"Morning Belle." Mom pushes a bowl of cereal in front of me as I take a seat at our dining table.
"Morning Mom." I yawn. I'd gotten to bed at one o'clock but had stayed up much later, unable to stop thinking about the massive pain in my ass, Riddler. I still had no idea how I was going to get rid of him. Actually, I'd had a few ideas, my favourite being strap him to a rocket and send him to the moon, but none were particularly realistic. So I had nothing.
"What are you doing today?" She asks. I shrug casually.
"Homework, I guess. Might go for a walk or something later." I say.
"Okay, don't go too far. I should be home for dinner. I'll see you tonight." She kisses the top of my head and I squirm away.
"Mo-om." I complain. She laughs and grabs her bag and walks out the front door, off to work. I wait until I hear her car drive away before dashing upstairs and changing out of my pyjamas and into a pair of jeans and a ratty band tee shirt. I throw on an even rattier pair of Chuck Taylors and I'm ready to go. My fashion sense leaves much to be desired, but hey, I'm not exactly dressing to impress here.
Plan A; Talk to Riddler. Tell him to get his butt out of my world. If that doesn't work, well, I'll figure something else out. To be honest, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not totally sure what the etiquette rules are for telling someone to get the hell out of your reality.
I grab the pocket knife my Dad gave me and shove it into the back pocket of my jeans. I'd never actually use it on a person, but Riddler doesn't need to know that. Besides, nothing puts a spring in a girls step quite like a concealed weapon.

Even though all I want to do is hide under my bed, I do the brave thing and walk down the street to Riddler's house. A couple of deep, calming breaths and I knock on his door. Three solid knocks. The door swings open to reveal a smirking Riddler.
"Belle. To what do I owe this delightful surprise?" He asks. I barge past him, into the house. Stupid, I know, but I figure it'll throw him off guard for a moment.
"I'm here to ask you to go home. Please." If my barging into his house didn't throw him off guard, the 'please' does.
"You're asking me to leave. Not demanding, asking." He says, looking at me doubtfully.
"Yep. Thought I'd try, see if you're at all a decent person." That makes him laugh.
"Decent person? You claim to know all about me. Would you really call me a decent person?"
"Fair point." I sigh. Then I actually look around the room. We're standing in the kitchen/dining room. Riddler's place is nice. Green is obviously the theme of the place, but everything is so modern. Everything is pristine and looks untouched. I walk into the living room, forgetting how rude it is to just wander around someone's house, uninvited. In the centre of the room is a long leather couch that looks black, but on closer inspection turns out to be a very dark green. Mounted on the wall in front of it is a massive TV.
"Where did you get all this stuff?" I ask, gesturing around me. "It's not like you could just walk into a shop and buy it. Especially dressed like… wait, what the hell are you wearing?" I've only just noticed. Instead of his usual green question mark suit, he's wearing jeans. Freaking jeans. Don't even get me started on the Yankees tee shirt.
"As much as I like my suit, I thought this would be more inconspicuous. And as for how I came by all this," He says, imitating my gesture towards the furniture, "That's for me to know and you, well, not to." I roll my eyes at him.
"Okay then." I say, dropping onto his couch, feeling confident. If he tried to lay a finger on me here, I'd scream bloody murder and neighbours would come running. "What's the plan? What are you even here for?" He walks over and drops onto the other end of the couch, acting like he doesn't have a care in the world. Not going to lie, the whole 'casual Riddler' look suits him. Really suits him, if you know what I mean.
And I'm sick for even thinking that.
Riddler smirks like he knows exactly what I'm thinking, so I scowl at him.
"Many reasons. I'm here because you're too interesting to let go. I'm here because we have unfinished business. But mostly, I'm here because I can be."
I sit there for a few moments, pretending I'm not totally freaked out. I keep my expression calm, but I'm practically radiating tension. I'm not exactly comfortable knowing that I'm a big part of Riddler's reason to visit.
"When you say unfinished business… how do you plan on finishing it?" I ask warily. He just sits there, giving me a great big 'I know something you don't know' smirk. I want to slap it off his stupid face.
"Because I've got news for you, buddy. Things work a little differently here than they do in Gotham. The police aren't incompetent, they get things done. You try anything, anything, and they'll arrest you before you can say 'riddle me this'." I sit there, practically shaking in my boots, amazed by my stupidity. Once again I've mouthed off to The Riddler. The man who has more than likely planned my painful death in great detail. His smirk slowly changes from mocking to menacing, so I take it as my queue to leave. Just as I reach the door he grabs my arm and jerks me back.
"Don't think your police force can protect you." He growls. "You're only alive right now because I find you entertaining. The second you become trouble for me, I'll get what I came here for."
"And what's that?" I ask, meaning to sound brave but it comes out as a squeak.
"Revenge." He gives me a full blown insane person smile and lets my arm go. I all but sprint out of there and don't stop till I'm safely in my kitchen.
Man, I am so screwed.


A/N: Woo Woo, Chapter 2! Let me know what you guys think so far! :)