~_*_~

"Michelle! Wake up you lazy ass!" A book sailed across the room and toward the girl with her head slumped on the desk. Just as it was about to hit her, her hand reached up and caught it.

"I'm awake." Came the muffled reply from the lump of girl.

"You better be, there are police here to see you." She called back. Michelle slumped backward, looking at the official uniform in front of her roommate. Sitting up, she straightened the mess of her hair and smiled.

"What can I do for you Commissioner?" She asked. Gordon smiled down at her.

"We're doing a check-up on all who were injured by the hyenas. Seems there is a disease going around."

"That happened months ago though." Michelle frowned, but Gordon shrugged.

"You know the beaurocracy." He shrugged it off. Michelle smiled despite her reservations and obligingly revealed the wound on her shoulder which was no more than a scab-soon-to-be-scar and the three scratches on her face.

"Doctor said their healing nicely and perfectly normal. For hyena bites that is." Michelle smiled.

"Thank you miss, we'll be in touch. Oh, if you wouldn't mind…?" He held out a camera.

"No problem." Michelle gave an overly happy smile as he snapped the picture.

"Have a nice day miss" He disappeared.

Do not like fat man. Smells like Bat-thing Hyena told Michelle, in her head where she rested during the day.

Curious that they'd send the Commish on a silly little thing like a check-up Michelle replied evasively, rubbing the mark on her shoulder.

Do not trust also, Dayher? Maybe Blue-men not send. Hyena said slyly.

Who then? Michelle asked sarcastically.

Bat-thing Hyena settled again in her mind to let Michelle mulled that over. Michelle made her way to the shower and while she stood under the steaming hot water she thought. Finally she curled up on her bed, ready.

Hyena? She called. Drowsily, Hyena appeared in the mirror next to the bed where Michelle was on her bed.

Yes, Dayher?

If Bat-thing- Batman rather, is after us, why should we wait?

Really? Hyena's amber eyes glowed feral-like as she smiled with sharp teeth.

Yes, really. Are you ready for a little bit of a hunt, Hyena?

Always, Dayher

~_*_~

Hyena let her head fall backwards, glorying in the night. Warm breeze, big moon-disk, many firefly sky-things, and a delicious hunt. She frowned. So far the hunt had been less than productive. She raced all over Gotham and not one battle, not hide or wing of Bat-thing.

Hyena

Yes Dayher?

Best way the catch the Bat is to cause trouble

Trouble, Dayher?

Yes, go free the animals at the zoo, break into a jewelry store, deface public property, and kidnap a cub, that sort of thing

Kidnap? Like, raid? You want to raid things? Hyena sounded excited.

Yes, raid. Go raid a house.

Yay! I like you like this Dayher!

Hyena flung herself from the rooftop, catching herself on her way down. She hunted about before she found what she was looking for. Twins, two girls with black hair. They were oriental and around the age of six. Hyena grinned and tapped on the window. Two sets of brown eyes opened.

~_*_~

"Very nice Rice-cake!" Hyena clapped as one of the twin girls twirled in a very expensive kimono. She giggled, and her sister who Hyena renamed Rice-pad slipped into another kimono and copied her. Hyena, with an adult kimono open around her robe-like, joined in. Then she saw a flash of darkness to her right. Without breaking stride she grabbed the girls and pulled them to the corner of the building. Batman stepped down as Hyena dangled the girls very close to the edge.

"Hyena." Batman dipped his head to her.

"Bat-thing. Okay my little Rice-lings. You'll have to go back now." Hyena turned to the girls.

They groaned in disappointment, before they hopped down and moved around Batman. They picked up two backpacks filled to the brim with Hyena's plunder and skipped down the stairs back to the orphanage.

"Dayher said the best way to find Bat-things is have them find you." Hyena said, slouching to dangle her limbs above the city.

"Why did you want to find me?" He asked voice husky and dark.

"Ah, now we think you are backwards. Wasn't it Bat-thing who sent Commish to find Hyena?" She asked, lying on the building's side. "You wanted to find us, here we are."

"I wanted to find Dayher. To get you back together, to cure you." Batman began. Hyena looked genuinely confused.

"Why? Hyena does nothing wrong, except this and this was only to find Bat-thing. Dayher likes Hyena. Doesn't Dayher?" Hyena looked scared for a moment, and then her expression eased. "Yes, Dayher likes Hyena. Why cure? Why make together? We happy."

"It's not natural." He began again but Hyena laughed.

"And dressing up like a bat is?" But Hyena's voice was smoother, with no animalistic huskiness. It was Dayher's voice. Hyena frowned and shook her head. "Hyena and Dayher are still confused about us and we need sleep now."

Hyena moved to the edge again, before she wobbled a little and fell, headfirst toward the street. Batman jumped and in seconds had the passed out girl in his arms. As he landed he watched her hair lengthen and loose thickness, changing to a single color. For a moment her body almost made the conversion to human before it suddenly zapped back to hyena mode. She groggily opened her eyes and focused on him.

"Hello Bat-thing" She said groggily. "We spent all energy hunting Bats that we didn't hunt rabbity-bits and Hyena is hungry."

Batman took this to mean she needed to be fed to keep the transformation. He swung her into his dark embrace and began a determined march to the Batmobile. She groggily looked about, confused.

A moment later she focused odd, yellow eyes on him.

"Where does Bat-thing take us?" She asked, almost to herself.

"To a Doctor." He answered.

The change was so fast he didn't see it coming. One moment she was lax in his arms, the next she was upright, snarling and hissing at him. His chest burned where she ripped threw his armor with those talons.

"Liar! Betrayer! Foul-Bat-thing!" She growled, and strange to say, her yellow eyes filled with tears. "Knows nothing of trust, of loyalty!"

With that last curse she ran of into the night.

~_*_~

Bruce Wayne scanned the paper, reading headlines of Joker and Harley Quin. But no Hyena. It had been a week and still no Hyena. Not on the streets, nor any news of her at all. It was disturbing to say the least.

The doorbell rang, and Bruce looked up, frowning.

"Are we expecting?" He asked Alfred. The butler looked as confused as he felt.

"No sir. Commissioner Gordon phoned not half an hour ago to cancel breakfast." Alfred disappeared from sight in the uncanny way only servants can. Bruce lifted his coffee and took a sip, only the slam it down when Alfred cried out for him. He stood and ran over to the entrance hall and then froze, amazed.

Alfred barely held up a curvaceous girl, twenty years old at most, who looked, horrible. Her eyes lifted, a pleading gray that swiftly turned venom yellow.

"Foul Bat-thing." Hyena hissed from the girl's mouth before she faded and the girl fainted.