Olivia had spoken to her brother about the Victor Fries case, scolding Lee for going to Arkham with Fries' wife after she had been used as bait to try and lure him out of hiding. It had worked, of course, with Fries concerned for the safety of his wife. It was the Friday after the entire ordeal when she found herself dining with Jim and Lee in a fancy Italian restaurant. Ed had told her that he had to work late on something and so he could not join them.

"You know we never spoke about what happened after that night with Barbara," Olivia informed her brother, sensing there was some tension between Lee and Jim. She wondered what was going on, but she suspected it was best not to get involved, even though she really wanted to know.

"Not now, Liv," Jim complained to his sister, sipping on his wine as Lee glowered over to Jim.

"Okay," Olivia said, sitting back in her chair and looking between Lee and Jim. "What is going on here? I know that there is something wrong."

"Ask your brother," Lee urged from Olivia. "He is the one keeping secrets from us."

"Do you want to bring this up here?" Jim asked from his fiancée and Lee shrugged her shoulders. "We're in a restaurant, Lee. We're in public. Let's not do this here, okay?"

"And where should we do it?" Lee demanded from him and Olivia suddenly felt like a third wheel. She should not be here. She bit down on the inside of her cheek, picking up her glass of orange juice and sipping on it. "Because I know you are lying to me about Galavan. What you did with Nora Fries was wrong, Jim. You had no right to use her as bait."

"And you had no right to go with her and put our baby at risk," Jim sniped back and Olivia sighed to herself, glad that Ed was not with her.

"I had to go with Nora to Arkham because she was under my care," Lee hissed. "You decided to use her to bring Victor out. That was your choice and it was a bad choice. She was sick, Jim. She was a sick and innocent woman."

"It was police work," Jim said and Lee scoffed loudly.

"Police work," she said, "is that what this is?"

"Lee, can we discuss this when we get home."

"Sorry," Lee said quickly, moving to her feet and tossing her napkin onto the table. She looked to Olivia and held her hand up. "I can't do this, Liv. I have to go. I'm sorry."

"Yeah…okay," was all that Olivia managed to say in response to her.

"Lee-" Jim tried to grab her attention again.

"I am going home," she said. "I need some time alone."

He watched her leave the restaurant and ran his hand down his cheek. He slumped back in his seat then as his sister observed him. She folded one leg over the other and then placed her orange juice back down onto the table. Looking to Jim, she arched her brow as his gaze fell onto her. Sighing, he did his best not to crack under her stare.

"Talk to me," she urged from him. "What is going on, Jim?"

"I don't know," Jim said, clearly lying to his sister.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I'm your sister," she said, moving to her feet and reaching into her bag. She pulled out a twenty from her purse and placed it onto the table considering they had only had drinks. "I know when you are lying to me, Jim. Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere where we can talk," she said.

She shrugged into her red coat, letting it hang loosely on her frame as Jim put his grey coat on. His sister draped her satchel on her shoulder and he followed her out of the restaurant. She had parked in the carp park at the rear. She unlocked the car and climbed into the driver's seat as Jim took the passenger's seat. She tossed her bag onto the backseat and didn't start the ignition. She rotated her upper body to look at her brother and shrugged.

"Spill," she demanded from him. "I want to know what is going on."

"I think you got the gist of it in there. She is annoyed I used Nora as bait," Jim said to his sister.

"And Galavan?" she asked from him. "Why is she suspicious about what happened?"

Jim pinched the bridge of his nose and bowed his head. He shook his head, feeling the weight of his secret on his shoulder. He wanted to tell someone. He wanted someone to know what he had done. He had killed Galavan. But if he told someone then it became dangerous. One person who knew would be one too many.

"I'm your sister," Olivia continued. "I know that Lee is your fiancée and you trust her, but there is something else, isn't there? She hasn't known you as long as I have. I know when you are hiding something from me."

"It's for the best," Jim whispered. "Liv, it's for the best."

"She's right, isn't she?" Olivia continued pressing him, sensing that she was getting closer to finding out the truth. Jim was going to tell her. She could sense that he wanted to tell her. He wanted her to know. "What happened to Galavan, Jim?"

"I did it," Jim mumbled, finally speaking the truth. Looking to Olivia, he saw that she remained impassive. She didn't look horrified. She didn't look stunned. She looked as though she was calmer than before. "Galavan was dangerous, Liv. Penguin…he was beating him…he was going to beat him to death and I couldn't watch that. I shot him."

"Why?" Olivia asked, her throat clenching and dry. "Jim, why did you even get yourself into that predicament? He would have gone to jail."

"Olivia, he was still dangerous inside of jail," he said to his sister. "He would always be dangerous and I couldn't let him live. He would have killed Bruce…he was a bad man."

"And you took it on yourself to decide that?" she asked from her brother. "You killed a man for Penguin and now you killed Galavan. When did you start taking the law into your own hands, Jim?"

