I must beg the forgiveness of my fans. I could rattle off a few excuses here; try to make you feel sorry for me. But I won't. Here is the next installment in poor Elsbeth's twisted journey through Arkham. Please R.R.E.

Crane left me to get dressed. Cash had just told me not to go to solitary. And now Crane was practically hauling me there. He was a little too quick on the draw when it came to making a deal with me. The sneaky little shit was planning something, and it made me nervous. What was also currently making me nervous was the thought of seeing the Joker again. The last time hadn't turned out so well for me.

"Elsbeth," Crane said from outside the Infirmary doors. "Hurry up, the riot is moving closer."

"Almost finished," I said back. I hadn't even started to get changed. I quickly slipped the gown and undergarments off. I was changed in record time. I was just finishing slipping my shoes on when Crane opened the door and looked in.

"Knock much?" I said, getting off the bed. "I could have been naked."

He just gave me a look that said, so what? I sighed impatiently. Men were all the same.

"Come along," he said, a smile on his face. Anything that made him happy scared me.

"I'm not going to solitary," I said.

"Elsbeth, we made an agreement," he said, letting go of the door so it slammed shut behind him.

"And I intend to honor that agreement," I said. "But I need some sort of insurance, to make sure your not signing my release papers for my dead body."

A grid slid onto Crane's face. He looked thoroughly amused. This upset me.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You are," he replied, shaking his head.

"You're the doctor," I said, dripping with sarcasm.

"What kind of insurance were you thinking of Elsbeth," he said, crossing his arms.

"Its a little policy I like to call Bane," I replied.

"Absolutely not," he replied curtly.

"Then I'm not going," I said, sitting back down on the bed. "I think maybe I'll take a nap."

I heard Crane let out a sigh of exasperation. He was getting upset with me. Ah well. Every other nutcase was on the "Torture Elsbeth Wagon" why not him?

"Elsbeth, I promised the Joker I would bring you to him," Crane said, sounding impatient.

"AHA!" I cried, sitting up rapidly. It made my head spin. "Whoa."

I put my hands on either side of my head, trying to stop the spinning.

"Elsbeth," Crane said, covering the short distance quickly. He quickly took out a small flashlight and began a cognitive functions test on me. "Do not put so much stress on yourself. Your body has been in an almost dormant state for a month. It's going to take some time to get back to your old routines."

I nodded my head, slowly. Doc wants me to take it easy. Like hell.

"You lied to me," I said, looking up at him.

"I did no such thing" he replied, looking away quickly.

"Fine. You deliberately withheld information from me," I retorted. "What's in it for you? What is he giving you?"

"That's none of your business," he replied shortly.

"You don't honestly think that I will go with you. Do you?" I asked him.

"You have no choice," he said. "Either you come with me now, or he's going to come here and collect you."

"Well better tell him to start walking," I said, laying back.

"Elsbeth, please," Crane said, his eyes were pleading.

"What does he have over you Crane?" I asked, concerned. The Joker must have something very important to Crane for him to beg me.

"My fear," he whispered, so quiet I almost didn't hear him.

I felt bad for him. I really did. Whatever he feared must be terrible, but it wasn't good enough for me to sacrifice for.

"Leave," I said, looking at him, an idea forming in my brain.

"I can't,' he said. "The Joker will hunt me down."

"Not if you're dead," I said with a grin.

He looked at me like I had lost my mind.

"Your on good terms with Croc right?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "But how is that, oh."

He was finally getting it.

"Stage a fight with Croc, in front of patients on the M. Then have him haul you down into the sewers, screaming." I said. "There imagination will do the rest."

He was thinking it over.

"It's possible," he said. "But what would we fight over? The Joker knows that Croc and I are allies."

"Me," I said.

"You?" he asked, puzzled.

"Yeah," I replied. "You try and get Croc to help you haul me down to the Joker, but he won't help unless he gets to have a taste."

I remembered what Cash said he did to his hand, so wanting to bite a piece out of me wasn't so farfetched.

"You tell him no, and things get out of control," I said. "Just wing it."

"Why are you helping me?" he asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Because I like the Joker less than I like you," I said. "The lesser of two evils right?"

