Morton had parked in an alleyway between 43rd and Market, nine blocks from his apartment and three blocks from the bodega he'd stopped at to buy a few cans of cheap beer. He popped open a can with a shaky hand, took a long swig of warm beer, and glanced furtively at the girl strapped into the passenger seat beside him. She lay still and silent, her head pressed up against the window, still out cold from the drugs that Blake had injected into her while Pierce and MacIntyre had held her down. Morton remembered the pleading that the girl had done, how she'd cried out for her mother when the needle had broken through the skin of her arm and he shut his eyes. It wasn't right. She was just a kid. Morton had been hired on at Arkham six months ago when his old friend from corrections Lyle had been promoted to head of security. It was a better paying job then Gotham County, that was for sure. Less dangerous too. At least the inmates at Arkham, for the most part, didn't fight back. He took another long gulp of beer. He and Lyle, and the rest of the guys too, went back a long way. They always had each other's backs. But this...he took another look at the girl. How old was she? 15? Knocking around the freaks at Arkham was one thing, but a kid? It didn't sit right with him, even if her brother, Miguel he thought his name was, had an attitude and a big mouth.

And so, instead of meeting the guys in the Narrows like he said he would when they had left the safe house, he'd driven aimlessly around the neighborhood surrounding the Narrows, looking at the girl every so often and wondering what he should do. Every time he'd decided to go through with the plan, she'd make a small noise or a whimper. He'd been a block away from the meetup point in the Narrows when he'd heard her say "Mama." He'd made a sharp left turn and gone back to his apartment. He'd gone in long enough to grab a suitcase, a few changes of clothes, and a toothbrush then ran back out to his car. Then he'd gone to the bodega. And now here he was, drinking beer and considering his options. Lyle and the rest of the guys would know he wasn't coming by now. They'd be angry. They'd probably think he'd gone to the cops. Then there was Dr. Strange to consider...Morton finished the last of the beer and crushed the can in his hand before throwing it in the backseat of the car. There was a hospital about five blocks from here. He'd dump the girl in the parking lot and get out of Gotham. He had enough money that he could lie low for a few months, wait for all of this to blow over. He heard the girl groan a bit as turned the keys in the ignition. She'd be coming to any minute. Morton put the car in drive and slowly made his way down the alley. He was maybe about five feet away from the main street when he slammed on the brakes, hard, jostling the girl in her seat and causing her to stir.

In front of the car stood two figures, one with long blonde hair and a black costume with purple accents. The cowl gave her away as Batgirl. It was the other figure that Morton was staring at. It was another girl, shorter, with bright red hair up in pigtails. She didn't look any older than the girl he had in the passenger seat. She was masked, wearing striped tights and...wait, was that a question mark on her sweatshirt? Was she- Batgirl stepped forward, a batarang in her hand. Morton could tell from the glare of the headlights that she looked pissed. "Out of the car!" she shouted. "Now!" Morton could hit the gas, blow right past them. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl lift her head up. Her eyes were open. Morton sighed, then put the car in park. He knew when he was beaten.

The second she'd seen Marisol strapped in the car, Ellen had wanted to charge over to her. Instead, she waited until the driver held his hands outside his car window before she darted past Batgirl and ran to the passenger seat. Through the car window, she could see Marisol stir, her dark eyes blinking open. Then they widened as she seemed to realize where she was, what had happened. Ellen was at the door as soon Marisol had unbuckled herself and pulled at the handle. Marisol looked through the window and their eyes locked. Marisol unlocked the door and almost stumbled out, still wobbly from whatever drugs those creeps had given her. Ellen reached over to stabilize her. "Ellie?" she heard Marisol ask. "Ellie, is that you?"

Ellen nodded. "Yeah. It's me. I'm here." She looked over her best friend. She looked a little rumpled, and more than a little scared, but she looked unhurt. Then her vision turned blurry, and Ellen realized that she was crying. "Are you okay?"

Marisol nodded herself. "I'm alright, but what are you doing here?"

Ellen rolled her eyes a bit. "I'm here to save you! Duh!"

