Maggie was apprehended by two people in black suits, one a man and the other a woman. Neither of them had badges or uniforms identifying them as museum security, which Maggie found suspicious.

After the woman confiscated the Diamond Snare from her, she was brought to the manager's office where they proceeded to tie her to a wooden chair. Maggie remembered to keep her muscles tense as they were binding her.

The two goons stood vigilant at her sides and Maggie, while tempted to point out how unorthodox and unlawful this was, she figured they were waiting for their superior. She wanted to find out who it was.

The office door opened.

Before her stood a man in a dark coat and a matching wide-rimmed hat, tilted so that his face was obscured. He lifted his chin in a dramatic fashion and Maggie recognized the masked face of the notorious villain Night Terror.

He was of relatively small stature; Maggie had maybe about three inches over him when she wasn't in heels. His current getup was no different from their days as villainous accomplices. He mostly favored muted purples and his trench coat was frayed at the ends from foes stepping on it. He appeared to have gotten his hair cut since Maggie last saw him. His dirty blonde hair was now only about jaw-length and no longer tied back.

Maggie laughed upon recognizing her ex-husband, looking so smarmy as he stood on one foot and leaning against his wooden staff. He had grown a small mustache since she last saw him.

"Oh, no! It's the Dread Pirate Roberts!" she mocked.

"Ho ho ho!" Night Terror laughed back. "Look who's got a smart mouth on her now."

"Well, I was the only real smart one in the lair. Our hired goons notwithstanding, of course." Maggie glanced at the suited agents. "Speaking of which, I see that your choice of company has become more… law-abiding?"

"Yes, yes," Night Terror nodded as he shifted his weight back on his two feet. He paced about the room as he continued. "A lot has happened in the last few years." He paused and shot a knowing glance at Maggie. "After someone told the authorities about the location of our secret lair…"

Maggie smiled in response. She had no regrets about what she did.

"So, what? You out on good behavior?" she queried as she lifted an eyebrow. "Is this your community service? Because last I checked, it's standard do-gooder protocol to turn a scoundrel such as myself over to the authorities?" She raised her fists enough to make the ropes around her wrists squeak. "I mean, really, Jeremy. If you wanted to engage in a little bondage play, you had your chance over five years ago!"

Night Terror looked flustered as the female goon struggled to keep from laughing.

Meanwhile the other goon looked concerned. "Uh, should we leave? Do you two need to talk this out?"

"No, stick around!" Maggie insisted. "You might learn something. Namely, how to not fail in marriage!" She tossed an accusing glower at Night Terror.

"Oh, I failed?!" the masked vigilante objected. "You just up and left me! As soon as I'm in jail you saddled me with divorce papers!"

"You signed them, didn't you?" Maggie reminded.

"Well, yeah," Night Terror reluctantly admitted. "But only because I wanted you and your little flying rats out of my hair for good!"

Maggie's nostrils flared. How dare he bring up her babies…

"There's an order to these things, you know," he continued. "The criminal mastermind can't keep getting henpecked by a mere lab assistant!"

"'Lab assistant?'" Maggie echoed. "Excuse me, buster! I did all the work in the lab! You wouldn't have your 'striking fear in the hearts of men' schtick if it weren't for me! Also, making suggestions hardly constitutes as 'henpecking'."

"See? There you go again! Always criticizing me and making me feel stupid!"

The two goons glanced at each other. They had been hired for their interrogation tactics, but instead they were starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Oh, really? Making you feel stupid? Well, tell me, Jeremy. Have you been striking fear anytime lately? Induce any wide-awake nightmares in your enemies?"

Night Terror's face twitched. He had nothing to respond with.

"Didn't think so," said Maggie. "Your super villain gimmick never would have taken off if it weren't for me, because you never bothered to put in any of the real work yourself. Not in the job or the relationship."

"Oh, yeah?" Night Terror stood in front of Maggie. "Just who orchestrated the whole operation from the start? You'd still be Little Nobody Margaret Beckhert if you hadn't decided to come along. You'd be wiling away in some chemical lab somewhere with a big-name egghead taking all the credit." He lifted Maggie's chin with the end of his staff. "I could have hired any scientist to create that nightmare compound for me, but I brought you. And you followed me because you had nowhere else to go in that backwater town of yours. You wouldn't be Maggie the Bat."

Maggie felt herself get nauseous. She made the decision to join him on his criminal crusade because the scientific community was indeed very hostile towards women like her.

Night Terror leaned against a filing cabinet by the door as he drew in a deep breath to calm himself. "But… I realize that giving up on us may have been a mistake on my part… Maggie, my time in the clink got me thinking. Why conduct a hostile takeover of the mayor's office, when I can just make nice with them by helping the local police?"

Maggie made a disgusted face. "You always did have terrible taste…"

He ignored her remark. "I started off as a prison snitch. Five jailbreaks foiled, and one riot preemptively quelled. Well, not before I took a few punches, anyway…" He rubbed at his nose at the memory. "You see, my dear Maggie, it's not a matter of gumption or power. The reality is it's a matter of being on the winning side! People are automatically afraid of you when all you have to do is recite the word of the law…"

He looked back at Maggie as a wicked smile curved across his face. "And I would be more than happy to have you back, Maggie. On my side."

Maggie was unimpressed. "And why would I do that?"

"Because you need me, Maggie. You always did love the fame and notoriety as a criminal, and I haven't seen your name in the papers for several months. You were only famous as my associate and—"

"I'm gonna have to stop you right there," Maggie interrupted, "cuz my answer is 'no'."

"Oh, come on!" Already Night Terror lost his composure and sounded like a child trying to negotiate for extra dessert. "If it's the 'associate' part, I'll let you have top-billing this time!"

"Hell, no! Leaving you was one of the best decisions I ever made. I just wish it didn't take the death of my babies to make me come to my senses…"

"You're still on about that?! It was only a few bats! The rest survived, didn't they? Bats are the perfect implement for striking fear and you know it!"

"Bats are not weapons! They're animals! They just wanted to find food and you left them at the mercy of some panicked humans! My babies didn't ask for that! And you sure as hell didn't ask me if it was okay to get them involved!"

"Like the world will miss a few insignificant flying rodents! You always were too soft on the runts!"

"I'll say. You're living proof of that."

"Wha—Hey!"

"At least my babies never had an obsessive jealous streak."

"Oh, come on! You're still mad about that, too?"

"Yes! As a matter of fact, I am!" Maggie declared.

"Well, excuse me! How was I supposed to know you weren't gonna leave me for that guy?"

"Uh, through trust? It's what friends do?"

Night Terror rolled his eyes. "Oh, this again? You of all people know I couldn't even trust my dad to stay—"

"Oh, sure. Here you go! Blame your daddy for everything wrong in your life! Your dad was a scumbag. I know that. So was mine. He cheated on my mom. But I'm not your dad! And I'm certainly not your mommy here to nurse your childhood trauma! Grow up!"

Night Terror felt himself trembling in shock. This woman sat tied up before him and at his mercy, yet she was still willing to spit in his face.

"It's like… I don't even know you…"

"See, that's just it, Jeremy," Maggie replied. "You really don't know me…" Maggie tilted her chin down with a wily grin. "Did you really think I would be so sloppy? That I'd make it so easy for you to catch me like this?"

Night Terror's eyes slowly widened in realization.

She wasn't the thief. She was a decoy.