As much as it pained him to admit, the rogues really were creatures of habit. This was their second meeting in as many weeks and each person had chosen to adopt the exact same area of space which they had for the first meeting. Even the latest addition to the mix had apparently had the foresight to allow the others to take their space before choosing one for himself. As promised, Pyg had sent a gift for the group, or more specifically Jon, to use in their fight and the services of Eduardo Flamingo were quite the gift. Edward had never had any dealings with the man himself but he had heard rumours of the self-proclaimed 'Eater of Faces' and the mans' success as an assassin did precede him. Still, Edward found him a little unsettling, not that he would admit that to anyone else.

However, there was one interesting change to the overall group. Instead of taking his previous position near the front of the group, Maxie Zeus was now almost hidden in the shadows around the back of the room and Edward and Jon shared a loaded glance at this unusual behaviour. Zeus's delusions had a tendency to make him crave constant attention and yet he was now suddenly content to hang back and let the others take charge? It was then that Jon knew. His usually infallible intuition told him that Maxie Zeus was the traitor amongst them.

Casually strolling towards the side of the room, Jon sought out the specific rogue he was looking for. "Ivy. A word please?" He asked quietly as he approached her.

Raising a perfectly-shaped eyebrow, she replied suspiciously. "Of course." Excusing herself from Harley she followed Jon to a quieter area of the office space before leaning against an abandoned table. She red hair swayed around her as she made herself comfortable. "What would you like to say?"

"We have a traitor."

Pure surprise shone on her face for a moment before she schooled her features back into their usual haughty position. "And you know this how? Who would dare?" Bristling dangerously, she leaned closer towards Jon and he could clearly see the tension which was now present in her body language.

"Ras Al Ghul told me." Ivy opened her mouth but Jon cut her off before she could speak. "It's a long story. And to answer your second question, I have reason to believe that it is Maxie Zeus but that it where I require your assistance. Did you bring what I asked?" Ivy's eyes had narrowed at the mention of the faux-god, the memories of his near attack on Harley still clearly fresh in her mind.

"I have it." She pulled out a small vial of clear liquid from her costume. "What do you need me to do with it?"

"I need you to infect him with it. Are you certain that the chemical composition will work as a truth serum?"

"Yes. I have used it numerous times. All successfully." She confirmed with a nod of her head." I will coat my glove with it and touch his bare forearm. It will take just under a minute to take effect, instead of the usual ten minutes, due a few new compositions which I have added in."

"Excellent. If, for some reason, it does not turn out to be Maxie Zeus then I think we may have a problem." Jon held out a hand to her and she used it to pull herself gracefully from the table. "That said, I am almost certain that we have the right man." Walking swiftly back into the main room, Ivy and Jon immediately took their previous positions next to Harley and Edward respectively. As she was passing Zeus, Ivy deliberately walked close enough to justify putting her small hand on his hulking forearm as she moved him out of the way slightly to let her through the crowd.

"Is it done?" Edward whispered softly through the side of his mouth.

Mimicking Edwards' movements, Jon replied, "Yes. Give it a full minute to ensure that it has definitely had to time to work and then we shall see what he has to say."

Clearing his throat poignantly, Edward drew attention to himself. "I would like," he announced loudly, "to start this meeting by asking Maxie Zeus why he attempted to betray us to Ras Al Ghul by offering information about both ourselves and our plans in exchange for his own personal safety. An action which has not only placed all of us in greater danger and also led to Ras now being fully aware of our preparations to fight against him."

"Subtle start Edward." Jon sighed quietly. "Very subtle."

At the accusation, the room was filled with a sudden buzzing of anger and anticipation and this new hive of activity turned to face the man who was being charged with these accusations. At the back of the room, Zeus's face was a mixture of shock and mild fear as he was suddenly put in the spotlight. His face transformed from sheet white to a stunning shade of red as he swelled up in anger. "MORTAL! You dare accuse me of being unfaithful to our cause?" His fists clenched and unclenched as he glared daggers at Edward.

"I dare," Edward replied as he strode towards Zeus confidently, the crowd parting to allow him easier access to the accused, "because I know it to be true. Did you sell us out to Ras Al Ghul?"

Zeus screwed up his face and whatever rude retort or denial he had planned was cut short by the loud "YES!" which burst from his mouth. Looking betrayed, he screeched. "What have you done to me?!"

