After narrowly escaping a Court of Owls lab, Batgirl and Strix are surprised to be attacked by another Talon. This is a problem, because Strix is still weak from having been frozen in a solid block of ice by Mister Freeze, and Batgirl worries that she will not be able to hold her own long enough for her to recuperate. Even so, in her fighting with him, Batgirl notices that he seems to be holding back in order to keep from hurting her. Despite this, he separates her from Strix, locking her in the stairwell by jamming the door to the roof. With Strix at his mercy, Calvin Rose announces that she has been sentenced by the Court of Owls to die, and he is her executioner.