My thanks to stargaze29 for the kind comments. I'd also like to thank those of you who favored/alerted this story.

Batman & Benson 7

Chapter Seven

At the end of another night of flight operations, Rick Flagg was about to go consult with Karin when he received a phone call on his cell. It was Braddock, his superior officer. The fact that Braddock was actually calling, instead of sending one of his usual texts, told Flagg that something was wrong, something major.

"Yeah," he said into the phone. "What's up?"

"You underwent flight operations on a night when the Batman wasn't even in Gotham City," Braddock told him. "He was in Metropolis helping Superman and that Benson bitch. His Lordship isn't very happy about this."

'His Lordship' was the term they used for Senator Varlis, their commander in chief and main financer of this whole operation. The phones they used were all secure lines, but they still didn't want to take any chances. As Ms. Waller always said, it was prudent to act as if the enemy was always listening in.

"Do you have the Batman's itinerary?" Flagg said, annoyed. "Because we don't. Nobody knows what the hell Batman's going to do until long after the fact."

"You're saying you don't have a TV there? You don't have a computer with net access? You seriously didn't know the Batman was out of town? It was all over the news."

"Yes, we got caught with our pants down, I admit that. But we had already launched and were about an hour into the flight operations by the time we realized Batman wasn't even in town. And you know full well that we're running on a standard operating procedure that was established by His Lordship himself. We need to know before launch whether we should cancel for the night, because once we're engaged, it's not a good idea to issue a callback at the last minute."

"Yeah, but now we've got people in Gotham putting two and two together, realizing that Batman couldn't have been behind the attacks," Braddock countered. "It's hard to smear a guy that way, you know what I'm saying?"

"We focus the attacks on the regular, everyday mouth-breathers, anyway," Flagg shot back. "For these morons, keeping up with the news means reading about the latest celebrity sex scandal. They'll still believe Batman's behind the attacks even if he's not in town."

"All right, yeah, point taken," Braddock said, after a pause. "It might not matter in the long run."

"Any luck with the serum research?"

"Nada," came Braddock's reply. "It's looking more and more like what Langstrom created was an accident. And since he can't exactly help in the research, it'll be a long while before we can expect a 2.0 bat creature from the lab, so just work with what you got for now. Unless you hear otherwise from me, run the standard flight ops later tonight."

"Got it." Flagg ended the call.

When Flagg entered the central pen, he saw Karin gazing with concern at the creature, who hung upside-down from its perch; although sound asleep, he saw it was breathing heavily, as if it were in pain.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked Karin.

When she gestured at the creature's side, Flagg's eyes grew wide at what looked like bloody claw marks in the creature's leathery skin. "Good God," he said, shocked. "What happened?"

"He ran into something out there," Karin said, "something that fought back, hard." She shook her head in dismay. "If only he could talk, he could simply tell us what he encountered. For all we know, he may well have fought the Batman last night."

"The Batman was out of town last night, you know that," Flagg said. "And, as far as the serum goes, Dr. Langstrom didn't account for having the power of speech once the subject changed."

"I overheard you speaking with Braddock. Is there anything from him about them reworking the serum?" Karin asked. "Are we any closer to getting a more advanced, second generation creature?"

Now Flagg just shook his head sullenly. "No luck whatsoever. They're starting to think that the serum that Langstrom created was a fluke. Braddock also verbally spanked us for launching flight ops when Batman was out of town."

Karin shot him an irritated look. "Like we're supposed to know where Batman is every second of the day? The guy's practically a goddamned phantom!"

"I know," Flagg said, as he stared up at the hulking beast that hung in front of him. Completely naked, the monster's well-endowed sex organs were in plain view. To Flagg's untrained eye, the creature's 'equipment' looked like it still worked. And in that instant, an idea formed in his mind. "We have reports of women being attacked, right?"

"Yeah." Karin gestured at the slumbering creature. "In fact he even tried to carry a woman off a rooftop, but she was too heavy for him. Why?"

