When they finally made their return to the lab Jonathan sat down at his workbench almost immediately, returning to work as if nothing had happened at all.

"You owe me a new gauntlet," Jonathan huffed as he unscrewed the torn tubing from the equipment they had retrieved.

"Yeah, well you owe me a new shirt," Angela said as she pointed out the tear that she had gotten from trying to squeeze through the crevice. Jonathan looked at her over his shoulder and rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Yeah, well, screw you too," Angela grumbled as she turned, feeling the events of the day finally wearing on her. She approached the door to check on Edward and Jervis, but was promptly halted.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jonathan asked just as she was reaching for the handle. He stood from his seat, his gauntlet forgotten for the time being.

"I wanted to check on Edward and Jervis, make sure they're okay."

"Oh no you don't, little Rook," he said as he placed a hand against the door to keep it closed. "You're going to stay here and help me with this."

Angela frowned. "Don't be so heartless, Jonathan. I don't know what you did to them, they could be dead for all I know."

Jonathan gave a sinister grin that sent her heart racing. "Does that frighten you, my dear?" he asked softly as he subtly caged her in. He watched closely as her pupils dilated. "Oh, it does, doesn't it?" he laughed. "What about it frightens you? Is it the not knowing, or the thought of two dead bodies, just on the other side of that door?"

"That's not funny, Jonathan," she said as she tried to push his hand off of the door. Jonathan promptly wedged himself into the space between her and the door. Angela was met with a smirk as she glared up at him, but her determination was unfaltering. "I mean it, move out of the way," she demanded.

Jonathan slouched against the door in begrudging defeat. "Very well then. Go and check on them. I assure you they're just fine, but if you don't believe me, feel free to see for yourself."

Angela waited for him to move out of the way, but he continued to stand against the door. When she looked up at him she saw that he was staring down at the small gouges in her shoulder from where he had tried to inject her with the toxin. He seemed lost in thought. "If you don't mind," she said, gesturing for him to move over. When he didn't move she made another attempt to push him aside. That seemed to snap him out of his thoughts. He suddenly grasped the wounded shoulder and pulled her closer to him to better inspect the wound.

"Ah! that hurts!" she winced as he grabbed her. The skin around the wound was still tender and bruised from the force of his attack.

"Hold still," he told her as he continued his inspection. She did her best to hold still and not jerk away when his fingers began to prod, pushing aside the fabric of her top to better inspect the injury. "When you're done checking on them, return here promptly. We should take care of these injuries."

"Fine," she sighed as he finally released her and moved out of the way. Angela adjusted her top and looked over her shoulder at him as he moved back to his workstation. She wondered if there was something more than concern in the way he inspected her injury, but that train of thought would have to wait.

She exited the lab, finding nothing but complete silence when she entered Edward's workspace. Even the various monitors on his supercomputer were in rest mode, displaying nothing but an array of floating green question marks. It was unnatural to not hear the constant clacking of his keyboard.

She moved into the next room and gave a sigh of relief as she saw Edward and Jervis, slouched in their respective cots with ice packs on their heads, and Edward with a bandage wrapped around his forearm. They both looked up at her in surprise the moment she stepped into the room.

"Oh good," Edward said as he sat up. He put down the ice pack he had pressed to his forehead to reveal a nasty purple bruise. "Looks like we're one raging lunatic down. Good job Angela. I do hope you got a couple good hits in on my behalf. I would say I'll miss that mad scientist, but I'm afraid I've lost too many brain cells taking knocks to the head from him to truly care."

Angela chuckled. "Jonathan is still alive, Edward. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Well that's too bad," Edward grumbled as he slouched back into his cot.

"I'm surprised. I would have thought you would be elated to find out he finally got rid of me," she said as she moved to sit at the edge of his cot.

"Yeah, well, that may have been what I would have wanted, had he not bit me !" He raised his arm to show her the bandage wrapped around his forearm.

Angela stifled a laugh.

"It's not funny, Angie!"

"No, no, not funny at all," she said, still choking down a laugh. She moved over to Jervis' cot and sat beside him. "How about you, Jervis. Are you feeling okay?" She took the ice pack from him and began to inspect his injury.

