting. Tetch sat forlorn, with his head in his hands, mumbling some nonsense or other. " Oh Dormouse. I could tell you my adventures, beginning from this morning, but it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."

Strange cleared his throat. "Welcome back, Jervis."

Tetch looked up at him. "You said he'd be happy to see me," he whined. "You said he was miserable. That he needed to see a friendly face."

"And he did," Strange answered. "But I didn't tell you to take the Bierko girl. What were you thinking?"

Teth shook his head. "It wouldn't have been a tea party without an Alice. Or a dormouse, or a march hare-" Jervis began to sob again. Strange ground his teeth in impatience and disgust at the wretch before him. He ought to begin the procedure on Tetch and be done with him. Then again, he thought, Tetch, or at least his technology, could still be of use to him.

One Week Later

It had been an interesting week for Edward Nigma. As soon as Query and Echo had delivered him back to his apartment, he'd collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep. He'd woken up a day later, feeling more rested than he had in months. Maybe he owed Jervis Tetch some thanks after all. He'd also woken up to Query and Echo camped out in his living room, having filled up his fridge, recovered his case files from Dr. Young and taken his phone messages. When they saw him staggering into the living room, they'd scooted over to make room for him on his couch. Edward spent the rest of the day catching up with them, sharing stories about their lives since they'd separated, and fending off questions that got a little too personal. They talked well into the night. Edward had very few memories of the times he had spent with Query and Echo when they weren't on some caper, but it felt indescribably right to him.

Finally, the subject turned to what had happened with Tetch and Strange. After he told them what had happened between him and Strange, Echo had offered immediately to bring him back with them to Central City. Edward had turned her down, gently. Even if there weren't the legal and economic ramifications with moving to consider, Edward wasn't about to give Strange that kind of satisfaction. He had too many things to settle in Gotham. Query and Echo had left for Central City the following morning, with Echo making him promise that he'd stay in touch with them and Query threatening to kick his ass if he got himself kidnapped again. Edward had rolled his eyes and bid them good bye.

Edward really had missed them.

After they had left, Edward had spent a long time thinking through what had happened and had come to one conclusion. No matter how uncertain he felt in his new life, how bitter he may feel about the circumstances in which he'd obtained it, he could no longer afford to spend time wallowing in the past. Hugo Strange's implied involvement in Tetch's escapade turned conflict with him from a hypothetical to an inevitability and he couldn't afford to be anything less than at full mental capacity to deal with him. Any thoughts about his past, about the Riddler, about Jon would have to be cast aside for now.

So he formed a plan.

First, he'd swallowed his pride and called Dr. Leland. He had a long overdue prescription refill and no doubt she'd want a progress update. He supposed he could indulge her, just the once. Next, he'd returned Oswald message and made plans to meet with him. He'd need Cobblepot's resources if he was going to expand his information network beyond the paltry crew he'd assembled from Gotham's gangs. He hesitated a bit with replaying to his next message. Selina had called him to check in and to invite him out for coffee, if he was up to it. Selina had hurt him deeply. It had helped that she had acknowledged it and yes, he supposed saving him from Tetch's mind control did make up for it, slightly, but there was a part of him that didn't think he could ever completely trust her again. He finally decided to meet with her to hear her out, if nothing else. They made plans to meet that upcoming Friday afternoon, after he made her promise to leave Harley and Ivy at home. Before he met with Selina though, he had one more visit to make.

And so, on Friday afternoon, he stood outside a familiar office door, with a journal tucked under his arm. He raised a hand to knock, then hesitated. Selina was treacherous, but at least she was a known quantity. Dr. Young however...she'd seen more than she had any right to and he had no idea how she'd treat him because of it. As much as her disdain for him had annoyed him, he thought her pity would be even worse. Edward scoffed. Was he really afraid of a former doctor? How low had he fallen? Mind made up, he knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice rang from the other side.

Edward took a breath and entered. Hopefully, the good doctor wasn't in a talkative mood. He had enough of that from Dr. Leland, thank you very much. Dr. Young didn't look up as he entered, typing away at something on her computer. "You're early Commissioner. I was just finishing typing up my report about the Bierko case."

Edward chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint you Dr. Young, but I'm not the commissioner."

Dr. Young looked up with a start. "Edward?" she asked. "What on Earth-what are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too," he answered. "I won't take up much of your time." He took a look at a photo on her desk. She was standing next to the commissioner in it. "GCPD consultant are we? I'm not surprised."

