(A/N): Iwrote this in April of 2009, but I felt I should place something here instead of an author's note. So here's this to entertain you. It is followed by the message I would like to share with you, all of my readers if you're still around, because I think you deserve it.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than Elisa, this story, and the characterization I have of Edward.

Are you afraid of me?

Looking back at the beginning, when she allowed herself such—and she often did—yes, she had been afraid. Elisa remembered every punch and curse, and still she felt the effects of the previous abuse. A rope burn; she gingerly touched her wrists and raised her eyes to the bathroom mirror away from the vanity where her attention had been gazing for what seemed like an eternity.

Well are you afraid of me?

She sighed, there was no use lying, she was still afraid. Her eyes fell back to the vanity, at the item that laid there. For the first time more than just the fire of revenge burned in her. She shook her head, trying to dispel the tears that were gathering in her throat. No, she was not afraid for herself, but for someone else. Her fingers curled atop the ivory surface, cool beneath her skin. Her ears were alert for the sign of anyone approaching, but she was alone for now. For now...

What are you trying to do to me, to do to me?

She tentatively took the item from the counter and threw it in the trash its truth never leaving her. This was the third time she had seen it. She backed up and sat down on the toilet seat, her head finding her hands and bowing. This journey, this transformation. Why had it all begun? What luck had she had to become so entangled. Was she to blame for the horror her life had become months ago, almost a half a year ago? She had done nothing, but fallen in love, a reality she had come to discover was cruel.

One hand found her throat and caressed it, remembering the first time he had choked her. She poked her cheek; she recalled first time he had slapped her. The first time he had gagged her, starved her, rammed her head in a wall. She felt bile raise in her throat...The first time he had raped her. He had been so gentle at first. One could look at Edward, and never know the fury and insanity that lied beneath those deceiving emerald jewels of his eyes. She loved the fake Edward who had gently made love to her, cooed beautiful poetry, not this madman who was the Riddler.

What are you trying to prove to me, to prove to me?

He was such a girl. She snickered at that fleeting thought. What was his motive? Geez, he just wanted to pay back Gotham for their jeers. They had laughed at his experiments, called them too crude and told him they invaded a person's God-given privacy. He wanted to turn the human mind into data. Was it just her or did that sound a little 1984? Big Brother's watching you? No, no, Edward Daniel Nashton was watching you, planning his next move.

He was smart, a genius, and nothing, absolutely nothing was hefty enough to have turned him into the sociopath he had become. He just got a taste of power and wanted more. Crazy, insane, nacarrist who enjoyed to the greatest sadistic degree the pain of all those who disappointed or out-thought him. What a giant, baby. What was he, three?

But dread must interrupt even one's attempt to escape the overwhelming panic. Elisa's head rose and her fawn eyes found the small trashcan. She stood up; there was no telling how long she had until he and his henchmen came back.

There's something you're not saying

She calmly walked to the blue, modest bin and picked it up. She grasped it in one arm and walked from the bathroom, her feet still in their shoes echoing softly beneath her.

She had much that Edward would never know. He already knew she was beginning to pull away. He was starting to see just how much of an enigma Enigma really was. Her release of Harley, her blatant disrespect that would bloom and plummet tipping him off to her secrets, but she said nothing, but the moment was nearing. It was very close.

Now she another reason. She kept her face blank.

But your actions say enough

She felt herself almost sigh in relief as seconds later her eyes fell on the back door. The house was eeriely quiet. It made her feel off ease, observed. She tried to shake off the feeling as she reached for the knob.

"You're being quiet, Elisa."

She jumped and whipped around to see Edward leaning against the door to the downstairs washroom. Her heart was thudding in her chest. He looked to the trash bin.

"I really don't like it when you're quiet. Makes me suspicious."

She had been quiet often lately she realized, some because she felt sick—now she knew the illness behind that—and some because she was scheming her escape. She sighed, but within something was sparking, an idea.

And I don't know what's really going on

She would have to tread slowly now. If she played her cards right then the rest would go smoothly. She raised her eyes.

