Sitting in the diner with Jim, Olivia picked at the salad she had ordered. She was silent. She had been particularly quiet ever since Ed had come to see her. Sitting in the booth, she moved the lettuce leaves around the plate and Jim watched her. He had practically demolished his steak while Olivia didn't really want to eat anything. She had her legs folded underneath the table and her eyes downcast. Her hair hung in her face and Jim knew she was struggling again.

"He is in your mind, isn't he?" Jim double checked with his sister.

Looking up and over to her brother, she shrugged. "He's everywhere," Olivia complained to her brother. "As soon as I turn on the news he is there. He is stood next to Penguin and I can't escape him, no matter how much I want to. And now we have the Red Hood Gang so I doubt he is going away anytime soon."

"You know there is a simple solution to all of this, don't you?" Jim asked from his sister.

She placed her fork down and instead picked up her cup of herbal tea. Shrugging, she struggled to think about what he would say.

"Leave," Jim said to his sister.

She scoffed at hearing him and rolled her eyes. "Is this really coming from you?" she asked him. "You know that is the same advice I gave to you and you never took it."

"That was because I wasn't still pining over my killer ex."

"I am not pining over him," Olivia spat out and Jim rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right," he said to her. "Liv, I can read you like a book so don't even pretend with me. I know that you still have feelings for him, no matter how much you claim not to. You don't need to lie to me."

She said nothing, sipping on her tea which had gone slightly cold. She didn't complain, instead she just slurped the liquid down her throat. Placing the mug back onto the table, she shrugged. "I will move on," she said to her brother. "Just like you moved on with that reporter."

"Nothing is going on between us-"

"-Not what I heard when I came in last night," Olivia interrupted her brother and he almost had the decency to look embarrassed. "We're both adults, Jim, and we can see who we want. It isn't exactly normal for siblings our age to live together, but then again we're not exactly normal siblings…but just…well…it's a little bit weird."

"Noted," Jim said, sipping on his own coffee. "But do not try and deflect from the conversation, Liv. You have feelings for him. I know that you do."

"I don't understand it," Olivia whispered, silently admitting it to her brother. She was ashamed of herself. She almost felt dirty. Jim nodded his head and reached for his wallet. He pulled out two ten dollar bills and dropped them onto the table before slipping from his seat. He stood up and offered his hand out to his sister.

"Come on," he said. "We're going for a walk and we're going to discuss this."

Liv agreed with that. She took hold of Jim's hand and he squeezed it, hauling her out from the booth. She slipped her satchel onto her shoulder and Jim wrapped his arm into hers as they left and moved down the sidewalk towards the local park. Once they had entered it, Olivia tossed a hand through her hair, ruffling it up and pushing it back from her face as she felt the sun shine down on her.

"I don't want him back," Olivia said to her brother, walking slowly together. She squeezed Jim's forearm, feeling the black leather underneath her fingertips. "I hate him for what he has done to you and Kristen and Pinkney and…and Dougherty," she added on. She knew all about them. She knew and she had been willing to accept Ed. Was it her fault that he had done what he had done? Was she to blame because she had accepted it? She didn't know. "I do not want him but when he came to me the other night…when I saw him…it ached, Jim. It physically ached to see him because in my head I had gotten to the stage where I was convinced that we would be together. I was convinced that we were long term because when it was good it was so good."

Jim nodded his head. He seemed to understand what his sister was saying. He had the same feelings himself to a certain extent. He couldn't explain it entirely, but he knew her feelings.

"That's why I worry that staying here will do nothing but cause you pain," Jim said and they perched on a bench together, Olivia still keeping her arm inside of her brother's. She felt some form of comfort having him close. "If you left then it would be a clean break. You would be able to move on and not see him. He wouldn't know where you went because I can help you, Liv. I can help you disappear."

"And what about you?" Olivia asked from her brother, searching his gaze. "I know that you are not over Lee, Jim."

Jim didn't even try to deny that. He had got it into his head while he had been in prison that Lee was having his child. He had hoped that perhaps, despite him telling her to move on, she wouldn't. He had been selfish to wish it, but wished it he had.

"Yeah, but I don't feel the need to flee Lee because she isn't a killer."

"Good point," Olivia admitted, "but still, she is back now and moving on must be harder, just like it is now Ed is back…but you won't leave."

"I know," Jim said to her and Olivia bit down on her bottom lip. She folded one leg over the other, the long black skirt she wore flowing over her legs. She had a black top tucked into it with three quarter length sleeves and her mac draped over that. But despite that, she felt a sudden chill run through her at their topic of conversation.

