Disclaimer: Everything belongs to DC et al. Except for the pseudo-science. That stuff is alllll me.

The town was eerily quiet as Bruce made his way back to the warehouse from where the teleport had deposited him. He expected to hear The Question mumbling to himself at least. He walked with even greater care, creeping down the alley until the ruined warehouse came into view.

The area was cordoned off, but local law enforcement wouldn't move in until the Justice League had cleared it. Sometimes departments put up a fuss about it, but the Riverton PD was perfectly happy to let the League do its thing, especially with the added threat of a contagion.

Bruce picked his way through the wreckage of the room where he and Diana had taken Giganta down. The villain had been taken to Metro Tower until she could be questioned. He moved into the main room, where most of the battle had taken place. It had been largely empty until Diana had brought the roof down. Nothing of interest here.

A shaft of moonlight shone through the doorway through which, less than an hour before, Bruce had carried Diana. He peered over the threshold. The entire room, including walls and floor, had vanished. There was a space beneath where the floor had been that he hadn't noticed before. There was no basement or cellar on the warehouse plans, at least the official ones. He shined a light into the darkness. It appeared sturdy, so he leapt lightly into the hole.

Despite what the official plans said, there was definitely a space down here. He could see a line of tables at a glance. He moved forward into the room. Thanks to his cowl, he heard the soft shfft and jumped back, just as someone lunged at him in the dark.

"Oh," came a voice. "It's you."

"Told you," Question replied from further ahead.

"What's she doing here?" Bruce asked, nodding briefly toward Huntress.

"Q cancelled our date. Third time this month." Huntress said, sounding disgruntled.

"So you invited yourself along?" Bruce asked.

She shrugged. "Sure. Nothing says romance like a warehouse on the verge of collapse."

Bruce let that comment lie. "What've you got?" He asked The Question.

"A room that shouldn't be here."

"Noticed that."

"It's not large enough to have produced the quantity of the MT Toxin that you found, but they were definitely doing some kind of testing down here."

There were a few microscopes, bottles of various chemicals, some labeled and some blank, and what looked like a mass spectrometer. Bruce looked through a stack of papers.

"Who was doing the testing?" Huntress poked idly at a test tube. "None of that bunch are exactly Marie Curie, you know?"

"Ah, that's one I can answer," Question said, "While you and the rest were at it here, I did some asking around town. Seems there were some strangers in town recently, staying at the motel."

"When did they check out?"

"Last week."

Bruce resisted the urge to growl, barely. "So it was a trap."

"It seems so." Question cleared his throat. "How is Wonder Woman?"

"Alive."

There was a short silence. Bruce wanted to bring Wally down, get his impression of the makeshift lab, but couldn't do so with Question and Huntress here.

"Alright, we're done here for now."

Huntress brightened. "We can go?"

"I never wanted you here," Bruce said.

"We can go! Come on, Q, you owe me dinner. And dessert." She sauntered out.

"You sure?"

"Yes. Go," Bruce told the other man.

Question shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Once they'd cleared the premises, Bruce called up to the Tower and requested Flash join him at the warehouse. In a matter of seconds, he heard the distinctive rumble above that heralded his teammate's arrival.

"Batman?"

"Down here," he called.

"Down whe-" The was a thump from the far side of the room. Flash stood from where he'd landed. "Oh. What's this?"

"Some kind of lab. I was hoping you could provide some insight."

"Insight? Me?"

"Yes. You," Bruce emphasized.

"Oh. That me. Well, okay, let's see here..." Wally zipped around the room, inspected each item at light speed, then reappeared next to Bruce. "They were testing the toxin, although in minute amounts. Combining it with tissue, too."

Which was exactly what Bruce had thought. "Any sense of who was doing the testing?"

"Someone with some knowledge of genetics, based on some of the notes here."

Bruce had looked at the same notes. "How can you tell?"

Flash shrugged. "Hard to explain. Has to do with how the testing was done. Our DNA tech in Central does the same thing."

