July 17th, 2007

When Edward arrived at Penelope's office that Friday morning, she was sitting at her desk, writing something intently on a sheet of paper, surrounded on both sides by stacks of scientific journals and thick looking textbooks. She looked up briefly when he entered, then looked back down at her writing with a "Hello, Edward." Her tone was as brisk and cold as it always was, but Edward could catch the ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she continued to work.

Edward smirked himself as he shut the door behind him, then walked up to his favored chair in front of her desk. When he was sat down he considered her and shook his head fondly. Surrounded by books as she was, her hair tied back like it was, she looked more like an old-fashioned schoolmarm grading homework than a psychiatrist. "Good morning, Dr. Young!" he said with his customary flourish. He looked at the paper she was writing on with interest. "Busy I see. Did Commissioner Gordon call you in for a consultation?"

"No," Penelope answered, putting her pen down. "Actually, this is more personal." She gestured to the textbooks to her right and Edward craned his head slightly to read the titles on the spines. The Principles of Neural Science. The Biology of the Mind. Cognitive Psychology. "I've been reading up on current trends in Psychology, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience in the last few weeks."

"So I gathered," Edward said, sitting back up. "Business or pleasure? Or both?"

"A bit of both, but mostly business." Penelope pointed down to the paper she'd been writing on. "I've been taking notes as I read and compiling a list of possible new behavioral therapies and treatments for the patients of Arkham. I'm going to meet with Joan and a few other doctors we know to review them and brainstorm from there."

Strange wasn't even close to being out the door yet and she was already planning on what to do when he was gone. Her emphasis on looking ahead and the bigger picture irritated him at times when they were reviewing the case, but he had to admit, it amused him just as much. "Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, aren't we?" he teased.

As he expected, (hoped) Penelope glowered at him a bit. Jonathan never responded to Edward's baiting that he remembered, and Selina tended to draw first blood. Penelope, despite how collected she presented herself, would always, always, respond. One-nil. "No!" she insisted. Then she shrugged. "Well, maybe," she conceded. "But I don't see any harm in coming up with a solid plan now for what to do when Strange is gone. Bruce said at our last meeting that he's made good progress on the renovations for the recreation center in Arkham."

Edward swallowed down the irritation he felt at her referring to Wayne by his first name. It shouldn't bother him. That was just how she referred to people she knew. It didn't mean anything. Wait. Why was he irritated by this? He shook his head. "Oh, good. That will make my old cell mates happy." By the way Penelope rolled her eyes, that had been the wrong thing to say. "It is a good thing, really," he clarified. "So what comes after your meeting?"

Penelope folded her hands in front of her face and seemed to ponder his question. She finally let out a sigh. "Well, from what we've found out, Sharp will never approve anything less draconian. We could try going straight to the Board, but the fact that they've been approving of Strange's actions so far doesn't exactly inspire me with much confidence. They might be more cooperative once he's gone."

Edward hummed, then, like the proverbial lightbulb, an idea came to him. "Maybe. Or perhaps you've gotten things backward." She looked at him with a look of surprised irritation, but before she could reply, he raised a finger. "Allow me to elucidate. Perhaps, instead of getting rid of Strange to get past the Board, we should be getting rid of the Board to get past Strange."

Penelope's eyebrows raised. "Get rid of the Board? Edward-"

"Figuratively. They're part of the elite social circles in Gotham City. They're bound to have a skeleton or two in their closet. A little bit of digging by yours truly, a threatening phone call to Ryder, and voila! You have a cooperative Board."

Penelope blinked for a moment, then set Edward with a serious look. "You'd do that? From a certain point of view, that's blackmail."

"Why not?" Edward asked. "It's not so different from what I do in my job. I find information that acts as leverage to ensure people's cooperation. You can't get serious work done in this city without knowing where the bodies are buried, I'm afraid. You could ask Wayne that yourself, and I guarantee he'd say the same thing. Using nicer words of course, but still." He laughed. "That, and I do enjoy taking those snobs down a peg from time to time. Does wonders for my mental health."

Penelope let out something that was between a noise of disbelief and a laugh. "God, you'll be the death of me."

