"I'd tried saving the world
but then I got bored"

ROSALIND WASN'T ALLOWED UPSTAIRS.

Even Gordon shook his head at her when she tried to follow Batman towards the building. He put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Just in case," He told her. "If he needs you I'll have someone fetch you. In the meantime... Martinez! C'mere."

An officer jogged up to them. Rosalind couldn't help but notice about 90% of Gotham's police had mustaches. At least this one was kind of cute. He seemed to recognize her right away and gave her a polite nod. Rosalind returned it and looked past him. She saw Selina slink around a corner and she frowned. Who knew when she would see the woman again.

"Keep an eye on her." Gordon told Martinez.

"I don't need a babysitter, Mustache." Rosalind huffed.

"And I don't need you disrupting a crime scene, kid," Gordon replied, pointing at her like he was scolding a child. "Not yet anyway. So stay put."

Gordon took off with a group of police towards the building. Rosalind sighed and turned back to Martinez. They watched as Falcone's body was taken away.

"I hate doing this," Martinez broke the silence. "But I just want to say. What you went through the other day, that was... crazy. You're kind of a badass. Like all these years you've been in the news I assumed you were just like, some bookworm. But you've been hanging around with Batman and now all this... it's pretty cool. You're pretty cool."

"Thank you," Rosalind said. "I... I try."

"And I gotta ask." He continued. "Was that you with Bruce Wayne at the mayor's memorial?"

"Yes," Rosalind raised an eyebrow at him.

"So..." He shrugged. "You and Wayne? Is that over? Or are you with the Bat now?"

Rosalind just stared at him. She was too tired for this.

"...I love your books." Martinez said.

Rosalind choked back a snort as a woman rushed up to them and grabbed Martinez's arm.

"I just saw," She panted. "Saw someone come down from the building right after the shot. I think it was him-"

"Which way did he go?" Martinez demanded.

"Towards the diner," The woman pointed down the street. "He went inside just a minute ago."

They all looked down the street at the corner diner. There was only one person in there, they could see his silhouette through the window. Martinez thanked the woman and pulled out his radio, calling for Gordon.

"Yeah?" Gordon's voice came through the speaker.

"Lieutenant," Martinez said. "We got a witness here, says she saw someone coming down the fire escape right after the shot. She said he went into the corner diner. The guy's sitting by himself at the counter right now."

Not long after, the diner was being surrounded. Rosalind followed at a safe distance after Martinez urged her to stay behind. As she inched closer, she felt a hand fall onto her waist to stop her. She glanced up over her shoulder to see Batman looking down at her.

"Are you okay?" He asked. She nodded.

"What was up there?" She asked.

"You'll see," He replied. "But you aren't going to like it."

The police parted like the red sea for Batman. Rosalind was close behind him. At one point one of the officers tried to stop her from going any closer but one glare from Batman was all the rest of them needed to know that she was with him.

They could see through the window clearly now. The man sitting at the counter was surrounded, guns drawn and pointed at him. Slowly, he put his hands up and spun the chair around.

"I just ordered a slice of pumpkin pie." The Riddler said right before Martinez slammed him down on the counter and handcuffed him.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Rosalind whispered harshly as she looked at the man through the window. "This is the guy who took me down?"

Batman gave her a warning look to quiet her. He stepped in front of her protectively as if Riddler would fly through the window at her.

"Look at him!" She hissed from behind him. "He looks like an elf. And he almost killed me. This is so embarrassing."

The Riddler was smiling as the put the handcuffs on him and searched his pockets. His eyes were on Batman. Rosalind peeked out from behind him to get a better look. One glimpse of Rosalind turned Riddler's smile into a sickening grin. Rosalind's stomach churned at the sight and she stepped closer to Batman, putting a nervous hand on his arm.

"Which one is you?" Gordon had pulled two IDs out of the Riddler's pockets.

"You tell me!" Riddler laughed.

Riddler was taken away not long after. Rosalind tried not to look at him as he passed. She thought back to a few nights ago, the pain she had endured because of him. The anger. The fear. He had left her with scars on both her body and her soul. That was something she would never forgive.

Most of the officers had gone back up to the apartment to investigate. Batman and Rosalind were not far behind. But in the empty hallway, he stopped short and turned to her.

She had her arms wrapped around herself, one hand tracing along where he knew the scars were. He remembered where every single one was. She was biting the skin off her lip, something she had done since they were kids. He knew she did it when she was nervous.

"Before you go in there," he said. "I want to warn you. It's kinda..."

"Bad?" She asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Bad. If you need to leave tell me and we'll go. Okay?"

"Okay," Rosalind replied. "...Thank you."

He looked like he wanted to say more. And he did, he really did. He thought back to earlier that night, when they had been so close, arms wrapped around each other tightly to grapple up the elevator shaft. She had said they needed to talk. And they did, they really did. He had so much to say but no idea how to say it. But now wasn't the time.