"Interesting. Thanks." Bruce headed for the ladder in the corner of the room, which was presumably the actual method of entry, then turned back. "Oh. I'm going to suggest to Superman that you be the one to interrogate Giganta, since you two have such a rapport."

"We...do?"

"She seems to like you."

Flash blinked, as if he hadn't given any thought to it. "She does, doesn't she? And...after we took out Darkseid's magma tapper, she did kiss me."

Batman turned away. "Wonderful. See what you can get from her."

He started to climb the ladder. Flash spoke from behind him. "She'll be okay, Bats. Won't she?"

Bruce paused. "I don't know."

"I wish I hadn't used the rest of the mocha this morning. I wish-"

"Don't do that. It doesn't do any good."

"Yeah," he heard Flash say. "I know."

Back in the Bat Cave, Bruce was working up profiles. Based on Wally's information and additional questioning done in Riverton, he knew that the basement techs, whoever they were, had not been prisoner to the Society. He also had physical descriptions, which he had built a search algorithm around.

He'd been at it for hours when his eyes crossed. He sat back from the monitor and checked the time. He'd worked nearly through the night, but had yet to hear from J'onn about Diana. He pushed the worry to the back of his mind.

It was nearly dawn, and he had one more drop-in to make before the sun came up.

Bruce landed softly on the fire escape outside Jim Gordon's home office. As expected, the Commissioner was still awake. The light from his computer monitor reflected bright white off of his glasses in the dim light as he typed. Bruce tapped lightly on the window.

Jim glanced up, long since used to the occasional nocturnal Bat-visit. He made a few final keystrokes, then rose to admit Bruce.

"Batman," he said by way of greeting.

"Jim."

"Is this about what went down in Riverton tonight?"

"What do you know about it?"

Jim shrugged. "Not much. Just that there was a metahuman throw-down and a warehouse paid the price. Your people locked it down pretty quickly."

Which was about all he wanted the general public to know. "Basically. But you should know that we've come across a potential threat to Gotham. Have you heard anything about a toxin being produced or transported here?"

Jim thought for a moment. "No. But we have had reports of equipment going missing from local labs."

Bruce knew about those. "Yeah. Keep your ear to the ground. This stuff shows chemical properties I've never seen before, and it's fatal if inhaled or ingested."

"Thanks for the intel."

"Related to that-any scientists or lab techs go missing recently?"

"Now that you mention it...yes. But it was odd."

"Howso?"

"A geneticist was reported missing by his husband, but it hadn't been 24 hours, so he couldn't file a report. He called back later to say he'd been mistaken."

"His husband showed up?"

"I don't know. Didn't give it much thought, honestly. My guys figured the situation had resolved itself."

"Got a name?"

Jim turned to his monitor. "Yes. Dr. Travis Kellion. Does that help-?" Jim turned to discover he was speaking to an empty room. Of course. He shut the window, then switched off the light.

Batman pulled up Dr. Kellion's address using the Batmobile's onboard computer, then had the computer recite relevant information about the man as he drove. He tried to focus on what he was hearing, but the image of Diana lying pale and still in the Watchtower infirmary was seared on his brain. He was tempted to call and check up on her, but he knew that J'onn would keep his word. Calling would only distract the Martian, and Bruce wanted him totally focused on Diana.

They all tended to think of Wonder Woman as immortal, but that wasn't strictly the case. Amazons were hardier than humans, true, and while they were eternally youthful, they could be killed. Throughout centuries of warfare, many of them had been. Even Diana, whose suspect parentage indicated she might even be a demi-god, could be killed.

He'd spent so much time considering what watching him age and die would do to her that he'd never considered that she might go first. He felt foolish, an unfamiliar sensation to be sure, and terrified anew.

He parked around the corner from the Kellions' house, and struggled to remember what had been recited to him on the way. Right. Travis Kellion was married with three kids. His husband was Darren. His kids were Jordan, age eight, Lindsay, six, and Henry, 9 months.

