"DADA HOME DADA HOME DADA HOME!" Rubix yelled over and over again as he ran around the living room.
"Rubix, stop please. You're going to-" Ed paused as Rubix ran straight into the side of the bed and fell onto the floor. He was barely phased as he started running around again.
"DADA HOME DADA HOME!" He said, his transformer up in the air, stretched up in his little arm above his head.
"Alright bud, that's enough." Ben said picking him up off the floor and holding him upside down around the waist making Rubix laugh.
"Down! Down!" He said laughing as Ben tickled him. "Noooooo!"
"Uh-oh," Kristen smiled. "Looks like the Ben monster's got you."
"Should we help him?" Deidre said, crossing her arms and watching Rubix giggle. "Or just watch?"
"I told him to stop!" Ed said sitting down at the kitchen table. "It's his punishment for not listening."
"Sorry, kid," Deidre smirked, going over to sit with Edward. "Rules are rules. Next time, don't get caught."
"I don't think that's exactly what we were trying to teach him," Kristen said, nudging Deidre as she went over to the table too. "How hungry are you, Edward? Should I call out for pizza now, or wait a bit?"
"I spent two days eating powdery mashed potatoes and chunky jello … And God knows what I ate for the two weeks before that. The sooner that pizza gets here the better."
"I'm on it," she said, kissing Edward on the cheek, before getting out her phone and calling in the order. Deidre, meanwhile, started digging through her purse, and produced a stopwatch, which she started the moment Kristen had placed the order.
"Um … Deidre?" Kristen said, once she'd hung up. "Why?"
"Why what?" Deidre said, looking up from the stopwatch.
"Why the stopwatch?" Edward asked as Ben finally put Rubix down, the little monster still running around with his transformer. Ed couldn't imagine having that much energy, even at that age. Where did the kid store it all?
"Their policy claims under thirty minutes or it's free," Deidre said, her eyes narrowing at the stopwatch. "I'm holding them to it this time."
"Do places even still do that?" Marian asked. "And I thought it's an hour."
"Still on their website," Deidre said. "I checked … But then they try to weasel out of it."
Kristen sighed. "So she got into an argument about it last week …"
"Hardly. I just knew how time works, and they didn't," Deidre said firmly.
"It's not like you're the one paying for it," Kristen pointed out. For that matter, she suspected Deidre might have shoplifted the stopwatch.
"It's the principle of the thing." Deidre said placing the stopwatch on the counter.
Ben walked up to Edward and bent over to hug him. "We're so glad to have you home son, we were so worried about you. We helped as much as we could when the searches were on but … We aren't as young as we used to be."
"Ben, you're not even 50 yet and you talk like you're 80." Marian said swatting his arm.
"It was appreciated, thank you." Edward said with a soft smile.
"We're just glad you're alright now," Marian said. "This town has never been the safest place, but …" She shook her head, her expression darkening. "I don't know. Lately, it just seems like things are getting stranger and stranger."
"Oh believe me … I know." Edward said as Rubix finally calmed down, panting and out of breath.
"So you don't remember anything?" Ben asked.
"Ben!" Marian said smacking his arm again. "Don't be so insensitive!"
"I'm not! I was just wondering!" He said defensively.
"It's okay Marian. No, I don't remember anything. As far as I know, I went to bed and then woke up …" He paused as he looked down at Rubix. "There." He finished.
Kristen gave Edward's hand a gentle squeeze. "And now you're here," she added quietly. They still had to figure out what they could do to prevent something like that from happening in the future. But Edward was safely here with them for now.
When pizza finally arrived Deidre was honestly shocked at how many slices Ed ate.
"It's a good thing you bought so much." Deidre joked as Rubix tried to fit more pizza into his mouth than could actually fit.
"Slow down, there, Rubix," Kristen laughed, taking a napkin and wiping pizza sauce off of the toddler's face. "You don't have to eat it so fast; it's not going to run away."
"IS GOOD THO!" He said his mouth full of food.
"Rubix, don't talk with your mouth full please." Edward said as he picked up his plate and stood to bring it to the sink. Before he stood all the way though the room span and he sat back down, staring at the table, his fingers going to his head.
