Author's Note: It feels so good to be back and I'm super excited every time I get into my email and see a new review/message from you guys. It does mean a lot and believe it or not, helps me fight this crippling anxiety/depression I'm always fending off. Seriously, it means the world. And I know, I'm not the most faithful updater but I'm really trying harder to stick with this and like I said, I'm working on something completely new and totally different which I hope to have up soon. XOXOXOXO

Joker had grabbed Bruce by the collar and retreated to the safety of the rental car outside leaving Selina, Harley, Talia, and Bane in the Land of Awkward which had been the hotel lobby only 5 minutes before. No one had moved and eyes were darting all over the room trying to avoid eye contact with anyone else. Selina's first instinct was to bolt. Grab Harley and run for the elevators, but for some reason her brain was unable to send the signal down to her legs. Bane had no idea what to do. Running seemed pointless and he wasn't sure what exactly Selina and Harley were thinking but they were both...well Selina was an intelligent person who could put two and two together. Hell, a drunk monkey with a 3 point IQ could put this together. Talia's mind shut down. The man she had always chased was in Austria, chasing her enemy. She was there running from the man who loved her. It was all such a mess. Harley was humming Once Upon a Dream in her head.

The awkward silence had to end and Selina decided to be the one to do it. "Alright, so clearly this is all very awkward and weird. So, we're just going to go back up to our room and pretend it didn't happen. As far as this getting out, I can guarantee your secret is safe with us. Truth be told, I don't know who would believe us anyway."

"I can agree to this," Talia replied.

"Fine," Bane grunted. He then noticed something familiar hanging out of Harley's pocket. "Are those my underwear?"

Oswald twirled the little hot pink cell phone in his left hand while his right hand ashed his cigarette. Holly sat in the chair that had been occupied by their now deceased coat check girl. The mess in the lounge had been cleaned up by Oswald's personal body guards merely minutes ago. Holly wondered as she usually did when someone met their end at the Iceberg, what happened to them, their families. Two people had died so far today and they weren't even open for business yet. She refused to look at the newspapers or even turn on the news anymore. She thought the guilt would eat at her if there was a missing person's report.

"What do we do now?" Holly asked trying to get the bad thoughts out of her head.

"We need someone with computer skills," Oswald answered.

"Why?"

"She used this phone to contact the Tipster, we can run the number, and possibly run a trace if they have the equipment."

"Who do we know with equipment to do this?"

"Batman," Oswald joked.

"I'll go hit the Batsignal."

"I think we'll need a plan B."

Holly started going through the files in her brain. There had to be someone she knew who could help them out. "Jervis has some computer knowledge."

"He knows more about mind control devices than taps and traces."

"Think Gordon would want to lend a hand?"

"Yes, actually."

Holly gave him a sideways look. "I don't think commissioner Gord..."

"Not that Gordon. But perhaps Miss Gordon would be inclined."

"Barbara?"

"Yes. I seem to recall she's quite the techie."

"How do you know that?"

"You forget my dear, before the Tipster I was the well of information in Gotham. I make it my business to know whose who and what's what."

"Fair enough. But how do we get her to help?"

Oswald plucked Holly's phone up off the desk and tossed it to her. "I would start with making a phone call to Dick Grayson."

"What? Why me?"

"Because I didn't date him. Your ex. Your call."

It was a silent ride back to the hotel, minus the screams of the pedestrians and other motorists that occupied the same street Joker was driving on. Bruce wondered several times if he should take over the wheel but in the end he just blew those thoughts aside and allowed chaos to reign supreme. Afterall, hadn't the gates of Hell already taken over? Was that not just Talia awkwardly gaping at him in the hotel lobby with Bane? Talia in Vienna. Talia in Vienna where Selina had run to. Talia in Vienna where Selina had run to with Bane, his enemy. His enemy. Joker was his enemy. His enemy driving his rental car like James Bond. Were those the four horsemen of the apocalypse that just rode by on the sidewalk? When did the car hop the curb onto the sidewalk? Ah Hell.

