Ed headed up the stairs towards Barnes' office and knocked on the door.
"Come in Nygma." He said having already seen him through the window. Edward entered nervously.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Edward asked.
"I did," Barnes acknowledged, regarding Nygma for a moment before he said: "Have a seat."
"Uh, yes sir." He said sitting down in the indicated seat. They sat in silence a moment before Barnes spoke.
"I'm generally a straightforward man … But I hate liars." He said. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me Mr. Nygma?"
Ed stared at him a moment, nervously. What did he know? Did he suspect him in Dougherty's disappearance? Did they find his father's body? No that couldn't be it, he would have heard something on his last shift.
"No sir." He said with a confused shrug. "I'm an open book."
"Really? So then … Answer me this." He said fiddling with a pen on his desk. "What's your highest level of education?"
Edward blanked a moment. "My highest-" he paused. There was no way he could have found out …. He's testing me. "I graduated from Gotham University with a bachelor's degree four years ago. My recommendations are in my file."
"Mr. Nygma … I told you I don't like liars." He said. "Or should I call you Mr. Nashton?" He asked watching the blood drain out of his face. "See I did some digging around on you, a little deeper than I had initially and found some pretty interesting information. See I discovered that you dropped out of high school in grade 9, after failing 3 times. You then ran away from home, wound up in Gotham. I'm assuming you were a street kid so … Where exactly did you get the $60,000 for your bachelor's degree?" Barnes asked.
"I took out a loan." Edward said nervously. Barnes nodded as if Edward's answer made all the sense in the world.
"Oh, so a kid … With no education, no finances, no one to cosign … Took out a $60,000 loan? That must have been easy hmm? Simple as that."
Edward didn't say anything. "I told you Mr. Nashton … I hate liars. I know for a fact you did not obtain your GED … And you did not even set foot in a college. You want to know how I know? Because all colleges and adult education centres keep paper copies of all their students files … Seems a bit odd that neither school had yours. So do you want to tell me why that is?"
Edward was silent for a moment before he spoke. "I learned everything on my own … I didn't have the money nor the means to obtain a proper education … So I hacked the school's computer programs and entered myself as a student. I phoned both institutes and requested a copy of my school documents, since I was in their system it was easy to obtain. Cost me less than $20. I'm sorry for doing that, but I didn't have any other means … I'm more than qualified-"
"But you're not Mr. Nashton."
"Please stop calling me that." Edward said starting to get a bit upset. Barnes regarded him a moment.
"Look, Nygma … You're a good kid … You made some mistakes in the past but these mistakes are breaking at least five laws … I could have you arrested." He said making Ed look up at him. "But they'd send you to Black Gate, and I know exactly what they'd do to a guy like you. As much as I hate to admit you're the best Forensics we got here. And I really wish I didn't have to do this …" He said pulling out a piece of paper and sliding it across the desk. "You're dismissed from the GCPD … If you'll sign the bottom." Edward stared at the paper, his heart hammering in his chest. If he didn't have a job …. Then he would have zero chance of getting Rubix back.
"Sir, please. Don't do this. I'm fighting for custody for my son, he's only three and abused by his mother, if I don't have a job-"
"That's not my problem Nygma …" Barnes said as Ed's eyes started to water, both out of fear and frustration. Ed licked his lips nervously and picked up the pen, signing the bottom before standing from his chair, the pen dropping back to the desk.
"Look kid …" Barnes said. "I'm going as easy on you as I can …. But that fake education of yours has been revoked. Under the table. Few people know. If you gain the proper education, you may apply for your job again."
Edward stood there a moment, staring at Barnes. Once he obtained the proper education? That could take years! "My son might not have that long … But I appreciate your concern." He said sarcastically before leaving to pack up his locker.
Edward came in the door and heard Jim, Kristen and Lee laughing about something presumably that happened in the game downstairs. He quietly closed the trap door and moved to the sink to put the dishes away, perhaps doing so a bit more vigorously than necessary.
Hearing the trapdoor close, Kristen realized Edward was probably home. "Hang on," she said, getting up. "I think Ed's back. Let me go see what that was about." As she headed up the stairs, the smile left over from their raucous laughter faded away, a sense of anxiousness returning. He hadn't been gone terribly long, so she doubted Barnes was consulting him on a case. But he hadn't been arrested either … which was getting to be more of a concern than it should have been. Maybe Barnes had just been rebuking him for overstretching his job description … But then wouldn't he have called in Lee too, since she was the one authorizing it? Whatever this was about, Kristen had a nasty feeling that it would never have happened if she'd just kept her mouth shut this afternoon.
