2—SIGNATURES AND ADDRESSEE:

On the yellow envelope is only written “Lets be pals” next to a squiggle, this does not appear to be something the Riddler wrote because he has so far not put phrases on the envelopes of his letters, the Riddler often puts the addressee on the envelopes or his distinctive mark which is usually the question mark. The canonical letters shown in the movie only put the addressee on the envelopes, not sentences.

And in the comics it is the same case, although they are not as neatly done as the ones in the movie, they also had an addressee and some other phrases, but not only phrases.

Letter addressed to Ms. Joon with a question mark, another alternative to the Riddler letters.

3—REASONS:

Leaving aside the letter itself, let's get to thinking about the reason for this letter, as the envelope itself says it is a letter to befriend the sender which in this case we deduce is Oswald. Why on earth would the Riddler want to befriend practically the enemy? If in the comic we are shown that Eddie is looking at the penguin as another target, even killing his boss who is the rataalada, what sense would it make for Edward to send the letter to Oswald?

POSSIBLE THEORIES: 

The letter we were shown as a teaser, was made by someone else, most likely the Joker since he tried to have alliances with the villains of the city (since he allied with Edward himself, it doesn't sound strange that he would want an alliance with the Penguin).

But there is also a chance that it could be someone else, a new character, another villain introduced in the series, who knows? It could be anyone.

It could even be another letter bomb, it's not like the Riddler hasn't done it before! 🥸

ANOTHER THING that was revealed almost at the same time as the photo of the letter was the update of Eddie's web page, in this one we are presented with followers of the Riddler talking to each other, in this there is not much mystery since it seems to be only promotion for the series.

The coordinates that HOLDTHELINE81 gives us are the exact address of the San Diego Convention Center, where the Comic-Con is being held. Anddd the link is for the promotion of an Iceberg longue-themed event, so ta-da! For the moment it's just promotion for the series (which I think is great!🫶)

So...this is my conspirator's contribution to the Penguin series previews that I'm looking forward to, I may end up looking like a clown 🤡🤡 but I enjoy giving my opinion, thanks for reading!

Summary: Flood consequences.

A/n: holaaa! Hellooo!!!1 I hope you have a great day, it took me a while to update because I came back from summer vacation and went back to college. Also start a Flufftober! (My AO3 ✮⋆˙)

With nothing more to comment, enjoy! ⊹ ࣪ ˖

Words: 6,120.

You looked at the ceiling of your cell while lying on your bed, wanting to distract yourself as much as possible from your current situation before falling into despair. 

You thought this might apply to a psychological experiment of some sort and you are the test subject, how long will you last between two psychotic neighbors whose vocal cords can't seem to get enough?

You estimate an hour before you finally scream out of annoyance.

But just as a possible psychological experiment can also be torture, the two didn't shut up for quite some time, the Joker laughed while your other neighbor sobbed making pitiful noises. You can't believe this is the same guy who made that whole malevolent spectacle.

You peeked your head out earlier and there you saw him, lying in the corner of the doorway where you can see him, his face swollen with tears, his expression shattered. It had to be him, there was no doubt that it was the same man, the one who terrorized everyone, lying like that, as if he hadn't done everything he did.

It was strange to see him like that, like he was sorry for what he did but you know that's a slight possibility. 

You close your eyes about to sleep when you hear the voice of the Joker, speaking in a way you had not heard him speak before, with a gentle voice comforting your other neighbor. 

It was not a dream, you heard it perfectly, he said a riddle to your other neighbor, for what purpose? 

That sounded somewhat comforting to Riddler, as he stops crying and gives a few small laughs at the riddle. 

You listened to the small interaction with an uneasy feeling, you kept silent in all those hours, hiding your presence.

You wish you didn't have nightmares tonight.

A week after the flood was indescribable, so fast but still the hours were just as slow, a lot of lost personnel, and security guards asked for days off to clean up their own lives, and some people disappeared in the waves of the city. You saw it all from your new cell, you managed to see the security screens with the news already on, the guards themselves needed to know what was happening instantly. Since the Joker was transferred to another cell for almost killing a nurse, the hours have been quieter. 

You saw him being led by several guards, he took his time to say goodbye to your neighbor and you, as he turned towards the cells, his haggard face gleaming, his smile rotten.

You want to talk to someone about it, but no one is available, your therapist's apartment was completely flooded and he was given a few weeks, on the other hand, Jonathan must be in Bludhaven, you're not that worried about him since he was fortunately out of town when all this happened, but still a part of you just wishes he was okay wherever he is.

Throughout that week, the news was devoted to showing the progress of the city's recovery, showing the heroic deeds of the Bat. When you wake up the first thing you do is look through the door at the morning news, see what Batman had done.

You saw reports of him saving too many people, you learned that he put your neighbor's supporters in their place in Bella Real's speech as the new mayor. You doubted Batman was the hero most said he was, but seeing him helping people made you change your opinion of him a bit.

Just a little bit. 

The news was your only entertainment these days, they didn't even let you go out to the library or other spaces except the showers, you understand, that the hard blow that the city received also had repercussions in the hospital, and you fear that the little peace you had achieved in these months will go down the drain for another patient with as much fame as the Joker. 

There was no worse punishment than this weird isolation imposed on you and perhaps all the other patients as a curfew to calm the waters and have less work. 

You haven't wanted to interact with your only neighbor so far, you don't know him, you have no idea how evil he can be so you leave him alone and he also doesn't seem to acknowledge your existence. In the evenings he would cry, for a few hours, and he wasn't so outrageous that you could reproach him for anything, it sounded like he was trying to be as quiet as possible but you still heard him.

It was a mix of emotions, your moral conscience spun and spun like a hamster wheel in search of an answer. As much as you heard the man cry seeing him like that didn't take away from the fact that he is still dangerous. Serial killers are notorious for having a lack of empathy, he proved that point when he did that twisted game with Batman. Now, he's just another Arkham patient like you, he no longer has his mask or his people, he's left alone.

You've watched him through the glass of your door, you've witnessed his daily routine of crying, you don't say anything to him. You just watch him analyzing every single thing he does when he stands in that corner near the door.

You felt like in your college days, already graduated and working. You saw too many people in that same state as your neighbor is now, sadness and crying is normal for human beings. But to say that the man you are looking at lamenting falls under the word "normal" is wrong.

You can't help but have that clinical eye even though you no longer need it, the reaction to his imprisonment is rather curious in your opinion. His capture was supposed to have already been established, so why is he crying? out of regret? out of fear? 

Before you could make any further progress in deciphering your neighbor, you were transferred to your previous cell, where you were better off. When they took you out you saw him out of the corner of your eye, he also looked at you, his face pressed against the glass, with his eyes open, you could only see him for a few seconds before the guards forced you to walk, that minimal interaction they had was strange, they did not speak at all, but his expression was communicating something. Did he know that you had been watching him all these days?

A month has passed since the flood caused by The Riddler, and half of the city has been successfully cleaned up, but the aftermath of the masked killer's anger has yet to be healed. 

You have seen the slow but sure progress through the window of your previous cell, the one you have called home on the nights when loneliness affects you the most, this time you can be more at ease knowing that you have no neighbors who could kill you if you are careless.

Through the window you saw the city of Gotham, the same city you haven't set foot in almost a year, you see the reconstructions of the bridges and where the bombs exploded, as the people trying to live their lives as if nothing had happened, walking between the big puddles, wearing rain boots up to their knees and covered with raincoats. 

You hear someone calling you from the door of your cell, you are so entertained with the panorama of the city that you don't even hear the first time they call you.

The second time your call sounds louder and you turn around in surprise, at the door there is a nurse with an envelope in his hand, you take a few steps through your cell and reach the nurse, but he keeps silent while he hands you an envelope with something inside through the crack of the cell door, the nurse leaves without saying anything, you thank him quietly grabbing the envelope and looking at it between your hands.

It's a simple yellowish-colored envelope with some wrinkles, you quickly open the envelope and take out what's inside.

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" you whisper in bewilderment at the cover of the book that was inside the envelope, a certainly unusual book with a colorful exterior with the five iconic characters walking down the yellow path, you found the drawings on the cover so fascinating that you almost forgot the most important part which is to look inside the book for a message. 

On the first title page, you read Jonathan's neat, fine cursive handwriting.

Appearances can be deceiving. 

Below the short sentence is his signature with the first initial of his name.

It doesn't bother you, his dedications are usually that frank, they usually have to do with the content of the works he gives you, maybe he said it for the Wizard of Oz? Why was he a phony? 

However you are touched by the gift, you return to your bed to start the new book in your hands, leaving the window and its view.

You hear Mr. M sigh for the third time, you want to ask him if he is okay but he is the therapist, and you are not. So you just keep silent closing your eyes and lying on the new couch in his office. You turned your head to look at him as he continued to write down whatever he was working on, you could see his tiredness, and his eyelids with dark circles under his eyes were noticeable, however, he remained level-headed but not trapped in his stoic appearance.

His stiffness is still there, but his posture is calmer, and the speed with which he writes also becomes slow and smooth, different from the small sounds of his pen moving fluidly when he gave you psychotherapy before the disaster.

There was an awkwardness in the air, apparently you only perceive it that way, Mr. M keeps writing, and you keep seeing him, maybe…

"Things are getting back to how they used to be..." your voice sounds a little hoarse due to the lack of speech these past few days, since you were isolated due to the flood talking to your therapist didn't sound so bad anymore.