The car screeched to a halt in front of their hotel sending the waiting valet jumping to safety in the neighboring bushes, yelling obscenities in a bevy of European languages and Bruce was pretty sure one of the hub caps followed him. Joker tossed the keys into the bushes with a "Don't scratch the paint kid" and walked inside. Bruce followed offering the young man an apologetic smile.

"I think there's a small child or two under the car," Bruce grumbled following Joker into the elevator.

The clown shrugged and lit a cigarette. "Look both ways before crossing the street."

"Yes that is a good lesson but when the oncoming car is driving on the wrong side of the road and on the sidewalk, it becomes moot."

"Who says that?"

"What?"

"Moot."

"I do. I just did."

"It's so pretentious."

"Preten...pretentious?! Coming from the man in the coat and tails smoking a hand rolled cigarette. Pretentious," Bruce grumbled. "Who wears spats?" Joker turned his menacing smile toward him. Normal would back away from the Clown Prince of Crime at that moment, beg for forgiveness and for a higher power to intervene. Batman usually got a thrill at this moment knowing the fight was about to begin. Bruce Wayne, trapped between normal person and Batman just matched the sinister sneer with his best "I dare you" stare. The doors to the elevator opened, an elderly couple started to step on but feeling the wall of tension, stepped back off deciding to wait for the next one. Neither of the men noticed, wrapped up in their macho standoff. They went up 4 more floors and stopped. The doors opened again, this time it was their floor. They shuffled sideways out into the hall, neither daring to break eye contact. Bruce, not sure if looking away would seal his fate (Billionaire Bruce Wayne was found dead in the hallway of a hotel in Vienna, witnesses say they saw a bloody clown fleeing the scene), Joker amused that finally someone, other than the Bat, was taking a stand against him.

Bruce fished around his pocket for his wallet which contained the keycard for their room. Left back pocket empty, same as back right and the front ones. "We have to go down to the front desk. I forgot my wallet in the room."

"Alright."

They shuffled back over to the elevator. Bruce punching the button, eyes still locked on his "bestie's". The elevator arrived, the doors opened, the duo did their sidestep on, the doors closed, down they went, doors opened, shuffle off, and across the lobby they went. The other patrons glanced at the strange behaviour and even though Bruce couldn't hear what they were saying he was sure it was something along the lines of "Thos ridiculous Americans."

The front desk attendant did his best to keep a professional face and asked "Can I help you sirs?"

"I locked my key in the room."

"Ah, I am sorry to hear that Mr. Wayne. I will take you up to your room and unlock the door for you." For that poor hotel employee, it was the longest and most terrifying elevator ride of his life. He quickly lept off the platform as soon as the doors opened and slammed the keycard into the reader. He flung the door open and bolted back to the elevator and frantically pushed the lobby button, breathing a sigh of relief when the doors closed and separated him from the showdown in the hall.

Unable to fit through the door side by side, they had to rotate so that Bruce was walking backward into the room. Jackets were shed, shoes kicked off, and then finally Joker said "I forgot why we were in a staring contest but I feel the tension is going in a sexual direction with the shedding of clothes."

Immediately both men broke and eye contact and found other things in the room to focus their attention on. Bruce had already somehow slipped into a friendship (albeit a shaky one) with the Joker, he was not ready to be bedded by him. It was a club he never wanted membership to.

Bane had reclaimed his underwear, not bothering to ask why the girls had them in the first place. Everything was in a state of awkward that had not been seen since the Christmas party of 04. Hugo Strange, spiked eggnog, and an overstuffed Lazy Boy recliner belonging to Edward Nigma that was never the same again and on the curb by the new year. The details of this night were to never be discussed, the same rule had been agreed upon for this particular incident now. Come to think of it, there were many nights that were never to be discussed in their circle. Selina and Harley did their less than graceful soft shoe out of the lobby and back up to their room leaving Talia and Bane alone.

"Can we go back upstairs now?" Bane asked.

"For what?"

"To talk."

"What is there to talk about?"

