he's (misterenigma) wrote in rooms, @ 2015-04-14 00:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !dc comics, *log, eddie nigma, stephanie brown |
eddie & steph at arkham
Who: Eddie & Stephanie
Where: Arkham
When: Recently
What: Ghostie things
Warnings: ghosts
Her heart is racing.
ThumpTHUMP, thumpTHUMP.
She runs this time, not walks. Runs past the walls splattered with handprints towards that incessant, maddening glow. Spindly, skeletal fingers beckon her around corners, but when she rounds the sharp edges of the maze, the figure is gone. Further down the maze and out of reach once again. She curses every single time, a cacophony of swears echoing over the din of whispers invading the otherwise disturbing quiet.
She is completely aware it’s a dream, but that probably makes it worse. It makes her more determined to find out what the hell is going on. The path is never the same, no matter how many times she has been thrown into this maze, no matter how hard she tries to memorize. She does get closer though. Every time she is dragged into this world of mazes, she closes in a little more to the glowing figure she chases.
This time she sees new peeks. A sunken in eye, matted hair, more greenish glow. But, she also feels something else new. She has an eerie feeling that something is following her. After a few steps more, she turns around.
Nothing.
But then, something taps on her shoulder, and she turns…
Stephanie jolted awake from the slumped position in her office chair with a yelp. Her neck jerked back and forth, heart pounding and blue eyes wide. Nothing. She took a long, shuddering breath, rubbing her hand over her tired face. This was how she slept nowadays: quick bursts wherever she dozes off until the next maze-filled nightmare jerked her out of her slumber. It frustrated her completely, and she told herself not to cry out of said frustration as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Here was another problem in a list of problems that she tried so hard to combat herself, but she was failing miserably at all of them. Spiralling fast, and no one really knew it.
She decided to ask for help with this one thing though. Yeah, she had to swallow her pride, and yeah, Eddie had been completely right, but with Crane getting the dreams now and “patient zero” (for lack of a better term) missing, she knew she was bombing out of Arkham, and fast. Way fucking in over her head. Yeah, Eddie told her so. Still, she was endlessly grateful that he still came over to the asylum to help her investigate. He could have said no; he could have told her to fend for herself. But, he didn’t.
It’d been about an hour since he arrived and she’d gone back to her office to get some charts together before she dozed off. Pushing herself out of the chair, she grabbed the charts on Brad Jones, the patient who had gone missing, and started to brew some coffee for them from the Keurig she had in her cluttered office off the triage center. She stepped out to check on her patients quickly, making sure everyone in the medical ward was in okay enough shape for the time being before returning to the office for the coffee and heading towards the cell where Jones had been.
He could hear her before he could see her, the click of her heels across the cobblestoned floors echoing down the halls and hardly being drowned out by the various screeches and wails of some of the patients. Chart tucked under her arm, she held the two coffee cups, cheap styrofoam things with lids bought from one of those bargain bulk stores. “Hey,” she said as she finally reached the cell. He could tell she’d been sleeping, and he could tell she was stressed. Purple bags underneath her eyes, blonde hair spun into a messy bun on the top of her head, no glasses on her face to hide the red lines surrounding her irises. Her white lab coat was slightly wrinkled at the bottom. At least her deep purple dress was wrinklefree.
Stephanie never really wore her stress well.
“Thought you could use a pick-me-up,” she continued, holding out the proffered cup. “I...hope you take your coffee the same. I didn’t know, I guessed. I can go back and make another if you want.”
Eddie, well The Riddler could have said no, but he didn’t. Partially because he was curious, partially because it hurt him to see Stephanie get so down about everything lately. His attempts to joke around with her never really panned out past her self-pity zone, so he thought putting in an old college try to figure out what the issue was with Arkham could help. Eddie himself wasn’t the same guy who asked for a divorce. No, this one tried to keep a much more even temper and despite the pressure he felt from both sides of Gotham, he knew what he was. He knew what he was capable of. And, deep down, that need to help was still a blossoming tree, a lighthouse in his soul. It was what kept the question marks from turning sharp.
He had dusted for fingerprints, tried to trace footsteps and questioned some of the nurses passing by. Being in Arkham felt a little like going back home and he knew that was fucked up. He knew that he wasn’t supposed to kind of feel comfort from some old batty woman singing a sea shanty three cells down. But, this was home for years, all adding up to more than a decade. It was home, not like the dark place his father lived in, where his mother died. This was home.
To prove it, he was in full Riddler attire. Green question marked blazer, black slacks, black shirt, golden tie (with a black, glittering skull pinned to it), green bowler hat, domino mask and shiiiny, shiny black shoes. He didn’t bring the cane because it was always getting in the way and instead seemed glued to his electronic tablet full of knowledge. His time in the Dragon Age door was spent collecting everything he could learn about necromancy and though he didn’t have the powers any longer (thank god), he made himself something of an expert.
When Stephanie arrived, he was examining the last brick that had the patient's fingertips on. He reached in his blazer for a flashlight and then turned at the sound of her heels. “Oh, stop fussing.” Eddie chided her about the coffee and took the cup. He gave her a wary look, as if he were certain she poisoned it and then took a sip. He squinted, giving a melodramatic. “Agh, TWO tablespoons of cream? Are you trying to kill me?” Eddie grinned at the end of it, seemingly getting a kick out of putting her on edge and then took another sip. He lifted his free hand, gave her an ok sign with a wink and a nicer smile before gesturing towards the brick.
“If I show you something, are you going to faint?” He asked extremely blandly, as if he were certain that she would.
Stephanie flashed him a wry look that said if she wanted to poison him, she could have but didn’t. She knew that she was taking things too seriously, taking his words too close to heart, but she couldn’t help it. There was still pain lingering underneath the surface, even if she tried hard to bury it down deep. And that didn’t even take into account the way her brain twisted and turned things on its own, or the pervading loneliness she felt most days now. She knew that she took things too seriously, and she was trying not to.