"Edward?" she asked tentatively, once she was through the trapdoor. His back was to her, and she couldn't see his expression. "What did Barnes want to see you about?"
Edward tensed as he heard Kristen speak, hoping she would have stayed downstairs. The glass in his hand shattered as he squeezed it a little too hard.
"Go back downstairs Kristen, please." He said, his voice sounding strained as if he were trying to keep control of himself.
He watched the blood from his hand wash down the sink drain with the running water, but he didn't even notice the pain in his hand …
"Edward, your hand," Kristen said, worried. She ran to the bathroom and returned with the first aid kit, approaching him tentatively. "What's wrong?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Edward said nothing as Jim and Lee both came upstairs, having heard Kristen. "You okay Ed?" Jim asked, a look of confused concern on his face.
"I'm fine." Edward said tightly, as Kristen reached for his hand, he pulled it away from her and gripped the sink with his uninjured hand.
Kristen looked up at him, remaining still once he'd pulled away from her. Things must be worse than she had thought … And Edward's complete exhaustion hadn't exactly left him in the best state to deal with it either. "Edward," she said quietly. "You don't have to talk about it right now, but your hand is bleeding. Just let me take care of that, and then if you need some space, I'll back off."
"Kristen's right." Lee said coming beside him. There was shards of glass in his hand that needed to be pulled out, the wound tended too. It was bleeding pretty badly.
"Ed come on …" Jim said as Ed backed away from the sink with a sigh. He moved to the bed and sat down. Lee looked at Kristen as she turned the sink tap off.
"Do you want me to do it? He may need stitches." She said quietly.
"I…" Kristen glanced over at Lee, and then nodded reluctantly. "I guess you're more qualified," she admitted, passing the first aid kit over to her, before going to clean up the broken glass in the kitchen.
Lee took the first aid kit from Kristen and knelt down in front of Ed. She took his hand, a pair of tweezers in the other, and gently started pulling the glass from his hand. "You'll probably need to go to a hospital, get it xrayed to see if there's any small pieces but it looks like it's mostly bigger pieces." She said amazed that Ed was hardly flinching as she pulled the glass out.
She cleaned it up after all the glass was out. He needed only three stitches, which was a lot better than she had thought he would, and after that was done she wrapped his hand from the knuckles up to his wrist in clean white bandages.
"I got fired." Edward said after the long silence while she'd cleaned his wound, finally breaking the silence which had long become awkward.
Kristen froze. "You … What?" she asked, stunned. She'd been afraid he would be reprimanded for doing more than he was qualified for, but … fired? It made no sense whatsoever. He was the best forensics officer on the force, and at a time when GCPD was so strained for competent manpower, they had seriously fired him? "For what? They need you!'
"Kristen's right. You're GCPD's best. You should be head of that department! They couldn't possibly have grounds to fire you!" Jim said sounding absolutely appalled. Ed was the one that actually got things done … Half their cases wouldn't have been solved nearly half as fast if it wasn't for him.
"Ed, if it's because of you assisting in my area I can talk to Barnes … You have to fight this! He can't-"
"He can … And he did. My other option was Black Gate." Edward said looking at his injured hand.
"Oh," Kristen said quietly, realization hitting her. Had Barnes really gone to the trouble of digging deep enough to find Edward's faked credentials? If he had, there was no getting around that. But there was no other reason this could have happened. The only other illegal activity Edward had been involved with would have gotten him arrested, no question about it.
"What?" Lee looked from Edward to Kristen and back again, confusion evident on her face. "Ed, what are you talking about?"
"Ed, what could you have possibly done to warrant a possible arrest?" Jim asked. "Did you forget to pay your taxes?" He joked.
"No. I pay my taxes." Ed said rolling his eyes slightly. "I failed grade 9 three times, dropped out and never went back to school. I'm not technically qualified to work there."
"But I saw your credentials when I talked to Sarah about getting you to assist me …" Lee said. "Your education-"
"Was fake." Ed said cutting her off. "It's not hard to hack a school's computer system … I did it once when I was twelve … It doesn't take a genius to do so."
"Fake?" Lee shook her head. "But I've never met anyone more capable. How is that possible?"
"Not everyone does their learning in a classroom," Kristen said quietly. She felt terrible. No one at the precinct paid any attention to Edward. There was no reason for Barnes to go digging. And it would have stayed that way if she hadn't tried to talk to him.
"This is nuts …" Jim said running his hands through his hair. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know … I have enough money put away I'll be fine for about six months … And the income from the complex here should last me at least two months after that." He said rubbing his uninjured hand over his mouth. "I'm more concerned about Rubix … If I don't have a job …."
