Truth be told, Olivia didn't entirely think that Edward Nygma would have made contact with her. She had sensed that he was socially awkward. That had been obviously apparent. Jim had also told her that he had a habit of talking in riddles. Olivia had furrowed her brow at that, wondering where that obsession had come from. It had been about a week since she had met Edward when she saw a message appear on her phone. Even in text conversation he had been polite, signing his messages with 'best wishes' and opening with 'dear.' Olivia had chuckled as she sat at her desk, marking homework and looking to the message.

She had placed her red biro down and responded, telling Edward that she would be happy to meet him for a drink on Friday evening at the Monaco Bar. She didn't know if Edward was a drinker, but she suspected that a bar would be the best place to meet. She didn't know how it happened, but Friday night soon rolled around after Edward's initial text on the Tuesday. She had intended to go home and change before meeting him, but she had stayed late at the school, preferring to get her work done before the weekend considering Jim had asked her to dinner with Barbara on Saturday night.

Driving straight from work to the bar, Olivia, parked in the parking lot and half expected Edward not to have been there. How wrong she was. She parked in a bay as far away from other cars as possible due to the fact she hated parking near other vehicles. Climbing from the car, she shut the door and locked it with a push of the button, her bag on her shoulder. Looking towards the entrance, she saw Edward already stood there, dressed in a long grey coat, a blue shirt and a red tie underneath it. He moved a finger to push his glasses further onto his nose as he saw her approaching, a wide smile on her face.

"Hey, Edward," Olivia spoke, foregoing titles. "How are you doing? You haven't been here long, have you?"

"Not at all," Edward said with a shake of his head. "I only just got here."

"Sorry for keeping you," Olivia said, a hand going to his upper arm before she turned on her heel with Edward, leading him into the bar. "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat a bite," Edward nodded.

"Awesome," Olivia said, a smile still on her face as she entered the bar, Edward behind her and holding the door wide open. Coming to the front of the restaurant, she joined the queue behind a few other people and turned to look back up to Ed. "They do the best mac and cheese here, I swear."

"I will take your word for it," Edward spoke. "I don't usually do bars."

"Neither do I," Olivia admitted to him. "Well…I mean…I do bars that also serve food. I prefer eating than drinking."

"I can concur with that," Edward responded and moved his hands against his pant legs before seeing Olivia look forward again. He did his best not to keep his gaze too intense, but he couldn't help but notice that Olivia looked very similar to Jim. She had the same stubborn set jaw and piercing eyes. Her cheekbones were more prominent, but her hair was dark, if not a little darker than Jim's. She was smaller than Jim and much smaller than Edward. She had some kind of mole on the top of her forehead, mostly hidden by her hair but visible due to the thin wisps.

"Hi there, welcome to the Monaco Bar. Will you be dining or drinking tonight?"

"A bit of both," Olivia responded to the polite blonde waitress behind the podium. "Could we maybe have a table upstairs?"

The blonde waitress smirked. "I like it upstairs too. It's much quieter than down here."

"I always prefer the upstairs," Olivia said and began to follow the woman as Edward followed behind her, listening in as Olivia made polite conversation with the waitress as though she had met her before and they were old friends. Edward, on the other hand, did not possess the power to do that. He could scarcely converse with people who he knew. They either commented on how annoying he was or how strange he was. Olivia had been different. Much like Jim, she had not mocked him. She had done nothing to belittle him or make him feel different.

Sitting down at a high table, Olivia watched as Edward easily slipped into the seat and she clambered up. The waitress left them a menu and said she would be back with a jug of water for the table. Olivia picked up her menu and looked down for a second before closing it and putting it back on the table.

Looking to Edward, she shrugged. "I don't know why I bothered looking when I know exactly what I want."

Edward shrugged out of his long coat as Olivia did the same, revealing a dark red dress she wore with long sleeves. The dress was plain, coming down to her knees while her legs remained covered in dark tights.

"Perhaps I might go with your recommendation too," Edward said. "If you have had it before then I will take your word for it."

"It's the best," Olivia promised him. "All my friends mock me for having it whenever we come here, but it's the thing I like the best."

"Do you come here often?"

"Not as much as I used to," Olivia said, looking around.

