Riddle Me This

Waking up I rolled over to cuddle with Bruce, but he wasn't there. Opening my eyes, I grasped at the space where he should have been, then sighed. It was bright outside, so he shouldn't be out saving Gotham, but there was always that small chance. Sitting up, I stretched and found a bowl of oatmeal sitting on the table at the foot of the bed. I crawled over to it and found my usual sides for this breakfast and smiled. Alfred was spoiling me. I took a moment to assess how I felt, having been sick yesterday, but all I could feel was overwhelming hunger. Settling down cross-legged at the end of the bed, I picked up the container of cinnamon and sprinkled it over the heated oats.

"Are you going to tell her?"

I looked towards the door at the sound of Dick's voice. I paused in my breakfast preparations to listen as Bruce gave a sigh, "I have to don't I?"

"I mean... yeah. This does concern her."

"I'm just afraid of what it will do to her. She's relapsed twice already, I'm afraid of freaking her out."

"Would she revert permanently?"

There was a pause, "I'm afraid she might."

Getting up, I walked timidly to the door and opened it. Both men jumped in surprise at the movement, looking shocked to find me awake. Looking from Dick to Bruce I studied their faces and my heart sank. "Jonathan has escaped."

Bruce gave a nod but didn't say anything. My grip on the door frame tightened as I used it to support my weight. My breathing became fast bursts of panic-gripped gasps and my vision started to tunnel. Turning away from the boys, I made my way over to the bed and sat down on the edge, bringing my feet up to rest on the bed frame. Closing my eyes, I hugged myself as I began to rock back and forth as fear gripped me.

"Bethy, are you okay?" Bruce came over but didn't touch me. Instead he knelt in front of me with both hands on either side of me resting on the mattress.

"I can't go back," I said. "I don't want to go back."

"You're not going anywhere, Bethy." His voice was sure.

Looking at him, I found that I was crying. His face danced in the movement of tears along my waterline until I blinked and sent them all sailing down my face. "You can't be sure of that."

"I know you, Bethany Elwood. I know you, and I know how strong you are. You survived what happened to you before, and I know you can do it again. Plus you have Dick with us know, and with him, we can cover twice as much ground in finding Crane."

"What is that smell," Dick asked, coming into the room, "Is that... oatmeal?"

Torn from Bruce's face I looked up at his friend, "Um... yeah. Alfred left some breakfast for me. I eat oatmeal when I'm not feeling well, so he brought some up for me."

"Damn, Alfred must really like you," Dick said with a smile, "He never did that for me when I'm sick."

Giving him as cheeky a smile as I could I replied, "You didn't grow up here."

Bruce's hands moved to touch my hips drawing my attention back to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." I gave a deep sigh, "You're right, having Dick here is a good thing. He's a great distraction."

"It was something that I learned to do when I thought about my family when I was younger." Dick said. "Whenever I thought about them I felt a wave of dread and anger come over me to the point where I would just lay in bed curled in a fetal position for days. But I found that distracting myself from the thought process was helpful in not letting it consume me."

"That's a good trick." I said,

"You should eat that before I do," Dick smiled, "It smells amazing, what's on it?"

Smiling I said, "Cinnamon. I'm about to add honey to it as well."

"Shall we sit with you while you eat?" Bruce asked.

"Yes actually," I replied, "I have loads of questions."

I moved to sit in front of my oatmeal and drizzled honey over it before mixing everything together. Picking up my spoon, I took a few bites of the hot cereal before looking up at them. They both looked nervous as they awaited my first question. I was nervous too. I didn't like talking about Jonathan or anything involved with him, in fear that I would relapse in to... her. But I needed to know. I needed to know what happened and what was going to happen. Even if it made me uncomfortable. I trusted Bruce and his analysis that I was strong enough to endure what was to happen in the following days.

"How long has Jonathan been out of prison?"

Bruce and Dick looked at each other and signed. Turning to me, Bruce answered, "We're not sure."

