NoSpillBlood - Thanks. That was super nice thing of you to say. I'm not sure if it's flawless, but I'm trying really hard to make it good. The thing is I've been so busy lately that it's really hard to bring this story to people, so it's super lovely to hear things like that. It gives me the steam I need to work on this before flopping into bed from exhaustion. ^_^ Therefore, for making this nervous first attempt at something new easier on me, I dedicate a spider monkey to you. Can I do that? I dunno, I just did. Some poor spider monkey is out there...flailing around in a tree, dedicated to you. So...enjoy that.
eatingsupernoodles - Well, considering that you've only read the first chapter, I suppose you can't quite get a taste of what this next part is going to be like, but since it's a different flavour from the first part and features Crane and Ivy heavily, I felt it was important to break the storyline up. I'm awfully sorry if it annoys you so much (I have a weird thing for writing serials), that wasn't my intention at all. But I do appreciate your input, I did struggle with myself for a long, long time before making the decision. I just didn't want the story to have a lump in the middle because of this next part. It's kind of like Indiana Jones. The first one was alright, the second was meh and the last was the best (I generally ignore the fourth ever happened). This part is the meh. Oh God, it's super late, I hope that made some sense to someone...O_o
JannaKalderash - Yes. Alcohol is never a good idea when it comes to crazy and hyper sexual. ^_^
Lady Pocketmouse - Mah, thanks so much for the ego boost! It's reviews like yours that really puts a spring in my step and kicks my ass into high gear.
jacksparrowlovesme - You know. I will forever be a Riddler/Catwoman shipper, but you can't deny that Crane and Selina have weird sexual tension in a lot of my work. It's just their characters, I think. Like he's a shit disturber who likes to poke at people and Selina doesn't take shit from him so they end up in heated fights often. But you are close, in this story Crane does seem to have a small soft spot for Selina (I swear, I didn't even intend for it to be that way, they just do these things themselves!)
Chapter Two: It Lives By Night
**Ivy**
They had travelled two days and some before returning to Gotham.
Edward seemed more paranoid than usual, checking his rear view mirror, adjusting his side mirrors, glancing over his shoulder whenever a car came up to pass.
She couldn't really blame him. They had no idea who blew up Dr. Vanderhoen's trailer or whether it was intended for them or not.
The rage still boiled in her over the unnecessary destruction of the greenhouse.
As a botanist, Dr. Vanderhoen probably had some of the rarest and most precious plants growing in his hothouse and it pissed her off.
She eyed the Riddler beside her in the driver's seat.
They had driven nearly non-stop and he was looking a little rough around the edges.
A lack of sleep, two days worth of stubble and a hard, determined look in his eye seemed to agree with him. It gave his eyes a sharp, predatory appeal that they were capable of, but hardly ever possessed. They were narrowed at the road, long, dark lashes seemed thicker and darker as his pale blueish-green eyes shone.
"Why didn't it kill us?" He muttered to himself. "It must have been too weak...because it doesn't make sense..."
For the entire drive it had been like this, Edward muttering riddles and questions to himself, Ivy trying hard to find something to take her mind off her rage.
Seeing the large, ostentatious 'Welcome to Gotham City' sign, Ivy smirked darkly.
"You never told me how Arkham was, Ed." She said.
He glanced over at her. "Oh, you know bad food, cold corners, too many group showers."
"I bet you loved those group showers." She purred.
"I did. I was the biggest man there." He replied sharply.
"Don't you know it's rude to lie to a lady?" She demanded.
"Show me a lady and I'll show you an honest gentleman."
Smirking, she angled her head to face the lights of the city. "One of these days, Ed, I'm going to kill you."
He turned the car sharply down a street. "Not if I kill you first, Pammie."
They pulled up in front of a burnt out shell of the car dealership and Edward stepped out.
"Jesus," he breathed.
Ivy exited the car, following the Riddler into the ruins.
"What do you think happened?"
"Well, Pammie, there are two main questions on my mind right now. And this answers at least one of them." He replied. "Keep an eye out for some bodies."
As they made their way into the bowels of the charred building, Ivy found herself willing vines to entangle the ruins, trying to put some beauty back into the ugly blackened chunk of concrete and steel.
A form dropped down at her side quietly.
"You're ruining the beauty of the place," someone rasped.