Edward smiled. To tell the truth, he could care less if Arkham Asylum burned to the ground overnight, but he did like to see her happy. And if reforming that cursed hellscape made her happy, who was he to deny her it? "Figuratively, I hope," he said. He turned his attention to the vase that sat next to the journals on her left, the carnations in them still as healthy and lovely as the day he'd picked them out for her. Amazing what a little bit of Ivy's pollen, obtained after much negotiating with Selina, could do. "The flowers are still going strong."

He thought he could detect a slight flush on her face when she turned her attention to the carnations. She quickly recovered, however. "I've never had flowers that lasted this long," she mused. She glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "They are real, aren't they?"

Edward raised a hand to his chest. "I never!" he said in a mock-scandalized tone. "You accuse me, Edward Nigma, of stooping so low as to send someone fake flowers! For shame, Penelope! I thought we were friends!"

She scoffed. "You stop that. In this town, it's a legitimate question." She was smiling though. For anyone else, that would be the equivalent of a laugh. It was almost surreal, Edward thought, of how much a different person Penelope seemed to be from the closed off, bitter, almost broken woman he'd met last year. She was confident, she was determined, she had a plan and God help anyone who stood in her way of achieving it. She'd been, and she still was reserved and icy, but she was beginning to thaw. He didn't remember who she'd been in Arkham when she'd treated him, but this Penelope? He liked her. He liked her a lot. "How have you been since Wednesday?" she asked. "You seemed a bit worn out when I left your apartment."

That was different too. In the beginning, his visits to Penelope's office were strictly business, always discussing the Case and the progress they'd made. Now, his visits covered as much personal material as well as professional. Edward made a dramatic noise. "I'm still recovering. That was, without a doubt, one of the most exhausting experiences of my life."

Penelope shook her head. "Ellen's birthday party was not that bad."

"Oh yes, it was," Edward retorted. He remembered the wild party Nina and Deirdre had devised for Ellen's sixteenth birthday and shuddered. "You just didn't notice because you and Selina were off conspiring against me in the living room."

"We were not conspiring against you. We were merely coming to a conclusion about something."

"And what would that something be?"

Penelope leaned forward a bit, with a smirk of her own. "That you were being completely ridiculous."

Now they were tied at one-one. Edward pouted. "I knew the two of you getting friendly was going to backfire on me. And I'd like to see how you fare when you have to go through your child's Sweet Sixteenth."

"I'm sure I'd manage," she said. Her face softened and she smiled at Edward. "I know that what we've been doing at Arkham doesn't really mean anything to you, Edward," she said. "But thank you for understanding how much it means to me."

Looking at her like this, it occurred to Edward that this was the happiest he could ever recall seeing her. And that he wanted to keep her that way. And something about that thought terrified him. "You're welcome."

"Ow! Jesus Christ!"

Ellen lay sprawled on the mat, looking up at the Red Hood as he towered over her. He crouched down and offered his hand. "You okay, Kiddo? Want me to go a little easier on you?"

"Fuck you," Ellen spit out, pulling herself back up to her feet. Three nights a week, the nights Gramma worked the late shift and wouldn't notice if she was out, for the past six weeks, she'd been meeting Red Hood two blocks from her apartment. He'd take her to a run-down apartment building he operated out of in the Narrows, and take her to a basement level, where a makeshift gym was set up. On the first night, he'd asked her to punch a practice dummy set up in the middle of the room with all her might. Then he'd asked her questions, how tall she was exactly, did she have any past fight experience, did she have any old injuries, dumb stuff like that. Then, he'd said that he would teach her the basics of self-defense, then something called 'krav maga'. And so, for the past six weeks, he had trained her. Ellen squared her shoulders and raised her fists up again. Some training. She'd spent as much time getting tossed around by the jerk as she did actually learning anything. She charged him again, throwing a punch up towards his face, which he avoided with ease. He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and once again, tossed her on the ground. "Fuck!" she shouted.

Red Hood tutted. "Temper temper. We got to work on that a bit."

Ellen glared at him as she got back up. "I thought you said you were gonna teach me how to fight," she complained. "How's this helping me?"

"You want to learn how to throw a punch, you got to learn how to take a punch," Red Hood said. He crossed his arms and considered her. "You're sixteen now, right?"

"Yeah," Ellen said. "Why?"

"You're 5'2, right?"

"5'3, numbnuts. What's your point?"

"Hey. Be nice. You expect to get any bigger anytime soon?"

Ellen chewed her lip and let her eyes drift to her feet. "...No."

