Chapter 24: Deduction

"Is Master Wayne already gone?"

Andi broke away from her notes and nodded to Alfred. The cave was turning gloomy as the last of the sunset faded—even the powerful lighting system couldn't completely dispel it. "He left with the bats."

"As usual." Alfred was carrying another silver pot of coffee, and he refilled Andi's oversized mug. "Did he wear at least wear his gas mask?"

"I talked him into carrying one, but odds are it will stay on the passenger seat of the Tumbler most of the night. He didn't seem to think mortality suited the persona of Batman." Andi didn't want to admit it, but the thought worried her. After today, Bruce was the only friend she still had. The thought of him getting killed off, especially by Pam's disease…

Alfred took a seat across from her. "And how are you doing?"

"Doing? Horribly." Andi hefted the stack of file papers she'd been flipping through. Useless, trivial information that barely deserved the name of forensics. "I've tried everything Alfred. Bruce risked infection to go back to that apartment with me for forensic evidence, we tried their old homes, anyone they might have contacted… I've watched the footage from that studio so many times I've gone numb to the sight of my friends becoming murderers! And for all that, there's still no clue as to where they've gone. I'm getting nothing, Alfred. Nothing!"

"That wasn't what I meant, Miss. I asked how you are doing, not the investigation."

Andi ran a hand through her loose hair. She'd done that so often in the past three hours that it stayed where it was, pulled back from her face. "I try not to think about it," she admitted, "But whenever there's a pause, whenever I'm not focused on forensics or things I just… I can't get it out of my head Alfred. I thought I knew them. I did know them. They were such good people. And then…"

Alfred covered her hand with his soft, gentle one. Andi didn't want to admit it, but it felt good, almost cathartic, to admit to what she felt. Bruce had been perfectly polite, but distant and cold all day. Trying to find sympathy from him would have been like trying to pull water from a rock, especially after lying to him earlier. And besides, even if he didn't push her away, Andi couldn't allow herself to cry on his shoulder. She knew exactly what that would lead to if she let it, and that was just another added mess to the whole tangle. As if things weren't complicated enough.

"That's not even the worst of it," she muttered after a moment, "The worst part is that I still understand them. Part of me even agrees with their actions. It keeps saying that if I tracked them down, if I found them, I could join up and it'd be just the three of us against the world. Like it's been since college. Why them? Why them and not me? And why do I feel like I'm the one disappointing them of all things?"

Alfred turned a considering look to her pages of files of gun ownership records, apartment leases, and electricity bills. "Perhaps, Miss, you are barking up the wrong tree."

"What do you mean?"

"You are trying to solve this case as a scientist. But a forensic scientist really only tries to analyze empirical data and facts. If I may suggest, this case simply seems to require a different touch to me."

Andi cocked her head, confusion written all over her face. Alfred sighed and clarified.

"That of a friend. You know these women better than anyone. You just told me that you understand them, that you still feel you are one of them. If you are capable of that, it seems to me that you may also be capable of understanding what they are doing now and perhaps what they will do next. Don't think of them as suspects to be analyzed. Consider them as you naturally want to. As people. Friends even. How would Doctors Isley and Quinzel go about this?"

Andi closed her eyes and tried to imagine it. Pam. Leena. She knew the way they interacted. All she had to do was apply it to the situation.

"Pam will take charge," she said thoughtfully. "She's the mastermind behind this and… she's also the more forceful of the two. More focused on what she wants and how she'll get it. Whereas in the state Leena's at… I think without Pam's guidance, she might forget the entire thing and begin dancing around, terrorizing downtown or something to try to get the Joker free. Her mind's just… collapsed. It can't hold onto anything for long."

She looked up to see Alfred watching her closely. "Sorry. I can't seem to think of them as Harley and Ivy."

"Of course, Miss. Name them in whatever manner helps you best." Alfred refilled her coffee cup—when had she finished the one before it?—and Andi drank deeply before stilling, plunging her mind back into the puzzle. It was as if she submerged her own consciousness into trying to understand. Diving so deep into herself that she was almost comatose, feeling her way in the dark.