"C'mon, Edward, I'm not feeling well, and besides," she pouted, "I've not seen you in a while. I miss you when you're gone. I can't be a chatterbox all day and night, especially if I don't feel up to it. Speaking of being suspicious, what are you doing here?"

She kept her voice light, in order not to incense him, but she was very irritated. What was he still doing here? I mean what was she a puppy who wasn't house-trained? She resisted the urge to scowl and glare at him.

"One of the boys left the warehouse keys here. I noticed the house was quiet and I was worried."

'Yeah, worried I might have called the police—like I'm not a criminal already—or that I had run off. You weren't worried about my well-being. Hell, I bet you'd laugh if you found me passed out.'

"Sorry, I was in the bathroom, and now if you'll excuse me I need to take this out so I can have something to barf in." She simpered.

She knew he had not liked her attitude, but she could have cared less. She was allowed to be fatigued and moody if she wanted. She ignored his own frown and her hand turned the knob to enter into the alley. "Oh, the boys are gonna love me, sick and on my cycle!"

I leave a message every night

When she returned he was still standing there. She placed the now empty bin at her feet and shut the door.

"Don't you have plans to make? A Harley Quinn to find?"

"Elisa, your attitude is starting to grate my nerves."

She clenched her fists, "Well, I'm sorryI'm not to your liking." She clearly wasn't. "Geez, finally you're being shown how perfect life actually is. Hell, I learned that when I discovered who the Riddler was. You don't like my attitude, Eddy?" She smirked and wrung her hands in mock innocence. "You created it. You pushed, abused, and took me against my will."

"You've been getting snappier and snappier. Do I need to teach you another lesson, Enigma?"

He was walking towards her now. She wasn't afraid for her own well-being, but that dread from earlier clawed at her.

"No," she shook her head, and turned away, "you should learn from your own. You attempt to turn someone's lives upside down and there shall be consequences to pay. You never should have mistreated me or can't you tell it yet, Riddler? Each and every misuse of me and I get cattier. I'm not a ditz, my only sin was I loved you. I'm also not disillusioned. Other than helping you and being your accomplice in crime, I'm nothing but your sex toy."

But you don't call me

The Riddler grinned, still coming ever closer. She did not move; enough was enough. She would stand up to him.

"Such harsh words, my sweets. Are disappointed? Angry? Want to tell me how you feel, because yes, you are my little doll, a very supple doll. You never complain about my love-making."

Elisa outright laughed. "Love-making? There's nothing loving, not anymore! I don't even make a sound anymore. When I do, it's just to fool you! See! I HATE YOU!" She was tensed now. "You get such a pleasure out of my pain. I should be nothing to you! I wish I was. I hate you! I never wanted this!" She raised her arms and gestured around her. All her resentment was seeping out. Her chest was burning from tears.

Damn it!

She didn't want to cry in front of him. He had paused, his face was a dark sneer. She had seen this many a time before the pain of some "punishment" or another came her way.

"So, I'm not enough for you, huh? Have you been messing around behind my back? Who is it?"

"What? You're insane! When am I not around you? And who do you think I'd go for? Hah! They'd rape me before I gave in to them, but you do that all the time, huh? Take me unwillingly, so what would stop anyone. You don't love me! I hate you! And it would appear that I'm apparently not good enough for you! I'm not a whore! I'm Elisa! I AM NOT YOUR ENIGMA!"

The only times we ever talk you're in a hurry

Two pairs of accusing emerald eyes stared at one another. Both were jaded, angry. Who would speak first? In the last month it should have been noted her instances of asserting herself to him were becoming more and more common. She was standing up to him, undaunted by the consequences. He hardly ever spoke to her unless it was to vent anger or to take his release.

He convulsed slightly in ill-masked rage. His mouth thinned, his nostrils flared. He reached into his pocket, retrieved his phone, and hit a button. "I'm going to be late, Bynes, my little Enigma needs to learn her place." He stuffed back in his pocket and glared at her. An unnerving grin painted his face. "Yes, you certainly need to learn your lesson. This one will hurt. I'm going to make you see just how much you really are mine, Elisa."

