Chapter 9: Nightmares.

Oswald groaned in his sleep, turning on his side. He whimpered in fear and mumbled, "Ed." Suddenly, Oswald woke up, screaming and clutching at his stomach, shivering. "NO!" He cried, and slowly peeled the covers back and sighed in relief when he saw no bullet wound. He put his hands on his face, as last night's events hit him in waves. That must've caused his nightmare, he assumed. Oswald had dreamt that he and Ed were standing at the docks and Ed had this look of pure evil on his face. Oswald could still hear the gun going off in his head. He shuddered, and slowly got up and left his room. Briefly, he wondered how he ended up in his room but shook it off. 'I hope Ed is hanging on. Why the heck did I dream about him killing me?' He thought. Oswald limped downstairs to find Jade and Timothy sitting on the couch, eating cereal. Jade glanced up from her cereal bowl and waved at Oswald, "Morning Ossie! Want some Frosted Flakes? I found a big box of them in the kitchen." She said. Oswald smiled, a bit sleepily. "Uh I'm fine actually. Have you heard anything from the Squad yet?" Oswald asked. Jade sighed and shook her head. She could tell there was something wrong. Oswald looked on edge and a bit paranoid. Like he had just seen his own death. Jade looked at him curiously and followed him into the kitchen. "Oswald? Are you sure you're okay? I heard you screaming this morning." Oswald sighed and turned toward her. "I...I had a dream last night...Ed...he...he killed me." Oswald hugged himself, a few tears escaping his eyes. Jade sighed and rubbed his arm, saying, "That wasn't Ed, Oswald. I promise that won't happen to you. Your friends aren't going to let you be killed, okay?" Jade knew what Oswald was talking about. She had seen leaked footage of him being murdered by Ed. She wasn't going to let that happen. Not this time. Even if she had to die in his place, she wouldn't let him die. Oswald needed to save Ed and Jade was going to make sure he did. Jade was always the brave, heroic type. But the reason Jade was willing to die saving Oswald was because she had read in the spell book that true love is so powerful, that destroying it could cause mass destruction of the entire universe. Oswald looked at her, worried still. "But what if that demon makes him kill me? Ed would be devastated. Last night...before he was taken...he seemed to regain control of himself briefly and...he tried to tell me...t-that...he...loved me." Oswald said just as he covered his mouth, trying so hard not to break down. Jade nearly gasped. "Oswald, that's a good sign! Listen, no one's going to let you die Os. Not even me. You have to save Ed. You're the only person who can."

Oswald nodded slowly, taking it in and smiling slightly. The knowledge that Edward loved him made him feel all warm and fuzzy. Then he got an idea. He looked at Jade and asked, "You're Cisco friend, he has a power of seeing what's going to happen before it happens right? You said he had something called a Vibe?" Jade looked a bit excited and nodded. "Yeah! It's helped Flash alot actually. He'll need to touch something specific to someone or something that is missing though. Why?" She said. Oswald smirked and said, "I might need him to do me a small favor." Jade grinned. "Consider it done." She said. That afternoon, the Squad gathered at the fireplace in the mansion, as Oswald limped downstairs, holding a blue sweater in his arms. It was the one he had made for Ed while he was in Arkham. He was relieved he still had it. Cisco looked a bit nervous, he was looking at a known psychotic crime boss. Jade had told him it would be okay. Oswald laid the sweater on the couch and stepped back, looking at Cisco. "There it is. That's the sweater I made for him. I hope this works." Cisco gave a smile and said, "Trust me dude. I've done this for a long time." With that, Cisco walked toward the sweater and pressed his hand against it, feeling the soft fabric. Almost instantly, he found himself in a room. It was small, like a cell? He looked around, hearing voices. One that stood out was the weak voice of a man. "Let...me...go." Then another, a woman's voice, though it sounded more like a demon's. "Now Edward, you know I can't do that. It will be easier for you if you just let my spell take over and stop fighting." Cisco saw it was a man and a woman. The man had brown hair that was slicked back, his glasses were lopsided as though he'd been hit, and he was currently tied to a chair. Edward Nygma he realized and that meant the psychotic woman in front of him was Isabella. "Oswald will come for me...and when he does, you'll be sorry..." Ed groaned in pain as the demon within kept trying to claw it's way out. Isabella laughed maliciously, "Oh you mean your little bird boy and his friends? I highly doubt that. Especially if he knew what you are going to do to him. What I'm going to make you do to him!" Isabella threw her head back in laughter.

Edward glared, "I love him, Isabella. Even if I'm possessed, I would never let you control me." Isabella laughed harder at this. "Oh you poor little thing! And please darling call me Elizabeth. You're worse the last guy!" Edward struggled harder as she sauntered toward him, shaking his head violently as he saw her teeth grow to sharp points. "What are you going to do? Kill me? Because I refuse to live in your disgusting fantasy?" Edward yelled. Isabella laughed shaking her head. "Oh no, sweetheart. Just going to make your soul weaker so you can't come out of it." She laughed before she bit into Ed's neck as he screamed and once again, the demon took over. Edward was trapped inside his own mind. The last thing he thought of was 'I love you Oswald. No matter what.' Cisco could hear those words in his head, like Ed was trying to hold on. Cisco never thought love was that powerful.

Finally he gasped as he found himself back in the mansion, looking at the entire Squad staring at him. Oswald was the first to speak. "What happened? What did you see? Is Ed okay?" Oswald was almost in Cisco's face, and was shaking in nervousness. Cisco squeezed his shoulder awkwardly and said, "He's fine. They looked like they were hiding out in a prison of some kind. And it looks like Isabella is our metahuman that escaped Iron Heights. Ed looked like he was trying to fight back but he was too weak." Oswald gasped, paling. "Oh god." Oswald flopped onto the couch, tears leaking out of his eyes. There was still some of the old Edward Nygma in him! But the only now, to bring him back was the True Love Kiss that Jade told him about. It didn't make Oswald any less devastated. Oswald tried not to break down and said, "I need you to locate that prison, when you do, contact me. We're going after them." Jade sat next to him and rubbed his shoulder smiling at him. The rest of the Squad left to find the location that Cisco had described. "It's going to be okay Ossie. I told you Cisco would find him didn't I?" Oswald nodded and smiled at her sadly. "Yes you did. Thank you. For everything. I...I don't think I would've gotten this far if I hadn't met you and your boyfriend. I think things would've gone much worse." Jade smiled at that and whispered to herself, "Os, you have no idea." Quickly Jade took out her phone and put on some cat videos for Oswald. "Let's watch some of these! They're funny and it will take your mind off it." Oswald smiled and leaned over, watching a random cat making a 'no no no no no no no no' sound. Oswald was laughing so hard by the fifth video his face was red. Suddenly, Timothy ran downstairs, face pale. "Uh, you guys we have a problem." Timothy said, voice shaky. Jade looked at him confused and asked, "Tim, what's wrong?" Timothy shook his head and said, "It's happening. Look outside." Jade paled and looked out the window and her eyes widened in terror and annoyance. 'Zombies?! You've got to be fucking kidding me!'

TBC...ZOMBIES! In Gotham! How will our heroes deal with this? Find out next chapter! XD And Ed Loves Oswald! YAY!