"Is there no way out of the mind?"

- Sylvia Plath

"Thank you for waiting!" Ed shouted excitedly on top of the stage. The crowd nodded up at him also excited. "It's worth it. You'll see. Believe in her passion and your champion she'll be. Bombs can't stop her! Nor bullets, too! 'Cause she's here to speak out and fight for you!"

Charlotte watched Ed from the middle of the crowd with pride shining in her eyes. She let out a chuckle because of his showman's skills.

In the last two months, they had been very intimate with one another. She liked how things were going between them. What Charlotte was worried about was him seeing the Riddler again. He would be so sad sometimes and she would immediately know he had seen him. She was also worried her mood would change suddenly because of her disorder. She had been in a stable mood in the last couple of weeks, but was always afraid that would change.

The blonde felt someone stop beside her and she looked over only to see Captain Jim Gordon. "Oh, God, no..."

He glared at her with that grumpy expression she knew so well and then he looked up at Ed as he continued speaking to the crowd.

"Ready to battle? Ready to rock? People of the Narrows, here's The Doc!" Ed pointed his hands at the staircase beside the stage and Lee descended the steps with a kind smile directed to the crowd. Then her eyes landed on Jim Gordon.

Lee recovered from the surprise of seeing her past lover right there in front of her and held her hands up to quiet down the audience. "This morning someone tried to kill me". Her words caused everyone to shout 'what?' in shock. "Maybe it was someone from the outside. Maybe it was one of you". They started saying 'no', but Lee quickly spoke again. "You know what, I don't know, and I don't care. But what I do know is that someone did not like what I was saying. Now, why would the idea of a united Narrows scare people? I'll tell you why! Because a united Narrows is a strong Narrows! And guess what. They should be scared".

Everyone raised their drinks in the air and shouted in agreement up at their leader. Ed had seen Jim Gordon too and appeared between the Captain and Charlotte. He placed an arm around Charlotte's shoulders and looked up at Lee.

"Magnificent, isn't she?" Ed asked Jim and turned his head to face him. "It's been forever, right?"

Jim saw the arm Ed had around Charlotte and how she had rested a hand on his back. He was surprised they had made up after everything that happened between them but didn't say anything about it.

"I should bust you right now," Jim glared at Ed.

"Oh, come on, Jim, don't be grumpy," Ed remarked. "Your ex has my full support. She's really gonna change things around here".

"What are you doing here, Captain?" Charlotte asked as she eyed Jim expectantly. She thought he might be there to shine some light on who had attacked them that morning.

Jim looked at the blonde and proceeded to explain. "Someone hired Griffin Krank to kill her this morning. You really think they won't do it again?"

Ed made a face after he heard the name of their attacker. It sounded familiar, but he had no idea where he heard it before. "Krank?"

"A toymaker, but also an assassin," Jim told them.

Charlotte couldn't contain the chuckle that escaped through her lips. "'Toymaker' and 'assassin' in the same sentence".

Ed looked at Charlotte and chuckled along with her. "That is so Gotham".

The Doc was still speaking over at the stage and the three turned to listen to the rest of her speech. "Because together, we have the power to change our lives. Imagine a hospital. Imagine schools. Imagine these slums torn down! The children deserve better. Your children deserve life!"

Everyone clapped and whistled excitedly at Lee and she walked down the steps of the stage with a smile. People patted her shoulder to show their appreciation for what she was doing for them when no one else cared.

"Jim," Lee greeted when she joined them.

"Doc," Jim greeted back with an awkward smile.

"I'd like to think of that as a sign of respect, not just a lack of imagination," she joked.

"How long you been back?" Jim asked.

"A while," Lee simply replied.

Jim took a step forward. "I wished you would have contacted me".

"I've been busy," she told him with a slight smile.

"I can see that," Jim nodded, not knowing what to think of this new Lee he was seeing. He had missed her, though. "You look great".

Lee looked down and blushed at the compliment. Seeing Jim again awakened too many memories of their time together. She looked back up at him and Charlotte noticed the light shining in her eyes. The same could be said for the Captain. Charlotte was sure there was still some feelings left for one another.

"You look the same," Lee told Jim. "Are you here to arrest someone?" She asked as she looked at Charlotte and Ed with a small chuckle. "Me?" They chuckled in return and looked at Jim, awaiting his reply.

"I'm here because someone wants you dead," Jim explained after taking a quick glance at Charlotte and Ed. After those words, all amusement left from Lee's expression. "The assassin's still on the loose, as is the person who hired him. You're not safe".

