Author's Note: Alright, I hate to leave you guys hanging, so I'm going to do everything that I can to get this online as soon as possible. Of course, by the time you read this it'll already be up and none of it'll matter, but... Oh well. The point is, this might be another short one, just to answer some important questions. We'll see where it goes.

"Mmm... Ahh." Diana groaned as she slowly came to consciousness. She couldn't see much due to her hair falling around her face, but she didn't need to see her surroundings to know that she was in a bad position. The first thing that she noticed was a splitting pain in her shoulders; her wrists were held together behind her back by a pair of thick manacles that covered her bracelets. The chain was pulled up so high that she wouldn't even be able to attempt to pull herself free without dislocating both of her shoulders in the process. Her feet were chained to the floor with the same thick, reinforced steel that bound her hands, preventing her from moving into a more maneuverable position.

"Welcome, Wonder Woman, to my laboratory."

Diana had only heard the voice very briefly once before, but she recognized it all the same. "Strange." She growled, shaking the hair out of her face. Sure enough, Hugo Strange stood before her, his hands behind his back, and a smug smile on his face. She tried to glare at him, but the round glasses that covered her eyes merely reflected her face back at here, making it nearly impossible to read him. Instead she focused on familiarizing herself with her surroundings. The room was small and sterile; the walls were a completely bare metal, and the only objects in the room were an uncomfortable-looking metal chair and a small cart. On its surface were several syringes and an assortment of pliers that were heavily stained with what appeared to be blood.

"At the risk of sounding cliched, it is so kind of you to join me here." Strange said smoothly, settling himself into his chair. "Although, given the circumstances, I am sure that you have questions. As I did for the Batman, I will allow you the courtesy of fulfilling your curiosity before we begin with the... Ahem... Procedure."

Diana seethed with rage, but refused to let the mad scientist intimidate her. "What do yo mean, procedure? What are you planning?"

"Ah, a good a place to start as any. I will be subjecting you to the same trials that I put him through. Call it a test if you will."

"You're sick." She said, piling her voice with as much contempt as she could muster. "What do you gain from this, anyway?"

"Don't tell me that you haven't figured it out?" He said mockingly. "It's quite simple, really. I seek knowledge."

"This... It's all just a game to you?" She said, feeling a nauseated writhing in the pit of her stomach.

For a moment, Strange seemed genuinely offended by her statement. "A game? Nothing could be further from the truth. This... Is an experiment. And as such, I take it quite seriously. I must be sure that all of my data is accurate, of course."

Diana couldn't think of anything else to say; it felt as though there were no words to describe the levels of disgust and revulsion that she was feeling. When she didn't speak Strange continued. "Naturally, I'm sure you want to know why you are here, if my true target is the Batman?" She still couldn't see his eyes, but she knew that they were running over her, analyzing every inch of her body language. "But you already know don't you?" He chuckled derisively. "I assume that you know why you are here already. I know that you are quite intelligent, despite being far from the Batman and myself. Would you care to take a guess?"

"You want to use me as bait." She said slowly, the realization causing the sick feeling within her to grow. "To lure him here like you did at the Asylum."

"Hm... Yes and no." He said, stroking his beard. "Although you are correct in assuming that I am using you to test him, I have no plans of luring him to this building. In fact, I have taken the necessary precautions to ensure that he will not arrive here... At least, not until it is far too late."

"What does that mean?" She asked, despite the fact that she already knew the answer.

"As I said, I plan to inflict upon you the same tortures that I did the Batman. However, I released him relatively unharmed so that I would be able to continue to study him. However, I have no such plans for you. On the contrary, I will continue until your mind is hopelessly broken." His disgusting smile widened with anticipation. "You see, I know his ultimate weakness... His one true fear; the loss of a loved one. As he may have confided in you, his Batman persona was encouraged by the loss of his parents. Now, if you will, imagine what the loss of you will bring him to?" Strange laughed at the look of horror on Diana's face. "Another innocent life lost, and he will have nobody to hold accountable but himself."

"You're the only one to blame for this."

