Hello dear readers, I have another exciting chapter for you. This chapter is a little shorter than normal, but it's a good setup one for the next one.

JadeEOliver: Thank you. Glad you're enjoying it.

LindavO: I'm glad that this story has been a high point to start off the New Year.

Guest: Freddie's mask slipped about being the mild manner reporter when he was getting praise for what he saw as an undeserved to outright failure in his mind. Kitty has claws and Beck's alter-ego is clearly turning into an anti-hero instead of the expected villain of being the Joker.

Fanfic-Reader-88: One down, two to go. How is Jade going to psychologically deal with finding out her friends are becoming a new bread of criminals? That's a good question for the already psychologically tortured girl. Carly in this incarnation is clearly meant to be a more starry-eyed and ambitious interpretation where she thinks she is the best reporter. It's going to bite her.

Twilight Warrior 627: I've been amazed how they are lining up with some of these characters to make this fusion piece so easily. I'm trying to take a more realistic approach for the story with the only 'amazing' thing in the world right now being Superman. They're facing real problems of the Golden Age of comics that people can relate verses the more fantastic elements. I hope you continue to enjoy what I have in store.

Rating: T, Language, Violence

Chapter 13: So Much for a Quiet Evening
Gotham Community Hospital
Gotham City, NJ

Cat cautiously walked down the hallway towards Robbie's room, still rattled by what happened at the restaurant. She wasn't so much bothered by ending Mrs. Lee's life, she felt justified in killing the woman that wanted to murder the man she loved and ultimately responsible for his injuries, but with the fact that Beck and Sam were the criminal couple.

In all honesty, she wasn't bothered by them turning out to be real mobsters, but that she could accidentally reveal their identity. She had gotten better as she got older in not letting things inadvertently slip, but she couldn't get rid of the gnawing feeling that it could happen and they would go to prison.

She tried not to think about that, irrationally feeling that as she passed a number of uniformed police officers on her way to Robbie's room that they could read her mind.

When she was a few yards away from her fiancé's room, she felt a sigh of relief as the police had been replaced with private security from Jade. She stopped in front of the private bodyguard and he stepped aside, apparently recognizing her.

Cat smiled her thanks then stepped inside of the meticulously clean hospital room. It looked dreary and cold… too sterile for her taste even if that was exactly what was needed for Robbie's condition. She wanted to brighten it up with her flowers and have balloons and make it feel like home because that's exactly what it was going to be like for him for the foreseeable future.

Robbie was lying in his bed watching television, apparently glued to the covering news story.

Cat could overhear the news reporter speaking about the shooting at Nozu's and the owner's death. The last hour came flooding to the forefront of her mind where she had avenged her love and found out the true identity of the city's 'Bonnie and Clyde'. As disturbed as she perhaps should be about her actions and the revelation about their identities, she wasn't bothered.

She sat that aside for a moment then observed him. He had the bandage over the left side of his face, but other than that, he looked alright. The illusion comforted her for a moment then quietly called out, "Robbie?"

The lawyer turned his head and struggled with a smile.

Cat walked over to the bed and flung herself at him, pulling him tightly against him, planting her face on his shoulder and letting a cry out.

Robbie rubbed a hand up and down her back, any disappointment and annoyance with her absence vanishing. He let her cry on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead and rocked with her until she finished pouring her emotions out.

The redhead finally pulled her face away from his shoulder and smiled, happy to see him awake. She sniffled and wiped any stray tears from under her eyes with her thumb.

The D.A. warmly greeted her, "Hey."

Cat answered through though a strained voice, "Hiiii…"

Robbie followed up in Rex's voice, "It's nice to see you too Valentine."

The botanist stared at him for a second, not believing her ears in the change in his voice.

Robbie grinned and continued in Rex's voice, "Yeah, it's me."

"Wait what?"

"Yeah, it looks like I'm stuck in Robbie's head since he has me stuck in some drawer somewhere. Could someone please find me? This is really weird."

Cat looked at him utterly confused.