Lee couldn't help but smile again at Jim. "It's Gotham. Is anyone ever safe?"

Jim didn't know what else to say and the two watching him weren't helping. He glanced at them before looking at Lee again. "So you're partners with Charlotte and Ed, huh? Why?"

"We are right here," Ed reminded as he pointed towards himself and Charlotte and she nodded at the Captain.

"Why not?" Lee asked as she also looked at them. "Wouldn't have been my first choice, but the universe has funny ways".

"Still here," Ed reminded once more but neither Jim nor Lee seemed to have heard him. Charlotte placed her other arm around his waist and planted a kiss on his cheek. He smiled at her in return and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll see you around, Jim," Lee said and then walked away.

Jim looked after her and then his eyes landed on Charlotte and Ed, who were staring at him again. "I'm gonna take a look around". And he too left.

Charlotte and Ed let go of each other and the blonde stared after Jim and Lee in amusement. She found it obvious that they still liked each other. Meanwhile, Ed looked around the club until his eyes fell on a short man who was staring at him. The man wore glasses and a deerstalker hat. Ed immediately recognized him as being Krank, the guy who tried to kill Lee. He took out his gun from the waistband of his pants and ran after the man. Krank walked out the door and Ed followed him.

Charlotte looked back at the spot she thought Ed was, only to find it vacant. She looked around in confusion and didn't saw him anywhere. The blonde decided it was better to go look for him and started by going outside.

When Charlotte walked out the door, she only saw a couple guys drinking their beers beside a barrel of fire. But once she turned the corner to the alley, she saw Ed talking to a short man. He saw her and gasped because he was afraid Krank would hurt her. Not to mention the toymaker had just told him the Riddler had been the one hiring him to kill Lee.

Krank turned around to face Charlotte and smiled. "There she is. The girl the Riddler told me about".

Charlotte stiffened at the name and then noticed the gun in his hand. Ed's gun. She stepped up beside Ed with an apprehensive expression. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The Riddler hired me to kill the Doc. But he told me not to hurt you," Krank explained.

Charlotte was shocked by what she was hearing, but tried not to let it show. "You did a hell of a job then, you idiot! That stupid plane almost hit me".

"Look on the bright side: It didn't hit you," Krank said with a shrug. He looked at the shocked Ed standing beside Charlotte and glared at him. "Now he's pretending he doesn't know me".

"Oh, God," Ed breathed and gulped.

Krank was getting tired of the conversation and grabbed Ed by the jacket of his suit. "I put myself at great risk for you. Cops came to my workshop. I can't go back there. My son-"

He was interrupted when Charlotte grabbed him by his bow tie and brought his face close to hers. "Listen, here, you little twerp. I'm gonna-"

Charlotte was also interrupted mid-sentence when Jim appeared around the corner with his gun in hand.

"Get down!" Jim ordered at Charlotte and Ed. Charlotte let go of Krank as he turned around to face Jim with Ed's gun raised at the Captain, but Jim was faster and shot him twice.

Charlotte had pushed Ed out of the way just when Jim shot Krank in the chest. Ed was pulled out of his shock when he heard the gun fire. Jim ran to crouch down beside the assassin and to check for a pulse, but the toymaker was already dead.

"Damn it," he muttered in frustration. Jim stood up and turned to Charlotte and Ed. "Did he say anything about who hired him?"

"Uh,... it was him, all him," Ed told him, his voice shaking as he spoke. "He was a lone wolf, that's what he said. He... He was... He was afraid of what Lee was gonna do to the Narrows".

A crease appeared on Jim's forehead. "Are you sure? His son said he was talking to somebody on the phone about the Doc".

"Yeah, he... he said... he said that he was calling around, trying to get support, but no one would help him, so he went it alone. Crazy. Crazy loon," Ed said to the Captain.

"He told you all that?" Jim asked suspiciously.

"He was completely insane, Jim," Charlotte told him and Ed nodded. "He said he was gonna kill us".

"Obviously, I'm not much of a threat," Ed was quick to add. "And Lee took Charlotte's gun".

Jim looked at Charlotte with a questioning look. "Why?"

"Is that really impor-" She started asking, but Jim interrupted her.

"Tell me," he demanded.

"I'm bipolar, all right?" Charlotte finally revealed to the Captain with an irritated tone.

"We're so lucky that you came out here, Jim," Ed interjected. He knew how much Charlotte hated to talk about her illness, so he tried to take Jim's attention away. "I don't know what we would have done if..."

