Chapter 2

A few weeks later ...

Edward Nygma had been working long hours in his cubicle and sleeping in his chair, or under the desk in his sleeping bag. He kicked his pillow further under the desk as he continued typing out his current calculations as he heard a set of lightweight footsteps coming towards his desk.

"Eddie?" came the slightly tentative call from around the high walls of the cubicle.

Edward rolled his chair backwards enough to pop his head around the corner of his walls to meet Richard's gaze. "Hi, Ri! Come on in!" Ed said with a brilliant smile, happy to see his young friend. He noted the shy smile for the nickname only the researcher used for him.

"So how was the test?" Eddie asked as Richard flopped into one of the spare chairs in Ed's cubicle. Edward spun around and typed out a few more quick notations before he closed the program so he could turn his full attention to his guest.

Richard groaned as he noted the question from the researcher, and shook his head and gave the older man the thumbs-down signal.

"Ouch. That bad?" Ed asked.

Richard rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I got a D."

"Ooh. Does your Dad know?" Ed asked with an arched eyebrow as he reached into the bottom drawer of his main desk and pulled out a candy bar. He tossed to to the tired boy who accepted it gratefully.

"Tch," Richard responded with an uncomfortable look. "Come on Eddie. You know Bruce isn't my Dad. And no, he doesn't know yet, thought I'd tel Al first."

Ed shook his head with a sad and knowing look. "That might be the best idea, and I know you don't see Bruce as your Dad, but he did legally adopt you. Cut the guy some slack, I know he's abrasive and a little egotistical; however he does care about you."

Richard stared at Ed for a few moments, and felt he heat rush to his face. Ed watched the young man and felt a similar flush reach his own pale cheeks. He knew this young man was special, and highly intelligent. He just didn't know why his admiration for the young man was turning into ... more than just simple admiration. He shook his head and carefully schooled his features as he noticed the object of his fascination was focusing on him again.

"You're right ... oh! And I'm really sorry about not coming last night, I um..." Richard began, looking uncomfortable again. "I kind of got caught up."

Ed felt a shift in his expression, his anger rose a bit as his eyes shifted colors for a split second before he shook himself free of the feeling.

Edward gave a laugh and twirled off his lab coat, and spun it so that it was perfectly situated on the green skeleton in the corner. Without missing a beat he swiftly grabbed his regular leather bomber jacket and slipped it on and in the same smooth motion he ruffled Richard's hair affectionately to hide his unhappy expression as memories flooded his mind for a moment.

"Tomorrow afternoon," Richard replied as he tried to fix his hair.

Ed smirked and rolled his shoulders and motioned for the teen to follow him. "Well let's get lunch. I can get you caught up and order you something with garlic," he said with a knowing look the the deeply colored mark on the young man's neck.

"Garlic?" the sophomore replied with momentary confusion. A moment later his hand flew to cover the mark without any conscious effort on his part. "Oh."

"Yeah, to help ward off whatever vampire you managed to come in contact with last night," Ed said with a laugh, trying to avoid meeting his eyes. He watched as several emotions flew through the young man's eyes and he fell silent. "Ri? Are you okay?"

Richard seemed to snap back to himself at the concerned tone in the older man's voice. "Of course. Sorry, still upset about the test I guess."

"Well no worries. Want to go to the cafe across the street? I don't think you want to chance Bruce seeing you right now, right Van Helsing?" Ed asked with a snicker.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea," Richard said as he rolled his eyes at his friend and grabbed his backpack with an exasperated sigh.

The two left the research wing in companionable silence, making their way to the restaurant in question. Both men were lost in their own little worlds, Ed looked to his young charge once in a while. He tried to school himself but he knew his expression showed something, even if it wasn't the worry about discovery and rejection he was feeling. He tried to change his expression to one that was a little more blank so as to not startle his young companion.

The sound of soft chimes as Edward pushed his way through the door of the cafe announced their arrival. Richard followed close behind, causing a smile to spread across Ed's face at his living shadow. Going along with their usual routine the two head to their usual lunch study spot. Richard went ahead to set out what the two would need while Ed made their order.

