A Confession:

"Don't try to get up," he said softly, dabbing her sweaty forehead with a cool washcloth.

"We got the stuff you wanted, Mr. Nigma," Trigger said walking into the room.

"Just put it there. Go see if there's any food in this place, would you?" he asked, pulling over the medical kit Trigger had just set on the bed. "Bring me some water." Opening the kit, he dug through it.

"I'm sorry, Eddie," she said, swallowing thickly. Her performance the last two evenings had her completely embarrassed. She was better than this and she knew it!

He sniffed in response as he found the iodine and applied it to her split lip. Why she seemed to have lost her fighting skills suddenly, he wasn't certain. "We all have our off days. Perhaps you should stay out of the next one."

Grabbing his wrist, she pulled herself up despite the way it made her head spin. "No! Please don't! I promise I'll be better next time! Please, Eddie?" she begged, leaning in and kissing his face, murmuring her entreaty as her injured lips brushed over his own. Her tongue flicked softly at the blood on his lip, like a hummingbird at a flower.

"Tell me what's wrong and I'll consider it," he said gently pressing her back onto the bed. She flinched when he touched the bridge of her nose. Carefully he spread an ointment on it and covered it with a small bandage. "That'll take some of the pain away and help you breath."

"I've never fought him before. I guess I'm just testing the waters to see what he'll do," she said. As she spoke, she fidgeted with the edge of the blanket the covered her.

"In all the time you were with the others, you never fought Batman? I find that hard to believe. And what about the night we met? You seemed to be doing fine then." He closed the kit and moved it off the bed, waiting for her response.

"Here's the water you wanted. There isn't much in the way of food here. Want us to go get you something?"

The Riddler shook his head as he took the bottles of water Trigger handed him. "Want anything?" he asked, turning to Dee. She shook her head and he pulled some cash out of his pocket. "If you and Benny want anything, go ahead. Tomorrow I expect to see breakfast here. There's a diner down the street. Get to go from there."

"Yes, Mr. Nigma," Trigger said, leaving the room.

Locking the door, Eddie returned to the bed after tossing his jacket over a chair. "So?"

"I never fought him. When I did see him, I wasn't exactly...human, so I didn't have to fight him." She looked at him, worried. "Promise you won't freak out if I tell you something Jiaoshu didn't tell you about me?"

"I'll do my best," he said, making himself comfortable in an armchair next to the bed.

"The only times I ever saw Batman I was in cat form. Small cat. That's how I got in and out of the places, usually. But when I did my job, I changed into a large cat. Usually a tiger, leopard, or jaguar. Something big and powerful."

"What did you turn into a cat and kill people or something?" he said with an amused chortle as he opened his water.

"Yes."

The Riddler spit the mouthful of water out. "What?! Why?!"

"It was part of my job. Because of my ability, I made the perfect assassin for certain jobs. A mauling is much harder to trace than a bullet. Plus, the mauling being done by what appears to have been a large cat? This is a city. Where are you going to find a prey animal that large and get it in and out without being seen?" She paused, looking at Eddie who was white as a sheet and had his mouth open in surprise. "You're freaking out. You said you wouldn't."

He trembled as he slowly swallowed and looked at her. "I said I'd try not to. I heard about some of those hits. Saw the pictures distributed as warnings to others." Shaking his head slowly, he looked at her as if for the first time. The pictures of the torn and shredded bodies flashed through his mind. It was one of the few things that had given him real nightmares. "I always thought someone was just very clever with the way they had gotten the animals in and out. So much blood," he ended in a whisper, staring at the floor in front of him.

"Eddie." Dee got out of the bed and took two shaky steps to where he sat. Kneeling next to him, she put her hand on his cheek. "Eddie, I did what I was trained to do. Most of the fighting I did in human form was between rival triads. I knew what to expect for the most part and I had a partner that I worked perfectly with. Tonight I probably could've easily taken down Batman, but neither of us would have been pleased with the outcome."

Dee's thumb moved in soothing circles on his cheek, relaxing him. No way this girl could have done all that murder, he thought. He hadn't really seen her act violently other than in the few fights. Even at the Iceberg Lounge she hadn't lashed out and struck the Joker for what he had done.

"He's a lot stronger than I thought he would be. I will be ready for him next time, I swear I will. Let me prove it to you."

The look she gave him was both pleading and longing. Longing for what? His approval? Finally he nodded.

"One more chance." He kissed the palm of her hand. "We'll be staying here tonight. We all need the rest," he said, getting up and going to the door.

"Where are you going to sleep?" she asked, knowing it was his room he was leaving.

"I suppose I'll just kick the guys out of their room for the night. They can sleep on the couch," he said with a shrug.

"Eddie? Could you stay here tonight? Please?" Dee asked, not because she was afraid to be left alone, but because she was afraid he was now scared of her after what she had told him. She was really beginning to love this man and to scare him away now would ruin everything.

"I don't want to impose," he said even as he closed the door and removed his tie.

