Batman
Wayne Manor

"I'm not letting you go. Not this time. Not again," he said, gritting his teeth.

"Look at those pictures...he'll kill her," Zatanna said, handing Thomas to Barb before taking his hand.

"I know, and I'm going to save her. This is my job, not yours. I can't keep using you as a shortcut to get things done faster. I can't keep putting you in danger."

"I'm not a shortcut. I'm just as invested in saving lives as you are, no matter what. Gotham is my city too, now. We're not leaving her to suffer if I can do something about it."

"Zee..."

"I know, Bruce...I hear you," she said, putting her hand on his chest. "But right now I need to talk to Batman."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he knew she was the best option to get Selina out alive and he couldn't bear the thought of her suffering more torture because of her history with him. Selfish bastard...this is why you never let people close before. Pulling Zee against him, he pressed his lips to hers and held her tightly. She clung to his arms and kissed him back, no more concerned about their audience than he was. It took a while before she finally pulled her head back and looked in his eyes, resolute and calm. With a brief nod, she stepped away slightly and spoke in a quiet voice.

"Gnikrow sehtolc." A flash of light turned her regular clothes into her League costume. Thomas giggled at the sudden change as Barb cradled him, and Bruce's chest tightened when Zee turned to kiss his tiny forehead. "I love you, my sweet boy," she whispered. "Always know that."

"I can do this alone," he said quietly, but she turned and shook her head.

"I know, but I can do it faster. Take me to her place, Batman. We'll get her and it'll be done." Her eyes were wet with tears, but her jaw was set. He knew she wasn't going to budge. Instead of arguing more, he walked to the monitoring desk and pulled out a communicator and tracker.

"Where's your beacon?" He handed her the items and she said something that made her beacon appear in her hand. She was as prepared as he could make her, given the circumstances, and this type of job was a piece of cake for her. Trying to clear his head, he turned back to the others. "Monitor every move she makes and be sure she gets back safely, no matter what. Find the location and bring Hell down on Dent when you have him. This ends today."

"You've got it," Tim said. "I'll be on standby to move in."

"And I'll be monitoring," Kate said. "Barb, sit down with Thomas and help me get his parents back safely."

"We've got you both," Barb said, pulling up another chair.

Alfred stood at the door, thoughtfully watching the exchange. He was always a calming presence for the group and Bruce felt more comfortable knowing he would be there to make sure things went smoothly. Taking a moment, he gathered himself and turned back to Zatanna with a smirk on his face.

"Okay, Mistress of Magic. Let's go save a life," he said, hoping he sounded confident.

She grinned back and nodded. "Okay, Dark Knight. Lead the way."

He turned toward the elevator and led her inside. As usual, she clung to him, despite their costumed appearance. Still feeling more like her Bruce than Batman, he held her close and ran his hand along her back during the ride. "Don't do anything risky. Just get her and get back."

"That's the plan. I intend to put our son to bed on time tonight."

"Good." The elevator reached the bottom and they quickly walked to the Batmobile and got in. "Her place is on the other side of town. Hold on tight. I'll be breaking a few traffic laws."

"Can't be scarier than the elevator," she grumbled, latching her seat belt.

Making his way through the busy streets in the dim light of the evening, he felt the stress of the circumstances weighing on him. Selina likely didn't have long. Harvey wasn't known for his patience and ability to temper himself...one punch too hard or one flip of a coin and she would die.

"This is it," he said when they approached an apartment building on the east side of town. "Mind if I give you a ride up?"

Zatanna shook her head and got out of the car. He walked to her and wrapped his arm around her waist before firing his grappling gun to the fourth floor window and hoisting them upward.

"Well, that was different," she said once they landed, broken glass crunching under their feet. "What means a lot to her here?"

Bruce looked around the room a moment, thinking back on conversations he'd had there with Selina. He walked to a small desk in the corner and picked up a picture of a smiling young man and woman.

"These are her grandparents. She never knew them, but she loved this picture. She'd hold it and imagine what her life would have been like if they had raised her.

Zee held out her hand and took the photo from him. "Anything else? I want to get this right on the first try."