'Bingo, that's it,' Flagg thought. 'The creature's sex drive is still working just fine.'

"I think we may not have to bother with reworking the serum in order to get a more advanced second gen creature," he told her.

"Really? How do you propose we get the second gen, then?"

"We just let nature take its course," Flagg replied with a smile.

Karin just stared at him as if he were crazy. "Are you kidding? I mean, God help the woman who gets impregnated by this thing!"

"I didn't say it would be easy," Flagg said. "But through the natural breeding process, the OHMR may finally get the true super soldier they're looking for."

B&B

The first thing the next morning, Olivia got dressed for the seminar she was scheduled to give, while Alex called Marguerite Pena to make arrangements to hide Francine within the Meta Underground in Gotham City. They had agreed that Alex would go back to Gotham City early with Francine while Olivia stayed in Metropolis to give the seminar. Lana would also be going to Gotham City with Alex and Francine, while Chloe would go with Olivia later. They had promised Francine that they would get involved in helping her, and Lana and Chloe were determined to keep that promise.

'Which was awfully nice of them,' Olivia thought, as she slipped on her shoes. 'Considering Francine broke into their penthouse and took them both hostage.'

Still, Olivia couldn't be too hard on Francine. She knew something of what it was like to be a fugitive, since her close friend Samantha Spade had been hunted by Cadmus not too long ago. And now here's the OHMR chasing Francine like she was a wild animal.

'The more things change,' Olivia wearily thought, 'the more they stay the same….'

Once she was fully dressed, Olivia turned around and saw Alex was sitting on the edge of the bed, with one bare foot on the floor, while the other was tucked underneath her. Clad in just panties and an "I fought Cadmus!" t-shirt, her blond hair was still ruffled from just having woken up.

Olivia thought she looked so beautiful that it gave her the crazy idea to just throw Alex back against the bed and to use her teeth to remove her lover's panties before seriously defiling her. She had even checked her watch, to make sure she had enough time to make whoopee…until Olivia abruptly stopped herself.

'No, there's too much to do today,' she chided herself. 'I should stay focused on the goals that we've set for ourselves for today. First thing is to get this seminar done.'

Olivia had been asked several times by the police convention organizers if she was planning to back out of the seminar. And they made it clear that, should Olivia choose to cancel, they would understand perfectly, given the fact that she was in the middle of a hostage situation last night. But now, more than ever, Olivia felt she needed to give this seminar. There was something very specific that she wanted to say. She planned on stopping off at the newsstand in the lobby of Lana and Chloe's building to get a much-needed prop for her speech.

After she hung up the cell, Alex sat back on the bed with a dejected look. "Damn it."

"What's wrong, babe?" Olivia asked.

"First off, we got the shelter set up for Francine," Alex assured her. "But there's a new problem. The number of Metas arriving for sanctuary have more than tripled since last night. Marguerite and the others in the Underground are becoming overwhelmed."

Olivia stared at her in confusion. "What the hell's going on?"

"This." Alex got up and turned on the TV set. Changing the channel to a newscast, they watched a news report about the attacks by Magneto on Metropolis last night. None other than Amanda Waller herself appeared, making a bold speech about how the OHMR stood ready to fight back the threat of war brought upon normal citizens by evil Metas like Magneto.

Once she was done, a news anchor came on, with the tag line "THE WAR RIGHT HERE AT HOME!" over his shoulder. The anchor then proceeded to calmly explain what concerned citizens should do if they encounter a Meta.

After watching five minutes of this frantic dog and pony show, Olivia just shook her head. "Unbelievable!"

"Marguerite tells me that every Meta they've encountered since this media onslaught has begun are scared out of their minds," Alex said. "They're convinced that the days of them being hunted by Cadmus have returned again. And can you blame them?"

"Of course not," Olivia replied. "Hell, this scares the crap out of me, and I'm not even a Meta!"

"Marguerite needs my help, desperately," Alex told her. "I'm going to have to take a more active hand in running the Underground, now."

