Chapter One

Gotham City was shrouded by gray foreboding clouds that important Friday night. Even as Bailey watched, more clouds poured in off the harbor. This is not a good night to be at sea, Bailey thought.

Bailey studied her reflection in the window. She stood, legs shoulder width apart, arms crossed, in front of the bay window facing Gotham City Harbor. Had a stranger seen her in those pivotal moments, before he came home, that stranger would have thought she was steeling herself for some great crucible. And so she was.

But no stranger had seen her for three years, save the strangest of them all. She had stayed in this condo with him for three long and torturous years, kept in not by and deadbolts or padlocks or any crude metal barriers. No, the Joker had kept her feet firmly planted in this apartment by fear. "I have bombs under your parent's house", he had joyfully reminded her every time he left, "and three in each of their cars, and one strapped under your sister's bed. My men are watching every exit, so one foot outside this apartment, and-"

She shook her head forcefully, trying to banish the memories of his ugly painted face and focus on the task at hand. No longer would she endure his ridicule and threats and abuse. Last night, he had raped her for the last time- she had a Colt Peacemaker six-shot revolver tucked under one arm and a certain escape route. She would be gone before anyone heard the shot.

Yes, the Joker had insulted Bailey for the last time.

Familiar footsteps pounded in the hall outside. The Joker was coming home, Bailey knew. She slowly cocked the revolver, but did not yet draw it. Six shots she had, though she intended only to use two.

The footsteps were halfway down the hall.

Bailey quickly ran through the plan once more in her head. If she had timed it fight- and she knew she had- it would not fail.

The footsteps paused outside the door. Bailey heard the jingle of keys. She drowned the impulse to turn and shoot the monster through the door.

The door opened and a hideously scarred man stepped into the apartment. "Evening, Bailey," he said in a high and grating voice. Bailey watched his movement reflected in the window.

He closed the door and turned to lock it. Not wasting a moment, Bailey whipped around and pointed the revolver at the Joker's back. She steadied her hand and fired. The cacophony of the gunshot reverberated off the walls, and somewhere down the hall a neighbor screamed. The bullet hit its mark perfectly, at the dead center of the Joker's neck, severing the spinal cord upon impact.

Before the Joker's body had even hit the floor, Bailey faced the window again and fired a shot to its middle. The glass shattered and flew off into the night, carried by the gathering winds. Bailey heard doors opening and feet running in the hall. She tucked the gun into her pocket and swung herself out the window.

It was beginning to rain over Gotham, but Bailey just squinted and gripped the building's brick exterior harder. The bricks were huge, and crevices easy to find. She looked up quickly. She had judged correctly- she was on the ninth story, with only two more to climb to reach the rooftop. She drew in a big breath, and gingerly felt above her head for a handhold.

Bailey reached the rooftop in under two minutes. After hauling herself over the edge, she sat down, closed her eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief. The hardest three years of her life were over- the Joker was dead, and could torment her no longer. She laid back and laughed for first time since that mad clown had entered her life- she didn't care how loud she was who would hear her over the rain anyway? She was free to laugh and cry and curse the Joker or even pull out the revolver and fire a celebration shot if she wanted- the Joker was gone now, and Bailey was free.

She stood up and jumped and whooped. She took her sweater off and threw her arms wide open and let the freezing rain fall on her bare arms and face. This was the most alive she had felt in three years, and she would celebrate it as much as she could. Bailey was being reborn into a world she had left not by choice, but by the fiercest force. And by the fiercest force, she had taken that world back.

She opened her teary eyes and laughed again. Shining bright against the threatening clouds was a great circle, with the symbol of a bat in the middle.

Bailey sighed in relief. How could she have missed this? He had been the only uncertainty in her plan, the Batman had. But if he was being called now, then he would be here.

Yes, he would be here.