This chapter goes out to the readers that made it happen.

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There was no going back this time.

Edward took Bree back to her place in the early morning, the silence hanging thick between them.

As he parked in front of her building she stared down at her hands folded in her lap. He exhaled a sigh from beside her, his hand carefully clasping atop hers. Her head rose, meeting his eyes as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She forced a soft smile as she grabbed her coat and climbed out of the car.

Everything is fine.

He watched her climb up the steps to her apartment, disappearing behind the worn wooden door.

He fought to keep his hands from trembling as they gripped the steering wheel.

….

….

Despite the fact he'd never admit it, there was a sick sort of pleasure in comforting Kristen about Tom's "running away" whilst darting back and forth from the lab to dispose of his remains.

"This is sick….and wrong…." He muttered to himself as he drug the bones from the acidic solution beneath the fume hood.

But you don't regret it.

A voice in the back of his head crooned. He swallowed hard, adjusting his goggles.

He destroyed all of the evidence. There was no possible way to connect him to the crime….or Bree for that matter.

He added mentally with a pang of guilt. He really shouldn't have implicated her in any of it….but he didn't really regret it either. The emotional turmoil alone proved to already be enough to drive him half-insane…..he wasn't sure what he would have done if she wasn't there beside him…

He and Bree shared a few cursory glances throughout the day, as if trying to pretend the previous night hadn't happened.

But that was impossible.

The bloodstains left on her blouse from when he had hugged her the previous night attested to that.

As he stepped outside the lab, he looked out over the balcony overlooking the main precinct. His eyes rested on one figure with a frown. Bree's stood smiling beside Harvey Dent, his hand lingering on her arm.

Edward didn't bother concealing the scowl tugging at his lips.

Maybe we should get rid of him while we're at it.

Again, that darker voice chimed in. The worst part was that he couldn't bring himself to disagree…

"That would hurt her…." He said quietly, turning away from the balcony.

She would forgive you eventually.

Edward's jaw clenched, stealing another glance at the couple below.

"That wouldn't make it right…" he muttered once more, shaking his head and dismissing the dark thoughts looming in his head.

What's right is having her arms wrapped around us…..those adoring eyes looking up at us and no one else.

He swallowed hard, ignoring the smooth voice.

Or maybe we should make it so we're all she that has….

Edward shook his head, his knuckles white as he clutched the stack of files in his grasp.

Weeks past with seemingly no hitch…..well….aside from Gotham as a city slowly descending into a gang turf war. No hitch in the sense that attention was in no way directed towards him, nor the absent Officer Dougherty.

However, that changed quite abruptly as he stood in the file annex. His eyes were downcast, examining the wood blankly with a frown, his hand resting on the file cabinet. He barely registered the figure approaching him in the corner of his eye.

"Mr. Nygma…." A familiar feminine voice broke his trance.

He half-jumped as his eyes snapped towards the figure, his hand drumming softly on the cabinet.

"Miss Kringle…" he remarked stiffly, his gaze shooting back down and pretending to intensely examine the files. He didn't like the tone of her voice….something was wrong, and he sensed he was in trouble.

"I just….noticed something really weird," she began, sounding wary.

"Oh…?" he offered with his best feigned curiosity.

"This note Officer Daugherty left for me…" she said unfolding the letter, "The first letter of every line spells your name…"

He grimaced, fighting the panic rising in his chest as he attempted to maintain his composure. Kristen's lips pursed together as she held the paper towards him.

"Yah see?...N…..y…g…m…a."

His eyes drifted to her as she stared at the paper. He knew this was bad news….but hearing the solution to his puzzle coming from her lips made him simply want to kiss them more. He forced his lips out of the grimace and quirked a forced smile.

"Yes…..that….that—how odd," he said, his jaw clenching as he pretended to examine the letter with more scrutiny.

"W-what an amazing coincidence."

Kristen's brows furrowed.

"Coincidence?" she repeated, disbelief thickly evident in her tone.

Ed shrugged with a stiff smile.

"What else could it be?"

A tense silence fell between the two as she narrowed her eyes, staring at him with a sharp gaze.

"So, you had nothing to do with this….?"

"I…no!" he sputtered out a bit too quickly.

She offered another lingering glare and he turned away slightly.

"Nooo."

"Huh…." She said, her brows still furrowed deeply as she nodded. She gave one last sharp look as she turned away, strutting towards the door with frustration evident in her gait.

Ed watched as she left the room, his forced smile still plastered upon his lips. He swallowed hard as the door clicked shut.

Suddenly, a bout of laughter erupted from his lips.

"You're the guy who likes riddles"

Dougherty's words echoed in the back of his mind.

