Selina was surprised by how easy it was to find the former head of Arkham Research. According to her last known address, Dr. Young lived on the second floor of an old Brownstone apartment building in Downtown Gotham. In the dead of night, Selina scaled the walls of the building and stopped at a window on the second floor. She took a moment to look inside. The apartment was dark with no sign of life inside. Selina took the tips of her gloves and cut out a hole in the window. Slowly, she reached inside and unlatched the window. With one graceful movement, Selina pushed up the windowpane and vaulted into the apartment. It appeared that she had wound up in Dr. Young's living room. Selina took stock of the empty apartment. Even if the doctor herself was out, Selina might be able to find a clue about how she and Edward knew each other. There were little in the way of personal mementos in the room apart from diplomas hung on the walls a few pictures of an older couple on the shelf. Wandering over to the coffee table in the middle of the room, Selina found a stack of files neatly organized. She picked the top one off of the pile and began to read through it. CONFIDENTIAL. THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF MY SESSION WITH PHILLIP AVERY, CONDUCTED IN MY CAPACITY AS A CONSULTANT FOR THE GOTHAM CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT-

Selina threw down the file. Shit. Dr. Young wasn't at Arkham anymore, she was at GCPD! She'd be about as useful helping Eddie as Thomas Elliott. Guess it's off to Eddie's office, Selina thought. Time to get out before the doctor came back-

The lights in the living room suddenly turned on. "Don't move."

Too late. Selina slowly turned to look at the source of the noise. She saw a woman standing in the doorway to what she assumed was the bedroom, still dressed in work clothes, aiming a taser at her. "Dr. Young, I presume?" she asked, slowly lowering her hand to where her whip was tied around her hips.

Dr. Young was younger than Selina thought she would be. Prettier too, although her dark hair was tied back in a severe and Selina thought unflattering bun. She could see how she might have piqued Eddie's interest. "Yes," she confirmed. There was little emotion in her blue eyes, but her body language was tense. "How did you find me?"

"I have my ways," Selina drawled, daring to take a step closer. Dr. Young took a step back, holding her taser out higher. Selina had to laugh a bit. "Please, I've had worse things pointed at me. Look, I'm-"

"I know who you are," Dr. Young said. "Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman. You're a notorious thief. You're also a friend of Harley Quinn." The doctor's face was blank, but the tremor in her voice betrayed her fear.

"Relax Dr. Young," Selina said in a tone as smooth as silk. "I'm not here because of Harley or what happened at the Asylum. I just came here to talk to you."

"You broke into my apartment just to talk? What could you possibly have to say to me?"

"It's about Edward Nigma."

The disdainful expression on Dr. Young's face was replaced with one of surprise. She was so surprised, she lowered her taser. "Edward Nigma? Why do you need to talk to me about Edward Nigma?"

Selina's let her grip on the handle of her whip loosen. "I need to find him. Have you seen him lately?"

Dr. Young shook her head. "No, not since the Arkham Memorial-I don't understand. What's going on? Why do you need to find him and why did you think I'd know where he was?"

Selina took a quick breath and considered her next words carefully. One wrong word and the Dr. would go running to Commissioner Gordon. "I just want to check up on him. He hasn't been around lately. I found your journal in his apartment. I thought maybe you had some kind of relationship-"

"We don't have a relationship. He stole that from me after he broke into my office two months ago," Dr. Young harshly interrupted. "Are you saying that Nigma's gone missing?"

Damn. "I see Eddie hasn't lost his way with the ladies," Selina joked.

Dr. Young wasn't going for it. It seemed that lacking a sense of humor was a job requirement for Arkham staff. "You haven't answered my question. What's going on with Edward Nigma?"

Selina sighed. The serious doctor had left her no choice but to let the cat out of the bag. "I went to visit him at his office today. His secretary told me that he hasn't been in since Monday. None of his other friends and contacts have seen him. There wasn't any sign of him at his apartment either."

Dr. Young nodded along. "And you found my journal there. Did it look like he'd been reading it?"

Selina wet her lip. "Yes."

Dr. Young placed the taser down onto an adjacent shelf with her right hand and took her face into her left hand. "I should have known," she murmured. She took a breath to collect herself and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a cell phone and began dialing.

Selina furrowed her brow. "What are you doing?"

Dr. Young looked back at her. "What does it look like? I'm calling Commissioner Gordon."