"So it seems" he comments to you in a reflective voice without looking at you but acknowledges your comment, you change your lying position to a sitting one, the feel of the texture of the couch is so nice that if you continued lying down you would fall asleep.

You continue to analyze Mr. M, no words are needed to communicate something, and unexpectedly it calmed you to see your therapist in a different state than his professional and robotic self, the consequences of his private life were shown through his small gestures.

"Are you all right?" you ask without thinking too much, Mr. M is surprised to hear you stop writing to raise his head and look at you "Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking".

You nod your head at his answer even though you don't believe him, your interest remains but you don't insist. Slowly you get up from the couch to stretch your legs, the handcuffs on your wrists make contact with your skin as usual, your therapist puts down his tablet with documents and starts to look at you in silence. You walk to your favorite spot, the window of his office.

"Will I ever get out of here?" is a question you ask yourself every day when a crippling pessimism clouding your vision makes you want to hide in your bed, or when you witness the sunrises from your tiny cell window. But since the flood, those rays of hope you once had of one day getting out of Arkham are gone.

"I would like to think that at some point you will be able to complete your reintegration process, but that decision is made by different people" You hear his pen coming into contact with his notepads again, as you go back to your routine of watching the scenery.

You sigh, it was a good answer but it wasn't what you wanted to hear, again "the isolation is getting to me" you declare bitterly, leaving behind the silent treatment you once gave Mr. M.

"You will return to your lucrative activities as soon as possible, in addition to the fact that visits have already been enabled again."

No one visits you, that's a truth that hurts you, you're pretty sure Batman won't be visiting you for a long time, he must be too busy cleaning up a whole city. 

"Will I be able to go back to the library?" you stop looking out the window to look at your therapist, and you see him smile kindly (something that happens very rarely).

"Of course," he replies.

Some books in Arkham's "library" have never been read, or well, touched so to speak, there are books whose pages are completely stuck together and covered in dust, with the pages a brownish color. 

In your hands is one of that style, it's a children's crossword book, you estimate about three hundred pages just by looking at it, the pages remain hard and difficult to use but nothing you haven't seen before.

You try to dust it off with the sleeve of your uniform, you don't care if you end up with dirt on your clothes if it's the price to pay for being in the library again. If it weren't for the fact that there were more people in the room than you, you would have jumped for joy at the sight of the bookshelves you missed so much.

Speaking of people, you were amazed when you entered the room to see what other prisoners were visiting the library. You kept a low profile by ducking your head and moved nimbly between bookcases to keep away from the other patients who were doing their own thing.

Back to the book, it is a valuable treasure, because despite its condition, all the crossword puzzles are blank, a rare occurrence, as usually books are scratched with dedications or phrases written between pages, after all, Arkham books are donated.

You smile as you place your discovery on the book cart to be ordered, but suddenly, a screeching sound makes you almost throw the book on the floor with fright.

It was a scream of pain, you left your cart to discreetly head towards the source of the scream. You poke your head through a bookcase to see an unexpected scene.

Two patients fighting, something that happens all too often, yet you find it peculiar that no guard has separated them yet. 

You watch silently as the confrontation happens, a patient threatening with his fist and another guy who tries to defend himself, you do not know what to do, in situations like these it is best not to interfere, Arkham patients are different from each other, but all are a box of surprise that you do not know what awaits you.

You recognize one of them, making your blood run cold, the man who was defending himself with his arms is none other than the fucking Riddler.

You frowned at the memory, and now that you see him without the glass of your cell separating them you contemplate his appearance in detail, glasses with a broken lens, his baggy uniform, and no doubt you notice his height, from your cell you couldn't help but notice how tall he is.

You don't recognize the other patient who looks with uncontrollable rage at the Riddler, his fist still threatening him, he speaks looking directly at him, you don't manage to hear his conversation but you don't like what might happen.

You conflict with yourself, go forward or backward, you tell yourself that you should walk away and ignore the fight, but, that empathic part of you is still alive despite the injustices that fate has dealt you.

"Hey!" you speak loudly, you take a few slow steps, the two turn to see you and you almost regret having spoken, the angry face of the unknown patient does not go away, but that does not stop you from moving towards them, now that you have the aggressive patient's attention you are not going to waste them "Could you stop fighting? guards do not get nice when there are disputes" your negotiating skills were rusty and you realized it when you talked to them, that's what happens for being alone for so many days. 

You see the patient's face getting angrier and angrier, you have dealt with people with anger issues, but this is very different, you don't know this person or the reasons for his stay in Arkham, at any moment he can attack you but you just don't falter your gaze, yes, he intimidating you but he must not know that.

"And who are you?" he speaks annoyed and you open your mouth to introduce yourself but he interrupts you "Ah, I know you" his irritation changes with a sarcastic smile and he moves closer to you.

"I-" you try to say something but again he interrupts you "You're Crane's pet, aren't you?" he asks letting out a laugh, your words die in your mouth as you process what he said, you take his words off guard.

What did he just say?"

"No" you reply in bewilderment, the patient's smile growing as he hears your curt reply.

"Okay" he raises his palms in surrender but his look full of madness unsettles you, he quickly turns to look at the riddle still lying on the ground "This isn't over, freak" he points his finger at him with a threatening tone, and walks away from you, you let out a held sigh when you have lost sight of him.

You direct your eyes to the man lying on the floor, his face says only one thing: surprise. It looked like his green eyes were going to pop out of his wide-open ones, the two of you remain in an awkward silence until you approach him offering your hand. 

He hesitates for a few seconds to grab your hand, but he takes it, without saying anything you help him up, and without waiting for him to say anything you walk away with your back to him. 

You don't want to get involved with a man like the Riddler, someone so popular and hated, you wouldn't be surprised if everyone is plotting something very horrible for him, as they say, prisons can be a real hell. Arkham is many things, a psychiatric hospital, a prison for criminals, or the perfect place to do your clinical internship. 

But you saved him from that patient, and you still can't find the reason why you helped him, you tell yourself it's just a matter of principle.

On your way back to your book cart, which is still intact, you can't stop thinking about what that patient told you.

<Crane's pet>

You thought the friendly "relationship" you have with Jonathan was discreet but from what you see it's not, so that's what they call you? How do they make fun of you? Calling you in a derogatory way Jonathan Crane's pet. Deep inside you feel that sometimes that's what you are to him, that insecure part that grows from the lack of human contact, Jonathan is a renowned person both in Arkham and Gotham, you're just a patient, why would he want to be your friend? 

You haven't seen him in weeks and that's starting to distress you, you only know he's still alive because of the book he gave you, but you don't know if the flood also affected him. It's the first time since you were locked up that you haven't seen him in a long time, and although you don't want to admit it, it's affecting you. 

You miss him.

You miss his visits, the times he seeks you out to see you and chat about trivial things. Despite Jonathan's firm attitude, you consider him as a confidant, your best friend, maybe something more.

All the while you stare at the doors waiting for him to come in in one of his stupidly fancy outfits and ask you how you've been doing. You pick up another old book and wipe it off with your uniform, the excess dust making you sneeze. You leave the book in its place to rub your nose, while hoping your sneeze doesn't mean a possible cold, you don't notice other person watching you from afar. 

You almost trip over your own feet walking towards the visiting room, you can barely lift your eyelids and see the path clearly, a guard behind you guides you with a firm hand on the chain of your handcuffs, leading you as fast as possible towards your destination. They woke you up in the middle of the night, you're not clear on the reason, they just said they require your presence urgently, you curse in your mind as they open the metal door to the visiting room, having an idea of who your visitor might be.

When you enter the room the first thing you see is him and you make an angry sound, the guard forces you into the room and you reluctantly obey. You didn't even notice when the guard who accompanied you left.

"What are you doing here?" you ask the man in the other room closing your eyes from the glow of the lamp, you reach for the metal chair and sit down, the man across the room watches your little movement in silence "What time is it? Couldn't you wait until in the morning or something?" you continue complaining opening your eyes adjusting to the light. The night knight hasn't uttered anything since you arrived, his mysterious aura was something that intrigued you but now when the guards disturbed your sleep just to see him, you find it a nuisance.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" you ask looking at him with a frown, the faster he finds what he's looking for the faster you'll be in your bed.

"You knew that?" not a ‘hello’, ‘not a how are you?’ he goes straight to the point asking you with an accusatory tone, you look at him with confusion now what is he talking about? 

"Know what?" you squint your eyes, Batman ever so mysterious, he moves closer towards the glass partition and you can see him better, you notice it instantly, there is something different about him, you don't know what it is at first glance, but there is something different.  

"The flood" he pronounced in disgust.

The flood? you repeat to yourself, not believing that what he said was indeed real "You think I had something to do with that?" you question him perplexed by the conclusion he came to, without you realizing it you start scratching your wrists from the itching of the handcuffs. 

"What you told me" he speaks with a serious tone "Made a lot of sense." 

"And because of that I'm already an accomplice?" you're still confused, does he think you have anything to do with it?

The first time you saw the Riddler was when he was crying in his cell, nothing else.

He kept silent examining you as if he didn't know what to say, thinking deeply about his next words. 

"You wanted my perspective and I gave it to you, that was all" You defend yourself looking for his gaze between his mask and his eyes covered with black dust, you thought he had changed, that after seeing him through a screen as a routine he would change. 

Silence.

"I didn't know" you speak quickly, the sleep in your body has drained and the shock comes, this is not how it was supposed to be the next time you would see the masked man after so many days of seeing him on the news "I'm telling you the fucking truth" you clarify again, his silence starts to make you nervous, you sigh lowering your head looking at your hands wrapped around each other, the irritated skin stays there, you raise your head to face the coldness of the dark knight again.

