Chapter Text
The cold air stung Ed’s lips. He assumed that the same thing was happening to Oswald, but he also doubted that was his main priority right now.
Oswald’s eyes had been welling with tears just as quickly as they’d been falling off of his chin as soon as they got there. As blurred as Ed assumed his vision was, Oswald’s eyes never strayed from his own. Not at the pier behind him, not at the gun pointed at his chest, just deep into the other man’s eyes.
“Ed, I love you.” He said. The brunette looked away for a moment. Every time he heard Oswald say that word, it stunned him all the same. “I know you believe that now.” God, by his own logic he guessed he should but…
It just felt too intense, too surreal . He had to break away from Oswald’s shimmering gaze, look down at his gun to remind himself why he was there. He looked back up.
“So you need to believe me when I tell you,” Oswald continued, “By doing this, it will change you.”
“I’ve killed before, Oswald—”
“Not like this. It won’t be a crime of passion, or self-preservation. This will be the cold-blooded murder of someone you love .” The raven haired man’s voice broke on his last few words. His tears started to flow even faster now.
Rain fell on Ed’s glasses as he spoke. “I don’t love you.” He hated that he felt like he needed to say it to believe it himself. He hated the small feeling of uncertainty as he spoke. He hated that Oswald’s face didn’t fall when he said it. If anything, he could see a small sense of hope spread across his face. He reached his tied hands to Ed’s face, only to get slapped away. Oswald was making things so difficult. Why was he making it difficult?!
Ed could see the other man’s demeanor toughen. “You need me, Edward Nygma! Just as I need you. You cannot have one without the other.”
“You killed Isabella.” The brunette felt like he was reminding himself more than Oswald.
“The point is—”
“That is the point!” He needs to clear his head of all the things the other man’s been saying. And stopping him from continuing. “You can’t talk your way out of this, Oswald. I have wanted you to suffer as I’ve suffered. You killed her, so you die.”
Oswald’s expression changed from desperate yet determined, to almost accusatory. “When I met you, you were a nervous, jittery loser. ” Ed could feel the venom on his tongue. “You were nothing . I created Edward Nygma! And I am the only one in the world who truly sees you as you are.” The shorter man’s face softened, along with his voice. “Who you can still become.” Ed looked down at his gun again as he started to think.
“You can’t do this!” He could hear Oswald sob.
As much as he hated to say it, he was right. After Ms. Kringle, Oswald was the only one to see him…for him . Oswald was the one who freed him from Arkham, gave him a job, knew his strengths and weaknesses. This…was far too much to be thinking about while he already had a gun pointed at the other man’s chest.
“Ed, are you listening to me?”
“I’m listening.” He replied, far softer than he liked.
“Say something.” Oswald pleaded, voice completely broken.
Against his better judgement, he thought about it again. Was it too much to suggest that Oswald loved him so much, he thought that Isabella wasn’t a good match for him. Maybe he—Maybe I lo-
Ugh! All of this was messing with Ed’s head. He knew what he came here to do, and he intended to do it.
“I loved her, Oswald.” He finally said. “And you killed her.”
And then he pulled the trigger.
He almost didn’t notice how he cringed when he saw the blood pour out of Oswald’s wound. It was when his eyes finally left Ed’s. But as quickly as they went down, his eyes met with the taller man’s once again.
Thoughtlessly, he stepped towards Oswald and grabbed his shirt before he could rock back into the water. The raven-haired man’s eye’s flitted all over Ed’s face to get an idea of what he was going to do next. But what he did, Oswald could never have guessed.
Ed pulled the other man’s collar until their lips met. It probably wasn’t more than three or four seconds, but for the two, it felt like hours. Oswald’s eyes unfocused in shock and Ed kept his fixed on the ground below them. They both weren’t fully aware of what was happening, but neither had time to process because just as Oswald was about to kiss back, he was shoved into the water.
Oswald woke up with a serious headache. Now that he thought about it, all of his body was hurting like hell. Wherever he was felt humid and smelt of pine and moss. He was covered in a blanket up to his nose and was far too hot for comfort.
“Well, look who’s alive.” He heard a woman’s voice say. A voice he didn’t recognize.
He quickly jolted himself up, throwing the blanket onto his lap. “Who are you?” He asked.
“Ivy Pepper. Are you stupid?”
He looked around the room. It wasn’t a familiar place. Sunlight poured out of the windows and potted plants and vines covered every wall. “Do we know each other?”
“I pulled you out of the river. Been nursing you for weeks.” Ivy replies. Wait. That reminds him of someone. Oswald’s lack of a reply, she continues. “So boring. You sleep a lot.”
His headache hit Oswald with another wave of pain, causing him to groan. What happened before he got here? Think, think.
“You look strange,” Ivy noted. “Like you’re gonna puke. Are you okay?”
Oswald paused, a smile spreading across his face. “I just remembered, there’s someone I need to settle some...
unfinished business
with.”