Well. Selina couldn't have that. She pulled out her whip and swung the tip of it against the floor. The loud crack startled Dr. Young and nearly caused her to drop her phone. She looked at Selina with wide eyes.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Doc," Selina warned. "Eddie's a friend of mine." Well, was but what the doctor didn't know wouldn't hurt her. "I don't feel like seeing him thrown back in Arkham."

The look of surprise on Dr. Young's face gave way to one of anger. "Don't you dare threaten me, Ms. Kyle," she warned. "Not only has Edward Nigma been reading my files on himself, you just said that he's missing. If he's even entertaining going back to his former lifestyle, lives are at stake here!"

"You don't know that," Selina argued. "For all you know, Eddie could have run into trouble on a case. He could have been kidnapped."

"So, the best case scenario is that he's been abducted while working a case? That doesn't exactly change my mind about calling Gordon."

"You consult with the GCPD, Doc. Just how many of them are willing to lift a finger to help Eddie?" Dr. Young's silence told Selina all that she needed to know. Sensing an advantage, Selina pressed on. "Look, I'll be completely honest with you. I think we both know that this isn't just his best chance at going straight. This is his only chance. If Eddie gets sent back to Arkham, that's it. He'll be the Riddler forever. Do you want that on your conscience?"

Dr. Young glared at her. "I'm not responsible for Edward Nigma. Neither are you. If there's any chance that he's relapsing, the proper authorities need to be informed. Not just for Gotham's sake, but his too."

"I know damn well I'm not responsible for Eddie," Selina growled. "But if you call in the GCPD and Eddie turns out to be in real trouble, you could wind up destroying his life. Can you live with that? He's been reformed for a year now. Hasn't he earned just one benefit of the doubt?"

Dr. Young fell silent again and bit her lip. She seemed to be waging an internal debate with herself while Selina waited for a response. Finally she let out a sigh and shoved her phone back into her pocket. "24 hours," she said. "If we don't find him or make some kind of contact with him by then, I'm going to Gordon."

Selina raised an eyebrow. "We? I don't remember inviting you along."

The doctor fixed her with a cold stare. "Those are my terms. If Edward is having some sort of mental health crisis, I'm more equipped to handle that than you."

Selina very much doubted that but didn't want to waste any more time arguing with the other woman. "Fine. But you follow my lead. This could get dangerous and I'm not here to protect you."

"That's fine," Dr. Young answered. "I can go through his case files and see what he was working on before he disappeared."

That was just fine with Selina. She could barely understand Edward's writing anyway. "Great. I'll go to his office and get them for you."

"You're going to break in and steal them? I thought you didn't want attention from the authorities."

Selina rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Doc, you're not going to snitch on me, are you?"

Dr. Young pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'll get his files. Come back here in the morning and I'll have his case load from the last month ready."

Selina gave the other woman a skeptical look. "And just how are you going to convince her to hand them over to you?"

"I'll think of something. Come back here at 11:00 am. Through the front door this time, if you please. I'll be waiting."

Selina tied her whip back around her waist and turned to leave. She could use the time between now and then to check back in with Oswald. Before she left, she gave Dr. Young a warning glare.

"Just remember our deal, Dr. Young. 24 hours. Don't try to double cross me."

Dr. Young glared back at her. "I won't, as long as you don't try to double cross me."

Selina left through the open living room window, both women feeling wary and wondering just what they had gotten into.


As soon as she climbed out of the window, Selina scaled the walls of the Brownstone and settled onto the roof. She took advantage of the solitude to call Oswald to update him on the situation. He was less than pleased when he heard about Dr. Young's involvement.

"A consultant with GCPD!? And you're letting her help investigate?"

"It's not like she gave me much of a choice Ozzie," Selina defended. "Besides, having someone on the inside helping out could be a good thing."

"And just how do you know she's not going to go running to Gordon with what you told her?" Oswald groused on the other line.

"I don't," Selina admitted. "That's why I'll be monitoring the police scanner tonight, just in case. But remember Ozzie, this is the same woman who didn't go running to the police when she found out she was making a monster formula for the Joker. I think she'll be true to her word." She had better be, Selina thought. If she turns Eddie over to the cops, I'll make her wish Joker had killed her.

"Very well," Oswald said. "I've informed Ms. Vance and Ms. Damfino of the situation. Edward hasn't been in touch with them lately, but they'll be on on their way to Gotham tomorrow morning. Ms. Damfino in particular would like to have words with you."