The upstairs balcony was swarmed with couples and groups of friends. They were all picking at meals and drinking expensive cocktails and beers. The soft jazz music played out over the stereo. Downstairs was much more rowdy. Groups from work had descended on the bar, loitering around and drinking to celebrate the weekend. It was much louder down the spiral staircase, hence why Olivia preferred the upstairs.

"My friends try to drag me out of the apartment, but I prefer to stay home," Olivia admitted to him. "I've been a bit of a recluse in recent months, but that doesn't matter. Anyway, how was your day?"

"Very good," Edward said. "Your brother has been busy today. I am sure you heard about the City Councilman who was murdered?"

"Jenkins?" Olivia asked. "Yeah, I heard about him."

"Well," Edward said, lacing his hands together on the table. "Councilman Zeller was also killed."

Olivia frowned. "But their politics are totally different. Who would kill both of them?"

"This is the interesting thing that your brother is looking into," Edward said. "I told him that the same man definitely killed both the politicians. The murder weapon was exactly the same. Their wounds were identical. I have no idea who it was, but Jim and Harvey were on their way to Blackgate to talk to someone who they think might be able to help."

"Blackgate?" Olivia checked and Edward saw some kind of flicker of worry on her face. She took a deep breath before forcing a smile back onto her face. Looking to Edward, she saw him let his lips fall into a line as he watched her. "He'll be fine."

"You worry about him," Edward stated the obvious and Olivia shrugged.

"He's my brother," Olivia said simply. "He's really the only family I have, except for an uncle we haven't seen in years."

"Have you always been close to him?"

"Yes," Olivia nodded her head. "I mean, it was difficult when he left Gotham, but now that he's back…well…I'm happy, but I still worry about him. I know what Jim is like and I know what Gotham is like."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that the GCPD is the most corrupt police department in the US and Jim is the least corruptible cop in that department. I worry about how he will cope. Everyone knows that you don't ruffle feathers in that precinct."

"True," Edward nodded. "Working in the forensics department means that I stay out of a lot of office politics, but I have heard numerous rumours. I try not to heed much attention to them."

"Best way," Olivia said to him, folding one leg over the other. "So, how did you get into forensics?"

Edward almost looked worried at her question, but he said nothing. He had to admit that a part of him was in shock. No one asked him questions about himself. No one cared why he liked science. No one was interested in that.

"I always liked science," Edward admitted to her. "But I also liked the idea of trying to solve crimes. I grew up loving mystery and being the one to solve cases when watching TV shows. I used to drive my parents mad, but I enjoyed it. I combined the two and here we are. I studied for my forensic science degree and was lucky enough to get a job in the GCPD."

"Remind me never to watch detective shows with you around then," Olivia said jokingly. "So have you always worked for the GCPD?"

"I have," Edward commented. "I started about five years ago after I finished college."

"And you've never fancied a change? Getting out of Gotham?"

"Not really," Edward said. "I believe that Gotham is pretty much the same as anywhere else. There is corruption, but there is corruption in other cities. Nowhere is perfect."

"But other places might be better than this," Olivia said.

"But you are still here," Edward said to her.

"True," Olivia agreed with him. "I don't know…I know what Gotham is. I know it and I have learned to live here, but Jim has been gone for a while. He doesn't know that things have gone downhill. Besides, I have a life here and the kids I teach…I don't know, it sounds completely ridiculous, but some of those kids are the most deprived in Gotham and I like helping them."

"You take your job very seriously, I take it?"

"I do," Olivia said. "Perhaps I take it a bit too seriously, but I love teaching."

"I imagine it is quite challenging."

"Only sometimes," Olivia said. "Usually when tests are coming up."

"I used to love tests," Ed responded, a look of giddiness on his face.

"Let me guess," Olivia responded, a brow arched. "You used to come top all of the time?"

"You have me today, tomorrow you'll have more, as your time passes, I'm not easy to store, I don't take up space, but I'm only in one place. What am I?" Edward wondered from her and Olivia wondered if this was going to be a common thing with Edward. Could he go one conversation without riddles?

"I don't know," Olivia responded.

"Memories," Ed said, pushing his glasses onto his nose. "I have an eidetic memory so it makes forgetting things difficult, but it did make tests easier."

"Impressive," Olivia nodded before she saw the waitress come to take their order.

She let her eyes roam over Ed as he gave his order, asking exactly what was in a certain drink he had been eyeing up. Smiling gently before looking down, Olivia closed her eyes and wondered exactly what it was about Edward Nygma she found so intriguing. She said nothing until Edward turned his attention back to her, her gaze moving back to his.