A slight panic flashed over her face, but that all melted away in a moment when he grinned. She hmphed, even as she smirked, and okay. Maybe she could do okay with this. “Jerk,” she told him anyway, crossing her arms as she smiled down at him before taking a sip of her own coffee. And yeah, she was clearly placated by that okay sign, the wink, the smile. But then, she eyed him warily, wryly again. “That sounds like a challenge, Nashton. Of course I’m not going to faint, I’m a bat.” As if that had anything to do with it. She edged closer, towards the brick he had been examining. “Plus, fainting on this floor would fucking hurt. I’ll actively really try not to faint.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Just pretend you’re The Bat. Brooding is the leading remedy to fainting.” Eddie pulled his flashlight out of his pocket, put it in his mouth and then reached for a rolled up piece of parchment. He spoke, but all that came out were teacher noises from the Peanuts cartoons (thanks to the flashlight in his mouth) and really the only words that could be heard were stole and racist. He grinned, dark eyes glittering like the skull on his chest and he delicately untied the black ribbon around the parchment. What was written on it couldn’t be deciphered, it looked like geometrics and symbols, things that would worry anyone who had even the 101 class on magic.
Eddie wasn’t worried, though. No, this kind of thing sort of thrilled him. He slapped the parchment to the wall, flashlight centered dead in the middle. In a second, a soft sort of moan rushed through the hallway with a chill so frigid, it hurt the nose a little. The paper’s symbols started to bleed together until finally it formed a black handprint. So black it looked like there was a hole inside of it.
He held the paper up triumphantly and spat out the flashlight. “Is this your card?”
“I’ll start practicing my scowl right now,” she quipped, grinning over at him before flashing him an overexaggerated scowl to prove the point. She wanted to ask him about Bruce, ask if he’d seen him recently, but there were more pressing matters at hand. They could leave that for later, if at all. Instead, she focused on whatever the hell it was that he was doing, stepping closer into the edge of the cell, leaning against the open, glass door. Casually sipping on his coffee as he tried to talk with a mouthful of flashlight. Womp, womp, womp was all she heard, and she was about to ask him to take the damn thing out of his mouth when he pulled the paper out.
“What is that…?” she asked warily, voice dragging out the aaattt as she lowered the coffee cup away from her mouth. It was something she didn’t even begin to understand, and she had a thousand questions for him. But first that moan, and that chill that sent shivers down her spine. She almost dropped the cup of coffee. She did drop the chart when that same handprint that had been haunting her dreams for the better part of a month appeared on the paper, made of scrambled symbols.
“Holy shit.” She didn’t even bother to pick up the chart yet, slloowwlly placing the coffee down by her foot instead and reaching out for the paper. “This is exactly it. This is it, holy fuck.”
Eddie beamed, tucking the flashlight away as he watched her take the paper to examine. “That lovely piece of paper finds residual magic. It’s seeping from the stones, from the air. I haven’t been magical in years, but I could still smell it when I first arrived. You’re in a breeding ground. If magic was mold, Arkham would be the damp ceiling of a boy’s locker room!” Eddie exclaimed and then took a much deserved sip of his coffee.
“There isn’t any good news. Arkham was built on ancient evil, the worst kind of black magic you could possibly think of. Someone is likely trying to wake it up and you, Crane and anyone who stays here for very long is likely infected.” He took out his tablet, the screen flipping through thousands of different pages before finally stopping at one. A old, old map of Arkham. Eddie held it up for her. “I found this at the library. See how the top part of the building is clearly defined, but as soon as you get down here-” He indicated with his pinky finger. “Your eyes can’t focus? That’s because the feeble human mind can not comprehend the entrance to hell.” Eddie’s voice went harsh and spooky. “Ooh, I just gave myself the chills.”
Stephanie turned up her lip, but laughed at the same time. “Ew, Eddie.” Comparing magic to mold was just gross. Her hand traced around the edges of handprint, careful not to actually touch the outline itself; she didn’t trust it after all, especially when Eddie said there was no good news. For someone who had powers for ten years, she was still a little wary of things like this. And wasn’t that funny? The girl who was obsessed with Disney and Harry Potter and happy things could be a little worried about magic, too. Maybe because she’d seen what it could do to people; maybe just because she was still missing hers.
“Great, so you’re basically saying we’re sitting on top of Voldemort and Sauron all mashed up in one, right?” She stopped her examination of the handprint when he pulled out his tablet to show her something else. A map of Arkham that she’d never seen before. Blues followed his finger, trying to take in every inch of map, but when she glanced towards the bottom, he was right: she couldn’t focus. “The hell,” she mumbled in frustration, leaning in closer and squinting like it was because she didn’t have her glasses on. But still, no avail, and she looked up at him with wide, worried blues. After shooting him a look about the whole hell thing. “Soooo we need an exorcism? Constantine? Some good old magic badassery?”
Oh, this was bad. This was so bad that standing in the halls of Arkham decked out in question marks, he couldn’t help but find it a little funny. This was so bad he couldn’t see the end of the maze, he didn’t think there would be an easy solution beyond just bombing the whole place. Which, of course, was not his preferred method. “So much like a bat, silly woman. Rushing in with gadgets and powers a-blazing is the first thing that comes to mind.” He walked his fingers in front of his eyes as he took another sip of coffee. “I would suggest Zat, but lately her self confidence is a big fat-” his hand made a zero sign and he frowned. That demon put fishnets in a funk that he never thought she would be. Lately everyone’s self confidence was just nothing.
“I have no idea what to do, but if you’d like to explore the upper level of that dizzying nonsense or talk to someone that’s a little more infected than you, those were going to be my next steps.” Eddie smiled and thought he was being very generous letting her decide where to go next. He reached in his pocket and put on his gloves, you know, just in case things got gross. “Do you think I’ve been here long enough to be infected? I’m thinking another hour and I should be moldy like the rest of you.” A jerk smile.
“You used to like that I was so much like a bat,” she retorted, standing upright and looking away from the map like it made her uncomfortable (it did). Smoothing her hands over the front of her dress, she looked around the cell like it would give her the answer. And god, did she look tired in that moment as she wrapped her arms around her middle. Stephanie wanted a break for once, but that wasn’t in the cards for her just yet. Or, maybe ever. In that moment, she longed for Nigeria and the simplicity it gave her, but that was never home. Gotham’s siren call would always draw her back no matter how much pain it put her through.
“What’s wrong with Zatanna?” A blonde eyebrow rose. Steph hadn’t spoke to the woman in years (well, years for her at least), and could only imagine what beleaguered her. There were so many options thanks to the hotel and Gotham. With a sigh, she stooped down to scoop up the papers she’d dropped on the floor. Papers shuffled into the manila folder, and she grabbed her coffee before standing up straight again. Swatting him lightly, she laughed before she could help herself. “I’ll make sure you’re moldy before you leave her you keep talking like that.” There was an ease in her smile that was nowhere near her face the last time they had seen each other (which was an unmitigated disaster). Her blue eyes watched him for a moment.
