Monday, December 3rd, 2007

3:00 pm

The interview with Vicki Vale had gone perfectly, Edward was proud to say. His appearance had been perfect, he'd modulated his behavior to be more subdued than he normally was, at Penny's recommendation the day before, and Vale had responded perfectly. He had her hook line and sinker the entire interview. She'd accepted his explanation for his presence at City Hall without question, as well as his interaction with Batman. Edward had even been gracious enough to not call out Sharp's behavior during and after the attacks, even though Vale had allowed him to do so. Better to be the bigger man and let the Mayor choke on it. All in all, Edward couldn't have asked for a more perfect interview.

The interview had gone a little too perfectly, actually.

From the moment he'd arrived at his office, Edward had been inundated with phone call after phone call from Selina, Nina, and Deirdre, assorted casual acquaintances, and former clients. Those calls he had accepted without much complaint, but they didn't stop there. More calls came in, from other reporters requesting interviews, to new clients asking for his services, to bizarre calls from random people asking for everything from riddles to sexual favors. Five hours after the interview, Edward sat at his desk, his work phone attached to his ear, writing down the client's information. "Let me see if I have the details correct," he said, cradling the phone between his ear and shoulder. "You suspect your employee is faking a back injury and fraudulently claiming worker's compensation, and you wish for me find out the truth of the matter." It wasn't the most intellectually stimulating work, but it was a step up from a wandering wife job. "Well, I can take a look at it. Would you be available for a meeting this Thursday-" Edward took a look at his calendar only to see that he was seeing ten clients on Thursday. "Actually, how about Friday at three pm-" He bit back a curse when he realized that he was triple booked for Friday at three. "Tell you what, I need to take a look at my calendar and I'll call you right back. Thank you." He hung up before the new client could complain, leaned back in his chair, and began to massage his temples. He really needed to hire a secretary. He'd been putting it off too long, and now it was costing him. He felt his cell phone vibrating in his breast pocket and groaned. "God, now what?" He pulled out the phone, only to smile when he saw the number. "Hello, darling," he sighed as he picked up the call.

"Are you alright?" Penny asked. "You sound like you're in pain."

The office phone rang again, and Edward was tempted to unplug it. "I am in pain," he whined. "I've been doing nothing but answering my phone and setting up appointments for the last five hours."

"Well, after what you did on Friday and your interview, getting an uptick in clients isn't that much of a surprise. Try to think about the positives. You're more highly regarded by the people of Gotham now than you've ever been. That will make it much harder for Sharp and Strange to attack you."

"And more clients means more money," Edward agreed. "I'll be able to start expanding my informant network." He hadn't even had the time today to check in with his informants. He let a smile come to his face. "I take it you approved of my interview today?"

"Of course," Penny said, and Edward could hear the pride in her voice. "You were wonderful."

Edward flushed at her praise and chuckled. "Aren't I always?"

"Eddie," she lightly scolded. "Ego."

"I don't have an-" he was cut off by the sound of his office phone ringing again. The Hell with unplugging it, he was ready to throw it against the wall. "If that phone rings one more time, I'm coming over to your office to steal you away and hide in your apartment for the rest of the week."

Penny hummed. "I think my patients and your clients would have something to say about that."

"Well then, it's a good thing I don't care what they think."

"And what about Ellen?"

Edward pursed his lips. "I'll leave your apartment for Ellen's sake and Ellen's sake alone. Everyone else can get stuffed."

"That reminds me actually. Selina called me about an hour ago."

Edward raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What did she want?"

"She invited me out for coffee tomorrow afternoon for some 'girl's time.'"

"'Girl's time'?" Edward narrowed his eyes. "More like she wants to tell you every embarrassing story about me."

Penny let out a short laugh. "From the way you're reacting, it sounds like she has plenty of them."

Edward chuckled. "Penny darling, if you want me to come over to play doctor, you only have to ask." His office phone rang yet again before she could reply. "God Almighty," he groaned. "It never ends!"

"I should let you go. Call me later tonight?"

Edward sighed. "I think I'll be stuck here late. Tomorrow afternoon?"

"That's fine. I promise I won't take whatever Selina says about you too seriously."

"Haha," Edward groused. Then he softened. "I love you."

"I love you too. Bye, Eddie."