"Whatever the hell sent you running out the door!" he shouted. A few hotel patrons casted a curious glance their way. Bane lowered his voice and continued, "You came all this way and ran out on me. I think you owe me an explanation."

"I don't owe you anything. I don't owe anyone anything," she huffed.

"Bullshit you don't." He began to reach for her but she quickly slipped from his grasp and headed to the elevators.

Bane didn't follow her. He didn't have to hear it, he knew it was over between them.

Talia didn't know what she was doing anymore. Once certain and confident in all her choices, she was now constantly questioning herself and every decision she ever made. Here, alone, in a foreign country (not that any place ever really felt like home, except for maybe Metropolis as of late) she felt vulnerable and lost. She had hastily pressed a button on the panel. She really had no idea where she was going or why she hadn't just left the hotel altogether. Her bag was still in Bane's room but she had no real interest in reclaiming her belongings. The doors opened and she stumbled into the hall. She just needed to walk for a bit. Regain her composure and then she could leave. Except her passport was with everything else in Bane's room. "Damn it," she hissed putting her back against the wall and sliding down to the floor. Talia had always been accused of being a spoiled little girl, used to getting her way and throwing a tantrum when she didn't. There, crying on the floor and wiping her tears on her shirt sleeve, she felt like it.

"How am I going to get home?" she sniffled wiping her eyes again.

"I can't believe it was her!" came the shrill familiar voice of Harley Quinn echoing down the hallway.

"Look, stranger hookups have happened in our circle," this time it was Selina's voice.

Talia picked herself up off the floor. With tears still clinging to her eyes and a nose full of snot, she made her way toward the only other two people she knew in Vienna. With each door she lingered for a second waiting to see if that was the room the voices were coming from until she was halfway to the end and heard Harley's giggles. She ran a hand through her hair trying to gain some kind of composure which was completely lost when Selina opened the door after she knocked.

Selina stood there stunned as she held a mess of a woman which she barely recognized as the high and mighty Talia Al Ghul. She turned to Harley for help who only shrugged. Selina dragged the woman inside their room and dumped her unceremoniously into a chair. "Alright, what the hell is going on?"

"She's crying," Harley answered plainly.

"Yeah, I can see that. I want to know what is going on with her," she replied gesturing toward the lump in the chair.

"Ah. That."

Selina pulled Talia up into a sitting position and forced her to look at her. "What is going on?"

"You don't care."

"Ordinarily, no, I wouldn't give a damn what was wrong with you but since you showed up on my doorstep crying, I'm intrigued."

Talia wiped her nose again. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Let's start with the current problem and we can tackle the other psychological issues later," Harley joked.

"I need to go." Talia stood up and made for the door but Selina stopped her and ushered he back to the chair.

"No, sit down. Look, I'm not a complete bitch and neither is she. No more jokes I swear."

She took a deep breath and began, "I've been cheating on Lex with Bane."

"That's fairly obvious."

"I love him."

"Bane?" Harley asked.

"Lex."

"Then why..."

"I don't know! I just...Lex is so...and I...I panicked! I spent so long chasing the unattainable," here she threw a glance in Selina's direction, "that now I feel so lost with how easy this is."

"I wish I had it as easy," Harley muttered.

"It's not supposed to be easy."

"Says who?"

"Isn't that the mark of true love? It has to be a difficult painful journey?"

"You need to lay off the Nicholas Sparks novels. I would kill to have what you have. I spent more years than I can count chasing after someone who finally figured out his feelings for me only to turn around and ruin it all by having a one nighter with a tramp of a waitress. But before I figured that out, he told me he didn't love me. Now I can't figure out what the hell to do with myself or him. At this particular moment, I kind of wish he would just take a header off the top of his hotel," Harley fumed. "You both have it easy! But you're both so fucking stupid you can't accept a good thing when you have it! I have been running around Europe helping this ostrich stick her head in the sand all the while her lover has been hot on our heels! You both claim to be so different, bad mouthing each other and getting into fights but at the end of the day you're both the same little bitch crying in the corner." Harley grabbed her purse and left, slamming the door behind her.

