You watched forlornly as Ed mooned over Kristen Kringle once again. You knew that she wasn't interested in him, but you daren't tell him as you knew that he would tell you that it was none of your business and to keep your nose out of his affairs.

You had tried to tell him before, tried to tell him that she was with someone else, that she didn't care for him; but Ed would have none of it, and it had basically meant the end of your friendship. It seemed like the whole precinct knew about Kristen and Dougherty, but poor Ed seemed to have missed the memo.

You had known Ed for years; growing up, you spent more time at his house than you did your own; helping one another with homework, defending him against bullies, and even being his prom date. You had even both started at the GCPD at the same time; when he became medical examiner, you had started your police career working your way up to detective and being partnered with Harvey Bullock and Jim Gordon.

Over the years the pair of you had trusted each other with everything, and over those years you had come to deeply love your shy intelligent friend. Yes, he was different; yes, he found it difficult to get along with others, and most couldn't understand his obsession with riddles; but all those things just made you love him more. He was smart and funny, kind and caring, and he would once have done anything for you; but that seemed such a long time ago now.

"Come on kid, we got work to do." Harvey said, dragging you out of your thoughts.

"You know he's an idiot, don't you?" Harvey said, slipping his arm around your shoulder.

"If he's too blind to see that you are more beautiful, and intelligent than Kringle, then he doesn't deserve you kid."

Harvey may not have been the best guy in the world, he drank too much and had an obsession with Danish pastry, but underneath it all he had a heart and he had always only wanted what was best for you.

"Come on, Jim's waiting downstairs in the car." Harvey said, pulling you behind him out onto the dark streets of Gotham.

                                                       >>------------------------------------<<

Hours seemed to have passed before you, Jim and Harvey made your way back into the precinct, the job had been another dead body; another lifeless corpse to add to the long list of unsolved crimes that hung over the GCPD like a dark cloud. The precinct was for once seemingly quiet, a brief respite in the usual insanity that was your life. You heaved your heavy body back to the office slumping down in the chair across from Jim's.

"I know it's a bad thing to say (Y/n), but you will get used to it. We all joined the academy promising to protect and serve, wanting to always find the bad guy and bring them to justice; but this is Gotham, and despite all our best efforts the bad guy doesn't always get what they deserve." Jim said, as he watched you, a defeated look in your eyes.

Jim remembered the days when he had been the same way, desperate to give the families of the dead answers, to give them closure; but as the bodies had piled up over the years he had become numb, and the concepts of good and bad, right and wrong became mixed; no longer knowing where one ended and the other began. And looking at you now he didn't want you to go through that, to become as jaded as him and Harvey, so he had to tell you the truth.

An unbearable silence descended over the office, until it was broken by the sound of yelling from somewhere in the precinct. You knew instinctively that Ed was going to somehow be at the centre of what was going on, and despite everything that had happened between the pair of you, you had to help.

Jumping up from the chair you rushed out of the office, searching for the source of the noise. It didn't take long; god knows the morons causing the problem weren't intelligent enough to keep their antics quiet; pushing your way into the locker room you saw Dougherty and four others surrounding Ed. Even though Ed was tall he wasn't as strong as the thugs that bore down on him, and every instinct told you to go and fight by his side.

"I told you to stay away from Kristen, freak. Stop bugging her." Dougherty yelled at Ed as he pinned him up against the wall.

"Hey morons, why don't you pick on someone your own size." You called out, calmly standing to your full height and squaring your shoulders, ready for a fight.

The five men turned to look at you. "Well, well, well, look what we have here, the freaks girlfriend has come to defend him. We all know you love this nutjob (Y/n), the only one too stupid to see it is him." Dougherty scoffed as his arm across Ed's throat pushed the medical examiner harder into the wall.

"There's five of us and only one of you (Y/n), how do you think your gonna stop us from hurting your boyfriend?" Dougherty growled.

"I think you'll find its three against five Dougherty." A familiar voice called out from behind you, as Jim and Harvey stepped into the locker room following you.

"We have no quarrel with any of you, I just want the freak here to leave my girl alone." Dougherty said trying to reason with the other two detectives.

"She's not your girl! Ms. Kringle would never be interested in someone like you. She likes me" Ed managed to say as he struggled against Dougherty's arm.

You stood there in silence, trying to comprehend Ed's words. Here you were, willing to help him, to once again put yourself in danger to protect him, and still all he could think about was her.

