Turns out, Oswald had not found anything else about the Red Hoods. He waited for news from the hitmen and gangsters he put after them and he was getting more desperate with each second that passed. Oswald limped from one side to another in front of the dining table with a glass of red wine in hand, while Charlotte and Ed went over the evidence they gathered in the GCPD. Before they left, they had asked for the Red Hoods' file and the red hood the GCPD had found.

"Someone is testing me," Oswald said bitterly. "They're thinking, 'Oh, he's Mayor now. He has to play by different rules'. No, they'll see, when I'm roasting their entrails over a fire".

Charlotte observed Oswald. She knew he was not only mad with the Red hoods but he was also worried about the party which would take place that night at 'The Sirens', a club owned by Barbara Kean and Tabitha Galavan.

"Perhaps I'm thinking about this all wrong," Ed started thoughtfully. "Perhaps this is not about you at all. What if this is about the statue?"

"I don't think so," Charlotte contradicted. "Why would they-"

"Of course it's about me!" Oswald exclaimed before Charlotte could finish and wine dripped on the table.

"Yes, you're probably right," Ed admitted and then noticed the wine had not only dripped on the table but it had also stained Oswald's white shirt. "Oh, dear".

Oswald looked at his sleeve and huffed in annoyance. "Wonderful".

Charlotte felt bad for Oswald. It seemed like everything was going downhill for him that day. She thought he deserved better than that.

"Oswald. Take a breath," Ed advised while grabbing a napkin and putting a bit of it on his glass of water. He took it out and grabbed the salt before walking over to his friend. Then he poured a bit of salt over the stain.

Oswald looked at Ed like he had just gone nuts. He had no idea why he was pouring salt on a wine stain. What good could that possibly do? "What are you doing?"

"It's an old trick I learned in the lab," Ed explained and Charlotte nodded to herself, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Using salt on the wine stain would certainly do more good than just rubbing it with water. "Most solvents have as their base-" Ed suddenly stopped and looked at Charlotte as if he had realized something. "I am the son of water, but if water touches me, I die. What am I?"

Oswald rolled his eyes. "Again with the riddles".

"Salt," Charlotte answered, wondering where Ed was getting at.

"Exactly," Ed confirmed with a smile. "Most people think of it as a food additive, but potassium salt is found in detergents, soaps-"

"What is your point, Ed?" Oswald interrupted, annoyed with his friend's ramblings.

Ed smiled widely as he looked between Oswald and Charlotte. "I know where the Red Hoods are".

Charlotte tried to pick up Ed's line of thought and figure out where the Red Hoods were hiding. After a few seconds, she realized what Ed meant with all the talk about the detergents and soaps.

"Oh, a detergent factory!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Brilliant".

"Yes and they left their vehicle in the Narrows," Ed continued to explain, his smile growing with excitement. "There's only one detergent factory in that part of town".

"Let's go then," Oswald rapidly said once he knew where the gang was. "They're going to pay for what they've done. I'll call Butch while you two go get my men. He'll meet us there".

Charlotte and Ed did as Oswald asked and quickly gathered Vitor Zsasz and his two Zsaszettes before returning to Oswald's side. Together, they drove all the way to the detergent factory in the Narrows where the Red Hoods were.

The factory was composed of tall white cylindrical forms all attached to each other. When the group was about to reach the entrance, they heard gunfire coming from the inside. They didn't stop and entered the factory only to find Butch standing there with a machine gun in hand and the dead bodies of six men behind him.

"I did it, boss," he said to Oswald. "I got 'em for you".

Even Oswald was shocked with what he was seeing. Then one of the men who had been shot started moving. Butch quickly shot him again and the man finally died.

Oswald was impressed with the henchman's effectiveness and ordered a press conference in his mansion to tell people of Butch's courage when getting rid of the Red Hoods. Who was no impressed by this were Charlotte and Ed, who remained quiet beside Oswald while he complimented Butch.

"Peace and order have once again been restored to Gotham. The Red Hood Gang is no more," Oswald told the journalists confidently and showed the Red Hood Charlotte and Ed had gotten from the GCPD. "My very own man, Butch Gilzean, risked life and limb to face down the bandits".

All journalists wanted to ask questions to Butch. "Was your life ever in danger, Butch?"

"I can honestly say that if I'd have hesitated, I'd have been a goner," Butch answered and Charlotte almost snorted.

'So dramatic,' the blonde thought with a slight shake of her head.

Oswald grabbed Butch's metal hand and held it above their heads. Butch's hand had once been chopped off by Oswald himself when he wanted Butch to infiltrate in the Galavan house to figure out where the Galavan siblings were hiding his mother.