No sooner did Edward hangup did his cell phone ring again. "Oh, what now?" He answered the phone without looking at the number. "Edward Nigma, Private Investigator."

"Edward? It's Bruce Wayne."

Edward sat straight up in his chair. "Mr. Wayne? This is a surprise." His eyes narrowed. "You're not calling me from inside a dumpster, are you?"

If Wayne was offended, Edward couldn't detect it. "My limo, actually. I just wanted to give you a quick call to congratulate you on your interview. It was the talk of the office today."

Edward leaned back in his chair and propped his legs up on his desk. "Well, thank you." Angry as he may still be at Wayne for his stupidity at City Hall, he certainly wouldn't turn down the man's praise. Or his checkbook. His office phone rang again and he scowled. "Actually, now that I've got you on the phone, you wouldn't happen to have any spare secretaries you could throw my way, do you?"

"You don't have one? We use a temp agency for our secretarial staff. I can give them a call, set you up with a meeting."

"That would be marvelous, thank you. Come to think of it, I may need a press agent too." Just then, he heard a loud knock coming from the main office door. "Just a minute!" Edward called out. He then turned his attention back to his cell phone. "Sorry, there's someone at the door. The busy life of a celebrity private investigator you see-" Louder, more insistent knocking cut him off. "I said just a minute!" he shouted. He swung his legs down and stood up when he heard a loud burst of gunfire and breaking glass. Edward immediately threw himself to the floor behind his desk.

"Edward?" he heard Wayne shout over the ringing in his ears. "Edward!?" Edward hung up the call as he heard the sound of the previously locked front door open, and footsteps walk into the office waiting room. Edward lay still against the floor, not daring to breathe. This couldn't be Strange, he wasn't this brazen. Sharp perhaps? One of Schrader's partners in GCPD?

"Where the Hell is the Riddler freak?" he heard a voice call out. "I heard him yellin'."

"You better not have killed him," another voice responded, as deep and rough as the first. "Boss said he wanted him alive to teach him a lesson." Edward's heart sank into his stomach. He knew henchmen when he heard them. Rogues. The footsteps came closer and Edward's brain went through his options quickly. The front exit was blocked, obviously. The window behind him led out to a fire escape, but he didn't have time to unlock it before the henchmen came into his office. Assuming his neighbors called the police, that left about seven minutes before the nearest patrol car could get here. He heard the sound of the interior door open and his brain stopped. Time was up. His eyes darted to his right side. One of his canes was propped up against the corner by his file cabinet. The footsteps were closer now, maybe three feet from his desk. Time to move now. Edward pulled himself to the corner and grabbed the cane.

"There you are!" he heard a voice behind him. "Guys, he's in here!" Edward got up to his feet and turned left towards the intruder. He was a tall, burly man, in a white and black suit split down the middle, which told Edward exactly who the boss was. The man stepped forward to grab him and Edward lunged, hitting him in the shoulder with the handle of his cane. The man fell to the floor with a shout, and three more men burst in, each in the same outfit as the first. One of them pointed his gun towards Edward while the other two advanced towards him. Edward swung wildly at one, only for the man he had dropped to get back up and grab him around the waist. One of the advancing thugs grabbed his cane from him, while the other punched him in the stomach. Edward dropped to his knees and felt his arms being pulled behind him. He struggled, but the men's grip held tight. This couldn't be how it ended for him. After what he'd accomplished, after finally getting a taste of everything he'd ever wanted, he couldn't be murdered at the hands of these idiots! A dark chuckling made him look up into the face of the fourth man, the leader with the gun.

"Not such a big shot now, are you 'hero'?" The leader sneered.

Edward glared at him. "You morons have no idea," he hissed. "What you've just brought down on yourselves. Let me go now, and perhaps, I'll be generous enough to spare you."

The leader just laughed. "Right." He gestured to the men behind Edward. "Pull him up." The men pulled Edward to his feet, and the leader grinned. "You ripped the boss off on a heist six years back. I've been wanting to do this for a long time." He cocked his fist back, and punched Edward in the stomach, hard. Edward fell forward, only the men's grip on him preventing him from collapsing onto the floor. Through the haze of pain, he could hear the leader tell the others, "Let's get out of here before the cops show." Then he felt himself being dragged along his floor before he was hefted over someone's shoulders. As his vision went dark, he saw two faces appear before him, clear as day. Penny...Ellen...

