Author's note: here we are at last, the climax of our story. I want to thank everyone who has followed, faved or written a review so far. You guys keep me going. Enjoy!

It was overcast the Monday morning of the Arkham Riot Memorial. Fitting really, considering the sombreness of the occasion. Sharp had originally envisioned a grand scale affair, complete with him addressing a crowd from a set up stage in the middle of the space in Gotham Central Park that the city had dedicated for the memorial. The threat of rain however had dampened the crowds Sharp was hoping for to a group of reporters, Joe Bryant's survivor's group, and assorted city officials.

Well, the threat of rain and the fact that there was still a murderer on the loose.

After Edward had spoken to Bryant, he'd spent the hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning confirming Patrick Horner's link to the Arkham riot. He had indeed lost his fiancée in the attack. A pretty young medical intern named Stacy Spier. She'd gone to Arkham to try her hand at healing the poor lost souls, no doubt, only to wind up trapped in a room in the medical building when the Joker released one of his gas bombs. Edward had grimaced a bit when he read the autopsy report. Given a choice, he'd take a bullet between the eyes any day. Edward had been right too about the connection between Horner and Dennis. According to Dennis' social calendar, the two had been college roommates.

Once he'd obtained this information, Edward had contacted Sharp, as well as the GCPD. He wouldn't normally even think of calling them in, but Sharp's behavior and Batman's known involvement left him little choice in the matter. At least if he was the one to reach out to Gordon, he'd reasoned to himself, he'd be able to maintain some control over the investigation. And maybe, just maybe, he wanted to see the warden squirm as he attempted to explain himself to Gordon. It had been a tense meeting the previous afternoon, to say the least.

"I thought I told you to stay out of our investigation Nigma," Bullock had growled out at him.

"And I did," Edward had retorted. "This is information I collected during my own investigation into the threatening letters. I can't help it if our paths just happened to intersect."

"Just happened my ass, Nigma. I'm getting really sick of you-"

"That's enough Bullock," Gordon had interjected, holding his hand up. Bullock fell silent, but continued to glare at Edward. Gordon then turned his attention to Sharp, who had been in the corner fixing Edward with a glare of his own. "And just when were you going to inform me of this Sharp?"

Sharp's face reddened. "I thought it was a matter my campaign could handle internally," he huffed. "I certainly didn't think anyone would die."

That may be so, Edward had thought, but you certainly didn't give me anything I could have used to stop it.

Gordon turned back to Bullock. "I want an APB out on this Patrick Horner. Go to his home and work and bring him in for questioning. In the meantime, I think we need to consider postponing the memorial."

"Out of the question!" Sharp declared. "This memorial has been in the works for months! I won't have it postponed because of one vindictive lunatic!"

"You need to consider the safety of your staff Sharp," Gordon answered, clearly as irritated with Sharp as Sharp was with him. "If Nigma's right, Horner's going to target them. The last thing anyone needs is for this memorial to turn into a shooting spree."

"We do have security measures in place, don't we Edward?" Sharp had turned to Edward then, almost beseechingly.

"We did," Edward answered. "But they won't be of any help now." Edward let out a frustrated sigh at the confused expression on Sharp's face. "I went over the security plans with Dennis, remember? I think it's safe to assume that anything I told him, he told Horner."

Sharp's face fell at that. "Very well," he huffed. "I'll call the staff and advise them to skip the ceremony. But the memorial will take place. Just catch this man Gordon." Sharp had left the office then, brushing past Edward without a word. Bullock followed after him, also refusing to acknowledge the private investigator.

"You should probably warn Leland and Young too," Edward pointed out to the commissioner. "They're targets too."

"We'll do that," Gordon had said, returning to his paperwork. "The GCPD will take it from here Nigma."

Edward had looked at Gordon with one eyebrow raised. "What do you mean? This is still my case."

"No, it's not," Gordon said, meeting his gaze. "You've done quite enough already."

Edward's eyes had narrowed at the implication. "If you're suggesting that Kellerman and Baxter's deaths were my fault-"

"I'm not Nigma," Gordon interrupted. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I appreciate you bringing this information to our attention. But frankly, we'll have enough of a mess on our hands trying to keep an eye on things tomorrow morning. We don't need you and your attention seeking making things any worse."

Edward's fist had clenched. Of course. Why should he have expected anything different? "Then I'll just leave you to it," he had said in a measured tone. "Good afternoon, Commissioner."

