Riddle Me This

Sitting at the dinner table, we suffered through the awkward first five minutes of not saying anything, all of us knowing what was on our minds. Finally I cleared my throat and said, "D-Do you have any idea what was in the envelope, Commissioner?"

He looked at me somberly and said, "A riddle, Miss Elwood. It was a riddle."

I frowned, "A riddle? What does it mean?"

"The riddle?"

"No. Sending a riddle. Wouldn't it be better for the perpetrator to just say, 'Here's where I have the DA, this is what I need, and this is what I need of you?'"

"Sadly, Miss Elwood, that is not the kind of criminals the Gotham police task deal with."

I smiled apologetically at him and went back to my meal. The conversation died for a moment, then Dick asked, "What did the riddle say?"

"'You give me one, but I want two. How can the robin sore when he is no longer in the crew?'"

I choked on my drink and both Bruce and Dick turned to me.

"Are you alright," asked Lucius.

Nodding I said, "Went down the wrong pipe. I'm sorry."

"Well we're hoping Batman can figure it out," said Gordon, "Because in all honesty, I'm terrible at riddles."

I smiled encouragingly at him and said, "Surely you can't be that bad."

"Oh but I am.... And don't call me Shirley."

I laughed at his Airplane joke and sipped from my drink again.

The rest of dinner was lighter as we strayed away from the awful even that had happened today, and we found ourselves laughing and having a good time. Then it was time for everyone to leave. Gordon and Lucius waved at us before getting in their cars, and the three of us - Bruce, Dick, and I - moved into the piano room. We sat down, Bruce and Dick in chairs and I at the piano bench. We looked at each other for a moment then I said, "So I take it you guys figured out the riddle."

"Yes." Bruce was about as distant as his answer.

"What are you going to do about it?"

Bruce looked up at Dick who was nodding. He shook his head and said, "No. I can't ask you to do that."

"Well lucky you, you don't have to ask."

"But the circus."

"It can get a long without a Flying Grayson for a while. Trust me."

"I'm sorry," I said, "What are you talking about?"

"Dick wants to quit the circus." Bruce's voice wasn't happy.

"It's what I want to do, Bruce. I won't have this man killed because I didn't show up."

"He might be dead already, Dick. You have to remember what kind of people we're dealing with. People like Catwoman, Harvey Dent, Joker, Scarecrow."

"Scarecrow?" The question came out against my will, and I gasped as soon as I said it. Covering my mouth I struggled to remember what my name was, and thankfully it came back as Bethany Elwood.

Bruce was at my side, "I'm sorry.... I forgot. I'm sorry. Bethany, are you okay?"

I nodded, "Yes.... I'm fine."

"What did he do to you?" Dick asked.

I shuddered, "I... I can't talk about it right now."

Standing up, I excused myself from the room and went to our bedroom to lay down while the shakes from the horrible memory took over me. Time ticked by slowly, and after what seemed like eternity, Bruce came in to go to bed. Crawling into bed with me, he rolled me onto my back so he could look at me.

"Bethany... are you okay?"

A tear slipped down my face, "He still has something over me. I can feel it."

Whipping the tear away, he frowned, "He has all the control you give him, Bethy."

I nodded, and leaned in to kiss him. "Are you going to let Dick move in again?"

"Yes. He's going to have to."

I smiled slightly, "What will the paper's say?"

He smiled, "Either that Dick and I are dating, or that you're sleeping around."

"What? No open relationship?"

He smiled wider, "Not when it comes to you. You're a one man woman."

"What about sharing?"

Wrapping his arms around me, he squeezed me tight and said, "Nope."

I smiled and kissed him again, then said, "Say my name... please."

"Bethany."

I smiled.

"Feeling better?"

I nodded, "Yes."

"Good." Leaning in, he kissed me and it was a very revealing kiss. One that told me exactly what he wanted from me.

And I was more than willing to give that to him.