Bruce Wayne stared at the telephone in front of him. Then he picked it up and dialled a number. It rang and his heart beat faster. And then it stopped when he heard the voice on the other end, "Hello?"

"Talia? It's me," murmured Bruce.

There was silence. "Beloved. It's been a long time."

"Yes," agreed Bruce.

"I'm actually quite busy at the moment, about to have a meeting with Mr. Luthor, so if this can wait…"

"It can't, Talia," he murmured. "It's about our son."

Silence again. "I thought he would always be your first priority," said Bruce. "As he is mine."

"Yes. Yes, of course he is, beloved. Just…wait a moment while I tell Mr. Luthor it's urgent…"

Bruce heard muffled voices, and then Talia's again. "Yes, what about Damian?"

Bruce didn't even know how to begin. "You're still…CEO of Lexcorp?"

"Yes, and very busy as a result," she retorted. "What about Damian?"

"It's a long story," said Bruce.

"Can you summarize it?" she asked.

Bruce sighed. "Very briefly, his life was endangered and so we were all invited to stay on Joker Island, since the Joker's daughter and Damian…have romantic feelings for each other."

He was expecting some sort of response to this, but there was nothing. So he continued. "While on Joker Island, we discovered that Jason Todd has returned from the dead and was trying to be Batman. He…died fighting the Joker, who was also killed in the battle. Jason spoke of being a superior specimen of humanity. And what I want to know, Talia, is why your father would want to bring him back from the dead."

"You assume my father is the one who did it?" demanded Talia.

"Unless you know of anyone else capable of resurrecting him," retorted Bruce. "But I understood that the secret of the Lazarus pits was a closely guarded one."

Talia was silent again. "As you know, beloved, my father and I had a parting of the ways many years ago. Over entrusting our son to your care, in fact. I have not spoken to him since. I have no knowledge of his plans or intentions, and nor do I wish to have. I am done with him."

"Yes. Cutting yourself off from your family was always the best solution for you, wasn't it, Talia?" murmured Bruce quietly.

"I'll ignore the petty insult – it is unworthy of you," retorted Talia. "But if I am allowed one of my own in return, I can see you have not done a particularly capable job raising our son, allowing him to fall in love with scum like the Joker's…"

"You can't choose who you fall in love with, Talia," interrupted Bruce. "You of all people should understand that."

"I do understand that, beloved," she murmured. "And I paid the price for it. I hope Damian does not have to."

"Unless you know where your father is, we all might have to," murmured Bruce. "Tell me if you do, Talia. Please."

The silence was so long this time that Bruce wondered if she hadn't just put the phone down and walked off. "I do not know, beloved," she murmured at last. "But I will find out for you, if I can."

"Thank you, Talia," he whispered. "I'm…sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything," he murmured. "I've…made a lot of mistakes. It's only as you get older that you begin to understand that, when you look back on your life and your regrets. If I could change one thing about my past, it would be what I allowed to happen between us. Damian deserved to have two loving parents. I'm sorry we couldn't give him that."

"So am I, beloved," she murmured. "Now I mustn't keep Mr. Luthor waiting any longer. I will contact you soon with news of my father."

And she hung up the phone. Bruce stared at it for a long time. He was interrupted at last by Tim rushing into the room. "Bruce…you'll wanna see this," he murmured.

Bruce stood up slowly and hobbled his way into the living room, where Damian sat in front of the TV, which was playing images of explosions which seemed to engulf the whole city, fiery buildings, and dead or dying people. "...there has never been a terror attack on Gotham of this magnitude. The city is under emergency lockdown, and people are warned not to venture outside. The highways are grid-locked with people trying to flee, but authorities are warning citizens not to do so as the bridges have been hit with multiple fear gas attacks and people have been seen leaping to their deaths. Information is vague at this time, but eyewitnesses have reported seeing the Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, and the Joker twins. So far nobody has reported seeing the Joker himself, but the attacks bear the hallmarks of his own brand of mayhem, as the faces of multiple victims are twisted by Joker toxin. None of the supercriminals have come forward to demand anything, and we can only assume this is a terror for terror's sake attack. The question on everybody's lips is, where is Batman, and can he stop this madness?"

Bruce looked at Tim. "You don't have to go out there," he murmured.

"Yes, I do," murmured Tim. "Are you coming, Damian?"

Damian nodded. "They'll be coming here for you, Dad," he murmured. "You need to get someplace safe."

"Where do you suggest?" asked Bruce.

Damian handed him a map. "Leenie called me," he said. "She says you'll be safe here."

Bruce looked at him. "She saved our lives, Dad," he murmured. "You can trust her. I do."

Bruce nodded slowly. "Ok. I'll…see you later, then."

He walked slowly toward the door, and then turned back. "I'm proud of both of you," he murmured. "You're both…more than worthy to be Batman. And you've done a much better job of being a hero than I ever could."

Tim embraced him tightly and then headed for the Batcave. Damian followed him, when Bruce suddenly seized him in his arms and hugged him fiercely. "I love you, Damian," he whispered.

"I…love you too, Dad," stammered Damian. "Just…go where it says on the map. You'll be fine."

Bruce nodded and released him. He watched him until he disappeared into the Batcave, and then unfolded the map. His eyes narrowed. "I know this place," he murmured.

