Disclaimer: Batman and all other related characters are the property of DC Comics, with the movie rights belonging to Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement is in any way intended, and no profit is being made from the publication of this story.
Author's Note: A relatively quick update for once, who would have thought? Don't get too excited though, because this will likely be the last update for at least a few weeks. If it's any comfort, it's not by choice but out of necessity. I have a rather large school essay that I've been alternately delaying and ignoring for way too long now, and I have a feeling that it's coming back to bite me. It's due by the end of March, and I really do have to re-prioritize and get to work on it now. Sorry guys…I promise I'll come back strong when the assignment is handed in! As always, I love your reviews, and I hope you won't hesitate to leave one – I could certainly use the encouragement right about now.
Edit: Come on guys - three days since I updated, I practically beg you for feedback, and I got only one review?! What happened to all the great feedback you've been giving me on the previous chapters? - Sorry, I just needed to get that off my chest...that bloody school essay is getting to me.

Once again Connie got the feeling that her mind and body were working independently of each other. Her body moved, avoiding the holes that were steadily appearing in the floor, while her mind seemed preoccupied with thinking that this was way too bizarre to actually be happening. Floors were simply not meant to disappear. But this one did, regardless of precedence or proper etiquette for floors. After a moment or so of leaping from stone to stone to avoid the steadily increasing number of black holes, Connie's brain again merged with her body, and she cursed intently. This was swiftly turning into another one of those 'try very hard not to get yourself killed' nights.

She leapt into one of the archways, thinking she would be safer there, but discovered to her surprise that beyond the archways and the candles placed just inside to enlighten them, there was nothing but solid, jagged rock. Turning back, she saw him land just inside the archway, and simply said;

"Dead end."

He nodded once, and replied with equal candor.

"The same with the others."

She stepped towards him and peered over his shoulder down into the space where the floor had once been.

"So…the only way forward is down there?"

"So it would seem."

"Oh God."

He stepped around her, first placing one hand on her shoulder and then another, until he stood behind her, and she stood looking down into the dark hole.

"I know you are frightened." He said calmly, while his grip tightened around her shoulders.

"But you need to trust me. Fear is nothing but the loss of control in the face of the unknown. If you find the ability within yourself to relinquish control, or if you know what you face, then fear is useless."

"I know what you're about to do, you're about to ask me to jump into dark hole, and because I realize that it might be the only way out I'll probably do it. But there is no way, no way in hell that you are going to make me feel good about it."

"Fair enough," came the reply.

He shifted his weight forward, letting himself fall, taking her with him. She screamed, but he didn't give her the chance to fight him. He had anticipated another underground chamber, but was somewhat surprised when his sensors told him that he and his companion would be landing in water.

Connie, who had no high-tech gadgetry to rely on at the moment, was even more surprised when she felt the cold water envelop her, and had to fight the impulse to scream again. Now that she was in the water, her body adapted its reactions and without really meaning to, she kicked off her shoes and swam for the surface. When she emerged she discovered that her surroundings were now dimly lit, and she could make out the jagged rock above. But there was more.

From a plateau of sorts above them, she saw the faint outline of a person, seemingly looking down on them. She reached out and grabbed Batman's shoulder to make him aware of the shadowy figure. When he saw that he had the attention of both, the figure moved.

With a couple of jumpy steps, Edward Nashton moved closer to the light. He had discarded his mask, top hat and overcoat, and as he stood looking down on them he looked completely average. There was nothing particular about him that would stand out in a crowd. He wasn't really unfortunate looking, his hair was short cropped, and looked black in the dim light, his eyes likewise, his face was rather slim and his jaw angular. Good looking…but nothing special.

"Good evening," he began pleasantly, crouching down on the edge of the platform as if he was trying to get a better look at them both.

"So good that you both could join me. You see…I have a little…challenge for you. Actually, for you, it will be more a question of survival."

