A/N - Thank you for the reviews...I appreciate each and every one!!!

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Wayne Tower

It was locked. The doors were heavy. There would be no way that he could break the lock or break the door down. Thomas Wayne had made sure of that years ago. He reached onto his belt and took a charge off of it and attached it to the door. He set the timer for twenty seconds. He quickly pulled Olivia away from the door.

"What are you doing? David could be in there."

"Olivia, get out of here, now!" he exclaimed, pushing her away down the hallway.

Olivia glanced back just as the door exploded. She turned her head away as Batman appeared next to her, covering her with his cape. Olivia looked up when she felt wetness on her forehead. The sprinklers had gone on and the fire alarm was buzzing. She wiped the water off her forehead and glanced over at the gaping hole that was once the doors to Bruce's office.

The hallway was filled with a haze of dust and smoke but the sprinklers were helping to make it easier to see.

"Are you okay?" Batman asked, softly. Olivia momentarily looked up at him until she heard another voice.

"Mommy!!"

She couldn't see David but she instantly recognized his voice.

"David," she said to herself. "DAVID!"

Olivia rushed back towards the smoldering doors.

"Olivia, wait!" Batman exclaimed. Suddenly, the elevator opened and a half dozen 'clowns' spilled out and ran towards them. Olivia looked over her shoulder at Batman and her eyes widened when she saw that they were no longer alone.

Batman noticed her facial expression and he turned, just as the first clown attacked at him. He punched at the clown, easily sending him sprawling onto the floor. A second and third both came at Batman, each holding a knife in their hand.

Olivia turned back towards the office and climbed over the debris before any of the clowns would reach her. She would cough at the heavy dust in the air as she made her way over the pieces of wood and drywall. Olivia squinted as she walked into Bruce's office. Wood and debris covered the floor and Olivia could feel wind blowing into the room and hear the distinct sound of city traffic. She assumed that the windows had blown out with the explosion.

"David?"

No answer. She began to worry.

"Where are you?"

A hand suddenly wrapped itself around her neck and she gasped as she felt herself choke. Her hands instinctively went for her throat to pull off whatever was around her neck.

"Hello, beautiful," a voice said. Olivia recognized it as Joker's as she continued to struggle.

Olivia could hear David's cries as she struggled.

"Let her go," Batman growled. Olivia opened her eyes, seeing Batman standing in front of her, and the clowns that were once attacking him all on the ground.

Joker giggled.

"You're not in any position to be demanding such things."

"What do you want?" Batman growled.

Joker giggled once again. "I can see how this is going to be fun. I don't want anything from you. I own you. But don't worry. I haven't let the cat out of the bag and told anyone your little secret. I think I'd prefer to keep it to myself. A sort of insurance, you could say."

Olivia could feel heat in front of her eyes as she gasped for each breath as Joker's hand never loosened on her neck. She could vaguely hear David crying from behind her. Suddenly, she felt Joker push into her and he let go of her momentarily. Olivia coughed and turned, seeing that David had ran into Joker and pushed him forward.

"You little..." Joker spat venomously as he turned towards David. While distracted, Batman ran towards Joker and pushed him down to the floor. A smile appeared on Joker's face.

"I was wondering when you'd come for me," he said. "I've missed our encounters."

"You're going to jail," Batman said, through clenched teeth.

"Willing to make a wager on that?"

Olivia looked over towards the hallway just as one of the clowns appeared in the office.

"Look out!" Olivia exclaimed as one of the clowns kicked Batman in the side, sending him off of Joker. Joker quickly stood up, glanced at Batman as the clown continued to beat at him before turning his attention to Olivia and David. Olivia held David close to her as Joker walked towards them, a smile on his face. He stood between them and the only way out. Olivia glanced around the office, looking for anything that she could use to defend herself. She backed up with David behind her towards Bruce's desk. Joker taunted them as he passed his knife between his hands. She quickly opened Bruce's drawers, seeing only papers and pens, nothing that she could use to defend herself against someone with a knife.

A sudden gun shot rang out in the room.

Olivia's face paled when she saw the clown holding the small handgun, aimed at Batman before Batman fell to the floor.

"NO!!" David exclaimed. He was about to run towards him on the floor but Olivia managed to grab him by the wrist and pull him back towards her. "DAD! Please, Mom, let me go!"

Olivia held David close to her and covered his face as she suddenly felt sick to her stomach as she watched Batman lay motionless on the floor. She felt numb. She was in shock. No tears came to her eyes.

Joker sighed and walked up to the clown, holding the gun. He reached up and grabbed the clown by the neck.

"That was not what I had in mind," Joker spat as he suddenly ran his knife along the clown's neck. The clown fell to the floor beside Batman. Joker stood above them and grimaced as he stared at Batman.