"We may not see eye-to-eye on many things but Poison Ivy does do some incredible work with truth serums." Edward smirked viciously as Ivy flipped her hair back a little at the compliment.

Zeus's face continued to change colour as he attempted to think of ways to deny the charges but perhaps realising that he had been completely found out, the previous fear which he had hidden from his face now came back as he was faced with a room full of very angry and very dangerous people. "I imagine you all have some questions." He said weakly. "I will answer what you ask."

"You know me Maxie. I'm always full of questions." Moving faster than anyone could anticipate, Edward withdrew a small, sharp knife from the inside of his jacket and made a quick slashing motion. He faintly heard one or two of the rogues gasp in surprise at the action but his attention was focused solely on the man before him. "But your cowardly actions require no explanations that I have any interest in."

Dropping to his knees instantly, Zeus's hands flew up to his neck in a futile attempt to stem the sudden flow of blood from his sliced arteries. His hands could only hold so much and the red liquid soon started to drip through his clenched fingers and the slow splashing of it on the hard concrete was the only noise in the now completely silent room. It took a few more seconds for Zeus to slide fully to the ground and Edward and Jon watched passively as the light finally left his eyes and his fingers went limp.

"Waylon?" Edward asked quietly, his voice carrying through the noiseless room. The faint padding of Croc's feet could be faintly detected on the cold concrete as he was summoned forward, walking until he was standing directly beside Edward. "I need you to deal with the body." Edward continued.

"What'd ya want me to do?" Waylon eyed up the fresh body with mild but obvious interest.

"I want you to use whichever means you deems necessary to tear it to shreds." Never breaking his eye contact with the body, he continued. "And I want those pieces to decorate Gotham bridge, preferably in a very public space. By midnight tonight at the very latest."

Grinning viciously, Croc growled. "Tasty. I'll get right on that." A few of the rogues grimaced slightly, it really didn't take a lot of convincing to talk Croc into ripping up a body.

"Don't ya...uhh...think that's a bit much Mistah E?" Harley asked as she glanced at the body. "Why ya gonna bother makin' an effort when he's already dead?"

"It's about sending a message Harley." Jon answered for Edward. "Ras Al Ghul gave us this information as a test to see what we would do. And we must show him the extent of our mercy and willingness to forgive betrayal."

"It is not up for debate," Edward spoke firmly, "Zeus betrayed us and he will be made an example of. Should any of you feel the sudden urge to act in a similar way then your life will also be forfeit." A sudden breakout of murmuring wound its way across the room as the assembled rogues faintly agreed with the open threat. "Those of you who have remained until this point clearly have some form of loyalty to either your fellow villains, this city or yourselves but I will make one final offer. If you have any doubts as to our strength then you are not welcome among us. You may leave now but be warned," Edward tightened his grip on the small blade, "you will no longer be welcome in the city and if you dare to return you will be hunted down." Finishing his piece, he was not surprised to see that no one had moved an inch. He suspected that was more due to their own pride than his threats but he would take what he could get.

"An honourable speech." Black Mask grinned. "But what exactly are we gonna do now tha-"

Whatever Black Mask had planned to ask was cut off by a shattering noise as small shards of glass started to fall onto the assembled gang. Their surprised questioning was short-lived as three assassins dropped in from the smashed section of the glass roof and landed in the centre of the room, their distinctive red and navy markings instantly putting everyone on high-alert.

"Do you come with a message?" Jon asked as he tightened his grip on his scythe. He could see the other rogues tensing as they waited for an answer and to his right he saw Edward subtly pushing adjusting the small pistol which he kept on his person at all times.

The lead assassin answered the polite question evenly. "We have been sent to test your abilities in battle. If you fail to kill us then you will all be slaughtered."

"Okay then." Jon shrugged as the room descended into utter chaos.

One of the assassins immediately came his way and Jon vaguely wondered if she was present at his meeting with Ras as he swung his scythe towards her. Ducking expertly, she avoided the whizzing blade and delivered a punch straight to his jaw which landed as intended. Completely stunned, he started to swing his scythe madly as he attempted to put some space between them and his smirked slightly as he heard her gasp. Focusing on her he was disappointed to see that he had failed to actually harm her and her gasp was a result of Edward, who had used his entire body to knock her off kilter and stop her advance towards Jon.

