***5 years later.

Sid sat on top of a crate in an abandon warehouse near the ace chemical factory. She looked at her watch the thugs she hired where over an hour late and her patience's was wearing thin. Tapping her foot she finally heard a van pull up outside and then three thugs dressed as Arkham guards entered the building dragging two men wearing the orange Arkham jumpsuits of patients. Their wrists were handcuffed behind their backs and heads covered in with pillow cases.

"We want more money," a thug demanded as he pulled a gun on Sid. "Since you failed to tell us who we were helping escape, you thought you were being sneaky just giving us their inmate numbers."

"If you're going to pull a gun on someone be sure you can shoot them before they kill you," she said shooting him in the exposed neck, then taking out the other two before they could pull out their guns. "Besides, I do not renegotiate, especially with the dead."

"Get this thing off of my head," Crane said calmly with a murderous undertone.

"No one likes it when you're cranky," Sid informed him as she pulled the pillowcase off his head. "Besides if you just escaped before the normal deadline I wouldn't have had to resort to this."

"You couldn't just go the normal route and hire goons to blow up the asylum! You always have to have these over complicated schemes," he said as she found the keys to the hand cuffs Crane was wearing from one of the dead thugs. "Besides goons are cheap labor, how much did this cost?"

"Actually this only cost me ten thousand now," she informed him as she unlocked the cuffs. "It was supposed to be twenty, ten upon delivery but they wanted to renegotiate." Tires were heard squealing as the van that brought them here was heard driving away. "One lucky bastard just got his pay without a bullet."

"If you two lovers are done quarreling," Nigma said as he finished picking his handcuffs and dropped them to the floor. "I would like to leave before Batman finds out we escape."

"Already thought of that," she said as she tossed a plastic bag full of Nigma's clothes at him. "He's busy with Joker across town at his hideout, apparently some goon let it slipped where Joker's new hideout is and somehow it got back to the bat."

"Well if it's the Joker then who cares," Nigma laughed as he went behind a crate to change. "Remember Sid no peeking, you know how jealous he gets."

"Why did you free him?" Crane whispered to Sid as she handed him his clothes.

"The kid needed help on his calculus homework," she replied smirking at him. "Besides I've seen him in boxers once and I'm still scarred."

"She's lying," Nigma said as he reemerged dressed in a green shirt and jeans. "Sid just doesn't know how to admit her feelings for me because she knows you would go homicidal."

"When you're done being an idiot I'll be in the car," Sid huffed before she stormed off.

"When will you stop being a jackass," Crane said as Nigma let out a laugh.

"Just get dressed so we can get out of here," Nigma replied before he went to find Sid, who was leaning against her black charger smoking a mini cigar. "Thought you quit."

"Dealing with you raised my stress levels so I started up again," she said before taking another drag then slowly exhaling the smoke. "Besides old habits are hard to quit."

"And you do have a lot of old habits that you just can't seem to quit," he stated quietly as Crane approached them. "How many does he know about is the question."

"Shut it," she growled as she stomped out her cigar and entered the car slamming the driver side door.

"We are not even out an hour and you two are at each other throats," Crane sighed as he walked around to the passenger side. "You are not to speak Edward for the entire ride or I will throw you out of the car."

"I just love it when you threaten me," Nigma relied before getting into the back seat. "We are such a happy bunch of friends. If we weren't so evil they would call us the Brady Bunch."

"Last warning," Crane stated and Nigma sat back and crossed his arms glaring at the back of his head. "Since when are you smoking again?"

"I just started again," she huffed as she started up the car and pulled out of the factory. "Besides you aren't my father."

"No, I'm just the father of your child," he reminded her and she gripped the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles where turning white. "As long as you do not smoke around Nathan I have no problem with it."

"Gee thanks," she huffed as she navigated the dark streets of Gotham.

The car ride back to the apartment building was silent except for the roar of the engine and the screeching of tires when she made a sharp right turn a little fast. Once they arrived back at the apartment building she parked the car and headed straight for the elevator. Crane barely had time to enter before the doors closed

"Are you going to tell me what he said to set you off this time?" he asked as the elevator heading up towards their apartment.

"Nothing," she sighed staring at her boots. "I'm just tired and it's been a long night."

"I can gas his apartment you just give me the word," he replied earning a little laugh from her. He knew something was bothering her but he wasn't going to pry, that was a silent rule of their relationship. She would tell him when she was ready.

"Don't worry about it," she said as the doors opened to their apartment and a beagle puppy came running towards them.

"I thought I said no to the puppy idea," he replied as the puppy excitedly peed at their feet.

"Well it's hard to say no to your son when you aren't home and he makes me feel guilty about you not being here," she replied picking up the dog and headed towards the front door of the apartment. "Tomorrow morning you can discuss with him about how you said no to getting Sigmund here. Now I'm going to walk this pup to make sure he gets all his pee out and then I'm going to bed."

"Who's going to clean this up?" he asked pointing to the wet spot on the floor and she just shrugged her shoulders and walked out the door. "I'm not cleaning this up!"

"No one would expect you too," Deka stated coming out of the kitchen, her German accent barely noticeable anymore, with a bucket of cleaning supplies. "Don't worry I'm apparently the puppy's personal made."

"Thanks," he muttered to Deka before heading towards his bedroom. This was the life he now led. He was a criminal and a family man and he had to be the bad guy once again because there was no way that dog was going to stay. It was a strange journey to get here but they make it work somehow, and he couldn't have been more pleased.

Thank you Booklover1698 and chronic sandman for the reviews. This is where I will be ending this story and starting a new tale coming soon called the Liars of Gotham.