I promptly fell back asleep once Richard had left, though I didn't know how I did it. I must've had so much on my mind that it overloaded my brain. Because of that I slept like the dead with no dreams whatsoever. When I woke up again, I was still tired, but that was understandable as I'd just woken up. Walking out of my room and down the stairs, I had a sense of déjà vu from yesterday. But unlike yesterday, the only person that was out and about was Edward.

He was in the living room reading a book titled: 'The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code.'

What are you reading about? I signed, sitting on the couch across from the chair he was sitting in.

"Oh hey Ridley," Edward said distractedly, flipping a page. "This book is fascinating. It tells a story of mystery, intrigue, linguistics, and cryptology."

Sounds a bit dull. I signed, though it did sound interesting. Not that I was going to tell him that though.

"What you're reading is dull," Edward replied not missing a beat. "Inferno, while being a well-known piece, deals with fantasy and unrealistic ideals. It doesn't contain a single ounce of realism. This, however," he tapped a page, "while it still is fiction, it's also historically accurate. There is no God, only man. Man is God, able to create and destroy what he wishes."

Says the atheist.

"I'm a man of science and reason," Edward said, adjusting his glasses in such a sophisticated matter that I had to crack a smile.

"How did you know I was an atheist?" Edward asked, shutting the book at looking at me.

I shrugged, I just guessed. How'd you know that I was reading Inferno?

"I'm just smart enough to guess those types of things," Edward said with a smile. "Actually, I left that note in your room last night. I saw it then."

Oh, I see.

"I do want to know something though," Edward added. "Why didn't you go with Nightwing?"

What! How do you know about-

"Please," Edward said, waving a hand. "I wouldn't be a good villain if I didn't have survalence on my 'prisoner'." He did air quotes.

So you're going all voyeur on me? I raised an eyebrow.

"God no." Edward snorted. "Why would I want to do that?"

Cause you're a creep?

"I'm offended," Edward said, giving me a hurt look. "No, it's really because if something happens like last night," Edward said shaking his head. "I knew that Nightwing was here anyway. I have more than just traps set up around here. There's a completely separate computer that I use just for survalence."

Where's Selina and Jon? I asked, not really wanting to know more about Edwards 'survalence'.

"Selina went to wherever she goes when she's not here and Jon's taking a nap; I think. I actually don't know what he's doing." Edward shrugged.

Was last night that bad?

"Barman showed up at the most inconvenient time," Edward responded. "We managed to get away but... it was too close of a call to my liking."

"Yeah cause someone was being an idiot," Jon said from the doorway.

"You're awake." Edward said, ignoring Jons 'idiot' comment, at least for now.

"I never slept," Jon said. "I was... thinking." He gave an irritated look to no one in particular.

Why was it a close call? I asked.

"We got caught up in something else," Edward said vaguely. "I've been meaning to ask you this but an interesting thing that I noticed last night was that Robin wasn't with Batman."

"Just be thankful that he wasn't," Jon grunted. "We would've been thrown in Arkham if he was."

"I know that," Edward said, sounding slightly annoyed. "I was just going to ask Ridley if she knew why."

I don't know. I lied. Maybe he was off doing something else?

"That's possible." Edward mused. "I just think it's odd that when Robin's gone, Nightwing pops up. You'd think because they're both vigilantes that they'd work together you know?"

"I already told you," Jon said sounding terse. "Just because they're both vigilantes doesn't mean that they have to work together. You should know that."

"I do know that!" Edward protested, twisting around to face Jon. "I'm just saying that the whole thing is rather odd, don't you agree?"

"You're the only one who thinks it's odd," Jon said, "I could care less. It just makes things easier for us."

Edward grumbled before turning back around and picked his book back up. He opened it and began to read once again.

"Are you ignoring me?" Jon demanded, walking over to us.

"I wasn't aware you were talking," Edward said Idly. "All I heard was noise."

"Erg." Jon scowled and stomped forward until he stood directly in front of Edward.

"Do you hear me now?" He hissed, slapping the book out of Edwards' hands. The book hit the ground with a loud thump and I flinched. Jons demeanor seemed slightly different, and I didn't particularly have a good feeling about what it entailed.

Edward just leaned back and smiled despite the obviously irritated man in front of him.

"Whatever do you mean?" Edward asked innocently. "All I hear is a slight buzzing sound."

He smirked and I realized that while Selina said that Jon started their arguments, Edward didn't do anything to stop them. He just kept egging Jon on. They were both to blame.

"Damnit Nygma!" Jon yelled, grabbing Edward by his shirt. I made to intervene but he just shot me a warning look and shook his head slightly. "Quit playing games!"

