I Do Not Own Batman or anything else, except my OC(s)!
After hanging out with Bruce for a bit and thanking him for John, I left the west wing for the kitchen to get a snack. Walking into the room I was sort of surprised to see John sitting at the table eating an apple.
"I see you found the kitchen okay" I laughed a little as I walked over to the pantry where I knew Bruce had hidden some junk food, "Get lost any?"
"Only once. I was looking for the bathroom and ended up in the library" He said.
"That happened to me a few times when I came here as a kid" I told him grabbing a snowball cake.
"Really?" He asked and I nodded my head as I opened the plastic that the cake was wrapped in.
"Yeah, but don't worry after a week or so you'll know where every room is in this place, except for the west wing, because that's off limits" I told him sitting across from him at the table.
"How come?" He asked as I took a bite from the marshmallow covered chocolate cake.
I quickly chew the piece cake and swallowed it. I let out a sigh and looked down at the table.
"Because Bruce locked himself up in there" I told him, "I worry about him a lot when he's alone up there. He's like an older brother to me you know"
I jumped a bit when I felt a hand on my free one. I looked up to see John looking at me with a sincere look in his eyes as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze.
"It's going to be okay, Lily. He'll leave once he's ready" John said giving me a small smile.
I smiled a little and nodded as I looked into his eyes. I jumped hearing the sound of someone's throat clearing. John removed his hand quickly and looked at the door leading out of the kitchen. I turned slightly and saw Papa there with his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at us.
"Junk food like that Lily will spoil your dinner" Papa said and I looked down at the cake in my hand.
I stood up and walked over to the trash can. I dropped the cake into the can and let out a sigh.
"Sorry Papa, but I wanted something sweet" I told him as I walked back over to the table.
"Well then I'll bake a chocolate cake for dessert" Papa said as he walked over to the stove.
"I could cook dinner" I told him.
"No, no, you cooked dinner last night" Papa said shaking his head as he began to get a cake pan and a skillet out.
"Let me help at least" I told him, and he still shook his head.
"You can show Mr. Blake around the manor while I fix dinner" Papa said as he got some flour out of a cabinet.
I let out a sigh in defeat. He had won this round, but not the next one!
"Okay you win, Papa, but I will be fixing dinner tomorrow night!" I told him and he nodded while chuckling at me.
"We'll see" He said and began to fix dinner.
I sat down at the kitchen table as John finished his cereal. Once he put the bowl and spoon into the sink we left the kitchen.
"So, have you been out to the garden yet?" I asked him as we walked down a hallway.
"There's a garden?" John asked.
I laughed and nodded my head. I grabbed John's hand and began to drag him to one of the back doors that lead to the colorful garden.
"What's a manor without a garden?" I asked him as I dragged him over to the path that went through the garden.
I let go of John's hand as we stood on the path. He was looking around at the sculptured animals that were made out of shrubs. I smiled seeing an elephant one of my favorites to look at.
"You see that elephant over there?" I asked John pointing to the slightly big green shrub.
John looked over to the sculptor and nodded his head.
"It's one of my favorites here in the garden" I told him.
"It is a beautiful sculpture" John said and I nodded.
We began to walk the small path of the garden. In the middle of the garden I noticed something in the pathway. I walked a head slowly as my ankle began to hurt a little. As I got closer to the thing, I noticed that it was a green envelope. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach after seeing the black question mark on the front. I looked around quickly to see if the Riddler or any of the Penguins henchmen were around. Luckily I didn't see any, but that didn't mean that they weren't around.
"What's that?" John asked causing me to jump and clutch the envelope to my chest.
"I don't know" I told him and held the envelope out.
John looked at it and his face went pale. He grabbed me by my arm gently and began to guide me back to the manor.
"We have to get inside. It's from the Riddler" He said quickly.
We walked into the manor, and I locked the doors as John walked to the living room. I followed him and sat on the couch as John placed the envelope down on the table.
"Should we open it?" I asked him and he nodded.
"Yeah" John said and opened the envelope.
A card fell out. John picked it up and opened it. Inside the card was a picture of John from a news paper. Under his eyes colored in with a blue crayon were tears and on the bottom was written in blue crayon. I make you weak at the worst of all times, I keep you safe, I keep you fine, I make your hands sweat, And your heart grow cold, I visit the weak, But seldom the bold.
"I don't understand what it could mean" John said as he stared at the card.
"Me neither" I lied.
Of course it the answer to the riddle was fear. What else would make your heart grow cold, and hardly bold people get scared by their fears. I guess Batgirl will be making an appearance later tonight, if John doesn't figure out the riddle on his own.
We sat in the living room going over the riddle until dinner. John had almost figured it out a few times on his own, but he kept thinking about it.
"Lily could you take that tray up to Master Bruce?" Papa asked since I had finished eating before he was.
I nodded and stood up from the table. I walked over to the counter and picked up the tray that held Bruce's food. I left the kitchen and went up to the west wing. I could hear the thumping of the arrow hitting the target as usual.
"Bringing you your food like this makes me feel like you're a prisoner and I'm the guard" I told him setting the tray down on a small table.
Bruce set his bow down and grabbed his cane before making his way over to the tray of food.
"Well you're doing a good job at it" He said and I rolled my eyes, "I saw you in the garden with John earlier"
My heart went cold. Did he see us leave quickly with that envelope?
"You two left real quick after finding something" He said and looked at me as he grabbed a roll, "Is something going on that I should know?"
I shook my head.
"No, we found a dead squirrel and you know how I am when I see a dead animal. John was being the kind gentleman he is and took me away from it" I lied hoping he couldn't tell.
"Oh, I'm sorry about the squirrel" Bruce said and took a bite from the roll.
"Me too, well I better get going and let you eat in peace" I told him and left the west wing quickly.
I walked towards my room and saw that John was in the bathroom taking a shower. It was a perfect chance to get into my batsuit and scare the living daylights out of John. I walked into my room quickly and changed into the suit. I walked out of my room and into John's. I hide in the dark corner of the room and waited for him to show up.
Ten minutes went by and John's door opened up. He walked into the room with a tower wrapped around his waist. It was good thing that it was dark and my mask was covering the blush on my cheeks as I saw his chest. John turned on the light after shutting the door. He jumped seeing me.
"I'm not that ugly am I?" I asked him tilting my head to the side.
"Uh, no, you're very attractive, I mean, what are you doing here? I thought you were taking a break because of your ankle?" John asked.
I had to hold in a laugh that was dying to come out.
"Crime waits for no one, John. Now did anything happened to you today?" I asked him.
John nodded and told me what had happened earlier at his apartment and then what happened in the garden.
"I just don't know the answer about that riddle" John said and I shook my head.
"Fears" I said and John looked at me, "The answer to the riddle is Fears"
"Fears? What is the Riddlers plan?" John asked and I shrugged my shoulder.
" He's a psychopath who wants to take over Gotham by mind control" I said and let out a sigh, "I must get going. I have a city to protect, be safe kid"
I turned to the window quickly and jumped out of it before John could say anything. I used the grappling gun to get to the roof. I ran across the roof to where my room was. I jumped down onto the window and opened it. I climbed through my window and locked it, before changing into a pair of pajamas. I hid my outfit under my bed and laid down wondering about the Riddler. What was his plan exactly?