NOW,

ODILE PULLED UP her hood, the inside of the fabric a darker shade of pink, the outside black. She glanced into the mirror, ensuring that everything she needed she had. Which wasn't much. She didn't even really need weapons, since she could conjure them up with her own fa li. Or psionic energy. Whatever.

Damian was starting to rub off on her.

He was on duty tonight. Him and Jason Todd, the Red Hood. But she'd be joining them today, because she was bored and had nothing else to do. They weren't meeting her here, though—both kept their own bases outside of the Batcave, and they'd agreed to gather on the GCPD rooftop instead.

The Bat signal wasn't quite on, but sooner or later it would be. This was Gotham. She pulled up her mask, the fabric sliding over her face. Yes, a metallic mask would be helpful. That was one thing she was definitely going to switch to soon. With a better design as well.

The Batcave was empty except for her. Barbara would be on the comms with them, but she was at home, not here. Bruce had some dinner to attend tonight, and Remiel and Dick had gone off to Bludhaven to move her stuff.

Cass was asleep. The girl was tired.

Odile yawned, putting on her earpiece. Immediately, Damian's voice came through. "I'm on my way."

"Just about to leave," Odile replied, tilting her head. "Red Hood?"

"Just..." he stopped for a moment, "just have to deal with something." And then there were sounds of bullets firing. Odile wrinkled her nose at the sound. "Ran into a small group of muggers. Dealt with now. I'll tie them up and leave them for the GCPD."

"You're heading to the GCPD right now," Damian's voice was flat.

"I'm not about to haul three muggers with me," Red Hood replied in chagrin. "That's just annoying. But whatever. I'll be there a couple minutes late, maybe."

"Fine." Damian huffed. "Excuses, Todd."

"Hey, it's not my fault—"

Odile cleared her throat, cutting him off as she hopped onto her motorcycle. "I'm heading over now. Take your time, Red, not like you stopped to have fun or anything. We'll meet you there."

Todd was always an interesting person to be around. He amused and terrified her at the same time. Meeting him for the first time had been the strangest experience, but she'd gotten more used to him in the following years. He had a... peculiar sense of humour she hadn't quite grasped when she was younger, though she could appreciate it a lot more now.

It was a short ride to the GCPD headquarters. She landed her motorcycle in an alleyway, hopping off and glancing at the building. She shot her grappling hook to the top of a nearby building, lifting herself onto the roof.

With an enhanced jump, she carefully landed onto the GCPD rooftop.

Commissioner Gordon was already there, a cigarette between his fingers. Damian, now in full Robin costume, stood before him.

He acknowledged her with a nod. Gordon raised one brow. "Cygnet? You're back?"

"For good this time, Commissioner," Odile replied with a smile. "Phantasma's back as well."

"I won't ask where you've gone." The Commissioner looked vaguely amused. "Just you two tonight?"

"Red Hood's a bit caught up. We can fill him in later." Robin shook his head. "Where are we needed tonight?"

"Poison Ivy's been sighted around town. She's evaded the GCPD the last two times, and we're expecting her to go for the new Giordano Botanical Gardens. They're cultivating a series of rare plants there right now, and Ivy doesn't seem all too glad. We already have officers there, but we don't want her slipping out of our grasp again." The Commissioner lifted the cigarette back to his mouth. "And knowing this city, I'm sure there's a hundred other places you're all needed right now."

"One thing at a time," Odile replied. "We'll get there now. Red Hood can meet us there."

In the earpiece, he groaned. "So you're telling me I have to double back now?"

No one answered him. With one more comforting smile, Odile leapt off the roof, followed by Damian gliding down. They hopped onto their respective vehicles, and then they were not.

Giordano Botanical Gardens. Not a place she regularly visited.

"Where would Ivy strike from?"

Red Hood's answer was a snort. "She'd smash the glass dome, probably. I don't know how much I like this, though, we're practically fighting her in her own territory."

"We can overwhelm her," Robin speculated. "Three of us, along with GCPD officers, one of her."

"If anything," Red Hood pointed out cynically, "the officers will end up being a burden. We'll have to work at keeping them safe too."

"Should I just put my gas mask on before I even go in?" Odile wondered aloud. "Don't want to risk it."

"I already have one fitted in mine," Red Hood yawned. "Get better, kid."

"I'm about to," Odile grunted. "I haven't gotten my suit properly upgraded in three years. I've already run through designs, I'm most definitely getting myself a new mask."

