"Loving you was

The most

Exquisite form

Of self

Destruction".

- 'Love and Space dust' by David Jones.

Charlotte and Ed were taken back inside to be received by a very unimpressed Miss Peabody. She didn't utter a word and just led the way back to cell C-144. They were both thrown into the cell and the door was quickly locked behind them.

At first, they were confused as to why Peabody had shut them in the same room, but then they heard the man who was chained to the opposite wall.

The man was bald and fat with sharp and yellow teeth. He charged at Charlotte and Ed, who quickly backed up against one corner of the cell letting out a cry of surprise. Luckily, the chain didn't let the man get to them, but he was already too close to Charlotte's comfort. He opened his mouth wide and roared at them, making Ed yell and grab Charlotte's arm in fear.

"I'm so pleased you three are getting along," Miss Peabody taunted. "I should warn you, Mr. Stirk has been known to eat people. But he's promised to stop that, haven't you Mr. Stirk?"

"You have to get us out of here!" Ed exclaimed, causing Stirk to roar at them again.

"Are you asking for a favor?" Peabody asked and smirk. "You should have considered that before you decided to escape".

Charlotte sent a glare in Peabody's direction and another at Stirk. He clenched his rooting teeth and then growled like a wild animal.

"Shut up!" Charlotte snapped at Stirk and kicked him in his exposed belly with her foot. That only managed to make him even angrier and he roared loudly at her. Ed's hold on Charlotte's arm tightened in panic and he yelled again.

"How are you going to stop Jim Gordon?" Ed asked when he noticed Peabody was going to walk away and leave them in there with Stirk.

Fortunately, Peabody returned, but this time with a dangerously serious expression on her face. "What?"

"Jim Gordon and the GCPD have been here twice in the last week," Ed tried to avoid looking at Stirk as he spoke. "It's obvious that they know".

"Obvious they know what?" Miss Peabody asked as if she didn't know what the two former forensic scientists were referring to.

"Oh, you know exactly what we are talking about," Charlotte spat at her impatiently, but Peabody just glared at her.

"Do I really have to say it?" Stirk roared louder than before and Ed screamed too before he continued. "You're making monsters in the basement!"

Stirk was growing impatient and turned to look at Miss Peabody, who was staring at us thoughtfully.

"I'm hungry!" He exclaimed.

"Quiet, Stirk," Peabody ordered and the man bared his teeth at Charlotte and Ed. She ignored the disgusting man and proceeded to taunt the two other patients in the room. "Monsters in the basement. You two are insane".

"Obviously," Ed rolled his eyes. "Jim Gordon is coming and you're going to need all the help that you can get. So why don't you go tell Strange that if he wants to stop Gordon and the GCPD then he's going to need our help. Now!"

Stirk continued to growl at them and Ed continued to yell. Peabody smirked and walked away, letting them stay there with Stirk a little longer.

"Finally," Charlotte muttered and sent a glare in Stirk's direction.

Ed looked at Charlotte confused. He asked himself how she could say 'finally'. Peabody had just left him in there with that creepy cannibal. Then Charlotte gently took Ed's hands away from her arm.

"What are you doing? Don-" Ed started warning her but before he could finish, Charlotte had already thrown a punch at Stirk. She got him right in the jaw.

The man groaned, but she didn't seem scared of him in the slightest.

"Eat this, bitch," Charlotte said before grabbing Stirk by his ears and kneeing him in the face. He didn't have time to resist and immediately fell on the floor unconscious.

"My hero," Ed said out of breath before hugging her. Charlotte smiled and leaned her forehead on his neck with her arms wrapped around him.

A long time after, Peabody returned along with Professor Strange. He told them he would accept their offer of helping him get rid of James Gordon, but they would need to get some information first. The people they needed to interrogate were the billionaire Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox, the man who had been looking for Gordon at the GCPD not too long ago.

Charlotte and Ed accepted this without a moment of hesitation. They just wanted to get out of that cell. Professor Strange let them out and led them both through the corridors while he explained what he wanted them to ask. Apparently Strange had to know what Jim, Bruce, and Lucius knew about Indian Hill and who really ran Wayne Enterprises. He didn't exactly tell them the answer to the last question, but whoever it was, not only ran Wayne Enterprises but everything else in Gotham.

The couple was directed to a small room with a one-way mirror on one of the walls. In front of that mirror was a table with books, a timer, and a microphone on top of it. On the other room, they could see Bruce Wayne pacing from one side to the other with a concerned expression on his face.

Charlotte and Ed were told to sit down in front of the microphone by the two guards that accompanied them. Professor Strange had already gone away to interrogate Jim.

"Do you have popcorn?" Charlotte asked, but the guards walked out without saying a word to her. "Okay. Thank you anyway".