Olivia thought back to when Alex had been arrested by Cadmus. The OHMR knew full well of her role in hiding Metas, and it was because of this fact that Alex had kept her distance from the newly revived resistance movement, acting as their leader from afar. "You sure that's a good idea, sweetie? Now that Waller's got her OHMR on the warpath, you might be making yourself a tempting target by stepping up with the Underground."

"What choice do I have?" Alex asked. "I mean, I've always known that they were watching me, which was why I stayed away from the Underground as much as I could. But things are coming to a crisis level; Marguerite needs my help."

Olivia had an uncomfortable memory of Alex as a prisoner of Cadmus. Those bastards had her trussed up and muzzled as if she was some sort of a wild animal. She mentally brushed those memories aside and gave Alex a hug. "Just be careful, please."

"I will," Alex solemnly promised. "Call me after the seminar? I want to hear how it went."

"Will do," Olivia said. "Elliot should be in Gotham City by the time you get there."

"If he's staying with us, then I hope he doesn't arrive before I do, or else he'll be stuck waiting for us on the street!"

Olivia shook her head. "I got him a room at the Grand View Hotel."

Alex frowned at her. "You put him up at the Grand Pervo Hotel? We just busted a ring of pedophiles there!"

"Yeah, but that's not the hotel's fault, is it? Besides, I offered for Elliot to stay with us, but he wouldn't hear of it."

Alex abruptly shook her head. "I know how stubborn Elliot can be. But he's practically family, and he's staying with us, and that's final."

"Yes, Ma'am," Olivia replied, as she gave Alex a joking salute.

They kissed and hugged once more before Olivia took her leave of Alex. The next time they would see each other would be in Gotham City.

She went out into the penthouse to bid goodbye to Lana and Chloe for now. But they were nowhere to be seen. Olivia found them, along with Francine, out on the patio, as they stared at the large column of black smoke that arose in the otherwise cheery Metropolis skyline.

"What's that from?" Olivia asked.

"The battle last night," Chloe answered. "The mall's wasted."

"The fire fighters have finally been able to get a hold on the fires," Lana added,

"Where's Superman?" Olivia wondered aloud.

"Out helping to hunt down Magneto," Lana said. "Superman volunteered his services in helping in the manhunt with the OHMR troops."

Olivia smiled. "Waller must have loved that!"

"She clearly wasn't thrilled," Lana said with a grin. "But since her group is supposed to be about human-meta relations, she couldn't very well turn him down."

"It was a smart move on Superman's part," Olivia pointed out. "He can keep an eye on the OHMR in the meantime."

"That was mainly why he did it," Chloe said.

Olivia glanced at Francine. "Alex tells me that everything's all set up for you in Gotham City."

Francine nodded. "What do we do once we get there?"

"I'll set up a meeting between you and the Batman later this evening," Olivia told her. "He'll want to hear your story firsthand. After that, he'll decide what our next step will be."

Olivia bid Lana and Francine farewell and left for the convention with Chloe. Olivia had already packed her things and would leave for Gotham City with Chloe immediately after the seminar. They stopped off at the newsstand in the lobby of the condominium so Olivia could buy a copy of the Daily Planet. It had a large photo of herself, along with Alex, Jane and Maura, from lat night, when they were bound and gagged hostages of Intergang. The photo was taken from the convention center's surveillance system.

Chloe eyed the paper with interest. "May I ask why you bought that? I mean, after all, you don't really need to know what happened last night, since you were right in the middle of it."

"It's for the seminar," Olivia answered. "You'll see."

Less than an hour later, Olivia stood in a packed auditorium of mostly fellow police officers from all over the country. She noticed there were a few reporters present, with several news crews in the last row above having set up cameras to record what she had to say. Chloe sat in the same row as Jane, Maura, Munch and Fin.

