Disclaimer: I do not own the Elongated Man, Sue Dibny, and any other DC characters or locations that appear in this. Any original ideas that appear are my creation.

Talia Al Ghul, in her years on the Earth, had learned many a lesson from her father Ra's Al Ghul. Never dull your blade. Always be suspicious, even of your allies. And when disaster is on the horizon, prepare for it well. The passing of time hardened these beliefs into her mind each day.

Sadly, those would not explain why the Lazarus Pit was empty; empty of the life-extending chemicals it was supposed to possess.

Talia stood on the edge of it, her father on her left and Abu on her right. She'd only woken up an hour ago from sleep, but the situation was already dire for her prospects if she couldn't find an answer soon. It was her security force, after all, that had fallen in the crime's wake.

"What happened?" Ra's asked, cutting right to the point with a voice as sharp as the blade on his hip.

"We don't know, father, "Talia responded as best she could. "Last night, the pit was full of its' contents. This morning, the disciples were found dead and the contents of the pit… gone."

"How?!" Ra's demanded, suddenly with a much graver voice. "How could our ninjas, trained by the demon's head myself, be defeated? Furthermore, where are the chemicals I need?!"

"…I don't know, father," Talia said directly to him, making her sense of failure as evident as she could in her voice. "The perpetrator…we do not have leads at the moment."

Moments, maybe as monumental as they seemed in Talia's head, passed with her father standing by the pit's edge. Then his figured relaxed into a confused one and he turned back to them. "If our resources cannot identify those who would besmirch me…we will need the help of the detective."

"Er…."

"What?" Ra's demanded. His patience appeared to be growing thin.

"He's…in space, father," Talia responded. "With the rest of the Justice League. They've been gone…for a week."

"Unfortunate," muttered Ra's. He swiftly turned around and began to walk towards the torch-lit staircase. "Contact our associates in Opal City. We will need the next best thing to the Detective, it seems."

Talia stood confused. "Which is?"

"Come now," Ra's said to his daughter with a wry grin. "I believe you've heard of this man. He is rather quite flexible when it comes to solving crimes…"

"And that, people, is how I figured out who stole all the proceed money!"

Sue Dibny blushed as she watched her husband, explaining to a crowd of eager onlookers how he apprehended a crew of robbers disguised as mail people. Forecasting a rapid-fire series of questions, she leaned against the building column relatedly. All she and Ralph had wanted was an uneventful day together in this destination of Chicago. But she supposed that's what happened when a celebrity superhero – or detective (She could never get one clear definition) – and his wife strolled about. People and crazy scenarios would come looking for them.

Ralph gave a glance at Sue and chuckled, doing his best to answer questions efficiently. Once he decided enough was enough, he stretched over the crowd's height. "Thank you, everybody, but my wife and I are going to take some R&R. Until next time!" He extended himself like spaghetti until he was out of the crowd's reach, and before more questions could be asked, he had made a small getaway with Sue.

"Quite the excitement, huh?" Sue surmised.

"You can say that again," Ralph exclaimed. "All those robbers with guns, and they never once thought that the bullets would bounce out of me! Thank god me and my costume don't like guns much."

Sue nodded as they turned a corner. "Is it me or are they getting dumber and smarter at the same time these days?"

"Hmmmmm…. So! Anywhere else in Chicago you'd like to go today? I hear the pizza's got quite a reputation," Ralph said abruptly.

Sue noticed this and propped a brow. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing's wrong," said Ralph, sweat caking down his neck.

"Looks like it," Sue insisted.

"Sue, I'm being serious," Ralph replied with a more put-together face. "Everything's fine."

"Coming from my husband who can't spend a minute without stretching excitedly? Yeah, I'll bet."

Ralph came to a stop and huffed, slightly stretching an inch in nervousness. "…I've just…I've felt a little less excited, recently. That's all."

"What's made you feel this way?" asked Sue, concerned.

Ralph gulped, then eyed a bench that the two could sit on. As they did, she took his hands and he felt an obligation to answer. "…It's not much of a problem, or…maybe, I don't know…But ever since we've been here, I came to realize that there hasn't been a mystery in months that's stumped me. Mirror Master's Hall, that diamond the Riddler stole, even Grodd's missing banana! And we both just reached being in our mid-thirties! And it feels like, maybe life is telling me that this thing I do isn't going to last." If humans could melt into themselves, Ralph seemed to be doing it with pitched emotion and a contorted performance on his part.