"You are truly a unique women," he said, shaking his head. "Brave and foolish."

"And proud of it," I said. "Now go. I'm sure the clown prince of solitary doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Elsbeth," Crane said, looking at me.

"Yeah," I replied.

"If he ever finds out you helped me," he said, letting me fill in the gaps with my own imagination.

"He'll spank me and take my birthday away?" I said, trying to lighten the mood. I had a pretty good idea of what he would do. But I would cross that bridge when I came to it.

Crane shook his head. He then gently picked up my hand and kissed the back of it.

"Thank you Elsbeth," he said. "I am indebted to you."

"Remember that next time you want to get all freaky with your fear shit," I said.

He smiled his signature smile and left me alone in the infirmary. Well not completely alone. I had noticed earlier that one of the lockers against the farthest wall had a door that kept shifting. I raised my eyebrow.

"Getting uncomfortable hiding in that locker?" I said to however was in it.

"Yes actually," someone said.

I watched with wide eyes as Edward Nigma unfolded himself from the small space.

"How in the fuck?" I said. The locker was only about four feet high and maybe two feet wide and deep. There should have been no way.

"With a lot of practice," he said. "Why are you helping Coo-coo Crane escape from the Joker?' he asked as he stretched.

"Why were you hiding in a locker in the infirmary?" I countered.

"Touché'" he replied. "I was waiting for you to wake up. Bane told me to keep an eye on you."

"I was trying to stop Crane from taking me to see the Joker," I said. "Seemed like a win-win. No Joker, no Crane."

"I believe it is," he said smiling.

Edwards's hair was all over the place, making me smile. He was one of the first inmates here who was genuinely nice to me. Not to mention he was ridiculously funny.

"So what's the game plan?" I asked.

"Get you to Batman, or Bane," he said. "Before the Joker finds you."

"Finds me?" I asked. "Everyone knows where I am."

Edward's face fell. He looked in deep distress.

"Time to go," he said, bounding over to me and taking my hand. "We gotta Bat to track."

Edward had me running and sneaking. And then laughing and joking. It was all too much. We were currently on the second floor, which looked like a tornado had gone through. Beds were over turned, garbage was everywhere. There was even the horrid smell of feces. I scrunched up my nose.

"There she is!" a man said from the end of hall. "That's the girl the Joker wants. Get her!"

"Time to go," Edward said, and we were off again.

Arkham was like a maze. And we were the rats. Everywhere we went; other patients either were looking for us, or yelled to those who were. We had nowhere to hide. We had just stopped for a breather when the intercom system clicked to life.

"Getting, uh, tired Elsbeth?"

I heard his voice and my blood ran cold. I quickly looked around for any sort of video camera. I found one a few feet away. I gave him the finger.

"Now, ah, that's not very nice."

Edward grabbed my hand and we started running again. But his voice stayed with us.

"Eddy, you ah, know better than to touch what's mine."

Edward ignored him and kept on running. We reached a corridor and were half way through it when men immerged from the doors. We quickly back tracked and headed back the way we came, but they came in from those doors to. We were trapped.

"Shit!" I said. "We better think of something soon Ed, or we're fucked."

I could see him looking around, trying to find some way. He moved to a nearby door and shook the handle.

"Locked!" he exclaimed, sounding surprised. I rolled my eyes at him. I moved towards the door and kicked it as hard as I could. The wood around the lock shattered and the door swung inward.

"I ah, love it when your forceful Elsbeth," the Joker said from the com.

"Find something to block the door with!" I yelled to Ed. Together we moved a desk and a few chairs to block the door.

"That's not gonna hold for long," Edward said.

"We're not staying for long," I replied, moving to the windows. There was a ledge, it was small, but if we were careful it would be manageable.

I broke the old glass with ease. I could still here the Joker talking over the loud speaker, but I had tuned him out. Every now and then I would hear my name, and something about Batman.

I climbed up on the ledge of the window sill.

"Come on Ed," I said, leaning over to give him a hand up.

He took my hand and we were outside in moments. It was dark out and I was beginning to think this was a bad idea. My heart was pounding in my chest. If I slipped. No. Don't think like that. It was slow going, even though we were under pressure and nervous. I heard a crash and knew that they had gotten through our barricade.