"Let's go back to the crime scene," Ed whispered to Charlotte once the press had finally left. He looked sideways at Butch, who was talking to Oswald in the other side of the room. "There is something more to this".

Charlotte agreed and the couple returned to the crime scene where the GCPD was finishing inspections. Many of the cops sent them weird looks and hateful glares, but they ignored them and moved to inspect the crime scene. The bodies had already been taken away but their silhouettes had been drawn on the floor.

"All right, people, listen up!" Detective Harvey Bullock shouted to all the cops and the forensic team. "It's happy hour. Finish up those reports and let's call it a day".

Harvey was going to walk out of the factory when he noticed the two former forensic scientists. He decided to taunt them a little before leaving. "Hey, uh, Ed. Even before you went crazy, I never liked you. Never was your biggest fan either, Charlotte".

"Your zipper's down," Ed told him without even sparing a look at the Detective. He had noticed that fact when he first got to the crime scene. Charlotte looked at the Detective for a single second before shaking her head and returning her eyes to the scene in front of her.

"Listen, Butch did us all a favor," Harvey continued after noticing that his zipper was in fact down. "Red Hoods go bye-bye, case closed".

"Look at the way the bodies fell," Ed argued. "It's as if they were just standing there, waiting to be killed. Butch comes all the way in the room, but only one man pulled out a gun".

Charlotte had noticed that as well and pointed at a beer bottle on the floor beside one of the silhouettes. "One of them was still holding his beer. Shouldn't he be grabbing his gun instead?"

"I guess they weren't threatened," Harvey said dismissively, causing Charlotte and Ed to stare at him as if asking 'really?'

"By a 300-pound gorilla?" Ed asked.

Charlotte shook her head at the Detective once again and pointed at one of the silhouettes on the floor. "Even you have to see how odd this looks. Butch came all this way, grabbed one of their guns and they don't try to defend themselves".

Harvey's uninterested expression didn't change. "Whose side are you on, anyway, uh? No one's losing sleep over a bunch of dead crooks, least of all me". He turned back to all the cops in the factory and started walking away. "I said wrap it up".

"Look at those suits over there," Ed told Charlotte and pointed to six suits on top of a table not too far away. They both walked to investigate and Ed grabbed one of the suits. It was black and had a dark red pocket square. "What have we here?"

Charlotte took a look at the label of the suit to see where it had been made. "'Tailored by Mr. Fuji'".

As soon as they returned to the mansion, Ed looked for the number of Mr. Fuji and called him. To their surprise, the tailor said a large man with a metal hand had bought all the six of the suits.

"So, Butch is the real leader of the Red Hoods," Charlotte mused as she thought what she and Ed could do to show Oswald that Butch wasn't loyal to him. After thinking for a bit, Charlotte had an idea. "This is great. As soon as Oswald understands what Butch has been doing behind his back, he'll throw him out or kill him. We should make him betray Oswald tonight at the party and we end up being the ones saving his life".

"We'll need to get Zsasz to threaten Tabitha," Ed suggested with a smile forming on his lips. "Zsasz is the only one Butch is afraid of. Once he sees Zsasz threatening the life of the woman he loves, he will do whatever we say".

Charlotte smiled, happy with their plan. She placed her arms around Ed's neck and he placed his own around her torso. The two shared a brief kiss before Charlotte pulled away. "Then let's get dressed. We have a party to attend".

***

"What would I gain with that?" Zsasz asked once Charlotte and Ed told him their plan.

Ed smirked. "You get to have a little fun".

Zsasz considered the offer, but it still wasn't what he wanted. "Fun, how?"

"You get to shoot Butch," Charlotte sweetened the deal and the hitman immediately smiled, his dark brown eyes widening in anticipation. "Not kill, just shoot him".

"Deal," Zsasz immediately replied.

"Great," Ed said and gave him a revolver. "Give this to Butch. Keep Tabitha in the kitchen. We will bring Butch in there if he doesn't agree".

Zsasz nodded with a smirk on his lips and left to get Tabitha, leaving Charlotte and Ed alone on the back of the Sirens club. From there, they could see everything going on in the club, from the band on the stage to all the guests surrounding the bar.

Charlotte enjoyed that alone time with Ed. They had been so busy with helping Oswald and catching the Red Hoods that they barely had any alone time. The only time they had was when they were in their room at night.

They shared a soft and gentle kiss. Ed led Charlotte until she was against the wall and the kiss grew more hungry. They both almost forgot about the plan they were working on. They only wanted to be close to each other and feel the other's body against theirs.

