Batman slammed on the brakes instantly, sending Jake lurching forward and choking as the seatbelt dug into his ribs. "What?" demanded Batman.

"Napier," repeated Jake, thoughtfully. It did sound very familiar. "I guess…that's what the N on my teddy bear stands for," said Jake, holding up the bear to him.

Batman stared from the bear to Jake. Then he cleared his throat. "Sorry, Jake, it's just…that name Napier means…something to me."

"Do you know someone named Napier?" asked Jake.

"I might," retorted Batman. "I might…be related to someone called Napier. But he's dead. At least…I think he is. Is your father dead, Jake?"

"I don't remember," replied Jake.

Batman pressed the communication button on the speaker. "Is she in any way related to…Jack Napier?"

"I don't know, sir," replied Alfred. "You'll have to ask her."

"Are you ok, Batman?" asked Jake, concerned. It seemed to him as if Batman's face had grown paler behind his mask.

"I'm fine," snapped Batman, starting the car again. "Just when I think that name is outta my life, it comes storming back in," he growled.

They pulled up in front of the police station, and Batman opened the doors for Jake. They saw a pretty woman pacing nervously in the waiting room. She looked up as they entered and let out a shriek of joy, racing over to embrace Jake.

"Oh God, Jake!" she cried. "Thank goodness you're safe!"

Jake shut his eyes, hugging her back and relishing the familiarity of her arms. He had hugged this woman many times before, and he felt safe and secure in her embrace. "Mommy," he whispered.

"Oh, baby, where have you been?" she whispered, tears trailing down her cheeks as she kissed him repeatedly. She didn't let him go for several long, wonderful minutes, until she at last pulled away, studying him carefully. "Oh, you've still got your teddy bear that you took to show and tell that day!" she whispered, tears in her eyes. "I thought you would! I put out notices around the neighborhood saying that you would probably have him, but nobody had seen you since the day you disappeared! What happened to you?"

"I don't remember," he murmured. "But I remember you, Mommy."

"You remember your sister too?" she asked, gesturing to a girl who looked slightly older than Jake, who had been watching him shyly.

"Hi, Jake," she murmured.

"Katie," he whispered, as her memory came back to him too. He hugged her tightly. "Of course I remember you!"

"Are you ok, honey?" Mrs. Napier whispered. "You must have been so scared in the clutches of those horrible people!"

Jake shrugged. "They weren't so bad," he murmured. "And they helped me find you. Batman helped too, of course," he added, nodding gratefully at him.

"I'm sorry if this is a weird question, Mrs. Napier, but do you know of a Jack Napier?" asked Batman. "Is he a relative of yours, perhaps?"

She looked puzzled. "I've never heard of him if he is," she replied. "The only Napiers I know are me, my daughter Katie, my son Jake, and my husband Charlie, who's on his way. You could always ask him if he's a distant cousin or something, if that'll help you."

"No, it's fine – I wouldn't want to trouble you," said Batman. "Do you know why your boy went missing in the first place?"

She shook her head. "He went to school as usual and just…never came back. His older sister usually walked with him, but she was out with friends the day he disappeared. She kept blaming herself, poor thing."

"It's not your fault," said Batman, gently, to the girl, who was holding her brother and sobbing. "I'll find out whose fault it was, and why, and see them punished for it. I promise you, Mrs. Napier."

He turned to go. "I'll just leave you with your family for now."

"Thank you for finding and saving my boy, Batman," whispered Mrs. Napier, as she hugged both her children tightly.

Batman nodded at her, took one last look at Jake, and then left.

…

A few days afterward, Batman dragged a pair of thugs into the police station, who, after a little persuasion on Batman's part, confessed to kidnapping Jake on his way home from school. They had intended to kidnap an entirely different child, the son of a rich CEO to hold for ransom, and had accidentally mistaken Jake for that child. When they realized their mistake, they hadn't seen any other choice but to either kill the kid so he couldn't talk and identify them, or try to make sure he couldn't remember what had happened or who had kidnapped him. So they had given him a good beating and left him on the steps of the orphanage, and had assumed that they had gotten away with it. Until Batman showed up on their doorstep.

Batman was relieved that they had been brought to justice and that two more criminals were now safely locked away, but he was even more relieved a few days later, when his research into Jake's family history brought to light only the smallest possible connection with the name Jack Napier.

"It looks like Jack Napier's grandfather might have had a brother," he said, scanning the census records. "And Jake's family is from that branch, who, as far as I can tell, never associated with any of their extended family. While Jack's branch seemed to be fairly disreputable, Jake's branch seems to be made up of mostly hard-working, decent, honest people."

He shut the book. "Still, Bruce Wayne might want to check in on Jake, from time to time, just to make sure he's doing ok after his ordeal. For purely philanthropic reasons, after the child was brought to his attention on the news."

"I think that's a very admirable idea, sir," replied Alfred.

Batman stared off into space for a moment. "It was nice seeing him reunited with his family, Alfred," he murmured. "I remember what it was like to be eight and all alone, and I can imagine how wonderful it would have felt to be reunited with my own family, if such a thing were possible. At least this time, crime in Gotham had a happy ending."

"Thanks to you, sir," reminded Alfred.

Batman sighed. "Well…I did have a little help from some lunatics," he muttered reluctantly.

The End