Penelope did not sleep that night or even move from her Ottoman chair. She stayed awake, mind consumed with dark memories from the past, until the morning sun came in through her window, and the streets of Gotham came back to life. At Seven AM, Commissioner Gordon came to her apartment, with a profound look of regret on his face. "Penelope," he said after she opened the door. "I wish more than anything I didn't need to be here right now." He seemed concerned but not surprised at her state. Batman must have told him before he had come to her last night. Penelope knew what she must look like, still wearing the outfit she had worn yesterday, her hair down and loose, dark circles under her eyes. She should be embarrassed, but she couldn't bring herself to care. "I've already informed the Mayor," Gordon continued. "He wants us down at headquarters as soon as possible. I'll give you a few minutes to get ready."

Penelope nodded, almost robotically, and walked back into her apartment to shower and change her clothes. She barely felt the warm water on her skin or recalled the minutes between changing and pulling her hair back up. She examined herself in the mirror to make herself as presentable as possible, but the dark circles remained, like bruises under her eyes. As she walked back into her living room and to the waiting Commissioner, she spied her phone on her coffee table next to her purse. She thought of calling Edward to tell him, but she put the idea out of her mind. She couldn't put him in danger too. She wouldn't. She grabbed her phone and put it in her purse before she slid it over her shoulder.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Gordon asked her.

It occurred to Penelope that she had yet to speak a single word to him. "Yes," she said in a tone that was stronger than she felt at the moment. "Yes, I'm sure." She didn't want to leave. More than anything at that moment, she wanted to disappear. She followed Gordon out the door, however, holding her head up high. She had to be strong. She could not break. She would not break.

Sharp was waiting for them in Gordon's office when they arrived at GCPD, along with his entourage. Renee, Schrader, and a handful of the most senior detectives were milling about in the bullpen. Penelope kept walking forward and tried to ignore the looks of curiosity on some of their faces or the concern on Renee's or the cool detachment on Schrader's. Stay focused. Stay professional. She heard Sharp's blustering even outside the door. She paused for a moment to allow Gordon to open the door and schooled her expression as close to her natural, neutral expression as she could. Sharp would not see her break.

Sharp was red-faced and furious as she and Gordon entered, sending his handlers away with an irritated wave of his hand. As soon as the door had shut behind them, he rounded on Gordon with a fury that almost made Penelope flinch. "This is absolutely unacceptable, Gordon!" He shouted, slamming his cane on the floor for emphasis. "You assured me that GCPD has destroyed all of the TITAN that it's confiscated over the past two years!"

"And we have," Gordon said, raising his hand slightly in supplication. He took a step forward, while Penelope planted herself against the wall close to the door.

"Then where is this new supply coming from!?" Sharp demanded. His face softened somewhat as he nodded his head towards Penelope. "I know that you're not involved in this, my dear," he said in so cloying a manner that it made her skin crawl, "And the Joker is in maximum security in Arkham Asylum as we speak! He can't possibly be manufacturing anymore! Was there some that you missed!?"

Penelope watched as Gordon stuffed his hands into his pockets and let out a sigh. Her heart sank. After a year of working with him in GCPD, she knew his tells. This was when he was about to speak an unpleasant truth. "Last November," he said. "We confiscated a tank of TITAN during a gang bust in the Narrows. We were holding it at an undisclosed evidence lock-up while the gang members are on trial. I sent Detectives Schrader and Montoya over to the lock-up this morning. They confirmed that the TITAN batch was missing."

"Stolen, you mean," Sharp seethed, clutching the top of his cane so tight it looked like it would break in half. "Under your very nose! How did this happen!?" Penelope felt her hands begin to tremble and she looked down at the floor. She knew that the evidence lock-ups Gordon spoke of were inaccessible to all but a select few in GCPD, due to how frequently they stored confiscated weapons and tech from the Rogues. She would have heard if any of them had been violently broken into or compromised. Which meant that a GCPD officer had taken the TITAN themselves. Which meant that Strange had people working for him in GCPD, and probably had all along. Was one spying on her even now? She barely heard Gordon answer that he'd launched an investigation into the theft, that he'd find the person responsible. How many people would die in the meantime? She felt a firm pressure on her hand and almost jumped out of her skin. It was Sharp, looking at her with grave concern. "You have no idea how sorry I am about this, Penelope," he said. His grip tightened a bit as his beady blue eyes bore into hers. "If there's anything you need, anything at all, don't hesitate to call. I won't rest until the ones responsible for this are behind bars."

