3. Rooks

A week passed before The Riddler's arm had healed and he was allowed to go to the Activity Center with the rest of the inmates for the normal five hours of the day - two hours before lunch and three after. Another week passed before Edward began to wish he didn't have to go to activity: he was used to taking over Jervis' place in chess - not actually playing against Jervis. The Mad Hatter never even once posed any kind of challenge. In fact, in seven days, Edward had won a total of 56 games of chess. True, what Edward liked about the game was the winning... But... Not without any sort of fight! Jervis just told stories about the White Queen and her king and their kingdom in Wonderland... Edward wasn't sure that the man even cared about the chess game! The chess pieces he cared about, no doubt, but the game-?

Three more days passed before one of the inmates - of the low-security variety - made the comment that he'd seen a rabbit that morning when he'd had to cross the courtyard on his way to the cafeteria. Jervis Tetch always did have an ear for those sorts of things, so, naturally, he heard the man and rushed over to question him. Was the rabbit white? What did it look like? Did it have a clock? Oh, dear, I hope it wasn't too dreadfully late, or the Red Queen might get angry... Needless to say, the Mad Hatter lost any appetite for food or games, and he withdrew to his own corner during activity, attempting to recite the entirety of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland solely by memory.

Four more days, and it was the beginning of another week. Jervis had been removed "temporarily" from his usual group for activity. The Riddler was forced to play chess against himself. Challenging? Perhaps. But it simply wasn't the same. He couldn't really win when he couldn't lose. Absently, he wondered who it was he used to play against when he took over for Jervis' games. But, then he remembered: Crane.

A week went by. Okay, maybe he'd overdone it. Maybe he could have acted a bit less terrified, and they wouldn't have locked the Scarecrow away for quite so long... No, no, he had been in the right. He couldn't have been wrong. He just wasn't ever wrong. He was right. Always right.

Two days. He'd never actually missed someone before in his life. Other than his mother, but... Can you really miss someone you were too young to remember?

One day. He really missed Crane. Of all people...

Another day. Harley felt sorry for The Riddler and offered to play against him. He was so desperate for competition that he accepted the offer. The game didn't last ten minutes. Harley had, at one point in time, long ago it seemed, earned her doctorate... But, if she had retained any of that intelligence, it certainly wasn't in games of logic.

Five days passed. He secretly began to dread even waking up in the morning. He tried to focus his time on an escape plan... But, many of those Blackgate runaways were still at large... What if his father was.. out there...? He gave that up. No way was he escaping only to have his father find him again... He was escorted to breakfast but had no appetite. He was escorted to the Activity Center. He sat down at the chess table and stared at the empty seat across from himself.

Two days. He sat down at the chess table and stared at the empty seat across from himself. He always was the one who told people not to underestimate the power of the mind... Maybe if he thought hard enough, a worthy opponent would just materialize out of the...

...Three days. He sat down at the chess table and stared at the empty seat across from himself. He didn't believe for one second that he was crazy when he was brought to Arkham. But, that place would drive anyone mad. He was relieved when the lunch bell rang, even though he knew he didn't have the stomach for lunch. At least it was a break... Harley chattered idly about how her Mistah Jay was going to break her out any day... And when the inmates returned to the Activity Center, Edward went with a less-than-hopeful mind. And, he returned to his cell that evening with the express intent to absolutely fall on his knees and beg Dr. Leland for more crossword books the next time he saw her. He laid down on his cot, not bothered by the fact that it was only five o' clock: he had nothing better to do than sleep, after all... But, just as he began to drift off, he was jolted awake by an eerie voice:

"Hey, diddle, diddle..."

Edward Nigma shot upward in bed. The voice was very quiet, and he had a fear that it was just his imagination... But, really, he had nothing to lose. He answered the voice with his own rhyme, "Time for a riddle?" Quickly, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind: "You make me with what you throw away then leave me for the birds, Nail me on a cross and yet I cry out with no words. You care naught for my health - leave me in sun, in snow, in rain. But, I could protect all of the earth, just if I only had a brain..." The Riddler took a breath. "...What am I?"

Silence answered Edward's question... The riddle that was his cryptic apology. Edward held his breath, and then...

"...Scarecrow..."

The Riddler almost couldn't believe it. Jonathan Crane had answered his riddle. Had accepted his apology. Already? ...Well, then there was the possibility that the man had been driven entirely insane by his time in solitary and he was just repeating the name of his persona, but... "...That one was easy."

"Yes. Exceedingly." Crane's voice was a rasp... High-pitched. He was certainly out of touch with the doctor in himself for the time being. No, he was much less Crane right then and much more Scarecrow.

Edward stood up, walking over to the wall, as if that would help him communicate better. "I apologize. I shall think of a more challenging puzzle for you next time."

"I should hope so."

"Have you seen your doc-..." The Riddler paused. He was trying to get on good terms with Crane. The last thing he needed was to forget about the Scarecrow's practices and reputation.