As far as Edward knew, GCPD's search for Horner had come up empty. And so, Edward found himself at the memorial that drab Monday morning, as far in the back and out of Gordon and Sharp's sight as he could manage. He'd even abandoned his trademark green attire for the day, opting for a white shirt and dark slacks. He kept a hold on his trusty cane however, just in case he did encounter Horner. The more rational part of him was saying that perhaps it would be for the best if the police handled actually apprehending the suspected murderer, but as usual, the more prideful side won out. He wanted to be the one to bring Horner in.

Edward scanned the crowd, as sparse as it was. From his vantage point, Edward could only just see Sharp bloviating onstage, but he doubted that Horner would get too close. No, Horner would be near the back, if he was even here at all, waiting for a moment to strike. It's what he'd done at the fundraiser, and it's what Nigma would have done, if he were still inclined towards villainy. At least Sharp had done the sensible thing and had warned off his staff. If Horner did show up, he wouldn't have anyone to target.

"What the Hell are you doing here!?"

Edward turned abruptly at the sound, only to come face to face with an extremely angry looking Dr. Young. Either she'd ignored Sharp's warning, or she'd never received it at all. Edward blinked. She shouldn't be here.

"I could ask you the same thing," he asked her. "You do remember me telling you that there's a murderer who wants you dead, don't you?"

"You don't have any right to be here," she continued either not hearing him or not caring. "This is for the survivors and their families! How dare you come here and-"

"Yes yes yes, I'm a terrible person who's only a second away from relapsing and all that." Edward interrupted, not so gently grabbing her upper arm. This was a distraction he didn't need. Edward thanked his good judgement in hanging back away from the bulk of the crowd. "You need to leave Dr. Young. Now."

Dr. Young wrenched her arm out of his grip. "Don't you touch me," she hissed out. "If anyone needs to leave it's you!"

"I don't have time for this," Edward grit out. "If you want to take chances with your life that's your affair Dr. Young, but in case you hadn't noticed I'm trying to work here-"

"Excuse me?"

Both Edward and Dr. Young turned to see a young man, tall, slender, with a mop of sandy blond hair covered by a baseball cap standing there, dark, bloodshot eyes focused on Dr. Young. Immediately, Edward's inner alarm started up. "Are you Dr. Young?" the young man asked.

Don't say yes.

"I am," Dr. Young asked, face softening as she approached the man. "May I help you?"

Two science Masters and absolutely no common sense to show for it.

The young man's eyes widened and went to pull something out of his pocket. Edward didn't need to be a genius to know he was going for a gun. Edward stepped forward himself. "Don't even think about it Patrick Horner," he warned holding his cane out. Edward was never a fighter, but hopefully the sight of his tell tale questioned mark cane should be enough to intimidate the twitchy young man into compliance. Hopefully.

Horner's eyes widened when he recognized Edward. "You!" He pulled out his gun. A .38, just like the weapon used to kill Kellerman and Baxter. There were moments Edward hated being right all the time.

Dr. Young's face paled. "Oh my God!"

Horner aimed his gun at her. Thinking quickly, Edward swung his cane at the man, knocking the gun out of his hands. "Run!" he shouted at Young, before Horner tackled him to the ground. Horner punched him in the face, before reaching over him to grab his gun. Edward grabbed a hold of his shirt and attempted to flip them over and gain some momentum in the fight, but Horner wrapped his hands around his throat.

"I'll kill you," Horner said, face twisted into a demonic scowl. "Just like you killed my Stacy."

"I wasn't even at Arkham when that happened!" Edward choked out, desperate attempting to pull Horner's hands off of his throat. "I was in a coma!"

"So what?" Horner asked him, tightening his hold. "You people are responsible for her death. You freaks and the doctors who protect you!"

Edward could only make a strangled sound in reply. His vision began to fade. Where in the Hell were the cops? With the last bit of strength he had, Edward drove his knee into Horner's stomach. Horner let go of his throat and fell back with a grunt. Seeing his chance, Edward shoved Horner off of him and took a deep gasp of breath. Without wasting a moment, he crawled over to where he'd dropped his cane. Just one blow and he could take Horner out.

"Don't move, freak."

Edward paused. Horner was standing over him, holding his gun to Edward's head. Evidently, the blow Edward had given him hadn't bought him nearly enough time.

