"He had this look in his eyes that made you wonder just how many people he's killed.

And this... grin that made you realize he's probably lost count."

Gunshots were fired from everywhere around Charlotte and she instinctively crouched down behind the desk closer to her. She couldn't see what was happening due to the smoke covering the entire room.

All of a sudden, a body fell down on the floor right in front of her and she couldn't help but let out a yelp. The officer had blood covering his uniform and a bullet wound to his chest.

The smoke started dissipating, but the gunshots never ceased. For the first time in a long time, Charlotte felt scared. Fortunately, she could already see Ed crouched down beside her. However, he was looking at Kringle who stood still as a statue while gunfire went off all around her.

"No, Ed," Charlotte begged, already knowing what he was thinking.

"I have to save her," Ed replied with a worried expression as he looked at the love of his life. "If she stands there she will get shot".

"Ed, don't-" Charlotte started but Ed had already made a run for it, "... leave me".

She knew she couldn't just stand there. They were killing everyone who moved and were getting closer to her hiding spot. An idea came to her and she looked at the dead cop beside her. Charlotte didn't want to but it was the only way to survive that massacre.

With careful moves not to get spotted, she put her hand on the dead man's wound and rubbed the blood on her face and clothes. It was disgusting, but Charlotte couldn't care about that at the time. If she hesitated, she would end up with a bullet in her skull. Once she was done, she laid down on her stomach and closed her eyes. Her heart was still beating too fast inside her chest, so she tried her best to calm it down. It took several long seconds to accomplish that task but she managed.

Charlotte heard footsteps approach her and held her breath. By now only a gunshot was fired every now and then. The footsteps got closer to her head and stopped. Charlotte hopped she hadn't been found, but she was relieved when the footsteps continued past her.

As soon as the gunfire ceased completely, she could still hear voices in the distance. A voice stood out from the rest. It was boyishly and she didn't recognize it. No footsteps could be heard around her, so Charlotte asked herself if it was worth the risk of opening her eyes. She just wanted to see what was happening.

Charlotte decided to open her eyes, but only a little bit to make sure no one was close. She could see dead bodies around her. There were three men wearing police uniforms with shotguns in hand, but none stood too close to her. Charlotte slowly moved her head to be able to see the first floor which was where the voices were coming from.

She almost gasped when she saw the familiar ginger hair standing in front of Commissioner Essen. It was the same boy who bumped against her seconds before everything went to hell. Charlotte saw how Essen had no chance of escaping since she had her hands tied behind the chair. A man with frizzy brown hair stood behind the ginger boy filming everything.

The young boy crouched down in front of Essen and Charlotte wasn't able to see him anymore. Charlotte had to close her eyes because footsteps could be heard close by. That was also the moment a single shot rang out in the precinct. Charlotte had to hold herself from flinching at the loud noise.

Where was Ed? She couldn't see him anywhere and it was making her more scared by the second.

The gunshot was followed by a thud. To her relief, the footsteps walked away again and she opened her eyes slightly. The man who had previously held the camera was now dead. 

"There's nothing more contagious than laughter," the ginger boy said and let out a deranged laugh. However, he was cut off but Charlotte couldn't see what had happened. He yelled out in pain, but to Charlotte surprise, he laughed again. It was a sinister laugh like Charlotte had never heard before and it managed to send a chill down her spine.

Then it was Essen who let out a scream and Charlotte did everything not to run and knock the ginger off his ass. If he was alone, she would have done it already. And he didn't stop there. He proceeded to make a video to be shown on the TV later. The maniac only stopped after he heard sirens getting closer.

Once Charlotte knew it was safe to get up, she immediately searched the room for Ed. She saw him stand up from the other side of another dead cop. Charlotte felt relieved and was going to make her way to ask if he was okay, but Kristen stood up beside him. She was taken aback by the way Kringle looked at him. It was a look of new found admiration like Ed was her knight in a shining armor.

