Olivia had insisted on checking into a hotel that evening. Jim had drive her to the Western Hotel, knowing that it was plush enough for an evening and he wasn't going to scrimp on cost after what his sister had just been through. She had told him that she had no intention of returning to Ed's apartment. She knew that she would have to find her own place pronto. She would have to go back to Ed's and pick all of her things up too. Jim kept her bundled against his side, arm around her shoulders. He refused to drop her from his grip, preferring to keep her with him.

He walked into the suite once he had checked in, holding the door open for his sister. She followed him in and looked around. The room was big with a large king sized bed and a white, plush duvet that looked terribly inviting. She couldn't help but think it looked very inviting. Jim watched her pull her coat from her body and he locked the door behind him.

"Liv, lay down. I'll make you a cup of tea," Jim said, looking to small kettle on the desk across from the bed. "Do you want anything else? I can go out and pick something else up for you…anything else…"

"I'm fine," Olivia said to him. She didn't want anything. She just wanted to be left alone for the time being. She wanted to curl into a ball and forget about Edward Nygma. But she knew that she would never be able to do that. Ed had a grip over her. She knew that it would take time to free herself from it.

"I'm making you a cup of tea," Jim decided, pulling his own coat off and chucking it onto the sofa. He pushed his shoes off too, feeling the plush carpet. Olivia was already doing the same, tugging the duvet down on the bed. She climbed into the bed and rested against the plush pillows. Tugging the duvet to her chin, she nestled on her side against the pillows.

Jim sighed, looking at the back of her. Walking over to the bed, Jim sat on the other side of it. He kept his hands in his lap.

"We don't have to talk about it," he said in a gentle voice to her. "Not right now, anyway."

"We do," Olivia responded, closing her eyes and doing her best to gather the courage to tell Jim the truth. "I should have known that he set you up, Jim. I should have known."

"How could you have known, Liv?" Jim asked from her as she rolled over to face him. "You didn't know what he had done…Dougherty…Kristen Kringle…Pinkney…how could you possibly have known?"

Olivia felt her mouth dry out. She wanted to tell him that she did know. She wanted Jim to know the truth. But if she told him then would he blame her? Would he think that she knew? If she had told him about Dougherty and Kristen earlier then this might not have happened. Ed wouldn't have had the chance to set Jim up. He would never have been able to get away with it. She didn't want Jim to be angry with her. She couldn't deal with that. She had lost Ed. Lee had left. She had no one but Jim.

"You would have told me, Liv," Jim continued speaking and Olivia looked into his eyes. He thought that she was innocent in all of this. He moved over to rest his hand on top of her arm. Squeezing it gently, he leaned in closer to her and brushed her hair from her face, kissing her on the cheek. "I know that you would have told me."

"Yeah," was all that she weakly offered him. She would tell him tomorrow. She would gather up the courage to tell him that she had known what Ed had done.

"I can't believe it," Jim whispered. "I just can't believe what he did. Ed…and the thought of him even touching you-"

"-Can we not?" Olivia interrupted him, one hand instinctively going to her wrist and feeling the bruising from the handcuff. Looking at Jim, she managed a wan smile, trying not to cry. "I don't want to think about it, Jim…Ed…he…I just don't want to talk about him right now."

"Okay," Jim agreed, the kettle beginning to boil.

"Have you spoken to Lee?" Olivia asked from Jim, changing the topic. He went over to the kettle and poured the hot water into the mug with the lemon tea bag inside of it. "If she sees what happened on the news then she might be worried. She needs to know that you are free."

"I will call her and tell her what happened," Jim said to his sister.

"Will you go to her?" Olivia wondered from him.

Jim carried the mug over to the bedside table. He set it down and then sat down on the edge of the bed, shrugging his shoulders. He looked down into his lap and let out a deep breath.

"I can't," Jim responded. "I can't go to her just yet. I have things that I need to sort out here…Bruce Wayne…I need to solve his case after everything he has done for me."

