Even Arthur Wynne Has A Home (Nina)

[Deleted]

Edward Nigma lived on the North Side of Gotham.

Actually Arthur Wynne lived on the North Side of Gotham.

Why did a man in the criminal field choose to live in the most expensive, high tax paying area of the city? Well that riddle was simple.

Security.

When you have a man in a Bat costume constantly breaking into your home you tend to crave for better protection. Not to mention, what the possible rogues (who actually did know his whereabouts) could do to his home if they had easy access. So yes, the Riddler lived among the elites close to Central Gotham. His apartment wasn’t on the top floor, but still gave quite a view of the financial district. Unfortunately, he spent little actual time in his apartment. He usually ended up falling asleep at his desk in the warehouse and when finally waking up, the next day has already begun leaving him no reason to head home. But now he did have a reason...

Nina.

He had been dropped off and as usual was greeted friendly by the doorman, guards, and desk clerk. He barely noticed them all because a nervous fluttering sensation had decided to attack his insides. He clicked the button to his floor trying to push away the annoying feeling. He should be used to this by now. She had been living with him for a few days, but honestly, he had been avoiding it like the plague. Every time he looked at her, he was reminded of his mistake. It felt similar to rubbing lemon juice in an open sore. It taunted and nagged him. He never made mistakes, yet he knew avoiding her was probably not the best solution either. She had her laptop though. She had kept busy. He would be intruding by even attempting to converse with her. The elevator door opened to a small hallways with three doors. His was the one on the left. He walked towards his door. It had a dark wooden exterior, but the behind the wood was actually filled with steel preventing anyone from knocking it down. The walls were made of metal as well. There was a keypad on the wall, and Edward quickly typed in the code he, and only he, knew. There was a large sound as the door unlocked. He brought his hand up and pulled opened the door revealing home.

You couldn’t call his apartment large, but you could say it had more then enough room. As you enter, you walk down a decently sized hallway that has one open doorway to a kitchen full of marble counters and stainless steel appliances. The hallway continues only a bit farther until opening out into a living room with wall size windows to the outside. The windows are bullet proof and more importantly batarang proof. The room itself isn’t huge, but the décor proves how wealthy Edward truly is. It’s filled with paintings and portraits most would only find in a museum because...well they were most likely found in a museum. A grand piano sits in the corner while couches sit around a glass coffee table facing the wall. The glass coffee table has a stack of solved and unsolved puzzle books.

There are hints of green all over. Small hints. Almost like a riddle. The couches are dark shades of green while the lights above the kitchen have a light green protector. The carpet down the hallways was a mixture of green and brown…if you squint you could probably see the question marks. Yes, a lot of the things in his apartment were custom made. The bar stool near the counter that connected the kitchen to the living room were in fact shaped like question marks. He couldn’t help himself. The dining table though, had normal chairs. The cushions were green…nothing too drastic. The only thing that took away from the décor of the room were the five televisions he had implanted into the wall opposite the couches. He had three other rooms in his apartment. The master bedroom which held a king size bed and a closet full of suits, costumes, and hats. His personal library that held limited edition and collections from all over the world. He had even managed to steal a few pieces from Ras. And finally his office that was probably the only messy area in his entre home. As he had mentioned before, he rarely worked at home, but when he did his thoughts came in a stream of consciousness that could only be collected through extreme note taking. His office was filled with crumpled papers, stacked books, three computer screens, and another television to keep an eye on the news. Some of the papers held bits of plans he had taken, others were elaborate designs. The blue prints attached to his stand were primarily filled with drawings of contraptions that seemed unimaginable to most. If they were to visit his warehouse, they would see just how realistic they really were.

Before he left, he had stated his one rule to her. Do not go into my study. It was a simple rule, and he knew she would respect it. Edward still had trust issues. He didn’t trust her to know his plans, partially because he knew she would be displeased by them, so he locked the door just in case. Overall, everything was fine. Home was…well home. Even criminals need a place to put up their hat. He walked out of the hallway and saw Nina typing on her computer. Again, he wasn’t surprised. He had told her over and over again that he could get her the tools she needs for the actual research, but she said the computer was enough. He felt sort of awkward walking in on her in such a way. He wondered silently if this was the very way other people felt when they walked in on him creating a plan. He knew he hated interruptions so decided not to disturb her. He glanced at the kitchen counter and noticed the bowl of tootsie pops. He reached pass the question mark bar stools and grabbed a candy. He hoped that maybe the soothing candy would not only help his pain, but maybe get rid of this weird feeling he felt…was it tension. It felt like tension. He felt like he could do anything wrong, but another part wondered why he cared so much….

She was living with him which should mean she has to respect his habits. His habits that included watching the news while reading over the most recent strategy book he managed to come across. But instead of grabbing the book he knew sat next to his night stand and then coming to the living room and turning on FOX, CNN, GCN, MSNBC, and the History channel, he stood still in his place unwrapping his candy.

[Nina Stenet]

The past few days have been... interesting for Nina, to say the least. When she'd agreed to 'die', the longer term consequences of that choice hadn't really been on her mind. The few simple facts of the situation had been plenty: someone powerful wanted her dead, making them believe that she was dead was most definitely the most effective way to negate that threat, and someone capable of pulling that off (who also was to blame for it in the first place) had offered to help her do it. It hadn't been until after they'd left, after they'd gotten here, and after she'd had a chance to begin to physically recover that she was able to really start to think very far ahead.