"Well, isn't this a shame," he said to Batman as he kicked the dark knight's foot. Batman didn't respond. Joker turned to Olivia and David. "I guess it'll be just you and me for now on."

David continued to sob onto Olivia's arm as the Joker once again approached them. This time, Olivia pushed David behind her and held the letter opener in front of her.

"Stay behind me," she told David.

Joker licked his lips as he came closer to Olivia.

"Please," she began to beg. "Please leave us alone."

Joker smiled.

"Not as long as you have the Bat's kid," Joker stated.

"If you so much as breath on him, I'll kill you," Olivia threatened. Her statement only caused Joker to giggle hysterically. He quickly lunged at her, grabbing her wrists, .

"Oh, please do," Joker said, softly into her ear. "I'd like to see if you'd actually go through with it. It could be fun."

Joker glanced over her shoulder as David sat against the wall, a few feet from the broken windows.

"I know what else could be fun," Joker said, as he looked over the edge of the building through the broken window. "Flying."

In one swift action, Olivia brought her knee to Joker's groin. He let go of her wrists and bent over in pain before going into a fit of laughter.

"I can see why Wayne kept you around," he said, with a giggle "It's always the quiet ones that gives you a run for your money."

Joker looked out the window to the ground below where a half dozen police cruisers had gathered and officers began to race into Wayne tower. He glanced up, hearing the helicopter in the distance. Olivia could hear the helicopter as well and she prayed that the police would arrive soon. She glanced over to where Batman laid on the ground and her face turned to confusion when she didn't see him there. Her attention was quickly brought back to Joker as he roughly pulled her to her feet by her arm and held her to the window. David suddenly cried out, seeing his Mom being held out the window.

"I don't need you," Joker said. "I'll take good care of your boy."

Olivia reached forward with her free hand, trying desperately to grab onto Joker's wrist. She looked up at his face as he smile sadistically at her and let go. Olivia heard his laughter as she struggled to grab onto something, anything but instead felt the wind blow up from under her as her feet left the edge of the building. She was falling. David screamed as he crawled to the window's edge.

Joker turned to him with a smile. "It's just you and me."

David looked up just as a black shadow flew into Joker, knocking him out the window. David watched as Batman dove after Olivia, leaving Joker to fall behind him.

Olivia screamed, truly feeling her life flash before her eyes much too quickly and prayed that she would not feel herself hit the concrete below. When she felt something wrap around her waist and a dark shadow appear in front of her, she instinctively held onto it while she slowly felt her decent slow to a near stop in mid-air. She was glad that it was night as she wouldn't have wanted to see how high up she was. She calmed down her breathing and listened to the wind.

"Are you all right?" she heard whispered into her ear. Bruce.

"I think so," Olivia replied. Her mind quickly replayed the events of the past minute and her mind travelled to her son. "David?!"

"He's still in the office," Batman replied. "We'll be back up there in a minute."

Batman looked up as he held onto his grappler, extremely thankful that it held their weight as it slowly retracted. He glanced down, barely able to make out Joker's body as it laid on the street below next to the police cruisers.

When they reached the office, David wasn't anywhere to be seen. Batman looked around the room and could hear a soft crying coming from the corner where a chair had been toppled. He pushed the chair away to see David, sitting against the wall with his head between his knees as he sobbed softly. His heart broke. Batman knew the heart ache that David was feeling at that moment. The pain of loosing his parents. Batman pulled off one of his gloves and put his hand on David's shoulder to get his attention as Olivia quickly made her way over to them.

"David," Batman said, not concealing his voice. David lifted his head, his face wet with tears. His face turned from sadness to confusion as his eyes passed from Batman to Olivia.

"You're all right?" he asked, as he choked on a sob.

Batman nodded.

"But, I saw..." David began as he began to cry once again.

Olivia got down onto her knees and wrapped her arms around him.

"Everything is all right," she said as she rocked him. She kissed him on the top of his head.

"I promised that I wouldn't let anything happen to you or your Mom," Batman said, looking to Olivia. David lifted his head up and wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve. "And I keep my promises."

David suddenly wrapped his arms around Batman, and hugged him tightly.

Olivia glanced over them as she heard the elevator door being forced open and a half dozen streams of light from flashlights filled the hallway.

"The police are here," she said softly. David let go of Batman as he quickly stood up.

"I have to go," he said as he pulled on his glove. Olivia nodded as she watched him once again dive out the window just as Commissioner Gordon rushed into the dismantled office. He glanced around the room, seeing the clown with a pool of blood around him and then saw Olivia and David.

"Oh my God," Jim said astonishingly, looking around at the destroyed office. "Are you two all right?"

"We're fine," Olivia said, helping David to his feet.

