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Eddie blinked, awakening as slowly as if he had a hangover after a party, like what he used to practice back in college when Diedre and Nina low-key forced the young dad he was to enjoy relaxed moments here and there.
His foggy brain failed to correctly analyze his surroundings. He felt so weak... drained of energy...
Something shifted slightly on his left. A warm lump nested next to him on the double bed, whose golden blond hair were the first thing Edward's blurry vision isolated.
He smiled with fondness at the recurring sight of his daughter snuggled in his bed, sound asleep next to him. Stephanie may be thirteen years old, no doubt she will forever conserve many of her habits inherited from childhood, including cuddling with her dad whenever she could use being comforted or when he is sick or in pain.
His precious baby girl.
The familiar environment of his bedroom finally stabilized around him, at the same instant someone discreetly pushed the door to silently make his way into the peaceful atmosphere.
Edward felt the now usual warmth associated to this person blossoming in his chest, even more when his partner from work addressed him a luminous smile and swiftly reached his side.
As if he wanted to hug him but... refrained this daring gesture at the ultimate second, Bruce hurried to his right then suddenly stopped the motion of pulling Eddie into an embrace.
"Nygma!" He exclaimed nonetheless, intense relief written all over his features. "I... hu... Good to see you awake..."
"... Good to see you too, Wayne," he mirrored Bruce's sincere smile, while thinking once again the 'official' distance they more or less voluntarily maintain like a barrier between them is becoming frankly ridiculous.
They grew close over the two years and a half they work together, why do they call each other under their family names still and refuse to hug it out even when both of them clearly want to?
Stephie teases him regularly by pretexting they are 'emotional disasters unable to express their feelings for each other', what always makes Ed's whole face turn a bright tomato red shade and he awkwardly changes the subject every time his daughter suggests he should ask Bruce on a date.
Not because he is definitely attracted by his coworker means he would confess this truth to anyone just yet.
"What... what happened to me...?" He inquired feebly, his mind drifting back onto the present context.
"Bruce thinks you were captured by aliens," Steph yawned, the agitation just woke her up. "At the hospital, they informed me you've been shot while running after a suspect during your latest investigation... And I say that in both cases, you are not allowed to go back in the field ever again because you scared the Hell out of me!"
She hugged him tightly after that. Edward returned the loving embrace, he wrapped his left arm around her shuddering frame, put a tiny kiss on the top of her head and rubbed her back smoothly when she released a few tears against him.
"Everything is fine, Sunshine," he whispered, feeling instantly sorry he worried her. "I promise... I'm tougher than I look like."
"That you are," Bruce approved softly, watching the duo with tenderness.
He may be no more than Edward's colleague in the X-Files department of the FBI, he... got involved in his private life too. He met Stephanie less than a month after the doctor Edward Nygma was assigned to his division, he was regularly invited at his apartment, especially since Ed discovered Bruce's more than irresponsible eating and sleeping habits: albeit he was a bit younger than Bruce, the father in him couldn't help being concerned by his odd partner's well-being.
Then because Stephie enjoys his company as well, he began spending more and more time with the two of them outside work.
"There was no trace of a shotgun," Bruce went on excitedly.
Eddie knows that voice, it's his tone of whenever he is about to infodump about mythical creatures and legends or to broach his far-fetched theories explaining why the Government hides the presence of extraterrestrials among us.
"Doctors concluded you received an electrical discharge of an unknown kind since your symptoms are comparable to a violent shock principally localized on your stomach, yet..."
"Later," Stephanie instructed in her adorable 'little teacher intonation'. "Bruce, I am not giving you the permission to freak us out today, keep the Spooky vibes for when you guys get back to work!"
The Nygmas chuckled at the dark-haired one's visible disappointment to be denied his crazy talking moment.
He didn't insist though, and rather... took Edward's right hand in both his.
"You've been asleep for four days," he stated in his best comforting voice while Eddie felt... incredibly flustered by the contact.
Flustered in a good way.
He hoped no one noticed the light blush he felt burning on his cheeks.
"It's good to... see you recovering, dear partner."
The two of them shared a smile. Whereas they conserve this absurd 'official distance' so far, anyone who would merely look at them could conclude they deeply care about one another.
Who knows, maybe one day they will feel brave enough to tell each other so?
"When we were finally allowed to move you back to our place, I suggested Bruce kisses you on the lips like in Sleeping Beauty to wake you up," Steph announced matter-of-factly, she had moved to a sitting position on the mattress. "Saving you that way would have been a good start for asking you out at last," she concluded smugly, proud of her mischief when both adults blushed crimson.
"We... will evaluate our options later, alright Sunshine?"
Stephie giggled, Eddie sighed and Bruce shook his head, fond of each refreshing, adorable interaction he witnesses between the complicit father and daughter.
Feeling bold, he entangled his fingers with Edward's afterwards and gently pressed his hand.
"Do you need anything?"
"... I am a little hungry," the detective realized, surprised himself not to suffer lingering pain aside from sore muscles and a minor dizziness. "I'd go for something... simple."
"And sugary?" Bruce guessed, he noticed his coworker is a bit of a sweet tooth when he opts for a snack.
"And sugary," he validated, what (predictably) made his daughter grin some more as she complemented:
"See? You know each other so well."
Edward smiled broadly when Bruce proposed hot chocolate and waffles for everyone, what caused Stephanie to jump to her feet and quickly follow him to the kitchen, since she doesn't trust him around her waffle iron (the Nygmas attested Bruce is a terrible, dangerous cook).
He could use a few minutes of silence in his room before his beloved little blonde tornado and partly insane coworker who makes his heart beat faster return with his comfort drink hot cocoat and Steph's favorite food waffles, what he is also particularly fond of.
Eddie couldn't recompose in his head what happened: he indeed chased after a suspect in an abandoned warehouse, Bruce should have been by his side yet he was alone for this critical intervention... Then he remembered a vivid flash of blinding white lighting, and nothing else. A black hole.
He tossed the issue aside, firmly decided to worry about it later.
For now, he will rather recover by enjoying a quality time with the two persons he loves most in this world, his wonderful family who takes good care of him.