And it surprised her how okay she was with the situation. Some part of her logic had nagged at her at first, telling her that there had to be something wrong about it. But try as she might, she couldn't figure out what it could be; while she's certain that a number of illegal things are at play, it had all been in the name of keeping her safe and nobody had gotten hurt in the bargain. Certainly this end justified the means in this case! So no, not wrong by her definition at least. And once she'd reassured herself of that, that feeling had gone away.

But that doesn't mean that she's now devoid of any negative feelings. There was certainly a lot of worry: about how her family was taking the news, about the impact on her research, about the likelihood or not that she really would be safe to come out of hiding in a month, about being so near the Riddler for so long... Yes, especially that last one. While he's now proven overwhelmingly that her safety is now a very big concern of his, that only grants a limited sense of trust - the kind of trust one needs to have in a person to allow them to cut your wrist, for example. But she can't allow herself to forget that this man has a dark side that goes contrary to nearly everything she believes in, as much as she'd like to. That's why she'd accepted without question his one rule: she probably wouldn't have wanted to look in his study even if he didn't say anything. She'd learned long ago that being able to not know something was a very, very valuable thing one could give oneself.

Just as the Riddler had been avoiding her, Nina's been avoiding him in her own way. Mostly by where she placed her attention: at first she'd focused so intently on herself - babying her wrist to help it recover from the cut and babying herself so that she'd recover from the blood loss. Both have helped; physically she now feels fine except for tiring easily, and now would be the first time the Riddler's seen her since she took the bandage off of her wrist. There isn't even a scar - perhaps a reminder of what she'd said before about how she does as she wishes with her gift during her free time. Not that she's completely healed yet: after stopping the blood loss, sealing the wound had been the second priority - there's still deeper damage, though the only evidence of that now is the pain when she twists her wrist just so. But on the surface, it's like it never even happened.

Once the excuse of taking care of herself was no longer valid, Nina threw herself into the projects that she could complete using only her laptop and the mental distance has been maintained that way. It was all too easy to be in the same room with a person without actually being with them. But then, the sensation that she isn't actually where she is extends a bit further than that - she hasn't once stopped to appreciate how nice the furnishings or the decor is. That's partly due to her own feelings about this sort of finery, but she also has to admit to herself that she's also avoiding reality. And quite effectively, too: when the Riddler arrives, the only sign that she's noticed his arrival is the briefest, almost subconscious flicker of her eyes in his direction merely to confirm that it's him to her understandably paranoid mind. But aside from that slight shift of the eyes, she's firmly within her own little bubble; new discoveries do not explain themselves, as convenient as that would be.

On the other hand, though she does have a lot of typing to do, she doesn't have nearly enough to cover the entire month, especially at this pace. And her refusal of any lab equipment was mainly because that would force her to do a number of things she could too easily distract herself from doing if she had more other things to do. And one of them comes immediately to mind when she sees the Riddler apparently taking his time with the candy - obviously he's not in any way busy.

Continuing to type only long enough to complete the thought that she was in the middle of, she saves the document and abruptly closes the laptop with a click. And then, without preamble, she starts to talk - though fortunately the topic is something relatively mild: "Before this month is over, I want to hire an assistant - someone who knows enough about medical research to help me with it but also knows how to handle a gun. Someone I can trust - a woman preferably. I'm very good at protecting myself, but it would be better if there was someone always immediately at hand," she says quickly, but thoughtfully, "And I'll want a better apartment." And by 'better' she does not mean one with more room or better furnishings.

[Deleted]

He heard the click of her laptop as she shut it, and looked back up towards Nina. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but he knew his lollipop did not solve this awkwardness he felt lingering around him like a blanket. The more he thought about it, he concluded that these feelings were most likely occurring because someone was in his sanctuary. Before Nina, only he had stayed the night there. Allen and Robby had only entered on rare occasions, but for the most part it had only been him. Now his home wasn’t his because something had infested it. Maybe infested wasn’t the best word, but none the less, his home lacked the usual comfort it offered him.

His mind took him down that analytical path until he heard Nina’s voice through his silent apartment. It was strange because it almost seemed like her attempt at small talk. While most people would discuss the weather, Nina discusses her safety. He couldn’t help the small smile from appearing on his face. It’s quite amazing how only a few interactions with the criminal life can automatically make you paranoid. He could understand though, he did live in a fortress. Protection was preparation and preparation was why he wasn’t in Arkham or worst, dead.

“I would suggest putting an ad in the classified, but I’m assuming you’re looking for someone who doesn’t necessarily read the paper,” he answered with a smirk. While his conversation was light hearted, he still felt uncomfortable. He couldn’t bring himself to walk over to couch, as if it would be invading her personal space. He also felt awkward just standing there, a large part of him wanted something to toy with, but all of his puzzles were near her. Yes, this was getting annoying. “If you want I can find someone,” he stated trying to focus on the topic and not this feeling, “Some of Maroni’s men are always still looking for work after his death. They’re expensive, especially if you plan to trust them. As for an apartment, I have a good real estate agent.” As he said all of this, he wondered why he wanted to help her. He had no reason too, yet he was offering all of his sources and connections to her. Why? The weird feeling wasn’t going away…but

He wanted to make her happy…how far he had fallen.