"Listen Batman" you speak to him with your voice returning to normal "I don't know what made you think it would be a good idea to ask me if I did or not" You give a long groan and continue "But your visits are never just to ask me stupid questions, there's always a reason, so spit it out."

Batman takes a seat and you hear his combat boots clacking in the room, his suit would look almost perfect if it weren't for some mud stains on his cape and gloves.

"The scarecrow knew it."

You make a grimace showing your discomfort, just hearing that nickname for the person who ruined your life makes you shudder, you just can't get used to hearing it, let alone saying it, as if it were a cursed name that just by naming it something bad would happen to you. Over time you have tried to overcome that fear, but in the context of this precise moment, where Batman talks about him scares you so much that you keep your hands in the pockets of your uniform.

"How do you know that?" you stutter your words.

"Riddler's apartment was seized along with all his computers" he informs you turning to look you straight in the eyes "Conversations between the two of them were found" he doesn't bring a folder with him, the more you listen to what he tells you your face gets paler and paler "Scarecrow was aware of what was going to happen and gave him his help".

At Batman's statement, you were provoked by absolute regret, that a man with broken glasses and an ordinary appearance was interacting with your worst enemy, and you defended him.

You shouldn't have done it, if you had known, you would have ignored it. 

"You still think he and I are some kind of team?" you can't help but be offended every time Batman insinuates that you're related to the scarecrow-masked man.

"Are they?".

You lose your patience when you see his seriousness, you can't stand that he treats you this way, an undignified treatment where he looks at you with great prejudice, you are not a monster, but why does he look at you as if you were?

"NO!" you shout "How many times do I have to tell you that man ruined my life, Batman?" you don't care if you look like a maniac, the person in front of you managed to disappoint you, again. "I saw you on the news did you know that? they kept talking about you, how excellent you are, the new hope of Gotham" You get up from your metal seat and approach the glass that separates them, and the man in the dark suit approaches in the same way.

"But you're nothing but a failure" you whisper to him with a frown "Face it Batman!" you raise your voice in anger, you point your finger at him touching the glass "You locked up the wrong person, the Scarecrow is still free harming this city and I'm still here!"You can see Batman practically biting his tongue in frustration, you stop your tirade in surprise at the masked man's willingness to listen to you, he had never stopped to do so before, walking away when you got angry, or insulting you when he was in a bad mood.

"You should have caught him instead of me."

The watchman avoids your gaze, lowering his eyes, you thought he would say nothing and leave "Sorry" he apologizes softly but you hear him and shake your head at his curt apology, all the while you dreamed of the day when the man he put you in Arkham would repent for the mistake he made, but now that it is reality and not a dream you perceive that those apologies are no longer necessary.

"I don't want your forgiveness," you tell him taking a seat back in the metal chair, scratching your neck and feeling the cold metal "What I want is Justice". 

He listens attentively to your request and slowly moves away from the light of the room, his suit makes him blend in with the walls, but you saw how he opened the door and left the room without saying anything.

You saw him go, he didn't say goodbye and you didn't expect him to either.

You can't sleep.

No matter how hard you try to fall asleep it just doesn't work, not when the ‘argument’ you had with the city's savior filled you with uncertainty and sadness. 

Even though you hated to see him, he was one of the few people who visited you, one of the few people you interacted with. It's complicated, so complex that even you don't know how you feel about him, all the time you stress the hostility you feel when talking to him, but there is also that melancholy when he doesn't come to see you. 

Before you were locked up, you held Batman in high esteem, at the time he was an unknown in the eyes of the city, a rookie vigilante, but now... 

You don't know what to feel anymore.

Hate, resentment, grief, admiration, all of these are what you feel when you think of the man you saw rescue so many people, a jumble of emotions that you hate to experience firsthand.

You hug the last book that Jonathan gave you, and the sun's rays say good morning while you just look at the emptiness, you just want to rest after facing Batman in the face.

Maybe you have become brave.

Brave? you? you smile as you consider that, that adjective fits Jonathan better, he is, not to the point of being a fearless giver of all, but he doesn't blink in a panic situation.

You used to think of Batman as one of the bravest people in the entire city for taking the risk of fighting crime by himself, however, at this point, he can't even stand to be in the same room as you without running away from you for the wrong he did to you.

Someone knocks on your cell door and you look up to see who the heck came to visit you so early in the morning.

"Good morning" Jonathan greets you by opening your cell door with his worker card, when he enters your cell he closes the door without a second thought, and quickly you get up from your bed and run to him.

"Jonathan!" you greet ecstatic and excited to see him after so long, without thinking of the consequences you hug him forgetting that he is a worker and you are a patient, you hear him let out a soft laugh as he accepts your embrace and wraps his arms with yours.

"Looks like someone missed me," Jonathan tells you and you feel his happiness when he talks to you and he hugs you, he takes you in your arms for a few more seconds before he pulls you apart, and the two of you look into each other's eyes, you swear you almost started crying right there, god, how you missed him.

"How are you? are you okay? were you here when the flood happened?" you blurt out several questions looking at him with concern, you realize he is still the same as the last time you talked, his smile is barely noticeable but you notice the sparkle in his blue eyes, he missed you too? 

"I'm fine, all this time I was in Bludhaven, I just got back to Gotham and..." he takes the time to finish his sentence but you beat him to it "Crazy, right?" you smile bringing out your bubbly side, with Jonathan by your side it's easier to smile and joke.

"It's a mess," he says raising a hand to stroke your head slowly "How are you? Tell me what you've done". 

Instead of answering him that there is not much you can do when you are locked up in Arkham, you are left wondering how to tell him the events of the month. You enjoy his hand on your head "It's a long story" you tell him and he stops touching you heading over to your bed to sit with one leg elevated and resting on the other.

"I have time," Jonathan said adjusting his glasses and waiting for you to take a seat next to him on your stiff bed.

You hesitated at first, it is not right for workers to interact in such a casual way with patients, that was made very clear to you since your first year of university, but it seems that Jonathan does not fit that rule, from the first time you met him you realized that he is not a common Arkham psychologist either, nor does he compare to Mr. M in both respect and popularity. So you put those thoughts aside and sit comfortably next to Jonathan.

"The first days after the flood were a nightmare" you start to tell your version and Jonathan looks at you with attention "Beyond the fact that they didn't let us go out to any corner of the hospital, the worst was when they transferred me to a cell next to the Joker and the Riddler," you say lowering your eyes but not your head remembering the few days you were there.

Jonathan doesn't seem surprised by what you said "So you met him" he comments and you nod your head taking your new colorful book, no more context is needed to know he was referring to the Riddler, the fresh new clinical case to study "What do you think?".

"I don't know," you tell him the truth since you found out that man knew the scarecrow you can't see him the same way "I don't want to talk about him".

"Why?".

You stopped looking at the book to see him, you know that tone in his voice, that voice he uses when he is working, but honestly, at what point is he not psychoanalyzing you? 

"Batman visited me, he told me himself that he and you-know-who worked together" you confessed censoring the name of the other criminal, Jonathan notices it "The Scarecrow" he stresses adjusting his glasses from the end pieces.

You give him an affirmative murmur distracted with your book, Jonathan doesn't stop being that scrupulous man even though most of the time he will treat you as a friend, he keeps trying to apply his therapy techniques so that you will try to overcome your fear of the scarecrow, which you don't like. 

"It makes sense" Jonathan looks down to see the same thing you are looking at "You know it can't hurt you anymore," he says to you in a low voice to reassure you, you shake your head, and you find no comfort in his words.

Even if he were free and you locked up he stays alive in your nightmares.

When you realize that the two of you fell into a comfortable silence in which Jonathan examined every corner of your cell, you speak again "Thank you very much for the book" You change the subject by picking up the children's story, the man next to you smiles.

"You're welcome" Jonathan accepts the change of conversation, but you are aware that his attention to your phobias is not over at all "Do you know why I gave it to you?" he asks you, and your animated demeanor returns.

"Let me guess, it must be because of the deep psychological significance each character has and their journey through Oz" you reply in a feigned voice full of pretentiousness.

Jonathan smiles but doesn't laugh, he points his finger at the cover of the book "I just wanted you to know that there are good scarecrows" You see his finger touch the image of the jolly straw man smiling next to Dorothy, you open your eyes starting to laugh.

"I know there are good scarecrows" You gradually stop laughing. "But I know there are bad too" You gently touch the cover of the book, it's nothing more than a children's story full of fantasy, in your mind you wish things hadn't ended up like this.

You turned your eyes towards Jonathan sitting so elegantly, at least you are no longer alone in this hospital.

Taglist: @ostricx @sunshinesetsstuff.⋆˙⟡♡

A/n: Holaaa everyone! here I am posting another story that I thought of in a sleepless night, I think it's one of my most ambitious fics that I've been planning but that makes it cooler! I should clarify that this fanfic is mixed with the 2022 movie with the Nolan saga (but in such a minuscule way that it's barely imperceivable). I'm back from my vacation so I'll update my other work soon! ♡

I also want to clarify that English is not my first language, so an apologize for the spelling mistakes. ✧˖°. (My English is rusty :´p).

(Also this fanfic is published on AO3) ✿

Warning: Fluff and angst, Obsessive Behavior, Canon Compliant (the flood occurred, sorry) Movie spoiler (Batman 2022) if there is another warning I did not put, please let me know.