Penelope wanted to pull back her hand and scream at him. There was only one man she'd allow to touch her like this. It's your fault, she thought. All of this. I don't want or need anything from you. She couldn't though. It wouldn't do for her to lose her composure in front of the Mayor and Commissioner Gordon. Instead, she swallowed and said as graciously as possible, "Thank you. That's very kind of you, Mayor."

Sharp chuckled benevolently, then turned back to glare at Gordon. "We'll talk more about this at the next City Council meeting on Tuesday. You had best make some progress by then!" He roughly let go of Penelope's hand and stormed out of Gordon's office with a huff.

Gordon glared after the Mayor, then walked up to Penelope. "Do you want to stay here for a while, or would you like me to take you home?" he asked her gently.

She knew he didn't mean to be condescending to her, but Penelope couldn't stand the pity she saw in his eyes right now. "If you could take me to my office," she said brusquely. "I'd appreciate it."

"Are you sure? You look exhausted."

Penelope clenched her fists. "Yes. I have reading I need to check up on."

Gordon sighed. "Is there anyone I can call-"

Edward, I want to talk to Edward- "No, thank you, Commissioner," Penelope said with a slightly raised voice. She took a breath. Calm down. In through the nose, out through the mouth. "I'll be alright."

She didn't need to be a psychiatrist to know that Gordon didn't believe her.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come over?" Joan asked for the second time in the past five minutes. "I can be there in twenty minutes."

Penelope had barely set foot in her office when Joan had called her. Gordon apparently had called her at some point. She sat behind her desk and stifled a groan. God, couldn't she be allowed to distract herself with her work for just a little while? "Yes, Joan. I'll be alright. I'm just going to review some notes I have before I go home."

There was a pause before Joan spoke. "Penelope. This is serious."

Penelope clenched her phone just a bit tighter. "I am aware of how serious this is, Joan," she bit out. "But I don't see what good my talking about it with you will do. I don't need to be comforted or pitied. I just want to do my work."

Joan let out a long sigh. "I know what you're doing, Penelope. You're locking yourself away again. Don't do that. That's what Strange would want you to do. This is a psychological attack on you, as well as a potential physical one." Penelope knew that. Rationally, she knew all her friend wanted to do was to help her, but emotionally, she just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again, but when she closed her eyes, she was back at the Asylum, in the Medical Center, draining the Venom from Bane's blood, ignoring the screams of pain he let out, telling herself it was for the greater good, what was some momentary discomfort against finally unlocking the key to curing the insanity that plagued Gotham, stay focused, don't break, don't break, don't break-

"Does Edward know?"

Joan's question had the effect of breaking Penelope out of her trance. "W-what?"

"Does Edward know?" Joan repeated. "Have you told him, or do you want me to?"

There was no one she wanted to talk to more than him right now, but there was no one she wanted to keep as far away from this more than him. "No," she said. "I don't want him to know, Joan."

"Penelope, Gordon said he's keeping the media out of the loop for now, but we both know it's only a matter of time until he finds out. And once he does, there's no way either of us can keep him out of this. He's already proven that's he willing to protect you."

She remembered. She remembered watching him disappear in an explosion to save her. She remembered the desperation in his voice when he thought Ellen was lost to him. She remembered him disappearing underneath Gotham City to avenge the dead man he still loved. He was brilliant, but he was arrogant, and he was reckless, and nowhere was this more apparent than when the few people he genuinely cared for were on the line. "I can't ask him to do that for me," she said. "This is my mess, Joan. I'll deal with it."

There was another long pause before Joan spoke. "Alright," she said. "If you don't want me to tell him now, I won't. But if anything else happens, I will tell Edward."

"That's fine," Penelope said. "But I'll be alright."

"Call me tomorrow."