"Angela," Edward continued protesting, "that lunatic bit me, and you're worried about Jervis!?"

Angela shot Edward a glare and shushed him. He grumbled under his breath and sat back in his cot again.

"I'm quite alright," Jervis assured her, despite the large raised bump on his head the ice pack had been hiding. "This is nothing compared to the bump I took when playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts. Those flamingos pack quite a punch," he laughed.

Angela looked at him like the mad man he was, then looked back over at Edward. "Are we sure he's alright? This isn't a concussion or something?"

Edward waved dismissively. "He's fine. He's talking about a heist he did with Harley. I'm the one you should be worried about! I could have rabies for all we know."

"I'm sure you're fine, Edward," she said with a laugh as she stood. "The vet said Jonathan is up to date on all his shots."

"One can never be too sure," he grumbled.

Angela gave a sigh of relief. She was glad to find they were both relatively alright. She was sure the Bat had delivered much more serious injuries to them over the course of their respective criminal careers.

Edward caught her by the wrist as she moved to walk away, catching her off guard with a serious look on his face. "What about you, Angela? Are you alright?"

Angela's mouth fell open for a moment. "I- I'm fine, Edward," she told him as she pulled herself back together. "A little scuffed up, as you can see, but I'll be alright. Thank you for asking." Edward had never shown an ounce of concern for her before, and she was a little more than shocked at his question.

"Good," he said as he released her, "because now you owe me one for saving your life."

Angela rolled her eyes at the sly grin that made its way onto Edward's face.

"Fine," she laughed. "Just what exactly do I owe you?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find some way to make even a moron like you useful. Now off you go," he said, shooing her dismissively, "and turn off the light on your way out. Jervis and I need our beauty sleep."

Angela huffed, but did as she was told, closing the door behind her. She took a moment and stood in front of the door to the lab, taking a deep breath. She knew Jonathan wanted to address her wounds, but the soreness in her muscles and the stress of the day were wearing on her. She wanted nothing more than to fall into her cot and sleep for the next day and a half. Not to mention Jonathan seemed to have some sort of ulterior motive behind asking her to return to the lab. She sorely hoped he didn't really intend to have her help him restore his gauntlet before she got a chance to rest.

"Edward says you bit him."

"Serves him right for putting me in a headlock. Now have a seat."

She stepped further into the room and took a seat next to him at his workstation. The gauntlet had been stored away for the time being, and in its place was an array of medical supplies. She sighed in relief. She didn't think she had the mental ability to restore the thing that nearly killed her, not at the moment at least.

"Good," he said as he watched her visibly relax into her seat. "Now then, tell the doctor where it hurts."

Angela rolled her eyes with a small laugh. "Definitely here," she told him, pointing out the scrape across her stomach, "and my shoulder."

Jonathan took his time as he raked his gaze over her. He took inventory of each little scrape and bruise on her skin from their earlier altercation, until his eyes finally landed on the bloodied puncture wounds on her shoulder. He had been so close, and as glad as he was to not have killed her, he still longed to have seen the effect of the toxin on her. He longed to see her deepest fears come to life, and watch as she fought to rid them from her mind, just as she had the first time he had used it on her.

Angela looked up at him as she noticed his gaze lingering on her shoulder again. She placed a hand over the injury to try and break his concentration. His eyes instantly snapped to hers, and she noticed a flicker of darkness there.

"You're not doing this to help me, are you?" she said, feeling a bit hurt. "Is this just an excuse for you to inspect your work? To remind yourself of how close you were?"

"Of course not," he told her, but the placid look on his face did little to convince her.

Jonathan couldn't deny that he was utterly fascinated by the puncture wounds, but he also couldn't deny that he had messed up. He had betrayed her trust, lost his composure, and nearly killed her. He had to keep telling himself that she wanted to be here, that she chose him over everything else, and that she wasn't plotting to betray him. It was difficult for him to believe, especially after what had just happened, but he was determined to make things right. Even if she had lied and actually did plan to leave after all of that, he would convince her to stay.