Then darkness.

Ten minutes after Edward had disconnected their call, Alfred had pulled the limousine into the alley behind Edward's office. Bruce, by now fully suited up, barely waited for the car to stop before he opened the sunroof and aimed his grappling hook towards the fire escape just outside the office. As soon as he landed on the fire escape, he looked inside the large window. There was no sign of Edward. Bruce jimmied open the window as quickly as he could before he stepped inside. "Edward?" he called out. He received no answer. It was just as he feared. He was too late. Bruce reached up to his cowl and pressed the communicator. "Oracle, I'm at Edward's office. He's gone."

"What happened? You don't think Strange is involved, do you?"

"I doubt it," Bruce said, scanning the office. "I heard gunfire. Strange wouldn't use that level of force, not after Edward was just on tv."

"So you're thinking one of the Rogues."

"Yes. I'm going to check for clues." Bruce looked down at his feet and saw Edward's cell phone lying half under the desk. Edward had been here when the attackers had come. Bruce stepped out from around the desk and saw Edward's cane, lying discarded about three feet to the right. He'd tried to fight them off. There was no blood visible, either from Edward or from the attackers. Bruce stepped through the open door to the main waiting room, where the attackers had to enter and exit from. The front door to the office was wide open, broken glass from the shot out door lite scattered on the floor. Why didn't Edward have his office more secure? Apart from the bullet holes embedded in the wall, there was no other sign of violence. "Edward was taken alive," Bruce said at last. "Which buys us time. Oracle, alert your father, then call Tim. I need the two of you to monitor communications. Keep out for any sign of Edward or who might have taken him. Call Stephanie and have her to go the West Side to find Edward's daughter."

"Got it. What about Dr. Young?"

"I'm going to call Selina, then I'm going to the Iceberg Lounge." Even if Cobblepot wasn't involved, he would know who was. "Tell Cass to meet me there. Batman out!" Bruce dashed back towards the fire escape. Even if the Rogues had Edward taken alive, they wouldn't keep him alive for long. He needed to hurry.

3:45 pm

Penelope exited her office building and walked briskly towards her car. She'd finished with her patients for the day before calling Edward, and had decided to go home early to wrap up her notes and call Joan back. As much as she liked being busy, she felt that she'd had enough in-person interaction for the day. She reached up and rubbed the back of her head. Perhaps it was the residual trauma from Friday, but she'd started to feel an unease that afternoon. She shook her head. It was nothing some time alone couldn't fix. She was at her car about to lock it when she heard the squeal of breaks behind her. She turned around, her hand in her purse to pull out her taser when the car door opened and Selina stepped out. Penelope's heart began to pound in her chest when she saw the almost frantic look on the other woman's face. "Doc!" Selina called out to her. "We've got to go!"

Penelope dashed to the passenger side door and let herself in. She barely had time to fasten her seatbelt before Selina peeled out of the office building's parking lot. "What's happened?" Penelope asked. Had there been some kind of threat? Strange, Sharp? If that was the case though, why wouldn't Edward-her blood ran cold. "Where's Edward?"

The dark look on Selina's face confirmed her worst fears. "He's gone," she said. "He disappeared from his office about twenty minutes ago, after his neighbors heard gunfire. Batman thinks that one of the Rogues kidnapped him."

Penelope felt like she could barely breathe. Not ten minutes after she'd spoken to him last, not three days since she'd told him that she loved him, he'd been taken from her. She felt her hands shaking, and she took a deep breath. It wouldn't do Edward any good if she fell apart, or Ellen-Ellen. Ellen had walked onto Arkham Island for Edward, what would she do once she heard her father had been abducted by a Rogue? "We need to get Ellen, we need to make sure she's safe-"

"Way ahead of you," Selina said. "Batgirl's on her way to check on her, and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

Penelope nodded, relieved. "What's Batman's plan? What do you need me to do?"

"Batman's heading to the Iceberg Lounge to find out who exactly took Eddie. I'm taking you to my place to get you out of the line of fire."

"No," Penelope said firmly. "Take me to GCPD."

