Edward glanced at the clock as he removed his undershirt, tossing it into the laundry hamper. Jim and Lee should be here soon, they had invited them over for dinner and it was ready and made on the table.

He pulled out a clean undershirt and dress shirt to go over top when he heard a banging on the door. That wouldn't be them, he knew they would never knock like that.

Kristen flinched at the loud and insistent banging at the door. She glanced over at Edward anxiously. "That doesn't sound like them … Are we expecting anyone else?"

"No." Edward started to say before a very familiar voice came from the other side of the door.

"EDWARD YOU BETTER OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR!" Brittany said kicking the door. Edward moved to the door and slid it open.

No sooner had he opened the door than a slap hit him hard in the face. "Took you damn long enough!" Brittany fumed, looking livid, her other hand gripping Rubix's wrist, dragging him forward sharply. Rubix was sobbing, tears running down his face. "You tricked me into taking him!" she shouted. "You made a big fucking deal about the brat, sent your fucking cop friends and got me arrested, so that I'd get mad and come take him off your hands! But all the ungrateful little shit does is whine and cry all the time!" She shoved Rubix forward so hard that he fell face first onto the floor. "Also my boyfriend doesn't want kids so …. You can have the thing back!" She said as her new boyfriend stood leaning in the doorway. Rubix sat up crying as Ed picked him up.

"What the hell is wrong with you? He's just a kid!" He said angrily, though he did not raise his voice.

"Yeah," Brittany's boyfriend said nonchalantly, looking kind of bored. "Your kid. Your problem."

Kristen rushed forward and gathered Rubix out of Edward's arms, wanting to get him away from all of the yelling. As she did, she noticed that he had a black eye. She shot Brittany a furious glare, before walking away with him, quietly reassuring the crying child that it was okay, that everything was alright.

Ed noticed the bruise on his face as Brittany and her new boyfriend were already leaving. Fury came over him as he ran after them, not caring that all he had on was his pants and socks, and was outside before he caught up with them.

Ed didn't give either of them time to react, he swung first, and punched the guy straight in the face. Unfortunately he didn't hit very hard and all the man did was laugh.

Alarmed at the way Edward had ran out after them, Kristen quickly took Rubix to Ben and Marian's place, rapidly explaining what was happening before running outside after him, just in time to see the other man punch Edward hard in the stomach.

Edward doubled over and landed on the ground a moment before he got up again. "I know it was you that did that! How dare you hit my child!" He said swinging again but the man ducked out of the way easy and punched Edward in the face hard enough to knock him down onto the sidewalk, his glasses clattering onto the ground.

"Stop it!" Kristen yelled, running forward to try to help Edward up. She could think of numerous ways for this to end badly. "These people aren't worth it," she insisted, though she was furious with them as well. "We've got Rubix, let's just go inside."

"What's all this?" Jim said, approaching the scene, though his expression was grim enough that he seemed to have a pretty good idea what was going on. Lee looked just as quietly irate.

"This ass hole just came flying out of this apartment building and attacked me." The guy said pointing at Edward who was sitting shirtless on the ground.

"Yeah? Somehow I doubt that." Jim said as the man stood up straighter, already much taller than Jim.

"And who the hell are you little man?" He asked trying to sound intimidating. Jim looked bored as he pulled out his badge.

"GCPD, would you like to continue this discussion down at the precinct?" Jim asked before putting his badge away.

"Come on Kyle. It's not worth it." Brittany said taking his arm.

Ed still looked murderous as he stood up. "I don't care if there's a cop standing here, you touch my kid again and I will kill you." He said looking frighteningly dangerous, enough so that despite just having beaten him up Kyle backed up a bit.

Jim's eyebrows raised slightly at the uncharacteristic ferocity in Edward's manner. Not that he blamed the guy, but he had never seen quiet, awkward Edward this way. "I don't think he'll make that necessary," Jim said, a hardness in his voice that was directed more at Kyle.

Lee didn't look so surprised at Edward's aggression. She'd seen otherwise passive-seeming people react to the natural instinct to protect a child, especially their own, at any cost. And Kristen looked like it was taking all her self control not to jump in and join him. She went over and put a hand on Kristen's shoulder. "Where's Rubix?" She asked gently.

"With Marian and Ben," Kristen said shortly, her voice shaking with barely suppressed rage. "He didn't need to see this. He's been through enough."

