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When Jane stepped into the underground Victorian, the first thing she noticed was the décor. The entrance room was large and open, the floors were slate gray wood planks, the walls a matte black, and the high, two-story ceiling an eggshell white. There was a staircase to her left that followed the wall to a second floor, and then proceeded to wrap around the innards of the house like an inner balcony. Here and there from the ground floor, Jane could see doors leading off into various rooms above her, all coming out to join one another on that balcony. As for the room she was in, it appeared to be a joint parlor and living room, as she could see a set of black leather couches tastefully arranged around a glass coffee table off to her right. The left appeared to be a kitchen area, all black tile and white marble.

Classy. She thought to herself. In her head, even her thoughts sounded awed. Here and there the walls boasted of some form of art or another, generally copies of famous works. How do you know they're copies? Maybe they're genuine and he just stole them all. She rolled her eyes internally at her subconscious. Shut up, maybe he paid for them. Her subconscious raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her. Yeah, maybe he paid for them all with money that he STOLE.

Jane quickly shook that thought from her head and trailed after Riddler as he made his way farther into the building and into the living area. From here, Jane could see a long hallway off to the side with various doors leading to other rooms.

Edward did an about-face in front of the bigger of the two leather couches and leaned back, hovering in mid-air for a moment before gravity took over and brought him flopping unceremoniously onto the furniture. He tilted his head back and Jane watched as his hat fell back behind the couch. Riddler's eyes were closed and he looked considerably more…relaxed than she had ever seen him.

He must have felt her staring at him because his eyes flickered open and the corner of his mouth pulled up in a lopsided grin. "You are more than welcome to have a seat."

Jane chose the couch at a 90 degree angle to him and awkwardly perched on the edge of the cushion. Never in her wildest dreams would she have seen herself here a week ago. A week where she was desperately struggling to pound out a few measly words an hour on her monitor. She imagined now, if she were to write about her move to Gotham, and anything else that had happened in the last 48 hours, she could go on for pages and pages with no trouble.

Now here she was, not only in Gotham, but in the lair of a known criminal mastermind. A murderer, a thief; one of Gotham's infamous A-List criminals and she was sitting next to him like it was no big deal. Once again, she was shaken at how little all of this seemed to bother her.

If I were a normal person, I'd have run screaming for the hills from the get go. Like, moment number one when I walked into Dan's apartment and….he was there. And he had been there. And from that very first moment, if she recalled correctly (which she almost always did when talking about feelings), she had felt something that was definitely not fear emanating from herself regarding the Riddler.

For his part, Edward was absolutely silent, seemingly deep into thoughts of his own at the moment. This bothered Jane. She desperately wanted some distraction to jar her thoughts off of the path they were currently taken as she was in her own inner turmoil. She wanted him to talk to her. She wanted to ask him questions.

"So…" She started, not having the least idea where she was going with her sentence. "Do you come here often?" Inwardly, she winced. Jane hoped that hadn't sounded as corny to him as it had to her.

Riddler's slightly curious look coupled with a raised eyebrow provided her all the insight she needed: it was corny to him as well. To her surprise, however, he chose to answer her question honestly. "Sometimes. I have other lairs but truth be told, I do prefer this one. It has a certain ambiance that I find…relaxing."

It was silent again for a moment, this time broken by the rogue. "Why is it that you're here, exactly?"

Jane was momentarily taken aback, but she quickly recovered. "Here in Gotham? Or here in your lair?"

"Both, I suppose."

"Dan asked me to come." It was the short answer; completely devoid of any personal preference. It totally avoided any of her feelings on the matter, which she liked. Also, she could tell it annoyed Edward.

"Why ever did you agree to something so silly?" He asked, raising his head and straightening his position a little.