[Nina Stenet]

Was it paranoia for her to be more worried about her safety now? Perhaps it would be if the attack by the Ventriloquist was the only thing on her mind. She'd handled that particular threat all too easily. No, it's that her shield of secrecy is starting to fall apart bit by bit. She'd had the safety of being an ordinary person - well, perhaps not 'ordinary', but simply a brilliant researcher - for a very long time, but she would be remiss if she didn't notice the cracks in that now.

For one thing, the Riddler knows exactly what her gift is and she doesn't necessarily trust that he'll keep it an absolute secret. For another, his men know or could guess a thing or two about it. For another, the Ventriloquist certainly now knows more than she'd like and there's absolutely no cause for trust there. For another, Batman knows that she has a power, and perhaps even what it is to judge by how interested he was in her microscope - though she thinks she can trust him at least to keep it as completely to himself as she tries to.

But on top of all that, she also has a reason for someone to kill or harm her that has nothing to do with her or her gift. Not that, she's sure, that the Riddler hasn't learned his lesson about connecting himself in any way to her, but some major damage in that department has already been done. And even if hiding for a month does take care of this particular problem, there's no guarantee it won't happen again. All in all, life has gotten a lot more dangerous for Nina as of late - worrying about her safety isn't so much paranoia as it is common sense.

"Hmm," is all Nina says to those offers - a thoughtful sound that indicates that she's filing them away to consider later. A month is plenty of time to sort out those details, after all, so there's no need to decide anything now. And she has to point out to herself that the topic is a way of avoiding talking about other things. Not that discussing her safety with someone so obviously interested in it and knowledgeable on the subject is a waste of time, but it could be talked over any time.

There's a very long pause as Nina obviously grapples with what to say next. She knows full well that there are a lot of things they ought to talk about, but so many of them are very, very difficult. Is there a way to make this easier? "Why don't we play a game?" she suddenly asks, "We take turns asking each other questions - any question about anything. And when asked a question there are two choices: the completely honest answer or to refuse to answer. But in the latter case, the asker gets to ask another two questions immediately. And I'll let you go first." It's a game they could very well stand to play, especially given the kind of questions she'll ask if he agrees to it.

[Deleted]

Edward continued to stand there as he rolled the lollipop into his check. His helpful advice got a nod and a sound of understanding, but wasn’t expectantly challenged. It became silent making the tension all too apparent. He should just go into his office and work on his newest design. He had a lot of kinks to work out if he wanted to get hold of the fear toxin. It would be a lot more productive way of handling his time instead of dwelling over the tension between them. Just as he was about to head to his study with a farewell, she spoke offering a game.

It caught him by surprise. Not the fact that she was speaking to him, but rather the realization that she too is finding this situation difficult. Why else would she offer up a game that was usually played by middle school students followed by seven minutes in heaven? He mused over her idea. There was no reason to stress the honesty part to Edward. He always told the truth (some argued he stretched it), but in his mind he was very factual. The only problem was whether he actually trusted Nina enough to tell her what she wanted to know. She did give him the option of rejecting…

He glanced at the door that would lead him to his study then back at her. He smirked finally coming to his decisions, “I do like questions, of course I prefer to think of them as riddles,” he said half jokingly as he started walking over to the couch. He wasn’t quite sure why he was doing this…why he would humor her in such a way, but if part of him was being honest with himself, it was because he too had questions for her. His deductive skills had determined a lot about her, but there were still unanswered riddles. She was giving him an opportunity to solve them. He also hoped that through this maybe the tension would melt away. If she were going to live here for a month they would have to be able to communicate.

He sat down in the large comfortable chair diagonal from her. He leaned his cane on the side then faced her with an uncertain expression. Everything felt a bit more real at the moment. Nina was here…with him…sitting on his couch. This was real. It frightened him, but he buried the thought deep in his mind. “It’s quite unfortunate for you because I have experience for answering the most ridiculous questions. Arkham’s finest never cease to disappoint,” he said in attempt to make this seem less serious then it felt.

Now that he was sitting across from her and taking in her soft skin and beautiful hair he only could think of one question. A question he already knew the answer too, but needed to hear it. He glanced down at his hands that had somehow without his consent folded together on top of his knee. He probably looked like a boy getting scolded by their hot nanny. He smiled a bit at his own ridiculousness before looking back up at her. “I guess my first question is do you hate me?” he asked with a forced smile. The image of her face after the hooker died and the expression she gave him when he almost beat up Arnold were both imprinted in his mind and caused guilt and frustration to rile up inside of him. Yes she had come with him, which would suggest she didn’t hate him, but any person in a life or death situation would chose the life option even if it wasn’t flattering.

When she tells me yes, I will simply nod and head to my study. I will hold her up for a month, but after that I'll try to let her go. It is the only thing I can do. I just need the closure. he thought to himself. I need to hear it from her mouth.