Robbie cleared his voice and spoke, "Yeah… it's weird. I guess I have to go home and pull you from storage."

He answered himself in Rex's voice, "Storage, I'm in janking storage… you still could have given me to someone." He leered with a hint of lust in his eyes, "Sitting in Tori's dressing rooms would have been nice."

Cat hadn't dealt with Rex in a few years, glad that Robbie had finally put him to rest, but hearing the puppet through Robbie was disturbing. Why was he suddenly appearing? Was the trauma of what happened to him triggering this resurfacing?

The former ventriloquist interrupted her thoughts and cautiously asked, "It's been a while since I woke up. Where have you've been?"

Cat bowed her head, looking down at her lap.

"Cat?"

"I was in my lab trying to find something that could help you, but I wasn't finding much—just some plant compounds that are antiseptic that could help prevent infection—and I was just getting frustrated. I started thinking about whose fault it was and got madder, so—"

"So you've been locked up in you lab while I've been here while I'm horrifyingly scarred?"

Cat knotted her brow, offended that he would think she was avoiding him.

Rex laughed, "Don't mind him. He was getting a little pissy."

"I was not!"

The second personality answered, "Jade threatened to slap him because he was acting the fooool."

The lawyer crossed his arms and pouted, out foxed by the voice in his head.

Rex continued, sounding a little sinister, "I've been rough on Cat a few times over the years, but… she loves you, so cut her some slack."

Cat licked her lips and smile, grateful the unseen puppet could be that nice to her. She asked, "Rex could you give us some privacy?"

"Why not? I could use a nap."

Robbie flopped back onto his pillow and closed his visible eye.

Cat looked down at her love, concerned that he looked like he just passed out. She gently shook his shoulder and asked, "Robbie?"

Robbie called out as he sat up like a snap, "I'm up, I'm up."

The redhead let out a sigh of relief then continued, "Yes, I was in my lab because Tori didn't want me to be all mopey and worrying myself. I would have gotten here sooner, but… I was getting so mad with what happen to you that I went to see Mrs. Lee. I didn't know what I was going to do, but—"

"Wait, you went to see her? But she was just murdered by the Joker. It's all over the news."

"I know… I was, I was there when it happened."

Robbie's good eye looked like it was going to pop out of its socket before he asked in a panicked manner, "You were there?! Oh my God! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, they…"

Cat paused as she debated whether she should tell Robbie the truth about Beck and Sam being the criminal clowns. If she told him the truth, he would have been obligated to go after them and she didn't want them to go to jail. Beck had been her friend since freshman year of high school and Sam had been her roommate and friend from her senior year of high school until they graduated college. It could even devastate Robbie to find out that his friend really was a violent gangster instead of just rumor and innuendo underneath the businessman to a front business.

"…I hid when I heard the gunfire. They left without spotting me and when I left my hiding place, they were gone."

"And you're alright?"

"I was just a little shaken up, but I'm fine. The EMTs checked me out."

Robbie partially pursed his lips and slightly nodded his head. He glanced to the television to watch the continuing coverage and unnecessarily asked, "So Lee's dead?"

"Yeah…" She almost choked on her words lying to him, "…Joker shot her."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would the Joker kill Lee? He's been content of just hitting speakeasies and gambling halls—that's what people are saying when the cops show up. Why would he jump into killing a mob boss? And why did he try to rescue me with the Bat? Is he hoping that I wouldn't prosecute him if the cops ever catch him?"

Cat glanced down at her lap and oddly picked at the bed sheet. "I don't know… maybe he's just a criminal with a heart of gold? You know like all those bank robbers in the Midwest."

Robbie patiently smiled and pointed out to his fiancée, "Cat, they're bank robbers. They have no heart of gold. They're just robbing the banks to put into their own pocket. A few of them have murdered police officers. I hate the media keeps romanticizing them."

"Not all of them are like that. They're robbing from the banks that were keeping people's money and were foreclosing on farms that couldn't pay their mortgages because of the dust storms, not because they were purposely being delinquent in paying. The banks weren't just being shortsighted, they were being heartless."