Selina and Talia sat there staring lamely at the door. Neither one was quite certain how the bubbly blonde became so enraged but they were also not willing to chase after her to face her wrath.

"I hate when she hits the nail on the head like that," Selina muttered.

"How often does it happen?"

"More than you would think."

"So..."

"I'm going to let her walk off that anger."

"I mean about you and Bruce."

"I'd rather work on your problem."

"My problem," Talia snorted.

"If you love Lex, why hide in Bane?"

"Do I love him?"

"You said you did."

"I loved Bruce."

"And?"

"And that clearly didn't work out."

"Did you really love him or did you just love corrupting him?"

"What?"

"I think you loved having forbidden fruit. But eventually, if you had him, you would've grown bored and tossed him aside. Especially if he gave up his crusade and joined the League of Shadows."

"What makes you different?"

"While the whole boy scout routine annoys me, it's what I love about him. I can't love Bruce without Batman. If he ever hangs up the cape and cowl, I can live with that but I couldn't live with him giving up the morals and ideals."

"Lex has no morals."

"I wouldn't go that far. They're just not conventional."

Talia smiled.

"You love him. Let go of the ghosts of boyfriends past and just be happy."

"Do you plan on taking your own advice?"

"You know what? For the first time in a long time, I am."

Harley angrily stormed the streets of Vienna. Her mind a whirl of obscenities and incoherent thoughts that all bubbled over causing her to foam at the mouth. People sensed the tension radiating off her and cleared a path on the busy sidewalk. The nerve of those two! Yes, Harley had suggested Selina run away with her. Yes, it was probably her own fault they were in this deep. And yes, perhaps no one's situation was that different from the others' but Harley still felt like she was in a hopeless situation while those two were being idiots. Especially Talia. She stopped walking and leaned up against an ornate building. She looked up toward the sky, her view blocked by large gargoyles. It reminded her of home, of Gotham. She could picture Batman atop one of those stone monsters peering out into the city waiting for even a whiff of trouble. She almost missed Batman at that moment. She began to walk again, this time more slowly and leisurely. There was nothing more to be done anywhere else in the world, it was time to go back to Gotham. She missed Ivy, Harvey, the gang. She missed having a bed of her own, not one she was renting. And, even though she dreaded the idea, the news would break about Joker and she wanted to be there to meet it head on.

The door to a café opened to her left and a small group of people apologized for knocking into her as they left. Harley could smell the fresh baked pastries and espresso coming from inside and while it wasn't cold out, there was a chill in the air and the warmth spilling out onto the street made it that more inviting. The final nail in the coffin was the fresh plate of red velvet cupcakes they placed on the counter. She whipped through the door and joined the small line. After she received her red velvet cupcake and simple vanilla latte, she snagged a small table in the corner next to the window so she could watch the world. She noticed someone had left a tourist pamphlet on the window sill. She picked it up and gave it a look through. It was filled with a lot of interesting historic buildings and trendy shops but one thing did catch her eye, Beethoven's grave.

Harley was not raised in a house of finery. She wouldn't even know the name Beethoven had it not been for a music teacher in grade school who thought the children could do with a bit of culture not just catchy school yard rhymes accompanied by an acoustic guitar. She was six and immediately enamored with the soft sound of the piano which would suddenly become brash and commanding. She wanted to hear more and learn everything about the man behind the music. Her teacher, whose name was long forgotten, was ecstatic that one of the sticky little trolls showed interest. She managed to dig up a book more for children about Beethoven and Harley devoured the information inside over recess. While the other kids floated down slides, glided through the air on swings, or chased each other round and round, Harley sat on the steps leading up to the school and cried while trying to wipe her tears off the pages of the book. The next day she sadly handed the book back to the teacher, new tears every time she thought about it.

"Whatever is the matter dear?" the teacher asked concerned that the brightest crayon in the box had suddenly become dark.

"He couldn't hear it. He played beautiful songs but he couldn't hear it," Harley sobbed. The teacher gathered the crying child in her arms and tried to soothe her and felt a sense of pride at the same time. One of the heathens had an appreciation for something more than candy and cartoons and that was astounding all in its own but to have such an emotional reaction to it was almost too good to be true.