"My patient?" Edward nodded in response, ignoring the fact that he was invisible behind a concrete wall and that Jonathan Crane couldn't exactly hear his head rattle. "No, he's taken a small vacation from our sessions... Can't come to terms with his own reality. He wants to find me a new patient to work on..."

"Oh, well, that's exciting..." The Riddler frowned, knowing that the Scarecrow wouldn't be allowed to return to a normal schedule with the other prisoners until he was assigned a new psychiatrist and deemed "safe" again... Ha, like any of the inmates were ever really safe. They just ACTED less harmful so that they wouldn't be locked away all the time. "Do they have you in the jacket?" The Riddler imagined for a moment being in that straitjacket... Unable to move... His frown deepened.

"Yes..."

"Can you move at all?"

"Enough."

Edward silenced after that response. He wasn't entirely sure if it was an answer to his question, or an end to the conversation. Ultimately, it became both, since, after about five minutes of silence, Edward made his way back over to bed and laid down. The Scarecrow didn't say another word. And, in fact, The Riddler was well on his way to his own personal puzzleland of dreams and questions and answers, when he was startled awake by a gleeful shriek from none other than the Clown Princess of Crime.

"FLOWAHS! MISTAH JAY SENT ME FLOWAHS!"

Edward sat up, holding his ears in annoyance. "God, does she ever shut up? Doesn't anybody know what time it is?"

Either no one heard The Riddler's complaints, or the complaints were simply ignored... Either way, Edward didn't get a reply. Harley's shouting, however, started an uproar among the inmates and guards alike.

Ivy was the first to react, her tone murderous, "HOW CAN YOU BE HAPPY OVER THE SENSELESS, BRUTAL SLAUGHTER OF BEAUTIFUL, HARMLESS PLANTS?"

And, then came the voice of Aaron Cash, one of the head guards: "Who gave those flowers to Quinn? I want that delivery tracked - check postmarks and dates!" He marched down the corridor angrily, and stopped in the hallway between an empty cell and The Riddler's cell. Cash, much to Edward's dismay, suddenly decided to turn and hammer on the glass of The Riddler's cell with the hook that had become the replacement for his hand after an encounter with Killer Croc a while back... Cash's face was livid with anger. "What do you know about this, Riddler?"

The stupid bully. Why me? Why not talk to Harley or someone who might actually know something about what's going on? Why bother ME? And, Edward had half a mind to ask that aloud. He was certainly irritated enough. Furious enough. Why, Edward wanted nothing more at that moment than to make Cash shut up and go away! If only he could think of the right thing to say! But, guards were all so stupid and stubborn and... persistent... Cash could make a sudden decision to stand there all night and question Edward, and the poor prisoner wouldn't be able to prevent it...

"Answer me, Riddler! Aren't you supposed to know all the answers?"

Edward opened his mouth to give an angry response, when, a moment before he could, a voice from the cell just beside his own rang out, "Why, if it isn't the great Captain Hook..."

Edward turned his head toward the right wall, and Cash stepped back, growling audibly, "Scarecrow..."

"I'd watch out if I were you, Hook... You're dwelling horribly close to the water..."

"Stop worrying about me and watch out for yourself, Scarecrow. You're already on the list. Ain't nobody who wants to take you in as a patient."

The Scarecrow seemed completely deaf to any points the guard tried to make. "Is that a crocodile I hear?"

"All the new docs don't think you're famous enough... They want high-profile patients. They're lined up for The Joker back there..."

"Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock..."

Cash's nose crinkled in disgust but he continued, pretending to ignore the prisoner, "A few of the new guys even want Quinn, but Dr. Leland says she's too fond of the clown to let her go..."

"Tick tock, tick tock..."

"..Everyone wants to help Ivy, and..."

"Tick tock~, tick tock~..."

"...Tetch is..."

"Tick tock~..."

Aaron Cash roared, "SHUT UP!" He wheeled away from the cells, stalking down toward the other guards. "Anybody get the postmark on those flowers yet?"

One of the younger guards answered, "There wasn't one... Delivered straight to the gate. Passed security and everything. No weapons, no tricks. Nothing."

"HAA, wrong!," Harley shouted mockingly. "One o' the flowers is a phony! See?" The flower she touched squirted water straight up at the ceiling, and she laughed loudly. "HA, HA, HA, oh, Mistah Jay! Ya always do know just how to lift my spirits!"

Cash didn't find the gag very funny. "Somebody get Dr. Leland in here!"

Edward sank back into bed, relieved. He glanced at the wall for a moment, debating in his mind... And, then he called out, "Crane?" He waited a moment, but upon receiving no reply, he continued, "Thank you."

"That was purely for the fear. Not a favor to you."

"...You're really creepy sometimes... But... thanks, anyway." He turned over in bed, getting comfortable. "And, I hope they fed you in solitary. You'd be even creepier as a skeleton." Edward closed his eyes but then turned over again, feeling unsettled with his own comment. "And, don't let that give you any ideas!"