“Do you think it’s safe to go down there?” Not smart; of course it wasn’t smart. “I’ve been trying to crack the code with the others infected. Nothing so far. But maybe that’s because I’m moldy already.” A wry smile flashed across her mouth, and she sipped her coffee. “Too bad your power can’t mind-read people, too. You could poke around my brain and see what’s going on.”
“Yes I did, and thus began my decade long headache.” Eddie quipped back dryly and put the tablet away so she didn’t have to look at it anymore. It made his stomach turn, so it must have been ten times worse for her. “Zatanna was out powered by a demon. Happens to the best of us I suppose. It put her in a little funk that will surely last until she’s helped this poor man carrying around a demon on his back.” Eddie leaned on the wall he pulled the handprint from and smiled. “See, you aren’t the only one struggling. We’re all having a hard time adjusting.” The Riddler guise came down for a half a second to show the softer, less green man. Just for a second. Then it was back to business.
“Actually, I’m hoping I get infected. My computers have a link to my brain and can interpret my dreams in code, which can provide us with an interactive digital model of these mazes you’re dreaming of.” He tapped the side of his head. “And if that doesn’t work, well hopefully it’ll just pull me down to where this poor soul ended up.” Eddie knocked his knuckle on the nearby brick.
She shot him a look, something that said it couldn’t have all been a headache. There were plenty of good moments right? Sure, it didn’t outweigh the bad in the end, but…. Stephanie shook her head, like she was loosening some screws in her brain before she turned her attention back to him. The news on Zatanna was worrisome, even if the blonde bat didn’t know the woman too well. If she couldn’t combat whatever demon she was facing, how the hell did she and the rest of Arkham hold any hope against whatever the hell was going on underneath their feet. The worry turned her lips to a frown, something that lingered even as she reassured her. Though, he could see the gratitude in her blue eyes at that tiny ray of softness. “I know. Theoretically, I know people are probably in as bad, if not worse shape than me. But, it’s just...it’s hard. And lonely.” After a jerky shake of her head, she took a nice, long sip of her coffee, covering up the blabber that slipped out of her mouth.
Good job, Brown.
“You’ll get to join our merry little club of sleep deprived messes.” He could see that wry smile peek up from underneath the lid of her coffee cup, before lifting it up as a toast. “It’s slowly spreading through the patients. I found another one today, one who hadn’t had any interaction with the others as far as any of us know.” And then, she glared at him. “You aren’t allowed to get your ass pulled anywhere.” Okay, maybe that was stepping over a boundary, but still. The idea of Eddie getting wrapped up in...whatever this was made her stomach turn almost as much as trying to force herself to look at that map did.
Eddie shrugged and extended one hand as if to say so is everyone else. It wasn’t a dismissive gesture, more like a nonverbal we’re all in the same boat. It wasn’t anything like the comfort he gave her as a husband, which was all about him taking on her pain and trying to carry it for her. This was more of an instance that she’d figure it out on her own. That she had to because the alternative lead to ruined relationships and holes they had already dug before. For him, being lonely was a lot better than being dependent.
“Yes, I don’t think it’s passed from one person to another. I think it’s seeping from the walls. Trickling up because hell’s gravity is reversed from our own. Can you imagine if there’s literally hell down there? We could throw Crane in and maybe we’d never see him again.” Eddie waggled his eyebrows, obviously joking and then stepped past her into the hallway. “I’m starting to see why Selina was insulted by my concern with the clown. You don’t have to worry, this computer trick? Is going to work. So, even if I do get pulled down there, my computers will have a map for you and the rest of the bats to follow and find me.”
Stephanie was used to that comfort of when they were married, but she didn’t expect anything like that at all. She didn’t even expect that millisecond of softness he flashed her moments before, so she just seemed content with what he gave her at all. He didn’t have to be here. They didn’t have to exchange pleasantries, they didn’t have to speak at all. Sure, she was still hurting, she was still in pain, and plenty moments had her wishing that it was ten years ago for her where she could still save certain relationships (re: her marriage) and her own life. Put the pause or stop button on the spiral she had going right then and there. But, Steph probably relied on people a little too much. She was just going to have to learn to stop doing that again. Break out that Pollyanna attitude that had been buried for so long.
“Yeah, I figured the same. At least about the person to person thing. Not the whole…hell thing.” As for it being literal hell? Sure, she balked a little at the idea, but he could see a flicker of something in her bright blues. Adventure, or mischief or something longing to break the monotony. She was a bat, after all, and a Gothamite to boot; she didn’t do well sitting on her hands for long periods of time. Like maybe venturing down into hell was better than not doing anything at all.
Rolling her eyes, she followed him out into the hall as well, leading him away from the cell. “I’m still allowed to be concerned. Or is that not cool?” Her eyebrow rose, challenging him slightly. She trusted him, and sure, she was curious as hell about what was going on down there, but she didn’t like the idea of him being dragged down there alone. Still, she smirked. “I’d make a quip about being a dude in distress, but I’m behaving right now.” After a moment of silence only punctured by the click of her shoes, she stopped about halfway down the hall and turned to him. “You think we should go down there? There isn’t much talking to another one of the patients will do that I haven’t been able to get out already. Unless you can pull the computer trick on him.”
“You can be concerned. And, taking shots at my masculinity never worked before, so why would you think it would now?” Eddie rolled his eyes at her, amused and a lot more relaxed than he had been when they first had coffee. Then, it was all about keeping his gears and springs very, very tightly compacted so she couldn’t see the edges. But, then he realized that it was a fool’s errand to care what anyone else thought about him, about his question marks and about what kind of role he liked to play in Gotham. If she didn’t get anything out of who he was, question marks and all, that really wasn’t his problem anymore.
He rubbed his fingers along the brim of his bowler hat in thought. “We should go take a look. Just for fun. Can you manage in those heels?” Eddie would never ask a question like that to a Gotham City Siren, but Stephanie was more of a sneakers kind of girl. “We might need to make a quick exit. Ghouls or vampires or actual goddamned demons aren’t exactly my expertise anymore.” He had brought some extra resources just in case things went tits up, but he wasn’t in the mood to go full ghostbusters. Well, actually speaking of which: “I’m more of a Bill Murray, right? Ghostbusters? I don’t act like a scientist, more like a game show host?”
