The episode "Lock-Up" from BTAS serves as part of this story with the abduction of certain people involved in Bolton's firing at the hearing, but it's not main to the entire story.

I tried to PM ToryTigress who wrote "On the Brink of Control" just to tell her how much her story was wonderful inspiration while it lasted, but unfortunately, no response yet. I just hope she loves this and the influence as much as you guys do.

Chapter Ten

What to Do?

Rachel returned to her apartment after a long day of cases handed to her by Van Dorn. She looked around in sadness to see that she was in fact still alone. It broke her heart to know that she'd been alone all this time once more.

She walked to her bedroom to change clothes and take a bath, maybe slice up some lemons and oranges to soothe the ache in her heart. Three months gone, which meant that Jonathan, wherever he was being kept by Lyle Bolton, was now in his final month of pregnancy. Just about close to giving birth.

What worried her was that Bolton had discovered Jonathan's hermaphrodite biology and that he was pregnant with the sicko's offspring. If he has…oh, God, then Jonathan and the baby are in serious trouble.

She stripped off her clothes in the bathroom, and took a moment to look at herself again in the mirror. Besides the vine-like veins in her neck, there were more all over both her lower arms and a few on both forearms, and over her legs and ankles. Her body was toned, her breasts perky as ever. Her womanhood curls were still as dark as her hair, but tinted with mossy green. She was no longer bothered, but a new question came to light:

What would Jonathan say, what would he think, if he saw her now?

She cleaned herself up without another glance at herself, and simply threw on her favorite island-themed satin robe. Rachel felt like sleeping naked tonight, just because she felt like it.

However, the moment she walked over to the right side of the bed, something caught her eye. She walked over. It was a small box of green velvet that she'd discovered the next day after her first training session, that Joker had found before she came home. Two rings. Both brilliant silver, the engagement one centered with a glamorously emerald-cut diamond glittering like ice, the wedding band a unique ridgework sweet as little flowers.

"Guess Jonny wanted to ask you as soon as ya got home," the clown had said as soon as he handed it to her. He shrugged then. "Which stinks because after everything, you two were finally working out.

She wanted to collapse then to the floor, cry harder than she had ever done so, like when she first woke up from death, clutch the rings closer to her heart, scream to the high heavens and curse Lyle Bolton, Janet Van Dorn, and all those who took everything from her. Joker was the exception since she'd forgiven him. Wishing Jonathan was here, except he wasn't.

Now she was looking at the ring again, both of them, seeing the promise of a brighter future. Things always get worse before they get better, her mind reminded her. You will find him soon.

She crawled onto the bed and curled up, holding the ring box close to her, closing her eyes and wishing sleep would come...

"Sleeping now won't be the best option, beautiful."

She jumped up and curled up, bringing her knees to her chest. Damn, that clown! "Damn it, Joker, you never know when to knock before you come in, do you?!" she said angrily. "You could have been the Batman!" If Bruce saw her like this, who knew how he'd feel, assume she'd become another crazy because of her looks.

He laughed shrilly and held up both hands. "Don't be mad at me, darling. I just thought you'd like to hear some good news. Two days ago, I had one of my best men hunt down Lyle Bolton..."

Hearing his name, she relaxed. He's found him; he's found him! her mind was shouting with joy, and she jumped off her bed at once. "What?! What did you find?"

"Wait, wait, hold your horses; I wasn't finished. My guy has been hunting him down for the last three months, meeting dead ends here and there, and I was about to kill him myself before he finally gave me a lead. He took Jonny to the Narrows."

She froze on the spot. The Narrows...of course! How come it wasn't obvious before? "Where did Bolton take him exactly?"

"Before I answer that, toots, you oughtta know Jonny isn't the only prisoner he has. He took that reporter Summer Gleeson whom I noticed your friend Wayne is dating, as well as Gordon. Seems he's getting his revenge on everyone involved in his career broken down - probably kill them all in the end."

~o~

Jonathan groaned as he reclined on the sofa in the room he had been locked into for the last three months. Sunlight poured in from the small windows so high above his head that he couldn't climb up to them and reach them. Obviously Bolton knew he'd try to escape and took extreme measures to make sure he didn't.

Jonathan scowled. Where would he go? And most of all, who would he go to? His Rachel - fierce, strong, determined, beautiful Rachel - was dead. Or at least, that was Bolton told him. Which made his alter ego, Scarecrow, snort in disbelief.

You still actually believe that son of a bitch?

I don't know, Jonathan admitted. I wasn't there and you know it.