Marisol's jaw dropped, then her own eyes welled up with tears. "Ellie..." she stepped forward and the two girls hugged each other tightly. Ellen shut her eyes tight. She'd done it. It was over. Marisol was safe. The knot that had been in her stomach all day was finally gone. She heard Marisol laugh a bit. "You put on a costume to come find me?" Marisol pulled away a bit and she had a smile on her face. "Ellie, you really are kind of crazy!"

Ellen laughed too. "You know it." Then she wrapped Marisol in another hug.

Stephanie had pulled Morton out of the car and had him in handcuffs on the ground. She looked at the two girls with a smile on her face, then she tapped the communication button in her cowl. "Oracle, it's Batgirl. We found the girl. I've got the creep who had her in cuffs."

"Great. Is she alright?"

Stephanie looked back over to Enigma and her friend, the two of them still hugging and wrapped up in conversation. "She looks okay. We should still get her checked out though, just in case."

"There's a hospital just a few blocks away from you. You can take her there. I'll call Bruce and tell him you found her."

A third voice came through on the feed. "Batgirl?"

Stephanie grinned at the voice. "Hey, Red Robin. Long time no hear. What's going on?"

"Black Bat and I are with Nigma. Where are you?"

Oh great, Daddy Dearest finally decided to show himself. "In the alleyway just off Market and 43rd."

"Good. We'll be there in about ten minutes." Stephanie could hear loud shouting on the other end of the line, somewhat drowning out Tim. "Just a word of warning: Eddie's really, really, mad."

"Is that him?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah. He's been carrying on like this the whole time we've been with him. Listen for yourself." Stephanie heard what sounded to her like rustling before she heard Nigma's voice loud and clear.

"Wait until I get my hands on that girl! She's going to be grounded until she's my age! How could she do this to me? What have I done to deserve this!? I've lost ten years of my life in one night! I'm going to need an entire new prescription thanks to that girl! No father deserves to be put through this kind of aggravation!" There was another rustling and then Tim's voice came through again.

"So, yeah. He's pretty pissed."

Stephanie let out a low whistle. "I'll say. I'll give Enigma a head's up. See you soon." She pressed the button again to end the call, then walked over to Enigma and the two girls.

A look of wonder came over Marisol's face as Batgirl approached them. "Thank you," Ellen said, letting go of Marisol to clasp Batgirl's hands. "Thanks for everything."

Batgirl smiled. "You're welcome. And thank you. We wouldn't have been able to find your friend without you."

Ellen felt her face flush at the compliment and she let out a giggle. "Yeah, well...yeah."

"By the way," Batgirl continued. "Your dad's on his way to come get you."

The giddy rush Ellen had received from the adrenaline and praise gave way to a sinking feeling of dread. She dropped her hands to her sides. "Oh, crap." He was going to be pissed.

"Is GCPD coming too?" Marisol asked. "You said your dad was a detective, right?"

"Yeah, kind of." Ellen bit her lip and looked at her feet, idly kicking the ground. He and Gramma had told her not to tell anyone, but...if the Old Man was on his way, there was no way to keep it from Marisol anymore. "He's...promise me you won't be mad at me."

She felt a pressure in her right hand and saw that Marisol was gripping it tightly. "I won't," she heard her friend say. "I promise."

Ellen gulped. No going back now. "My dad's the Riddler." She looked up to see a look of shock come across her best friend's face.

"The Riddler-seriously? The Riddler's your dad!?"

Ellen nodded and the words came tumbling out of her. "I wanted to tell you, but he and Gramma wouldn't let me, they said that I'd be putting people in danger if I did, I'm sorry, Marisol, I'm-"

Marisol squeezed Ellen's hand tight again and Ellen stopped speaking. "It's okay," Marisol said. "It's okay." Marisol reached up to run a hand through her hair. " I'm not mad. It's just...wow." She shook her head, then let out a small, awkward laugh. "You know, that actually explains a lot about you."

Ellen jut her lower lip out into a pout. "Oh, nice! That's the thanks I get!" Marisol laughed and hugged her again, and Ellen saw Batgirl laugh a bit too. "Well," Ellen said. "At least you'll get to meet him before we take you home."

Marisol laughed again, then the color drained from her face. "Miguel!" she muttered. She looked at Ellen with anguish. "Ellie, those guys took me because of Miguel! They wanted him to do something to get me back!"

"Something?" Batgirl asked. "What something?"