Fighting back the tears that threatened to fall, you looked Dougherty dead in the eyes. "You know what, go for your life Tom. I'm done here."

Then you did something you had never done before; you turned your back on Ed and left him at the mercy of his tormenters. Tearing past Jim and Harvey you made your way out onto the dark streets, tears rolling down your cheeks as you fell to the floor. You had finally lost the one constant in your life, the only person that had meant anything to you; and for the first time in your life you felt truly alone.

As you sobbed an arm gently came to rest on your shoulder. "I think someone around here could do with a drink, god knows I could do with a large one myself." Harvey said as he pulled you up into his arms.

"Come on kid, the drinks are on me and Harvey." Jim said, as the two men led you into the Gotham night.

                                                >>-------------------------------------------<<

It had been weeks since the incident with Dougherty and Ed, and you had made it your business to avoid your old friend as best you could. Harvey and Jim had been there for you, ensuring that you didn't have to go to the morgue, and making sure that Ed didn't come into the squad room. It hadn't been easy; not seeing him at all was harder than you ever thought possible, and your heart still felt as though it had been ripped out and smashed into a million pieces; but you knew that it was for the best and that Ed had showed you that it was time to move on.

Sitting in the office in front of the computer you tapped away frantically trying to work your way through some of the mountain of paperwork that needed your attention. Things had been strange around the department since Dougherty and Kringle had seemingly vanished, most believed the two had finally run off together, but there was a part of you that felt that something darker was the truth. Not as though you really minded either way, you had never liked the pair, and there was a tiny part of you that hoped that Ed would be suffering at the loss of his beloved Kringle.

The office was quiet as Harvey and Jim had been called out on a job, and you being the junior detective had been left with the job that no one wanted to do; not that you really minded, as much as you loved working with Jim and Harvey the pair could get a little much after a while, and you were enjoying the peace and quiet.

"Well hello (Y/n), has anyone told you how truly beautiful you look today?" A familiar yet different voice said causing you to look up from your screen.

There in the doorway of the office stood Ed, but it wasn't the Ed that you knew. This Ed seemed more assured of himself, stronger, confident and smoother.

"You've been avoiding me darling, why is that?" Ed asked as he walked into the office, sitting down on the chair opposite you.

"You know exactly why I've been avoiding you Ed; now don't you have anything better to do than bug me?" You huffed, once again turning your head back to the computer screen.

"The only important thing I have to do (Y/n) is tell you how much I love you." Ed said, your eyes snapping up from the screen to glare at him.

"You're not funny Ed. Just because your girlfriend has disappeared don't think that you can come and try it on with me now; I don't play second best to anyone."

"Oh my darling (Y/n), Ed may have not been able to see it but I can; you are beautiful and intelligent and you have always been there, the only one that ever really cared, the only one that ever really loved us. Now that that terrible Kringle woman is out of the way and I'm here, I can have what I've always desired (Y/n), and what I desire is you."

There was something about this Ed, the smoothness of his voice; his eloquence and confidence, that made you feel weak at the knees, and if you hadn't been sitting down you were sure that you would have melted under his gaze.

Leaning across the table he placed his hand on yours. "What costs nothing but is worth everything, weighs nothing but can last a lifetime, that one person can't own but two can share?" Ed asked as he gripped onto your hand tightly.

Looking into his eyes you knew the answer without a shadow of a doubt.

"Love." You told him, as his eyes lit up with a smile.

"Yes (Y/n), and I love you." Ed rose to his feet, pulling you from behind the desk and into his arms as he leaned down and kissed you on the lips.

In that moment you forgot everything, the only thing you had ever wanted was right here in front of you, the only man you had ever wanted was holding you close, his lips on yours in a passionate kiss.

As you parted to draw breath you stared into his beautiful eyes.

"Ed...... what's gotten into you?" You asked, as you tried desperately to stop your heart pounding out of your chest.

"I have been set free (Y/n), and now I am here to take you with me; a whole new life awaits us. So, come with me down the rabbit hole and let's see where it takes us."

His arms tightened around your waist. "I can't do this without you (Y/n), its always been us against the world. I need you."

"E-E-Ed." Before you could say anything more, he placed his finger gently on your lips.

"Call me Edward my love." He said as he took your hand leading you out of the precinct.

You didn't know where the rabbit hole would take you, but as Edwards large hand gripped your smaller one, pulling you along the damp streets, you didn't care. As long as you were with him, you would take it on together.