A/N: So sorry for not updating last week! I was on vacation and thought I would have time to update, but obviously I didn't. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Ridley's P.O.V.

*Three Days later*

The past three days had been busy as I had to get ready for my first mission. I was still a bit apprehensive about it, but that couldn't be helped. I kept wondering if whatever was planned would draw the attention of Bruce. If it did and I ran into him, then what would I do? There was a lot that had been left unsaid, and I wondered if Richard had told him about his visit; it was possible. I had bigger things to worry about then whether or not Bruce would show up, however.

For the past three days, my training had gotten more rigorous and whenever Edward wanted to train me, Selina insisted that she be there. This actually wasn't a bad thing, I quite liked her being there, it made things less awkward. On the other hand, it made Edward more irritable. He felt like Selina was there to make sure that he didn't do anything to hurt me or my feelings, which I suppose she was.

Edward kept complaining that he didn't need to be watched and was perfectly applicable of treating me like a decent human being. He'd been a pain to deal with these past few days though. Even after I had accepted his apology, I still didn't forgive him for how he treated me. I gave him the cold shoulder and only acknowledged him when I had to. Edward had then preceded to follow me around and try to engage me in conversation every chance he got. It quickly grew old and I realized that he hated not being the center of attention; he absolutely despised it. At least Jon was around to keep his attention mostly off of me.

Jon had come back from the outing suspiciously cheerful for a guy that was more doom and gloom, not to mention a bit of a creep who had anger issues. He'd marched right up to Edward and asked, asked, if he would teach him sign language. If that wasn't weird enough, Edward actually agreed to it, after asking Jon for his reasons of course.

Jon had explained that it would be needed for the mission as Edward wouldn't be able to go. Apparently this was still a sore spot for Edward, who then began to whine about it. Whine for God's sake, like he was a little kid who didn't get his way.

Now, pacing my room, I went over the piece of paper Selina had given me which listed the things that I needed. She'd been very clear on how important it was that I had everything because it could make or break the mission. I had already gotten dressed in my outfit that had been decided on days prior, and Selina had applied my makeup for me, considerably less from when Harley had done it. I personally thought that the makeup was unnecessary, I was going to be wearing a full face mask after all. Said mask was already sitting on my bed, waiting to be put on.

I ran my fingers through my cut and dyed hair. After Harley had done that, I grew to like it though it was a bit shorter than I would've liked it to be. The color also made it impossible for me to go out without wearing a wig. Purple, not matter what shade, was quite the noticeable color; not as much as green or yellow. Any bright colors in Gotham stood out though, for a city it was pretty drab.

I stopped pacing when I heard someone knock on the door. I could've ignored it, but Selina had said that she would come back up to double check that I had everything. Thinking it was her, I opened the door to reveal Edward. He stood there awkwardly and rubbed his arm.

"May I come in?" he asked politely.

I wordlessly stepped back and allowed his the enter. He scanned my room for a minute before focusing on me.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing," he said, adjusting his glasses. "Are you nervous about tonight?"

I shrugged and leaned against the door frame. This is what it had become between us, a one sided conversation, not unlike how it was when I lived with Bruce. At least there, I had lived with him long enough that he could pretty much guess what I was thinking by my facial expressions. It was pretty lonely not talking to Edward through sign language, but I had to at least try not to. Holding grudges wasn't exactly my strong suit, the longest one I held was probably a week and I expected this one to last only a few days as it was really hard to ignore Edward. That wasn't just because he wouldn't leave me alone.

"You know that I would be there if I could," Edward persisted, "if it weren't for my injury."

I nodded. Of course I did. It was the only thing that he'd been complaining about for the past day and a half.

"Would you mind checking them for me?" Edward asked.

Why not get Jon to do it? I signed finally.

"Well, I could," Edward said, sounding relieved that I was talking to him again, "but he'd be too agreeable. There's something wrong about that."

So you won't ask him for help because his attitude bothers you? I raised an eyebrow.

"That does sound a bit silly, doesn't it?" Edward smiled slightly. "Please?"

Fine, I rolled my eyes. Like I said, I was horrible at keeping a grudge. Sit down in the chair.

Edward sat down in my desk chair and lifted up his shirt so I could see the stitches. Kneeling down next to him, I ran my fingers lightly over the scar that was forming and Edward flinched.

"Sorry," he said as I glanced up at him, "your hands are cold."

The stitches seem fine, I signed. Normally with wounds like this you wait about a week or two depending on the severity before you take the stitches out, but since it was a shallow cut, I could take them out now. That still doesn't mean that you can come along with us though.

"That's great," Edward said, "just get these things out of me."

You'll most likely have a scar, I informed him.

"Even better." Edward grinned. "Don't women like guys with scars?"

You're insufferable, I rolled my eyes. And to answer your question, I'm not the best person to ask.

"Take your best guess."

Why do you even want to know? It's useless information.

"No information is useless," Edward countered.

That may be true, but there is most certainly information out there that just takes up space in your brain. I reached behind him and grabbed a pair of scissors out of the desk drawer.

"Give me one example," Edward challenged.

Setting the scissors on the ground next to me, I pondered before replying. 'Screeched' is the longest single syllable word in the English language along with 'schlepped','scratched', 'scrounged', 'scrunched', 'stretched', and the plural nouns 'straights' and 'strengths'.

"Knew that," Edward said. "The question is, how did you?"

I pick up weird and random facts, I explained. Did you know that the sentence, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" contains every letter of the alphabet at least once?

Edward blinked in surprise before giving a slow nod, "Makes sense, I believe those are called holoalphabetic sentences?"

They're also known as pangrams. A complete pangram is an anagram of the alphabet, though not many exist that make sense. I believe one is "Blowzy night-frumps vex'd Jack Q".

"I know," Edward said. "What do you want? A prize?"

Some respect would be nice.

Edwards face fell slightly, "I'm sorry about that, you know I-"

I cut him off by waving my hand before picking the scissors back up. Don't move, or I might cut you.

Focusing on the task at hand, I searched for the knot that I'd tied previously, and cut it. Using my nails to pick at the end of the thread, I deftly pulled it out. Edward jerked back in surprise so that actually was what mostly pulled it out. A small bit of blood appeared and I had to grab a tissue to wipe it off. His muscles contracted under my hand and I became extremely nervous and self conscious of what I was doing. Not having anything else to do, I plopped my hands into my lap and twisted them together.

"Thanks for that," Edward said. He stood up and offered a hand to me. Taking it reluctantly, I allowed him to pull me to my feet before quickly letting go.

I rocked back on my heels as an uncomfortable silence filled the space between us.

"Uhhhh.." Edward cleared his throat. "You look nice."

You've got to be kidding me, I signed, making a face. Have you ever tried to wear a corset? It's the worst. I feel like I'm going to puke up my guts.

"I've never worn a corset before," Edward said humorously, "but I can image how it feels. You most certainly look uncomfortable."

Yes. Blame it on the corset.

So what are you doing here anyways? I asked.

"Selina sent me up to get you," Edward said.

Did she forgive you?

"Oh, not yet." Edward laughed. "I think she's waiting to see where you stand on things."

I can't hold a grudge to save my life, I admitted.

"Good for me then," Edward said. "Why don't you grab the rest of your stuff and then we'll head downstairs?"

Sure. I walked over to my bed and grabbed my mask.

"Excellent, shall we go then?"