"Kyle come on!" Brittany said already walking away, her hips swaying in her skanky black dress. "Let's leave this loser." She said as Kyle sneered at Ed and followed behind her. Edward sighed as he leaned back against the building, trying to calm down.

"Sorry." Edward muttered, picking up his glasses and putting them back on.

"Don't apologize for that," Kristen said quietly. "Let's just try to hold on to Rubix until the court date." She didn't want Brittany or Kyle anywhere near Rubix, or Edward, or the home they were trying to make together ever again. They had enough problems already.

"Are you both alright?" Lee asked, concerned.

"Yes." Edward said moving away from the wall, and using his hand to wipe the blood away from his nose. He turned to Kristen. "Can you get Rubix? I need to clean up and uh …. Put some clothes on." He said his face turning red with embarrassment as he attempted to hide the scars on his chest with his arm, despite the fact that he knew both Jim and Lee had seen them. "Um …. Why don't you go ahead … I'll uh …. Be up in a second." He said clearing his throat, he didn't want them to see the one on his back.

"Ed, you should go up and get cleaned up. We'll follow you up." Jim said, concerned that Ed was more injured than he let on.

"Jim. Let's go ahead." Lee said noting Ed's discomfort. He obviously didn't want them seeing the scars they already saw, it was clear he had more on his back he didn't want them to see.

"But-"

"Now. Move it Mr." Lee said taking command and pointing him towards the apartment.

Realizing what was bothering Edward, Kristen casually put a hand on his shoulder blade, covering up the scar where that hateful word had been carved into him. She kept her hand there until Lee and Jim had passed them.

Edward looked at Kristen thankful for her understanding before they headed upstairs. By the time they all got in Edward was fully dressed.

Once Edward's scar was safely under wraps, Kristen went over to Marian and Ben's place, thanking them for watching Rubix. "It's okay, Rubix," Kristen said gently, picking him up. "They're gone now. Let's go see daddy, okay?"

Rubix's face was red and his eyes wet with tears though he nodded and hugged Kristen. "Kay." He said sniffling.

"Where's Ed? Is everything okay?" Ben asked.

Kristen nodded slowly. "It's … okay now, I guess," she sighed. "Brittany and her new boyfriend Kyle or Lyle or whatever his name is showed up out of the blue to drop Rubix off, they were really nasty, and …" She gestured to Rubix's bruised eye. "Edward got angry and they got into a fight … Jim and Lee showed up, though, so things didn't escalate too far."

"Well I'm glad everyone is alright. If either of you need anything, just let us know." He said kissing Rubix on the head.

"Benben?" Rubix asked sniffling. "Do I has to tell Dada?" He asked. Ben laughed.

"No, you don't have too." He said ruffling his hair. "I gave him a candy before supper time." Ben explained. "You both have a good night. And take care."

Kristen smiled slightly. "I think he needed it today," she said, picking up Rubix and carrying him to the door. The poor kid could use some cheering up. "Thank you again for watching him." When they arrived back at the apartment, she told Rubix: "Look, Jim and Lee came to see you."

"And Maggie?" Rubix asked looking around the apartment.

"No, no Maggie tonight." Ed said pulling the food out of the microwave from being reheated.

"Oh, okay." Rubix said wiggling to get out of Kristen's arms and onto the floor.

"Rubix …" Edward said in a very 'dad' tone. Rubix looked at him a moment before he realized his error.

"Oh. Hi Jim …. Hi ee!" He said with a half bored wave, not looking at them as he looked around the room.

"What are you looking for, Rubix?" Kristen asked. "Do you want your toys?"

"No." Rubix said looking under the bed and crawling under it.

"Just let him be. He does that sometimes." Ed said as Jim and Lee joined him at the table. "Rubix are you hungry?"

"No." Came his little voice from under the bed. "Had candy."

Kristen chuckled slightly. "Ben spoiled him a little," she confessed. "You still need to eat real food though, Rubix, so you can grow up tall like your dad."

"Dada too tall." Rubix said still under the bed. "I okay being small."

Lee laughed. "That seems to work for most kids," she said.

"Your son's too smart, Edward," Kristen said, smiling. "I blame you."

"Don't you blame me for everything anyway?" He asked before turning to Jim. "I'm glad you came when you did. With witnesses it's less likely she can accuse me of kidnapping."

