The final tumbler was being stubborn, but she could feel it getting close through the vibrations against her ear. One more careful turn...

  *Click.*

  "Got it," she whispered, a smile spreading across her face.

  The safe door swung open silently on well-oiled hinges. Inside, stacks of cash were bundled neatly with rubber bands, organized by denomination. Harley's eyes lit up as she stared at the money. This was their ticket out, hers and Mr. J's freedom from Gotham, from Tetch, from everything.

  She began counting quickly, her fingers moving through the stacks with practiced efficiency.

  "About a million dolrs," she said, unable to keep the excitement from her voice.

  Mr. J looked up from his cleaning supplies. "That much?"

  "Yeah." She turned to face him, practically glowing. "Hey, could you gather all this money while I go find the keycards?"

  She already knew where Tetch kept them, in his bedside drawer.

  "Sure," Mr. J said, setting down his cleaning rag. He pulled one of the rge garbage bags from his cart and shook it open. "Everything?"

  "Everything."

  While Mr. J began methodically loading the cash, Harley made her way into the bedroom. The bedside drawer opened with a soft pull. Inside was a collection of items: nude Poroid pictures of Alice from when she was younger, a small bck handgun, and a little bck address book.

  She grabbed the gun and tucked it into her waistband, then picked up the bck book and the stack of keycards. Account numbers were written in Tetch's careful handwriting throughout the book. All of it could be useful.

  When she returned to the living room, the keycards and book in hand, Mr. J was tying off the garbage bag.

  "All we need to do now is get down to the garage and get out of here," Harley said, holding up the keycards.

  Mr. J pced the bag on his cleaning cart. "I'm gd this is all working out."

  ---

  47 crept forward silently, closing the distance on Waylon step by step. The big man kept scanning the area, his head turning slowly as he searched for threats.

  As he moved closer, 47 subvocalized into his comm.

  "Selina, deploying drone support. Four units, one through the open front door, three through windows on floors two, three, and four. Interior guards will be neutralized. Stand by for my signal."

  "Okay," came Selina's quiet response through his earpiece.

  47 paused his advance and gave a mental command to his drones.

  The four cloaked units unched simultaneously. One slipped through the open front door. The other three struck their assigned windows, floors two, three, and four erupting in crashes of shattering gss.

  Waylon's head snapped toward the building. "What the hell..."

  47 resumed his silent approach, now just steps away from his distracted target.

  ---

  Selina moved quickly down the third-floor hallway, her footsteps soft on the carpeted floor. Through the building's walls, she'd heard the crashes of breaking gss from the upper floors, 47's drones doing their work.

  She passed the first unconscious guard slumped against the wall near the elevator, his radio lying silent beside him. The hallway that had been patrolled just minutes earlier was now eerily quiet.

  As she rounded the corner toward the main corridor, girls began emerging from their rooms. Some peered out cautiously, others stepped into the hallway completely, their faces showing confusion and surprise.

  "Did you hear that gss breaking?" whispered a girl with dark hair, maybe fourteen.

  "What happened to the guard?" another asked, pointing at the unconscious man by the elevator.

  Selina kept moving, scanning the walls for the fire arm panel. She could see more evidence of the drone assault, another guard face-down near the common area, his weapon still holstered. The drones had been precise and silent.

  More girls were appearing now, clustering together in small groups. Their voices carried a mixture of fear and cautious hope.

  "Something's happening," one of them said to her friend. "Look, there's another one."

  She followed their gaze to see a third guard colpsed in a doorway, completely motionless.

  Selina spotted what she was looking for, the red fire arm panel mounted on the wall near the emergency exit. She approached it quickly, her heart racing.

  ---

  47's hand sliced forward in a knife-hand chop aimed at the exposed throat.

  The big man's massive arm snapped up instinctively, catching 47's wrist in a vice grip. His eyes locked on the point of contact as the rest of 47 blurred into visibility. "Ah, there you are," he growled.

