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Edward Dillinger Jr tapped his fingers on his desk anxiously. His lips set in a hard line. His nephew, Julian, had gone off the rails in the past few hours and left the city in ruins. Ed frowns as he squints at the news on the television. He had spent the last few minutes switching between looking at his phone and anxiously running his hands through his hair. He still awaited a response from his sister. Where was Elisabeth in all this? Could she not control her son? Ed found himself pondering this. Julian had always been a mama's boy. Especially ever since his father died, he didn't have anyone else. Julian would probably listen to her, right?
All of Ed’s calls to Liz went unanswered. This wasn’t like her. She always picked up, no matter what she was doing. Ed, too, would drop everything whenever he got a phone call from his sister. He quickly glanced over at his phone when he heard his ringtone, a glimmer of hope sparks. He adjusted his glasses to check.
It wasn’t his sister though, it was Eve Kim.
Ed knew Eve quite well, and would even go as far as to consider them friends. He answered with anticipation, maybe she had some news about his sister or nephew, or about anything going on. Maybe even that new Ares program which had been shown to be extremely advanced. “Hey, Eve.” He beamed. She was always great to talk to, and they shared similar ideals on the grid technology. “Hey Junior…” Eve muttered through the other side of the phone. This made Ed chuckle. A lot of people had taken on just calling him Junior, especially after Alan Bradley and Kevin Flynn. They had always called him that, since his father hadn’t really bothered to think of a more original name.
Ed noticed a tinge of sadness in her voice though, she wasn’t as cheerful as she usually was. He stood up and strided over to the window overlooking the city, as if he could see her, or Julian, or Elisabeth. “Eve? Are you okay? Is something wrong?” He whispers now, as if his vulnerability shouldn’t be known. He was always good at hiding that part of him anyway.
“I am. I'm okay, Junior. But, uh…” He hears her sniffle, Ed bites his inner cheek, he wishes she could just say it. Tell him what happened. Instead he waits. He waits for the words to come to her.
“Elisabeth is dead.”
Ed feels his throat tightening, and his hands start to tremble. “What?” He gasps for air, considering this. His eyes start to burn. “Ed, I'm so sorry.” He hears Eve whisper through the phone, but it's so distant now. A ringing sound grows louder in his head.
Elisabeth?
Liz couldn’t.. she couldn’t be dead. What happened? His big sister had always been strong, stronger than him. Physically and mentally, she could always beat him. He shakes his head, this moment felt like an eternity before he hears Eve’s soft voice again. “I wanted to tell you before you saw it on the news. And, uh…I don’t know how to say this.”
“Say what? Eve?” Ed mumbles, but it comes out unsteady as his voice cracks.
“Julian is the prime suspect for her murder. His DNA was found on her body, and he’s nowhere to be seen. He must have ran away.” Eve confirms, sending through some reports as she tells him.
“Junior? I'm gonna leave you alone now, I know how hard it is to lose a sibling. You can talk to me anytime, okay?” Eve promises, but it doesn't feel reassuring. “Okay.” Ed answers numbly, wanting the call to be over.
Once Ed sees that Eve has hung up, he drops the phone. Drop a tame description. He threw it practically across the room, and it was unlikely it survived. But he didn’t care. Not anymore.
Elisabeth was dead, and Ed’s nephew was accused of killing her.
Ed collapsed into the chair next to him, holding his head in his hands. His big sister, his best friend. She was gone, forever.
‘Forever’ is a hard concept for people to wrap their heads around. They don't have the capacity to understand how long that is. And how when people die, they will never see them again. Ever.
Ed clutches his chest now, trying to slow his breathing, but it doesn’t work. He starts to hyperventilate alongside the tears already streaming down his face. It wasn’t a good combination. He thought of their childhood together. How Elisabeth would shield him from their father, how she would always take the time to indulge in Ed’s interests. How she held him as he cried over their fathers death, and stayed strong for his sake. How they stayed close despite falling into separate businesses. He remembers her big, beaming smile as he held Julian for the first time. She was so excited to be a mother, and she insisted upon Ed being the ‘cool uncle.’
Julian was a whole other story. He was spoiled by everyone in the family, everyone loved him. Ed thinks of him now. How Julian would laugh as he beat Ed in every video game. How his smile would cheer Ed up. Though, he and Julian had drifted apart since the whole ENCOM and Dillinger system war. Ed was upset about this at first, but Julian's motives grew dark. And he no longer recognized that funny little boy he used to know.
Had Elisabeth lectured Julian too harshly about his actions? Had she told him he was wrong, so he decided to kill her? Ed finds himself crying even more about the thought of Julian murdering his mother. His mother who loved him to death. He curses the boy under his breath. For his recklessness. For his greed. And for the possibility of him killing his own mother.
Ed glances over at the family photos on his wall, which now seemed foreign and unrealistic. There was one of a little girl who was ecstatic to meet her baby brother. A final photo of a family all together. Mother, father, son, and daughter. They all look so serious. A photo of two siblings celebrating the elder sister's graduation, as well as her surprise party for her younger brother when he did the same. A photo of that same woman holding her newborn son, next to a picture of the young boy holding a trophy.
Ed forces himself to look away as he stumbles over to a couch in the room. He didn't have the energy to make it to his bed. He just felt like crying until everything stopped.
So that's what he did.
He fell asleep, and dreamt of Elisabeth, full of life.