Sitting at his desk, Ed had tried to throw himself into his work, but it wasn't turning out how he had planned. He had found himself completely at a loss. He didn't want to work. He had no desire to do any work, but he knew that he had to or Oswald would be less than impressed with him. But all he could think of was Olivia. All he wanted was her back. He spent his evenings by himself, sat in his bedroom and thinking back on their happy times together. He was eaten up inside. He didn't sleep properly. He didn't eat properly. But he didn't want to mourn Olivia. He could only mourn her properly when he found out what had happened to her. When he had whoever had done this to her then he would let himself cry over her more than he permitted himself to do so now.

He placed his pen down and pinched the bridge of his nose before picking up the photo frame he had on his desk. He had kept it in his apartment ever since Olivia had given it to him. She had surprised him one night with it, telling him she knew it sounded stupid, but he had told her that it was sweet. It was an image of the two of them while they were out in the park one Sunday morning. Olivia had insisted some stranger take it, saying she thought that it was about time they had a couple's photo.

As he peered down onto it, he barely heard the voice enter the room.

"Still mourning her, I see," Barbara's voice entered his ears and Ed instantly placed the photo frame down and moved to his feet, apprehensive as to what Barbara could want from him. She held her hands up in defence. "Relax, I am not here to get revenge over what you did to Tabitha. Although I am surprised to see that you are here instead of trying to track down whoever killed Jim's little sister and your one true love."

Barbara remembered Olivia well. She hadn't always gotten on with her. She found her plain now, looking back and remembering all of the conversations that they had had. She had been rather dull and rather too dependent on Jim at some stages. She had always struggled to stand up on her own two feet. Her pathetic choice in men told her that.

"That's because you don't see the full picture," Ed said and she sat down in the chair across from him while he remained stood up. "The Mayor has many enemies who understand that I am an important part of this team. They weaken me by…by taking her away. I will find them and then I will take my revenge."

Barbara rolled her eyes and dropped her chin onto her hand. "It is always harder to see what is under our noses," she commented and then coughed. "Penguin."

Ed turned around slowly and looked to Penguin, his brow arching in wonder. He kept his gaze fixated on Barbara, his mind beginning to whirl. He shook his head. "That is absurd on a number of levels."

"Really?" Barbara asked from him, folding one leg over the other. "Because you told Tabitha while you had her tied up that you had protected her from him…that he had threatened her…told her to leave."

Ed knew that she had a point. But he could not see what she was getting at. "But why?"

"Oh, the same reason why you wouldn't leave Olivia Gordon alone," Barbara said and she moved to her feet, sashaying across to Ed, a glimmer in her eyes. "Love."

"Love," Ed repeated the word, realisation dawning on his face. That couldn't be true. That had to be ridiculous. Oswald could not be in love with him. How could that be possible. "That is ridiculous."

"I agree, I fail to see how anyone could be in love with someone like you, but Oswald saw you being taken away from him," Barbara continued to speak and Ed was doing his best not to falter. Even if he thought Barbara had a point, he would not tell her. He was not going to admit it to her there and then. He had to play things close to his chest. That was the best way to go about this. "And so he did what he had to do. He killed dear, sweet, little Olivia Gordon."

"No," Ed said, refusing to believe that. He considered Oswald as his closest friend. How could he do this to him? How could he kill Olivia? "Oswald is not in love with me and he did not kill Olivia."

Barbara smirked and shrugged. "Believe what you wish," she said to him, "but I know that you know I am right."

"And what do you gain from talking to me about this?" Ed asked from her, weary of her suspicious behaviour. "What benefits you?"

"Oh, I just want justice for Olivia," Barbara said in a sickly-sweet voice. "She was supposed to be my sister in law one day."

"You know she never really got on with you," Ed said waving his hand.

"Oh, I know," she said. "But my true motive will become apparent soon enough. Let me know when you discover the truth."

She walked away slowly and Ed watched her go. He went to take a seat back at his desk and pressed his fist to his mouth. He closed his eyes for a moment and considered what Barbara had just said, his mind racing as he did his best to come to terms with the realisation that she might just be correct.

…

Mario had been infected with Tetch's blood. Jim had managed to track him down after he had been attacked in the lab where Alice Tetch's blood was. He had gone to see Tetch in Arkham and he had admitted that he had injected Mario. He had practically admitted it to him. But Mario didn't have the virus. Lucius Fox had done tests and they had all come back negative. But Jim was still convinced that Mario had been infected. How could he not? He had seen him attack the guy at the jewellery store easily. He had punched Jim when he had confronted him over his feelings for Lee. Jim just had to prove that Mario was dangerous. But he couldn't do anything to anger him, not really. He had someone special to Jim under his care.

