The mirror before her was broken, a great spiderweb blossoming from the impact Ophira had just made with her fist. Blood trickled down her hand, the glass imbedded into her knuckles but she didn't move to ease the pain nor stop the crimson liquid from slithering toward her wrist.

Ophira stared at what remained of the mirror, seeing only what remained of herself. A sickly paleness had settled over her visage making the rings beneath her eyes prominent. She looked tired, defeated, like she hadn't slept in days, weeks even.

"What the fuck..." She whispered, clenching her injured fist, barely feeling the glass dig deeper. "What's happened to me?"

She swallowed thickly, wincing in pain as the previous night's activities caught up with her. Ophira could see the deep purple bruises near her hip, a gift from being pressed against her own kitchen table. Bile rose in her throat, the thick hot shame from allowing Edward to touch her was almost enough to make her vomit. The shame was nearly suffocating as she remembered how much she had enjoyed it. Enjoyed the feeling of being controlled, being demeaned.

"You're so fucking stupid." She whispered, bending over to turn the tap on. The cold water stung as it flowed over her hand. Carefully Ophira began to tweeze the tiny bits of glass out of her wounds.

"What happened to your hand?" Officer Wicker said having nearly passed Ophira in the hallway before spotting the bandage. Ophira waived her uninjured hand dismissively.

"Broke a wine glass, just a bit clumsy." The officer stared at the injury as if he wanted to say something else but nodded before hurrying down the hallway without another word. Ophira stared after him, watching him disappear down the stairs before entering her office.

She sat in her chair with a wince before plucking the first case file from the stack. The work was all encompassing and Ophira reveled in it. The sun had set by the time she finished the stack, her empty stomach protesting the lack of a break. She took a deep breath and locked up for the day and exited the GCPD into the nightly rain that never seemed to take a break.

The thought of going straight home felt oddly unsettling. Edward had darkened her one place of peace and she couldn't bear the face it at the moment. Before long she found herself in a booth at Pauli's Diner, a beer sitting half finished before her. She had just taken a bite of her turkey club when a familiar voice called her name. Aaron Cash. A brief flicker of panic passed through Ophira as he slipped into the booth across the table from her.

"Well, Mr. Cash. We meet again." Ophira said cordially, adding a soft smile to take a bit of an edge off the words.

"Ophira, sorry to disrupt your dinner." Aaron said hurriedly, he had an anxious look about him. Ophira took a slow sip of her beer to calm her nerves before looking at him expectantly. She didn't know if this had anything to do with their conversation from yesterday but she had a fear that it did.

"Why are you here?" She asked calmly but stared at him with steely eyes. Aaron glanced around the diner before leaning forward.

"New developments in Mr. Cho's death. One of the guards confessed to being threatened into helping an inmate murder Jonathan." Ophira's breath caught in her throat.

"Which guard?" Ophira hissed.

"Frank Boles, but here's the thing, he won't say which inmate it was. Says he's still in danger, but he mentioned your name. Said it was one of your patients." Aaron's hook bumped against the table with a clatter as he gestured toward her.

"Aaron-"

"I think you're in danger, Ophira!" Aaron whispered harshly, "I just found out, I tried your apartment earlier but you weren't there. Luckily I was driving by when I saw you in the window. You need to get out of the city."

"Aaron, stop-" Ophira protested, her heart thumping against her chest so hard that she was sure the whole restaurant could hear.

"It's Nygma. I know it is. Only he could be smart enough to pull something like that off."

Ophira's eyes closed tightly. She could tell Cash everything. He already suspected Edward and Ophira knew where he was, she could put an end to it all. She just had to say the words. But then Billy would die, his brains decorating the walls before the police could even reach Edward.

"Aaron-"

"Hello Dr. Zane, Mr. Cash." JT Wicker stood at the edge of their table, his badge glinting in the orange light of the neon signs decorating the diner. Ophira started, catching her breath before smiling weakly at him. Aaron simply nodded in greeting, his lips pursed in a very fine line across his face.

"Dr. Zane, you're needed back at the station. A mentally ill inmate is ransacking the building, we need someone to talk to him before Bullock shoots him. You seem to have experience in this department." Officer Wicker stared at Ophira with a steely gaze. She quirked a brow and glanced at Aaron. He also looked somewhat startled by the request.

"Sounds like you could use me as well, Officer." Aaron offered, "I have quite a bit of experience should things get messy."

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Cash." Wicker said, his voice hard. "Just the doctor." He did not break eye contact with her and seemed to be edging to the side of the booth, blocking her exit.