Harley tried her own hand at piano the following year. It had taken that long to get her mother to agree to the lessons but unfortunately she didn't have the knack for it. But her affinity for Ludwig Von Beethoven carried on. She collected his music when she would come across it, books as well, and Immortal Beloved had a permanent place in her movie collection and was watched frequently. One of his letters had been tucked into her notebooks all through college and in her first months at Arkham where Joker had found it and used the words in his own love letter to her. That had always made her sentimental and angry at once. He had used the words of someone else to woo her but at the same time they represented the situation at hand and were words that had enchanted her.

Here she was in the city that had given her the musical genius that was Beethoven and she was moping in a café. There were other notable Beethoven-related destinations in the pamphlet as well. Harley scarfed down the rest of her cupcake and ordered a tea to go.

Selina wasn't sure when she had agreed to traipse up to Bane's room and get Talia's things back but here she was none the less, standing at his door. He gladly handed over Talia's suitcase and purse. "this is sufficiently awkward," she tried to joke.

Bane only grunted.

"Look, I just want to say again, I'm not going to talk about this to anyone and neither is Harley so..."

"What did she say?"

"Harley?"

"Talia."

"Oh. Um, she just...she..." Selina kept trying to grasp for a nice way to say the ugly truth but there wasn't one and a lie would be a mess. "She loves Lex."

"I know."

"She loves him and this was a mess to hide from it. I'm sorry."

"I like her, I'm not in love with her."

"You seem upset."

"Well, no one cares to be rejected."

"I guess."

"I'll be alright."

"Sure big guy?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, but before I go, gotta ask, are you a big guy or..."

"Goodbye Selina." Bane closed the door in her face and she walked back over to the elevator to deliver Talia's luggage.

Bruce had decided there was far too much awkward in the suite now and he needed fresh air. He wandered a little too far and a little too long. He wouldn't say he was lost, because he was a man afterall, but he was certainly unfamiliar with the surrounding area. His phone had been left behind along with his wallet leaving asking for directions his only option when he spotted a blonde head bobbing up and down in the crowd across the street. As Batman, he was rarely excited by the sudden appearance of the hyper active jester girl but Bruce Wayne always seemed to come across her at the right moment. Without looking, or thinking really, he dashed across the street. Drivers honked their horns and tossed out a bevy of colorful obscenities and Bruce gave a half assed apologetic wave. He caught up to Harley rather quickly, mostly because he ignored the people he knocked out of the way.

"You would not believe how glad I am to see you," he cried grabbing her arm and spinning her round to face him. Momentarily he wondered if he could have been mistaken but once he caught sight of her face he knew he had the right woman.

"Hey Brucie!" Harley replied slightly bewildered.

"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you it's just I've been walking..."

"He isn't with you is he?"

"Oh, no. He's back at the hotel. I was just out walking and I seem to have misplaced myself."

"You're lost?"

"No, just turned around."

Harley gave him a wink and a smirk.

"Alright, I'm lost. I'm lost, I'm without my phone, and I'm also without my wallet."

She giggled. "Want me to get you a cab?"

"I can pay you back once we're at the hotel."

Harley waved it off. "That's alright. I'll just send you on your way."

"No, I insist. I hate to ask you for a favor."

"No really I don't mind. Besides, I'm kind of doing a tour."

"What kind of tour?"

"Beethoven locations. I was just actually on my way to his grave."

"Beethoven?" Bruce asked in disbelief.

"You sound shocked."

"I just never pictured you as a classical music girl."

"Just Beethoven."
"Why?"

She shrugged. "He just captured my interest I guess."

Bruce nodded. He himself enjoyed Beethoven as well as Bach and Brahms. "So is this a solo pilgrimage or would you like some company?"

Harley smiled. "I would love to have an escort!"