"When the Special Victim's Unit first began in New York," Olivia began, "we were treated horribly by the rest of the NYPD. They called us every name in the book: the panty police, the mealy-mouth patrol, the weenie squad. All of you are cops, and all of you understand the basic attitude of being a police officer. We see ourselves as being warriors for law and order who defend the weak. But in forming this macho attitude, many cops wind up developing contempt for those who become victims of crime. But they're forgetting a very important point."

Olivia then pressed a key on her laptop computer, which in turn switched on the slide projector. The audience gasped at the image which Olivia had projected on the screen behind her. It was a blown up picture of her, taken from the Daily Planet front page, of when she was a tie and gagged hostage last night.

"Anybody can become a victim of crime," Olivia told the hushed crowd. "It doesn't matter who you are, or how tough you are, a criminal act can strike us at any time, and an act of crime will humble even the greatest of us. That kind of empathy for the victim is what the Special Victim's Unit is all about. And why I'm glad to be able to speak with you about it today."

After the speech, for which an embarrassed and blushing Olivia received a standing ovation from the crowd, she met up with Chloe and the others. She bid Jane and Maura farewell (after making sure she had their contact info), but before she bid farewell to Munch, Olivia had a question for him.

"Have you been in touch with The Question lately?" she asked.

Munch just shook his head. "Not even the Lone Gunmen can reach him. They seem to think he's off working on something very important. Nobody knows what."

"What about the Lone Gunmen?" Olivia asked. "They fins out anything about the OHMR?"

Munch shrugged. "When I last talked to them, they said that, from all appearances, the OHMR is an above-board, legitimate government operation."

"Which means we have to dig deep to find out what they're really hiding," Olivia muttered.

Olivia later left Metropolis with Chloe aboard a private jet, gripped with the unnerving notion that a major battle was coming; one that might be costly and could not be avoided. She had called Bruce and updated him on the situation with Francine.

After the call, when Olivia spoke her solemn thought aloud, Chloe said, "So what else is new? I mean, life seems to be a series of major battles, intermixed with little ones. All we can do is just fight as best we can."

Olivia reached out and gently squeezed Chloe's hand. "We couldn't ask for better allies than you and Lana."

When they landed at Gotham City International Airport, night had fallen and Olivia actually felt calm and at ease amidst the darkly gothic skyline of her adopted home. 'God help me, but I love this place,' she thought. 'And if there's to be another major battle, then at least I'll be fighting it on my home turf.'

B&B

"What are you looking for?" Dick asked.

"Doing some research into the Gotham City STAR labs," Bruce replied, as he glared at the Batcomputer. "It was formerly run by a husband and wife team, the Langstroms. But, within the past few months, they had been replaced by Dr. Neville Charger."

Dick looked puzzled. "Is this related to the bat creature case?"

"Yes. Liv called me earlier and filled me in on an interesting development. Francine Langstrom went to Lana Lang's place in the hope of getting help from them. It turned out that she's being hunted by the OHMR."

"Really?" Dick asked, stunned. "What's her power?"

Bruce shook his head at him. "She's not a meta. She's being hunted because of what she claimed happened to her husband, Kirk. Francine claims that Kirk was experimenting with a serum that changed him into the bat creature that's been strafing Gotham for the past few nights."

"Holy Jekyll and Hyde," Dick muttered. "Do you believe that story?"

"I'll see later on. Liv and Alex are arranging for me to speak with her…or, I should say, the Batman will be speaking with her."

"You need back up?" Dick asked, a hopeful look in his eye.

"Why don't we give it another night's rest," Bruce told him. "I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather not rush your recovery."

Dick nodded, but he appeared ill at ease. At first Bruce thought it was because he wouldn't be able to join him for yet another night as Robin. But then Dick said, "I heard what happened with you and Babs."

Now it was Bruce's turn to feel tense as he recalled the phone call he had before with Barbra. Because she had went out as Batgirl without authorization, he had effectively clipped her wings. She was barred from the team until further notice. "Until you can prove to us that you can be trusted again," Bruce had told her. "You need to learn that, when you are off duty, you are off duty, Barbra. You don't go out on your own. Got it?"

