Being mayor had come naturally to him. He found it wasn't much different to being a mob boss. He knew when to people please – to show a constant smile, agree at all the right times and when to enforce order.

As easy as it was, he felt exhausted at the end of his days. The one thing he hated most about his new role was the constant niceness of people. He missed the action, the darkness of being a mob boss.

If it wasn't for Ed – he felt, he would have already descended into madness.

Ed had been there every step of the way – at every function, meeting, he was there, watching – putting forward ideas – the two of them together were crafting a new Gotham. A safe Gotham.

That's what he wanted after all – to destroy Mooney and those that would oppose him.

Ed had been staying over increasingly these days – working late always gave him an excuse to invite him to stay.

His feelings for Ed had been growing, he had been aware of his feelings ever since his relationship with Isabella. His jealously had surprised him at first but he had come to terms with it, believing that he could and would be a better match for Ed. That's why he had to dispose of Isabella. She was filling his head with all sorts of ridiculous notions, distracting Ed from the bigger picture. He had been the one to support Ed following her death, using it as a way to get closer.

He was unsure of how Ed would react if he was honest with him if he told him of his feelings. Ed had never expressed to him his sexuality, what if he reacted badly? He could lose his closest friend, his only friend. So, he decided to play the long game.

He gazed longingly at Ed from across the table, he was absently reading the Gotham Gazette and picking at the food on his plate. Oswald had invited him to stay for dinner, their final meeting had run late again this evening.

'So… Anything new?' he smiled sheepishly in Ed's direction.

Ed seemed distracted, hesitating in his response. 'Well… there have been more sightings of Mooney and her group, they have been breaking into different pharmacies around the city, curious really.' He went back to browsing through his newspaper, concentrating intensely.

Oswald gripped his cutlery, his knuckles whitening as he processed the information. 'Mooney. That woman needs to be disposed of. How many times can one person come back from the dead!' he slammed the table in frustration as he stood, pacing around the room as he did so.

'We will deal with her in time Oswald, we have the best people on the case.'

'Zsazs has taken too long this time, who knows, maybe Mooney has won him over, she could bring her freaks here, take us out!'

Ed had stood now, standing beside him with a comforting hand on his back. 'Zsasz will bring back some information in time, you run this city now, together we will bring her down, don't you worry!' his reassuring smile made him feel at ease, he was right, with Ed by his side they could do it. Tomorrow he would go to Jim Gordon, they would finally finish this.