Full Disclosure
His nights were longer now...
Longer than they ever were when he wore the cowl...
Back then, it was work...
Corner store robberies, muggings, interviews, and detective work...
But now...
Now... it's the worrying that keeps him up...
He was more worried about Richard now than he ever waswhen he was Robin...
And Damien...
He was more worriedabout Gotham...
And that little girl...
Josephine Kerr...
A daughter he conceived with a hapless woman...
A child not that much younger than Damien...
I think you and I were destined to do this forever...
Words The Joker said to him after their first encounter...
I'm not Batman anymore...
I'm not Batman...
He kept tabs on her, Rebecca Brown, the second he became aware of her relationship with him.
She was an unremarkable beauty... small town beauty queen.
She wasn't a Gotham citizen, she was born in a small town called Park Ridge.
A nice, quiet place to raise a child...
A long way from Gotham...
What the hell she doing here?
The police report said that they were in the city to see the circus.
If the Joker knows she's here, he's probably laughing at the irony...
He kept the girl's existence close to the chest, no one knew about her...
He didn't even tell Gordon...
The when woman died, he told her parents who fathered their granddaughter...
They swore to never mention him...
The idea of the child not knowing never sat right with him...
He didn't deserve know, but she did...
She did deserve know where she came from...
For 8 1/2 years they kept their word, and they never mentioned him or set foot in Gotham...
He was a sitting in-well, lying- on a bed in a Hilton with someone when he turned on the news and saw the news.
Family of 3 involved a deadly crash, the survivors, the driver and an 8 year old girl are listed in critical condition.
The Joker's escape took center stage, over the crash...
The reporter, a woman- not Vicky- casually mentioned that they were on their way to the circus.
The comment made him think of the Joker...
Like he if saw the story, he was laughing as he sends Harley to kidnap the kid...
He went back to his meeting...
She lied comatose in Gotham General for two months and the news report faded from his mind.
Jason asked him he to look into documents about an adoption of a missing child when he saw her name.
The child was at a same orphanage...
The image of the child appears on the screen...
She had grayish hazel eyes too big and round for her narrow face, her nose is thin, small in contrast to her eyes, but her too full lips managed to draw attention away from the eyes.
Her blonde hair looked like she just went swimming and someone did a terrible job washing the chlorine out.
She was too pale.
She was too thin, but she's a ballerina, so that was forgivable.
She was scruffy looked, but overall, she was a cute kid.
A small town beauty...
A small town innocence.
She looked like her hapless mother... and him...
St. Aden's orphanage.
Damien mentioned that orphanage before...
I should tell Richard. He thought.
He sat in the cave, waiting for Dick and Damien to get back from patrol.
He spent the whole night debating- aguring really- whether if he should tell Dick or not.
Should Dick know?
Should they all know?
Is the right decision?
No, this is the right thing to do.
The child could be in danger
Besides, he needed to get this off his chest...
And Dick was Batman now, and he needs to know.
And he could actually get through to Damien.
Finally, after an hour, he heard the batmobile getting in.
"I'm telling you, Grayson," Damien's voice said the second they jumped out the car, "that woman was flirting with you!"
"Naw, she was just grateful..."
"That was more than gratitude she was displaying." Footsteps were approaching. "Even the commissioner could see it."
"I know when a woman is flirting with me, she wasn't."
"I'm telling you-"
"Bruce, you're still up." Dick said weakly when they reached him.
Damien scowled and stomped away from him and out of the cave.
He was still angry about what Bruce said...
I can't think about that right now. He thought. I can make it up to him later...
"How was patrol?" Bruce asked casually.
"You know, same old, same old. He didn't show himself tonight... he must be planning something big."
An image of the Joker standing over the girl's bloody body holding a knife while laughing flashed into Bruce's head.
He felt his body shudder, and he turned away from him.
"Don't worry, we're going to find him." Dick assured him as he put his hand on his shoulder. "He can't stay quiet for long."
"It's not that... well, not exactly." He rubbed his temple. "Sit down."
He sat down, since he took on the mantle of Batman, Richard's blue eyes aren't as hopeful as they used to be.
"What's wrong? Is everything alright?"
"I'm not sure... but it involves the Joker and the little girl, Josephine."
"Is she dead?"
"I don't think so, but I won't know until we find him... but that's not... do you remember when everyone thought that the Joker killed Batman?"
"Yes, both and Joker were gone for almost a year..."
"When he thought I was dead, he went sane. He met a woman named Rebecca Brown, Josephine Kerr's mother."
"Are you saying that she's... his daughter?"
"Yes."
"Do you think he knows?"
"Without a doubt."
"Poor kid..." he shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
There was no anger in his voice, just weariness.
"Never thought she'd come to Gotham..."
"Maybe Damien is right, we should find her. Do you think he'd... kill her?"
There was the question
Would he kill her?
'Bruce?'
"I don't know..."