"That's right. The simple truth is Kiddo, that unless you go up against a pack of rabid munchkins, there aren't going to be a lot of people you can beat with brute strength. Everyone you fight is going to be a lot bigger and stronger than you, and they'll show you about as much mercy as Bolton and his crew did."

Ellen clenched her fists. "I can do this," she said looking up at Red Hood.

"I know you can," he answered. "You're not going to be stronger than most of the skells you fight, but you can be a Hell of a lot smarter. You're the Riddler's kid, right? You know how to be smart."

Ellen blew a raspberry at him, then squared up again. "Just watch."

Red Hood let out a low laugh through that helmet. "Good girl. Now, the good thing about Krav Maga is that it helps you learn how to use people's reactions against them. Example, I throw a punch at you, you use my momentum against me. Make sense?"

Ellen nodded. "Yeah."

Red Hood nodded. "Good." Then he stepped forward, then threw a punch directly at Ellen. She ducked with a yelp, then stepped to the right side, grabbing onto the front of Red Hood's jacket as she did so. Once she was clear, she swept her leg out, tripping him and sending him to the mat. She breathed hard for a long moment, then laughed in triumph, only to let out another yelp as Red Hood kicked her feet out from under her.

"Freakin' jerk!" Ellen shouted.

Red Hood just laughed. "You didn't think it was gonna be that easy, did you Kiddo?" He got up, then offered his hand down to her. "You're getting the hang of it though. Actually got me that time."

Ellen took his hand this time and shot him a smirk. "Yeah, I did. I'm gonna kick your ass someday." She walked over to a bench in the corner of the room and pulled her new cell phone, a gift from her father, out of her bag. 11:00. Gramma would be back home in an hour and a half, and there'd be Hell to pay if Ellen wasn't there. "Shit. I got to get back."

"No problem," Red Hood said. "Get your stuff together, I'll go rev up my bike."

Less than fifteen minutes later, the pair were driving down a back alley in the Narrows. For a Friday night in this part of Gotham, it seemed pretty quiet. Red Hood turned his bike out of the alley and down the road that led to Ellen's apartment, then promptly made a sharp right turn to get out of the way of a speeding cop car driving on the wrong side of the street, sirens wailing. Another cop car followed, going just as fast, then another. From their vantage point, Ellen watched five more GCPD cars speeding down the main road, like bats out of Hell.

"What's going on?" she asked Red Hood. "Did someone break out of Arkham or something?"

"No," Red Hood answered, his voice muffled somewhat by the engine. He turned his bike around and followed the convoy once they were certain no more cars were coming. "If it was Arkham, they'd be going north," he explained. "Those cars are heading east, towards Downtown. Could still be a Rogue though. You up for checking it out?"

"Yeah," Ellen said. "For a little bit." She'd never actually seen a bonafide Rogue in action in person before. Well, not unless she counted the Old Man, and he wasn't really much of a Rogue anymore. As long as she still made it home before Gramma, what harm was there in checking it out?

Less than three blocks from where they's first spotted the convoy, Ellen could see the cop cars at a complete stop. Ahead of them, Ellen could make out smoke, and flames. A fire? Where were the fire trucks then? Red Hood brought the bike to a sudden stop. "Jesus!" she heard him swear. "Hold on, Kiddo, we've got to back up a bit."

"Why?" Ellen asked. She couldn't see past him easily. "What's going on?"

Gunfire was the answer she received. She froze, remembering the last time she heard gunfire, Morton slumping over, the blood. She realized she was clinging on just a bit tighter to Red Hood. "It's okay, Kiddo," she heard him say. "I'm going to drive us to that alleyway behind us. We'll get on the fire escape and watch from there if you're still okay with that."

Ellen gulped. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Red Hood drove to the alley without another word, then the pair walked up to the fire escape. Four stories up, Ellen could see over the neighboring rooftop and fully take in what was happening. Her jaw dropped. The flames and smoke she'd seen were from a cop car, wrapped around a telephone pole and burning. The five other cars she remembered from the convoy were parked in a circular pattern, blocking off the street, the cops themselves huddled behind them with their pieces drawn. It was what they were aiming at that caught Ellen's attention the most, and made her gasp in shock. In the middle of the street, pacing up and down in front of a pawn shop, was a man. At least, Ellen thought it was a man. It looked to her more like a monster. It was huge, over ten feet tall, with huge muscles making up its chest and back. She noticed white dots up and down its back as it walked around, and she realized to her horror that those dots were bones poking out of the creature's flesh. Behind it, Ellen could see a group of men coming out of the pawn shop, carrying with them electronics. It was a robbery. But what was that thing? She heard one of the police officers behind the cop car yelling at the thieves. "GCPD! Hands up!"

