"I still don't see why you let him go," Barbara sighed. The pair stood atop the roof of Jason's torture apartment. The man in question was leaning over the edge of the roof, looking down at the ground below him, seemingly ignoring Batgirl's musings. "We should've taken him in."

Jason didn't turn to look at her while he spoke. "When will you learn to trust me, Batsy?" he asked, his voice whimsical almost.

A certain kind of rage simmered beneath Barbara's words. "Hard to trust a faceless man, I guess," she grumbled.

"Well, start," he said, suddenly standing up. Still not turning to look at her, he fired his grapple gun. "We're following, and staking the place out." And with that he soared into the chilled night air, once more leaving Barbara confused and angry on a rooftop.

Sighing, she leaped off the rooftop and followed him, briefly spotting Louis' car as it roared down the street in front of them. Barbara had to admit, it was a pretty smart plan. Scare Louis into showing them the real evil layer, along with the Doctor, who would inevitably be there doing evil doctor things at this hour. Two birds and all that.

They swing from rooftop to rooftop, pulling themselves onto rooftops and sprinting before jumping once more into a brief freefall. For miles they followed the car. It was unlikely Louis knew he was being followed. He took a mostly straight path, turning only twice on the entire journey to the warehouse district. Barbara rolled her eyes.

Criminals were getting dumber and dumber, it seemed.

She watched the car come to a halt in the small parking lot of an average looking warehouse. There were a few moving trucks out front, and Batgirl made a mental note of the symbol for later research.

Red Hood had come to rest on another rooftop edge, peering carefully over the edge and watching the people below. Barbara joined him, pulling out a small pair of powerful binoculars.

Louis exited his car, followed by the driver and one more passenger. Using her binoculars, she photographed the faces of both new men until they entered the warehouse and it was just her and the mysterious man next to her once more.

"What's next in your master scheme, then?" she asked, putting the binoculars back in her utility belt. She sauntered over to an air conditioning unit and sat down on it, watching his movements carefully. With her newfound discovery about him, any trust they'd built up was thrown out the window.

"Now," he said, turning and also sitting on the ground. "We wait." He had planted himself on the ground, leaning on the fascia and facing Batgirl. Beneath his mask, she heard him chuckle. "You wanna know the worst part of wearing this helmet is?"

Despite herself, Barbara kept any snide remarks to herself. Instead, she raised an eyebrow expectantly, waiting for him to answer his own question.

"My face gets itchy."

Again despite herself, Barbara laughed. For all their differences, the Red Hood and Jason both had a sense of humor. It was a bit off putting. "You can take it off and scratch it then," she said.

"As always, I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he said.

Barbara smiled. "No need," she said. "I've seen yours and I was unimpressed."

He scoffed. "You barely saw anything," he said.

"I saw enough."

Her reply was too quick, she didn't give herself time to filter her words. She knew that the jig was up. He knew that she knew. A million lies and excuses were flying through her brain at a hundred miles per hour before he chuckled quietly to himself once more.

He reached up, releasing a latch on his helmet and removing it from his head. There was no domino mask covering his eyes this time, only his bright green eyes eerily shining at her through the darkness. "So the big Bat finally filled you in, huh?" he asked, scratching a spot on his chin. "I figured he wouldn't keep it from you forever, though I wouldn't put it past him. You know how he is about secrets." His voice sounded so much clearer now without the hard armor covering his mouth. He sounded like Jason, not the Red Hood.

Disgruntled, Barbara's mouth dropped open slightly. "No," she stammered. "I figured it out on my own."

Jason's eyebrows rose in surprise, and then his expression changed to one of mischief. "Oh," he began, lips slowly forming the word as if it tasted strange on his tongue. "So you don't really know."

Batgirl was frustrated and confused, abruptly placed back where she started at unraveling the mystery of Jason Todd.

However, before she can open her mouth to speak, the trucks below them can be heard starting up. They both move back toward the ledge, eyes glued to the trucks. Men were piling into the trucks and several cars within the parking lot.

"They're moving shop," Barbara observed.

"Good thing we're here," he responded. "Something tells me we weren't going to be invited to the next party." As he spoke, he replaced the helmet over his face, muffling his voice once more. The trucks began driving away, followed shortly by the cars. "You investigate here, see if they forgot anything. I'll follow and send coordinates when I get there."

"Jason, that's not-" Her words were stopped short by the sounds of his footsteps as he ran away. "Wait! We shouldn't split up!" She called after him.

He either couldn't hear her or chose to ignore her as he sprinted away after the vans. It would be all too easy for Barbara to follow him, but she knew he was right. If they left any clues in the warehouse below, they would be back soon to clean up after themselves. She needed to get in now and see what she could find.

Then she could follow.

Barbara leapt over the edge of the rooftop, flying for a brief second before grappling up towards the other roof. She'd spotted and AC vent from her and Jason's perch and knew she could sneak in that way. The insides of the warehouse were unknown to Barbara, and while it appeared that everyone had vacated, she couldn't just rush in without being certain.