"Concentrate Edward," I said, noticing how nervous he looked. If he lost focus. I didn't want to think about the consequences.

"There outside!" I heard someone yell.

We were so close! A small flat section of the roof was just ahead. All we had to do was shimmy a little longer and then jump down about seven feet. From there, who knew? But it was better than the Joker, I was sure of it.

A loud noise rang out from above us, and Edward lost his footing and began to slip.

"EDWARD!" I screamed, as I grabbed a hold of his shirt.

With my help he righted himself and we were back on track.

"Thanks," he gasped, between breaths.

"No problem," I said back. "What the hell was that noise?"

He shook his head. A few minutes later, and thankfully in one piece, we landed on the small roof.

"I'm not too proud to admit that I didn't plan on where to go from here," I said.

Edward was quiet while he thought. I couldn't see that far in front of me.

"Shit," I whispered, as I heard something.

Edward must have heard it to, because he came to stand next to me.

"Can you see anything?" I whispered.

I felt him shake his head no.

"Who's there?" I called out. Guess I had to be brave enough for the both of us. I stepped a little in front of Edward. I wasn't sure how well he could fight, but I knew how well I could.

"Are you Elsbeth Grey?" a deep gravelly voice called from in the darkness.

"I am," I said. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

A figure stepped out from the darkness, into my sight. I let out a breath. Batman!

"Oh," I said, relaxing some.

Alarm bells went off in my head as I watched him stagger forward. Something was wrong.

"Shit!" I said, as I moved forward, and grabbed him around the waist, slinging his arm over my shoulder.

"Edward!" I said.

"What?" he asked.

"A little help?" I snapped.

"Oh yeah," between the two of us we were able to move him farther onto the roof, away from any windows or prying eyes.

"Where are you hurt?" I asked, looking but seeing nothing.

"Not hurt," he growled. "Crane's poison."

"Crane's poison?" I repeated.

"Our dear Looney Doctor has a fear toxin that he sprays at you," Edward said, filling me in. "The poor soul who inhales it is driven temporarily insane. Burdened by the hallucinations of what they fear most."

"How do we help him?" I asked.

"On my belt," he said, breathing hard. "On my belt."

I scoured his belt.

"What am I looking for?" I said. There was a tone on his belt.

"Vile," he whispered.

I found it at last. It was a vile, with some fancy delivery system.

"I need skin to deliver this to you," I said. "Is there anywhere on you that I pull up, to give you the shot?"

He was quiet for a moment.

"Edward," I said. "Go away for a minute."

"What?" he said, sounding offended.

"I said back off for a minute," I snapped. He needed to leave. Edward was still the Riddler to Batman.

"Okay," he said, standing up and moving away, giving us some privacy.

"Where can I give this to you?" I asked again. His arm slowly moved across his chest to his should. He did something, and the chest plate on the suit he was wearing shifted some. I was able to get at his shoulder and give him the injection.

"Thank you," he said.

"Your welcome," I replied, getting up to go smooth things over with Nigma.

"Edward," I said, but he turned his back to me. "Don't be that way. I had to ask you to leave. Your still the Riddler to Batman. He wasn't going to let me give him the shot with you there. It was nothing personal."

When he didn't respond I sighed. I heard Batman's breathing returning to normal, and turned to see if he needed anything.

"You swear it wasn't personal?" Edward said at last.

"I swear," I replied. "I was just trying to save Batman."

He nodded his head and followed me back to Batman's side. Together we were able to help him into a sitting postion.

"Nigma," Batman said.

"Surprised to see me?" Edward said a small smile on his face.

"He shouldn't be," I said. "This is Arkham after all."

"Cash told me about you," Batman said, turning his dark eyes to me. "And I heard the Joker over the intercom. Why is he after you?"

"I don't know," I said, sitting down on the ground. "He's been after me from the first day I got here."

Batman nodded his head.

"Are you feeling any better?" I asked after several quiet minutes.

"The serum is kicking in," he replied. "Crane's toxic's effect is wearing off."

I'm assuming that was Batman talk for yes.

"Can you help me out of here?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied, getting to his feet.

For the first time in weeks I felt hope.