"Do you really believe that he will see it that way? No, of course not. Your mind will be lost to the void, and all because he couldn't control his feelings. He struggles so hard, but in the end, he lacks the strength necessary to wipe out weaknesses such as 'love' and loyalty. And I intend to show him the error of his ways. He cannot cut his ties, and he cannot protect his friends. His ultimate nightmare realized; a lover lost because of his failure. That is what I truly seek. The final key to breaking his will. Either he'll finally do what is necessary, and kill everybody that stands between him and myself, or he'll lose his will to continue."

Diana mouth dropped; she simply couldn't imagine the horrible thoughts that could be motivating Strange. "It'll never work. He's better than you. He'll never sink to your level, no matter what you do to me."

"Perhaps you are correct. If so... Then I'll simply have to try again. Perhaps I'll try his young magician friend? Or maybe his old protege? You see, as hard as he tries to remain solitary, he has no shortage of allies for me to turn against him. Now... If you have no further questions, then we'll begin."

Diana shook with fury. "You're a monster. And you'll never get away with this. I won't let you."

"Oh, but you are powerless to resist. And the Batman has no way to find us here... Not for lack of trying. My men found the tracer that he placed in your hair; they also found the backup in your shoe. Clever, but you cannot fool a machine." He stood up and retrieved one of his syringes from the cart. "Now, Princess... Are you ready to embrace madness?"

Diana mustered all of her courage, and held her chin high. She stared into her reflection in his glasses for a moment, before abruptly spitting in his face. "Do your worst." She snarled.

Her defiance only seemed to encourage him. "Excellent." He said, wiping the saliva away with his sleeve. "Your spirit will make this a most interesting experiment. As we have plenty of time, I think it appropriate that we start with a small dose and build from there, don't you?"

Diana gathered her courage once more as he drew nearer, knowing that she had to hold out as long as she could. She knew that she had one small hope left to cling to, because Strange was wrong about one thing. Despite a growing numbness due to lack of circulation in her arms, she could feel a thin, spiny piece of metal pressed between her left bracelet and wrist; a shape that could quite conceivably be a miniscule tracking device in the shape of a bat.

"Master Bruce!" Master Bruce! Wake up!"

Bruce's eyes snapped open; he was still extremely disoriented from a combination of the flashbang and being knocked out by a nightstick to the face, but years of hard training allowed to regain his bearings quickly. As the preceding events flooded back to him, he whirled around immediately noticing that Diana was gone. "DAMMIT." He shouted, punching the floor in fury.

"Master Bruce, what happened? I heard shouting about ten minutes ago, and rushed up from the kitchens." Alfred said, sounding bewildered. "When I arrived, you were unconscious on the floor. I've been trying to wake you since."

"Alfred... They got Diana. Strange has her."

"Good Heavens!" Alfred exclaimed. "I'll prepare your suit immediately." Without another word, the faithful butler rushed off to the Batcave.

Bruce pressed a finger to his ear, activating his comms link. "J'onn. We were attacked. Strange's men took Diana."

Bruce heard furious typing as the Martian tried to seek out Diana's comm link tracker. While he waited, he began to make his way to the Batcave. Finally, J'onn spoke; "Her communicator is not responding."

"I figured as much. They'll have disposed of it."

"How did it happen?"

"They caught us off guard with a stun grenade."

"And they left you?"

"They beat me down and knocked me out. Fortunately, I had just enough time to plant a few bugs on her and myself. I'm checking them now... First one's deactivated, the shoe's the first place they'd look. Second one too... I've got them! They missed the third one!"

"How did you hide it?"

"I was counting on them not being able to get her bracelets off. I slipped it under one of them. The metal in the bracelets would protect from metal detectors, and I've just remotely activated the signal. He's using an old Cadmus research building. I've got the son of a bitch!"

"I'll assemble a strike team immediately. Come to the Watchtower, and-"

"No." Bruce cut J'onn short. "This is a stealth mission. I'll get my own team and do it my way. This is personal."

J'onn paused for a moment as though he was considering protesting, but seemed to realize that it would be futile to argue. "Very well. Signal if you need backup. Stay in contact."

"Sir, are you ready to leave yet?" Alfred said, appearing behind Bruce, Batsuit in hand.

