Old Gotham Rooftops

Holly sat on the iron grate steps of a fire escape, looking down at the streets below and swinging her legs.

She tinkered with one of her almost-hearing aids, while keeping an eye on the street below for Martin.

Martin had flinched a tad in surprise, he wasn't expecting that. But he spun around with a sheepish smile, greeting Holly with a wave.

This was the first time he'd ever done anything like this, had a friend for that matter, besides from his father. He hurriedly wrote down on his notepad, 'Sorry I'm late.'

"Hello! Good evening! Don't even worry about it, I had some time to tinker while I was waiting." she signed.

"Ready to go rooftopping?"

She asked, an excited grin on her face.

Martin nodded, still quite bashful however eager nonetheless. He was curious as to what she had been tinkering exactly, but he decided to save his questions for later. He nodded.

Holly helped him up the fire escape, pointing to the roof.

"All the buildings here in Gotham are super close together." she signed.

"So it's easy to jump from roof to roof! And fun!"

Martin looked a tad weary, looking over the edge and observing the drop. He nodded along in understanding, masking his anxieties and swallowing.

She narrowed her eyes a bit.

"Are you okay? You look tired."

Her expression was concerned

Martin nodded, giving her a tired smile. He opened his notepad and wrote down, 'I'm fine. Maybe a little nervous.' He didn't want to worry her.

She frowned.

"Liar."

She led him to the top of the roof, sitting down in front of him.

"What's wrong?"

Martin shook his head, 'Nothing, I'm fine.' He was glad for the makeup covering up any potential giveaways.

'It's my first time, I'm terrified.' It wasn't a far cry from the truth, but he was more eager than afraid.

She nods

"They always are. You jump first, so I can catch you if needed. Ready?"

She stood by the edge, ready to help.

Martin nodded, stepping up to the edge of the building with a determined narrow of his eyes. He took a moment of uncertainty, before leaping across to the other building, almost slipping off but grasping the edge in time.

He latched on in panic, but he knew Holly would be able to assist him in getting up.

Holly landed, light as a cat, on the other side with plenty of room to spare.

She gripped him by the arms, pulling him up.

*When her hands were free, she signed; "There's some smaller gaps this way, I promise. Good job for your first jump!"

Martin looked on in awe, relieved when the soles of his feet were back atop stable ground.

He wrote her a, 'Thank you.' With a smiley-face. Jumping across rooftops was quite a fright, but exhilarating more so.

She grins, leading him over to a shorter gap between buildings.

"Ready?"

She jumped first this time, gesturing for him to leap across.

Martin observed as she did, she was elegant, and landed without so much of a sound. He braced himself, before jumping across himself, stumbling but landing this time. His eyes lit up in elation, and he held his thumbs up.

'I did it!' He wrote down, although nowhere near as impressive as her, he was proud of the achievement.

Holly grinned, giving him a side hug, having to stand on her toes to do so

"Awesome! Wow!"

On the streets below, Martin would see figures moving, ones that were all too familiar; people employed by his father.

Holly glanced over to the other buildings, realizing they were close to Selina's apartment.

Martin longed to figure out more about his father's business affairs, snoop around possibly, but he generally preferred to avoid his father's goons, especially after the incident had occurred.

He had been a tad startled by her side-hug, as the only person he had ever hugged had been his father, but he returned it timidly with a fond smile. He wrote down, 'Thank you, Holly.'

She grinned.

"Want to go down to the street and look around down there?"

She glanced over the edge.

"I look through those dumpsters a lot, they've got a lot of good parts."

Martin shook his head, glancing down again at the familiar figures. Not to mention, if they saw him roaming around late at night... when it was already rare to see him out and about in general, they would catch onto it that something was off and more than likely report back to his father.

And... he could only imagine the horror and disappointment on his father's face, but he knew there would also be acceptance. Acceptance that Martin was capable on his own.

But nonetheless, disappointment would hurt as much as being struck would. And he wasn't keen on giving his father a heart-attack. 'There are...' He swallowed as he wrote, 'Bad men down there.'