"I don't know. I only heard them talking a bit about it before they drugged me, but we've got to find Miguel! I don't want him to get hurt because of me!"

"That won't happen," Batgirl said with a determined look on her face. "Soon as her dad, Red Robin, and Black Bat get here, we'll find your brother."

Marisol still looked worried, but she nodded. Then the sound of a car pulling up distracted the three. "Is that my dad now?" Ellen asked.

Batgirl shook her head. "No," she said. "It's too soon." She brought her hand to her belt and stepped forward. "You two hang back." The sound of footsteps on gravel approached, and just ten feet away, Ellen saw the last person she wanted to see.

Bolton stood in front of Morton's parked car, a smug grin on his face. "Well, well, well. There you are, Morton. And you made some new friends too I see."

"Lyle," Morton said. "Lyle, I-" before he could utter another word, Bolton pulled his pistol out and shot him once in the chest. The noise was sudden and deafening, making Ellen unable to hear the shriek Marisol let out. Ellen watched as Morton lay crumpled on the ground, a large pool of blood beginning to form underneath him. She could hear him make a wheezing noise until he was silent. She stood frozen to her spot, unaware of everything else but the body and the blood. She'd never seen anyone die before. She'd seen her mother's body at the hospital and her funeral, but not her death, not the blood, all the blood.

Stephanie had a batarang out in a second and tossed it, only for Bolton to dodge it. Then she watched him take aim at Enigma, Ellie, she'd heard her friend call her. Her name was Ellie. "Enigma!" she shouted. "Ellie! Run!"

Ellen only vaguely heard Batgirl calling out for her, but she felt Marisol tug on her arm, attempting to pull her to the shelter of the car. Then she heard the shot and felt a force colliding with her, shoving her to the ground. Ellen grunted from the force of the impact and the world started again. She realized that she and Marisol were behind the car and that Batgirl was on top of them. She could hear Bolton's footsteps approaching them and the sound of his laughter.

"Come out, come out. Hand over the Sanchez brat and Nigma's kid and I can let you walk out of here, Batgirl."

Batgirl crouched up, one hand going to another batarang, one hand on her upper thigh. Ellen saw the blood forming under her hand and she felt bile come to her throat. "You've been shot!" she squeaked out. "Oh my God, you've been shot!"

"It's just a graze," Batgirl said with a grunt of pain. "I'll be okay. You two need to get out of here. Run. I'll hold him off. Get out to the main road and find your dad." She gestured to the leftmost compartment on her belt. "Take my grappling hook. Press the top button to shoot it and the side button to retract. If you need to, get on the rooftops." Ellen grabbed the grappling hook and shoved it into her sweatshirt pocket. "Go!"

Ellen hesitated. "But what about you-"

"I'll be fine!" Batgirl hissed out. "But you need to get yourself and your friend out, now!"

"Last chance Batgirl," Bolton's voice said. "Are you going to hand them over?"

Batgirl managed to bring herself up to her feet and gave Bolton a glare. "Over my dead body." She then tossed another batarang, this time, managing to knock the pistol out of his hand. She looked down to Ellen and Marisol. "Go! Now!" Then she launched herself over the car and towards Bolton.

Ellen and Marisol were up like a shot, running towards the other end of the alley. Ellen heard the sound of a fist and Batgirl's cry of pain, but she kept running, almost dragging Marisol behind her. She could see another road about fifteen feet away, they just needed to keep running, and they could make it. Then she saw two other cars, and three other men appear, blocking off their escape. The other three goons from the Narrows. Ellen and Marisol came to a stop. There was no way out. Behind them was Bolton, pulverizing Batgirl, and in front, the other three, advancing towards them. Ellen looked frantically around them, searching for somewhere to go, anywhere to hide. There was a fire escape just to their left, about ten feet off the ground. She remembered what Batgirl said about the grappling hook, what was it, top to retract, side to-to what? She couldn't think, she and Marisol were trapped, she'd just seen Bolton kill a guy, and why couldn't she move!?

"Ellie!" Marisol cried out. "What do we do?"

"I...I..." Ellen didn't know what to do. Where was her father? He'd know what to do, where was he?

"Alright, little girls," one of the men, the blond guy that Batgirl had shocked back in the Narrows said. He held his hand out, beckoning them to him. "We don't want to hurt you. Just come with us, nice and slow."

