It was several weeks before Alyssa and Edward spoke again.
She had been down to The GCPD several times; wrangling an irritable Harvey Bullock who wasn't doing well without Jim. Edward had seen her, but hadn't approached her. He was too ashamed.
When they were kids, Alyssa had always been a terrifying thrill for him. He had quite honestly been scared of her, and if he was honest with himself, he still was now. He spent years trying to figure her out, but everytime he thought he had it, she proved him wrong.
She had always said he would be the impressive one because of his intelligence. She was very bluntly aware of the fact that she didn't match up, but he was very bluntly aware that she beat him out in other, more important categories.
Alyssa Connors had always been aware of the lousy state of the world around her, and yet she had managed to thrive in it. She put others before herself everytime; her sister, her daughter, even him.
As for her feelings toward him, well, Alyssa was his best friend. It never occurred to him to see her as anything else. But now he thought about it. Probably more than he ought to. He had always admired her; both physically and personality wise. She was remarkable to him in every way possible, he had found himself marveling over her on many occasions, but he had always thought that was because she was breaking every rule he knew.
The rational side of him said there was no fixing this. Logically, he had ruined his friendship with her and there was no going back.
But the rational and logical side of him never seemed to be right when it came to Alyssa. She had been the one to bring out the new side in him; the stubborn and wild one who just wanted her back beyond all reason.
So when the detectives called her in for the Arkham escape case – apparently she did volunteer work there – he hovered nearby, waiting for a chance to speak to her.
"Since when does Arkham let in volunteers anyhow?" Harvey said, clearly not liking the idea of Alyssa around the mentally ill.
"Since I became rich enough to bribe people." Alyssa informed. "I was curious about the place, I always have been."
"I know I had to bail you out when you got arrested for sneaking in when it was closed down."
"The patients did seem rather fond of you." Jim said. "Especially Tetch."
"Hatter." she lit up. "Yeah, he adores me."
"He calls you the white queen." Jim frowned.
"Its a character from Alice in Wonderland. In the story, the white queen is the rightful ruler that Alice and her friends are trying to reinstate in place of the red queen." she explained. "Means he thinks highly of me. Also means he expects me to show up for tea parties."
"Right..." Jim shook his head. "Your bizarre life aside..."
The second she stepped away from being questioned, Edward stepped up to her. She spoke before he could.
"Mr. Nygma, I believe you had this sent to my office." she shoved a small bakery box at him.
Edward flinched a little at her cold and professional tone, but held onto his confidence. "Its a riddle."
Alyssa flipped the lid of the box open to show a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing – it was her favorite. "Its a cupcake with a live bullet sticking out of it."
"Its, a riddle." his face fell slightly.
"Its weird and menacing, and inedible." Alyssa informed before turning and walking off.
Edward wanted to call out to her, but he couldn't get any words past the lump in his throat. Weird...Menacing...those were words she'd always defended him from; attacking those who didn't understand his intelligence or made fun of his admittedly lacking social skills.
Whatever argument the rational side of him had was quickly silent and all of him was in agreement: he had to get her back.
In the hotel full of teenagers, six am was hardly a time to be awake. As such, Alyssa had peace and quiet while she looked over the books and flipped through the mail that had been delivered.
It was also why she was the one who woke up half the first floor.
Dear Ms. Connors,
We were delighted to receive your work, and thank you for choosing us to showcase it. The art gallery opens on the 15th; it will be a formal event that we would like you to attend. You are welcome to invite up to ten guests.
Sincerely, The Gotham Art Borough
"I'm here, why'd you call me?" Harvey came through the front door of the hotel.
Standing behind the front desk, Alyssa pulled a ball gun out and began firing at the older man.
"Whoa whoa!" he held up his hands to protect himself. "What the hell kid?!"
"How could you?!"
"What I do?!"
Ceasing fire, Alyssa threw the letter in his face. "Selina says you signed off on this! I expect this kinda thing from her, but come on Harv!"
Taking a moment to look over the letter, Harvey sighed. "Alright yeah, I signed off on it for her. But only because I've spent years seeing you pour your heart into your work, and I think it deserves some recognition."