"So… where would Pam go?" It was easier to speak the questions. Things unraveled faster. "She's practical. She'd want somewhere that she could develop the toxin and antidote. But all the main research labs are in use, and her workplace is destroyed. She'd also want somewhere she knew, a familiar territory. She's been a vagabond so long, she needs a sort of home plate now, and she'll gravitate towards somewhere that she associates with safety. A secure, probably significant place with access to scientific equipment…"

Where were the places Pam considered safe? Her current apartment? Too obvious, and Bruce and she'd checked already. Her childhood home? No. Pam had fallen out badly with her parents after Ivy's death, and the couple had since divorced. The mother had gotten the house, but lost it a few years later trying to cover gambling debts, and now lived in a shoddy apartment near the Narrows from what Andi understood. Her father had relocated to New York where he'd married a much younger woman and become a successful businessman. Pam wouldn't have gone to either of them for help. Where else had she been? Where had she lived where she was truly happy?

"GSU."

"What was that, Miss Andi?"

"Gotham State University." Andi jumped up from her chair and began to pace, suddenly filled with coiled energy. "Think, Alfred, it's perfect! The campus closed down the minute the Joker got out, there are research labs and all sorts of other facilities, and it's somewhere she knows. Pam probably even engineered the bacteria there, has likely been using it as her true hideout the minute she left the Feds."

"Will she still be there you think?"

Andi thought for a minute. "Yes," she decided. "She needs some place to start mass producing the antidote. She didn't expect the toxin to spread, so she'll need to make more medicine to supply the city with. And she has no way of knowing we found out about it, so she wouldn't see a need to move."

Alfred nodded slowly. "Well then," he asked, still keeping to his Socratic questions, "What do you think we should do about it?"

Pam. Leena. No, I made my choice, I know what I have to do. Andi stood up. "You call Bruce. Tell him what we've figured out and get him over there."

"And where will you be in the meanwhile Miss Andi?"

Andi gave a slight grin. "Heading out to meet him. I intend to already be on the road by the time you tell him that though."

She braced herself for his protests, but after a minute of considering, Alfred merely pulled out his phone. "You'd better hurry then."

"Thanks Alfred!" Andi stooped to plant a swift kiss on his cheek before racing out of the cavern and into the Manor. She pulled up short inside the vast garage, looking speculatively at Bruce's luxury and sports cars, her battered old Altima parked to one side, like a donkey stabled with a dozen thoroughbreds. She did need to hurry. And her own car would really be too slow and vulnerable on the streets… Andi turned to the long row of keys hung on different hooks. Lamborghini, Ferrari, or Jaguar?

"Just tell me where you are!" Bruce wanted to shout at Andi through the radio, but he made himself keep his gruff, disguising tone. Losing his temper wouldn't get him anywhere with her.

"I can't." Andi's voice was as calm as if he was a child demanding to know what she had bought him for his birthday. That did nothing to calm him down. "The moment I do, you'll come knock me out again and leave me in the bushes until this is all over."

"Damn right I will." Bruce felt his pulse skyrocketing, and if they'd been using a cellphone instead of the radio in his ear, it would have been crumpled to pieces in his fist by now. "You're not needed here—"

"Look, this is a big campus and the two of us can cover it separately in much less time than you alone. And," her tone turned steely, "I meant it when I agreed to see this through. I'm not sitting out. Now. Are you at the chemistry building yet?"

There was no arguing with this woman! If she survived this, Bruce was going to kill her. "Yes."

"Good. I'm at my destination too. Stay quiet, call me if you find anything, and I'll do the same for you, alright? Labs are on the third floor, but glance through the others too."

Bruce growled several curse words in Chinese, but the line was already dead. Moving quickly, he set his handheld computer to hack into the building's security system, slipped inside and through the hallways. He didn't think he wanted to know how Andi was breaking into the computerized locks. Third floor. He moved to the maintenance stairs, still illuminated with the emergency lights, and climbed up.

The labs were closed, the place only dimly illuminated by streetlights shining through the windows and the red glow of the EXIT signs. Bruce's cape billowed behind him as he swept through, scanning for something, anything, that seemed out of place, drawers open, broken equipment… Everything was neat and orderly, and he eventually worked his way down to the lower floors, checking through offices, classrooms, and—

The radio burst into static, then Andi's voice came on in a whisper.

