Olivia knew that she had to take things steady with Ed. She didn't know what was going on in his mind, but he seemed to be completely beside himself. She decided that he had only acted as he had done out of fear. He was scared of losing her. Of course, this entire response was completely disproportionate and she would make him see that. She knew that he had to know that Jim would come looking for her eventually. Jim had escaped from jail and Olivia wondered how he had done it. She had no idea, but she suspected that Bullock was involved. Ed had gone to work and left Olivia in bed, still unable to move. Her flu was getting even worse combined with her stress levels.

"We need to talk," Olivia said to Ed once he came back from work and hung his coat up and dropped his bag. He nodded his head. She was sat up awkwardly, her legs crossed underneath her and her hands behind her back against the headboard. "Please."

"I know," Ed agreed with her. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pushed his glasses further onto his nose. "I know that it might seem that I overreacted last night."

"Yeah," Olivia said to him, knowing that she had to play this right. She wasn't scared of Ed, but she wanted to get away from him. "I get why you did this, Ed. It was an overreaction on your part, but I get it. You love me and you didn't want me to leave you."

"Exactly," Ed said to her, almost sounding hopeful that she wasn't going to leave him, almost like he expected her to change her mind. "I was scared, Liv. I just wanted you to stay…to realise that we can be together."

"I know that," she promised him. "I completely understand that, Ed, but do you think that this is the right way to go about it? Do you think that you can keep me tied to your bed until…what? I accept that we will be together?"

Ed remained silent then, looking down onto the mattress. Olivia continued speaking, her voice low.

"I love you, Ed," she promised him. "I love you and I would never tell the police what you did because I know that it was an accident and…well…Lee forgave my brother for some pretty horrible stuff and perhaps I will be able to move on. Perhaps we will both be able to move on from this, but this is not the right way to go about."

Ed looked to her then, hands holding the duvet in his fingertips beneath him. His gaze turned onto her and he let out a breath he had been holding in. "So you're saying there is a chance?"

"Yes," she said, not really sure if she believed herself. But perhaps there was a chance? She didn't know. All she knew was that she needed time to think things through. "But not in Gotham, Ed. I want a fresh start away from here and maybe you're right…maybe we do deserve to be happy and move on together. But I honestly think we can only do that away from Gotham."

"Okay," Ed said, nodding his head and letting out a light laugh. "We can do that, Liv. That sounds like what we need."

"Okay," Olivia said to him, nodding her head. "But can you please untie me? I need to use the bathroom and have a shower. I feel really warm."

Ed looked at her with hesitation. She recognised that look. He didn't trust her completely. He didn't know if she was going to bolt as soon as she was free. Olivia realised that this could be the long game. She had to persuade him to let her go and trust her. That would be the best way. She had told him what he wanted to hear, but there was something going on that worried her. She almost wanted to believe it herself. But how could they come back from this?

"Ed, please," Olivia begged him, voice earnest, "I'm ill and I just want to freshen up. Can't I shower and we can then just sit and watch TV? See if there has been any news about my brother?"

"Okay," Ed agreed with her.

He knew if she tried to run then he could catch her. She was too sick to do anything anyway. Besides, she was right. He had to trust her. He couldn't keep her here the entire time, despite how much he wanted to. He moved and untied her from the bedpost, letting the rope fall down the back of the bed. She smiled at Ed and ran a hand down his cheek. "I'm going to shower," she said. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Take your time," Ed said to her and he watched her move into the bathroom.

Burying his face into his hands, Ed let out a shaky breath. He felt an anger rise up inside of him as the voice inside of his head returned.

"She's played you, you idiot. She's got no intention of staying with you. You should have kept her tied up."

"That isn't the way to do it," Ed said in a low voice, shaking his head back and forth. "She will come around. I panicked last night…got angry…"

"And her brother? We both know Jim is on the loose. What if he finds out you set him up."

"That will never happen," Ed snapped to himself and stood up, moving into the kitchen and pouring a glass of water as he heard the shower begin to run.

Downing the glass, Ed heard a knock on the door and frowned. Who could be bothering him at this time? Moving over, he opened the door and almost jumped back. Jim Gordon. Ed recoiled as Jim held his hands up in defence.

"I need your help, Ed," he said to him. "I need your help with Olivia."

"Yeah, yeah," Ed said to Jim, letting him in. He couldn't know anything. He had to be completely unaware of what Ed had done. Closing the door behind Jim, Ed walked further into his apartment. "Olivia is just showering. She hasn't been feeling very well."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Flu," Ed answered.