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"After you?" she asked, looking over at him.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, grinning.

"Got a place we can hide. Follow me!"

She led him over the rooftops, heading towards Catwoman's Apartment.

Catwoman's Apartment

Holly entered the window at the end of the hall, helping Martin through.

"We can hide out here." she signed. "And I can show you some of my projects! ((()))) should be on her mission still."

The ((())) was a name sign that Martin didn't recognize, two "S" signs drawn across the face like the sign for a cat.

Holly walked over and knocked on Selina's door.

Martin nodded along, taking a look around at his unfamiliar surroundings. He was keen to see her projects, he wasn't exactly inventive himself, but it did intrigue him.

He had no clue who '((()))' could possibly be, perhaps Selina? Since, to his knowledge, Holly was associated with the notorious burglar.

Edward Nigma sat against the leather couch of former rouge turned "anti-hero" Selina Kyle, aka The Catwoman. He had been invited over due to the two being neighbors in the same apartment complex. Edward was in the midst of solving a crossword puzzle in the papers easily, as he was questioning the events that took place after Selina asked him to lend some tracking devices.

"15 letter word for "reputation"?"

"Ha."

Ed said to himself in his arrogant manner, quickly writing the answer to the so-called "puzzle".

"Prestigiousness~"

He leaned up, placing the paper and pencil on the table that sat in front of him.

"So, Miss Kyle, care to elaborate on what transpired that night?"

He asked, regarding the night Catwoman and an Huntress impostor attacked someone who had reportedly wronged the "hero".

"Huntress, Crane and I were breaking into the home of a mob boss who killed her parents and took their family fortune. Allegedly. It was a clean job with good pay, I'm guessing to soften me up to work with her. I planted a tracker on her, but she found it and confronted me. I don't think she's onto us quite yet, I played it off as usual caution for our line of work.

Edward listened to her words, remembering the Scarecrow's "therapy" session he induced onto him upon hearing his name.

He leaned forward again, resting his head on his interlocked fingers.

"So, I assume you'll be looking for a new approach to this endeavor?"

Selina nodded. "I'll be keeping an eye on her, that's for-"

A knock sounded at the door, and Selina looked over. "Oh, it's Friday. So that's probably Holly."

She stood, crossing the room and opening the door.

Holly poked her head in, turning to Selina and slowly signing out "Friend with me. Can we stay here?"

She wrinkled her nose when she saw Ed. "What is he doing here?"

Selina nodded, allowing her to come in. "For work. Who's your friend?"

Holly led Martin inside, grinning. "This is Martin!"

Martin gave Selina a sheepish wave to greet her and worked up a quaint smile, sticking close to Holly's side. He wasn't the social sort, hadn't exactly been at any point in his life. He untucked his notepad, opening it to a new page and writing down, 'Hi! I'm Martin.'

He had been too focused on keeping up a proper, polite first impression, to notice the other figure in the room.

Edward didn't much pay attention to Holly entering the room, nor who she was with.

But all that stopped with one word.

One name..

'Martin.'

Edward's senses spiked up to a level unfamiliar as that name bounced around in his brilliant mind over and over. His head snapped to face, not a boy, but a young man in the very same room as himself. He noticed the scar that was stretched across his throat; an unforgettable mark that haunted Edward.

The maniacal madman of master-level mischievousness with a mouth was left speechless.

He examined the boy; 16 years of age, recently been engaging in active movement due to the blood-flow making his face slightly red

Edward cleared his throat, and spoke.

"I am something people love or hate. I change peoples appearances and thoughts. If a person takes care of themselves I will go up even higher. To some people I will fool them. To others I am a mystery. Some people might want to try and hide me but I will show. No matter how hard people try I will Never go down."

"What am I?"

He asked, standing up and adjusting his suit and tie.

Selina sighed, looking over at Nigma.

"Really, Ed? You've just met the kid, don't spring a riddle on him already."