They wished they were back in their room, but they weren't so the kiss had to come to an end before anyone walked in there and saw them. Just when Ed was about to open his mouth to tell her he loved her, Butch stepped in the hallway.

The henchman rolled his eyes when he saw them and was going to continue walking when Ed spoke. "There he is, the man of the hour. We have a surprise for you, Butch".

"Not in the mood," Then Ed gave him a striped black and white box he took from the inside of his dark green suit. Butch glared at the small box suspiciously. "What's in the box?"

"Open it," Ed told him.

Butch looked between him and Charlotte before letting out a sight and opening the box just wide enough to take the present out. He saw the dark red pocket square the couple had collected from the crime scene and threw it at Ed's face. "Thanks. I already got one".

"Oh, of course you do," Ed mumbled and positioned the pocket square beside Butch's. "And you certainly wouldn't need this one, as it's so similar to your very own pocket square. This is from the Red Hood crime scene. It turns out that your suit and the Red Hood suits were all made by the same tailor, Mr. Fuji".

"That's some coincidence," Butch kept glaring at him as if daring him to say anything else. Charlotte knew he was going to try something, so she prepared for that moment.

Ed, however, just smiled. "I thought so myself. Which is why I called Mr. Fuji, and he said that a large man with a metal hand, not many of those running around, bought all six of the suits, which means, ta-da, you're the architect of the Red-"

Before Ed could conclude his sentence, Butch grabbed him by the neck and shoved him against the wall. "I should snap your neck right now".

Charlotte, who already knew Butch would snap at any second, pulled out her new gun and pointed it at Butch's head. She was just sad that her father's pocket knife had been apprehended by the police.

The henchman had long forgotten about Charlotte's presence with how angry he was at Ed. He heard the gun being cocked and turned to the side to see the blonde with a slight smile on her lips.

Ed let out gasping noises when Butch's hand didn't move away from his neck. "You haven't heard our offer".

Charlotte raised one eyebrow at Butch and he finally let go of Ed, who took deep breaths and straightened his dark green suit. Charlotte relaxed and lowered her gun.

"We kill Penguin together," he said.

Butch chuckled in disbelief and looked from Ed to Charlotte and back to Ed. "What are you talking about? You're his guy". Then he looked at Charlotte once more. "And you're his friend too".

"Oh, please. You fell for that act?" Ed asked rhetorically. "Yes, he broke us out of Arkham. Very appreciative. But I was not cut out to be number two. I've simply been waiting for my moment, which you have graciously provided".

"And I want to be Queen of Gotham," Charlotte told Butch. "We both know that as long as Oswald is the King of the underworld, my ambitions won't come true. We have to get rid of him".

"How would you like to run Gotham with us?" Ed asked him, placing an arm around Charlotte.

Butch chuckled again, not believing what he was hearing. "The three of us working together?"

"You have proven yourself far more cunning than I imagined," Ed did his best to make Butch believe him. He took off the red hood from his pocket and dangle it in front of Butch. "Now, I assume this little drama of yours was meant to climax tonight. So put on the hood, kill Penguin We'll help you escape. Tomorrow we divide up the city".

Charlotte's smile widened when she noticed Butch was about to accept their offer. Maybe they wouldn't even need to threaten him with killing Tabitha for him to do as they said.

Butch looked at them and then at Oswald, who was greeting a guest. "You'd really turn on him, after all he did for you?"

"In a heartbeat," Ed lied.

"Whatever it takes," Charlotte said and Butch looked down at her.

"No," he said flatly and both Charlotte and Ed's smile dropped immediately.

Ed looked at the blonde woman beside him and let his arm fall from her shoulders. They shared a knowing look before Ed turned to look at Butch again. "Okay. Then I guess it's time for surprise number two".

Charlotte pointed her gun at Butch again and the henchman huffed in annoyance. This only caused her to smile once more. "Go to the kitchen. I'm sure you're gonna like this surprise more".

Butch rolled his eyes and walked towards the kitchen like Charlotte ordered him to do. When they got there, Butch saw Zsasz and two more goons.

Zsasz waved at Butch and a crease formed in his forehead. "You got to Zsasz?"

"I got to Zsasz," Ed smiled widely. Then one of the goons shoved Tabitha in front of him an Butch's eyes widened "And he got to Tabitha. Penguin's history. The question is, are you?"

Butch wanted to beat the crap out of the people hurting his Tabby, but Charlotte's gun pointed at his head reminded him why he couldn't. The blonde was very unstable and she could shoot Tabitha if he didn't do as they said.

Charlotte and Ed returned to the main area of the club. It was finally time for Oswald to make his speech and Barbara Kean had already gone up to the stage to announce the new Mayor. The blonde woman wore a strapless purple dress with feathers on the bottom.