Charlotte decided not to mess their stupid moment and went to help a fellow officer who was wounded and needed assistance. She helped stop the bleeding while Lee Thompkins assisted other people.

"Charlotte," her name was called from the entrance of the precinct by a beaten up Jim Gordon. She turned around and looked at him emotionlessly. "Have you seen Lee?"

The blonde nodded and pointed in the direction she had seen Lee the last time. The medical examiner saw her hurt boyfriend and quickly ran to him. "Jim!"

"You're going to be okay" Charlotte reassured the cop who nodded with a thankful look and a weak smile. Then the paramedics came and took over. They took the critically wounded to Gotham General and the rest was patched up on the spot.

"Charlotte, are you okay?" Ed asked worriedly and Charlotte was reminded she still was covered in the dead officer's blood.

"It's not my blood," she told him, but then Charlotte noticed the wound on his arm. "And you?"

Ed looked down at his bloody gray lab coat and took it off along with the gray shirt underneath, leaving him in a sleeveless white shirt. A bullet had grazed his right bicep and it was bleeding, but it wasn't an urgent situation.

"Kristen is okay too," Ed told her, even though she hadn't asked. "She went to get me an aspirin because I hit my head on the floor".

Charlotte nodded with a slight smile. "I'm glad you're okay now".

Ed smiled at her and a paramedic walked towards him to clean his wound and stitch it up. Charlotte watched as he walked away and leaned against a desk as the paramedic stopped the bleeding. Kristen joined Ed and gave him the aspirin and water.

Charlotte sighed and walked to the locker room to get cleaned up. Once she found herself alone inside the empty room, she sat down on a  bench and put her head in her hands. Flashes of the night everything changed passed in front of her like a bullet train and she closed her eyes tightly. The drunk man kissing her neck, her hand grasping the knife in her pocket and then the warm feeling of the blood in her hand. Everything came rushing back to her. A frontal headache was starting to form and she took an ibuprofen pill from her locker before it could get any worse. Charlotte sat back down on the bench and massaged her temples softly.

"You like him, don't you?" A voice asked from the doorway and Charlotte looked up to see Lee walking inside and closing the door behind her. "Ed, I mean".

Charlotte was surprised to hear her ask and wondered if it was that obvious. "How could you tell?"

"Well, it's the little things," Lee replied and sat down next to her on the bench. "I noticed the way you looked at him and then I saw that sad look you sent his way when he was with Kristen. I actually suspected it since I met you two".

"Have you thought about following the career of a Detective?" Charlotte joked and they both chuckled. Then Lee stared at Charlotte waiting for an answer. "I do like Ed, but you also must have noticed he likes Kristen. I'm just his lab partner and best friend".

Lee nodded understandingly. "You should tell him how you feel". Her advice surprised Charlotte. "I know he likes Kristen, but if you tell him he might start to consider letting go of her to be with someone who can understand him better. The worse case scenario is him saying 'I don't like you back', but whatever happens next will be better".

"How?" The forensic scientist asked not understanding how things could possibly get better. She would ruin their friendship and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

"You may learn if it's time to let him go and move on with your life," Lee told her.

Charlotte considered those options. She would definitely think about it, no matter how scary it sounded to her.

"Where did you found a man like Jim?" Charlotte asked. "Tell me, I wanna go there too".

Lee laughed at Charlotte words and remembered the day she met Jim in Arkham's infirmary. "Believe it or not, it was in Arkham".

"Oh, you were a Doctor there, right?" Charlotte asked with a slight smile and Lee nodded.

Then Lee stood up and held one hand out for Charlotte to take. She didn't even care that Charlotte's hand had dry blood in it. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up".

The blonde took Lee's hand and at that moment she decided to think only about herself. She didn't think of Ed nor Kristen and she made a decision not to go see Ed after she was cleaned up. Charlotte would think about Lee's advice, but for that, she would need her space away from both Ed and Kristen.