Thank you for choosing my story to pass the time with! Just so you know I am in the process of re-uploading chapters with fixed grammar mistakes and the like so if you see a something that I missed don't be afraid to call me out on it (especially if it is really bad).

The cover art was created by CuriousLolita from deviantart and was used with permission

As just a coverall for the rest of the story: I don't own DC.

Thank you again and enjoy!

Elizabeth Howard absolutely adored her dead end job as a building inspector in the very way an elementary school teacher loves being stuck with a class of un-medicated ADHD students. She was 24 and at the pinnacle of her career. To her there was nothing more exciting than the fine centimeter difference between an illegal distance between generators and a legal one. Of course, her favorite part was inspecting the warehouses by the docks, the smell of rotting fish and garbage and the chance of running into illegal activity almost turned her on. She knew it was the right choice when she didn't apply for the masters engineering program at Gotham University instead choosing to pay back some of her student debt first by taking a job for the government.

"God fuckin' damn it!" Elizabeth swore under her breath as the twenty-year-old lock broke sending several long rusty splinters into her fingers through her thin gloves. "Oww, oww owww!" Ripping off her gloves and examining her hands she saw that the splinters were too deep for her to get out without her tweezers. Sighing she took a roll of thin bandages and anti-bacteria cream out of her fanny pack and wrapped her fingers tightly hoping to numb the pain. Pushing open the doors to warehouse 37EZ dock 15 she looked down at her clipboard as she entered. This warehouse, once owned by the Maroni crime family, had been bought several months ago by Wayne Industries and Mr. Bruce Wayne wanted to make sure that all aspects were up to code before it was put into use. Tonight. 'Ass.'

"If he wants to make sure it's up to code he can do it himself," she muttered under her breath. Heading to the left where she knew the power box was in all these buildings she finally noticed something very wrong. The lights were already on and several loud, deep growls were coming from the other side of the room.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A building inspector?" A nasally Italian-Jersey voice spoke from the same direction of the growls. Elizabeth looked up a large powerful looking man was swinging a rather heavy looking cane around in his hand while holding onto the leashes of three wolf-like dogs. Behind him around ten larger and very scary men were lifting large fluid barrels into a semi-truck but a few had set down their load were cracking there knuckles, smiling maliciously at her.

"Now, now, boys back to work. She's just a civil servant I'm sure she can be reasoned with." The other men chuckled stupidly and began lifting the barrels again. The boss approached with his dogs and Elizabeth just couldn't keep her eyes off the fearsome mongrels.

"N-nice dogs," she said when they were only a foot from her.

"They're not dogs these fellows are pure bred wolves. Vicious creatures."

"Oh?" Elizabeth squeaked trying to back away but her feet were grounded in fear.

"Now I must ask what you're doin' in my warehouse."

"Well Wayne Industries just bought this place and want it checked out tonight and I just happened to draw the shortest straw so it was my job." She said very quickly, rapidly glancing between the wolves and their owner.

"That's interestin' we're here for the same rea-" The loud bang and slosh from a barrel dropping cut him off.

"It's the Bat!" One of the men yelled dropping his own barrel and with-drawing a gun.

"Shit!" the boss yelled releasing the leashes in his hast to draw his own gun. The animals didn't move right away they just stood there with steam billowing out of their nose from the cold winter air but when guns began to go off, they startled. Two of the wolves ran forward clapping their jaws on her legs while at the same time the middle wolf jumped at her chomping down on her arm. Elizabeth screamed in pain as the weight of the wolf pulled her to the floor. Luckily the canines must have been trained not to kill right away because they did not attack her neck like she expected them to. Instead they began pulling her to the other side of the room away from all the fighting, towards an alcove created by several large vats.

'Oh dear god they're pulling me away so they won't be disturbed eating!' She thought surprisingly lucid. Thinking fast she swung her free hand wildly hoping to hit one of the wolves on their nose. She was lucky the wolf who had her arm released it with a yelp.

She looked up right into the wolf's snarling face. "Fuck!" The wolf bit down again this time on her previously unbitten arm's shoulder. Suddenly, the wolf on her right leg let go yelping loudly, the other two released her too as Batman approached. The one wolf by her head leapt forward biting Batman on the arm but her teeth couldn't puncture the suit and he was able to throw her off. The wolf hit one of the supports for the vats knocking it slightly out of place and the metal to groan in protest. The remaining wolf ran away when Batman took a step closer.

"Can you walk?" He asked picking Elizabeth off the ground.

"I think so," she replied wearily, the blood loss starting to take its toll.

"Good then get out of here."

Elizabeth nodded her thoughts beginning to go fuzzy she looked down at her feet trying to shake the haziness away. She saw that the wolf that had released her was dead with a bat-a-rang sticking from its back. Carefully, Elizabeth pulled the unique weapon out for protection. As she made her wobbly way towards the back door behind the vats she heard a low growl behind her. The wolf that had run away was back. Turning around slowly she raised the weapon ready to defend herself. There was a several seconds pause where she stared into the wolf's deep golden eyes. Then the wolf jumped.

