After a perfectly ordinary bike ride, and the two of them ordering their food at the burger place like there was nothing remotely abnormal about the situation, Terry finally had to ask her: "Why me?"
"Huh?" she said, not comprehending his meaning.
"Why are you so intent on chasing after me? What is it about me that made you go to such lengths to get in touch with me?"
"I told you, sometimes bad girls are into good boys. And I don't see anyone more goody-goody than you, Mr. McGinnis."
"There's gotta be more to it than that." He lowered his voice. "If all you wanted was a good guy, then you'd be chasing after Superman."
"Ew!" she giggled. "He's like a thousand." She reached across the table, placed her hand on his, and looked him square in the eyes, complete sincerity on her face. "Okay, so you got me. I just happen to think you're really hot and I wanted to see what you look like naked."
Terry's eyes widened, and he looked around to see the waitress standing there with their order, clearly trying not to laugh. He took the plates of food from her without making any eye contact, and heard a burst of laughter coming from the kitchen after she walked away.
Deidre grinned widely at him and stuffed a handful of fries in her mouth, reveling in the fact that she had just thoroughly embarrassed Terry. "You gotta lighten up, Terry. If you're on the verge of blushing at just the mention of nudity, you're gonna blow a gasket when you actually see me naked later tonight!" she exclaimed after swallowing.
Terry nearly choked on his burger at this. It was clear to him now that Deidre was absolutely serious about pursuing him; never in his life had he heard a more genuine declaration that the person he was with wanted him to see them naked. More surprising to him, though, was the fact that the prospect of that had excited him. He suddenly found himself wondering precisely what she looked like naked, instead of plotting a way to take her down if she attacked. It was enough to make him decide to continue on with the date, at least through the meal. "Cute. I'm still waiting for a real answer." he said in an authoritative voice he hoped would make it seem like he wasn't completely caught off-guard by her behavior.
She ate a few more handfuls of fries before replying. "Oh, they've all been real answers so far. I mean it when I say I'm looking for someone nice, someone with a little compassion; someone who isn't just thinking of himself and what use I am to him. And I mean it when I say I think you're a cutie. Not everything has some big cosmic explanation to it, y'know. Sometimes things just happen." She sunk her teeth into her cheeseburger.
"Nope." he responded matter-of-factly, crossing his arms. "I don't buy it. Something about me is special to you, and I'm not going to drop this until I find out exactly what."
"Mr. Ego!" she retorted with a wry smirk. "Is it really so hard to believe that I think you're sweet? That I'm tired of hanging with twips like Chucko and Ghoul and would rather chase after someone selfless enough to put his life on the line protecting people from those goons? Someone good-hearted enough to always be careful to take my sister and me down without hurting us too bad, even when we wouldn't have hesitated to kill him?" With every successive sentence, her smile faded more and more; her voice taking on a more sincere, almost plaintive tone. "Do you have trouble understanding that looking into the eyes of someone like The Joker made me realize that I'm sick of sickos?" She half-heartedly shoved another fry into her mouth.
Terry listened solemnly until she was finished. "So coming to me like this is your way of proving that you've put a life of crime behind you?" he asked quietly.
"HA!" Deidre let out a yelp of laughter, grinning madly. "I never said I was going goody-goody. Just that I'm tired of being with clowns, literally and figuratively. If you expect me to swap sides just for you, then you better be even more fun to fuck than you are to fight."
Surprising both of them, Terry laughed at her statement. Despite himself, he was charmed by her ability to snap back to joyfulness after being so profoundly forthright about something that pained her.
"I knew it!" she said excitedly. "I knew you had a sense of humor! You're a tough nut to crack; I've been tossing out A+ material for days and you never cracked a smile. See, you should've said at the start that you liked it blue; we could've saved some time!" She grinned again and finished off the last of her fries before moving on to the remainder of her cheeseburger.
Terry polished off his burger, having saved his fries for last. "Deidre, you should know that I just got dumped by someone that I love and have every intention of trying to win back. You're starting to grow on me, but there's no chance of us getting together." He picked up a fry and slowly swirled it into some ketchup. "This is going to be our only date."
She pouted at him. "Lemme guess; it's the Asian chickie you were with when the Joker had us attack you in that nightclub? The one who oh-so-obviously doesn't know about your double life, which is probably why she dumped you?"
Terry was stunned. "How the hell did you put that together?"
She shrugged and smiled. "My nana was a doctor; Delia and I got all our brains from her. She also taught us how to hide it so that everyone underestimates you, and then you've got them right where you want them." She slid her foot up Terry's leg underneath the table. "Case in point."
Terry shifted back in his seat to evade her. "Well, anyway, that's the way it is. I'm sorry."
"Three things, handsome: 1. She doesn't know your little secret, and if she's broken up with you over it once already, she's gonna do it again the next time you end up fighting Jokerz or saving the city from Mad Stan. I, on the other hand, already know all about your alter ego and don't mind it one bit; hell, it turns me on. 2. It's a Saturday night, and instead of standing outside her bedroom blasting some gross love song while it pours rain all over that brown jacket of yours, you're buying me dinner, listening to me tell you how bad I want you again and again. Which, after what I just did with my foot, I know for a fact is getting you going." Deidre then plastered a smile across her face that told Terry, in no uncertain terms, he wasn't the only one whose engines were revved.
He cleared his throat. "And the third thing?"
"I always say the best way to get over someone old is to get under someone new. And right now, I wanna ride you like a fucking carousel pony. Pay the check and let's go back to my place." She jerked her thumb toward the waitress, who had managed to approach the table right as Deidre was at her most vulgar.
Despite once again being utterly embarrassed in front of the waitress, Terry found her logic unassailable. He paid the check, with a generous tip which he hoped would smooth any ruffled feathers over the use of coarse language in public, and the pair took off on his motorcycle in the direction of Deidre's loft.