"I will. Goodbye." Penelope hung up the phone and put her head in her hands. Then she heard her phone began to buzz again. She looked down at it and saw Aaron's number, and she wanted to cry. Don't break. Don't break.

The next few days seemed to blend together for Penelope. She slept maybe a few hours each restless night, ate even less, and only went through the motions through her sessions with her patients. There had been no further news from Gordon regarding either the theft or any further incidents with the TITAN, but she knew better than to relax. It was only a matter of time. More than once, she'd found herself halfway through dialing Edward's number, before she hung up. He had enough on his plate without her dragging him into this. On Thursday afternoon, she was in GCPD headquarters, having stopped to do paperwork in the bullpen after getting an update from Gordon. Only, the lines on the paper kept blurring together. She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Her head hurt, and she was so tired.

"You OK, Doc?"

Penelope opened her eyes with a start and looked up to see Aaron hovering by her. He'd been her constant companion in GCPD since Saturday, offering more than once to keep an eye on her at home, too. Nothing she said could seem to dissuade him from looking out for her. She leaned back in her chair with a sigh. "I'm just tired, Aaron. That's all."

"I'll bet," he said sympathetically. "You look like you haven't gotten any sleep."

Penelope let out a yawn. She took a look around the bullpen. There were a handful of patrol officers and detectives milling about, going about their routine, ignoring her. Which one of them was it? Which one of them had Strange compromised?

"Being in GCPD that boring for you Dr. Young?"

Penelope narrowed her eyes when Schrader and Montoya approached. He may be a decorated detective, but Penelope had taken an instant dislike to Schrader when she met him, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. "Hardly," she bit out. "Did you need something, detective?"

"Easy," Schrader said. "Just a joke." He leaned down a bit, a look of concern on his handsome face. "You really don't look good. Would you like someone to give you a lift home?"

"What I would like," Penelope said in a raised voice, "Is to be able to finish this in peace!"

A few of the officers in the bullpen looked at her, curiosity on their faces. She felt her own face flush and her eyes prick. Don't break, don't break.

"No one should be in the crib right now," Schrader said. "If you want, you can go in there. We'll keep people from bothering you too much."

Penelope looked surprised at Schrader, then nodded. "Thank you."

The blond detective shrugged. "Not at all. Go get some peace and quiet."

Penelope got out of her chair and walked across the bullpen to where the crib was. As soon as she entered, she made her way to a bunk. As soon as head hit the pillow, she shut her eyes and fell asleep.

Schrader had excused himself to go on a meal break as soon as Young disappeared in the crib. In reality, he was sitting in his car in the GCPD parking lot, talking excitedly to Ward. "She's coming apart," he crowed. "Gordon just had to tell her once, and she's breaking down. Another incident, and she'll need to check herself into Arkham."

"Good. There's no chance Gordon will figure out it was you who took the TITAN, is there?"

"I didn't take the TITAN," Schrader said. "Officer Alvarez did before he sold it and skipped town." Well, no. Not exactly. Alvarez had removed the TITAN at Schrader's request, and a promise of $20,000, then when he'd come for his payment, Schrader had put a bullet between his eyes. His body would be somewhere at the bottom of the Gotham Bay by now, and by the time Gordon and his cronies found it, if they ever did, it would be next to impossible to link him to Schrader. "I haven't lasted fifteen years in GCPD without learning to cover my tracks. What about Bane? Is there any movement there?"

"None yet," Ward admitted.

Schrader frowned. "You got the word to him over a month ago. What's taking him so long?"

"He's methodical. He likes to take his time before he plans anything. We also need to prepare ourselves for the possibility that he may not come at all."

Schrader leaned against his seat, mulling over Ward's words. Then he smirked. "Alright then," he said. "Plan B." He hung up his cell phone, put his car into drive, and drove toward the part of Downtown he knew the bitch lived in.

It was well after dark by the time Penelope woke up in the bullpen and drove herself back to her apartment building. The bunk had been stiffer than her bed, but the much-needed rest had settled her nerves, somewhat. She walked out of the elevator and towards her apartment, feeling better than she had for days.

