{You can leave some stuff here, you know,} Manchu said, hefting a large suitcase out of Dee's room.

{I'm not taking it all! I'm just taking clothing and some little things. Like this stupid jade tiger that some idiot little boy gave me years ago. It was a birthday gift and an apology. But it looks like he finally found someone in the carnival to buy me.}

Manchu looked over his shoulder at Dee who stood stroking the little carving in the shaft of sunlight in her room. Her hand flew to her face as she scrubbed at a trickle of tears on her cheek. She turned in the fading light and looked at her room. Her room. The room that she had lived in for the past seventeen years of her life. The room that was only a short jog from the comforting arms of her best friend any time of the day.

{Put it back. I can't do it, Manchu,} she said, sinking into a ball. {I can't leave here. I don't care if they don't want me working in the Triad anymore. I can't leave here. It's the only home I've ever known.}

Warm arms encircled her and she leaned onto the chest where she had cried so often. Lips pressed to her hair and he rocked her as he had done so many times before. Usually he would let her drift off to sleep in his arms before falling asleep himself. He couldn't do that this time. This time he had to let her go.

Damnit! Didn't she see that it was going to be just as hard for him as it was for her? Did she forget that he was losing his best friend too? Who would he go to when he felt like joking around and didn't care for the crassness of his male friends? Who would he go to when he wanted comforting that only she, as his best friend, could give him? Certainly, there was Chu now, but he still needed his best friend.

"We'll still see each other," he said softly, as much for her benefit as for his own. "You're not moving out of Gotham."

"It feels like it," she cried, hugging him tighter. For the first time in her life, she was truly scared to death. "Promise me that no matter what, no matter what happens to us, we'll still be friends."

"I swear on my honor, Xiaohu-ai. No matter how things change for either one of us." As much as it pained him, he hauled her to her feet. If he didn't force himself to do this one harsh thing in his life, he would never forgive himself. Deep down, he knew it was for the best. "Now come on. Dry your face and put on a smile. You have someone waiting downstairs to take you to your new home."

"This is my home."

"It is one of your homes. You will have two now. Think of yourself as a true cat now. You have two places where you can go to and be fed and have a warm bed."

She smiled at that. "Just like a cat? Then don't be shocked if I come scratching at your window one night to be let in."

"I'll let you in. You had just better have a good excuse for waking me up if I'm sleeping."

"I always have a good excuse," she said, wiping her nose on a Kleenex.

"Good in whose view?" He shook his head and picked her bags up again. "Now come on before everyone thinks you slipped through the windows and ran away. They'll have me bringing in every mangy alley cat from here to Robinson Park looking for you."

"I can't believe they let me keep the ring."

Manchu shrugged as they headed down the stairs. "Jiaoshu explained to the Elders that it wouldn't matter if you had it or not. It wouldn't work for anyone else anyway and you still have your honorary title."

"We all know that was just to make me 'happy' about leaving," she muttered. "Thanks, Manchu."

"For what?" he asked.

"Getting them to agree to this. I know Jiaoshu couldn't have done that without your fending for me. Plus he told me what you did. That was really nice of you."

"He's going to ruin my reputation," grumbled Manchu.

"I won't tell. And I won't tell Chu."

The Riddler was standing at his car along with Jiaoshu and Li Mei. Two guards in black stood at either end of the alley. Jiaoshu had the Riddler off to the side, speaking in a low tone. While Jiaoshu had the ever-calm look on his face, Edward looked as if he was hugging a chunk of ice. He was beginning to wonder if it had been a wise choice to ask Dee to come work for him.

As that thought went through his mind, she appeared with her friend. Immediately the thought was swept aside as he saw the way she smiled as she chatted with Manchu. He saw the sway of her body as she walked, noting the roll of her hips and the subtle hints of danger and sensuality in her carriage. Her hair billowed around her face like a cloud of red silk, reflecting the soft rays of the setting sun.

This could be worth the trouble, he thought.

In no time her bags were stuffed into the trunk and the three Chinese around her were embracing her. Manchu gave her a final hug, tugging lightly at a lock of her hair. She took it all with a bubbling laugh that lit her green eyes up as she returned the tug to his braid. A complacent roll of her eyes and shake of her head greeted the offer of a large platter of wrapped food from Li Mei. Even that move spoke volumes in the way her body moved as she accepted the food with a quick spurt of Chinese and a hug. Jiaoshu merely enfolded her in his voluminous robes, making all but the top of her red head disappear beneath them. He whispered something in her ear that set her to laughing again and she pulled away.

"I must get back to the Elders. You know how Po Sin gets when he isn't told something as soon as it happens," Jiaoshu said. "Li Mei, we will be needing dinner served in the meeting room, I think. Manchu, you have somewhere else to be, do you not?"

He nodded. "Chu Hua will be wondering where I am if I don't leave soon. I will tell her you said goodbye."

"I'll be back. She needs to know where she can reach me if you get out of line," Dee teased.

"I'll tell her that as well. Be good, Xiaohu."

"Never," she replied. She watched until her friend disappeared back into the house, and then turned to the Riddler. "Well?"

He opened her door for her and she slid in. She had bathed and changed from her black clothing to a pair of drab green pants and a white top with a stylized tiger on it. Now she began to feel nervous again as he got into the driver's seat and started the car. For the first few minutes they drove in silence. Dee fidgeted with the buttons on the jacket she held in her lap. It was the Riddler that broke the silence.

Ask her if she's hungry. "You hungry?"

"A bit, yes."

Now ask her out, idiot! "Wanna grab some dinner before we go back?" he asked. Smooth, Don Juan.

"Dinner? Sure. I suppose you wanna talk over what I'll be doing," she said.

Damnit! She thinks you want to talk business! "No, I mean dinner. Like you and me having dinner together. Alone."

Dee swallowed slowly. Oh good Gorshin. He's asking me out. What do I do? What do I say? "I'd like that." Stupid!

Oh god. She accepted. Where to take her? Not to the Iceberg. Don't want to scare the girl on her first night. Ask her what she likes. "What would you like?" Good boy.

Dee! Say something! "You've probably had enough Chinese food today. I'm up for anything, really." Is that the right thing to do? Did I do ok?

"It was good Chinese food though. How about Italian?" Good suggestion!

"I love Italian!" she said.

She loves Italian, he thought smugly. "Great, I know the perfect place."
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