He paused, and surveyed them for another moment before continuing.

"You have undoubtedly observed that you are in a lake. You also probably know that water is an efficient conductor of electricity. If, in addition to this, you see the live wires that are scattered around you, that should be more than enough to realize you're both in deep trouble. Some might even say fatal…"

"As ever, I'm responsible for the one little glimmer of hope you have left. I've given you the keys. Below you are the boxes they open, and those boxes are your only way out. But, you'll have to figure out which key goes in which cabinet yourselves…"

He stood up, and his eyes were fixed on Connie. The light changed, making the wires he had mentioned stand out further. In addition, Connie now realized what he was standing on wasn't a platform, but an hourglass.

"And it's in your best interest to do it fast." He concluded, before stepping back into the darkness and disappearing from sight. Connie watched in horror as the hourglass tipped, and the sand started to pour from the top half to the bottom.

She had to fight the surge of panic that now threatened to consume her, and for a moment it was only the violent grip Batman took on one of her wrists that held her back. She turned her head sharply, and their eyes met.

"The keys are marked."

He held one up with his other hand, while he pulled her closer in an effort to get her to focus, and see. It took her a moment to do just that, but when he saw that she had her focus on him and not the time, he continued.

"There is a mark directly below the head. Can you see it?"

Connie had to fight to keep her mind focused. Her body was in survival mode, and not really in a position that allowed her to make use of her eyes coupled with the part of her brain that dealt with detail orientation. But after a few moments of vigorous concentration, she saw them, and when she did they seemed so obvious that she wondered why she hadn't noticed them from the start.

"They're letters from the Greek alphabet. You know what that looks like, right?"

That Connie knew, almost without thinking. After almost a decade of educating herself in various aspects of mathematics and engineering, and years filled with Lucius Fox's creative thoughts and the equally creative engineering acquired to suit them, she had an above average grasp of the Greek alphabet, if nothing else.

"Yeah, Alpha, Omega and all that…"

"Good. I have one Gamma, one Iota and one Mu."

She pulled out the three keys she had gathered from the puzzle boxes, and looked at each of them in turn.

"Alpha, Epsilon and Nu. What are you thinking, do we try them sequentially first?"

He didn't have to shake his head. The look he sent her, coupled with the definitive words;

"No time," settled the matter. But before she could utter a word of protest, he continued;

"The first letters spell a word we've come across before. I suggest we go with that…"

It took her a moment to come to the same conclusion he had reached in seconds. G, I, M, A, E, and N spelled out ENIGMA, a word that had been introduced into the game from the very beginning. She nodded quickly to show that she understood and agreed, and moving quickly they swapped some of the keys, leaving Connie with the E, N and I keys, while Batman dove to the bottom of the pool with the keys belonging to letters G, M and A.

Connie took a minute to get her breathing under control, and rearrange her grip so that she had the flashlight in one hand with the cord wrapped around her wrist so she wouldn't lose it in the murky water, and the keys in the other. Then she followed him below the surface.

She couldn't see anything at first. Even the sharp light from her flashlight seemed to fade, and the realization made her feel slightly claustrophobic, but she forced herself to keep swimming down. It turned out that the pool wasn't that deep, but it still took her a minute or so to locate the first box. She was relieved to find that the key fit in the lock without problem, and the fact that she could get the lid open told her that the box had to be filled with water from the start. It wasn't much of a comfort, but at least it meant that the solution the Riddler had offered them could prove legit, and that the boxes weren't just some unpleasant electrical surprise.

Inside the box was a simple lever, and Connie hurried to pull it down. She could hear the echo of a sound on the surface, not unlike the sound of the stones that had disappeared to leave them in this hole to begin with. But she didn't give herself time to wonder about what on earth was happening over her head. Instead she quickly began to search for the next box, praying that it would bring her that much closer to getting out alive.