Silently creeping through the upper levels of the warehouse, Barbara found a vent which granted her access to the main room. She trained her eyes and ears, searching for any sign that the warehouse was otherwise occupied.

She heard a slow and steady drip, one droplet every thirty seconds or so. Probably a leaky pipe somewhere. The entire warehouse creaked to life, signaling the heater turning itself on. There was wind pushing against the metal sides, groaning against the pressure. But, aside from these subtle sounds, the warehouse showed no sign of life.

Deciding the coast was clear, Barbara pushed open the vent grate and crawled out into the room. When she'd entered the warehouse, she'd been expecting the usual abandoned mess. But she got something entirely different.

The warehouse was spotless. It even looked as if they'd mopped the floors. The interior gleamed with a pristine newness that Barbara had never seen within Gotham city limits before. A strong lemon scent wafted through the stagnant air. Every piece of equipment had been picked up and efficiently moved. The floor had no scuff marks from shoes or trucks or tables. The only shred of evidence they had that anyone had ever set foot in this warehouse was a lidded container sitting in the middle of an otherwise empty floor.

The container appeared mostly plain. Just a beaker with a cork lid and a small slip of paper stuck to it. It didn't get interesting until Barbara shifted her focus to what was within the beaker: a dark red, bubbling liquid.

She picked it up, analyzing it through the glass. It was the color of blood, but the consistency of soda. From one of her many pockets, she pulled out a cotton swab. The beaker sizzled when she removed the cork, but the liquid remained calm.

Until she dunked the Q-tip in it.

It exploded into bursts of tiny bubbles, overflowing with foam. The scent that bombarded her nose was a familiar one that sent chills down Barbara's spine. An icy cold hand gripped her heart with fear, but still, she could not place that scent. Shaking it off, she put the cotton swab into her gauntlet, knowing that whatever it was would show up on the chemical analyses.

The computer within her suit shirred to life as it processed the soaked Q-tip, searching the database for the chemicals. The search would undoubtedly take a few moments, and Barbara used these moments to finish examining the warehouse.

The note stuck to the beaker was now soaked through completely after the liquid had overflowed, but the words scribbled across it were still visible.

Only 50%

"Well that's vague and ominous," Barbara said dryly, heading toward the door of the warehouse. She tapped her radio, buzzing her makeshift partner. "Where are you?"

No answer.

It was probable that he was attempting to infiltrate their new location, and couldn't speak at the moment. Verbally communicating, and risking a firefight with those girls in harms way wasn't worth it.

Especially not when Barbara could easily just track his communicator (maybe he didn't know she could do that, but Barbara couldn't find the downside).

As she pulled up his location on her tablet, her arm buzzed with a notification. The analyses was complete. She began walking toward his red dot on the map as well as opening the results to look at them. The compound's molecular structure appeared on screen before her. It flashed green, signaling a 100% match.

Barbara's eyes widened in fear, as suddenly the memories came rushing back to her. "The toxin left for her was a match for an early version of Scarecrow's Fear Toxin.

Only 50%

The Doctor had known they were watching, and had been counting on them splitting up. He'd set a trap, and they fell into it perfectly. More frantic now, Barbara pressed against her comm.

"Red Hood, this is Batgirl. Fall back." Her voice was firm, almost completely masking her panic. She broke into a sprint, racing toward the red dot on her screen. Feet flew over rooftops, but Jason still hadn't responded.

Breathless now, Barbara jammed a shaky finger into her ear. "Red Hood, this is a Code Black! Fall back!"

She was still at least a mile away from his blinking red dot, and even at her top speed it would take several minutes to reach him. As rooftop after rooftop fell away beneath her feet, Jason still hadn't responded. Barbara once again pressed her radio. "Dammit Jason, DO NOT GO IN!"

Her lungs burned, but she held her breath. Over her own heartbeat pounding in her ears, and the sound of the wind pushing against her sprinting form, Batgirl could just barely hear breathing on the other end of the line. "Jason?" she whispered, slowing to a halt. "Red Hood," her voice was shaky with pants, but her tone was smooth. "This is a Code Black. I need you to answer me."

The breathing was louder now, cementing Barbara's certainty that someone was on the other line. "Don't go in," she said, frozen in place.

The breathing was slow, calm even. As if he was allowing Barbara to hear his breaths deliberately. Each breath was roughly one second in, one second pause, another second out. Relaxed breathing. It could be Jason, if he were unconscious. Jason's average breathing rate was much faster than his unconscious one. The more likely option was also the far more sinister one.

The sound of wet lips smacking could be heard over the radio, as well as a few bangs. "Too late."

**********LINE BREAKER!**********

Very sorry about the slow updates guys. It's been crazy with two jobs and school and all that jazz. Next chapter will be up shortly. Don't give up on me yet!

~C.G