"I did have an ulterior motive for asking you here," Edward admitted, looking nervous all of a sudden and Olivia wondered where this conversation was going. Did Edward know about Jack? Had Jim told him?

"And that is?"

"You…well…you were really nice to me in the precinct," Edward said and Olivia bit down on her tongue, waiting to hear what Ed had to say. "No one has been that nice to me before. People tend to sneer at me more than they talk to me. I wanted to know…well…as a female…well…how do you like to be asked out?"

Olivia blinked profusely. "Excuse me?"

Edward felt his cheeks warm up as he wondered what he was saying to her. He knew it was coming out in garbled nonsense. "There's a woman," Edward spoke hastily. "Her name is Kristen and she works in the precinct…in paperwork…but I don't know how to ask her out. I think she is seeing someone, but I don't know if they are serious. I just don't know what to do."

Olivia felt slight relief in her veins as she let her smile fall back onto her face. Picking up an olive from the middle of the table, she popped one into her mouth and chewed down on it.

"Well, I don't know if I am the expert on these things," Olivia said.

"You have to be better than I am."

"I doubt it," Olivia snorted, "but I can only tell you what I would like. I don't know if she would like it…but…it's not as if any of my relationships have turned out to be perfect."

"I have never dated anyone," Edward said. "I don't know how to do this and Kristen is just perfect. She is smart, beautiful…funny…but I don't know how to show her that I'm not just…this," he said, motioning to himself.

Olivia frowned. "What is wrong with that?" Olivia asked from him. "Edward, you shouldn't need to change who you are for someone."

"But I want to change for the better," Edward said and Olivia shook her head, feeling forceful as the waitress returned with their drinks. Picking up her strawberry mocktail, Olivia sipped on it and looked to the ceiling for a moment, remembering exactly what Jack had told her.

"Then change for yourself," Olivia decided to say. "Do not pretend to be someone you're not for someone else."

It was then when Olivia heard her cell begin to ring in her bag. Pulling her satchel from the back of her chair, she looked to the caller ID and saw that it was Jim calling her. She looked to Edward, grateful for her brother's interruption as she held up the cell in her hands.

"Jim," she said to Edward before accepting the call.

"Hey, Jim," Olivia said, but it wasn't Jim's voice on the other end of the line.

"Olivia, it's me, Barbara," the woman responded and Olivia's brow furrowed. "Jim left his cell in the apartment and I wondered if he was with you. I haven't seen him today and…well…I don't think we're really talking at the moment."

Olivia frowned. "What is going on, Barbara?"

"You'll have to ask Jim that," Barbara said. "If you see him, can you tell him I will leave his cell at the precinct on my way to the gallery?"

"Sure," Olivia said. "Barbara, are you okay?"

"No," Barbara said, "but I will be."

Barbara hung up and Olivia looked to her blank screen before shaking her head. Edward took a sip of his own. "Is everything alright?"

"I don't know," Olivia said. "It was Barbara. I think her and Jim might have had some kind of argument. I don't know, but she asked me to tell him he had left his cell at hers, but she is taking it to the precinct….which means…is he not living with Barbara? Where is he living then?"

"He didn't say anything to you?"

"Not a word," Olivia said. "I'll go by the precinct on my way home and find him. I get the feeling he is always living there at the moment."

"He does work long hours," Edward confirmed.

"Sorry," Olivia said, placing her cell down and holding her hands up. "We were talking about Kristen. Anyway, I mean…"

Olivia trailed off as loud screams echoed through the bar. Olivia looked over to the edge of the balcony as people began congregating there. Moving from her stool, Olivia walked towards the crowd as she heard a gunshot echo through the building. The screams grew louder then as people began to move down the metal staircase back to the ground floor, trying to escape.

"We need to get out of here," Olivia said as she turned to see Ed had moved to stand behind her. She began to move to the staircase, but Edward was quicker. He grabbed hold of her by the arm, stopping her from moving.

"Not the main staircase," Edward said. "If we go down there then we run into the gunfire. We need to go out the back way."

Olivia wondered what he was talking about before she saw a fire escape by the ladies toilets. Rushing towards the green sign, Olivia felt Edward's hand wrap around her arm, steering her towards the fire exit. Some other people rushed there too, but there were many who were simply standing around, ducking under tables and hiding. No one truly knew what to do. No one knew what was happening.