Dr. Young rose slightly from her seat. She still looked slightly surprised that he'd show up at her office again. "Was there something you needed from me?"

Edward pulled out her journal from under the crook of his arm and held it out for her. "Here. I've been meaning to return this to you. Interesting read, though I could have done without the sarcastic footnotes. And your conclusions about Otis Flanagan leave something to be desired." He trailed off, conscious that he was babbling a bit. Dr. Young looked from her journal, to his face. Was she waiting for a trap? Finally, she gingerly took it out of his hands.

"Was that all?" she asked.

"Yes. Well no, actually." Edward reached a hand to rub the back of his neck. He was never good at this sort of thing. "I...Query and Echo told me that you were instrumental in my recovery so...Thank you."

Dr. Young looked like she'd just watched Batman unmask himself in front of her. "You gave me back the journal you stole from me to thank me?"

Edward scowled a little bit. "What, would you rather me take you out for lunch or something?"

Dr. Young raised her hand dismissively. "No, no that won't be necessary. This was just...unexpected." She opened a desk drawer and placed her journal inside before looking back up at Edward with an expectant look on her face. "There's more, isn't there?"

"You're learning, Dr. Young," Edward said. "Actually, there's been one thing I've been wondering: how did you find me exactly?"

Dr. Young hesitated a bit, which made Edward more nervous than he wanted to admit. "I don't know if you remember, or if you had any awareness when you were indisposed by Tetch, but you called the Iceberg Lounge and left a message. There was a riddle in it that spelled out your location."

Edward's blood ran cold. He didn't remember anything that had happened while Tetch had him brainwashed, but he'd left a riddle? "Well," he said, more confident than he felt, "Clearly, Tetch's microchips were no match for my genius." Or Tetch's microchips were no match for his latent compulsions. Judging by the look on her face, Dr. Young seemed to think the latter was more likely. As annoying as her earlier disregard for him was, Edward thought her obvious concern was worse.

"Edward," she said softly. "If you want to-"

"I've already seen your esteemed associate Dr. Leland," Edward interrupted. "I think that's more than sufficient for now." Dr. Young visibly relaxed at that. "Well then," Edward said, "I'll be off. I have places to be. People to see. The life of a private investigator you see." He turned towards the door and started to move towards it when Dr. Young's voice called him back.

"Would one of those people be Hugo Strange?"

Edward stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to face Dr. Young. She continued. "I don't remember any particular history between you two at the asylum. Why was he so adamant about you being returned to his custody? What's going on Edward?"

"You'd be better off asking him, Dr. Young," Edward answered brusquely. "Or better yet, staying out of it entirely. It's not your affair."

"I lied to Bullock to keep you away from him," Dr. Young said, her voice slightly hard. "I think I deserve some kind of explanation!"

Edward took a breath. "If you recall, I never asked you to do that."

Dr. Young sighed. "I know. But Edward, if your in some kind of trouble, maybe I can help you."

Edward considered this. The idea of having an ally in the GCPD, even one as stubborn and unpredictable as Dr. Young, was a tempting one. She'd proven at least that she could be counted on to not go running to Gordon with his shenanigans. But then he looked at her, with those cold blue eyes that looked too much like Jon's and hesitated. He was only just beginning to repair his relationships with his former friends. He didn't need the complication of a new one. Recent history had just shown him how dangerous letting someone in could be. "Riddle me this: You can have me but cannot hold me; Gain me and quickly lose me. If treated with care I can be great, and if betrayed I will break. What am I?"

"Trust," Dr. Young answered. She met Edward's gaze dead on. "Do you trust me, Edward?"

Edward only stared at her in that calculating way of his. "I'd like to," he said softly. Before Dr. Young could formulate a response, he took off his hat and gave her a short bow. "Well, adieu Dr. Young." He rose up, placed his hat back on and turned to head out, but not before he gave her one last smirk. "Until we meet again." And with that, he left, closing her office door behind him.

Notes:

And that's a wrap! Thank you to everyone who has read my series so far. The next installment may be a little while in coming and it's going to be a lot shorter than the previous two stories, but it will introduce a character that I'm excited to write about. Here's a quick preview:

The girl shuffled a bit, twirling a lock of her red pigtail. "This sounded a lot better in my head," she mumbled. Edward was about to ask her to come to the point when she took a deep breath. "Ok," she said. "My name's Ellen Dixon." She bit down her bottom lip a bit, then continued in a rushed tone, "This is going to sound really weird...but I'm pretty sure I'm your daughter."