"I'll kill you," Horner repeated. "I'll kill everyone responsible for my Stacy."

"The GCPD's here Horner," Edward said. "They'll be on you the second you fire that gun. You probably won't even be able to get out alive-"

"Shut up!" Horner cried out, his voice breaking. "You think I care if I die? At least I'll be with Stacy again."

"I can't imagine she'd be too happy to see you," Edward said. "You did kill one of her co-workers, not to mention your own college friend."

Horner pressed the barrel to Edward's temple. "He was going to tell the cops. I had to kill him." Edward could hear Horner pull back the safety. Edward cringed and shut his eyes. This is what he got for trying to be anything other than a criminal.

"I'll see you in Hell, Nigma."

"Stop!"

Edward's eyes flew open. Dr. Young? Both he and Horner turned. Sure enough, she was still there. She hadn't run when Edward had told her to.

"Really?" Edward groaned. "You couldn't at least have run to get one of the cops?"

"Shut up Nigma," Dr. Young answered, not taking her eyes off of Horner. She cautiously took a step towards him.

Horner pressed the gun to Edward's temple. "I'll kill him," he said.

"I think he means it," Edward warned.

"Nigma wasn't responsible for the deaths at Arkham," Dr. Young said. She bit her lip before continuing. "I was."

Horner dropped the gun from Edward's temple. Edward let out a breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Horner turn towards Dr. Young.

"You?" Horner asked.

Dr. Young nodded. "Yes. I created the formula that turned Joker and his men into monsters. The Joker funded it. I tried to give him his money back when I found out, but-" she stopped. She began again, in a halting voice. "It doesn't matter. I did it."

Horner looked at her, eyes flooding with tears. "Why?" He asked in a plaintive tone. "Why would you make such a thing?"

"I designed it to cure our most extreme patients," Dr. Young explained. "I wanted to use it to help people." She let out a bitter laugh. "No, that's not true. I wanted to be the one to cure the super criminals, to have my name known throughout the whole country and I didn't give a damn what I had to do to accomplish that."

While Dr. Young engaged Horner, Edward made slow, small movements towards his cane. He could reach it, if she could keep him occupied for just a few more moments.

"It doesn't really matter why I did it," Dr. Young continued. "Over a hundred people are still dead no matter what motives I give myself. Nothing I can say can change that." She made a few more steps towards Horner. "If you want your revenge, take it."

Edward almost paused. What was she doing? After he was nearly killed trying to save her, she was just going to let herself be killed anyway? Some gratitude.

Horner paused to consider her offer. "Just like that?"

"Yes," Dr. Young said. "Enough people have died on my account. End it."

Horner closed the distance between himself and Dr. Young. Edward took the opportunity to rush up to his cane and grab hold.

Horner raised his gun and placed the barrel right between Dr. Young's eyes. She didn't even flinch. Cold and clinical to the end. "Do it," she whispered.

Edward had his cane now, but he even if he ran, he wouldn't be able to get to Horner before he pulled the trigger. It wasn't supposed to end like this.

Just as Horner was ready to pull, a black object flew from out of nowhere and knocked the gun out of his hand. Horner let out a cry of pain and grabbed his wrist. Not wasting a moment, Edward rushed up to Horner, swung his cane back as far as he could and cracked it against the side of his face. Dr. Young stood frozen in shock as Edward brought the cane down again on the prone Horner.

"That's enough Nigma," Edward heard a voice from the foliage say. Edward looked up to see Batman approach them.

"And just how long have you been there?" Edward asked.

"Long enough," the vigilante answered, as he cuffed Horner. "I thought Horner might still show up here, even after Sharp warned the staffers. Just like I thought you might show up as well. You have a knack for attracting trouble."

Edward shrugged. "It's a gift."

Batman and Edward looked towards the stage, where they could both see Gordon and Bullock approaching. Edward and Horner's scuffle had managed to attract attention after all.

"Aren't you going to turn him in?" Edward asked Batman as he turned to leave.

"It's your case Nigma," Batman answered. "Just try not to make too much of a spectacle out of it." Batman turned abruptly and ran off into the foliage.

Edward turned to Dr. Young then. The two of them made eye contact and said nothing. Edward felt as if he should say something to her, but then Gordon and Bullock caught up to them and the moment passed.

"Gentlemen," Edward said, triumphantly. "I believe I have our murderer."