If Nigma was in the rec room, Dee was confined to her cell. Matthiessen
had decided to keep them apart, hoping that they would co-operate better.
The only thing he succeeded in doing was making the two daydream about each
other more. Very few of his questions were answered during a session. Other
than that, the two remained almost model patients.
Accidentally, their paths crossed when their escorts stopped to sign Dee
into the rec room and Eddie out of it. It was all the time he needed. With
a smile, Eddie reached his hand behind her ear and presented her with a
shiny nickel.
"How..." she began in a whisper as he pressed it into her palm.
"I have my ways."
They got no further as Eddie was hauled away. Dee backed into the rec room,
smiling at the man who glanced over his shoulder. She clutched the coin
to her chest, still smiling as her handcuffs were removed and she wandered
off to a solitary corner. For the entire time she stayed curled in a chair,
stroking the coin.
~ ~ ~
Pam had gotten him the nickel. She wanted to know what it was for. When
he said Dee asked for one, Pam then wanted to know what Dee wanted it for.
The explanation that she had simply asked for a nickel, making a big deal
about it didn't sit well with the other woman. Those two had been together
only a couple of months and they had secrets already. Pam attempted to ask
Dee about the nickel, but simply got a little grin before Dee would start
humming to herself, looking dreamily into the air.
Everyone at Arkham had heard about the two going into bouts of catatonia
at the same time, only to come out of it a few hours apart. The two were
destroying the theories Matthiessen had about Edward Nigma and the inmates
of Arkham. Matthiessen's other patients took delight in rubbing the failure
in his face. All attested to the change in the rogue, secretly approving
of the pairing, even while being jealous to some degree. Many didn't see
the attraction Dee had to Edward but they supposed it was part of the reason
she was in Arkham.
Matthiessen was infuriated about the whole thing. He had put them in solitary,
withheld meals, rec room privileges, and numerous other punishments. He
would have loved to put the girl into ECT, but the nurses and a doctor who
was giving her a weekly check up refused to allow him to. The reason had
been her hypoglycemia. Matthiessen told the doctor that she was getting her
meals regularly, as well as the snacks, only having one or the other withheld
should she become too violent. The doctor had believed him.
Despite knowing this, Matthiessen continued to deny Dee meals. In the end,
he decided that he would be able to nurture any seeds he might possibly
be able to plant easier if the girl were delirious and weak. His only real
issue was the smell of her when he let her go too far into the delirium.
She showered, but always looked unkempt and had a strange odor about her.
He used those aspects of her appearance to enforce the fact that she was
plain and unattractive. Often, this made her burst into tears and talk to
herself for hours.
As for Nigma, Matthiessen had decided to hook the man up to a machine to
test his brain waves and pulse when showed pictures of attractive men and
women. The pictures ranged from a single person to male and female couples,
and all the way down to same sex couples. The pictures depicted everything
from the subjects sitting in chairs, all the way to explicit sexual acts,
hetero and homosexual. Matthiessen was furious when he found Edward had
closed his eyes and gone to sleep the first time. The second time, he had
the man's eyes held open and forced him to look at the pictures.
The only reaction gauged was that Edward Nigma was uncomfortable looking
at the pictures, and having the little metal clips holding his eyes open.
His complete unwillingness to speak of sex, or of any sexual acts he had
engaged in, left Matthiessen to deduce that Nigma was a prude. Probably a
gay prude at that. When he had come to that conclusion, he had laughed some.
Prude though he may be, the mental image of Nigma flouncing around and dressing
the women he hired up in little outfits amused the good doctor.
~ ~ ~
It took him a few days to decide he was going to do it, but he finally came
to the conclusion that he would never solve the puzzle of Dee Lemma if he
didn't do it. Eddie and Dee had now been in Arkham for almost a month. While
it was hard to tell with their limited contacts, both could feel the strain
the time had on their young relationship. Exactly two days after he gave
her the nickel, Edward once more snuck out of his cell and into Dee's.
"Hey, wake up," he whispered, gently shaking her shoulder.
"Don't wanna see the doctor," she mumbled, snuggling further down into her
blankets. When he shook her more urgently, knowing time was wasting, she
grumbled a "What?"
"Get up and get dressed, Kitten!"
"Eddie?" Dee sat up, rubbing her eyes. At the sight of Eddie in her cell,
she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him.
"No time for that! We have to go now!" He shoved her clothing at
her as he pushed her away.
Understanding, Dee quickly dressed, smiling at Eddie as she tucked the nickel
into her bra. He didn't return the smile, shifting his eyes to the corner
where the surveillance camera was instead. Grabbing her hand, he hauled her
out of the cell and hurried her through the halls. Dee was quickly lost in
the maze of halls as he twisted and turned, leading her to an older part
of the asylum.
An alarm went off and he quickly pressed her to the wall. Placing a finger
to his lips, he gestured her to stay where she was as he ducked around the
corner. Dee remained up against the wall, afraid to move for fear or running
into a guard or doctor. She wished the alarm would stop. She also wished
that she wasn't so hungry and tired.