"Then Rubix stays with mommy dearest." Jim said finishing his sentence, and sighing in annoyance.
"You could get your GED," Kristen said quietly, her mind racing through possibilities to fix what she had done. "Then find a temporary job, for custody purposes, while you try to sort this out?"
"I'll have to. I'll call tomorrow to make an appointment to test out … In the meantime I'll have to start job hunting for anything full time." He said rubbing his hand over his face again. "Of all the things that could have happened now …"
"Hey, it'll be okay. Everything will work out." Lee said reassuringly.
"Right," Kristen agreed, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We'll make this work," she promised, willing it to be true. "Just take things one step at a time."
"I have a lawyer in mind. I'll talk to him tomorrow … See if he'll take your case. He's pretty reliable. We'll all help you out Ed. Don't worry."
"Yeah Ed. We'll all pitch in … Do what we can to help. But you're going to be a walking zombie if you don't sleep soon, you look like you're going to collapse." Lee said as Ed waved her off.
"I wouldn't be able to sleep now anyway." He said shaking his head.
"Well, I'm sure me and Jim hanging around here isn't helping. We should head out anyway." She said gathering up her purse as Ed stood up.
"Yeah, you should take it easy Ed. Get some sleep, I'll call you tomorrow when I've got some news for you."
"See ya." Edward said heading towards his laptop that was sitting on his make shift dining room table.
Kristen thanked Jim and Lee for coming over, as she walked them to the door. She looked back at Edward for a moment, not even sure how to begin trying to help. Lately, it seemed like she only knew how to mess things up. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, going over to sit by him.
"You don't have to be sorry for something you had no control over." He said. "Someone was bound to find out eventually." He said pulling up the job website and entering his area information, broadening his searches to all of Gotham. He looked for jobs that required no education - even though he was getting his GED he didn't have it at the present moment. He pulled up his old resume, which he could still technically use since he couldn't exactly put "GCPD Forensics" on it … Since it technically legally didn't happen. Which meant his resume was virtually empty. All he had to do was remove his education.
"I know, but…" Kristen shook her head. Edward was right. She'd had no rational reason to suspect that asking Barnes to get some more people on forensics, and maybe send Edward home early that afternoon, would result in uncovering this. She hugged Edward gently, resting her head on his shoulder. "I think you should try to get some rest," she said quietly. "You'll be less frustrated job hunting if you're not already exhausted on top of everything else."
"I know, but the faster I get some resumes out there, the faster I might get a job. It's so hard to find a job in Gotham. And the last thing I want to do is move to another city just for work." He said taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. Perhaps she had a point, as much as he wanted to start applying right away, he was so tired he felt like his head was buzzing. "Are you staying tonight?"
"Yes," Kristen said firmly. She wasn't about to leave him alone like this.
Edward slowly closed the laptop with a quiet snap and stood up, pulling her into his arms. "Thank you." He said kissing her gently. "I know it's still early so if you want to go watch some tv or play a game or something, that's fine. It's only six so … I know you wouldn't be able to sleep. …. I'm going to head to bed though." He said kissing her again gently. He seriously wondered how he'd do all this without her here. He'd probably have lost his mind worse than he already had.
"Alright," Kristen said. She kissed him back, then looked up at him. "I'll find something to do until I'm sleepy enough to come join you." Most likely, she would do a little job searching as well, and write down any prospects she found. "If you need anything, let me know, okay?"
Edward mumbled an agreement and was too tired to even blush when his stomach grumbled rather loudly. "Perhaps food would be in order some time tonight. I'm currently torn between raiding the fridge, and making it to the bed." He said with a laugh. "At least the upside to being unemployed … I can sleep for the next week and not have to worry about people phoning me to wake me up." He said rubbing his hands over his face. "Why don't we order a few pizzas … I'll nap until it gets here, and then we can eat."
"That's a good idea," Kristen said, a little relieved that he was thinking reasonably about looking after himself. And she couldn't recall when exactly she had last seen him eat anything. "What do you want on yours?"
"I … Fff." He paused unable to even think of what he wanted. "Food." He said with a shake of his head. "I don't care. Get whatever you like."
That was terribly vague for someone as particular about food as Edward could be. He really was out of it. "Alright," she said, shooing him off to bed. "I'll take care of it. You go sleep." Knowing Ed, there were at least a few things she already knew to steer clear of. Onions, for one thing. But pizza wasn't overly complicated.