"I've found it! Pam's lab. Greenhouses, left corner close to the door."

"Any sign of them?" Greenhouses, where were the greenhouses? Across the campus, of course. Bruce forced a window open and leapt out, sprinting the minute his feet touched the ground.

"No. Just the equipment and medicines."

"Stay hidden, if they catch you there, it'll be a hostage situation, and I don't—"

"And there may also be a cache of the antidote that they'll destroy once they know we're here. I'm going to check it out."

"Andi—"

She hissed at him to be quiet and for several seconds there was no sound but the clinking of glass instruments on her end. Bruce concentrated on breathing, legs moving fast enough that he almost flew over the ground towards her.

"Oh no."

"What is it?" Bruce leapt over a low wall, charged through beds of flowers. "What did you find?"

"There's… there's a whole bunch of the mushrooms here. And from what I can tell… Pam's been extracting stuff from them. Using them. They're the cure. That enzyme in them, that's what stops the exotoxin—I'm so stupid, she told me it could break down toxins when we first started arguing! She's essentially guaranteed their survival now that they're needed to fight a disease. And she must have been making the medicine, because there are a whole bunch of syringes and bottles for it here. But…"

"But what? Andi what?"

"She's got two piles."

"So?"

"So why would she have only two piles if all she'd collected was the antidote? And now that she's changed sides she must be planning to make more of the toxin/bacteria cocktail at some point… Don't you see, she's got both the poison and the cure here and I don't know which one's which!"

"Is there any way to tell?"

"Not without testing or… oh gosh what am I supposed to do?"

"Alright. Stay calm; I'm in sight of the greenhouse, I'll be there in a minute." Bruce's eyes caught on something. Red. Something red was moving inside the greenhouse and it felt like his stomach disappeared as he ran. Too far. He was too far, running, running for her life, running out of time just like he had with Rachel. "IVY'S IN THE GREENHOUSE! ANDI GET OUT OF THERE!"

The terrified shriek reached him through the radio and his own ears together.

"ANDI!"

He burst through the glass.

Red hair filled Andi's vision, her mouth, surrounded her. She tried to wriggle out, but Pam was having none of it, pinning her to the ground. After a second she pulled out a gun. "Don't make me hurt you Andi. I won't kill you but if I have to take out your shoulder—"

The Batman burst through the glass wall, pushed Pam off. A shot fired into the air and then the pair was rolling, rolling over and over, Bruce somehow wrenching the gun away, lost in the rows of dark plants. Pam struggled and fought, but Batman was about a hundred pounds heaver, wearing full body armor, and much better trained. In seconds she was laid flat on the ground, Bruce efficiently dealing out blows to the solar plexus, face, head—

"LOOK OUT!"

A terra cotta pot large enough for a child to fit in hurled down at Bruce from the balcony above them. Even in his helmet, Batman was knocked flat, stunned. Pam wriggled out, and whatever entranced Andi broke. The gun, get to the gun, if she could just find it first…

Pam grabbed her ankle as she passed, yanked Andi to her knees. Andi flipped herself over and grabbed her face, fingers moving for the eyes, but Pam punched her square in the nose, the jaw, and then rammed her knee into Andi's stomach. Andi doubled over, and two seconds later there was the sound of a gun cocking above her. Pam looked down at her, her hands completely steady. There was a giggle from across the room.

"You never do learn to watch your back with me around do you?"

Harley was looking straight at Bruce as she said it, her hands moving quickly over the work desk, filling a needle with the left pile's chemicals. Andi felt absolute horror form in her stomach. "No! Oh, God, Leena don't!" C'mon, come on Bruce, move, just once please. He didn't though. Couldn't. Andi tried to jump up, but Pam swung her foot straight into her stomach and then pushed her onto her back, planted a boot on Andi's chest. She gulped air desperately. "Please, Leena, please, anything you want, just don't TOUCH HIM!"

Leena squirted the air bubble out of the top of the syringe and waggled her eyebrows at Andi. "Anything?"

