There For You ||Edward Nygma|| [4]

Chapter Nineteen || The beginning

A guard sat quietly at his desk reading the newspaper. There was nothing else to do as all the patients were well secured in the recreation room. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to block all the noise they were making and the guard found himself reading the same line over and over. The news seemed to be all about the billionaire Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham after spending years away.

'Lucky bastard,' thought the guard bitterly, 'drinking margaritas in some beach across the world while I have to work my ass off to receive a miserable few dollars at the end of the month'. It was barely enough to feed his kids and pay the bills.

While the guard was lost in his thoughts, a head poked around the corner, then another. The pair peeked at the newspaper, not having anything else to do. Mingling with the other patients wasn't an option.

The two were Charlotte Bateman and Edward Nygma. A couple that had partnered up with an old friend to show Gotham who was really in charge but only ended up getting caught and sent to Arkham while their partner in crime got his ass thrown in Blackgate Penitentiary. Of course, the 'great' Jim Gordon had been the one to catch them. Six months after the three of them had helped save the city. The Commissioner and his partner Harvey Bullock had managed to throw all the major criminals into prison or Arkham. Word was that Jim was going to retire, but so far he had not stepped down from his post.

The news about Bruce Wayne wasn't exactly thrilling, but a crime boss that got himself or herself killed in a car crash was just plain boring. They read as much as they could from behind the fence separating them from the guard.

"Bruce is back," Ed chuckled humorously. "Big deal," he added disinterested. The title on the front page, "The Return of Bruce Wayne" along with his picture and the Wayne Tower was a bit of an exaggeration for both him and Charlotte. Sure they could just mention that in a small article, but no, they went on and on about the kid who saw his parents get murdered right in front of him, but managed to become a great man and even helped Gordon save Gotham. News flash, well, so did they. Yet nobody cared. Everyone pretended it didn't happen.

"The guy likes to poke his nose where he doesn't belong," Charlotte mumbled bitterly. She eyed the picture of the enormous building with the huge 'W' at the top and curiosity sparked. "What's with the big shiny tower anyway?"

The annoyance was evident in the guard's face and he rolled his eyes before answering. "It's the new Wayne Tower. The Wayne kid is coming back for the inauguration tonight. Not that it's any of your business".

Charlotte sighed in frustration as she tried to read more. "Hey, can you slide your chair a little closer? I can't read it very well from here".

"Let me think..." the man made a thinking expression, "no".

The guard was too snarky for Charlotte's taste, but the other guards were worse. "Imbecile".

Just when the guard thought they had shut up and went on to bother one of the other patients, Ed spoke again, causing the other man to let out a loud sigh. "We knew him. Back in the day. Saved Gotham together".