A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up but I've been struggling with this chapter for over eight months…but it should flow more smoothly…and I had to eliminate one of my favorite scenes from the movie for this to work. I think you know what it is.

But with that said, enjoy and destroy!


A Promise Made

The Batmobile launched out of the Batcave. Batman kept his focus on the road. The tracking computer, set with Tessie's information, beeped. He was grateful for slipping a tracking device in her backpack ages ago. He had all but forgotten about it.

Where was she? Why did she run away?

Stay calm. He told himself.

She couldn't have gotten very far.


Tessie stopped, leaning down to take a pebble out of her shoe. Her feet hurt. She felt like she had been walking for hours. For that matter, where was she?

This was a part of Gotham she didn't recognize. People milled around despite the late hour. Cars honked their horns and raced by. The tall buildings seemed to blend into the night sky.

The frightened little girl hugged her Babar tighter. Right now, she wanted was to go home to her warm and soft bed. She wanted to see Bruce, Alfred and Vicki again. She wanted to feel safe.

But it wasn't safe to go back. She remembered, feeling Babar next to her.

Where would she go? What should she do now?

A name and face came to her. Slicked back gray hair. Flinty cold eyes.

Mr. Grissom. He offered to let her stay with him. Maybe he'd be able to help her.

Tessie dug through her backpack, looking for the business card he gave her long ago. She had stuffed it in her backpack after meeting him and promptly forgot about it.

Sure enough, it was hiding in the front pocket. Tessie looked up and saw a payphone. Perfect. Now to get some change.


"Let's see here." Joker muttered as he overlooked the blueprints of Wayne Manor. After what happened today, there was no way Wayne was going to let his precious little girl out of his sights. She was probably locked up good and tight like a princess in a tower.

Appropriate. He thought with a giggle. Wayne was the Prince of Gotham. A weak one at that. He would probably fall over with a good push.

It's been a good day. First he takes care of Vinnie. Then his plan to make Gotham smile took off beautifully. And now he learned where the Batman's favorite toy has been stashed away.

What a day indeed…

"What are you doing, Jack?" Alicia asked from the doorway of the room. He can smell her favorite perfume. White Diamonds, it was called. Smelled like somebody filled the entire room with flowers and sealed off the windows.

"Working." Joker muttered.

Alicia walked over and put her arms around Joker's shoulders. "Jack, can we please spend tonight together? You never have time for me anymore." She said in an almost sad tone.

Joker groaned. The cloying smell of her perfume was getting annoying. Come to think of it…everything about her was annoying.

Her voice was squeaky.

Her hair dull.

Even her thoughts were insipid.

Alicia…what was he going to do about her? Now that he had Batman and Tessie to play with, he didn't see the need for her anymore. Yeah, she was a nice piece of ass. Yet she's so boring…there were times that he wanted to slap her silly. Maybe a dip in a nice warm bath of chemicals? The thought made Joker smile. Yes…there's tons of Smilex left over…time for Alicia to get a beautiful smile on her face. She had been talking about getting a facelift after all.

The phone began ringing. Part of him was tempted to shoot it just so that damn ringing will stop. "I'll get it." Alicia said as she left. After a minute, the ringing stopped. She might still be useful after all, Joker thought as he returned to his planning. "This is Alicia…oh, hi Tessie."

Tessie. Joker stopped what he was doing and listened in. Was it…?

"No, Carl isn't here. What's wrong? Isn't it past your bedtime? Ok. Calm down. I'm going to pick you up. Where are you now? Stay there. I'll drive up in a white car. It's going to be ok Tessie. I'll be there in a few minutes. Ok, bye."

He heard Alicia grab her keys and walk by. Time to stop her. "Hey Alicia…where are you going?" Joker asked.

"Nowhere." She said, clearly nervous, twirling her keys between her fingers.

So he'd have to persuade her… "Come on Alicia. You can tell your Jay anything…" Joker said, giggling.


Tessie sat patiently outside the museum. Alicia said that she would be driving a white car and would pull up outside.

"Everything's going to be ok, Babar." Tessie whispered to her toy elephant. "Alicia is going to take us somewhere safe."

"Tessie?" A familiar voice called out. She looked up and saw Vicki standing there. She was dressed in a pretty turquoise blue-green dress, her long blonde hair down and curling around her shoulders. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"

Oh no…Tessie thought. Now she was going to tell Bruce and he would be in danger.

"Waiting for a ride." She said, shrugging her shoulders. It was the truth. "What are you doing here?"

"Doing a piece for the paper. Bruce isn't with you?" Vicki asked gently.

"I had something to do for school and my friend's mom offered to drive me home when I was done." Tessie said. Her stomach twisted in knots. That was a lie.

"So late on a school night?" Vicki asked, her eyebrow arching up.

"Yeah and she'll be here any minute." Tessie said.

Vicki nodded, her face becoming as smooth as a mirror. Tessie couldn't read if she had bought it or knew she was lying. "Then, do you mind if I wait with you until your friend's mom shows up to take you home?"

There was no way that she was going to get Vicki to go away. Tessie realized as she nodded.

Besides…this would be the last time she would see Vicki. Hopefully, she'd understand in time.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence. "So what is your art project for school about?" Vicki finally asked.

Tessie stumbled. She wasn't a good liar. "Well…I have to do a presentation on an artist that's at the museum."

"Which one? There's many there." Vicki asked.

"Oh…I forget his name." Tessie said, trying to come up with a good answer. "Began with a V."

"Vincent van Gogh?" Vicki asked. "The guy who chopped his ear off?"

That's perfect. "Yeah! That's who it is." Tessie said. Maybe she could get away with it after all.

Vicki looked at Tessie. "Tessie, the museum doesn't have any of van Gogh's works there." Now she was busted. The little girl thought, her fear growing.

