Sunday, June 4th, 2007

Contrary to what Edward and some of her other friends and colleagues may think, Penelope didn't spend her entire life working. On Sundays, when she had no patients in crisis, or some case in GCPD she consulted on, or something with Edward, she spent her time writing in her journal, reading, or simply relaxing in the peace and quiet of her apartment while she could.

Or, when she absolutely couldn't get out of it, talking with her mother.

"How's your job with GCPD going? You're still getting along with your co-workers?"

"Yes, Mom," Penelope answered, cradling her cell phone between her ear and shoulder as she sat on her Ottoman and read over her copy of the Gotham Gazette. "Everything's still going fine."

"I still worry so much about you working there, after that horrible thing in December."

Penelope resisted the urge to sigh. Rationally, she knew her mother had every right to worry after everything that had happened to her in the past two years. Sometimes though, she deeply regretted being an only child and getting the full force of her mother's worries. "I know, Mom, but I take as many precautions as I can. Commissioner Gordon always makes sure I'm not left alone with suspects anymore."

"Good," her mother said. "But you're still happy there?"

Penelope hummed a bit. "Yes," she said. "It's good work, Mom. I feel like I'm actually doing some good with GCPD."

She heard her mother sigh in that dramatic way she did. "Alright, Poppy mou. As long as you still feel safe and happy, I promise I won't worry too much." Penelope shook her head. They both knew that was a lie. "Enough about work," her mother shifted gears. "What about your friends? Do you still spend time with Aaron and his family?"

"Yes, Mom," Penelope said. "I'm going to see them tomorrow, actually." To wait for the result of the meeting between Bryant, Wayne, and Sharp, but her mother didn't need to know that.

"Good! Have you met anyone new?"

Penelope bit her lip as she considered the best way to respond. How exactly did one tell their mother that they were spending time with a former super-villain? "Well," she said at last. "I have reconnected with someone I used to know at Arkham." That wasn't exactly a lie.

"Oh?" her mother asked, obviously interested. "Is he single?"

Well, she really should have seen that coming. "Mother," she sighed.

Her mother only laughed in response. "I'm only teasing, Poppy mou. You're so serious, just like your father was. But your friend is a man, I see."

"I will hang up, Mother," Penelope warned.

Her mother laughed again. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Your aunts keep pestering me about when you'll get married."

"Busybodies," Penelope muttered. "I swear, they'll try to marry me off before I'm forty."

"They are busybodies, but they just want you to be happy."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "I don't need a man to be happy, Mom."

"I know that, sweetheart. You're a very independent woman. Still, I wouldn't mind a grandchild."

Penelope groaned. "Mother..."

Her mother laughed. "Alright, alright. Do you still want me to come to visit you this summer?"

"Of course." Hopefully, she'd be able to make some progress with Arkham by then, or at the least, keep her mother from getting involved. "As long as you don't start trying to marry me off."

"No promises," her mother joked. "Will I get to meet your new friend too?"

There were two outcomes of a meeting between Edward Nigma and Alexandra Young that Penelope saw: they would either run off into the sunset together, or her mother would swat him to death. "We'll see," she said.

"Alright, Poppy mou. I've got to get going. The girls and I are meeting up to start training for the marathon next month."

Penelope had to smile at that mental thought. "Have fun, Mom. Let me know how that goes."

"Of course. Bye, sweetheart. Call me if anything happens. I love you."

"Love you too, Mom. Bye." Penelope hung up her cell phone and placed it down on her coffee table with a sense of relief. Well, that was pleasant. She'd even managed to keep her mother's questions about her private life to a bare minimum today. She looked at the clock on her wall. 11:15 am. That left her plenty of time to get some writing in her journal done today. She was about to pick up her journal, lying next to her phone on the coffee table, when she heard her phone vibrating. She picked it up and frowned a bit when she didn't recognize the number. A telemarketer? On a Sunday morning? She answered the phone with a professional "This is Dr. Penelope Young."

"What's up Doc?"

"Selina?" Penelope asked. "What's going on-wait. How did you get my phone number?"

