Sorry again for the long delay between chapters!

"Mate… I'm a little choked up," Captain Boomerang said to Black Spider- who was truly Batman in disguise. My nerves felt tight as Jason and I listened in on the conversation of the squad through our communication units.

"Got the thumb drive… what?" Deadshot's voice came through, a surprised and exasperated whisper. I guessed he perhaps did not have whatever thumb drive he was talking about.

"What the hell?" Captain Boomerang groaned.

"We've been played," Deadshot's voice growled.

"Where's Frosty?" Harley Quinn asked. Killer Frost, she must've meant. My muscles tensed as I prepared to pounce; if Killer Frost was separated from the others, she'd be easier to take down.

"Frost? Damn it… Frost!" Deadshot called into their comm units.

"Guess her head isn't long for her shoulders," Captain Boomerang seemed to laugh.

"Hey!" Killer Shark growled back.

"She's going after Riddler. We need to move," Deadshot commanded, and I sped the motorcycle ahead towards Intensive Treatment. I needed to get to Riddler's cell before she or the rest of them could.

"How do you know she's with the Riddler?" Harley asked over the comm units through panting breaths. They were running. I didn't have much time. The doors between sections of the island should have been guarded, but the men were down. The squad had come through this way.

"She was eyeballin' him, back at the monitor room," Deadshot answered. "Less questions, move faster."

"Batgirl, wait," Jason called to me through the communication unit.

"I need to get to Riddler before Killer Frost does…"

"I think she already did," Jason said. I froze with a fear that I had failed.

"Is he dead?"

"No. I don't think so, at least… a squad from Special Crimes was called in to protect the tunnels beneath the medical center. They connect to Intensive Treatment."

"They're gone!" Harley Quinn's voice came through from Batman's side and we silenced, waiting for more information.

"Yeah, we can see that Harley, but where?" Captain Boomerang asked shortly. A pinging lightly came through my audio.

"It's Wahler," Deadshot said to the group. "I'm here… we had a bout with the Bat. But we're past it. I got your cane. We're just looking for an exit… of course. Why wouldn't we be… Maybe Two-Face got a pair of hemorrhoids. We're outta here."

"Please don't explode, please don't explode, please don't explode," Harley whimpered aloud.

"Shut up!" Deadshot silenced her, seemingly off the call with Wahler. "Where's that medical center?"

"There are tunnels beneath the buildings- that's the fastest way without being seen," Harley answered, still whining with fear.

"Let's move. Wahler's catching on to us," Deadshot said.

"Red Hood," I called through our private comms. "Can you tap into the Special Crimes Unit communications? I want to know where they are and why they're there."

"Um… I can try. I haven't done that level of hack before," he said nervously. I hopped on the bike one more time, driving it closer to the medical facility until I saw the Special Crimes Unit van parked out front. "Hey Batgirl… what was all that Harley was saying about exploding? Is Joker's bomb there on the island?"

"Good question," I answered as I discreetly dismounted, half in the bushes, and pulled out my remote hacking device. I was able to pinpoint the secure login portal and connect from a distance. "Just in case, call in an anonymous bomb threat to Arkham Island. Maybe we can get the police and an evacuation started. I recognize one of the names they were throwing around: Wahler. As in, Amanda Wahler. This is a Suicide Squad operation. If it's anything like her last move, I think she ordered them to kill Nygma. As for the Special Crimes Unit, I'm breaking through their walls now. Make sure the channel stays open."

"… team is under the medical bay now. We have confirmed visual on one escaped convict and an unknown accomplice," an officer reported over the channel.

"Confirmed. Lethal force authorized if prisoners resist arrest."

"Shit," Jason said on his end.

"Language," I commented as I put my remote hacking device away again. "Batman's walking straight into that."

Gunfire started quickly. I supposed Riddler and presumably Killer Frost hadn't surrendered easily. "Everyone stay behind me," Deadshot's growl ordered the group from Batman's comms. The sound of gunfire increased.

"You alright?" Killer Shark's voice asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Somewhat," Killer Frost answered. "Glad you made it."

"This better be good," Deadshot shouted.

"He knows how to turn off the bombs," Killer Frost said.

"Look familiar?" Riddler's chipper, annoying voice asked.

"Bombs? Plural?" Jason asked me through the comms.

"I don't know… but they want to shut it down, not power it up. I think, strangely enough, we might all be on the same side of this. Glad Batman's got his boots on the ground," I said.

"I can do it, but you've got to get me into the medical center," Riddler commanded the group.

"We've got maybe five minutes before Wahler figures out what's what!" Deadshot called to the group over the storm of bullets. "We get to that room, or we're dead."

"Shoulda brought a tank," Captain Boomerang grunted.

"We have one," Deadshot said, and the group fell silent.

"What are they talking about? A tank?" Jason asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Not literal- like a fighter that can take a lot of damage. They're trying to find a way past Special Crimes," I explained.

"Oh. Got it, right," Jason said quickly.