Jim shook his head. "It isn't like that," he said to her. "Liv, I did what I had to do. Please…it is still me…I am still me. I'm still your brother and I still want to do the right thing. I don't want to justify what I did because deep down I know I probably can't, but I just want to move on. I don't want to spend time mourning men who would have killed me without a second thought."

Olivia wondered if he had a point there. Was she any better than her brother, really? She was harbouring Ed's secret. She had forgiven Ed. Ed had done what he had done to save Kristen. Jim had done it to save Bruce. He had done it to protect Gotham from a man who was hell bent on revenge. Looking at him, Olivia's eyes ran over his face and she nodded her head. Jim looked on the verge of breaking down, exhaustion clear on his face.

"I'm still me, Liv."

"I know," Olivia agreed with her brother, nodding her head and she moved over to take hold of his arm. She squeezed it softly as Jim placed his hand on top of hers.

"Promise me that you won't tell anyone," he urged from his sister.

"What about Lee, Jim?" Olivia asked from him. "You're going to get married. You can't just keep secrets."

"I know," he sighed, "and I will talk with Lee. I promise."

"Okay," Olivia nodded her head. "You know I'm always here for you, Jim. I just don't want you to get hurt. I worry about you."

"Don't worry about me," Jim urged from her, picking her hand up and squeezing it tightly. "I'll make things right, Liv. But I might need to crash at your place tonight…give Lee some space."

"No problem," she assured him, letting go of his hand and placing the keys into the ignition. "I can drop you off at mine and I'm going to spend the night at Ed's. I will be back early in the morning."

"Speaking of Ed," Jim said as his sister started the car and she tried to come to terms with what Jim had confessed to her. How could she be so calm about this? She thought that she might have a different reaction, but she only felt numb when Jim had told her what had happened. She felt nothing but an understanding for why he had done it. "Has he mentioned Kristen recently?"

"No, why?" Olivia frowned, her brows knitting together as she left the car park. "Last thing I heard she was annoyed with him still."

"Well Lee said that Ed had heard that she had gone off with Tom Dougherty," Jim said and Olivia felt her spine stiffen. That was not possible. How could she have done that? Why would she have done that even if Dougherty was alive? "But she hasn't collected her pay slips for weeks…Lee is concerned."

"I don't know," Olivia said to her brother, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, Ed said he hadn't heard from her either."

Olivia remained silent as they drove through the streets, her mind racing as she wondered exactly why Ed had fed them a lie.

…

Opening the door to his apartment, Ed looked down as Olivia stood there. She moved into the open space as he wrapped an arm around her waist and bent down, kissing her tenderly. He wore a plain white top and grey bottoms. His hair was damp and he smelt of sweet musk from showering. His glasses were falling down the edge of his nose as he looked to her, feeling her press against him. He kept his arms firmly around her waist as he spun her around, kicking the door shut behind him. Her hands went to his chest as she managed to pull back.

"Hey," Ed whispered, kissing her again.

"Hey," she greeted him back. "How are you?"

"Fine," Ed said to her. "I'm sorry I couldn't come for dinner."

"Don't worry," she said, waving a hand in dismissal, not telling him that it had been a disaster. "Listen, we need to talk."

Ed felt her push herself from him, escaping his grip. He said nothing for a few moments, watching her wander into his flat. She raked a hand through her hair, pushing it over her shoulders before dropping her hands to her hips. It took her a moment to compose herself before she faced him. Ed knew what this would be about. He knew exactly what would have happened and he had prepared himself for the questions.

"Kristen Kringle," Olivia spoke her name, clear distaste on the tip of her tongue. "Why did you say she had gone off with Tom Dougherty?"

Ed shrugged his shoulders. "I panicked," he admitted to Olivia. He knew that he could convince her that he was being honest. She was in love with him. She was willing to believe him. "I know what I did, Olivia. I killed Tom Dougherty and now Kristen has gone missing…I just thought that the two of them disappearing together seemed logical."

"But where has Kristen gone?" Olivia asked from Ed. "Why did you not just say that you didn't know instead of lying?"

"I thought that it might cure the issue of people looking for Dougherty if they thought he had eloped with Kristen."

"But where is Kristen?" Olivia asked him again.

"I don't know," Ed lied to her once more, shrugging his shoulders as he approached her. He moved his hands to her upper arms. He squeezed them gently and then moved a finger to her chin, his finger tipping her gaze up to his. "Olivia, I don't know where she is. I have no idea, but I…I didn't want anyone snooping around me. If they think she is with Dougherty then that's fine. If they thought that I was her ex-boyfriend and she was last seen here then they might suspect me. This puts distance between us."

"But are you not concerned?" Olivia asked from him and she sat down on the end of his bed as he knelt on the ground, sitting in between her legs. He kept hold of her waist, his thumb running in circles around her flesh. "Has she gone missing because of us? Because of what I did?"

"No," Ed said firmly, not wanting her to think about that. "You are nothing to do with why she has gone missing, Olivia. She probably just needed some time away."

"You're sure?" Olivia checked with him.