"Nice to talk to you too. I got your number off Eddie's phone when he wasn't looking. Thought it might come in handy."

"I see," Penelope said. "That doesn't answer why you're calling me, though." The only times Selina had ever reached out to her was when- her stomach dropped. "What's happened? Is Edward alright?"

Selina just chuckled a bit. "Don't worry, Doc. Eddie's fine, well, as fine as he ever is. I did need to talk to you about him though. You know what day it is today?"

Penelope furrowed her brow in thought. The Arkham anniversary had past days ago, the anniversary of his reform wasn't until the end of July...what was she missing that might be important? "I'm sorry, I don't follow."

"Thought you might not. It's Eddie's birthday today."

Penelope almost dropped her phone. "It is?" Her surprise was followed immediately by mortification. How on Earth had she missed that? "I just saw him on Friday, he didn't mention his birthday!"

"Don't worry about it. Eddie keeps it pretty close to the chest. He's never liked celebrating his birthday, and he's being even more of a pain about it now that he's getting closer to forty."

Now she had an idea of why Selina had called her. "He doesn't like celebrating his birthday, but you're going to do something anyway?"

Penelope could almost hear the other woman's smirk. "Well, I don't mind celebrating, and I figure as long as one of us is reasonable." Selina's voice lowered a bit into something more serious. "Besides, between what happened with Ellie and the Arkham anniversary, Eddie's been wound pretty tight lately. It's not good for him. He needs to relax a bit, have some fun."

Penelope had to agree with that sentiment, even if she had misgivings about Selina's methods. "So what are you planning to do?"

"Well," Selina said, back to her usual, slinky tone. "Deirdre and Nina are coming in later this afternoon to set up a little party for him in his apartment. I'm going to be taking him out for a bit to the Iceberg Lounge to get him out of the way."

"I see. I can run out and get him something, then meet you back there later today. Is Ellen going to be there tonight too?"

"She better be. You're going to be bringing her."

"Oh?" Penelope asked. She was perfectly fine with going to pick Ellen up, but she didn't like the task being foisted on her without her consent.

"Actually," Selina said. "Ellie needs to run out and get stuff for Eddie for tonight, and since I'm going to be with Eddie, and Nina and Deirdre don't get in until four..."

Penelope blinked. "Wait. You want me to take Ellen out shopping?"

"Well, there's no one else who can. And Eddie and her Gramma don't want her running around Gotham City without supervision anymore. It's either you or one of Eddie's friends from Pandora's Box."

Penelope frowned a bit. "I don't know if I'm the best person for this, Selina. I don't really know her that well."

"You stayed up with her back when Eddie went after Croc."

"Yes, but that was an emergency situation."

Selina laughed a bit, which irritated Penelope. "Doc, are you scared of Ellie?"

Penelope huffed in response. "Absolutely not. Its just...I'm not a child psychologist, and I haven't really been around teenagers since I was one." And when she had been one, she hadn't exactly liked them much and the feeling had been mutual.

"Doc, relax. It's just Ellie. She's a good kid. If you can deal with her Dad every week, you can deal with her for an afternoon. Just no bright light, don't get water on her, and don't feed her after midnight."

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Very funny." She bit her lip as she thought about the task before her. From the two times she'd actually dealt with her, Ellen had seemed...well, to be honest, she was aggressive, willful and defiant, but she'd also been facing the possibility of her father and her best friend dying. It wouldn't be fair to hold that against her. And Edward had a very legitimate reason to not want her out by herself. And what harm was there in getting to know her? She was Edward's daughter, after all, and he loved her. She sighed. "Alright. When should I go pick her up?"

"She should be at your place in about ten minutes."

Penelope's jaw dropped. "Ten minutes-what happened to her not being allowed to be in the city by herself!?"

"She's not in the city, she's on her way to a friend of her Dad's. That's different."

Penelope took a deep breath. "And just what would have happened if I'd said no?"

Selina just laughed again. "Oh, Doc, you really wouldn't have turned away Eddie's little girl, would you?"

Edward had often complained to her about how manipulative Selina could be. She was beginning to see his point. "Is that all, Selina?"