She looked down at Martin. "Hey there, kiddo. I'm Selina, it's nice to meet you. That's Eddie, feel free to ignore him."

she said with a playful smile.

Holly frowned slightly at Ed.

"Okay, that's actually a pretty good one."

She admitted.

Martin was a little bewildered by the sudden riddle told. The man looked... familiar. He squinted at him, and had let out an inaudible gasp of recognition.

He snapped out of his trancelike moment of remembrance at Selina's voice, he knew him. A past business partner of his father's who had worked closely alongside him, the... Quizzler? Question Mark Man? Riddle Man? The Riddler? A name along those lines. It had been ages since he'd last saw him, after the incident he hadn't been around anymore.

He wrote down in response, 'Nice to meet you, Selina.' With a smiley-face drawn at the end. He glanced back over to Ed, before flipping over to the next page of his notebook and scribbling down, 'I know him!' He showed it to Holly.

Edward took off his bowler hat, allowing his slightly unkempt hair to be shown. He raised an eyebrow to him, with a small grin across his lips.

"Age."

He spoke, answering his own riddle

"My, my, Martin, you have become quite the sprout.*

Edward commented; he wasn't sure if he was exactly "happy" to see him after half a decade. Nevertheless, Edward kept his grin, allowing the Mute man who would take Oswald Cobblepot's mantle to explain how they know of each other

Holly and Selina wore the same startled expression.

"Wait...you know Nigma? Did he used to work with your Dad or something?" Holly signed to Martin.

"Ed, how do you know this kid?" Selina asked, tilting her head.

Martin nodded eagerly in response to Holly, he had! Edward was one of the most, if not most, familiar faces who he'd seen work alongside his father. Martin returned the slight grin with his own, the familiarity of it comforting.

He grew bashful at the compliment, writing down a, 'Thank you. Not so bad yourself.' Before he turned to Holly and Selina with a delighted smile and began to scribble something down.

'He used to be business partners with my father! Before an incident, he was one of the closet allies of my father. He even saved my life once.'

Edward couldn't help but have his tremendous ego slightly boosted by Martin's acknowledgement of his actions.

He looks to both Selina and Holly, slightly amused by their agape mouths

"You send curiosity, but don't show. Your heart breaks, but no one knows. He sees you, but walks away. You grab the gun and pull the trigger."

"I can sneak up on you or be right in front of you without you knowing. But when I reveal myself you will never be the same."

"What am I?"

He asked, holding back the answer so that the others could attempt to solve his words.

Selina ignored him.

"Martin, you said Ed worked with your father? Who's that, may I ask? One of the villains here in Gotham?"

Holly's eyebrows narrowed a moment in thought.

"Despair..."

she signed, pausing for another moment for the second riddle.

"Betrayal."

She frowned at Nigma. "If you hurt my friend, I will put all your tools in Jell-O."

Martin pondered on the riddle, his thoughts interrupted by the inquiry from Selina. He grimaced in uncertainty; although Holly had confirmed that his father wasn't exactly an enemy of Selina, there could be possible grudges.

They had only just met, and he would rather any grudges held against his father not to sour their relationship. He hesitantly wrote down, 'Oswald Cobblepot. You know him as the Penguin.'

The betrayal riddle was a little daunting, a painful reminder of the past but he smiled politely nonetheless. And braced a hand on Holly's forearm in reassurance, 'Don't worry.' He wrote down.

"Yes., well.. Oswald felt a substantial amount of anguish due to Martin's..."incident'.."

He slowed his words, looking at the tattered scar on the young mans neck.

"..enough so that he cut our partnership and secluded himself around the boy; Hence why very few have heard of him."

Holly narrowed her eyes at Nigma, still a bit hesitant, but nodded at Martin.

"Well, Penguin's kid, huh?" Selina spoke up. "I didn't know he had one. Well, if we're going by those names, then I guess I should introduce myself more properly. In case Holly didn't already tell you, I'm Catwoman."