[Nina Stenet]

This is a game that's inherently a bit unfair to play with Nina. Even growing up, she was the kid that nobody wanted to play a related game with: truth or dare. Because the fun in that game was to get your friends to admit to something embarrassing or get them to do something incredibly dangerous. Nina always picked truth, and was never embarrassed by her answers. In fact, she's just as willing to answer any question posed to her within the context of this game as she would out, and there are only perhaps three or so questions that she wouldn't answer. In fact, one of the reasons why she suggested this game is because the Riddler would have to ask her questions in order to play it instead of assuming that he knew the all the answers.

Then again, she can't help but feel a bit nervous when he actually walks over and sits down. It's a bit like taking medicine: good for you, but not fully pleasant. Still, she sets aside her laptop so that she can physically as well as mentally put away that distraction. She hadn't missed his own glance toward his study and has to reflect upon the idea that he's likely feeling the same way. Perhaps even more so, given his next comment - was that supposed to be a joke of some sort? Whatever it was supposed to be, it only causes Nina to purse her lips slightly.

Instead she's silent as she waits for his question, having no idea what to expect. She'd left the door open to any question, after all, and that could mean a lot of things. And the one he chooses is surprising. First of all because he started with one about her feelings, which suggests that it's been something very present on his mind if he went there immediately. And secondly because of which feeling it is. "I had to ask myself the same question," she says immediately, the fact that she doesn't really have to think about this a sign that it's already been well and fully thought over, "I hate a lot of the things you do... but not you. And that's a big difference." One of them allows her to care about the man even as she condemns his actions, while the other does not.

"And if I hated you, I wouldn't be here - I have other options, you know," she adds as an afterthought. Which is true: she may not have very many friends and they may not be very close friendships, but she could certainly find someone else willing to hide her. They just wouldn't know what they're doing. And wouldn't have such a secure place. And she'd be dragging someone else into this mess, and she'd really rather not do that.

Having said all of that, she pauses for a long moment as she considers her own first question. It's a question that's been on her mind a lot over the past few days, though it's a hard one for her to ask. But eventually she manages to force herself to ask, "If I was in that 'riddle' again, would you do the same thing again?" Somewhat vaguely phrased, but she's sure that he knows exactly what she means.

[Deleted]

He listened patiently as she answered his question. He felt a tinge of relief…almost like he had been holding his breath, but her response didn't seem complete. He could have easily challenged it. Is it not better to judge a person off their actions then their words? If she hated most of the things he did then she technically hated his drive, his goal, everything that made him who he was. It would in turn mean she hated him as a person as well. He didn’t challenge it though. He didn’t want her to hate him, so he wasn’t going to prove to her that she did…or

Or maybe she doesn’t hate him. Maybe, she only had to realize the grey in society and how arbitrary morals truly were, and then come to the conclusion that what he did wasn’t so terrible but necessary. He inwardly puzzled over that idea. He liked it, but it seemed to hopeful….almost unrealistic.

He focused back on her when she asked her question. She didn’t need to expand on what she meant. He knew. Would he press the button to kill Heather again?

“Of course,” he stated almost too fast. In his mind the riddle went perfectly. He solved the secret she had been hiding. She hadn’t died, nor was she physically hurt. While he hated the sad expression she had given him, he thought it was unjustified. Just like he thought her remarks back in her apartment were unjustified. He had great respect for Nina, but when it came to the things he did she was extremely narrow-minded. He would admit that putting Nina in such a dangerous situation would never happen again, but if he still were attempting to solve the riddle he probably would do the same thing. Knowledge overcame everything…even his feelings.

Part of him wanted to defend his answer, but why should he? “Don’t naïvely believe I will change Nina. I am who I am, that has never been a riddle for me,” he answered honestly. He knew that was a mistake most people made. They always hoped they could fix the flaws of another person. Flaws, however, could never be changed. You either had to accept them or move on.

He paused thinking over his answered and wonder how exactly it made her feel. "Do you think you can accept that fact?" he asked in a way wasting his question. He should be able to deduce that answer just on her physical reaction, but to be honest he got so distracted by her appearance to even connect the meaning behind each action. He also was uncertain by what he meant by it. If she accepted it, what would that mean...would they be friends? Edward really didn't have friends. It was a strange concept...especially for a man who worked primarily alone. I guess he would call Allen and Robby...friends....no, no he wouldn't. Overall, the idea just confused him.

[Nina Stenet]

While the reasoning behind why she didn't hate the Riddler may be confusing to him, it certainly isn't for Nina. In her view, there are certain actions that are absolutely wrong - there is no gray area. It's the people themselves that are gray, and however dark that grayness is there's still a bit of white in them. In order for her to truly hate a person for more than a brief time she'd have to be convinced that they were literally pure evil - and the Riddler certainly does not fit in that category. She's not even sure that such a person can exist.

And yet, her hate of the action shows itself so easily when he answers her question: she frowns and becomes deeply troubled by that. In fact it agitates her so much that she can't seem to hold still - her hands go to her face and shift between pressing on her forehead, pushing a bit of hair out of her face, rubbing her eyes, and pausing to rest her chin on them while they're pressed together.

She nods vaguely once at his comment about changing him. Oh, she could argue that he could change, but whether he changes or not is absolutely not up to her and not something she can expect or even count as a possibility. To do otherwise would without a doubt only set her up for disappointment and pain, and she knows better than to do that to herself.