They still had to wait for Fox to be brought into the room where the Wayne kid was. It didn't take long and Bruce quickly apologized for getting Lucius into his problems. He seemed to think they would all die and it was his fault. Charlotte and Ed just sat back on their chairs and enjoyed the show for a while.

"Hugo Strange said that all this time I've been searching for the man who killed my parents when really it was my own father," Bruce told Lucius with a crease forming on his forehead. "That he knew what he was doing. That I am my father's son".

"Bruce, your father had the courage to fight for what he believed in," Lucius stated as he placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder comfortingly. "And as long as there's life, there's hope".

Ed thought this was the best time to make themselves known. He clicked on the button of the microphone and approached his lips to the device. "Touching sentiment".

Lucius quickly retreated his hand back to rest beside his body and both him and Bruce looked around the room to see where the voice was coming from.

"Who are you? Where's Jim Gordon?" Fox asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Charlotte smiled as she spoke.

"Yeah. I would urge you to worry about yourselves right now. Jim Gordon has his own problems," Ed said before laughing in amusement. Once he finally stopped, he proceeded to explain why they were there. "So here's the situation. Professor Strange has tasked us with finding out how much you two know about what he's been up to and, more importantly, who you told".

"Show us Jim Gordon and Selina Kyle," Bruce demanded.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes. "You're in no position to make demands here, Mr. Wayne".

"Yes, I think you're not quite grasping the power dynamic here, Turtleneck," Ed said making Bruce look down at his turtleneck jumper. "As I was saying we need to know what you know, and you're going to tell us, or poison gas will spew from the nozzles above your head and you will both die very, very painfully".

Bruce and Fox looked up at the nozzles on the ceiling and both Charlotte and Ed smiled. The nozzles would definitely spray gas but it wasn't really poisonous. It was just knockout gas, harmless but it would knock them out for a good half an hour.

"I know this voices," Fox blurted out. "They worked for the GCPD. He had a funny kind of name..."

"There's nothing funny about my name," Ed said in annoyance.

"And her name is Charlotte..." Fox hesitated as he tried to remember Charlotte's last name. "Bagman, Batman,... no, Bateman. Yes, Charlotte Bateman. They are the ones that framed Jim Gordon".

Charlotte and Ed shared a look before looking back at Lucius Fox.

"You always were a smart cookie, Foxy," Ed commented. "You know why Strange gave us this job? It's because he knows that we would kill you both and not bat an eye. So, keeping that in mind... five minutes on the clock. Starting now".

Ed grabbed the timer and turned it to the number 5. Fox dashed towards the door and started banging on it with his fists. Bruce glared at us through the one-way mirror and Ed laughed.

"Fun," he said into the microphone.

"Banging on that door won't help you, Mr. Fox," Charlotte told with a smirk on her lips. He stepped away and looked at the one-way mirror. "No one can help you. I'm afraid it's just the four of us... for now".

"Just tell us what you know," Ed said with another laugh. "Okay quiz kids. Who's ready to play life or death?"

"Miss Bateman, Mr. Nygma. You are Nygma, aren't you? This is absurd. The police know we're here. You can't kill us-" Fox wanted to appeal to their conscience, but it was too late for that and Ed interrupted him before he could continue.

"Are you ready to play?!" Ed shouted with a dangerous tone in his voice. He just wanted to ask them the questions so Strange would let him and Charlotte out of that hellhole.

Both Lucius and Bruce shared a look and Bruce was the one to answer Ed's question. "Yes".

The blonde woman knew Ed wanted to be the one making the questions, so she let him have his moment.

"Good. You have one guess. Five minutes to talk it over," Ed explained the rules. "Who runs Indian Hill?"

Bruce and Lucius looked down deep in thought. Charlotte and Ed both knew it was Wayne Enterprises who ran Indian Hill. They had read it on a wall when they had wandered downstairs.

"Who runs Indian Hill?" Ed repeated. "You have one guess. Think carefully, fellas. Answer correctly... or die".

"Oh, come on. This is not even the hard one," Charlotte said, deciding to give a little push to get things going. She didn't want to sit there all day. "Bruce, you must know the answer to this. Think a little bit and you will get it".

Ed checked the timer. They had two minutes to answer, but he wanted an answer right then. "You have 60 seconds left. Who runs Indian Hill?"

"I say Hugo Strange," Fox suggested.

"Wayne Enterprises," Bruce contradicted and Charlotte smirked at this. 'Looks like the smart cookie was Bruce after all,' she thought to herself. "Wayne Enterprises runs Indian Hill".

Lucius didn't seem to agree and both argued on what the answer really was.

"Is that your answer? Running out of time here," Ed warned.