Kristen put a steadying hand on Edward's shoulder, looking at him in alarm. "Edward?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine." He said putting his hand back down. "I just … Stood too quickly I guess." He said as Rubix looked at his dad concerned. Rubix climbed down from his chair and pulled Edward's plate down with some difficulty.
"I take it fo you dada!" He said.
"Hang on there, kiddo," said Deidre, standing up to go with Rubix. "Let me help you get that to the sink, okay?"
Once she was reassured that Edward was okay, Kristen got up to help clear off the table. It was telling that he didn't protest about them doing the dishes. He could definitely stand to take it easy for a while longer.
"Well, I think we should head out then. Let you get some rest, you're still recovering. Your body is still healing. You better make your way over to that bed soon young man." Ben said shaking his finger at Ed who smiled.
"Yes, sir." He said with a lazy salute.
"Hey Rubix, I got your favourite movie downstairs at my apartment. You want to go watch it?" Ben asked.
"Lion King?" Rubix asked excitedly.
"Yes, you can come sleep at our apartment tonight." He said making Rubix pause.
"But I wanna stay wit dada!" He said going back over to his dad and hugging his leg.
"I know bud, but your dada has to sleep lots and lots and get rest because he was just in the hospital. So you can come down with us and you can watch a movie and play okay?"
"No wanna play!" Rubix insisted, though they all knew that once the threat of being taken to Ben's was done he'd be tearing through the apartment again.
"Oh dear," Marian said, shaking her head sadly and looking over at Ben. "What are we going to do with that ice cream, then?"
"No want ice cream!" Rubix said, knowing exactly what they were doing.
"I know," Marian sighed. "You want to stay with your dada … But he really does need to rest now, and it will help him get better faster if you come stay with us for tonight. We'll bring you back first thing tomorrow, and your dada will be right here waiting for you."
"Rubix, they're asking you nicely. I want to spend some time with you, but I do need to rest okay? Tomorrow they'll bring you back, and then we can do puzzles or something okay?" Ed asked.
"Play hide and seek?" Rubix asked hopefully.
"Maybe not quite yet," Ed said with a chuckle, his ribs starting to hurt from sitting so long. "But we can do a puzzle book in bed or something okay? Maybe play a video game for a little bit."
"We'll take care of dada and make sure he gets plenty of rest," Kristen promised, ruffling Rubix's hair. "And then tomorrow you can come back and play, okay?"
Marian took Rubix's hand, and she and Ben made their way to the door.
"But I wanna stay with Dada!" He said starting to cry as he made his way towards the door with Marian holding firmly onto his hand.
Kristen winced at seeing Rubix cry. She understood … Edward had been gone for over two weeks, leaving Rubix with no idea when he was coming back, and only Kristen's word that he was returning at all, and that he hadn't just abandoned him. Then Edward had been hurt and in the hospital … It was all too much for a toddler's patience to withstand. Edward needed his rest, but … They would have to be sure to come get Rubix bright and early tomorrow. He was bound to be a handful for Ben and Marian.
"I know," Kristen said. "We'll come get you first thing tomorrow, though, I promise." Then she quietly thanked Ben and Marian as they left.
Edward sighed as he stood from his chair, pausing as the room spun again before heading over towards the bed. "Thank you." He said quietly. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble."
"Nah," Deidre reassured him. "You don't move around enough to be trouble." She looked over at him on the bed. "Do you want us to tuck you in?"
"Are you patronizing me?" He asked looking up at her with a raised eyebrow, not sure if she was teasing him or not.
"Maybe just a little bit," Deidre said, smirking slightly. "But you've got to admit, you could use a little looking after."
"Don't mind her," Kristen said. "That's just how she shows that she cares."
"Yeah, why don't you get the salt out next, rub it in a bit more." He said standing up again to move to the dresser. He pulled out a pair of his pajama pants and sat back down on the bed again. "Sorry I'm just …" He paused in his apology, realizing he was being a bit snippy and neither of them deserved that. He was just so frustrated with everything.