When the Riddler tops off all of that agitation by asking that question, Nina suddenly grows still and closes her eyes, trying very hard to organize her troubled thoughts into actual word. But finally she says, "One thing that you need to understand is that when other people hurt, I hurt. And while I don't expect that to make any sense to you, I do expect you to remember that." She pauses though she's obviously not finished - that's not a proper answer to the question, after all.

"So I don't..." she starts, before stopping herself with a shake of her head. Saying that she doesn't know, while honest, is too easy of a way out. She's always been able to figure herself out, and there's no reason why she can't figure out the answer right now. In fact, it's probably best if she does so immediately, because it's a very, very good question. When she makes that decision, she abruptly stands, though it's easy enough to tell by her deeply thoughtful expression that it isn't to actually go anywhere. No, she simply can't sort through her many mixed emotions and hold still - pacing is good for a troubled mind, and she starts to slowly walk back and forth through the living room.

"I can, so easily, imagine parts of that I can accept, and others that I can't. Which means that there's a line for me somewhere - but where is it?" she says to herself out loud as she begins, but after that she is quiet, and lost in thought as she mulls that one over. After a few moments, a thought occurs that she says out loud, "If, with the Ventriloquist... if you'd simply asked me to leave the room that would have been... not good, but bearable." There's another, longer stretch of silence as she continues to pace, but eventually she finds a proper conclusion to them. Her features are firmly set as she walks more quickly back over toward where the Riddler is sitting, stopping by the couch but remaining on her feet.

"I can't accept being purposefully hurt," she states as she looks right at the Riddler, though her hand unconsciously drifts to her wrist - still injured, if not visibly so - and she mentions the exception, "Unless I agree it's for a good purpose. And I can't accept being hurt by accident if it would have been easy to prevent. But... what I don't know about does not hurt me, even if I know that there's something I don't know." And that comment about the Ventriloquist was a prime example of the latter. "If you can be you without crossing that line with me again, then the answer is yes," she concludes. And her own question is only to be expected, "Can you?"

[Deleted]

Edward studied her troubled responses. The way she kept moving until tiredly closing her eyes. He hadn’t given her the response she wanted to hear, and he saw it by how challenging she was finding it to answer his question. When she finally speaks he’s somewhat surprised, mostly because it opened a bag of questions he hadn’t considered before. Did it hurt because of her power that allowed her to see the interactions of cells? Did it connect her to the pain? Or was it just emotional sympathy that society had manipulated people to feel? He only nods though in response not wanting to interrupt her train of thought as he mulled over those questions. It didn’t make sense now, but he would make it make sense in the future.

“So I don’t…”

Her eyes seemed to be jumping all over the place to figure out what she wanted. She started pacing back and forth. He hadn’t realized accepting him would be such a difficult process, but with a woman who obviously held a strong understanding in what she believed was right and wrong he shouldn’t have found it unexpected. He wouldn’t lie he enjoyed watching her thought process. It reminded him of...well him. Your mind brings you on another plane where the current reality is barely even noticeable as you go through every scenario and choice until figuring out the solution. He listened to the words as she talked to herself. A line…Edward didn’t particularly do well with respecting people’s boundaries. He had a tendency to manipulate them, but again he waited until she was finished.

When she mentioned the Ventriloquist he cringed for a moment, but her response was strange. She would have allowed him to continue with his plan if she just wasn’t witnessing it? Could that work? Could he always just hide her from what he does? She walked back over to him stopping right in front.

“I can’t accept being purposefully hurt.”

He knew she wasn’t only talking about physically being hurt, but hurting other people in front of her because for some unknown reason it caused her pain. He noticed her hand drift to her wrist. It had healed so quickly, yet it probably still affected her. The way she focused on it proved it to him. Did he feel guilty for doing what was necessary? No, but was he annoyed that he had to do it in the first place? Yes.

Her question felt loaded even though it was only two words. Can he not hurt her, and by hurt her she meant hurt other people in front of her? He was in a dangerous business something he never minded because it provided a challenge for him, but since he was in a dangerous business it required him to do things most frowned upon. Did she want him to keep that part of his life separate from her? That part of his life was part of who he was. He could….just not talk about it with her. He hadn’t planned on talking about it with her, but how could she feel comfortable being around him when she knew he was doing things that went against her own values? It made answering the question even more difficult as he danced through all possible situations where she would be involved. She was currently his weakness and other enemies were sure to determine it sooner or later. She would be put in danger….how could he commit to her boundaries if such a possibility could exist? What if he didn’t have time to say Nina get out of the room? What if he only had the choice to pull the trigger? He would do it.

He looked down at his hands as he figured out all the exceptions that would occur that would prevent him from agreeing until nodded to him. He looked up at her from his chair. “I can’t promise I can,” he stated honestly. He grabbed his cane and pushed himself out of the chair so he was stood taller than her a few inches away. “But I can definitely try,” he finished feeling content with his answer. He would respect her boundaries, but if something were to occur he would do what he believed was right.

He reached down and grabbed her wrist gently rotating it in his hand so he could look at the place he had cut. He saw no scar. “My goal is not to hurt you Nina,” he stated enjoying the soft touch under his fingers. He looked back into her eyes. “But the real riddle is...what does all this mean?” he asked with a disbelieving small smile. It was a question to him, but mostly directed at Nina. She could accept him if he respected her, but what did that mean? We’re they friends….he had come to terms with his feelings for her, and a long time ago she admitted having feelings for him….but…did….