She looked at him carefully. "Os and I aren't necessarily on bad terms, we're pretty neutral right now." she informed him.

"But tell me, and be honest, does he know you're out? Or that you're here?"

She gave a comforting smile. "I'm no snitch, believe me, but that would be good to know."

Martin noticed Edward's eyes shift to the now faded reminder of a scar on his neck, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. He nodded in confirmation of Ed's words, lifting his hand off Holly's arm and dropping it to sway awkwardly at his side.

Martin averted his eyes, guilty. 'No, he doesn't know. And I really don't... he can't find out." He wrote down on his notepad.

Edward backtracked a little ways backward into Selina's living room. He certainly didn't expect to meet the adopted son of the dubbed "King Of Gotham" after so many years.

He read Martin's words from afar; with his mind somewhat concerned. Preposterous..The Riddler does not concern himself with others! He's too brilliant for that...and yet his mind still cares to speak without his own consent.

"How is The Penguin, anyhow?"

He asked

She nodded. "I get it, kid. I'm guessing Holly put you up to it?" she asked, reaching over and ruffling Holly's hair.

Holly ducked her hand, scowling, and walked over to the living room where her (Riddler's) tools sat on the floor.

She started tinkering, looking up to read lips when others spoke.

Selina continued. "He won't hear a word from me, alright? Do you like snickerdoodles? I made a batch this morning."

She stomped on the floor to get Holly's attention, before tossing one her way. The young greasemonkey caught it, putting it in her mouth and continuing her work.

Martin nodded, writing. 'I've snuck out before I met Holly, but I've never... had a friend like Holly.' He in fact hadn't had many friendships at all throughout his life.

He smiled thankfully at Selina, relieved and brimming with gratitude that she was so hospitable towards him, he flipped over to the next page of his notebook and wrote, 'Thank you, and yes please.'

When Edward had asked about his father's wellbeing, he had felt a little sore. 'Father has been... stressed,' He wrote, reminded of his and Oswald's interaction not too long ago. 'He's moved me to the Iceberg Lounge.'

Edward shook off the thoughts that we're resurfacing from his past.

He read what Martin had put into bis notepad, not responding with any words back. He just nodded and resumed his quietness.

Selina brought over a plate of cookies, sitting down on her couch.

"So Martin, are you homeschooled, or does your Dad send you somewhere? Holly is at a lovely school for the deaf downtown."

Holly absentmindedly nodded, continuing to tinker on her hearing aids. She let out an irritated huff as she reached an issue with the wiring. Why were these things so delicate and hard to figure out?!

Martin was somewhat uncomfortable during the period of silence shared between the pair, it had been years of radio-silence. Watching his father grieve over a time before the incident.

He was relieved when Selina came over with a plate of delicious-looking cookies, they smelt as wonderful as they looked, he sat beside her, getting out his notepad. 'I'm homeschooled. I was never really interested in going to school anyways.' It was half a lie.

She nodded a bit.

"I understand how protective parents could be. But I encourage you to speak your mind."

She paused, glancing at the clock. "Now, I know it's a Friday, but it's close to midnight now, so you should really be getting back home."

She stood, walking over to the kitchen and grabbing her leather jacket. "I can give you a ride, if you'd like. Ever ridden a motorcycle?"

Martin had spoken his mind to his father before, on numerous occasions in fact. He hadn't once gotten reprimanded for it, rather he was given the exact same responses every time he did.

'It's not safe, Martin. Gotham is not a safe place, any of my enemies could get their hands on you. I'm sorry, I truly am, my son.' He didn't tell that to Selina, though, only nodded in response.

Martin sometimes wished his father's name wasn't so widely recognised, the King of Gotham, because it seemed people were always after him and Martin. Martin was a little amazed that time had already gone past so quickly, he had lost track.

He wrote down, 'That would be nice, thank you.' And shook his head. A motorcycle? It would be his first time, but there were firsts for everything. He waved at Holly and Ed to bid them farewell.