Bruce softly paced back and forth in his cell. This was the third cell he had been moved to during his stay at Blackgate. There was the first one located in solitary confinement where he had been placed next to Tim. The second one had moved them both to opposite ends of the prison, the warden not wanting them to try colluding through the walls. This third one was in solitary again (albeit a different wing), the result of two guards getting choked out at the same time toward the end of visiting hours recently. Bruce still didn't know if Dick had done that knowing he'd be put in solitary as some sort of prank.

 

The door opened abruptly. That was fast. Bruce had been counting mentally. It hadn't been more than a few hours since he'd been put in the cell. 

 

A correctional officer entered the cell, hands around the loops of his belt. "Your lawyer's here."

 

Excited at the thought of seeing Ivy again, Bruce glanced at his bed to be certain that the tube was safe. The lipstick was hidden inside the pillowcase. So long as they didn't search his belongings, they wouldn't find anything.

 

He returned his gaze to the officer, nodding at him, and allowing the man to grab his shoulder and cart him out of the cramped cell. 

 

Bruce didn't need to memorize the pathways to get to the interview room; he'd done all that on his first day in prison. He knew without being forced that he needed to turn right once out of the solitary wing, but his haste caused the officer to jerk him back closer to him.

 

After a few more turns throughout the prison, they came to a squared cell composed of iron bars with a switch activated gate. Inside were two people, one a redheaded woman and the other a blonde woman, the former immediately making him horny. He understood- after much pillow talk with Ivy- that his horniness around redheads was not something that he naturally developed. Before Brainiac's invasion, Ivy had implanted commands in his head to make him obsessed with redheads and large breasts. He didn't find it invasive that Ivy had done such a thing to him; not only was he too far under her control to resent her for anything (a fact he was fully aware of), but how could he possibly resent her for something that made him feel great whenever he saw her.

 

The redhead was Ivy, once again wearing her ring to make her appear as Pamela Winters. The other was Stephanie Brown, not wearing her costume but instead wearing a formal attire much like Ivy's. There were a bunch of briefcases on a table that separated them. At first glimpse, Bruce could immediately tell that they weren't just holding papers. There was an airtight seal around each, making him believe that it was full of some airborne chemical, perhaps her pheromones or her voodoo potion.

 

The guard called for the gate to be opened, and after a bell rang, the gate slid open. Bruce stepped inside, and the bell rang again, signaling the gate was being shut. The guard pulled on the bars of the gate to ensure that Bruce wouldn't try to escape, then, satisfied with their strength, left the three of them alone.

 

"Hello, Bruce," Ivy greeted with a delighted smile.

 

"It is good to see you again, Ivy," Bruce returned. "I missed you."

 

Her smile broadened. "Did you think about me every night like I asked?"

 

"And every day too."

 

"Good," Ivy said. "Then you'll be happy to know that I've thought of only you as well."

 

"It makes me the happiest man alive," Bruce admitted. "But I can't make you happy while I'm in here."

 

"Don't you worry about that, Bruce. We're getting you out of here tonight."

 

Bruce frowned. "Ivy, I must warn you. If we leave tonight, we'll have to find Tim. I don't know where he was placed after you last came here."

 

"Finding Tim won't be a problem," Ivy said dismissively. "Not only will I be calling him in here next, but we're not just breaking the two of you out. We're breaking everyone out."

 

"It's simple, really," Stephanie spoke up, sliding one airtight briefcase on the table closer to Ivy. "If one or two people break out, there's a manhunt. However, the police don't have the manpower to search for everyone in the prison. It is much easier than trying to smuggle the two of you out."

 

"Yes," Ivy agreed. "Although, this will be less of a prison break and more of a hostile takeover."

 

"How may I help?" Bruce asked.

 

"Later tonight," the redhead explained, "Batgirl will escort Poison Ivy into the custody of the warden of Blackgate, as the police commissioner personally asked Batman to bring her there while he is rebuilding. As the correctional officers move me to a secure room, Batgirl will go to the basement air regulation system and release the voodoo potion into the vents.