Angela continued to glare up at him, trying to peek through the mask he always wore. She was surprised to see the mask slowly begin to slip. A tired and contemplative expression took over his face. He looked positively distraught.

"What is it?" She asked wearily.

Jonathan mumbled something to her, but she couldn't quite hear him. When she asked him to repeat himself he sat in the chair in front of her and raked his hands through his hair with a heavy sigh. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands in front of him as he stared down at the ground, unable to meet her gaze.

Angela couldn't help the look of concern that took over her face. She took his hands in hers to draw his attention back to her. He nearly recoiled at her touch, but forced himself to relax when he saw the look she wore.

"Jonathan," she began softly, "Tell me what you said."

He took a slow breath and grasped her hands tightly, steeling himself for what he was about to tell her. "I said that I'm sorry, Angela."

She looked taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry that things transpired the way they did tonight. I should never have doubted you. But I'm most sorry for this," he admitted as he lightly grasped her injured shoulder. "A part of me knows this was just a bad excuse to use the toxin on you. I lost control. I will not allow it to happen again."

When he looked back at her face, he wasn't surprised to see the stern expression there. "How can I be sure?" she asked.

"You can't be," he responded honestly, "that's why the option to back out will always stay available to you. You can leave whenever you like. I wouldn't hold that against you."

She looked at him for a moment, and then shrugged. "Fine, I guess I will leave."

The dumbfounded expression on Jonathan's face made calling his bluff worth it.

"W-what?" He stuttered. "You can't-"

Angela swatted his hand away from her, surprising him with a scathing look. "With how many times you've told me this, I almost feel like you want me to leave at this point, Jonathan," she hissed. She was standing now, her voice steadily rising in volume. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you I want this for you to finally realize that you're stuck with me. Believe it or not, I never took your offer to leave lightly. I've considered my options. This is what I want. Is it too much to ask that I get through it without the threat of toxin looming over me? Do you know how you sound when you tell me on one hand that you 'won't allow it to happen again' but on the other hand I can never be sure that it won't?!"

"You don't want me to leave," she stated, looking half mad as she pointed an accusatory finger in his face. "What happened tonight and what happened just now has made that all too clear. So why can't you make a proper promise to me when it comes to the toxin? If you can't put me before the toxin, then you should never have said what you did outside of the Iceberg Lounge. You should have told me then and there that you couldn't control this insatiable need to use the toxin."

"I'm telling you now. I'll do my best to hold it back, but this is something you'll have to accept as a possibility. I cannot make you a guarantee when it comes to this."

Angela gritted her teeth. She couldn't stand the calm demeanor he wore with his response, but she knew this was his way of showing her he meant it. If this life was something she wanted, she truly did have to accept that being injected with fear toxin was a potential. She sighed heavily, her frustration deflating as she came to this conclusion.

"Fine," she said, settling back into her seat, "So fear toxin may or may not be a part of my future, how do I prepare for it?"

Jonathan's brow shot up in surprise, a look she hadn't seen from him before. "Now that is an intriguing question, one that will take some time for me to consider. At the moment, though, I'm more concerned about treating those injuries of yours. Shall we?"

"Just a moment," Angela held out a hand to stop him, "I have one request."

"And what would that be, my dear?"

Angela gave him a serious look. "Don't ever make the offer to let me leave again. It's been stated enough as it is. I don't want to hear it again. I want to be here, and I need you to respect the fact that I've taken this decision into consideration. I need to know that you don't doubt that, and that you'll never doubt it again."

"You really mean that?"

"Jonathan," she said, in a warning tone.

He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. He didn't know why, but he felt a warmth bloom in his chest at what she told him. She wanted to join him in this life, as complicated and dangerous as it was, she wanted to be there. With him. It would take him time to truly accept it, but for now he would do his best.

"Very well then, little Rook. You will not hear me question your decision again. This is a promise I can make."

Angela met his grin with one of her own. "I'm glad to hear it."

Jonathan got to work on tending to her wounds. The entire time he worked, he couldn't help the small smile that remained on his face.