"Sit here. It's her favorite chair."

When she did, a cat jumped in her lap and laid down, looking skinny and lonely.

"She should do," Zatanna said with a small smile and a pat of the cat's head. "I think she misses her mom."

"There are some others around here...fair warning."

"The more the merrier."

"Is there a way you can take us both?" He asked, not wanting to send her into danger alone.

"Too risky. You know the rules now...we don't go together. Besides, I need to be able to focus on as little as possible. I'll be fine, my love. Let's do this."

She pulled her legs up into the chair and leaned back, still stroking the cat's head with her eyes closed.

"Zatanna?"

"Yeah?"

"Please be careful. And thank you."

"I will. Don't thank me until we're back." She took a deep breath. "Dnif Aniles."

Selina
Harvey's Prison

Shouldn't be much longer.

Harvey had unloaded on her again and she knew her time was running short. He wasn't listening to her offers of help; all he seemed to care about was hearing her scream in pain. She knew the next beating would probably be the last. Closing her eyes, she imagined that she was home...back in her chair with her cats surrounding her. Safe and comfortable. As her mind started to fade, she felt a slight breeze ruffle her hair. She forced her eyes to open again, despite the blurry haze.

Something…

A woman's hand reached down toward her, but she shook her head. "Don't touch me or the ground." She blinked and her eyes cleared enough to see who was reaching for her. "Of all people..."

"Lovely to see you, too. What's the red glow?"

"I don't know, but probably something bad. Be glad you decided to hover."

Zatanna nodded and glanced around the room. "I peeked in mentally first and saw it. Suspected it wasn't something I wanted to tamper with. Is he here?"

"Maybe. I keep passing out."

"I'm going to zap us out of here, get..."

"No. Not until I get payback. Help me disarm this booby trapped room so I can move." She looked around, wondering where to start.

"I can't do that. I'm just here to get you out."

"No! Fuck you, I'm not leaving and letting Harvey get away with what he did to me."

"Just calm down. I'm not a damn tech genius. If I fuck around with these sensors, magically or otherwise, the trap could go off and we'll both be dead. Besides, you're in no shape to take on anyone."

Selina sighed and let her head fall back against the pillow. "Then heal me with your hocus pocus. I thought Justice League members were supposed to be brave."

"I'm not in the League anymore, and I'm inclined to leave your ass here, but I won't."

"Why not? What the hell do you care?"

"Never said I did," Zatanna said, moving closer. "Get ready, I'm transporting us."

No longer willing to try to fight her or the pain, Selina gave a terse nod. "Fine. But I sure hope Harvey is here and gets blown sky high."

She paused, blinking several times before sticking her finger to her ear. "Batman? We have an issue...this place is booby trapped. It's probably going to blow as soon as I move Selina...Yeah, she's alive...badly hurt and stubborn as a damn mule, but alive...I'm going to have to find out. It'll be a few more minutes...I will."

"Care to fill me in? I'm the one bleeding over here."

"I need to make sure Dent isn't in the building."

"Oh, not you, too. There's a limit to how much morality is actually sane. This is the limit. Who cares if he dies? Just get us out of here."

"Two seconds ago you wanted to stay. Just shut up and let me search."

Zatanna closed her eyes and said something Selina couldn't understand. After she was still for a while, she opened her eyes again, an eerie glow emanating from them.

"Well, can we get on with this now?"

"He's not here, Batman," she said, ignoring her. "That's something you'll have to figure out, because this is all I volunteered for. We're leaving. I have a son to get back to."

Just had to rub that in, huh?

She hovered closer and held her hands in front of her.

"Is this going to hurt?"

"No, but you might feel dizzy. It'll be fast." Again, she started to mutter something Selina couldn't understand. With a bright flash, she felt as if she were flying at the speed of light and landed in familiar surroundings.

Batman
Wayne Manor

He felt his stomach drop as he was transported back to the manor, reappearing next to Zatanna and a bleeding Selina.

"Why'd you bring us back here?" He asked, kneeling down to assess the wounds.