"My cards in my wallet." He said pointing to the jacket, though he was sure the man banging on the door would wake him up. He groaned as he climbed into bed. "Would you be annoyed if I asked you for one more favour?" He asked, his eyes closed as he lay on his back, half under the blankets.
Kristen paused, getting her phone out, and looked over at Edward. "Not at all," she assured him. If there was more she could do to help, she'd be glad to hear it.
"Can you close the blinds." He said lazily pointing at them with his injured hand where the sun was glaring in.
"Yes, dear," Kristen said, smiling slightly. He really was exhausted. She went over to close the blinds. "Anything else?" She asked.
"No." He mumbled quietly, already half falling asleep.
Kristen quietly went downstairs so she wouldn't bother him, and made a call to order pizza. She didn't come back up until she heard the doorbell ring, running up quickly before Edward could drag himself out of bed. Even though he had told her she could use his card, she felt better using her own, given the circumstances. She got to the door and paid for the pizzas before Edward was fully awake.
Edward groaned and rolled over in bed, rubbing his eyes and falling back asleep within seconds.
"Edward?" Kristen asked, setting the pizzas down on the table, before going over and gently nudging his shoulder. "The pizza's here. Think you can wake up enough to eat?"
Edward grumbled and slowly rolled into a sitting position, his hair sticking up in every direction as he rubbed his eyes. "Mhmm." He mumbled as he turned to sit on the side of the bed.
She looked over at him and shook her head, then went to get a couple of plates, bringing a few slices over to him. Evidently, movement was a little beyond him right now.
Edward took the plate from her and moved over to the table so they could sit and eat. "Sorry." He mumbled, even though for what he wasn't sure. Perhaps it was multiple reasons.
"There's nothing to be sorry about," she said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze as she sat down beside him. "Once you're done eating, you can go right back to bed, okay?" He was clearly still beyond exhausted.
"I had every intention of doing so, I'm not going to wake up for at least a week." He said slowly eating his pizza. "But I am sorry." He insisted.
"For what?" Kristen asked, bewildered, before picking up a slice and taking a bite. "Having the shittiest day ever?"
Edward sighed. "For everything … Dragging you into this … Asking you out … I shouldn't have gotten you involved in my life. It's always been like this and I fear it's always going to be …. Might even get worse. I knew what I was dragging you into and I still asked you out." He said tiredly. "On some level I knew you would have found out about Officer Dougherty. I had no way of knowing how you'd react, I can't help but feel like it would have gone differently had it been under any other circumstance. But I knew it wouldn't end well ..."
"Edward," she said, reaching over and taking his hand in hers. "I can, in fact, make my own decisions. And I'm glad I said yes. I don't know where this bizarre journey is leading anymore, but … I'm glad I'm on it with you." She looked down at the table. "As for Dougherty… You had the good sense not to bring it up casually over dinner," she said, before her tone became more serious again. "Though … Sometimes I wish I'd had the chance to find out if I would have ever found the courage to leave him on my own." She often wondered. Edward had fought that battle for her, and now she would never know. She shook her head. "I guess that doesn't matter now, though."
"You left Flass on your own." He said yawning so hard his eyes watered. He wiped the tears away from his eyes and took another bite of pizza. Perhaps he'd finish this slice, enough to tide him over till morning and eat when he woke up. Which with any luck will be some time next week. Or the following.
"Yeah," she said quietly, not sounding terribly convinced. She picked absently at her pizza. "I did that, at least." It didn't feel like the same thing, though. Flass hadn't scared her the same way that Dougherty did. Even now, she didn't like being alone in her apartment at night if she could help it. Shouldn't knowing he was dead bring her some closure over the whole thing?
"What's the matter?" He asked wiping his hands together once he finished his second slice.
"It's nothing," Kristen said. God knew Edward had enough of his own problems right now for both of them, and then some. "Just … bad memories. That's all."
"Yeah, that I understand. If there's anything you want me to help with - preferably in the morning, just ask." He said yawning again. "I think I'm going to go back to bed."
"Alright," Kristen said, though she doubted there was anything Edward could do. Some things she would have to work through on her own. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek as she stood up to go put the leftover pizza to the fridge, before heading over to the sink to go wash the dishes. "I promise I won't wake you up again unless something's on fire."
Around ten PM Edward subconsciously felt Kristen get into bed and turned over, wrapping himself around her without even waking up.
Kristen pulled the blankets over them both as she settled into bed next to Edward, snuggling close against him. She had spent the hours since dinner searching for leads on jobs, but there was only so much Edward would be considered qualified for. Eventually, she'd decided to take her own advice and get some rest. Edward had a rough time ahead of him. She would just have to do the best she could do help him through this.