"Come on, Babs. You're not gonna be like this all night. Let alone for a week," declared a calmly smiling Dru as he was leisurely leaning back in the front passenger seat of the maintenance van while Barbara drove with silent dissatisfaction with the frown to show it. The drive had been quiet up until this point when Dru had decided to try and get her to hasten the end of the silent treatment.

"Look, I'll lock up the gun. I'll try my best not to bring it out again. For stuff that's not Moth related I mean."

Still nothing. With a sigh, he leans further back and watches the slow moving traffic ahead while eagerly anticipating a return to home. To be met with the usual welcome he would get from Kitten. No doubt to him that it would be a warmer interaction than what he was getting with his partner right now. He considered trying to get her to open up more, but he had this sort of experience with her enough to know that it would bear very little fruit. So, he stayed silent throughout the rest of the drive while pondering on what to say to her in the more comforting and warm environment of his home.

The van had pulled over outside the large, gated, two storey modern home. What it lacked in height, it made up for in width. A place Dru wasn't certain he could continue living in for much longer. Not with his new "career". He never had a real discussion with Kitten about what his recent choice meant. He was too intimidated too, but he felt that she probably pieced it together anyway. He was certain it was the reason, or at least part of the reason she's not treating Barbara like a friendly presence, much less part of the family. Barbara waited for Dru to press the intercom button at his side. His finger pushed the buzzer. He expected to hear a voice, but, to his surprise, the gates had already started to open. He shrugged as Barbara drove further toward the automatically opening garage doors. She drove the van into the brightly lit holding space. Wordlessly, she exited the driver's seat as the garage door started to close by itself behind her. Dru followed her as he wondered what to say while deciding that, for the present moment, it was better not to say anything at all.

They left the garage and entered the hall. Dru took in the welcoming smell of the familiar rose scented air spray Kitten liked to decorate the atmosphere with if she didn't feel like trying something new. He looked to Barbara as he walked down the corridor. To the right so he assumed she would be using the shower. He wasn't certain, but he imagined she was sweating at least almost as much as he was. He took a slight sniff at himself after raising an arm. Despite the strong rose smell around him, the scent of his own odour was still detectable to him. Once he heard the distant running water, he made a mental note to take a turn after her.

"Well?"

He turned to see the sight of his young, teen daughter. Frowning as she usually does these days. Her bright blonde hair shimmering in the corridor lighting, and her cotton pyjamas pink as usual. She had an expectant gleam in her eyes. A gleam he was used to seeing for years.

"Sorry, honey. Nothing tonight."

Her gleam had now been replaced by a dull, disappointed glare. A look he had only recently gotten used to seeing over the past couple of weeks.

"We could lose this place, dad, and you want to keep coming back here with nothing to make sure that doesn't happen!?"

Her nostrils were flaring up. Not a rare occurrence, but nevertheless a still unsettling one. Her eyes widen. As they typically do whenever she gets especially incensed.

"I know, honey, but this is safer than me risking arrest."

"Is that really you now, dad!? What happened to the Anti-Batman!? What happened to the badass who didn't care about being put in a cell!? what happened to Killer Moth!?"

Dru attempted to search within his memory for a kind of answer that could appease her. All he could think was to give her something to play with, but he wasn't exactly carrying much in the way of new toys. So, he decided to go for a fact instead.

"I'm still Killer Moth!"

"No! You're a wimp! A loser! A man who doesn't care that his own daughter's going to be homeless!"

Her words were an echo in his mind. Before he could come up with some sort of response, she was already stomping away from him down the hall. Likely to retreat to her room. The idea of pursuing her to try and assuage her concerns had crossed his mind, but he feared that further interaction with nothing to gift or a confident solution would only add more kindle to her fire. He sighs before leaning against the wall in thought. Now both the most important women in his life were in a dour mood thanks to him, but at least Barbara would eventually get over his mistake. Kitten concerned him.

He decided to move toward the shower where Barbara was washing. Believing that it would have calmed her by now. Dru waited outside the door as he heard the water keep running. It wasn't until a couple of minutes later when the water had stopped, and he soon saw Barbara walk out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a white towel around her body. Her hair was a little matted, but showed evidence of already treating it with towel rubbing. She looked to him with a casual expression. Though there was a frown albeit a small one. He knew that frown. It's the frown she had whenever she decided to utilise her mind for a long period of intense thinking.

He just hoped it wasn't about the gun.

"We need to try and get Selina to hand over the drive."

He almost wished it was about the gun.

"Um, I don't think she's going to make that easy."

"well, I'm not about to let her hand over evidence that could be extremely beneficial. So, she shouldn't expect "easy" from me either."

Dru was impressed by her zeal. Him being reminded of her passionate dedication to this personal mission she had made of herself had also reminded him that he had still not quite gotten to the bottom of her motivation.

"So, what is it about that drive really? You never told me who's life depends on it."

"Freedom actually."

He raised his brow in interest.

"Who's in trouble?"

"None other than the leading researcher of Lexcorp's bio tech department. Dr. Issac Eller. He was featured in some of the documents I showed you. Grey hair? A  little on the big side?"

