"She's changed. You can see it in her eyes, feel it in her touch, and hear it in her tone. She's not the same and she's never coming back".

- Kiana Azizian

Weeks had passed since Jim Gordon was taken to Blackgate Penitentiary. He had been condemned to spend forty years in there, which was the maximum sentence.

"Dent, they got him in general population now, F Wing," Harvey shouted into the phone. Charlotte and Ed were making their way to the second floor of the precinct when they heard Bullock's furiously shouts. "You know what that means? Everyone we've ever put away is in there!"

The two forensic scientists stopped by the stairs to hear the conversation. If what Harvey was saying was correct and Gordon really had been transferred to F Wing, then Gordon was screwed. The F Wing of Blackgate was also known as 'World's End' because that was exactly what it was for most of the prisoners, the end.

Ed peeked at the angry Detective from under the wooden handrail trying to look inconspicuous. Charlotte found this funny but she did her best not to laugh and alert Bullock of their presence.

"Stop saying that!" Bullock continued shouting. "There's always something you can do. A retrial. Or have him transferred to another prison, for God's sake. You know what, just keep doing what you always do, which is nothing!"

Bullock end the call and the two forensic scientists proceeded on their way to the second floor. However, they were stopped by Bullock before they could reach the safety of the last floor.

"Ed, Charlotte," the Detective called. When Charlotte and Ed looked back at him, he motioned for them to approach him. They did as Bullock asked and joined him just as he let out a frustrated sigh. "He's wasting away in that place while the real killer's out there somewhere, eating donuts and getting laid".

The couple tried not to snicker at how true that last statement was. They had indeed eaten donuts that morning after another night of sex.

"The real killer?" Ed asked as if he didn't know what Bullock was talking about. "The fingerprints on the murder weapon..."

"Jim is innocent," Harvey told them seriously. "He didn't kill Pinkney".

"Well, gee, um, that's unfair if that's true. What are you gonna do about it?" Ed asked with a patronizing tone in his voice.

The Detective sighed again before placing the fedora hat on his head. "I wish I knew. I wish I knew".

"We're gonna do whatever we can to help," Charlotte reassured. Bullock give them a nod and then left in a hurry. "Do you think he might find something?"

"No, Harvey Bullock is an idiot" Ed dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. "He won't find anything that could link all of this back to us". Ed saw the look of concern on Charlotte's face and placed a hand softly on her cheek. "Don't worry. Whatever problems arise, we can find a way out of it together".

Charlotte nodded at him with a slight smile. "Together".

A few more weeks went by after that. Charlotte and Ed were happy since no one asked them any more questions about Kristen. The only person who could make questions was Lee Thompkins, but after Gordon's arrest, she lost the baby and moved down south. They hadn't heard anything from her since then.

For Charlotte and Ed, it was a blessed few weeks. They had no one to bother them and Charlotte was happy that her mood swings seemed to not come so often. The anger only struck when she had to speak to Bullock or some other officer she didn't like.

One day, Charlotte and Ed were watching the news among other cops on the precinct. They had been talking about the same thing for the whole morning. Jim Gordon had escaped Blackgate Penitentiary and that announcement put Gotham on high alert.

The couple had made some arrangements that morning just in case Gordon found out it was them who framed him. They had wired a chair to the mains. If Gordon ever appeared in Ed's home, they had a way to get rid of him. All they needed was a small remote to electrocute the former Detective. Charlotte had been the one to come up with the idea and Ed quickly agreed with it.

They heard footsteps coming down the stairs and they looked to see Harvey descending the staircase. He didn't look as worried now that Jim had escaped. Charlotte was sure he knew where his ex-partner was hiding.

"Detective Bullock, have you heard the news?" Ed asked him.

"Yeah, Ed, I heard" the Detective replied.

"Do you know where he is?" Charlotte asked as if it was just any normal question. The detective didn't hesitate before shaking his head, but Charlotte knew he was lying

"What do you think he'll do?" Ed questioned.