Deidre shook her head. "You've been through hell, and things aren't going back to normal as quickly as you'd like them to. You're allowed to be irritable about it."
"Hopefully getting a good night's sleep in your own bed will help," Kristen said, kissing him on the cheek.
"Yeah …" Ed said quietly. "Did you uh … Did you talk to her?" He asked Kristen, knowing she would know what he was talking about.
"Um … No, I haven't had a chance to yet," Kristen said. And she hadn't been certain whether Edward wanted her to try to tell Deidre just yet, or whether he wanted to be there to try to explain it.
"Talk about what?" Deidre said, looking from Kristen to Edward. "Am I missing something?"
"Are you staying here, or going back to your apartment tonight?" Edward asked, ignoring Deidre's questions.
"Up to you," Deidre said. "If you don't mind, I'll stick around. But if you'd rather have some time just the two of you, I'll head out."
"Kristen?" Edward asked, looking up at her.
"I'd rather stay," Kristen said honestly. Not that she doubted Edward's ability to take care of himself, but he still seemed pretty light-headed, and she didn't want to leave him alone.
"Then perhaps we should talk then." He said taking his pants off and changing into his pajama pants. It wasn't as if either of them haven't seen him before, though he felt a bit weird changing in front of Deidre. He pulled his shirt off until he only had his undershirt on, and tossed his shirt into the hamper.
"You two keep saying that," Deidre said, crossing her arms. "Am I in trouble for something?"
"No." Edward said moving to sit against the headboard. "I am, if anyone is."
"That's not cryptic at all," Deidre said, but seeing the serious look on Edward's face, her manner became a little less flippant, and she settled back in her chair, listening to hear what they had to say.
Kristen took a deep breath, trying to order her thoughts. "Edward … thinks he knows who was responsible for all of this," she said.
"Who?" Deidre leaned forward. "Have you gone to Jim with this yet?"
"No." Edward said. "And I don't think I know who it was …. It's the only reasonable explanation. There was no struggle to get me out of here, and there were no fingerprints located anywhere on site. The only few they could pull were mine. There were two on the cage that came down around you, which they're saying isn't too unusual, 'he' may have kept me there leading up to the 'main event' so to speak … And the ones that weren't washed away in the freezer. What other explanation could there be? There was no one else there but me!" He said sounding upset the more he talked.
"Woah, hang on," Deidre said, holding up a hand. "You're telling me you kidnapped yourself? I mean, that's the conclusion you come to? Not that, I don't know, the kidnapper was wearing gloves, or got you after you wandered out of the apartment, or … A million other explanations that make more sense than that?"
"I've been having hallucinations for months now Deidre." Edward said. "They've been getting worse. I don't know what's causing them, but I think what happened was a part of it." He said sounding scared. "I knew things about the puzzle that I shouldn't have … As if I already knew the answers. Near the end when the room was almost full …." He paused, his voice tinged with fear. "It … I …."
"Hey," Deidre said, her tone more gentle than usual. "Take a deep breath and slow down, alright? It's okay." She went over and sat on the bed next to him, on the opposite side from Kristen, and took his hand. "So … You think this was just a really bad episode?" Well. She guessed that might explain the two week-long memory gap, but … This was getting pretty messed up. And from the expression on Kristen's face, she thought Edward was right.
Edward sighed as he tried to calm down. "I don't know what it was …. And what happens if it happens again? Or it's not me that's the victim next time. I mean I honestly don't care about other people, but if it was either of you, or Rubix?" He asked banging his head back against the wall and instantly regretting it as his head swam again.
"Okay, those are valid concerns," Deidre admitted, as Kristen shot her a reproachful look while putting a steadying hand on Edward's shoulder. "What? They are," Deidre insisted, before crossing her arms and frowning in thought.
"Edward wouldn't hurt Rubix," Kristen insisted. "Even subconsciously, he wouldn't want to…"
"Yeah, and in his right mind he wouldn't kidnap himself either," Deidre said flatly. "What we need to do isn't pretend everything's fine; we need to have plans and precautions in place to keep it from happening again."