"Yes," Bruce confirmed with a determined look on his face. He seemed sure of his answer, but I could see the fear in his eyes. Ed was going to tell them if it was correct or not, but Charlotte held out a finger to stop him. She wanted the fear to increase in Bruce and Lucius.

She saw Lucius gulp and that's when she brought her hand down, giving permission for Ed to continue.

"Correct! Wayne Enterprises runs Indian Hill," Ed told them. Bruce closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief while Lucius eyed him in admiration. "Bravo, Brucie. You're almost safe. Just one more question".

"Okay, I practically gave you the answer to this one," Charlotte said to Bruce. "Let's see if you can get the next one. No help this time".

"You ready?" Ed asked. This time it was Lucius who answered with an anxious 'yes'.

Charlotte chuckled. "Wonderful. You have five minutes again".

"Wayne Enterprises runs Indian Hill, but who runs Wayne Enterprises?" Ed asked.

Fear went through the faces of both Bruce and Lucius. They had no idea what to answer. All they had were suppositions. Lucius thought it was the board of directors, but Bruce knew it couldn't be that obvious. No, it had to be something bigger.

"You have 30 seconds left," Ed warned. "Who runs Wayne Enterprises?"

"Oh, the devil, maybe," Lucius answered in annoyance and Charlotte and Ed both laughed. "Is that the deal? Communists? Witches?"

"No. There's some truth behind this question," Bruce reminded as he started to pace around the room. "Some big secret".

A crease formed in Lucius' forehead. "I've worked for Wayne Enterprises for ten years, there's no big secret. The board of directors runs Wayne Enterprises".

"That can't be the answer, Lucius!" Bruce contradicted and turned to look at the couple behind the one-way mirror. "Give us more time!"

"Five seconds!" Ed shouted even though there were 60 seconds left. Charlotte knew he just wanted to let the gas out and she smiled at him as she shook her head.

"The board of directors," Lucius blurted out trying to sound as calm as possible.

Ed let a few moments pass before he gave them the answer. They didn't know what the actual answer was, but whatever Bruce and Lucius said, they would still drop the gas on them. Then they had to tell their answers to Professor Strange.

"Incorrect," Ed told them with a fake expression of sadness. "Oh, what a shame. The correct answer is shhhhh... Sorry, fellas. You lose. And what happens to losers? Yowzah! Death by poison gas!"

Then he pressed the red button beside the table and gas was sprayed from the nozzles above Bruce and Lucius' heads. They looked up in panic and Charlotte laughed amused along with Ed, who almost rolled on the floor because of how much he was laughing.

Bruce and Lucius really thought they were going to die in there, so they shook hands to say goodbye. This only made Charlotte and Ed laugh even harder. A few seconds later, they weren't able to resist the knockout gas any longer and passed out on the floor.

Ed looked at Charlotte once they finally stopped their uncontrollable laughter. He smiled at her and she smiled back at him. Ed leaned in and softly kissed Charlotte's lips. She returned the kiss and took her hands to each side of his neck.

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat behind them and they clumsily pulled away and turned to see who had interrupted them. When they saw Hugo Strange standing there, the couple immediately stood up from their seats.

"Professor Strange, we've done what you told us to," Ed started with a nod towards the other room where Bruce and Lucius layed unconscious on the floor. "They think the board of directors runs Wayne Enterprises".

"Very well," Strange gave us a half smile. "Follow me".

The couple followed Strange through the hallways again and the silence grew uncomfortable after just a few seconds.

"Well done, you two. I'm impressed," Strange finally broke the silence. "You are shamans of sorts, witch doctors".

Ed chuckled but couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. He hated unanswered questions. "So, just between us, who does run Wayne Enterprises?"

"I could tell you, but then I would have to lobotomize you," Strange told seriously and Ed chuckled nervously.

Charlotte was suspicious that he probably wasn't lying and remained quiet.

"So, moving forward, sir. We would be more than happy to help you with any of your other cases". Ed tried to manipulate the chief of psychology but obviously, that wasn't working very well to his side.

"You two would be wonderful additions to my staff, wonderful additions. If you were only sane," Strange replied with a monotone voice. "You have been very useful, and we arrogant physicians have much to learn from mad people like you".

Out of nowhere, four guards grabbed Charlotte and Ed, pulling their hands behind their backs. They struggled, but the guards were stronger than them.

"But not that much," Strange mumbled as he walked away without looking back.

"No! No, no, no, no!" Ed shouted as he did his best to resist the guards. "You will not treat me like a crazy person!"

The two men holding Charlotte tried dragging her out of that hallway to take her back to her cell, but she stubbornly refused. They only managed to drag her away, once the guards who put Ed in his cell came to help. They grabbed her legs, almost resulting in them being kicked in the balls, and took her away.

"Hey!" Ed called, but the guards ignored him. "Let her go! Charlotte!"