The curly haired lawyer wasn't in the mood to get into an argument with her, so he continued on another topic, "Anyway, I guess I might have to thank him for trying… I'll have to have someone else prosecute him when we catch him."

Cat frowned and bowed her head again. "I hope he's found not guilty."

"Cat?"

The redhead looked up and fiercely answered, "What? Why would I want to see the person that tried to help you and made that horrible woman pay for what she did to you go to prison?"

Robbie bit his tongue for a moment, a trick in of itself with his damaged jaw, partially agreeing with her as he felt the he was living proof at how the justice system had failed in bringing the woman to justice. However, he didn't want her to see that he was having serious doubts, so offered a different explanation, "Cat, he could have killed you."

"He wouldn't have killed me. He was there to make sure she paid for what she did to you."

"He could have killed you to eliminate you as a witness."

The botanist remained silent, not sure how to retort without revealing Beck and Sam's identity. "I… I don't know. They're not supposed to just kill innocent people either." She added with a sigh, "Do we have to argue?"

Robbie slumped his shoulders then answered in a tired voice, "No… it's not important right no—"

Cat pulled him into another hug, wanting to avoid eye contact with him in case he picked up she was hiding something. She pulled back and kissed his cheek.

Robbie smiled, feeling better with her in his arms and they settled to lie in the bed together. They looked up at the television, watching the news play on the screen.

As Cat drifted off the sleep snuggled against Robbie, he let his mind wander that just because Lee was dead, didn't mean it was over. Mason and Shawn were still out there and it didn't matter what papers he had on them or what connections he could make as despite the protest he made about the Joker taking the law into his own hands, he had a feeling that the only way they were going to stop the mob in Gotham was with a bullet to their heads.

Tori Vega Hotel Room
Gotham City, NJ

Tori stepped out of her bedroom while she finished pulling a fresh baseball T-shirt over her head and pulling the hem of her shirt down over her hip-hugging jeans. She took a hair-tie around her wrist and tied her hair up in a pony-tail with a few loose hairs on either side of her face as she headed to the kitchen to grab something to drink.

After spending the good portion of the day with Robbie and sending a message along to West Enterprises to say he was pulling Cat from her lab to send to the hospital, Tori needed to take a break to grab a real meal, a shower and a fresh change of clothes.

She reached the refrigerator and opened it to grab some of her trademark lemonade. As she pulled the pitcher out and got a glass from a cabinet, her thoughts were occupied with Robbie's condition and whether or not she was somehow partially responsible for what happened. She was the one that broke into Mason's apartment to steal his papers to prove all his entanglements with illegal activities and mysteriously left them in Robbie's place. If he didn't have all that evidence that would have sent him on that line of investigation, would the mob have moved on him as they did?

The actress finished pouring her drink then headed to the living room to relax, wanting to clear her thoughts of such a possibility. She took a seat on the couch and flipped on the television. She took a sip of her drink as the news came on with breaking news of Mrs. Lee's death.

She nearly spit out her drink hearing the news and looked dumbfounded at the screen. She carefully sat her glass down and wiped her lips with the back of her hand while she watched the latest information about the shootout with reports of it being 'the Joker'. They went on to say that there were unconfirmed reports that Cat was at the restaurant at the time of the shooting, causing her to utter in disbelief, "Oh my God…"

Her thoughts were dramatically interrupted with the door flinging open and the frame breaking away in a loud snap around the lock and several muscular individuals with ski masks and dressed in black came rushing inside.

Out of instinct, Tori picked up the glass and stood up, flinging the glass at the face of the first individual. The glass struck him hard in the face and caused him to stumble to his left. She charged at the individuals as they were blocking her only way of escape. She raised back her right arm and swung out as hard as she could manage, connecting with the second person's jaw, snapping him to the right and stumbling away.

The first person regained his wits and charged at Tori, but she kicked out with her left leg, striking him on the side of his right knee. He dropped to that knee and let out a scream as he thought she may have snapped something, but his shouting was cut short when she jabbed him had in the center of his face.

