One Leads to Another [Pamela, Slade]

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

It had almost been a full week since their last encounter. Time was running out. The effects had yet to kick in. Though, he wasn't about to give them time to. Her words had continued to play in his mind like a broken record when he had thought about it. Her words playing off in his mind from that night, takes about a week before you'll feel any symptoms...after that you just have a few hours. That week was almost up. He wasn't going to take the chance to wait until anything started.

He had kept his promise to stay away from her. He had not gone further into his search of her recent crime. He had all the evidence he needed. He could have easily sold off the plot and the evidence with her motives to the police and had gotten them involved. But instead, he withheld the evidence. He had not told anyone of the night or what had gone down. He felt like there was a pendulum swing over head of him. Only a matter of time before she got sick of his game and she could lower it. That was exactly what he was trying to avoid. He had kept her secret of her crime, even though it went against his beliefs. But he couldn't risk it. This was the type of situation where he still had a bit control over how things went down, but his life was on the line.

It had not taken him long to get out of his own place and onto the streets of Gotham as Nightwing. His penthouse was actually not too far away from Isley location. It was almost midnight. He knew she had probably gone out and figured this would be the best time to catch her.

That night, he had run faster than he normally would have and jumped with more precision to make sure he had time to spare. Any one watched would have noticed the tension he carried by the way he moved. He wasn't as free in his movement had he just been out on a usually patrol.

No, not that night. Tonight, his life could end. He had to make sure he had not done anything to upset Dr. Isley. He had keep his distance and had not interfered with her lab again since then. He had kept the rest of the Batfamily from the knowledge that he held. It was too risky.

Closing in on where his motorcycle had been park while he had been on patrol, he jumped off the rooftop and then down into the alley. Swinging off a fire escape to provide a safer landing. He ran over to his motorcycle hopped on, quickly putting on his helmet. The motorcycle roared to life as its headlights reflected off the surrounding building. Dick didn't waist any time, speeding out of the alley. He had to be going well over 80 mph on the bike. And he only seemed to go faster as he got outside of the close together building and out into more of the hill with the estates in Gotham.

Everything raced by him. And within a matter of minutes, he stopped his bike a distance in the land surround the mansion rather than on the road. He hid the bike for now as he tan across the slight green to get to the green house.

He could see a light on within the boundaries of the greenhouse. He knew better this time to not just go breaking into her place. This was not a social call. Dick really wished he wasn't doing this at all, but he could tell any one he couldn't let anyone know how what had happened. If anyone else were to find out, he might lose his chances of find away to get to antidote.

The night was quiet and still around him as he made his way toward the door of the greenhouse closest mansion itself. He stayed to the shadow as he went along. When he got to the door, looking through the glass he could see a light from within the connecting building along with the lab. So, Isley was around, unless she often left lights on.

Not wanting to risk upsetting her, Dick knocked on the door of the greenhouse. The last time he had gotten in, things had not ended up so well. And if he entered without her knowing, those plants were probably sure to come after him.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

Though it hasn't quite been a week, Pamela has been expecting Nightwing to come at any time now. A part of that is because saying that it takes a week is only a rough guess - like with anything else biological on that time frame, the exact amount of time would vary based on any number of things from his temperature to what he's been eating. That, and she does expect that he'll come early; even though her poison comes with a few hours warning, it's an easy guess that he'll want to be absolutely certain that he finds her before he dies - that thought makes her smile.

And so the tap on the glass door of her greenhouse doesn't come as a surprise, and she doesn't even have to look to know it's him. Anyone else, if they were friendly, would have rung in at the front gate to her estate, and if they were unfriendly they probably would have broken in. So someone knocking on the door of her greenhouse can only be Nightwing; not a friendly visitor, but still on a leash.

Not really wanting to go out of her way to greet him, she merely steps out of the lab area to where he can see her through the glass walls of the greenhouse and waves vaguely to indicate that he should come in before returning to the lab. She'd left the door unlocked this time and she has to smile to herself at forcing him to walk all the way through the greenhouse, past the plants that had held him captive for her, in order to get what he needs from her. She's always been one to underline the fact that she's in control whenever she can.

