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Ed shivered as the cold wind nipped at him. He steadied himself on the edge of the roof he was on, looking down at the busy road hundreds of stories below. He didn’t understand why his heart was racing, all he had to do was fall right? That should be easy. Ed didn’t startle when suddenly Catwoman called his name from behind him.
“Edward!” He heard the click of her heels on the roof as she came closer “Get down from there!”
“No…I’m okay right here, thanks.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Catwoman reached the edge of the roof, only leaning on the elevated stone border that Ed was standing on. He didn’t look at her. “Just..come down from there…please, Ed.” Her voice was shaking despite herself.
“You don’t get it,” Ed mumbled “I’m already dead…I died with Oswald.”
“S-Stay right here, Eddie. Don’t move, alright?”
He heard her walking away and leaving the rooftop. Another cold gust of wind came by, Ed wished it was strong enough to make him lose his balance, do the hard part for him. “Just fall damnit…” he muttered to himself. He heard the clicking of Catwoman’s heels behind him again as well as the swishing of a cape.
“Edward.”
Ed could tell who it was by the gruff voice. “This is your fault, batsy…it’s your fault he’s gone.” Ed couldn’t fathom why Catwoman thought getting batman would do any good. He heard Batman step closer.
“That was an accident, he fell, it wasn’t anyone’s fault.”
Ed scoffed “A lot of us seem to have ‘accidents’ around you…Joker, Harvey…Oswald. As a matter of fact they all ‘fell’, didn’t they? Maybe I should save you the trouble…do the deed myself.” Ed slid his feet closer to the edge, the lights of the city below almost hypnotizing.
“Oswald wouldn’t want this-“
“How dare you…you have no idea what he would or wouldn’t want besides he’s dead now he doesn’t want anything anymore..” Ed was absolutely appalled by the nerve of the vigilante. He sighed and adjusted his glasses as they’d started to slip down his nose “Well I suppose since you’re here, would you do me a favor at least?” Ed didn’t wait for a response as he fixed the shiny green suit he was wearing from where the wind had disheveled it, Oswald had once told Ed it was his favorite “Oswald’s body is still in the sewer, make sure we get buried together…or chuck me down there to if that’s too much to ask- just, please..keep us together.”
“Ed-“
Ed tuned Batman out as he stepped off the ledge, he only heard Catwoman scream for a second before the gushing of wind filled his ears. He wondered if he’d even feel the ground when he hit it, wondered if anything would come after despite his deeply rooted doubts. Instead of spending his last moments getting existential he closed his eyes and thought only of Oswald.
The sound of squawking startled Ed awake. He gripped the side of his head which was throbbing a bit, as his eyes adjusted he could see that he was slumped over..in the seat of Oswald’s duck? He slowly sat up, feeling totally groggy. Maneuvering himself out of the duck Ed stepped onto the platform in the middle of Oswald’s lair and made his way around to where the squawking was coming from. There were penguins crowding around Oswald as he fed them from a bucket of fish. He looked up when he saw Ed out of the corner of his eye.
“Eddie!” Oswald deserted his current task to rush over and hug the taller man “I was waiting for you..” Ed hugged Oswald back though he still felt all cloudy. He sincerely hoped that this was some semblance of real and not just a dream induced by his synapses firing one last time.
“Where..are we?”
“What do you mean, silly? We’re home.”
“Home…” Ed repeated. He winced as his head throbbed with pain again. Oswald pulled away from him a bit “That goes away after a while, don’t worry.” He squeezed Ed’s hands “You don’t have to worry at all now, Eddie…nothing can get between us ever again.” Though Ed had a million questions he decided for once not to pry and instead just enjoyed the feeling of Oswald’s company, forever and always.