He offered her his arm and they continued down the street. Bruce listened intently as Harley told him all about how she got into the music of Ludwig Von Beethoven. Every time they were together he learned something absolutely fascinating about the blonde beauty. He supposed he learned something fascinating about all the rogues when he spent time with them. They entered the gates of the cemetary and crossed the well manicured lawn. Harley seemed to have a general idea where they were going so he allowed her to lead.

She found it easily enough. Her jubilant smile falling into a somber look of contemplation, the way some people looked upon entering a church or looking at a crucifix. For Harley Quinn, this was her religion in a way. Bruce allowed her to walk up alone and lay a single white rose she had purchased from a street vendor on the way. He liked the way she looked kneeling down with her pixie-like features in a sad glow. It reminded him of himself on his trips to see his parents. Then another sad thought hit him, did she do this for her parents? Were they alive? He seemed to recall Selina mentioning her mother was a bit discouraged with her daughter and had actually given her the brush off during her engagement to the Riddler. Her father was a mystery to him. She seemed like a girl with daddy issues to be sure. He realized she was suddenly standing in front of him again.

"You looked deep in thought," Harley said.

"My mind was trying to wander."

"Be careful, it might end up where I found you."

"It has a history of wandering."

"Where does it go?"

"All sorts of places. Today it was wandering to you."

"Oh?"

"Just, watching you mourn, it made me think of..."

Harley's soft smile fell and that sad look was back. He didn't have to say it, she knew exactly what he meant. "Oh." She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the gates to leave.

"Your parents..."

"Yeah?"

"Are they..."

"No. Not really but in a way. My mother would like to erase my existence and my father is serving a life sentence. I don't mind having a crook for a father I mean, how could I? But he decided a long time ago that he wasn't a father. He didn't even really try. He just...bailed. I saw him here and there, between jail time, mostly when he needed money, but that was about it."

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that two terrible people live on this planet while two wonderful people were taken from it."

Bruce stopped walking and looked at Harley. It was like seeing her for the first time. He stroked the side of her face softly, not in a romantic way but more familial. "You're a surprise wrapped in a wonder."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yes. A very good thing."

They continued on and Bruce decided then and there that while Batman would have to deal with Harley Quinn when the time came, Bruce Wayne would take care of Harley the rest of the time. And in taking care of her, he would have to thwart his best friend's plans of winning her back because in the end, he was not good for her. He was ruining her. And by keeping him away perhaps Batman would never have to cross paths with Harley Quinn in that way again.

Talia sat on Selina's bed contemplating her next move. Something that was annoying Selina since she wished to take a nap. After giving her nemesis he luggage, she expected her to leave but Talia had shown no signs of vacating the room. Instead she seemed content to just sit there staring into the abyss and Selina had had enough. "Alright lady, what's up now?"

"Huh?"

"You're sitting on my bed. You have your suitcase, your purse, and yet you're not leaving."

"I'm sorry."

"Still not leaving."

"I don't know where to go."

"I thought we agreed we were going to go be happy. Happy for you would be running back to Metropolis and having sex with Lex which rhymes and makes me giggle." And true to her word, she giggled.

"What do I tell him?"

"Lie. It never happened. You were with daddy and you just go on with life."

"Lie?"

"It's not like it's a new concept for you."

"I know but..."

"But nothing honey look, I don't know that man well but I do know something about men which is they prefer not to know shit like this. Now, I know you probably feel guilty but here's the thing, had you gone through with this recent bout of bury your head in the sand sex, you wouldn't have told him so why bother telling him what didn't happen?"

"You're right."

"I know."

"You're a smart woman Selina Kyle."

"That's why they call me a smart ass and not a dumb ass."

"Alright, I am going to run to the store across the way, pick up a couple things and then I'll be out of your hair promise. Can I get you anything?"

"Oreos."

"Well the demon spawn has finally popped up on our radar! Talia Al Ghul has joined the party in Vienna. Is she gal paling with the girls (doubtful) or is she rekindling the old flame? Our money is on Bruce Wayne. Perhaps he has given up the chase and decided to give the old girl one more try. Or who knows? With the crazy world we live in she could very well be there to spark up something new with Joker!"