"That's all. I'm about to pull up to Eddie's apartment. Have fun!" Selina hung up before Penelope could get another word out.

Penelope lowered the phone from her ear and glared at it, before shaking her head. At least she was already dressed for the day. She got up from her chair and walked to her hall closet to pull on a pair of sandals, before crossing back over to the coffee table to get her bag. She looked into the bag and did a mental checklist of everything she thought she'd need, wallet, car keys, cell phone when her eyes went back to her journal. She really had wanted to get a bit of writing done that day. She shrugged, then picked it up and put it into her purse, then pulled out a hair tie. She may still have a bit of downtime while she was out to jot some notes down. She had just pulled her hair back and up in her usual bun when she heard a series of knocks on the door. "Just a moment!" she called out. Once she finished tying up her hair, she walked over to her door. She took a breath. She'd been inches away from murderers and psychotics like Zsasz, Joker, and Goodman, and she'd survived. Surely, she could handle an afternoon with Ellen. She opened the door.

Ellen was standing in her doorway, in a much better mood than she'd been in when Penelope had seen her back in February. She was wearing her short red hair loose, a white peasant top, and green shorts, with a knapsack over her shoulder. She looked up at Penelope, smiled at her as if she'd known her for years, and gave her a wave. "Hey, Doc!"

Penelope greeted her with a slight nod. "Hello, Ellen."

"Selina tell you it's the Old Man's birthday?"

"She did," Penelope answered, coming out into the hallway and shutting her door behind her. "Do you know what you're getting for him?"

"Yeah, I already got him a present. I just need to go by a grocery store. I'm gonna try to make him a cake tonight!"

Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Well, we can do that after I visit a department store. Do you know how to bake?"

"Yeah, I've made cookies before!" Ellen twirled a lock of her hair and gave Penelope a sheepish grin. "Well, the pre-made dough kind. How hard can it be though?"

Penelope turned to lock her door, then took advantage of the fact that Ellen couldn't see her face to look heavenward. This was going to be a long day.

Edward put the finishing touches inside the cane, screwed the top back on, and put it back down on his kitchen table with a grin. Perfect. The modifications were complete. Now with a press of a button, this cane was a taser as well as a stylish accessory. One never could be too careful these days. Now, time to review the information his East End sources had provided him, before a visit to the detective web forums, just for fun. He had opened his email on his laptop when his cell phone buzzed on the table. He looked at it to see a message from Harley. He opened the text and his blood ran cold.

Happy Birthday, Mr. E! See you at the Iceberg Lounge! XOXO Harley

No. Oh no. Edward did a double take at his calendar. June 4th. It was his Birthday. God Damn it. Edward read over Harley's message again and scowled. 'See you at the Iceberg Lounge'. No doubt Oswald was in on this conspiracy to make him celebrate his date of birth. Selina was probably on her way now to collect him. Sorry, Lina, but not today. Edward got up from his seat at the table and dashed to the hallway closet to grab his jacket. As he hastily pulled the green coat on, he checked his watch. 11:25. He calculated the distance between his apartment, the made over shelter that Selina, Harley, and Ivy, (Oh God, he hoped Ivy wasn't involved,) were staying in, then ran to his front door. Hopefully, Selina had just left when Harley texted. Hopefully, he could avoid her, Oswald, and Harley for the day. Hopefully.

He opened the door wide and froze. Standing in his doorway, one hand on her hip, was Selina. She regarded him with a smirk. "Going somewhere, Eddie?"

Edward took a step back. "Actually," he said, clearing his throat. "I'm on my way to see a very important client, so if you'll just excuse me," he moved to go around her when he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"Not so fast, Birthday Boy," Selina said. Her eyes flashed, and Edward gulped. "I know for a fact that you don't see clients on Sundays, barring something major. And if it were something major, I'd know about it."