Bruce surveyed the house when it came into view. Located in a modest Gotham suburb, it was small but neat, with a basketball hoop in the drive and kids' bikes parked on the porch. All but one of the first floor windows were dark. The front window shades were drawn, so Bruce couldn't see in them even with the night vision on his cowl. He switched to thermal imaging and scanned the house.

There were two adult-sized signatures on the first floor, and one adult and two child-sized signatures on the second floor. Switching the thermal off, Bruce crept around the back of the house to peek in the one lit window. Two men sat in the kitchen. Bruce didn't recognize their faces, but he knew the type. Hired thugs. A gun lay on the table between them.

Bruce doubted the Society would have ordered more than two men to guard one small family, so the adult on the second floor was probably Darren Kellion. It seemed excessive to use a grapple on the little house, so he scaled a trellis and made his way quietly across the roof towards the one lit window on the second floor.

He stopped to look in the darkened room which had registered the smaller heat signatures. In it were two twin beds. The boy, Jordan, slept sprawled on his stomach underneath sheets decorated with stars and planets. His sister was curled under a comforter emblazoned with Wonder Woman's insignia and had her arms wrapped around a stuffed Flash. It seemed Wally had fans even in Gotham.

Bruce continued to the lit window, which a glance told him was the nursery. Darren Killion sat inside, rocking his fussy child. He looked exhausted. Bruce considered his options, then tapped lightly on the window. The man inside looked up blearily. His eyes widened when he spotted Batman. He raised a single finger, then walked to shut the nursery door. Still bouncing his son, Darren unlatched the window.

"Do you know where they've taken Travis?" He asked in a whisper, as soon as Batman had stepped inside.

"No. He went missing last week?"

Darren nodded. "It was his turn to pick Jordan and Lindsay up from Tae Kwon Do class. Travis can get wrapped up in his work, but he always gets to their class early to watch them. He was a red belt back in high school. He never misses a class."

"So when he didn't show, you reported him missing."

"I guess they didn't figure on me noticing so soon, because they didn't show up until dinnertime."

"The men downstairs?"

Darren nodded again. "First they told me that they were from the lab, that Travis had to go on an emergency trip. Well, I didn't buy that. Travis is meticulous. He'd never leave for a trip on the fly like that. I tried to close the door on them, and that's when they showed me their guns. They've been here ever since. Said we're their insurance policy, in case Travis won't cooperate. Cooperate with what? Who are they?"

Darren's voice had gotten louder, and the baby started to cry.

Bruce went to the door, but could hear no movement from the men below.

"He's teething." Bruce turned to face Darren. The other man nodded at his son. "Henry's teething. He's been crying off and on all night."

"Mr. Kellion. We don't know where your husband is, but we are looking. I wish I could tell you that I was here to take out those men, but the fact is that as long as they're here, Travis is safe."

Darren sighed. "I know that. I'm sorry."

"But the situation isn't hopeless. The League will send someone to keep an eye on you. You won't know they're here, but should anything change inside this house, you will have immediate back-up."

The other man's eyes filled with tears. "Thank you," he gasped, "You have no idea how much that helps."

Bruce made for the window.

"Please," Darren spoke behind him. "Bring him back to us safe."

"I'll try."

Back in the Batmobile, Bruce called the Watchtower. Mr. Terrific answered. "I located the family of one of the people the Society took, a Dr. Kellion. They're on house arrest to ensure Kellion's good behavior-two armed guards, human. I'm transmitting the address now. We need to establish a monitor. I recommend Black Canary."

"Roger that, Batman. We'll send someone down immediately."

"Good."

"Actually, your timing is impeccable. J'onn was just about to contact you."

"Batman," came the Martian's carefully modulated voice.

"Yes."

"She's awake."

Bruce nearly pulled the car over, the wave of relief that hit him was so strong. Instead he took a deep breath and programmed the Batmobile to pilot itself home.

"I'll be there soon."

A/N: Batman isn't good at waiting. He's better at creeping about.

I hope you enjoyed the little Kellion family because they are my favourite thing ever and I love them.