The metal of the bat-a-rang sank into the wolf's chest with sickening squelch. Elizabeth felt a quick rush of relief before she toppled to the ground the dead weight of the wolf pinning her to the floor. Unfortunately, the added weight made the bat-a-rang slip from her hand and the second blade slice into her stomach. Warm blood washed over but she wasn't sure if it was the wolf's or her own, though it was probably both. Using the hand that was trapped under the animal and her free arm she shoved the body off her.

Elizabeth was carefully getting up, using the dead wolf for aid when she heard a small click from the bat-a-rang in her hand. Looking down she saw the circular center of the weapon was blinking a bright orange. Blood loss made her reaction slow. Her eyes widen in realization that the 'rang was about to explode the blinking started to increase in speed as she chucked it away from her. It landed near the vat support that had been damaged earlier. Elizabeth crawled as fast as she could away from the bomb but due to her injuries she wasn't fast enough. The bat-a-rang's explosion caused the weakened support to give way and sent a vat of unknown and unstable chemicals rushing over her.

The steady beeping of her alarm clock pulled Elizabeth from her sleep, she tried to raise her arm to shut it off but found she couldn't. She tried again and then with the other arm but neither of them could move. Next she tried legs but they were immobile as well. Trying not to panic she opened her eyes only the tiniest amount of light shone through the textured cloth. Breathe increasing in her controlled fear she reached out with her other senses.

'First touch, Elizabeth come on you can do this. Okay…there something hard wrapped around my arms and legs must be why I can't move. Fine. There is something in my nose something plastic running along my face. Next smell, blood, and cleaning chemicals. Hearing, beeping, already knew that but what else.' Focusing her hearing she picked up the faint sound of footsteps and murmured voices.

"The patient is still unconscious but we can give you her blood samples for the lab."

"I'd still like to see her; after all, I can only blame myself for her current state."

"Of course Mr. Wayne, of course."

The people were closing in rather slowly but Elizabeth already figured out where she was. With as much dignity as she could muster (and saliva in her mouth) she was ready when the door opened. She felt the air shift as the came towards the bed. "Good day," she said her voice croaky from disuse and dryness, "You have a lot of work to do on the warehouse Mr. Wayne before Ican pass it." Elizabeth felt the two stop dead in their tracks, she always had been good at shocking people.

The doctor was the first one to react, "NURSE!" He bellowed before rushing over to her side. "Now don't panic, you were severely injured several nights ago in by some chemicals." His voice was shaking and he sounded more nervous than she was.

"Don't forget the wolves, doc." She said amused by his panic.

He didn't listen to her comment but went right on trying to calm her down. "Now you were burned by the chemicals but the damage is healing nicely. But there were some err…ahh…changes that occurred from it."

"Well as long as it didn't bleach my skin white and dyed my hair green I think I'll be good." She heard a chuckle from the room's other occupant. 'At least Mr. Wayne got my Joker joke.'

"Well, no, it's nothing tha—" The doctor was cut off by a nurse bursting in.

"Nurse! Good we're going to take off her eye bandages now so she can see." The presence of the nurse seemed to of calmed the doctor; she heard the click of low heeled shoes and she felt the nurse standing on her other side.

"If you'd shut your eyes sweetie, we'll get these off soon." Elizabeth rolled her eyes under her eyelids, like she'd have her eyes open after she found out she couldn't see. The cold metal of the scissors against her skin made her tense slightly but when the pressure of the gauze was relieved she relaxed. The doctor was unraveling her bandages delicately; when he finished the nurse warned her not to open her eyes so she could wipe away some of the remaining medicine and gunk that had built up.

"Okay now sweetie you can open your eyes, we'll dim that lights so it not too much for you."

Elizabeth saw the lights dim through her eyelids and slowly opened her eyes at first she couldn't really see anything just a bunch of blurs but then then she blinked a few times and the room came into perfect clarity. And perfect meaning that it was absolutely amazing how clear everything was even though the lights were not on.

"Whoa…" Her eyes flitted around the room like a fly, not landing in any place for long simply basking in the clarity of her vision.

"What can you see," the doctor asked his hands fidgeting.

"I'm going to turn the lights on now," the nurse warned. Elizabeth's eyes immediately adjusted to the sudden burst of light. She looked at the three people in the room she was amazed to see every strand of hair and wrinkle in their shirt was obvious to her, however, so was the look of shocks on their faces.

"What's the matter?"

The doctor grabbed a mirror from the bedside table and twirled it in his hands. "Well, as I said the chemicals caused changes to occur…it's just that we don't know what all of them might be and well…" He held the mirror up for her to see she stared at her reflection and her reflection stared back, the deep gold colour of its eyes definitely not what she was expecting.