A/N: Did anyone ask for this? Did I really need to re-fixate on Eddie Gluskin? Probably not. But I cannot express to you all enough how much I've enjoyed reading all of everyone's love for Eddie and Victoria's story. And I am so sorry that they had such a rushed ending. I've received so much feedback about it, and I know this story has been done and over with for a couple years now... And I'm not sure if anyone is still interested... but here we are. Thank you all, for all of your continued love on their story. Enjoy.

Darling…

That voice… it was the only thing I could make out in my brain now, which was frantically trying to understand and piece together the events that had transpired and left me…

Here.

Here, gasping for air, choking on nothing in the attempts to survive. I could faintly hear the sounds of my own life seeping through the cracks of my body. It was like sand creeping out of a broken glass, so painfully slow and the pain of it was agonizing.

Where even was here? There was nothing but darkness and despair, and it was all consuming.

I could only see through the window of memories, and it was still so cloudy. I could smell the harsh, metallic scent of blood - and without a doubt it was mine, as I watched the fragmented memory. The bullet that Blair had shot had pierced right through the upper part of my chest, settled in tightly just between my breast and my collar bone.

The panic set in only then, after everything - now… now I was truly afraid.

I watched myself, as I clutched at my chest, as if somehow by holding onto the wound it would cease to bleed - it was folly of course, the damned thing kept gushing without faltering. My life force… just flowing freely from me so nonchalantly.

Darling…?

Not now, Eddie! I collapsed onto my knees as his voice shook through my racing mind. I could barely breathe now as his face flashed through my muddled mind. How could I have time to worry about Eddie when now… now I was dying. How could he be the only thing that I could focus on as I was bleeding out?

Regret, you moron.

The voice that had tormented me through this hellish nightmare spoke softly now, and it was the last I'd heard of it. And it was right, I realized… my heart might have been broken from a fucking bullet to the chest - but now… I would never get to really tell him goodbye. Or find out if he had lived, after I had just… dumped him in a room, without a single care. Like I hadn't felt something at all for that monster.

I let out a scream as the memory overtook me, reliving it again now in every meaning of the word, no longer looking at it from the saftey of my distorted window. I clutched myself as I sobbed against the concrete. I could've lived, I could've taken Eddie with me - I could've gotten him help, rehabilitated him in a better place… he and I… we… My tears just wouldn't stop now, as I wept for the life that I could've had. But now the only life I would ever know was that of me violently hyperventilating, while my body began to hemorrhage.

As my failing body convulsed I noticed in my side view, Jeremy Blaire giving me a disgusting look before sauntering off. To what, though? There was nothing left for anyone here. Nothing but death, and copious amounts of blood that included my own now. The corporate bastard… the horrible snake... Have to keep my thoughts together… have to figure out how to stop this…

Darling! It's alright, I'm here now…

No you aren't, Eddie… I left you for dead… and now… here I am.

Dead.

My eyes… so tired, and blackness ready to consume them… closed shut for the last time.

"You're not dead, Darling… are you alright?" Eddie's voice was no longer a shallow whisper inside of a muddled head. It yanked me back from the edge of losing myself, without any hesitation.

His voice... It was solid and real, as it attempted to soothe my confusion. How could he worry over me? I truly did leave him for dead… he would have been found and killed, and I… I would've let it happen because I was so selfish in my need to get out of Mount Massive.

My eyelids, heavy blankets of despair, were reluctant to even consider opening. How could I look him in the eye? How could I… what did it matter now? I was dying, or better yet, I was already probably dead. And this was death's sick way of mocking me. Giving me fleeting moments - giving me the sweet delusion that I was with the man who my erratic subconscious thought I loved.

"Sweetheart, look at me." His words were commanding, and I couldn't fight it anymore.

My eyes shot open, and there he was - staring at me with those piercing blue eyes that haunted my soul. His face was contorted in a mixture of frustration and worry, but… something was off. Those beautiful scars that had riddled his face were missing, and the twisted sense of mental instability in his eyes… like it had never been there to begin with.

Was… was this my Eddie?

"It… it was just a dream?" I could barely utter the words, as the emotions of it washed over me. The insanity that I'd been through in its wake, the blood, the death... Eddie…

I had left him to possibly die - and, and now… now I wasn't so sure if I had died myself. Not now, as I looked into the eyes that held me together.

