A few moments later the quiet of the cave where they sat together was broken. "Master Bruce, Miss Anna, it's clear to return to the Manor now." Alfred's voice said ringing over the intercom.
"Thank you, Alfred." Mari responded to him. Bruce heard the exhaustion in her voice and knew they would both sleep soundly tonight side by side.
Bruce carefully helped her up into the elevator then out into the Music Room. The tight corners of the elevator did not allow Bruce to carry Mari in his arms. He had to hold her up so she kept her weight off of her foot. Mari had her arm wrapped around his neck and his several inches in height over her kept her up and off of her foot. Once in the music room, Bruce was able to swing Mari up into his arms and carry her upstairs so they could both finally end this day and sleep. She smiled up at him as he walked down the hallway towards their room. He began to turn toward their room when she stopped him. "Wait, I want to check on Ella." He nodded understanding and shifted her to hold at her waist to keep her off of her foot. Mari looked down at her sleeping little girl and smiled. Mari swept loose hair off of Ella's face that reminded her of Bruce and tucked her in before gently kissing her little girl goodnight.
"Alright, Mari. You need to be off of your foot." Bruce whispered quietly trying to let Ella sleep. Mari nodded letting Bruce take her to bed to finally sleep next to the man she loved.
Mari slept happily in her own bed. In Bruce's arms she felt safe and loved. She felt Bruce leave during the night though and remembered him whispering, "I'll be back soon. Love you, Mari." Once he left, she didn't sleep soundly. Small sounds made her wake up. Alfred accidentally woke her when he was doing his nightly check. About an hour later, she heard a noise not in her room but in the nursery. She was pissed. Her instincts to protect her daughter outweighed the pain of her ankle that had been dulled by painkillers Alfred gave to her earlier.
She hopped into the nursery. Other than the light from the open door, the darkness of the room made it hard for her to see. Mari though could tell Ella was still sleeping soundly in her crib where they had left her several hours ago. But her instincts, developed from run-ins with the Joker, told her she and Ella weren't out of danger yet. Another sound in the room made up Mari's mind for her, she needed to get Ella to safety. Bruce had placed secret tunnels throughout the walls during reconstruction and one was a hiding spot for their children for safety considering their high profiles as Waynes but also the second half of his life as Batman. She gently picked up Ella from her crib. She walked over to the wall and placed her in the hiding spot which activated a sensor she knew in the Bat cave. Ella never stirred as she slept. Mari made sure she was warm and brushed hair out of her face again. Mari closed the secure tunnel and she turned back to face the nursery.
When she turned around, she felt the presence of someone else in Ella's room. The moon hidden before suddenly came out into the night sky lighting up the nursery. It was a woman dressed in leather with cat ears. She held a whip in her hand that Mari could see with the added light. Mari was worried and wondered how this person had broken the security of the Manor and was able to reach Ella's room without any notice before now. "Who are you?" Mari demanded. "Why are you in my daughter's room?"
The woman didn't speak but moved closer to Mari backing her towards the back wall of the room opposite the door. In the moonlight, Mari could see the metal of claws that were on both of the woman's hands. Mari backed against the wall and pressed an emergency alarm that was installed in all the rooms to try to get help from others in the house or in the cave below. It was quiet so the woman didn't know Mari had asked for help. "Wait," a man's voice split the quiet of the nursery. A thin man with dark hair and glasses came forward towards Mari. "Are you afraid, Mrs. Wayne? I know the Joker has made mistakes with you and that is why I picked a smaller target, your daughter."
"You targeted my daughter?! Who are you, you bastard?" Mari said feeling her anger grow almost out of control.
He pulled out a mask and placed in on his face. Suddenly, a dust filled the air near Mari. "Miss Dawes and the world came to know me as the Scarecrow." He finally answered her. Mari was coughing loudly as the dust entered her nose and mouth. She reached out in desperation and grabbed his mask off his face of rags and a gas mask and then turned on a light in the nursery trying to see him better. She didn't recognize the man but felt fear rising in her mind. She was hearing the Joker's voice and laugh. She kept seeing the man dressed as the Joker. She kept turning her face from him. He moved towards her and spoke to her again, "Where is your daughter, Mrs. Wayne?" Mari shook her head refusing to answer him. Through her fear she knew Ella had to be safe. The images from her mind were getting worse and were not ending. The painkillers for her foot finally kicked in completely causing her to slide down the wall and collapse to the floor. Mari in her fear cried out breaking the quiet of the evening in the house, "No, leave me alone."
The man stepped closer to Mari as she lie on the floor and got ready to question her when the woman spoke up.
"Crane, we need to leave." The woman whispered. "There is an alarm or something activated. People in the house are waking up. The child is out of reach. Let's go."
"Alright, but I will be back for the little Miss Wayne." He said as they snuck out as quietly as they came in."
Alfred, being alerted to an alarm in the cave, was down examining the night vision and clear footage of the nursery. He saw the invaders to his family's home and was angered but knew he needed to react for the safety of Mari and Ella first. He saw that Mari had put Ella in the safety tunnels so he went to get her first and then alerted Bruce to the invasion at the Manor. Bruce drove the Tumbler into the cave shortly afterwards. Bruce returned and saw the footage taken from the nursery that Alfred had reviewed. Bruce recognized Crane in the clear lit footage of the nursery. When he saw the dust circling around Mari, he pushed back from the computers and quickly called to Alfred. "Alfred, the antidote that Mr. Fox made for me to counteract Dr. Crane's toxin. Do we still have any?"
"Yes, sir. I have some here why?"
"I need it. The drug I was hit with was just used on Mari in the nursery. Where's Ella?"
"She's resting quietly over here, sir. Miss Elizabeth never even stirred through all the excitement, sir. When I retrieved her from the tunnel, she was still sound asleep."
"Good, I need to get this to Mari now." Bruce said as he raced up out of the cave and up to the nursery. He found Mari on the floor. She was much like Rachel was at Arkham that night Crane tried to destroy her mind. He took the antidote and injected it into Mari's arm and watched as she began to relax and calm down. He gently picked her up and called down to Alfred using the radio in his cowl as he had yet to change out of his armor. "It's all clear now, Alfred. Let's get Ella back to bed." Bruce said as he took Mari back to their bed.
Mari began to stir later and remembered the events and sat up quickly. "Ella." She said as she began to try to get up.
Bruce, resting nearby in his street clothes, stopped her though, "Its ok, Mari. Ella's fine. Alfred got her from the tunnel and she's already back in her crib."
"Bruce," she said as she grabbed him close to her. "Oh, thank god. I heard a noise and there was this woman dressed like a cat and this nerdy little man in the Nursery. All I could think to do was to protect Ella. Did you recognize them from the video?"
"I did recognize the man. He is a former psychologist from Arkham. His drug that he sprayed you with was designed to enhance fear and can cause severe damage to your mind."
"You've dealt with him before."
"Yeah. Dr. Crane. He tried to destroy Rachel's mind the way he did yours tonight."
"How did you stop the drug? I don't feel as scared as I did earlier."
"An antidote made by Lucius when Crane was active a little over a year ago. Did they say anything, Mari?"
"They were after Ella. He said they had seen how the Joker had failed so they picked a smaller target." She said as he felt her shake with anger.
"It will be ok. We'll make sure that they never get near her again." Bruce said as he felt her begin to relax and the painkiller for her foot began to make her drowsy. He laid down next to her and they both fell asleep.