Nudge, nudge. Edgar shuddered and wiggled away from the prodding. Nudge, nudge. He rolled over. Todd was staring at him in his timid way from just over the top of the blanket. Edgar glanced up at the alarm clock and saw that it was seven in the morning. When had he gone to bed? Eight? That was the most sleep he'd gotten in a week. He was clean too! What a day this was going to be. Still, his routine was broken now. If he recalled correctly, Nny had killed Todd's Dad, and probably also his Mom. So now this small traumatized child was within their care. Nny wouldn't know the first thing about taking care of a kid, that was for certain. Edgar wasn't much better off either, but he still had some iota of compassion which definitely put him ahead of the crazy man in the basement.

"Good morning, Todd."

The boy nodded his head nervously but didn't say anything. Edgar tried again, "Do you want some breakfast?"

Again the nod. Edgar slid out from underneath the blankets and stood, stretching. He popped his back and raised his arms high above his head. Just as he was half way through a yawn he heard a mumbled 'Mr. Edgar?' from behind him. He turned and looked down at the bed where Todd was now propped up on one elbow. He was staring pitifully at the bed waiting for a reply but not daring to ask again.

"Yes Todd?"

"Um, I have to be at school by eight, I usually walk but…could you walk with me?"

"Of course. Now come on, let's go get some breakfast started." Edgar scooped Todd up in his arms and took him out of the bedroom.

It was such an intimate gesture, to hold him, but Todd didn't seem to mind. For a reason that Edgar couldn't put words to, it didn't really feel wrong for him to treat Todd like he'd known him for years. Instead it felt like what he should be doing. He set the boy down in the kitchen and started picking things out of the fridge. There were a few eggs, which he'd found to be good. No bacon to be found, and he wasn't sure where the bread had run off to. But there was some milk that looked alright. The expiration date was a week from then so he took it out of the fridge and set it on the counter. As he was making breakfast, he heard Todd wandering around looking at things. Edgar glanced at his watch every now and then to make sure they wouldn't run late. When he'd finished making some scrambled eggs his eyes ran over the room looking for a place for Todd to eat.

"Hold on a sec." He muttered, more to himself than to the boy standing at his side.

Edgar wiped off the counter with one quick swipe. Then he hoisted Todd of the floor and set him on the counter next to his breakfast.

"T'ank you for making me breakfast."

"Your welcome." Edgar peeked at his watch. They had about fifteen minutes until Todd's school started. "Which school do you go to?"

"P.S. 8."

Edgar tried to draw a map of the town in his head. P.S. 8 was downtown in the middle of things, across the street from the grocery market and the bookstore. That was about a twenty minute walk, if he was by himself. When he walked with other people he tended to slow down. Usually the other person was Nny and he tended to move at a leisurely pace despite the verbal harassment he was receiving. Todd had short stubby child legs, which meant he probably padded down the street at a much slower pace than even Nny. Well, he could be a little late. Besides, everyone in town knew by now that Edgar was associated with Nny. That, and the crazy man seemed to care about the child they were now the pseudo-parents of. If anyone made Todd's life even the littlest bit difficult, Edgar was sure that Nny would hunt them down. Then he would taze them, tie them up, and drag them into the basement. Their limbs would be in the bathtub later that day.

"C'mon, put your plate in the sink. We need to start heading out."

"Heading out where?" Nny's voice tore through the comfortable air like a gunshot. Todd tensed and started murmuring the word 'squee'.

"Todd has to go to school. We're already going to be late so I thought I'd walk him there."

"Ew, school." Nny shuddered, "Why does he need to go there?"

"Because he's a kid and kids need to go to school."

"I ignored almost all of the things they told me in school and look, I turned out fine!" He planted his hands on his hips for emphasis. Edgar arched an eyebrow.

"Ohhhh, okay. C'mon Todd."

Edgar set the boy down on the floor and took his hand. Together they headed for the door. Todd was telling him about how they needed to go next door to get his backpack first when Johnny appeared next to them. 'I want to come too!' he exclaimed, much to Todd's displeasure. It wasn't too warm outside so while they were at it, they searched for a jacket in Todd's old house. Edgar was about to inspect the kitchen and nick what food he could when Nny leapt in front of him. His eyes shifted back and forth, finally landing on Todd who was standing just behind Edgar. He attempted to lean casually against the doorframe while also blocking the path into the kitchen, but instead looked very awkward. Edgar's eyes narrowed in frustration. He was wasting time.

"Squee you should wait in the living room. Edgar and I need to talk about grown up things in the kitchen."

Todd disappeared from the room in a blur. Edgar rolled his eyes and joined Nny in the kitchen. As soon as he had entered the room he saw why Todd had been instructed to go elsewhere. A pale, blonde woman lay in pieces on the floor. Blood was everywhere, spattered on everything in an impressively large radius. What pieces Edgar was capable of peeking at had some of the silverware poking out of them. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply in and out through his mouth. Then he opened his eyes again and opened the door to the fridge. It was taking all of his willpower to ignore the blood on the door handle he was touching. There was too much food in there to sift through at the moment. They had to get Todd to school. Edgar glanced up at Nny who'd taken a seat on one of the counters, despite its filth. He was going to say something about the woman on the floor. But at the last minute he changed his mind.

"Thank you for remembering…about Todd, for making sure he didn't see this."

"I don't like being shoved up against walls." Was Nny's reply. He leapt from the counter and exited the kitchen.

Edgar sighed and followed, making sure to step around the various body parts. They found Todd in the living room, where he'd been told to go. He was sitting on the small, uncomfortable looking couch with his backpack and schmee. After a brief look at his watch, Edgar realized that Todd was laughably late for school by now. They, too, still had to get him there. 'C'mon, Todd' Edgar called. The small boy slid off the couch and scurried over to take Edgar's hand in his tiny one. Together, the three of them walked out the door and headed for school.

TBC…