Was this a sick dream? A sick delusion my brain had conjured to make me feel even worse for the time in that hellish place? The universe was now playing a sick, cruel joke on me… I could feel my chest tighten as the tears rolled down my cheeks, my breathing becoming erratic as my mind began to slip again. None of this could be real, could it? Or was the Asylum truly a figment of my mind? How did I have Eddie here, now? How could I-

Reality, in the form of Eddie's strong arms constricted around me as I sobbed, gently urging the rationality back into my fragile mind. It… this was no dream now, as my brain began to put back the pieces of my life little by little, in the form of a distorted puzzle.

"Yes, my darling, it was just a dream…" Eddie's voice was softer now, as he pressed my head into his chest, littering the top of my head with gentle kisses.

"Perhaps more a nightmare… you were screaming…" I could hear the concern in his voice as he laid his head against mine. I felt safe here, in this unknown Eddie's arms. Like everything that I had endured during my dream never happened. Like the Eddie I had known in that world never existed - and I would take this version over the former every time.

Reality poked again, and now the memories flashed through my mind. This Eddie… the sweet, loving man who had me captured in his embrace was my husband. He and I shared a life together… and then a small movement between our bodies solidified it more. I gasped, surprised from the jolt when I realized it had come from inside of me.

"It seems she is none too happy with being woken up…" My husband chuckled lightly, before pulling back to release me from his grasp. His hands now traced my belly, which was apparently very round with child - his child.

My heart fluttered as I looked at my stomach, with his hands cradled around it as if it were his most precious possession. The tears had now ceased as my life put itself back together, my eyes flitting up to look at him. I'd never felt such love before as the realization washed over me; he and I were going to have a baby. Not a baby forged in madness… a child who would have a normal life, with perfectly sane parents.

"Oh, Eddie… I…" Now I couldn't help myself as I began to cry again, but this time out of relief and joy. The world of the asylum had felt so fucking real, what I had seen… what I had done. But now, in the arms of this familiar yet strange man, it was nothing to me. Being chased by cannibals, and by The Groom - it was all a memory that was slowly tapering off as the minutes passed.

"Shh, you don't have to say anything, my dear." Once again his arms sought me, but this time, one snaked around my body and the other lifted my chin to look at him. Those impossibly blue eyes made my cheeks flush crimson as they scanned my face.

How could I have ever doubted that anything other than this Eddie - my Eddie - was the only true version of my love, and my future. There never could be anything other than this now, my belly warm with the passion I felt between us. All of the memories of our life together swam around in my mind so peacefully now, and the asylum was on the fast track to becoming nothing more than an unpleasant dream.

"I wouldn't want you to stress anymore, and I don't think it would be good for the baby either. All that matters is that you're safe here, with me. You can always tell me about it in the morning, once you've calmed down..." He murmured softly, his breath hot against my lips.

And with that, his lips bent down and captured mine, a kiss now so different from the other Eddie in my dreams. His kisses were soft, loving, and did not have the same hellish hunger as before. They worked against mine with a passion that sent my soul flying. My hands found his face, my thumbs stroking either side of his smooth cheek bones as I let him kiss all of the torment of my dream away. With each one, I slowly let go of all of the emotions and panic of the Mount Massive Asylum, and remembered that my life here, with Eddie and our daughter, was the only thing here that was real.

And as I slowly slipped into the heat of his kiss, his hands began to wander around my body, finger tips digging into my hips as his mouth became more possessive. His lips became more demanding as his grip on my flesh tightened, which caused a moan to slip between our frenzied kiss. I welcomed the rush of sexuality from him, distantly remembering that Eddie was a man of passion - and physical touch was his truest way of showing his emotions.

"You want more, hm?" He chuckled between kisses, a hand snaking down to my rear to give it a soft smack. "So naughty…" He trailed off before his mouth left mine, trailing a mixture of kisses and nibbles down to my neck. Eddie's hand gripped at the flesh of my ass hard, before slipping it underneath my thigh, lifting up an unresistant thigh. The lust between us was enough to make all of my walls fall down, as it overtook all of my senses. I was putty in his hands as he pushed up my night gown, slowly snaking down my panties.

A single finger, hot and demanding began to probe my slit. It was already slick from want, as he toyed with the outer folds of it. My entire body shivered from the sensation of his teasing, my leg opening up wider to expose as much of my skin to him as I could. I only wanted more, more than just the little touches from the pad of his finger. I was so hungry for him, so hungry for contact.

Eddie must've noticed how heavy with desire I'd become, as his finger lazily brushed my clit. "And just like that… you're back to being that wonton little minx that I so love…" His voice was low, dripping with lust as his mouth found a soft spot to suck just beneath my jaw.