Words: 5,400

You stroll as two guards lead you to a room, you don't know where they are taking you but it's not like you could complain either. The guards behind you ignored you all the way chatting with each other as if they were not watching an Arkham patient, they let you into the individual visiting room. Still, you nicknamed it the interrogation room because you only come here when that person requests your presence.

You sit down without a problem in the stiff metal chair, the approving noise of the iron partition sounds throughout the place, and you hear one of the guards closing the door leaving you alone with him.

At first, it was tedious, even traumatic in a way to come to this room to talk to the person who captured you and brought you to Arkham without hesitation. You couldn't refuse to see him, not when the caped man is a colleague of an important commissioner. No matter how many times you told him, how many times you yelled at him that you were innocent, he either didn't believe you or just wouldn't listen. You got tired of telling everyone around you that it wasn't your fault, none of them listened to you.

The metal partition rises completely, and little by little you see the almost imperceptible figure of the knight of the night. He kept silent without sitting down, standing in front of you analyzing you as everyone does nowadays, but you no longer care what he thinks of you, you are practically a hopeless case for him.

"Hello?" your greeting sounded confusing, you were not expecting a visit from him, but you have an idea why he comes to you, on certain occasions he shows you cases of different indoles, also that he has found some clue of the…

"I'm looking for the Riddler" He doesn't greet you and moves closer to the glass that separates them, you can take a better look at him, he's still the same since the last time you saw him, his attire nor his face have changed at all, but you notice something different in his voice, is it tiredness you hear?

"The Riddler?" you look at him unclear as to what he means "Who is that?".

"A serial killer" he informs you, you often hear those terrible words from him, how often does Batman chase killers like that, it's like there's one every week, it's cruel but it's the truth, Gotham is the cradle of evil, hell on earth, some would say.

"And what have I got to do with him?" you ask hesitantly.

Batman leaves a gray folder in the crack that connects the two rooms as if it were a mailbox "I need to know your perspective".

For a moment you thought about rejecting whatever is in that folder, but your curiosity won you over, you slowly grabbed the folder somewhat heavy because of the many sheets stored, on the cover of the folder you can see a CLASSIFIED in capital letters, that fuels your interest even more and you open the folder.

It's a lot to take in at once, you open your eyes from the initial shock, you haven't seen so much blood since your clinical internship days, you close the folder for a few seconds to recover, and you look Batman in the eye with a frown, he didn't even warn you how grotesque the case could be. 

Batman looks back at you completely seriously, he looks immutable and silent. You open the folder again and are greeted by the same disturbing images "Wow, it's something " you comment uneasily.

You see the evidence, black and white photos of the murders stapled to the autopsy reports, it is amazing how this man can have such information. the more time you spend reading the events and the evidence the more disturbed you become. 

Mayor Don Mitchell Jr, mayor of Gotham for several years, you saw him once at a social event done by Gotham University, he was happy and smiling maybe because of the excess alcohol in his veins. but now you look at the crime scene, his face completely wrapped in duct tape.

"No more lies..." you whisper reading the message on the corpse of the mayor, then that was with an already established motive, to give a statement.

On the other hand, Commissioner Savage's body is barely recognizable, the cage on his head says it all.

This is no ordinary killer.

What have you gotten yourself into, batman?

"why are you showing me this?" you manage to ask him even with the murders fresh in your mind, you don't think you will sleep tonight.

The already-seated masked man repeats to you "I need to know your perspective".

"As a patient or as a psychologist?" technically you can no longer practice your career since they took away your degree, but he doesn't correct you, you peruse everything that was offered, the riddles, the pictures of all the letters he has left for Batman, descriptions of the crime scene, write-ups of the witnesses who found the bodies.

"Both" he declares.

The handcuffs on your wrists do not give you much freedom to move your arms but do not prevent you from handling the documents in the folder, if Batman thought this might interest you he was right, for better or worse you did not stop seeing file after file.

"How extravagant," you say your first impressions "Brusque with his victims, he really is angry" You turn the page to see the pictures of his riddles "But he is also ingenious, this is not prepared from one day to another, he has been planning this for a long time, I would say years".

"Angry at who?" the man in front of you asks but you don't answer him instantly, you take your time carefully reading all the research, it's a lot for only one killer and few victims, but it's nothing that can be used to find him.

"With the world" you turn the page to see Commissioner Savage's crime scene photo "The pattern is evident, the mayor...the commissioner...does not kill ordinary civilians." 

"Do you think it's political?".

You barely smile at the mere idea that this is just politics "No, this is too intimate for him, riddles are an essential part of his life that he knows how to use to his advantage...and I only come to one conclusion..." you shut up and rearrange the documents to close the folder. 

"What is it?" batman questions you with intrigue in his voice.

You see him again, he must be desperate somehow to find this Riddler who asks for the opinions of third parties, of "crazy" people like you, something he dislikes, he prefers to work alone, that's his emblem. Deep down it angers you to no end, he hasn't caught your living nightmare and he's already looking for another asshole.

"That" you passed him the folder through the crack in the partition between rooms, and he retrieves it in his hands "Is revenge, Batman, and a very wicked one."

"Give me a diagnosis" he speaks faster, and the anger starts to seep into his face and it satisfies you to sometimes see him like this, frustrated Batman...yeah that's a first.

you smile and relax in your stiff metal seat "You should ask Dr. Crane for that, he's more prepared than I am, don't you think?".

"He refused" You'd know he'd turn it down, he's not like Batman or you, he doesn't even like to play Clue.

"yeah, he doesn't have the hobby of playing detective" you shrug your shoulders "I can't give you a diagnosis because it's little, he has left only what he wants us to know, maybe he includes you in this because he admires you or because he wants to kill you, who knows" you blurt out everything you think without any shame, in your mind you are already putting together a criminal profile with only what he gave you, but you won't tell him that, he doesn't deserve your help.

The masked man's posture tenses and he begins to clench his fists, your smile grows. 

"all that, all those little clues he leaves you make me think this is all a big riddle on his part" You pointed to the folder held by one of his gloved hands.

"I don't think he's going to stop until he sees everyone on his list dead."

What you told him seemed to affect him, because he suddenly gets up and goes to the door without looking at you, and he found no news "I can't waste time" he whispers with disdain, he leaves the room and you stand watching the door where he left.

So it's a riddle against the clock, huh? you think.

The sky in Gotham looks like a landscape worthy to take a picture of, from here you can see the buildings of different heights, the traffic between highways, and the bridges, even if you force your sight you can see people walking.

"Do you like the view?".

You continue to look through the window reinforced with bars and tempered glass, the bars cover part of the landscape but you can still admire the beautiful gray sky full of clouds ready to rain.

"yes..." you say putting your hands between the bars without stopping to think how happy you would be just to be out of this abyss. you didn't appreciate the beauty of the freedom you had before you were here.

"What do you like most about the view?".

You take a few seconds to respond, the handcuffs on your wrists started to itch on your skin, that itch so normalized on your skin that you don't do much to get rid of that itch, you didn't look away from the window, this simple reinforced window brought you comfort for all these months.

"Everything."

"You hear the voice of your therapist repeat your answer and nod, will your cafeteria still be open? The Gotham Library will have finally added new books? the university will have already changed that horrible lamp in one of your favorite classrooms? 

Batman already caught the Riddler?

"What a good answer actually, but I need you to sit down for a further conversation, soon the session will be over" The doctor's professional tone makes you tense up, you feel like you are not talking to a human but to a fucking robot, that's how you have thought them since you were imposed to this therapist.

You listen to what you say and sit in the other chair where you are supposed to be for the whole session, however, Mr. M has let you have the sessions while you watch from the only window, you are grateful for that, even if you didn't like him at all.

"I have been informed about your good behavior this week, if you continue like this you can be given more access through the hospital" Mr.M speaks calmly looking through several documents held by a wooden board.

Fuck you, you thought but didn't tell him, you don't have the luxury of being rude to him. you'll never get the same freedom you got when you were still an average citizen of Gotham and it saddens you, it makes your blood boil to remember every moment of your existence that you're here unjustly.

"Thank you" You speak as little as possible because you know you would break down in tears just remembering that you are another day of your life wasted locked up among so many criminals.

"But" Mr.M stops looking at his documents to turn to look at you "I was also told that you refuse to take your medication, why is that?".

"Why don't I need them" you speak cuttingly again, the itch in your wrists grows and you scratch with your fingernails without realizing it.

"you have to take his medicine...it will make your recovery process more enjoyable" he grabs his tablet with documents and writes again, Mr.M does not scold you but you perceive it like this, you want to go back to your cell, you feel so ashamed that your skin gets hot, how did you come to this? How did you fall so low that you are the one they have to medicate? 

"Fine" you lie to him, you dislike the taste of the medicine they force you to take, you know perfectly well what they prescribe you, you studied for it after all.

But everyone seems to forget that.

Only Batman can recognize your abilities, but he does not help you at all in your case.

And well, you paranoidly believe that Jonathan is only talking to you out of unconscious guilt.

"Okey" Mr. M gives a soft smile "Just one last question before our time is up" he checks the time on his wrist watch "Have you made a new friend? Have you managed to get along with anyone?".

You avoid the gaze of your therapist "No" you denied, another issue you don't want to address, your notorious loneliness in this hospital. If it weren't for your unique best friend who works here, you would be all alone.

"Why?."

You don't answer him, you also question the same thing, you haven't had an interest to socialize with the other patients since you arrived, and there are still things that are not clear to you.