"What needs to happen is for you three to get as far away from me as possible." Edward muttered again, though he knew Kristen wouldn't agree.
"That's not going to happen," Kristen said.
"Yeah, there's no way Kristen would let me drag her away," Deidre acknowledged. "So let's just rule that out as a possible course of action for now, shall we? Besides, you fought so hard for Rubix … He's here now."
"So what? We just make a plan and hope for the best? That sounds dangerous to me." Edward said shaking his head.
"It is dangerous," Deidre said. "Life usually is. But since running away from this isn't an option, and neither is waving a magic wand and making … whatever this is go away, we're going to figure out how to play the cards we've been dealt here."
"We're not experts in this kind of thing," Kristen said quietly, looking down at the bed. "None of us are … Where would we even begin to plan for this?"
"So since neither of you seem to like my plan, what do you propose we do then?" He asked.
"We keep an eye on you," Deidre said firmly. "Which, admittedly, will be easier said than done, since last time you walked out in the middle of the night. But we figure out what signs to look for, and we keep aware enough to recognize them. Kristen and I have both seen you when you were having a more minor episode."
"I've never seen anything quite like what happened this time, though," Kristen said quietly.
"No," Deidre agreed. "So there might be different signs to look for, that we wouldn't recognize just yet."
"Did you notice anything off the night before I left?" Edward asked looking at Kristen. He doubted it, he felt fine before he'd went to bed, and he didn't even remember getting up.
Kristen thought about it, and then shook her head. "No," she said. "I don't remember anything out of the ordinary … I just woke up and you were gone."
"Yeah well … That can be a problem." Edward said shaking his head. "If you're both staying, I want both of you to keep a taser on you while you're around me." He said seriously.
"What!?" Kristen said, looking up abruptly. "Edward, you can't be serious. I'm not carrying a taser around my own boyfriend!"
"I can think of worse ideas," Deidre said matter-of-factly. "At least until we know what we're dealing with, and have a better idea of what to look for."
"At least you'd have a better chance of defending yourselves. I mean I may not be a fighter, but I'm bigger than you …." He said, though he didn't mean it to be threatening, it was a statement of fact. He could easily overpower either one of them. Together perhaps not, but by themselves …
Deidre rolled her eyes. "I can handle myself," she said confidently, but shook her head. "Kristen, on the other hand …"
"Hey!" Kristen protested.
"Look, you know he's right. It's a good idea," Deidre said softly. "Neither of us wants anything happening to you … Just the idea is clearly tearing Ed apart."
"Yes," Kristen said sarcastically. "That'll solve all our problems. I suggested getting help, and that was too risky, but keeping a taser around the house is a perfect solution! Let's say, for sake of argument, that something like that does happen again … Do you really want there to be a taser in the apartment for you to find? Do you really think that's going to end well?"
"In comparison to the kitchen knives? Or the tools in the tool box? Or the ax above the kitchen cabinet? Or the various harmful chemicals under the bathroom sink? Or-"
"Okay Ed, we get it." Deidre said.
"A taser isn't going to kill anyone, it's meant to stun, and to hurt like a bitch …" Edward said looking at Kristen. "Keep it somewhere I don't know where it is … Either on you, or when you're sleeping, in the vicinity, but don't let me see where you put it. Chances are if I'm digging for it, I'd wake you up. If I really wanted to use a weapon to hurt you, don't you think I'd go for something a bit more simple to obtain? Like a knife?" He asked, waving towards the kitchen which was only about six feet away. "Look, I know you don't like it, but it is for your protection until we figure this out …. That's going to be my one condition Kristen … The taser, or we go with my original plan, and I'll go check myself in."
"I don't like this," Kristen said quietly, shaking her head. But their options were limited right now. They didn't fully understand yet what was happening to Edward, but if he checked himself in, in Gotham … There was no telling what would happen to him, and he might still not receive the help he needed. He had to know that .. But he was so terrified of hurting her or Deidre or Rubix, that she didn't put it past him to check himself in anyway. "But …" She looked up at Edward again. "You have to promise that this isn't going to be our solution. This is a temporary measure, until we figure out something better. I can't live like that."