"Okay," Jim said. "Listen, Ed, there was a recording from IA of the guy who grassed me up over Galavan. I have it here and I need you to look into it."

Ed folded his arms over his chest and nodded. "What did he say?" he wondered from Jim.

"Not much," Jim admitted. "He disguised his voice, but there are some other sounds on the tape that might help us out."

"Of course," Ed said. "You've come to the right place, Jim. Take a seat and I will make some tea before we begin. You must be parched."

Ed directed him to sit down in the seat he needed him on. He went to put the kettle on the stove while Jim remained seated. Jim kept his ears alert and waited for the bathroom door to open. He had to make sure that his sister was safe if his suspicions turned out to be correct. He heard the bathroom door open as Ed sought his equipment to listen to the tape. Olivia walked back into the main part of the apartment and saw her brother sat there. She had changed into her plaid pyjamas, her hair in a ponytail on the top of her head.

"Jim!" she shouted in excitement.

Jim stood up and met her near the door, reaching for her as she flung her arms around his neck. Burying her face against his skin, she closed her eyes and Ed watched the scene unfold, trying to remain calm. He had to get through this somehow.

"I need you to get out of here," Jim whispered into his sister's ear, not bothering with pleasantries. "Liv, please just get out of here when I say so."

Pulling back, Jim moved his hand to cup his sister's cheek as he kissed her on the forehead. He didn't want to give it away too soon. Olivia felt cold all of a sudden, her fever forgotten as her eyes met Jim's. Did he know what had happened? Olivia made sure her bruised wrists were kept under the cuff of her pyjama top, hidden from view.

"I was saying to Ed that there is a recording from IA of the guy who called them about Galavan," Jim said to his sister and she nodded. "I think the same guy set me up for Pinkney's murder. I need Ed to listen to the recording…I think there is a bird noise in it."

"Right," Olivia said, nodding. "Well if this can clear your name then so be it."

She moved over to the stove where Ed was stood and moved a hand down his arm. "You go and set up," she urged him. "I can make the tea."

"Okay," he agreed, moving to sit down across from Jim while Olivia focused on making the mugs of tea. She kept her gaze out of the kitchen window, doing her best not to feel disillusioned with everything. She tried to keep her breathing steady while Jim and Ed made conversation. Ed listened to the recording, holding one of the headphones to his ear. Olivia left the water to boil and moved over to the table.

"Anything?" she wondered, hands on Jim's shoulders as she stood behind him.

"Afraid it's a dead end," Ed said to both of them. "There is no denying that he has tried to mask his voice, but the audio is too poor. There does seem to be the noise of a bird, but I appreciate that is not a lot to go on."

"You tried, Ed," Jim said and pinched his nose.

"So, the person who killed Pinkney and framed you is the same guy who did the heist at the art museum and planted the bomb in the train station?" Ed checked with Jim. "Amazing. And you don't have any leads?"

"None yet," Jim said to him.

"Hmm," Ed hummed and moved to his feet. "Olivia, you sit down. You're looking ill. I will make the tea."

Olivia let Ed brush by her, his hand running over his shoulder as he walked past. Olivia sat down in the seat he had vacated, shooting Jim an inquisitive stare. He shook his head once, urging for her to keep quiet. She wanted to know exactly what was going on, but Jim seemed to be keeping it from her. Looking at her, he saw that she was ill. She was sicker than he had thought. Would she be able to get away from Ed quick enough?

"I think Loeb could have been behind it," Jim said, "but it isn't a lead. We think that it had to be someone who was a cop or had access."

"But you don't think that Loeb killed Pinkney himself?"

"No," Jim responded. "He would have had some psychopath do it."

"Psychopath seems like a strong word," Ed commented.

Olivia's spine stiffened then at Ed's tone. What was he saying? Olivia watched him as he turned to look at the siblings.

"He bludgeoned a man to death with a crowbar in cold blood," Jim commented. "He is sick, Ed."

"You say that, but you have killed people."

"In the line of duty."

"And a person who kills in cold blood has to be a psychopath?" Ed checked, wagging his finger and Olivia moved from her seat. She felt Jim take hold of her wrist, urging for her not to move any further as Ed continued speaking. "See, I knew the rumours weren't true."

"What rumours?" Jim asked, moving and standing in front of his sister.