She spun on them, vines already stretching out towards the being.
Firefly held up a heavily gloved hand the other holding his flamethrower. "Easy."
Ivy eyed him warily. Flora and fire never really got along, so she was always on her guard around the fire bug. Of course she never really spent much time around him before, but she knew enough of him to know to be wary. Apparently Firefly was so crazy even Killer Moth kept his distance.
From out of the rubble, the Riddler joined them, carefully picking his way over the charred remains of the building as though afraid of getting dirty, which was probably the case.
"Is this your work?" He inquired.
"I wish. It would have been a beautiful blaze firsthand." Firefly replied calmly. "But I only came for the aftermath."
"Oh? And do you have any idea what exactly happened here?" Edward went on interrogating the man.
Firefly shifted on his heavy black boots and palmed the rifle-like part of his flamethrower, before tucking it away into a cradle on his back. "I can tell you what's happening all across Gotham's underworld. People are dying mysteriously. Not from illness either. Throats slit, heads lopped off at the shoulders. Clean. With a sharp blade. It's a cruel, cold act."
Ivy wasn't sure what he meant, but Edward spoke.
"Adalaide?"
Firefly slowly shook his head once.
Not sure what was happening, Ivy kept quiet, watching the Riddler for a sign of what the hell just happened, but Eddie was stone faced.
"Something fucked up is going on here and I'm beginning to think of assuaging my rage in a heated manner." Firefly said after a moment.
Edward nodded. "Fire does cleanse all sins." He agreed.
Reaching out the Riddler touched a hand to Firefly's upper arm.
"But first," he said. "Why don't you come with us? I think there might be a hot meal in it for you."
Angling his mask, Firefly looked at the hand assaulting him.
"Don't touch me." He ordered gruffly.
The Riddler quietly removed the limb.
"At this moment," Firefly began carefully, "I think we could discuss business over a hot meal."
Eddie beamed. "Let me give you some directions to a warehouse near here…"
"Who's Adalaide?" Ivy asked as they were on their way, Firefly getting to the warehouse on his own power.
Edward turned the car down a street. "Firefly's paramour."
"You can just say 'girlfriend', Ed."
He scowled at the street. "I don't think it was that kind of relationship."
"Lover?'
"Uh, getting warmer. I don't know, it was a quagmire of a relationship, I think. Who really cares anyways?"
"You're so kind to people." She snapped.
"She was an amazing pair of legs and tits," the Riddler said. "But I'm sure that's all she was."
"You're an unbelievable asshole, do you know that?"
"The woman voluntarily involved herself with a known arsonist, not just any arsonist, but Firefly. She had to have been a real piece of work."
"And you're so normal?"
"I'm perfectly normal, it's the world that perceives me incorrectly. Besides, Firefly would have probably burned her eventually anyways."
"You son of a bitch," she snarled.
Eddie chuckled. "Come on, Firefly doesn't want our pity and I don't want to give him my pity, so it works out for everyone."
They pulled out in front of a shithole warehouse somewhere near the bay.
Ivy stepped out of the car expecting rats to flee her feet, instead she found a murky puddle waiting for her.
Fantastic.
Leaning down she removed her human shoes and let her vines cover her body, shedding the rest of her clothes as well.
If she was going to be stepping in muddy puddles, she'd at least leave some flora where she stepped.
On his side of the vehicle, Eddie watched her with a twinkle in his eyes.
She flipped her long, red hair over her shoulder and ignored the look, he was only looking to start a fight.
Nearby Firefly landed, eyeing the warehouse.
With his helmet on Ivy couldn't tell whether he was as impressed with the dive as her or not. Knowing him he probably could have cared less. The man spent his entire criminal career in burnt out husks of buildings, an actual roof over his head might be nice to him for once.
Making sure grass grew up through the asphalt where she stepped to avoid more puddles, Ivy followed the men into the building, wary that the Riddler could be playing them for fools. The weasel in the green suit did tend to have no loyalty.
Inside they found the warehouse dark and cold.
"This better not be a trap, Nygma." Firefly hissed.
Ivy liked the sound of his voice, it sounded like he inhaled too much fire and embers and the deep velvet baritones of his voice were fogged by thick black smoke.
The Riddler - in contrast - with a voice that was a clear and well spoken tenor, laughed almost jovially. "If it is a trap, then I'm about to be ensnared too. Have a little faith, my friend."