Selina groaned. Just what she needed to deal with, a protective and probably angry, Query and Echo. "Fine, Ozzie. I'll let you know what the Doc and I find out tomorrow." Selina hung up the phone and tilted her head back, looking into the Gotham skylight. The city was still bright with light even at this time of night. In a way, it was almost comforting. She wondered if Eddie, wherever he was, had the same view as she did. She hoped he did.

"Wherever you are Eddie, I hope you appreciate what I'm doing for you."


The next morning, at 11:00 precisely, Selina stood outside the front door of Dr. Young's apartment. There had been no mention of Eddie on the GCPD scanner last night, so Dr. Young at least had kept her word about keeping quiet. Selina rapped her knuckles against the door. "Knock knock, Doctor Young," she called out.

"The door is open," the doctor's voice answered from the other side.

Selina opened the door and entered the apartment. It was just as spartan in the daylight as it was at night, she noted. She crossed the living room into Dr. Young's cramped kitchen, where she spotted her sitting, nose deep in a file, at her dining room table, surrounded by two large file boxes. Selina's eyes lit up. It looked like Dr. Young had proved as good as her word.

Selina let out an appreciative whistle. "Nice. What psychological tricks did you use to get Eddie's secretary to give you this?"

Dr. Young didn't look up at her but instead to continue reading through a file. "I...might have mentioned that I was with GCPD and that if she didn't cooperate, I'd come back with a search warrant."

Selina laughed. She could just imagine the look on that girl's face. Selina pulled out a chair. "You want some help with that stack?"

"No, I'm almost done. Here," Dr. Young pushed another box toward Selina. "You can start looking through this box."

Selina looked at the contents warily. "I though you were only going to get his files from the last month. What is this, everything Eddie's worked on this year?"

Dr. Young looked up at her then, a hint of concern on her face. "No. This is everything he's done in the last month."

If she had been anyone else, Selina might have though she was joking. Selina pulled out the file folders out of the box and began thumbing through them. She must be holding at least a dozen. "I know Eddie's a bit of a workaholic and he probably got a lot more attention after the Sharp thing, but when has he been sleeping?"

"I'm not sure he has," Dr. Young answered. "Has he been having any financial problems that your aware of? That could explain why he's been taking on so many cases."

Possibly, but if Eddie needed money that badly, why wouldn't he go to Oswald? Or just cash the check she gave him? Was he that prideful? Selina sighed. Yes, yes he was. "I don't think so."

Dr. Young put the file she was reading down and folded her hands under her chin. "Maybe this is some kind of coping mechanism. He could be taking on such a large workload to distract himself from any emotional issues he's been having. Or this could be another manifestation of his compulsive behavior."

Selina shifted in her seat, becoming uncomfortable by the turn this conversation was taking. "Tell you what, when we find him doc, you can pick his brain apart all you like. Did you find anything interesting in those files?"

This question snapped the doctor out of her musings. "Most of these cases are infidelity cases. There were one or two spouses who were angry, but I doubt any of them could be a serious threat." Dr. Young pulled out a file from the middle of her stack. "This one was interesting though." She slid the file towards the middle of the table so Selina could get a better look. "Edw-Mr. Nigma, took a case regarding a break in at a warehouse on 22nd Avenue about two weeks ago. Last week though, he returned his client's money and closed the case. There's no mention of why though."

Selina leaned forward to read the file. "Eddie's not one to give up and offer a refund. Something must have spooked him." Selina read through the notes a bit more carefully. The warehouse was located in the Industrial district of Gotham, a favorite hangout for weapons smugglers and the rogues who dealt with them. She took a closer look at the address and did a double take. 22nd Avenue? Selina had a very good idea of what, or rather who, Eddie might have been afraid of. She took the file from Dr. Young. "That's worth a look." In turn she, handed a folder over to Dr. Young. "I've got cheaters in my stack too, but here's a missing persons case. This is the last case Eddie took before he disappeared."

Dr. Young read over it. "Kimberly Bierko, age 19. Went missing six days ago while out for a job interview. Her mother, Mrs. Heather Bierko, came to Nigma and offered him money to find her." Dr. Young put the file down. "I think these two cases are our best leads. I'll go speak to the mother, if you want to check out the warehouse."

Selina got up out of her chair. "Sounds good to me," she said. "I'll be back later tonight." She gave the doctor a cheeky grin. "You know, if you ever get tired of helping the GCPD out, we could make a pretty good team together doc."

Dr. Young rolled her eyes. "Don't push your luck Ms. Kyle."