There seemed to be handfuls of stars tossed right above the rooftops in Burnside, keeping the town still alight even at midnight. A shadow stood atop the tallest building in the neighbourhood; a bunch of tight-knit apartments scaling the horizon, and the perfect place to view Burnside in its entirety.

Batgirl watched the alley near Lester Street, analysing every small detail; the exits, the homes, and most importantly, the people. So far, only four people had lingered near the crime scene. The police had left for the night. Everything was quiet.

"You must be the Bat Child," someone spoke from directly behind her. "I have come to offer my assistance."

Batgirl turned, half jumping from shock, to meet a pair of the darkest eyes she had ever seen. Blacker than coal, or ink, or anything she had ever seen, but that was the only visible feature. Surrounding the rest of her body was a pulsing white suit, that covered even her mouth, "Okay...who are you? And what did you just call me?"

"I am Rahn, Emissary for the Ohrysian Principality," the strange woman replied, and realisation clicked in Barbara's mind. She had heard of Rahn, both from Jason and general social media scrolling. "Is Bat Child not what you are named?"

"It's Batgirl, actually. I'm far from a child."

"I was under the impression that 'girl', in your language, referred to young female children. Just as 'woman' refers to adults."

"What are you, a thesaurus?" Barbara scoffed, "Batwoman is taken, so I'm kinda stuck with it."

"Very well, Bat Child, shall we proceed to the crime scene?"

The next few seconds were like something out of a nightmare. The suit that shielded most of the stranger's face and body slowly started creeping over her eyes as well. As if even showing them in the first place had been a deliberate act. Soon, there was nothing left. The costume twitched and bubbled, but whoever was behind it had completely vanished beneath; like a blank piece of paper without even a margin. There was a faint scent, too. Almost undetectable but familiar, somehow. It reminded her of the ocean.

"H-Hold on..." Barbara somehow managed to sputter out. She was impressed with her own ability to not have a serious mental breakdown at what she had seen. Then again, her ex-boyfriend was dating a six foot tall alien in a sling bikini... "Did you just invite yourself into my investigation? 'Cause I don't even know you."

"I will not be a burden. I simply wish to observe your detective skills," Rahn replied, but it was weird to hold a conversation with someone without a visible face. "Think of it as a peaceful exchange of knowledge between our species."

Barbara wasn't exactly comfortable with this, but she also knew what this alien was capable of. She couldn't do anything to stop her from following, and so rejecting her help seemed like a waste of breath. Besides, Jason had briefed her on the situation, and if Bruce was keeping this alien close by, then Barbara wanted to ensure that she could be trusted.

"Just try not to draw too much attention..." Barbara sighed, but it felt like an impossible thing to ask. Rahn's costume already glowed under the starlight like a second, malformed moon.

Upon making it back onto the street, Batgirl took a sharp right turn and hurried into a structure surrounded by yellow police tape. Much to her relief, Rahn kept her distance, without another word, but knowing that she was analysing Barbara's every move made her a little nervous. Like the first time she worked with Bruce.

The street lamps punctured light through the windows and highlighted the room. The dead bodies had been removed already, but large patches of blood had soaked into the floorboards. Barbara knelt next to a particularly large splatter of crimson, and analysed the shape that it had formed.

"Does this gore tell you something?" Rahn asked curiously.

Barbara sighed but answered regardless, "There are two puddles of blood within four centimetres of each other, it's pooled to the left and right but there's less collected in the centre of each puddle. This was where the bodies were left."

"And how does that information help us find Zsasz?"

"I'm working on it." Batgirl wandered to the other side of the room and pulled a small bottle of luminol spray from her belt. It was a chemical that reacted to the iron in hemoglobin, often used by forensic scientists to find small, trace amounts of blood.

She sprayed the walls, which were surprisingly clean, then the windows. Still nothing. The last few drops were used on the floorboards a fair distance away from the visible pools of blood. Five distinct but tiny spots of blue lit up like a glowstick.

"Interesting," Rahn murmured, and Barbara only now realised that the alien was hovering over her shoulder, "could this invisible blood not be from the two puddles?"

"No, this blood's a week old at least. The other two are fresh." Batgirl took out a flashlight and turned it on, leaning it to the right and left. It shimmered differently at each angle, but it had pooled outward from the top. From this, Barbara could deduce that it had fallen straight down, not been splattered at an angle. It hadn't been a violent injury. An accident, maybe...or someone had intentionally cut themselves.

Batgirl moved the flashlight to the right again, and something shimmered within arms length of the highlighted gore. Barbara reached over and plucked it from the ground. At first, she thought it was a thick strand of hair...but it didn't move correctly. She rolled it between her gloved fingers and chewed on her bottom lip. It was more like some kind of synthetic fibre...maybe a monofilament nylon.

"This is used to make gillnets," Batgirl mumbled out loud, "they might be hiding out at the harbour."

Rahn nodded, appearing almost surprised by her reasoning but impressed nonetheless. "Lead the way."

Batgirl placed the piece of nylon back where she found it and, with a small shake to confirm that it was empty, clicked the small spray bottle back onto her belt. When she left, Rahn followed from above; flying over the buildings that Barbara had to scale and weave through.

