Olivia awoke the following morning with the worst headache imaginable. She squinted as light moved through the gap in the curtains on the opposite wall. She was beginning to wonder where she was before she noted the form she was practically resting on. Somehow in the middle of the night, Olivia had rolled over to rest on him, her head tucked onto his chest and his hand on his stomach. He had his arm around her shoulders, his hand tangling into the ends of her hair. She wondered exactly what was going on, but then she remembered. Jim. Jim knew.

"Good morning," his voice was gruff and Olivia took a moment before responding.

"I should go," she said, foregoing any niceties. She lifted her head up and off of his chest, sitting up and running a hand over her forehead. Ed sat himself up then too, his hands supporting his weight as he completed the motion. He looked to her as she crossed her legs and buried her head in her hands. "I need to find Jim."

"You've just woken up," Ed responded to her. "Give it a minute, Olivia."

"I shouldn't have stayed here," she whispered into her palms and Ed moved to rest a hand on her back. "I should never have come. Jim was right. I always come running back to you…despite everything…I am too weak to stay away from you. I am too pathetic."

"Love doesn't make you weak," he retorted and Olivia scoffed. "My love for you is the only thing that kept me going, Liv. It was the only thing that kept me going when I was in Arkham. You know that. You have to know that."

"But it shouldn't be this way," Olivia replied and looked over to him. She searched his gaze and, as she did that, she swore she saw the old Ed. Whenever she looked at him it was like he was the same man she had met all those months ago. He looked no different. He looked exactly as he always had.

"This city isn't perfect, Olivia. People do bad things. You know that. Why can you not just accept you fell in love with someone who isn't the perfect goody two shoes you had always envisioned."

Olivia scoffed and moved from the bed. She reached for her shoes and slipped them on. They were still slightly wet from the night before. She didn't even bother changing into her old clothes. Instead she grabbed them from the chair and tucked them underneath her arm.

"There is a difference between being good and being a murderer, however. Now give me my keys. I need to go and find Jim," she said.

"Olivia-"

"-God damn it, Ed, just give me the keys!" she yelled loudly at him and he saw the anger inside of her. He sighed and shook his head.

"You always do that. You always come crawling back and then you run away. You were the one who kissed me last night, Olivia. You were the one who made the first move so do not even stand there and pretend that you want to do the right and noble thing," he snarled back at her, moving to his feet too. Olivia watched him advance towards her, his face harsh and stern. "You pretend to be so innocent…so vulnerable, and you are, to an extent. But you made a choice. You made a choice to keep my secret because you love me. And you still love me. You still want me and you are just too stubborn to admit that to yourself. You are just too stubborn to even admit it to yourself."

"But I don't want this life," Olivia said, stretching her arms and tossing her clothes down onto the bed again. "I don't want to live a life with a man who has killed numerous people."

"No, you are in love with the idea of a man," Ed said. "You love an idea, but this is not fantasy, Liv. This is reality. And in reality you are in love with me. You are in love with the imperfect, morally reprehensible me. You know that."

She bit down on her tongue and Olivia shook her head.

"The sooner you admit it and stop this dance we have going on then the quicker you can have that happiness that you so crave," Edward said.

He saw how she had no response to that. She had nothing because he was telling the truth. "Give me the keys," was all that she chose to say to him. "Give me the keys to my car and let me go. You can't keep me here forever."

"Where will you go?" Ed asked and he opened his bedside drawer. He held the car keys in his palm. He pulled them back before Olivia could snatch them from him. He held a finger up and arched his brow. "Answer the question."

"Home," Olivia said. "I am going to go home and hope that Jim hasn't packed up his things and left."

"Do you want me to come? I will talk to Jim and explain everything."

"Not right now," Olivia said to him. "I need to talk to him first. Now give me my keys and let me go."

And, despite his better reservations, he handed her the keys. He watched her take them and turn. She left without another word and Ed remained stood where he was. He moved to the window and looked outside, peering down onto the drive. He saw Olivia unlock her car. She spent a moment sat in the driver's seat, tossing her hair behind her shoulders and wiping her eyes before she set off. Pressing his palm to the window, he closed his eyes and let out a short and sharp breath, wondering what he should do for the best.

