Wow sorry for the delayed update... I've been going through some hard times and i didn't want my writing to suffer. I wrote this chapter... Que and I are working on writing entire chapters by our selves and i will be sure to alert you as to who wrote what.
Chapter 11
Haley sighed in the passenger seat of the green Riddler van. How know one was suspicious of the vehicle was beyond her. Seated next to her was one of Edward's henchmen, and a real jumpy one at that. She thought his name was Rick… or John, maybe it was Bob… Anyway, he was a short, skinny man though he looked young enough to be called a boy. He was jumpy and she was sure that the only reason Edward kept him around was to do small errands… like picking up Haley without worry that he might hurt her.
They pulled up to where Edward's apartment was and he let her out. She awkwardly waved goodbye and walked inside. "Edward!" She called out.
"Hello Haley." He said, coming out of nowhere and almost giving her a heart attack.
She smiled at him. "So what exactly are we going to be doing today?" She asked. The curiosity had been killing her all day.
He smiled and shook a finger at her. "Curiosity killed that cat." He said smugly.
"Yeah, well, last time I checked, I wasn't a cat, now tell me!" She said stubbornly and crossed her arms. He couldn't help but smirk at how much she reminded Edward of, well, him. It was kind of scary considering they even looked alike.
He debated on whether or not he should tell her. "Today we are going to the art museum." He said simply.
"And…?" She leaned her head forward.
He chose to ignore her and just cut to the point "Alright, on to business. I have a surprise for you." She perked up slightly at that, losing her stubborn mood a bit.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yes, really." He said. "But you'll get it after our errands."
"Alright. Fine." She finally gave in. "So what do I have to do?"
"I'll tell you on the way there. The museum closes soon and we need to get in before it does." She nodded obediently and followed him out to the van. He got into the driver's seat and she climbed into the passenger seat. "First we have to go pick up a few of my men." He explained as they turned down a street leading to the warehouse district.
They pulled up next to a shady looking building and he got out. "Stay here." He told her. She nodded and watched as her new 'boss' went inside. He came out of the building flanked by two big looking men dressed in casual clothing. She started to wonder why Edward wasn't in his costume too. The two men climbed into the back of the van and gave her an odd look. Haley just raised her eyebrows at them as if asking them to challenge her. Edward got back in the front seat and one of the men started to talk.
"Uh, boss? Are you related or something?" Haley cringed at how unintelligent he sounded.
Edward smirked a little. "No."
"Oh…"
"So, Edward, what are we doing again?"
"We are going scouting." He answered. She tilted her head curiously at him. "We are going to see if there is anything worth our attention there, that way we can go back, I can write a riddle for it, and then we can steal it."
"Oh... ok then." She shifted in her seat to get more comfortable.
They were almost at the museum when her cell phone rang. He looked at her as she took out the phone and checked the caller ID. "Can I take this?" She asked him. He nodded and gave a small hand gesture. "Hello?" Edward could faintly hear a worried voice filter though the phone. "Hey Jack, what's wrong?" Jack? The Joker's apprentice? Why were they talking about a wake?
Edward sighed. Joker, that insane clown, made the poor kid kill somebody already? He pulled up a block away from the museum and let the henchmen out. If they all went in together, someone would get suspicious. He parked the car in front of the museum and turned to Haley. "Haley, dear, we're here. You have to get off the phone now.
"Jack, I gotta go. Edward and I have to go do something and he's telling me to hang up the phone." She said into the speaker. She ended the call and looked at him expectantly, waiting for instruction.
"We just need to act like we are enjoying a day at an art museum. Just pretend I'm your uncle or something and act normal." He told her simply.
As they walked around the museum looking at different works, Haley also examined him. "You love this, don't you?"
"Hmm?" He asked as he looked over a nice piece.
"Acting normal. You get a chance to fool them entirely into thinking that you're just a regular guy because you're smarter than them." She pointed out.
He thought about what she said. She really was smart. He just smirked out of the corner of his mouth, loving this apprentice thing more and more with each second.
"Oh!" She exclaimed and ran over to a picture. He curiously followed her. She was admiring a painting of a chess game, presumably between a dark, and a light power. It appeared to the untrained eye that the dark power, presumably Satan, had the light power, presumably god, in checkmate.
"He still has one more move." She said, more to herself they anyone else. He examined it carefully, yes; 'God' did have one more move. "I like it." She said, turning it him.
"Well maybe you can have it…"
She thought about that. Stealing the paining would be weird. Where would she even keep it? She still wanted to get into a good college and if anyone found out…
Edward cut off her train of thought "If you can write a decent riddle for it."
She perked up at that. He was challenging her. "Is that challenge?" She asked while putting her hands on her hips. He just smirked down at her.
"Maybe."
"Challenge accepted." Wow, she really was a lot like him. He doubted that she would ever turn down an intellectual challenge.
She was quiet for a little while. "Does it have to be a question?" She asked.
He thought about it for a second. "No, it doesn't."
"Does it have to rhyme? I'm terrible at rhymes."
He smirked. "No, it doesn't."