"No heights!" an anxiety ridden voice sounded over the group. It barely sounded like Killer Shark anymore.

"You're joking…"

"I said: NO HEIGHTS!" Killer Shark screamed at Captain Boomerang.

"I'll guide you," Killer Frost said softly.

"I sense a love connection," Jason said over the comms. I scoffed quietly.

"Me too," I answered. "Let's just hope they don't go the way of Harley and Joker."

"You mean, crashing and burning all over Gotham?"

"Exactly."

A minute passed quietly before Harley said, "I'm crazy, but that's nuts!" I wished I had a visual on what was going on. Instead, I pushed my finger to my ear in hopes to hear more on the other end. It was just gunfire… yelling… a sudden rush of water, a ceasing of gunfire, and then what sounded like the shattering of glass. And silence.

"Let's move!" Deadshot ordered the group. I wondered if anyone in the Special Crimes Unit had survived.

I heard sirens in the distance approaching the island. "GCPD is arriving onsite," I said, pulling out my grapnel gun and pulling myself onto the roof of the penitentiary, where I could watch everything going on without being in fear of the building blowing up under me. The sounds of Riddler mumbling through Batman's communicator drew my attention and I crouched low as I listened, watching the police cars pull up at the entrance of the asylum.

In the distance, I could see my dad's car arrive.

"Grab a chair," Riddler nonchalantly said through the communication devices.

"How do you defuse these bombs, exactly," Deadshot asked as Harley giddily shouted 'wheeeee.'

"It's the electroshock," he answered.

"It's the what-now?" Captain Boomerang asked back.

"I'm gonna run 1000 volts through your heads and fry your bombs," Riddler clarified. My jaw dropped as the pieces fell into place and I understood.

"What the hell…" Jason started.

"That's it, that's how Wahler was controlling them," I answered. "She implanted microbombs in their heads and threatened them with remote detonation if they didn't follow her orders. That's why they've all been cooperating with her for so long."

"Isn't that the plot of a Mission Impossible movie?" Jason asked.

"She's used those bombs to leverage them into assassinations," I reminded him of the seriousness of our situation.

"And now they've found their way out," Jason continued. I felt my brow and jaw tighten.

"They were dangerous before," I said, "but imagine how much worse it could get when they're off the leash."

"Oh, I love electroshock! It's a shiatsu massage for your brain!" Harley giggled.

"Lose those," Riddler instructed someone.

"I'll keep a look out," Batman said, his voice still disguised as Black Spider's. The police cars had flooded the yard in front of the medical facility now. "More cops. Choppers too."

"Why is he letting this happen?" Jason asked. "If Wahler loses control over them, they'll tear Arkham apart. They're easier for him to take down like this, why doesn't he do it?"

"He knows what he's doing," I insisted, though I struggled to understand the play he was making as well. "Have a little faith."

"This'll work?" Deadshot asked skeptically.

"Or give you a grand mal seizure," Riddler calmly answered. "I'm clamping you to the chairs because you're going to wiggle."

"They're tied down to their chairs too? Why isn't Batman stopping this?" Jason asked.

"Red Hood!" I snapped back. "Trust him. He knows what he's doing!"

"I don't trust this fruit loop," Boomerang groaned.

"1000 volts, multiplied by 5 bodies…" Riddler did the math aloud.

"You know what you're doing, right?" Killer Shark asked with about as much confidence as Jason had in Batman. Riddler didn't answer, but a pinging of a communicator did.

"Damn it," Deadshot grumbled, "don't stop working! Yeah, Wahler… news to me…weeee hit a snag. Spider needed medical attention. Mmm… uhhuh," Deadshot answered, suddenly sounding muffled.

Then, screams.

And Harley's deranged giggle.

"So that's what 1000 volts sound like," Jason said.

"Batman," I called through the open channel while the noise of the room was loud. "How can we help?"

"Stay back," he mumbled as quietly as possible.

The screaming stopped.

"I never need to do that again," Boomerang whimpered out.

"Are you kidding? I feel GREAT!" Harley's smile was audible.

"Uh… guys?" Killer Shark called.

"Do it again!" Killer Frost ordered.

"I don't know… maybe the skin's too thick?" Riddler speculated.

"Uh oh," I said aloud, realizing what that meant. One of the bombs hadn't diffused. The sounds of moans came through the comm device until a blast resounded- not large enough to burst through the windows, but loud enough that it rocked the building a bit. All the cops outside looked up to the windows the sound had come from.

"Oy… why'd his head explode?" Boomerang asked obtusely.

"Because the bomb in his neck didn't defuse, you asshole!" Killer Frost snapped back.

"I'm guessing that's Killer Shark out of the picture," I said through the comms to Jason.

"So what's his excuse?" Boomerang asked again. The room fell silent. I realized… they were talking about Black Spider. About Batman.

The sound that broke the silence was Riddler's laughter. "Oh… oh that's rich…" More silence ensued. "Haven't you solved it yet? The Black Spider is Batman!"

