Jonathan watched Elizabeth work with a furious intent from the balcony of the warehouse. She had stormed in an hour ago, interrupting his experimentation to improve his formula, and threw herself into the work but with each passing minute she became slower and her body became increasingly tense. Suddenly she pushed back from the workbench and grabbed one of the stray pipes that were lying around and began to beat some broken wooden crates.

"Fucking bastard! How dare he?!" She yelled as she swung the pipe wildly each strike breaking the boxes even more. It took several minutes but Elizabeth finally tired out. Dropping the pipe she seized her right arm a look of pain on her face.

"Damn it," she swore pulling up the sleeve of her T-shirt and examining the bandages underneath.

"Trouble with Edward?" He called from the balcony. She looked up surprised at Jonathan's presence. Her frustration must have dulled her perception for he had been taking no precautions to hide himself and as he had found out before hiding didn't work against her senses.

"Jonathan, hey, umm…sorry about the boxes."

"They were junk it but seeing how you've decimated them I can assume that Edward and you are fighting."

"Yes…no, I'm not sure. I'm pissed at him that's for sure though."

"Care to talk about it?"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "and why would you care?"

"If it is affecting your work I think I should know and it's not like you haven't told me your troubles before."

"Fine. I'll be right up." Elizabeth quickly made her way to the stairs and when she reached the balcony Jonathan had gone. "Jonathan?"

"In here." His voice said from the lab. She poked her head inside. "I hope you don't mind if I work with my chemicals while you talk."

"No, not at all." She sat in the empty chair by the door. "So Edward called me Echo this morning."

"Was he distracted?"

"Well he was going over some plans."

"Then there you go."

"But he did it twice! He didn't even catch it the first time!"

"What did he say?"

"Well I came up behind him and slid my arms around him and he said "Leave me alone, Echo". I pulled away waiting for him to realize his mistake and then he says "Echo, go help Query"! He didn't realize that it was me until I spun his chair around! God! Why did he think I was Echo when I wrapped my arms around him?"

"Echo always did that. It would annoy him very much."

"What?"

"She'd try and what was it? Oh yes "sexually tease him"."

"What!?" Elizabeth's face flushed red with anger. Why was she so angry? It didn't matter if Edward had sex with his ex-Henchgirls. Edward wasn't getting jealous over the men she had slept with before as far as she knew.

"It was only tease as far as I know though…" Jonathan rubbed his chin trying to think of a time when they might have hinted differently. "Yes, because Query and Echo are dominatrix and Edward would never let them have that much power over him."

Elizabeth smiled relieved at the statement, "so it is only because of the arms…good."

"You are comforted knowing that Edward wasn't sexually intimate with them, why?"

"Girl stuff, I guess, I never thought I'd be so shallow but they're just so much sexier than I am."

"So you are wondering why Edward would choose someone like you when he could have a Query or an Echo?"

"Yeah."

"You seem to have forgotten why Edward was originally interested in you. It wasn't your body it was your ability to keep him on his toes. Query and Echo may have desirable looks but they are predictable and very shallow."

Elizabeth smiled; Jonathan was right there was no reason to get upset. Hell, she knew Edward could be a ditz and forget the simplest of things when he was distracted. "You know for being the Lord of Despair you are still a pretty good therapist."

"Fear isn't just about screams, it's about what makes people tick; all their little insecurities can be steamed from an inner fear knowing them will lead to knowing the fear. Example: you said you fear failure but that's not the only thing you fear, you didn't tell me what else; however, through our discussions I'm a piecing together what that might be."

Elizabeth laughed nervously. Jonathan's eyes were glinting maliciously and he had stopped working on his chemical instead fingering a couple vials of his formula. "Well, thanks for letting me get that off my chest…I'll just go work on those devices some more." She slid out the chair and hurried out the door and down the stairs. Looking back up, she saw Jonathan peeking out from behind the shutters an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips.

She worked for several hours carefully to make sure Jonathan didn't approach her without her knowing. Elizabeth pulled back from her work after finishing a device and wiped the sweat off her forehead. There was a shuffling of feet behind her; Elizabeth glanced up at the office window Jonathan could still be seen working behind the shades. The feet shuffled again, someone was walking behind the row of boxes. She turned around and was greeted with a whiff of brown sugar.

"Edward?" The feet stopped and she heard them turn and start walking back to the pathway that led to her.

"Elizabeth?" Edward's head poked out from behind the crates and he began walking towards her.

"Are you sure I'm not Echo?" Elizabeth asked scathingly.

Edward scowled, "I've already admitted my error. Let it…oh." Edward trailed off at Elizabeth smirk of "really you fell for the still angry face?"