"Yes…." Her voice was a meek little sigh that wavered with the touch of a sob, and for an instant, Bruce had regretted his harsh tone.

Now he sat back from the computer and let out a sigh. "I knew it was a mistake to let her keep that old Batgirl outfit."

"That's hardly fair," Dick said. "She made that outfit herself, Bruce. She deserves to keep it."

"That's what Alfred told me." Bruce shook his head. "When she first joined the team, I was always uncomfortable with her going out with us. And I figured if I rode her hard enough, that she would quit."

"But she didn't."

"No, she stuck it out, didn't she?" Bruce said, not without some admiration in his voice. "But as long as she went out with us, I was fine with it. Because we could keep an eye on her. She's still just a kid, Dick."

"Not that much of a kid," Dick said. "I mean, she'll be graduating high school next year. And you've got to admit, she was a big help in letting us know where Harley and Ivy were last seen going."

"You defending her?"

"She trained very hard, Bruce. She can defend herself quite handily. I think she's earned the right to go out by herself as Batgirl if need be. It's a big city with a lot of problems."

"That it is, Dick." Yet he still wasn't sure if Barbra could handle herself alone as Batgirl. Perhaps it was because he still saw her as being the hyper little girl that she was when she first joined them. Dick had a point, Barbra had matured greatly in the past few years.

Bruce glanced back at the Batcomputer. "While I'm brushing up on everything that has to do with STAR Labs before my meeting tonight, why don't you continue combing the city for possible hideouts being used by Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy?"

Dick nodded as he sat down beside Bruce and switched on the auxiliary console. "You got it. You still think they could be hiding out in the city proper?"

"It fits. They disappeared way too quickly when Batgirl lost sight of them. That tells me they've got to be within a five block radius of where Batgirl last saw them."

"Thanks to Batgirl, without whose help we never would know where to start looking," Dick said, as he began searching a map of Gotham City that he called up onscreen.

Bruce gave him a smirk. "Don't worry, Boy Wonder, her suspension isn't permanent."

"That's good, because I'm actually starting to miss her," he replied. Then Dick glanced at him and added, "Uh…don't tell her I said that, ok?"

B&B

When Olivia arrived at her office with Chloe in tow, she received a call from Alex, who told her that she had deposited Francine at the safe house. Alex also said that she retrieved Elliot from his hotel room and brought him back to their place, where he was comfortably set up in the spare bedroom.

"That's great, hon!" Olivia said.

Then she was stunned to see the entire SVU bullpen rise up and give her a thunderous standing ovation. Olivia glanced at Chloe, as if to say, 'do you believe this?' Yet she was further annoyed to see that a grinning Chloe had joined in on the wild applause.

"What's that noise?" Alex asked over the phone. "Sounds like a freight train!"

"The goofy guys in the bullpen are all applauding me!" she said with dismay.

"Well, take a bow!" Alex told her.

"Talk to you later," Olivia said. Then she glanced at her team with an annoyed look. "I didn't do anything! I got taken hostage! What are you guys applauding for?"

"You deserve kudos just for surviving Metropolis, Inspector!" Kate happily replied. "That place is so cheery, it's creepy!"

Olivia pulled a laughing Chloe into a one-armed hug and said, "Has everybody met Chloe? She's from Metropolis, did you guys know that?"

"Present company excepted," J'onn politely told her. He placed a cake on his desk. It was decorated with little plastic people; one of them was a woman who looked a little like Olivia with her arms held triumphantly up in the air. "We wanted to get a more proper cake decoration, but this was the best we could do in a short period of time."

Mike pointed at the little woman figure with her arms raised up. "That's supposed to be you, but she's not surrendering," Mike said with an irritated look at Andrea. "She's holding her hands up in victory."

"Oh, you guys…." Olivia said, touched. "You shouldn't have…."

"Aww, that's so sweet," Chloe said.

"Isn't it?" Olivia agreed. "Thanks, so much! C'mon, let's dig in."