"Knowing Jim Gordon, I'd say he's not gonna rest until he finds the son of a bitch who framed him for murder," Bullock answered before walking away.

Ed leaned down to whisper in Charlotte's ear. "Good luck with that," he said.

Charlotte smirked amusedly and they both returned to their lab and did their job as they had always done. They turned on the radio to keep up with the news about Gordon and to listen to that quiz show they loved.

On the next day, Charlotte walked into her apartment and went straight to her bathroom. She took advantage of some alone time to take a relaxing bath. The blonde had told Ed she would go to his place as soon as she was finished so they could spend the rest of the day together.

Once Charlotte finished her bath, her phone beeped. She took it from her coat's pocket and saw she had received a message from Ed. When she read it, she almost dropped her phone on the floor.

'Jim is here! I'll text you when I get rid of him.

- E.Nygma".

Charlotte tried to calm down. Ed was smart and if he stuck with the plan nothing would go wrong. However, she couldn't help but freak out when a few hours went by and there was no message from Ed.

At that moment, Charlotte made a decision. She would not let anyone arrest Ed. She walked to her bedroom and crouched down to open one of the drawers from her bed. It had a false bottom and she opened it to reveal a secret compartment. Hidden in there was a Glock 43. Charlotte's father had taught her how to use it, so she could know how to protect herself. She had never use it after he died, but she kept it close to her.

Charlotte secured it on the waistband of her jeans and made her way to the front door. She was about to reach it when the bell rang.

She froze. Charlotte slowly approached the door to looked through the peephole. She winced when the doorbell rang twice. When she saw who was on the other side, she let out a sigh of relief and immediately opened the door.

Ed walked in breathing hard. His hair was a mess like he had ran his hands through it more than a thousand times. It left me worried and I quickly close the door behind him.

"What happened?" I asked, a crease forming on my forehead. "Where's Jim?"

Ed let out a blow of air as he tried to calm down. Charlotte led him to her living room and sat him on the black leather sofa.

"He-He knows," Ed finally told her as he adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "He knows everything I did. But he doesn't seem to suspect you".

Charlotte nodded and tried not to freak out. She had to think of another way to get rid of Jim. No way would she let him get his hands on Ed. The blonde placed her arms around Ed's torso and he leaned his head against hers. He could already feel himself getting calmer just from her arms around him. After he regained his breathing, he told her everything that happened with Gordon.

"Stay here tonight," Charlotte told him as he ran a hand through his hair in a soothing manner. "Tomorrow we will have to go back to work like nothing happened. Jim doesn't have physical proof that it was you, so he's still on the run from the law".

Not long after that, they went to bed and layed down with their hands wrapped around each other. Charlotte's head rested on his chest and she could feel how fast his heart was still beating. His eyes were fixated on the white ceiling and Charlotte left a trail of kisses on his bare chest to distract him from his thoughts. It worked and they managed to fall asleep not long after.

On the next morning, they did as Charlotte had planned. They went back to the precinct and focused their attention on work. However, Charlotte could see how distant Ed was the entire time.

Things only got complicated once Charlotte and Ed made their way to the coffee machine on the main floor of the precinct. A girl strolled in demanding to know who she should talk to about the reward for Jim Gordon. Ten thousand dollars had been offered to anyone who could give information on the former Detective. Of course, that attracted a lot of crazy people to the GCPD, but this time it was different.

The girl told Barnes that Gordon had been at her place with a shot wound. She said he knew where the Penguin was hiding and he was going to go see him. When Barnes asked why, she said it had something to do with Penguin knowing where the body was buried.

The body of Kristen Kringle...

The moment Charlotte looked beside her, Ed had already disappeared. She grew worried about him and wondered where he had gone off to. Perhaps he had gone to the bathroom to be alone for a while. Charlotte understood and returned to their lab.