Eddie's hand suddenly grabbing her uniform front, pulling her around the
corner, almost made her scream. Holding her close to him, he whispered into
her ear, "Quick now! Down into that drain! We'll be out of here soon."
Nodding, Dee carefully climbed down the uncovered hole in the floor. He
followed behind her, replacing the grate over his head as he went. At the
bottom of the ladder he splashed into the shallow water of the storm drain
that ran under the asylum. Once more taking her hand, he pulled Dee along
behind him, following the schematics he had memorized. The alarm faded as
they plunged into the darkness, saying nothing to one another.
The route was wet and Dee was not happy with the cold water soaking her
feet. The quick pace kept her warm, however, and she knew she would soon
be able to dry herself off and be comfortable again. Water trickled and filled
the cement and brick tube with a strange echoing sound. A gentle downward
slope helped her keep up with Edward's long strides. After what seemed an
eternity, she saw pale moonlight growing brighter.
"Ok, Kitten. It's your turn. This latch is easier to open from out there.
You can get through without opening it. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes, Eddie," she said, fatigue already heavy in her voice. Her stomach
growled.
"I'll get you the biggest breakfast you want when we're out of here. Be
quick now!"
Shifting into a small cat, she managed to hold the form long enough to squeeze
through the little gate. The latch Eddie had pointed out was rusty and she
had to use both hands to open the bolt. The squeak of the gate opening sounded
loud in the quiet of the night. Dee stared up at the black shadow of Arkham.
Lights began flickering on all over the exterior of the building.
"Dee! We don't have time to look! Let's go!"
She took his hand, wanting nothing more than to sleep. Matthiessen had denied
her any food after lunch and with the unexpected escape, she was quickly
using any energy reserve she had. Trying as hard as she could, she ran with
him, holding tightly to his hand.
This is not good! She's slowing me down. I should've been a mile away
from here ten minutes ago! He said to himself as he pushed onward. I
can't leave her behind though. Not even to come back for her. She obviously
needs food and needs it badly. Even as he hurried, he found himself
singing in his head, If you want her, you should tell her. Take her by
the hand. But he couldn't tell her just now. She wasn't coherent enough.
So get a hold of the girl. He tightened his grip on her hand, feeling
her start to lag.
Pushing on through the wooded area, they crossed under a bridge and at last
came to the city. Knowing they couldn't just flag down a taxi, Edward broke
into a nearby car and hot-wired it. Dee was curled up on the seat and almost
asleep before he hit the main roads. Traffic was light and they had no problems
in getting to the warehouse hideout.
"Let's get you to the kitchen and get you something to eat before bed. Would
you like that?"
No longer having the energy to speak, Dee nodded as he half carried her
into the hideout. Benny and Trigger were nowhere to be seen, and he got
no answer when he called out for them. It suited him just fine as he settled
Dee into a seat and found a bottle of juice. She drank that as he made both
of them a sandwich with bread he found in the freezer. As he lathered the
now toasted slices with peanut butter and jelly, he kicked his wet shoes
off, listening to the police scanner.
"Eat," he said placing the sandwich in front of her.
It was increasingly hard for her to stay awake. Even as she ate the sandwich,
she started to doze. Before he was finished with his food, she thanked him,
weakly hugging his head before stumbling out of the kitchen and down the
hall. He kept one ear out for her even as he adjusted the frequency on the
scanner. Eddie smiled when word came through that no trace of Dee or him
could be found. Popping the last of his food into his mouth, he chuckled
and headed for his room.
Curiously he found Dee's asylum grays in his bathroom. Shrugging out of
his own, he simply figured she had used his bathroom in her incoherent state,
rather than remembering her own. Once cleaned up and in a pair of clean
boxers, he went to bed. He was delightfully shocked to find Dee sound asleep,
snuggling one of his pillows.
"Someone's been sleeping in my bed. And she's still here," he quoted.
Dee mumbled and sighed when he touched her cheek. Not wanting to wake her,
he crawled under the covers. Carefully he took his pillow back, only to
have her cling onto him and nuzzle into his neck. Edward almost panicked,
uncertain what to do next. Part of him wanted to flee the room for the reaction
from his body. Part of him wanted to stay and see if there couldn't be more
of the same reaction. Yet another part of him reminded the other two that
she was asleep and he shouldn't worry or encourage her. Settling down, Eddie
took a couple of deep breaths.
"Eddie?" she mumbled suddenly.
He cringed, waiting for her to yell at him. "Yes?"
"You are here," was all she said before leaning over and slowly kissing
him.
Edward's eyes went wide when she kissed him again, pressing her breasts
against him. She wore one of his silk dress shirts and from the feel under
his hands, nothing else. Dee pulled back and kissed his neck once, twice...
She laid still, her warm breath tickling his neck. A sleepy sigh escaped
her lips and her left hand held his right bicep, while her right hand slid
across and rested on the left side of his belly. Eddie squeezed his eyes
shut, muttering curses to himself. If Dee had been awake during that, he
would be surprised. Nevertheless, it showed she was thinking about him.
Sighing at the unfairness of it all, he patted her arm and went to sleep.
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