"Ohhhh..." was all she could say as the cold barrel dug into her temple. The Riddler peeked over his newspaper at the commotion and Ivy touched her fingers to her forehead in annoyance at her friend's momentary insanity. Harley grinned at Lenore.

"Play the song, uh...what's yer name?"

"Doesn't matter..." she replied. Her voice was even, but her hands shook terribly above the keys. Crane watched intently as she began the tune. Her nervousness made her hit the wrong key and Harley tsked at her.

"Play it right!" she demanded. Lenore heard the sound of the gun being cocked.

"Okay, okay..." she said. She wiped her sweaty hands on her pants and stretched her fingers before taking several deep breaths to calm herself. "All this for an education..." she said, not caring anymore who could or couldn't hear her. Her fingers went down on the keys and she restarted the melody as she continued speaking. "I'm twelve years old, playing piano for a bunch of criminals so I can pay for school." she said, tapping the keys a little harder as she vented. "You really start to wonder where the hell our economy is going when kids resort to this. I mean, I was kicked in the guts today, practically threatened into entertaining these people, and now a gun is at my head, promising to blow my brains out if I can't play this idiot song through correctly. But hell-" she said loudly now, slamming the last few keys as she finished the aggressively played melody. "-anything for a quick buck in this city, am I right?" she gripped the edge of her seat as he babbling stopped and waited for Harley to pull the trigger.

Silence.

Harley finally removed the gun from her head, wiping a tear from one of her large blue eyes.

"So beautiful," she choked. "Such raw emotion in one excellent piece." Lenore's eyes hooded when she realized she was talking about the song. These people were insane. "You're so talented!"

"Thank you..." Lenore said flatly. She wanted to lay down. All that sudden anger tired her out mentally, and she had only been there for about thirty minutes. She wondered if she'd survive the night at this rate.

"A lot of pent up anger in someone so young..." Crane said, walking up to her. Her peered down at her tired face as he reached her. "Where do you come from?"

"Oh...uptown..." Lenore answered. She wasn't about to give any of these people information on where she lived.

"That would make sense, of course you're lying, but I guess I'll accept that." Crane sat next to her, his eyes analyzing. "Don't want the big scary villains hurting mommy or daddy-"

"Not at all like that." Lenore said, remaining focused on the keys.

"Hm, so you're an orphan..." he said. Lenore felt her heart skip.

"How did-"

"I didn't." his answer interrupted. "You said it wasn't anything like what I said, and that included mommy and daddy, so I assumed, and then you confirmed..." he said. Lenore cursed herself for letting him get to her. He was a real piece of work, and only made her agitation rise since she'd arrived. "I shouldn't brag too much though, you're only a child. Information like that is simple to get from kids. Simple minds often let things slip." he said. Lenore coughed a short laugh. That'd done it.

"You assume too much, doctor." she said. He cocked his head to the side curiously.

"And how's that?" he asked. She turned to him then, looking him dead in the eyes.

"I'm not just some kid, first of all, else I wouldn't be here would I?" she asked. "Secondly," she leaned closer to him, the faint smell of cologne coming from him. "For a scarecrow, you don't seem to be too scary. Just an asshole..." His jaw set, and they glared at each other for a few silent moments. Harley looked back and forth excitedly between the two as they seemed to stare daggers into each other's souls.

"You..." he said quietly. "Are very fortunate that I don't feel like dealing with that Penguin's complaints tonight..." Lenore lifted her chin.

"You. Don't. Scare. Me..." she said. She wanted to scream at herself for what she was saying. This is exactly what Theresa had told her to stop doing. This wasn't some punk kid with a mouth. This was a truly terrifying criminal. Batman fought this person. She was staring down a goddamn psychopath. But her need to defend herself got the best of her yet again, and she had nowhere to run.

She had no time to move when he shot his hand up to her face, pressing his fingers against a small pump that resulting in a small fog of chemicals shooting from a device attached to his wrist.

"Uh-oh!" Harley clapped her hands over her mouth and nose as she back away. Ivy glared at Crane.

"Really? Kids, Crane?" she asked.

"You're one to talk, Isley. I don't discriminate when it comes to age..." he said, his eyes not leaving Lenore's as she inhaled the fumes. She shook her head, becoming slightly dizzy. "Especially when I'm being ridiculed." Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Doesn't that stuff affect you too?" she asked as some of the fumes wafted to his own face. He ignored it.