"Just the Sanchez kid, right?" A black-haired man asked.

"No," A brown-haired man said, the tallest and meanest looking one among them. "Bolton said to grab the redhead too. Said we can use her against Nigma."

This was why the Old Man and Gramma had told her never to tell anyone who her father was. Ellen understood that now. She took a step back, her breath coming in deep masks. Now she understood. For the first time tonight, she was really scared. She was terrified. She'd come so close to saving Marisol, but it was for nothing. The brown-haired man stepped forward and reached out towards Marisol, and this brought Ellen back to life. She lunged towards him, aiming a punch at his throat. "Back off, chuckle fuck!" she screeched out. The brown-haired man caught her fist in his massive hand and laughed. Then he picked her up by the collar of her sweatshirt and back-handed her, hard. She fell to the ground with a shriek.

"No!" she heard Marisol scream. "Don't hurt her! I'll go with you, please don't hurt her!"

Her face stung and Ellen could taste something warm and coppery in her mouth. Blood. She was bleeding. She willed herself to look up and she saw the brown-haired man dragging Marisol along. "That's a good girl," she heard him say. No, no, no! Ellen got to her feet and took three steps forward before she felt arms tugging her back. The blond man was holding her, she realized, wrenching her arms behind her back. She tried to stomp down on his feet, but he was too big, or she was too small to cause any kind of pain. "Drug her," the brown-haired man said and Marisol let out an indignant cry. "Bolton said to take her to Arkham. He said he wants to deliver her to Dr. Strange himself."

"No!" Marisol screamed. "Don't hurt her, please! Ellie! Ellie!" Then the brown-haired man dragged her down the alley, towards the blue pick-up truck just parked along the main road, Marisol's screams echoing behind them.

"Marisol!" Ellen cried out, trying in vain to get out of the blond man's grip. "Marisol!"

The black-haired man came into her line of vision, and Ellen realized he was holding a needle in his hand. "Hold her still, MacIntyre." He gave Ellen a smarmy grin. "Just a few seconds, little girl, and you'll be fast asleep."

"Fuck you!" Ellen screamed. "Let me go!"

Pierce laughed, then stepped forward. "Now, now. Be a good little girl and maybe we'll let you see your Daddy again."

Where was he? Where was he? Old Man, Old Man, Pops, Dad, Dad I'm sorry, Dad please, help me, Dad, Dad Dad. She felt tears coming out of her eyes again and realized she was sobbing now. "Dad!" she cried out. "Dad!"

Piece let out a dark chuckle. "Not so tough now, are you little girl?" He took another step forward, moving to put the needle up to her neck when his dark blue eyes caught sight of something behind her and the blond guy and froze. All the color seemed to drain from his face.

"What's wrong?" Ellen heard the blond guy ask.

Pierce's lower lip trembled. "M-MacIntyre..." Then a red dot suddenly appeared on his forehead. Somewhere in the part of her brain that wasn't paralyzed by fear recognized it was a laser, like the laser pointers her teachers would use in class. Who was pointing a laser? Then a deep voice that seemed to come from behind her spoke.

"Riddle me this," the voice said. "How many goons does it take to beat up a little girl?"

MacIntyre looked behind him, forcing Ellen to look as well. On the fire escape was the Red Hood, with a rifle pointed straight at Pierce. "Any guesses?" he asked.

Pierce dropped the needle and ran to a green car parked just a few feet from where the blue pickup still was.

Red Hood adjusted his aim. "Close your eyes, little girl."

Ellen did as she was told and screwed her eyes shut. She heard the shot, heard the body fall. She then felt herself being tossed down to the ground and the sound of running footsteps before another shot rang out. She curled herself into a ball and kept her eyes shut. She then heard the sound of something dropping, then footsteps approach her. Then she felt herself being lifted up from the ground and thrown over a shoulder. Then she felt nothing.

Bolton had tossed Stephanie to the ground, stomping on her for good measure, when they'd heard the sound of the girls screaming. Bolton paused, then laughed. "Looks like the boys got the brats." Stephanie managed to turn herself over and saw Enigma, Ellie being grabbed by one man and her friend being dragged off by another.

