Selina
Gotham City

Whatever hit her from behind knocked her out cold, and she woke up in a dark room, strapped down from her shoulders all the way to her ankles.

No one gets the drop on me. What the hell?

Her head was pounding and she could taste dried blood in her mouth, but nothing felt broken.

What was I doing? Trying to find…

The thoughts in her head were too scrambled for her to focus. She could only turn her head slightly without wanting to puke, but could tell she was in a bedroom with boarded windows. There was a red glow coming from the floor near the bed and a slight electrical hum.

Serial killer? I was trying to find the serial killer. Did he find me first?

She refused to panic. It wouldn't help and she needed to think clearly to get out. The straps were tight, but she worked at them while she thought, hoping that she could find a weakness.

I haven't been raped. I don't fit his profile.

There was a definite possibility that she had been taken by someone else...she had no shortage of enemies.

Unless I'm another Sean Jensen.

With no gag in her mouth, it was clear that she was in a location where screaming would be useless. It was also likely that the captive was a talker. They had that in common. Bruce had said once that she talked endlessly in circles when she was trying to change another person's focus. She knew how to use her mouth to get out of dangerous situations and this clearly qualified as one. If Batman were around…

If Batman were around, I never would have wound up here.

His lack of giving a damn about the serial killer had led her to taking risks she never would have, otherwise. If he hadn't rejected her, they could have worked together and taken the guy down months ago.

Now he won't even know I'm gone.

Not having made any progress on her bindings, she let her head fall back against the bare mattress she was lying on. The door to the room opened and the silhouette of a man appeared in the doorway.

"Hello, Catwoman."

Zatanna
Shadowcrest

Zatanna had managed to talk Constantine into sharing Jason Blood's phone number without asking too many questions. On the third ring, the low, calm voice answered.

"Jason, this is Zatanna Zatara. I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could help me with some information."

"What kind of information?" He asked, seeming uninterested.

"About how you...or Etrigan, rather...could cross dimensions in Hell." She sat for a full minute before finally looking at her phone to see if it had disconnected. "Hello? Jason? Stupid trans-continental..."

"I'm here. Why do you need to know?"

"I'm looking into something that might be related to how we managed to defeat the Darkness. If I'm right, our dimension is still vulnerable."

"That seems unlikely." She could tell he was trying to keep a casual edge to his voice, but it sounded strained. He knows something.

"Maybe so, but I'd like to do some research on it, all the same. I'd appreciate any help you can give me," she said, hoping that a friendly tone and no other demands would encourage him to assist.

"Let me give you a call back. My attention is needed elsewhere." The line disconnected abruptly.

Whatever he knew, it wasn't something he wanted to share and, in all likelihood, something she would rather not learn about. She needed to know, though, so she'd have to come up with another way of finding out what was going on.

Sure hope Diana is having more luck.

During her research into inter-dimensional travel, she hadn't come across any information on rifts or tears in the fabric between those dimensions. She yawned and walked back into the library where Thomas was sleeping and settled onto the couch.

"Koob no snoisnemid emoc nwod." Despite the fact that she knew she should be sleeping while the baby was, she wanted to feel like she was getting somewhere on the Tsaritsa problem before it came and sought her out. It was surprising that it hadn't yet and that made her even more nervous. She delved into the thick textbook, hoping to trip across something useful. By the time her alarm went off late in the day, she was beginning to understand more and more how they were able to even get to another dimension. They should have been torn apart in the attempt. It was a fool's errand to start with, but Constantine somehow thought…

Constantine. He knew about the rip. Damn him, he knew and hid it.

Thomas started to cry, knowing it was time to go see his daddy and growing impatient. She took a breath and decided calling John would have to wait; it might give her time to calm down a bit. Grabbing the baby and guard cat, she hopped in the Zeta tube and arrived back at the manor just before Bruce got home from the office. When he came in, she quickly handed off an impatient daddy's boy and went downstairs to work out. Her muscles were coming back, finally, and she was enjoying having time to burn some extra energy before meditation. Bruce seemed to be enjoying his alone time with Thomas and was always in a better mood when she came back to the den. What they weren't finding a lot of was time alone together. Save for their training sessions, which were half exercise, half sex showering, they were like ships passing in the night. She knew it would improve with time, but she missed their quiet moments and long conversations about his patrols and the League. He was still worried about the threat to the rest of his family and was spending his non-patrol evenings monitoring.

When she made it back upstairs, her guys were already settled in front of the monitors, with Bruce explaining how everything worked to a pacifier-mouthed student.