"Slightly..." he said, "It's not that potent, so it won't do much to me. You, however..." regarding Lenore as she began to shake uncontrollably. "Might not feel very comfortable..." he smiled as Lenore bent over the keys, propping her arms on the row of polished ivory as she attempted to keep herself up. The keys all played at once in one loud note, racking her brain as the toxin took effect.

"Ugh..." she couldn't understand what was going on. Her vision became clouded as she continued to shake horribly, fear filling her heart and mind. She began to feel hot, and heard a roaring behind her. Fire. She turned her head to see behind her. Flames seemed to appear out of thin air and dance across the room. "Fire..." she mumbled, trying to stand. Her legs wouldn't budge though, and tears ran down her face as she stared wide-eyed at the flaming horror that only she could see. So this was fear toxin.

"Fire, eh?" Crane asked, adjusting his glasses as he stood up to watch her from a distance. "Why fire?" Lenore couldn't answer, she was too terrified to find her voice. Crane sighed and opened his tweed jacket to search one of his inside pockets. From it he pulled a small vial, opening it before smelling the fumes that rose from the entrance. He put it in front of Lenore's face, and she jumped. "It's an antidote. So either you smell this and calm down, or you keep shaking for another thirty-forty minutes, your choice, I don't really care." he said. Lenore leaned forward and inhaled the fumes then, hoping he wasn't lying. He wasn't, she thankfully realized, and felt the effects of his toxin slowly wear off. Once she got her breathing under control, she looked angrily up at him.

"You're despicable." she said. He shrugged.

"It's what I do, and I've been called much worse by much more relevant people, so don't assume you hurt me very much..."

"I'm sure..." Lenore tried to stand, but her legs were still shaky, and she quickly gave up on the attempt.

"Why fire?" Crane asked.

"Why do you care?" she asked. He raised his hand again, promising another dose if she didn't answer correctly. She smiled weakly at the threat. "Didn't you listen to Dan Fogelberg? 'Fire is the Devil's only friend'..." Crane's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I swear I'll-"

"I don't know." Lenore interrupted, throwing her hands in the air. "I honestly don't, call it an irrational fear if you want, I have no clue. It's always just...annoyed me, honestly." She looked to the white tile at her shadow. "Never even knew I was scared of it like that, to be honest. Learn something new everyday..."

"You've never experienced any trauma related to flames before?" Crane asked. Lenore shook her head.

"No trauma that I remember." she said. "But there's always the possibility."

"What do you mean?"

"First five years of my life are a total blank." Lenore explained, shrugging her shoulders. "Woke up one day with nothing but my name, then boom, right to the orphanage with me. Maybe I could have experienced something crazy with fire before that, but uh...guess we'll never know, hm?" she said. "Maybe you dug a little chunk outta that locked away box of memories with your perfume of evil there. Too bad it wasn't anything I could work with, haha."

"Oh my gaawsh..." Lenore found herself being pulled into a crushing hug from Harley large teardrops falling from the clown girl's face and onto Lenore's now messy hair. "Sooo sad little baby, I'll adopt ya, and me and Mistah J. will be yer new mommy an' daddy-"

"No thank you.." Lenore said under her breath. Crane said nothing as he continued to stare at Lenore being squeezed by Harley, gears seeming to whir in his head with new ideas that he would not disclose to anyone. Not yet.

"Ahhh, I see she has been enjoyed by you all..." came a voice that Lenore recognized. Harley released her and they moth moved to see Cobblepot making his way over to them, his cane once again doing most of the work of keeping him upright. Riddler huffed from his seat.

"Speak for yourself..." he said, and Penguin gave a fake laugh at the comment.

"You always were a picky one to please, Edward." he said, tossing keys to Riddler as he did. Riddler caught them in his gloved hand with ease. "Too bad I don't care, now, everyone's necessary items have arrived." He placed more keys on the table, each pair holding the name of the respective owner. Harley went over and picked up the pair with 'Joker' on the label. Cobblepot took off his top hat as a gesture of remorse. "So sorry that Joker did not make it out the Asylum with you, my dear."

"It's all good, Pengy." She said. "Soon as I'm in my outfit I'm headin' over to bust my dear puddin' out."