The whole truth would come out. Bruce, Alfred and Vicki would be in danger.

"Tessie, does Bruce know you're out here so late?"

Tessie couldn't answer as she watched for Alicia's white car. When would she be here?!

"Answer me, Tessie." Vicki said in a firm voice. "Does Bruce know you're out here so late?"

Tessie shook her head, unable to tell another lie. Finally, a white car showed up. Sure enough, the pretty woman with blonde hair was in the driver's seat. Somebody was sitting in the backseat but she couldn't see who it was. This is it. Tessie thought. "There's my ride." She said as she leapt to her feet and began to run to the car.

"Tessie!" Vicki shouted, hurrying after her.

"Goodbye, Vicki!" Tessie cried out, running to the car as fast as she could. She yanked open the car door to get in. "Thanks for the ride, Alicia."

"It's no problem." A familiar voice said from the backseat.

Oh no…Tessie began shaking. She turned and saw the familiar clown face smiling.

"Did you miss your Uncle Jay?"


Tessie was shaking like a leaf in a storm. The Joker smiled and reached out for her.

"Get away!" Tessie screamed, slapping his hand and beginning to run.

Joker groaned. And everything was going so well.

Ah well, at least he had backup.

"Go after her, boys!" Joker laughed into his walkie-talkie.


Tessie ran as fast as she could down the street. Her little heart galloped and her lungs burned.

She could hear a car racing after her.

Was that Uncle Jay's car?

Tessie turned into a side street. It was dark, nobody could see her. But she doubted she could run anymore. Her feet hurt too much.

Hide. She dove behind a trashcan. Hidden in the shadows, she sat still, holding Babar close. Her heart was drumming in her ears. Please don't let them find me. Tessie prayed, shaking.

SCREECH! The car turned into the alley and stopped not far from the trashcans she was huddling behind. The lights blinded her and she shut her eyes.

"Where is she?!" A man yelled mere feet away. Tessie tried to stop shaking, praying they wouldn't find her.

"She's hiding. Look behind the trashcans." Another man yelled. "Come out. Come out wherever you are." He began taunting.

Tessie peeked out from behind her hiding place. Three men dressed in dark pants, jackets and hats were kicking the trashcans over, spilling their smelly contents everywhere. Their backs were to her. Maybe she should try escaping back into the street and disappearing into the crowd.

Yes. That's what she'd do…after that…well get away from Uncle Jack first, then decide what you're going to do, Therese Hawkins. Tessie told herself.

Someone grabbed her from behind. Before she could scream, someone clapped a hand over her mouth.

A hand wearing a thick black glove.


Batman was glad when her tracker stopped outside the museum. It made finding her much easier. But before he had a chance to get her, Joker showed up. He followed over the rooftops, leaving the Batmobile parked a nearby alleyway.

Tessie was hiding behind some trashcans. Using his training, he climbed down until he was right behind her. Nobody noticed him. It took every inch of resolve he had to not shout her name and give them both away.

Now he had to get her out of here before they noticed she was gone.

"Be quiet and hold onto me." He said. Tessie nodded as he took his hand off her mouth. Batman swept her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as he began climbing up the fire escape he had used.

Just in time too. Batman thought as he got up the first story. The goons had moved to the other side of the alleyway. He moved faster.

He managed to get to the roof. His boots crunched on the gravel as he put Tessie down. As he did so, he heard another sound from the alleyway. The sound of high heels clicking on the pavement. Looking down, he saw Vicki entering the alley, curls wildly flying. The goons who were looking for Tessie now turned their attention to Vicki. She flinched as they moved closer to her like wolves closing in on their prey.

"You're not going to let anything happen to her, are you?" Tessie asked, her voice tight with fear and guilt.

He wasn't going to lose Vicki either. Not after what had happened. "Stay here and be quiet." He ordered her. Tessie nodded. Batman got onto the railing, spread out his cloak and jumped down. Using the cloak, he slowed his fall, landing on top of one of the goons.


Leaning over the railing, Tessie watched in amazement as Batman began throwing punches and kicks. The men who had been chasing her collapsed as Batman beat the tar out of them. It was amazing to say the least. She felt her jaw drop and her eyes got huge. Hugging Babar close to her, she smiled.

He was a hero. Just like Superman in Metropolis.

And he was saving her and Vicki.


The last thug went down with a loud groan. That should take care of them. Batman thought as he turned to Vicki.

She jumped back and screamed. Vicki's mouth was wide open in shock and surprise. She looked afraid. Not that he blamed her.

Batman heard the sounds of footsteps running down the fire escape. "Vicki?!" Tessie shouted, jumping down the last two steps.

"Tessie!" Vicki screamed, wrapping her arms around the little girl.

Time to leave. He knew Vicki would look after the little girl during the time it took for him to get to a hideout and change. Vicki would no doubt contact him with news about Tessie.

From then on, he'd do whatever it took to keep her safe. That was a promise.


Tessie began crying, relieved that she was now safe.

Batman would no doubt keep her safe.

"What were you thinking?!" Vicki said, turning on the little girl. Anger flashed in her pretty blue eyes. It scared Tessie. "You had me scared sick!"

Tessie felt hot tears running down her face. "I'm sorry, Vicki." She said. She hadn't meant to scare anyone.

"Come on, I'm taking you back to my apartment." Vicki said as the blue and red flashes of a police car came closer.

"Wait…" Tessie said. She wanted to thank Batman for saving her life. She turned around.

But Batman was gone. On the rooftops, Tessie swore she saw a flicker of a shadow running away.

"Thank you." She whispered as Vicki led her away.


A/N: Yeah, I really wish I had kept the museum sequence but I didn't know how I was going to make it work.

But the climax is coming up!