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"I thought it was interesting and I liked the field. I wanted to do something a little more interesting but..." He failed the psyche eval and that kind of marred his future career. He had liked the GCPD, it had been safe, friendly, a chance to try again and get what he most certainly didn't get in school. Or ever. "I'm a criminal. I'm not better than Mr Penguin. Do I deserve to be a brainwashed monkey too? Leave me here, see what happens. It's only a matter of time."

No one here got better. No one here got helped. This was the best experience he'd had here and, in his opinion, the most healthy. "I can't be, Jimmy. We both know that. There's no going back even if I wanted to."

"Whatever happened to Penguin here, it shouldn't have." He was glad Oswald had snapped out of it and he felt guilty for leaving him to it, for condemning him like that. He shouldn't have left him behind. But that only made him even more determined to at least try with Edward, for what it was worth. "But would you want to? Go back?"

Just a question. Ed liked questions.

"Hugo Strange put you up to this? You know what he is doing here. Bruce is just a child. I don't think you would hurt a child. You have to be better than that."

"I--" He never considered it an option and, as far as he felt, he was too far gone. Would he want to go back? "Back to what?" Back to being ignored, dismissed, talked to like an idiot. To be treated like a weirdo, told he was odd and a creep. Go home alone and keep himself busy doing whatever he could to keep himself from being bored. "I don't have anything to go back to. No point in going back. You can only go forward."

And this was what he'd chosen. He lacked direction, purpose, sure but he was hoping to solve that as soon as he got out of this dump. "Like I said before, you don't know me." Maybe he would hurt a child. "You know what? I've been derailed long enough! Last riddle, Jimmy boy."

He couldn't keep letting Jim play these head games. He was getting under his skin, that wasn't good. "I can fill a room or just one heart. Others may have me but I can not be shared. What am I?"

"I thought I knew you, Ed. I'd be sorry if I was completely wrong about you." Jim had at the very least managed to buy a lot of game, but it was a question how reassuring that was, given everything. "You can't trust Hugo Strange, Ed. He might get rid of you too, like he wants to get rid of all the evidence. Let me contact the GCPD. That's your best chance to get out of this alive too. You are smart, you have to realise that."

Because damn if he knew the answer to that stupid riddle.

He knew Strange planned to ditch him. Any idiot could see that. He didn't have any real faith in Edward and he only used him as a distraction. He literally wanted him back in a cell after he took down Lucius and Bruce, it was lucky everything had gone nuts from that point on and he'd been given this beautiful chance to play. This place was almost a panic state out there.

"Hmm." It was tempting but. "What do I get if I let you?"

"You know the law as well as I do." Probably better, given the man's memory. "You could get another hearing. Maybe a reduced sentence. Privileges for good behaviour. Cooperating is always a good choice." Jim looked up at the camera, trying to appeal to Ed's better self. Perhaps literally. "You know what Strange has been up to downstairs. Imagine all of that unleashed on the city. Or in here. You stand a better chance on my side. I'd want to keep you alive. Strange won't."

Edward turned off his mic and took a moment to contemplate it. Jim didn't know the answer, he knew that one. It was so obvious. No one ever beat him. Still, this did leave an issue. How did he get out of here alive? He had heard it was inn lockdown and the monsters in that basement were going to be unleashed on them. Maybe he could use Jim. A way out of here, a potential escape without having to dodge the monsters and creeps. Screw a hearing, what was he going to get? Some months off his sentence? Bullshit.

This, however, was exploitable. The chances of him escaping while Jim is busy? Around 60%. Way better odds than he had right now. He hit the button again. "What's the plan, Jimmy boy? Let me see if I like it. We contact the GCPD ... then what?"

"Harvey is acting captain right now. Let me call Harvey and we can have special forces down here." There was nothing Harvey wouldn't do for him, he knew that beyond the shadow of a doubt. He was sure Edward knew as well, it wasn't as if that was subtle. Likely why they'd trapped him here without a way of contacting anyone. "He is just waiting for my go ahead."

Honestly, he'd not be surprised if Harvey was on his way already, but mostly he needed Edward to think about something other than hurting him and Lucius and Bruce.

"Seriously? He's acting--" How? How is that moron acting captain? Whatever! Apparently everyone had lost their minds lately. Maybe there was something in the air. Maybe it was something Strange was putting out there. If the GCPD came, wouldn't that make it harder for him to escape? He supposed if he knew from Jim where they were, he could escape the opposite end and try that? It was now down to 58% but it was still his best chance. "How do I know you won't just betray me and lock me in a cell?"

Which, realistically, he might just do.

"Still a better chance at survival than what Strange is giving you, I can tell you that much," Jim said, trying not to just sound dry. He had liked Ed once upon a time, but given the man's history with him, obviously locking him in a cell was far from being the furthest thing on his mind. "I need to stop whatever Strange is doing, find proof of it all, find Selina Kyle and arrest him. You in a cell isn't that high up on my list right now."

"If you do, I will kill you. Don't think I won't find a way." Edward didn't make idle threats and if it wasn't for Jim's ridiculous luck, he would have had him by now. He paused and considered what Jim had just said before frowning. "Trash girl?" Ah. See. That one was easy, the kid did not listen at all. "She went to find her friend. I met her in the vents. She really has a listening problem, just didn't seem to care what I was saying. She's probably in the basement."

"No, she never listens." That was a well-known problem. Jim sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Then I'll go to the basement. Probably have to anyway. Now let me out of here, Ed. You're wasting both our time and Hugo Strange is hard to predict. Who knows how much time we have left?" He needed Harvey at his back and he needed to somehow save them all. As usual.