Of course, he was very right. The dream world of Mount Massive was nothing to me now, not with his demanding mouth against the sensitive flesh of my neck. The only thing in my mind now was the driving desire for him, to be touched by him, claimed by him - to be his.

As if he sensed my thoughts, the teasing finger slowly inched itself into my aching hole, coating itself in my juices. A soft whine came from me, my hands gripping into hair now as my hips eagerly bucked against the mere contact of one finger inside of me. Oh, God… the power he had over me, I was ashamed of how eager I was for him.

"Oh, darling… do I really do this to you, hm?" He teased before the finger dove into me in one swift movement, and then back out again, and continued in this manner as he spoke. "Already so wet, and willing for me…"

His thumb now grazed my clit, and I moaned into his mouth as he found a steady rhythm in which to drive me mad with his fingers. It felt like fire between my legs as his finger pressed itself deeply inside of me, vigorously working my inner walls before pulling out and repeating the motion over and over again. His thumb lazily ran circles around the sensitive nub, and I parted my legs further now so that one wrapped itself around his waist. My body had no problem allowing him as much access to it as possible, it craved as much touch from him as possible.

"Oh, Eddie…" I moaned as his mouth once again claimed mine, savoring the way he tasted as his tongue brushed over mine. My body shook as his fingers attacked my core, my clit already on the brink of its peak.

He growled into the kiss, and began to work my clit more roughly. He was unrelenting with the strokes of his fingers as he toyed with me, hell bent on seeing me through to my release. Another hand sought my breasts, pulling up the hem of my night gown to free them.

He kneaded them gently in his hand, before settling on pulling and tweaking my hardening nipples. My body rocked into every bit of contact his hands were giving me, and it felt like pure unadulterated bliss. He knew every little secret thing about my body, where to pull and tug to make me cry out. Every little space to just barely touch to have me shaking with want.

This was so different from the pleasure I remembered in the alternate universe of my dream. There was no blood, no fear for my own damn life. No worry if I would even survive the end result.

No, now… now as Eddie claimed my cunt with his fingers I knew this was more than lust, it was love and passion - it was the other half of my soul that brought an orgasm down around me so hard that I let out a near scream. My husband didn't stop there though, as my body convulsed from the eruption of my orgasm. An extra finger wiggled its way into my pussy to stretch it even more, his thumb still drilling away at my now over sensitized clit.

"Eddie, please! I-I can't, I…" I couldn't find my words as my brain began to swim. All I could focus on was him, and his hands that pleasured my core with no end in sight. And though it was overwhelming me, and my poor little nub, I wanted more. I wanted him to give me so much more. My hips again rocked against his, grinding themselves needingly into him as I silently begged for more.

It felt impossible to crave a man so much as I did Eddie, even now after witnessing a version of him that was less than savory. And while they may share similar things in the bedroom department, this one sure knew what to do with his fingers.

"Oh… my dear, I'm not quite done with you yet." He snarled, shimmying down the fabric of his underwear. The sharpness of his lustful voice made my knees weak as I watched him pull out his hard member. I didn't think I was ever going to get over the largeness of it, wondering how on earth I'd ever been able to take it. But it had my cunt still shaking for more, as I looked at it, already so willing to take it.

He took it in his hands, smacking it once against my sensitive clit. "You really will do anything for my cock, won't you, Darling?" He rubbed it against my slit, slicking his member with my juices.

Eddie took the leg I had wrapped around him and lifted it a little higher so that he could position himself between my thighs. And with one swift movement, he plunged himself inside of me. My inner walls hugged him tightly as I let out a cry of satisfaction. I was being filled to the brim with the heat of his length, and my body shivered in pleasure as he slowly pressed himself all the way in until his cock was completely buried inside of me. His eyes locked into mine now, as his fingers dug into my hip. Those ocean eyes were filled now with fire, and the need to possess me.

"God, darling… what you do to me..." He cooed as he began to thrust his hips slowly, filling me to the brim with each stroke of his cock. One of his hands wound itself into the hair on the back of my head, tugging it gently enough to make him look at me. His breath was hot against my face as he plunged himself in and out of my molten core, each smack of his hips against mine eliciting little cries of happiness from me. My senses were overwhelmed with Eddie, his hands on me, his body joining mine as one. The way his eyes were so focused on reading my reactions as his cock tore me apart. I wanted to stay like this forever, completely entranced in such a simple act of love making… but with the man I got to spend the rest of my life with. The man I would start a family with, and grow old with. Could I really want anything else?