There was a loud crack with the intruder's nose breaking as he flung back onto his back.

The second intruder recovered and attempted to swing on the actress, but she was faster with a few well-placed jabs to the face then grabbed his shoulders and kneed him between the legs.

"FUCK!"

He dropped to his knees and shielded his crotch, trying to bare the pain and shield him from any further strikes there.

Tori lifted her leg and stepped on his left shoulder, pushing him down while leaping forward. She didn't have the momentum to reach the third intruder with a kick, so she tucked and rolled to him. She finished the roll and jabbed him has hard as she could in the gut under his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him.

She scrambled to her feet and ran past to get out of the room.

The first ski mask wearing intruder was able to pull himself onto his feet, wiping the blood from under his nose and flinging some of it away and onto the carpet. He hobbled a few steps while reaching into his jacket and pulling out a taser.

Tori was just to the door when he raised a taser and fired. The metal prongs shot out of the end and covered the distance between him and Tori in nearly an instant, striking the actress in the back.

A scream caught in her throat as her muscles seized up, causing her to collapse to the floor. The intruder held the trigger for several more seconds to continue to send the high voltage through her before her world faded to black.

GCPD Headquarters
Gotham City, NJ

Detective Vega was typing away at his computer, filling out the police report of what was known so far about Mrs. Lee's shooting. The scene wasn't as straight forward as it would appear even when there were two eyewitnesses, one highly credible witness and one not so credible witness after he made some pretty wild accusations. The named suspect was the mysterious Joker, but the person's identity was clearly in questioned as the face painted mobster was either a dead man that may or may not have committed suicide or a well respected young man that his daughter had known for years.

What made the case more complicated was the disgust he felt in having to actually type out Kwakoo's witness statement about hearing Cat admitting she poisoned the restaurant owner. He did wonder if despite the sweetness and childlike nature of the redhead that had been his daughter's friend since her late sophomore year, she was capable of such a thing even if pushed to such grief in what happened to her fiancé.

It tried his professional ethics in even pursue such an avenue of investigation. However, at this point he had to wait for the M.E.'s report on whether or not the suspected mob boss was actually poisoned than being brutally shot. He was hoping if there was any poison in her system, it was from an improperly prepared meal.

Detective Vega's typing was interrupted with Gary being a few yards away speaking in a hushed tone loud enough to be picked up. He glanced to his partner that was speaking with a number of other detectives. He called out, "What's going on?"

Gary looked to his fellow detectives then approached the desk with a hesitant expression. He answered with a dread laced voice, "We just got the call from the unies… there's been a break-in at your daughter's hotel room and your daughter's not there. There was a clear struggle… with blood on the carpet… they're looking for her now."

The color drained away from Vega's face. He stood up and uttered, "Oh my God."

The graying detective licked his lips and regretfully answered, "They're canvassing the area, looking at all the hotel surveillance cameras and they might have a lead on the vehicle. We'll find her David."

David grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and slipped it on. He uttered in disgust as he walked past his partner, "You're damn right we're going to find her."

West Manor
Just outside Gotham City Limits

Jade had planned to take André's suggestion and got to bed. She was tired and her shoulder was still aching her a little. However, the news reports nixed her plans and she was sitting behind her desk in her study, staring at the television as she watched the latest updates at the death of Mrs. Lee. Her blood figuratively boiled with the fact that Beck lied to her. He lied to her about giving her a chance to get prove Lee was behind Robbie's kidnapping and what was worst, Cat had been there for some misguided chance to take her frustrations out on Lee and got caught in the middle of his gunfight. She was even being falsely accused of murdering the mob boss—broken by Carly Shay of the Daily Planet.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do to Beck once she got her hands on him. She wanted to strangle him for his betrayal and putting Cat into danger and potentially being investigated for the murder he committed. She couldn't escape the fact that she would have to go after him now. She could look the other way after Lee's death and Cat's endangerment. She would have to suit up and take him and Sam into custody. It broke her heart.