"Doc-"

"If a Rogue took Edward, then GCPD's the safest place for me to be. I don't need you to babysit me, Selina. I need you to help Batman get Edward back." Penelope looked at Selina beseechingly. "Get him back," her voice cracked. "Promise me, Selina."

Selina's eyes turned jade hard. "I promise."

4:00 pm

School had been rather subdued that day. A lot of kids Ellen knew were absent, due to family members being injured in the attack on the West Side Mall, or in a few cases, killed. Someone Ellen had known in passing in her English class had died. The teachers had been silent, many of them not bothering with their lesson plans, and the students too shell shocked by the events to take much advantage. Ellen herself went through the day with her head down, sticking close to her friends when she could. The one bright spot of the day was that Gramma was finally home, though she was currently taking a nap. Ellen herself was in her building's back parking lot, dressed in sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt, doing stretches before going for her afternoon run. Red Hood hadn't given her an exact date for when they'd next meet, but he had finally agreed to exchange phone numbers with her and told her to keep up her exercises. She'd completed her leg stretches and was about to begin her run when she heard her cell phone buzz. She pulled it out of her sweatpants pocket and saw that she had a text.

Something's going on with the Rogues. They're on the move. Stay home tonight. RH.

Ellen frowned. Jesus Christ, what now? Weren't the attacks on Friday night enough? She was about to put her phone back in her pocket when she heard someone landing behind her.

"Ellie!"

Ellen sharply turned around and jumped back. "Holy fuck!" Standing in front of her in full costume was Batgirl. Ellen shoved her phone back into her pocket and tried to look casual. She was just going for a run, nothing suspicious about that. Wait, what was Batgirl doing here this time of day? "What's up?" she asked.

"Are you alone?" Batgirl asked. Ellen noticed that the blonde looked worried.

"No," Ellen answered. "My Gramma's inside, taking a nap. What's going on?" Was this about the Rogue thing that Hood had texted her about?

Batgirl looked a little relieved, but not enough. "Good. Go back inside and stay there."

What the Hell was going on? The way Batgirl was talking, it sounded like Ellen was personally in danger, but if she was, where was Dad? Ellen's stomach dropped. "What's going on?" Ellen asked. "Is this about my Dad?"

Batgirl looked stricken, and Ellen's heart started pounding. "Don't panic," Batgirl said gently. "Your Dad disappeared from his office almost an hour ago. Batman's looking for him now, but we need to make sure you're safe."

No. No, no, no, no, NO! "Who took him?" Ellen demanded. "Strange? The Rogues? Who's got my Dad!?"

"We're not sure," Batgirl said, placing her hands on her Ellen's shoulders. "Batman thinks it was one of the Rogues, but it's going to be ok. We're going to get him back."

Ellen shook her head. "I want to help," she said. "Let me go in and -"

"No," Batgirl said, gently but firmly. Ellen opened her mouth to argue, but Batgirl cut her off. "Ellie, I get it. Believe me, I get it, but if the Rogues did take your Dad, then you showing up is going to do a lot more harm than good. If they find out about you, they won't hesitate to hurt you to hurt your Dad. The best thing you can do for your Dad is to stay safe. That's what he'd want."

Ellen wanted to scream, to push Batgirl away from her, to run off and hurt every son of a bitch who hurt Dad, but she knew in her soul that Batgirl was right. Ellen wiped her face, but she couldn't prevent a few tears from leaking out. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stay around here and watch your building and make sure the bad guys don't come here. The second I hear anything about your Dad, I'll let you, I promise." Batgirl removed her hands from Ellen's shoulders and took a step back. "Now go back inside. Don't worry. We'll get your Dad back. I promise." Batgirl smiled at her, then took out her grappling hook and aimed it at the roof of Ellen's building. She fired and took off.

Ellen ran back inside, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. 'Make sure the bad guys don't come here.' Also, to make sure Ellen didn't go out to save Dad. Halfway up the stairs, Ellen pulled her cell phone out. Even if she couldn't do anything to help Dad, she knew someone else who could.

And he would make them pay.

4:15 pm

Bruce pushed past bewildered waitstaff and angry security guards as he strode into the Iceberg Lounge. He entered the thankfully, still empty dining room, and narrowed his eyes when he saw a familiar figure sitting at the largest table underneath the chandelier. "Well well," Cobblepot drawled as Bruce approached him. "You're out early. Aren't bats nocturnal creatures?"