"Put your mask on, Cygnet," Robin's voice cut in. "Don't want to take any risks. Ivy's gases are ever-evolving. We have no idea what she might have come up with this time."

"I'll do that." They took a turn, both silent before Red Hood's voice started again.

"I'm close."

"Wait for us two first," Robin instructed. "Don't know what you'll be getting into."

Red Hood snorted through the comms. "When did you start giving instructions around here?"

"Are you going to listen or not?"

Red's response was a grimace. "First Batman. Then Nightwing. Now you too. God fucking damn it. You Robins."

"You were a Robin too," Odile pointed out gently.

"Cygnet?"

"Yes?"

"Usually, you're great and I adore you. But right now?" she heard Red Hood sigh over the ear piece. "Shut up."

Odile decided that the proper, prudent response would be silence. She was in no mood to bicker. Not right now. She was too busy wondering what to do with Poison Ivy.

Her bolts would give her an advantage. It would be difficult to get up close and personal with the villain, so she'd have to do her best from a distance. Her bolts. Yes. That would be the best strategy. Keep her distracted. Red Hood relied mostly on his guns, so he'd be helpful at a distance as well. Damian could wait until Ivy was distracted, find an opening and finish her off.

No doubt the other two had come up with this plan by now. And from the looks of it, Damian was taking charge. And while Red Hood was complaining, he seemed to be obeying without qualms.

She wasn't surprised Damian filled in the role of leader, though. He'd always been calling the shots, even when they were kids. Even when he was with Jon, who was far more powerful than any of them were.

Damian had a strategic brain. He'd also been doing this since he was a toddler.

Odile, frankly, wasn't much of a leader. She could do fine on her own, but she didn't like telling others what to do. It was odd, and she was rarely ever in that kind of situation. With Remiel, Remiel called the shots. With Damian, Damian called the shots. Everyone she worked with seemed more qualified to lead than she was, so she'd never bothered.

Not everyone was born to lead.

Odile thought she'd make a horrible leader anyways. She was a bit too soft, in Remiel's words. Too willing to change her mind if she faced opposition. She wasn't confident enough of her own decisions, especially if someone else challenged her.

She was good as the person behind the leader, though. The heart of the group, rather than the head. That was a role she was willing to fill. A role she liked to fill.

They were getting close now, blazing through the sleeping city. Though perhaps that wasn't an accurate description, because Gotham never truly slept. It was always awake. It always had one eye open.

"Look up."

Odile did, noticing Red Hood's gleaming red helmet. She cocked her head in greeting. "Long time no see."

"Little Cygnet's all grown up, eh?"

"She wasn't that young the last time you saw her." Damian stopped his motorcycle, pulling off his helmet. "Anything suspicious?"

"No sign of anything yet," Red Hood said with a casual shrug. "Join me up here? Nice vantage point."

"Oracle?"

Barbara Gordon had joined their call moments prior, and now her voice rang through. "Everything seems to be normal so far, but I won't let my guard down. Remember, you'll be fighting where Poison Ivy is most comfortable."

"That's what I said!" Red Hood groaned. "Stop stealing my lines."

Oracle ignored him. "I have my eyes on all the security cameras here. No sign of Ivy, though."

"Any chance she's inside with an ambush ready?" Robin asked.

"High," Oracle replied. "She might have swapped out all the security footage. I might be staring at looped videos for all I know. Let me see if anything's off with any of them."

"We could just walk in guns blazing," Red Hood said sardonically. "That would be fun."

Odile nudged him. "Stop."

He grumbled. If she could see under his helmet, he'd absolutely be rolling his eyes. Damian glanced at them. "We go around the building. See if anything's amiss. If not, we'll go in. There's two entrances. We'll go in separately, one person will stay outside and survey the situation."

"I'll go in," Odile offered. "I can get myself to safety pretty easily."

"You and Robin, I think," Red Hood hummed. "I'll stay outside. Guns and all, you know. I can cover you from afar quite easily."

"It's settled, then. Let's split up and see what we can find. Red Hood, take the top of the greenhouse. Cygnet and I can go different ways and see if Ivy's hiding around the perimeter. Oracle?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll keep you updated if I find anything amiss."

And thus, they begin their mission. Odile leapt off the roof, using her powers to slow her fall before dashing towards the garden. Stealth wasn't something she was particularly going for tonight, but the general theme of black on her suit ought to help her fit in.