Batman had moved faster, already having unlocked the three boxes he had the keys for, and pulling the levers found inside. He surfaced to see that only a third of the sand was left in the hourglass, but he also saw that the levers had triggered four round platforms at uneven intervals, leading upwards again. A fifth was triggered as he watched, meaning that she too had found two out of three. He contemplated diving back down to help her locate the last one, but decided against it. The water was murky and she would probably not see him coming, even with the help of the flashlight. He would only accomplish scaring her, and that was the last thing either of them needed right now.

He only watched as the sand continued to pour down into the bottom half of the hourglass, while he waited for her to ascend. He wasn't worried, thought he berated himself for the fact that she was there in the first place. He should have managed to shift the Riddler's attention onto himself somehow. But it was the Riddler who had picked her… He had not known of the Riddler's existence before he had stumbled upon her in that deserted church, and watched as she was subjected to the first of god knows how many trials at the hands of that man. As much as it hurt his pride to admit it, the Riddler had been in control of the game from the start, and he showed no signs of relinquishing it. He wasn't worried…

A familiar sound and movement above indicated that she had managed to locate and open the last box. A moment later she surfaced, breathing deeply but controlled. He didn't waste time, but took a firm grip on her with one hand, and his grapple gun with the other, swiftly launching them both into the air before landing steadily on the lowest platform. Just as their feet touched the stone, they heard a crackling noise, and the live wires fell into the water.

She was in his arms, so close he could feel the warmth of her breath on his cheek. It was the second time in a matter of hours that they had stood this close, and it was the second time in as many hours that he had to fight to keep his heart rate under control. She was drenched, and shivering with cold and fear, but utterly beautiful.

She caught his glance, and tried to smile. There was an enormous sense of relief apparent in her voice when she said;

"That was close…"

Once again, he let silence speak for him, but he moved his hands to her shoulders and pushed her gently about half a step away, his eyes searching for any sign of physical trauma. He saw nothing, but still asked;

"Are you alright?"

She looked up at him, then down at her own body. Though still shaken, she shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine."

"Let's move. We have to get out of here."

He jumped easily onto the next platform, three feet or so above the one they had climbed up on to escape electrocution, and crouched down to pull her up after him. The jumps between the platforms became increasingly difficult to execute as they climbed higher, but eventually they could both climb into a doorway similar to the one they had entered through some hours earlier. They stood for a moment in the darkness, and although she couldn't see him as any more than an outline against the stone behind him, Connie could feel his eyes on her. Somehow she had started to get used to that feeling, and even took some comfort in it. To say that she felt safe would be an overstatement, considering how close she had just been to being electrocuted, but there was definitely a sense of reassurance in having him there with her.

They began to climb a staircase which led them even further upwards, and just when Connie was convinced that she wouldn't be able to take one more step they reached the top. A cold gust of air, made even colder by the fact that she was soaking wet, told her that an exit couldn't be far away. She turned out to be right, because a moment later they encountered a steel door, rusty almost to the point of disintegrating. Opening it was almost unnecessary, but as she was about to step outside a hand on her shoulder held her back.

"Careful." His rasping voice said, pointing to the ground outside being covered with dead leaves and rubbish.

"Bad idea to walk around in that barefoot." He pointed out, before he pushed past her and waded into the pool of filth himself. She saw now that they were at the abandoned entrance of an air vent or a drain of some sort, and that the grate above was the only thing that stood between them, and a darkened alleyway. It was hardly safe, but after an evening roaming the stale, narrow corridors of the Gotham Opera, even the air of a dark alley felt fresh. She watched as he loosened the grate and pushed it aside with ease, before returning to where she stood in the doorway.

Without saying a word he carefully placed both hands around her waist and lifted her into the air as if she weighed nothing. Almost as a reflex she placed both of her arms around his neck, and for a moment they stood like that, frozen. In that moment he looked up into her eyes, and thought he could see the stars reflected in those dark pools. He carried her across the small space, and carefully lifted her so she sat on the edge of the street above, before he jumped up after her.