 

"As the dust spreads through the prison, I will order my guards to let me go, and I will go to the warden's office. I will order him to unlock all cells and make the announcement for all prisoners and guards to meet in the prison cafeteria. None of them will be able to resist the potion, so they will all be there. There, I will arrive and use my pheromones to enslave them, then have them all report to the basement."

 

Ivy opened one of the airtight briefcases, revealing a syringe containing a crystalline liquid that was nearly transparent save for the yellowish tint. "Here," she said, offering it to him. "That is the antidote to the voodoo potion. I need you clearheaded in case there are any guards that resist that the prisoners can't deal with. It will inoculate you for twelve hours."

 

Bruce took the syringe, inspecting the contents. "But Ivy, won't this remove the commands you put in my head?"

 

Ivy shrugged. "If it does, you'll still be under my control from the lipstick." She paused, eyeing him. "You have been using it, right?"

 

"Yes, Ivy," he replied quickly. "Just as you asked."

 

She smiled sweetly. "Excellent." She shut the case. "I am changing your directive; until you are free from here, you will refer to me exclusively as 'Mistress,' understood?"

 

"Yes, Mistress."

 

"Good. It is just a precaution to ensure that the guards do not catch wind that you were under my control the whole time. Where was I?"

 

"You said you would lead the prisoners to the basement, Mistress," Bruce answered.

 

"Ah, yes. While you and Tim were in here, I managed to get the commissioner's daughter under my control." Ivy nodded to Stephanie.

 

"Barbara says there are schematics of the basement that indicate six separate rooms down there," Stephanie said. "Aside from the three pump rooms and the power generator rooms, there are two sealed rooms that lead to the sewers, and one room that bypasses both sewer exits. The prison installed concrete walls to block off the bypass room, whereas the two sealed  rooms were closed with reinforced steel to keep out floodwater."

 

"My plants can break the concrete and give us a way out," Ivy continued. "From there, we will enter the sewers, and the three of us will head out to the Diamond District, where Alfred will be waking for us with a car."

 

"What about Tim, Mistress?" Bruce asked. 

 

Ivy seemed happy at his words once again. "Tim will go with the other inmates to the shore and will have orders to send them all out to sea. For this to work, none of them can be found, otherwise they'll realize you aren't with them and come looking for you. Tim come back to the mansion after that."

 

"Got it," Bruce said, nodding. "When are we breaking out?"

 

Stephanie showed her wristwatch to Ivy. "Stephanie will hand me off to the guards five minutes before she gets to the ventilation system at seven tonight. I've instructed the commissioner's daughter to remotely disable the cameras at that time. I'll need to speak with Tim to find out how long he needs before we gather them all; Stephanie may need to get him out of his cell before I get to the warden's office. Anything else?"

 

"No, Mistress."

 

 

Ivy smiled even wider. She had written off his attempts to call her such far too early back when he had finally fallen under her control. It pleased her far too much to hear the Batman call her "Mistress." "Then that will be all. It is three right now, so put on the lipstick one last time before we do this."

 

"Yes, Mistress," Bruce affirmed.

 

Ivy stood up, barely able to contain her wave of pleasure. She'd heard hundreds of people say that before. Her name was the holiest of words, only to be spoken by her babies, so it was not to be used by those beneath her. However, she realized that even her king could not use her name. She would change his directive again later.

 

Stephanie grabbed two of the briefcases on the table, tucking one under her arm so she could use her free hand to grab the communicator hidden in the wristwatch. "Alfred, we are a go."

 

"Copy that, Miss Brown," a muffled version of Alfred replied. "See you tonight."

 

Stephanie clicked the communicator off, then took the case out from under her arm to carry one in each hand. Ivy followed suit, taking the two other briefcases- one empty, one filled with three dozen two-hundred milliliter beakers of voodoo dust- from off the table and rounding it to stand over Bruce. 

 

"This will be over soon, my love." She leaned down, getting up close, and continued in a whisper. "Once you're out, we'll strike."