"Maybe we should see if Harvey wants a slice," Andrea suggested.

"Harvey? Bullock?" a confused Olivia said. "He's here?"

Katie nodded. "Came in early this afternoon. Said he came here straight from the hospital. Wanted to see you."

"I told him you were still in Metropolis and wouldn't be back until very late," Linda added. "He said he would wait, and he did…all day. I let him make himself comfortable in your office, boss. He looks really worried about something."

"Excuse me a moment," Olivia said, as she went to her office. "Chloe, help yourself to a slice, hon!"

She found Harvey gazing out the window. He turned and gave her a slight smile. "Congrats on surviving Metropolis, Inspector."

"Thanks, Harvey," she said, as she closed the door to her office. "We have cake. Want some?"

When Harvey shook his head in the negative, Olivia knew that, whatever problem he had, it must have been a doozey for him to turn down an offer of cake. "Did you get out of the hospital today?"

He nodded. The look on his face was clouded by anxiety.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good," he said, with a quick nod. "I feel like getting some payback from those two broads…but I gotta still take it easy, the doc sez."

"You still have the rest of the week off," Olivia said. "Why'd you come here?"

"To talk with ya," Harvey said. Then he just stood there, staring uncomfortably at his shoes.

"Have a seat," Olivia offered, as she sat facing him on the front of her desk. "What's the problem? I thought Renee was the one whom you talked things out with."

"I do," he said. "But this time, Renee's the problem. She's a dyke, Benson! And I never even saw it coming!"

'Oh crud….' Olivia dismally thought. "Um, have you spoken with Renee?"

"No, I haven't seen her since we've been released from the hospital." Harvey gave her a mortified look. "Besides, Renee ain't home. She's staying at her girlfriend's place! I still can't get over the fact that Renee, my Renee, has a freaking girlfriend, Benson! She's a freaking dyke!"

'And what the hell am I, chopped liver?' Olivia angrily wondered. "Can I ask you something? Are you saying that, now that you know what Renee's sexual preference is, you want nothing to do with her?"

"NO!" Harvey bellowed. "Nothing could be further from the truth! I still love the little creep with all my heart, like she's my own kid sister. Renee is my partner, and nothing will change that. But she's a freaking dyke, Benson!"

"Ok, first off, please stop using that word," Olivia told him. "The term is lesbian. And you need to tell Renee what you've told me right away. Think about what Renee must be feeling right now, Harvey. Returning back to work might be very awkward for her as well. She's going to need all the love and support from you that you can give her."

Harvey suddenly stared at her as if he saw things in a new light. "Nothing's really changed, ain't it? I can treat her the same, just like always."

"Renee is the same Renee you know and love," Olivia told him. "This piece of news shouldn't change anything between you, not if you really love her as much as you say you do."

"I do." He got up from the chair and started walking towards the door. Then he stopped and glanced back at Olivia. "Oh and…uh, thanks, Benson…."

"Good to have you back, Harvey," a smiling Olivia said.

"Good to be back," he replied. "I hear the SVU's been picking up some of the MCS cases while we were all out. I don't like that. It ain't right having a bunch of second raters handling our cases."

"Don't mention it; we're happy to help," Olivia muttered, as she watched Harvey through the glass partition of her office as he helped himself to a piece of cake. "It's truly good having you back, Harv," she added with a chuckle. "Doesn't feel like a regular day around here without one of your backhanded insults…."

B&B

Michael "Mickey" Turftman sat on his cot in his cramped cell at Gothika Prison and let out a sigh. Through the cell's bars he could hear the usual frenetic sounds of life in a large prison: inmates were shouting at each other; guards were shouting at them to be quiet, all amid the occasional clang and clatter of a cell block door being closed.

'Two more years of this,' he thought forlornly. Still, he should consider himself lucky. Mickey had been willing to work with the DA, that Dawes broad, testifying against Matty, who had slaughtered Scott Thorne and his entire crew. But all of that become null and void when the OHMR took custody of Matty, who had become some kind of a weird shape-shifter.