…

Jim had been in his apartment, packing up his belongings. It had been empty when he had returned. His sister wasn't there and he was grateful for that. He didn't have much to his name, but he would take as much as possible. He was placing his clothes into a suitcase when he heard his cell begin to ring. Looking down at the number, he answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Is this Detective James Gordon?"

"Speaking."

He placed the phone between his shoulder, trapping it there as he continued packing.

"This is Doctor Andrew Meyers from Gotham General Hospital…we have your sister…Olivia Gordon."

"What has happened to her?" Jim demanded to know.

"She has been in a car crash. You should get down here, Detective Gordon."

…

Ed was moping again. He was moping on the sofa, holding onto a book. Oswald was sat in his chair, flicking through the newspaper. Edward had been stuck on the same page for the past half an hour. It was clear that his mind was elsewhere. He hadn't even bothered to change into fresh clothes, still wearing his shirt and trousers from the night before. He had removed his suit jacket, wearing only his green waistcoat. His tie was also loose down his shirt and his hair was mussed up. He looked a state.

"I heard Olivia leave this morning," Oswald said, unable to keep silent.

"Hmm," Edward merely responded. He had no desire to speak with Oswald about Olivia, not after what he had done. He didn't want anything to do with him.

"Ed, I know that you are angry with me," Oswald said, "but I was doing what I thought was right."

"No, you were interfering where you weren't needed," Ed sniped back, placing his book down onto the coffee table. "You were trying to get in between us when I had things worked out. I was going to win her back. I was winning her back."

"No, you were not," Penguin responded, exasperation taking hold of him. "She might love you and you might still love her, but she will never want to be with you because she does not belong in this world. She can never accept you, not truly, no matter how much time you spend trying to persuade her otherwise and acting romantic. You have to face the truth."

"No," Ed hissed, "the truth is that she still does love me and you need to accept that. You need to accept that she is my number one priority. She will always be my number one priority."

"But you are not hers. Jim Gordon will always come before you," he retorted. "You know that. He is family."

"Olivia will see that I am the one who can take care of her, not him. I would never turn on her as he did. I would never hurt her like that."

"Really? You set her brother up and framed him for murder." Oswald deadpanned with him. "I think you did plenty of damage."

Ed did not respond to that. Instead he just glared at Oswald before he felt his cell begin to vibrate. He pulled it from his trouser pocket and looked down at the caller ID. It was Martin, the head of Oswald's security. Answering the phone, Oswald knew that things had gone to time. He had told Martin to call Ed with the news. He had to place distance between him and what had happened to Olivia.

"Yes?" Ed spoke down the phone and Oswald watched his face drop. "What? Where?"

There was silence as Martin spoke down the phone.

"Where is she?"

He hung up then and stood.

"What is it?" Oswald asked.

"Olivia…she has been in a car crash," Ed said. "She is in hospital. I have to go."

"Let me drive you."

"No," he retorted. "I can drive myself."

Oswald did not respond. Instead he sat back and smirked, knowing that his plan had been executed perfectly.

…

Lee had been aghast when she had found out what Olivia had done. She had kept secrets from them all. She had lied to protect Ed. Lee had had begun to talk to him, trying to tell him that everything would be fine, but his attention was already on another figure that he appeared in the corridor.

"Oh no," Lee whispered as Jim jumped up and rushed off.

She followed him, unable to stop him from grabbing hold of Ed by the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the wall. Lee stepped back, knowing that she shouldn't get involved for the time being.

"You son of a bitch!" Jim roared at Ed as Nygma had the decency to look mortified for a brief second. But that soon left and instead he was left with anger. "What was she doing with you? What did you do to her?"

"I did nothing," Edward snarled back at Jim. "So I suggest you let me go before I have someone arrest you."

"Arrest me?" Jim snapped and Lee shook her head. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"I find nothing about this situation mildly amusing so I suggest you put me down."

Jim did as he had been requested, hands balling into fists as Lee stood behind his shoulder. "Get out of here."

"I am going nowhere until I see her," Edward replied, straightening out the jacket he had grabbed on his way out. "I want to know what happened to her. I want to know exactly what happened."