"I'm over it, vented my anger, talked with Jonathan and got some surprising good advice from the Master of Fear."

"That's nice, but we need to go."

"What? Why?"

"Let's just say the police have finally put out that warrant for your arrest."

"Oh, well shit."

"Yes. Come on, I've got a car outside." Edward gestured for her to follow him which did reeling slightly with the news. She was going to jail. It might take several more months but she couldn't hide forever. Elizabeth had always known that it was a possibility—no—a fact that one day Batman or the police would catch her but to know that she was now wanted.

The car rumbled against the street as Edward pulled away from the curb. They sat in silence for the first half of the journey, Elizabeth still lost inside her thoughts and Edward watching out for cops.

"How did you know I was there," Elizabeth asked breaking the silence.

"I am a genius remember," Edward said with a cocky smile.

"Of course, how could I forget…so, do you know what the warrant is for?"

"Last night, they found some of your blood at the crime scene. Also there is one for missing your court-ordered therapy sessions."

"Court-ordered…oh, wow, I completely forgot about those. I suppose Dr. Grout will be disappointed."

"Don't worry about him. I have a question for you though, what do you want to do?"

"About what?"

"The heist next week, do you still want to go through with it? You have enough large of enough manhunt going now, I'd understand if—"

"I'll still do it. You know what they say: in for a penny in for a pound. I might as well shout it out to the world that I'm a criminal rather than running and hiding all the time. Besides, if I have a warrant out for my arrest just think of the look on Veronica's face when she sees me. That's going to be priceless."

"What's with you and Veronica Leeland? I never asked but how'd you get the invite in the first place?"

"Oh, as you might know Veronica and I are both military-brats, our dads were both Majors in the Army, though mine was promoted to Colonel several years ago. Anyways we would always be at the same balls and galas and since we were the same age our fathers used us as bragging tools against each other. Veronica enjoyed it, I didn't, but when I was out shopping with my sister I ran into Veronica and she just had to invite me. I know she did it for the amusement of having her old rival at her ball but I'm sure it helped that I am now so interesting with being in Arkham and all. You know just like how she went to dinner with Penguin and invited him to her ball for the fun of it."

"I see, well I'm glad we've found something positive to do with her idiocy. I never did like that woman either but she's so fun to steal from." Elizabeth and Edward both started laughing. This heist was going to be one they never forgot.

A week and a half later, Elizabeth was in the basement giving her outfit finishing touches. Tonight was the night of their heist and she wanted to make sure everything was prepared for her first full fledge appearance on the villain scene. She ran her fingers over her black polymer that Tailor had kindly fashioned into amour. It was a bit bulkier than she had thought it would be but as a full bodysuit it only weighed 21 pounds far less than any Kevlar vest. Elizabeth set down her work and undressed, removing all but her underpants, then she slipped into the suit. It felt wonderful, a bit heavy and restrictive but as Elizabeth moved around she never felt freer.

Upstairs Edward was going over his mental checklist one last time. He had just called one of his men and told them to deliver the riddle, everything was set—no—there was still one thing missing…

"Elizabeth, are you ready?" He called down the stairs.

"Coming!" Elizabeth called back. "Turn around, alright." Edward obliged and he heard the door creak open and Elizabeth coming up the stairs. "Okay you can look now."

Edward turned around and his jaw went rather slack. Maybe it was a good thing Elizabeth hadn't agreed to be a Henchgirl as the outfit suited her perfectly. The polymer armour covered all but her head and hands and there was a streak of black paint across the bridge of her nose; but what completed the outfit were the pieces of wolf fur. The fur was wrapped around her forearms and calves like medieval gauntlets and greaves, and around her waist was a short fur skirt. She turned slightly and Edward saw a shortened wolf's tail hanging from the back of the skirt.

"Knocked you speechless again?" Elizabeth laughed when Edward didn't say anything.

Edward composed himself and smiled, "truly a vision. You won't even need to point a gun at a man's head to get him to fall on his knees before you."

"Oh, stop it you," Elizabeth said blushing though obviously pleased at Edward's compliment.

"Weapons?"

"Right here." She pulled her first gun from a holster sewn onto her suit near her ribcage, mostly hidden by her arms. Elizabeth put the gun back and pulled her newest gun out from the back of her skirt. Replacing the gun she ran a finger along the belt the clips that were cleverly hidden along her skirt, "And ammo is along here."

Edward nodded. "Good." He went to run his hand along Elizabeth's arm but she jerked her it back.

"Don't!"

"What?"

