"Good Wednesday morning, and welcome to Gotham Today on GCN. I'm Jake Hollington, joined, as always, by my lovely co-anchor Julia Richards."

"Good morning, Jake, and good morning to you citizens of Gotham. It is now 7:02 am and we'd like to begin this morning with a Breaking News report. We've received word that there's been a breakout at the infamous Arkham Asylum. It happened in the early hours of the morning today, and has promptly caused the hospital and surrounding regions to participate in a lockdown. Half of GCPD has been deployed to the area and are busy keeping the peace and order, while gathering eyewitness accounts of the incident. Police have been interviewing Doctors Jeremiah Arkham, Hugo Strange and Thomas Elliot since sun-up, and have now confirmed that the prisoner who has escaped is Patient 4479, otherwise known as the Joker. Police have also recently confirmed that Dr. Cassandra Gabriel has been missing since around the time of the escape, and it is suspected that she has been kidnapped by Patient 4479. The prisoner is to be considered armed and very dangerous. Now, Commissioner Gordon has issued a statement urging citizens not to panic, but to place their faith in GCPD and go about your days as you normally would unless instructed differently by himself or Mayor Garcia. If you have any information pertaining to the escaped prisoner or his hostage, please call the Gotham Emergency Dispatch Center, or 88 Crime."

"Heavy stuff, Julia, heavy stuff. On a lighter note, the Gotham City Zoo just added a brand new member to the family yesterday night when a female tiger named Hera gave birth to a male cub-"

The arrogant voice of Jake Hollington was cut short, and Bruce Wayne looked up to see his butler and very close friend Alfred Pennyworth holding the television remote, looking grave. Bruce sighed deeply and stood, rubbing his temples. He began to pace up and down the living room of his penthouse apartment in downtown Gotham, replaying the news story over and over again in his head. He couldn't believe this was happening all over again.. How much more could this city endure? How much more could he endure...

" Sir, I realize that you are not likely to heed my words, but may I suggest letting the police handle the clown themselves?" Alfred said in the British accent that made him sound forever intelligent. "We certainly don't want what happened last time-"

"To happen again, yes, I know Alfred, but I don't think I have a choice. Batman doesn't have a choice..."

Alfred shook his head slowly and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Master Wayne... They're still on the hunt for you. If the police catch you, this city will eat you alive."

"I know! I know... but this- this psychopath cannot be caught by GCPD alone." Bruce shook off Alfred's hand and continued to pace, with the other man looking on in worry. "They don't know how he works, not thoroughly. They'd screw up somehow, and Batman is the only person that can fix it. If not for myself, then for Rachel.. and Harvey. And Cassandra. He could've killed her by now, and no one will have known any better."

Alfred nodded slowly and said "I'll inform Mr. Fox."

He left the room, leaving Bruce at the mercy of his mind.

Pitch black darkness surrounded Cassie when she finally came to. The floor beneath her felt cold and damp, and she shivered as she raised herself into a sitting position. The back of her head ached, and when she touched that spot, she could feel the residue of dried blood. There was a throbbing in her shoulder, where she remembered she had been shot. She placed her fingers to the wound and found a square of gauze covering it, held to her shoulder with surgical tape.

"Hello?" she called out, not really expecting an answer. Her voice sounded hoarse, so she cleared her throat and called out again. And again, she received no answer. She wondered how long she had been here, and whether it had been long enough to raise suspicion and have someone come looking for her...

Cassie was able to shakily get to her feet, but she didn't dare try and walk around, for fear of tripping over something that might have been left behind and forgotten. She suddenly realized that she was freezing, so she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She felt bare skin on both sides, and realized that the reason she was so cold was because she'd been stripped down to her underwear. Fear gripped her chest as she frantically searched her body with her hands. All she felt were her silk panties and lace bra. Cassie panicked. Had she been raped? Beaten? Left for dead? She didn't feel any pain except for the dull aches on the back of her head and her shoulder, and as far as she could tell, she wasn't bleeding from anywhere anymore. That could change soon enough, she thought, now frightened for her life.

Seconds passed, then minutes. She thought about Kevin, and whether it had been long enough for him to be worried. She doubted he would be worried anyway. He had left her, after all...

She tried to remember the last thing that had happened before she'd blacked out. She could recall doing paperwork in her office around 8:00 at night, fighting very hard to keep her eyes open. She remembered the new, very handsome Dr. Tommy Elliot coming in to say good night, but not before he asked her out for coffee the following day. She'd flashed her engagement ring and politely declined. She remembered resting her head on the desk, closing her eyes for just a few minutes...

In a blur of color and sound, the dream she'd had that night came rushing back. She cringed in horror and disgust, and then pain as the memory began to end. She couldn't remember anything after that, and certainly not how she'd ended up here. The overwhelming confusion only fueled her anger, her anger at being such an easy, vulnerable target yet again...

Tears began to spill from Cassie's eyes as she returned to the ground, curling up with her chin resting on her knees. Her headache became increasingly worse as she continued to cry, as if someone had pulled her by her hair to wherever she was trapped. She began to rock slowly back and forth, the tears wrapping themselves around her cheeks and dripping from her chin. She softly hummed an old lullaby her mother had sung to her when she was a little girl, her voice cracking and faltering every so often.

Just as Cassie was about to lose it all together, the image of her long dead father appeared suddenly in her mind, his face young and whole, with those glittering blue eyes that both she and her brother Alex had inherited. He smiled at her, his teeth white, just like before the tobacco and beer had stained them. She imagined his voice, deep and calming, as she remembered the last words he'd spoken to her:

"I know you must hate me for abandoning you, your brother, and your mom, but you have to listen to me Cassie. I'm your father, and I love you. You're a tough cookie, and you always have been. Maybe it's my absence that's made you so cynical and bitter, but the next time you find yourself in a rough, scary situation, just remember this: You were chosen for this life because you alone are strong enough to live it."

Defiantly, Cassie wiped the tears from her face and stood, determined to face whoever had put her there. Just as she was about to look for a way out, she heard the distant noise of a dead bolt sliding from it's hold. The room was bathed in light as a door swung open, revealing the silhouette of a woman standing on the threshold. Cassie looked around and saw that she was being kept in a basement of sorts. The walls and floor were all concrete, and there were no windows. She saw crates and boxes, a few empty shelves, and a couple of large dressers and dirty hospital beds placed against the wall. Then, realizing she was still basically naked, she quickly tried to cover herself, to no avail. The woman began to walk forward, her footsteps echoing on the ground. Finally, she was close enough for Cassie to distinguish her features from the shadows.

She was younger, no older than 19 or 20. She had bright, neon orange hair that hung all the way down to her waist and covered half of her face. Her eyes were hazel, and her nose had two hoops pierced into it, one on either side. She wore dark denim jeans, black sneakers, a white tank top, and a light purple hoodie, which clashed horribly with her hair. She lazily held a cigarette between her thumb and middle finger, and upon reaching Cassie, she took a long, slow drag, blowing the smoke right in her face. Cassie couldn't help but to start coughing.

"Oh, stop your hacking," said the girl sarcastically. "The boss would like to see you now."

She turned to leave, but when Cassie made no motion to follow her, she doubled back and grabbed her wrist.

"Come on, sweet cheeks, he ain't got all day." She spoke with a Brooklyn accent, roughly pulling Cassie along behind her.

Abandoning her efforts to hide her indecency, Cassie trudged along behind the strange woman, fearing that the worst was yet to come.