"What costs eleven million dollars and flies?"

"A solid gold garbage truck"

"How in the- that one didn't even make sense!"

"You've asked that one before"

"I haven't!"

"Prove it!"

This was the scene everyday in the main hall of the intense treatment center. Some part in my brain told me that I was angering a raging psychopath with a fetish for death traps…but the fun of watching him flip out was enough to override it. Not very professional I know but the way he talked didn't seem psychopathic. He seemed a few IQ points from genius but not insanity.

Even though I had been on his watch for less than a week, I felt kind of attached to him. I would no longer stand at attention when I was talking to him and prodded him as if we were old friends. Of course he just thought of me as one of the dunce guards he had gotten assigned to before, but I soon proved him wrong much to his dislike. Since my term was temporary, Friday would be my last day. I didn't want to say I would be sad…but I was going to miss the back and forth between everybody in the hall. Joker's insane ravings and laughter, Scarecrow's mutterings to his partner, Becky Albright. She was nice, I liked her.

There were such intense moments when Eddie (yes we had gotten to first name bases) would ask a personal question like what my favorite soda was, or my favorite childhood memory. It looked like he was genuinely interested when he was staring at me through the glass. I wasn't sure if this was normal or not so I didn't answer. Each time I refused he would only smirk and say

"I'll find out one way or another" he was lying on his cot with the tips of his fingers touching, his usual thinking stance.

"You know that could get you into a lot of trouble if I were to report you, for threats" I answered.

He smirked.

"But you won't" he was right. I wanted him to be taken into solitary confinement as much as I wanted to lose my job.

He stood up and strode to where I was leaning against the glass.

"I have time for one more before my lunch break…" I offered. This seemed to puff him up a bit.

"I am just two and two, I am warm I am cold, I am lawful, unlawful, a duty, a fault, I am often sold dear, good for nothing when bought, an extraordinary boon and a matter of course." This one actually stumped me. Everything that could be a possibility was instantly checked out because of another phrase. Finally after five minutes of mulling I sighed.

"I'll answer this one afterwards, I'll see you later."

He stood up, his green eyes widening to very alarming proportions.

"No! Uh, do you want a hint?" I stopped in my tracks in the act of turning around. He never gave hints, or points for guessing.

"Um…no…" I shuffled away slowly; slightly scared from the look he was giving me.

"You can do this! It's easy!" he pressed his hands against the glass in fury.

"After lunch!" I turned and trotted away. That was out of the ordinary, for him at least. I chanced a look back and saw that he was glaring at me again. I would have thought he would have been gloating by now.

I shook it off quickly, accounting it to his mood swings.

After a very relaxing lunch at that nice Italian place on 19th street, I headed back to Arkham in high spirits, the riddle solved and my stomach full of paninis that could have been made by angels.

The answer to the riddle that had stumped came a bit out of the blue from his usual style; it was a kiss, simple as that was. I headed up the deserted hill and had to swerve to avoid the onslaught of police cars zooming down the opposite way.

"Geezus!" My car skidded to a stop on the side of the road and I could only ogle the cruisers that came one after another at alarming paces. Something had happened at Arkham. That was the only explanation, and of course it had happened during my lunch break.

I waited for the parade to pass, shifted my car to all the gears it had and put the pedal to the medal. I didn't care if I was going sixty on a forty five mph road. I needed to know what had happened!

The answer greeted me in the form of Commissioner Gordon walking out the, front entrance with the doctor who had shown me to Eddie's cell. The doctor saw me get out of the car and gestured in my direction, which Gordon came towards with a grim look on his face.

"Miss-" he looked down at his papers, "Bethany Zyne?"

I stood at attention. "Yes sir?"

"During your break there was a mass breakout, and one of your prisoners escaped."

My head swam as horrible thoughts flooded in. Was I going to lose my job? Who escaped? Was it my fault? Of course it was my fault! Why else would they be talking to me! I was such an idiot sometimes!

"From the look on your face, I can tell you that it's not your fault and won't be blamed. However I have a favor to ask of you."

I snapped back into my stony stature once more. "Anything sir."

He checked his papers again and I noticed that he was holding my file, my already worn out file.

"I see you've gotten a full education of the Academy?" he glanced up at me.

I nodded and waited for him to go on.

"I was surprised to your career choice. Your training suggests a professional detective, yet you are a guard at Arkham. If you would have come to my precinct first we would have offered you a job at the snap of a finger. But that's not the point. My point is that Edward Nygma has escaped and you were reported being the last one talking to him."

I blushed slightly and fought to keep my posture professional.

"I have sources that you are the person here that knows the most about him, seeing as you were the longest standing guard."

I did a double take at that last line. I had been guarding him…for four days! And I was the longest? I felt creeped out and scared at the revelation that I was only supposed to last less than a week. He didn't seem that bad to me!

"What about his physiatrists?"

"He was just getting settled and would have gotten his first private one today, seeing as he only came in last week but he escaped on his way to the office. He didn't need any more group sessions, too flighty, disrupted other patients and never got anywhere but lock down." Gordon answered. "But, here's the favor, there was just a mass breakout of the most dangerous villains in Gotham. I'm fresh out of men, and when they told me about you and I looked where you had gone to school, I wanted to offer you the chance to prove yourself to my squad and find Nygma."

I thought this over for a bit. I didn't like to be a fallback person, yet I did want a job on Gordon's squad, the most respected police force in the state.

"You'll get paid for it as if you were our own private detective?" he offered.

"Deal." I shook his gloved hand and went to go investigate the fugitive's cell. At least I knew why he wanted me to answer that riddle so bad, he knew he was going to be gone by the time I got back. I smirked, it would make it that much easier to find him if he found me first.