"LET GO OF ME! I DON"T CARE IF HOW BAD ASS THOSE HOCKEY PADS LOOK ON YOU!" Andrea was screaming at the darkly caped crusader that was currently trying to drag her to the window. She probably would have been picked up easily, but because of the seeming politeness of Batman, he had just grabbed her by the waist and was tugging her more or less gently to the broken window. The reason he had to tug? Andrea had her arms stretched out and clinging between the desk and the filing cabinets, feet spread far apart to help brace against the man.

"They're NOT hockey pads!" Batman growled in his hoarse voice.

He stopped pulling and she stopped screaming when they noticed a slack jawed clown standing in the arched doorway of the elevator.

"Well this is interesting…" The Joker said, raising his voice.

"What are you doing here Joker?" Batman grunted, giving one last tug to Andrea (who had relaxed in the moment she saw Joker) She fell back into the armoured man's moulded chest. He tightened his arms around her and had to make the decision. Take off with Andrea (who he suspected of being in cohoots with the Joker) or.. Fight with the Joker again (which he suspected if he chose that path, the woman would fully use to her advantage to scurry off)

Picking her up in his arms he turned over his shoulder in one quick sweep and leapt out the window quick as a flash.

All they could hear was Andrea's piercing scream. Which abruptly ended.

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As soon as Batman turned, the Joker had his knife drawn and thrown. It just missed the vigilante's shoulder.

The Joker didn't even have time to tell them how he got his scars! Shoulder hunched over, he kicked the chair out of his way and stalked over to the very open and very broken window. His leather shoes crunched on the shattered glass as he looked down to the street below. There was no sign of them.

"Hmph.. Now I have another issue to deal with." He sang to himself in frustration, before spinning around and taking his anger out on what remained of the office. Batman had Andrea. Andrea who knew where he was currently staying. Or he could just leave her and hope the Batman would be rid of her.

"That's the issue," he said out loud, "The Batman won't kill anyone… That's going to have to change."

He turned and started to leave again, but a flashing message on the computer caught his attention. Tilting his head to one side, The Joker slowly read the message, a grin forming on his face. So that was what Andrea was hiding in the closets of her reputation.

Exiting, he locked the elevator on that still flashing message.

"Milo Greene, I demand to hear the whereabouts of my daughter, Andrea. I have paid you handsomely for these details on her well being. You know what will happen to you if you don't pay… I don't take kindly to laziness..

~ Miranda Bonanomi."

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The Joker took the fire escape up to Andrea's balcony, popping open the window and sliding into the apartment.

"Bonamoni..Bonamoni… Bonamoni…" He sat sprawling on her couch musing over the name. It sounded so familiar. Like he should know it off the top of his head. Suddenly he shot up from the couch. "BONAMONI! The Italian crime family!" He giggled in happiness. Now he had some major dirt on Andrea. She was somehow related one of New Yorks most distinguished crime families ever known. The very same family who had managed to keep a hand in Gothams very own crime family, currently headed by Sal Malroni. The very same crime family whose coffers he had been stealing from recently.

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Andrea had passed out while in the process of screaming, she really wasn't sure why, but there was something about falling out of a skyscraper that was just did the trick. It wasn't that she usually had a issue with heights, but she had a great fear of falling.. Or rather when the ground just mysterious came up to met you.

She never made it to the ground though. At least not outside of Greene Fashion.

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Bruce Wayne stared at the sleeping woman now lying in a makeshift bed in his equally makeshift bat cave.

The reason for the later statement was that his mansion was in the process of being rebuilt, and so a underground lair beneath a old work lot would simply have to do for now. Not that it was any less up to date then his previous hideout. In fact, if anyone even managed to make it into the lair, they probably wouldn't even know what to do. It would simply appear to be a empty room of metal panels. All his gadgets, information, numerous bat suits, and so forth were hidden beneath the floors and behind the walls.

Back to the original statement, the one about a woman in a makeshift bed (it was really more of a cot), where she retained the slinky floor length dress and glittering diamonds surrounding her neck. Bruce had no doubt that these were in fact hers, (being who she was and all), also as the Joker did not seem like one to bestow lavish gifts on anyone, including the woman before him.

Batman had surveyed the vast apartment suite belonging to Andrea Masque, shortly after she had been dispatched from Gotham General Hospital. He had captured pictures of the two of them. The Joker threatening her, and then more recently, pictures of a almost uncommon ease between the two. He had briefly wondered if she was in fact sane.

There was also one other issue. Nothing Alfred had searched had come up with the name Andrea Masque. It seemed to be a false name, or one she had obtained after reaching her majority. The only real records of her was her debut in the fashion world, a few pieces of personal ID and a check in at Gotham General Hospital after her attack.

He couldn't fathom as to why Joker was staying with her, or why he had singled her out for a attack. Apparently she had been caught somewhere on her way to joining the fundraising party. Her boss, Milo Greene had very little to say on the matter. Gordon had interviewed him. He was a nervous man, eyes feinting around as he talked about what a good designer Andrea was. He had let drop a vital piece of information accidentally however; Andrea was a designer of men's fashion. Creating eccentric suits to be specific.

Batman had dropped into Mr. Greene's office late that night to search through his things. He came across some very interesting designs. Several bright coloured suits had popped up in the locked drawers of Milo's desk. All were signed with the initials AM.

This only peaked Batman's curiosity about Andrea's relationship with the Joker. Maybe she was his lover?

Author's Note: Sorry for the long absence. Hoping to finish up some more chapters and finally tie in the story. As I have previously said, I do have the ending chapters finished (like 5 of them) and a few drabbles after that. I've just been having a lot of issues with the middle and finding inspiration for the chapters. Thanks for being patient and hope you liked the new chappie. Cheers