Professor Fear (the sequel) - Jonathan Crane

Chapter 26

"Oh great," Edward Nygma ran a hand through his hair, "I'm the mediator."

Daria held a box of tissues in one hand, blowing her nose from the crying. 

Edward felt at a loss; he cared for his friends but had a very poor relationship with empathy and comforting. 

"I don't have anything other than what you see, so if you stay here temporarily then you will have to sleep on that," He indicated the sofa which she was already hugging her knees to her chest on. "If Jonathan comes around, you'll have to pop yourself into the closet," He tapped his fingers together in thought, "He will probably stop by soon, I am his most prized friend after all!" The last part was spoken valiantly.

"Okay," her voice cracked when she spoke. Edward frowned at her sadness.

Daria hadn't anywhere to go. Contrary to her last words to Jonathan, she had no wish to be alone – or away from him. She just felt she had to show him that she wasn't simply something to study. She thought leaving him would have made him realise – if he truly loved her – that she had a breaking point. The issue was that it hurt her so much more than she wanted it to.

After two hours of sitting on the same shuttle so that it did a full loop, she had gotten off and walked, for yet another hour, to Edward Nygma's house. On the way, she found a 24hr liquor store and purchased a spiced brandy. It was quarter gone by the time she had cosied herself into his burgundy sofa. Telling Edward why she had visited – mixed with the alcohol – resulted in her crying for what felt like hours.

Despite their uncultured recent 'friendship', she'd placed trust in Ed. She knew he had a soft spot for her. That also seemed rare for him. Friend-wise; Eric was, surprisingly, her second choice. Almasi was her third choice. However, after further analysis; Eric would have attempted to be brash and 'manly' and hunt Jonathan down. Almasi would have suggested soppy movies on repeat. The time of the day meant that both were at work anyway. Daria called in sick for the first time.

She needed to get the flashing images of her childhood from her head.
She wanted to be calm again.
She wanted Jonathan to make her calm.

Daria shook her head at the thought. Edward noticed.
His next remark was interrupted by one of his many burner phones ringing from a box.

He sorted through and snatched out a small pink flip phone.
He refused to speak after answering the phone. Most likely for voice security reasons.
"Okay," Then the call was finished as soon as it had begun. Edward walked back to Daria. "Time for you to get in the closet, Jonathan is coming over for a little bit."

Daria had expected to be in a cramped cold – horrible – closet. Instead, it was well heated and big enough to fit eight people. There was a metal chair in the middle where a thick rope lay neatly.
"It's where I keep my hostages," Edward explained casually.
"Well you give them first-class treatment," she weakly smiled. It felt weird for her face muscles. Her skin felt warm and squishy from the drinking.

A knock on Nygma's door knocked off Daria's smile. Jonathan was here. When Edward was far enough, Daria cracked open the closet door to hear the conversation. Jonathan, like she had before, went to sit on the sofa – at least, someone went to sit on the sofa. 

"Daria's... she's gone,"
Daria winced at her name and his voice being so different. So... broken.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked. He was pretending to play bored and irritated so that when the truth came out, he could act shocked. Then the shock was in his voice, "Jonathan what happened to you, your face is bruised, and your clothes are torn-"
"She packed her bags and left. It's my fault Eddy, I wasn't respecting her boundaries." He took a shaky breath. "The Joker played me yesterday. Made me think more and more about understanding Daria from my own perspective as a psychologist, but it was wrong."