Edward scowled. "Well, nice to see that living with Harley and Ivy hasn't completely sapped your intellect, Lina. I'm afraid though that I've no interest in whatever little 'celebration' you have planned for me. Now-"

He was cut off by Selina stepping into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. She sauntered up to him, a familiar gleam in her eyes. "Eddie," she said in that sassy tone of hers. "You can come like a good boy and ride in the front seat, or you can come kicking and screaming and ride in my trunk. Which is it going to be?" While she spoke, she pulled her whip out of her bag. "Five seconds."

In hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have patched things up with her.

Since Jezebel Center was relatively close to her apartment, Penelope had decided to go there. Ellen had agreed, even though she snorted a bit. There was a story there, Penelope was sure of. As soon as they were in her car though, Ellen had pulled a sketchbook out of her knapsack and gotten to work on something, only occasionally glancing up at Penelope and not saying a word. Penelope focused on the road in front of her and peeked at Ellen out of the corner of her eye. From what Edward had told her about his daughter, she'd inherited his gregariousness, and she'd seemed friendly enough, but she didn't seem all that interested in striking up a conversation with her. Was she waiting for her to make the first move, or was she simply not interested? Perhaps she was reading too much into it.

They stopped at a red light, and Penelope made her opening move. "So," she said, and Ellen looked up. "How have you been?"

Ellen cocked her head a bit, the way Edward sometimes did when he was caught off guard. "Fine, I guess." She went back to her sketchbook. From what Penelope could see, it looked like a human face.

She decided to press on. "Everything alright at home?"

"Yeah. I'm not grounded anymore at least." Ellen looked up again and narrowed her eyes a bit. "You're not tryin' to psychoanalyze me, are you?"

Penelope took a sharp breath. Of all the things she could have inherited from her father, did it have to be a distrust of psychiatry? "Not at all, Ellen. I'm just trying to make conversation."

Ellen shrugged, then took a look at her sketchbook and huffed. "I'm not gonna get this right," she muttered, closing the book and putting it back into her knapsack. Penelope watched her with curiosity.

"Do you carry that everywhere with you?"

"Yeah," Ellen answered. "I like to have it on me in case I get inspired."

Ellen seemed a bit more talkative now that she wasn't distracted. "Do you draw just people or other things?"

"People, mostly. I like to draw little caricatures of people I see on the streets. I've got a bunch of the Old Man."

The light turned green, and Penelope drove forward. "What does he think of them?"

Ellen laughed a bit. "He hates them. He says I make his head too big. I told him it was because of his brain, but he thinks it's because I think he has a big ego."

"Which is it really?"

Ellen smirked, and Penelope was struck once again by how much she resembled Edward. "Both." Ellen looked up at her with a curious expression. "Can I ask you something?"

Finally, it seemed like she was making ground with the girl. "Of course."

"How exactly did you meet my Dad? Are you his shrink?"

Penelope came to another red light and stopped, pondering how best to answer her question. "I'm not treating him now," she said. "But I did use to treat him at Arkham Asylum."

Ellen's eyes widened a bit. "Really?" She bit her lower lip a bit. "What was he like?"

Penelope sighed. "Ellen, I'm not sure how much your father's told you about that part of his life-"

Ellen interrupted her with a huff. "Doc, no offense, but I saw one guy die, fought a bunch of other guys, and fell off a bridge two months ago. I think I can handle whatever you have to say about the Old Man."

Penelope was so taken aback that she almost missed the green light. She put her foot on the gas and shook her head. "Well," she said. "You're certainly blunt." Ellen did have a point though. She took a breath. "Your father was...in some ways, he was very similar to how he is now. He was clever, he was acerbic, he always seemed to have an answer for everything..." she trailed off as she remembered how Edward was in Arkham, not so long ago. How he'd viewed their sessions as a game, how he'd been charming in the beginning, almost friendly, but how he had gradually, as he slipped deeper into his compulsions, become more unhinged. How he couldn't think of anything except the next riddle. How he'd viewed people as pawns. As much progress as he made in the year since she'd met him again, she couldn't forget that he was, in theory, just a step away from the man he'd been in Arkham. "But he was very ill, Ellen." she finished. She saw Ellen's face deflate a bit and she could guess what the girl was thinking. "It's for the best that you weren't in his life, then. He wasn't well enough to be any kind of a father to you."

