The sun was high in the sky, but the smog and high rise buildings of Gotham prevented it from entering the apartment building Crane was sleeping in. A stray ray of sun snaked its way into the dim lit room and hit Crane square on the eyes. Rolling over, he tried to fall back asleep, having a bad night's sleep on the couch.

"Are you going to sleep all day?" a female voice asked, and Crane woke up, hastily turned to face S.D. who was lounging on the table across from the couch.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he sat up on the couch.

"Well after I gave you a little show last night I wanted to see what was happing over here, quiet boring if you ask me," she stated closing a compact mirror she held in her hand, and slipped it in her jean pocket.

"I didn't ask," he replied grumpily, running his hands through his hair trying to figure out why she really was here.

"Nor did I ask to have a peeping tom for a neighbor," she announced as she stood up. "Tetch never spied on me, never confused me as Alice just ignored my presence across the street. I would ask the same of you as you saw last night I have enough unwanted visitors."

"You're talkative for a person who only uttered about ten words in Arkham," Crane grumbled as he stood and stretched.

"It was nine actually," she corrected as she walked over to his make shift lab. "Looks like a high school chemistry class."

"Because I stole it from the high school," he said coming up behind her to move her away from his lab table.

"I know," she replied walking away from the table to the window. "I do read the papers, and who else would need chemistry equipment. What idiot tries to kill someone this early in the morning?"

"You do have quite a bit of unwanted guest, Falcone's man?" he asked as he moved next to her watching a man climb her fire escape.

"Idiot thinks he can have me killed," she snorted, as the man entered her apartment, backing out when he knocked things off her windowsill and fleeing from the building. "Doesn't matter Falcone is on his way out and Rupert Thorne is climbing his way up to the top of the mob bosses. I just want to be there to see his face when he dies."

"Well this is interesting," Nigma noted as he walked into the room. "Do we always have early morning chats with our neighbors?

S.D. decided to open the window climb down the fire escape as Nigma walked towards them without another word. Crane closed the window after she left.

"Early morning encounters with the assassin kind?" Nigma asked as Crane stormed away from the window.

"Just breaking and entering," Crane grumbled walking over to his lab table to make sure she hadn't touched anything while he was asleep. "She saw me watching her last night through the windows."

"It's a shame she is a mob girl," Nigma noted, then turned to Crane. "Riddle me this, I make you weak at the worst of times. I keep you safe, I keep you fine. I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold, I visit the weak, but seldom the bold. Who am I?"

"Fear," Crane replied, know Nigma only asked riddles when scheming. "What are you thinking?"

"Since I have the bank roll to help with your experiments thanks to the generous donations by the First National Bank on 5th what if we team up?"

"I thought we agreed in Arkham our association only goes as far as sharing hideouts and escaping from Arkham," he reminded Nigma, knowing the fragile friendship he had with Nigma could be ruined by one bad scheme. Although his money situation for chemicals was nil, and he did a few more ingredients for his new batch of fear gas.

"We are both rational adults," Nigma pointed out, as he looked back at the window, S.D. had just returned fixing things on her windowsill the man had knocked over. "Plus we can show that girl how superior rouges are to dimwitted mobsters."

"And you say I'm obsessed with her," Crane said as he mixed some chemicals.

"I like new toys as much as you do," he replied as he watched the girl. "Besides good old Bruce Wayne is having a charity ball at the end of the month at his mansion. You get to gas him and I get to rob him, it a win win really. Then we will have an assassin waiting in the wings for the bat to show up. She handles the bat giving us enough time to flee and if she gets left behind then we will know she wasn't as good as everyone thought she was. The bat wouldn't expect the three of us to team up."

"We know nothing about this girl," Crane stated as Nigma smiled.

"I do love a good puzzle," he relied as he walked away from the window. "Leave it to me and I will figure this girl out before we show up at Wayne Manor."

Nigma walked back to the apartment after being gone most of the day gathering intelligence on the mysterious girl and the party at Wayne Manor. He was once more dressed in his Riddler outfit; after all it was easier to get information as the Riddler. The residents of the underbelly of Gotham seem to have loose lips around the Riddler, and it did help he could locate most informants in one place.

The rouges laughed when Penguin opened the Iceberg Lounge, but it proved useful for backdoor meetings and for finding informants. Penguin went from rouge to a wannabe mobster. It was fine with Nigma less chances of seeing Penguin in Arkham when the bat dragged them back, he always smelled like he lived in a bird cage. He wouldn't be surprise to find out if Penguin slept with the birds.

Quickly making his way up the five stories back to Crane's apartment, he found Crane still mixing chemicals at the table. The apartment reeked of a sour acidy smell; Nigma covered his nose from the assault. He walked over to the window facing S.D.'s apartment and opened it to take a deep breath of the air outside.

"How can you stand that horrid smell," he asked as he stays near the window.

"I don't even notice it anymore," he said through his face mask, then shut off the Bunsen burner in front of him and walk over to the open window for fresh air. "Find out anything interesting?"

"Apparently the building she lives in its own by a female named Deka who rents out rooms to henchmen mostly. The whole fifth floor is off limits except to Deka and S.D. You need a key to get onto the fifth floor the stairwell door is always locked." He informed him as he watch S.D. put on a black trench coat and turned out the lights then left the apartment. "She is still mostly a mystery; we should break into her apartment. It could provide us with some insight, and she seems to be leaving for the night."

"How do you propose we do that?" Crane asked as he looked down into the streets to see S.D. rushing out of the building.

"I have a key to the stairwell," he replied showing him the key. "One of my associates who lives in the building was kind enough to procure it for me. Deka is drunken drug addict, who hopefully won't miss this spare key."

"I'm not breaking into her apartment," he stated, as he looked across to the darken rooms, he was curious what the girl had hidden in her apartment, and she did break into his own.

"It's not breaking and entering if you have a key," Nigma laughed waving the key around.

"Just trespassing," Crane grumbled, knowing this was a bad idea.

Thank you again Booklover1498 for the review, I'm glad you are enjoying the story!