'You did the right thing.' Bruce murmured, at a loss to console Saoirse's deflated form.

'Did I?' She croaked; her head lost in the adjacent pillow.

'Saoirse; you allowed Caoimhe to return to a safe, happy and normal life. She's not going to disappear with your mother into witness protection; she's going back to her rightful family.' He tightened his arms around her, determined to show her if not through words, then through action that she had made the responsible choice. 'You let her go.' He added. Her face remained buried in the nest of feathery comfort, assuming the same static position of the previous half an hour. Memories of the fiery haired child flipped open for Saoirse to study; ice skating in this very mansion, taking long drives with her, Caoimhe's curious fascination with nature, the smile which would make the most hardened and psychotic man chuckle, the way her true mother's face had been cleaved in two when she'd been re-united with her previous daughter…

'I know I did the right thing, but it doesn't make it any less painful.' She said eventually. Bruce brushed some of the hair away from her face and gently pulled her towards him.

'You're hurting. It's alright to let it show.'

'You know I hate being vulnerable.' Saoirse murmured, not liking the lump forming in the back of her throat any more than the moisture gathering in her eyes.

'And you're also aware the feeling's mutual.' Bruce muttered, a smile pulling at his lips.

'Mmm a vulnerable Batman could be a troublesome vigilante.' Saoirse said nodding in agreement.

'Troublesome? I think the adjective you're searching for is useless. Batman can't be useless, not now.' He said, the lightness in his voice turning sour.

'So tell me, what's been so engrossing in Gotham's night time attractions?'

'The Joker.' Bruce said, his voice caving in around the psychotic murderer's pseudonym.

'Do you know where he is?' Saoirse asked quietly. Bruce shook his head, a look of frustration marring his visage.

'He's playing hide and seek with me, which can only mean he eventually wants me to find him.'

'But why would he want you to find him?'

'Because that's the way he likes to play his games Saoirse. You should know he doesn't apply logic to his plans for inspiring chaos; that would defeat his entire purpose.' His arms tightened a little more around her. 'I almost catch him but every time I gain a location from one of his henchmen, poof! He's gone. Only a whisper of his presence is left behind…' He looked angry with himself. 'I can't think one step ahead of him, or plan to trap him. He doesn't work in the same manner as other criminals; how can I predict his next move when even he doesn't know what action he'll take?'

'Shhhh…' Saoirse said, slowly running a hand through his hair, giving him a tousled appearance. 'I won't let you be so hard on yourself.' She said firmly.

'If I'm easy on myself, he wins.' Bruce said simply.

'You really believe that?'

'I do.' He swallowed and his eyes gained a mystical, almost idealistic glow. 'I can't let Gotham down. Not now. There's still hope for her to recover, if only I can rid her of this parasite…' Saoirse was irresistibly reminded of Alfred's opinion on his charge's attachment to this diseased city. Alfred wished more than anything for Bruce to leave Gotham, never to return. But he knew better than to raise this issue with Master Wayne, he could only continue to persevere in the hope that Bruce would one day see the error in his philosophy.

Bruce exhaled slowly while closing his eyes, the concealing of his bright iris only serving to highlight how utterly exhausted he was. 'You look so tired.' Saoirse murmured, running a cold finger along the fragile pouches of skin beneath his eyes.

'Thanks.' Bruce muttered darkly, re-opening his eyes with some effort.

'When did you last sleep?'

'This is the closest I've had to sleep in… two days?' He ventured. Saoirse now realised he'd been struggling to stay awake ever since they'd collapsed into bed half an hour ago.

'Then let's sleep. Dreams might make a little more sense than reality.' She whispered coaxingly, burrowing further under the sheets, her nose pressed gently against Bruce's Adam's apple. He didn't put up much resistance to this suggestion, his deep breaths signalling his swift departure from the land of the conscious. Sleep wasn't searching for Saoirse so she lay awake, pressed firmly against the body of Gotham's most famous vigilante. She questioned whether Gotham deserved the almost religious dedication with which Bruce gave to the city. Her dozing thoughts turned towards her own relationship with the city. She'd lost the one thing which had so firmly tied her to Gotham, now she floated in limbo, entirely ambivalent concerning her future with the dark knight slumbering beside her.

Saoirse gently extracted herself from Bruce's relaxed embrace and slipped from the bed. It was a testament to how completely exhausted Bruce was that he didn't wake upon her departure, he merely turned over and continued to sleep soundly. She pulled on a jumper and some shoes before leaving the room and searching for the mansion's faithful butler. After padding around the eerily quiet rooms of the monstrous house, it was of course he who found her first.

