Lovely Little Riddles (A Nygmobblepot fanfic)

Chapter 8: Last Love

As days passed Edward fell deeper in love with Oswald than he had felt before. Knowing that Oswald was hopelessly in love with the Riddler and not Edward Nygma well that gave him thoughts he never even had when he was with Miss Kringle or Isabella.

The day that Jim Gordon was promoted to Commissioner Oswald and Edward were invited to his inauguration. After the ceremony was over and everyone was just mingling, Oswald and Edward stood on the balcony drinking champagne, the moment was pure bliss so Edward smiled and looked over at Oswald but Oswald nodded. "What?" Asked Oswald as he smiled and took a sip of his champagne.
"Will you marry me?" Asked Edward as Oswald choked. He spilled the champagne on his hands and down the front of his suit so he set down the glass and started dabbing at the stain on his tie
"Hell of way to ask someone that Ed!" Said Oswald as he had an annoyed tone which made Edward's heart break.
"Nevermind then." Said Edward as tried to hurry off but Oswald grabbed his wrist.
"Wait! That wasn't a rejection Ed!" Said Oswald as Edward stopped and looked at him.
"So what was it?" Asked Edward as Oswald took a breath.
"Ed.... I'm still working on getting my empire back, getting the respect I deserve from this city, and this doesn't mean I never want to but just not at the moment. Do you think you can wait for me?" Asked Oswald as Edward sighed.
"Of course I can but are you sure you'll ever be ready?" Asked Edward as Oswald's grip loosened and Edward slipped away into the crowd. Oswald gripped his chest feeling like he couldn't breathe.
"Oh god what have I done...!" Said Oswald as he quickly realized just from the look in Edward's eyes that he broke the man's heart because he chose his criminal empire over Ed.

Oswald sat in a chair on that balcony for hours torturing himself with his thoughts of how he hurt Ed until Jim and Lee came out on the balcony. At first they didn't notice him but then they didn't just notice his presence, they noticed the look of despair on his face as he stared out into the city. Jim quickly got called over by Harvey so he exited the situation but Lee stayed. "What's wrong Oswald, did you just slaughter one of your men for making a joke at your expense?" Asked Lee as Oswald didn't make a vicious threat or any kind of violent come back he just sighed in a sad sort of way.
"Leave me alone." He said in a tone filled with such despair and regret that Lee pulled over a chair and sat next to him.
"Oswald, what happened?" Asked Lee softly as Oswald huffed.
"If you must know, I just ruined every bit of love Ed and I shared." Said Oswald as he explained the situation and Lee put her hand on his.
"Oswald you can't let him think you rejected him, you need to tell him how you feel before it's too late!" Said Lee as Oswald looked at her.
"Why, why are you all of sudden being so nice to me?" Asked Oswald as Lee sighed.
"I may hate you but I believe in love and if Ed loved you so much that he asked you to marry him no one should dare stand in the way of that, that's what I believe so stop sitting here feeling sorry for yourself and go get him before he gives up on you two and turns against you like he does." Said Lee as Oswald actually felt inspired so he stood and looked at her.
"Thank you Lee."

Oswald rushed home but Edward was nowhere to be found and this only made Oswald even more upset. He decided he wasn't just going to sit around and wait for Edward to leave him, he needed to find him now!