"I don't know what to do for the best," Olivia said. "You are here and Lee is here. I know, despite everything between you two, Lee is a friend. I know that might hurt you-"

"-No," Jim interrupted her. "Liv, you being friends with Lee is nothing to do with me. Don't think that you have to stop being friends with her because of me. Never think that."

Olivia squeezed Jim's arm. "Thanks," she said earnestly. "And thank you for lunch, Jim, but you know that I am not going to leave. I don't have it in me to leave…not right now…because as much as Ed being out and here upsets me, the thought of leaving you is harder."

Jim sighed at hearing her and nodded, understanding her point. They had grown up together. For a long time they had been all that they had. They had a close bond and both of them understood each other. Bending down, Jim pecked his sister on the forehead and they lapsed into silence, enjoying the fresh air and the peace and quiet for a few moments.

…

Lee was amazed that he had the nerve to show his face. She had sensed him in the corridor outside her office before she had seen him, but she had no doubt it was him. She had heard that he had made a dramatic entrance into the GCPD, but she had been hoping to avoid him. Turned out that wasn't going to be possible.

"Dr Thompkins," his voice drawled lowly and in a deep tone.

Lee slowly turned to look to him as he pushed himself from against the wall he had been leant against. Moving towards her slowly, his gaze remained fixed on her. Lee felt her hand clench into a fist as he approached and spoke in a low voice.

"I need you-"

He never had a chance to finish his sentence. Instead Lee used her fist to make contact with his cheek. He turned his face to the side. She took him off guard and he had to admit that he was shocked at her strength. His glasses fell from his face and his hair tumbled from the neat combed back look he had. Turning to face her, he felt anger course through his veins.

"You shouldn't have done that," he warned her and she arched a brow. She didn't look scared at all.

"Why? Because you work for Penguin?" Lee asked him, refusing to be scared of a man like Nygma. "My fiancé is Mario Falcone. If I so much as wish it then he could have you disposed of in a heartbeat…and speaking of, if you go anywhere near Olivia again then I might just ask him to do that."

"I don't think you will," Edward said, moving to pick his glasses up.

He held them up to the light and cleaned them with the cuff of his jacket before slipping them back onto his eyes and raking a hand through his hair, pushing it back again.

"And why would you think that?" Lee enquired from him. She was almost daring him to test her. "Because the last time I heard you had gone to see her and she said she wanted nothing to do with you. Besides, Penguin had her threatened."

"I spoke to Penguin and told him that he was to go nowhere near her."

That much was true. Ed had been fuming when he had gone to see Penguin. He had told him that if he wanted his help then he would not go anywhere near Olivia. He would leave her alone because Ed needed her in order to function. She might not be with him and she might claim that she didn't love him, but he was going to enjoy the chase. He was going to enjoy taking his time in getting her to admit her true feelings.

"Well, you might have done that," Lee said, folding her arms over her chest. "But you are still go nowhere near her, is that understood?"

"Not in the slightest," Ed said. "And you might claim she doesn't want me near her, but I know differently. She still has feelings for me…feelings that will never go away."

"You think so? Because I know differently. She will move on. Eventually she will move on and she will find someone who loves her and who will treat her the way she deserves to be treated and that someone will be no one like you."

Ed felt the anger course through him once more at her words. He was doing his best to hold himself together, but he had to confess that he was struggling. He wanted to do nothing more than storm out of that precinct and find Olivia. He wanted her to see him for who he was. He was still the Ed she fell in love with. He was just a better version of him.

"We shall see, shan't we, Dr Thompkins?" Ed simply spoke and began to leave her alone in the corridor.

Glaring after him, Lee shook her head, determined to prove him wrong.

…

"They intend to keep you locked away from me forever, huh?"

Olivia didn't even turn around from where she sat in the diner. She had a suspicion that he would find her eventually and it turned out it was true. She had left Jim earlier that day after Bruce Wayne had called him and asked him to meet her. Ed, on the other hand, had been busy plotting. That evening it was the Mayor's celebration party and his plan to oust Butch as the orchestrator of the Red Hood Gang was going to happen.

He was excited for it, but he had other business to attend to before then. Olivia had promised her brother that she would go home as soon as he had ran off, but instead she had drifted off on the walk to the diner she would frequent with Ed. He would bring her waffles back from it on a Sunday morning. They would lay in bed and eat them, her feeling content in his grip and wondering how long they would stay in that routine for.