The pink was generally understated. The inside of her hood, the belt on her waist, the thin lines that decorated her suit. And the heels of her boots as well, though she wasn't particularly sure how that design came to be. Odile didn't need to rely too much on gear, since she could form simple weapons with relative ease.

The area was dark at this time of night. Only a few lampposts on the side of the street provided weak illumination. Odile was, however, used to working in the darkness. She kept her steps light, forming a psionic blade in her hand that provided further lighting, though it was the bare minimum.

If she was Poison Ivy and planning to strike this garden, and knowing that some of the city's vigilantes would be on her, where would she hide?

She didn't know the answer, actually, because she'd never been at this botanical garden before. She'd never seen any pictures of this place either. What did botanical gardens have? She wasn't certain. She didn't think she'd ever visited one.

Never saw the need to.

She wondered what types of rare plants were located here. Why Poison Ivy felt the need to attack a place that, really, was helping preserve plants.

Or maybe she just wanted them for herself because she thought she'd do a better job?

In a way, she probably would, Odile thought to herself, amused. But then again, she was a supervillain. So it would be bad.

"Wocao—" the swear subconsciously left her mouth as she sidestepped a giant vine slamming into where she'd stood a moment prior. She summoned a blade in her other hand, lengthening both to give her some extra reach as she twirled around. "Found her!"

"Yeah, no kidding." As Red Hood's voice sounded, bullets fired from the top of the roof at the vine, which was about to slam down again. Odile used a nearby tree to leap to the top of the glass dome, slicing the vine in half along the way. The top end fell off onto the ground beneath.

"Robin? Plan scrapped. She's here."

"Coming," his voice was muffled, probably gliding through the air with a grappling hook. Odile and Red Hood jumped out of the way as a new vine sprouted from underneath, breaking through the doof's roof.

"She's in the greenhouse," Odile confirmed, even though that was already obvious.

"No, she'd be trying to make an escape right now. She's trying to distract us. She's here to steal, not destroy. She probably already has what she wants."

"There." Red Hood pointed his gun to his left, firing a single bullet that lodged itself into the vine Ivy was using to sneak out of the greenhouse. It didn't do much damage, but it seemed to irritate the red-headed woman, who turned around with a scowl on her face.

Odile was on her in an instant, blasting orb after orb of magic where she stood. Ivy pulled up a wall of plants, blocking most of them. The last one smashed right through the wall, and Ivy just managed to pull up another vine to block it in time.

Robin swung in, attempting to knock Ivy off her pedestal, but Ivy managed to just get herself out of the way. She had something in her arm—saplings. Right. They had to try and not destroy those. Which would be difficult, since the supervillain was holding onto them for dear life.

She might be able to do something about that. Her shields could definitely support the weight of a sapling, so if it did end up going... everywhere, she could serve as a last resort safety net.

But there had to be some other options.

Robin ended up landing on a tree, flipping out of the way as Ivy sent a tendril speeding towards him. Odile's eyes narrowed, blasting two orbs towards the tendril before leaping towards it, slicing it in half with another elongated blade. The remaining half of the vine came lashing at her, and Odile dodged, leaning backwards, swinging her arm in a wide arc.

There was a rain of rubber bullets from above, though Red Hood did his best to avoid catching them in the crossfire. Ivy propelled a vine towards him, but he dodged the initial attack before using it as a pathway towards her. The vine swung violently under his feet, and before he was thrown off, he hopped onto the ground.

"Remember," came Barbara's voice through the comms, "the saplings."

"The cops?" Robin asked, "where are they?"

"Surrounded the area. I've instructed the Commissioner not to send them in."

"A woman after my own heart," Red Hood sighed. "Thank fuck for you, Oracle. I cannot do this with a bunch of incompetent cops running around."

"Hey, they're trying their best."

"Their best isn't good enough."

"I need to get close," Robin announced. "Can you two cover me?"

"I'll do my best," Odile sighed, sprinting towards Ivy, slicing and hacking at anything thrown her way. "Can't make any promises, though."

"I gotchu, kid." Under the mask, Red Hood was probably grinning maniacally.

Robin sighed. "I'm not a kid anymore."

"Still are to me."

Odile decided she would not comment, leaping over a fallen vine, throwing a barrage of orbs at Ivy. One caught her on the shoulders, and the woman staggered backwards. "Be careful!" the villain snapped. "You're going to destroy the saplings."