Connie got up and surveyed her surroundings. She recognized the place from late night documentaries about the demise of Gotham City as where Thomas and Martha Wayne had been robbed and gunned down in front of their young son. She felt for Bruce Wayne, she really did, and if he had made any mention of what had happened when they'd talked earlier in the evening, she would have said as much. She knew what it felt like to lose someone that close…

Suddenly she heard the sound of running steps, and spun around to see two uniformed police officers coming towards them. Before she could react she felt herself being pulled up by an arm around her waist, and she realized that she was just then soaring out of reach of the two policemen. Her landing on the roof of the adjacent building wasn't anywhere near that graceful, but she managed to use her hands to break her fall, before gingerly getting to her feet. She barely had time to curse under her breath at the sudden flight and the stop following it, before his growling voice told her to keep moving.

She heard shouts coming from below, and ran, as well as she could in a dress, across the rooftop. For the briefest of moments she thought that running from the police was not a smart thing to do, she had more than enough trouble already. But the only one who had been able to help her so far was a man who was wanted, so perhaps she too had to walk that line, at least for a while. Not that it mattered how much she thought about it now, she had made the decision when she started her run across the rooftops with him, and she had made it without a thought.

Moving continuously across rooftops proved to be difficult, and it was not made easier by the fact that she wore a dress and was barefoot, but she knew she had to keep up, for his sake, if nothing else.

She couldn't guess how long they had been running, jumping and occasionally flying across and between rooftops when he finally slowed down and stopped. For a while they stood still, both trying to catch their breath and regain their composure. He succeeded first, and used the opportunity to watch her as she started to become more aware of her surroundings. He watched as she noticed the broken flood light, and moved slowly to inspect it. He saw the look on her face when she spotted the remnants of the bat-symbol that had once covered it, but now rightly looked as though someone had attacked it with a fire axe.

"We're on the roof of Major Case?" She asked incredulously, without expecting a reply.

"I didn't think this thing actually existed," she continued, referring to the flood light.

"I probably saw it a couple of times, but I just dismissed it as my brain being affected by an urban legend."

She paused, before asking another question.

"The cop you're involved with…is he with Major Case?"

Before he could answer, the door leading to the floors below opened carefully and another man stepped out onto the roof. Connie squinted, but had some difficulty seeing his features. His hair was dark, he wore glasses, but other than that, there was nothing about him that struck her as remarkable.

"I thought we agreed to find another place to meet."

"Sorry, but I had to move fast."

The newcomer spotted Connie, and his voice sounded with irritation when he continued;

"I also thought we agreed not to have company…we've tried that before."

He stepped closer, and Connie was now able to make out more of his features. When she finally realized who she now stood face to face with, she gasped, because she saw that it was none other than Police Commissioner James Gordon. If this was Batman's one contact within the Police Department, it explained a lot, but not nearly everything.

"Bloody hell," she blurted out, before she could stop herself.

Batman completely ignored her, and instead said to Gordon.

"This is different."

Gordon nodded slightly, and his eyes were on Connie.

"You brought the kidnapping victim."

A gentle smile crossed his face when Gordon saw Connie's surprise.

"Recognized you from your personal effects. We took them from the Opera earlier… So, did this Riddler character kidnap you, or did he?" He asked, with a nod towards Batman.

"Neither," Connie said, still feeling stunned by the revelation that Batman was somehow tied to the Police Commissioner.

Gordon sighed.

"So, do either one of you plan on telling me what went on inside the Opera? I had SWAT teams in there searching for both of you, none of them turned up anything…"

"The Riddler sent us into a labyrinth, using himself as bait. He made sure to stay two steps ahead of us, probably hoping we would both die in the trap he set for us."

"Trap? What kind of trap? Nobody reported seeing anything out of the ordinary, except a weird guy in a top hat and the two of you disappearing."

