Edward Nigma (riddlehimthis) wrote in valloic, @ 2020-09-14 16:38:00 |
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The universe was a massive place. Gotham was also fairly big but Vallo with its area of refugees from other worlds was smaller. Therefore, it actually didn’t take Lee that long to figure out where Eddie was residing to track him down.
Her motives for helping him get the tracker out of the head wasn’t entirely selfless, no matter how many times she would claim that it’s the doctor’s Hippocratic Oath running thick in her blood, or something like that. That claim was utter bullshit considering she had stabbed Ed and also shot Sofia Falcone in the head.
Her main reason for helping him was to make sure Hugo Strange didn’t actually come through into this world and decided to control Eddie to do the worst things to this world.
When she tracked down his exact apartment, Lee stood in front of it and knocked on the door, ready to shove her foot into the doorframe in case he decided to slam the door on her face.
“I wonder who could that be?” Eddie asked himself in a voice dripping with bitter sarcasm. There was only one person, and that was the one who he recently told to shove off over the network. Lee. Newly arrived and already getting into his business. The corner of his lip curled up into a sneer as he got up off the sofa and went over to the door.
“Go away, Lee!” he shouted to her on the other side. “Or I’m going to place a restraining order against you.” He quickly added for clarification, “By restraining order I mean I’m going to restrain you, then order a pizza that I’ll eat while thinking about all the ways I’m going to hurt you!”
Lee rolled her eyes from behind the door. “Sounds like you’re tempted to do it, so why don’t you just go ahead and open the door and let me in and let’s get this over with?” It may have been ten years since their stabby ending, but Edward Nygma was still alive and walking in Gotham at that time. She had to deal with him occasionally associating with Barbara Kean and subsequently associating with Jim Gordon but past that, she didn’t really get too close.
She’d almost forgotten how much fun it was pushing his buttons. “You can’t think of those ways though if your mind is not your own.”
Eddie shook his head and chuckled at her first attempt to manipulate him. “Your game is weak,” he told her. However, her second attempt was much more successful. That was a low blow, and very effective. The smile fled from his face as he seriously considered his condition. Could he trust Lee to help him. The answer was yes. The real question was, could he trust himself?
Before he could think too much longer, before he changed his mind, he unlocked the door and swung it open, blocking any entry with his full body. The moment he saw her, his guard dropped - instead of a stoic expression, his face revealed a frightened boy. It didn’t last long, for his scowl immediately snapped back, not even conscious that he’d let it slip.
“You have one minute to talk. Starting now.”
Lee was perceptive enough to catch that bit of an expression, but she didn’t lead on that she’d seen it. Not that felt any sympathy at all for the man in front of him right now, but she did understand the fear of not having control over your own mind. She’d experienced it one too many times for comfort.
“You don’t trust me and I get that, so I’m just going to start off by saying that if you’re going to get imaging done on your brain, it’s not going to be me. It’ll be a radiology tech, and it can also be someone else from the local clinic to give it a look. You showed up here after one time and I showed up after several years in the future, and there is no telling that Hugo Strange won’t show up here still having the power to control you.”
For several silent moments, Eddie ruminated over Lee’s statement. At one point, his glare flickered up to her forehead, where he didn’t expect to see, but nevertheless wondered, what sort of scar she had when her microchip was removed.
Finally, “Get in.”
He stepped aside to grant her entry, and once she was inside his apartment, he shut the door with a swift bang. Now that they had a little more privacy, he crossed his arms over his chest. “How was yours removed?” he curtly asked.
Lee walked in without another word and faced him when he closed the door. She didn’t expect him to attack her in this town because this wasn’t Gotham. This place seemed like if there was anyone who were villains, it was random ass animals not particularly controlled by anyone.
Still, she glanced over at the door to note whether it was locked or not. “Surgery a little later in life. Jim had ended up electrocuting me when I had been on the verge of killing him. I suspected it might have short-circuited the chip but I wasn’t about to take that chance. So when life became relatively more stable, I found a good brain surgeon to help, but it wasn’t in Gotham.”
Eddie cupped his chin with his hand as he deeply considered what Lee told him. Externally, from-the-future-Lee behaved no differently than that one he’d just left, so the surgery must’ve been successful. Then again, she had ten years on him.
“Electrocuted, huh?” He couldn’t let that tidbit go by without a smirk, but he quickly followed with the query, “How long did it take you to recover? There weren’t any adverse side effects?” He imagined the worst thing that could happen to him was having his brain damaged and becoming stupid again, or worse, a complete dolt like Solomon Grundy. The mere thought of that made his skin crawl.
Lee answered that first question with an eye-roll. Of course he’d get some fun out of her being electrocuted. By her husband, no less. Now husband, at least. “No issues with motor skills. There were slight memory issues but those went away after a month and a half. No deficits related to intelligence. I’m sure you’ll still be able to come up with really good riddles.”
“A month?” All things considered, a month of memory issues wasn’t bad at all, for brain surgery. However, this was Eddie’s memory they were talking about, and he was very protective of his brain. It was a tricky decision, and one he really couldn’t afford not to make.
His expression was that of somebody who had just tasted something horrible, nose wrinkling, and a grimacing mouth. “You say you know people who can do the procedure?” Another thought came to him - she was from his future so she’d be the one to ask, “Did I have it removed, too? What happened then?”
“I don’t know.” She knew he wasn’t going to like that answer but she had no reason to lie, or keep the full truth. “We didn’t really remain best friends after everything that happened between us, you see. For all I know, maybe you got electrocuted later too and that short-circuited your chip somehow.”
“Ten years, and you hadn’t heard anything?” Either Lee was lying, or worse, he’d stopped doing things that were notorious enough to be newsworthy. Or he was dead. The thought of not being newsworthy was worse than death. He wondered how far along Selena was in time - would she know? Even if she did , she’d hold the information over his head to taunt him. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. Then again, maybe he should?
In any event, it didn’t sound like Lee was going to be helpful, at least in that regard. As much as it pained him to admit it to himself, her suggested course of action made the most sense. “Okay. Cat scan. I’ll agree to have one done. But not at some clinic! It’s got to be a hospital.”
“Fine by me,” Lee said, raising her hands up. It was a step, if not the most ideal one. She figured he wouldn’t let her anywhere near his brain even though it hadn’t even been her who had put her on ice.
She straightened up and stepped past Eddie to get to the door. “Get the scan at a hospital, let me know if you want a second look at it. Because I’m sure you’d like to get it out as soon as possible, but I think the ones who could help you the best are those among us outlanders.” Before she opened the door, she glanced back at Eddie with a scowl. “And I know you don’t trust me at all, but I am not about to hurt you while you’re here unless you give me a reason to.”
Lee was right on the money about Eddie not trusting her. He carefully watched every step she took to the door, and expected her to say something threatening when she turned and scowled. What she did say, however, took him off guard. His hardened demeanor slipped again and he gazed at her with his jaw slightly hung open.
After debating dozens of responses, Eddie settled truthfully on, “It’s a deal. But I can’t make any promises.” If his madness slipped, there was no telling what he could do, and while he currently had a good grasp on his sanity, that could change. He shrugged. “At least I’m being honest."
Lee nodded. “Fair enough.” She paused, thinking of something else to say, anything a little more comforting, but couldn’t figure out what. There was a time when she cared about him very deeply and maybe she could get past hating him but she wasn’t sure if she’d ever go back to caring about him that much again. But she could still be a decent person. “Keep me in the loop.”