Mr. M sighs dropping his papers in a file cabinet near him "Well, I'll leave it as homework for you to start seeing new people, making a friend sounds excellent."

"I'll try" You don't lie to him.

"Perfect."

It's been a day since Batman visited you and you had your weekly session with Mr.M, you haven't been able to sleep due to the tremendous curiosity of the new assassin the bat is looking for.

Just when you thought nothing could surprise you in this city since your accident, along comes a man with a question mark and puts the whole city in check, that's the city to him, a colossal chessboard, the DPGC, the Gotham elite, the citizens, they are all pieces in the game, and Batman and he are the only players.

Batman said he didn't have time, Does that mean that he has to catch him these days? how curious, with the Joker, it took months to find him, you were only intercepted in a couple of hours, and the Scarecrow...

no, you don't want to think about him.

You get distracted thinking about the Riddler again, you do your daily service arranging books in the small library of Arkham, your safe place where few or no people stop around these parts, here it is not necessary to use your wrist and neck cuffs, but your uniform is still on, and the plastic bracelet with your information identify you as a patient.

You yawn as you place a couple of worn-out books on the shelf, you felt like a bookstore worker, sometimes you usually fantasize that you are one to take away your boredom, but others usually burst your dreamy bubble.

Today, one of the guards decided to turn on the old-fashioned TV set in one of the upper corners of the library, you stand near a bookcase to see what channel they put on this time, usually they only put on the sports channel to watch the game of the moment.

But on this occasion, the guard put on the news channel, and you immediately put down the books you have to accommodate to concentrate on what is shown on TV.

The guard is still standing and so are you, both watching a live breaking news broadcast. The news anchor reports a new Riddler attack.

He bombed a prosecutor at the mayor's funeral.

The guard's face looked more and more frightened, you watched the news with morbid curiosity. Batman's new opponent seems more sadistic than you thought, that detailed report confirmed it.

But seeing their repeated acts on TV was shocking, you even heard the guard who put on the news say in a low voice " We are doomed. "

You silently agree with him, for the first time you are relieved to be locked away from all the chaos going on right now.

You saw how the explosion managed to reach Batman, surprising you as the guard, the man takes off his distinctive security guard hat when he sees the video, on the other hand, you are still stunned, not believing it, somehow you forgot that this man dressed in black and wearing a cape is still a human of flesh and blood, he simply can't die like that, not when he has things to save, people to capture.

He hasn't found your living nightmare yet.

Before you pull your hair out in frustration the news anchor states that Batman is still alive, the guard satisfied by the information puts his cap back on and returns to his guard position which is the entrance to the library.

You are still looking at the report, and suddenly the image of the man who calls himself the Riddler appears. You hadn't seen him in such detail until this moment, the photos in the Batman report were extremely blurry images, but this time he is in HD, he is completely wrapped in green clothes, and the only thing you can see of him, is his eyes. 

His voice is altered but you can notice that venomous tone of his he asked prosecutor Gil Colson some riddles, but in the end, he couldn't answer what Riddler wanted.

You sigh while grab another couple of books and start arranging them one by one. If Batman is still alive it means this isn't over.

"I knew I would find you here".

"It's not like I can go many places" You smile slightly turning to look at the man who spoke to you. 

Jonathan Crane, the living legend of the hospital, with tailored suits, no wrinkles in his coat, and a well-made tie that matches the sweater he wears under his coat. There isn't a single time you haven't seen Jonathan without his perfect appearance but maybe it's just you idealizing as usual. 

Jonathan gives you a polite smile "Right" Just by hearing that you know he won't stay to chat for long, he tends to contradict you most of the time just to annoy you and agree with you when he's busy.

"Are you coming to get a book?" you ask him the first thing that comes to mind.

"No, I wanted to talk to you before I left," he says adjusting his glasses "I'm going away for a couple of weeks to blüdhaven University to give lectures, it will be a simple thing" Your smile doesn't falter, you are touched that he lets you know when he won't be able to see you, and how he manages to keep the conversation so casual. 

As if they were still colleagues.

"Is that so? What will you talk about?".

"Childhood traumas" he reveals looking at you without any shyness, he has a barely perceptible smile but you notice it. 

"why am I not surprised?" you resume your work in arranging books "Although you know how to pick interesting topics, I wish I could attend" You recognize that Jonathan has been too devoted to his work and student life, he is that kind of strict professor who gives his students nightmares from the assignments and exams he gives. His lectures are fascinating, to say the least, you attended many.

"I'll tell you about it when I get back, in the meantime" From inside his suit he pulls out a  flyer in half "It's something extremely summarized but it'll do" You take the piece of paper and stuff it in one of your pockets. It's not the first time Jonathan smuggles things to you, god, you can even be sure he gives you something every time you see each other. 

"Thank you" you thanked looking at his face, he also remains silent looking at you, the eye contact between you is not something out of another world either, on your part, it's a habit that started when you were still studying, you can't help but want to observe everyone around you, analyze them somehow, see their behavior.

Jonathan does the same, but more rigorous and practical, he is direct and not afraid to say it, you see his hair combed to his liking, his glasses clean without any smudge, his eyes examining you. 

You leave your admiring mode when you diverted your gaze a little to the old TV that is still on, the news keeps showing the latest events of the hours, repeating the most recent crime of Riddler.

Your smile dims as you recall the video of the explosion, the prosecutor begging for mercy and the bomb stuck in his chest.

"Did you see what happened at the mayor's funeral?" you whisper to him in a low voice trying not to let anyone hear them, you look with your eyes for the guard on duty but you can't find him, Jonathan must have asked him for some privacy time, at times you forget the influence that the man in front of you has generated with years and effort.

He turns his head for a few seconds watching the news on TV and turns to look at you again with a sensible and neutral face. 

"yes, I saw it, I was there when it happened".

"What?" you utter with surprise "You were there?" there was no sign of a lie on his face to make you think he wasn't telling you the truth.

"Some teachers from the university we went to give condolences when the show happened" Jonathan clarifies simply, you approach him to talk closer, he doesn't seem upset "So it's true? Riddler attacked that prosecutor?".

"He killed him."

You shut up for a moment because of his statement, it's true, Riddler killed him, and almost Batman too.

"And Batman? Did you see him in action?" at this point you sound like first-rate gossip, but still Jonathan answers your questions, but is no longer as pleased doing so, the moment you mention Batman. 

"He arrived when most of the people had already been evacuated."

"Wow" you blurt out surprised, if you didn't know him better you would have been uneasy with his calmness when talking about the experience, he says it without any fear because that's exactly what's so special about Jonathan in your eyes, he's not afraid of anything.   

"Batman looked you up, didn't he?" Jonathan changes the subject quickly and you nod your head, you move away from his side to reach for a cart full of books to be arranged "He wanted my opinion on the riddler, can you believe it?" you laugh "I told him to look you up better, but you turned him down."

"That's right" he assures leaning on one of the bookcases for comfort, he looks at you picking up a book and you place it among several other books on another bookcase "I don't lend myself to that sort of thing".

"I know, killjoy Crane" you scoff boldly.

"Whatever you say" he sighs "I have to go, there will be a meeting at the university" Before you could say goodbye properly, he approaches you to give you an extremely momentary hug, it was so fast that you couldn't return the hug because he had already separated from you. You swore you could smell some of his cologne.

"uh yeah, see ya" You are barely able to utter the words without getting over the small contact they made, he has said goodbye to you like this, but you are still not used to it.

Jonathan smiles at you picking up his briefcase that you didn't see in the first place, walks to one of the tables where the TV control is, picks it up, and turns off the TV "I don't like you watching that" he tells you already heading for the exit where the guard re-enters the library.

You wrinkle your forehead due to irritation. Sometimes you don't understand Jonathan.

You genuinely thought your head was going to explode from the pain. 

Being in Arkham meant being cut off from the outside, you had no idea of the chaos that erupted overnight, the perverse game of Batman and Riddler was so forceful, that Arkham unexpectedly came into the spotlight when the green-masked man was captured. An alert in your head went off when you heard from a very nervous guard. You thought it was almost impossible for Batman to catch Riddler, and that he's here being processed to this hospital gives a lot to suspect.

The report Batman showed you are not wrong, the madman of riddles is too elusive to be caught in such a short time.

Why? You ask yourself, why did he let himself be defeated?

The hospital was in chaos with the arrival of the new patient in the middle of the night, nurses running around, and security guards moving patients to different cells temporarily, you were taken out of your small cell to another one just as small and almost the same.

Even with suspicion in your being, you don't understand what all the fuss was about, not even when they paraded the Joker through the main hall in a straitjacket as if he were a villain from some movie did they get as upset as they are now with Riddler.  

You sat on your new bed just as hard as the one in your previous cell, not wanting to catch the social panic you try to meditate, Mr. M advised you to do so and since then you put it into practice.

Maintaining a state of relaxation is difficult but you have practiced it for months, you started the breathing exercises, and as you slowly inhale and exhale your thoughts begin to melt one after the other, calming you down, and making your anxiety about all the fuss disappear.

You exhale again and inhale hard again, you could be doing this all day, you have nothing to worry about, you're in your world, locked away from society, and must be recovering from whatever Riddler did as his closing snap.

You open your eyes and stop doing your breathing exercises, you hear a laugh. But not just any laughter, but a loud and annoying laughter, you instantly get up from your bed and run towards the door with a small glass window. The laughter was not your imagination, and you can recognize it now that you are closer to the door.