Harley had gotten Bruce back to his hotel in one piece. He went back up to the room and knocked on the door after realizing he had left his key behind. Joker answered the door in a loosely tied bathrobe holding a martini.

"Oh good, I was worried the weirdness would have dissipated," Bruce joked.

"I was worried. You've been gone awhile with no way to contact you."

"So worried you ordered drinks."

"And showered. I do that when I'm worried."

"Uh huh."

"Where were you?"

"Don't worry Mrs. Wayne, I wasn't cheating on you."

Joker scoffed and sipped his martini as he plopped down onto the couch revealing a bit more of himself than Bruce cared to see.

"I went for a walk, got turned around, and bumped into a friend."

"You were cheating on me!"

"Oh, it wasn't as intimate as this."

"Who is this friend?"

Bruce hesitated. This was going to get dicey. "Look, I need to be honest with you."

"I don't like the sound of this."

"Yeah and you're not going to like it more in a minute." Bruce took a seat in the arm chair across from Joker. "I was with Harley. Not in a romantic way. We bumped into each other and I was going to have her get me a cab back to the hotel but I ended up accompanying her on her little walk about."

"Yes?"

"I like her. I like her a lot Joker. I want her to be happy. I want her to be safe. I want to protect her from all the shit."

"I want those things for her as well."

"Do you really?"

"Yes."

"Then, maybe you should let her go."

"You said..."

"I don't think you're what's best for her at all."

"How do you know?"

"How do I know? Because I see her. Because I saw her with you, I saw her without you, and I saw her after you left her in a puddle of despair. You broke her and quite honestly I don't think you wouldn't do it again."

"You couldn't possibly..."

"And if you do get her back and you do hurt her again, I will hurt you. I will break you physically in the way you broke her emotionally. I will also speak against you is she asks my opinion on it."

"You're not a good best friend."

"No, I guess I'm not. I...I like you too but I think you need to get yourself together before you get her back."

"I won't stop fighting for her."

"And I won't stop fighting you."

"I am not with Bruce Wayne!" Talia screeched into the phone pacing the hotel room. Selina had sworn the girl promised to leave once she had gone to the store. Now she was wandering the hotel room while Selina watched from the bed eating her Oreos. Harley entered the scene and watched from the doorway for a second and then joined Selina on the bed stealing a couple Oreos for herself.

"What's going on?" Harley asked through her mouth full of cookie.

"Talia was spotted by the Tipster and now she's having a fight with Lex."

"I see."

"How was your day?"

"I walked around Vienna and visited the Beethoven historical sites."

"Are there a lot?"

"Not really."

"I'm sorry about earlier."

"Don't be. I'm just a little bitchy."

"Yeah but I'm a little stupid."

Harley shrugged.

"I want you to know, I've decided to just be happy. I'm going to see Bruce and try this whole relationship thing again."

Harley smiled and gave her friend a half hug but in her mind the alarm bells went off. Her afternoon with Gotham's favorite son had changed her mind about Bruce and Selina. She liked Bruce, a lot, and she wanted him to be happy but she began to wonder if that would be with Selina. Selina blanched at relationships, was afraid of being caged and tied down. Harley didn't want them to get in deep and watch Selina run out on him leaving him heartbroken and alone, kind of like how Harley was now. But for now, she feigned excitement for her friend.

Selina was at the end of her tether with Talia. She snatched the phone from the woman's hand and said "Hi, Lex? Selina. Look, Talia is here with us. She was supposed to meet her father but he had to cancel and she decided to have a little girl time with us. No we're not best friends but in the underworld it's slim picking for gal pals. And, let's face it, society women just wouldn't understand." Selina laughed at something Lex said, nodded, laughed again, and then cooed "Alright. I'll let her know. Bye darling." She hung up the phone and tossed it to Talia. "I saved your ass, you owe me and can repay that by getting your own room. Lex is taking his jet here to meet you."

"What?"

"He decided he needed a vacation."

"What about Bane?"

"Bane? Don't worry about him. Just go get a room."