"This button goes straight to Gordon. This one, Batgirl. This one, Batwoman. This one, Robin. This one, Nightwing. This one, Watchtower." He was dead serious and using his Batman voice while he pointed to each button and taught his attentive audience. "When you're big enough, we can fly the drone around outside of the city so you can see how it works. With the right settings, you'll be able to spot an ant on the ground or fire a concussion round to take down a bad guy. Lucius has another one in the works. Barb and Kate are way too excited about that; you and I might never get to monitor again once it's finished."

"I don't know how you think he's going to have time for all of that while he's training to do stage shows with me," Zatanna said, leaning behind him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"He's half Wayne and half Zatara. He can handle it all."

She laughed and kissed the side of his head. "Good point. Want me to take him?"

"No, we're good for now. I still need to show him how to switch to the Watchtower monitors and alert the League, in case of emergency."

Walking to sit next to them, she turned her attention to the reports on the screen as Bruce kept orienting his intern. It was still instinct to want to transport to a location and fix a problem, but she was able to fight the urge...with Bruce's discouragement, of course. He was holding her to her retirement promise and she was grateful for that, because it wasn't easy.

"Anything interesting?"

"Not much so far, but Robin just started patrol. I'm going to run some routes around the sketchy parts of town and see if Thomas can spot trouble before I do."

He seemed relaxed and the night was quiet enough that she decided it was time to catch him up on her extracurricular studies. "I've been working with Diana on the Tsaritsa problem," she said calmly. He tensed up, but kept his eyes on the screen.

"Yeah? Anything interesting?" He echoed her question casually.

"Maybe, but we're not sure how it's related. There's a rip between dimensions and Diana thinks it needs to be fixed if we're going to see an end to all of this mess."

Finally turning from the monitors, he looked over at her. "Can I help?"

"Not yet, but Di said the League might need to be looped in eventually. I'm just researching now. Need to call Constantine and yell at him."

"For what?"

"I'm 99% sure he knew about the danger and didn't tell me. I don't even know if we could have made it to another dimension if it hadn't been for the rip. You, especially, considering you weren't even supposed to go along. J'onn told me it was there right after we found him, but it didn't register as important at the time."

"What does all of that have to do with Tsaritsa?" He turned back to the monitors again.

"Diana's trying to figure that out. She might be trying to use the weakness to get back to her home."

"With your help."

"Mmm. She hasn't come calling, and I won't be dialing her up, so it's hard to know."

It was quiet in the room for a long time aside from the soft hum of the electronics and the occasional coo from Thomas. Bruce finally turned back and leaned down to gently kiss her. "Thank you for letting me know. I'll be here to help if you need it."

"Thanks," she said as he returned his attention to the screens. She laid her head on his shoulder and watched him work for a while.

"Your birthday's coming up soon. What do you want to do?"

"Spend it with you two."

He smiled and nodded. "That's an easy request. We'll go have a nice meal out and spend the evening together. I'm sure the press is dying to get some decent pictures of the kid."

"He's pretty photogenic. Sounds like a perfect birthday." Thomas started getting fussy, so she scooped him up. "We're going to eat and go to bed. When is Kate relieving you?"

"A little after 1:00. I'll try not to wake you."

"I won't be upset if you do," she grinned. "I can think of a few ways you can help me get back to sleep."

He chuckled and kissed Thomas's forehead. "Get some rest."

The Accomplice
Gotham City

"You're hard to track. I've been trying to make this happen for weeks, but even Catwoman has weaknesses."

She was glaring at him from the bed, tied down and defenseless.

"You leaked the information about a girl being taken."

"Yes. Worked like a charm to get you where I needed you. Once I figured out you were still hunting the serial killer, I knew I could take you down."

"Well, aren't you clever?" She sneered at him and looked back up at the ceiling.

"Why didn't he tell you?"

"Who tell me what?"

"Batman. Why didn't he tell you he had the serial killer already?" Her eyes snapped back to his and he saw the fury in them. "Trouble in masked paradise?"

"Go to hell, Two-Face."

"Don't fucking call me that!" Harvey Dent hated Gotham's cruel nickname for him. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to hear her scream as he pounded his fist into her face, but he needed her. Staying in the doorway, he gritted his teeth. "I should just kill you."

"Probably. Why haven't you? I've never known you to be a collector of hostages."

"I need my serial killer back. You're my bargaining chip."

She started laughing and his urge to beat her returned. "You're a real idiot, Harv. I'm not a bargaining chip. Batman couldn't give two shits about me anymore."

Bullshit. She's trying to manipulate us.

