"Gunn."

The deep, menacing voice startled Liam like not much else in the world. With terror, the man spun on his heels to come face-to-face with the Batman.

"Shit…"

"Spare me," he growled. "I'm not here about the shady smuggling you do. I'm looking for Rebecca and want to know what the hell you have to do with her."

Liam almost lost control of his bowels. "What do you mean? The girl works for me."

"That's all?"

"…And I sorta use her for appearances."

"Such as?"

"She's sort of an adopted daughter."

The Batman laughed in his throat. "You're joking."

"I swear to God I'm not!"

Suddenly the masked figure grabbed the front of Liam's shirt and lifted him three inches off the ground. "So why would she go missing? It wouldn't happen to be because of a trade-off gone wrong? You'd use her as your runner so she'd be in danger instead of your worthless neck?"

"No! I swear! She wants to do the runs, so I let her and pay her damn well. I kinda pity the girl, you know. Being blind and so young and all…reminds me of my sister before she died."

"You pity her?" he raged. "What, did you kidnap her from that orphanage, hoping for a ransom?"

"You got it all wrong. She came to me, alright? Wanders up out of nowhere 'bout four or five months ago and asked for work. Me needing people I can trust, I took her in! She was freezing and starving to death, for God's sake! Anyone would have done it!"

"Anyone but you. What's your angle?"

"Jesus, you think I've got some vendetta against the girl?"

"All I know is her mother was involved in a drug ring, happened to die and hadn't paid up all her debts. Maybe you met Miss Richards and decided to get some indentured servant's work out of her."

"Holy hell, man! I'm tellin' you the truth! All she wanted was work for a dry place to sleep and some food, for chrissakes!"

The Batman seemed to consider this, and slowly let Liam down. "So if what you said was true, then why is she missing?"

"I don't know. It's why I filed a report with the cops."

"Where was the last place anyone saw her?"

Liam decided this guy might actually be able to help him, so he decided to share the small amount of information he knew. "I talked to Al Johnson over at Arkham. He said she checked in with him, got paid and left. Last he saw, she was heading back to the train over in the Narrows."

"He didn't actually see her get on?"

"Guess not. But she carries a small gun on her all the time. She can take care of herself."

"Why was she over at Arkham?"

"Well…Johnson needed some special powder for something he's been working on for the crazies. She took it to him."

"And you believed him?"

Liam was stupefied. "I got no reason not to."

"Rule number one: in a city like Gotham, never trust anyone."

Liam heard someone coming from behind him and spun around to see who it was. When he realized it was just some of his men on a snack break walking halfway down the alley, he sighed and turned back only to find that the Batman was gone.

Batman swooped down over Arkham Asylum to the symphony of hellish shrieks and incoherent babbling. He swung himself in a shadowed window and made his way through the hallways, disgustedly taking notice of the men he intended on serving time in prison who luckily got transferred here.

Suddenly an office appeared in front of him and he realized someone was within, talking on the phone.

"No, I told you before, Gunn. Your girl came here, got the cash and left, alright? Just 'cause she's missing, it doesn't mean I got anything to do with it. Now stop calling me, or I'll find someone else to bring my stuff in!" Whoever had been speaking slammed the receiver down on the base and groaned disgustedly. Then he began mumbling to himself.

"Damn it, if she hadn't just run off, no one would be up my ass. That little blind bitch is more trouble than she's worth…"

The man half-opened the door to leave, but Batman kicked it open, throwing him back against the desk and causing him to push half his office articles off the tabletop.

"What the hell?" he cursed.

Batman grabbed his throat and menacingly squeezed. "What do you know about Rebecca Richards?"

The man gasped and tried to claw his way out of the grip to no avail. "I don't know what you're talking about! Who the hell is this Richards girl? Did Gunn hire you to stalk me or something?"

"Lying isn't something I've got a lot of patience for. The girl Gunn is looking for. What do you know?" he growled, tightening his grip for an instant.

The middle-aged man wheezed and his eyes rolled back in his head with the lust for air. "Alright! Alright, lemme go! Don't kill me!"

The masked man relaxed his hold just a bit while the other man sang like a canary.

"I stuck her, ok? Gave her some of the sedative and she ran off. I swear; the last I saw of her she was tripping off into the worse part of the Narrows. She's probably sleeping it off on a curb somewhere!"

With a newfound fury for this abuse of the little girl he owed so much to on account of her father, Batman bared his teeth and tried to fight back the urge to strangle this sorry excuse for a human being. Instead, he launched the man halfway across the room, where he slammed into a bookcase which deposited all its heavy volumes on his body as it fell on top of him.

Long before he got up, Batman made sure he was gone.

Becca wasn't sure if she was awake or not. God knew, her head was reeling and she was getting vertigo where she sat, huddled in a corner of the cold, tiled room. She had removed most of her sodden clothes and now wore naught but a half-dry brown tank top and a ragged, long black skirt. The rest of her articles were in a wet heap nearby, and her brown jacket was draped over her freezing body like a blanket.

She groped around to tug the coat closer, and suddenly felt something hard. With a leap of joy rising in her throat, she realized the small handgun was still hidden away in her jacket pocket! With any luck, she could hide it long enough to be able to use it eventually. Sliding it out of the coat, Becca placed it in the belt circling her waist and covered it with her shirt.

Suddenly she heard the ominous clicking of the door's lock. The metal door swung open with a creak and she heard someone enter. Whoever it was had a soft step, moving around the room before coming close. She heard her pile of clothed be picked up and the drip-drip of excess water echoed against the tiles.

"Hey!" she demanded. "Put those back!"

But whoever it was rushed for the door. Becca scrambled in their direction, hoping to catch them and get her clothes back. But they made it through the doorway before her and slammed it in her face. She nearly lost her fingers as the heavy slab of metal crashed into place.

"No!" she cried, furious. "No, no, no! Bring those back! They're mine!" She pounded on the door, trying with no effect to get a reaction out of anyone who would listen. But apparently no one did, because the room slowly became silent and she realized nothing would come out of her attacking a door that didn't feel her blows.

Sinking back to the floor, she reached for her coat and pulled it over her as she leaned against the door, content that if anyone wanted to sneak in, she'd feel it before they got inside.