Turning to Edward, who had now pulled out his gun, the assassin quickly kicked the weapon from his hand and it skidded away across the concrete towards Jon. Panic obvious in his eyes, Edward made a decent attempt to stand but a swift kick to the face sent him hurtling towards the ground. Grimacing as Edward smacked the floor harshly, Jon was confronted by the assassin again. He heard a faint cry of pain from behind him and he hoped that it wasn't one of his. Moving faster than Jon could comprehend, the assassin dropped to the ground and swept Jon's feet from under him.

Hitting the ground as hard as Edward had, Jon was too winded to move as the assassin approached him with an almost bored look in her eyes. Just as she was about to plunge her sword into Jons' heart she stumbled backwards as a large green vine gripped her foot and threw her off balance. Using her momentary surprise to his advantage, Jon picked up Edwards' dropped pistol, which lay a few inches away from his body, and shot her square in the head. The small shot was not heard over the cacophony of noise which the rest of the room was making and Jon wasn't able to take any pleasure in the kill as he slowly helped Edward to his feet and turned to watch the other rouges in battle.

As they observed the room, they could see that only one assassin was remaining. Half of the body of the other vanquished assassin was partially visible on the floor and Jon scrunched his nose up in distaste as he noticed that the other half was currently being chewed on by a victorious looking Croc, whose only apparent damage was a small cut on his upper arm. Various bodies were strewn across the ground, among them Jon could easily see Jervis and Zsasz, and he was relieved to see that they were all breathing. Those rogues who were not currently in battle were watching the last assassin with rapt attention.

The final assassin was squaring off against a combination of Two-Face and Black Mask and the duo were not having much success in hitting her with any of their bullets. As Dent stopped to reload, there was a sudden flurry of movement from above the distracted assassin as Harley and Selina dropped from the rafters. Immediately launching herself at the assassin, Harley was kicked away with practised finesse and she collided with Black Mask, sending the pair of them to floor in a heap of limbs. Selina, using her training, was doing much better and she was able to hold back the assassins attacks with quite a lot of effort. Sensing an opening, she struck the assassin in the stomach with her fist but her hand was caught and she was forced to her knees while her assailants hands appeared on either side of her neck.

Realising the danger that she was now in, Selina started to struggle but the hands around her neck were too tight. Before she could make a plan of escape she heard a loud bang in her right ear and the hands instantly disappeared as something wet hit the side of her face. The assassins body thumped to the side of her, the small entry wound of a bullet bleeding profusely from her temple, and Selina used her gloves to wipe away the blood which had splashed onto her cheek with a faintly disgusted expression.

A strong hand grabbed at her arm, pulled her upright and she came face to face with her apparent saviour. "Does that count as one of your nine lives?" Two-Face asked with an obvious smirk.

"I'll let you know once i've worked it out." She smiled gratefully. "Thanks Harv. Does this mean I am forgiven for that Arkham City incident?"

He frowned slightly in response, "Don't push your luck kitty." She wrapped herself around his body to place a small kiss on his scarred side before she let go and stalked off towards her space at the front of the room.

"Can we get back to our meeting?" Edward called from his small pedestal and his voice was almost giddy with the left-over adrenaline and victory. He was insanely pleased with how successful his rogues had fought. "It has very recently come to my attention that we need new accommodation since this place is officially compromised. Do we have any suggestions?" He hesitated. "Those who are still unconscious are exempt from answering."

"I do." Selina answered instantly. "I've actually been meaning to bring this up with you for a while and now is the perfect opportunity. I have a place we can use for the time being." At Edwards' questioning gaze, she answered. "Our old home." She gestured to Ivy and Harley. "Y'know the one which Dr Aesop set up shop in after he framed us?" Her voice was strong as she stood before the rogues and made eye contact with each of them as they nodded to her suggestion.

"Sounds good to us." Ivy nodded her consent. "My greenhouse should still be flowering beautifully."

"Then we are settled." Jon announced to the room. "We expect your presence there two days from now at the latest. Anyone who does not show their face will be considered a traitor against us and will be dealt with in the appropriate fashion. Tonight we were faced with our first challenge and we rose to it adequately," he paused, "but our fight is nowhere near over. Take the next day to prepare to move in to our now stronghold." As Jon finished he was confronted with a pregnant silence which stretched out uncomfortably. "Does anyone have any objections?"

"Clean cup! Clean cup! CHANGE PLACES!" Jervis screeched at the new developments and his voice was still a little slurred due to his recent knockout. Edward audibly sighed in resignation as he faintly plotted out various ways in which he could survive living in one home with these people.