A/N: Sorry about the shorter chapter. I might be making them shorter from now on - less time on the computer, less painful headache. We'll see, experimenting. :) The chapter title is not a glitch - "The Quest Part 2" will come later on. :)

4S, thank you for the review! Yep, finally they agree on something. :D Stubborn, those two!

Thank you siobreese, HushLittleTaco, TheDevilsDaughter267, crashers, and anyone else I've missed for Following/Favoriting this and/or "Salve, Salvage, & Salvation". :)

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Redemption, Restitution, & Resurrection

-Chapter Nineteen: INQUIRY-

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"Gooood morning!" the PI sang out as Danielle entered the office. "Welcome to Enigma Investigations! How may I be of service?"

Someone's had a little too much coffee this morning… Sure enough, she saw a coffee pot bubbling behind the enthusiastic investigator, and a half-empty cup.

He was wearing a bowler hat, a greyish-green blazer and slacks. Plum-colored tie. And a very confident smile on his face. Her spirits lifted marginally; at least he seemed to enjoy his job!

"I need you to find someone for me."

"Ah, a common tracking inquiry. Go on."

"I want to know where he lives and any common areas he frequents."

"'He', hmmm? Let me guess… an ex-boyfriend, by chance?"

"No… he's actually been stalking me."

"I see. And you want to stalk him back."

"More or less."

"Do you care about who he's talking to? Want me to tap any phone wires? Monitor any monetary transactions?"

"No, I just want to know where he is. Where he's stalking me from."

"May I see a picture?"

Danielle pulled out the newspaper clipping she'd saved. Zsasz's mugshot glared up at her.

The investigator took one look at the photo. "I don't believe it! This is your mystery stalker?!" Then he looked up at her face and quirked an eyebrow. "Your stalker is bonafide criminal Victor Zsasz? And you want me to find him for you?"

"Well-"

"Riddle me this!" he spoke suddenly. "Who is 5'4", roots for the Gotham Knights despite never having attended a game, and until Friday evening was virtually unknown in the criminal underworld?"

"Um… who?"

"Why the Batter, of course! You wouldn't have heard of this person, would you? Rumor has it she — and yes, she is indeed a she — lurks in the shadow of the Batman and preys on common mooks. And she has a penchant for beating up Victor Zsasz! You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?"

"OK, you got me," she held up her hands in defeat. "How did you guess?"

"A little bird told me they saw you with Batman, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Zsasz, holding a little pow-wow in the Industrial District on Friday."

"Why were you- wait, were you tailing one of us?!"

"Information is my business, Miss Lee. That is your name, isn't it? A pleasure to meet you in person."

"Wait a minute… who are you anyway?" She looked at the walls for some sort of identification. There was a license for his practice… and there was a Certificate of Sanity from Arkham. She read it with a growing sense of horror.

"…Edward Nigma… Oh my god. You're the Riddler!" She backed up a step, almost tripping over a wastebasket. Papers scattered everywhere.

"Of course I am," he replied, vaulting over the front desk to put the papers neatly back in the trash bin. Then he tipped his hat. "I'm the world's greatest investigator!"

No wonder he's so cheap. No one would want to hire an ex-criminal. And Riddler was responsible for all those death traps over the last, oh, SEVERAL YEARS! She shrank away, giving him a polite smile, eyes darting around the office for any booby traps. "Well—"

"So, you're looking for Zsasz!" He said with a bright smile. "Haven't seen where he lives as of late, but I suppose I could track him down… Now, before I accept the commission, I'm curious… Are you planning to kill him for everything he's undoubtedly done to you?" She grimaced; surely he meant the scars cutting across her face. "Or are you trying to get him arrested, or… is your interest more…" he wiggled his eyebrows, "personal?"

Danielle's face went red. "If you must know," she gritted, "I'm going to drag him back to Arkham before he hurts anyone else-" She clamped a hand over her mouth. Was 'Arkham' a sore topic for him, or worse yet, was Zsasz one of his old friends from there? Idiot! she chastised herself.

"An admirable ambition," the Riddler replied unfazed, "though I'd be very interested to see if it goes down how you think it will."