In response, the creature let out a bellowing roar, one that made Ellen's stomach clench. It turned towards the cops and charged straight towards them. "Open fire!" she heard another cop call out. The cops as one began shooting at the creature, but the bullets seemed to have no effect on it. It kept charging until it crashed through the cop cars, sending the men behind them diving for cover. Ellen watched as the creature then picked up one of the cop cars and threw it at the fleeing men, as easily as if it was a toy. The cops barely managed to avoid the flying car, and it crashed into a neighboring storefront, sending shards of glass and metal scattering across the street. The creature roared again, then advanced towards the cops. Ellen shot Red Hood a worried look.

"What do we do?" she asked. "That thing's gonna kill them!"

Red Hood drew his guns from his jacket. "Stay here," he said. "This is a bit outside your weight class right now." He was about to head back down the fire escape when from the corner of her eye, Ellen saw a black shadow glide down from the building across the street. It landed between the creature and the terrified cops and stood up. In the glow from the flames and the street lights, Ellen could make out a long black cape and a pointed cowl. Her breath caught in her throat. Batman was here. She'd never seen him in person before. A sense of awe and relief came over her. If anyone could take that thing out, Batman could. Right?

The creature roared and swung its huge right arm at Batman, who dodged it. For such a big guy, Ellen thought he was almost graceful. Batman three something from his hand straight into the creature's eyes, she couldn't see what exactly it was. A Batarang, probably. The creature grabbed at its face and let out another bellow, dropping down to its knees. While it was distracted, Batman climbed onto its back. The creature stood up then and began to charge wildly to try to dislodge him, like a bucking bronco she'd seen on TV. Ellen turned back to Red Hood, who had put his guns back in his jacket and was now staring intently at the fight going on below them. "Aren't you gonna help him?" she asked.

Red Hood let out a scoff. "Why? Seems like he's got it under control."

Ellen looked back to the street when she heard a crashing sound and she saw that Batman had managed to steer the creature into the side of a building. It was staggering around now, dazed. Batman jumped off of the creature's back and began to wail on it, raining blow after blow into its stomach and chest. The creature soon recovered though and let out another roar, swinging at Batman with all its might. Batman dodged the blow and ran a few feet back, away from the cops. He stopped to crouch down on the ground, then darted back a few more feet as the creature advanced. He stood still, waiting for it to come to him. Why? "What's he doing?" Ellen asked Red Hood.

"Wait for it," he said.

Ellen looked back down at the street. The creature was now at the spot Batman had crouched down at. As soon as it had crossed over, there was a small explosion, knocking the creature off of its feet. "Explosive gell," Red Hod said. "One of his favorite gadgets."

Ellen frowned. Red Hood seemed to know a lot about Batman. Had he worked with him before? Ellen remembered how hostile Batgirl had been and bit her lip. Had...had he fought him before? She watched as Batman attacked the creature again, this time grabbing its head and smashing it against the concrete. She cringed a bit. She didn't think he'd be that brutal. It worked though, as the creature was now finally still. The cops had recovered and arrested the men who were stealing from the pawn shop. Now a few of them came over to try to arrest the creature as well. How the Hell were they going to fit it in a cop car. A SWAT truck pulled up to the scene then, and armed officers came out to surround the creature. Before any of them could approach him, Batman pulled a grappling hook out of his belt and fired it upwards, flying off into the night. Ellen took a long breath. "That was awesome," she said.

Beside her, Red Hood made another dismissive noise. "Ready to go?"

Ellen nodded. "Yeah." She heard a buzzing from her pant pocket. Her cellphone. Oh shit. Was Gramma already home? She pulled out her phone to see a text from her. There's been an emergency. I won't be home until tomorrow. Have a good night. Right. Gotham General was the closest hospital. Gramma was going to have to deal with this mess. She put her cell phone back in her pocket and followed Red Hood down the fire escape and back to his bike. "What was that thing?" she asked as soon as they were back on the road.

"Pretty sure that was a guy on TITAN," Red Hood answered.