You don't see any guards guarding this section of cells, how strange. The laughter continues unabated. It must be some neighbor of your cell because of the proximity of the noise and you have an idea of who it might be but you ignore it for only a few minutes, you can't take it anymore and yell "Can you shut up for once?".

Your cell neighbor stops laughing and you can finally feel at peace, but instead starts a conversation.

"Scarecrow?" you close your eyes just hearing that horrible nickname he gave you at some point during his hospital stay. relatively the two have been in Arkham for a similar amount of time, both trapped by Batman and calling them the dark knight's worst enemies. 

But you could never compare yourself to someone like him Joker. 

You had a chance to get to know each other when you let him participate in common activities, you don't want to remember the first time you spoke to each other, it ended badly, period.

"Don't call me that, asshole" you insult him and he sounds pleased with your response.

"Ah! Are we sensitive today? It's a holiday! Let's celebrate!" 

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"our guest of honor has arrived, only his final trick is missing!" he continues to speak in that animated voice that irritates you.

When you talk to the Joker you get that feeling that he is speaking in another language, but he is not, you understand what you are saying but at the same time, you don't. You also realized that he knows too much to be just an Arkham patient. 

But everyone at the hospital can assure you that your neighbor is not an ordinary patient at all.

This time you managed to understand his words, Riddler still has an ace up his sleeve, how could the Joker find out about that?

"Did Batman interrogate you too?".

"Of course he did...I'm his favorite!" he replies in the same arrogant manner as always "but I don't forgive him for being so crude on our anniversary."

"So you saw it, huh? I don't think this is a coincidence" You suppose the Joker must have seen it too, of course, he may be reciprocally insupportable but he's not stupid.

The clown laughs, but you don't, you didn't say anything funny in your opinion.

"Poor little Riddler, he thinks he can be just like him."

You ponder what he says, returning to your bed as you sit up again, the sky begins to clear and you can see it through the tiny barred window.

What if this assassin wanted to imitate Batman in some way? 

"What a bizarre introjection you've made, Riddler" you whisper.

First, there was an explosion.

You felt the whole cell rumble, you woke up instantly and got up from your bed to run to the door even with your eyes swollen from sleep, naively you thought it was some kind of earthquake. You stuck your face to the glass of the door in search of a guard or nurse, whatever it is that will help you get out of this cell, you don't want to die here.

However, the section was still empty, there was no one in the guards' small surveillance cubicle, and you could only perceive the monitors on, showing the news. 

You heard a completely strident noise, there was no earthquake. You turned slowly to the window, the color was changing from gray to orange.

It can't be.

you rush to see what's going on, you grab a piece of your bed to climb on it and reach the high window of the cell, you level yourself by holding your hands on the rusty metal bars, and you catch a glimpse of what caused such a noise. 

You saw the light of an explosion, the combination of yellow and red colors coloring the sky, the smoke, the fire. The explosion happened far away from Arkham, but you can still see it in detail, then the noise became present, and you grimace at the impact on the walls, but it was not over yet.

Explosion after explosion went off all over the city, from bridges to seawalls, a scene so hard to believe if you weren't watching it right now.

The sight takes your breath away, you are so stunned that you almost fall to the floor witnessing such an act, this is what the Joker is referring to? the Riddler's final trick?

not even the scarecrow did so much damage to this city, you underestimated the man with the riddles.

You could not take your eyes off the explosions, there were too many and well-armed to generate so much destruction. The second thing was the water, the waves and drains getting out of control and flooding several streets.

You grip the metal bars tighter, not believing this is real, but it is. Not just bombs but a flood, was that what he had under his mask? Is Gotham drowning with innocent people? 

It makes sense now, his cooperation when caught, the guards' restless attitude, and Batman's uneasiness.

All.

Suddenly you focus on the bustle of what seems to be your cell neighbors, you didn't notice when they put the other patient in the cell next to yours. The noises came together to form a horrifying atmosphere. The laughter of the Joker, the excited laughter of your other neighbor, and the explosions that went on and on. Even with your breathing exercises, you could not relax in the face of this horrifying event.

Slowly you let go of the bars and stop looking in the window, slowly you understand one thing.

Someone beat Batman.

Warning: I tried to write this fanfic with as little violence as possible, kidnapping! obsessive behavior, stalking, a hint of stockholm syndrome, description of grappling/fighting. If I have missed something else to mention, please let me know.

Words: 5,680

The first time Edward saw you was through a photo.

More specifically in a magazine photo, he gazed at you and admired you for several hours, you were on the cover with a soft smile looking straight at the camera, standing in a simple setting of a solid color, Edward thinks that the clothes you wore for that shoot cost more than his entire apartment complex. His first impression beyond finding you beautiful was an anger, an unpleasant feeling when he realizes how rich you are, you are part of Gotham's aristocracy, that select few people who make money based on other people's suffering, that boiled Edward's blood.

Why are you not alone in that picture, but with someone else.

Bruce Wayne, the prince of Gotham, remains completely serious, his face, his posture screams elegance as always, the two of them being the main title of the magazine. 

They are getting married. 

Edward almost crumpled the magazine in anger, a wave of anger he now doesn't know how it came, he admired the only Wayne alive, the man who runs one of the city's businesses, but he can no longer think the same way, his trust has been betrayed, the Wayne's have failed him since he was a child, he realized it since he discovered the true intentions of the renovation.

Why after all, the Wayne get a happy life, Bruce how could he get such a beautiful couple like you? look again at the cover, both you and Burce didn't look each other in the eyes like a couple in love, your hands were barely gently intertwined.

It didn't take him long to research, to find out everything you've done, who your family is, where you went to school, who your best friends are, everything about you he absorbed until he found nothing. He had a hard time admitting it at first, the fact that he became obsessed with you by mere accident, you were his next target, he had several plans to do you justice, send you a letter bomb along with your husband, poison you, or maybe throw you off a building. 

All those plans were thrown overboard when he became more attached to you, you impressed him with your anonymous donations to various institutions, you even donated to Arkham Hospital, he knows this because he spied on your bank account. Despite knowing many aspects of your life he still finds you mysterious, you don't go out to the parties of Gotham's rich young men who spend all their money on alcohol, but like your husband, you both keep an extremely low profile.

Edward goes back to the magazine stand to see if he has any luck finding you in some of the articles or on the covers, he stands still looking at a cover of a reputable magazine, but frowns to see the full picture.

It's you, but with your husband, again. 

Edward sighs in disappointment, you always have to be with Bruce.

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Bruce is a rigid, stoic, and even mean-spirited man at worst, and he's been your husband for several months now, but the friendship you've maintained has been going on for several years. You are still surprised that the press doesn't know that the marriage was something entirely done for the benefit of your family's company and Wayne's company.

You lower your eyes as you remember that you didn't marry for love, at least you are comforted that you married your best friend and not a stranger. You remember the awkward moment when the two of you had to kiss at the wedding, you almost vomit at that event as you can't think of Bruce as a husband, he's like your brother. And like the way he looked at you you know he didn't like that kiss either.

"You should be sleeping" Bruce's voice woke you up completely, you looked at him with tired eyes and went back to watching the news on the TV of his lair full of Bats, you don't answer him and he didn't expect you to say anything either, he takes off his helmet to let you see his face half-covered with black dust, and turns to his computer to write a new report of the night.

You get up from the couch you placed near the TV for more comfort to approach him "Now who are you looking for?" you ask him with sleepy amusement and he continues typing without looking at you "A killer, his name is from The Riddler" he gives you a short answer and your smile "wow, he likes riddles?" Bruce finishes his report and puts away his notepad and glances at you "You have no idea how much he likes them" his seriousness makes you stop smiling.

"I think I saw it on the news...he killed the mayor didn't he?" Bruce nods at your doubt "He may be going after politicians, maybe corporate heads, maybe even we're on his list".

You get scared at the mere thought of the Riddler wanting to kill you, you unconsciously swallow your saliva, he is ruthless and bloody, you saw how the mayor was left with his head wrapped in tape and a thumb cut off.

"We must be careful..." you said and Bruce doesn't respond with the words but offered you one of his hands and you take it lovingly, a way to reassure you. 

 "I won't give in to the threat of a killer like him, I won't let him kill any more people" assures the man who still has his full bat suit, you look at him hopefully and trust his words.

You just want this to end.

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Bruce yawns slightly as he walks into the main room where he finds Alfred reading the paper and drinking tea. The butler bids him good afternoon and he sits down at the round table with gothic decor while putting on his sunglasses, quickly noticing you were gone.

Bruce asks Alfred about you and he replies that you had to attend a meeting with Wayne Enterprise's accountants to see some altercations, the man with sunglasses relaxes and concentrates on his freshly prepared breakfast, he needs to investigate more about the green-masked assassin.

Hours later and Bruce realizes what time it is, so engrossed in his documents and puzzles he has to solve, the clues and the murders have him detached from time. 

He realizes you're not back.

He calls you on the phone but you don't answer, he tries to reach you for several minutes, but you never answer.

But you never answer.

He leaves his lair to look for Alfred, he hasn't seen you either since you left, worrying the man with sunglasses, Bruce doesn't need more words to leave his tower to look for you.

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You open your eyes wide leaving your sleep behind.

You blink slowly, but, when you fall asleep in the first place...your body feels numb, or rather, numb and bound. you shake but there's not much you can do, you feel duct tape down your legs and wrists through your clothes.

"Wake up...wake up...wake up" an unfamiliar voice takes your sleep away completely, you give a shout of surprise but it is silenced by a piece of cloth in your mouth, you swear your eyes might pop out from how wide you opened them, the first thing you notice is that the place you are in, is too dark that you don't look at anything, not even at the person who woke you up.

