"Oh, Eddie. Eddie, Eddie, Eddie…"

Unbeknownst to Edward Nigma, somewhere in the darkness nearby, a husky female voice is sighing.

"Now what have you gotten yourself into THIS time?"

Stepping out of the shadows of the quaint little room, Catwoman stalks languidly towards the incapacitated Prince of Puzzle's hospital bed.

Emerald green eyes curiously scan the various machines gathered around. Like a kid in a candy store, she touches and inspects each one. Running her fingers along one such machine, Selina watches in awe as Edward's heart beats on the monitor nearby. Slow and steady, a faint deet sounds from the machine in tune to his pulse.

"I mean, just look at you. All tubes and wires… How easy it would be for me to just pull the plug."

Her fingers itch to turn the various knobs and push each and every button. How she longs to pull the plug and hear him flat line, to watch him squirm in agony as she rips the countless vital tubes and wires from his body. Oh, she can see it now…

A cruel and malicious grin forms along her delicate lips, only to be replaced by a rather disappointed pout. Watching him lie there in bandages, unmoving and unresponsive, it just doesn't seem fair. Perhaps it's just no fun if he can't fight back. With a heavy sigh, Selina sinks into the chair beside his bed.

"But, you know me… That's not really my style."

Never had she seen him like this before, or any of her other rogue brethren for that matter. Sure, an ass-whooping comes hand in hand with their line of work, but still… He just looks so pathetic, so helpless. Somewhere deep inside her soul, Selina actually feels sorry for him.

A growl rises within her. Since when did she have a conscience anyway? This is Edward Nigma she is looking at, after all. The Riddler. Complete and major asshole with an ego the size of a small country.

Just how many times has he betrayed her, used her as a pawn in one of his little mind games? And not just her. Nearly all of the Gotham underground has at one point been drawn into the crossfire all thanks to Eddie's half-baked schemes.

Selina must admit, she had come here tonight to gloat. Upon hearing that Edward had been beaten mercilessly and hospitalized, the curiosity was simply killing her. Not to mention, the cat in her needed a post worth scratching. Ever since that so called Hush incident, she has been dying to sink her claws into his arrogant ass. She had intended to kick the poor, broken man while he was down, but now that she's actually here…

She opens her mouth to speak, but cannot find the words. Instead, she just sits there quietly, watching as his chest rises and falls, unsure what else to do.

"Eddie?" Selina finally squeaks, her voice breaking the silence and nearly startling her. "Can you hear me?"

Dragging the chair across the hard, linoleum floor, Selina inches closer to Eddie's bedside.

"You can hear me, can't you? I bet nothing can stop those gears from turning. Not even a coma can stop the great Edward Nigma. Right?"

The word 'coma' feels heavy on her tongue, she doesn't like the taste. Sitting in the silent room, she waits for a response, but knows that one will never come.

She so desperately wishes to hear that pompous laugh of his, see that trademark smirk and all-knowing grin. What she wouldn't give to hear him go on and on, ranting about being foiled by the Bat just one more time. She'd even sit through one of his torturous lectures on how mind-numbingly dull and incompetent the human population can be just to hear his voice. That ear-grating voice that hangs somewhere in the balance of singsong boyish wit and the delusional tirades of a madman.

"You know… There are those who'd say you got what you had coming. But me… well… Seeing you like this… You don't deserve this. You don't deserve this at all…"

Drawing her knees up to her chin, she continues watching him with interest. Suddenly she feels horrible about ever thinking ill of him, for ever wishing him harm.

An impulse strikes. Her body takes on a mind of its own. The urge to be near him is all she can think of as she finds herself slowly creeping up onto his bed. Carefully, she eases herself next to him, her legs dangling off the side of the bed as she stares into his bandaged face.

She can't help but smirk. Even now, all broken and bruised, he's still quite handsome. In fact, she had always thought him good looking. That boyish charm and debonair smile. Those electric eyes and slicked back hair. Tall and sleek and dressed to kill. Hell, every woman loves a man in a suit, even if said suit is covered head to toe in little green question marks. It's no doubt he could have been a lady killer, that is if it wasn't for his mouth.

Selina stares into his closed eyes and imagines what he would say to her at this very moment. No doubt some long rant filled with big words and possibly an innuendo or two. Perhaps he'd take this moment to question her intellect just so that he may inflate his own ever growing ego. Or maybe he would just use this moment to complain about the hospital food or the fact that he prefers green JELL-O to red. That's the great thing about the Riddler, after all. The unpredictable predictableness.

Suddenly an image of Edward dressed in her skintight leather cat suit crosses her mind. Throwing her hands up to her mouth, Selina stifles a laugh. Even while knee-deep in the middle of making her life a living hell, he always seemed to have a way of making her smile.

"We've been through a lot, you and me… You've scratched my back and I've scratched yours… Or was it more like you've stabbed me in the back…" Counting on her fingers, she recalls each and every betrayal. "Blown up my hotel room, set Killer Croc and Ivy after me, stalked me, shot at me, stabbed, fear gassed, USED me like a pawn time and time again… But still…" Her tone softens. Reaching for his hand, she weaves her fingers between his. "I forgive you."

Her free hand reaches out towards his face, gingerly stroking his stubbled cheek as she stares down at him adoringly. A warm smile stretches across her face as she spies a spray of seemingly inconspicuous freckles adorning his skin. How could she not have noticed those before?

"I guess… that's the real reason why I came here tonight. Just to tell you that. That no matter what happens, you're still my friend. Thick as thieves… Till the end. And right now… you're just about as close to the end as I've ever seen you."

Tucking the stray strands of auburn hair behind his ear, she continues to admire his sleeping face.

"I know black cats are supposed to be unlucky and all, but…"

Softly, she presses her lips to his bandaged forehead, leaving a blood-red smudge of lipstick as a memento.

"There… All better now. That one's for a speedy recovery. And this one…"

This time she leans in further and presses her lips to his, soft and sweet, enjoying the roughness to his skin as she cups his head in her hands.

A clock ticks loudly on the wall somewhere. Silence fills the room. The faint sound of his heartbeat quickens ever so slightly as his heart rate begins to climb. She doesn't even notice.

Breaking from her kiss with the slumbering Riddler, Selina lets her lips hover mere inches from his face as she whispers in his ear.

"When in Rome."

Selina's ears prick up to the sound of footsteps approaching. The orderlies must be making their nightly rounds. A Cheshire grin threatens to form as she grabs her whip and climbs down off his bed.

"Pleasant dreams, Eddie." She purrs, hoping that somewhere in dreams Edward can hear her. Carefully, she climbs back through the open window and into the night from which she came, leaving nothing of her existence besides a smudge of red lipstick in the shape of a kiss.