Then she saw that her door was open.

Penelope reached into her purse for her taser, pulled it out, and slowly walked towards her open door. There were no lights on. There were no sounds coming from the darkened interior either. Perhaps whoever had broken in had already left. She reached inside and felt her hand along the wall until she found her light switch. Taking a deep breath, she flicked the light switch and steeped into her apartment. Her blood ran cold at what she saw inside. Her books, papers, and furniture were scattered about her living room. It looked like whoever had been here had been looking for something. What caught her eyes though, was the message, written in red spray paint, red like blood, scrawled on the wall. MURDERER. Penelope took a step back, then turned and fled, down the stairs, down to her car. As soon as she had locked herself inside, she pulled her phone and dialed 911. "This is Dr. Penelope Young. I need to report a break-in..."

An hour later, Aaron was by her side, as was Gordon, while detectives and uniformed officers were inside her apartment, collecting evidence. "You're going to need to go to a safe house," Gordon said. "There's no other choice anymore."

"I'll take her," Aaron volunteered immediately. "Keisha and I have a guest room she can crash in until we catch this son of a bitch." Penelope stood still, arms wrapped around her, not hearing anything he said.

Gordon nodded, then turned his head as Schrader and Montoya approached them. "Well?" he asked.

"Whoever did this wore gloves," Montoya said. "There are no prints, except for Dr. Young's of course."

"Looks like the door was picked open," Schrader added. "When you're up to it, Dr. Young, we'll need you to do a walkthrough, see if there's anything missing."

"In the morning," she said robotically. "I'll be ready in the morning."

Aaron looked at her, concerned. "Let's get you out of here. We'll go to my place. I'll call Keisha from the car."

Penelope abruptly walked forward. "Excuse me," she said. "I need to make a call." Without waiting for anyone to respond to her, Penelope walked down the street. As soon as she was out of earshot, she pulled her cellphone out of her purse. She looked at it for a long moment. God forgive her, but Joan was right. He needed to know. And she needed to see him, more than anything. She dialed the number before she could change her mind and waited while it rang. "Please, pick up," she whispered.

As if he'd somehow heard her, he answered the call. "Edward Nigma, Consulting Detective to the Stars. How can I help you tonight, Penelope?"

She almost cried out in relief at hearing his voice before she pulled herself together. "Edward, are you busy?"

Evidently, she didn't do a good enough job at keeping the tremors out of her voice, for Edward's tone when he answered was one of concern. "No. What's wrong?"

"I need to see you," she said. "Can you come to my office?"

"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Where are you? Are you in danger?"

Penelope took a breath. "I'm outside my apartment. I'll tell you more when I see you."

"Alright," Edward said, clearly not happy with her answer. "I'll be right there." He hung up, and Penelope wanted to weep with relief. Instead, she pulled herself back together and walked back to where Aaron and the others were waiting for her.

"I'm ready," she said to Aaron. "Let's go."

"You got it, Doc," Aaron answered, leading her towards his car, parked just a few feet down the road.

As soon as Penelope was strapped in, she turned to address him. "We need to stop by my office first."

Aaron nodded. "Want to pick up some things? Fine by me."

"Not quite," Penelope admitted. She pulled her fingers. She really should have done this a long time ago, but it couldn't be helped. "Aaron, there's something you need to know."

They had arrived outside of her office building five minutes ago, but Aaron and Penelope remained in his car while she wrapped up her story. While she had told Aaron the full truth of her relationship with Edward, he had said nothing, but a stony look had appeared on his face and remained. "And that brings us to now," she finished. She took a breath. "Aaron, I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner-"

Aaron shook his head. "I get it," he said. "After what happened end of last year with Goodman, I get why Nigma wouldn't trust the cops, and the feeling's mutual." He let out a disbelieving laugh. "You and Edward Nigma, teaming up to take down good Ol' Professor Strange. Now there's something I never thought I'd hear. And you're sure he's on the level with you?"

"Yes," Penelope answered. "I trust him with my life."

Aaron let out another small laugh. "There's another thing I never thought I'd hear." He let out a breath. "Does the Commish know?"