Ed's voice faded as Jim stepped away to report Krank's death to the GCPD. "This is Captain Gordon. I have a suspect down, outside Cherry's Place on State Street in the Narrows. Send all available units". The lights in the alley blinked and Jim looked at Charlotte and Ed. "Nice job, I guess".

Jim went to wait for his officers at the end of the alley and Charlotte looked concernedly at Ed, who was staring at the small round mirror on the corner of the alley.

Ed could see the Riddler staring back at him on the mirror with a taunting smile. "I'm back!"

"Hey, Ed. Look at me, look at me," Charlotte said to him as she cupped his face with her hands. He looked away from the mirror and his expression softened when his eyes landed on hers. "It's okay. Thankfully Jim is the shoot first ask questions later type of guy".

At the moment Ed wasn't worried about the assassin or Jim. He was worried about how he hadn't been strong enough to stop the Riddler from getting control over him. "I... the Riddler... he could have hurt you, Charlotte".

She didn't know what to say, so instead, she hugged Ed after making sure he was facing away from the mirror. He looked so beaten after Krank said it had been the Riddler who hired him to kill Lee. Charlotte was actually more worried about Ed than her own safety.

That night Ed went back to his room. The last thing he wanted was to spend the night alone. But he couldn't be with Charlotte at the moment, because he didn't trust himself. What if the Riddler took control again?

When Ed closed the door and turned around to walk farther into the room, he wasn't surprised to see the Riddler standing by the bed. "We had so much fun, didn't we?" He asked with a malevolent chuckle. Ed hated whenever he chuckled like that. It echoed through his brain and managed to drive him further into insanity. "Shame Lee isn't dead, but you have to admit it was fun to be me again. Krank is dead. Which is a good thing. He was gonna tell Jim we hired him".

"You hired him," Ed corrected him with a glare his way.

"No, we hired him, Eddie," his darker personality stated with a smirk as he suddenly appeared right in front of him. "Remember, I am you and you are me. Anyway, Krank isn't important," he said and returned to stand by the bed. "I don't care about him and I don't care about Lee or anyone else in the Narrows. I only care about one person".

Ed's muscles became even tenser. "I know who you're going to name, but don't you dare say it".

"Charlotte," the Riddler said the name with a smile on his lips. "I only care about my Charlotte".

Ed glared at him and layed down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I hate you".

"Don't be like that," the Riddler said with an annoyed tone. "I told Krank not to hurt Charlotte, didn't I? It's not my fault he's not the professional he said he was. You can't trust toymaking assassins nowadays".

"What is your problem with Lee?" Ed asked and his darker self looked at him as if he had gone completely mental, which he felt like he had.

"Is it really necessary to explain?" the Riddler asked and then rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course it is," he sighed. "As long as Lee is alive, I can't be free. She's trying to tame you into becoming her little pet. And worse, she's trying to tame Charlotte as well. Have you not seen the bunch of pills she gives her?"

"Lee is just trying to help," Ed defended his friend. "Charlotte feels a lot better now".

The Riddler raised an eyebrow at Ed. "Seriously? You really are dumber than I thought. Lee is trying to change our Charlotte. We love her just how she is and Lee is trying to change her. The Doc needs to die. There's nothing you wouldn't do for Charlotte, right?"

Ed hated how that actually made sense. He saw Charlotte take all those antipsychotics and hated it. Then that thought caused him to have an idea. "Pills. That's it!"

The Riddler eyed Ed and shook his head. "Now he definitely went loony". He observed as Ed almost ran out of the room and appeared beside him just as he made it to Lee's small clinic. The Doc was still downstairs and Ed took advantage of that to start going through the antipsychotics she had there. "What are you doing?"

Ed turned to his darker personality with a glare. "Is it really necessary to explain?" Ed repeated the question the Riddler had asked moments before.

"Sass is not really your beach. It's mine," the Riddler remarked with a laugh. Ed found many pills that could help him with his Riddler problem. That caused the Riddler to grow worried. "But seriously, you're not gonna take those, are you?"

"What do you think?" Ed asked before returning to his room with the pills. The Riddler kept ordering him to stop, but he filled a glass with water and drank it all after taking the stronger antipsychotic he brought with him.

"You can't get rid of me so easily," the Riddler spat at Ed with an angry expression. "You can't keep me from being with her, Ed! It's just a matter of time".

Ed laid down on his bed and closed his eyes tightly. He stood like that until he finally stopped hearing the Riddler. When he opened his eyes again, his darker self was gone.

***

A/N: My birthday ended two hours ago and I really want to thank everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday. It's 2 am here, but I really wanted to update tonight. Love you all <3