'Looking for something Ms Nolan?' He asked, startling Saoirse to such a degree that she wouldn't have been surprised if Alfred had detached himself from a nearby pillar.

'Yes Alfred… I was wondering if I could have a chat with you.' She said slowly, calming her flustered heart.

'Very well Ms Nolan. Might I ask what the topic of our conversation is?'

'…Do you remember the conversation we had in the batcave?' She tentatively asked. Alfred's eyes twinkled when he realised the direction in which this conversation was flowing.

'I'm sure I can recall the most important aspects, although you'll have to excuse an old butler like me forgetting a few of the minor details.' He said with a good natured smile.

'I think I've come to agree with you… that Gotham isn't good for Bruce.' Saoirse bluntly admitted.

'I'm very glad to hear it, Ms Nolan.' He said sincerely.

'I'm not sure how to proceed with Bruce… he's so protective of the city, how am I supposed to extract him from his dedicated service?'

'Ah, well at the moment, extraction is out of the question. The game you see is still in play. And as long as the king hasn't been checked and consequently obliterated, there will be no escape for Master Wayne.' Alfred said sadly. 'Might I suggest we continue this conversation upstairs?'

'Yes. Sure.' Saoirse said distractedly, climbing the spiral staircase to the second floor of the library. She sat in the window seat over-looking the darkened grounds of Wayne Manor but was surprised when the butler took the seat at an adjacent table where a familiar chess set was perched.

'I thought these pieces might come in use in this conversation.' He said in answer to her questioning look. Feeling perplexed, Saoirse took the other seat, looking down at the board and realising that she hadn't sat there since her re-cooperation from the cerulean incident all those months ago. She toyed with a highly polished white castle and searched for a way to begin this discussion.

'Is it possible? To extract Bruce from Gotham?' She asked, feeling a little hopeless.

Alfred picked up his king and observed it keenly, the black marble shining in the dark. 'This –' He proclaimed '– is crime in Gotham and at the moment, this is crime's greatest agent.' He replaced the king and picked up the black queen. 'This is the Joker, moving in all sorts of unexpected ways and providing unexpected but most importantly powerful blows to the city. He has the ability to create chaos by dismantling the set pieces which Gotham relies so heavily on to survive. Firstly, he robbed banks, blew up hospitals and disrupted funerals. This got rid of some minor and not so minor pieces.' He removed a few pawns, both castles, a knight and a bishop. 'Then he went for Gotham's soul, a man named Harvey Dent.' He said soberly, knocking over the remaining white knight to the chessboard with the butt of the queen. 'Police tried to stop him.' He pushed out the remaining bishop. 'But they too, were squashed.' Alfred harshly flicked the bishop to the side of the board. 'All that was left was the Batman. Now, the only way Batman could play on an even field with the Joker, was to be as strong, as resilient, and as cunning as him.' He pushed forward the white queen so it directly opposed the black queen. 'What the Joker does which no other criminal Batman has encountered before, is the execution of those who support as well as oppose him.' With the black queen he viciously knocked down a handful of black pawns, took out the two black knights, a castle and a bishop. 'This leaves those who support him as well as those who oppose him in equal fear of him, resulting in the Joker floating in a bizarre sort of limbo.' He placed the black queen at the direct centre of the board. 'He alone opposes both sides and this is the key to him being such a hard piece to catch and defeat. In this context, Master Wayne is the most skilled chess player which Gotham has at her disposal, the only one who can truly oppose the Joker. But the Joker doesn't play the same game, he lives by only one rule: to live without rules. And as skilled as Master Wayne is, the Joker seems to be able to beat him, using moves which don't directly affect him, but those he is meant to be protecting.' He allowed the black queen to take a few more white pawns surrounding the white queen. 'By doing this, he is cajoling Batman into his pit of madness where he wishes to mould a new monster from the man who has until now been able to resist his alluring insanity.' He pushed the white queen out to the middle of the chess board, pressing against the black queen. 'Batman must also detach himself from the law in order to catch the Joker and to beat him at his own game… he may have to break his one rule.' Alfred sat in silence for some moments, observing the chaotic battlefield he had created with a little sadness. 'The longer this process is dragged out Ms Nolan, the less of Bruce Wayne we will be able to recover. But neither of us will be able to coax Bruce from Gotham while the Joker is terrorizing the city.' He smiled sadly over the messy chessboard. 'You however, already knew this.' Saoirse nodded slowly. 'The question which remains Ms Nolan; is what will you do? Will you stay and wait for a man who might never return from beneath the cape and caul? Or will you leave?'

Saoirse felt a tightening sensation in her chest when she realised what her answer was.