"So I could heal her and you can keep an eye on her. She wants to go exact revenge like a fool," Zatanna said, going over to kiss Thomas on the cheek.

"She's worse than you," Selina mumbled, trying to sit up. "I don't need your healing. I've had worse." She groaned from the pain and laid back down on the floor.

"You sure change your mind a lot," Zee said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

These two in the same house is asking for trouble.

"Zee, are you going to do it?" He asked.

"She doesn't want me to," she shrugged, with Selina glowering at her.

"Zatanna..."

Letting out a loud huff, she walked forward. "I didn't agree to this part," she muttered, holding out her hands. "Laeh reh."

"Stupid witch..." Selina said when the healing light reached her wounds. She sighed and let her head fall back onto the floor, teetering on the edge of passing out.

"You okay?" He brushed her hair back from her face.

"Will be. Thanks, Bruce."

"I'm not the one to thank," he said, lifting her. He glanced over to Zatanna, but she was staring at her feet. "Robin and Batgirl, get to the site and start assessing what you can. He can't get far and he's out of hostages."

He carried a half-conscious Selina upstairs, putting her in a guest room. When he turned to leave, she grabbed his hand.

"Didn't think you'd come."

"How long were you there?"

"I'm not really sure. A while." She let her hand fall back to the bed and pulled the covers up. "Thanks."

"Rest. And don't try to sneak out and do anything crazy. I'll take care of Dent."

"I wanna help."

"Rest," he said, pulling the door closed behind him. He felt fairly certain he wouldn't have to worry about her taking off for a while...she would likely sleep the rest of the day. When he made it back downstairs, Kate was monitoring Barb and Tim, who were headed to the destroyed house. The explosion had been thorough and he wondered how Dent would react. "Were there cameras in the house? Did he know Zatanna was there?"

"No clue. You'll have to get there and see what you can find in the way of evidence."

"Where's Zee?" She shrugged, still focused on the screen. He turned and walked to the library, where he found Zatanna with Thomas, who was floating a block and smiling. "You okay?"

The block fell back to her lap when he spoke. "Yes. Told you not to worry." She didn't turn to look at him.

He leaned over and picked the block up. "You dropped it, kiddo."

"I told him not to do it around you."

"Why?" Kneeling down, he nudged her chin until she looked at him.

"Because it bothers you."

He sighed and took off his cowl. "It doesn't bother me. It's who he is." She turned her eyes back down to Thomas's face. "Thank you for going and getting her."

"Sorry I couldn't get Dent, too," she said quietly.

"That's my job. You did more than enough. Will you please look at me?"

Picking Thomas up and putting him on her shoulder, she looked over at him. Her eyes were wary in a way he hadn't seen since they first started spending time together. "I should be doing more."

"You're raising our son and keeping him safe and happy. You're keeping me happy." He held the block out in front of Thomas's face. His little hand reached out to try and grab it. "You can float it all you want, son. Just don't try to float Alfred around the room. His heart can't take it."

Zatanna was studying his face as the block started to float again. "I can track him."

"So can I. I'm a pretty good detective, you know. When I'm not using you as a shortcut." He smirked and ran his hand through her hair. "I love you."

"Love you more."

"No chance," he whispered, leaning forward and kissing her softly. "I'll see you soon."

Harvey
Gotham City

He saw the explosion from across the city.

Fuck.

"I told you."

"You're the one who kept beating the shit out of her."

"And you were keeping her alive for no good reason. Treating her like some kind of house guest."

"We needed her alive!"

"I should have killed her as soon as it was clear Batman wasn't coming for her."

"How the fuck did she get loose?"

"Don't blame me, we both tied the knots."

Talking to himself wasn't going to help. His hostage was gone, Elliott was still missing, and Batman hadn't so much as tried to contact him. It was time for a new plan.

"You know what the new plan has to be. No more hostage bullshit. No more trades. No more waiting. We're going big."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his coin. Tails.

Looks like we're going big.

Zatanna
Wayne Manor

It was becoming more and more difficult to stay uninvolved. I could find him so easily. She knew it wasn't prudent to run off and leave her son behind, but she felt like she was letting Bruce down. When she looked down at Thomas floating a bevy of toys around the room and smiling, though, her resolve to stay retired strengthened.