"I thought you liked playing games with me," Edward said, surprisingly calm despite his current situation. "Didn't you claim that it was your favorite pastime?"

"I-I do- I mean I- it's not like I-" Jon started to stammer, making me slightly confused. Talk about bipolar much?

"I-it's not like I have a choice!" Jon finally snapped. "You'd just keep bugging me until I said yes! I only did it because of that s-so don't get the wrong idea, ok?"

Something poked the back of my brain with that last comment. Where had I heard that before? I know I'd heard it from somewhere.

"If you're done with your episode, would you care to let me go?" Edward asked mildly.

"Fine!" Jon said releasing Edward.

Edward smoothed the wrinkles from his shirt and grinned at Jon. "I like this part of you, Jon. It's refreshing."

"S-shut up!" Jon said before storming out of the room.

"Well that was interesting," Edward remarked after Jon had left. "Wouldn't you agree?"

More like concerning. I signed. Why do you goad him on like that?

"Why not?" Edward shrugged. "He's so easy to bait." He got up, swaying on his feet a bit before sitting back down with a wince. "Damn." He held his side.

What is it? I asked, concerned. Let me see. I walked over to him and he moved his hand just enough so that I could see a dark stain on his shirt.

How the hell did this happen? I signed, in shock.

"Got hit with a Batarang," Edward said. "Jon would've been seriously injured if I hadn't interpreted it."

So you decided to be all heroic about it and get hit yourself? I raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing that couldn't be fixed easily with a few stitches." Edward pointed out. "If Jon had taken the hit then he would've been injured enough that he'd had to have gone to the hospital. If he a normal citizen. I can take a few stitches if it means that Jon stays out of Arkham."

I was surprised by what Edward said. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have believed that Edward actually cared about anyone but himself. But after being around him and the others for a while now, I've come to realize that most of the egotistical attitude Edward had, was a front. Why I had no idea.

Let me see it. I signed before gently pushing his hand away and lifting up the side of his shirt. I actually had to more like peel it off because of the amount of blood. He'd gotten more than simply cut with the Batarang. A surge of irritation towards Bruce went through me. He'd never intentionally tried to hurt someone with his Batarangs, but from what Edward said, it seemed like he's purposely thrown one at Jon.

These stitches are horrible. I signed, shaking my head. No wonder they split. Who did these?

"Jon," Edward said, "he kept on yelling at me the whole time."

Why was Jon the center of all the problems that happened? It was very annoying. Why did he continue to live here with Edward if it caused so many issues? He kept fighting and being a generally not nice person though I was sure that he could be. Despite the obvious grief it caused, he made no move to leave. It was like he actually liked- oh. Oh. So that's what it was. Suddenly everything made sense, Jons attitude toward Edward; everything.

"What's with that look on your face?" Edward asked. "You look like you just discovered the solution to climate change."

Nothing. I signed quickly. We need to restitch your wound. I calmly explained to him what I needed and asked him where I could get it. On the inside though... I was a turbulent mess. Things clicked into place and I realized that Jon was, in reality, acting like a tsundere towards Edward. Jon liked Edward but didn't know how to convey his feelings so he acted like a jerk.

This was big but I wouldn't tell Edward. That was for Jon to do. I wasn't phased by learning this fact, Bruce had raised me so that I'd be very open and accepting. I did have to admit that it was rather cute, but if I told Jon such I'd probably automatically get gassed in the face.

"What's that?" Edward asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. His face was a bit pale from the blood loss, the wound was a lot worse than he made it out to be.

What? I signed. I needed to stop thinking about my discovery and focus on Edward.

"You spelled out a word," Edward said looking at me. "T-S-U-N-D-E-R-E." He spelled it out. "I assume you pronounce it like 'tus-un-der-eh'?"

Had this been any other type of situation, I would've smiled at his attempt to pronounciate the word but instead, I scowled. Doesn't matter. What does matter is making sure you don't bleed out on the couch. It's just another thing for Jon to yell about.

"True." Edward mused. How could he not be concerned with the fact that he was bleeding out?

First aid kit?

"Upstairs in my bathroom," Edward said. "What do you need me to do in the meantime?"

You'd have to lay down so I can stitch the wound. I signed. But you won't be able to move for a while afterward so I suggest you choose someplace comfortable.

"So staying in the chair is out of the question," Edward said wryly.

I gave him my best 'duh' look and rolled my eyes. This was no time to joke around!

"What about the floor then?"

Go right ahead. Unless you want Jon to step on you. Which he'd probably do and then say it was an accident.

"Good point," Edward said thoughtfully. "Well, the first aid kits already in my room so we might as well go up there."