And then he was gone. The sensation of his body had disappeared in the exact moment the thought had been spoken in my mind. What…. How? He just.. Wasn't there anymore.

Gone. Gone? GONE?

No, no, no… my head began to spin as I realized he wasn't fucking coming back. That what I had just witnessed, what I had just experienced… it was nothing, it wasn't even real. The warmth and weight of what I thought was my "husband" was just a fucking delusion. The squirming child in my belly was gone now, too.

Even down to the orgasm… it was all fake.

Once again I'd been tricked into believing a false dream. The false dream that I could have a happy ending, that I would have any kind of life with Eddie. The despair crashed down on my shoulders in that moment like a ton of bricks. My breath returned, but now was frantic as I couldn't get a grip on my emotions. I couldn't even think straight, the only word now that was being played over and over again was it: gone.

All gone… no more! The voice once again had found me, cackling in the wake of the chaos in my mind. All in your crazy little head!

"I'm not crazy!" I screamed into the blackness, "I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy!" I couldn't stop repeating it, as if saying it would make it true. But I couldn't deny that something was amiss in my head now, as I sat here in the darkness. This wasn't normal, and this was far from sane. I didn't know what was real anymore, or what sanity even looked like. The voice was right, I told myself. I had finally fucking lost it. I had really fucking lost it.

Somehow I had calmed myself down as I laid there, in the blackness, now rolling onto my back as I steadied my breathing. I had probably died in the asylum, or even worse I was still alive but in a coma of some kind. And now my brain was playing make believe, using my feelings for Eddie Gluskin as a weapon for the destruction of my mind. And as angry, and as sad as it made me feel…

What can ya' really do about it? The voice once again snickered, whispering into my ear.

Nothing, I told myself. I could do fuck all about it. This was it. For the rest of eternity… stuck here as a prisoner in my own mind…

At least you have Eddie!

Eddie sauntered through a hall of the west wing of the asylum, in the direction that he was sure his little wife had run off to. He had been none too happy when he'd woken up without her. But in that moment, he was not as angry as he would usually be. He knew that he had anger issues, or his "ups and downs" as he would call it. Sure, he would obviously give her some kind of punishment for abandoning him. Yet the Groom was feeling in a forgiving mood, and was no longer in the mood to decapitate Victoria.

That probably would ruin his chances of having a child with her, he thought to himself.

"Now… let's see, she wanted to leave - so to the car lot, perhaps?" Eddie wondered aloud, as he strolled down the hall. Miscreants roamed the same areas as him, but most of them seemed to stay clear of him, as if they were afraid. Eddie thought himself to be a pretty decent gentleman, yet he didn't complain about his solitude. He did not need any of these delinquents to ruin his bride, like the one called Frank had tried to. He didn't like that man at all. No other man would taste his woman's flesh, unless it was her husband.

Eddie finally stumbled upon the car lot, but now he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to be looking for. He knew that she would try to flee in one of these, but what would he do if she had already left without him?

Without him.

He could feel the angrier side of him rise in the pit of his stomach. Victoria wouldn't dare leave him behind, and he knew it. What kind of wife would do that to her own love? He was, of course, her true love. Just as he was hers.

And that kind of love isn't just so easily severed, he told himself. She was undoubtedly off somewhere looking for him, he told himself. She was nothing without him, absolutely nothing.

The insanity in his mind was the only drive behind his thoughts, and it was completely fixated on Victoria. Like she was a beacon for all of the emotions behind it - his hatred, his agony, his blood-lust…. Even down to his arousal.

He missed her, he realized as errant thoughts of punishing her ran through his mind. Eddie missed the way she looked up at him while they made love, and the soft sounds of her moans as he buried himself inside of her. But he also missed the kindness in her smile, when she would look up at him in their more intimate moments. He missed the feeling of her skin against his as they held one and other, alone in their own little bubble of the asylum.

Eddie's love for her was almost an obsession, and without her here he felt so out of place. How could she just… run off from me? Why did she abuse me with that pole? When I get my hands on that little whore, I'm going to remind her how to be a more obedient wife…

The dark side of his mind ran rampant in his thoughts, that was until his feet finally brought him to the brightly lit parking lot of the asylum. And there, in the center of the mass sea of cars was his Victoria.

On the ground, completely still.