Oswald checked everywhere he thought Edward would be but he didn't find him anywhere. He wandered through the streets of Gotham until he saw a street light flickering which wasn't unusual in Gotham but the unusual part was that the bulb was green. As Oswald stared at the light at the very end of the alley way across from the street lamp was a question mark spray painted on a door in neon green spray paint. The paint looked old like it had been there a long time, Oswald wondered if this was one of Edward's old hideouts in the Narrows. Oswald walked over to the door and checked if it was locked and it wasn't. He opened the door and it led to a generator room that was running but there was also a staircase. Oswald went down the stairs finding green paint had been splattered down the stairs and as he went further and further down the steps he heard the faint sounds of an old record player. It was playing the song that the two of them sang when they first met. Oswald went further and further down the steps until he heard some muffled screams. "I don't see why he couldn't have just said yes!" Said Edward in an aggressive tone that was followed by a muffled scream. "I don't know! Is it my fault he chose his work over me!? No! No, it cannot be my fault!!" Edward growled as the statement was followed by the sound of electricity frying a man's brain and the man made muffled sounds of pain. "But then again, I did have a whole show planned out, I think he would've said yes if I did my original plan... God why did I have to open my damn mouth and say how I feel without even thinking! Stupid! You moron!" Said Edward as Oswald walked further down the steps and finally saw Edward in a large generator room surrounded by cords and large electrical equipment but in the center of the room there was a man duct taped to a chair with an electric torture device strapped to his head. Edward was pacing around the room talking to himself as the man sobbed his muffled terrified sobs. "Oswald is the love of my life and I just drove him away! God I can't even think about ever seeing him again! I doubt he'd ever want to see me again if I muster up the courage to even talk to him let alone retract my proposal!" Said Edward as Oswald walked down the steps.
"Ed?" Asked Oswald softly as Edward stopped pacing and had a sort of deer in the headlights look to his eyes.
"Oswald.... You're here." Said Edward as Oswald sighed.
"I'm so sorry Ed, I would never have rejected you! Big show or not, I love you more than anything in the world! My life isn't worth living if you're not a part of it Ed!" Said Oswald as Edward looked at him.
"If you love me that much then why did you reject me!?" Asked Edward as he held down the button that was administering the shocks to the poor soul he had strapped to the chair.
"I only said what I said because I was scared Ed!" Said Oswald as Edward scoffed. "It wasn't you that scared me Ed, it's this god damn city!" Said Oswald as Edward looked at him. "Empire or not I have a target on my back constantly and I could never live with myself if someone hurt you just to get to me!" Said Oswald as Edward's look softened.
"Oswald that won't happen..." Said Edward as Oswald started to cry.
"Yes it will! The people I love have always been used against me! Theo Galavan kidnapped and killed my mother just to break me, my father was a casualty in his wife's attempt to kill me, I had to fake Martin's death just to keep him safe from Sofia Falcone! I'm scared just being with you as what we are now but if we get married then the whole city, my allies and my enemies will know that you are my weakness and I don't want anyone to know that and hurt you just to get to me!" Said Oswald as Edward put his other hand on the side of Oswald's face wiping an unknown tear off his face.
"Oswald, the one difference between me and everyone else that has ever been caught in the crossfire of your line of work is that you don't have to protect me like you had to protect them. Plus I'm just as criminally active as you are! Hell I thought you rejected my proposal so instead of doing something normal with my grief I kidnapped this guy to take my frustrations out on him!" Said Edward as he zapped the guy again and the two laughed and gained devilish grins.
"That is true." Said Oswald with a smile as Edward smiled softly.
"Don't you see, I may be your one weakness but I'm sure as hell not weak enough to go down without a fight and hopefully I'll be right by your side when I'm faced with that moment." Said Edward as Oswald grabbed Edward's tie and pulled him down to his level to kiss him. Edward gripped Oswald's shoulder tight and held down the button frying the brain of the man he had kidnapped.

As Oswald and Edward laid on the mattress that was in Edward's little hideout the two of them cuddled together close. "So does this mean we're engaged?" Asked Edward as Oswald looked at him.
"I think it does, Ed." Said Oswald as Edward looked at him.
"I think we should go home now." Said Edward as Oswald laid his head on Ed's chest.
"No, I'd rather stay here with you." Said Oswald as Edward rubbed Oswald's shoulder.
"Well I'm not opposed to that idea." Said Edward as he shifted closer to Oswald and the two cuddled up together but just as Edward removed his glasses to go to sleep he looked over at the charred corpse in the center of the next room. "We will have to dispose of Mister Nelson tomorrow morning." Said Edward as he removed his glasses and set them on the floor next to the mattress.
"Of course, in the morning." Said Oswald as he spoke in a mumbled tired kind of tone.

The next morning they woke up and disposed of the body then went home. The two sat together in the parlor quietly really just enjoying each other's company until Edward spoke up. "Oswald?" Asked Edward softly as Oswald looked at him.
"Yes Ed?" Asked Oswald as he looked up at Edward softly.
"We don't have to get married right away, if you want to focus on your empire for a while I wouldn't mind." Said Edward as Oswald looked at him with these hopeful eyes.
"Y-you mean it Ed? Really?" Asked Oswald as Edward smiled.
"Of course." Said Edward as Oswald hugged him tightly.
"Thank you Ed!" Said Oswald as he hugged him. So that's exactly what they did.

As they were engaged instead of planning a wedding they focused upon their careers as criminals. Oswald focused mainly on gaining the citizens of Gotham's favor so to do that he started taking out those who he was fighting in the underworld power struggle. He stomped the competition into dust and got back on top proving to the city that there was no forgetting about Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin.

Edward on the other hand kept himself busy with contraptions and death traps he built in the Narrows. He tested the intelligence of people down there to keep himself entertained but he was thoroughly disappointed with how unmatched his intelligence truly was in this city.

Though their time apart was incredibly frustrating and often dangerous they always came back to each other at the end of their days and felt an overwhelming wave of peace and tranquility as they would hold each other through the night.