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His pants prevented him from seeing what the damage was. But the fiery pain left no doubt.
They had slashed an artery, which was now bleeding profusely.
Oswald knew he didn't have much time left.
Stifling the tears of pain that threatened to cloud his vision, he searched his jacket, picking up his phone with bloodied hands.
He should call for help. Call 911.
But then he looked at the steady flow of blood seeping out of him.
He had something way more important to do.
He dialed the number and pressed the phone to his ear. One hand on the gaping wound, keeping pressure.
After two rings, the other side picks up.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor. I was wondering if you were ever going to call me and inform me where you went to. As your very competent and worried Chief of Staff, it is my responsibility to know your whereabouts at all times." Said the other side of the line, with a playful voice.
"Hi, Ed." Said Oswald, with a small smile gracing his features.
"Hi, Oswald. It's nice to finally hear your voice." Said Ed, and a smile could be heard through the phone.
"So where did you went off to?" He asked.
Oswald hadn't thought about an excuse. He just called Ed, on the impulse.
"Ah, I... I just needed some air. I went to the city. But I lost track of time, you know how I am." Oswald said, letting out a genuine laugh that had a lot of pain laced into it.
"As I said to you once, you never cease to amaze me Oswald." Mocked the other man, his voice and laugh feeling like honey in Oswald's heart.
"I love you." He blurted out, not capable of leaving it inside himself anymore.
And a silence occupied the airwaves.
"I love you too, Oswald. You're my best friend." Said the other man, to Oswald's despair.
"No, Ed. I mean I love you, I love you." Said Oswald.
Another silence.
"Oswald. I... I don't believe that this is a conversation we should be having through the phone." Ed said, his voice full of what Oswald identified as happiness. And that soothed his aching heart.
"No, Ed please. I need to say this now. I... I might not be able to do it later." Oswald chocked out, his control over his tears slowly wearing out.
Shit.
"Oswald, what happened." Ed said, his cheerful tone completely gone from his velvety voice.
"It doesn't matter what happened. You need to know how much you mean to me." Oswald's heart clenching at the thought of the sadness he would inflict on Edward.
"Oswald, stop this nonsense, where are you?" Said Ed. Oswald could hear his shuffling in the background.
"Ed, please. It's no use. Just listen to me, I beg you." Oswald said, in a string of voice, his tears sulking freely down his cheeks.
"Oswald please... Let me... Let... Please..."
"Ed. That night in the woods, when you rescued me, I... I didn't knew how much of a blessing you were. How you took me in, how you cared for me, how you put everything you had at risk to help me." Oswald smiled at the memory of all the soft moments spent in Edward's apartment.
"I was so immersed on my own grief that I didn't see what was blossoming inside me. I always wondered if you did."
"Oswald please, I'm coming to get you. Just tell where you are. Please don't do this to me." Edward was so desperate. Oswald almost complied.
"I'm sorry Ed. I'm sorry that we didn't have our time. I'm sorry that I couldn't find courage to tell you my feelings. I'm sorry you had to find out this way." At this moment, every tear had already fallen and Oswald had lost the strength he had left to cry.
"Just know that I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you and I always will. Even if I couldn't find out what your lips feel like. Even if didn't have the chance to hold you one more time."
The other side of the line wasn't silent, not at all. Oswald could hear Ed... Crying. As heartbreaking sobs made their way to his ears.
A sharp white noise clouded all the others, Oswald's vision slowly blurring.
It was time.
"Good bye Ed." He said almost in a whisper. He let his hand fall to his chest and slowly removed the other one from his wound. He laid his head back and looked one last time to the sky of Gotham. Today it was littered with sparkling stars. He smiled as one last tear slipped from his eye.
And he closed them as his final breath escaped his lips.
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The GCPD quickly flooded the place. An anonymous tip had pointed for a murder in a dark alley on the outskirts of town. And what a shock it was to see the Mayor laying in a pool of his own blood, clutching tightly his phone.
Jim was speechless. Yes, he and Oswald Cobblepot did have their disagreements, being in opposite sides of the law. But to say that the man didn't mean nothing to him wasn't true. Jim owned Oswald a lot. And now he could never repay it.
Harvey was also disturbed. He was sitting in the hood of a police car, sipping mindlessly his coffee. He knew Oswald since he was a simple umbrella boy. He would be lying if he said that seeing his cold body was an happy sight for him.
The forensics team was collecting evidence from the site. Not much was presented. It was another dead end.
And the silence of that morbid night was broken by the screech of tires, pulling up in the alley. A black classic car was now parked in the middle of the road. The door was brutally throw open and a very familiar figure exited the car.
Edward Nygma was a mess. His white shirt was out of his pants, his tie missing. The hair was all disheveled and, behind his glasses, his eyes were rimmed red.
He ran towards the crime scene, ignoring the "Restricted Area" warnings.
"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Said one police officer, ready to neutralize the intruder.
"Parker, let him be." Said Jim.
Ed ran towards Oswald. He kneeled down besides his friend, not caring if his pants were ruined by the blood.
He picked Oswald's head up and cradled it against his chest.
"Come on, Oswald, wake up. Don't leave me alone. Please, I know you can do it." He said, voice constricted by the force of his tears.
"Please, you can't leave me now. Not now." He chocked on his own words, his body fueled by his desperation.
He held Oswald's cold body close to his own, as if some of his warmth would seep into the other, lighting up the flame of life within him.
It didn't.
Edward released the tension in his chest, finally letting the sadness overwhelm him. He rested his forehead against Oswald's icy one, closing his eyes shut so he didn't have to see Oswald's peaceful face. Almost as if he was sleeping.
He pressed a shaky kiss to Oswald's skin, like a goodbye he would never be able to say.
He let his body be taken over by a soul wrecking sob.
Jim observed. He never knew that Oswald meant so much to Ed. Even after him being the reason that he was thrown in Black Gate, the detective couldn't look at his grief and be happy.
Harvey walked to him.
"Do you think it is an act? Maybe Nygma did it?" He said, not really believing in his words.
Jim looked one last time at the figure collapsed over Oswald Cobblepot. And he felt empathy.
"No. He didn't do it."
He knew what it felt like to loose someone who meant the world to him. He knew that, whatever Edward and Oswald had, it was something deeply rooted inside both of them. And he felt compassion.
"Come on Harvey. Give him some privacy." He said, walking away, feeling his heart tighten.
And, as Ed cried that night, the whole sky cried with him.