"And how long will that take?" Olivia wondered. "How dangerous will that be?"

"I don't know," Jim responded, "but I have to do it. You know me, Liv. I have a sense of duty. I see things through to the end and this is the case I need to close before I get back to Lee."

"Nothing I say will change your mind, will it?" Olivia asked, sitting up and taking the mug, holding it in her hands. She sniffed loudly and tried not to cough.

"No," Jim said.

"Okay," Olivia said. "Well, can you ask Lee a favour for me? Can you ask her if I can come and stay with her? I think that I need to get away from Gotham. I need time away from the city to decide what I want to do."

"Yeah," Jim said, sounding overly eager. Nodding his head, he reached for his cell. "I'll call her now and ask her. I'm sure she'll say yes."

"Hope so," Olivia muttered, sipping on the warm tea.

Jim bent down, kissing her forehead before he went to make the phone call. Olivia sipped on the tea once more and then looked up to the ceiling, blinking back tears while thinking about Ed again.

…

Olivia had found a new apartment in Gotham for the time being. Jim had agreed to move in with her, the two bed apartment big enough for the both of them. Jim had been cautious in renting somewhere, but Liv had assured him that it was only temporary. She needed a few weeks away to clear her head and then she would return to work and find out what she wanted to do. In the meantime, Jim needed somewhere to live.

He had escorted her into Ed's apartment to box up all of her things. The place had been considered a crime scene and they had been watched by a police officer. Olivia had tried to hold herself together while sorting through everything. It seemed that every item she touched or looked at had a particular memory of her time with Ed. She had glanced at the photo he had had framed of the two of them when they had been out for dinner with Lee and Jim. How could the smiling Ed be the same man who had committed so many crimes? It didn't make sense to her.

Packing her case, Olivia fretted about what to pack. She was flying out to spend two weeks with Lee, her friend urging her to come and get away from Gotham. Jim had wondered if Lee could persuade Olivia to stay away for good. Lee had been tense on the phone with Jim, almost as though she shad something she was struggling to tell him.

"We need to make a detour on the way to the airport," Olivia informed her brother, finishing her packing and zipping up the medium sized case. She locked it while Jim stood in the doorway of her bedroom. Most of her things were still in cardboard boxes. She hadn't had the energy to unpack.

"Where are we going?" Jim asked her.

Olivia handed him a piece of paper she had kept in her satchel. Jim took it from her and read over it. His eyes widened and he shook his head. "You have to be kidding," he said, his voice a hiss.

"I need to see him one last time," Olivia said.

"No, you don't." Jim retorted.

"Jim, this isn't up for discussion," Olivia hissed at her brother, not wanting a lecture. "I just need to have closure and then that is it. I will go and see Lee. I will figure out what I want and how to move on from him…but I just need to do this."

Jim huffed. His sister was old enough to make her own mind up. She locked her suitcase and dropped the key into her bag. She double checked that she had everything she needed in the satchel before shrugging into her long red coat. She pulled her hair from the collar and grabbed hold of the handle of her suitcase.

"I don't like this," Jim commented.

"You don't need to like it," she promised him. "You just need to support me in this."

"Fine," Jim said tersely, handing her the visiting order bag. She dumped it into her pocket and nodded once at her brother.

"Let's go then."

…..

The drive down to Arkham had been quiet. Jim had insisted on going in with his sister and waiting in the waiting room for her to come back out. She went through the usual security checks before she was admitted into a small interview room. The guard told her of the procedure and she listened, nodding her head. She sat down on one side of the table and the door closed behind her. Looking to the door on the other side, she folded one leg over the other and waited for Ed to come.

He had agreed to the meeting. Of course he had. He wanted to see Olivia. He wanted to see her because then he would have the chance to keep his claws in her.