"You're certainly taking daddy's words to heart." He'd been floating everything he could find now that he had a full green light. "Aren't you getting tired?" Another stuffed bear joined the party to indicate that he wasn't. The nameless cat watched from a bookshelf, not really sure what to think, but likely hoping he wouldn't be the next thing to float. Zatanna let her head fall back against the couch. Having Selina in the house felt wrong, but she knew her running off to try and find Dent wasn't going to help anyone. Her wards would keep her in for now, and hopefully Bruce would get the job done before she threw too much of a fit.

I bet she can throw a big damn fit.

She hadn't expected gratitude, and it had been her decision to bring her back to the manor. She'd have to find a way to play nice, for the time being, and leave it up to Bruce to decide when it was safe for her to leave.

"Zatanna?" Diana's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

She came and sat down next to her, dodging the floating toys and quickly taking Thomas to sit in her lap. "Hello, young man. I see you're already taking after your mother."

"Of course he is. He wants to be the best."

Diana laughed and tickled his belly. "I spoke with my sources in California. Tsaritsa has hit a roadblock in her attempts to contact the other dimension. She's not so bold as you were. She doesn't want to recruit the worst of the worst in getting where she needs to go."

"Bold? Is that what we're calling it now?"

"I was trying to be nice. You're insane for doing that."

Zee huffed and frowned. "It worked. So you think she's about to call on me?"

"Likely. We need to be ready if she does."

"Ready how? We haven't gotten anywhere."

"It's time for the League to know what we have so far."

She wasn't sure what good they could do at this point, but if Diana thought they should know, she wasn't going to argue it. "Okay. Keep me updated on what they say."

"I think you should come and tell them yourself."

"Why? That's not my job anymore."

"Because I can't explain it, Sister. I need you there to help it make sense."

It had been well over a year since she'd been on the Watchtower and she didn't have a burning desire to show up to talk about Hell, Constantine, or anything else she'd done without consulting the League, prior to resigning.

"If you think that's best," she mumbled.

"I do. Next Monday, please. We'll have you start out the meeting. Bring this little guy...everyone's been wanting to meet him," Diana said, letting Thomas play with the end of her lasso. "Where's your daddy? You must tell the truth."

"Off at an explosion site with the rest of his family."

"Explosion?" She looked up with concern. "Should I go help?"

Zatanna shrugged. "The house was empty when it blew. I got the hostage out."

"Catch me up a little bit."

"You knew about Two Face and Elliott?"

"Yes."

"Two Face took Selina Kyle hostage and sent pictures. He wanted to trade her for Elliott, but I just went and got her out, instead. She's upstairs asleep somewhere."

Diana raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "I don't think I need to ask how that makes you feel. You okay?"

"Yeah, fine. It's weird, but getting her out was easy enough. He had that place rigged to blow, so I'm guessing he's the one who rigged the last house, too."

"You should spend less time in exploding houses now that you have a son." Agreed. She transferred Thomas back to her lap and stood. "Let Bruce know I'm available to help if he needs me. And be there Monday."

Zee nodded as she left the room. Guess that's decided.

Batman
Explosion Site

It was after 3:00 am and everyone's backs were aching. They gathered near the Batmobile while the police continued to comb through the ruins.

"No evidence of cameras," Barb said.

"Which means he probably doesn't know that Zatanna was there and Selina survived," he said. "We can use that."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Maybe leak a little false information to the press about remains being found at the site. Nothing specific."

Tim nodded. "I like it. I'll write something up and send it from a secure server. Let's get out ahead of him."

Barb and Tim headed home and Batman finished helping at the explosion site before patrolling the city. Driving circuits, he wondered what Dent's next move would be. He wouldn't be able to move around easily with alerts across the country being broadcast about his escape from custody. He lost his one bargaining chip and the heat was higher than ever.

I should have thought of Selina.

In all of his preparation and searching, he had forgotten someone who meant a lot to him and was vulnerable because of him. He had a lot of apologizing to do and amends to make with her...and with Zatanna for bailing him out and saving her.

