The man was unlike anyone he had ever seen before, yet at the same time naggingly familiar.

He was strange, too - and that was excluding his odd choice for wear. His musculature was so pronounced to the point where he was almost grotesquely large. The boy couldn't see his eyes, but he could feel that they were trained on him.

Several moments passed, and the man still hadn't said a word. For a while, the boy was beginning to think that perhaps the strange man didn't even exist. That perhaps it was just another figment of his imagination that had come to life and materialized itself before his eyes.

Testing his theory, he tilted his head slightly to side to see if the man would track his movements. He did.

Finally relenting this battle of wills, the boy spoke his first words in what seemed like months.

"Who are you?" He questioned, voice hoarse from lack of use.

"... You don't know?" This question was rarely every directed at him. Bruce had grown used to his near celebrity-like status. Having been the inheritant of a multi-million dollar company and notorious playboy, everybody knew who Bruce Wayne was.

His "Batman" persona was even more widely known; by toddlers, children, adults, and the elderly. If this boy, this Patient 52, had never heard of Batman then what else was he unaware of?

"Obviously, or I wouldn't be asking you," he muttered, surprisingly annoyed. He was unsure how to react to this feeling, having felt nothing but an almost palpable numbness for the last week or so. It had tired him out.

Batman was surprised by the conviction and energy behind his words, though. Patient 52's body resembled nothing more but pale skin wrapped around jutting bone. Weightless as the skeleton of a crow, he looked as if he was about to drop dead on him any minute now.

"That doesn't matter yet," Batman ignored his inquiry dismissively, "First I'd like to know whom you are."

The kid was about to retort with some snide remark when it died on his lips. Sitting there, thinking about the question, he realized that he couldn't answer it even if he wanted to. That piece of vital information was unknown to him. Strangely, this did not cause him any concern whatsoever.

Without saying a word, the boy glanced away from his strange visitor thus signaling that he wished for the conversation to be over now. Batman would have none of it though. Along with being a paranoid know-it-all, he was also quite the pusher.

"You don't know, do you? You probably don't even know why you're here, correct?" He said, trying to get some kind of reaction out of the kid. He didn't get one. Instead, the boy slowly returned his gaze back to him. There was no malicious intent in them. There was just a sense of helplessness, sorrow, and perhaps something like frustration.

"No," he replied slowly, "I don't. But I would think I must have done something horrible."

Batman considered this for a moment. At least that much was obvious. Although the boy didn't seem dangerous or ill-intended at the moment, there was a strong possibility that he was the kind that would lapse into fits of murderous rage. If what Cash had told him was true, about the hallucinations and tantrums, then it was most likely that his violence stemmed from those. A sort of link to some traumatization that had crippled him before.

Still though, there was always the chance of a full recovery. In his expert opinion, the boy was merely sick. Not insane.

"If you want to get out, then you need to let the doctors here believe that you've healed. Take whatever medicine they have for you, start participating in the therapy sessions. I would like to help you, but I can't unless you want to help yourself first," Batman firmly stated. What he said was only the truth.

"Get out? And then what?" the kid demanded quietly. In all honesty, he had no preference on whether or not he wished to leave his cell. His judgement almost leaned a bit more towards staying if only because it offered protection. There was something out there that wanted to hurt him, he felt.

"We can discuss that later. Until then, it's entirely up to you if we even reach that point."

The strange man had left some time ago. The kid was left alone after a guard that he had seen before once or twice came in to check if he needed anything. He said no.

Now, contemplating the man's words, he didn't know what he wanted. He wasn't sick. At least, that's what he thought. And he thought for sure that he wasn't insane. But then again, most crazy people thought so as well.

If I'm not sick or crazy, then I don't belong here. He concluded. When using logic like that, it made the answer seem so simple. But then, where do I belong? He didn't the answer to that either. It was also something that he wished to know, among other things. Where was he from, did he have a family, what happened to them, how did he get there. And above all, who was he?

Realizing that he wouldn't get of his answers if he stayed locked up in a cell, Patient 52 had made his decision.

Batman left, feeling confident that he had convinced the boy to at least attempt a recovery.

"I can't believe it," Cash had said, genuinely surprised, "you actually held a conversation with him. And he didn't even try to kill you."

Something about Batman's presence had snapped the boy out of his trance. Perhaps it was because he was the first one to talk and treat him like a person and not some deranged patient.

"So what now? Think he belongs in here?" Jim inquired. It certainly wasn't hard to take a curiosity in the boy.

Batman shook his head twice.

"No, not for long anyway. Cash, take me to the Warden. I have something I would like to discuss with him."

Hugo Strange was not a simple man. Nor a completely trustworthy one. However his downright brilliance in the matters of the mind made up for his other shortcomings and the perfect choice as warden for the most prestigious and notorious asylum.

Batman had never completely trusted him, or at least, he trusted him less then he did most others. Ever since he had taken his role as warden, several Arkham patients (just small enough of a number to keep anyone from getting too suspicious) had mysteriously went missing.

Strange had claimed that they had simply been completely rehabilitated or moved to a different psych. ward, but Bruce had always kept a suspicious eye on the warden.

Now few things surprised the warden, so he didn't bother hiding it when the Dark Knight had came storming into his office.

"I don't believe I was expecting you, Batman," Strange commented, stroking his thick, short beard.

Wasting no time with frivolous greetings, Batman had gotten straight to the point.

"Patient 52. What can you tell me about him?"

"Ah, of course," Strange had smiled in reply. Taking off his glasses and cleaning them with a handkerchief, he returned the spectacles to his eyes before continuing, "To tell you the truth; however, I know as much as you do. Some government officials dumped him on us, simply because they had nowhere else to put him."

"And the GIW?"

Strange was once again smiling in that disarming manner of his. There was some mischief in it though.

"Do you believe in ghosts? Because apparently the government does."

Batman professionally masked any disbelief that might have took up his features. As he thought about it though, perhaps the belief in ghosts wasn't such an outrageous concept. He did, after all, work alongside aliens and Amazonians on a near daily basis.

"... I would like him in the care of the Justice League when he rehabilitates."

"When? Not if?"

"Yes."

The Warden snorted and raised in his brows relentingly.

"Take him. That boy has caused me more trouble than he's worth. Sent three of my good doctors to the hospital, you know. I even had to suspend a guard for excessive force."

Batman had stopped paying attention a long time ago, and had only caught bits and pieces of whatever the Warden was saying.

Ghosts. Now this was certainly an interesting development.

AN: Nothing amazing, I know. The next chapter is when the action really starts to pick up.

Someone asked what PD was, it's short for Panic Disorder. Google it.

Thanks for everyone that reviewed, SpartanCommander especially. Don't be shy to drop me one. Tell me what you think so far.