  With a casual shrug, the man let Tammy slide off his shoulder. She hit the ground with a soft thud, scrambled back on her hands and knees, then bolted toward the abandoned building across the street. *Good, out of the way.*

  47 twisted sharply, using his body weight to wrench free and step back into a defensive stance. The camoufge flickered with the sudden movement, it wasn't perfect at high speeds. *This guy's got instincts,* 47 thought, adrenaline sharpening his focus. *Trained. Maybe ex-military.*

  The big man lunged forward with a precise jab-cross-hook combo that cut through the space where 47 had been a split second before. 47 ducked low, countering with a swift shin kick to the ribs. It connected with a solid thud that forced a grunt from the bigger man.

  He absorbed it and shot for 47's legs, trying to drag him into a grapple. 47 leaped back, but the man's fingers grazed his ankle, nearly pulling him off bance. *He's strong. Too strong. If he gets a hold, it's over.*

  47 fired a bde from his gauntlet. The man twisted away, the projectile grazed his suit jacket and embedded in the brick wall behind him. He pressed the attack, closing distance with a spinning back fist that 47 barely ducked, feeling the wind ruffle his cowl. 47 retaliated with a series of sharp elbows aimed at the jaw, but the man blocked with crossed arms, absorbing the blows before sweeping low with a leg kick that clipped 47's calf and sent him stumbling.

  Pain fred in 47's leg, but he used the momentum to roll away, coming up in a crouch. The big man was on him instantly, grabbing for his arm and yanking him into a clinch. 47 drove a knee toward the groin, the man anticipated, twisting his hips and smming an elbow down toward 47's colrbone. 47 blocked, the impact jarring his bones, then headbutted the chin. The man staggered back, blood trickling from a split lip, but didn't release his grip entirely.

  *This guy isn't just strong. He's fast,* 47 realized, his breath coming in controlled bursts as he wriggled free. *Multiple fighting styles. Adaptive. I can't beat him straight up without the tech.*

  47 darted in with a flying knee that the man partially blocked, following with a spinning back kick that grazed his temple. The man roared, countering with an ax kick that clipped 47's shoulder and buckled his knees. 47 fired another bde aimed at the thigh, the man pivoted and sidestepped, the projectile sparking off pavement, then surged forward to tackle 47 against the building's wall.

  The impact rattled 47's teeth, the man's weight pinning him as knees drove upward. 47 twisted and slipped most, but a hammer blow smashed into his chest, bending a rib. He gasped, vision blurring, and slid along the wall to create space. A spear hand strike at the man's eyes drew blood from his brow, but he ignored it, grabbing 47 by the wrist and bicep to flip him to the ground.

  The big man loomed over him, hoisting 47 up by the front of his suit like he weighed nothing. His grin was feral as he pressed 47 horizontally over his head, ready to break him over his knee. "Time to snap you like a twig," he snarled.

  *This could end me.*

  Subvocally, 47 commanded: "Suit lockdown."

  The nanotech in his uniform activated instantly, the flexible material going rigid as reinforced steel, locking his body in pce. The big man brought him down hard over his knee and screamed as the unyielding suit met bone with a sickening crack. His leg buckled, the knee giving way under the reversed force.

  47 gave the mental command to unlock his suit, twisting in the loosened grip and driving the bde that extended from his gauntlet into his opponent's throat.

  The big man's eyes widened in shock, his hands releasing as he staggered back. 47 yanked the bde out in a spray of blood. The man clutched his throat, gurgling, his massive frame colpsing to the pavement in a heap. He twitched once, then went still, eyes gzing over.

  47 stood there, breathing heavily. His ribs ached, his leg throbbed, and bruises were forming under his suit. *He was good. Damn good. In a fair fight, no equipment... I'd have lost. But fighting fair is stupid.*

  He gnced across the street where Tammy had fled, empty shadows now. *Hopefully she's safe.*

  47 subvocalized into his comm, still catching his breath. "Selina. Exterior threat neutralized. Coast is clear, you can now evacuate the girls."