Bruce stopped when he was standing directly in front of Cobblepot. He ignored the three tall, scowling men standing behind Cobblepot and focused his attention entirely on the proprietor of the Iceberg Lounge. Cobblepot was indifferent to him, smoking a cigarette. "We need to talk about Edward Nigma."

Cobblepot put out his cigarette and scowled. "If you need to speak about Edward, go ask Dr. Young. I believe she's the one currently in possession of his ba-" Bruce reached his hand out, grabbed Cobblepot by the collar, and threw him over the table and onto the floor. As he lay dazed, the three bodyguards charged Bruce. He easily dispatched the first one to throw a swing at him with a blow to the nose. Another man had his fist cocked back ready to strike when Bruce saw a fast black blur tackle him. The figure got up and Bruce recognized Cassandra. She looked over her shoulder and acknowledged him with a nod before turning her attention to the third bodyguard. He was either not as brave as his colleagues or not as dumb, for he stood his ground. Bruce walked to where Cobblepot was sprawled on the floor and leaned down, staring the man dead in the eyes.

"Edward Nigma was abducted from his office an hour ago," Bruce growled. Cobblepot's eyes widened, he noted. He didn't know, but that didn't necessarily make him innocent.

"That lovestruck fool," Cobblepot muttered. "I warned him!"

Bruce narrowed his eyes. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

Cobblepot looked up at him, and his face turned red. "You-you dare come into my establishment, rough me up and attack my employees, and accuse me of this!? Edward is a friend of mine, I would never-"

Bruce leaned forward. "Are you friends? I know that the two of you argued Saturday."

"A minor disagreement!" Cobblepot sputtered. "It certainly wasn't anything worth killing the man over! I merely warned him that behaving the way he was would have consequences! And it appears that I was right!"

Bruce picked Cobblepot up by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the floor with one hand. "Do you know who did it?"

"Not for certain, no," Cobblepot said. "Though I have my guesses."

"Who?" Bruce asked, tightening his grip.

"The Rogues most vocal about Edward's antics are Harvey Dent, Arthur Brown, Drury Walker, and Garfield Lynns."

"And when was the last time you spoke with any of them?"

Cobblepot wet his lip. "Friday night, after the attack on City Hall was televised. I spoke to all of them over the phone, I thought I had managed to talk them down-"

"They must have found out about your argument with Edward and thought they had an opening," Bruce said. "I hope your 'minor disagreement' was worth it." He unceremoniously dropped Cobblepot on the floor, then turned to Cassandra. "We're leaving." She dutifully followed him out of the Iceberg Lounge, then up to the rooftops.

"Where do we start?" she asked.

"Dent's the ringleader," Bruce answered. "He's never gotten along with Edward, and he's got the largest force out of all the Rogues not in Arkham. We find him, we find Edward." Harvey had been so quiet for so long, that Bruce had almost hoped that he'd left Gotham. Bruce forced the old feelings of guilt down and pressed his communicator. "Oracle, Black Bat and I just left the Iceberg Lounge. Dig up anything you can find on Cluemaster, Firely, Killer Moth..." he swallowed. "And Two-Face."

"You got it. My father's calling the senior detectives together at GCPD. He's keeping it as quiet as possible for now."

It was a good idea on Gordon's part. It had only been three days since the attacks. If word got out to the public that the Rogues were plotting, the ensuing panic could be disastrous. "Did you hear from Stephanie?"

"Yes. Nigma's daughter is at home. Steph's keeping an eye on the building to make sure no one comes in after her and that she doesn't try to play hero again."

"Good." Bruce was about to say more when he heard familiar footsteps on the roof beside them. "Call me when you find anything. Batman out." He turned to see Selina approaching him and Cassandra. "Did you find Dr. Young?"

"Just dropped her off at GCPD," Selina answered. "She insisted that I help you find Eddie." Her eyes narrowed. "So. Who are we tracking down?"

"Dent," Bruce answered. "Do you have any idea where he might be holding up?"

"Last time I had a run-in with him was at his old campaign office in Park Row."

"Then that's where we're heading." Bruce turned east, towards Park Row. "Let's go." Hopefully, they could find Edward before it was too late.