"She is in here because of you," Jim growled and Lee wondered if he was about to lash out again. "I know what-"

"-I know," Edward said. "I know that she told you the truth. I know what you said to her."

"This isn't going to help anyone. Olivia is in surgery and when she wakes up then she doesn't need to wake up to this, does she?" Lee snapped, looking between the two men.

"She isn't going to wake up to this," Jim retorted, glare still on Ed, "because Edward is leaving."

"Did you not hear what I said the first time?" Ed retorted, voice low and dark. "I am going nowhere until I see that she has woken up."

But Jim exploded, unable to control his emotion. "You did this to her! She was on her way back from seeing you and…God…I don't know what she was doing with you, but everything you have done has hurt her. You hurt her and ripped her heart out. You betrayed her. You put her in here."

Ed shook his head. "Did you ever think that this might be your fault, Jim?" He demanded. "That she only came back to me because of you said to her? She told me everything. You were the one who pushed her away. You were the one who sent her back to me."

"And what did you do? What did you tell her?"

"I told her the truth," Ed said earnestly. "I told her that I still loved her. I told her that I would do anything for her. I told her that we could be together if she just let herself be happy."

Lee saw Jim struggle to gain composure, gulping loudly. "She will never love you-"

"-She does," Ed interrupted. "She told me last night that she still loves me. Do you not get it, Jimbo? She will always love me? Why do you think she lied for me? Why do you think she never left Gotham? She never stopped loving me, despite everything, and I never stopped loving her."

Jim had to hold his hand up. He silenced Ed and turned his back to him before he lashed out and did something that he might regret. Lee knew that she had to diffuse the situation. This wasn't healthy for either of them. She looked to Ed and clenched her teeth together as his gaze finally fell onto her.

"You should leave," she urged him.

"I have no intention of going anywhere."

"You should," she warned him. "If you stay here then you will get kicked out for brawling with Jim and we both know the cops here will take his side."

Ed seemed to understand what she was saying. He nodded once. "I will wait in the cafeteria," he responded and turned on his heel, storming away from the pair of them, his anger still raging inside of him.

…

Ed had ordered a cup of tea, but he hadn't drunk it. Instead he had sat there quietly and watched the world pass him by, his mind on Olivia. Every time he closed his eyes for a brief moment he saw her face. He saw her smiling, care free and completely his. That had been before everything had gone wrong. Now, she was here. She was in a hospital bed and unconscious.

"Mr Nygma."

Ed looked up and saw the familiar face of one of the junior officers addressing him. He was about to snarl at him, wondering why someone more senior was not with him. But then he saw three more officers stood by the door.

"What is it? Is she awake?"

"Mr Nygma…we are arresting you on the suspicion of the murder of Olivia Gordon," he spoke.

"What?" Ed demanded as the officer manhandled him to stand up. "She…she isn't…no…"

"Olivia Gordon is dead," the officer said and Ed almost felt himself collapse, his legs shaking and his mouth drying up. Shaking his head, he refused to believe it and he refused to leave. But the officer was trying to cuff him and the other three had intervened to help.

"No!" Ed yelled loudly, creating a scene in the cafeteria. "I have to see her. I need to see her."

"I'm afraid that isn't an option," the officer replied. "Now stop fighting and come with us."

Ed knew that Jim must have had him arrested. He had done this. He was going to try and frame him for this. He would blame him for Olivia's death. He would always blame him. But Ed was not going to leave without a fight. He needed to see her. He had to see for his own good.

"I need her," Ed said. "I need her…let me see her…just let me see her…"

But the officers were already pushing him out of the cafeteria and through the corridors. Ed passed by Jim who was in the waiting room with Lee. His eye caught his and Ed saw the pure, white hot rage that was there. He looked back at him, his gaze also narrowed as he yelled.

"You did this, Jim," Ed snapped, refusing to let Jim feel anything but guilt. "You pushed her away. You ruined everything."

But Jim did not respond. Lee took hold of his arm and stopped him from leaving towards Ed. Instead the two men kept on glaring at each other until Ed was dragged from sight.

…

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