A Mafia's Riddle

Chapter One {the Premeditated Crime}

As she turned around the man watching her ducked his head, hiding from her sight. He had been watching this woman for months, silently protecting her from afar, sending his men to handle anyone who crossed her or dared to try and harm her. One day, years from now...when he had taken her away from this life, when she sat at his side, forever in his protection, one day he'd tell her that it was him who had silently guarded her all those years ago. He risked a glance, seeing she had looked away and was now focusing on the dishes she was doing, a soft sad song on her lips. She sighed as she stepped away from the sink to walk a few steps to a tea cup, she took a few swallows and placed it back down, pacing back to the dishes.

"I wonder what kind of tea she's drinking?" The man thought to himself as he gripped the question mark shaped cane in his hand. He looked at her a little more closely as he noticed something glittering on her face. It was a year...was she crying? His blood suddenly boiled, whoever had made her cry would die the slowest and most painful death imaginable, at his hands... He watched as she went into the next room, once she did he came into the kitchen and quickly hid somewhere new as she came in. He peered out from behind some things in her pantry, looking at her much closer now, less than 8 feet away from her. He had yet to learn her name, but he knew she had done something to his heart. He knew that they could never actually meet, she was from a different world entirely...and he was a criminal...what kind of life could he ever give this woman...? He looked away as she continued the dishes, and now that he was closer The Mysterious Stranger could hear her softly singing, and as he listened to her soft voice he realized the song was why she was crying...

"Someday love will find you, break those chains that bind you! One night will remind you, how we touched...and went our separate ways." Anna closed her eyes as the tears ran down her pale freckled cheeks. She lived alone, and had no one...no friends, no family, no significant other...and she had just lost her job today. She was going to lose this tiny one bedroom apartment next month, seeing as she had just paid this months rent. She looked around and began to plan out what to do. "I know what I need to do, but I don't want to..." She bit her bottom lip, "I have to move...but where? And when? It'll have to be soon." She thought for a moment before pulling out her phone and looking at the one number she had sworn she'd never call again, before deciding she was going to do it. "I'll call him after I finish the dishes." She finished up the dishes before taking her laptop from the table in the living room and heading to her room, after she had check and locked all the doors and windows...seeing as she lived in a bad neighborhood and had been broken into before, more than once. Once she had gone into her room and shut her door, The Mysterious Stranger stood up and silently left the pantry. He quickly left her apartment, relocking her door with the spare key he had taken from her hidden spot. He began briskly walking down the path until he reached the woods, once there he went in a ways before stopping once he had made it to the other side, where an inconspicuous black limousine waited. The Mysterious Stranger looked around once before getting in the back and telling the driver to take them home.

Once in the car, Riddler relaxed some, his back tight from the knots. A glass of champagne suddenly appeared in front of his face, Riddler's eyes following the glass to a hand, and the hand to the arm connecting it to the body of Ed's best friend, and other secret crush, Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin. Riddler smirked as he took the champagne and drained the glass in one swallow before looking at Oswald and then at the others in the limousine...the man sitting next to Penguin was Butch, Oswald's personal bodyguard and right hand man... Victor Zsasz was next to Butch, smiling that happy grin that it seemed ONLY the bald assassin could pull off as he sipping a milkshake and waved at Riddler...who waved back uncomfortably. He looked to his other side to see Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, the twin Jokers of Gotham...one the "Clown Prince of Crime", the other "The Clown KING of Crime" or when Jeremiah preferred, simply The "Cleaner and more Sane" one. Oswald smirked at the Prince of Puzzles before asking him how his little "research project" was going... They all knew about his obsession with the woman. But unlike all his failed loves, Riddler and Ed had the ENTIRE Rogues Gallery's support.

"It went well. She was crying this time, and singing. She's alone, she has no family, friends, or lover." He paused as he looked at the others. "I overheard her boss call her today and tell her she's fired. She just paid this month's rent, but she knows she doesn't have next  month's...she's saying she has to move. I may actually have a shot at being able to take her away from all of this. She has someone she's going to call who will help her with all of this, she said she'd call them after she was done with the dishes. Which was why I left. She went into her room and locked her door." The limousine went deathly silent before Jerome started laughing at how creepy and awkward Riddler had just been.  Causing said man to smack his friend with his cane. "I didn't mean it that way!" He sighed. The rest of the drive, Riddler just stared out the window, he didn't even know they had reached The Hideout, until Oswald tapped his shoulder and startled him. Riddler brushed off any and all questions Oswald had before he ever asked them by ignoring him and walking inside, going straight to his room, ignoring Lee and everyone else who saw him. He stayed in his room until his stomach was screaming for food. He looked at his clock, realizing he had come home and laid down on his bed, falling into a restless and dreamless sleep. He had come home at 7pm. It was now 4:13am. He got up and decided to get something small, just enough to shut his stomach up. He was planning on heating up a plate of leftovers when he heard a noise. He set the food back in the fridge and for the second time in 24 hours...hid in a pantry. Riddler watched as... Jerome?! came around the corner and into the kitchen. He was on the phone? At 4:17 in the morning?

"I understand Darling. Yes, yes I understand. Do you need a safe place to stay? Or are you COMING HOME?!" The way he asked that sounded odd, almost sexual and predatory. But also protective..."you are coming home? Wonderful my little Dark Angel. And...Of course there's room! I told you there would always be room for you here beautiful...! I'll see you later this week then, say Thursday? Yes I knew you'd appreciate the irony of your favorite day of the week...see you then gorgeous..." Jerome hung up the phone with a smirk, watching as his twin came in, asking what he was soo happy about at 4:30 in the morning. "because brother ...our Dark Angel is coming home. She's moving in on Thursday. " Jeremiah and Jerome shared a glance before their faces split into twin evil joker grins. This coming week would be fun, as they all prepared for the coming guest, and as boundaries and rules were changed and added to accommodate the newest addition to the household. One thing was for sure... No one in the Rogue's Gallery would ever be the same...and for one of them.......more than his world would be shook up when the darkest secret he never imagined the most innocent person to have...makes its way into the light...

}} Author's Note {{

-Ed's Thoughts / Singing / Words
-Riddler's Thoughts / Singing / Words
-Anna's Thoughts / Singing  / Words
-Dark Angel's  Thoughts / Words / Singing

My wife and I recently discovered Gotham (ik ik we are so late to the party!) and we fell in love! We are diehard fans of:

-Riddler/Ed(Ed is baby)
-Penguin/Oswald(also baby)
-Zsasz(please be Daddy!)
-jim(baby. Don't hurt the Jim!)
-Bullock(omg we need a Bullock)
-Jonathan(baby needs help)
-Butch(teddy bear)

((We HATE Theo Galavan!!!!!!))

There's more but..... we are also obsessed with the Arkham games. I have played and beaten Arkham Asylum. And Arkham Knight (including getting diamond achievements).