XXX

Sitting in front of her father, Scarlet couldn't help but feel terrified. Naturally though, being the daughter of the Scarecrow, she knew better then to show fear. He was pacing- which was never a good sign- and muttering to himself- which showed he was conversing with the Scarecrow.

After he had woken up, he had automatically barged into her room. Sitting up, she watched him go back and forth warily.

"Dad-"

"No." he cut her off, "No talking, Scarlet Maria Crane."

Damn.

Damn.

Damn.

He used her full name. He never used her full name- not seriously, not when he was really angry. Part or her wondered what the big deal was. It wasn't like she snuck out and went to a party, or stole anything- it wasn't even an official date!

"Scarlet." He finally stopped, glaring down at her angrily, "Can you understand why I am upset?"

"…Yes." She finally answered, making sure to take it slow, "I don't agree with your logic, but I understand it."

"Good." He looked slightly relieved, "And you know that you are better than that boy, right? That he is not allowed to touch you? Because he can't-"

"Dad," she laughed, standing up and hugging him, "I get it. You can relax."

"Alright," he finally caved. Turning, he left your room while calling back, "And get ready! We are leaving in ten minutes!"

"For what?"

"It is time we start mass producing, little peach! And you get to see where we will be doing that!"

XXX

"Why is it so far away from our apartment?" Scarlet whined softly, watching Gotham pass their car out the back window, "Why couldn't we rent out a warehouse closer?"

"Because," Annabeth answered, "If the cops were to find our warehouse, they would expect our apartment to be near by."

"So we get one on the other side of town?"

"Exactly."

Scarlet rolled her eyes, and continued to look out her window. Hannibal whined softly next to her, pressing his nose against her hand. Gotham really hadn't changed since she left. The people were still people; the buildings were still buildings.

"Have you heard about Batman?" Annabeth started suddenly, looking over to Jonathan, "Apparently, he killed Harvey Dent."

"Oh?" Jonathan glanced out of the corner of his eye, while Scarlet paid full attention.

"Yeah. Batman hasn't been seen in years; not since around the time we left Gotham. It would figure that when we leave, he does too."

"That seems to be our luck, huh?" Jonathan laughed, parking in front of a large warehouse.

"I thought you said we had to watch out for the batman and his family?" Scarlet questioned as the family got up, and Scarlet placed Hannibal on his black leash before following her family up to the large loading doors.

"Just new bat nuisances," her father questioned leading them into the opposing building, "The bat himself seems to have taken leave."

Inside though, that is what truly took Scarlet's breath. It looked like a decked out, terrifying, high school chemistry lab. Over all, she summed up, it looked simply yellow. Everything had a dull tint, but nothing was dirty; men mulled around, paint masks placed over their mouths to block out the chemicals, but they all stopped when the Cranes walked in.

"Gentlemen," her father greeted, taking the persona of Scarecrow immediately, "You've all done well in getting the place set up. Listen up! Halloween is at the end of this month, and what better time than then to show Gotham the Scarecrow is back? I want the specified amounts of toxin done by then, and no slacking.

"The woman to my right is my wife, Annabeth Crane; you are to listen to whatever she may tell you without question! And if any of you look at her in the wrong way-

"The young lady to my left is my daughter, Scarlet; I swear to whatever god you pray to, you do one thing wrong to my daughter and I will show you what real fear is. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Mr. Crane!" they all answered hurriedly, not daring to look at either woman at all now.

"Get back to work." Jonathan growled, gesturing for both Annabeth and Scarlet to follow as he led them to an office.

"Nice view?" Scarlet tried, looking down at all the workers from the window, "They uh… seem nice?"

"If any of them bother either of you, come to me." Jonathan said softly, pulling out blue prints, "Scarlet, come here for a moment, I want to show you something."

"This," Annabeth began, handing Scarlet a small blank paged note book, "Contains the design for your outfit."

"My outfit?" Scarlet asked, confused.

"For when you appear to the public," Jonathan mumbled, shifting through papers, "The way Gotham will recognize you."

"Oh," she finally realized quietly; her mother continued, "The one on the left will be when we are attending actual rogue functions, or something your father actually plans; the one on the right will be the one that you throw on for whenever.

"Okay." Scarlet nodded, satisfied, "They look good; who designed them?"

"Well…" Annabeth sighed lightly, looking to the Heavens as if praying for strength, "It is typical tradition, when we have a new rogue; should they not have a set design, the feminine identified criminals get together and design it."

"Such as?"

"… Me," she admitted, "Harley Quinn, Cat Woman typically helps, Poison Ivy, Sarah Nigma, and a few others."

"I see," Scarlet smiled lightly, looking at her mom with a grateful expression, "Thank you, mom."

"You and I will be going to pick it up."

"When?"

Annabeth smiled lightly, "Right now."

XXX

Okay…. Okay? I think… I think I am back on a regular schedule…?

I'm sorry. And I can give you all a thousand excuses, but I understand that none will truly satisfy, so I am sorry. I love you guys.

Okay, so here is the link to Scarlet's costume: family_matters_25/set?id=178670717

And just in case, I will have the link on my profile as well. Worst case scenario, you can go to Polyvore and find my account (sketch1997), and I have the outfit labeled.

So, I will update next Tuesday. And I will see you then.

-sketch1997