"Relax. Relax," Ed said to himself as he was freaking out in the men's locker room. "Maybe Gordon won't even find Penguin".

"You idiot," his darker self said, making him look in the mirror in front of him. The deranged look in his eyes told him how stupid he was for thinking such a thing could be possible. "He's a Detective, he finds people for a living!"

Ed knew he was right, but Oswald wouldn't betray him, would he?

"Penguin won't tell him" Ed contradicted hopefully. "He's my friend".

"Oh, who am I kidding?" His dark self said and he pointed a finger at him judgmentally. "You stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Ed couldn't take that anymore so he turned his back to the mirror. "Okay, okay. Okay, calculate, Ed, calculate. Chances of Gordon finding Penguin? Say 80%. Chances of Penguin telling Gordon? Also 80%. So it's a 60% chance of... Gordon finding Kristen".

He finally made up his mind. He had to go move the body before Gordon could get there first. Charlotte could help him. He knew she would.

"That settles it" Ed breathed. He hurriedly stepped out of the room and made his way to the lab.

Charlotte was there reading through an autopsy report and looked up at him with a concerned expression on her face. "Ed, are-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Ed interrupted her. His voice came in a whisper. "We have to move the body. We have to be quick".

The blonde nodded in agreement. She knew this was the best thing to do. If they moved the body then that problem was solved and Gordon couldn't blame Ed for Kristen's murder that way.

So that's what they did. Ed drove them both to the forest where they buried Kristen. Now it was covered in snow, but they still knew exactly where the body was buried. They dug through the snow and the dirt quietly until Ed broke the silence.

"Hello, Kristen," Ed said as he continued digging. "I know, didn't expect to see me again. But circumstances. Now, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to move you".

Suddenly, a twig snapped behind them. Charlotte drew her gun and pointed it at the source of the noise. She was in shock when she saw Jim Gordon making his way through the snow. He took a few more steps forward and Charlotte tightened her hold on her gun.

"Don't move, Jim" she warned him and he stopped.

Ed took the gun from the pocket of his coat and pointed it at Jim. He had taken the handgun from Jim on the previous night, so the Detective was certainly unarmed at the moment.

"Jim Gordon" Ed smiled. "So you did find Penguin. And that little bird sang".

The former Detective held his hands up. "No, I just followed you".

Charlotte sighed, now understanding that all the girl on the precinct said was to trick them. Ed understood that as well and couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.

"You fed information to that little miscreant, assuming that I'd hear" Ed guessed with a laugh.

Charlotte shook her head, never taking her eyes away from Gordon. "No, they were in cahoots. Weren't you, Jim?"

Ed laughed once he understood that what Charlotte said made perfect sense. "Of course you were in cahoots. Well, either way, bravo, Jim. I'd clap, but I have your gun in my hand".

"How did this happen to you?" Jim asked taking a few more steps forward. Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him and made sure her gun was pointed at his head the whole time. "How did you become this? Both of you".

"You dummy. This is who I am" Ed told him.

Charlotte smiled as Ed continued. "It was just finally admitting the truth to myself. Well, that and murdering some people".

Jim shook his head in disbelief and looked at Charlotte to see her smiling happily at him.

"I guess I always wanted to do something like this," she told him. "But I never thought I had the courage to do it, so I always played the part of the good girl working in forensics".

"I don't believe that," Jim contradicted.

"You don't believe it. Why, Jim?" Ed asked with a grin on his lips. "Cause it would make you incompetent to know that we were right under your nose the whole time? Or you don't want to admit that there's a monster in all of us? Because you, of all people, should know that! That's what made it so easy to frame you".

Ed's dark and cruel laugh almost caused Jim to shiver. He couldn't understand why that was happening. What had made them turn into that? They certainly weren't the two people he knew anymore. No, they were something else, something evil.

"I was your friend," Jim told them and they both chuckled in disbelief.

