Gotham's Unknown 3 Predator and Prey

Chapter 8: Dying Light of Hope

It had been a few weeks since Oswald found out about Edward's cancer and he had been working tirelessly to find a cure but luckily there was some good news. Sarah had finally convinced Malcolm to force the Arkham board of mental health advisors to approve Edward Nygma for release. After about a week of Sarah getting into her father's old contacts who were still loyal to him even in death to pay each board member a visit to their homes. Finally Sarah was able to allow Oswald to take Edward home but his condition had only gotten progressively worse. Edward was having an incredibly hard time with short term memory which in turn had a sort of softening effect on him. Edward laid in bed curled up in blankets with Oswald sitting next to him. "Do you feel better now that we're home?" Asked Oswald as he brushed a hair off of Edward's face.
"Mhm." He muttered as  he receded further into the blankets. "I just want to take a nap in a quiet place, all that screaming at Arkham gives me a headache." He mumbled softly.
"Ok, I'll let you sleep." Said Oswald as he kissed Edward's forehead. "I love you Ed." Said Oswald as Edward looked at him with a soft almost child-like look in his eyes.
"I love you too... Can I have a real kiss?" Asked Edward as Oswald smiled.
"Of course you can." Said Oswald as he leaned down and pressed his lips against Ed's.
"Oswald?" Asked Edward as Oswald smiled at him.
"Yes?" Asked Oswald as Edward grabbed his hand from under the blanket.
"Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?" Asked Edward softly as Oswald smiled of course. Oswald started humming the song his mother would sing to him before bed and Edward looked at him. "I know that song... Why do I know that song?" Asked Edward as Oswald smiled and tried not to cry.
"After my mother died and you were taking care of me, you specifically went out of your way to find a record of this song and played it for me. You even sang some of it to me. You have an amazing voice." Said Oswald as Edward nodded.
"Can you sing it to me again please, I wanna remember..." Said Edward as Oswald smiled.
"Of course." He said as he gently sang the song to hopefully keep Edward's memories intact.

Once Edward was asleep Oswald went downstairs to Daniel and Sarah sitting in the parlor. "My god I can't stand to see Dad like that, it's tragic." Said Daniel as Sarah sighed.
"Oswald are you sure about this? I mean it's not like I don't trust Astris but she hasn't exactly been the same since Arkham. How do you know she actually knows this and isn't leading you on a wild goose chase?" Asked Sarah as Oswald shook his head.
"You're right I don't know that but we can't afford not to at least try!" Said Oswald as Sarah sighed.
"I know." Said Sarah as she hung her head.
"So where do we start?" Asked Oswald as both he and Daniel looked at Sarah.
"What?" She asked as she quickly caught on to what they were suggesting. "You cannot be seriously asking me to do that!?" She shouted as she stood from the arm of the chair she was sitting.
"Sarah I know you hate her but she can help us save my Dad." Said Daniel as Sarah glared at him.
"But she-!" Sarah started as Daniel slid off one of his gloves causing the lights to flicker but he placed his bare hand which typically killed with one touch on the side of Sarah's face, what most people registered as pain Sarah usually found to be quite relaxing so the tingling of his electric hands on her skin grounded her from freaking out.
"Sarah I'm not asking you to forgive her, I'm asking you to interrogate her." Said Daniel as Sarah sighed.
"Ok." Said Sarah as Daniel kissed her cheek leaving a burn on her cheek for only a brief moment before it disappeared.
"Ok now that that's settled, Daniel please put the damn glove back on your making me nervous!" Barked Oswald as Daniel sighed and put back on his thick black rubber glove and snapped it a bit to make a point that Oswald's uneasy feeling about his powers was irritating.
"Better?" Asked Daniel as he shot Oswald a glare.
"Yes." Said Oswald as Daniel started mumbling to himself.
"You set the couch on fire once and he loses his mind forever." Said Daniel as Oswald heard him and was not amused.
"It was a 300 dollar sofa, that my mother owned my entire life and it burst into flames upon you touching the arm of it with your bare hand." Said Oswald as the tone of his voice showed he was resisting the urge to smack Daniel in mouth.
"I mean no one was hurt." Said Daniel as Oswald glared at him.
"Daniel, honey." Said Sarah as she tapped his chest and turned to her. "I think you need to be quiet now." She said as Daniel looked at her with the same look Oswald had shot Daniel moments ago and Sarah started laughing. "I'm sorry but I've never thought you looked more like Oswald right now." Said Sarah as covered her mouth trying not to burst out laughing again. Daniel smiled and nodded then sighed.
"Everyday without your Dad you become a lot more like him." Said Daniel as he just walked off but Sarah followed.
"He's right about that." Said Oswald as Sarah stood by the front door and sighed.
"We are just never gonna get along, are we?" Said Sarah as Oswald smiled in this arrogant kind of way that showed Sarah he drew kind of pleasure from the sheer fact that no matter how hard Sarah tried to make him consider her to be family he was never going to think of her like that.
"Not even on my death bed." Said Oswald as Sarah frowned and looked incredibly sad.
"Apparently not even on Ed's and he always liked me." Said Sarah as she stepped out. Oswald stood there for a moment alone considering that thought and actually made him want to cry. Even when the only man he ever truly loved was dying he still couldn't even try to be like Edward, he considered this girl to be family why couldn't Oswald?

