"Isn't this more of a Catwoman related crime?" Robin asked, adjusting his earpiece.

"Voice check shows a perfect match for Edward Nigma. Otherwise, I would say yes," replied Oracle.

"I wish he'd give it a rest. I have an Economics test to study for."

"Then you should hurry so we can wrap this up and you can go home, shouldn't we, Boy Wonder?"

"Yes, yes. Ok, give me the clues again."

"'Eenie meenie minie mo,
I live in the hot, I live in the cold.
Bars on my back,
Yellow and black.
Eenie meenie minie mo.' He repeated it once more, and then hung up," she said.

"'Catch a tiger by the toe.' The bars of yellow and black could be tiger stripes. Isn't the Gotham City Zoo introducing that cub tomorrow? Maybe he's going after that to sell it on the black market."

"Possible, however, the profit isn't worth it." Oracle paused. "I think I just found our target. Gotham Literary History Hall. They have William Blake's original illuminated manuscript for 'The Tyger' on display. It's worth a fortune. The clue was given twice, so it could mean..."

"'Tyger, Tyger burning bright,'" Robin recited. "Which would make it a better target for Nigma."

"Exactly. Still, I'd like to see what's going to happen once Catwoman gets wind of the Riddler horning in on her theme."

"Not much of a fight with her claws. Ok, I'm heading over now."

~ ~ ~

At the same time two hired thugs were breaking into the Gotham Literary History Hall, a delivery van from Rebecca's Floral Designs was pulling up to the gate of the Gotham City Zoo. Dressed in a borrowed apron from the florist, the driver leaned out and buzzed the intercom.

"Delivery from Rebecca's Floral," Benny said.

"Great! We've been expecting you!" a cheery voice said. "C'mon in!"

Another buzzer sounded and the gate slid open, allowing the van to pass through. Just inside the gate, a woman in a caretaker's uniform signaled for the van to follow her. Benny carefully did, still uncertain as to why they were there.

"Once we get to the exhibit, I want you two to take control of whoever is there. Knock out any guards if you have to, but leave the handlers. Understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Nigma," came the chiming reply.

Parking the van where directed, the two men climbed out, each taking a vase of perfectly arranged lilies. They followed the chattering girl into a lit building painted with tiger stripes. What was the boss up to?

"Just set them there for now. They'll be put in place..." The woman stopped talking when the men pulled out guns. "What's going on here?"

"Anyone else here?" Trigger asked.

The woman shook her head, but gave herself away as her eyes flicked to a side door. Benny moved quickly and flung the door open. An older woman looked up from where she sat playing with a tiger cub.

"What is..." she began.

"Shut up and get out here. Leave the cat," ordered Benny.

When both women were standing next to each other, Benny went to inform the Riddler. A moment later, he returned, following a few steps behind his limping boss.

"Just these two?" asked the Riddler.

"Yes, boss," Trigger said.

"Excellent. Ladies, you are going to do me a favor tonight. One of you is going to pack up absolutely everything I need to take care of that cub. The other is going to answer my questions about the tyke."

"What are you going to do to Makari?!" demanded the older woman.

"That is none of your business. Now, which one of you ladies is going to be co-operative?" he asked with a gentle smile. When neither said a word, he grabbed the younger by the arm and shoved her at Trigger. "Take her and load all the supplies you can into the van, without getting rid of the flowers."

"Are you..."

"Without getting rid of the flowers," he repeated through clenched teeth. "And be careful! I did not bribe that woman into letting us do this so that you could crush all those flowers!"

Trigger knew when an argument would be useless. Instead he pushed the girl along in front of him. Benny looked askance at the Riddler.

"Help them, but keep an eye out for anyone else. Let's do this quickly, boys." He turned to the older woman. "Now, my questions..."

At the end of a half hour, the van was loaded with as much formula and special medicines for the cub as would fit. If he needed anymore, either Selina or Oswald would be able to provide some help. Securely tucked away in the supplies was a handbook of detailed instructions on how to care for the tiger cub. The book had been reluctantly surrendered, the older woman begging to be allowed to go along to care for her charge. Both women sobbed as they were tied up and the cub taken away. Neither knew what was in store for their charge, but they hoped to see him return soon.

Holding the wriggling beast in his arms, the Riddler settled himself on the floor of the delivery van, trusting Benny to do the driving. Tonight had been a perfect dupe on the Dark Knight. The two men the Riddler had hired to break into the Literary Hall would probably be captured by now. It was all just as well. They had done their job of pulling attention away from the zoo.