"Zsasz wouldn't, by chance, be a personal friend of yours?" she asked delicately.

The Riddler laughed. "His intelligence level is so beneath mine that an actual friendship with him would be considered an embarrassment to me!"

"Hey, don't insult his intelligence! It's... not nice."

"Haha, just kidding. Zsasz is like the disturbed little brother I never had. You, on the other hand, are now acting as though he's your friend instead of your arch-enemy! I thought you wanted him to go back to Arkham — some friend you are!" He pushed a piece of paper toward her. "Here's how much it will cost you for me to track him down."

She read it. "That's too much! I can't—"

"Ooooor," he sang out, "you could answer my questions with complete honestly, and I could reduce the price by a third."

She sighed. "Alright." Anything to get this information.

"Right then! Question Number One! What were you all talking about at your little shindig?"

Aren't you supposed to be the detective? she thought, but she answered him straight anyway: "We were talking about some guy named Rā's al Ghūl. Have you heard of him?"

"I'm asking the questions here! Ahem, I knew that… but what about Rā's al Ghūl?"

"He's planning to take over the world."

The Riddler rolled his eyes. "Obviously! Alright, since these questions seem too simple for you-"

"Hey! I'm not paying you to insult me!"

"-Discounting! I'll ask you something about your relationship with Zsasz instead. What did he do to you to make you dress up like a batter? Really, a Batter?"

She sighed. "About three years ago…" It felt beyond weird sharing her story with an ex-convict, but the Riddler finally seemed to be listening respectfully. "He chose me as one of his victims. I fought back more than once. He… became obsessed with me."

"So why hasn't he killed you yet?"

"He fell in love with me. We- fell in love. At the time."

"And-?"

"He died falling off the Sprang Bridge. I killed him."

"Ahh, I see. I had heard rumors of his demise… and I'd believed them!" His voice was practically gleeful. "So Rā's resurrected Zsasz, and now Zsasz owes him! Brilliant!"

She decided to let him believe that. For some reason, she felt protective of Zsasz's secret.

"Do you have feelings for him, Batter?"

Danielle's eyes widened. "What?"

"Just kidding! You don't have to answer a question when you obviously don't know the answer to it yourself! Though my money's on 'yes', personally. Anyway… you never answered my question about why you dressed up as a fake member of the Gotham Knights baseball team. Or why you're after Zsasz now."

"Right. So now Zsasz wants to pick up where he left off, but it involves a lot of killing, you see. That's something I won't stand for-"

"Clearly."

"He went after my friends on Friday night – incidentally, that's the one and only time I've dressed up as a batter, and that's because he'd broken my nose earlier—uh, long story, I needed armor, and it was all I had. He had taken my friends! That's why I'm going after him now."

"For good old-fashioned revenge. I get it. OK, Batter. You've sated my curiosity, and now you've got yourself a private investigator! At discount price!" Edward Nigma smiled, and his teeth gleamed.

Danielle shook his proffered hand. "Alright, so I'll pay you half upfront and the other half when the job is done. And you'll have Zsasz's whereabouts in hand for me in—"

"Less than a week. Just fill out this paperwork, leave me a contact number where I can reach you when I finish the job, and write me a sweet check! And we'll get started!"

"Can I ask a question?"

"You can… but will I answer it?"

"How did you go from being in Arkham to being a private investigator?"

"Ah, a worthy question. You see, one of the beauties of Arkham is that there is always a chance for reformation! Well, I did it. I reformed. So I was given my Paper o' Sanity to prove I'd been reformed-" he motioned to the framed certificate on the wall she had seen earlier '-and I endeavored to become a private investigator, thereby putting my natural talents to work! My intellect is unparalleled, you see."

Danielle hid a smile. "Well, I certainly hope so! Zsasz is as slippery as a greased weasel. It'll be hard to find him."

"Zsasz isn't too difficult. You'll see. And my experience as a former member of the Rogues Gallery gives me a certain advantage."

"Yes," she smiled, "you're right, it does."

The Riddler beamed at being told he was right, even if he knew that already.