"You think lying will get you out of here?"

"I'm not lying," she said, looking him in the eye. "You fucked up big time."

Bruce
Wayne Manor

Zatanna didn't wake when he went to bed, and as much as he wanted to spend some time with her, he didn't have the heart to interrupt her rest. He watched her sleep for a while, thinking about the information she had given him. Thankfully, she had accepted help from Diana and was being cautious, and it made him feel better that she told him without him having to ask. He would feel even better once the full League was on it, but he wasn't going to force the issue until they did their research. He smiled and ran a hand through her hair. Unable to stay awake longer, he put his arm around her and pulled her close.

Thomas roused them a little after 6:00 to demand his morning meal. Zatanna came back in the room with the cat hot on her heels, ready to sit on the nightstand and make sure everything went well. He was growing more confident in getting close to the baby, who loved to watch him while he ate.

"Morning you two," Bruce mumbled, trying to wake up.

"Hey. Did you sleep?"

"Not as well as both of you," he laughed. "He gave you a lot of rest."

"He's been doing better the last week."

The extra-hungry boy was filling his belly as Zatanna tried not to fall back asleep, her head nodding slightly.

"Date tonight?" He asked, getting her attention again.

"Hmm?"

"I want a date night. You up for it?"

She smiled with sleepy eyes and nodded. "Always. I miss you."

"Miss you, too. I'll see if Alfred can babysit. If not, I'll ask Barb. She's been wanting to."

"It's nice to have so many volunteers."

"We'll see how many years that lasts, but let's take advantage of it while we can. I wanna get you alone."

"I'll make sure there's enough milk to last him the evening."

"And night?"

She laughed and ran her hand over his back. "We'll see. I hope so."

"Good." He closed his eyes and started to drift back off again, dozing until she got up and put Thomas in the bassinet near the bed. "What do you want to do tonight?"

Her cold hands pressed against stomach and she snuggled up against him. "I don't care as long as I'm with you."

"Come on. What's something you haven't done in forever that you want to do?"

"You could take me for a ride on that yacht I'm always reading about in the papers."

He laughed and rolled to lay on top of her. "Sorry, that's where I keep all of those inflatable models I take to fundraisers. No room for you."

"That's what I get for falling in love with a playboy."

"Mm hmm." He kissed her. "You should have known better."

With a small smile, she pulled him closer. "Why do you love me?"

He brushed her hair back from her face and looked in her eyes as he thought back. "There was a League meeting where we talked about a couple dozen schoolkids being killed on a bus during a bridge collapse. You remember?"

"A little."

"I was standing in the far corner of the room watching you...your eyes. You were crying when Diana briefed us, but eventually they started to glow. Not bright, but I could see it."

"I was angry."

"Me, too. At the government failures that allowed it to happen, and at myself for not being able to prevent it. I saw the same anger in your eyes. The same desire to risk everything to save others. It's a foolish desire...a dangerous one. Watching you, I realized I needed to do something to protect you from that desire, but not because you were in the League and not because I made a promise to your father. In that meeting, I realized we had more in common than I ever thought. I started training you harder and I had Lucius make that beacon because the thought of losing you made me panic."

She blinked a few times and wrinkled her forehead. "That was before Vegas," she finally said.

"Yeah. Right before."

"You weren't in love with me then. Hell, you barely tolerated my presence."

He shook his head. "I would have let someone else train you, if that were true. Dinah offered to take over."

"And that morning in Vegas? That was love?"

He winced at the memory of how he acted in the penthouse - the look on her face when he yelled at her. "I was mad at myself for giving in. As soon as I started falling for you I swore I wouldn't act on it, but when I tasted your lips...I was gone. I thought maybe it would fade when we were apart and got some distance, but it didn't."

"You didn't want to fall in love with me?"

"I knew I shouldn't have, but you didn't really give me a choice. You deserve better."

She rolled her eyes. "I wish you'd stop saying that. If anything, you do."

He shook his head and kissed her again. "Maybe we're just messed up enough to be perfect for each other."

"Now you're on to something," she said with a smile. "Let's have dinner tonight and I'll get us tickets to the symphony. We'll have a messed up date night."

"Deal. I'll try to leave work a little early so we have as much time as possible."

She nodded and pulled his head down against her chest. "Sleep more. You'll need energy tonight."