Ellen sighed and looked out her car window. "I know, that's what he tells me. Still, I wish I didn't have to wait so long to meet him. This is the first time I'm celebrating his birthday with him and I'm almost sixteen."

"You have the rest of your life to make up for lost time," Penelope pointed out as gently as she could manage. "Try not to dwell too much on the past."

"I guess," Ellen said. She looked back towards her with a curious look. "So, did you keep in touch with him after he got out, or something?"

"No," Penelope answered. "We happened to run into each other at a fundraiser that Mayor Sharp was holding at the time. After that...it's a bit of a long story."

Ellen rolled her eyes at that. "'It's a long story.' That's what everyone tells me. So, you've been helping him with Strange? How?"

Penelope gave Ellen a sharp look. "Ellen, your father told me that he didn't want you involved in that business."

Ellen's curious look gave way to a glare. "What, so you can be involved and I can't? I'm the one who helped out superheroes! You're just a shrink!"

'Just' a shrink? However affected Ellen might have been by her experience, that didn't give her the right to be combative with her. "You don't need to put on a costume and beat up thugs to make a difference, Ellen. And the only time I've ever seen your father afraid was the moment he realized you were gone. He legitimately thought Strange had abducted or killed you. I never want to hear him in that state again."

Her mention of Edward had its desired effect, as the fight seemed to drain from Ellen's face. She puffed out her cheeks and turned to glare out the passenger car window. Penelope could hear her muttering something under her breath. She let out a sigh.

"I don't want to fight with you, Ellen," she said in a solemn tone. "Your father's a dear friend of mine, and I wanted to use today to get to know you, but I'm not going to go against his wishes. I'm sorry."

Ellen let out another huff, but her shoulders sagged a bit. "I don't want to fight you either," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "And I don't want to hurt Dad, but Marisol and Miguel were my friends. I can't just stand back and not do anything."

Penelope nodded. "I understand that, more than you may think." This wasn't what she wanted to spend her time with Ellen thinking about. "Let's change the subject. It's your father's birthday. You should spend the day enjoying that."

Ellen didn't look back from the window but hummed in response. Penelope supposed that was as good as she was going to get for now. She made a mental note to talk to Edward about this at a later point. Ellen clearly had unresolved issues about what had happened to her friend that she should talk to someone about. Ellen certainly seemed to conduct herself as Edward did at times. At least in Ellen's case, it was more age appropriate.

They drove in silence a few more blocks until GCPD came into view. As they drew closer, Ellen sat up in her seat and let out a "Whoa!"

Penelope almost hit her brakes. "What?"

Ellen pointed ahead. "Tree!" Penelope looked to where Ellen was pointing and relaxed. She'd become so used to the tree that stood in GCPD's parking lot that she'd forgotten what a novelty it was. "That thing's huge!" Ellen continued. "Where did it come from?"

"Poison Ivy," Penelope responded. "She caused it to grow back in December."

"Oh," Ellen said, nodding in realization. "So that's how Selina busted Dad out of GCPD."

Penelope did a double take. "You know about that?"

"Sure, I was the one who called her," Ellen smirked a bit. "I prank called GCPD too, to help get Dad out."

"Yes, well, don't make a habit of that," Penelope said. It occurred to her that, indirectly, Ellen had played a vital part in saving her from Goodman.

Ellen laughed a bit. "No promises." As they drove past the large tree, Ellen kept her eyes glued to it. "I'm gonna have to get down here so I can sketch that thing. How come the Commissioner hasn't cut it down?"

"Well, he was going to, but a lot of the younger cops convinced him not to. They've adopted it, almost. It helps boost their morale." That, and it irritated Sharp. Gordon was a good man, but he could be just as petty as anyone else given the proper incentive.

"Adopted it? So it's like GCPD's pet?" Ellen laughed. "Did they give it a name?"

"Trevor," Penelope answered. "Trevor the Tree." She'd been indifferent to the tree at first, but she couldn't deny it was comforting to pass under a living thing whenever she had to come to consult. They stopped at a red light, and she took the opportunity to look at the tree. It was well over twenty feet tall now, and the shade from it covered a good part of the front entrance. The top was full, lush and green, and there was a small crowd of people gathered underneath it.