Two hours later, Danielle left the phone store, new cell phone in hand. Her fingers itched to dial in Batman's code and see if it worked, but there was no need to make him any grumpier with her. As it was, he'd probably kill her once he found out she went to the Riddler for information. Not that she knew that…initially...

She was halfway up the street when she realized: it was only noon. She'd taken the day off from work… and now she had nothing to do! Nothing except wait for Riddler, that is.

She smiled. What a perfect day to relax... a little at least.

She heard laughter. A group of children were playing at a nearby playground, noses red in the cold, little white puffs trailing behind them. How on Earth did they have so much energy?

She sat on a nearby bench and let her thoughts drift. Would the Riddler really find Zsasz for her? Wasn't there some sort of honor code amongst Rogues? If he decided to just run off with the money, there was nothing she could do about it, was there?

She wondered what it was like to be a member of the Rogues Gallery. Were they like a big dysfunctional family? Or did they consider each other to be as much of a hindrance to their goals as Batman? She hated to imagine what would happen if they all got together and decided to work as a team to take down Batman… I wonder what it would be like to fight beside him, for real. She shook her head at her foolishness. Zsasz was her responsibility. Nothing more, nothing less.

BRIIING!

She looked down in surprise. The number was unfamiliar. Maybe someone from the phone store testing her new phone? "Hello?"

"I was hoping you had received a new phone. It's so much funner to call you when you're out somewhere, surrounded by piggies."

"Zsasz!" her heart leaped.

"And it just so happens I can see you now, Danielle, sitting and watching those brats. Tell me something — have you ever wanted to be a mother, hold a precious little bundle of your own? Is your biological clock ticking?"

"Where are you?" She had to get him away from the children.

"Why don't you guess?"

"A payphone…" she murmured, and her eyes swept the playground area. There! There was a pay phone on the other side. And someone was in the booth!

"Oho! Did you spot me already? Why don't you come say hello?"

She stood up.

"Go slowly. No sudden movements, now. You know what I did at Gotham Square. You saw the aftermath."

She took a slow step toward the pay phone.

"Is your heart rate accelerating as you inch closer and closer to your savior, Danielle? Are you wondering, as well as I am, how many adorable brats I can liberate before you reach me? If I were to burst out of my phone booth right now and start spilling their blood?"

Another step, quivering.

"Or could it be that I am really a super-being in disguise? Rumor has it Superman uses a phone booth to shrug off his human facade. Oho ho ho!" He laughed at his own joke.

Danielle narrowed her eyes to see inside the phone booth. A child darted in front of her and she nearly tripped. Panic filled her veins. Any of these kids was in horrible danger!

"Or could it be that I merely want you to join me in here, share a steamy kiss in a semi-public place?"

Danielle sprinted forward, throwing open the phone booth. An old man blinked at her in surprise.

Her stomach dropped. Where-?

"Oh Danielleeee!"

She turned. He was across a street at another pay phone. Nowhere near the kids. She breathed a sigh of relief.

He was, however, very close to a large throng of people. Holiday shoppers, from the looks of it. Innocent, happy people drinking their hot chocolate, chatting, idling about, having absolutely no clue of the danger they were in. She saw Zsasz look around at them, a manic intensity on his face, and she swore his fingers were itching to cut them all.

Then Zsasz turned back to her, giving a creepily innocent smile and blowing a kiss at her. The gesture both flustered her and chilled her blood. She had no weapons whatsoever on her, save for a can of mace. She'd have to remedy that next time, assuming she didn't get him right now — oh, she'd be damned if she didn't try! She saw that his forehead was bandaged under the hoodie he was wearing, as well as his chest from the little that peaked out. She cocked her head. Why was he looking like a mummy?

"Always a pleasure," he whispered as he dropped the receiver. Now wearing a full psychotic smirk, he turned and disappeared into the crowd of people.

She ran after him.

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A/N: Ah what the hell, decided to try writing Riddler anyway. Seemed like fun, and I got kinda inspired watching "Batman: Assault on Arkham". Anyone else seen it?! :D