“No shots at your masculinity. I know better than that. More a shot at how you always just manage to get yourself in trouble, Nashton.” She smiled over to him, something genuine and playful like they were bitter exes dancing the dance they had been since she had come back here. Since even before they both left. “I’m going to be concerned,” she assured him, or more herself, before shaking her head and taking another sip. There was years of baggage between the two of them, and she was still wary as fuck about everything she said and did around him, but she was a little more relaxed. And, she was trying to accept him for the man he was now; she hoped he’d do the same for her.
Steph grumbled for a moment. “No, probably not. Unless you don’t mind carrying my body back from hell?” A wiggle of her eyebrows, but she waved towards the direction of her office. “Come on, lemme change into something a little more practical and we’ll go take a look. You can look over some of the information I’ve got.” Her office was only a few hallways over, tucked into a corner adjacent to the triage ward. Another sip of her coffee and a smirk. “Not your expertise and still better than me. Does this always have to happen?”
Turning the corner, she laughed again, a little louder and echoing down the hall. “Definitely a Bill Murray. You’re the favorite. Though fuck,” she continued, a look of concern and contemplation flashing over her face as she pointed to the door at the end of the hall that led to her office, “does that make me more of an Aykroyd or Ramis? Or I guess I’m just the client.”
“Wouldn’t that look heroic. I don’t think I’ve ever carried someone to safety before.” Eddie smirked with a flourish of his hand and then took another sip of his coffee. Arkham left him feel constantly cold, so the coffee helped, especially when he gulped enough that it left an uncomfortably warm sensation in his chest. He followed her to the office, shrugging at her. “Oh, I can’t help how smart I am. Besides, I find this stuff fascinating even if I’ll never get the powers to accompany it. The mystical is the last frontier for me, it always has been.” Being able to talk to computers was happily in his safety zone. It meant he was more effective with his powers, but it didn’t quite challenge him as much as magic did.
He gave a soft Hah as she confessed Murray was her favorite and scooted past her to go sit at her desk. Eddie always looked way too comfortable going through other people’s stuff. “You’re Janine. The annoying secretary.” Eddie said, nose deep in a file already. “You like nerds, you’ll find a nice Egon to run away with. The type of guy with way too many degrees. That’s how I see it.” Eddie squinted, flipping through some paper until he found something useful.
“Oh, please, I’m sure you have.” She didn’t want to bring up the years of war they were in, but there had to be times where she got into too much trouble and he had to drag her ass to safety. “I bet Crane would be super amused to see you dragging my fat ass up out of the depths of hell.” Stephanie smirked, and then sobered for a moment. “He knows, by the way. Made some comment about me ‘hiring my ex-husband’,” she said, with full air quotes. “So my cover is blown completely. But, at least he hasn’t found a way to throw me out yet, so that’s good news.”
When they walked into her office, she closed the door behind her and let Eddie rummage. She knew there was no reason to stop him, and she didn’t mind it anyway. There were pictures of her pets on the desk, of places she’d lived and seen, her family at one Christmas where everything wasn’t complete shit. There was even a picture of Frankie and Izzy in one frame and baby Lucy in the other. There was, of course, no pictures of the two of them. Those were in boxes for her to wallow about over two bottles of wine in her room at Wayne Manor.
Leaning on the desk as his eyes peeled across the pages, she scowled dramatically. “I am not. Janine.” She was clearly amused, frown twitching up, and she pushed herself off the wood. “If you’re going to make me annoying, make me Slimer at this point.” Strolling over to a chair at the corner near some bookcases, she grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt to change into in the bathroom adjacent to her office. “Clearly anyone that isn’t Bill Murray is losing in this situation honestly,” she said as the door closed behind her. It only took a moment, and then she was back out in her usual attire: dark skinny jeans and a Gotham U t-shirt. (Of course.) She nudged Eddie and the rolling chair out of the way so she could climb underneath her desk and grab her sneakers.
“Find anything good?” she asked after a moment of quiet, as she sat on the chair her clothes previously occupied tying her sneakers.
Eddie smiled, expression almost hidden by the hat and domino mask. “I’m sure he’s just testing the waters. Seeing if you were still into me and if not, he can swoop in and ask you out on literally the most boring date of your adult life.” He teased and chuckled because seriously he’d pay money to see Stephanie- well anyone on a date arranged by Crane. Eddie was a total nerd, but Crane had the magnetism of a wet noodle. “He’s going to the clown’s card game, you know. Can’t help but dip his toe in.” A shake of his finger and a tsk, tsk, tsk. “I don’t think I’ll be attending. You’ll have to ask him how it goes.”
He waited for her to go back, hacking into her work computer to see if there was any files on new patients or doctors that looked particularly sinister. There was a chance that the gates to hell were unlocked by new blood. When she came back he looked up and noticed the picture of Frank’s family. He picked it up and pointed to it, dark eyes big like they always got when he talked about them. “They asked how you were doing, you know. You should go babysit sometime. Izzy has gotten so big.” Eddie smiled just from talking about his goddaughter and then carefully set the picture down. “I’ll get you a new family portrait. I think I have an extra at my place.”
He rolled out of the way and at this point it was obvious he had broken into her desk and stolen some of her (really poorly hidden, Stephanie) snacks. Munching away at them: “So, ah, Harley just showed up? That’s weird, right? I’m not the only one that thinks that’s weird?” He hrmed and then popped some more treats in his mouth. “I thought she’d be off running around with Joker so-” Eddie shrugged, waiting for her explanation.
“Oh god ew. Jesus, no. Nooo no, no. No. If you ever see me out on a date with Crane? Please make sure I’m not under a toxin or something. Promise? Promise.” She looked panicked, like that would be the most horrific thing ever to happen to her. And that was saying a lot. She had PTSD and Black Mask and Tim Drake in her past. She pointed at Eddie for emphasis, an eyebrow quirking up high like he had to do this one thing for her. Please.
She stilled as he pointed at the picture, and she softened a lot. Frank’s kids were like family to her for the longest time, the closest thing she got to a niece and nephew before Barbara had Lucy. And now that Lucy was gone, they were the only things she had, even if she hadn’t seen heads or tails of the family in months (years, for her). “They do?” she asked softly, surprised that they asked and so delighted that she did. He could see her eyes go bright, a little watery, and she blinked away whatever was welling up in her eyes. Busying herself by tying her shoes. “I’ll call them and see if Marie wants the help. I miss them all so much.” Clearing her throat, she looked up at him with a smile. “Yeah? Yeah, I’d-- I’d love that. That’d mean a lot to me.”