Maybe I should just start planning an hour a week to apologize to people.

"There are some police cars headed toward downtown. Sounds like a gang fight. Lots of guns, lots of chaos," Kate said over the line. "Have fun."

The team knew him too well. He enjoyed a good gang fight. The participants were usually woefully inept at anything but waving a gun and swearing...and passing out cold after he clocked them in the head.

"You know I will," he said, turning the car to the north and smiling. "Bring the drone if you want to watch and pick up some pointers."

"Shut up and do your job."

He chuckled and sped on. "Let's have some fun."

Selina
Wayne Manor

She woke up in a very comfortable bed for the first time in weeks, feeling rested and safe. It felt like she had been out for hours and her muscles were stiff when she stretched. After taking a long shower and putting on clothes that had been left in the room, she went downstairs to search for signs of life. It had been so long since she'd been in the main house that she hardly remembered how to find her way around. After walking the halls and finding no one, she finally heard humming coming from the library. She walked in, finding it to be at least twice the size she remembered and teeming with books on every shelf and surface. Walking to the couch, she found the source of the humming. Zatanna was lying on her side with Bruce's son swaddled and watching her face with a pacifier in his mouth. She wanted to scream.

"You rested?" Zatanna asked without turning to look at her.

"Where's Bruce?"

"On patrol. Should be home before long. Want me to get Alfred to make you some breakfast?"

The arrogance of her talking as if Alfred was her butler made her fume. "I can ask him myself."

Still not looking at her, she nodded and pointed to a phone on the table across the room. Selina picked it up and Alfred politely answered and said he would bring her some food.

"You hungry, too?" Zatanna was smiling at Bruce's son as she sat up. She cast a glance her way and stood. "Wanna hold him while I go get his bag?"

She stared at her for a moment before looking down at the boy. "I guess I can," she mumbled. If she's going to play nice, we'll play nice.

Zatanna handed him to her carefully with a hesitant look in her eyes. When she did, a black cat hopped onto the bookshelf next to them and proceeded to glare, still as a statue. "I'll be right back."

She studied the boy's face while he looked up at her and worked the pacifier in his mouth. He had a mess of black hair and blue eyes that sparkled.

"Mrrrrw." The cat was still glaring.

"Most cats are rather fond of me, you know. Give it a try and we could get along." Still glaring. Rather than try to make nice with the moody creature, she decided to increase the distance between them a little and turn her attention back to Bruce's son in her arms. She'd never really wanted kids. She had assumed Bruce didn't, either. To be sure, she never imagined he'd run off and have a kid with some other woman, but there that kid was in her arms. Her stomach turned and she was suddenly a lot less interested in the food Alfred was bringing her.

"Thanks," Zatanna said, entering with a small bag and setting it on the coffee table before walking over and taking Bruce's son back. "You can sit, you know."

"He looks like him."

"It's the chin," she said, sitting and pulling out a blanket to throw over her shoulder. Selina looked back to the cat.

"What is his issue?"

"He's a jerk. Loves Thomas, though."

"Name?"

"He doesn't have one."

Charming...take in a cat and don't even name it.

"So Dent told me Batman caught the serial killer a while ago and didn't feel the need to tell me. Who was it?"

"Thomas Elliott. Know him?" She shook her head, unfamiliar with the name. "Bruce's friend from when he was a kid. Grew to resent him so much that he wanted to take his world apart. He attacked me in the bedroom, but I got Batman here before he could kill us."

"Us?"

Zatanna raised her eyebrow and cut her eyes down to where Bruce's son was tucked under the blanket and breastfeeding. "I was about six months."

"That's why all the women looked like you."

She nodded slowly, still looking down. "Bruce and I weren't a well kept secret."

"Why did you leave him?" Her head snapped up at this question and Selina smirked. "Your plan to trap him hit a roadblock along the way, I'm guessing."

"You know what? I think my hospitality just reached its limit."

"You say that as if it's your house."

"It is," Bruce's voice said from the doorway.

Fuck.