"No!" she cried out. She tried to scramble to get up, to do something, but her leg burned with pain and she fell to the ground. She watched helplessly as a black-haired man, Pierce she thought, approach Ellie. Bolton laughed. "The Sanchez girl, Nigma's brat, and Batgirl all in one night. Guess it's my lucky day after all." Bolton leaned down to pick up his pistol when he and Stephanie saw it at the same time. Red Hood dropped down onto the fire escape, holding a rifle in his hands and aiming it towards Pierce. Pierce noticed it, looking up and standing still. Red Hood might have said something, but Stephanie couldn't hear it. Then Pierce ran and Red Hood shot. Stephanie watched Pierce's head disappear in a red mist, then she watched as MacIntyre dropped Ellie and tried to flee, only to meet the same fate. Bolton had watched too, his eyes almost bugging out of his skull. Then he swore and ran back to his car. Figures the kind of man who would kidnap and terrorize teenage girls would also be the kind to run as soon as he ran into someone who could actually fight back. Once she was certain he was gone, Stephanie pushed herself up by her elbows. She couldn't walk. She needed to find something to use as a crutch, to get to Ellie and check on her. Then she watched as Red Hood approached Ellie, who was still lying prone on the ground. "Red Hood!" she called out.

Red Hod ignored her, crouching down and picking Ellie up, hoisting her over his shoulder. Stephanie watched in horror as he carried her back towards the fire escape. "What are you doing? Put her down!" Red Hood pulled his own grappling hook out of his coat pocket and aimed it towards the roof. "Jason!" Stephanie cried out. "Jason, please!" He fired the grappling hook and in an instant he was up in the air, taking Ellie with him out of sight. "No!" she screamed. "Jason! Bring her back! Bring her back!"

"Batgirl?" she heard Oracle's voice cut in. "What's going on? Your suit's readings are spiking! Are you alright?"

"Barbara," Stephanie said, her body screaming with pain. "They're gone. The guys who took the girl...they came back. I've been shot. They took her again. And Jason took Ellie."

"What!? Okay, Tim, Cass, and Nigma should be there any second. Just hold on. It's going to be alright."

Stephanie shut her eyes. God, she hoped so.

They'd finally reached 43rd and Market, and Edward's ranting about Ellen came to an end, much to the relief of the other occupants of the car, he was sure. For the first time since he'd found out she was gone, he was beginning to relax. Ellen and her little friend were safe with Batgirl, they'd take the friend home, and Edward would give Ellen a scolding she'd never forget. As he maneuvered his car down the alley, he had to take a sudden and sharp veer to the left to avoid being collided with by someone in a red sports car. "Jesus Christ!" he shouted, once he started driving again. "Some people in this town need to learn to observe the speed limit!"

"You've been going ten miles over the speed limit since we met up," Red Robin grumbled from the backseat.

"Exigent circumstances, my good lad. And I'd appreciate no backseat driving, thank you very much!" Black Bat sat placidly in the passenger seat, as she had for the entire drive. She hadn't said two words to him the entire time actually, preferring to look at him. It was almost as if she was studying him. Frankly, it was unnerving. "What?" he asked.

"You're worried." Black Bat said, matter of factly.

Edward huffed. "Well, I can't imagine why. My only child decided to put on a costume and chase after dangerous kidnappers. Just another night in Gotham, really."

"You love her."

Edward looked over at Black Bat, who looked right back at him. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. "I've only known her for eight months, and during those eight months, she's caused me no small measure of heartache and stress."

"But you still love her."

Edward looked back at the steering wheel. Oh God, he did, didn't he? It was a sobering thought. "I'm her father," he grumbled. "I'm supposed to love her." His own father hadn't loved him. When he'd left home at sixteen, his father had never thought to look for him. Probably hadn't even noticed he was gone until the truant officer came looking for him. Edward shook his head. "Anyway, my loving her isn't going to get her out of her richly deserved punishment, believe me-"

"Stop!" Red Robin shouted. Edward slammed the brakes. Once the car was stopped and in park, he followed Red Robin's finger and his heart stopped. Lying in the alley in front of them was a body. White, male, probably in his mid-thirties. Judging from the pool of blood underneath the body, he hadn't been dead long. A chill went down Edward's spine. "Ellen!" he shouted. He unbuckled his seat belt and ran into the alley. "Ellen!" he shouted again. He barely heard Red Robin and Black Bat follow him out of the car. A few feet further up from the body, half hidden by a parked beige car, Edward saw Batgirl lying on the ground, her skin pale and sweaty, her right hand holding her upper thigh. Edward knew she'd been shot too.