Congratulations, Eddie. You've pulled one fine job tonight. Let's hope things go smoothly when she sees her precious tiger lilies.

~ ~ ~

She absently tossed the packet Li Mei gave her into the fridge, kicking it shut. There was no sign of Eddie, flowers, or that he would be making an apology to her. Shaking her head, she decided to pack a bag and go back to Jiaoshu's for the night. Let him come back there to get her and make his apology in front of all of them. The sound of a vehicle in the garage made her pause.

"You two just do what I told you," Eddie's familiar voice said, drifting down the hall.

Dee leaned against her broken door, waiting. Sure enough, he came down the hall and knocked on her door. She remained silent. When there was no answer, he attempted to open the door, only to find it blocked.

"Dee? I know you're in there. Open the door, please."

"You can talk from out there, Mr. Nigma."

"I would really prefer to speak to you face to face."

Opening the door only a fraction, Dee looked out at him, scowling. "Why should I allow your lying, cheating hide in here?"

"For one, this is my place. For another, you owe me a chance to explain a few things to you and make an apology," he said. He held up a single tiger lily. "And I found your 'man eating flower.' I think that alone has earned me at least five minutes with you."

Her eyes softened and she felt her resolve starting to crumble at the charmingly hopeful smile he gave her. Reaching out, she took the flower from him, twirled it in her fingers, and with a reluctant sigh, pulled the door open a little more.

"Five minutes," she said, pointing to the clock at her bedside and tapping her wrist, indicating that she was counting.

"I want to pick up where we left off." Quickly he held his hands up, lest she smack him again. "Maybe just after that, hm?"

"Four minutes, twenty-three seconds."

Growling softly, he controlled the urge to grab her up from where she sat so demurely on the edge of her bed, stroking the petals of the lily. Dee controlled her own urge to jump up and kiss him. She forgave him everything, but wanted to hear his apology, and was attempting to maintain her act of being mad at him.

Stubborn... "Fine. You were right. I am a man of the mind. Emotions haven't exactly been a great use to me. I never had a knack for using them. My heart pumped blood, and that was good enough." He sighed. "It took you to start melting the layers of ice that I let build up around my heart and emotions. What you said this morning shocked me. I never thought that you could love me like that. I didn't know anyone could love me like that. Lord knows my parents didn't.

"Everyday I think 'I love this woman as much as I possibly can.' And everyday I'm surprised to find I love you more than before. But your love for me seems much greater. You make me feel normal, while making me feel special. That's a gift. That's why I realized that my love for you could never compare. That's why I came to the conclusion that I could never be good enough for you."

"And now?" she asked. The need to kiss him was getting harder to restrain.

"Now I know that I can learn. You can teach me how to love you."

She shook her head and stood, fiercely controlling the desire to pounce on him. "No. I don't need to teach you."

He was surprised to suddenly find her embracing him tightly, pressing her ear to his chest. There was silence for a minute, as he was uncertain what to do. Carefully he put his arms around her and she quietly burst into tears.

"You're doing just fine on your own," she mumbled. Wiping her face, she looked up at him, trying to look stern as she added, "Just never, ever pull a stunt on me like you just did, ok? Don't ever scare me like that."

"I promise, Kitten. Oh, dear Gods, I promise!" he murmured, kissing her.

Dee whimpered against his mouth at the tenderness of the kiss. She didn't fight as his tongue timidly entered her mouth. In her hands she clutched the lapels of his jacket. He settled into a chair, pulling her onto his lap.

"I love you, you silly man," she sighed kissing him again. "And I'm so sorry I called you stupid. I never really mean it when I do say you're stupid. Just that you're doing something idiotic at the time. You're not stupid. You're smart. Very smart. Pure genius. Brilliant beyond words." She punctuated each compliment with a kiss. Oh, dear Buddha, he smells so good!

Edward's mind was reeling, not only from her kisses and the soft scent of her skin as she snuggled into his lap, but the compliments! Oh, those wonderful compliments!

"You think I'm smart?"

"Cleverest man alive," she said quietly, attacking his mouth with another kiss. "Except you only brought one flower. I shouldn't have let you apologize."

He grinned now, placing two fingers to her lips to stave off another kiss. She looked at him seductively and licked the pads of his fingers. Eyes wide and fighting every urge to forget the flowers and just make love to her, he pulled his hand away and stood.

