The Bat and the Cat Come Back

Seven

It was two in the morning and Bruce Wayne was moving around in the semi-darkness of the bedroom he shared with his wife. It had been a while since he'd snuck around in the middle of the night and truthfully, he wasn't totally excited about it.

That fact, as well as the fact that he was going to meet Gordon. This is the same man whom he'd told he was the Batman before he'd taken the bomb away.

But if someone else was going to know who he was, he knew he could trust Gordon.

Bruce had been watching Selina sleep. Both Alfred and his wife had been acting oddly since they'd spent time together this afternoon. Well, maybe 'odd' wasn't the word. He'd always been amazed at how well the two of them had gotten along, but now the two of them were getting along like long-time best friends.

That didn't scare Bruce. It confused him.

"Why are you staring at me while I'm sleeping?" Selina asked in a sleepy voice.

"If you were actually asleep, you wouldn't know," Bruce told her.

"Well, you were lurking around the bedroom. How could I sleep when you're lurking?"

"Lurking?"

"You would be such a terrible burglar," she told him.

"What were you and Alfred really up to today?"

"We robbed Gotham City Savings and Loan," Selina said.

"Selina," he said in a warning voice.

"We went places, like I said. Did some sightseeing," Selina said. "Just because you weren't with me all day does not mean I went and got into trouble. Being back in Gotham does not mean I went and got into trouble. Being back in Gotham does not mean I'm automatically going back to a life of crime."

"I didn't say that you were and I certainly did not accuse you of that," Bruce told her. "I just wanted to know what happened today."

"I'm tired, Bruce. Go see Gordon. And try not to be seen," she yawned. "That means do a better job than what you were just doing."

She laid back down on her side, facing away from him.

Bruce opened his mouth to reply, but wisely chose not to provoke a bigger argument. Making sure he wasn't seen using a grappling hook in the middle of the night in Gotham City was actually a very big deal. Selina had a point. He just wasn't going to tell her that.

But, like he hadn't ever taken time away from it, Bruce fired the gun and then rose quickly to the top of the building that was the meeting place.

He'd taken precautions to wear all black and a balaclava so no one could see his face. If anyone did see him up talking to Gordon, hopefully they'd assume it was Nightwing.

Out of habit, Bruce pressed a button in his pocket, to fire a mini-EMP and kill all electronic devices that might have potentially been there to record him. You couldn't be too careful. Ever.

As he approached Gordon, he spoke. Half-Bruce, half-Batman growl. "No names."

The commissioner silently nodded.

"What are you doing in Gotham?" Gordon asked. He knew he would have to choose his words wisely as well.

"Had to check on the company. I've been keeping an eye on things from home and it seems like there's some interest in it from an outsider. An outsider that I don't particularly care for," Bruce replied. "But it seems like you've got your hands full here, too."

"I've had twelve bodies in three weeks," Gordon replied. "Some as grisly as the Joker. Some clean with no known cause of death yet. Some with clues as ridiculous as they come."

"Clues?" Bruce asked.

"Well, riddles," Gordon said.

"Like what?"

"What is the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end and the end of every race?" Gordon told him.

"The letter E," Bruce said.

"It's just one clue. By the way, it took my men three days to figure that out," Gordon said tiredly. "It doesn't make any sense to the murder. It's like they like riddles and picked one."

"What about the Joker murders? Do you know or have a lead yet?" Bruce asked.

"Nightwing and I think he's back. He escaped from Arkham Asylum during the time of the occupation. There were some murders on a trail, then they stopped and some similar murders in Europe. We think the crazy bastard must be back," Gordon explained.

"The Joker is dead," Bruce said from behind the balaclava.

Gordon stared incredulously. This man spent his life not killing anyone on principle. Could he have changed since he'd last seen him?

"I saw it happen. Someone else got to him before I did."

"Was it…" Gordon trailed off, referring to Selina.

"No," Bruce said. "Not her. Someone else. But his sidekick-slash-girlfriend was also picked up when this all happened. There's a chance…she could have escaped and she could be behind these murders."

"Who?"

"Harleen Quinzel," Bruce told him. "She was a psychology student at Arkham while the Joker was there. She worked with him. Fell in love with him. She helped him escape during the occupation and then they came after us. Her kind of crazy is almost worse than his was."

"I can tell she's taken some pointers from him," Gordon replied.

"I saw some crime scene photos. There was a bell left behind. She goes by Harley Quinn and wears a jester costume. The bell could have easily come from her hat. But no one has seen any of these murders happening?"

"Witnesses are disappearing or there aren't any. I'm afraid we're going to just find bodies piled up somewhere."

"Is there any chance that I can use you and pick your brain?"

"I promised someone that I wouldn't be participating in…"

"I wouldn't need that. We could use your detective skills, if you had a chance…" Gordon suggested.

A sound caught both of their attentions and they both turned.

"How come I wasn't invited to the party?" Nightwing asked.

"Maybe you just missed your invitation," Bruce told him.

It was a tad surreal for Gordon to be standing with both the older and new vigilante in Gotham City. He was very pleased to have Bruce Wayne alive. He deserved to be happy now, after all that he'd done for the city that had waited no time in turning on him and then turning back when they were about to be annihilated.

"What do you know about Harleen Quinzel?" Bruce asked.

Nightwing shook his head. "She worked with the Joker in Arkham. No one has heard from her since the occupation."

"She was working with the Joker. Helped him break out. They came after me and my family. The Joker is dead, but it's totally possible that she's here, but she's definitely not working alone. She likes messy. The scenes and bodies with no obvious cause of death, that's someone else. Have you had them run tests for organic poisons?"

"No. No, we were hoping that something obvious would come up and…"

"Well, that should be your next step," Bruce interrupted.

"What about the riddles?" Nightwing asked.

"Has to be a third player. We don't know what kind of organization we've got here, but it's not just one person. It's definitely three different calling cards. All we can say for sure is that it's totally unorganized."

"What makes you so sure of everything?" Nightwing asked petulantly. He was jealous that Bruce Wayne had stepped back so easily and so quickly into his role in Gotham, especially when Blake had to work so hard to be taken seriously.

"I was there when the Joker was killed," Bruce told the two men on the rooftop. "I know he's dead."

"Is this Harley capable of what's been done?" Gordon asked.

"I've seen it first hand," Bruce told him. "In some ways, it's more ruthless than what he'd done. He had a motive: his victims were specifically chosen to be symbols. Like when he was targeting men who dressed like the Batman. But Harley, her first victims were to impress him. She was obsessed with him. And now, she definitely has no pattern. She's being aggressive and taking out strangers with no connection to her."

"How do you know they have no connection?"

"The last ones, where the graffiti was left, that was by chance. I suspect they were merely witnesses. She was studying to be a psychologist. She wouldn't have had a lot of connections to the street kids of Gotham."

"Not unless one of the other cohorts had a connection," Nightwing said.

Bruce nodded.

"That is something you'll have to explore," Bruce said. "My days in the suit are over."

Movement on a rooftop a half a mile away caught all of their attentions. A figure, moving very quickly was jumping to another rooftop. Bruce knew instantly who it was.

"It's time I headed home."

By the time the other two men had turned back, Bruce was gone.

"How does he do that?"

To Be Continued…