"What's TITAN? Is that like PCP or something?"

"Or something. It's a drug that makes people bulk out like the Venom Bane uses. There was a lot of it on the streets a few years ago, after the Arkham riot. GCPD got most of it, I thought."

"Guess not," Ellen said. She worried her lip. A drug that made people like that was on the streets? She really did pick the worst time to become a superhero.

Gordon was on the roof of the GCPD when Bruce arrived, a grim look on his face. "I heard on the radio what happened in Downtown," he said as Bruce approached. "Another TITAN attack?"

Bruce nodded. "That's the fifth TITAN related incident in three weeks, after almost a year of no incidents. There's a new supply on the streets. I'm sure of it."

Bruce watched as Gordon's shoulders slumped. "Damn," he whispered. " I'm going to have to inform the Mayor. We managed to confiscate most of it, I thought. I'll check to make sure what we have wasn't compromised. What are you going to do?"

Bruce hesitated. "I'm going to speak to Dr. Young."

As he expected, Gordon's face darkened. "She's not involved in this. She can't be!"

"I don't think she's directly involved," Bruce said carefully, "but she is one of a handful of people who know about it, and she's the only know who knows for sure how to create it. If TITAN's getting back on the streets, she needs to be aware of it. She's in danger, Jim."

Gordon's brow furrowed in thought. "You think once we get it off the streets, someone may come after her for the formula?"

"Possibly, but that's not my main concern. Think about the timing. It's no coincidence that we saw a ramp-up of TITAN incidents after she started to make strides towards cleaning up Arkham."

Gordon set his jaw as Bruce's words sank in. "Son of a bitch. Someone's trying to send her a message."

"Exactly. We need to warn her." Bruce walked back to the edge of the roof and fired his grappling hook. As he flew off towards the direction of where he'd left the Batmobile, he was consumed by two thoughts. One, that Penelope Young was in danger. Two, that if she was, then Edward Nigma wouldn't be far behind. He needed to contain this before he had a chance to find out.

He remembered February, and Croc and his eyes narrowed. Before Edward had a chance to do something reckless.

Penelope put down the journal she was reading and let out a tired yawn before checking her watch. It was just after 1 AM. She closed the journal and got up from her armchair, stretching her arms out above her head. That was enough for now. She'd pick up where she left off in the morning. She crossed the living room to her kitchen, fixing herself a glass of water before she went to bed. As she filled her glass under the water filter on her sink, she thought about all the progress that she had made and smiled. She had almost forgotten how much she genuinely enjoyed the work that she did, the research, the reading. For the last year, she'd gone from simply getting by to being content with where she was, but now? Now, for the first time in a long time, she was genuinely happy with where she was. She'd almost forgotten what that had felt like. She walked back into her living room and dropped her glass on the carpet with a shocked gasp. "You-what are you doing here!?"

Batman was standing in the center of her living room. "Dr. Young," he said in that deep, gravelly voice. "We need to talk."

Penelope almost forgot how to speak. It was the first time she'd seen the vigilante since that night in Arkham...her thoughts raced. What could he have to talk with her about? Then her stomach clenched. "Edward-"

"This doesn't concern him," Batman said, almost gently. He took a step towards her.

Penelope sighed with relief, then fixed him with a steely glare. "Then why are you in my apartment at 1 in the morning? What's going on?"

Batman stopped a foot before her. then looked down at her with a look that almost resembled pity. "It's about the TITAN formula. It's on the streets again."

Penelope felt her blood chill. "What...how?" She shook her head. "No, that's not possible." She looked up at Batman and realized why he was here. "And you think I did it? That I'm making it again? After everything that happened at Arkham, you really think I'd put any more lives in danger!?" She realized that her voice was rising and struggled to calm down.

"No," Batman said. "I know you didn't. But whoever is behind this did so to get at you. You're not safe, Dr. Young. You need to talk with Commissioner Gordon tomorrow, and then lie low. Find a safe place to go to and stay there."

Penelope gulped, almost not hearing him. "And then what?"

"I'll take care of it," he said. "I'll find out where this new TITAN came from and stop it." He turned to leave her apartment through the open window. "In the meantime," he said. "Be careful who you speak to." He disappeared out the window as quick as he came in.

Penelope staggered over to her armchair and almost collapsed into it. The TITAN was back and no one in Gotham was safe. There would be no sleep tonight.