Recovered, mostly, she glared at him playfully as he munched on her snacks. (The really good ones were hidden away a little better, but she was sure he’d find her panda cookies in a snap if he looked.) “Apparently. I haven’t had a chance to see her yet. I hear she’s in okay shape though?” A shrug as well. “This Joker-- I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want her; maybe she doesn’t want him, actually. He seemed pretty hung up on blondes when I talked to him.” She hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s the bullshit hotel’s doing, throwing her in here. She isn’t my patient, but I’m going to check in on her as soon as I can.”
He put up the scout’s honor to prove he’d at least check her eyes with a flashlight if he ever caught her at some bistro with Crane. Neither of them believed Mr. Wet Noodle would charm his way anywhere near a cup of coffee with Stephanie, but stranger things had happened. Her reaction to news about Frank and the family was nice, though. He didn’t know it would mean that much to her, but then he remembered they were as much her family as they were his. The years they spent together, Eddie would insist on making her part of their lives because that was how he felt love back then. These days the l-word was about the scariest thing he could think of, but he still loved Frank’s family and he knew Stephanie did, too.
So, he smiled at her and nodded. “I’ll tell Marie you’re back, so you have three days tops to make contact with them before she gets offended.” Eddie’s way of forcing interaction, even though he could guess Stephanie didn’t want to hesitate on talking to them. He looked a little longer at Harley’s bio and shook his head. It was all so clinical, so lifeless. He wondered if Harley would want a visit from him later or she just wasn’t in the place for it. “It’s always hard for her, even if she doesn’t like him much. Or the other way around.” Eddie knew a little something about how Harley felt and he was so grateful it wasn’t even close to that with Stephanie. They’d both be in a bad place if it were.
He got to his feet, finished off his coffee and then rubbed his hands together. “Okay, I’m ready for the spooky stuff. Lead the way, doctor.” Eddie gestured for her to take point. Just one look down in the basements no one looked in would give them a good idea of what they were dealing with.
“Oh Christ, you’re gonna get me killed by the woman,” Stephanie replied with smile that grew a little more by the second. God, she did miss that family so much, and just the idea of getting a railing by the old school Italian woman was heartwarming and exciting. She wasn’t scared of being around the kids anymore. She wasn’t even worried about what Frank and Marie would say about her failed marriage to Eddie. (Okay, maybe she was a little worried, but who wouldn’t be?) Chugging the rest of her coffee, she watched as he looked over Harley’s charts. She flashed him something sympathetic. “They keep taking away her journal, and I can’t tell them to give it to her.” Her fingers drummed against the desk, and she waited until he looked up at her. “She’d like visitors, I’m sure. I can arrange it? If you want?”
Tossing her coffee into the garbage can next to her desk, she waited until he was up, and then she grabbed her glasses and lead the way out of her office and away from the triage ward and towards the entrance to the basement. “Tell me if you start feeling super spoopy stuff, I’ll get the Ghostbuster gear out.” She grinned over at him, putting her glasses on with a quirk of her brow. “I know, I know. I look like a poindexter. I’m just getting old.” She shoved her hands into her pockets to give them something to do and glanced over at him. “I watched a couple Felix cartoons once when I had a bad nightmare after...well, the last time I saw you.” Steph closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then looked at him again. “I was way harsh. It’s actually adorable. Really whimsical. The perfect thing after I was freaked out by these mazes. Now did I have dreams about a cat and his magical bag? I sure as fuck did.”
Eddie nodded at the offer to see Harley sometime soon. He wasn’t always the best friend for her because she was part of an old life he wasn’t in anymore, but he tried. And, if she needed something from him, he’d be there. Like he always was. The riddled man got lost in his thoughts about his three years spent in a different Gotham, his Gotham and when she made the crack about spoopy, he slowly came back down to reality. A smile at her watching old Felix cartoons and he waggled his finger at her as if to say I told you so. “Thanks for giving him a shot.” Eddie gave a geeky little smile and it wasn’t like any of his other smiles, probably not like anything she had seen before. The divorce had left him a little shy about things he held dear because he was all too aware of how easy it was to stomp all over them. He put his hands on the brim of his hand and pushed it down on his head, as if that would stop the awkwardness.
“Felix was what I wanted to be when I grew up. Some weirdo who always had something to save the day. And, by save the day I mean make things weirder, of course.” Eddie grinned and the Riddler charm was back. “The cat I adopted from Selina’s flat? Well, kitten. It’s an all black one with a crooked tail. I named him Felix. I couldn’t resist.” He smiled and talking about Felix was a lot better than dwelling on the dead hellish things waiting for them. Sure, he was intrigued to see them, but maybe part of him was a little scaredy cat about what exactly they’d find. It was a good thing he went to church the day before, he decided.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Steph cracked back at that wagged finger with a wave of her hand, wry smile crawling up her lips until it softened at his gratitude and that new smile she had never seen before. Almost a decade together, and there were still new things she had never seen from him. It softened her significantly, an almost affectionate sort of smile crawling across her mouth. “Of course,” she told him warmly, and she dared to nudge his side lightly with her elbow, tipping her head to look at him for a moment in the quiet almost awkwardness. Cheeks burning slightly and blues watching as he adjusted his bowler hat.
“Weirder is almost always better, honestly,” she said, no irony or spitefulness in her voice, willing her cheeks to back down from the awkward red they beat into. “What would Gotham be without a little weird? Bludhaven.” And there was a blech that followed that. Bludhaven would always be a place she hated no matter how many years it had been since she’d been there. “That’s adorable,” she informed him, laughing a little at the idea of a little Felix roaming around his apartment. “Felix and Lucha. They sound like a real good team. Crime fighting, problem solving badass team that goes to Los Tacos after a hard day’s work for burritos and margaritas.” And it was clear that underneath all that duress and depression Steph was suffering from, there was still that goofy girl with her weird sense of humor buried somewhere. “I’m sure Matilda will be thrilled that she’s outnumbered again. At least Lucha will have a little buddy.”
And yeah, it was easier to talk about pets and little things like that. After all, there was a small, growing sense of dread festering in her stomach as they inched closer towards the entrance of the basement below.