It felt like a more challenging riddle then the riddle of who Batman was….and he didn’t have an answer.

[Nina Stenet]

The conclusions that Nina had come to were very, very difficult to make. They'd required her to carefully examine all of her most basic principles and ask herself just how far she dare push them just to see if she could also fit this man into her world. She'd even had to discard a few of them that she realized that she wasn't really that committed to. Because even though her logic is continuously telling her that this is absolutely not a good idea, her emotions keep insisting that she try to make it work anyway. To accept that this would no doubt take her down a troubling, difficult, and even dangerous path that heads to who knows where just because she has that hard of a time with the idea of not having this man in her life.

And it's not something that Nina is very naive about. How could she be, after experiencing herself what this man does to people? And after having someone try to kill her simply because they knew that she was connected to him in some way? And she can easily assume that things could get much worse than that. And yet, it all seems worth it to her; these past few days, even though they'd both distanced themselves, and this conversation with him now have given her just a taste of what it's like to be around him without having to worry about someone getting hurt or killed at a moment's notice - something she'd never had before. And she likes that. A lot.

"That's all that I'm asking," she says immediately when he says that he'll try, and some tension that she didn't really realize that she'd been holding on to seems to melt away when she hears the sincerity in his voice. She can imagine just as easily as he can the situations that could come up where someone getting hurt or killed in front of her would even be necessary by her own standards. No, the ones that are problematic to her are the ones that would demonstrate a disregard for her. Those that would prove that her feelings mean nothing to him - she can't accept anyone who felt that way.

Nina glances down at her wrist when he touches it. Though it still has a ways to go before it will fully heal, it had been important to her for it to heal perfectly. She didn't want either of them to have to see a permanent reminder of his very dangerous mistake or the wound that he'd had to inflict on her. The least she could do was make at least that part of it like it never even happened.

She looks up when he does and smiles at his question, answering it with, "It means that I don't have to be afraid of you anymore." Slowly she lifts her other hand and it brushes against his cheek before she rests it on the back of his neck and she says, "I love you, Edward." Which is several large steps ahead of the emotion she'd described before: then it had been a mere attraction, and an unwanted one at that. But, almost against her will, it has grown well beyond that since. She explains this by reaching up to press her lips against his. And there's a certain unrestrained quality to her kiss, one that explains that she'd wanted to do this for quite some time but had been stopping herself because she was simply too afraid.

[Deleted]

He liked seeing that smile especially when it was directed at him. It gave him a sense of accomplishment similar to how solving a riddle does. He had caused it. He was the reason behind seeing her happiness, and it made the slight nervousness he had been feeling wither away. Her words somewhat surprised him. He still had a hard time believing she was ever afraid of him. She never showed signs of fear when she was around him. She was always cool and collective as she thought of her own solutions to the problems he created for her, but once again she stated she used to have fear.

He didn’t have long to analysis that because he was immediately distracted when her hand crossed his face and travel to the back of his neck. Nina was not only smiling at him, but also acting affectionate towards him. It caused the nervousness to reappear in the form of knots in his stomach. He didn’t quite understand why he was feeling this way. Why was such a simple touch getting these reactions out of him?

I love you, Edward.

Edward….she had said his name….his actual name.

Her lips connected with his and for a moment he fell into perfect bliss. Nina was kissing him. Nina had taken the initiative to kiss him. It wasn’t like there last kiss that was quick and lacked response, mostly from his own suspicions of being attacked by her. Behind this kiss he felt a sense of want…similar to how kids prevented themselves from sneaking a peek at the Christmas presents hidden in the closet, but now that it was Christmas day.

Rush and excitement.

He found his hand let go of her wrist and move to her upper back pushing her body against his as he deepened the kiss. He had to admit, he had wanted to do this himself a long time ago. He wanted to feel her against him, to feel her in his arms. His hand and cane went to her waist right at the edge of her pants holding her there. He wanted this. He loved the way her shirt rubbed again his. He loved the way he could feel her fingers along the edge of his hair. He loved the way her lips tasted and how soft they felt even with the firm determination behind the action. He would have loved to have pushed her back toward his room where he could have solved the riddles her clothes had created, but a thought popped up in the back of his mind as he repeated that very word.

Love.

I love you...

She had said love. It felt like he had been going a hundred miles per hour only to slam into a brick wall. Love? No one had ever said those words to him nor had he ever experienced such an emotion to announce that title to it. How could she expect him to be responsible for such a large emotion? How could she actually love him? Love was a term used by the buffoons who wanted to find an excuse for sex without feeling morally wrong. Love wasn’t real. He watched people throw the phrase around as easily as they littered the streets with trash. Harley Quinn pronounced her love to the world when in reality it was an abusive relationship and she was addicted to the freedom of not having to make her own choices. She wanted the Joker to make her choices that wasn’t love. The riddle behind love was simple. It wasn’t there, yet this very woman, this very amazing woman that he was very fond of, pronounced such an extreme feeling for him.