Jane could tell she had his attention now. She supposed he must see her as some sort of puzzle to be solved. Clearly answering his questions vaguely wasn't going to help her. "I was bored back home. The atmosphere, the people, none of it ever changed. I mean, sure it's kinda nice when you're young and you know everybody in town and everyone knows you but…after awhile it just gets so stale… It got to the point where I couldn't work, and I couldn't not work…"

"That does indeed sound like a terrible place to be." They shared a look before Riddler continued. "You know, I grew up in a small town myself. It's true," he allowed, acknowledging Jane's doubtful look. "Granted now I know my way around the city better than anyone, but before I came to Gotham I had a life very similar to your own. Of course, not filled with something as mundane as 'work'… But I do know how it is to watch the things around you stagnate. You did well to leave it behind, but I wonder if your choice of scenery wasn't slightly… ill-advised."

It was by far the longest she had ever heard Riddler speak and she had to admit to herself that she enjoyed it. Right now, Jane wanted nothing more than to keep this conversation going so she could find out more about him. "Why did you decide to become the Riddler?" He gazed at her blankly then, and Jane wondered for a moment if she had gone too far.

"Why do you write? I suppose it was always in me to be what I am."

"But you didn't always dress up in green suits and twirl question marked canes around, did you?"

He smirked slightly and shook his head. "No, most assuredly not. Like all life-changing revelations one makes about oneself, it required a certain catalyst." Seeing her questioning stare, he continued bluntly. "I was fired from my job."

Deciding not to press the issue, Jane fell silent again. All the questions in her head now were about more personal things. What job? Where did you work? Why were you fired? Do you ever regret it? Are you going to kill me? All these things rattling around in her head, she was glad Riddler was the one to break the silence again.

"Jane, tell me something. With a friend such as yours…Daniel… he seems to be so eager to join the ranks of Gotham's…less desirables. You seem nothing like him… I was just wondering what it is between the two of you. Unless there is some other part to you that I'm not seeing, which is highly unlikely."

Ignoring the pomposity of that statement, Jane merely shrugged. "Dan's…Dan. He's a little too adventurous for his own good. But if you're asking if I'm the same way… I don't know." Riddler's skeptical glance kept her talking. "I mean, if you'd asked me three days ago the same question I would have said 'no way, I don't do illegal things.' But now… I don't know. I suppose I could. If I were asked." It was the closest she could bring herself to flirting with the rogue, and even with something so small as that she was highly embarrassed. To his credit, Riddler didn't even acknowledge the awkward ploy, much to Jane's relief.

"I find you intoxicatingly attractive."

Her head snapped up and she stared at him with her mouth agape. "I'm sorry?"

Riddler cleared his throat and sat the rest of the way upright, leaning a little towards her, elbows on his knees. "I said I find you intoxicatingly attractive. Of course, not at this very instant with your mouth hanging open like that, but the rest of the time you really are quite beautiful."

Jane closed her mouth with a snap. "Um…thank you."

Undaunted, Edward continued. "Not at all, it actually benefits me. I have a proposition for you if you are interested."

"What is it?" I find you intoxicatingly attractive as well!

"There is a gala being held by Bruce Wayne-I'm assuming you have heard of Bruce Wayne, yes?" At a slightly disappointed nod from Jane (which Riddler either failed to catch or ignored) he continued. "The gala is an annual event and the guest list is always quite impressive. I need you to get on that guest list."

Jane's eyes nearly bugged out of her head at this. "Wait, what? How am I going to do that? I don't have money, certainly not enough to impress Bruce Wayne! And I don't know anybody in town!"

"You won't be needing money. The plan is to tell Bruce Wayne you are a reporter covering the event. I can provide you with the proper credentials, but I need to know if you are willing and capable of doing this."

Jane thought long and hard for a moment. "What would I need to do?"

"Get me inside there, and then get yourself out. It will be a simple job, quickly and, with my intellect, flawlessly executed. Your part is very small. Will you do it?"

It was a difficult decision. Jane knew once she started down this road there would be no turning back. She would never be able to eat in the coffee shop in broad daylight again. No more browsing at the public library without looking over her shoulder…

But the sense of adventure was too much for her to pass up.

"I'll do it."

AN: Omg…what is this?! A plot?! What's that doing here?! Sorry it took so long for the update, guys. I worked 12 days in a row, no day off. It was brutal. Anyway, thanks for being such patient little readers (and reviewers! That made me ecstatic!) I really do love writing Riddler, he practically writes himself!