When they finally arrived at the harbour it was even darker than the crime scene. There was a melodic swishing sound as each wave moved the tied-up boats, and there was only one light shining from the window of a nearby shack. The smell was immediate; salty water and fresh seafood. It wasn't the first time that she had smelt it that night.

"Hang back here," Barbara told Rahn, who was currently staring at a shell half buried in the sand. "I'll handle this."

"If that is your preference," she replied, obviously distracted.

Batgirl was admittedly surprised that Rahn hadn't insisted on joining her, but relieved all the same. The alien could likely wrap the situation up in seconds, but this was Barbara's investigation now. She wanted to finish it herself, for Jason's sake.

Usually, Batgirl would scour the shack for an alternate entryway, but this time it was clear that the front door was the only way in or out. The windows were bolted down, there was no chimney, and there were no gaps between the wooden walls big enough for her to squeeze through.

Barbara twisted the handle of the door and found that it hadn't been locked, or more likely, the lock had been broken for years. Without hesitation, she threw the door open as quickly as she could, tossed a smoke bomb inside, and rolled into the oncoming cover as it leaked grey mist into the room.

There was coughing; a throaty, husky sound. Then, much too quickly, the smoke started to thin. She could see a silhouette in the right-hand corner, standing from a rickety chair and searching the fog.

Batgirl was quick to take advantage of this temporary blindness. Without making a single sound, she lurked towards him, hoping to end this fight cleanly. If she could just incapacitate him...pin his arms behind his back and tie them up, then he would be much less threatening. Before she could even start to execute this plan, however, Victor Zsasz whipped around and slashed a short blade through the air. Barbara barely managed to leap out of the way.

Zsasz, apparently, knew exactly what to expect from her.

The smoke had turned to a very fine wisp now, like looking into a shop window in the middle of winter. Everything was obscured, but visible. Barbara could see Victor's maniacal grin and the rotting, brown teeth. "I knew you'd find me sooner or later, pretty bat. I've been saving a spot just for you."

Zsasz pointed the dagger so close to his right eye that even the slightest shake would plunge it inside. There were long, thick scars all over his body; one for each person that he had killed. At this stage he was running out of room, but apparently there were still a few areas on his face to fill. Barbara had to wonder what he'd do once he ran out of room.

"You'll be waiting a while to fill that space, Zsasz." Batgirl quipped, launching back towards him.

At first, Zsasz dodged the flurry of wild punches being aimed at him. Then, she connected one to his jaw and he tumbled to the ground like a ferret down a rabbit hole. The punch had left a nice red blotch on his chin that had already started to bruise.

Zsasz laughed at the pain swelling in his face and spat a big wad of bloody phlegm onto the ground. He jumped back to his feet and started slashing his knife at her again in a strange rhythm; right, left, up, forward, repeat.

Barbara was the first to admit that she did not possess the fighting skills of Bruce, Dick, Katherine, or Jason, she acted on pure instinct...and perhaps a little flexibility from her early days as a gymnast. So, with every slice that knife cut through the air, Barbara manoeuvred away from it; twisting and bending at almost impossible angles that promised a sore back in the morning.

Unfortunately, the more Barbara evaded the furious attacks, the closer she came to being pinned between Zsasz and the wall. She had to finish this fight quickly if she wanted to avoid becoming the next grim tally on the murderers body.

The next strike that hurtled her way, Barbara didn't dodge. She let the blade cut into her shoulder, and with the brief and distracting moment of ecstasy that crawled onto Zsasz's face, she high-kicked the knife out of his hand, ducked behind him, and twisted both arms behind his back.

Barbara unclamped a thin, yet extremely sturdy, ripe from her hip and tied both the criminal's hands together. She finished it with a palomar knot, something her father had taught her when she was young, and lead him outside. The criminal pulled against his restraints, trying to break free and run, but Batgirl kept her grip firm on the rope. He wasn't going to escape.

"Do you require assistance?" Rahn's voice punctured the air. She was still in the exact place that Barbara had left her, staring down at that damned shell. "Would you like me to take him to the station? Or tie his legs together?"

"No, I got it," Barbara huffed, pushing Zsasz away from the harbour with a grip that Bruce had taught her; if he chose to struggle, it would snap his ulna bone clean in half.

"Perhaps if I-"

"Stop with the act," Barbara snapped, "I don't know what your deal is, but I don't want to be a part of it."

She couldn't see Rahn's face behind that creepy suit, but her posture seemed to tense ever so slightly. "Have I done something to offend you?"

"You know, this place has a really specific smell." Barbara motioned to the harbour with her free hand, a sneer settling over her masked features, "So, the next time you find the target before me, make sure to wash the stink from your clothes."

Rahn stood there, silent as the grave, but her hands twitched at her side; as if she were holding herself back.

"I don't know why you decided not to tell me that Zsasz was here, or why you didn't arrest him before finding me, but it makes you look suspicious. I'll give you a pass this once because I know you aren't from around here, but the next time you lie to my face, I won't be so forgiving."

Batgirl dragged her catch away, towards the dawning light on the horizon. Rahn didn't follow.

There was something strange about her, and it wasn't that she was an alien. It was something else. It was in the hollow bleakness of her eyes and the stiff act she presented to the world. Barbara had met enough psychopaths in her lifetime to know a manipulator when she saw one. Rahn was bad news, and though she'd managed to fool Jason, Barbara wouldn't be foolish enough to trust her.