Edward's head whipped around, his head cocked at an unusual angle as he listened to both the waitress confirming their order and the sophomore's unconscious humming. He quickly picked up what the tune was and stored the information as he paid for their lunches and let the kind woman behind the counter know that she had the order right, of course. She had never messed up there order in the two years the pair had been coming by the all night restaurant for their study sessions.

"You never struck me as an Alice Cooper fan," Eddie said as he came back within easy earshot of the table.

"Um, no I heard a tune somewhere and I was just trying to figure out what it is," Richard replied with a disarming smile.

Edward knew better. He knew exactly where the teen had picked up the song and tried to keep his face neutral about his knowledge. Eddie smiled as he took his seat and continued, "Well, I'm fairly certain that was Alice Cooper you were humming there. From what I can tell you have a great voice too." Ed added the last part as a truth and to see the young man's reaction to his compliment.

"Thanks, I think. You never struck me as an Alice Cooper fan either," Richard replied and murmured a grateful thank you as he started in on his French dip. He paused momentarily to indulge his curiosity. "What song is it?"

"Poison," Ed replied, taken slightly aback by the lack of knowledge. He took a sip of coffee. "Haven't heard it in a while, but Alice Cooper's music isn't something that can be easily forgotten when heard, and you were humming on of the more … interesting verses." He shook his head and added more sugar to the black coffee. He took another sip and nodded in satisfaction.

"Interesting verse, what's so interesting about it?" Richard asked, and the scientist noted that wasn't the first thing that ran through those emerald green eyes.

Edward's thoughts shifted around as he dredged up the memory. "If I'm right, word for word it's:

'I hear you calling and it's needles and pins,

'I want to hurt you just to hear you screaming my name,

'Don't want to touch you but you're under my skin,

'I want to kiss you but your lips are venomous poison,

'You're poison runnin' thru my veins, You're poison,

'I don't want to break these chains."

Both of them were startled by the sound of breaking wood as the acrobat broke his pencil in several places. The two of them looked at the pencil for a moment. "Oh."

Eddie tilted his head to the side, cocking an eyebrow innocently. "That was an awfully violent reaction for a simple song."

"I didn't hear it under the best of circumstances," Richard replied, his eyes grew wide as he realized what he had said unthinkingly. Ed's eyes flashed again, the strange green moving through them for the briefest moment.

"Ri, do you just want to relax and eat? I don't know what has you so flustered but you've been really upset this entire time. It's not good to be so high strung; it will interfere with your makeup test," Eddie said calmly, but giving Richard a worried look as he gently touched the back of the teen's hand.

Richard made no attempt to stop the contact and Ed gave a happy smile at that.

"More importantly, I worry about you. You seem to be around shady people lately," Eddie said, pressing his hand gently to offer comfort. Ed withdrew as the bell at the front of the cafe alerts them to a new person entering. He didn't want to make his friend uncomfortable. As a unit the two looked up as footsteps approached them.

"Doctor Crane," Edward greeted, though there was none of the usual warmth in his voice. In fact, there was a hint of loathing and disdain, hostile in it's neutrality. "What brings you here today?" he asked, trying to sound cordial but really wanting nothing more than for the irritating psychiatrist to leave the two of them alone. He bristled at the look Johnathan Crane gave the two of them.

"Well Edward," Jonathan began, adjusting his glasses with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Other than the requirement of food I need to speak with you."

"With me?" Ed questioned with a dark chuckle as his eyes bled to electric green. "I am a bit busy at the current moment," he said with a dark look and a half gesture to Richard and the books strewn about the table. He pulled Jonathan's attention back to himself with a small hand motion.

"You have very pretty eyes, Mr …?" Jonathan said with an oily tone.

Ed's eyes flashed a brighter color as he growled under his breath.

"Grayson," the young raven haired creature shifted uncertainly but held his ground against the psychological assault. "Richard Grayson."

Ed gave a mental cheer as he noticed Richard's refusal to back down from the creepy psychiatrist.

"Interesting," Jonathan said out loud, his curiosity piqued and moved his face to be mere inches away. "Eyes that deep of a green are very rare indeed, and you have such … exquisite skin. Quite pale, very becoming of your hair and eye color."

Eddie growled again as he saw Richard back his way to the far edge of the booth as far away from Crane as possible. The researcher whipped out a section of the newspaper and moved it so fast it cracked less that half an inch from the psychiatrist's face. "Sudoku, Jonathan?"