"I wouldn't expect you to. With any luck this doesn't even happen again." He said. "But better a taser collecting dust, than not having one when you need it." He said. "And who knows, out in Gotham, it might not even be me you'd need to use it on. I'd feel safer in general if you had one."
"Alright, fine," Kristen sighed, rubbing tiredly at her temples. "But we're not keeping this plan. We need to figure something else out."
"I think so far we've mapped out our options short of contacting Lee, and she's really close to Jim I don't feel comfortable with that. The other option would be to find a discrete psychologist, who would keep their mouth shut, but that would cost more money than I can afford, and I wouldn't trust them not to tell anyone anyway." He said. "So unless anyone else has any ideas …."
"So we start saving, and we start looking," Kristen said quietly. But she knew Edward was right … There had to be a better way, but things looked hopelessly difficult.
Deidre frowned in thought. "There has to be a reason why you did this," she said. "Even if you were having some kind of episode, it had to make sense to at least some part of you, even if it's not a part the rest of you has access to. You don't just … do something like this out of the blue. There must have been something you wanted. If we can figure out what it was … maybe there's a way to give you some kind of outlet, a way to get what you were looking for without doing something so drastic. That way, maybe we could prevent a situation like this before it starts."
"Yeah … The question is, what was I looking for?"
'You know what you were looking for.' Edward jumped and looked at the hallucination standing against the dresser, the first time since he'd seen him in that freezer. 'It's very simple … Think Eddie! You know the answer.' He said, Edward still staring at him.
"Edward?" Kristen said gently, seeing the way Edward jumped and stared off at the dresser, relentlessly focused on something she couldn't see. "Are … Are you seeing him again?"
Deidre frowned, and quietly observed Edward's face.
Edward looked at Kristen confused a moment before he shook his head. "I'm fine …" He said.
'No you're not.' The hallucination said, though he ignored it.
"Are you seeing him?" Kristen repeated, very much aware that he hadn't really answered her question.
"If you want us to be safe," Deidre pointed out. "It'll help if you tell us these things."
Edward was silent for a moment. He wanted to deny it but … They were right. "Yes." He said quietly. "He said I know what I'm looking for … But I don't …"
'Stop being an idiot Eddie … It doesn't suit you. Think!' He said making Edward close his eyes.
Kristen took Edward's hand in hers, trying to be comforting, but there was nothing she could do about the hallucination.
"So we're onto something," Deidre said, leaning forward, an intent look in her eyes. "You can figure it out," she said, certainty in her voice. "I know you can."
"Maybe." He said quietly as the hallucination shook its head and walked towards Kristen before disappearing. Edward looked around to see if it had gone somewhere else but it was gone. "It's gone …" He said with a sigh.
Kristen frowned. "But … There was something it wanted you to figure out?" she asked. "Did it say or do anything else before it disappeared? Something that might have been a clue?"
"No … Just told me to stop acting like an idiot, it doesn't suit me." He said as he slid down on the bed, resting his head back on the pillow.
"He's not terribly helpful, is he," Kristen sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I guess we can keep thinking about it, trying to figure it out."
"Presumably this … other side of you wants you to figure it out," Deidre said. "I doubt it'll stay hidden from you for long."
"Or maybe it's super obvious and I'm too tired to figure it out." He said shaking his head.
"If you're able to sleep, I think getting some rest would help," Kristen said gently. "This is a lot to deal with, and you're still recovering."
"Perhaps." Edward said, maybe once his mind was clear and he could sit down and rethink the entire scenario …
"For tonight I think it would be best if we all stayed here. I'll take the couch .." Deidre said.
"Thanks," Kristen said quietly. "I think we'll all feel better tonight if we stick together," she agreed.
"I'd feel better if you both went home." Edward said pulling the blanket up, though he knew neither would listen.
"We're not leaving you alone," Kristen said firmly.
"Yeah," Deidre agreed. "That's pretty much out of the question. We're invading. Just accept it."
"Anyway, what are you going to do when I've moved in here?" Kristen asked.
"At this point … You shouldn't. You know where I stand on this. I'm dangerous." Ed said not looking at her.