"I know where the phone so just ... go left, down the hallway, go down a floor and I'm in the third room on the right." And, just in case his backfires, Edward armed himself swiftly with some sharp objects he'd stolen before lazily stretching out and poking Lucius and Bruce with his foot curiously. They should wake up soon. Or here's hoping.

He didn't feel like dragging bodies or babysitting his victims. He needed that window for escape.

Jim wasted no time. He was out the door immediately and he rushed down the hallway and the stairs, counted until three and finally opened the door to the room Edward was in, his eyes settling on Bruce and Lucius. "What have you done to them?"

They looked as if they were still alive, at least. Jim grabbed Edward by the arm, not even violently. He just didn't have time for games. "Show me where the phone is."

"They'll be fine, it was knock out gas. At most, another five. If that." He didn't give in so easily to demands, not even when Jim was grabbing onto him arm like some common brute. He wasn't aggressive as Edward was expecting but he was still waiting for that penny to drop. "The phone is in the corner booth over there." There room had a little corner for electrical maintenance and, as is common, an emergency phone.

"Tell Harvey I said hi." Edward grinning a mocking grin and, because it was bugging him, decided to add. "And you still owe me an answer to that last riddle."

Jim dragged Edward along and immediately started dialling, hoping that Harvey would just pick up his phone. He had no idea what else to do. Call the station, he supposed? He just needed someone and he had to stop wasting time, he had to go and do something. "I don't remember your riddle right now, Ed," Jim muttered, "Now is not the time for riddles."

Here he was, in Arkham, stuck with the freak that tried to ruin his life.

"You mean you don't know it and you're pretending to be too busy. Like when you stalled me out earlier. Appealing to my better nature? Adorable." Like he had one. This was not a grand gesture of change, this was a hope of escaping this literal hell hole. Which was admittedly off to a rough start. Was Jim ever going to let go of him? He gave the other a huff look but remained standing there, watching him wait for someone in that craphole to pick up.

Eventually Harvey did. He seemed pretty confused. "... Jim? How? I-- what?"

"Ah. As smart as ever, I see." Edward muttered beside Jim, clearly not impressed.

"Oh, shut up, Ed." That alone was probably confusing enough, so Jim focused on explaining things to Harvey, who really sounded a little out of his element right now. "I'm in Arkham, Strange lost it on us. He set Ed on me and Lucius and the boy and I'm going to find him. There is stuff going on in the basement. Bad stuff."

That should explain things concisely. "I need you here, I need back-up. Big time."

"Okay, partner." Well. This was weird. The weirdest phone call he ever got. Especially since he got it while Jim was standing in front of him. He knew it! He knew Jim was off. "Try not to get killed by the freakshow. We're on our way, just be careful. Don't do anything stupid."

"Ha." Well. That was meant as a joke, right? This was Jim Gordon. Mister act first and ask questions later. "Too late for that."

"I'll head to the basement." If he could figure out how to get there. "See you, partner." Jim had no idea what was up in the GCPD, but he was sure Harvey would fill him in later. He ended the call just in time to arc his eyes at Edward.

"Dealt with you pretty well." So much for stupid. He put his free hand into his pocket, retrieved a pair of handcuffs and had it closed around Edward's wrist within moments. A second later and he had the man cuffed to the radiator, well out of range of anybody and everybody.

"It's for your own good, Ed. I don't want you getting yourself into deeper trouble."

"Hey, you--you lied. You--" With his free hand, he pulled out his stole scalpel and swiftly stabbed Jim in the leg with it. It didn't go as deep as he wanted it to, it probably wasn't going to hurt enough and this asshole deserved to hurt. Like this was going to keep him trapped here, he could pick this lock in his sleep.

Hopefully. Maybe. Fuck. "I hope that hurt! I was exactly right about you. You lying little snake in the grass."

For his own good? Yeah, right. "Good luck getting into the basement without me."

"I won't forget that you cooperated, Ed. That doesn't mean I'm just going to let you walk out of Arkham." And that that was on Edward's mind wasn't exactly difficult to guess. Jim knelt down next to Lucius and tried to shake him awake with one hand on his shoulder, hoping that Bruce would just sleep through all the danger and stay safe, for once in his life.

"Why? How do I get into the basement?"

"I'm not telling you. Why would I tell you anything? You don't share information with traitors." He couldn't wait to have another crack at Jim. God, he let him out of his death trap for nothing. Sure, he'd be in the same sort of situation either way but at least Jim would be dead right now. "You can't just use me. I'm not Mr Penguin, I'm not that easy." Cheap shot, he did like Oswald but... it was true.

Lucius stirred a little and raised a hand to sluggishly rub at his eyes. What the hell?

"You will help me get down to the basement. You don't have to be easy, you just have to want to stay alive." Maybe a threat or maybe simply connected to what would happen should Jim not manage to stop Hugo Strange in time, he'd leave it up to Edward to decide. For now he focused on Lucius, holding a hand out to steady him.

"You've been knocked out." Courtesy of Ed Nygma. "Bruce is all right, he's still unconscious. Lucius, we need to get down to the basement. Do you know how to get there?"

"I do not." Admittedly, he was just waking up and all, he might have been able to make an educated guess or two but without blueprints, some time and a little investigating, it was hard to be certain. He eyed a sulking Edward and then looked at Jim, blinking through the haze. "Not to my knowledge, at least."

"I do." Edward smirked, feeling that telltale swell of pride from knowing a secret. Having knowledge others didn't have. "And you'll never guess it. Not in a million years."

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plotarmored - 2018-01-10 23:55 (UTC) - Expand

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