"Good luck to you, my dear." Penguin said, returning his hat to his head and turning to Lenore. "You did well tonight, kid." he said. She stood up.

"How do you know." she asked, and he grinned.

"You're still alive, after all." he replied, and pulled from his large jacket a money clip full of cash. He tossed it to her, and she snatched it out of the air, her eyes widening as she inspected it further. "That should be enough for the night, and if it isn't, too bad. You're dismissed for the evening." he said, and returned his attention to his guests. Lenore back away slowly, tucking the wad of bills as best she could into her vest. A hand grabbed her shoulder and she jumped in shock.

"Spooked you, did I?" Crane asked as she spun around to see him watching her through his glasses. She sighed and placed her hands on her hips.

"In more ways than one, doctor." she said. He held out his hand to take hers, and she nearly recoiled at the polite gesture.

"Bygones be bygones." he said. His voice was even, and she couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth. Typical head doctors. She finally decided to return the gesture, not wanting to anger him again. He squeezed it as she did and he gave a smile that sent shivers through her. "See you around..."

"Wh-" Lenore began, but Crane walked away before she could question him. "What..." she watched him return to the table, his focus on the information Cobblepot was putting out to the rest. She hesitated, then hurriedly made her way to the entrance before anyone else could stop her and creep up her evening even more. The hyenas growled and snapped at her, but she ignored them as she opened the door and exited. She finally had what she needed for school.

Everything was going to be alright.

…...

"Look at this..."

"How did you get that cash?"

"My job." Lenore replied, looking up to her friend as she showed him the money Cobblepot had given her the previous night. Timothy Drake looked back at her in deep suspicion, his brown eyes trying to find a lie in her facial features. They sat at a large dining room table on matching chairs at his new home some hours after he had picked her up to help him with homework. He'd been adopted three months ago by Gotham's favorite son, and even though Lenore was still used to the fact, she was happy for her friend. He'd been living in solitude for the last year and a half, and she had feared he'd eventually go down the same path his father had. Then Bruce Wayne showed up out of nowhere, apparently catching Tim attempting to steal his car's tires after on of many charity events. The unfortunate incident ended positively, with the billionaire deciding to adopt the little thief instead of having him sent to juvenile detention. Now Tim sat in front of her, considerably more happy than he had been in that old one room apartment he'd grown up alone in.

'Stays up later, though...' she thought, noticing the subtle dark circles under his eyes.

"He's never paid this much, Lenore..." he said, bringing her attention back to the subject. "Why the sudden generosity." Lenore ruffled his slicked back black hair.

"Must have left a good impression on him." she said. Tim was the only one who knew she was playing at the Iceberg Lounge. He didn't need to know about last night though, and she decided to just tell him it was luck.

"My hair!" he said, trying to pull it back into place. He scowled at her, and she laughed.

"Adopted three months and a billionaire brain has already been implanted into you." she said. He blushed.

"Has not..." he mumbled. Lenore tsked and nodded.

"True. If they did, then they would have given you some smarts too." she said, looking to the large stack of school books in front of them. Tim was never good with studying.

"Eh, it's boring, I'd rather go outside."

"Old guy said not until you finish your homework."

"His name is Alfred."

"Right, right." Lenore said, looking around the room. It was only the dining room, but it was half the size of the orphanage. Fancy dinnerware was displayed in glass cabinets that lined the walls, and a large gold chandelier hung from the ceiling. She remembered the first time she visited, and she could barely contain herself from touching everything shiny, which was arguably most of the house. "I'd never get used to it..." she said.

"You think I have?" Tim asked. She looked him up and down with hooded eyes.

"Yes..." she said, pointing at his outfit, a white button up shirt with a black blazer jacket that had a beautiful gold lion and letter 'G' stitched on the left breast pocket. His red and yellow tie was loosened sloppily and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. He scoffed.

"This is my school uniform." he said, "Gimme a break, will ya?" Lenore laughed.

"Just messing with you, man." she said. "Besides, I'll be wearing that soon enough now that I have this." she picked up the money clip and waved it in front of his face. He was serious again.

"Lenore, promise you didn't do anything, y'know, wrong, to get that money..." said, and Lenore sighed.