"Would she try to?" Jim asked, taking a small casserole dish of mashed potatoes from Ed and placing it on the table.

"She's tried to before." Edward said.

Kristen's expression darkened as she went to help set the table. "When she dropped him off here herself?"

"Mhmm." He made a noise in the affirmative. "Though we … Really should stop talking about her in front of Rubix."

"You can talk about Mama. She's a bitch." Rubix said making Ed look at the bed where he was hidden in surprise.

"RUBIX!" Edward said loudly making the boy poke his head out and look at him. "Don't say that word!" He said calmly. "Come sit and eat."

"No." He said moving back under the bed.

"Rubix …. Don't make me tell you again. You need to eat." Edward said again.

Kristen traded an uneasy glance with Lee. "Sorry," she said. "He … Didn't learn that from us."

Edward sighed as Rubix still didn't come out. He moved to the bed and crouched down, taking hold of Rubix's ankle and gently pulling him out despite his screaming. He picked him up in his arms.

"Excuse us for a moment." He said taking Rubix downstairs.

Kristen looked confused. "Is everything okay?" she called down after them.

"The little guy's had a rough day," Lee reminded her. "Ed may need to talk through some things with him."

It was nearly five minutes later when Ed came back upstairs, Rubix's face red again from crying.

Rubix went to the table and climbed up onto his chair with some help from Ed to sit kneeling in his chair.

"I sowwy." He said looking down at his knees.

"For?" Ed asked.

"For my anguage." Rubix said looking up at his dad before peeking up at Lee and Jim.

"It's alright, we forgive you," Lee said, reaching over and ruffling Rubix's hair.

"You should hear some of the language I hear on a daily basis," Jim said wryly.

"No," said Lee. "He probably shouldn't."

"Considering you work with Detective Bullock, I would rather you not repeat anything he says to my child." Edward said with a laugh as Rubix tried putting some food into his plate. Ed took the spoon from him and dished him out some mashed potatoes and a little bit of chicken. He put some peas on his plate and Rubix didn't look amused.

"Don't want that." Rubix said pointing at the peas. "Peas yucky!"

"Rubix, what did we just talk about downstairs?" Ed asked. Rubix picked up his fork.

"Kay, sowwy." He said looking up at his dad. "I eat one karter peas?" He asked trying to haggle with his dad.

Kristen couldn't help laughing slightly. "I don't know if you're really in a place to negotiate, Rubix," she said.

"I'll tell you what … If you can tell me how much of your peas is one quarter … I'll let you get away with eating half." Edward said.

Jim looked at Ed as if he'd gone insane. "He's three there's no way he knows fractions."

"This much?" Rubix asked after organizing his peas with his fork. Ed looked at Kristen.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"I think he's pretty close," she had to admit, fairly impressed.

"Well colour me impressed." Jim said with a chuckle. "Then again I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. Like father like son right?" Jim asked.

"Not always …" Ed said so quietly even Kristen, who was closest to him would have barely heard it.

He split Rubix's peas in half and told him which side to eat.

"That one's bigger." Rubix complained.

"You could eat them all if you'd prefer." Edward said raising an eyebrow.

"This side fine!" Rubix said digging into the peas first, trying to get them over with.

"A very pragmatic approach," Lee said, amused.

Kristen gave Edward's hand a gentle squeeze. She wished he wasn't so hard on himself, just because he'd developed his intellectual potential later in life. She wondered if Rubix would be quite so advanced at this age without Edward's support and encouragement.

"I'm with you, kid," Jim stage-whispered to Rubix, an earnest look on his face. "Vegetables are overrated."

"Don't encourage him." Lee said elbowing Jim in the arm.

Dinner finished relatively quickly before Rubix went downstairs, having eaten at least a quarter of his peas, not the full half, leaving the adults upstairs to converse. It was about an hour later when Jim and Lee were getting ready to leave.

"When I get in tomorrow, I'll write up an official statement for you, stating that I was witness to Rubix's mother bringing him here of her own accord. Even if she doesn't try anything, it may help in your case."

"Thank you Detective Gordon." Edward said.

"Ed …. You can call me Jim." Jim said for what felt like the thousandth time. The man seemed to be all about formalities and manners. It was kind of annoying sometimes … But that was Ed.

"Seriously, Jim," Kristen said. "Thank you … You've both done so much."

"It'll be alright," Lee assured her. "You have a solid case."