"No, but I'd be shocked if he didn't suspect."

"Good point. What about the folks on your 'Clean up Arkham group'? Any of them know?"

"Joan does, no one else," Penelope answered. "Aaron, I don't want anyone else to know about this."

"Your secret's safe with me, Doc," Aaron said, raising his hook hand. "Scout's honor." His face grew serious again. "The second Nigma steps out of line with you though, I'll whoop his sorry ass from here to Bludhaven."

"He won't," Penelope insisted. "I'm not going to pretend he's something he's not, but I'm confident he'd never intentionally harm me."

Aaron nodded. "Alright. You're the boss, Doc." He reached over with his right hand and unbuckled his seat belt. Penelope did the same and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Edward's car was parked just across the street. She checked her watch. It'd barely been twenty minutes since she'd gotten off the phone with him, how had he gotten here so quick? She opened the car door, pulled her fob out of her wallet to unlock the entrance, then stepped inside, Aaron following close behind her. Sure enough, when she reached her floor, she saw a sliver of light poking out from underneath her door. She opened it and interrupted Edward when he was in mid-pace in front of her desk. He turned sharply, and his mouth dropped when he locked eyes with her.

"Good Lord!" he shouted, hurriedly crossing the room to get to her. "You look like you've been hit by a truck! What happened?"

Penelope could only imagine what a mess she must look like to Edward right now, but she was too happy to see him to think about it. She reached up to rub her eyes. "It's a long story, Edward." She gestured for him to step back and she entered, Aaron right behind her.

Edward stiffened when he saw him. "I didn't realize this was a group session. I'd have worn my vest."

"None of your sass right now, Nigma," Aaron barked. "Someone's after Doc, and she thinks you can help."

Edward looked stricken for a moment, then his face hardened as he looked back at Penelope. "Tell me everything."

Penelope sighed, then pointed at the chairs in her office. "Sit down. Both of you." Both men did as she requested, then Penelope walked across the room to sit at her desk. When she was sure she had Edward's undivided attention, she told him everything that had happened over the past week. As with Aaron, she kept a careful eye on Edward's facial expressions while she recounted her story. He was nowhere near as disciplined at hiding his feelings as Aaron, for his expressions quickly changed from contempt when he heard about the missing TITAN, smug amusement when he heard about Sharp's visit, and finally, barely restrained rage when he heard what had happened at her apartment that night. When she was finished, he sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth.

"I see," he said, drumming his fingers on the armrest of his chair in a staccato pattern. "I see. Question: this began Friday night, Saturday morning if you want to be technical. It is Thursday evening now." He took another quick breath, and Penelope realized that he was holding back his temper. She hadn't expected him to be angry. "Is there a reason," he said in a controlled manner, "That I am only just now finding out about this!? Did you foolishly think I'd be of no use to you, or did you think I wouldn't care?"

"This ain't about you, Nigma!" Aaron shouted. "This is about Doc's safety! It doesn't matter why she didn't tell you earlier, so get over yourself!"

Edward furiously turned on Aaron then. "You stay out of this!" he shouted, jabbing his finger at him. "This is your fault! You and the rest of those corrupt incompetents in GCPD put her in danger!" This was getting out of hand, and Penelope's head hurt so much.

"We put her in danger!?" Aaron asked incredulously. "You're the one who got her into this mess with Strange!"

All of the stress, fear, and pain of the last week finally boiled over. Penelope put both of his hands over her ears and screamed. "Stop it! Both of you! I can't hear myself think!" Both men stopped their arguing and looked at her, shock and worry on both of their faces. Penelope took a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Don't break. Don't break. "Aaron," she said coldly. "I was the one who approached Edward and wanted to be involved. It was my decision, and I have no regrets." She turned to Edward then. "Edward," she said, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner. I was trying to keep you out of it to protect you." Edward rolled his eyes but said nothing. "That being said, I didn't ask you to come here so you could pick a fight. I-" her voice hitched a bit. She bit her bottom lip. She hated sounding pathetic like this. "I need your help, Edward." Edward's gaze quickly softened and he nodded.

"I'm at your disposal. What do you need from me?"