"Stop laughing—you fool, it's not funny," he looked down at his hands with a frown.

"What a creep."

The words were seared in his brain.

"She'll keep digging…." He thought aloud in mild panic. He slammed his hands down on the metal drawer of the file cabinet.

"Why did you have to leave a clue! Why?" he spat in frustration. His heart thumped painfully loud in his head. And yet….for a brief moment, he felt calm again as that darker shadow in the corners of his mind drifted closer to the surface.

"Relax….what can she find?…What can she prove?" he gestured, his hands facing upward atop the cabinet, "Nothing! There's no body—stop worrying!" he reassured himself, his hair falling in thick, dark strands across his face as he turned his head towards the door.

"But she looked so sad and angry…I hate it when she looks at me that way…"

"Menacing and weird."

The words she had chosen repeated in his head over and over again.

"Please—like it matters! Like you stand a chance with her. She knows how you feel about her and she still treats you like dirt!" the darker thoughts once locked in the depths of his brain reared to the surface in a sudden wave of anger and frustration.

He sighed in exasperation.

"I don't care….I still love her…"

"Do you even know her? Or do you just like the idea of her?" Bree's words flitted across his mind.

"Ugh! Listen to yourself. Be a man!" he shouted, slamming the drawer closed.

"You'd do better with that one if she's a little scared of you," that darker voice continued.

The words left his lips, but they weren't his….were they? Perhaps they were what he had been thinking the entire time but was too scared to admit to himself.

"—shut up." He said, trying to stop the train of thought.

"Just keepin it real," he laughed, slamming the drawer shut again.

"Stop!" he took off his glasses, running a hand through his now messy hair.

"I wouldn't quite your day-job if I were you."

"What's black and white and read all over?" he muttered under his breath.

"He is so weird…."

Laughter burst from his lips once more as he fought off the cocktail of emotions coursing through his body. He wanted the thoughts to stop. Suddenly, he grimaced, his hands balling into fists. He stood in silence, his chest heaving and mind racing.

He hardly registered the sound of the door opening.

"….Edward?"

The familiar, concerned voice caused him to freeze.

"Ed…..are you alright?"

Silence fell thickly between them for a long moment as Edward lifted his head and attempted to form a tight smile. He half-nodded….but his features quickly fell and his lips pressed together into a tight line as he quickly shook his head.

"No….." his voice cracked, his mouth falling agape. He couldn't form any other words. He didn't need to.

Bree's concerned eyes flickered across his face and before he could register what was happening, she had stepped forward and her arms wrapped around him, her face burying in the fabric of his suit. He immediately pulled her closer, resting one arm across her shoulders and the other slid down to the small of her back. He grasped her tightly, fighting the sob that wracked through his chest.

"Ed….if you need to talk…."

He shook his head, his heart leaping for a small moment as all noise in his head suddenly grew silent.

Oh, that is gold. What happened to 'Oh, but I love Miss Kringle?

That damned voice echoed in his head.

'But Bree is different….'

He internally replied.

You want Miss Kringle but you need Bree….

The voice taunted him silently as he felt Bree's fingers toy with the fabric of his jacket.

'Why can't I have both…?'

Because that's not how it works, genius.

He tilted his head and pressed a light kiss to Bree's temple, his lips ghosting across her hairline.

He wished his mind could be silent so he could simply enjoy holding her.

Hell, why not just have her against the file cabinets right now?

His breath caught in his throat and his face flushed at the thought. He silently preyed she didn't notice the blood rushing to the lower half of his body…

'Because that would be wrong….'

He could hear the laughter in his head.

'And she deserves better than that…'

Well, don't let her go. She'll only run back to her little boyfriend.

"Quiet…" he muttered into her hair.

"Sorry, what?" Bree said, stiffening within his embrace.

"It's nothing…." He said softly, his hands gently rubbing circles on her back as he pressed her closer against him, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

All he wanted was something to hold onto—someone to hold onto.

A friend.

A confidant.

A lover.

He wanted a relationship.

Preferably, not involving murder, nor ending in heartbreak…..

But in Gotham it seems like it always does….

And maybe it always will.

But who knew?

Either way….it was a question he really didn't need answered right in that moment.

….

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And that's it, guys; the end of the first installment of the Bree and Edward saga. I got weirdly emotional writing this, which I wasn't really expecting. But thank you to all of you wonderful readers and reviewers and please let me know what you think! Keep an eye out for the sequel coming up probably post-season 2 airing. Check out my Bree tumblr for updates and teasers of what's to come. I'm also a huge nerd so I may do some illustrations for my favorite twisted crime-solving/committing pair, so there is that. Until then, let me know what you want to possibly see happen in the next season with these two!