“I would let them crime fight, if they were ever allowed outdoors. Sometimes Lucha gets to come up to the Watchtower with me, but that’s only if he promises not to knock over all the things.” Eddie shrugged. “And then of course he does it anyway. Matilda is always so well behaved up there, but Lucha? One time it took me an hour and a half just to locate him. Guess where he was? Sleeping on some bunkbed that no one ever uses. Of course.” A grin and a roll of his eyes. It was unnatural to have pets in Gotham (more like strays you just fed once and a while), but nearly everyone could agree that it was good for Eddie. Caring for another life kept him grounded and a guy like him needed that more than once and a while.
As they got closer to the door, he took out his violet glasses and synced it up to his tablet. He then checked to see if he still had his gun, his holy water and a few more scrolls that did a couple different things in case they needed to defend themselves. Eddie was always one step ahead even if he was walking into the unknown.
“Matilda is a saint among pets. She even mellowed out Flounder, and there’s nothing else in the entire universe that can do that.” Stephanie enjoyed watching Eddie talk about the pets, and she was so glad for their presence in his life. They brought out a tenderness rarely seen (at least around most people) from the green man. Sometimes, she missed them as if they were her own, but she knew they would be in nothing but good hands with Eddie as an owner. “Lucha’s just like his namesake, clearly,” she told him with a fondness for a man they’d both lost years before. Years and years of history was shared between the two exes cautiously strolling down Arkham’s halls, and for the first time in a long time, it didn’t feel like heavy baggage.
“I didn’t bring anything but my fists with me,” she informed him, though that much was clear already. And, maybe she was a little worried about that. She wasn’t one to rely on gadgetry, but down there in hell it might help. “I do, however, have a flashlight.” The door to the basement was non-descript and padlocked, both meant to be deterrents for the patients. Steph fished her key out of her pocket and moved to unlock the doors’ multiple locks, but when she tried the doorknob it was already open. Looking over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow, she asked, “Ready?” before pulling it open to reveal the dark, gaping maw of the basement below. Steps ahead lead down, down, down, and she clicked the flashlight that was attached to her keys on to illuminate the stone steps for them.
“Your fists will do fine.” Eddie assured her and then switched his flashlight on. It was only the size of a pen, but it let out a strong, bluish glow that almost made a person feel safe in creeping darkness. “Ready.” He nodded and then he followed her down the steps, flashlight bouncing from wall to wall as he tried to soak as much of it in as he could. He wanted to learn, he wanted to know and that realization sparked something in his mind. “Do you ever wonder what trope we’re walking into next?” Because they were built inside a fictional world, a comic book world, that simply took from other sources or borrowed so heavily it became their own.
“If this is a Lovecraft thing, not a hell thing? The more we know, the more we are destined to fail.” Eddie didn’t know if he would be able to properly balance knowledge and impending insanity. He’d want to eat up all of the knowledge he could about whatever was lurking and that would be his big weakness. Stephanie could manage it, though. Knowledge wasn’t her priority, it was peace and justice. He could help her find the start of what she needed to save the day and then try to bleach the rest of this from his mind.
Stephanie’s descent down the stairs was slow, wary like she was stepping through a haunted house, waiting for some jackass in a bad mask jump out to scare her. Bats weren’t scared of the dark, she told herself. Bats weren’t scared of the dark. She took a deep breath and continued down. “Which trope?” she asked distractedly, turning to look over her shoulder at him with an amused smile, then shook her head. “You know me, I really don’t get introspective about myself. It’s one of my many flaws. Do you think that’s all any of this is? Another trope in a line of ridiculous tropes that lands us, oh, looking for demons underneath Arkham?”
Okay, maybe she did get a little introspective, but it was more in humor or self-destruction than thinking about whether this was going to be something like a creepy sci-fi or a horror film or some religious narrative. “Why’s that? The more we know, the more we’re destined to fail. I don’t get it.” She’d never read any Lovecraft, deftly avoiding it in school and otherwise, and she couldn’t understand why actually knowing what was going on could hurt them. But, Eddie was right. She was clearly never in the pursuit of knowledge; she wanted to help. Her top priority was helping. “If this turns out to be like a horror thing where there’s possession or some other freaky stuff down there, you can’t ditch me to be bait. I refuse to be kidnapped. What if I get thrown into a Saw situation?” She was babbling a little to mask the nervousness both from delving deep below Arkham and from not pissing him off yet. It was only a matter of time where she either said the wrong thing or got her ass possessed. Maybe both.
“How many times a day do you think about how small and insignificant your life is in the grand scheme of things? How many ants have you killed? How many dead animals beside the road have you driven by? How many cats did Joker kill? Can you imagine each one of their little faces screwing up in poisoned death? How would you feel if you saw the face of god and he was a giant piece of seafoam with eyeballs? The more you know~” Eddie sang into the darkness. “Can drive you absolutely insane.” He smiled, lips angled by the bluish light. He stepped down into the basement floor, seeing claw marks (Croc) and dead vines (Ivy). Things weren’t so scary when he knew the mechanics of of.
“It’s like how Muerte would never let me talk to Delirium. Cosmic knowledge beyond comprehension leads to delirium and me? Delirious? Is more frightening than anything Joker can cook up. Then, I become a vessel for the crazy.” Eddie wasn’t talking about a New 52 version, no he was talking about himself. This Riddler had the ability to get pushed so far there wasn’t a man who knew the first thing about taking care of pets left. It was knowing that edge and the jagged rocks below that kept him from falling. “I’ve got holy water, by the way. You don’t need to worry about possession. Saw? I can probably outsmart that guy.”
Stephanie listened to him rattle off things that whispered in the back of her brain, but she never actively thought about. She made a noise at the back of her throat as her feet connected to the basement floor, and she considered what he was saying. All that knowledge seemed like a burden, seemed like something she couldn’t even think of shouldering. But, that was why she always admired Eddie. He could deal with it better than almost anyone she knew, especially herself. “Good thing I’m ignorant then, huh?” Her smile went wry. “I couldn’t ever deal with knowing all that. All the little things like that? No. I’m not-- well, I’m not built to be strong enough for that.”