It's been three months since you were taken from her. Once again. And did you see who he brought in just this morning? He guided Jonathan's gaze to the security cameras that Bolton had installed in his "room" and forced him to watch.

Yeah, Summer Gleeson, Jonathan responded as he glimpsed the black-and-white footage of the reporter chained to the wall in the cell, struggling to escape but failed. My guess is because she delivered his dismissal story.

Just as soon as he mused that, he saw the familiar hated man in iron armor bring in the newest addition. He almost gasped. Jim Gordon. From what Rachel had told him, he'd been present at the hearing. This was spelling trouble for Gotham. Not that he ever cared, but lately, ever since the child inside him had entered his life, he was having a change of heart.

What was going to happen now?

~o~

She'd been the start of Bolton's disgrace and revenge plan which had taken hell of time to plan, beginning with her - but he thought she was dead as that, hadn't seen her or even bothered paying her home a visit. Then Summer Gleeson who gave the story, and now Jim Gordon who had been present at the tribunal. It made her think what if Mayor Garcia was next, or if Bruce was looking into this. She knew he was, but if he picked up quick, then he would get to Bolton before she did...

...and that meant him finding out about Jonathan, as well as her and Joker's involvement before rescuing him.

"Then, Joker, I have to get my costume on before the Batman finds out. Do you have a getaway?"

The clown laughed and threw his head back. "Sweetheart, I always come prepared. But first, don't you think we could go back to your friend for some extra hands if she has any?"

~o~

"Get up, Crane."

Jonathan nearly bolted up in fear when the fat man loomed over him with that same murderous look on his face. "I said, get up." Unable to risk a beatdown or violation especially when he was very pregnant, Jonathan awkwardly rose to his feet, his huge belly weighing hard on his skinny body. The sickly smile made him want to vomit even though it had been months since the sickness stopped. "I see both of you are rising rather well. I look forward to the day that's coming soon."

Jonathan knew he meant the day the baby was born. His heartbeat picked up when he thought about what the monster would do to both him and the child. He felt his arm being taken roughly and pulled forward and out of the room. "Wh-where are you taking me?" he dared to ask his captor.

"To a safer place…until the little brat arrives. And then I will carry out my next step."

~o~

The first thing Rachel had to do was to locate Talia al Ghul for advice. Her teacher and new friend was still living in the same area in Gotham, in one of the higher class neighborhoods. She lived as a mystery to those around her. "Rachel," Talia greeted her like an old friend, smiling at her and nodding. "I knew you would come back. Have you in need of something else?"

"I found Jonathan's location," Rachel said, cutting to the point. "I know I've completed my training and that I have all the weapons, but I still need your advice. Is there anything else important that can aid me in my mission? Something to help me and my lover in all places at all times?" She didn't realize she was out of breath till she felt the slight burning in her lungs.

Talia chuckled and shook her head, but not in negation. "Dear Rachel, I never knew you could speak so much in one breath. And in answer to your question, I knew you'd ask one day. Because I have just what you need. In fact, two things."

"Show me." The woman took Rachel's hand and led her into one of the back rooms, where Rachel gasped at the pair of piercing blue eyes staring at her from a chained post.

"This is Lupa. Was one of my greatest friends; I found her in the wilderness of Canada a year ago. She'd lost her mate and is the sole surviving protector of mine...now she's yours."

The creature was truly magnificent, majestically silvery grey with a black snout constantly bowing up and down as the beast whimpered at the sight of her. Rachel loved wolves even when she was a little girl, but never met a real one once. The blue eyes against silver glowed as they took her in, accepting a caress on the head from Rachel; wolves were said to be dangerous, but she wasn't frightened. "Why give me a wolf?"

"Wolves are beautiful creatures," Talia explained in that soothing, wise voice of hers beyond her years. "They have long been considered pathfinders. They are fiercely loyal to their mates, and have a strong sense of family while maintaining individualism. They are truly free spirits." Rachel didn't realize she was up close behind her until she felt the hand on her shoulder. "Allow me to give you the traits of wolves that suit you as well, Rachel: devoted, loyal, fearless, strong emotional ties, intelligent, and loving."

"That's me and Jonathan," Rachel whispered as she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"Yes. Imagine how Lupa felt when she lost her love. Wolves rarely take on another, forever faithful to their first. They're like humans in a number of manners." Her hand was back on Rachel's shoulder. "Now onto the other great weapon you asked for..."

~o~

There was just so much in his life Jonathan regretted that brought him here. Ever since he was raped for the first time by Bolton in Arkham, gotten pregnant by him, and lost Rachel for the last time.