"I um... What I mean to say is that..." he stammered, gesturing over his shoulder at the door.

"Yeah. They're out there. Who cares? I don't want them. I want you," she purred, slinking up to him and licking his exposed throat. The taste of his skin, that slight tang of salt from his sweat, coupled with the smell of pheromones pouring off of him were driving her crazy.

Just melt into a puddle of goo right now and get it over with. "What ha-happened to being scared?" he gulped.

"We don't have to have sex. If we do, you'll still go slowly. I trust you." She kissed his chin before kissing his slightly open mouth again. "Don't you want to make up with me, Eddie?"

He merely nodded. My knees are going to buckle. I'm going to pass out. A crash from the living room helped him find a store of resolve. Taking a hold of her hands, which were unbuttoning his shirt, he held them tight and pushed away from her. "Wait. I promised you flowers. I said I'd get you flowers."

"Eddie, flowers are the least of my concern right now, and they should be the least of yours," she said, a slight growl rising in her voice. At the very least she wanted to make out and cuddle with him.

"Easy, Kitten. Please?" He hurried to the door as she took a step toward him. "Two minutes. Stay right here."

Leaving her no time to argue, he was out the door. He practically ran down the hall, straightening his shirt. Quickly running his fingers through his hair, he checked his reflection in the toaster.

"Benny? Trigger?"

"Just bringing in the last of the flowers," Benny said, appearing with a vase full of flowers.

"What was that crash? And where is the ti... It?" he asked in a low voice.

"Right here, Mr. Nigma. It just knocked over a pile of supplies," Trigger replied, holding the cub up by the scruff of its neck. It looked angry.

"Don't hold it like that, you idiot! We don't..." He sighed, taking the cub from the man. "Go. Both of you just go. Remember, two weeks. I'll call you with the itinerary."

"Sure, Mr. Nigma."

"May we..." began Benny.

"Here." Holding the cub in one arm like a ragdoll, Nigma pulled two stacks of cash from his inner pocket. The cub grunted and wiggled, only to find himself held tighter. "Now remember, you won't get any pay until the sale of the first item. So don't spend it all too quickly."

The men smiled as they flipped through the thick stacks of twenties.

"Now go." Edward pushed them through the door and into the garage. "Two weeks!"

He shut and locked the door. On his way back to Dee's room, he put the cub in the bathroom Benny and Trigger shared. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

"Dee?"

The door opened and Dee peeked around the door, a sly smile on her face. "Well?"

"They're gone."

Stepping out from behind the door, Dee bit her lower lip as she grinned at him. Taking a step toward him, she tucked her finger into the waist of his pants and pulled him to her.

"Good. Now how about getting back to making up, Tiger?"

"Flowers first. I promised." He turned her around and covered her eyes. Putting a hand on her belly, he pressed her to his chest. Leading her forward, he stopped in front of the bathroom where the cub was. Skillfully he opened the door and scooped the squirming animal up, covering Dee's eyes again before she could peek.

"What was that?" she asked when the cub grunted at being held under Eddie's arm again.

"Nothing," he said.

"You're lying to me, Eddie."

"Yes, I am." He brought her to a halt and kissed her earlobe. Holding her so she could see the living room filled with hundreds of tiger lilies, he lowered his hand to her belly. "Ok."

She opened her eyes, and gasped. Covering her mouth, she looked at the vases on every level surface. "Oh my... Eddie... Where did..."

"I got you something else as well. It seems to be a theme with you, so I thought you should finally have one." Swinging the cub around, he pressed it into her arms.

A strangled squeak emitted from Dee as she held the bundle of fur. The cub immediately settled down and locked eyes with Dee. She slid from Eddie's arms and fell to her knees. Her shoulders shook as she silently sobbed into the soft fur of the tiger that now licked her arms.

"Dee? Are you ok?" he asked, kneeling next to her. You're not supposed to be crying! Damn woman! "You're supposed to be happy. I thought this would make you..."

In a flash, she grabbed a fistful of his lapel, pushing him back. They toppled onto the floor, the cub hopping free as Dee landed on top of Eddie. He grunted as she straddled him, keeping him pinned to the ground with her body. Immediately she covered his face and neck in fevered kisses, mumbling her gratitude. Wrapping his arms around her, he smiled to himself as he finally managed to catch her lips with his.
Next / Tangram Main / Back