Despite the fact that her case against Matty went out thw window, Dawes still cut Mickey a deal just because he had been willing to work with them. As a result, he only got two years in prison for being an accessory to drug dealing. With good behavior, Mickey knew he could shave that sentence down a great deal.

'I just have to survive prison,' he thought glumly, 'which has now become even harder….'

The news that Matty had escaped OHMR custody had hit Mickey hard. He requested special protection from the warden, only to be told that he was presently in the safest place in the world. "No criminal ever breaks into jail," the warden assured him.

But Matty was not just any criminal. Mickey saw what he was capable of, and it scared him to no end. Matty's powers were far more than just changing shape, he could turn himself into a hulking monster that crashed through stone walls like they were made of paper. He only hoped that if Matty came for him in here, Mickey wouldn't be caught trapped in his cell as if he were a doomed rat in a cage.

Mickey's dark musings were interrupted when a guard walked up to the cell door. He peered inside at Mickey and smiled. "How's it going, Mickey?"

Alarm bells rang within Mickey's skull when he heard that. He used his regular name, Michael Turftman, ever since he was first locked up here. Nobody knew what his nickname was, nobody but….

"Matty?"

The guard, who looked nothing like Matty, held up his finger. "Watch this."

Mickey watched in horror as the man's finger changed shape into that of a key. He then slid the "key" into the cell door's lock, then opened the door and stepped inside with Mickey.

"Pretty neat, huh?" the guard said. And now his voice sounded just like Matty. "They taught me that at the OHMR facility. They taught me a lot of things, Mickey. Like how you tried to cut a deal with the goddamned Gotham City DA, a deal that would have put me in jail for life."

"HELP ME!" Mickey screamed at the top of his lungs. "HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!"

Matty, who had changed back into his own features, just smiled at Mickey. "I'd like to think of it as finally putting you out of your misery."

He brought up his hands, which were now shaped like a pair of sledgehammers, and slammed them together with Mickey's head right in between them.

Fortunately for Mickey, he never felt the killing blow.

B&B

Clayface changed back into the form of the guard and quickly stepped out of the cell, closing the door behind him. Then he waved down the guard at the end of the cell block and shouted, "Hey, we got a dead guy in here!"

When the guard came over and saw the headless body of inmate Michael Turftman in the cell, he let out a curse and opened up the cell door.

While he was inside the cell, Clayface made a point of calling several more guards over in an attempt to create as much confusion and chaos as possible. Then he used the milling crowd of guards and prison officials that were assembled outside the cell to quickly slip away.

When he reached the end of the cell block, Clayface glanced around the corner and saw a group of nurses leaving from the prison infirmary down the hall for the day.

With a big grin, he transformed himself into a female nurse and followed the crowd of nurses straight out the main doors of the prison.

Once he hit the streets, Clayface changed back into a man, this time clad in an expensive looking suit. He took the train, and was back in Gotham City within thirty minutes.

Standing in the middle of the busy train station platform in Gotham City, Clayface gazed up at an ad on the wall. Rachel Dawes stared back at him with a smile on her face. Under the picture of Dawes was the slogan: re-elect Rachel Dawes for District Attorney! Show Gotham City you care about fighting crime!

On the train ride back from the prison, Clayface had idly wondered who his next target would be. Now he knew. He remembered Waller telling him about how much of an ally to the Batman this Dawes was supposed to be, so not only would he be fulfilling a personal vendetta by killing Dawes, who would have locked him away for life, but he'd be messing up things for the Batman, which was even better.

'Kill all of the Batman's allies, before I kill him,' Clayface thought. 'Starting with Ms. Dawes….'

He looked forward to meeting her. She was such a gorgeous woman; he might just have some fun with Dawes, riding her like a bucking bronco at a rodeo, before crushing her head into a pulp between his hands.

Whistling a jaunty tune, Clayface walked down the platform, until he disappeared into the crowds.

To be continued...