Selina
Harvey's Prison

She hadn't seen Harvey in years and thought he was locked away in Arkham. Clearly, she was wrong. They loosely knew each other before his disfigurement and had crossed paths as both allies and enemies after. Once his life was ruined, he lashed out at everyone...especially Batman. Hell, he was still lashing out at everyone and now she was caught up in his twisted world. The way he reacted when she'd called him by his nickname was interesting...and valuable. There was no way she was going to be able to gain an advantage tied down and with him standing in the doorway the whole time. She needed him to get close or let her just loose enough that she could take him down.

He's no match for you, Selina. Take some of his cheap shots and wait for your moment.

Waiting for him to return, she thought back on how she had wound up strapped to Two Face's guest bed. He knew that Batman and Catwoman were close...close enough for him to think she was valuable to him, but his information was a little out of date. They weren't even close enough now for him to tell her he caught the serial killer. Being a loner did have its disadvantages...it was going to be a while before her absence was noticed. Batman wasn't out there trying to track her down. Even when they were seeing each other, it wasn't unusual for one of the other of them to disappear for days on end. She didn't want to spend that long in her current vacation spot.

Footsteps. Play it right, Selina. You've got this.

Zatanna
Wayne Manor

Date night had been amazing. They'd gone to a quiet bistro and enjoyed half of the symphony before leaving at intermission. After that, the stored milk had lasted the night and they were able to catch up on some much-needed alone time. She woke wrapped in his arms with him watching her.

"Morning, wife," he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead.

"Morning, husband. Thank you for last night."

"No, thank you. I was in desperate need," he laughed. "I do have a request now, though, while we still have a babysitter." She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Let's go talk to the prisoner and get it over with. He's going to lose his sanity the longer I isolate him."

She was shocked. It had been so long since they'd even talked about him that she was sure that he was never going to take her down. "Yeah, let's get it over with."

"You're sure? You can say no and I'll never ask again."

"It's okay. Let's end this and move on." Instead of talking more about it, she rolled out of bed, worried he would notice that her hands were already shaking. Getting dressed, she tried to ready herself for whatever vile things Elliott was planning to say. When Bruce was dressed, he came over and wrapped his arms around her, face serious.

"I reserve the right to end this at any moment if I want to. And you can leave if you feel even a little uncomfortable. He won't get to dictate how this goes. He's not in control."

She nodded and tried to smile, but it probably came across as more of a grimace. "I'm ready."

He kissed her forehead and took her hand to lead her to the scary elevator. "Tim's going to be there in a Batsuit in case he needs to make Batman's presence known. I doubt it will come to that, though, so he'll wait nearby and listen in."

"Good idea. Are we just going to let him talk or ask questions?"

"Let him talk to start so he gets comfortable. If he gets off track, I'll take over. Don't do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

They rode quietly the rest of the way down until he led her to a corridor in the cave that she'd never seen before. After several minutes of walking and passing through half a dozen blast doors, they arrived at a small row of cells. In the last one, they found a man with a mangled, scarred face. He didn't even look like the same fake Bruce that had tried to kill her.

"Wake up, Tommy," Bruce said. Her hand was still tight in his and she could feel the tension in him. Elliott slowly started to stir and finally rolled over to look at them.

"Well, I'll be damned," he slurred, "you caved." He sat up and squinted into the light. "Took you long enough. Hello, Zatanna."

"Talk. You wanted us both here, so talk," Bruce said.

"I can still taste you," Elliott said, leering at her. "Wish you hadn't interrupted what I had planned."

Bruce pulled her behind him slightly and stepped toward the bars. "Why did you kill all of those women? Why did you attack Zatanna?"

"How did it make you feel?" He asked, turning his gaze back to Bruce. "When you read about the women in the papers. When you heard that I got in your house. How did it make you feel? Could you feel it when I touched her? When I kissed her?"

"You're not the one asking questions today, Tommy. You said you would talk with us both here, so get on with it."

The ragged man slowly stood and came forward to lean against the bars, returning his cold glare to her. "I hate you, Bruce. For years I've watched you and how you live...acting like you're the king of Gotham. Untouchable. Flaunting your wealth and privilege like the spoiled little rich boy you are. Tell me...do you feel untouchable now? Did you feel untouchable when you found out I got in your home and on top of your girl?"

"I felt like you were trying to be me. Desperately. That's not hate, it's envy. Something pathetic men feel when they know they're inadequate." Bruce stayed close to the bars, pulling her even further behind him until she could barely see around his massive frame. "Do you feel pathetic? Because you sure as hell look it."

"Ooo...name calling. Clever. How about this for a name? Side-show tramp. All of the money you have and you knock up that cheap stage..."