However, there was one thing that didn't bother her and that was what she was going to do to Carly for spreading Lee's bodyguard's wild accusations. Firing her would be too good for her, so she would have to come up with something that would make the young woman suffer.

As she was plotting out how she would bring Beck and Sam to the police and how she was going to make Carly pay for helping to spread that nonsense, the news reporter broke in with a new alert:

"We have further breaking news. We're just receiving word that famed home city actress Victoria Vega, star of various productions including her recent hit 'Wizard of Oz', has been kidnapped from her hotel room. Details are sketchy, but what we know right now is that little more than a half an hour ago, a number of individuals violently burst into her room and after a struggle, disappeared with her. There are conflicting reports from eye witnesses spotting a vehicle fleeing the premises around the same time."

Jade face fell and she felt her stomach drop out from her.

No, not Tori, nothing could happen to her. Robbie was in the hospital most likely permanently scarred, Cat was accused of murdering Mrs. Lee, and Beck and Sam were mob killers. She couldn't let their lives be destroyed any further.

The dark haired millionaire jumped from her seat and headed to the grandfather clock. She turned the hands of the clock and a moment later, the clock slid to the right. She dashed inside the entrance to her secret lair on a mission to save her friend.

Penthouse Suite
Hotel Belle Monico
Gotham City, NJ

Sam walked out of the master bedroom while vigorously drying her wet hair and wearing a nightshirt that reached just past her pelvis, leaving it up for debate whether or not she was wearing any underwear. She was heading to the kitchen to grab a snack before heading to bed, but she stopped halfway when she noticed something on the other side of the glass door of the balcony.

She turned and saw Superman with his arms crossed over his chest hovering feet away from the balcony directing a stern expression towards her. The blonde called over her shoulder to back to the master bedroom, "Beck, you better get out here."

A few moments later, Beck exited the bedroom as he dried the back of his head with a small towel while only wearing a towel around his waist. "What is it…"

The mob captain trailed off as he spotted Superman still floating outside. He sighed and tossed the used towel on the top of the backrest of the couch then walked to the set of glass doors, figuring there was no point in ignoring him.

Beck opened the doors to allow Superman to float inside the penthouse then gently landed on the carpet. He discarded in pleasantries and accused, "You promised Miss West twenty-four hours to allow her to prove Mrs. Lee was behind Mister Shapiro's kidnapping before you did anything, but it's all over the news that she's dead—and Miss Valentine was there to witness it."

The mob captain turned a harsh glare at the intruder. He dryly asked, "Should I ask how you found us?"

Superman shrugged a shoulder as he lazily answered, "I stopped by your place and looked around a bit for any clues as to where you could have gone. I found a picture of you staying here one time and guessed that you liked living in style with the setup of your apartment."

Sam snapped, annoyed that their hideaway had been revealed and that he had been to their apartment, "You went through our stuff?"

"I took a… glance. I didn't go through any of your belongings."

Beck let out a slow breath, annoyed at himself for being sentimental as this was the place he and Sam had booked on several occasions for some celebration or another. He sat that aside and answered Superman's accusation, "I found out from my sources that she was getting ready to skip town and fly off to Havana, so I had to stop her before she left because Jade certainly wasn't going to prove anything to the cops in time. The ones that kidnapped Robbie may have worked for her, but she had plausible deniability."

"We had phone calls tying them to the restaurant when we know she was there and Mister Shapiro is awake and overheard them talking to her. We had her and if she had skipped town, they could have extradited her."

Beck momentarily bit back a remark, not knowing how much they may had tying her to the kidnapping. He was grateful to hear that Robbie was awake. However, he couldn't let the overgrown Boy Scout derail him. He nodded his head to the side and mockingly asked, "Do you really believe that nonsense? You really think they would have gotten her back?"

Superman took a step closer to Beck and stared him straight in the eyes. "Then I would have flown down there and carried her back to face justice if I had to."

The handsome gangster lightly bit his tongue, not considering that possibility, though in all honesty, he didn't trust the criminal justice system to give Robbie justice in the first place. Despite the faith he had in Robbie as a good prosecutor, he had no doubt that Lee would have some juror or judge bribed to get away with it. The system was just too corrupt in the city.