Ophira suddenly understood. There was no emergency at the station. He was her keeper. Another pair of Edward's eyes. Always watching and always listening. She should have seen it earlier. Wicker had always been around. He had been the one outside her office the day before, undoubtedly listening to her first conversation with Cash. And now he was here, separating her from any opportunity to take Edward down. There was no escape.

She took her head in hands briefly and took a deep breath. Ophira could feel Cash and Wicker's stares, like ice in her veins. When she raised her head again her gaze was resolute, she looked to Wicker and nodded. Cash began sputtering in disagreement but it was obvious that he did not want Wicker to know anything about what they had just spoken about. Ophira simply reached across the table and took his good hand into her palms, squeezed it and rose to leave.

Cash stared after them dumbfounded as Wicker escorted Ophira to his waiting patrol car. She slid into the backseat where she could no longer feel Aaron's eyes and let one tear fall.

Wicker did not speak one word during the drive, his face was impassive as Ophira stared at him from the back. It had obvious since the moment she entered the car that they were not going back to the GCPD but rather to her apartment. She hoped against hope that Edward would not be there.

The officer escorted her up the stairs (the elevator was broken once again) and watched diligently as she unlocked the door. The apartment was doused in blackness and as she tried to reach the switch she found it to be inoperable. An acrid smell rose to her nostrils, the smell of wet metal and sulfur that made breathing almost insufferable.

"Hello my dear Ophira." Edward was near her, but as the door closed behind her the little light from the hallway dimmed until they were both blanketed in the darkness.

"Edward, what is happening?" She nearly screamed before she realized that the arms that had wrapped around her waist were his. He pressed himself against her back and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Exactly what I told you would happen, Ophira." He nuzzled his face into her neck before Ophira found herself blinded by the lights of her apartment all coming on at once. She had to blink a few times before she could see. And then she screamed.

Her living room was painted with blood and ooze. A headless body laid across her carpet, staining the taupe floor crimson. Billy was dead, completely and utterly dead.

Ophira felt her knees buckle but Edward held her upright, humming a tune into her neck. Her limbs went cold.

"No!" She choked out, clawing at his embrace. He released her gently, watching as she rushed to the sink to vomit. "No, no, no." She moaned into the basin.

"Shh. It's done now." Edward stroked her head almost lovingly as he leaned against the counter beside her. "Have you not learned from this?"

"Edward, no..." Ophira slid to the kitchen floor, hugging her knees to her chest. "How...how could you do this?" Edward sat on the floor beside her, and rubbed her back soothingly.

"I didn't do this. It was your actions that led to this, Ophira. You know that, my dear." He leaned in close to her, forehead resting against the side of her head. "You as good as pushed the button yourself by talking to Cash." He whispered, he voice heated.

"I didn't tell Cash anything!" Ophira bit out fiercely, twitching away from him. "He didn't need to die." She breathed.

Edward furrowed his brows at her and pulled away. He looked out over the dining room from his position on the floor, seeming to be lost in thought.

"Two meetings in two days and you didn't say anything?" Edward twisted his head back in her direction, a menacing snarl painting his lips. "You are lying to me." He hissed the words so menacingly that Ophira physically recoiled.

"I am not!" Ophira protested, raising her head from her knees to glare at him. "Edward, when have I ever lied to you? I didn't say a fucking thing to Cash. But I didn't need to, he already knows."

Edward's eyes widened before he shut them and waived his hand dismissively. "Cash is an utter buffoon, what he has in muscles he lacks in brain. It's a wonder he can even get out of bed in the morning." Edward raised himself to his feet and walked into the living room, seeming to be admiring his work.

Ophira let out a humorless laugh, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the counter behind her. She could feel Edward's questioning eyes on her.

"Edward, you are scared, aren't you? You have lost control of the situation and you don't know what's happening. How pathetic." Ophira couldn't bring herself to moderate her words. What did it matter anymore? The worst had happened, Billy was dead. He had nothing else on her.

"Hold your tongue, my dear." He said icily and Ophira could tell that he was much closer than he was before. She could almost feel the anger coming off of him but she couldn't stop herself from speaking.

"Cash knows you killed Jonathan and he knows it had something to do with me. It won't be long before they find you, Edward." Ophira let out a breath and smiled. "Hell, it'll probably be Batman busting down your door." She opened her eyes slowly and took in the Riddler. He was shaking from rage, eyes on fire as he stared down at her.

"They will not find me." Edward hissed contemptuously. "They will never find me. Not until I want them to."

