paper love | edward nygma

Chapter 40 ○ Visit

**TIME SKIP - 2 Days**  

Edward's escape did not go unnoticed. As he crawled out of the vent into the outside world, he yelled with excitement. It didn't go as planned. After falling onto the floor of the asylum roof, guards and dogs swarmed him. He didn't successfully escape, but the same couldn't be said for Grace. She got out with a swift exit. No one had even noticed a woman on the roof, but she did have Edward to thank. The guards had been too distracted by the tall man to pay any notice to the other exits. 

Edward was shoved into a cell unfamiliar to him. It was bigger and there were scratches on the walls. He wasn't sure what his punishment would be. Maybe they would experiment with him like they did with the basement monsters. That wasn't the preferred option. He wanted the doctors to possibly give him some sleep-inducing medicine or a drugged lunch so that he could forget the whole escape.

He thought about the woman in the vent. Why was she in there? She didn't have a normal prison uniform on, but she couldn't have been an outsider. She did know the exit from the prison, but she didn't seem so sure about it. He sat in his cell on the cold and dirty floor wondering about the possibilities. Then, he remembered. The woman had dark brown hair, similar to Grace's. Her face looked the same as well, but he couldn't tell due to the mask covering half of her face. He thought about the fact that Grace might be alive. 

"Shut up, what a stupid idea. She's dead." He muttered to himself. On the other hand, he hoped it was true. His brain was sending him mixed signals. He wanted the woman to be alive only because of the friendship she offered. It was like no other friendship he ever experienced. In fact, he had experienced none before. The only close one was with Oswald Cobblepot, but what had Oswald ever done for him? He almost killed Edward, so is that what a friend would really do? Edward took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. It wouldn't be for a few more days until something interesting would happen. 

Grace walked around the city. She was constantly given dirty looks by women and their children. They must have thought she was a harlot. She took the mask off to look less strange, and it certainly did help, but having on a whole body of leather didn't leave much to the imagination. Men, however, thought of her very differently. They whistled at her down the street, but she didn't pay attention. She acted as if they weren't there. She cared about hearing from one man, Edward Nygma. She hoped it didn't happen, but she did secretly. 

Suddenly, she felt like she needed to do something. She wanted to visit someone from her past life. Her mind immediately went to visiting Ed, but that was quickly crammed back into her brain. She didn't want to visit him. Her heart ached every time she even heard his name. She remembered a young boy whose name she couldn't remember off of the top of her head. The name finally came to her mind: Bruce Wayne. She wanted to visit him. 

She looked nearby for a taxi, and soon enough she saw one of the yellow cars heading towards the street she was on. She started waving her hand flamboyantly. "Hey, taxi!" The car started heading towards her, but she soon realized it wasn't a taxi. It was just a normal car. She looked inside the windshield and saw a man, but nothing else. The car pulled up to her and stopped. "Need a ride, miss? I was just going to work." She looked at his shirt and noticed a GCPD badge. It's like they were everywhere.

"Hey, wait. I recognize you! You're Gr-" She stared at him with a cold glare. "-Listen, can I please have a ride to Wayne Manor? It's very urgent." He nodded with wide eyes and unlocked the back door. She quickly got in and closed the car door. "They said you were dead. Hell, I was there when they busted Nygma for killing ya'. How are you still alive?" She looked at the man in the rear-view mirror and shifted in the seat. "Wait, what? Who found out he killed me?" 

"Oh- Jim Gordon did! He was in the headlines, along with Nygma himself. It was crazy. The GCPD was non-stop talking about you." His voice faded throughout his speech. Grace took a deep breath and answered his question. "I'm alive because of something I can't even explain. I-I was brought back to life." He started coughing violently and grabbed the cup of coffee in his cup holder. He took big gulps from the cup and slammed it back in the circular container. "What the hell do you mean you brought back to life?" He focused back on the road.

"Long story. How far away are we?" As soon as she said this, they pulled up to the manor gate. The man must have been driving like a maniac and she didn't even notice. The gate was large with a long driveway that was visible behind it. The manor had flowers surrounding the perimeter. The rest of the mansion was protected by a large wall around it. She stepped out of the car and started walking towards the gate. At the very last second, she turned around and went up to the man. "Please don't tell anyone about this." He nodded slowly and quickly took off in his car. She knew that he would sooner or later break his promise.

Grace made her way over to the gate. There was a small call box on the gate wall. It was engraved the Wayne crest that she had come to know over the months that she had known Bruce. She took a deep breath and pressed the dusty button that had not been used for quite a while. There was a short buzz from the intercom that rang in her ears. She hadn't heard a sound like it in a long time. 

It felt like an eternity had gone by until she got a response. Her foot started jittering beneath her body. She slapped the side of her leg and held down the button to speak. "Uh, Alfred? It's uh-" He spoke loudly into the intercom. "Well spit it out already, good heavens!" Grace took a deep breath before speaking the words that Alfred thought he would never hear again in his life. "It's Grace. Can I come in?"

Alfred stood in shock and contemplated the words. "Can you repeat that? I thought I heard you say your name was Grace ma'dam." She gulped and pressed the button down again harder this time. "There's nothing wrong with your hearing then. Alfred, it's me." Alfred started to shuffle around the house and made it presentable. Grace stood patiently at the gate and looked around the outside of it. There were small lilacs next to a tree that a carving in it. Upon closer inspection, the tree was carved with two letters: an 'M' and a 'T' encased in a heart. This must have been a sign of the Wayne parent's love for each other. 

Alfred slammed his fist to open the gate, and rushed outside. Before he left, he notified Bruce of Grace's visit. "Master Bruce, we have an important guest. You'll never believe who it is." Bruce got nervous. He thought Alfred was being sarcastic and referring to Selina, but he never would've guessed it was Grace. He even read about her death in the newspaper the day it was printed. In fact, he got the first copy. The pair slowly walked outside, and Grace could see them from a distance. Both parties were extremely excited to see each other again. 

A/N

Sorry for not updating in such a long time, I have so many projects to work on in school so I was focusing on those. I should be updating a lot more now! I hope you guys like this chapter, the next couple of ones will be pretty much a continuation of this one. 

xoxo