"We only found out he had escaped two days ago."

I turned sharply to Bruce, "Jonathan has been out of Arkham for at least two days, and I'm just now hearing about it?"

Bruce winced, "I wasn't sure how to tell you."

"Hey, Bethany, Jonathan Crane has escaped from Arkham, just thought you aught to know." I imitated Bruce's deep voice, "That would have been a great start. I mean, I would have freaked out now matter how gently you broke the news to me, but still! I feel like as his on going victim, I have the right to know."

"You're right," said Bruce, "I shouldn't have hid it from you."

"Damn right." Taking another bite of the oatmeal I thought of my next question, "Is he working with the new terror in Gotham?"

"Yes," answered Dick, "Or at least we're assuming. We found pieces of burlap cloth in Riddler's jail cell-"

"Who is that? The Riddler? Is he the new guy?"

"Yes."

I looked at the two of them and nodded, "Right. Because he tells riddles."

"Exactly." Answered Brice.

"But you found burlap material in his cell. That doesn't mean that Jonathan has escaped. It's a very common material."

"We called Arkham and asked to check his cell," said Dick his face long, "He's gone."

Fear threatened to choke me as I swallowed my food, but I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts of a dark figure standing behind me. "Okay. What are you two planning on doing now?"

"We're feeling out places they might be hiding," said Bruce, "Riddler didn't leave any more clues for us, so unfortunately that means we can do nothing but wait."

I swallowed another mouthful of oatmeal and nodded, "That's it? Waiting?"

"Sadly yes."

"Batman and Robin can go out every day and patrol the streets looking for suspicious activities, but there are only two of us, and that would just be a waste of time." Dick added.

"What can I do?" I asked.

"Be here when I get home." Bruce answered with a smile.

I finished my breakfast and stretched. I felt fine; no trace of illness no nausea. I stacked everything on the tray in a neat pile and stood to take it downstairs. "Well, okay then. I'll meet you in the Batcave in a few hours to help you do research on this... Riddler guy."

Dick smiled, "And what do you know about the computers in the Batcave?"

"I'll have you know, Mr. Grayson, that I have been living with Batman for almost a year and a half now, and I've learned a thing of two about the Batcave and it's computer systems. I'm not just some hot arm candy for Mr. Wayne."

Dick held up his hands in surrender, "All right. I was hasty to judge."

"Damn straight." Opening the door I turned to add, "Plus it gives Alfred a break from having to deal with Bruce all of the time."

Sticking my tongue out at the two of them, I went down stairs and set the dishes in the sink. Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, I left a note thanking Alfred for the breakfast and pinned it to the notice board.

I made my way back upstairs to find that Bruce and Dick were on the balcony. When asked what they were doing I was told it was safety precautions in case Jonathan came and tried to do anything to me while I was here. I nodded and told them to carry on while I took a shower and changed. Turning on the hot water, I undressed and folded my clothes into a neat pile on a seat in the corner. Grabbing my favorite overly-fluffed towel, I flung it over the glass door and stepped in. The moment my skin touched the hot water, however, I doubled over and vomited over the drain. I wretched loudly as more stomach content came up and I fell to my hands and knees.

"Bethany," called Bruce, "I'm coming in, are you okay?"

"I'm um... fine, I think," I answered, "I um... just need to lay down for a second."

"Can I open the door?"

"Dick isn't with you, is he?"

"No he's still in the bedroom."

"Okay, give me a second."

I wretched a few more times, then I stood shakily to my feet. Pulling my towel down, I opened the door and took Bruce's extended hand and let him lead me back to bed. I kept the towel with me to wipe my face to rid myself of the splashes of vomit that flecked it.

"I'm going to call Fox." Bruce said.

"Don't be silly," I replied, "I've probably just got a stomach bug. It happens. Don't drag him all the way over here for that."

"If this gets worse, I'm calling him."

"Okay."

Bruce and Dick left the room and I snuggled into the sheets and fell asleep from exhaustion.