"If it wasn't for the fire and smoke alarms going off, we'd never know where to find you," Jim stated. "I had a feeling that you might be here when I heard that the alarm was for Wayne Tower."

Commissioner Gordon walked over to the windows and looked out, seeing Batman gliding away in the distance. He smiled.

"Let's get you both home," he said, walking back over to Olivia and David.

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Wayne Manor

12:46am

Alfred walked through the quiet halls of Wayne Manor, carrying a cup of tea in his hand. The guests had long left a few hours prior, after the news that the engaged couple had left their own party in a heated argument. He could only imagine what the headline would read in the morning paper or see on the television when everyone would wake up. He was so relieved when Olivia and David were brought back home. He gathered some food from the kitchen that was left behind by the caterers and fixed two plates for them. He could visibly see that the weight of no longer having to worry about Joker had lifted off of Olivia. She had been smiling and sat radiantly, even in her disheveled appearance.

He stopped at the door to David's room, seeing that he was asleep in the bed. He turned and gently knocked on Olivia's door as the light from the bedside lamp shone into the hallway.

Olivia heard the knock and gently closed the laptop in front of her.

"Come in," she said, softly.

Alfred pushed the door open and smiled, seeing that Olivia had cleaned herself up and was wearing jogging pants and a t-shirt and sat on the bed with a lap top. He handed her the cup and she thanked him.

"Is Bruce home yet?"

"Not yet," Alfred replied.

Olivia nodded, sadly.

"Do you ever get used to it?"

"To what?"

"To him going out every night and not knowing when or whether he'll even come home?"

Alfred smirked. "At first I was. But I've come to realize that I can't worry about it, or it'll eat away at me."

"So, what do you do?"

"I trust that Master Wayne will not put himself into situations that are serious and where he knows that there are no ways out." Alfred paused for a moment. "I'm sure he'll be home in a few hours."

Olivia looked down and sighed.

"I'm not sure if this is something that I could get used to," she said. "The past two months have been insane with Joker on our tail. It seems that my life has been turned upside down since getting to know Bruce again."

Alfred smiled as he sat down next to her. "He cares for you a lot, you know."

Olivia nodded and wiped her eyes, as tears had come into them. He smiled as he tapped her knee.

"Get some sleep," he told her as he stood. Olivia reached and took Alfred's hand and she stood up.

"Thank you, Alfred," she said, pulling the older man into a hug.

"Good night, Olivia," he said, hugging her. Olivia smiled as she watched him leave.

"Good night."

After he left, Olivia opened the laptop again. She sighed as her eyes filled with tears while she looked at the confirmation screen in front of her.

Gotham City International Airport

Tickets: 2 passengers

Flight 478, Gotham City to San Diego

Date: February 6th, 2009

Time: 7:15am

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1:15am

Alfred walked into the kitchen and nearly jumped a foot in the air when he saw that he wasn't alone.

"Master Wayne," he said, catching the man's attention as he stood by the sink. Alfred switched on the light. "You're likely to give an old man a heart attack. I assumed that you wouldn't be home for a few more hours."

Bruce turned and walked around to the counter as Alfred poured himself a cup of tea.

"I'm a little sore," Bruce said. It was evident in his voice that he was tired. "Besides, I have too much on my mind."

Alfred nodded.

"I couldn't save him, Alfred."

"Who, sir?"

"Joker. I couldn't save him."

Alfred looked at the overtired man in front of him and set his cup of tea in front of Bruce before grabbing another mug from the cabinet.

"You saved Olivia," Alfred reminded him. "With the choice between her and Joker, the answer as to who to save would've been obvious."

"I know," Bruce said. "But part of me wishes that I could have saved him as well."

"That man terrorized your family," Alfred said, boldly. "He kidnapped your son, he knew your secret and he tried to kill Olivia. Even you can't save everyone, especially one beyond saving."

"I can't help but feel guilty," Bruce said softly. "I pushed him out the window, Alfred, before I dove after Olivia."

"And what would've happened to David if you hadn't? The boy may not even be here right now. He might not have been alive."

Bruce ran his hands through his hair. He couldn't believe that he was having such a hard time with this.

"Olivia blamed me for all of this," he said. Bruce reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring that she had given back to him in the penthouse and he set it on the counter in front of him. "She even gave the ring back to me."

A small smile pulled at Alfred's face. "Need I remind you that the engagement wasn't real."

"At the party, I wasn't pretending," Bruce said, softly.

"I know you weren't."

"And I don't know when it happened; when I was no longer pretending."

Bruce sighed, and said goodnight to Alfred. He walked up the stairs and stopped at David's room. He pushed the door slightly open just as David rolled over. Bruce smiled as he closed the door once again. He looked over at Olivia's door, seeing the light shinning from underneath it. He was about to knock, but decided not too. Instead, he went to his room, closed the door and went to sleep.