Special author's note: I would like to thank the magnificent Cece, the "knickel" expert, for the whole idea of the "knickel." Thanks, Cece!

~ ~ ~

"That thing had to be almost pure alcohol," Dee said, snuggling closer to Eddie as they walked back into the hideout. Lightheaded and giddy, she made the most of it, leaning most of her weight on him.

"You need to go to bed," he chuckled, steering her into her room.

"You'll stay with me?"

"You're drunk, Q. Take a shower and go to bed."

Before she could protest, he pulled her door shut and went to his own room. With a sight, he went to take a shower of his own. As the hot water poured over him, he thought of the evening. It had been great. A truly memorable night that would be with him as long as he lived. He frowned as he touched the bruise she had left on his chest.

"Only woman who has the nerve to tell me more than once to my face that I'm stupid," he grumbled, toweling his hair as he walked back into his room, clad in boxers.

"Only because someone needs to remind you of that once in a while."

Edward gave a start as he looked to find Dee in his bed. She was dressed in a pair of grey shorts and a matching camisole. She sat at the edge of the bed the way a singer might lounge across the top of a grand piano.

"I thought I told you to go to bed," he said firmly.

"I'm not drunk, Eddie. I never drink till I'm drunk."

Dee got up and walked over to him. His skin was still warm from the shower and felt softer under her hands as she placed them on his bare chest. Noticing the black and blue mark, she leaned in and kissed it tenderly.

"I'm sorry about that, Tiger. Just that you were acting like an idiot."

"And again," he grumbled.

"But it's true! Just because I say you're an idiot about something like that doesn't mean you aren't insanely brilliant when it comes to other things! Because you are! You just don't know when someone likes you, and is attracted to you. You, as in Edward Nigma. Not you, E.Nigma, the Riddler. Nor your money, status, or whatever else you might think!"

Tugging on his hands, she led him to the bed. As complacent as a puppy, he followed her, lying back in the pillows.

"Say something, Eddie."

"What do you want me to say?"

She only shrugged and put her chin on his chest, staring at his shoulder.

"You're impossible, you know that?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "I know." Looking as if she had been kicked, she got up and walked out of his room.

When he realized she wasn't coming back, he got up and went after her. Her bedroom door was closed and he heard the sound of running water. Knocking brought no answer, so he entered and waited. The bathroom door was halfway open. Curiosity piqued, he peered through the haze of steam and to the shape he could just make out behind the shower curtain. From the sound of her sniffling, she was crying. There was a squeak as she turned the water off. Knowing she would kill him if she found him without warning, he called out her name.

There was a flurry of activity, followed by nose blowing, and then Dee poked her head around the door, glaring at him. "What?"

"You left kind of quickly."

"Yes, well, I know when I'm being a bother, Mr. Nigma."

He scowled at that and dragged her out from the bathroom. She clung to the towel wrapped around her body as he pushed her to the bed. "Listen, and listen good! The name is Eddie! Not 'sir,' 'Mr. Nigma,' or 'boss.' Not from you. Second, stop confusing me! I don't know if you want me to smile or smack myself! Third, stop telling me I'm stupid or an idiot! It really grates my nerves!" He paused, drawing in ragged breaths as he glared at her, face to face. Her eyes reflected only a trace of fear, but were filled with challenge. Eddie's muscles were wound tight, like a cat ready to spring.

"Is number four that you'll prove how much of a man you are right now by hitting me? Because if it is, I dare you!"

"Hit you? Hit you? Just who the hell do you think I am?! I don't hit anyone unless it's in self-defense. And you would be one of the last people I hit. I don't even hit my workers!" Eddie gave her a look that was between disgust and contempt. The evening was going so well. Now, of course, it's gone to hell. Typical. Good things can never be long for me, can they? "Four was going to be 'Despite all of that, I think I'm falling in love with you.' But how can I be if you think I would stoop to something like beating my girlfriend?"

With a final shake of his head, he turned and left her room, slamming the door behind him. Dee stared at the door long after he disappeared through it. Her heart was racing and she trembled now that he was gone. She didn't think he would hit her, but at that moment, the way he was tensed up, she thought it possible. Confusing him? How was she confusing him? And he was stupid when it came to the heart; not that she was any genius. But she at least knew how to use her emotions!

You need to apologize to him.

(Why? He insulted me just as much!)

Because you're overreacting. Go apologize.

"Fine," she grumbled, pulling her pajamas back on. She brushed her hair out and turned to the door. Then she paused and slid the nickel off her dresser.

~ ~ ~

Perhaps she was right. I have been an idiot. An idiot to think anyone could see me as anything other than a villain. Now I've gone and said too much. Learn to keep your mouth shut, Edward, and you'll go farther.

There was a timid knock at the door, interrupting his thoughts.

"Go away!"

The knock came again.

"Go away!" he growled.

Silence. He picked up his puzzle book and sucked on the end of a pen as he flipped to a new puzzle. Absorbed in his book, he failed to notice the door open a few inches to allow a pure white cat in. At the bedside, the cat reverted back to Dee. She kneeled at the bedside and spoke.

"Eddie?"

He jumped, running a black line across his puzzle and stabbing the nub of the pen into his hand. Dee covered her mouth as she gasped, her eyes going wide at the slew of curses pouring out of Edward's mouth.

Teeth gnashed together, lips in a snarl, he turned angrily to her. "What are you doing in here?" he snapped.

Biting her lower lip, she took his injured hand, holding it firmly when he tried to pull it away. "I... I came to apologize to you. You gave me such a nice evening and I had to go and ruin it. I get a bit more emotional when I drink. S'why I don't drink so much. And you're the first guy I've been around that has really made me act like that. If you think I confuse you, then look from my side."