"What am I supposed to do now? Take you both to the police station and drop you off? I know Miss West wouldn't be happy with that."

Beck was seriously concerned that Superman would do such a thing, but Sam mocked him, "So you're concerned about what Jade thinks of you? Talk to her for ten minutes and you fall for her? I thought you had a thing for that sweet reporter in Metropolis?"

The costumed hero looked to her and dryly answered, having no intention of being baited into that tangent conversation and answered, "I would think you would be concerned what your friend thought of you. You're the one that broke your word to her. I see how little you care about such a thing with your friend."

Sam frowned, seeing that she couldn't goad him, but countered with a blatantly ridiculous defense, "You don't actually have any proof that it was us."

Superman looked to Sam and pointed out, "Miss Valentine was there and saw you do it—I'm betting she recognized at least you. You could have killed her going in there a guns a blazing. It's not only your word you don't care about, but the lives of your supposed friends. The only thing I'm wondering now is that are you going to have to 'take care' of her to make sure she doesn't testify in court?"

Beck remained quiet. He had purposely chosen to go after hours to avoid injuring any innocent bystanders and he sure didn't intend to put Cat at risk.

Sam protectively snarled out, "No one is touching Cat or they'll find themselves in the West River."

Superman studied the blonde, the outwardly protective expression was undeniable, but that didn't mean she was telling the truth. He tuned his hearing and 'X-ray' vision onto her, hearing her and seeing her heart rate and blood pressure was up, respectively. He couldn't tell if that meant she was lying or just genuinely concern about her friend's safety.

Beck tiredly admitted, "Cat did realize it was us, but she's not going to say anything."

Superman questioned with disbelief lacing his voice, "Or else?"

Sam snapped, offended by such a question, "There is no 'or else'. We did not threaten her nor would we. She is our friend."

"So she's going to keep your secret out of that friendship?"

"Yes."

Superman nodded his head and grinned in a sarcastic manner. He flippantly questioned, "So Mister Shapiro is going to have to prosecute her for lying to the police? She saw you, but didn't recognize her friends even in makeup? You're really going to put him into that position?"

The blonde snickered out, "He's not going to do that. He's not going to take Cat to court."

Superman nodding along, thinking on her words then countering, "Okay, so he's just as corrupt as all the other politicians?"

"He's not! He's a good man!"

"That you just put in an impossible position: the woman he loves versus his duty, but hopefully people would understand if he didn't because she was emotionally distraught after what happened to him and perhaps didn't recognize you, but…" His voice dropped to a tired and regretful tone, "…even he can't ignore charging her with murder."

Sam snapped, "Whose murder?"

"Mrs. Lee's murder. It's on the news… Miss Shay is reporting that one of Mrs. Lee's bodyguards you missed is screaming to anyone that will listen that it was Miss Valentine that poisoned Mrs. Lee. She admitted to you that she poisoned Mrs. Lee and that you shot her to cover for her."

Beck looked in horror while Sam's expression turned into outrage. She was going to murder that bodyguard with her bare hands and she might just do the same to the brunette reporter.

The mob captain answered with a clearer head, "Have the police arrested her?"

"The last time I checked the news they haven't. The cops don't believe him for the moment. He's considered a suspect in the kidnapping conspiracy with Mister Shapiro, so his credibility isn't worth anything compared to hers, but you never know…"

Sam and Beck exchanged glances, working out with simple looks what they would have to do to prevent such a thing from happening.

Superman saw they were planning something with just an exchange of gazes. He didn't have to think hard on what they were planning, leaving him in a tight spot for two reasons. He regretfully questioned, "Is it true though? Did she poison Mrs. Lee?"

The blonde looked over her shoulder and flippantly asked, "Do you think we'd tell you she did if it was true so you could just haul her away?"

Superman slightly bowed his head and pinched his nose then looked up with a regretfully gaze. "No, I'm not going to get her. I'm just… it shouldn't have ended this way."