What Oswald and Daniel were expecting of Sarah was something that feels sick thinking about but it was the only thing that could possibly be done to save Edward's life. Sarah sat behind the glass at the Blackgate visitation center feeling her hands shake. "Oh my god, my little pet has come running back to me, how pathetic." Said Abigail Dupont as she sat down on the other side of the glass. "You know it's very satisfying to see you here after all your statements in court put me here!" He growled as she leaned towards the glass staring at Sarah such hatred.
"Trust me I wouldn't be here if I didn't have any other choice!" Said Sarah matching the aggression and hatred. Abigail leaned back with an egoistical grin on her face.
"Oh please do tell the reason that brought you to beg at my feet." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"A dear friend of mine is dying of cancer and I know you had something made from my blood to fix it! I need to know where that is!" Said Sarah as Abigail stared at her for a moment.
"I'm sorry, I can't help you." Said Abigail as Sarah slammed her fist against the table.
"Stop lying I know you can! You told me you can! Now where is it!" She shouted as Abigail shook her head.
"I wish I was lying to you but I'm not." Said Abigail as she sighed in a sad sort of way. "Yes, I tried to create a cure for cancer but it didn't work! The drug was designed to heal the damaged tissue and dissolve the incorrect tissue but it didn't work!" Said Abigail as Sarah paused.
"Wait but Anita she told me that she cured herself of cancer with the drug you were using to bring back the dead." Said Sarah as Abigail shook her head.
"That was also a failure, we didn't realize that you had that disease in your DNA, I wasn't going to let you infect her so I used the drug that specifically targeted the cancer but that didn't work either. It killed her..." Said Abigail as she hung her head.
"Who?" Asked Sarah as Abigail lifted her head with tears dripping from her face, the first and only time she had ever seen Abigail Dupont shed tears.
"My elder sister, she took care of me after our parents died and then she became very ill and so I've been taking care of her my whole life and the only person I ever loved is gone now. I have nothing left so now I reside here." Said Abigail as she seemed humbled but this final display of real genuine emotion disgusted Sarah.
"You are the most self centered mother I have ever met! How could you be so callous to your own son! Arthur Dupont is a wonderful man and I pity you because you can't see how incredible he actually is! I hope you rot in Blackgate forever!" Said Sarah coldly as she stood and almost left but Abigail stopped her.
"Sarah, Arthur has every chemical that was made from your blood, I'm sure you'll find something in there to help Edward Nygma." Said Abigail as Sarah stopped.
"How did you-?" She asked as she turned slightly.
"Daniel Van Dahl carried the genetic marker that he took would have inherited the cancer in his older age but the powers we gave him will incinerate any tumor that develops in his brain before it can ever cause harm to him." Said Abigail as Sarah looked at her confused. "You're welcome." Said Abigail as Sarah turned away. "Au revoir ma douce petite fleur." Said Abigail as Sarah left.

Sarah relayed the information to Daniel who then related it to Oswald. Daniel asked if Oswald wanted him to come along for moral support but Oswald insisted he do this himself. Oswald showed up on Arthur's doorstep and Arthur answered the door with a glass of scotch in hand. "Oh Mr. Cobblepot, Dr. Ivory informed me that you would be dropping by, please come with me down to the cellar, I'll show you everything I have." Said Arthur as he invited Oswald inside and the two went down to the cellar. Arthur brought Oswald into a large refrigerated hall in the cellar that had dozens of tiny vials of different drugs. "I'm sorry I don't have anything that can cure Mr. Nygma of his cancer without making the situation much much worse, most of these drugs were considered failures in that aspect but I do have something that can help you, both of you." Said Arthur as he walked to the very end of the hall and showed Oswald these two vials of a thin blue liquid. "This is Project Fountain, this drug is designed to turn back time so to speak, it sets back the body's cells back to their prime and she only made two doses, would you like them?" Asked Arthur as Oswald stared at these vials knowing that one would help Ed but was he really so vain to take one for himself. Age was getting to him and he wasn't really liking it, he missed his hair, he missed his old looks. He stood there thinking about it for what felt like an eternity when Arthur spoke up. "So Mr. Cobblepot, your decision?" Asked Arthur as Oswald took both of them and smiled.
"Thank you."

That night he took a syringe full of the liquid and injected himself as Edward watched in his mentally fogged state. "Ok Ed, your turn." Said Oswald as he took the second syringe.
"What is this stuff again?" Asked Edward softly as Oswald turned his head to the side.
"It's gonna help us, Ed, I promise. When you wake up tomorrow you'll feel better." Said Oswald as he injected this stuff into Ed's veins. They laid down and held each other. They serum then lulled the two of them into a deep sleep that was comforting and warm, they felt home.