He frowned as she babbled, squeezing the wound until it oozed blood. She dabbed it with a tissue, and then kissed it.

"I was hoping tonight would be special." She fidgeted with his fingers, moving to sit on the bed.

"It's been special, alright," he grunted sarcastically.

"No, Eddie. I mean it. I dressed extra special for you tonight," she leaned onto him and kissed his chin.

"You wore a dress. Big deal." He was finding it hard to stay mad at her as she continued to kiss his chin and neck.

Dee looked up at him through her lashes. Her breath was warm on his lips and he could smell the mint of her toothpaste. "No. Not the dress. Give me your hand."

Furrowing his brow, he gave her a suspicious look. "Why?"

Pushing back, she looked at him, both pleading and scared as she extended her hand. "Please?"

Grudgingly he placed his hand in hers. She stroked his fingers and his palm, seeming to be lost in thought.

"That first time we met and you touched my wrist, I thought someone had dumped ice water on me while sending a jolt of electricity through me. And then again when I realized who you were..." Dee paused and took a deep breath. This was so hard to do! "You said earlier that you were falling in love. I've fallen, Eddie, and fallen hard." Looking at his face, frozen in disbelief, she gave a small smile and shrug, pressing the nickel into his hand.

Eddie held the nickel up and shook his head. "You're confusing me again. First you make a big deal about getting this damn thing, and now you're giving it back?"

She nodded and ducked her head, pulling her knees to her chest. Resting her cheek on top of her knees, she stared at the far wall. "When I was in the orphanage, I often heard the older girls talking. They were always talking about sex. One of the things they always said was 'Keep your knickel between your knees!' I only found out after seeing a note one of them passed that they were spelling 'nickel' with a 'k'. When they were explaining it to a new girl, they told her that it was something one of the teachers had said."

"I get it now. And you want to spend your 'knickel' with me." He put the coin back in her hand. "I don't want a charity lay." You just turned down sex with the girl you were fantasizing about earlier. Good going.

"It isn't charity! Damnit, Edward! I love you, ok? There, I've said it! I was going to wait and see if you would say it first, but you didn't. You came close, though and I can live with that for now. But this," she held up the coin, "this I want to give you as proof of how much I care for you. I would never, ever, offer my body to someone as charity!" Dee's eyes were brimming with tears. "You know me better than that, Eddie."

There was silence as the two stared at each other. He wasn't mad at her anymore, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. A fear gripped him when he looked at the coin.

"Why me?"

"Because I realized that I do love you and trust you enough to want you to be the one. You're the first one whom I've actually considered in more than a daydream way. This wasn't a spur of the moment. It took me a long time to decide on this." Staring at the coin, she ran her fingers around the edge. "Is it that you don't find me desirable? I know I'm not as pretty or beautiful like those other girls... I tried to make myself look attractive tonight. Guess I failed."

He caught her wrist before she could do more than stand. Sitting up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled her into his lap. His arousal at her offer was obvious, but neither said anything about it. Taking a hold of her trembling chin, he kissed her.

"Look, I'm sorry I've been such a jerk. My brain muddles when I'm around you and I don't know what to do or say half the time. And now you come in here and offer yourself to me even though we've just been fighting. This is new to me. Usually I get 'Give me more money and I'll sleep with you,' or 'Buy me that and I'll sleep with you.' You're not doing that and you haven't asked for anything unnecessary from day one!" He stroked her face, letting his hand run down her neck, shoulder, and arm. "You are pretty. You are beautiful. Those other girls are miles behind you because you have treated me like a person. Not a cash machine or means of getting silly baubles."

"Then why?"

"Truthfully?" When she nodded, he continued. "I'm scared. I want you. I've wanted to be with you for a long time. But now that you're offering, I'm scared."

"You're scared? I'm petrified! You've got the easy job when it's the first time. You're halfway there already!"

He blushed at her observation.

"Eddie, I'm terrified that it's going to hurt so bad that I won't want it again!" She trembled now and curled closer to him. Nervously she played with his free hand, alternately tugging and stroking his fingers. "They forced me to have a pelvic exam when I got to Arkham. It hurt. That's how he knew that I was a virgin, Eddie. It was because they strapped me down and poked around where they had no right to be."

He gripped her, holding her as if someone were going to tear her out of his arms at any second. Her confession just then angered him just as much as Matthiessen holding her meals did. "You know I'd go slow. If it hurt, I would stop. You know that, don't you?"

Dee nodded, keeping her head ducked. It was so embarrassing for her to admit a weakness, especially a weakness like this. It was then that Edward knew he would have to make the first physical move. She had handed him an invitation, and now it was up to him to accept it. This girl who sat in his lap and was satisfied with just being around him, was strange to him. She was a fighter, an assassin, and was as confident with explosives the way most people were confident in being able to hold a pen. Take away all of that and what was left was the timid girl in his lap, ready to love the right man.

He took the nickel from her and placed it in his nightstand drawer. "Why don't we just leave it as an open invitation?"

"Let me stay with you," she begged, hugging his hand to her chest.

Flexing his fingers, he caressed the soft skin he had admired earlier in the evening. It was as soft as it looked, as well as warm and yielding under the light pressure of his fingers. Dee lifted his hand to her lips, kissing it. Looking him in the eye, she placed his hand flat on her clothed breast, giving him an almost imperceptible nod. He cupped her breast as she pressed her lip to his.

"As long as you want," he breathed, kissing her back. "We can work up to the grand finale, hm?"

"Yeah," she replied softly.
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