"Well, I already didn't think you killed Galavan, but that proves it. If you did kill him then it would make you sick…diseased…like the people you hunt," Ed said as the kettle began to steam. "And there she blows."

Jim cautiously began walking forwards towards Ed. "Did Penguin ever tell you anything about that night?"

"Hmm?" Ed asked, his back to them both. "Oh no, I nipped that friendship in the bud. I didn't talk to him after then. Let's listen to the tape again, shall we? We might find something."

Ed finished pouring the tea. Olivia stood back as he walked to the table, placing the cups down on the surface. Moving to her, Ed knew that Jim knew. He knew exactly what was happening. Ed began to play the tape as he kept hold of her hand. The voice began to speak as he fussed around her, hands going to her cheeks.

"You look pale," he said.

"I'm fine," she promised, her voice dry. Ed clearly was not content with that and he tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Come on…sit down," he urged from her.

She sat back down in his seat as Jim sat across from her. He kept hold of her shoulders, his grip tight to make sure she could not move. Jim bit down on his tongue as Ed kept his hands on his sister. He had to get her out of there sooner rather than later. They listened to the tape with interest, the voice was muffled, but then there was the noise of the bird again. It sounded like a cuckoo clock. Jim stopped the tape.

"That wasn't a bird…it was mechanical."

"A cuckoo clock," Olivia answered, stiffening as Ed continued to keep her in her place. She looked up to him and he glanced back to her, a smirk on his face and she tried to stand up. She scrambled from the chair as Ed wrapped an arm around her waist, stopping her from leaving. He kept his arm securely around her. Her back pressed to his front.

"I know it was you, Ed," Jim said, pulling out his gun. "Let her go now."

"Me?" Ed asked from Jim as the said clock began to chime. Ed chuckled and Olivia felt sick. "Guess what? I knew that you knew, that I knew," Ed told him and suddenly Jim fell off his chair, sparks flying from the chair. Olivia shrieked as Jim dropped his gun to the ground. "That's why your chair is wired to the mains."

"What have you done?" Olivia roared at him, trying to fight him off of her. "You've killed him!"

"I did no such thing," Ed said, promising her in a soft tone.

He managed to wrestle her back to the bed, reaching for the rope he had dropped. He grabbed hold of it as she slapped at him and tried to buck him off of her one more time. Ed was more powerful than she had thought, his hands once again tying her wrists to the bed post. She managed to kick him in between his legs as he stood up. He doubled over in pain and Olivia tried to wriggle free from the ropes.

"That wasn't very nice," Ed said in a snarl. "You see, we were going to be okay, Liv. If we could have ran away together then we would have been fine. We'd have made it through all of this."

"You set my brother up!" she yelled at him.

"And I regret that you had to find out," Ed said to her, searching for the sleeping powder he had bought. He fished it from his drawer and went over to pour a glass of water. Olivia kept trying to free herself. "If you didn't know then Jim would still be in a cell and we would have been free to leave…start a new life…we still can, of course, once I have disposed of your brother."

"Are you deluded?" Olivia demanded from him. "Christ, I almost thought about forgiving you earlier on, but now there is no hope. Do you understand me?"

"You're angry and upset," Ed said and poured the powder in, stirring it with a spoon. "You will soon see past all of that. I will make sure of it."

"You're crazy," she whispered, shaking her head.

"No," he said, "just in love."

Moving back to her, he held the glass to her mouth, but she moved her head around, refusing to let that come near her. Ed grew tired, grabbing hold of her hair and keeping her in place. He forced the glass to her lips and tipped her head back before pinching her nose and forcing her to open her mouth and drink.

"There we go," Ed said. "Now swallow it."

Olivia had no choice but to swallow as he continued making her struggle for breath. She let out a gasp of breath and Ed moved around the apartment and back to Jim.

"No," Olivia protested, "Ed, please, leave him alone…just leave him…"

"I wish I could," Ed said earnestly, grabbing Jim by his ankles and dragging him through the room. "I will deal with this and then be back."

"Ed, that's my brother," Olivia said forcefully. "Just leave him…let us go…"

"You'll see that this is the right thing to do, Liv," Ed promised her. "I swear to you that I will deal with this and then I will be back. The sleeping powder should kick in soon. Just rest."

Olivia could only protest as Ed dragged her brother from the apartment and she felt herself become drowsy, wondering how they had gotten into this mess in the first place.

….

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