Dru nodded as he thought of the evidence Barbara had presented to him from her extensive and clandestine investigation of Lexcorp before this night. The photographic variety had some gruesome content within surprisingly sterile environments. He had seen quite the contrast between red, gore laden mess contrasted against white rooms with people in white coats observing their results. As difficult as it was, he paid attention to her findings. Just to give her some sort of validation.

That, and he was hoping she would get somewhere. It was quite distasteful knowledge to posses.

"He came up to the signal one night. Took me up on my invitation when I went to his place one night a couple of months before. That was when he was already getting antsy about his safety since one of his assistants was showing talent, and getting private meetings with Luthor."

"So, his position is being threatened?"

"That's almost certain. Especially, because he also saw Lex's lawyer army around the building recently. Thinks he's going be put on the stand soon to bear responsibility for certain unethical experimentation. Or his family's going to be the ones who suffer for his refusal to take the fall."

Dru had started to find this story a little confusing.

"Why not just keep him on board? Seems like a lot of trouble just to replace him."

"He.. doesn't have much of a choice," said Barbara as she nervously looked down while attempting to suppress the smirk slowly appearing on her lips. Dru could not help but have one of his own as realization slowly came to him.

"So... what did you do?"

"Well..." she said coyly while turning a foot on the carpet.

"... I may have decided to leak some of Lexcorp's dirty laundry on the net."

Dru's mouth made motion forming it into an amused smirk. Barbara's eyes looked up from the floor. Now not quite as coy as she was before.

"Well, I'd say that'd be a good reason to be worried about keeping your job."

"Well, it sort of worked. The heat is on the company, and they're preparing to throw a middle man under the bus, but I'd rather not just let them throw something at the media to appease them and soon forget about it."

"Then we better make sure that drive doesn't get to them. Only question is how to deal with Selina."

"I have a few ideas," said Barbara as she had a proud, almost devious look on her face. Dru did not need to think too long about what she could have in mind.

"Oh, not the kittens."

"She should know who she's working for. Then she won't be able to resist."

Dru shrugged. As certain as he was that he would feel a little bad about presenting such images that would almost certainly be torturous to someone like her, he was looking forward to seeing the look on her face after the clawing and kicking she had given him tonight.

"Well, if it works."

"Of course it will work," Barbara said confidently as she has a noticeable change in her viewing of Dru. He noted the lower gaze she had that seemed to keep getting lower as they spoke as if she was looking for something on him. With a raised brow, he decided to make further inquiry.

"What? I've had worse."

"Not that. Just the suit. It's doing a lot for those muscles of yours."

He gazes down at himself. He found the sight admirable, but not quite exciting, and certainly nothing all that impressive. He had seen men with much bigger.

"Thanks, but I'm not exactly a heavyweight."

"Much bigger than those, and you could see them moving like they're alive."

"You don't like that?"

"It's gross."

"I can't tell ya how much i saw Bane flexing 'em. I think he knew what he was doing. Always made me freak out a little. Not like, screaming or whatever, but it was really weird. I think he did it on purpose."

"I never got the appeal. He always gets, like, a mountain of letters from secret admirers at Blackgate," said Barbara as she gently pokes one of his toned biceps. He was not sure whether to laugh at her awkward curiosity or pretend it was having what he presumed was the desired effect on him.

"It's nothing you haven't seen before."

"But it's so tight."

"It certainly feels it."

As she continued her gentle poking, a smile spread across her mouth. Then more of her face. Leading Dru to wonder what she had in mind.

"Whatever idea you have, I'm all ears."

"Let's say that... there's a really bad man. For the past couple of months, he's been ambushing women alone in their homes at night and doing whatever he wants to them. And he always leaves them shaken, confused, and completely mesmerised by how good he is."

"Have you been reading Kitten's writing?" Asked Dru with a raised brow and  a "not really taking this seriously" smile.

"Dru!" said Barbara exasperatedly as she gently thumps him with an elbow.

"Relax! I'm listening!"

Barbara let out a small, quiet "hmph!" Sound that Dru always greatly enjoyed hearing.

"Anyway, they're locking their doors, and windows because of him, but that doesn't stop him. He knows his way around locks and their bodies."

"Now I know you've been reading her fan fiction."

"Look, if you're not going to listen-"

He raised a hand in reassurance.

"I'll shut up now. Keep going."

Barbara raised a brow in questioning as he sheepishly smiled. With a sigh, she proceeds to narrate.

"One night, a certain irresistibly beautiful red head doesn't lock her doors and windows. She hasn't done so for quite a few nights. One night, decides to pay her a visit. Of course, the window isn't locked. He doesn't like it easy."

Dru started to like the scenario she was painting the more of it she described. With a small, growing smile.

"But...?" he inquired with growing curiosity.

"But little does he know, she's not planning on making it easy. Just the way he likes it."

Dru smiles a suggestive smile.

"what do you think? Too much?"

He gives her a pat on the shoulder.

"I think you should keep reading. I like the inspiration."

Barbara grins to him. Then looks to his arms.

"Of course, he wouldn't do much with an infection."

Dru looks down to his still bloodied arms. Awkwardly smirking.

"You kinda get used to getting your ass kicked."

"Come on," Said a now serious Barbara. "let's get to the kitchen."