He had not slept well for the last few months, dreaming of Rachel only and wishing he could dream forever to escape the harsh reality he was in. He missed her skin, her smell and her touch, just everything. Holding her in his arms, allowing her to feel the baby as it kicked against its protective sack. He missed his work which his whole life still depended on, still longed to get back to once he should have been away from Gotham. He despised himself for not seeing behind Ra's al Ghul's words, should have known he was being deceived, that he would lose all he had for being a fool to follow. He and Rachel should have also left Gotham when they had the chance.

But that did not matter now. There was his unborn child to think of now. He feared its safety once it was born.

He lay naked on an operating table in the room Bolton had placed him in. He was strapped face up, hands on either side of his head, and his legs parted just for the baby. Sick bastard he is, Scarecrow snarled. Let me out so I can teach him what it's like to be a perv.

No, don't put me and the baby at risk. Jonathan lifted his head in time to see three doctors in white lab coats enter the room, two looking at him with clear hatred like Bolton.

"Dr. Crane, long time no see." One of them was an overweight Hispanic, pointing to his swollen belly. "Having a baby? Disgusting. Maybe he's not as man as we all thought..."

"Who the hell are you talking about my child like this?" Jonathan snarled. All three of them wore white masks over their faces, and he felt his jaw drop at once. The Hispanic was one of his orderlies from Arkham under his reign, Antonio Gomez, another being Nurse Joanne who sort of respected him but Jonathan could have noticed back then that she possessed a kind of infatuation for him, but the third he did not recognize. What was Bolton playing at? Mocking him with his past as the former head doctor?

"He's right, Gomez; shut the hell up," Joanne said hotly, earning a scowl from him. "We're all here because Bolton stole us from Arkham, remember? We're not laying a hand on him because of the past."

"Joey, who do you think you're talking about?" the unnamed man sneered. "This is the lunatic who thought we were all cheap lowlifes."

"Remember he said it was also a 'medical emergency' and that someone he knew, cared for, was in need of help?! He never told us it was our old boss." Jonathan wanted to roll his eyes; he didn't need her defense once. "None of this is legal, and there's a child's life involved -"

"Are you questioning me, Nurse?"

No one had seen or heard Bolton arrive in the room. Don't worry, Jonny, I'm still here, as usual. "Answer me, Nurse," Bolton demanded. "Are you questioning me?"

"No, sir," she answered, standing where she was, looking up at him defiantly. "But now that I am here, you're holding a man - a hermaphrodite who used to be my employer - having a baby locked up as a prisoner. I know everything he did to us, the people of Gotham and the Narrows, but this is back alley on so many levels. My career isn't based on this; I should have phoned the police when I had the chance."

Jonathan stared at her, feeling amazed. Even though he didn't pay attention to her other than her work ethics, he wondered if he could trust his former employee to save him and his baby's life.

In one swift move, Bolton was towering over her menacingly, but Joanne remained unaffected. "Listen, little nurse," he growled, "you'd better watch what you say to me, or so help me, I shall snap your little neck right here, right now. Now get to work! I shall be in my rooms. And don't contact me until you are done." His beady eyes flickered back to Jonathan. "The time has come, after all."

Fear flared in Jonathan. What had come?

Gomez grinned as he walked over to Jonathan with a syringe filled with clear liquid in his hand. "This should help, Scarecrow. Make the birthing process easier."

Oh, no. Oh God, no. He's gonna make my baby come when it's not ready. Oh, Scarecrow, please help me. I'm not ready. All his pride having diminished once again, Jonathan laid his head back against the unforgiving operating table, whimpering like a child as the Hispanic injected the unknown serum into his thigh.

So, baby coming - and against Jonathan's will. :S But Rachel and Joker on the way, so we're not done.

Rachel had two wolves in "On the Brink of Control". After one of Jonathan's goons tried to violate her and she killed him out of defense, she ran into the snowy wilderness and passed out from the cold, she was comforted by two wolves which found her. And when Jonathan and his other men found her, he allowed her to keep the wolves. One was black with amber eyes, the other white with blue eyes. The dark one was named Shadow and the other Snow, both girls and sisters. When Rachel became the Wolf of Gotham, they aided her. :D Badass, if you ask me, but it's sad we will never see its conclusion. :(

I thought it be best, also, if Talia have Rachel a wolf, and since I love wolves myself, I thought it was perfect. :D But this time gray with blue eyes. The name Lupa was of the Roman wolf goddess; everything Talia said about wolves was from my research. Now it's the new Vixen herself, her new wolf companion as well as the Clown Prince of Crime to save the Scarecrow and the baby coming!