Penelope sighed, then leaned back in her chair. "We have to find out who did this," she said. "Then we need to find the rest of the TITAN that was stolen and destroy it before anyone else gets hurt."

Edward rubbed his chin and hummed. "Well, it's obvious to anyone with any common sense that Strange has people in GCPD. The trick will be to find out who." Aaron looked visibly unhappy at the prospect of having to turn against fellow officers but voiced no objections. "I'll get to your apartment at some point tomorrow to search for evidence the lackwits tonight missed," Edward continued. "In the meantime, there's your physical safety to consider, Penelope. We need to find you a safe house-"

"That's already been taken care of," Aaron interrupted. "She'll be staying with me."

Edward rolled his eyes again. "Cash, it's well-known that the two of you are friends, and whoever stole the TITAN is clearly escalating. If they attempt to track her down, you'll be one of the first places they look."

Aaron narrowed his eyes. "I can look after her, Nigma,"

"You're married, aren't you Cash?" Edward asked dismissively. "How many children?"

"Two. What does that have to do with-"

"Tell me, Cash: if the person or persons targeting Penelope were to break into your home and put your family at gunpoint, would you still protect her? Even if your family's safety was on the line?"

Aaron's face darkened and he cocked his right fist back as if to punch Edward when Penelope stepped in. "Edward!" she scolded. "Did you have to go there!?"

Edward merely shrugged. "It's the truth."

Penelope shook her head. "He has a point, Aaron," she said. She cut him off before he could object. "I know you'd do anything to help me, and I appreciate it, but I can't ask you and Keisha to take that risk."

Aaron's face fell. "I know," he said at last. "I know. So what then? If we're dealing with dirty cops, we can't take you to any of the safe houses GCPD uses. You might have to leave town."

It was an option Penelope had considered, but if she left town, where would she go? Back to Ohio, to her family? She couldn't risk anyone tracking her down there and threatening her mother. And if she left Gotham, that was it. She could never come back. She'd have nothing left, and what of all the work she'd done to help reform Arkham? Her leaving would play right into Strange's hands. But if she couldn't leave Gotham and she wouldn't endanger the people close to her, where could she go?

Almost on cue, Edward chuckled. "There's no need for that, Cash. I know the safest possible place for her in Gotham."

Penelope looked at him in surprise. "Yeah?" Aaron asked with a raised eyebrow. "Where?"

Edward gestured to himself. "Why, with yours truly of course!"

Penelope blinked. This was about the last thing she'd ever expected from Edward. "Come on, Nigma," Aaron groaned. "Be serious."

"I am serious," Edward argued. "Presumably, no one in GCPD is wise to the fact that we're close associates. No one would think to look for her with me. And even if someone did, well, I may not be on the wrong side of the law anymore, but old reputations die hard. My permanent status as persona non grata in GCPD is proof of that."

Aaron rolled his eyes. "And you don't think someone might come to take a swing at you?"

Edward smirked a bit. "If anyone in GCPD was brave or stupid enough to do that, someone would have done it by now. There's an unspoken understanding in this city when it comes to Rogues, current and former: If you're going to swing at a King, you'd better not miss. And I, Cash, am a King."

Aaron shook his head. "Right. Doc, what do you think?"

Penelope looked down at her hands. Aside from perhaps wherever Batman lived, Edward's home may be the safest place for her in Gotham City. There were other considerations though, Ellen, mainly. She shook her head. "Edward, I can't ask you to do this for me-"

"And why not? You asked for my help, so I'm helping you." He got out of his seat to stand in front of her desk. He then placed one of his hands gently on top of hers. "If you have any other suggestions, I'm all ears, but may I remind you, I spent half my life clawing my way to the top of the criminal ranks. I can more than handle a little danger. Don't throw away your best possible chance of safety on my account."

Penelope wet her lip and weighed her options. What choice did she have? She nodded. "All right. I'll do it."

Aaron furrowed his brow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said, in a firmer voice. Even if she couldn't trust herself, she trusted Edward. He would keep her safe. "I'm sure.

Edward smiled. "Excellent. Now, we'll have to plan it carefully. Here's what we need to do..."