"He had us follow his trail around various parts of the building, sneaking around to avoid your crews. The trail ended in an underground lake, a lake he had rigged with live wires and a timing device…"

"Good thing you work fast." Gordon concluded. It seemed that hearing about somewhat far-fetched crime-sprees without showing any signs of shock or surprise had become something of a habit.

Batman nodded grimly, before he said;

"I can give you the details later. Whatever details you can't get from her…"

He nodded towards Connie, who had stood silently listening to the foregoing conversation feeling more and more left out, but now reacted. She recognized the signs.

"Wait a second, you're just leaving me here?!?"

He turned to face her, for the first time since they had stood in the alley behind the Opera House.

"You're not safe with me." He said, his voice calm but firm.

"Newsflash!" Connie replied angrily, quickly continuing without giving him the chance to turn his back.

"When the hell am I going to get an explanation about what kind of game you're playing, huh?!"

No answer. No surprise. In fact, Batman had at that moment found it wisest to conduct one of his many disappearances. Gordon looked at Connie with feeling, walked quietly up to her, placing an arm around her shoulders, beginning to lead her off the roof.

A few minutes later, Connie had begun what was to be hours spent in one of the interrogation rooms of the Major Case building. Gordon seemed sympathetic to what she had been through, but was adamant that she give all the details she could think of. She did, to the best of her ability, even if she thought it took ages. Then, when Gordon and one of his detectives were through with her, a woman from the FBI came in and began asking much the same questions as Gordon had already covered. Connie supposed that some of the repetitions were done to see if she answered consistently. That was the only explanation she could think of when forced to answer a question for the third time. She tried to keep her focus, although she found that very difficult to do at three o'clock in the morning, even more so after a night of navigating through caves and murky waters.

After a thorough, if repetitive interrogation she was brought down to a police sketch artist to try and describe the Riddler, aka Edward Nashton. That was much more difficult than answering questions, because he hadn't really had any features that had stood out to her down in the semi-dark cave. Everything about him seemed average and unremarkable, apart from his mind, which in comparison seemed extraordinary complex, not to mention twisted and obsessive. But that's not something that comes across on a police sketch…

It was Sunday morning before Connie Tate was returned the personal effects that had been collected from the Opera and cleared to leave the custody of Major Case. By that time she felt pretty much dead on her feet and could scarcely keep a thought in her head because every brain cell she had seemed to be screaming for sleep.

She practically stumbled through her front door, and gingerly made her way through the apartment to her bedroom. She was briefly grateful for having remembered to close the bedroom window before she left for the opera, while quickly undressing, leaving all her clothes in a heap on the floor. Still wet sequins were replaced with soft, dry cotton and she crept under the covers in her bed.

Sleep came easily, despite, or perhaps because of everything that had happened to her that night. She did not even notice the black shadow that was briefly reflected in the adjacent building before seemingly disappearing from sight.

Connie awoke late that afternoon, somewhat relieved to find that it was still Sunday. After a shower, clean clothes and some food she felt as back to normal as the circumstances allowed her to. The bare essentials out of the way, she headed for her favorite spot on the couch, laptop and cell phone in hand, to catch up on some communication with her friends, who had been staunchly de-prioritized ever since this Riddler business had entered her life. For a short while she wondered if she should be logging on to the internet at all. It would surely give Edward Nashton free access to all her info, but then again, he probably had that already. She discarded the thought and turned on the computer. Besides, she wasn't about to give up control of her life and hand it over to him that easily.

A while later, she got around to checking her voice mail, and discovered no less than five messages from Elizabeth Ripley, a close friend since the two of them had been in college together. She dialed the number, and didn't have to wait long for the reply.

"Hi, hon!" A cheerful voice sounded, closely followed by;

"About time you called, I was getting a bit worried here."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Liz…long night," Connie replied.

"Really? Do tell…" came the sly reply.

Connie shrugged.