"Sorry, it's just that I put something in the fur." Elizabeth parted the fur to reveal a thin serrated blade hidden beneath. "There are five on each wrist and seven on my calves. I got the idea when you told me how Batman usually throws a tether line around your ankle to trip you up and how he grabs Harley by her wrists."

"Clever girl." Edward placed a hand on her shoulder instead and pecked her on the cheek. "Are you sure you don't want a mask though?"

"Yeah, I thought about it but it just doesn't seem right."

"Ok then, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Let's go meet the boys then." Edward and Elizabeth left the hideout and got into the rundown car Edward had lifted from the Narrows that was parked down the street. It was a relatively short drive to the warehouse where the thugs Edward had hired were waiting. Elizabeth hadn't met any of Edward's thugs before and was actually looking forward to seeing him action. It must have been her upbringing with the military but the idea of Edward barking orders at his men was very stimulating.

Edward turned the car down a side street and shut if off. They got out and walked the last few blocks. When they entered the warehouse Elizabeth was surprised to see at least twenty men milling around a table while two of them arm wrestled.

"I thought we only had fifteen men." She whispered to Edward.

"No, I have 15 men, the others are yours."

"Oh—wait—what!?"

"I should say flying your flag, as they will still be taking orders from me. Since you didn't want to be seen as a Henchgirl, I thought it appropriate to have your own thugs."

"Oh well okay, thank you, then." They both stop several feet from the men none of whom had noticed their arrival yet. Edward tapped his cane on the floor sharply the metal clicking loudly against the concrete. The thugs all jumped and scrambled to face them a few reaching for their guns before realizing they were in no danger.

"Boss!"

"Good evening, boys, glad to see you are wasting energy in frivolous contest rather than saving it in case the Batman interrupts us tonight." Edward's voice had taken on a sharp condescending tone that made Elizabeth's toes curl. This was even better than she thought it would be.

There were a few mumbled apologies but Edward dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "Since none of you seem to have injured yourselves, it does not matter. Now unless you high-school-dropouts are blind you might have noticed my partner for the heist. Boys meet Wolf, Wolf the boys."

"Evening everyone." Elizabeth said trying to make herself sound just as confident and dangerous as she should be.

"A chick?" One of the thugs said surprised. Elizabeth heard a few more cries of shock and indignation about her sex from the group.

"'A chick'? I can assure you gentlemen that Wolf here is no mere "chick"."

"I still ain't takin' orders from no broad."

"That's a double negative. Meaning you just said you will take orders from me, excellent welcome aboard."

"You's makin' fun of the way I talk?"

"No, no."

"Quiet all of you," Edward said coolly and the complaints ceased at once. "Wolf will be taking five of you under her command only for tonight. She is highly competent and you will give her the same respect you would give me. Failure to do so will result in your termination." The men shifted uncomfortably and Elizabeth forced a neutral expression. "Good, now get ready we'll be leaving in half an hour."

On top of the Gotham Police Department Gordon stood waiting for Batman to arrive. A letter from Riddler had been dropped off a few hours ago. As usual his men tried deciphering it before they had given up and Gordon had turn on the Batsignal. Gordon heard the tell-tale swish of a cape and knew one of the Bat-family had joined him.

"Batman?"

"Not tonight Commissioner," a female voice said from the corner of the building. Batgirl stepped from the shadows and into the dim light.

"The Riddler left this several hours ago, we tried to solve it but got nothing." He handed the costume clad girl the green question-marked envelope. She pulled out the paper and read the riddle aloud.

"Once upon a time there was a herd of sheep they baa-ed and ate green grass all day without a care in the world sure sometimes they were attacked by wolves but the big ram always drove the wolves back. One day though one of the sheep went rabid and fell into the wolves' den but they didn't eat the sheep instead they cared for her until she was a Wolf as well. Then the Wolf left the den and went back to the herd, some of the sheep were apprehensive but they accepted the Wolf back anyways because they still thoughts the Wolf a sheep, at their own cost of course.'

'That was a lovely story was it not? Reminds me of the old German fairytales I used to read as child. Such acceptance by the sheep is heartwarming, there is nothing better than being accepted but, of course, is has to be by the people who do not want you to hide. This is a Freeland after all there is no point is being yourself if you have to hide. So perhaps the story shall continue like this: The Wolf snuck her new wolf pack into the herd of sheep and became a true wolf by helping them kill the sheep.'

'What do you think? A pretty happy ending is it not?"

"So what do you think?" Gordon said when Batgirl had finished reading. "Will you be able to figure it out?"

"I'll try Commissioner, I've done it before but this one is extremely convoluted."

"You're telling me." Batgirl went to swing off when Gordon called out. "Oh and when you see Batman tell him that nothing has turned up on Elizabeth Howard yet."