Fear runs rampant through your veins that you almost fall into a panic attack from the overwhelming feeling that you are in a completely unknown place, against your will and you admit that you are afraid of what will happen to you.

"Breath, you look like you're going to have a heart attack," a voice tells you with an amused tone, you try to look for that voice, for that person who is hidden among the darkness of the place, who is it?  "Hh, I think you can't see me, wait for a second" you hear some things moving, a creaking chair, and the other things you can't recognize, suddenly the room got light, you closed your eyes because of the exposure to the brightness of the spotlight, but before you had time to get used to the light someone moves you from your original position, thus realizing that you are tied up and sitting on a swivel chair. 

You open your eyes and look at him, you don't know who he is, or why he is dressed like that, and as strange as it sounds, the only thing you can see through the mask he is wearing and his glasses are his eyes, eyes very different from anyone you have ever seen before, is it madness what you see in front of you? 

He is standing in front of you, his breaths are deep and loud, green, and he is covered with completely green clothes, your limbs start to tremble at the sight of how the man is dressed as if he were an executioner.

You and the man stare at each other for a long time, as if it were a staring contest "Hello!" he greets you, closing his eyes and smiling behind his mask. You felt that his greeting was more than ironic and your concern grows more and more, who the hell is he? 

He remains observant but you already avoided his gaze, before you panic again he leaves your side laughing, you take advantage and look around, everything looks blurry and opaque you realize between tears you don't even know when you started to cry, the whole place was covered with papers and files and books.

The unknown man sings in a low voice a song that for you is not soothing, all this terrifies you, you recognized the melody from the man's mouth, and the bird Mary comes out as if it were a church choir, this seems more bizarre than before. You struggle again, moving your wrists to create some friction but you have simply been tied too tightly and have made no difference to the tape being removed from your limbs.

The other person in the room turns to look at you to watch your attempts to escape and stops his humming to stay silent, when you realize he was looking at you you stop moving in fright, tears coming out of you that your nose starts to get stuffed up from the snot caused by you sobbing, you looked up to feel something other than the duct tape on your body.

"Hey, hey, hey" he calls out to you approaching you again and kneeling to be at your level, being near him only causes you intense terror "I'm sorry we met like that" he speaks softly making your sobbing calm down "just, I wanted to see you" he admits shamelessly, he rubs his gloved hands towards your arms, he says nothing but keeps looking at you as if he's watching you from close.

You squint your eyes in confusion, no matter how much you search your head for the memory of who this person could be there is no one similar to him. "I want to hear you," he said, getting up from the floor to remove the gag in your mouth.

You screamed as an instinct, you screamed so much that you wouldn't be surprised if your vocal cords were damaged but despite screaming with all your effort, he who holds you captive just looks at you curiously, you scream for help, you scream for someone to notice you and rescue you from all this, you scream for all the anguish.

But nothing happened.

"It's okay" he stands near you talking to you in such a calm tone "Scream all you want," he says softly you hear him between your moans "No one can hear you anyway" You instantly shut up because of what he said, you dared to look him in the eyes to see if he was serious.

He kept staring at you, your eyes and he kept looking at each other "Who are you?" you whisper in a raspy voice without leaving the staring contest, he smiles "You know who I am".

You notice the question mark on his chest, you'd seen it before, somewhere...sometime, but where? Where? 

The realization hits you like a bucket of cold water, of course, you've seen him, in the news, in the papers, in Bruce's relentless searches to capture him, the politician killer, the one who killed Don Mitchell, it can't be.

"Riddler...you... You are" you can barely utter from the deep fear he has just provoked in you, you don't care that you look like a coward, your skin bristles from the fear rising in you again "Are you going to kill me?" you ask him horrified but already knowing the answer he would say, a terrible <yes> from him.

"Kill you?" he hesitates to utter the word with distaste, in the past, he seriously thought about it, but now you are in his heart for a long time "I would never do such a thing!" he confesses surprised of your question as if it was an obvious thing, you kept silent and he hasn't stopped looking at you "Oh Jesus" he exclaimed sighing "you are so beautiful " he whispered seeing your whole being, his look made you so uncomfortable that you turn your head so he would stop looking at you.

You have no idea what is happening, maybe he won't kill you but he will put a cage on your head with hungry rats since he has done it after all, you clench your fists to keep yourself strong, you don't want to cry more than necessary, not being in front of him. But what can you do in this situation? You're tied up and scared, your breathing still hasn't calmed down and you look like you're going to pass out again from the shock of your situation.

You just hope Bruce notices your disappearance and beats the crap out of this madman. The Riddler stops looking at you, perhaps noticing your discomfort "If you don't want to kill me then...what do you want?" you question him hesitantly, he remains silent not knowing what to answer you only hear his noisy breaths through the mask.

"I..uh..." he stammers nervously searching for the most convenient words in his mind "No one buys me but they would steal me with a look, useless to one but invaluable to two What can I be?" he repeats the riddle in a low voice but you manage to hear him and your eyes widen in surprise and fear flashes in your eyes.

Your expression of displeasure is evident, as Bruce told you in the past, this man is crazy about riddles, so much so that he knows an infinity of them by heart, that he is giving you a simple riddle baffles you "Love...it's love" you answer him with discouragement.

"Right!" he compliments you in a cheerful and energetic voice, you feel extremely strange and confused, you didn't expect The Riddler to be like this, you don't want to get on his bad side so you answered his riddle.

"Well..." he stammered with joy mixed with agitation, he was still staring at you of course "Oh! you must be hungry!" he walks away from your side and you just look at him who is heading to the kitchen of the place you are in, as he walks away he sees the room again. There were endless books and papers wasted everywhere, it also had too many things placed on the walls, documents, pictures, and endless things that only make you more uneasy about the man who kidnapped you.

On your right side, you see a yellowish light, a closed window, and a rifle specifically placed pointing at a part of the window.

You paled at the sight of the gun, but at the same time you found it to be the quickest way out, an escape, but you have a problem, your restraints.

When the riddler returns he brings with him a plate and a glass of water with a straw "Here you must be thirsty!" he puts down the plate with what you see is a dessert, he brings the glass close to you making the straw reach your mouth. You look at it completely dumbfounded, you never thought this would happen, it's like it's a strange dream that you haven't woken up yet, but oh, this is more than real.

You take the water warily, expecting the water to taste weird but it didn't turn out that way, you drank the water until it was almost gone and the riddler puts the glass away to put it on his desk "Well, I'd like you to try this, it's a pumpkin pie from my favorite coffee shop" he takes a piece of the pie and brings it towards your mouth, the state of shock still didn't leave your body so you accepted the post and ate it. 

Just like the water the dessert tastes good, although it doesn't take away the possibility that it is poisoned with something. While you chew the portions of the pie, you look sideways at your kidnapper, his anxious look does not change in the slightest, it is as if he feels happy with the mere fact that you are by his side. Honestly, that makes you uneasy, you are at his beck and call, he is unpredictable, at any moment he could drop that loving facade to start torturing you. 

"It's tasty right?" he asks you and you nod, you don't have the energy to scream again.

He remains silent as he puts down the plate with the remainder of the pie and drags a chair to sit in front of you "Wow...I don't know what to say" the masked man admits, his nervousness is evident now that you take the time to look at him. Reflecting deeply on your next steps, falling into fear won't work for you, and neither will insulting him get to anything more than him getting angry.

Your head feels quite dizzy at the exposure of danger "Why am I here? " you ask him as if it were a plea, it hasn't been more than an hour since you woke up. 

From the other perspective, Edward thinks of an answer to your question, now that he has you in front of him he doesn't know how to proceed, yes, he knows how to knock someone unconscious, he has done it to several politicians and people who deserved it, but this is the first time he has taken someone he loves, someone he doesn't want to hurt. He scolds himself for the lack of organization in his plan, he should have checked every detail. For the moment he has acted like a teenage student talking to his crush but what else does he want to do with you?

"Everyone has been lying to you," he told you with a more serious tone, you listened attentively but no longer looked directly at him "What are you talking about?" you slowly duck your head when you hear him suddenly stand up.

"Your husband, Bruce Wayne'' he pronounces the man's name with total aberration "he hasn't been lying to everyone, the renovation has been nothing but a lie!" his voice rises higher making you close your eyes, Edward noticing that apologizes and continues with his explanation "I tried to expose it in a good way you know? I warned them but what did they do? they completely ignored me and I already lost my patience..." he focuses completely on the files stuck on the walls "But you... you are different" his voice sweetens when he addresses you, you open your eyes from shock and he continues talking "I know who you are, I know what you have done for this city, the only sincere thing in that whole fucking ball of hypocrites is you".

This time you look up willingly to see him, the one who is talking is not the riddler, it's someone else, the person who is hidden in all those layers of green clothes and that mask "Who are you?" he seemed to understand what you meant and he stopped talking, he knows he is a total danger if you see his face, he would be finished if you knew his identity, but he can't help but answer all your doubts, he is really weak towards you, the insecure and fearful look you give him destroy him so much, he doesn't want you to look at him as a monster. 

The only thing he does is take off his mask, he strips it off in front of you, and the man's facial expression changes completely to an embarrassed one, his face is not the most beautiful and he recognizes it, you feel less scared as you see a more human face, something less terrifying, the revelation of the man's face with question mark surprised you so much that it takes you a few seconds to come back to reality 

"I'm Edward" he sits in the other chair in the room, he laughs uncomfortably at your lack of speech "Hello Edward..." your voice sounds puzzled by the impromptu introduction.