Bruce let go of her hand and grabbed Elliott through the bars, pulling him forward and banging his forehead against them. "Batman might not kill you, but I don't have a moral code to follow, you fucking bastard. Did you think you could take over my life? Did you think anyone for a second would actually believe you were me?"

He groaned and shook his head from the impact with the bars. "You're not as special as you think. You got lucky and inherited your billions before you could even drive. That doesn't make you special."

She felt her anger quickly spike and stepped forward, pulling at Bruce's arm. "Pots. Tis nwod."

Elliott quickly moved back and sat down on the bed with a grunt. "Fucking witch."

"Enough. If you do anything other than tell us what we want to know from this point forward, I'll cast a spell to make your blood boil and you'll die screaming in this cell like the pathetic piece of shit you are." She held her hand up, a fiery glow forming at her fingertips.

"I did it to fuck with Bruce. Haven't you figured that out yet? I did it to fuck with him and that's it," he spat out.

Bruce took a step back and looked at her, mouth slightly agape. She nodded to confirm what Elliott was saying was the truth. He didn't seem to know how to respond.

"Who helped you?" He asked quietly.

"Harvey Dent."

Bruce's head snapped back to look at his prisoner. "Impossible. He's locked up in Arkham."

"Ask Zatanna. She knows I'm not lying, right?"

She nodded again.

"Where is Dent?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? You think Batman's let me make phone calls from in here? He could be anywhere. I don't even know how long I've been in here. Long enough for your little brat to be born, apparently." He laid back down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. "He wanted me to fix his face. In exchange, he helped me through my recovery from my own surgeries and helped me track Batman and his cronies so I wouldn't get caught. He also helped me get close to you, Bruce. Being the ex-district attorney of Gotham has its perks, especially when it comes to prominent members of society. He had a case file on you that took up a whole cabinet."

"All this to make me feel unsafe?"

"Yes. And to take over your life, like you said. My parents were rich, for sure, but nothing like yours. I think you give yourself too much credit on being unique. All I needed was your face."

"If all you needed was his face, then you wouldn't be in this cell right now, would you?" Zatanna said, walking to lean against the opposite wall.

"If I'd gotten rid of you, it would have worked. How did you get Batman there, anyway? Thought you had to speak to work your voodoo."

"You thought wrong. Guess Dent's case file on me wasn't quite as detailed."

"Guess not."

"Where does Dent hide?" Bruce came to lean next to her, still as tense as he was when they arrived. He reached down and took her hand again.

"A lot of places. Not really sure how he can hide with that nightmare face of his. Must be pretty lonely."

"You look about the same now. Just give me an idea so we can leave. If not, Batman won't leave us alone and he'll keep you here."

"I like it here. Nice and peaceful. Plenty of dog shit to eat."

"Llet su," she said with a roll of her eyes. He wasn't frightening, he was annoying. And he wasn't helping.

"Fuck you with that shit, you stupid witch. He stays in a lot of different places and I don't know many of them. Tell the Bat Freak to look at the abandoned apartment complex south of ACE Chemicals. He might be there. If he isn't, then I don't know. My hideout's blown to hell."

Bruce pushed forward again and stood closer to the cell. "There's more. There has to be. You couldn't have just been waiting down here for this."

"Think what you want, Bruce."

"He's hiding something. Not lying, but he's holding back," Zee said.

"Is there anything you can do about that?" Bruce looked to her.

"Nothing I'm comfortable doing without Batman's permission."

"Maybe he won't need it. Let's take what we have to him and go from there. If he can't find him, we'll do it the hard way." Bruce turned and pulled her down the hall without another word. He was seething when they made it back to the elevator. "Fucking lunatic. That can't be why he did this."

"Except it is. He wasn't lying, Bruce."

"He killed all of those women...that man...just to try to ruin me and take over my life?"

"He wanted you to feel weak and vulnerable. He's pissed that you don't."

After thinking a while longer, he turned to her with a grin, pulled her closer, and started to relax. "I can use that. Thank you for going. I don't how how Two Face got out, but I'm going to find him and this will all be over."

She smiled back and kissed his cheek. "Good. We have a wedding and honeymoon to get on with."

The elevator stopped and he picked her up by the waist and carried her as she giggled. "You bet we do, wife. I'm going to show you all of Italy and we're going to make love on every beach we pass."

"Yes. With a blanket, though, 'cause I really don't want sand in my ass."

"What makes you think you'll be on your back?" She laughed and shook her head at his lame lewd joke. Still holding her a foot off the floor, he kissed her and sighed. "Go get our son. I need to be Batman for a while before work." He set her down next to the nursery and gave her a quick hug. "See you tonight."