But she hadn't ordered waffles when she had gone to the diner. Instead she had sat down and watched the young couple at the other end of the room order them, eating them together and looking loved up. She had ordered her mug of tea and sat with her book, reading it silently.

"They don't trust you," Olivia said in a low voice. "But you would be correct, it seems they play tag when possible."

Ed chuckled and sat down next to her instead of across from her. She shifted upwards and closer to the window. He ordered a mug of tea as a waitress passed by and undid the button to his suit jacket.

"I have noticed."

"So you have been watching me?" Olivia asked him.

"Only for the past couple of days," he shrugged. "One minute you are with Jim and then Lee is there…do you think they have a secret code?"

"Probably," Olivia said.

She hadn't said anything about it previously, choosing to keep quiet. She knew what they were doing and she humoured them, predominately because it helped her to forget about Ed when she was not by herself all of the time. But now he was here.

Ed chuckled at her response. "So," he spoke in a low tone, "I spoke to Penguin. I told him he was not to do anything to you. You're safe from him."

"Goodie," Olivia said.

But there was no gratitude in her voice. Ed ground his teeth together, his jaw tight at her response. Was she not pleased? She looked to him, seeing the annoyance clear on his face. Her own free hand that was not holding her book moved to her chest and she looked at him with a sarcastic expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, "am I supposed to fall into your arms and thank you for saving me, the damsel in distress?"

Ed looked over her face. "It would be where you belong," he commented.

She scoffed and pretended to go back to her book. Ed shifted to the side so that he was looking at her. Draping an arm over the back of her seat, he moved his free hand towards her cheek, guiding her gaze back to his. She snatched his hand from her, grabbing his wrist tightly. But he was quicker, his hand also curling around her wrist.

"Do not touch me," she demanded from him.

"That's not what you used to say."

"Well things have changed."

"Haven't they just?" Ed responded, gaze slipping down to her lips as he saw her tongue run over them slowly. He resisted the urge to bend down and kiss her there and then, but he couldn't. He wouldn't do it just yet. He would wait until she was begging him to and he knew that would come eventually.

"What do you want, Ed?" Olivia asked, not bothering to beat around the bush, still looking to him as the waitress delivered his coffee, her eyes roaming over the pair of them for a brief moment as if she recognised them. "I have told you that I want nothing to do with you yet you refuse to accept that. Why? Why can you not just get it into your head that we are through, Ed?"

"Because we both know that is not true."

"And we both know that we will only keep going around in circles with what we say, so nothing is going to change," she said to him. "Listen to me, Ed, I do not want you."

"You see, I know you," he said to her. "And I knew you would keep saying that, but the thing is that I know you, Olivia, and I know what you know…because we both kept it a secret."

Ed dropped her wrist and picked his tea up, taking a sip of it. Olivia's eyes widened and she considered what he was saying.

"Are you trying to blackmail me to get back together with you?" she demanded from him.

Brows knitting together in confusion, Ed shook his head. "What? No," he said quickly and Olivia shook her head.

"Unbelievable," she said, ignoring him and she tried to push past him and escape, grabbing the handle of her satchel. But Ed wouldn't let her go. He stretched his arm, grabbing her by the waist and hauling her to sit back down, his strength more than hers. She gasped as she slumped back in her seat and Ed moved closer to her.

"I said that was not what I was doing," he hissed at her, face inches from hers. "What I am trying to tell you is that we are not so different, darling. We both have secrets. We both are not innocent and you, my love, are definitely not as innocent as you pretend to be. You walk around…act docile…seek your brother's protection…Lee's comfort…but you kept my secret, Olivia. You kept my dark secret…so don't pretend that you are the epitome of goodness."

"I know what I did," she responded, "but I also know that I am nothing like you. I kept that secret because I thought it had been an accident, before I realised you were a cold-blooded killer."

"Hmm," Ed hummed, "but you still loved that side of me, not the docile Ed," he bent down, hand moving to her thigh and squeezing it tightly as he whispered into her ear. "Especially in the bedroom."

He removed his hand as he noted her breath hitch and he took another sip of her tea. She remained silent.

"I have to go," Ed said. "I have a plan that I need to put together tonight, but I will see you again soon, Olivia."

"Don't count on it."

"You know," Ed said, pulling a ten-dollar bill from his wallet and dropping it on the table, "you can say that as many times as you want, we both know you don't mean it."

Olivia remained silent. Ed stroked her cheek slowly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"See ya soon, Liv."

…

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