…

Ed was buying his time, but he knew that he had to move quickly. He had tried to trick Penguin and it had worked. He had told Oswald that he had deeper feelings for him that he cared to admit and that since Olivia's passing he had a desire to become something more. Oswald took it to mean that he loved him, openly admitting his own feelings before Ed had pulled back and told him that he only meant a deeper relationship as business partners.

"Ed, I hope you can forgive my outburst from earlier," Oswald said as they sat together that evening after going about their business for the day. They had eaten dinner in silence. Oswald had kept looking at Ed, but Ed had kept his gaze on the food. He was more focused on that instead of Oswald. He was now convinced that Oswald had been the one to kill Olivia. It was taking him all the self-restraint not to launch himself across the table and kill Oswald there and then.

"I never meant to upset you earlier. I do not want my declaration…my silly declaration…to come between us."

Ed was struggling to keep his jaw from shaking with rage. He gulped loudly and looked over from where he was staring into the fire. His gaze landed on Penguin and the two stared at each other for a moment. Oswald longed for Ed to look at him and promise him that they would be fine, that they could go back to how things had been between them. He needed that from him. But Ed was not going to do that.

"You are my best friend, Ed," Penguin said. "I don't want to lose you."

"And I don't want to lose you either," Ed finally managed to say. He moved to his feet and stood tall, his eyes shifting to the fire as he lied through his teeth. "I have to go out, however. I will be back later."

"Shall I wait up?"

"No, I might be a while," Ed replied and he stalked off into the night.

He drove downtown to Barbara's club, his mind on nothing but seeking revenge. He passed by the church where Lee Thompkins was due to get married that same evening. He saw people entering the venue and he wondered what it might have been like at a different time. Would Lee have married Jim instead? Would Ed have gone to the wedding with Olivia? He could imagine it. He could imagine her as a bridesmaid. She was one of Lee's closest friends ever since she had started dating her brother.

Ed shook those thoughts from his mind as he went back to driving, moving through the green light. He kept his lips tightly pursed and put his foot down on the gas hard. Once he came to the outside of the club, he parked up and headed up to it. He suspected it was shut as it was still early, but he knew that Barbara would be there. He did not want to work with Barbara, but he suspected that she might have her uses. She usually did.

Entering the club, he was greeted instantly by Tabitha raising her gun towards him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your head off right here," she demanded, anger apparent in her voice.

"Oh, I can think of a couple," Barbara interjected, standing in front of Tabitha and urging her to lower her gun. The two shared an understanding look and Barbara turned to look to Ed again, a smile of glee on her face. "So you saw sense, huh?"

"I want to take away everything that he loves," Ed said as Butch stood up and next to Tabitha. "I want to make him suffer."

"What are you talking about?" Butch demanded from him.

Barbara smirked. "Penguin."

"What?" Butch asked again.

"Penguin killed Olivia Gordon."

"And you cut off my hand?" Tabitha demanded from him, showing him the damage.

Ed tilted his head to the side. "I assume you want something," he said to her.

Barbara smirked. "With Penguin gone there will need to be a new leader of the Gotham underworld."

"The families will never follow you."

"And that is where you come in. You are an expert at strategy. With your brains…their brawn…me in charge…we can have everything," she said and Ed considered her proposition. He didn't want that, not really. All he wanted was to have Olivia back. But that was not going to happen. And so he had to settle for the next best thing. "But there is one thing you have to do first."

"Oh," Ed said and looked to Tabitha. "I am sorry for cutting your hand off."

"Apology not accepted," she snarled and began to launch herself forward, but Barbara blocked her. She grabbed her by the waist and stopped her from getting any further. Looking to Ed, she nodded once. "We will work on that."

Ed nodded curtly. "I will be in touch," was all he said before he swept out of the club and began to imagine all the ways he could get the revenge he so desired.

…

Jim had been too late. He had argued with Lee. He had told her that he still loved her, but that didn't matter. She had gone and married him. She had married Mario and now they had gone off on their honeymoon. Jim had gone to Carmine, urging for him to track down Mario and bring him back. Jim had to save Lee, but Carmine had refused to give up Mario's location, despite him knowing that he had been injected with the virus. Lee was one of Jim's main concerns. Mario knew too much about his secrets.

….

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