Title : Under Your Skin
Author : Madd13
Rating : M for later chapters
Disclaimer : All credit to DC Comics to the creation of all characters involved.
Summery : They've been at it for years, getting under each other's skin. They've finally had enough.
Edward settled back into his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. His current case had been more of an annoyance than he would like. It wasn't that he couldn't solve it, but rather that he wasn't being given enough time to concentrate. Either the police or the victim's family were almost constantly hounding him. They were demanding answers. He would love to give them if only they would allow him one hour's peace. He had left all forms of contact at home.
He was going to have a nice quiet evening at the Iceberg Lounge and ignore anything that wasn't the lovely little thing that brought him his drinks. He turned his second glass of scotch, allowing himself to get lost in the amber liquid. He had no interest in doing anything, but his mind refused to take heed of his conscious decision. It was still wandering through case details, picking out little clues that would tell him exactly what happened.
There had been evidence of several of Gotham's heavy hitters at the crime scene. There was no way that they were all working together. Joker might try to spear head yet another campaign against Batman, but those little get-togethers usually ended before they got anywhere. It was ridiculous to ask them to just pull a simple crime like this off. Edward frowned. So why would there be various prints and bits to suggest that this crime was the work of a bunch of Arkham inmates?
It took bare moments for things to fall into place. It was surprising what just a little bit of quiet did for him. The victim had been a nurse at Arkham Asylum. It would seem reasonable that inmates would attack her for their own reasons. There were prints and items from several individuals that were taken from the asylum itself by her true murderer. Now, he would just have to figure out who did it by a quick visit to the hell hole. He had once hoped to never set foot in that "establishment" again, but he should have known better. He would always have to go back.
He finished off the last of his scotch and pushed the glass to the edge of the table. He hoped that the waitress would see he was finished and simply bring him a new one without being asked. Moments later another scotch did appear. It wasn't quite from the person he would have liked. If his night couldn't get worse, he hadn't considered that someone would invade his space. He scowled at Doctor Jonathan Crane. "What do you want?" He asked tersely, displeased by the intrusion and the fact that the toxin he had taken from the man across from him had been tamper proof.
Crane raised a brow. "I was coming to see how things are progressing with the cat," He answered, choosing to ignore the poor greeting. If he took every nasty comment from his "friends" as cause to just walk away, nothing would ever get done. Not to mention, as much as he didn't want to get involved with the other Gotham rogues, he was quite curious about this new development. For a genius like Edward to be interested in someone that seemed more a common thief was very curious indeed.
The crowned prince of conundrums hung his head a little. He had told Crane to keep his nose out of it. The worst had yet to come as Ozzie chose that moment to survey his establishment. He saw Scarecrow and the Riddler sitting together and found he had to investigate. He wasn't one to purposefully get into the schemes of those around him, but as these were two of the sanest insane men, he felt he had to know what was going on. "Gentlemen, what are we getting so chummy for?" Oswald glanced to Edward first as he considered the genius more of a friend.
"Nothing." "Catwoman." The two answers conflicted and this made Penguin frown a little. With a snap of his fingers an additional chair was brought to the table and he settled down for what was going to prove to be a strange conversation. "What about her?" He questioned, now looking to Crane as he seemed in a sharing mood. "Edward wants to get her in his bed. Perhaps more, I have yet to diagnosis this issue further," He replied, returning his gaze to the aforementioned man. He looked the scholar now, not the madman behind the burlap sack.
Oswald scoffed. "She'd be a fantastic bed warmer, I'm sure. She certainly has quite the body to fill out that leather." A lecherous grin pulled at Ozzie's lips. Edward bristled at the look and growled. "She's not a bed warmer." He turned on Crane then. "I am not interested and I demand that you drop it now." He glared at his supposed friends. He so wished that he could properly intimidate them into stopping their teasing and poking. His life was not for them to examine like some science experiment.
His harsh reaction gave them more reason to examine. They both leaned forward as if to get a better look at him. "See? He gets defensive about her. He doesn't like that you referred to her as a simple piece of ass," Crane pointed out, brow furrowing as if his lab rat had done something very unexpected. Edward's jaw dropped a little. They really didn't give a shit about how uncomfortable this was making him. They were forcing opinions of his own feelings on him and he was supposed to just sit there and take it? He thought not.
He pushed Ozzie's chair away from him with his foot and eased out of his own seat. "As usual, Ozzie, your men do a piss poor job of keeping out the pests. You should replace them all again," He hissed. Edward, a master of words, had managed to insult them both without truly saying those nasty words that really wanted to pass his lips. Crane was a rat that wouldn't stop gnawing and Ozzie was just accused of having an unfit business. Perfect. It shut them both up with nearly identical scowls on their faces.
Mission accomplished.
Edward smoothed his tie, straightened his jacket, and adjusted his hat. With a bare bow of his head, he made his way out. He wasn't nearly drunk enough for his liking. The last details of the case could wait until morning, but that wasn't his biggest concern. As he thought his body wouldn't allow for him to forget having slept with Selina. Even the lingering stink of fish couldn't put him off wanting to invite her back over. The fleeting thought of dosing her with toxin again had passed through his mind, but that was just asking for death.
He would just have to find some other way of forgetting her. He really didn't think he could come up with a plan brilliant enough that she would actually willingly allow him to touch her. He let out a small sigh and longed for a cigarette as he stepped onto the sidewalk. He desperately wanted something to distract him and he couldn't fathom anything that would be good enough. Edward shook his head and started walking toward his car.
It was a two block walk and he didn't make it quite that far. An arm appeared out of the shadows of an alley and yanked him into the darkness. He was shoved against the grimy wall with a grunt of pain. "Nygma," The deep, growling voice said in greeting. "Bruce, lovely to see you, too," The brunette coughed in response. It probably wasn't all that uncommon for Batman to yank someone into dark places for chats, but he certainly wasn't accustomed to it. He was used to the Dark Knight just beating the piss out of him in the open.
"If you really wanted to get me alone, I'm sure we could find somewhere better." Edward gave the blue eyed man a sly smirk, one he would give women that he wanted to spend the night with. The hand holding his shirt loosened, letting him go quickly after that comment. Clearly Bruce was uncomfortable with men coming on to him, even if it was in jest. To each their own. "What do you want? I do have business to attend to," He said seriously. He had a crime to solve and bottle bottoms to find.
Batman shifted on his feet, disliking that he had to say this. "I need you to get me around Pandora's Box." Now there was something interesting. That definitely pushed thoughts of Selina out of Edward's mind. "Really? Can you not find a nice girl to give you a good beating? That is a terrible thing," Riddler replied quietly. He gave a dark chuckle, fixing his jacket. "Well, I'm certain you can afford a very good night."
Bruce frowned. "I've been following a new gang that turned up last week. They've begun to make the Box a common meeting place for business. I need to get close to them. You know the ins and outs of that establishment," He said tersely. He didn't like a new crime family trying to move into his city. He had enough trouble with the few that already resided in Gotham; none of them needed more problems. Volino was a big name back in Italy and he didn't want that kind of attention here in Gotham. He had to find out why they came here.
Edward shrugged, a little disappointed that this was actual business for the Bat. He so hoped that Bruce would finally lighten up a little and have some fun. Well, maybe all he needed was a look-see. He might find something he liked and actually partake in the sins of Pandora's Box. "Saturday. Pick me up at nine right here." For the second time, Edward walked away from something annoying. The only good thing about Batman was that he gave him the much desired distraction he had been looking for.