As they wandered deeper into the warehouse, they found a small corner alight with candles, giving warmth to a cold, dead place.
A gun raised up from behind a counter, before a blonde head appeared, peeking over the edge.
Before anyone could react, the blonde was over the counter and wrapped tight around the Riddler.
A brunette soon joined, entwining Eddie in a mass of female curves.
Ivy scoffed.
"Hiya, boss!" One said.
"It was hell, they were in a helicopter and there was at least four of them shooting at us," the other added.
Barely able to keep up with the two, Ivy looked about.
She noticed almost proudly that vines were creeping up the walls and encouraged them only a little with a small puff of pheromones.
Glancing over, she noticed Firefly watching her quietly, his mask turning all about them to take in the vines. She wondered what was going on in his head. Was he thinking how fast the place would burn? Did he always think about fire? No one could really say what he was thinking, he always wore that mask of his.
They said in his solitary cell at Arkham (the only place he ever really went without his fireproof helmet) he was an older man, about forty with greying black hair and burn scars on his face, but these were rumours passed from the orderlies to the guards to the inmates.
What colour were his eyes? Was he handsome despite the scars?
Her attention turned back on the Riddler as he finally extracted himself from his girls and was beaming broadly at them.
The blonde went on about what happened, but Ivy found she still couldn't keep up with the woman's speed.
Eddie seemed to be doing fine, nodding and taking it all in.
She caught the basics, helicopter chase, guns, van flipping over, Crane hitting their enemies with a couple of fear gas grenades.
"Where is Jonathan?" Eddie asked.
The brunette stepped in calmly. "The backroom. He got it pretty bad."
"Yeah, he's back there with that cat." The blonde said.
"Selina? Was she there?" Ed asked.
"She got hurt pretty bad, didn't die though." The brunette supplied almost regretfully.
The Riddler was moving across the floor, heading for the back room. "How bad?" He asked.
Hopping up onto the counter, Ivy perched and waited for business to commence, as the Riddler and his women moved into the backroom.
She noticed the Mad Hatter huddled behind the counter and eyed him as he stroked a limp rabbit and sipped tea out of an ugly, seventies style, brown, bumpy mug.
"Whatcha got going on there, Jervis?" She asked.
He looked up at her with wild blue eyes. "March Hare."
"He doesn't look so…well." She supplied.
Jervis held the rabbit up to her.
She caught a whiff of early set decomp and leapt down from the counter.
Firefly watched this quietly.
"Oh, it's dead." She gagged a little into her hand.
"I don't think he's feeling so well, too much apple butter in his tea." Jervis warbled.
"I hate fucking crazy people," she snarled to herself.
"You just left Liddell in the dealership to die?" The Riddler demanded, his voice carrying out from the other room.
He wasn't happy.
"I didn't think his life was as important as mine!" Crane shouted back.
"Oh, and that big fucking white rabbit was important?" Eddie snarled.
Jervis jumped to his feet, his tea spilling out of his mug. "The White Rabbit's late for tea!" He exclaimed.
"Look, Liddell was just collateral anyways, Edward!" Crane replied as he hobbled after the Riddler who stormed back into the main room. "He was a human shield at best. Any information he had, we already knew. He was done. Spent. Useless. I would have done the job myself, if we weren't interrupted!"
The Riddler spun on the Scarecrow, suddenly his calm, composed self again. "No, wait…this is fine. We're doing good. Everyone's half dead, but we're all still alive and…" he paused, setting a shaking hand to his forehead, knocking his bowler off clumsily.
Everyone watched quietly.
For the past four and some days, Ivy had witnessed Edward's withdrawal's. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
One of his henchwomen knelt and retrieved his hat, brushing it off lovingly and placing it back on his head.
Eddie sighed. "We'll do fine. We just need to solve this riddle. And I know where to start. I have a hunch and a clue."
Ivy watched as Selina limped out of the backroom, holding on to whatever she could as she hopped along. Her right thigh had been bandaged tightly with strips of cloth, blood seeping through.
Everyone was gathering around Edward Nygma, because as much as Ivy hated to admit it, if anyone could figure out what to do next, it'd be him.
He pushed his bowler back on his head and beamed. "We need to find Ra's al Ghul." He said, tossing his cane at Selina who caught it to use.