Sam countered with disgust lacing her voice, "With her dead? That's exactly how this was supposed to end. That bitch tried to murder our friend… okay, Robbie still annoys the chizz out of me, but that's beside the point."

The costumed hero challenged with a mildly disbelieving expression, "By your friend's hands? That sweet girl I met at Jad—the hospital?"

As a rare occurrence, the blonde closed her mouth, unable to effectively counter the question.

Beck interrupted him, "I killed Lee. I'm the one that put the bullets into her face and ended her miserable life. Cat was there to let out all the anger she felt at the woman. If you want to take someone in for it—" He brought his wrists together and offered them to him. "—then go ahead and take me in, but Cat's not going to jail for anything."

Superman looked down at Beck's wrists, tempted to do such a thing. The man was guilty of at least a few deaths at the restaurant and of the kidnappers—though even he could see that as justifiable—even if Mrs. Lee's death by his hands was questionable.

Sam's eyes darted between Superman and her partner in more than one away. She didn't think Beck could bluff the muscular hero and they didn't have anything to back up their hand to stop him. She had a few sticks of dynamite, but that probably wouldn't hurt him from what she had heard and would kill them in the confines of the room. However, perhaps she could call his possible bluff.

"You're bluffing. You just want him to go along quietly. We got them all."

"I don't have to get him to come along quietly. Neither one of you can hurt me. I can just grab him by an ankle and fly him anywhere I want." He looked to Beck and added with a mildly sour voice, "Though I wouldn't want to do that at this moment with you just wearing a towel."

"We'll see," Sam spat as she walked over to the coffee table in front of the couch and picked up the television remote. She turned on the TV and flipped the channel to one of the news stations. They watched for several moments to see that Mrs. Lee was dead, the Joker and his blonde companion was responsible for the mob-gang hit, but mentioning that one of her surviving bodyguards was implicating Cat was the true killer of the alleged mob boss.

Sam swore, "Shit…"

They couldn't mull over their anger about Kwakoo telling the world about Cat's actions when the reporter broke in with another news flash:

"We have further breaking news. We're just receiving word that famed home city actress Victoria Vega, star of various productions including her recent hit 'The Wizard of Oz', has been kidnapped from her hotel room. Details are sketchy, but what we know right now is little more than a half an hour ago, a number of individuals violently burst into her room and after a struggle, disappeared with her. There are conflicting reports from eye witnesses spotting a vehicle fleeing the premises around the same time."

Sam and Beck's mutually felt sicken and dread crept over them as to what could be or had happened to Tori. The expected anger was interrupted when Superman grabbed Beck by the arm and growled at him, "Now look what you've done. They've retaliated. They kidnapped your friend to do only God knows what. She might already be dead."

Beck turned his anger onto the red and blue hero and spat, "They're mobsters that care for no one anyway! They would have done it anyway."

The standoff was interrupted when a cell phone rang from in the bedroom. Beck maintained eye contact with Superman, not willing to back down from the man, and asked, "Sam, why don't you get that. It's probably important."

Superman spat, "You're worried about a phone call now?"

"It's from one of our burner phones from our crew. They wouldn't call if it wasn't important." He sarcastically finished, "We are laying low."

Superman remained silent, figuring that it was important and he could overhear it.

Sam kept a guarded eye towards the muscular hero before turning away and heading towards the bedroom. She stopped at the night table by the head of the bed and picked it up. "Hello?"

She quietly listened to the other person for about half a minute as she walked back to the living room to vainly make sure Superman wouldn't try anything. Her face mirrored Superman's expression as she listened and he overheard.

As soon as the person finished speaking, Superman let go of Beck's arm and turned to dash to the balcony. He moved faster than Beck or Sam's eyes could track then leapt from the guardrail to soar away.

Beck looked to his significant other with a stunned expression, rubbing up and down his arm to get a bit of feeling back in it. "What was that about?"

Sam pressed the end call button to the burner-phone and answered with dread lacing her voice, "It's one of our moles Quincy's crew. He said that they're the ones that busted into Tori's hotel room and kidnapped her. They're holding her at Warehouse Seven at the docks. Come and get her if we dare."