"Positive," he whispered. "Besides, if she has done a runner then it is because of me. I should never have dated her, not when I knew we would be together."

"You knew that?" she asked from him and his lips quirked upwards at hearing her. She moved her hands to his shoulders, holding onto them tightly as he did his best not to smile in glee. She was giving him contact. She was easy to break down.

"I just had to wait for you to know it," Ed confirmed.

"Sweet," Olivia whispered and sighed, massaging his shoulders. "You sure she's going to be okay? Jim is looking into it so hopefully she can just confirm she is fine and then he will leave it be…she'll be out of our lives."

"I'm sure she is okay," Ed said, moving to kiss her softly once more. She didn't push him back this time. Instead she kept her lips moulded to his, hands lacing together at the back of his neck. Ed's arms tightened around her waist as he managed to move, hauling her upwards and then pushing her further onto his bed, collapsing on top of her. She kicked her shoes off and wrapped her legs around his waist while he reached for her coat, shrugging her out of it before trying to find the zipper on the back of her dress. Running her hands underneath his top, she felt the planes of his slender stomach as he tugged her dress down, moving to kiss across to her ear, whispering hotly once he was there. "I love you, Olivia."

….

Lounging in bed on the Monday morning, Olivia chewed down on the croissant that Ed had brought after making breakfast in bed. He had placed a mug of tea on the bedside table before climbing back into bed. Olivia was still dressed in her pyjamas.

"What are we doing today?" Olivia asked him, legs crossed and plate balanced on her knee. She had the day off from school and Ed had booked the day off of work.

"I don't know," Ed said, even though he had a plan. He wanted to show off. He longed to show off. Jim was onto him and he was not going to let him get away with everything. Ed was convinced that he could get away with something bigger. He wanted to see if it was true. Plus, he needed to throw Gordon off of Kristen.

"Well, we could go out?" Olivia suggested to him. "What about a film?"

"We went to see a film last week," he reminded her and she nodded.

"We did," she confirmed. "So what about…I don't know…"

"The museum?" Ed suggested to her.

"I detest museums, they smell fusty," she said. Ed knew. He remembered she had said something to him along those lines before. "Oh," she said and Ed's face lit up. Was she going to suggest exactly where he wanted to go? "What about the art gallery?"

Ed knew she liked art. He just needed her to suggest the place.

"Sounds perfect."

…

Ed felt elated. He had his cap in his coat pocket and was ready to steal the paining that he had his eye on. He had planted the smoke bomb in the middle of the art gallery and he knew exactly when it was going to off. It would do no damage, but it would release enough smoke to flood the place. He just had to make certain he got rid of Olivia by then so he had two minutes alone to take the painting and stuff it in his pocket.

Holding onto her hand as he wandered through the museum, he couldn't help but feel elevation. He was enjoying this. He wanted that thrill. He wanted Olivia to be part of it, but he knew that she would not agree with what he intended to do, especially because it concerned her brother. But she didn't need Jim. She just needed him.

Ed felt her arm brush against his as she swung their hands softly between their bodies. Ed looked down to her and smiled, bending down and kissing her on the top of her head. She leaned her head against his shoulder as they looked onto the painting of flowers in a field.

"I could use a drink for the remainder of the tour," Ed said to her, brushing her hair over her shoulder. "Do you want a tea?"

"Would love one," she said. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, no," Ed said, "there was a refreshment cart in the gallery next door. I will be back in a minute."

"Okay," Olivia said and he dropped her hand before wandering off. She wandered further into the gallery, footsteps light and a smile stuck on her face. She looked at the paintings on the wall before she heard noises from the room next door. Frowning, she wondered what was going on before she saw the exhibit in the centre of the room. It looked like a large grenade and it had begun to make a beeping noise, smoke leaving it.

Instantly fearing the worst as the room filled with smoke, she looked around, a sea of faces around her. She felt fear rise up inside of her, wondering where Ed was. People kept screaming and running for the exit, but Ed had gone in the opposite direction.

"Ed!?" she shouted his name. "Ed!"

She looked ahead and saw him running towards her. He looked worried. Reaching out for her, Ed took hold of her hand inside of his, the two of them now lagging behind the crowds that were escaping.

"Are you okay?" Ed asked from her.

"Fine," she said as the two of them followed everyone else out of the gallery. "Is that a bomb?"

"I don't know," Ed lied to her. "I didn't see anything. I just heard screaming and the room began to fill with smoke."

Olivia nodded as they finally came outside, security guards ushering them onto the sidewalk. Once they were there, Olivia looked back up to the art gallery as the crowd gathered, discussing what had happened in animated voices. Ed wrapped his arms around her, bringing her attention back to him. She moved her own arms back around his midriff.

"That was terrifying," Olivia whispered, cheek against his chest.

"I know," Ed said, but he didn't feel fear. He felt pure elation and that was not going to go away. He needed that thrill. He lived for it. He also knew what was coming up next. His grip on Olivia increased at the thought. The game had begun.

….

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