A sense of confusion flooded him and became apparent in his actions. He became very stiff for a moment before pulling away. He only got the briefest look into Nina’s eyes as she opened them. She was beautiful, but…

He let go of her with a straight unreadable expression before turning away and walking to his study. “Um,” the first time such a hesitated phrase had ever come out of his mouth, “I’m going to call the realtor….no reason for you to be homeless once you get your life back.” He walked toward the hallway that led to his bedroom and study. “I also have some work I have to finish up, but this was a...nice chat. We’ll do it again soon,” he stated in a rush as he opened up the door to his office unlocking it and quickly entering. Before he could even get a response from her, he had already slammed the door shut and turned the lock.

His breathing had gotten heavier. He hadn’t expected such a strange physical response from her words. He also hadn’t expected the lingering heat from her body to taunt him that way….or the taste that still lingered on his lips…

He pushed the feeling away trying to calm his high heart rate. She had only said love….it wasn’t like she was asking him to say it return….but how could he continue if he knew she claimed such a silly emotion. Could he use her to stratify what his body was telling him he wanted? If he had just met Nina that answer would have been an easy yes, but now….he couldn’t think doing something as cruel as that to her.

He didn’t know what to do, so he just leaned his back against the door and brought his open had to the bridge of his nose trying to collect his thoughts.

[Nina Stenet]

Simply being able to finally allow herself to kiss him was sheer ecstasy for Nina, but when he responds in kind it goes to another level. She could completely lose herself in that kiss and the pounding of her heart. For several moments she's hardly aware of anything except for him - his arms around her and the tingling of her skin wherever she's touched. Absolutely anything could be happening around them and she probably wouldn't even notice. A part of her wants this moment to last forever.

Another part, however, is well aware that it won't. That part of her has noticed a pattern - that her understanding and acceptance of their emotions has always been several steps ahead of his. Probably for the same reason that his words and actions indicate a certain... unfamiliarity with them. Nina, on the other hand, has loved before. Well, never so quickly, easily, and especially deeply as this, but it's certainly no foreign concept to her. And knowing that discrepancy exists is, in a way, a bit of a safety net. She knows that there's still more talking to do, more understandings to come to, and a lot more thinking to be done by both of them. The reason she can so completely let go despite all of that is because she knows that he'll stop before she really wants to.

So it's no surprise to her when she feels him go stiff and she, not without some reluctance, lets him go. And where some women would take his immediate talk of getting her own place, being busy, and his hasty retreat as a rejection of sorts, she recognizes it for what it is: confusion. And she can't blame him for that - she's a bit confused herself, if to a much lesser degree. So her eyes are full of understanding as she watches him go in silence. And when the door closes to his study she can do little but hold herself for a moment and bask in the memory.

But the feelings seem to linger for such a short time before she sighs deeply and forces herself back to reality. There's a certain part of her that hates being idle, after all, and she lets herself listen to it. Her thoughts are too muddled to go back to her laptop however, so instead she simply sits back down on the couch and starts working a bit more on her wrist with her gift. That activity is connected to her current mood, at least, since if it weren't for her love she'd see worrying over her wrist so much as a waste of time. And it's actually a fairly mindless task at this point - even though repairing such an injury is a lot of careful work, it's also very repetitive. But that's just as well, because doing something mindless also allows her to think of other things, and she has a massive number of other things to think about now.

[Deleted]

Fifty-Five.

Fifty-Six.

Fifty-Seven.

Fifty-Eight.

He counted his breathing as it escaped through his lips. His eyes were closed as his thoughts started to calm down. He could easily be diagnosed with OCD with how soothing counting, riddles, and patterns were for his unsettled mind. Of course, Edward had never considered such a factor because that would be admitting a flaw in himself. No, he took it as a method for his sanity.

He let out another long breath finally feeling his heart slowing to an average rate. He opened his eyes to be staring at his desk. Nina loved him. How does he solve that problem? He could push her away. He could just avoid her for a month and then forget about her afterwards. It would be difficult but possible.

He felt his fingers tap along his cane. It would never work. He had feelings for her so even if he pushed her away he would still be there in the shadows….like a creepy man who dresses like a Bat. How does he solve this ridiculous riddle? His eyes drift to the blueprints on his tripod. There was a sketch of a room he had started on yesterday. He still hadn’t worked through the riddle he was going to put Crane in. He needed that fear toxin, yet the only thing his mind could focus on was Nina…Nina the person who loved him.

He frowned, gripping tighter onto his cane. He would finish up his riddle now. He would not focus on the woman in the other room, or imagine how easily she fit against his body. The frown deepened and he walked over to his desk and grabbed the drawing pencil from the top. His eyes turned towards the blueprint sketch. He tried to imagine where he wanted everything, but he couldn’t focus.

Focus.

Focus. Not on Nina, but on Scarecrow.

Scarecrow. How do you surpass a man supposedly a master of all fear? No man is a master of all fear…meaning…

He leaned the cane on his desk before turning his pencil on the blue paper. His mind had transported him into a different world, away from his current dilemma into a world where everything was easily solved. It felt like he was stacking up building blocks forming his perfect constructions that always led to his success. His perfect riddle. The first room was done. He took it off the tripod and put it on the desk. He moved to the next paper, pulling out a ruler as he made the next room and then the next room and the next. Until finally he was drawing two doors…two doors that were labeled with special metals and material. When he was finished he smirked. It had taken two hours, but everything seemed in place. They called him a genius for a reason.

