The chemicals coursing through his veins burned like Hell, but it was all worth it if she loved him again...if they could be together again. Butch groaned in agony. This was even worse than the first time he endured this torturous treatment. Maybe it was because this was the second time he had endured this. Maybe it was because in the last 24 hours he had gone from being something zombie-ish to being alive again to being shot and killed by Penguin to being back in that zombie-ish form to now having detoxing chemicals once again flowing through his body beginning the zombie to normal transition again. He honestly wasn't sure how much his body could take.

The last thing Butch remembered was being reunited with Tabby...his Tabby. He had just been cured of whatever zombie state Dr. Strange's radioactive sludge had left him in. He was able to hold her and kiss her and tell her that he loved her and she said she loved him too. He had never been happier. Then that rat Penguin shot him and he lay in the floor bleeding out as Tabby cried over him as everything faded to black. When he woke up there were IVs and tubes coming out of him and Dr. Strange was feverishly working to revive him, muttering something about Penguin not destroying all his hard work. After all it had been Strange that had cured Butch in the first place. He could feel the pain increasing twofold and as the room started to go dark, reached out and grabbed Strange. "Get Tabby!" he growled.

After Penguin shot Butch, Tabby watched the life drain from him while Penguin turned the gun on her explaining that now she would watch the person she loved die like he was forced to do when she killed his mother. And then once he felt she had suffered enough, he would end her life too. Then Penguin shot her in the leg and his men dumped her at her friend Barbara's hideout. Tabby's heart was shattered. All she knew was Penguin would pay for killing Butch with his own life. She'd see to that!

Barbara had mended Tabby's leg and wrapped it in gauze. It still hurt like Hell, but nowhere near the pain her heart was in. She had spent the last 24 hours resting and mourning. The walls felt like they were closing in on her and she needed to get out even if just for a second. Tabby snuck down the back staircase and into the alley knowing Barbara wouldn't understand. The cold night air swirled around her, but she hardly noticed, lost deep in thought and grief. If she had a clear head, she would have noticed the two goons approaching her from behind and been able to stop them. They grabbed her and blindfolded and gagged her, dragging her into the night.

The next thing Tabby knew, she was dropped to the floor and left to remove her own blindfold and gag. "Where am I?" she yelled before realizing she was back in Strange's warehouse. How could someone be so cruel to bring her back here to the exact spot that she had been reunited with a cured Butch...her Butch? The exact same spot she had kissed him for the last time. The same spot she had felt his strong arms around her for the last time. The same spot she had watched his life end. His body was no longer there and someone had made an attempt at cleaning up the blood, but there was still a red stain on the floor where his body had been. Tabby's head fell into her hands as the tears spilled from her eyes, the pain too fresh and too much for her.

"Tabitha."

Tabby froze. It couldn't be. That was his voice, but he was gone.

"Tabby, baby, come on, look up…it's me."

She was hearing things. She knew she was. Tabby raised her head to see a dark figure approaching her from the other side of the room. As the figure came towards her, into the dim light, she shuddered. Now she was seeing things. Standing there in front of her was Butch. But it couldn't be…he was gone…forever…and now she was losing her mind.

She slowly and cautiously got to her feet and reached out for him, completely expecting her hand to pass through this mirage. But it didn't. Her hand gently rested on his very solid chest. "Butch? It...it can't be. Penguin shot you…I…I watched you die."

"Tabby, baby, come here," Butch whispered, pulling her against his chest and wrapping his arms around her. "It is me. It's real. I'm right here."

"But how?" Tabby asked, holding him tight.

"Strange...he brought me back...again," Butch sighed. He'd never been so happy to hold someone the way he was holding Tabby now. They clung to each other like they were holding on for dear life, Tabby's head buried against his chest.

Butch gently touched the side of her face, running his finger down her jaw, gently tipping her chin up so he could look her in the eyes. "I love you Tabby."

"I love you too Butch," Tabby said as she leaned up and kissed him softly. The kiss deepened as all the emotions from the last few days came to the surface.

Dr. Strange stepped into the room, clearing his throat, breaking up their reunion kiss. "You are not safe here. Either of you. You must leave Gotham and never return," he said as he grabbed Butch's arm and placed a set of keys in his hand. "There is a car sitting outside in the alley. Now hurry! Penguin will not stop until you are both dead."

Butch was tired and weak from all he had been through, but they didn't waste a minute getting to the car and driving off into the night once they had thanked Strange.

Tabby drove so Butch could rest. Butch's snoring had annoyed her in the past, but right now it was music to her ears. She knew he was alive as long as he was snoring. She drove until she could hardly see straight. Butch mumbled in his sleep and turned towards her finally waking up after hours of driving. She pulled over at a small diner on the side of the road.

"Where are we?" he yawned, attempting to stretch in the cramped car, his body still aching.

"I'm not really sure," Tabby shrugged. "But you've been sleeping for around six hours, so we are nowhere near Gotham."

"Good," Butch smirked, looking out the window, motioning toward the diner. "How about some breakfast?"

Tabby finally allowed herself to breathe as a smile formed on her lips. "Sounds good, Butch." They were far enough away to be safe from Penguin. This was the beginning to their new life far from Gotham and all the drama and craziness that it contained