He just nodded again and walked on. Rosalind followed him, standing a bit taller. She swiped a pair of gloves from a case outside the front door and put them on before entering.

She almost walked right back out when she saw the inside.

It was an absolute mess. Officers and forensics milled about, looking through all the evidence. But what caught her eye first was the wall of newspaper clippings and photos and writing and plans and who knows what else. What she saw were flashes of her all across that wall. Photos and news articles with her name and face popped up in several areas.

In the center was the same photo and article that hung in the hallway of Wayne Manor. Her photo beamed at her. She stared back blankly, as if her own eyes were watching her from the paper.

With a shudder, Rosalind moved on to look around the room. What caught her eye next was the bookcase Batman stood in front of. Wanting to be closer to him, to feel safer, she stood next to him, gazing up at the shelves. In the middle shelf was a familiar collection. At least two copies of each of her books stared down at her, one in good condition and another that looked worn and used.

She reached up and picked up the first copy of Divinity. It was in almost pristine condition and she noticed it was a first edition. She opened it to see her own signature staring up at her.

She placed the book down and picked up the good copy of Silence Is Golden. Another signature. The Demons Of Coney Island. Another signature. Black Friday. Another signature. Sliced. Another signature, this time with a heart dotting the i in her name.

She had done book signings in Gotham for each one of her releases. And he had every single one. She had met him before. Several times, in fact.

The very thought made her want to run and hide. But she didn't. To Rosalind, running was losing. It was letting Riddler get to her. She wasn't going to let that happen.

Rosalind reached for the worn looking copy of Divinity. There were different colored tabs sticking out from many of the pages. She flipped through it. The entire book was filled with tabs and notes and annotations. She spotted several highlighted portions and when she read them, she recognized the ideas he had taken from her.

His "inspiration."

Rosalind didn't have to look at the other books to know that they were filled with the same things. The only book on the shelf that she didn't write was wedged in the corner with the pages facing out so she couldn't see the title. She picked it up and flipped it over and almost gasped out loud.

As You Like It by William Shakespeare.

Slowly, Rosalind began to flip through the pages of the classic play with the main character she had been named after. Every single one of "Rosalind"'s lines had been highlighted.

"Got something back on one of the IDs," An officer said coming into the room. "Edward Nashton. Works at KTMJ. He's a forensic accountant."

"Accountant?" Gordon repeated.

"Hey Lieutenant!" Another officer next to Batman and Rosalind pointed at the pair. "You really okay with this? What about chain of evidence?"

Rosalind snapped the book shut and placed it back on the shelf as Batman turned around, his nose buried in a big notebook.

"You should see this." He told Gordon.

"They're wearing gloves," Gordon said to the other officer as he came over to them. He looked down at the notebook and began to read out loud. "Friday July 16th. My life has been a cruel riddle I could not solve, suffocating my mind, no escape. But then today, I saw it. A single word on this ledger, sitting on the desk beside me. Renewal. The empty promise they sold to me as a child in that orphanage. One look inside and I finally understood. My whole life has been preparing me for this. The moment when I would learn the truth. When I could finally strike back and expose their lies. If you want people to understand, really understand, you can't just give them the answers. You have to confront them, torture them with the horrifying questions just like they tortured me. I know now what I must become..."

Gordon stopped reading for a moment and glanced up at Rosalind with a frown. She nodded, urging him to keep reading.

"Rosalind Pennyworth describes it best," he read. "She creates these horrific people in her work because just like me she knows the horrors of this world. Her villains are so complex, so vengeful and sometimes even right. She is a kindred spirit. We are both trapped, even if she doesn't know it. We have a common enemy, the same family who caused all this pain and ruin. But she is blinded by love. I could fix that if she wished. If I had but an ounce of her brilliance I couldn create these acts on my own. But the devil truly is in the details. The details she's written in these five masterpieces."

Rosalind wanted to vomit. She clenched her jaw and looked away, her arms wrapping around herself once again and her teeth going to bit her lip. Batman had stepped away and was inspecting a cage with a squealing creature inside.

"I don't think that rat likes you, man." Gordon said.

"This ones not a rat." Batman replied.

Rosalind walked over and bent down to look inside the cage. An agitated bat looked back at her, flapping it's wings and squealing. She grimaced. There were several bats down below in the cave. (Every time she went down there she was scared one would uh, do it's business on her.) She had gotten used to them over the last year. But this one made her uneasy.

"What is that?" Gordon asked, looking inside the cage as well.

There was an envelope taped to the top of the cage, addressed once again to the Batman. Careful to not disturb the bat any further, Batman reached in and took it out. Attached to the envelope was a dull looking metal tool. He handed it to Gordon.