"I think what you mean...about the renovation...I was briefed on that today" You blurt out bits of information from the meeting you attended today to discuss that topic with Bruce's group of accountants, you see Edward's reaction, he just sighs with a distressed face "How sluggish" he replies angrily.

Surprisingly you answer him in a low voice "Yes..." You don't know the unusual effect that is causing you the fact that you are getting a little comfortable with Edward, his way of talking and acting and his notorious docility to be with you, his total confidence in showing his face and feeding you. Plus his nerdy boy who doesn't hurt a fly look doesn't help.

Edward relaxes in his seat not taking his eyes off of you of course "You were that KMTJ informant" he nods at your assumption but is less pleased at the mention of his former job "I used to work there, but I found out everything".

"Shit" you curse at everything that's going on, you don't want to have a shred of empathy for this man who treats you like you've known each other for years... the sticky feeling of the tape keeps reminding you that he's here by force, you look behind where Edward is sitting, his collage of photos and newspapers.

There are pictures of magazine covers you took months ago with Bruce for the promotion of his wedding, Bruce's face is crossed out with black marker leaving only your smiling face, there are pictures of the Wayne family and also of your family, pictures of business meetings, pictures of your graduation.

Finally, you see a strange photo with text written on it 

<I know what you did>.

In the photo were Bruce's parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, a little Bruce, and another unknown boy forming part of a choir staring at the camera, with a solemn and calm look, you can't turn your eyes away from the photo, you find familiar the boy with glasses in the photo "Is that you?" you said quietly still examining the photo as if it was a key to some puzzle you want to formulate in your mind.

Edward turns to look at the same picture and sighs, pressing his lips together to turn to you "Yes...it's me" he admits with difficulty, the sadness is obvious on his face. You both fall into silence and you hate it, now you are overcome with intrigue as to who this person is.

"That picture...when did it happen?" he shakes his head as he listens to you "I don't want to talk about it, ok?" he smiles but doesn't convince you, however, you decide to leave the conversation.

Again you sink into silence, unfortunately, you want to know more about that mysterious photo and the person in front of you, Edward...if it's a real name is everything you didn't expect from someone like the riddle.

Edward saw you with more notoriety, it looked like this was going to go on for hours.

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Time seems to be moving slower and slower, your limbs still felt numb and your body was starting to ache from the sitting position you are in, the pain in your head increased making you close your eyes, but it relaxes you to be in silence since you came here. 

Edward talked about so many things you don't remember now, you just listened to him and he babbled on ecstatic that you were his audience, he talked about how he knew about the renewal, how he met you, and what it was like to work for the KMTJ, a one-sided conversion, at some point in the night he fell asleep right next to you without realizing it, you waited for an hour in silence making sure he is asleep, you looked at his face with his eyes closed and at rest, you turned to see the rifle still pointed at the window showing that it is night.

You look at Edward very carefully and struggle with your legs and wrists again, only one thing comes to your mind which is to take off the tape that with the passing of the hours its glue decreases, besides it covers your clothes and not your skin, you don't take your eyes off Edward, who is still asleep. You raise your wrists and hit them toward your stomach, you do that movement again and you notice that little by little your wrists are free of the tape. you smile completely lucky to get out of the tape that was holding you.

You see the man dressed in green again, his eyes are still closed and inside you squeal with joy that he didn't wake up.

Standing near Edward's desk you search through his tools for something sharp and pick up a small green box cutter, silently you cut the piece of tape on your legs.

Damn, it looks fucking easy to leave.

With your limbs freed you slowly get up from your chair and walk towards the rifle near the window, you could already feel your sweet freedom in just a few steps, already near the rifle you hear an angry shout from Edward.

Your first instinct was to run and grab the rifle in your sweaty hands from panic and fear, you turned around in time to face Edward just awake and with a completely unrecognizable look of anger. You opened your eyes and the gun feels heavier and heavier between your hands, you raise the rifle aiming it at Edward who moved closer to you

"Back off!" you yell at him, you had never touched a gun in your life, and you don't even know if it has bullets or safety but Edward's expression changed from anger to fear in a second, giving you a bit of courage, but suddenly his fearful eyes turned into ones full of sadness, his face soured and he started crying in front of you.

That made you weaken your grip on the gun, you didn't expect this to be his reaction, you had the feeling that he will rush towards you to take the gun away.

But now, simply the man who calls himself the riddler and whose appearances were more than macabre, lies in front of you with his hands raised, his face swollen, cheeks and nose blushing from sobbing, you looked at him stunned and he wouldn't stop crying, in your mind you only tell yourself that it's a way to manipulate you so you give him the gun and he can tie you up again in tape.

But, shit, you feel sorry for him, your heart shrinks for seeing such a scene, and his voice breaks "Please, please, don't go" he manages to say between his wails, his shrieks transmit an immeasurable anguish.

"Don't cry!" you shout at him sharply pointing again, Edward lifts his head and looks at the mess he has become, tears are still falling from his eyes but he has stopped shrieking.

"You kidnapped me! You tied me up! What did you expect, that I would love you?" you scream at him taking out all your pain and anguish, he keeps silent but looks you straight in the eyes, very different from the other times you have seen each other in the course of your stay here, he opened his eyes completely, you see his irises in different shades of blue and green.

"Is your name even Edward?" your question is no longer loud or outrageous, if not full of torment.

"I don't know, I don't know my real name," he says wiping away his tears "Edward, Patrick, the Riddler, I don't care" names that some people called him , sometimes he questions his own identity, who he is.

"What do you mean?" you keep pointing at Edward as you start walking without taking your eyes off the bespectacled man sitting on the floor "Edward is the name I was given at the orphanage I grew up in" he reveals in a guarded voice.

You stop your pace noticing what he just said "Orphanage? Are you talking about the Gotham orphanage?" he nods his head in disgust at the mere memory of his hell, you know what it implies that he was one of those little ones who suffered from the old orphanage that used to be a Wayne home, you read the news about the little help, the mistreatment, and the poor support.

You shake your head "I don't believe you" You refuse to think that this man survived the orphanage, the orphanage fire, everything, the man in front of you looks perfectly like a normal person.

"Don't believe me, look at the picture" he points to the picture you paid attention to, him being near the Waynes, you look closely at the picture and see that it is not a common picture if not a sheet was torn from a newspaper <The Wayne's visit Gotham's orphanage!> as a scoop title.

Before you saw Edward again he had already run towards you, you were too slow in firing the gun he threw you down hard, and you took seconds to respond from the impact of falling to the ground, Edward completely hogged you trying to pull the gun away from you and trap you with his body.

You stretch out one of your arms to grab the rifle but Edward pulls it further away from you and screams in frustration.

"Why?" you manage to shout at him amidst the scuffle on the floor "Why me?!" you don't even know what you're asking anymore, the mixture of overwhelming feelings made you spit out questions "I LOVE YOU!! Don't you understand?" he answers you on top of you with the same impatience as yours.

Before you bit one of his hands you both stop abruptly at insistent knocks on the apartment door.

Edward froze staring in the direction of the door, while you take advantage of his distraction to break away from him and grab the rifle "BATMAN!" you shouted with the rifle back in your hands and Edward pales at your shout, the door shakes at the insistent knocking of someone wanting to get in.

Edward doesn't know what to do and you turn to him again "Go away! " you order him pointing the gun and he gets up from the floor without stopping looking at you with confusion "I said go away! " you keep insisting breaking Edward's shock, without thinking twice he runs to the only window of the apartment but before he went out he looks at you for the last time, he didn't say anything to you, just that habit of seeing you comfort him.

The door is finally forced open and you shoot towards a wall out of fright, Edward jumps out the window and disappears without a word.

You perceive Bruce's cape, or rather, Batman when he approaches you to see if you are hurt "Batman!" you call him relieved releasing the rifle and letting it fall on the floor, Bruce looks everywhere looking for the idiot who kidnapped you, but he is nowhere to be found "he escaped" you inform him with a deep and quick breath, for the first time since he came in he turns to see you.

You open your arms to hug Batman, oh god, you were so scared, the only thing you need right now is the affection of your best friend.

Bruce hugged you back stiffly but at the same time he felt a deep relief to see you alive, he should be following the riddler right now, but he can't leave you alone, you need support.

You smell the metal of his suit, you feel some of his weapons, and the smell the rain and the smoke of the city, you feel so safe in his arms, and you close your eyes to enjoy the moment.

"Where did he go?" he asks you with a voice full of anger, you shake your head and answer him "I don't know".

The two of you stood like that, hugging in the middle of the Ridler's apartment, you open your eyes to turn towards the open window.

Why did you let him go?

Batman slowly separates from you so as not to scare you, with his mask you can't perceive a gleam in his eyes, you only see black "Did he do something to you? Did he hurt you?" as he interrogates you he examines your body up and down and touches your arms and head. 

"He…was good to me…" you tell him without thinking and Batman confused by your statement asks you again "What did he do to you?" he asks more seriously and you answer him again with the same thing.

"He was good to me, " you say hesitantly in your own words, you remain silent as you take the bat's cape and roll up in it, a common habit you do that annoys Bruce, but this time he lets you do it.

Batman looks at you silently looking for possible serious damage, a bruise, and wounds, on the other hand, you close your eyes and wrap yourself in the tranquility that Bruce's presence causes you "He was good to me.. "you tell him again with a tired tone.