"Yes, yes, just let him alone and—"

"Nah. I think I like this idea better!" Leena leapt forward, tugged the thick padding around Bruce's throat away and the needle darted into the skin beneath. Andi saw her thumb move down on the syringe, the chemical go in, and then Leena leapt back and Bruce gave a jerk as the pain started to take hold of his system.

Well. At least I know which one's the toxin now, some cold, rational part of her mind commented. Most of her was past even noticing. Andi shrieked and Pam dug her foot in a little harder. Harley held up a finger as if a bright idea had just occurred to her.

"I know why you're so upset! It's 'cause you love him isn't it?" She hopped up and down, clapping her hands. "You do, you do, you do! How swee-eet."

Andi stared at Bruce. He was coming back to consciousness now, his body laying very still as the pain in the toxin set to work. She knew what it was like, knew the effort it must be costing him to remain still and silent. I'll get you out of this, she promised, Somehow, you're getting out of this.

"Sure. Yeah, whatever," she agreed aloud.

"Nah-ah. Say it like you mean it."

His breathing was harsh and labored, his head tipped back, every muscle tight as if he could fight away the pain. Andi closed her eyes, tried not to think about the fire flooding his veins. Her fault. Batman. No, Bruce. The one person who hadn't left her or betrayed her. And she'd dragged him into this. "Yes. I mean it."

"We-ell. That's quite a coincidence. 'Cause you see…" Harley put her hand in front of her mouth and stage whispered, "I love someone too. And my Mr. J's in trouble just like Batsy."

Andi darted a glance up at Pam. "You can't be helping her in this can you? This man is abusing her, drove her crazy, you can't want me to…" Pam's green eyes were as hard as death.

"So I'll tell you what," Harley continued blithely, now skipping around the rows of plants, her boots making loud stomping noises. "I'll make you a deal. I give Batsy the cure once you set Mr. J free."

"Andi… don't do it… you've got to…" Bruce drew in a pained breath and subsided. Andi was shocked he could even tell what the conversation was, disoriented and pain-ridden as he must be.

"If I don't, the Joker will just break free sooner or later…" Andi said slowly. "And you'll be dead. There will be no one left to take him down. We need you. We need you alive more than we need him locked up."

Leena clapped her hands again. "That's the spirit Andi! I knew you had it in ya! So what do ya say?"

What was she becoming? What was right anymore, what was wrong? Andi couldn't tell, all she knew was that with every breath Bruce was going deeper and deeper into pain, that this had to end somewhere, that she couldn't do this, couldn't condemn the last person she loved…

"I'm in."

Author's Note: Ah well. Andi's trying to be good this time. And, yes, the parallels between this ending and last chapter's are intentional.

Wow, it feels really weird to realize that there's only about two more chapters left and the epilogue! But we're almost there! I'm going to try and include the last of the author's notes here, actually, because I don't want these to interfere with the endings of the other chapters which are trying to conclude the story itself.

The first and most obvious question: will there be a sequel? I'll be honest here. I've tried thinking of one, even started writing it, but it didn't working right and I had to scrap the thing. I have ideas, but I want to work on my Hunger Games piece first, and will have to see after that. I am definitely coming back to this at some point, but I need a break from this set of characters or I'm going to be too close to them for the whole thing to work. I started posting this in August of last year (wow, has it been that long already?), and if you come back around the same time next year, I think it'll be ready by then. Think, mind you, no guarantees becuase I, personally, have doubts on whether I can think at all.

A second quick note, this one on review responses. I always pride myself on keeping up with these, but if I've somehow missed you at any point, drop me a note! And, for any of you reviewers, if you post something Dark Knight related, please tell me because I want to read it. Just so y'all know, though, there WON'T be review responses to the chapter after this one. I'm heading into finals week and such at that point, and I figure if you guys are faced with the options of a response or a post you'll go with that latter.

And finally, the last set of thank-yous to the reviewers. What can I say? It's a conundrum. You reviewers obviously like my story/writing, which means you must think I'm fairly good at expressing myself. But when it comes time to thank y'all, I can't figure out how to say it... proving that I'm not nearly as good at the job as you guys seem to think! All I can say is thank you guys so-o-o much.

Oh, and Happy almost-Easter everyone!