Alyssa hung her head and ran a hand through her hair. "Harvey...I'm not good with emotions." she looked up at him. "But, I'm sure you know that. So sometimes, when I'm angry, or frustrated, I splatter paint on a canvas or scribble with a pencil and the scribbles and splatters turn into shapes. Now, I do that for me, not for anyone else."
"...Okay. Okay kid, well you're already mad at me, so I'm just gonna say this next part and run."
Alyssa folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.
Harvey sighed. "I invited your sister."
Edward felt very out of place at the Flee, though that might've been the hundred and fifty some teenagers staring at him. Still, despite its somewhat rough and dismal state, the place had small touches that he recognized as Alyssa's charm.
The meal station was serving plenty of baked goods, one of the older kids was reading a children's book to a group of younger kids. But what really caught his eye was the wall of polaroid pictures.
There were all of young men and women beaming in their success. Some were standing in front of restaurants with their names on them, some were in broadway costumes, a few were in fancy suits. There was a sign above the pictures that read 'Gotham Wall Of Fame.'
"Who are you?"
Edward turned to see a small red haired girl who he recognized as Mario Pepper's daughter. "Edward. Nygma."
"What are you doing here? You don;t belong here, your clothes are too nice."
"I-I'm looking for Alyssa Connors. Do you know where she is?"
"Yeah. Alyssa shut herself up in her office an hour ago. Mickey says she's real mad."
"Could you point me in the direction of her office."
The girl pointed up to a staircase that lead to a loft. There were a few doors on the far wall.
"Thank you." he nodded and hurried towards the stairs.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he knocked on the door that had 'Mama' written on it in spray paint.
"Go away."
"Alyssa? Its Edward."
"I stand by my 'go away.'"
Ignoring her order, he tried the doorknob to find it unlocked and stepped inside.
Alyssa's office was in the same state as the rest of the building, but decidedly more homey. There was a large wooden desk that she sat behind with two cushioned chairs in front of it. There were some pictures on the wall that he recognized as her own work, along with a few photos as well.
"What do you want Mr. Nygma?" she huffed, leaning back in her chair.
"The cupcake is sweet, the bullet is deadly...a beautiful woman's a dangerous thing."
Clearly taken back, Alyssa blushed, smiling slightly.
"I know, what I've done is unexcuseable. I-I made false accusations, and I screamed at you...I was under the impression that I knew you better than anyone else. But you hid things, and lied just to make me feel better. While I appreciate that, that's not how a stable friendship should work."
"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow.
Edward shook his head. "True friends should be there for each other to share the burden. Sticking together though the bad things is kind of the point really. I was under the impression that I was that kind of friend, but it appears I wasn't. So I'm sorry. And..." he looked down. "I miss you. I-I just...wanted to say that."
Alyssa bit her lip. "...As usual, you're right. I haven't been fair to you. I was so focused on protecting you, I didn't see what it was actually doing to you. So for that I'm sorry."
"Really?" he looked at her, eyes slightly wide behind his glasses. "I rather expected you to slap me again by now. To be honest, I didn't think I'd get this far."
That made Alyssa smile. "Edward Nygma without a plan? What is the world coming to?"
He chuckled nervously. "Yeah. Listen, Alyssa...You're my best friend. You've been my best friend since we were twelve, and I know I'm a different person than I would've been if I hadn't known you. I don't want this to be the end of us."
"I thought you wanted nothing to do with me?"
"I've tried forgetting you exist when you first left Gotham and discovered I'm not very good at it." Edward shook his head. "And...It only recently occurred to me, but I'm beginning to think the feelings I have for you are stronger than friendship and I'd like to explore them."
Alyssa winced. "Ed, if you're just doing this for my sake –"
"No, my feelings for you are the same that they've always been." he cut her off. "I just...didn't think that I might being misinterpreting them." a pink tinge appeared on his cheeks. "It also never occurred to me that you had stronger feelings for me, so..."
Alyssa smiled and tried to ignore her racing heart. "Tell you what; Harvey and Selina decided to go behind my back and send some of my artwork to a gallery. There's a party for when it opens on the 15th, and I'm allowed to bring guests. You can come, if you like."
A wide grin lit up Edward's face. "I'll be there."