Edward groaned as he adjusted his grip on the man beside him. He wished the man hadn't made it so far when he'd followed after him. It was already dark and he couldn't carry Oswald and hold the flashlight at the same time without having a difficult time of it.
He'd already got turned around twice and wound up back at the camper. He sighed as he stopped, using the flashlight to look around.
"KRISTEN!" He called out for the millionth time since he'd gotten lost. He had to be close … He had to still be going in the right direction.
"Edward?" Kristen called back, relieved, sure that she heard him this time. He'd been gone for hours, and she'd gotten increasingly worried as the forest had started to get dark.
"KRISTEN!" He yelled again trying to figure out what direction her voice came from. "KEEP TALKING!" He said wishing he'd left the car keys with her. There was a chance he'd be able to see the car headlights, but sadly that wasn't the case.
"I'm this way!" Kristen called out to him, straining to try to see him through the darkness. "Did … did everything turn out okay?"
"No." He called out finally figuring out where her voice was coming from. He reached her in a few minutes, hauling Oswald beside him. "Help me get him in the car. I'll come back to take care of-" he paused when he saw that the hole was still open but …. The man now fit in said hole. "Did you-" Edward paused, before he shook his head. "Never mind. Help me get him into the car!"
Kristen looked down at the injured and unconscious man Edward was dragging along. "Edward…" she said slowly. "Is… is that the Penguin?"
"Yes. I found him in a trailer a little ways out. He's injured, if we don't get him back soon he's going to die." He said panting as he hauled Oswald towards his car.
"Right," she said, trying not to freak out at the direction things had taken. She put an arm around Oswald, helping Edward to get him to the car. He was in seriously pitiful condition. It was easy to forget the man was a cold-blooded killer. "We're helping the Penguin now… Edward, you know everyone's looking for him. What exactly are we supposed to do while he's recovering? Just hide him? You do remember we work at GCPD, right?"
"Yes, which is exactly why they wouldn't look at my apartment. Two days ago could you imagine me killing someone, even in self defence?" He asked sitting Oswald down on the seat of the car. "Hold him." He said waiting until Kristen had him propped up. He moved to the other side of the car and opened the door. "I'm invisible remember? No one would even think he'd be at my apartment, let alone take the time to search it." He said climbing through the car and taking a hold of Oswald's shoulders, hauling him back onto the seat. He groaned as he got out and shut the door, leaning against the car. He was physically exhausted and wanted nothing more than to lay down, but he couldn't stop, not yet.
That … really shouldn't have made as much sense to her as it did. She shook her head. "This is insane," she said. "We've both gone completely insane, haven't we?"
Edward looked up at her as he rounded back around the car. "Do you have a better idea? If we leave him here he'll die …. If we dump him at a hospital, Galavan will have him killed. He's weak, he's vulnerable, and he's done nothing to us …."
"I … I know," Kristen said, glancing back into the car, unable to help pitying his helpless state. "But …" She refrained from saying 'he kills people.' They'd passed the point where they could pass judgment on that. "The hunter hadn't done anything to us either," she pointed out quietly. It was so strange to try to comprehend. One minute, she was having to dismember a complete stranger Edward had killed just for being a witness. The next, here was Edward trying to take a wanted crime boss home like a stray puppy.
"No, but he would have. He already saw the blood on the suitcase, he realized what was going on, there was no way he wouldn't go to the GCPD if he had the chance … And as you mentioned, we wouldn't be hard to find. We work there." He said quietly moving back over to the hole. He knew Oswald needed help but they had to take care of this first. He started shoving dirt back into the hole, his arms aching from having hauled Oswald back, but this had to be done and fast. They needed to get back to Gotham so that he could tend to Oswald's wounds.
Kristen sighed, and went over to go help Edward push the dirt back into the hole. "But the Penguin couldn't possibly be a threat to us at all?" she asked sarcastically, then shook her head. "Look … I feel bad for him too, and we can help him, but … I'm getting pretty confused about your logic behind deciding when to kill someone and when not to, and it's getting more than a little unsettling."