"I wouldn't ask if I thought that." She smiled shyly at him as he removed his shirt. He looks so good, she thought with a silent sigh of longing. "But just to sleep," she added hurriedly, realizing where her thoughts were running to.

"Of course. Just to sleep." In the closet, he found a clean shirt and tossed it to her. "Here. You don't have any clothing here, so you can wear that for a nightshirt if you'd like."

She nodded and disappeared into the bathroom. Emerging a few minutes later, she clutched the collar and the lower edge of the shirt; her cheeks alight with a blush. The shirt was long enough to cover her decently, but as she had changed, she realized this would be the first time she slept in the same bed with a man she was in love with.

"You look nice," smiled Eddie as he pulled the covers back on the bed. He stood on the far side in a pair of dark green boxers. "Right or left?"

"Um, I don't really... It doesn't matter. Right, I suppose since I'm closest to it," she said quickly slipping into the bed. Nestling under the covers, she turned onto her right leaving her back to him. As he joined her, she squeezed her eyes closed. She hadn't felt scared at all jumping out of the rafters in the museum and seeing the floor rush up. But now she trembled all over to be this intimately close to Eddie.

"Are you cold?" he asked, slipping an arm around her and pressing his chest to her back.

A gasp and a violent shudder was her response as the warmth from his chest spread along her back. Goose bumps broke out all over her body as his hand flattened on her belly. Flipping herself around, she took his face in her hands and kissed him. Her right leg hooked over his left, his arms encircling her and holding her tightly.

"Ow!" she cried, pulling back. A blinding pain flashed through her mind as the injuries she had received from the first night were revisited. On her back, she held onto his forearm as she panted.

"I'm sorry," he said, realizing he had squeezed her a little too tightly. You idiot! How could you forget about what he did to her? Stop thinking with that head in your pants and get it under control. You agreed that you would only sleep! his brain growled. She's the one who came on to me! he cried in defense.

"No, I'm sorry. I dunno what came over me." He started to remove his arms and back off as she spoke, but she quickly grabbed them. "Please, no. Just stay next to me tonight?"

"Sure, Kitten," he said a bit confused.

Tucking her head under his, he put a hand on her belly. She turned back over and nestled herself against him taking his hand and cradling it to her chest. After her burst of eagerness, she had quickly fallen asleep. This left the Riddler holding her and stuck talking to his own brain.

So you've found the one you've been dreaming about for all these years. Turns out she's a violent, shape shifting assassin. Still interested?

(Yes. There's something about her. She isn't like the others. I can forgive the killings. I've killed before. She was doing what she was hired to do. As long as she knows that I don't tolerate unneeded killings, I don't think there will be a problem.)

His mind nodded. And what about what just happened? Tonight could have been the night for you if you had just kept going.

(Could have. But she's so sore after being beaten up by Batman. What kind of good memory would that have been for her first time? She said she wasn't ready.)

Ha. A girl is going to say that. Look at her. All she's got on right now is one of your dress shirts and insisted you sleep with her tonight. She's obviously flirting with you. Are you that stupid you can't read the signs? She wants you. She's just waiting for you to take her.

(No. Something is bothering her about that and I mean to find out what it is before I take her most precious possession away from her. I might be a criminal, but that doesn't mean I have to act like one when it comes down to my personal relationships,) Eddie snarled to himself. (I am not a rapist. Besides, I have more respect for this one than I did for all the others combined. She's different.)

Maybe you should point that out to her. Tell her how you feel. Face it you want to say those three words to her already. Might not hurt in getting her to sleep with you too. A grin formed on the face of his mind.

Audibly growling in the darkened room, Eddie held his arm more possessively around Dee. (I will not ever use those words to get her to do that! Ever! I want to be able to look back at some part of my life and say that I did it honorably! This is my chance and I am not going to screw it up as I have just about everything else in my life!)

"Eddie?" Dee said sleepily. Her hand reached up and touched his face. "Eddie? Is everything ok?"

"Everything is fine, Dee. Sorry for waking you." He placed a kiss on top of her head. "Go back to sleep, doll."

"Mmm," she said before doing as told. He found his hand suddenly pressed between her breasts as she wiggled back down. A sigh escaped her lips and she began to purr.

(See?) he said after the initial shock of hearing her purr. (She's different. Unlike those other girls where I didn't have to do more than flash some money, this one takes work. Everyday I learn something more about her. It's like getting one piece of a jigsaw puzzle per day; the piece might not fit quite yet, but you have it. Frustrating, but intriguing.) Something occurred to him just then. (Dee hasn't even asked about what her cut from all this is going to be. In fact, she hasn't asked me for money other than to get supplies since she got here.)

You've supplied everything she needs so far. Why should she ask?

(Why shouldn't she, you mean. It didn't matter that I had provided everything needed to those other girls. They still demanded money, trinkets, or something from me all the time. Always asking and taking.) Now he was truly puzzled. Didn't she care about the money?
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