Can you even make it up there?

"If you help me, then yes," Edward said with a smile. "I have no doubts about that."

Take your shirt off then.

"What?"

I rolled my eyes again. For a claimed genius he sure was dense.

You need something to staunch the wound until we can get upstairs. I explained. Unless you want to bleed all over the place.

"Fine," Edward said.

I ended up having to help Edward take his shirt off, he couldn't do it without causing himself some sort of immense pain. Once the shirt was off I instructed him to hold it to his side and apply pressure. From there it was a painful trip up the stairs and down the hall to his room.

I was momentarily stunned when I saw Edwards room. It was huge, with a large king sized bed up against the opposite wall and several computer monitors scattered around. A ladder led up a second level where even more computers and a ton of books were. Did I mention how many books he had? It was enough to outfit a public library. I probably would've gone through them all if I hadn't had to take care of him first.

Spying a low-end couch on the left, I hauled Edward over and set him down. He groaned and tried to roll over. I had to stop him from rolling off the couch. I should've just made him lay on the floor down in the living room, he'd almost passed out when I had gotten him to his feet. Needless to say, he was in bad shape.

Where's the bathroom? I signed once I had got him settled.

"Underneath the second level," Edward said slightly put out. "The first aid kit is in the cabinet under the sink."

Leaving him on the couch I quickly entered the bathroom and dug out the first aid kit before taking a clean towel (unfortunately white) and soaking it with water from the sink. His bathroom was also fairly nice, very modern which I didn't expect.

Rushing back out, I dropped to my knees at his side and opened the first aid kit, taking out what I needed. Needle, a small pair of pliers, thread, disinfectant, and bandages. Edward watched me through lidded eyes, but I didn't let his staring affect me.

Carefully peeling way the now ruined shirt, I tossed it away, gently applied the washcloth and started to wipe the blood away. Edward winced every so often but stayed generally still. Once I'd gotten the blood whipped off I could inspect the wound better. All that freaking blood came from a five inch long, half an inch deep cut. Not as bad as I expected it to be from the amount of blood. The ripped and torn edges of Jons poor attempt at stitching made it hard for me to pick them out, but I managed, along with a ton of whimpering and grunts of pain from Edward. What a baby.

This'll hurt. I signed, picking up the disinfectant wipe before quickly running it over the wound. Edwards stomach clenched and he nearly shot upwards in alarm and pain. I pushed him back down with a frown.

You don't want to start bleeding again. I signed. You're lucky that it's already clotting.

Edward groaned and muttered something incomprehensible before turning his head away from me. I haven't picked up the needle and made sure it was sterilized before feeding the end of the thread through the eye.

Once that was taken care of, I turned it back to Edward and started to stitch the wound closed. He didn't have exactly the best pain tolerance but managed to suffer through it.

There. I signed after I'd tied off the last stitch and cut the thread.

"Thanks," Edward mumbled.

No problem.

I began to clean up, leaving the bandages out so I could wrap the wound once he could sit up. Standing, I walked back to the bathroom to put things away. The washcloth was probably salvageable, but definitely not the shirt so I threw that out. Staring at myself in the mirror I suddenly felt exhausted by this whole ordeal. I quickly washed my hands from the blood and made my way back out into the room.

Do you think you can sit up? I signed.

"Didn't you tell me but I couldn't move once I had laid down?" Edward asked, somewhat normal now that I wasn't sticking him with a needle.

My stitches will hold. I signed. Unlike Jon, I actually do know how to stitch wounds.

"Is that because of Bruce?" Edward asked, easing himself up carefully.

Yes. I helped him sit up. I unwrapped the gauze from its package and put it over the wound before grabbing the bindings. Keeping the gauze in place, I began to wrap it keeping it tight enough to hold the gauze in place, but loose enough so it didn't constrict movement.

"Well, I definitely owe you one," Edward said with a smile when I had finished.

I suddenly became very aware of my own situation. I was in a room, alone, with a shirtless guy. Ok yes, I've stitched wounds before and have encountered this, but that was with Bruce. With Edward it was vastly different; of course, it was. My eyes, as if they had a mind of their own, studied his body. He wasn't overly muscular, but also not really scrawny either. I noted that he had very nice abs before I realized what I was thinking and blushed.

"Take a picture," Edward said with a smirk. "It might last longer."

I blushed even harder and looked away. Why was I suddenly acting like this? It must be because the hot in here. I decided. My face is red because it's hot. I told myself. Rather, he's hot. What!? Did I just say that he was hot? I was going crazy and needed to get out of here.

You're welcome. I signed quickly before basically fleeing the room. Stupid!