Special thanks to ThePurpleAngles, freegirl333, and Kaida Fury for following All Because I Love You;

And another special thanks to Kaida Fury for favoring All Because I Love You.

Finally, a special thanks to The Puppeteer Patient 120402,

The Puppeteer Patient 120402: I know, sorry about the cliff hanger; and I am totally glad you are routing for these two. I hate it when I read a really good story with a really good pairing, and the author just sorta breaks them apart; it kills me.

: If only I had the evilness to write option one; but I am not even that cruel.

FlowerChild23: Scarecrow is right; and that is exactly why Ed called him. I am a total supporter of a bromance between those two.

ParadoxMagic: I love fics that can write the Riddler as reformed, but there is no way in hell I can.

Xxyangxx2006: I kinda like how educated all my followers are; because you, like them, can recognize that while one thing may be nice and fantasy like, you guys understand that real life doesn't work that way (and vice versa). One of the best parts about fan fiction, or any fiction, is that it can be transformed into anything we want it to be. I live by the quote: "If you cannot dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit." Even if you have the stupidest idea on the planet, if you work with it right, it will work. Somewhere in the Batman Begins/ Dark Knight category where my CraneXOC is, there is a story that basically revolves around a three way relationship between the Joker, Scarecrow, and Batman; and the idea is absolutely Ludacris but the author wrote it so well that I found myself enjoying the story.

XXX

Emily sat in the passenger side of the hummer, her hands in her lap and her eyes downcast. Edward glanced at her from the corner of his eye; she had an emotionless look on her face, her eyes still dull.

"Are you hungry?" he asked softly, noticing the slight flinch when he spoke, "We could stop somewhere."

"No thanks." She said, her voice faint, "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." She assured. A few minutes passed before he asked softly, "Will you at least look at me? Will you talk to me?" His voice had started to rise towards the end, and he pulled over to the side of the road sharply when she didn't answer him.

Emily's hand started to itch towards the door handle (it was useless, she knew; he put the child locks on); and he glared, putting the car in park.

"Snap out of it," he growled, unbuckling, "Now, Emily."

"I- I'm sorry-" she stammered, leaning against the door, "I'm sorry!"

"Dammit Emily!" he got out of the car quickly, slamming the door and stalking over to her side. Emily, knowing he was going to pull her out, unbuckled and waited. Sure enough, he yanked open her door and pulled her towards the small forest.

XXX

"Now," he growled, stopping in a small clearing; he grabbed both of her arms, and pulled her closer, "Emily, my darling dear, you need to snap out of it. I have been very, very patient with you the last week or two, and my punishment was far less painful then I wanted it to be for you. Now you need to stop being like this, and go back to being my slightly sassy, mostly compliant, very loving Emily."

"Edward…" she mumbled, shaking slightly, "I don't know if I can…"

"Emily…."

'Oh god,' she thought, 'he's doing the kicked puppy routine…' And it truly did break Emily's heart to see him like this; whether or not she liked or hated him, seeing him look so miserably caused her heart to break further.

"But…" she looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes, "I- I'll try." For a moment or two, Edward didn't make a sound or moved; all at once though as soon as he recovered from his shock, he laughed. It wasn't cruel or condescending like his typical laugh, but it was nice to Emily; it made her smile to hear him a little happy.

XXX

Emily looked out on Gotham; from the apartment the Riddler had brought her to, she could easily see the city's activity and night buzz. Frankly, this did help her a bit; being in her home town caused her to gain a sense of familiarity, and the apartment, she noticed, didn't have one hint of green anywhere.

Even the Riddler had been…. Well, un-Riddlerish. He had been very straight forward, not as extravagant or complicated as she had learned him to be. He smiled, not maliciously, only compliantly, and had spoken softly to her ever since they crossed the city limits.

She had calmed down, but still wouldn't look him in the eye; he was trying, she would note, but missing a few opportunities for some well-placed riddles wasn't going to make her forget, wasn't going to make her forgive.

Right now he sat on the other end of the couch, giving her space while they watched the news; that was another thing, actually. He hadn't been forcing affection; normally, he be right beside her every possible chance, but here, he gave her a room all to herself.

"I want you to be comfortable, happy," he explained softly, not entering the room himself but opting to stay in the door way, "I'll be right across the hall, in case you ever get lonely or need something, okay?"

"Okay," she answered softly, meeting his eyes for the slightest of a moment; he smiled lightly, and nodded, "Okay then."

XXX

"So what did you think about the movie?" Edward asked, sitting on the other end of the couch with a bowl of popcorn between them, "Did you like it, or not?"

"I thought it was…. Cute." Emily decided, staring at the titles, "It was pretty adorable, actually." They had just finished watching an animated movie about bugs or fairies or elves or whatever living in a forest; the center theme of the movie was about how extreme love can be, either controlling love like the evil knight who broke the protagonist's heart the first time, or how dedicated and true it could be when she fell in love with the seemingly antagonist, who himself didn't believe in love after having his own heart broken.

"It was nice," Edward agreed, "I enjoyed the musical scenes." Emily smiled slightly, nodding; her smiled disappeared, however, when she caught Edward staring.

"Sorry," he apologized quickly, looking at the ground instead, "If you want to go ahead and go to bed, I'll pick up the popcorn and stuff."

"Okay," she stood and stretched slightly, picking up her blanket while Edward disappeared into the kitchen with the cups and bowl. She hesitated slightly in the door way of her room; her hand on the door, ready to close and lock it before she went to bed. She waited a few minutes until Edward appeared, him going to his own room, "Emily?"

"Thank you, for tonight," she said softly, before closing her door. She walked to her bed and curled beneath the covers, holding her breath while she listened to the deafening silence of the apartment; finally, ever so faintly, she heard Edward whisper, "Your welcome."

XXX

SCHOOL IS OUT BITCHES AND I CAN SLEEP PAST SIX IN THE MORNING; FUCK YOU EDUCATION SYSTEM.

No but we got to tone it down a bit and be serious guys; I want to explain to you all something about Emily. To clear any confusion on what she may be going through and all that. Right now, you might pick up that she is sort of behaving bi-polar, because she is.

The way I made Emily's character, and the way I go through her thought process, is that while she may be moody and defensive, she is still relatively nice. So when she is sympathetic and kind to the Riddler, it is that caring instinct in her that wants her to make him happy, despite him having hurt her.

On to the lighter stuff; how is summer going for those who are out of school? My mom celebrated me passing 11th grade by taking me to the beach (btw, I am pale as a ghost, and burn really easy) and thought it would be a good idea for me to be there all day…. I got so sun burnt it aint even funny; seriously, I can't laugh, it hurts to.

Question of the week: Summer plans? I am going to Washington (state) to visit my dad from the end of this month to the end of July. I am super excited; and also, updates should still be regular.

Any what so ever, I will see you guys next week!

-Sketch1997