"I promise, okay? I'm just as surprised as you are, seriously." she said, and put the money back in her bag.

"You know if I talk to Bruce-"

"No, Timothy..." Lenore interrupted. She wasn't having this conversation again.

"He'd provide the money, I know he will." he went on.

"I'm doing this myself, Tim. I want to do it this way." she said, only half telling the truth. Another thing she failed to mention was that she partially took the job to keep the Penguin from doing anything harmful to Miss Theresa. So she decided to just be stubborn.

"Okay, okay, not that it matters anymore anyway, you're pretty much good on that." He patted her back. "Good job, forgot to say." She smirked, and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Thanks, now keep reading." she said, and he turned back to the english textbook in front of him. This was their relationship. Always looking out for each other since they met on the outskirts of the Narrows years ago. He'd been scrounging for anything of possible worth, and she had run away from the orphanage to explore. She was seven, he was eight, both looking for something better to kill the time. They got along quickly, and learned to fend for themselves, only relying on each other for help and company. When his no-good petty criminal father finally left for good, she offered him sanctuary at the orphanage. He refused, always saying his dad would return soon enough. Lenore finally let him win the argument, knowing it would go nowhere if she continued to prod the subject. Their stubbornness was the main thing they shared in common, so she understood, but kept a closer watch on him after that, making sure he stayed as much in line as possible. Everything seemed to work out in the end, though, and he thankfully was getting back to normal, if not better.

Tim yawned loudly and flipped the thick textbook shut. Lenore placed her chin on her hand. Now if only he could get proper sleep at night.

"Why do you stay up so late?" she asked. He paused as he slid the textbook away from him, as if searching for an excuse. Her eyes narrowed. "You've been playing those video games of yours all night, haven't you?" she asked, remembering how he had excitedly shown her his collection of consoles on her first visit. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Got me." he said with a crooked smile.

"Well if obsessed over your homework like you did those stupid games, you'd be much better off.." she said.

"You sound like Alfred, it's scary." Tim replied. "That's why you're here though, so I don't have to worry about all that."

"What grade do you think I'll be placed in..." Lenore asked, taking up one of the schoolbooks and flipping through the pages. Tim lay his head on the table.

"Well, you're getting me through my grade as it is, so definitely at least seventh grade." he answered. Lenore pouted.

"That's all?" she said.

"What, you wanna be a senior already?" Tim joked.

"I have places to be." Lenore replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, it's okay to take your time, Lenore..." he said. "If you run too fast, you might trip..." Lenore threw a pencil at him, watching it bounce off his shoulder.

"Look at you being all philosophical..." she said. He groaned.

"I hate that subject."

"Well guess what's next!" she said cheerfully, pulling that exact textbook from the pile and dropping it in front of him with a dull thud. Introduction to Philosophy. Tim's eyes watered as he beheld it's thick spine.

"Nooooooo..."

…...

"You know we cold have taken the car..." Tim said later on. They walked down the cracked pavement as the wind dragged yellowed leaves across it. Lenore shrugged.

"I like walking, you did too once..." she said, elbowing him in the ribs. He coughed in surprise, rubbing the spot where she hit him.

"I do, I was just offering." he said.

"We're almost there anyway." Lenore said, pointing to the roof of the orphanage that peeked slightly over the row of old building in front of them. As they got closer, an orange cat darted in front of them. An empty can was tied with a shoestring to it's back leg, and it clamored noisily behind the feline as it attempted to run away from the infernal metal thing. "Aw, poor thing." Lenore tried to reach down and untie the string, but the cat ran off down a thin road that lead to the Narrows.

"Well," Tim said, stretching his arms over his head. "You tried-"

"Let's go get it." Lenore said, and started down the dimly lit street. Tim's brows rose.

"Why? It went to the Narrows, no point in looking."

"We can kill time." Lenore said, her pace not slowing. "Don't feel like going back just yet. It's been a while since we had a little adventure anyway, we could use a stretch."

"Speak for yourself..." Tim muttered.

"What?"

"Uh, nothing, nevermind." He said quickly jogging up to her before joining her pace, "Fine, but not for too long, oka-"

"There it is!" Lenore pointed excitedly as the orange cat showed itself once more, the can bouncing behind it as it darted down the road. Lenore took off, and Tim sighed before following her example.

She was surely something else.