"Some kind of pry tool?" An officer asked.

"Is it a chisel?" Another suggested.

"It's a murder weapon," Batman said. "He killed Mitchell with it. The edge will match the floorboard impression in the mayor's study."

"And probably the dent he made in the back of my head," Rosalind grumbled, reaching up to rub the still tender spot.

She watched as Batman opened the envelope and took out yet another vintage looking card. The front of this one said "Just for you!" Batman opened it to reveal two words on the inside: MY CONFESSION.

"My confession?" Gordon read. "What's he confessing to? He already told us he killed Mitchell."

"This isn't over," Batman shook his head.

"Oh man," An officer on the other side of the room said. "He's been posting all kinds of shit online. He's got like, 500 followers. Real fringe types."

They made their way over to that side of the room. Unfortunately, that entire wall was covered in the photos and articles and notes Rosalind had spotted as soon as she walked in. She tried her hardest to pretend her own eyes staring down at her didn't bother her.

"His final post was last night," The officer said. "Some video. Got a lot of views but its password protected."

Rosalind couldn't help but glance up at the wall. Now that she was closer, she could see a lot more. There was a lot about Renewal, Gotham's countless issues, and a whole bunch about Batman. But what really caught her eye was everything about Bruce Wayne. There were several photos of the both of them over the years from when they were kids to teenagers to present day. Bruce's eyes were crossed out or scribbled over in every single one.

There was one photo that she couldn't help but stare at. It was one of the only paparazzi photos she ever liked. It was her and Bruce about four years ago. It had been his birthday and she dragged him out to have a nice dinner. The photo was them walking arm and arm down the empty street later that night. Rosalind was saying something and Bruce was laughing, leaning towards her to hear her better.

They had been trending online that night. Of course speculations of a relationship were rampant. But Rosalind had posted that photo onto her social media with the caption "He's laughing now but I stole his wallet. Happy birthday Brucie boy. Thanks for a friendship that's lasted over two decades. You can't get rid of me anytime soon."

It had been a joke online for a while that it was the first time the public had seen Bruce laugh. Rosalind remembered people jokingly tweeting at her to do standup comedy because if she can make Bruce Wayne laugh, she must be a comedic genius.

But on this wall the photo was ruined. Rosalind was left untouched while in angry red marker the word "UNDESERVING" was scribbled across Bruce's form. It made her sick to her stomach.

"Could you get in?" Gordon asked the officer.

"Copying his drive now." he replied. "Take some time but we'll get in."

"Show me the post," Gordon said.

"It's right here," The officer clicked a few keys and a forum popped up. He clicked on a video titled "the truth unmasked." It was still locked.

"I think I'm his last target," Batman said.

Rosalind glanced up at him with a frown. She could have told him that from the beginning. All of those cards at the crime scenes addressed to him? Of course Riddler would be after him sooner or later.

"You?" Gordon asked. "I mean if anything I would have thought it'd be Rosalind."

"He wouldn't go after her," Batman shook his head. "Not in that way. He only did those things to her to get to Bruce Wayne. He's obsessed with her and her work, he doesn't want to hurt her."

"Kind of late for that," Rosalind sniffed. "So you think you're next?"

"Maybe this is all coming to an end," he said.

"What is?" Gordon asked.

"The Batman."

An uneasy silence fell over the three of them but it was quickly interrupted by Gordon's phone ringing. He stepped away to answer it. Rosalind looked back up at the wall, staring at the ruined photo of her and Bruce.

"I love that picture," She said to Batman. "It's one of my favorites."

"Undeserving?" Batman asked softly. "Do you think that's true?"

"No," Rosalind replied. "If anything, it's written on the wrong person."

She tore her eyes away from the photo on the wall to find he was already looking at her. He was shaking his head subtly, just in case the officers around them caught on. But anyone around them could tell that he was looking at her with nothing but adoration in his eyes.

"Hey," Gordon had hung up the phone and approached them again, a frown on his face. "Riddlers asking for you. At Arkham."

Batman nodded and Rosalind's eyes widened. Batman took a step towards Gordon and lowered his voice so others couldn't hear.

"You're a good cop." He said before looking over his shoulder at Rosalind. "Let's go."

"Careful out there, kid." Gordon told her as she passed him.

"Always am, Mustache," Rosalind said with a final glance at the photos on the wall. "Always am."

JILLIAN SPEAKS!

This is how I imagine the Instagram picture to look like. (Idk how to edit don't judge lmfao)

And then here's what the picture looks like on Riddler's wall (aka his burn book)

We're getting pretty close to the end of this fic holy shit. I just want to thank you all for the quick success of this fic it's been crazy.

As always, don't be a ghost reader! I love reading your comments and they really motivate me to write more. Keep them coming!

Until next time, love ya!