Happy New Year, everyone! I guess there's no real need to express how sorry I am for the long wait, but maybe this new chapter will make up for it.

It was still strange for the Riddler to wake up beside a woman who so willing held onto him. Oh sure, he had had the occasional one night stand before. He'd seen those women who would use sex to find pleasure for only them or to prove some strange philosophy about having power over men. He certainly wouldn't say he didn't enjoy them most of the time, because he did, but there was hollowness in that sort of relationship.

Eva stirred, opening her eyes to the sight of his bare chest. Tilting her head up, she saw him staring past the top of her head in deep thought. A small smile graced her lips, he was almost always thinking about something or another. She supposed that was just who he was, a Riddler. Kissing her way up to his chin, she let her hands roam south.

Before she got carried away, Edward quickly grabbed a hold of her wandering hands.

"Not that I wouldn't love a repeat of last night," he grinned, "but don't you already think we've stayed in bed long enough?"

"I guess so," she pouted playfully, "but what's another hour?"

"Time I need to prepare for tonight."

"Oh," now she remembered, he still had that meeting with Falcone.

Letting him get out of bed, she watched him fish out the notepad he had yesterday from the night stand drawer. He scanned over it for a few seconds before putting it right back inside, and going to the shower.

As soon as the sound of running water was heard, she reached over to the drawer and brought out the notepad. She knew she probably shouldn't invade his privacy… again, but she couldn't help taking a look at the pages that he's been constantly checking since yesterday.

All she found were small diagrams labeled The Iceberg Lounge detailing almost a dozen scenarios. It seemed as if he had the entire building memorized, every exit, the bar, the stage, even all the tables were meticulously drawn in. How in the world did he have the time to do this?

Glancing over the rest of the diagrams, they detailed everything that could happen tonight. Shootouts, bombs going off, even Batman coming out of nowhere. Honestly, when would that ever happen?

Still, it worried her. If he assumed that kind of violence, he must be carrying a gun with him tonight. That one word alone frightened her, but not as much as the idea of Edward getting hurt in a shoot out. Just thinking about him dead tugged at her heart more than she thought it would.

She quickly tossed the book back into the drawer when she heard the shower turn off. Edward came out about a minute later with nothing but a towel around his waist. Looking back to Eva, he found her staring at him intensely.

"I know I'm well-built but-"

"I'm coming with you," she cut him off.

"It's not a good idea for you to be here." Edward frowned. Despite his protests, Eva had invited herself to his meeting. He had enough to worry about without her around to make matters worse. And she most likely would make it worse.

"You're still going on about that?" She had had enough of his objections back at the hotel. Now, she was just getting annoyed. Couldn't he tell that she was doing this for him? She wanted to make sure that he'd come back to the hotel with her after tonight.

"I'm not leaving" she said defiantly, holding onto his arm, "besides I've always wanted to go the Iceberg Lounge."

"Oh, it's wonderful until you're staring down the barrel of a gun."

True to his word, The Iceberg Lounge certainly lived up to the hype. It was fancy, snooty, the kind of place that every rich socialite visited on a regular basis to flaunt their wealth. It sickened Eva to see these people waste hundreds of dollars on one meal when she spent most of her childhood starving.

Still, she did see the appeal of it. The building was beautifully decorated, the band playing at center stage added to the calming atmosphere, and by the smell of things, the food was delicious. On top of that, no one seemed to mind if this place was used as a cover for shady business dealings… so long as they were dressed appropriately.

But Eva didn't have the time to enjoy the scenery as she was pulled to the very back of the building where Falcone was.

He was an older man, at least in his fifties, well-dressed, with a confident air about him. One would just see a competent business man enjoying a meal with a client if it weren't for the two body guards on either side of him. It unnerved her slightly, the thought of Edward actually needing to use that gun in his jacket pocket.

"Nigma, nice of you to show up," Falcone practically spat out. He motioned to the single chair that was opposite him. Then, he noticed Eva standing beside the green clad man.

"It's always a pleasure Mr. Falcone," Edward responded, putting on an obviously fake smile on his face as he sat down, the change in the crime boss' eye contact not slipping past him.

"Who's your lovely companion?" The way he leered up towards her made her spine tingle. It was a controlling, power hungry gaze that absolutely sickened her. She opened her mouth, clearly wanting to voice her disgust.

"She's no one," Edward but in before she could say anything, "just a close acquaintance."

If she didn't want to just slap him across the face for interrupting her, she definitely did for the slimy way he emphasized those particular words. Her anger intensified when she saw an approving grin worm its way across Falcone's face.

He told one of his men to fetch another chair for their guest. Never had she felt so disgusted with herself than when she sat down next to Edward without so much as a word to that condescending bastard.

"Now down to business," Falcone said, turning once again to the Riddler.

"As you know, I've been doing a bit of dealing overseas, but my shipments have been a bit… lacking. I think there's a rat forging the documents."

"What do you expect me to do about it?" Edward had every reason to be suspicious of the man across from him. He's been cheated, framed, and almost killed by him and men like him. Yet, he found himself as someone else's underling almost constantly. He hated to be controlled like that.

"I want you to be in charge of handling shipments, at least until I can find who's been taking them from the docks."

"Is that all?" the Riddler raised an eyebrow. That request was far too direct to come from a man like Falcone.

"That's all."

Eva, already fed up with this entire conversation, got up from her seat. She tapped Edward's arm, hoping he'd just leave his suspicions behind. After a few more seconds of staring into Falcone's slightly amused eyes, he conceded and went to get up.

He hadn't even turned around when he was met with a high pitch yelp from behind him. Eva had been grabbed roughly by one of Falcone's guards and he forced her arms behind her back. She was cringing from the amount of pressure he was putting on her wrists.

"One more thing," Falcone added, a bit of amusement in his voice. Edward looked down on him without emotion. He just knew something like this was going to happen with Eva around.

"Don't look into the crates; after all we wouldn't want your little companion to get hurt."

At that, his goon pulled her arms even tighter, causing her to groan out in pain. The Riddler twitched a bit at the sound, but didn't let little feeling show through. The less concern for her well being he displayed, the less harm would come to her.

"You have my word," he responded evenly, not a hitch in his voice.

"I'll hold you to it."

Just then, another loud yelp came from behind them, only this time it wasn't from Eva. Turning around, Edward found both Eva and Falcone's man on the ground. She got up, rubbing her sore arms and glaring daggers at the man who was rolling around in pain holding a very delicate area.

Immediately, Edward grabbed Eva's still aching arms and hurried her to the exit.

"That wasn't a good idea," he whispered roughly into her ear.

"Got him off me didn't I?" she smirked back.

Falcone's man was still on the ground hissing at the pain coming from the most tender of spots. His boss just glared down at him.

"Get up you baby, I'm not paying you to get beat up by a whore," he shouted harshly. Turning to his other man, he began to yell out orders.

"… and make sure that those crates get to the docks on time, I don't want any screw ups."

"Isn't that the Riddler's new job?"

"You idiots, you think I'd trust someone like him in my organization?"

"Then why'd-"

"Cause he's smart, smarter than most of my competition." The crime boss shook his head at his men's stupidity, "He should've been dealt with a long time ago."