"Let's discuss your obsession with Batman," Doctor Young suggested as she looked down at her clipboard in contemplation. She had a calm look on her face, as if their last few visits together hadn't been stressful; indeed, he had made sure to torture her with subliminal motions and small, miniscule actions that he was sure irritated her. She maintained a decent amount of patience and managed to scrape by with a couple of sessions with him… albeit, they were rather short as she eventually lost her patience and had him escorted out of her office. In fact, she wondered why they were even still having sessions IN her office.
"Hardly an obsession, Miss Young," He replied immediately after she mentioned the topic. He was leaning back in his chair with his crossed legs resting on the edge of her desk. He kept his half-lidded, sharp blue eyes on her face. She quirked an eyebrow; he really didn't consider this an obsession? "I simply feel an obligation to expose him," He said with a tone in his voice that suggested it was a great personal burden that he himself decided to adopt and carry on his own. Young looked up at him.
"You know who he is?" Young asked in a somewhat given voice, one that implied that he certainly had no idea who he was and that she was just asking out of mock politeness. He leaned forward and quirked his eyebrow, a sly smile creeping across his thin lips onto his handsome face.
"More important, I know WHAT he is," He said in a low voice. She looked at him in mock surprise, leaning away slightly and giving him a somewhat bewildered look.
"What do you mean?" She asked and, for once, it appeared as if he didn't know if she was being serious or just sarcastic. However, he didn't let this affect him and he himself leaned back, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.
"It's obvious," He said in a light tone, starting to wave one of his hands in a circular motion in the air lazily as he started to list. "The mask, the weapons, the scare tactics…" He looked at her with his intense blue eyes. "He's a criminal. No different than Joker, or Two-Face… or myself," He added dangerously, though his voice didn't drop as it usually did when he wanted to invoke an emotional response out of her.
"Most people consider him a hero," She replied indifferently; most people DID consider him a hero, vigilante or not. Just another of Edward's delusions that he allowed himself to fabricate and believe, and she was completely determined not to let him get to her today.
"MOST people are idiots," He said abruptly, her words tracing through his quick-thinking brain and him agreeing with her in the worst possible way. He snapped out of his nonchalant pose and leaned forward, scooting his chair back and invoking a reaction in which she automatically took up her clipboard and moved back a few inches. "They can't see Batman for the villain he is," He said smartly, leaning forward over the clean desk further. "Riddle me this…" He said loudly and obviously, clenching a fist on the desk. He then exhaled and shut his eyes with what seemed to be painstaking patience; in his mind, she was definitely not making this easy for him. "…How did he get his car and his gadgets?" He asked in the calmest voice he could muster.
She looked slightly afraid at first, then the fear melted to make way for confused. "I don't, uh…" She muttered; it was true, she didn't know how he got any of the things he got… then again, it really wasn't her business, of course, she didn't get to think about it for long when Edward took it upon himself to finish for her.
"With money stolen from the criminals he defeats," He answered his own question as if it were coming from her mouth; he spoke in a knowing voice, a new answer that hadn't even been thought of until the question was brought to light. "Why do you think Gordon turns a blind eye to his antics? Batman bribes him!" He continued, waving an arm at the space to his right. "The answers are right in front of your stupid gawking face!" He banged his hand on the table as he said each derogatory term, his other hand pointing to his own face as if he shared one with her.
"Edward, please, calm down…" She started, trying to sound rather calm herself; then again, it was easier said than done when you had a mental case like the Riddler standing in front of you, getting physical with your desk and shouting ludicrous nonsense such as the fact that Batman bribes Commissioner Gordon. However, he ignored her and pulled his head in close to her, looking down at the small tape recorder that was on the desk.
"Wake up, Gotham!" He snarled not in a shout, but in his loud, venomous voice before smiling deliriously and reproaching back to his side of the desk. He reached up and ran a slender hand through his teasingly messy brown hair, making a small noise between a half-hearted sob and a mad chuckle. He inhaled, fell back into his chair, and continued. "No sane, law abiding man DOES those sort of things," He said, starting to ring his hands and rock back and forward in his chair, causing it to emit small noises that creaked with age and strain. "No one's that selfless!" He said, now staring ahead at nothing in particular with his cold blue eyes. His arm absent-mindedly started scratching at his other arm in a nervous twitch… at least, that's how it appeared; Young couldn't make any differentiation between that and purposefully self-inflicted pain. However, she was now on the alert. "BATMAN'S as vile as they come!" He snapped, making a sharp movement with his hand as he emphasized the word "Batman". Young looked down and saw blood starting to draw from his arm where his sharp nails rubbed his skin raw.
"Security!" She shouted, deciding that this session was over. "Security-" She called again, reaching over and stopping the recorder. She remained seated as the same two guards came into the room, one prying apart Edward's arms and taking him, the other pointing his rifle at the thin man's chest. Edward said nothing in reply, but allowed himself to be "shown" out after giving a brief struggle to undo his bleeding arms from each other. He was breathing heavily and a twitch was tugging at one of his eyes which shot Young a look as he left. She looked after him, her own expression quite serene if not showing some concern, be that genuine or alarmed or whatever. When he failed to call out his familiar farewell phrase, she furrowed her brow and let the faintest of smiles tug on the edge of her full lips; for once, she had gotten through to him first.