The brunette moved back from the irritated red-head as he took the puzzle with a calm glance to the now green eyed man. "Thank you, Edward. I'll go wait at another table and do this while you finish your conversation with your young friend here." And with that Jonathan got up but not before leaning close to Richard and whispering a warning into his ear. "Be careful, a looker like you could be the subject of some very aggressive affection."

"That's enough, Crane," Edward snapped as his hand hit the table, his voice a frozen wasteland. Richard jumped slightly at the hand slamming down on the table, but Ed kept his attention on the psychiatrist. Jonathan snickered at the pair as he walked away to sit at the far end of the cafe.

"Ri..." Eddie said, voice softening and eyes bleeding back to their usual gray-green color. "Are you alright?"

Richard gave a tiny nod, eyes wide. It was obvious the teen was traumatized by what had just taken place but Ed didn't have time to explain.

"I'm really sorry you had to be subjected to him, Crane's a psychiatrist. He's obsessed with phobias unfortunately and lately has taken to this really nasty habit of wanting to find out everyone's; I'm sorry if he scared you," Eddie said, with a brief glare to the other table.

"You don't have to apologize. It's okay," Richard replied as he played with the lid of his water bottle with a slight shrug. Ed noted the behavior but decided against mentioning in case the nut-job waiting for him was listening.

"Okay, well I'm going to go deal with him; I'll be right back, promise," Eddie said quietly with a gentle brush to Richard's cheek in a comforting manner.

Ed noted that Richard had taken out his phone and was text-ing on it, but he dismissed it as just one of his friends. He nodded to Jonathan as he sat down, trusting the young man to be able to take care of himself. He turned his attention back to Doctor Crane.

"What did you want, Jonathan?" Ed demanded, eyes shifting slightly to the greener side. He was highly suspicious of the other man's motives.

"I merely wish to ask you a question. Would you mind following me outside for a moment?" Jonathan asked cordially with a nod to the researcher.

"If you promise to leave Richard alone for now," Edward replied. He looked to Richard and noticed the teen seemed busy with his phone.

"I will. For now," Jonathan agreed. He stood and let Ed outside and around the corner of the building.

"What do you want?" Ed demanded as soon as they were out of sight.

"Well, Riddler," Jonathan taunted. "We need your help. Joker only has a vague recollection of asking for you. I need your mind for the time being."

"I'm not up for playing games, Scarecrow," Ed snarled as his eyes flashed electric green. "You want me to hack something, fine. I'm not going on any misadventures with you and the demented clown. I have very little patience for either of you."

"Relax, we only need your programing skills for a little task. We need to hack into a database. And that's all you need to know," Crane replied.

"Fine, but don't think I will do this very often for you. It's only because you helped me out recently that I'm even entertaining the idea for even the shortest amount of time. Hacking is not my style and you know that," Ed replied.

"Oh, and Joker has one more thing for you, a transaction," Crane said.

"Fine, but Robin is mine," Ed countered. "And tell the maniac that. And make sure he understands."

"Very well, I should let you get back to your … meal," Crane replied with a knowing smirk.

"Freak," Ed muttered under his breath as his eyes bled back to their normal color. He hated dealing the the phobia obsessed lunatic. He made his way back to the diner only to see Richard packing up his stuff to leave. He made his way over to the young man and loomed over him.

"Eddie? What the heck, I thought you -" Richard began.

"Ri? What's wrong? You're leaving?" Ed asked, confused. He cocked his head slightly as he watched as his friend finished packing up.

"Yeah, I need to go take care of some things. Sorry to run out on you like this. Thanks again for lunch," Richard said, he flinched as Eddie grabbed his wrist to stop him from making it away. "Eddie?" he asked with concern.

Edward knew his eyes had shifted again, only this time bleeding to a blue-ish color. "I-I just..." his gaze feel to where their hands were linked together and his slowly tightening grip. With effort he managed to let go. "Just be careful."

"Yeah, of course. Later, Eddie," Richard said just before he disappeared out the door, leaving Ed feeling all alone.

He watched as Richard left the cafe and sat back down at the table. The remains of their lunch sat on the table, forgotten in Ed's disappointment.