He thought of Nina in the next room causing his smirk to falter. She wouldn’t approve of this, but she did say she didn’t have to know about it. Could he….could he just continue with this even though she would hate it? She had basically given him approval…why in the world did he need approval for what he did? He let out an annoyed sigh. He had managed to distract himself from this problem only to face it again!

He needed to get out this apartment. He needed to get away from her. He nodded in agreement with himself as he started for the door. He unlocked it with a quick movement and opened it to the hallway. He paused as his peripherals took in his living room. He couldn’t just walk pass her…..

He moved his body towards the living room pausing when his eyes found her. “I’m…leaving,” he stated aloud ready to head to his warehouse for work but his lips kept moving, “Would you like to come?”

She has been stuck in my apartment for days. She needs to leave. It’s only healthy. No Nigma, stop that.

But it was too late. He couldn’t take the offer back so he let the silence continue until he heard his answer.

(OOC: This does mean that I finally have the Scarecrow riddle finished. ^^)

[Nina Stenet]

Half absorbed in the microscopic world of her own wrist and half absorbed in her own thoughts about the full extent of what just happened between her and the man she loves, Nina is only vaguely aware of the passage of time. She's nearly to the point where she could just leave her wrist alone and let it heal without her help, but she could probably spend days pondering the other thing on her mind. So she's still sitting there, pondering her wrist when she hears the door of his study open a couple of hours later.

Having no idea what to expect now, she remains where she is and simply listens to his movements, wondering if he'll come her way or simply head out without a word. And though the latter would be a bit frustrating, once again it's something that she could understand. She can understand about needing space and time, and she's happy to give him all that he needs. That's a part of the reason she found that she could be so accepting - she'd rather he was happy than to try to force her will on him, even if she thought she could in the first place. But instead she hears his footsteps coming toward her, and she glances up when he comes into view. And his question causes a look of mild surprise to cross her face. And she doesn't really have to think about it before she very simply answers "Yes." and immediately stands up to follow him.

As someone so used to confining her world down to mostly just her own apartment and her own lab, she is probably a lot more tolerant about seeing the same four walls day in and day out than most, but something else is lacking: having anything interesting happen. Even on the most boring day of her regular routine she'd mix in new discoveries with the more tedious work of typing them up, she'd be interrupted periodically by colleagues wanting her advice or help, and there was always the possibility of something unusual happening her commute. Perhaps she could alleviate the tedium by watching TV or something, but she's never had a very strong interest in that sort of thing. And to have nothing for a few days was already starting to wear on her just a little, and she's guessing it will get worse if she doesn't take whatever opportunities she has to do something different.

Not to mention the fact that she's not at all opposed to the idea of spending some more time with the man that she loves, regardless of where he's going. And unlike him, she has no problem adding that to the list of reasons to do something. Especially now that she knows that he'll be careful not to do anything she can't tolerate.

[Deleted]

He blinked a few times in bewilderment when she agreed. He didn’t quite understand why the concept of her agreeing felt so foreign and surprising, but he tried to hide the expression from his face. “Oh,” he said aloud without his consent. He was planning on going to the warehouse and working on the riddle. Could he still do that with her? His eyebrows furrowed together as he chewed over the thought.

She said she accepted him. She would have to accept his work in some sense. It wasn’t like he was going to go into a detail example on how everything worked. For the most part it was just checking to see if he had the parts needed. He needed to see what he would have to purchase from the Penguin and other black market sources. He finally looked down at his hands and noticed he hadn’t brought any of his blue prints with him. He had been in such a hurry to distant himself from her, he had completely forgotten. When did he become such a mess? “Hold on a second,” he stated as she walked towards him. A lingering part of him wanted to forget his work and just kiss her again, but he tore his eyes away from her mouth and back towards his goal.

He walked back to his study with a brisk pace until he reached his desk. He piled the prints on top of one another before rolling them all up and wrapping a rubber band around them. He pulled out his Blackberry sending a text to Allen ordering him to pick them up in the back. It would be at least ten minutes until the big man got there. Edward hadn’t exactly planned this through. He really should start driving again, but he hated the reminder of pain when he pressed the gas pedal. He put his phone back in his pocket once the message was sent. What would he do now? He couldn’t just allow Nina to stand out there waiting for him. He would have to…his thought paused as his eyes gazed at the bottom bookshelf. There on the end was a large box.

He smirked automatically knowing what was in the box. He walked over to it, using his cane to push it off the shelf. In black sharpie written across the top was written Past Mistakes? He bent down and opened up the box revealing quite a bit of photo books (mostly filled with news clipping of being captured by the Bat), spandex, more spandex, part of his old golden broken question mark cane (he was quite theatrical in his younger days), old failed plans, old riddles on question mark cards, a few dud question mark explosives, and even more spandex. He had more of the stuff from his past at his warehouse, but you tend to lose a lot of it when you’re captured. However, his eyes locked on a green leotard and purple heels.

“You know, Nina, if you’re going to be spending time with me,” he stated as he walked out of his study with his one free hand behind his back, “I should warn you there is a dress code.” He had a devious smirk forming on his face as he found her waiting for him in the living room.