As she waits for him to join her in the lab, she opens one of the drawers and retrieves the vial she had prepared only that morning that contains the enzyme mixture he needs to keep the poison at bay for another week. Doubtless he's figured out her entire plan by now - she'd noted after he'd left that the vials she'd used to mix up her last batch of perfume weren't quite where she'd left them, which means that he'd more than likely obtained a sample from them. A sample that would prove to be perfume laced with pheromones and enzymes meant to interact with other pheromones not contained in the perfume.

And she sure that the moment he realized that pheromones were involved he'd put two and two together about the strange effect that being around her has on him. Not that he'd know that the pheromones around her are an inherent part of her and not some other kind of perfume she keeps to herself, but it's no great leap to figure out that the extra enzymes in the perfume cause those exposed to it to respond differently to her in particular.

And yet, though she's sure he's put together all the pieces, she hasn't seen so much of as a glimpse of either him or anything else interfering with her activities, so as long as he behaves himself now, he's earned another week.

[Dick Grayson - Nightwing]

Dick could see Isley's silhouette through the door from the light coming from the lab. He saw her waving him in. It was as if she had full control over him and the situation. There was nothing he could do, but to play by her rules and on her turf until he could find away out of this situation.

He had figured out everything she was up to. He could go to the cops or hand off the information to another in the Bat-family, but it would be risking his life over it. Dick had kept an idea on her crime wave of robbing the rich willingly. But there didn't seem to be as much action there going on lately. Though with every day he regretted the decisions he was making by having to follow her threats.

Nightwing opened the door and walked into the greenhouse. Right away spotting the plants that had entangled him the first time and were the cause of his recent situation in which Isley had been able to have her way with injecting that poison without a fight.

Dick stayed closer to the wall and away from the many plants that seemed to sense his presents. He knew he was unwanted by the plants. Isley had shown she was in control of them and they only listened to her. And not one else could handle them the way they were designed.

The last thing he wanted was to be tangled up again and up himself in another situation that would involve him in anything else. It was bad enough he could died without her help. But he was lying to everyone about a lot of things these days. Like where he went off to almost the exact same time once a week. It couldn't got on forever. He knew it would have to end sooner or later.

He made his way carefully towards the lab where Isley had walked back into for something. He stayed waiting outside of the lab. Not wanting to press his luck by disobeying her for any small stupid reason.

[Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy]

After her first few successes with her little scheme, Pamela realized that she had to pace herself. Sure it would be near impossible for anyone beyond Nightwing to put all the pieces together, but if she got too many of them signing over much of their fortunes all at once then too much attention would be drawn to the phenomenon.

She's gotten in the habit of checking the papers in order to gauge the level of suspicion, but they're calling it a 'trend', as if donating ridiculously large sums to the environment is now fashionable for young bachelors. But then it's not as if that's the most ridiculous trend to crop up among the rich in recent years - only the most beneficial to the planet. So for the moment, at least, it's been noted by the media but no alarm bells are going off.

Except for Nightwing, of course, but his has been silenced. As always she's playing her cards very carefully, even now that her efforts have suddenly become very effective. She'd tried playing according to the rules, but that had gotten her nowhere. She'd tried other, more quiet things, but they'd been mostly ignored. So now she's been forced to play this dangerous game - one small slip-up away from being found out at all times. But then, the higher the stakes are, the funner the game. She'd thought that she'd nearly lost it there for a moment with Nightwing, but instead she ended up gaining from it.

"Come in," she says impatiently when he stops outside the lab. It's not like she bites unless she's given good reason to. Then again, if she really was angry with him he'd probably fare better in the greenhouse with the plants than in the lab with the poisons. But no, at the moment she's more distracted than anything - while she expected him to come, it's not like she knew exactly when so she'd been in the middle of some lab work when he arrived. So when he comes in she simply hands over the vial full of a clear liquid.

"Bottom's up," she says with a smirk. At least the fact that the partial antidote is drinkable makes that part of this relatively painless. Then again, perhaps given the flavor of it he'd prefer a shot. Leaving it to him, she goes back to what she was doing: mixing up a concoction of some sort into a large vial from a vast array of smaller ones using a pipette - not more perfume or any other recognizable substance. But then, given Pamela's knowledge and the fact that she doesn't label or write down pretty much anything she does means that the dark blue liquid could probably be or do anything.