Sue sighed and reached a hand to her husband's face softly. "Oh, sweetie. I didn't know you felt this way. It sounds like so much, but...things will probably get better."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, most of the mysteries you solve tend to come after big gaps in mysteries appearing. So by that logic, of all the stuff we've faced, some big conundrum should be. Don't worry, Ralph. As long as there's weird stuff in the world, there'll be mysteries to solve.

The light of Ralph's face returned in an instant, and he went to hug his wife tenderly. Sue herself didn't mind in the slightest. "Thanks, Sue. Where would I be without you?"

She smiled back. "A circus rubber man comes to mind."

"Hey!"

She elbowed him humorously and grabbed his hand. "Come on! Let's get some lunch!" They darted towards the street and luckily blew their fingers enough that a cab slowed in front of them promptly. Hand on the door, Ralph followed Sue in and shut it behind him.

"To Fantino's pizzeria! And thanks!" Ralph exclaimed as they settled in while the cab took off.

"Ralph and Sue Dibny?" The driver asked.

"…Yeah," Sue answered, slowly widening her eyes awkwardly. "How'd you know our-"

It took effect in an instant, but out of the blue, huge puffs of a dark green mist filled the car. Every inch was touched by its' range and both Ralph and Sue began to violently seize, banging against their doors. A few seconds was enough to knock Sue out and she collapsed lightly against the door.

"Sue…." Ralph valiantly wheezed, yet even the stretchable sleuth was felled by the knockout gas and promptly collapsed. The passenger door then opened and a woman in dark green, gas mask on her face, inspected the scene.

"Unconscious?" She asked directly.

"Yes, mistress."

"Good. See that they are brought straight to the Demon's Head – as they were."

"Ralph? Ralph!"

Eyesight came back to Ralph's mind, although it took him quite a while before the shapes and colors coalesced to how he normally perceived the world. They were in some large underground cavern, with large green lights on wall torches lights illuminating everything. Sue was across from him, tied to a chair and looking rather angry. "Sue…where are we?"

"I dunno, but I'm pretty sure we got kidnapped by ninjas!" she exclaimed. "I think we've got a chance to escape if I can just get out of this!" She struggled valiantly with the thick black binds keeping her hands behind her. They looked really tough.

"Don't worry, I'll-" Ralph's struggle to get out of his restraints ceased once he realized that his entire body has been tied and stretched in over itself, so much that he couldn't get his arms free. "Heh."

"Sorry. I forgot to mention. They tied your body up a bunch. I'll help you, so long as I can get-"

"There's no need for that, Miss Dibny." The couple stopped and looked to their right. An imposing man, tall but shrewd and draped in an exotic green, stood before them. The green torch in his arm illuminated an aged face with calculated wrinkles and facial hairs that looked too neat to be genuine. And somehow, older eyes above them. It then took four seconds before Sue registered the numerous robed ninjas standing mechanically behind him, their forms peeping out of the dark thanks to his light. "In the home of the Demon's Head, it's better if guests don't leave so rudely."

For one of the few times in his life, Ralph's blood went cold. "The Demon's Head? As in, Ra's Al Ghul? Y-you're Ra's Al Ghul?!"

"Yes."

Ralph swallowed. "What do you want?"

The leader of the assassins leveled a glare before exclaiming a smooth laugh. "Do not worry, detective. I have no intentions of harming you or your other. Rather, as odd as it seems, I need your help."

"Help?"

As Sue raised her eyebrows, the criminal sautéed out of the way and the Dibny's were given a rather shocking sight. The famed Lazarus Pit, the thing that periodically rejuvenated this man, was drained entirely.

Not a single drop left.

And then Ralph's nose started nervously twitching.

"The Lazarus Pit has been stolen from me…and I need your help to solve it."

A/N: And that's the start of the journey! There will be many twists and turns in this story, and a lot of love for Ralph and Sue. Cannot wait to do the next chapter, and stay tuned! And if you liked the story, please feel free to favorite, follow, or leave a review!

Thanks, and have a great Sunday!