"Call her right now—with my phone so my number comes up on it. I'm betting they'll have it."

"Right."

Sam ran back to the bedroom and dug around for a few seconds before finding his phone and bringing it back. She looked up the number in her directory and pressed the call button as she returned. After several rings, the phone picked up, "Tori?"

"I'm afraid not," Gibby answered with a smooth voice. "I assume this is the Harley Quinn? I've been waiting for your call."

Sam put on a scrawl and demanded, "Who is this?"

"My name isn't important. What is important is that I have your friend and by the way you reacted with Mister Shapiro's kidnapping, I'm assuming you wouldn't want any harm to come to her."

"Put her on the phone."

"That's not possible at the moment as she put up quite a fight—broke one of their noses and the other one isn't going to enjoys the pleasure of the woman perhaps for the next day or two—and she's still unconscious at the moment. They had to use a taser on her. Other than that, she's fine."

Beck demanded, "What do you want?"

"My employer wants you and your… partner to meet us at Warehouse Seven at the docks, alone. If you call the cops about this location, she will die before they could storm the building."

Beck and Sam's eyes met, each making the obvious decision. He answered through gritted teeth, "We'll be there."

He took the phone from her and ended the call. He snapped, "Get dressed and call the boys."

"It's a trap and if we just show up. We bring the crew and it'll turn into an ambush. Tori could get caught in the crossfire."

"Of course it's a janking trap, but… Superman will beat us anyway."

"Would he be fast enough to rescue her?"

Beck practically growled as he answered, "If not… we kill every damn one of them."

Warehouse 7
Gotham Docks
Gotham City, NJ

Tori lifted her chin as she slowly returned to consciousness, her body aching and her head foggy. As her eyes opened, she saw that she was in a dimly lit room, an office of some sort. She began to try to figure out her location and how she got there, but Gibby stepped into view with a slight grin and warmly greeted the actress, "Hello Miss Vega."

Tori blinked and tried to focus on the sound of the unfamiliar voice. She turned her eyes to a tall and muscular built gentleman wearing a black and white mask with red outlining the eye sockets. She was startled by his appearance and instinctively struggled, realizing that she had her hands were tied behind her back. She looked over her shoulder to confirm the obvious of the thin rope around her wrists.

She looked back to her captor and demanded, "Who are you? Where am I?"

"You can call me Bane, Miss Vega. We're in one of the warehouses at the docks."

"Why am I here? Why did you kidnap me?"

He politely smiled. "Bait Miss Vega. My employer wants to rid himself of Mister Oliver and since it appears he's keen on protecting his friends, he'll come to your rescue and when he does… he'll die."

Tori's eyes nearly bugged out and demanded, "You're going to murder my friend?"

"Yes, it's the job, because he's caused a lot of problems for my client. However, I assure you that you have my word that you won't be harmed."

"That doesn't make me feel all that better."

"I'm sorry on that point, but you have my word. I made sure that you were bandaged from the prongs of the taser."

Tori knotted her brow then wiggled her back, feeling the medical tape on her back for the small bandages over where the prongs had penetrated her skin. She turned a hateful glare to him and shouted, "They could have hit my spine!"

"Fortunately they didn't. I heard you put up quite a fight."

The brunette actress hissed through clenched teeth, "Untie this rope and I'll give you that fight."

Gibby smile, tempted by the offer, but thought better of the simply show of ferocity by agreeing with her, "I'm quite sure you would, but I wouldn't want to hurt such a pretty thing like you." He laughed and finished with what he thought was a smooth remark, "I'd much rather take you out to dinner, but I doubt that'll happen now."

Tori glared and struggled a bit more with her bindings, ready to try to bite off his nose if he got close enough.

Author's note: Oh the tension. Cat lying, Jade's pissed, Beck wants to take the blame and Tori is in trouble. If it's not clear, Tori is Catwoman. I hope you enjoy and hope to have the next chapter out in the reasonable future. Thanks for reading.