"Not much to tell." She said evasively.

"Don't give me that! What was he like?"

"Who?"

"Oh come on…! Who do you think?!? A certain rich, handsome and very eligible bachelor by the name of Bruce Wayne, that's who!"

Connie sat up at the mention of the name, without really meaning to.

"What makes you think I was with Bruce Wayne last night…?" She responded, trying not to let anything revealing creep into her voice. On the other end she heard Elizabeth laugh.

"You were seen, my dear. Consider yourself the newest mystery of the Gotham Cable gossip pages, soon to be all Gotham gossip columns…"

"Liz, if you had planned on making me fall for that, you should have planned better. Checked the date for one…It's December Liz, not April 1st."

"I'm not kidding, sugar. Check the Gotham Cable website if you don't believe me. You're under the 'lifestyle' section… Now, I demand you give me the juicy details I'm entitled to because of my role as your best friend. Spill it, girl – what's he like?"

Connie was silent, but was typing furiously on the keyboard of her computer with one hand. Within a minute she had accessed the website of the local news channel, Gotham Cable News, and proceeded to check the 'lifestyle' section. She was momentarily horrified to find that her friend was right. The headline read; Billionaire Bruce Wayne's Mystery Brunette, and it was followed by a grainy picture, obviously taken through a window, of her and Bruce Wayne sitting on a sofa in the Opera. She cursed silently.

"Jeez, Liz, that picture might as well have been taken from space, how can you be so sure that's me?"

"Easy, why else would you be so defensive, not to mention evasive? Besides, I've been your friend for ages; I could probably recognize you from space. Now, I'm not going to ask you again; Details, woman, details!"

Connie sighed, and decided it was probably best to admit defeat. If she insisted on continuing this, Elizabeth was crazy enough to call one of Gotham's numerous gossip magazines with an anonymous tip just to prove a point, and that would definitely do more harm than good for everyone involved.

"Okay, okay…but I'm telling the truth, there really isn't much to say. He was a consummate gentleman, polite, well-mannered, relaxed as opposed to what I was…"

"And every bit as stupid as they say?"

Connie thought for a moment, before saying;

"No, I don't think so…Or, I don't know, maybe he was just camouflaging his stupidity because I said I didn't want anything to do with him if he proved to be an idiot, but he didn't come across as stupid in my eyes. He was surprisingly funny actually, and as straightforward as I suppose you can expect these rich guys to be… Didn't really seem to care that I wasn't near his social class…"

"Nobody cares about that these days, Connie…"

"Not normal people, maybe, but these trust fund kids…You should have seen how some of them looked at me."

"They were probably stunned because you looked ten times better than them without even trying, and Bruce Wayne went straight for you."

"That wasn't funny," Connie said, but she smiled regardless.

"Yes it was. Especially if you two end up getting married, you become the queen of Gotham society and all of them discover that they're at your mercy."

On her end of the line, Connie couldn't speak for laughter, and it took several minutes before the conversation could continue.

"I had one drink with the man, Liz. On what planet, besides the one obviously existing inside your head, does that in any way signify that I'm going to marry the guy?!?"

Elizabeth was laughing too, but wasn't ready to let go of the news just yet.

"Look sugar, you might think you can just brush off your date with the hot billionaire, but I am not going to let you forget this easily…and my guess is that neither will the people you work with."

"Oh, great… Who needs enemies when they've got gossip hungry friends like you, Liz?" Connie said, trying to feign anger. She knew Elizabeth, knew she never meant harm, but hoped she would see a boundary somewhere and have the brain not to cross it. Connie immensely disliked the thought of having anything to do with the tabloids – even if it was only being the mystery woman on a grainy picture, and Elizabeth should definitely know as much. Perhaps that was why she found the whole business so incredibly funny in the first place.

"For your information though," Connie began, still hearing Elizabeth laugh on the other end,

"It wasn't a date!"