The Morning After:

Edward had been proud of himself last night. He had managed to go the entire night without giving into the urges he felt and, in the end, had proved that it had been best to go slowly. From his restless dreams of the girl, he knew there was a chance she would be staying around for a long time if he had anything to say about it. And he would.

Just when he had thought he had figured something out about her last night, he had been proven wrong. She hadn't been afraid to call him for being slow. That had irritated him even though he knew her reason. So he had made a mistake and misunderstood her! In his mind, that hadn't been reason enough to say he wasn't smart! He wrinkled his nose and tugged his robe on, heading to the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

"Morning. Do you want anything for breakfast? I made eggs, hash browns, and bacon. I can put some bread in the toaster for you if you want," Dee said in greeting. She was dressed much the same as she had been before their date.

He stood in the kitchen doorway, jaw hanging open at the sight. On the table sat a massive platter of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and a pitcher of orange juice. Dee was just setting down a fresh pot of coffee as he entered. Benny and Trigger were shoveling them down with relish, using the stacks of toast next to their plate as utensils in which to get the food into their gaping mouths.

"Where did all this food come from?" asked Eddie, remembering that the grocery shopping hadn't been done.

"I bought it this morning. I came to get something to eat and couldn't find anything. There was some money in the cookie jar, so I used that. I'm hoping that was ok," she said, setting a plate and mug down for him. "I got everything that was on the list in there too."

Scratching his head, he sat down, blinking as she filled his coffee cup. This was too good to be true. He was still dreaming, wasn't he? Eyes on the plate in front of him, he pinched his leg, wincing at the pain.

"Yeah, that was fine. I was going to send the guys to do that anyway. Um, thanks. Aren't you going to eat anything?" he asked, helping himself to the food before his gluttonous help finished it all.

"Oh, I had something already. I just made this for you guys. Figured if no one really cooked around here, I might as well do something useful."

"You don't have to cook," he said, trying to keep from whooping in joy at having breakfast waiting for him.

Dee shrugged. "Force of habit. I don't mind. It was one of my responsibilities and I liked it."

Pointing his fork at the two men, the Riddler waved it at them as he spoke. "You two hear that? If she cooks, you clean. KP duty for the two of you."

"But, boss..." protested Benny.

"No buts. Either you clean up after she's done, or neither one of you gets to eat whatever it is that she makes. Understood?"

Looking like two admonished children, they stared down at their plates. "Yes, Mr. Nigma."

The two seethed in anger that they would have to clean up after this woman. Who was she anyway? Just the other night she had come racing out of the museum with their boss, pushing her way into the car with him. And now they were told she was living with them and they would be playing maid to her in the kitchen? This was screwed up. Even if it meant regular and real meals, they were already thinking they preferred the other girls the Riddler had hired in the past. This one looked prudish and stuck up. Doubtful she would sleep with either of them as the others had.

They said nothing, fuming in silence as they finished their breakfast. Once they were done, they cleared the table. Irritatingly, the girl looked up at them from her teacup, smiled, and said "thank you" of all things! Packing the dishes into the dishwasher, they cleaned up what there was to clean up at the moment, and then left to watch TV.

"They don't like you," said Eddie, refilling his coffee cup as he wiped his mouth.

"Do you think?" she asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

He put a hand on hers. "Did you sleep ok last night?"

Immediately her body language changed. "Yeah, fine. You?" she lied. Her night had been filled with nightmares and anything but fine. The previous night she had been fine sleeping there. The comfort that her life was still that of a Jade Tiger Triad member had helped. She hadn't expected to escape a murder attempt only to have her life in the Triad killed off.

"As good as could be." He finished his breakfast in silence, feeling it wouldn't be right to press her on what he knew was a lie. There was no way he could expect her to take this change too quickly. "I need to make an appointment to have you outfitted."

"Outfitted? You don't expect me to dress like those other girls, do you?" She had seen pictures of the outfits the girls in his and other themed criminal gangs had worn and hated every single one.

"You won't wear a costume? Listen, doll, that's one of the things we do as the costumed crew. They're part of the package. Certainly you knew that."

"Costumes, yes. Those tasteless leotards I've seen those girls wear, no. You don't seriously expect me to do my job wearing something that doesn't even cover what I would like it to, do you?"

Why did the collar of his robe suddenly feel so tight? "I thought perhaps you would," he muttered into his coffee. Of course. Just this one thing she wouldn't do. He knew it couldn't all be easy.

"I'll go to the appointment you make and I'll get a costume. But the costume will be on my terms, Mr. Nigma."

There it was. A warning tone of voice that he was undoing everything he had managed last night. Usually he didn't really care and would accept, just breaking things off. But the girl was still of interest to him. There were bound to be issues that they would need to get past and work around. Here was one. It was a test, wasn't it?

"Fine," he said after a moment. "On your terms. And the name is Eddie."
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