"If we left him here to die do you not think his men would look into it? Maybe trace him back to here? Find evidence that we were here as well? He has trained assassins working for him do you really think they wouldn't be capable of finding us connected to him at all at this point?" He asked. "Besides … Do you really think he'd bother running to the GCPD over two dead people he doesn't know? He's got a pretty hefty wanted sign over his own head."
"True," Kristen shook her head. "But his men won't be the only ones looking for him …" She looked up at him fearfully. "What are you getting us into, Edward?"
"Well what do you suggest we do?" Edward asked getting annoyed. He was exhausted and as stressed as she was, this had gotten more out of hand than he expected it to. "Would you like me to go back in time, let my father kill me? Let him go out on the loose? We'd never be here … I'm sure this guy would still be alive and neither one of us would have to worry about him!" He was motioning to his car.
Kristen flinched slightly at his words, and looked up at him, eyes wide and upset. "No, I didn't ... I don't know what we should do, okay?" She looked back down into the hole in the ground, so dark now that she couldn't see the bottom, as she shoved more dirt forward. "Excuse me for being a little freaked out by all of this!"
"Well I don't know what you want me to do. Should I have just left him there? Let this guy go tell the police?" Edward said clearly getting angry. It didn't help that that damn hallucination was back, leaning against a tree and smirking at him as if this was amusing. "Perhaps we should just take Penguin to a hospital, then he won't be our problem, then I can go turn myself in …. Sounds like a solution." He said shoving the last of the dirt to place and kicking some leaves around so it didn't look so obviously bare.
"I didn't say any of that!" she snapped, hurt that he was apparently mad at her now. "I just said I don't know what to do." She brushed the dirt off her hands and walked back over to the car.
"So are we leaving him or taking him?" Edward asked coming up to the car.
'Really?' Edward ignored the hallucination that was now leaning against the car. 'You're going to let the woman decide?' Edward glared at the hallucination but ignored it's comment. 'Take him. It'll be fun. You could use a new friend.'
"Shut up." Edward muttered before he could stop himself.
Kristen stopped in her tracks. "Don't," she said coldly. "Tell me to shut up. You've already decided we're taking him, so let's just go."
Edward groaned. "I wasn't talking to you." He said frustrated, moving the rest of the way to the car.
Kristen didn't say anything as she got in on the passenger's side and closed the door. She realized her hands were shaking.
Edward got into the car and started it without saying anything to her. At this point perhaps silence was preferable.
They drove in silence back into Gotham, Edward forcing himself to remain calm as he wound up driving next to a police car. The police car drove beside them for two blocks before Ed signalled and pulled onto another road just to get away from it.
"This is insane." Edward said turning onto a street that would take them back to where they needed to go.
"You're not wrong," she said shakily, before noticing that Ed had veered away from the turn they would take to get to his apartment. "I thought we were taking him back to your place?"
"I am." He said turning onto another street, driving straight down and turning onto hers. He stopped outside of her apartment and put his hazards on.
Kristen looked over at Edward. Had he decided she would just be in the way? Hadn't she just dismembered a goddamn body for him? It had been horrible, but … A part of her had hoped he might be proud of her, that she could handle it. Well. She guessed this was at least better than locking her downstairs again. She opened the car door and let herself out.
"Will I see you again tomorrow?" she asked, keeping her voice even as possible.
"If you want … You can stop by tomorrow." Edward said glancing back at Oswald who groaned in pain in the back seat. "Kristen …." Edward said before she could walk away. "I'm sorry for snapping at you back there … I was just-"
Kristen shook her head. "It's… It's okay. We're tired and scared and we said things. Go take care of Cobblepot."
Ed nodded slowly. "I'll see you tomorrow then." He said giving her a bit of a forced smile before someone behind him honked at him. He glanced back at the car before taking his hazards off and slowly pulling away to drive back to his apartment.