The location marked on the map was a place called "Aquacade." It had been a fish-themed bar that boasted an aquarium, but it had been shut down years ago. It was where Harley Quinn had tried to kill Batman using one of the Joker's schemes involving piranhas. Despite the so-called "Death of a Hundred Smiles" being the Joker's plan, he hadn't taken kindly to Harley trying to kill his nemesis for him, nor for her over-complicating his joke by hanging the victim upside-down, so he would see the piranhas frowns as smiles. He had shoved her out of the window of the building, and had almost broken every bone in her body. And she had still returned to him. That was madness. Or love. Or both.

As Bruce pushed open the door of the old bar, with Ace following him nervously, he recalled the scene as if it were yesterday. The tank was still there, and, to his surprise, still full of piranhas. That wasn't possible, unless someone had been feeding them or had…brought new ones.

Ace suddenly began barking, and Bruce heard a hiss. He turned to see Ace facing off against a cat, who rushed away from him, down the stairs and out the door. Ace dashed after it. "Ace!" shouted Bruce. "Here, boy!"

"You have a very ill-mannered dog," said a voice.

Bruce whirled around to see, to his astonishment, a little girl appearing from the darkness. At least, she was dressed like a little girl – a little girl from a very different time period. She wore a blue dress and a white pinafore, white tights and black shoes, and her long, blonde hair had a black headband in it. "It's terribly rude to chase an animal without first making its acquiantance," continued the girl. "Asking it 'how do you do?' I'm sure I never meet an animal without making conversation – it's only polite."

Bruce didn't need to be the World's Greatest Detective to figure out who this was. "Miss Tetch, I presume?" he said.

"You may call me Alice," she murmured. "After all, we've known each other for many years, haven't we, Batman?"

"No," retorted Batman. "I'm not the man who killed your parents, Alice. That was Jason Todd."

"A dead man," said Alice. "You are asking me to believe that a dead man returned to life in order to murder my parents? To what end?"

"I…don't know," said Bruce, slowly.

"Curiouser and curiouser," she murmured, smiling. "So this corpse who killed my parents, he is dead again, is he not? Can a man be killed twice? One would think dead is dead. A man can't be double dead, can he? That would be nonsense. It is very convenient that he is double dead, however, since now he cannot atone for his crimes. And he cannot tell me why he did what he did."

She folded her arms across her chest. "I do not like an unsolved mystery, Batman. It is enough to drive anyone mad. Do you think me mad, Batman?"

"I…think you're still very upset over the death of your parents…"

"Oh yes, you understand my pain, don't you?" said Alice, smiling at him. "You lost your parents when you were about as young as me. If I am mad, then so are you. Did you ever find their killer?"

"No."

"How unfortunate. But if you had found their killer, if their killer was standing in front of you, as you are in front of me, what would you do, Batman?"

Bruce was silent. "You wouldn't invite them to tea, would you?" continued Alice. "One can't have tea with a murderer – it shows a distinct lack of etiquette. No, it would not do, Batman. There is only one thing to do with a murderer, and that is to give him a taste of his own medicine. If it were up to me, I would cut off your head."

She smiled. "But it isn't entirely up to me. And going around decapitating people is no way for a young lady to behave. My Uncle has taught me all about how young ladies behave, and I could never disappoint him by acting frivolous."

"What are you going to do?" asked Bruce, quietly.

Alice grinned. "I am going to have a cup of tea," she murmured. "You may join me if you like, if you promise not to tell anyone. It could ruin my reputation if it was discovered that I had tea with a murderer."

She disappeared back into the darkness and reappeared with two cups of tea. She handed one to him. "It's very good tea," she murmured. "Drink up, Batman."

Bruce didn't obey. "Oh, you're not going to be terribly rude, are you?" murmured Alice. "I'll have to give you an etiquette lesson if you are. It is not poisoned, I give you my word."

"You expect me to trust you?" asked Bruce.

Alice stared at him. "I have given you my word," she murmured. "A young lady does not break her word."

She looked deadly serious. Bruce slowly raised the cup of tea to his lips and drank. "It is a specialty of my Uncle Jervis, that tea," she said, nodding as she sipped her own. "Isn't it rather delicious?"

"I can't say I'm a connoisseur of tea," retorted Bruce.

"Then you are missing out on one of life's greatest pleasures," retorted Alice. "A nice cup of tea and a good book. Do you like stories, Batman?"

"I…guess," said Bruce.

"Let me tell you a story," said Alice. "Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Alice. She was a very happy little girl, very good and well behaved, until one day her house was set on fire and her parents killed. The man who did it was a terribly nasty man who dressed like a bat. He flew off, got away, and lived happily ever after. The end."

Bruce looked at her. She smiled. "Not a very good story, is it?" she murmured. "I don't much care for the ending. And I can't understand why the terribly nasty man did what he did. Can you, Batman? Can you tell me why he did it?"

Her wide, blue eyes gazed pleadingly into his. "I wish…I could," murmured Bruce. "I wish I could change what happened to you. But I…"

He stopped talking suddenly as he felt a sharp pain in his skull. He fell to the ground, clutching his head, as his vision swam before his eyes. "You can, Batman," said Alice's voice just before he blacked out. "Your wish has come true. We can change the ending of the story. And we will, together. We will."