"Darling?" Eddie called to her, stopping completely in his tracks. What kind of foolishness was she playing at now? Why was she sprawled out in the middle of the cars like that? Didn't she know how wreckless that was - what if someone tried to take her? Eddie's insanity reminded him gently that she had whorish tendencies… and maybe she got off to this.

His fingers twitched, thinking of all of the ways he would punish her. Maybe losing a few fingers of her own would set her right.

"Darling, n-now, you get over here this instant!" His voice shook as uncertainty swelled in the depths of his chest, doubting now if this was truly a rouse or an attempt for male attention.

"I don't have time for your little whore games!" Eddie boomed, the mix of anger and concern a heavy strain in his voice. His hands shook as he continued to saunter over to her, one painfully slow step at a time. And with each step, the anger he had originally felt subsided into that of unfiltered panic.

She didn't even move, her body still splayed out against the ground as he looked down at her. He had expected her to twitch, or perhaps finally let out a giggle to give up the trickery. No… she was still there, his golden haired angel… a statue, beautiful - but unmoving. His breath hitched as he saw the crimson puddle beneath her. And then his eyes focused on the source, a massive stain of red splayed against her chest.

A bullet hole.

"No, no, no!" Eddie's voice became a scream now as he collapsed in front of her, his strong arms immediately cradling her lifeless body against his. He buried his face into her neck, which still felt warm against his scarred face. How long had she been like this? When had it happened? How could he let her get away - if he had been stronger he could've… he could've saved her.

His mind was sober now, with his wife's body pressed against his. The Groom persona had quietly stepped away for the moment, and his thoughts were clear.

Well, as clear as they could be for a horny, psycho murderer.

Eddie sobbed violently into the bloodied skin of her neck, clutching her small form against him, as if the act would keep him anchored to her forever. His fingers dug into the flesh of her failing body, wanting her to stay here with him instead of leaving him.

"Oh, my darling… how could… how could I have let this happen?" Eddie finally pulled away from her flesh, which was growing colder as the moments ticked by. His tearful eyes searched her blank face, as if it held the answers to her demise. But there was none. All there was now… was the shell of his wife. Empty. Gone.

Gone.

He let out obscenities left and right as he caressed her face, unsure of who it really was directed at. At the person who did this? Surely - but what about himself? A weak man who couldn't keep his only love alive? Maybe he really was the killer.

Yet he knew, he remembered through the cloudy judgement of his insanity that Victoria had been the one to leave him. She'd taken that pole to his knees, and to his head. She… she had wanted to leave him. But the clarity that her death had brought him was enough to remind him that she had every right to want to leave him.

There was so much blood on his hands, now… after…. After what they did to him below. Eddie no longer knew how to keep a grip on his darker side after what they'd done to him.

But as he held her face, he knew that he couldn't hold it against her. He couldn't hate her for leaving, even though that was far from what he had ever wanted. Eddie wanted his little wife to stay with him, to make this hell hole a home with him. To give him the family he had always wanted… even if it wouldn't be an easy one.

He hadn't wanted to leave this wretched place, for fear of what they would do to him. They would of course re-incarcerate him, and perhaps relocate him to another asylum… one without her. And Eddie wasn't sure if he could continue on without her - she had changed something in him. He felt more warm with her around, more himself before the Machine. This woman had quenched the blood-lust that had always been there… and now he would have to go on without her, whether he wanted to or not.

Eddie wasn't sure now, how long he had sat in that misbegotten parking lot, holding his wife against him. Her blood had begun to dry against the pavement, and he could feel how it caked and crackled against his own skin as he wrinkled his nose at the growing smell of it. He couldn't stay here for long, he could hear the sound of other variants roaming, the echoes of their movements becoming louder as he sat there with Victoria's body.

He looked down at her once more, pressing a soft kiss to her cold forehead. "It's time to go, sweetheart. But don't worry… I won't leave you here alone." He whispered against the flesh of her head, once again looking into those dead eyes. Eddie wouldn't leave her here, no. Those miscreants would undoubtedly defile her in this state she was in. She belonged with him.

Till death do us part… No, not even then, my precious wife…

Effortlessly he picked up his wife's body, clutching it tightly to his chest as he stood there. He watched her for a moment, knowing this would probably be the last bit of good lighting he would have to see her breathtaking face. He memorized every feature of it, down to the last detail. Eddie wanted to keep the memory of her preserved face in his mind forever, a way to tether him back to the real world when his mind would slip again…. And he knew it would.

Yet for now, he would enjoy the peace that she had brought him, as he began to turn his heel in the direction of his lair.

"Let's go home now… together."