A/N: Sorry, not sorry about the last chapter. I'd been planning it for a while, so I guess I had more time to adjust. And to batclanrookie, yeah, Jenna never gets a break, but name one hero who was happy. Anyway, thank you all so much for being such wonderful readers and reviewers, and I hope to see you in August with "A Series of Lamentable Events".

Love, Miss Singing in the Rain

And the Story Continues

"So we got em," Jim noted as the Jokerz were loaded into police cars. They'd come close to winning but after the Sons of the Batman had disarmed their bombs and Harley had turned on and then made up with the Joker, they saw no point in continuing. They followed mostly out of fear anyway.

"Yeah," the Batman sighed, glad that it was finally over. The commissioner looked at the new Batgirl, Spoiler, and a few Sons, who were helping the police deal with the rowdier prisoners. "The kids are here to stay. All of them." Gordon just nodded. That was when the vigilante noticed that Jim looked decades older than he was, which was saying something; his now all gray and white hair, sunken cheeks, and dark circles under his eyes made him look more like a corpse than some actual dead bodies the Batman had seen. But considering… everything, it wasn't exactly surprising. "Jim… I'm sorry," the Batman murmured. The other man just nodded stiffly, turning to watch Harley and the Joker mess with the officers every way they could.

"You got kids, officer?" Harley asked one policeman.

"Shut it clown!" he shouted.

"What? Every clown loves kids, cap'n. Just ask Sarah Essen-Gordon. Oh that's right, you can't!" Harley cackled, the Joker joining in mockingly. Jim went from broken to absolutely enraged, and before anyone could comprehend what was happening, he was advancing on the gleeful harlequin and drawing his service revolver.

"Jim!" the Batman shouted.

Too late.

BANG!

"AHG!" Harley cried out, collapsing as her shot knee gave out from under her. Gordon lowered his gun and looked at the Batman.

"You didn't actually think I was gonna do it, did you?" he asked. The Batman let out a barely noticeable sigh.

"Harley!" the Joker cried out, but was cut off by a detective slamming him into a car door.

"Ow. Woo, that hurt," Harley moaned, otherwise acting very nonchalant about having just been shot. She surveyed the damage done to her wounded knee. "Well wouldja look at that? I may never walk again." She paused. "Oh…" She started chuckling, then cackling again. "Oh, that's a good one Commish! Getting' me back for dear Jenny Dawes' paralyzation! Oh that is good!" No one said anything, just watched the Joker's daughter get the last laugh against her father's murderer.

James Gordon placed a bouquet of black roses and rosemary on his wife's gravestone, closing his eyes and sighing as he traced the letters.

"I'm retiring," he said to the man who had snuck up behind him. The other man did not reply. "I'm sorry, I just–"

"You have nothing to apologize for," John Blake assured him. Jim got to his feet.

"New commissioner goes by Ellen Yin. She's tough, doesn't like you as much as I do, but she'll come through when you need her," he informed his former partner. John nodded and the two looked back at the headstone.

"I'm sorry for your loss Jim. And Jenna's sorry she couldn't make it here tonight."

"It's alright." Jim and John shook hands. "Tell her I'm sorry that all this happened."

"It's not your fault. We've all lost so much…" he trailed off, but Gordon knew.

Robin John Blake, Cassandra Cain Dawes-Blake, Stephanie Brown, and Timothy Drake sat in the waiting room of Gotham General Hospital, fidgeting nervously as they waited to see her. Then the doors opened, and Jennifer Rachel Dawes wheeled out in her new chair. The four immediately shot up and ran to her, all engulfing her in a gargantuan group hug. She smiled and closed her eyes

"I love you all so much," she murmured, tears leaking from eyes, trialing down her cheeks.

"Why are you crying mother?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know. I just feel so… conflicted: Happy, sad, relieved, anxious, just about everything at once." She laughed at herself, trying to dry her eyes. "God, I'm sorry. I probably look ridiculous."

"No. You look human," Cassie told her. Jenna stopped.

"Is human good?" Cassie looked to her father, who smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. Human's great," John told her and everyone gathered hugged again, thankful for small mercies of spared lives.

"You look beautiful," Gordon muttered, as he watched Jennifer Rachel Dawes roll up beside him in a black wedding dress, ready for him to walk her down the aisle.

"Thank you," she replied. She was grinning but there was a shade of sadness to her smile.

"How are you?" Gordon asked her and she sighed.

"I'm happy but… there are just so many people who should be here but aren't," she said, running a finger over one of Bruce Wayne's ties that was wrapped around her bouquet of black and yellow roses, a batarang and a police badge tucked into its folds. Gordon nodded.

"I understand," he agreed, twisting his own wedding ring. The doors opened, the two linked arms, and he led her down the aisle, Jenna nodding and smiling at guests along the way. There were a surprising number, as every vigilante in the world who was a member of Jenna and John's organizations had been invited. Of course her original Birds of Prey (Helena, Bette, and Dinah) were there as the bridesmaids and Barbara and Dick were Maid of Honor and Best Man, but also the new bats, and birds, and other vigilantes, in their civilian identities of course. Mayor Marion Grange was officiating the ceremony but the couple barely heard her as they gazed into each others' eyes, happy that the wait was finally over.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Marion proclaimed, just in time, as the couple didn't think they could've lasted a millisecond later. They kissed, Jenna dragging John to her by his black dress shirt, before she dipped him, causing those gathered to chuckle and cheer.

No one noticed the dark haired man in his early fifties and brunette woman in her early forties sitting in the balcony above, a young dark haired boy and twelve-year-old girl sitting next to them.

"Alright, we good to go?" Jenna Dawes, now known as the Oracle, asked, doing final checks on the computer for any new criminal activity or breakouts.

"Looks like it," Batman said, leaning down to kiss his wife goodbye. She smiled as they broke apart, faces still close together.

"Try not to get too roughened up dear. I'd prefer not to spend our wedding night stitching you up," she whispered mischievously. He almost smiled back.

"Yes ma'am." He headed for the Batpod, passing Tim practicing on the parallel bars and Stephanie attempting to beat Cassandra, who was not even really paying attention.

"You are getting better," Cassie assured her, giving her friend a hand.

"Thanks. Still not the worse thing I've had to endure," she admitted. "My dad used to lock me in the closet when I made him mad. What did yours do?"

"Shot me." Steph broke into disbelieving laughter.

"I can't beat you at anything can I?"

"Girls, Tim, time to go," Oracle ordered.

"Yes ma'am," they said, picking up their cowls and slipping them on. Oracle found herself smiling as the Batman, Batgirl, Robin, and Spoiler all got on their bikes and headed out into the night, right hand fiddling with her wedding ring.

They'd spent years training and studying and planning with their family to bring sense to a world plagued by worse than thieves and murderers. And no one could replace the people they'd lost along the way.

But it was a good life.

Good enough.

A/N: And before I get any PMs asking me about this, yes, the couple and the kids in the balcony were the Waynes: Bruce, Selina, Helena, and Damian.