"Were you, Jim? Were you my friend?" Ed asked as if the mere thought was ridiculous. "Or did you just pity me? Oh, poor, weird little Ed with his little silly wordplay and his little riddles".

Jim ignored Ed's words and turned to Charlotte so he could finally understand what had happened on the day they framed him. "You were both in this. You were the one to write the message on the paintings. The word 'euphoria' was just the opposite of what you wanted me to feel. You wanted me to feel miserable".

"You finally got it right," Charlotte nodded, the smile on her lips never faltering. "And since we are confessing crimes and all, let me tell you about the one case you never managed to solve".

"Samuel Jenkins," Jim breathed. Now he understood why she had asked Lee about the case.

Charlotte laughed and nodded again. "Very well, Sherlock".

"Completely insane" Jim commented.

"Like Ernest Hemingway once said: 'Sometimes following your heart means losing your mind.'" Charlotte told him and Jim shook his head at how crazy she sounded.

"How about one last riddle for old time's sake?" Ed asked as he took a step towards Gordon. "A nightmare for some. For others, a savior, I come. My hands, cold and bleak, it's the warm hearts they seek".

Jim knew the answer and he held his head high when he answered. "Death".

Ed held his thumb up and then waved at Gordon. "Right again. Goodbye, Jim".

Charlotte prepared herself to fire at Jim Gordon when another noise behind her caused her to turn around.

"Drop the guns!" The voice of Captain Barnes ordered. He had come up from behind a tree along with his strike force team. "Drop it!"

"Captain Barnes, I was- I-I'm arresting Jim," Ed stuttered.

"Stop it, Ed. We heard everything" Barnes told. "Now drop the gun and get on your knees! Last chance!"

'No, this won't end like this' Charlotte thought to herself. Then she pointed her gun at one of the officers she didn't even care enough to know the name and pulled the trigger without a moment of hesitation.

Bang!

The shot echoed through the forest like thunder but she didn't waste time to see if she had hit her target. She used the moment as a distraction to grab Ed's hands and escape the scene. There came shouts from behind them but neither could understand a single word. Then the cops started firing at them. Luckily none of the bullets found their targets.

Suddenly, Ed tripped on a log and fell face first into the snow. Since Charlotte was holding his hand, she was pulled back to the ground as well.

The cops came and pulled them up to their feet. Charlotte struggled on the arms of the two cops as she tried to get to Ed. To get rid of the officers, she suddenly pulled her arms back and elbowed them both in the nose. They fell back on the floor groaning in pain as blood dripped from their noses. However, Charlotte never abandoned her fighting stance. She was loving it and the fact that one more officer was charging towards her gave her even more energy.

The other officer held his fist ready to punch her, but she ducked out of its way and grabbed the officer by his shoulders. Then Charlotte kneed him in the throat as hard as she possibly could and the man fell on the floor not being able to breathe.

Out of nowhere, two pairs of hands grabbed both of Charlotte's arms and she wasn't able to move them anymore. She tried kicking the men with her feet, but this time they were able to dodge her attacks.

Ed watched helplessly as his girlfriend was lowered on the snow and her hands were cuffed tightly behind her back. He knew it was all his fault. She had shot that officer to help him escape. She didn't do it for herself, she did it for him. He knew that much.

Charlotte's head was forced into the cold snow and she could see the rest of the cops trying to save the life of the man she shot. She had hit her target on the neck and now his blood painted the snow around him in red. They tried to do everything to save him, but he had lost a lot of blood already and was now taking his last breathes. Then his dark brown eyes froze the moment they landed on her. His killer had been the last thing he saw before he died and that brought a smile to Charlotte's lips.

The blonde was brought up to her feet and her eyes searched for Ed. When she saw him cuffed as well a few meters away, she began struggling against the officers.

"Stop it or I swear I'll shoot you!" Barnes shouted at her threateningly.

"Oh, crud," Ed cursed under his breathe.

***

A/N: I know this chapter was really really long, but I hope you still enjoyed it. Love you all <3