"There's a guy playing guitar underneath the tree!" Ellen said. She rolled down her window to listen, and Penelope could just make out a man singing the most banal folk song she'd ever heard, in a voice that sounded like he was gargling gravel.

"...La da da da, la di di,

Trevor, Trevor the Tree

An Isle of green in the concrete sea,

Trevor, Trevor the Tree

Leaves as full and green as can be,

Trevor, Trevor the Tree

La da da da, la di di,

Who is a friend to you and me?

Trevor, Trevor, Trevor, Trevor the Tree..."

Ellen had listened to this with a blank look on her face. Then she snorted. "This city's so freakin' messed up. I love it here."

Penelope shook her head. She couldn't exactly disagree with her.

It was 12:30 by the time the pair arrived at Jezebel Center. Ellen opened her door and popped out, stretching her arms above her head. "This'll be fun," she said. "I haven't been to Jezebel Center since Dad brought me here for Christmas."

"Oh?" Penelope asked, closing her door and making sure the car was locked before moving to the exit of the parking garage.

"Yeah," Ellen continued. "I just hope this time I don't have to fight a Krampus."

Penelope paused. "Fight a Krampus?"

"Yeah, some guy was dressed up as a Krampus and tried to rob the place. Dad and Robin kicked his ass. I was kind of scared when it happened, but now I think it was kind of funny. Dad never told you about that?"

"No," Penelope admitted. They hadn't been as close at that point as they were now, so she couldn't hold it against him, she supposed. She thought about Edward engaging in a physical fight with a man dressed as a Krampus and the mental image made her smile in amusement. "Well, if there's any hint of anyone in costume here, we're leaving. I'm not explaining to your father about you getting into any fights on his birthday."

"Aw, you're no fun anymore," Ellen mock-whined. The two had made it out of the parking lot and were walking down the sidewalk that led to Jezebel Center when a low whistle caught Penelope's attention. She and Ellen turned to the right to see two men hanging out in front of a storefront, leering at her.

"Hey pretty lady," one of them said, eying her. Penelope rolled her eyes and continued to walk forward, making sure Ellen was in front of her.

"Hey, where are you going, baby?" The other man called out. "Come on, give us a smile." Penelope blood ran cold when she realized that they were following them. She turned and put one hand in her purse, ready to pull out her taser. The two were less than five feet away from them. Without warning, Ellen got in front of her.

"Hey microdick!" the girl shouted, and Penelope was shocked by just how much volume such a petite girl was able to project. The two men froze as well, looking at Ellen in shock. "Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, chucklefucks!" Ellen continued. She squared her shoulders up, took a step forward and let out a long, creative stream of expletives that would have made the most hardened officers she worked with at GCPD combust. She felt her own ears burn in mortification and watched as the men's faces paled. "...So stick that up your Mom's big fat ass and choke on it!" Ellen finished her voice at almost a comically high pitch.

The men looked at each other than at Penelope with mournful gazes. "Jesus Christ, lady," one of them said in a wobbly voice. "What's wrong with your kid?" Then they turned tail and fled down the sidewalk.

"That's right, walk away assholes!" Ellen shouted after them as they rounded the corner out of sight. "Walk away. Fuckers." Ellen relaxed her shoulders then continued to walk towards Jezebel Center as if nothing had happened.

Penelope looked at her, aware that she was gaping at the girl. "Where on-" she cleared her throat in an attempt to regain some composure. "Where on Earth did you hear such language!?"

Ellen just shrugged. "My Gramma. You should hear her when we go on the turnpike. She could make a nun explode."

Good Lord, just what kind of childhood did Ellen have!? "In the future," she said. "Please refrain from using that kind of language around me. And don't be so confrontational with people! You could have been shot!"

"Alright, Doc!" Ellen groaned out. "Jeez. You're worse than the Old Man." She continued to walk towards Jezebel Center and Penelope followed.

Just what had she gotten herself into?