She stepped forward, moving in a slow circle as she pointed her flashlight to every inch she could. She had never explored this deep before. Honestly, before she started working at the asylum, she spent as little time as possible in this place, aside from visiting the man she found herself exploring with. And then, she turned to Eddie. “You’re right. She would never let you, and not just because of what you could do to the city, to others. But what you’d do to yourself.” Stephanie sounded understanding of Muerte at that moment. Sure, there was buried bitterness deep down, but she felt just as protective of Eddie when they were together. Maybe she still did.
She grinned to shake off the seriousness of the conversation for the moment. “Yeah, you’d definitely outsmart that guy. No sawing our limbs off for us. Or any other weird torture porn shit they could come up with,” she agreed, wrinkling her nose at the idea of getting herself stuck in some gore situation. Been there, done that. Had enough physical and mental scarring to carry around for a lifetime. Huffing out a laugh, she then stepped forward and away from him. She felt a hum of something underneath her skin, like she could feel a presence somewhere in this darkness. Like there was a hook slowly drawing her to it.
Eddie hadn’t been in this particular flavor of Arkham mold long enough to feel any kind of pull towards anything. He saw an empty basement with remnants of his old friends and he thought it smelled a little like stale water. But, magical pull? Nope. He looked around, pointing light up at the ceiling and then glanced down as Stephanie started to wander in a direction. Eddie didn’t follow right away, keeping a pace behind so that if something happened, he’d have a second longer to react smartly.
“Whatcha got there?” He asked, making sure she was aware of his presence. Like a line back to the real world so her boat wouldn’t drift too far off shore. Eddie kept the flashlight pointed down at her feet, carefully watching for a new shadow stepping onto the stage.
“Mmm?” and a look over her shoulder was what Eddie earned for a moment. Suddenly, there was little more than fog in her brain and that line drawing her further away. “I don’t know, I just feel like there’s something over here, like’s something’s pulling me.” Her voice sounded a little more distant, and her flashlight stopped its flickering around the room, instead focusing on the corner she was walking towards.
Eyebrows furrowed, she turned back to look at him, a little paler, purple underneath her eyes slightly more pronounced. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good id--” But, she was cut off by a rattling roar, a earthquake-making sound that shook the room. Bursting from the floor of that corner she was drawn to was that glowing, yellowish figure that had haunted her dreams for the better part of a month. Stephanie screamed, falling back onto the floor as the ghoul loomed over her with his spindly fingers and gaping eyes. His sickly, skeletal mouth sounding out booming noises, or taking deep rattling breaths.
He made a swipe for her, but she dodged the first. The second? Well, she wasn’t so lucky. It was like his hand wrapped around her ankle, and suddenly she felt herself being dragged forward across the dirty, dank concrete floor of the Arkham basement. Screams and pleas echoing off the walls.
It didn’t occur to Eddie how pointless a gun was down here until he saw the yellow ghoul rise out of the Arkham nothing. He didn’t even reach for his gun and instead made a face like he forgot his favorite line of trivia. Scroll, scroll, which one did he need? Why didn’t he put some more pockets in his jacket so they didn’t get stored together? A utility belt would be stupid and there were only so many compartments in his- ahah! Eddie’s thieving fingers pulled out a thin scroll made of paper so soft it felt like it might melt under his touch. He opened it and the paper immediately started to glow a faint pink.
There was the sound of glass breaking, like someone dropped a champagne flute on the floor and the entire basement lit up in that rosy pink glow. Everything from the waist up felt like it was in an windless standing room scented with rose hips and lemongrass tea. But, Eddie felt the pull down, too, that mud thick grasp at his ankles into the gut of Arkham. The two sources of magic like water and oil, fighting for dominance over the other. Eddie resisted, running towards Stephanie to hook his arms under her shoulders and pull her back. The skeleton man roared against the magic, pink burning sickly yellow into clouds of orange smoke. Eddie smiled at the colors despite himself and helped Stephanie to her feet.
“Ruuun!” Eddie called and there were already more yellow hands reaching up from the ground. He didn’t have anymore of those pretty pink scrolls, only the good sense to get the hell out of there.
Stephanie heart was practically pounding out of her chest, and her screams echoed off the stone walls even after Eddie pulled her up and out of the grasp of that ghoul. She watched in abject horror as more yellowed, bony hands reached through the floor to drag them in. The floor felt like quicksand as she escaped from the demon that tried to drag her down, and she had to force herself not to be enamored by the bursts of color scattered throughout the room. Or be duped back into the demon’s grasp. She could still feel that pull, and the fogginess in her brain wasn’t shaken completely. She felt the temptation to stay. The temptation to be pulled away from everything she knew for something different.
Run though, she could run, and once she was free, she scrambled up and away from all those greedy arms, from those demons ready to drag her down to whatever hell they came from. She lead the way back up the stairs, as more arms moved to grab she and Eddie, as roars filled their ears. There was no stopping, not for a breath or for a sob that wanted to escape. She didn’t stop until they were both out of that door and she could slam it shut. Locks set, she leaned against the door, guzzling for air before sliding down to the floor. Legs out, hands cupping her cheeks, and staring out in the distance for a long string of moments.
Eventually, she looked up at Eddie with blue eyes bloodshot and haunted. Those purple bags still pronounced and no words available. Her mouth opened a few times to say something, but nothing came out.
Eddie made it into the hallway first (he always prided himself on being a very fast runner) and turned to see her shut and lock that basement door. He sighed with relief, bending over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath from all the excitement. His hat fell off his head and rolled around at his feet and the green roundness of it somehow brought things back to reality. He inhaled, exhaled and then stretched down to pick the hat up.
Stephanie looked like a piece of her soul was taken. He had seen her with that look before a long long time ago before her time travel and the divorce. A long, cold distant look that turned her usually bright eyes pale, zombie blue. Eddie selfishly was glad he wasn’t in love with this woman anymore. He would still worry about her, even send the family to check on her, but it wouldn’t consume him. She used to be a dead girl in a lake that could drag him deeper than the ghouls of Arkham ever could.
He sighed and buttoned his blazer, smoothing his hands over his crumpled sleeves. “Well, I don’t know what I expected.” Eddie tried for lightness and then leaned on the nearby wall. “That was some of the most powerful magic I have ever seen.” His voice and tone sobered, night and day compared to the flippancy it had before. “You and anyone who’s been here since this started is in trouble. If I’m infected, the nightmare will fade as long as I stay away. But, you? Crane? I don’t know if taking a ticket to Timbuktu could save you from this.” He knew he was stating the obvious. “Zatanna has her hands full. You should try to contact someone from another door with powers. I need to try to map this maze out.” He was straight to business, but that had always been his coping mechanism.
