Two Minds are Better than One

Xelia looked down at her feet, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Here she was standing before Batman, the one person who could get her life back to normal, and she was debating on telling him or not. She rubbed her arm, feeling awkward, as a war raged in the back of her mind.

"I..." Just say 'I need your help', and everything will be ok, "I hope you're right." Stupid, stupid... Xelia couldn't help but grit her teeth as she dodged her own question. Batman remained silent, surprise surprise, as he looked down at Xelia, evaluating her like a criminal; for all Xelia knew, he might actually see her as a criminal.

"Be sure to keep yourself out of trouble." He said darkly, before grappling off into the night sky, seemingly taking all of Xelia's sanity with him. She quickly made a bee line to her vehicle, where she proceed to yell choice words to herself, just as she did the day she found out where she'd be working.

Why would she want to keep The Riddler out of Arkham? What would she gain? Xelia quickly started her car, turning on the heater, before proceeding to rub her hands in front of the not-yet-warm air vents. Nibbling on her lower lip, Xelia kept questioning herself relentlessly. She blinked slowly as an odd question formed in her mind; could she, Xelia Moore, have...feelings for Edward Nygma? One of Gotham's feared enemies? A man who's stolen from, terrorized, and killed innocent people? Was her own feelings stopping her from sending him back to Arkham?... What was she thinking?

Xelia began driving, her mind fearing to ask one particular question; was she turning into Harley Quinn? Xelia knew for certain that she was nowhere close to being infatuated with The Riddler. Heck, she wasn't even one hundred percent sure if she had feelings for the riddle loving villain; maybe she was a humanitarian and just wanted to see him rehabilitated. It was easy to say, that there was a small crowd of people who, everyone a rogue enters Arkham, they wish for them to emerge a civilized person of society. Xelia was quite certain that once The Riddler was apprehended, her life would finally return to normal; whatever "normal" was for her. She hoped that between now and the time he's caught, she wouldn't see him again; a hope that she knew was in vain.

"I'll never let myself end up like Harley." Xelia quietly vowed to herself as she became illuminated by the now red light. The rest of the ride to her apartment was spent in silence as she focused her mind on driving and other things.

"Hey!"

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Xelia asked as she closed the apartment door behind her, inwardly cringing at how loud the television was.

"Normally, I would be, but I have tomorrow off, and there's a marathon on that I wanted to see." Xelia glanced over at said marathon only roll her eyes at the supposed "reality" show that was on; it was a horde of over emotional girls and their so-called "daily" lives, and the hard tasks being incredibly rich.

"You stayed up to watch that?" She asked, as if her best friend had committed a crime. Naomi just rolled her eyes at Xelia's dislike for the show; to each his own, she supposed.

"Yes, I stayed up to watch it." Naomi stated proudly as Xelia drudged onwards down the hall.

"I'm going to bed," she stated bluntly, "g'night." Xelia didn't wait for a reply before shutting the door and collapsing onto her bed, a heavy sigh leaving her lips. She couldn't believe the night she'd had; poor Harley... Poor Xelia! Unable to even sort out her own emotions.

On another side of Gotham Edward Nygma's night was just beginning. A wide array of tools, electronic items mostly, sat on a table before him. Alongside him was someone he always tried his best to avoid, but given the circumstances he'd make an acceptation; Jervis Tetch, once a brilliant scientist, whose mind now was too far consumed with idiotic thoughts of Wonderland to even focus on other things it seemed. Eddie preferred facts, puzzles, and logical thinking, while Jervis used his imagination, delusional thoughts, and obsession with Wonderland to fuel his mind. The two did share some similar characteristics though, such as their impressive computer knowledge, compulsions, and lives of crime.

"Edward, I- I must say, I was quite surprised when you called upon me. I brought everything you asked for." Jervis said, timid at the slightly more intimidating rogue. True, Eddie and Jervis were both lower on the "rogue totem pole", as they were nothing compared to The Joker, but Eddie always seemed to be more of a threat than Jervis would ever be; Eddie even outsmarted Batman on their first encounter, escaping in his private jet, before Batman even had a chance at apprehending him. Although it was unspoken, Eddie had earned some respect with that feat.

"I knew you had the experience to help me with this project." Eddie smirked as he began to hook up some computer chips to his laptop.

"Well, I'm just not sure what I could help you with; I've never worked with virtual reality, just mind control chips." Jervis said, frowning behind his large teeth. Eddie was inwardly disgusted by Jervis' comical appearance, his large teeth bucked out of his lips, the garish costume he wore, and his mop like hair hanging down in his face; at least Eddie had a classy costume, and handsome features to go along with it.

"True, but you have the skills to make the virtual reality device smaller, while I have the brains to do all the remote programming to where I can control what the person sees from the comforts of my home." Eddie said as he gestured around the room at his slightly-bigger-than-last office.

"Ah, well, I suppose that's true." Jervis said as he took a few parts and began to put them together, while Eddie was tweaking the virtual chip. The two men kept to themselves, Jervis working on the hardware, while Eddie worked on the software; it was almost a macabre scene to see two enemies of Gotham's public, working together on one twisted goal

So, before anyone starts yelling at me for calling Jervis ugly, I was speaking from Eddie's POV and EVERYONE knows Eddie's THE most handsome man ever… Riiight.

I wanted to bring Jervy back into the story for a while now, and I've finally found an excuse to.*

I hope he's in character; we never really got to see him interact with the other rogues, especially not Eddie. Tell me how you feel about the situation, do you think Eddie and Jervis would get along? I think since they both have a background with technology, Jervis being a scientist thing, and Eddie being a computer nerd, that they'd be ok with each other (with a few disagreements along the way, of course)

Well kids, I've got a plane to catch!... no really… they're taking it out of the hangar right now, lol.