Bruce was just suiting up as Batman that evening when a call came over the Batwave, from his recently gained spy among Gotham's criminal element.

"What is it, Dent?" He asked, answering.

"Got a bit of news for ya, Batman. Y'heard about that Malsen fella that turned himself into the cops?" Considering that was the very man who he'd been intending to investigate this night, Bruce once again internally commended himself on enlisting Harvey Dent's help as an inside man.

"I have. What do you know?"

"That he's one of the guys who'd been working for some new creep in the basement of Bollard's, off 29th street."

"New creep?"

"Yeah, and that's the polite way of saying it. He showed up about two weeks ago, wanting the standard night-by-night rent. Except, since he moved in, the regular customers have been gettin' more and more scarce. Even the staff's really jittery around the guy, and nobody wants to go downstairs anymore. Business has really tanked; I mean, all the other migrant guys like me have taken off, but I'm still hanging around 'cause I figured you'd wanna know..."

"Thanks, Dent. I'll look into it tonight."

"Then in that case, I'll make sure to be workin' someplace else. Good luck to you and yours, Bats." The card man closed off his end of the communication, leaving Batman to wonder what the connection was between the terrified crook and this new figure. He was still pondering it when Alfred came down, decidedly stiffer than usual.

"Is Dick almost ready, Alfr-"

"The young master has decided not to go out tonight, sir. He feels it would be better to begin work on his new project." Sighing, Batman started to ask his next question, but was again beaten to the punch. "I have already called Miss Gordon to alert her of the circumstances, and have asked her to accompany you instead."

"...Did you ask her to act annoyed with me as well?"

"I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing, sir. Though, after being informed of this afternoon's disappointing affair, it will not be an act on her part."

Sometimes, Batman really felt like banging his head against the wall.

-C-

It was quite a change, for Batgirl to be even more silent than her mentor. The pair were perched on a rooftop across from their target of Bollard's, waiting until the establishment was as near to empty as it could be before they moved in. The whole night, every time Batman gave her information or instructions, Batgirl had merely nodded in affirmation, stony faced. There was a time Batman would have found the quiet a welcome change, but now it just served as a constant reminder of what he'd had to tell Dick that afternoon, and made the man feel worse than before.

Most of the time, he felt that he made a decent guardian for the boy, but there were still moments he had no clue of what to do - and it was on those occasions he often managed to screw up pretty spectacularly. This was one of them, apparently, despite his rationalizing it as necessary to protect his little family. Maintaining their secret identities was always a priority of the Batman, made all the more important after the Wrath and Scorn incident, which still featured prominently in his occasional nightmares.

Down below, another pair of bar's customers departed in a drunken stagger, leaving the place as empty as it had been all night. Time for the Bats to strike.

Standing, the two of them aimed their grappling lines and prepared to do just that. The first that the people inside the bar realized of the impending trouble was when a pair of dark figures burst through their front door, tossing a few gas canisters that filled the front room with a choking fog. As per the plan, Batgirl stuck around, using a few well-placed hits to encourage everyone to leave while her mentor hurried on to the back room - and the trapdoor that lead to the basement where their mystery figure was waiting.

Once clear of the gas cloud, Batman removed his filter mask and set to cutting through the hinges of the trapdoor, which could be locked from either side. Succeeding and hauling the entire door out of the frame, he dropped down through the narrow opening into the dark basement. His landing caused a fair amount of dust to billow up from the floor, setting the Dark Knight to coughing slightly.

"Ah, and the Batman arrives." A high pitched voice grated from somewhere behind him. Activating the infrared lenses in his cowl, Batman turned to seek out the voice's owner. He was just able to make out a thin figure at the far wall, before the mystery man vanished from few. Cursing as he realized there must be a tunnel entrance, the crimefighter hurried forward searching for a hidden catch or similar device to open the wall.

"Boss?" Batgirl had finished upstairs, and was perched upon the ladder as she searched for him.

"Over here." He called, deactivating the lenses. "Can you find a light switch over there?" A few moments later, a couple of light bulbs flickered to life, allowing him to find a pedal on the floor. Stepping on it as his partner gingerly made her way over, the hidden door slid open, revealing a crudely made passage that extended for a few yards before it emerged into the sewer system.

"Is it just me, or do we wind up in here an awful lot?" Batgirl murmured as they entered the foul-smelling domain, temporarily forgetting her annoyed silence. Batman was about to answer when a flicker of motion around the nearest corner caught hit eye.

Within moments, both he and Batgirl had taken off running after the figure, who, thanks to the intermittent light, they were able to see was dressed in a strange patchwork of ragged brown leather and bundles of... straw?

Ignoring the bizarre outfit, Batman pulled out one of his batarangs, throwing it towards the man with expert aim. In a moment of uncanny skill, their target contorted himself mid-stride, allowing the weapon to sail harmlessly past. To Batman's horror, the projectile inside curved back around, striking a large crack in the wall and setting off dangerous rumblings. Seeing the damage spread upward and start to affect the ceiling, the crimefighter grabbed his startled partner and pulled back, halting their forward run before it took them directly beneath the section of roof about to collapse.

"Uh, Batman, what are you doing? The guy's getting away!"

"The ceiling-"

"Is fine!" He blinked, and realized Batgirl was right. His batarang was indeed stuck in a crack in the wall, but the damage he'd have sworn just seeing spread upwards was no longer there - along with their mystery man.

The man rubbed at his forehead and sighed. "This just isn't my day." His muttered words got a snort out of her, and then Batgirl was giving him a gentle nudge.

"C'mon, Boss Bat. We might have lost the guy for now, but at least I can explain how you're going to fix this afternoon's mistake."

"...I'm almost afraid to ask."

Hidden in the shadows ahead of them, the man they'd been chasing grinned with a evil humor. "Not yet, Batman. Not by a long shot yet." He whispered, elated at knowing his latest concoction was about to be given its trial run on Gotham's very own Dark Knight.