I know my reputation doesn't help you sleep at night

"What are you going to do, oh, master Riddler? Hate what you created? How unfortunate." She gave an amused laugh. That broke the cloud. Thunder rolled as the rain of fire fell. "Teach me a lesson, Riddler. Catch me!" She turned tail and ran down the hall away from him.

She didn't look back. Tonight would make it or break it. She flew around the corner. She knew where the chase would end, at least where she wanted it to. She fumbled in the dimness of his office as she continued her eluding.

She pulled open the door that adjoined to the living room.

"Elisa," she heard his twitter behind her. "Oh, stop running, my dear, the pain will only be worse."

He was closer than she thought. She snapped the door shut and locked it from the outside—it had been installed that way to keep people out.

She heard the door roughly shaken as he realized her doing. She knew the reaction as she grabbed the frame of the wall to rest a moment. Her breath was coming in short pants, but she had had to go on.

"Elisa! I'm going to tie to the bed, then I'm doing to whip you until you scream and are bleeding so heavily you pass out from the blood loss. I'm to bound you to the bedpost and let you suffer. You're so beautiful that way."

She heard him bounding from the room and back into the hallway. She pushed off the wall and ran to the stairs and her feet slapped against the the wood as she sped up them.

But lately baby I feel I don't know you

She almost missed her turn as she whipped around. Only now did she afford herself a backward glance. He was still coming up the stairs. She could hear his dark laughter, toxic with rage. She dove into the bedroom she shared with him and ducked beside the bed. She lied on her stomach fumbling beneath it as his footsteps slowed.

"Elisa, Elisa," he crooned giddily. "Come out. If you do...I'll not tie you to the bed post. C'mon, I do hate to ruin your beauty."

She felt her hand make contact with the cold steel of a pistol she had hidden beneath the mattress. She pulled back and cowered against the wall, concealing the weapon by placing one arm behind her back.

"Enigma, my little rough, cunning Enigma, Riddler doesn't like this game! He's becoming very, very angry!" His tenor was screeching now. She winced and brought her free hand to her abdomen.

She was not afraid of him of her own accord. She was afraid for the life that grew inside her. It mattered not that it was child sired by the man she most despised now. She loved the being, loved it unconditionally, an emotion she had thought had died. She wanted the child, but the Riddler wouldn't something told her that, and if he did—she didn't want to think on that. She would get out for its sake, escape while she could. She rubbed her stomach.

"Hush little baby, don't say a word, momma's gonna buy you a mocking bird." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. His footsteps were approaching. She tried to quiet her breath. It seemed so loud in the silence that had come.

He would not hurt the baby. He would not hurt her anymore. It was all for the child that grew in her. She would survive, it would survive and become her beautiful son or daughter, never knowing of its father.

I thought we were the same

"Well, well, that wasn't hard. And here I thought the whole locking my office would mean you really wanted to play. Hmmm," He was towering over her atop the bed. She opened her eyes. "Awww, look who's been caught." He reached down as if gently, but when his hands delved into her hair all acts fell.

She hissed as he pulled her forward roughly. "Don't you ever back talk me again, you ungrateful whore!"

She glared up at him, "And don't you ever underestimate me, you sick bastard!" She pulled the gun in front of her and before he could react she had pulled the trigger. He screamed in a mix of pain and fury as the bullet lodged in his shoulder.

He let her go and she rocketed up and attempted a dash away, still clutching the gun. His hand latched around her waist,however, knocking her breathless as she was thrown to the side and on the bed. He pinned her wrists above her head, squeezing them until she let go of the gun.

But now you play this game

"You and I are too alike, such a godsend, hm? No, what an irritating nuisance. You're not good for anything other than pleasure, you keening little bitch. All you're useful for is a pair of open legs. You never would have gotten into this situation if you had declined me when I first offered a tussle in the sack. But, you feel so good, and I love it when you scream. I love to hurt you because, there's nothing I enjoy more than absolute control. Yet, if you had only kept that little barb of yours you call a tongue controlled you never would have found yourself in any pain."

