New Earth: Batwoman

Chapter 37

Tommy Elliot groaned when he entered his cell in Arkham to find a certain lunatic waiting for him.

"What are you doing here Alice?" Tommy asked.

"Now, now Tommy, you should be a bit more respectful towards your queen." Alice said with a grin.

"What are you talking about?" Tommy asked.

"Behave yourself and then maybe you'll find out." Alice said elusively.

"What do you want?" Tommy asked.

"To know why you had Lucius Fox killed." Alice said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tommy said.

"We both know that's not true." Alice said.

"Say I did have something to do with whatever it is you're talking about, how would you know?" Tommy asked.

"Like I said, I am queen and the Queen knows everything about her subjects." Alice said.

"You really are delusional." Tommy said and Alice sighed.

"Okay, let's try this another way. I have access to Arkham's surveillance footage which clearly show you confessing to being a part of Fox's murder. Either tell me what I want to know or I can have it released to the GCPD, the Crows and maybe even Batwoman. I imagine that things will become even less pleasant for you." Alice said.

"And how would you be able to do any of that? You may think you're a queen, but you're still just a prisoner." Tommy said.

"Actually, it's amazing what Dr. Butler will tell his favorite patient." Alice said as the man entered the cell.

"And if you don't tell her what she wants to know, you'll find yourself in a much less comfortable position. As in, fit to stand trial, since I hear that being mentally unstable is the only thing keeping you safe from the death sentence." Butler said.

"Since when do you work for her?" Tommy asked.

"You might as well show him, since we can shut him up if he tries to talk." Alice said and Butler nodded as he closed the door and then removed his face to reveal that of Mouse.

"Well that's a neat trick. And it explains a lot." Tommy said.

"It has its advantages." Mouse said.

"Well then, maybe this can work to our mutual advantage." Tommy said.

"I'm listening." Alice said, pleased that it looked like they were getting somewhere.

"I'll keep my mouth shut about this and tell you what you want to know if Dr. Mouse here starts to benefit me the same way he obviously has you." Tommy said and Alice smiled as she looked at her brother, who nodded.

"Sounds like a fair deal to me." Alice said and Mouse nodded his agreement.

"Okay then. I wanted a book that Lucius Fox wrote. I paid a crow who was tasked with protecting me to rough him up for it and it got him killed." Tommy said.

"And why would you want a book written by Lucius Fox?" Alice asked.

"Because it contains a bit of information that's basically the holy grail to everyone in here." Tommy said.

"And that would be?" Mouse asked.

"Instructions for how to kill the Bat." Tommy said and now Alice's grin widened.

"Well then, I think that's something we should get our hands on." Alice said.

"Easier said than done." Tommy warned.

"Why's that?" Mouse asked.

"Even if you do manage to retrieve the book, which while it won't be easy while we're locked in here, also won't be impossible, don't you think that if I could've used the information in the book I would've by now instead of needing to borrow that railgun." Tommy asked.

"So why didn't you?" Alice asked.

"It's written in code that I was unable to find someone to crack." Tommy said.

"Well, that's a problem. But it is one that we will deal with once we have the book in our possession." Alice said.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Tommy asked.

"I'll let you know when I figure that out. In the meantime, act as though this conversation never happened, or else you'll find yourself in far worse accommodations than this." Alice said as she and Mouse left Tommy's cell.

"So, should we pick a prisoner to release?" Mouse asked Alice as they sat in his office.

"No. Right now my sister is likely watching me like a hawk. I don't want to risk leaving any clues that could tell Kate of what's happened here. We're only royalty so long as she believes us to be prisoners." Alice said.

"So, how do you plan to get the book?" Mouse asked.

"By killing two birds with one stone. We throw Kate and her team off our trail while also using the same people to acquire the book for us." Alice said.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Mouse asked.

"With a little help from someone the Huntress will not hesitate to drop everything to take down." Alice said.

"Meaning?" Mouse asked.

"Her father of course. I think it's time we make a call to Frank Bertinelli." Alice said and Mouse grinned as he nodded in agreement.