Talia left the room to do as she was told. Selina took her seat on the bed again and grabbed a couple more cookies. Harley grabbed a cookie as well and they enjoyed the moment of silence which was interrupted by Harley's phone ringing. "Chaos headquarters," Harley answered.

"Harley?" Bruce said.

"Hey!"

Selina heard Bruce's voice on the phone. She raised and eyebrow and Harley jumped up from the bed locking herself in the bathroom for privacy.

"I just heard from our concierge of my hotel there is a ball in Beethoven's honor tomorrow night. I was thinking of getting tickets."

"For us?" Harley asked.

"And Selina if you think she'd be interested. It's a real black tie affair. You both will probably need a dress."

"Oh," she sighed, partially relieved and partially concerned. "I think that would be fun." She couldn't very well go without Selina, it would probably give the wrong idea should they be spotted but at the same time she had to work out how to keep the two away from each other.

"Great, I'll buy the tickets. And, um, about Joker..."

"It'd be great if he didn't go."

While she couldn't see it, Bruce was smiling ear to ear. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. "That's perfectly fine. I'll call you tomorrow with details."

"I can't wait." Harley hung up and went back into the main room where Selina was lounging lazily on the bed. "That was Bruce."

"Yeah?"

"He invited us to a ball for tomorrow night."

"Sounds fun."

"I think it will be. We'll have to go dress shopping."

"We'll go tomorrow."

Harley smiled and Selina smiled back but she was suspicious. It was strange for Harley to duck into the bathroom and hide. She didn't want to push it though. Instead she just offered the blonde a cookie.

Barbara Gordon sat alone at a table in the quaint little Italian restaurant she had been instructed to go to. It was strange, the text she had received signed only "a friend" and while it would be dangerous for a normal woman to go meet a perfect stranger in a rough part of town, for Barbara it was really an average day. Besides her own security and fighting skills, she had her own personal capeless crusader sitting atop the building waiting for even a hint of trouble. Her mysterious friend was late already and Barbara was getting ready to leave when Holly and Oswald Cobblepot walked over to her table.

"Ah hell, it's you isn't it?" Barbara asked.

"Afraid so cookie," Holly replied taking the chair opposite her, Oswald the one next to her.

"What's this about then?"

"The Tipster."

"You have my interest."

Holly produced the cell phone belonging to the late coat girl. "This phone belonged to one of the Tipster's informants."

"How did you get it?"

"You don't really want to know," Oswald chimed in. "We'll be frank, the Tipster has some rather detrimental information we suspect she is going to release to the world very soon. We want to prevent it and we'd also like to shut her down completely. Until now we only knew that people were telling her things, not we have a way to connect with her. We need you to run the number, locate her if you can."

"And why would I do this?"

"No one really likes a gossip."

"I think I need more motivation than that."

"How much more? Throw me a ballpark figure," Oswald told her as he pulled out his checkbook.

"I don't really want your money either."

"Look, we really don't have anything to offer you besides the satisfaction of bringing this bitch down and a cash prize," Holly snapped.

"What does she have on you?"

"I screwed up a long time ago and had sex with Joker. She knows. She will tell. And while Harley has already found out, I don't want everyone else to know and for her to go through that horror."

Barbara sat contemplating the offer. She didn't like the Tipster. She was making it hard for Oracle to sort the real stories from the bullshit and she also didn't like the occasional story about her that would pop up. She also didn't care much for Holly which was purely petty and bitchy and she hated admitting it. She didn't particularly like any of the Rogues and how they had pulled Bruce into their twisted world. But she was also a good person and the thought of all this blowing up gave her a twinge of guilt. "Alright, I'm in on one condition."

"What's that?" Holly asked.

"You can't kill her."

"You're taking the fun out of it," Oswald grumbled.

"We find her, we destroy her network, and you can scare her into keeping her mouth shut but I will not be part of a murder plot."

"Fine by me," Holly agreed shaking Barbara's hand. The two women looked at Oswald who nodded in agreement.

Barbara took the phone from Holly and pocketed it. "This will be a gas."