"You're the Riddler, how did you expect me to react? Stop lying to yourself! Total control! What a joke. You're not gonna win. You sure you don't just despise my outbursts because I remind you of the one person you couldn't even break...Harley...Harley...She's gonna get you, she's gonna break you, she's gonna-"

He forced his knee into her diaphragm. He watched as she gasped, grinning. "She's gonna what?" He whispered, sure she wouldn't answer and only whimper.

"She's...gonna...make you...scream..." She managed and attempted to laugh. He took his knee away, allowing her air and she coughed only to meet the headboard with her skull. His hands enclosed around her throat. "How dare you!"

You're young, no fun

"You're pathetic! So infantile...You have to...beat your women to...to...have control. Did...mommy...never...hug...you?" He growled and tightened his grip at her mockings. His vision had gone red.

"Ah...ah..." She laughed weakly and then one of the worst feelings overcame him. In his haze of anger he had forgotten to immobilize her as he choked her. She had kicked him in the crotch. He was forced to release, his hands falling to the front of his pants.

He wheezed. She smirked and began unclothing a long, large pillow. "Since that part of you decides so much, I decided to shut it for a little while. Did that hurt?"

And you're making me crazy

He couldn't move. Only growl at her. He couldn't even speak. The pain was unimaginable. She cackled as she then hovered over him, the darkest expression of revenge on her face. "Don't worry, I'll not kill you yet. But, my dashing Riddler, you need to learn your lesson. This is what thinking with your balls gets you."

She ripped the pillowcase quite easily in two in a sudden adrenaline high. She took one half and bound his hands tightly, almost to the point of no circulation. Then she scampered to his feet and did the same. She nimbly got off the bed, and grabbed a handkerchief from the beside table, proceeding to gag him.

Well, are you afraid me?

"I don't have time to beat you slowly." She skipped to the foot of the bed and gathered her pistol in her hands. "This will just have to suffice." She raised it and grinned. "I want you to scream." She ordered and shot him in the kneecap.

(Afraid of me, are you afraid of me?)

It was loud, filled with pain. She loved the feeling of power she had over him then. She stared down at the bloody knee, wondering if she had cracked bone. His eyes were tearing. She laughed and stuffed the gun in the back of her jeans.

Well, are you afraid me?

No, she wasn't frightened. She saluted the Riddler. "Thanks for creating me, Boss! Hope you enjoyed the end result." She simply walked to the bedroom door, but she paused and turned back around. "I'm not done with you yet Riddler. Find me if you can. Here's a riddle for you, Eddy. An ebony and crimson goddess bathed in fire, I am Eris. I am the jester of your nightmares and the court fool was once my responsibility. I am your anti-force and where I hide the Enigma will soon discover and go. I was never under your control. I am my own Enigma."

(Afraid of me, are you afraid of me?)

She seemed to have a revelation. She walked back over to him and pulled out his phone.

"Tell me to chase me if you want...or else be silent...I'm giving you a choice."

She pressed a number, hit the call button, and placed it on speaker.

"I'm not afraid of you, but you, Edward, you should be terrified of the Eve you have created."

And she simply left. The front door had shut and it echoed in Edward's mind so much that for a moment he didn't hear his man on the other line calling his name.

Even when it did reach him, he offered no words.

Edward screamed loudly in the most consuming fury he had ever felt.

(A/N): It's been over a year since I updated this story. It actually seems like more time has passed, and I guess it has. Come March 2012 it will have been two years. School ate my creativity and I've been unable to produce much, but I was playing with the idea of rewriting this. This isn't a promise, there's no telling what the future will bring and I want to get started on my original fiction, hoping to get published. But if I were to write this, it may not be until after the next movie comes out. It just depends and if I do rewrite this before then, it won't be uploaded until after the whole thing is finished, to save you the frustration you're facing now, since I've not updated this in so long.

So tell me what you think. Should I rewrite this? Expect darker characterization and a story that may or may not be rated M for such violence and ect.