"Yes. I just need to call in some favors..."

Nightwing leapt over rooftops. He would've appreciated being back in Gotham, had he not had so many miserable experiences there. He flipped gracefully through the air until he spotted what he was looking for in the form of a dark shadow on the rood of the Ace Chemicals plant. He flipped down, landing directly in front of Batman.

"Why'd we have to meet here? Why not the cave?"

"We're waiting for someone else."

"Ooookay then." Nightwing said, waiting for Batman to elaborate. When he remain silent, Dick continued speaking. "Alfred briefed me. What's the plan?"

"We infiltrate the building without being seen, extract Diana, and grab Strange if we can."

"Why don't we have backup? Some other League guys around the building? Maybe a bit of air support?"

Batman shook his head. It's too risky. Our only hope is that he plans to keep her alive for torture; if he sees any unusual activity around the building, he could kill her." The thought alone was enough to make Batman's spine shiver. "We can only fly in so close to the building, then we'll have to go in on foot."

"Sounds like a blast." Nightwing rocked back and forth on his heels impatiently. "Alright, this is killing me. Who else are we taking? It has to be someone you'd trust... Can't be Superman, he'd be here by now... Not too keen on the stealth... You would've brought Robin... He's too green for this anyway... Come on, just tell me!"

"She'll be here soon."

"She?" Nightwing asked curiously. Suddenly, his eyes widened behind his domino mask as realization dawned on him. "Oh, you didn't!"

"I had to."

"You know we can't trust her! Why her?"

"We need to get in there without being seen. And she's the sneak I know."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Batman." A woman's voice issued from behind Nighwing, causing him to jump and draw his weapons.

Behind him stood an attractive woman in a skintight leather catsuit that covered most of her body. Her head was wrapped in a leather hood that had two extensions resembling cat's ears on top, and her eyes were covered by a pair of red-tinted goggles.

"Did I scare you, birdy?" Catwoman said, swinging her hips as she slinked past him to approach Batman. "It's alright, I'm not out to hunt tonight. As a matter of fact, I was planning on taking the night off... Until I got an interesting call."

"My sources say that you were planning to hit Salvator Moroni's private vault tonight." Batman said.

Catwoman shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe you and I have different definitions of taking the night off." She drew herself up to within an inch of her full height, so she was within an inch of his face. "Or maybe not?" She whispered flirtatiously. "Either way, are you going to tell me what I'm doing here?"

"There's not much time. The bottom line is that a madman is holding Wonder Woman hostage, and we have to get into his building and get her out without being seen."

Catwoman pulled back and turned away dramatically. "You know, you have some nerve asking me of all people to help you rescue your girlfriend. Why should I help you?"

"Because you're not just a criminal. You have a conscience." Batman said quietly, deactivating the cloaking devices that hid the Batmobile on the street below."

Catwoman sighed in exasperation. "Fine. But you owe me." She peered over the edge of the building at the Batmobile. "You know, I've always wanted to ride in this thing without being in handcuffs. Although..." She thoughtfully scratched her cheek with a clawed glove. "The handcuffs aren't so bad when you get used to them. Shotgun!" She jumped over the edge, landing neatly on all fours.

Nightwing looked incredulously at Batman. "What the hell are you thinking? She's insane.Completely bonkers. Not to mention a thief and a liar."

"And that's exactly why she's our best shot at getting Diana back alive." Batman said, following his feline companion over the edge.

Nightwing shook his head in disbelief. "How do I always get wrapped up in these things?"

Author's note: So it turns out that wasn't a short one after all! I really had a good time with this one, even though I was in a weird mood (I did the Namira sidequest in Skyrim today- enough said). First of all, another chance to explore Hugo Strange's sadistic side is always fun. And believe me, he's not done. Also, Nightwing and Catwoman are fun characters to write. Wisecracks aren't my specialty, but she has that special, confident, slightly hyperactive neuroticism that's fun to write anyway. Long story short, this one took relatively no time at all. We might not be so lucky with the next one, but we'll see. If it's anywhere near as easy as this one, it should be up by tomorrow. If not, then... Well... It won't. Until then, (whenever 'then' is, of course), Narf out.