"Anyone know where he's been keeping himself lately?" Crane inquired.
"Now that, Jonathan, is the question we're all asking." Edward replied.
Selina smirked. "I might know how to find someone who does know where Ra's is." She said.
"Talia," Ivy supplied.
"Zatanna, actually. Zatanna knows where Talia is, Talia should know where her father is. But you never know." Catwoman pointed out.
"Why would that witch know where Talia is?" Crane demanded.
Selina smirked. "Because those two seemed very tight the last time I saw them."
"Three-way catfight over the Bat, hm?" Crane inquired.
Turning violent eyes on the Scarecrow, Selina growled. "Shut up, Jon."
"I don't know if I'm comfortable having you around anymore," Crane said, "seeing as you're the bat's little cat whore."
Query and Echo beamed proudly.
"I have to agree with Professor Crane," the blonde said.
"Me too." The brunette added.
"I agree with Alice." Jervis said, moving to stand beside the blonde.
Selina eyed the two henchwomen with a quiet, unwavering look.
Ivy knew the look, the cat was plotting.
Before anyone could say anything further, Selina limped towards the Riddler and leaned in close against him to whisper in his ear, the hand that wasn't gripping the cane for support sliding over his chest and gripping the lapel of his suit jacket tightly.
The henchwomen both straightened their spines in preparation for a fight.
The Riddler listened patiently to whatever Selina Kyle was whispering, his brow furrowed delicately. Suddenly he beamed widely and she smirked, leaning her head against his, her hand toying with his tie.
Ivy took this in with deep interest. Seems some sort of power struggle was rippling among the ranks already and since she didn't know or care to know the two henchwomen, Ivy was on Lina's side.
"You make a good point, my dear." Eddie said.
Selina made a contented sound in the back of her throat and pulled away from him, yanking gently on his tie as she went.
"Selina's probably the best person to have at my side if Zatanna decides to turn her charms my way." He went on.
"I agree." Ivy spoke up, eyeing the glaring henchwomen calmly. "Selina's probably the one you'd want in any situation."
Oh, by the looks she was getting from Ed's girls, Ivy no longer had any friends there, but then again she didn't give a flying fuck. Idly fixing her hair, she noticed the glint in Catwoman's eyes and smiled softly.
"Maybe you should get your henchwomen to go and find us a better place to call HQ, Ed?" Ivy suggested. "I'm not going to align myself with any faction that meets in a crackhouse."
If she was going to be hated, she was going to go full out on that.
Of course Eddie was sharp enough to finally notice what was going on, as his eyes slid from Selina Kyle at his side to his enraged girls and over to Ivy.
Hell by now everyone in the room was beginning to get the gist of what was going on.
Even Jervis was quiet and attentive from his spot behind the counter.
"I'll find a new hole for us to crawl in." He said simply. "Tonight I just want to get some sleep."
"You're the boss," Ivy said, her tone a little mocking.
Moving away from all the females as the meeting broke, the Riddler marched across the room to take hold of Crane and push him into a corner.
She watched as the Riddler said something very low and very threateningly to his only friend as the others began to depart for their own makeshift beds for the night.
Ivy's vines grew in around the two in the corner as she strained to hear their argument.
God, she wished plants had ears.
Crane said something and the Riddler hissed one last thing to the Scarecrow before storming off in the direction of the door.
She noticed Firefly was close enough to possibly hear what just happened and moved in close to him.
"What was that all about?" She asked.
He looked down at her with that expressionless mask. "I don't gossip."
Turning on him, she set a hand against his chest and smiled. "Oh, come on, a big tough guy like you shouldn't care."
He quietly took in her offending limb before brushing it off.
She stepped back, spurned.
"Have we met?" He demanded.
Ivy blinked. "I'm sure we have."
"When?"
"A…Arkham?"
"No."
She struggled. "Uh…we…um…worked together?"
"Try again." He urged.
She sighed. "I don't think we've ever met formally."
"Then why are you touching me?"
"I'm friendly and outgoing," she purred.
"No."
She sighed. "I find you attractive?"
"Do you always lie?"
She jerked her chin back. "No."
Quietly Firefly shook his head at her and wandered off, leaving Ivy to scowl at his back.
"Well, up yours too."