She continued to look at him for a couple of long, lingering moments, and a big part of her longed for him to wrap his arms around her and tell her it was going to be okay. She had no right to think so, but there it was. The ache for him that she’d thought she’d tempered off, but still rested right in her bones. It was wrong, a whispering voice at the back of her mind told her, and then it continued. She was never good enough for him, he was better off, look at how much happier he was, how could you compete with a woman like Death? The voice wasn’t necessarily her own, a darkened version at the very thick Gotham accent she had sometimes with a twist. Echoing. Distant. Wrong.
Stephanie hadn’t had a real anxiety attack in years, not since the day Eddie asked for a divorce and she couldn’t say no again. Being away from Gotham, being around people suffering more than her, it had put things into perspective in that moment. It made healing easier. But, coming back here always just managed to fuck her up one way or another. And wasn’t that just like Gotham? She could feel the tightness in her chest, and she took a couple of deep breaths to stave it off. Shutting her eyes tight like it would keep her safe from everything.
Instead of a full-blown attack, however, she bubbled out a laugh at the flippancy, a break in the tension. “I thought we were going into Candyland.” When he said this was the most powerful magic he’d seen, she opened up her eyes again and looked over at him, blues bloodshot but a little more lively. But, full of complete worry for herself and everyone within Arkham’s walls. “So, basically, we’re fucked,” she replied with sardonically, the ghost of a smirk crawling up her lips. After a moment, she shakily stood up like a fawn trying out its legs for the first time. “Know any demon experts in the other doors? I’m flying blind. Well. Blinder than usual.”
Steadying herself, taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off the door to stand in front of him. “If you need me to start trying to map out my dreams too or hook me up to one of your computers, just let me know.” Her arms wrapped around her middle for a moment, and she rocked on her heels, worrying her lip as she looked at him. “I’m fucked. Figures,” she said with the slightest bit of amusement, a tiny smirk on her face. Of course she was. Of course Eddie had been right. “You can keep saying I told you so for the rest of our lives.”
Sobering, Stephanie eyed Eddie for a moment before she spoke again. “Thanks. For coming. For helping me out.” She looked like she wanted to say more, like how much she missed him or how really grateful she was that he was there with her. Instead, she reached out a hand to place it on his arm. There was hesitation, and a stiffness that gave away how much she worried all of this was crossing a line. How much she worried about ruining this tentative ceasefire the two exes had. “I really appreciate that you came here.” She rubbed his arm, and she told herself that was enough, though telltale finger twitches probably gave it away. When she withdrew her hand, she wrapped it around herself again, looking exhausted and practically fed up with the state of things in her life. “I’ll go tell Crane,” she said, so fatigued, rubbing her eye.
Eddie looked down at his arm as she gently rubbed it and he tried not to stiffen up. Anyone else, anyone from Evie to Selina would get exactly the amount of comfort they needed from the riddled man. When it came to Stephanie? He felt like he had already given her everything, that each time he tried to do anything for her it was scraping the bottom of the barrel. Sure, there must have been good between them, sometimes he could remember it clearly, but it was covered in a heaping pile of pain. He held his breath, watching her fingers, mentally telling himself that it was okay. That he was okay. That things were going to be okay. Okay, okay, okay.
He smiled at her and nodded. “I’ll see what I can do about magic contacts, but I think flying blind might be the best thing right now. Imagine getting new eyes on Arkham...I think it might help things significantly.” Eddie eased and then took a step back from her. “I’m happy to help. Arkham is my home. My family.” And wasn’t it sad how he used to call her those things? Eddie didn’t actually believe he had a family, not with Holly gone and the Bat always busy and being divorced and everything else. Eddie had no family, no wife, no kids. Arkham’s cold, stone halls were a testament to that. So, he had to protect it.
Stephanie could sense the discomfort, and her stomach lurched painfully. Maybe Eddie’s good memories were masked by pain and negativity of the last few months of their relationship, but she could see the good they had behind it all. It stung, it really fucking hurt that he couldn’t focus on that. That he couldn’t push some things aside. She knew she didn’t deserve him finding the good in her -- what good was left in her anyway? -- but that didn’t assuage the sharp pain in her chest. And suddenly, that loneliness felt stark again underneath her skin, those biting words in her brain felt all the more real. Who could love you anyway? Why didn’t you just stay down there? Go, go, go to your escape.
A faint smile flitted across her lips as she wrapped her arms a little more protectively around her. Something was off, and of course it wasn’t just the hurt of facing her ex-husband and knowing the baggage between them was nowhere near healed. Something off, something dark underneath all of that blonde brightness that was a familiar song from years before when PTSD and depression started that downward spiral that took away the things most precious to her -- or the person, really.
“I’ll throw a line out to see if anyone bites.” Though she wasn’t entirely sure anyone would want to help. Fuck, now it felt like Eddie had been forced here, too. Inhaling deeply, she nodded almost imperceptibly. She didn’t agree that it was his home, his family. But, she agreed that they needed to protect it. “No one’s going to get hurt here, not on my watch. I’m too fucking stubborn for that.” Another deep breath, and a nod like she was telling herself it was going to be okay. Okay, okay, okay. “I’ll tell you what Crane says, and I’ll let you know if or when anything changes with the dreams?” A tentative smile and seeking permission to even talk to him after all of this. She thought that things were okay, but clearly they had leaps and bounds to go before it was even near okay between the two of them.
Eddie offered her a smile and that was the best he could do. He reminded himself that he had been very good, a very good dog through this whole encounter. He didn’t bite, he didn’t whimper and he wagged his tail when he was supposed to. No, he didn’t like her touching him and he didn’t like that corpse blue in her eyes, but things between them were fine. Manageable. And, that was better than it had ever been during their marriage. Stephanie was going to be okay, the batfamily came through when one of them was hurting (well usually) and a request from him would really get their attention.
“Thanks. I’ll let you know what I find.” Eddie took his glasses off and then gave her a wave before turning and getting the fuck out of Arkham. He could feel the ghosts clawing at his ankles. Maybe they had already gotten her and this was the universe telling him that he should have been stronger, he should have forced himself to stay in love with her, he should have been her daddy, her lover, her dog. That’s what a good man would do. But, Eddie? Eddie was just going to run.