"Batgirl!" he heard Red Robin shout. The vigilante went to her and crouched down next to her. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"It's just a graze," she murmured. "Just a graze. Bolton and his goons...they found us. One of them took Marisol..."

Edward almost shoved Red Robin out of the way to get in Batgirl's face. "Where's my daughter?" he demanded. "Where's my daughter!?"

Batgirl cringed in pain. "Two of the men grabbed her," she managed to say. "Red Hood...he killed them. He took her. Red Hood took her. I'm sorry, Nigma. I'm so sorry..."

Red Hood...oh God. Edward felt his legs turn to jelly and he collapsed to his knees. Red Hood had his daughter, Red Hood had Ellen, his baby girl. A wave of nausea overcame him. He hunched over, slamming his palms on the ground and vomited, the bile burning his throat. His eyes screwed shut, unable to keep the mental images from assaulting him. Red Hood was a killer, he'd tried to kill one of the children he was with now once, and he had his daughter. A great shudder went through his body. What do I do, what am I going to do, Jon, Penelope, what do I do? He felt a hand on his shoulder and he whipped his head around. Black Bat stood over him, a look of concern on her face.

"We'll find her," she said. "It's going to be alright."

"It's going to be alright?" Edward repeated. Then his fear was replaced by rage, a rage he hadn't felt since Goodman. "Don't you dare talk down to me!" he shouted. He brought himself to his feet. Then he rounded on Batgirl, still lying prone in Red Robin's arms. "How could you let this happen!?"

"Hey, it's not her fault!" Red Robin shouted.

"No?" Edward repeated. "Did she, or did she not, bring my daughter here!?"

"You didn't leave me any choice," Batgirl said, mustering enough strength to glare up at him. "We tried to reach you hours ago. Where were you?"

"Where was I? I was trying to find her! Why didn't you take her home!? Why didn't you leave her somewhere safe!? Why didn't you stop him!?"

"I tried," she said. "I did everything I could-"

"You're still alive," Edward spat out. "You clearly didn't do everything!"

"That's enough!" Red Robin shouted. "Nigma, blaming her isn't going to get your daughter back! We need to regroup, try to think of where Red Hood might go with her." Batgirl let out a groan and Red Robin's posture softened. "But first, we've got to take care of Batgirl."

"I'll be fine handsome," she teased. "Just go find Ellie."

The sound of his daughter's pet name being spoken brought Edward out of his anger. "She told you her name?" he asked Batgirl.

"I heard her friend call her that," Batgirl said. She hissed in pain again. "She's a good kid. She came out here to save her friend." She glared up at him again. "She told me that she thinks you don't care about her."

"She thinks I don't care?" Edward repeated. Shame and guilt washed through him then. How could she think that? Then he glared back down at her. "I don't need to be scolded about my parenting by you! I wouldn't be out here if I didn't care about her!"

"It shouldn't take her being in danger for you to show it," Batgirl said again. Edward lifted a finger, but nothing came to his mind to counter that. Then she hissed again. "God, this really does hurt."

"I'll take you to the clinic," Red Robin said. "We'll take your bike." He turned and gave Black Bat a nod. "You and Nigma should figure out where to pick up Red Hood's trail. Then-" He was cut off by the rev of a motorcycle engine. The group turned down the alleyway and saw a motorcycle drive out the other side. Edward could just make out the driver wearing an all too familiar red helmet. Then his eyes caught sight of the person sitting behind the driver. A slight figure in green, with bright red hair in pigtails.

A jolt went through Edward. "Ellen!" she shouted. He ran as fast as he could back to his car, only just aware of Black Bat following behind him. He threw himself in the driver's seat and started the car. Not bothering to wait for Black Bat to buckle in, he put the car in reverse, then drove as fast as he could out the way they came. Once they were on the main road, he rounded the corner and hit the gas. Two blocks up, he could just make out the motorcycle, in hot pursuit of a blue pick-up. Edward gripped onto the steering wheel tight. He was going to get Ellen back if it was the last thing he ever did.