"Or you could just return them nicely. So we can cultivate them. You know, instead of stealing them and putting them in such a dangerous position."

"Have I ever mentioned that I hate dealing with you, Cygnet? I was so happy when you were gone, and now..."

"Stop talking, Ivy." Odile sighed. "You're surrounded. First by us, and then the GCPD officers all around this building. You're not getting anywhere with those saplings. Just give them back. I thought you only did this kind of thing when someone was destroying the planet."

A vine narrowly avoided knocking Odile onto the ground. She grimaced, throwing another orb towards the ginger. Poison Ivy yelped, hopping to the side, eyes still cradling the saplings. "Cygnet!'

"I'm not about to go easy on you just because you're holding a bunch of plants!"

"You—"

She never got to finish her sentence, because Damian landed on the vine she was standing on, kicking her onto the ground before she could react. Odile seemed to have been too good of a distraction. One of the saplings slipped from her grasp, but Odile quickly formed a shield under it to soften the fall, running under it before letting it fall right into her hands. Damian made quick work cuffing Ivy's hands after wrangling the saplings out of her arms.

Odile surveyed the hole-ridden vines that surrounded them, Red Hood's casual stance from what remained of the building's roof, along with Robin's carefulness in apprehending Ivy.

She sighed. "Oracle, we got her."

"Great. I'll tell the GCPD to enter now."

—

THEY ENDED UP in Damian's penthouse in the wee hours of the morning. Jason had taken off his hood, the helmet now placed on Damian's kitchen counter, which he and Odile sat around. Odile's own mask was pulled down, now wrapped around her neck. Damian had gotten changed in the basement before they'd come up. Now, he was getting drinks out of the fridge. A can of soda each for Jason and Odile. A cup of cold brewed tea for himself.

"Jesus," Jason grimaced, glancing at the tea in Damian's hand. "You're making me feel insanely unhealthy."

Damian looked unimpressed, raising the cup. "Want some?"

"No thanks." Jason tossed his head back. "I always love it when I end a fight with Poison Ivy without all kinds of noxious chemicals in my system."

"She was holding back today. Holding a bunch of fragile saplings in your hand while you fight does that to you." Odile shook her head. "Poor botanical garden, though. God knows that'll take a fortune to rebuild."

"For a woman who loves nature so much, she's destroyed a lot of plants tonight," Jason commented dryly. "Ironic, much?"

"She's a woman of contradictions." Damian placed his hands before him, laying his chin on top. "She's always been like this. All these years, she's never changed a single bit."

"She says she hates fighting against me." Odile chuckled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Cheers to Cygnet's first night back in the city, eh?" Jason raised his can of soda. "To Odile."

They all cheered to that.

"Question I've always wondered about," Jason mused, "Cygnet. Odile. Where'd the swan theme come from? Your powers aren't exactly related to swans, no offence."

"You know how I used to live in a peach blossom forest?"

"I've heard the story." Jason nodded. "Saw pictures too. Think I can visit one day?"

"Maybe." Odile shrugged. "Ask Remiel, she'll arrange it if you really want to. But long story short, there was a lake in the middle of that. With swans."

"Ah."

"She really liked the swans." Damian shook his head, amused. "You used to feed them, right?"

"Yep." Odile grinned. "And you know my sect. The Eyu Sect. E is the pronunciation for the word for swan, as you'd know, since you speak Mandarin. It's not the same character, but I thought that was quite sweet. And I just like swans."

"Did Cygnet or Odile come first?" Jason asked, raising one brow.

"All the questions," Odile teased. "Why Red Hood?"

"Because," he said with a roll of his eyes, "red hood." He jabbed a finger in the helmet's direction.

"Fine. Odile came first. I didn't have an English name until I left the mountains."

"I helped her choose it," Damian offered. "Came up with the idea, actually."

"Sort of." Odile wrinkled her nose. "I suppose you did. So, Red Hood, why the red hood?"

"What?" Jason's brows furrowed. "What the living fuck are you talking about?"

Odile looked exasperated. "You're called the Red Hood because you wear a red helmet. So why the red helmet in the first place?"

Jason smirked as Damian let out a loud groan. "Well," Jason started, adjusting his position, "funny you should ask, actually, kid..."

my personal headcanon is that all the batkids end their patrol night at someone's house drinking and bitching about their day. bruce is mildly upset he's never invited.