"Can it just be a simple sentence that is so simple no one would guess it?"
"Why don't you just tell me what you have in mind, hmm?"
"Checkmate." She said simply. "I would send the word 'checkmate' if I were to write a riddle for this painting."
He paused. It was pretty good, for her first riddle. Everyone would over think it and wouldn't really suspect that it would literally be for a painting of a chess game.
"Good enough for now." He said simply. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye to catch her reaction. She smirked to herself at her job well done, probably not even caring if she got the prize because the recognition was enough. Just like him.
He checked his watch. "The museum is closing in twenty minutes. We should get going." He motioned to the two henchmen who were never out of eye sight that it was time to go and they slowly followed them outside.
"Which exhibit are we going after?" She asked him.
"The Word War II one." He had know the entire time that that was what he was going after, but he wanted to give Haley some experience.
"Oh. Nice." She said simply, not entirely caring. She was a little nervous to be stealing something, so she pushed the thought out of her head to deal with it when the time came.
They sat in silence and Edward dropped of the henchmen and drove them back to his apartment. "Um… can I have that surprise now?" She asked timidly.
He smirked. After all of that she remembered something he briefly covered. "Yes, yes." She went over and picked up a clothing box. "You costume came in."
Her eyes widened and she took the box from him. She examined it for a moment before closing her eyes and preparing herself to open it. He rolled his eyes. Women and dramatics…
"Why don't you go put it on and then come out here and show me?" He said. "There's no use just looking at it."
"Oh! Good idea." She rushed off to the bathroom and he sat down on the couch. He honestly couldn't wait to see her reaction to the costume. Personally, he liked it and he hoped she did to. He wouldn't have the time to have another one made for her.
She came out of the bathroom and stood in front of him while holding her arms in front of her shyly. She had to admit to herself though, she felt like strutting around because she looked good.
The costume consisted of a tight fitting, green, long sleeved shirt. Over that was a half vest that only really covered her breasts. It was a darker green then the shirt and was riddled (ha ha she made a funny) with yellow question marks. It had a purple breast pocket and black buttons. She was wearing a green short skirt with the same pattern as the vest. Dark green thigh high leggings covered her legs and a black and purple belt rested on her hips. She had color scheme matching bracelets on her wrists and a dark green choker necklace with a question mark charm. A purple domino mask rested on her face, covering her eyes with green film. To top it all off on her head rested a dark green bowler hat, much like the Riddler's, only hers had a yellow question mark.
"What do you think?" She asked him. "Because I love it."
He raised his eyebrows and smirked. "Lovely."
She smiled widely. "Good because I'm not giving it up." She smiled and hugged herself. She walked over and sat next to him on the couch and he got to work on a word search.
"I can take you home after this." He said.
Haley dipped her head. "Um, Edward?"
"Hmm?"
"Would you mind if I stayed the night here? My dad just got a new job… he works the night shift at a convenience store, and I'll be home all alone." She looked at him with hopeful eyes.
He thought about it for a moment. It couldn't hurt, could it? He supposed it would help, if anything. He sighed, pretending that he really didn't care. "Alright."
She smiled at that. "Yay!"
He tossed her a Sudoku book and a pencil. "I assume you have your homework done for tomorrow?" He couldn't have his apprentice getting bad grades. What would that say about the Riddler legacy?
She paused and looked at him funny. "It's Friday, Edward."
He put his crossword down. "It is?" He had been sort of out of it all week… had one of his 'episodes' as the doctors at Arkham would call it. He had been shut up in the back room, working on a new death trap and thinking of rhyming words for the new heist. She took out her phone and showed him the date. "Huh, so it is."
"Are you alright Edward?" He didn't strike Haley as the kind of person who would lose track of the days.
"Yes, I'm fine. When you get tired there is a spare bed in the first door on the right, or you can just sleep here, whatever works. There's food in the kitchen." He instructed. He stood up and went to grab his notebook. He had to work out his riddle a bit more and now was a good time to do it. He sat in a chair near the couch and got to work. Haley turned on the small TV and was watching some random movie.
He finally put the notebook down and stretched once he could hear the movie credits playing. He turned to look at Haley and advise her to go to sleep only to find her out cold on the couch. Before he could think about it, he gave a genuine smile at the sight. Before he could stop himself he cleared a bit of hair out of her face and grabbed a blanket. He laid it over her and went to his own room. That was weird. He thought. But he had to admit, it was nice. And with that odd thought, he fell asleep.
Whats this? A full chapter dedicated to the Riddler and Haley? I don't know about you but i love it. I know most of you have deemed Chanel and Emmy your favorites but I love Haley's relationship with the Riddler... well more like what there relation will be. And the painting i was talking about ^ I heard about that in church when i was really little. I'm not sure how i remember, i guess it spoke to me or something.
Ok, this is a little warning for the future of this story. This story has become emotionally hard for my to write at times do to things i have went through. This concerns you because it will probably effect me writing and I apologize for that in advance. If any off this seems rushed and sloppy, thats why.
On that note i ask you to review! Please! I loves you!