 

Bruce nodded in comprehension. He knew that her flame plants were almost fully cultured. She had given that a lot of work over the past few days, at first incorporating them into her plan, but then deciding against it. She had decided it best not to tip her hand to the world.

 

Ivy stood up straight, then called for the guards. She didn't give him a kiss; there was no need for kissing when they would be able to finally do so much more later after so much waiting.

 

The corrections officer arrived in short order. Ivy told them to bring in Tim and to take Bruce back (Alfred had explained to her that even if she legally represented both of them, coconspirators were not allowed to be next to each other). Bruce was escorted away by one officer, the other breaking off to go retrieve Tim. 

 

Ivy turned, then nodded to Stephanie. The redhead held out the two suitcases in her hands to the other woman, who took them in stride, making her way out of the room before the guards could come back. She would drop them off in a storage closet. Stephanie's briefcases held two things: her own suit and a replica of Catwoman's, bought at a Halloween costume store. In the event that Stephanie needed to attack any guards between, the guards couldn't wake up knowing that Batgirl had knocked them out.

 

Ivy counted to ten, then left the room after her, covering for her return. No guards were waiting outside of the room, so she simply waited until Stephanie returned under a minute later without the briefcases. They wouldn't need to check them out, as they wouldn't be leaving the prison.

 

Four guards eventually brought Tim into the room, each one incredibly wary of their captive. All of them gave Tim stern looks whenever he looked at them, but all that ended when his eyes landed on her, then lit up in pure joy.

 

Of course they would. Even the guards' eyes couldn't help but stray toward her.

 

Tim was handcuffed when he entered, the guards not willing not bound to remove them as Tim had the potential to face the death penalty. As soon as Tim was in the interview cell with her, the guards immediately called for the gate to be shut. The bell signaling the gate's movement sounded, warding Tim away from the guards. The guards then sneered at Tim, then left, one of them spitting at his feet.

 

"Mistress!" Tim nearly yelped once the guards were out of earshot. "I'm so happy to see you again!"

 

Ivy smiled back at him, though a part of her couldn't help but be disappointed in his obvious lack of tact in speaking; whereas Bruce, Alfred and Stephanie spoke courteously and professionally in their reverent tones, Tim was unable to maintain composure. She enjoyed the attention, sure, but she liked Bruce's way better as it distinguishes him from the others.

 

Or maybe it was just because she felt Bruce was the better catch regardless and simply enjoyed him more.

 

"I used the lipstick every night, like you asked," Tim announced proudly. "I never gave up on you."

 

"Aw, thanks Timmy," Ivy said. It wasn't unnatural given their age difference for the older of the two to talk down to the other, but she was still a little annoyed at herself. She needed his focus and her own. "You did good. Good enough that I'll get you out of here."

 

"Really, Mistress?"

 

"Really. We have a plan to get you out tonight." Ivy nodded to her pseudo-law partner.

 

"We went over the details with Bruce," Stephanie explained. "The plan is to make all of the people in the prison disappear. We're going to gather the prisoners in the cafeteria and get them all under Mistress Ivy's control. After that, we'll be leading them out of the prison through the sewers." She handed Robin another syringe concealed in her sleeve. "This will keep you safe from the effects of the voodoo potion later."

 

"We will surface outside of the Diamond District," Ivy continued. "Alfred will take us away, but you will have my authority to take the other prisoners away. Take them to the shore and have all of the guards executed and buried. After that, order them all to swim out as far as the can and not come back.

 

"Alfred will come back to pick you up at the sewer exit two hours later. In that time, you need to cover up all of the footprints and graves so the prisoners are not found. Also, make sure that there aren't any stragglers; if there are any prisoners unable to swim, they must be buried too."

 

"Yes, Mistress," Tim replied. "Is there anything else I should do?"

 

Ivy cupped his face, rubbing his cheek with her thumb. "Don't get caught. Your face is pretty well-known in this city, so don't let anybody see you."