Olivia shifted uncomfortably on the seat. She drummed her fingers against her kneecap before hearing a loud buzzing noise. The door opened and there he was. His hair looked unkempt and long, dangling down onto his forehead. His glasses were perched on the edge of his nose and he wore a black and white striped uniform. His eyes found hers and instantly his lips curved upwards.

Sitting down on the chair across from her, the guard secured his handcuffs to the table so that he could not move. He informed them that they had ten minutes and then left them alone, the door clinking shut loudly and leaving them alone. There was silence for a few moments, Olivia doing her best not to let her breathing grow heavier.

"I confess that I was surprised to receive your request."

"Why?" Olivia asked him. The question was so simple, yet it took him off guard. Shrugging his shoulders, Ed leaned back in his chair and eyed her with intrigue, trying to work her out. She remained impassive, refusing to let him get to her. She had sworn to herself that she was not going to let him in.

"Well, you did make it perfectly clear that I was not your favourite person," Ed responded.

"And you are shocked by that?" she wondered from him.

"Not at all," he said. "But I just wondered…did you know, Olivia? Did you know the truth about Galavan?"

Olivia felt herself flinch then. She said nothing, but Ed could deduce it easily. Nodding his head, he continued smirking and folded one leg over the other. "You did," he said simply. "But you never told me. What happened to not keeping secrets, Liv? Or does that only count when it doesn't involve your dear brother?"

"Shut up," Olivia hissed at him. She suspected he knew about Jim killing Galavan from Penguin. She had managed to work that one out with Jim's help. She didn't want to think about it. "You set my brother up, Ed."

"Your brother continued snooping in my business," Ed said to her. "Jimmy just couldn't leave it alone, could he? He just couldn't drop things. He kept on pushing…and pushing…and pushing."

"Don't blame him for what you did," Olivia demanded from him, sitting up straight and resting her hands on the table. "You know what I wanted, Ed."

"Oh, I know what you wanted," Ed said, also sitting up and leaning closer to her. He observed her intently, seeing the way her pupils grew and her lips parted. He resisted the urge to smirk at the sight. "You wanted to run away. You wanted to get away from here…make a life with just us…with the weak Ed."

"I wanted you," was all that she said to him. "It was always you, Ed."

"Don't worry," Ed said to her. "I'll be out of here before you know it. This place is just one big puzzle and you know how much I love puzzles. Once I'm out then we will be together. I will come for you, my darling Olivia."

"No," Olivia said firmly. "You are not getting out of here, Ed."

"Oh ye of little faith," Ed hummed. "Time will tell, Liv, but I wouldn't bet against me."

"Stop it," Olivia demanded from him. "I came here for closure, Ed. I came here to tell you that I have moved out of your apartment…that I want nothing to do with you. I don't want you contacting me."

"Deny it all you want," Ed said, standing then and leaning over the table so that he was closer to her. Whispering into her ear, he noted how she didn't even move away from him. She remained still, almost as though she was stuck to the spot. "But your breathing grew shallow when you saw me. I suspect your pulse heightened. Your lips parted and your pupils dilated. You can lie all you want, but you cannot deny the way you feel…not to me."

"You're deluded," Olivia simply said to him, looking him up and down before standing on her feet.

"Don't insult my intelligence," Ed pleaded from her, sitting back in his seat. He looked her up and down. "Did you tell Jim?"

Olivia frowned, pausing on her way to the door. "Tell him what?" she asked, but the silent look he threw her was obvious. He wanted to know if she had told Jim that she knew what Ed had done. Ed smirked and cocked his head to the side.

"I will take that as a no," Ed said in a whisper. "Scared that he might not look at you in the same way?"

She said nothing in response, but Ed already knew her answer.

"Don't worry," he said in an amused voice. "I won't tell him."

"I've had enough," Olivia said to him, knocking on the door to inform the guard she was ready to go. She turned her head over her shoulder, looking at Ed for one final time. "Goodbye, Ed."

"Oh no, Olivia," Ed said, smiling widely, "this is only the beginning for us."

….

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