Ladies, gentlemen, welcome to The Sirens," Barbara greeted. "Tonight we're here to celebrate the honorable Mayor Cobblepot. Our savior from the monsters, and the captain of our fair city. And now, the Mayor would like to say a few words".

Before Oswald could go up to the stage, Charlotte and Ed grabbed him and he turned around in confusion. "Ed, Charlotte, where've you been? I've been looking for you two all evening".

"Oh, we're just tying up loose ends. I just wanted to say good luck," Ed explained to Oswald.

"Yes, good luck, Oswald," Charlotte smiled.

Oswald looked between them with a smile. "Okay. Thank you". Then he limped all the way to the stage and started his speech. "Tonight is a celebration, not of my victory, but of Gotham's. This is a new day!"

Charlotte and Ed shared a look with Zsasz and nodded before leaving to stand right in front of the stage.

People were clapping happily at the new Mayor when shots were fired by the bar. Everyone started yelling in fear and stepped out of Butch's way. He came to the front of the stage wearing the red hood.

"I wouldn't celebrate yet, Mr. Mayor," he said to Oswald. "Red Hoods ain't finished yet".

Charlotte and Ed ran up to the stage and grabbed Oswald's arms, keeping him in place. He looked at them confused out of his mind. "Ed! Charlotte! What are you doing?"

"Wait!" Ed exclaimed.

"Sorry, boss," Butch said with the gun pointed at Oswald.

Oswald recognized the voice from the man under the hood and was shocked with the betrayal. "Butch?"

Then a loud bang was heard and everyone screamed, but apart from that nothing happened. A bullet never ended up hitting Oswald and he looked down at his body to see if had been shot.

"Oops," Ed laughed in amusement.

Charlotte nodded at Zsasz and the hitman hurried himself to the front of the stage where he shot Butch in the legs. Butch groaned in pain and fell on his knees.

Ed walked up to the microphone and left Charlotte with Oswald, who was so shocked he couldn't even speak. "The Mayor, our Mayor, vowed that all of the Red Hoods would be destroyed. And now we have the real leader caught red-handed".

He jumped down from the stage and whispered something to Butch before taking off the hood and revealing his real identity to everyone. Many people gasped when they saw Butch's face.

Oswald's face turned red from anger. "I will kill you for this!" He got out of Charlotte's hold and stepped towards Butch. "After all that I've done for you! I gave you a job!"

"I gave you everything!" Butch's voice boomed. "I used to be somebody in this town, then you, that blonde maniac and that sniveling little son of a-"

Oswald slapped Butch before he could finish his insults and shouted for him to shut up. Oswald walked back to the stage and looked at his guests. "I am shocked and grieved... that one of my dearest friends has betrayed me. But let it be known that Oswald Cobblepot will prosecute anyone who threatens Gotham!"

"Hear, hear!" Barbara chanted as she held a champagne bottle over her head.

A few people clapped, but then a body was dropped on the stage and Tabitha Galavan stood over it. The body belonged to one of Zsasz's goons. This distraction allowed Butch to gain the upper hand and attack Zsasz. Once the sadistic hitman was down, Butch's eyes focused on Charlotte and Ed.

The couple hurried to tell Oswald to move away, but he didn't have time to move before Butch had thrown himself at Charlotte and Ed. He grabbed them by the neck with his hands.

"I am gonna enjoy this," he said between clenched teeth.

Butch's hold on Charlotte wasn't as strong as his hold on Ed with his metal hand. She grabbed his hand and used her strength to pulled it away from her. She managed to slip away and grabbed her gun from under her jacket, but Oswald had already grabbed the champagne bottle from Barbara's hands and broke it on Butch's head.

"Best party ever," Barbara beamed as she watched the violence unfold in front of her.

"Ed!" Oswald called as he crouched down before his unconscious friend. Charlotte did the same and looked for a pulse. To her relief, he was still breathing. Not a second after Charlotte checked his pulse, Ed let out a gasp and started coughing violently while taking his hands up to his neck. Charlotte kissed his hand in relief and Oswald held his cheeks with both hands.

Ed was taken home. A huge bruise was already showing around his neck where Butch's metal hand had pressed.

"Aren't you coming to bed?" Charlotte asked Ed when he didn't move to follow her to their bedroom.

"No. I think I'll stay here by the fire for a little while," Ed said pointing at the burning fireplace with a slight smile. "I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. I'll join you in a bit, I promise. You must be very tired. Go get some rest".

Charlotte nodded and retired to her room. She was indeed very tired and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

***