Coming to the fire exit door, Olivia turned her head over her shoulder as she heard another gunshot and more screams. There were demands for people to get down and hold their hands in the air. Olivia almost wondered if it was best to do as they had asked than try to run. Following Edward down the wooden steps along with some other people, Olivia saw the fire escape door was flung wide open.

There were harsh and loud breaths as people poured out onto the alleyway, running down it, their feet hitting in puddles as they tried to get as far away from the building as possible. Olivia closed her eyes as they finally came to the end of the alleyway and saw flashing blue lights on the main road coming towards the bar.

"What the hell was that?" Olivia demanded, her voice faltering as she closed her eyes and did her best to comprehend what had just happened.

"I think that was either a robbery or gang warfare," Edward said, his cheeks red and his glasses falling down his nose. "We should get somewhere safe…the police will all be in there now."

"I left my cell and bag," Olivia said. "My car keys are in there and my purse…won't the police want to account for us?"

"I will sort it," Edward said to her. "But I think it would be safer if we get away from here. We don't know if more people will come."

Olivia suspected that was true and she was already in a state of panic and worry. Instead she simply nodded to Edward and agreed to follow him.

…

Jim knew that his sister was going to the Monaco Bar that evening. Edward had told Jim that he was meeting Olivia there after work. Jim had been working on the politicians' murders, but then he had heard about the incident at Club Monaco over the radio. It was a robbery gone wrong with two fatally wounded. Jim had tried to call his sister on Harvey's cell, considering he had lost his, but there had been no answer. However, it was when Nygma had called Harvey did Jim feel slight relief.

Edward had taken Olivia back to the precinct after fleeing the scene and Jim had never felt such gratitude for the forensic scientist. Running into the precinct, Jim looked around, wondering where his sister was before he saw. She was sat on the edge of his desk, wrapped in a grey jacket, her hair tucked behind her ears. Edward was stood in front of her, his hands in his grey pants and his blue shirt tucked into them. His tie was loose around his neck and his top button was undone.

Moving up the steps to his desk, Jim saw Olivia turn her gaze to him. Moving to her feet, she wrapped her arms around her brother as Jim took hold of her, his hands running up and down her back that was covered in Edward's jacket.

"I've been worried sick," Jim said, controlling his breathing.

"What happened?" Olivia wondered from him.

"A botched robbery," Jim said. "I tried to call you, but I couldn't get any answer."

"I left it in the club," Olivia responded.

"I know," Jim said. "Harvey told me that Ed called him."

"I suspected you would be worried," Edward said.

"Thanks, Ed," Jim said. "I'm glad you're both safe."

"It was Ed who was the one who got us out," Olivia admitted, looking over to Nygma as she saw him shift from one foot to the other. "Thank you, Ed."

Edward nodded once, uncertain how to respond to the gratitude he was hearing. He rarely had people thank him for doing things. She said nothing for a moment, instead she moved slowly and took hold of Edward by the shoulder, leaning up to peck him on the cheek. Moving her arms around him for a second, she embraced him as Edward moved his own arms around her, uncertain of what he was doing before she pulled back and he felt her move to push a strand of his stray hair behind his ear.

"Perhaps next time we can go somewhere where there isn't a robbery?" Olivia said.

"I think I would like that," Edward admitted.

Turning to her brother, she looked to Jim as she shrugged out of Edward's jacket. "We need to give Edward a lift home. His car is with mine in the car park at the bar."

"You're not getting them back until morning," Jim commented. "So yeah…come on, Ed, I'll drop you off on the way home."

"Thank you," Edward said as Olivia tried to hand him his jacket back, but he held a hand up. "It's cold outside. Keep it."

Olivia didn't seem to protest as she shrugged back into it and Jim moved a hand to the small of her back and began to lead the way to his car. It was only as Jim held the door open for Olivia at his car did she speak to him in a whispered voice as Edward climbed into the backseat.

"We need to talk," she spoke. "Barbara called me earlier."

"I see," Jim mumbled.

"What's going on, Jim?"

"I'll tell you later," Jim responded. "It's a long story."

Olivia moved to sit in the front seat as Jim closed the door behind her and went to the driver's side, wondering how to explain the mess he was wrapped up in to his sister.

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think!