Gunshots. Screams.

I shot my line launcher to carry me to the roof of the medical building. Batman needed an exit, fast.

"Talk!" Batman's voice called through the still open line. "Why are you here?"

"Amanda Wahler wanted the Riddler dead!" Deadshot answered, surprisingly compliant.

"Wahler? What's she got to do…" more gunshots interrupted him.

"I'm here, bitches!" a happy, terrifying voice called to the room.

Joker.

"And I've got favors for everybody!" he giggled for a moment, before tiny explosions rocked the room they were in.

"Shit, how'd Joker get out?" Jason asked.

"Call Nightwing, tell him what's happening," I demanded as I landed on the medical center's rooftop. The glass window shattered from the room they were in and Batman, in Black Spider's costume, swung down to the adjacent rooftop with his grapnel gun. As I saw Joker appear in the window, I ducked behind an AC unit. He fired more shots and I heard Batman groan. By the time I poked my head back around the corner of the unit, Joker had left the window- and Batman was nowhere in sight. "Batman!" I called as I sprinted to the edge of the roof. Down below, Batman had landed roughly in a small alcove in the building. I shot my grapnel hook up and repelled below, landing at his side. He crouched low as he got to his feet, his back arching over a wounded abdomen. "Were you hit?" I asked, placing careful hands on his back.

"It doesn't matter. Joker's loose. This was somehow his plan all along," Batman said. I shook my head.

"I'm not sure planning is his style, but it's working for him nonetheless," I agreed. Batman aimed his grapnel gun at the rooftop as if to leap back into action, but I placed my hands on his shoulders. "Wait. You're injured. Take a moment."

"Every moment we waste is a moment Joker gets closer to escape…"

"And every moment you ignore your wounds makes you weaker," I insisted, turning his abdomen so I could palpate his wounds. None of the bullets had broken skin, but between the impact of those bullets and the fights he'd gone through in the medical facility and evidence lockup, he was bruised to hell. Maybe a broken rib.

"GCPD has breached the medical facility. They're starting on the ground level and taking the building back, floor by floor," Jason called through the comms.

"Connect me to Gordon's private line," Batman insisted as I took an epinephrine pen out of my belt and stabbed into the Batman's side, just below the broken rib. He groaned as I did so, but didn't complain otherwise.

"Batman," Gordon answered the call.

"Gordon, pull your men back. Joker is loose in the facility, and he's not alone. There are at least four other superpowered criminals in that building outside of their cells. It's not safe for your men."

"If we don't take this building back now, it'll only get worse," my dad answered nervously. "We let them roam free in there, it won't be long before they find release switches for other cells. We could lose the whole island."

"Joker may still have access to a bomb," Batman warned him.

"All the more reason we can't pull back," dad replied, though the anxiety came through in his tone.

"I'll stop him, Jim," Batman said, the note of a promise in his voice, then clicked off the line. "I'm going after Joker."

"What can I do?" I asked, looking for his leadership.

"Watch the exits for any of Wahler's squad, incapacitate anyone that comes out. And keep the police safe," he said, aiming his grapnel gun at the roofs again. I couldn't stifle the sigh that came out, knowing I'd need to get close to dad to do that job.

I hoped he wouldn't recognize me.

I brought myself up to the roof, then floated down to the police cars. One officer nervously raised their gun at me, but dad quickly intervened.

"Stand down! It's Batgirl," he barked at the officer, looking to me with respect and a hint of suspicion.

I wondered if this is how he looked at every stranger, everyone that wasn't me.

"We need officers stationed at all the exit points, and the bridge needs to be blockaded," I directed him.

"Already on it… we're understaffed," he shook his head.

"Take your car back to the bridge," I said and, as he opened his mouth to argue, continued, "you're no help to your men in the firing line. Get to a safe location. You'll still see plenty of action on that bridge."

His mouth tightened, but he consented, taking a step back towards his cruiser.

The speakers across the island squeaked and howled to life, and a chilling voice came on. "I know you can see me Bats!" Joker's voice shouted; the speakers must be attached to TV monitors inside the asylum. "Hope you brought protection, cause I'm about to give Gotham a terminal case of tainted love, and it's really gonna burn." A high-pitched, giggle crawled over our skins. "And just in case you're thinking of stopping me, I figured I'd invite some friends to my big blow-out!"

A blaring alarm sounded and I gasped an inhale as I heard my dad mutter, "no…"

The Arkham cells were open.

"Pull your men back, now!" I commanded him.

"All units, this is James Gordon, pull back immediately," dad said into his radio. "Arkham prisoners have been released, pull back to the prison yard immediately. Dispatch, we need more units on the island and blocking the bridge!"

"Copy Gordon. We've got one more chopper we can bring in, but we're stretched thin…"

I felt paralyzed with shock. Harvey Dent, Bane, Scarecrow, everyone we had put away in the past few weeks had their cell doors swinging open. I reached up to the comm unit in my ear.

"Nightwing. Red Hood. Suit up."