The Universe's Mixer

Anything and everything with a screen went blank, followed by the telltale ants. The City had an announcement, and it was using the ever so reliable news crew to share it.

A gorgeous bald man stood before a weather map, but there was no smile on his face. In fact, he looked sad with a hint of angry. His clothes looked as if he'd been fought to get in them, a button off, his tie askew. He just stared at the ground before glaring petulantly up at the screen.

"The sun will come out tomorrow." He looked to the side as if someone were talking to him, and he sighed, rolling his eyes. Glaring once more into the camera. "It will come out like clockwork from now on..." His head dipped, and there was a little smile on his lips as he mumbled. "Until it doesn't."

"Uh." A male voice off camera, one that hadn't been heard since the last big City announcement tried to claim attention. "Yes, thank you, Windy. Yes, it seems that five souls have been tasked to mend the City. They are great souls."

"What the hell! One doesn't even have a so--" Windy would have yelled more, but he was quickly stopped. A rather unprofessional yet curious camera man gave a brief yet telling glance at just what was happening to the slightly mercurial weatherman: he was being held down by a couple of burly grips, probably, who knew that the man was a little...under the weather. He wasn't taking the 'right as rain' attitude about having sunny days again.

"Well, whether they have souls, webbed fingers, or godlike powers, we at KWIT City News applaud and appreciate their sacrifice. Let us all take a moment of silence for - in no particular order - Jesse Custer, Jennifer Government, Hannibal Lecter, Eric Northman, and Annie Wagner." Frank's smile held a sense of sadness that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Yes, it is unfortunate; they were all rather attractive, weren't they?" Candy finally chimed in. "So very pretty."

"They aren't dead! Get off--" Windy grunted; the grips holding him down realized they were on camera and let him go to speak. "Get off me! I'm fine. They're not dead. Fuck, people. Get it right, and who cares if they looked like Jabba the Marshmallow Man! The City's back to normal. Just say it! Say it! Say i--" Once more Windy was restrained, and the camera went back to Candy and Frank.

"Well, yes, of course. Now, Candy, didn't we have a wonderful recipe for butternut squash souffle we were going to share?" Frank turned his usual smile to Candy, who was giving him her usual vapid one in response.

"Yes, yes, we do! Let's go over to..."

With that the screens were once more taken over by ants, and then returned to whatever they'd been on before.

Edward grunted. He hated being ordered around and told what to do, especially by someone he hated with every fiber of his being, but his rational side always seemed to keep the criminal calm and collected. He knew he had to cooperate with Bruce for the time being, to get better and back to where he had been before the attack. There were so many things to heist and yet being in a wheel-chair sort of made those jobs difficult.

The physical therapy was agony on his newly mended leg. Bruce came by the warehouse every day at the same time to help Edward move his leg. The initial movement had been awful, but it had boosted the criminal's confidence exponentially. It meant he would walk again once this was all said and done. The flexing, lifting and rotating had been worse.

Minutes seemed like hours as Edward struggled to regain the use of his leg and knee, having had it broken in different places multiple times. Had it been allowed to recover from the initial blow from Annie, it would've mended in no time. But of course Edward's luck wasn't that giving. Scarecrow had broken it again, almost shattered the bone and Bruce had needed to repair the limb extensively before resetting and casting it to heal. Edward knew he would always have a limp in that leg. And the scars. But that was the price he had paid for his foolishness.

Bruce stood there beside the wheelchair, looking down at the man within it. "Alright Eddie. Are you ready to try walking in your own?" It was a stupid question in Eddie's opinion. Of course he was!

Edward lifted a hand, sliding his palm into Bruce's, as he struggled to get up. He set a foot on the ground, his good foot, the other remained on the pedal encased in a boot. His other hand gripped the handle of the chair, and when Bruce pulled Edward to his feet the criminal was then given a cane to use as a support.

"You're doing very well, Eddie," Bruce said softly as the criminal mastermind stood there at his full height. Eddie almost snatched his hand out of Bruce's grip, trying not to flail in the spot and managing. Slowly, Eddie took a step forward, using the cane as leverage to balance himself out. Oh if only Effie were here. She would be of greater assistance to him than Bruce, but she wouldn't let him out of her sight either which was something Bruce did. Eddie had more independence with his son-in-law, be it because the other man had better things to do or simply because he felt Eddie had earned it, the criminal wasnt sure. But he appreciated it.

He took three more steps and paused, taking in a breath of air. Then Eddie smiled. This was going to be a good day indeed.

Jo had suspected for days that Ted was missing. His number had disappeared from her phone and when she tried to dial from memory, she had gotten a 'number not in service' error message. When she stopped by his work, nobody had seen him for days. She needed to call Charlie to confirm, but she was a little afraid of putting that last nail in the coffin. She would rather hang on to the hope that Ted was still here and avoiding her for some reason.

The tipping point came when she saw the news report. Ted's name wasn't among the list, but there were a few other familiar names.

It was then that she realized that she wasn't the only one who'd lost Ted. She'd been selfish in avoiding Charlie perhaps. And now it seems that he'd lost Jen too.

She didn't bother with calling. If it was her, she probably wouldn't be answering her phone even if she did need the company. She didn't know Charlie well enough to know what he would or wouldn't need but she thought that the best thing she could do was try. She thought that it was what Ted would want her to do.

She actually made arrangements for a sitter for Maxine and then she took off. She picked up a pizza and a bottle of wine-she thought that Charlie was more of a wine than a beer guy. Then she stopped by the house and rang the doorbell. She just hoped that he was home.