"Edward, I found you." Ophira said simply. "Your compulsion to leave clues is your downfall. It always will be. You long for attention and I think you're starting to realize that I will never love you. How long until you lead Batman right to your doorstep in a game you will yet again lose?" Edward looked as if he could have hit Ophira, his fists clenched at his sides.

"ENOUGH." He yelled, sweeping his arms across her countertop, the porcelain dishes crashing to a ground beside her. "Enough, shut your mouth."

"When will you get tired of me, Edward?" Ophira whispered, "When does this torture come to an end?" He dropped to his knees before her, looking suddenly very frightened.

"Never. I will never tire of you." He whispered, grasping her arms as if she was keeping him afloat on a tumultuous ocean. "I love you."

Ophira simply shook her head and closed her eyes once again, finding solace that he was now the one suffering.

"You are not capable of such a thing." Ophira whispered toward the ceiling. She was suddenly exhausted, the emotional toll of the day coming to bear. A cool numbness had spread through her belly burying the pain in her heart to a dull ache. Soon she couldn't feel anything at all, even as Edward gripped her shoulders, shaking with sobs and agonized pleading. The darkness felt like freedom and Ophira let herself drown in it.

The bedroom windows showed the first tendrils of dawn rising over the horizon when Ophira woke. She flung the comforter off of her, relieved to find her bed empty besides herself.

"Edward?" Ophira called out, listening for any indication that he was there. The silence was deafening. She edged out into the living room finding Billy's body gone along with a sizable section of her carpet. The blood and gore had been scrubbed from the walls, the smell of bleach still hanging heavily in the air.

Ophira took a few deep breaths before grabbing her keys. She knew her hair was a rat's nest and her clothes wrinkled but nothing could stop her from leaving the apartment. It seemed like no time had passed before she was standing before Harvey Bullock's desk. He nearly dropped his pencil when he saw the state she was in.

"Doc, you don't look so-" Ophira stopped him with a gesture of her hand.

"I would like to report a murder."

"Well, we found him." James Gordon sat heavily behind his desk. Ophira had been waiting inside the office for hours before he finally returned. "Didn't even put up a fight, almost like he wasn't there."

Ophira stared down at her hands briefly before looking back at Gordon. He had leaned forward across the desk and clasped his hands together.

"He's back at Arkham, thanks to you." Gordon said quietly, his eyes full of compassion.

"Two men are dead because of me." Ophira whispered.

"That's not true. You did not kill those men, Ophira." Gordon said roughly, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag. "As for Officer Wicker, he says he was threatened into working with the Riddler. The DA won't charge him. All I can do is give him unpaid suspension until he is deemed fit to return to the force." Gordon shook his head in disapproval.

"As for you, I would recommend leaving Gotham. Is there anywhere you can go?" Ophira had been thinking about that for a long time. Gotham was her home but perhaps it was time.

"I have always wanted to go to Central City."

"Then I suggest you go, I will give you a recommendation should you wish to continue your career at the CCPD." Ophira nodded and thanked Gordon before rising to leave. Her stomach dropped as she reached the doorway.

"I will have to return for the trial?" Ophira asked with sudden apprehension. Gordon pressed his lips into a firm line.

"Not if he pleads guilty." Both of them knew that was unlikely but did not speak to the notion. Ophira knew he was trying to spare her from further suffering and she appreciated that. There was still good left in the world and Gordon was a prime example of it.

"Take care of yourself, Ophira." She smiled at him tightly and nodded before leaving the office for the final time.

The river glittered in the sun as Ophira strolled down the waterfront. It was warm, pleasantly so. She angled her head up toward the sky, closing her eyes against the brightness. Central City had been kind to her, so kind that Ophira found herself in a wonderful group of friends, a great job and a possible romance with a french chef.

She even had a small terrier at the end of leash as she strolled by the river, one who had chewed through all of her socks within a week of getting him. The destruction was quaint compared to her past life and she couldn't bring herself to get upset. The little dog was her first friend and a lifeline as she transitioned from Dr. Ophira Zane to a new, more common name.

Ophira knew it was necessary in the eyes of the law to change her name. But she also knew that it wouldn't prevent him from finding her. Her peaceful days were numbered and it took everything she had to walk out her door in the morning. But she still did, everyday.

To live in fear was to not live at all, and Ophira wouldn't let him rob her of her life. Not now and not ever again.

A/N:I feel like Frodo after the ring was destroyed. It's DONE. Anyho give me some thoughts. Might do an epilogue maybe a sequel if I feel the need to torture myself further. Thanks for your patience but fuck this chapter was never going to forced from me, it had to come naturally.